Fasted Cardio

One of the biggest questions in the quest for better body composition is, "when is the best time to perform cardio?" While any type of cardio will aide in better body composition. Scientifically, your body is primed for fat loss upon waking.

Performing cardio in a fasted state ensures that the bodies primary source of fuel is fat stores. Eventually the fuel source changes over to glycogen and lean muscle tissue, but taking advantage of that fat time frame can be the key to better body composition.

For starters, try to walk for 30-45 minutes upon waking in a fasted state. To further enhance the metabolism, sip on a green tea or black coffee before performing your walk to aide in the fat loss.

After your walk, eat a high protein breakfast! Walk your way to success!

-Eric

Fitness Together Newtonville & Auburndale

Train Posterior Chain For Healthier Knees

Anterior knee pain is a common trait found amongst Americans these days largely due to the type of footwear and activity we are performing. Women are prone to knee issues because of the "Q" angle of the hips compared to their knees. Add in high heels and you have a recipe for disaster.

How do we combat these knee issues? Performing posterior chain movements (hamstrings, glutes, lower back) helps hold the knee in place, giving you more support throughout the joint. As a side effect from this type of training, you will also run faster! Not a bad combo! Here are a few movements you can perform with your Fitness Together trainer:

-Kettlebell Swings

-Stiff Leg Deadlifts

-Glute and Ham Raise

-Lunges

-Good Mornings

Add a few of these movements into your training program and enjoy healthier, sturdier knees!

-Eric

Fitness Together Newtonville & Aburndale

Sprint Intervals For Better Body Composition

Steady state is the norm when people talk about doing their cardio for weight loss. This involves choosing a pace on the treadmill or elliptical and going at the same moderate pace throughout the cardio session.

One way we can speed up the metabolism and jack up EPOC (excess post exercise oxygen consumption), is to perform sprint intervals from time to time. An example of this type of training could be:

-Jog 20 yards

-Sprint 10 yards

Complete the circuit 5 times through.

Another example used in the gym could be:

-Slow jog on treadmill for 50 seconds

-Sprint on treadmill for 10 seconds

Repeat this process for a total of 8 minutes.

Give these sprinting intervals a try and enjoy the benefits of lower body fat PLUS increased cardiovascular health!

-Eric

Fitness Together Newtonville & Auburndale

Plyometrics For Lower Body Strength

Developing lower body strength has direct carry over to everyday activities. We want to be able to play with our kids longer, go for longer walks, and be able to move our friends into their new apartments (ya, right). Resistance training is a great tool to help us achieve our lower body strength, but adding in plyometrics can tap into a different component of strength.

Plyometrics help develop "explosive" power that will aide us in our starting strength. Here are a few movements that you can perform in conjunction with your strength training routine:

-Box jumps

-Broad jumps

-Plyometric lunges

-Depth jumps

Ask your Fitness Together trainer about plyometrics and the numerous benefits that come along with them!

-Eric

Fitness Together Newtonville & Auburndale

Hallo-Ween Off The Candy

With Halloween right around the corner, temptation follows in the form of sweets! How do we make it through the weekend (or month) without ransacking the children’s candy stash? Here are a few simple guidelines to follow that will help curb those cravings!
1. If you buy candy to hand out, buy the kind you don’t enjoy!
2. Give yourself a limit on how many pieces you are "allowed". As in two, not five! Once the limit is reached, you are done. NO EXCEPTIONS!
3. Put your excess candy (or your kids candy), out of site. That way its not in your plain view all the time. If you have to work harder to find or get to it, you most likely wont go the extra mile to do so.
4. Give away your excess candy!
5. Eat 70% or greater dark chocolate when you are having a sweets craving. The antioxidants found in dark chocolate are very beneficial.
Don’t let this holiday ruin your nutrition/weight goals. Limit yourself, but do not deprive! Good luck and be safe!

-Eric
Fitness Together Newtonville & Auburndale

Upper Back Strength For Posture

In an average day, people spend more time sitting at their computer, t.v., and in their car. For this reason, its not uncommon to see someone with that "slouched" posture. You know it, head forward, shoulders pulled forward, big rounding of the upper back.

How do we fight this? By training the upper back with weights! Strength training 2-3 times per week can drastically improve posture. Perform two of these movements at least twice per week.

Pull Ups or Assisted Pull Ups

Lat Pulldowns

Face Pulls

Dumbbell Rows

Cable Rows

Deadlifts

Goodluck with your training and keep fighting the war against bad posture!!!

-Eric

Fitness Together Newtonville & Auburndale

Shorter Days? Get Your Vitamin D!!

It's that time of the year again. It's dark when you leave for work, and dark on your drive home. Catching some rays just is not in your Fall schedule! Don't worry though, we can counteract some of the negative affects of little sunlight.

There are many changes to the environment that we must deal with. Everyone knows they should be exercising, eating correctly, and getting their sleep. One factor that many forget about in the Fall months is their lack of sunlight exposure and vitamin D production. It is extremely hard to get sufficient vitamin D through diet and sunlight alone. Therefore, supplementation is key on keeping your levels in check.

Deficiencies in vitamin D have been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, and depression. Vitamin D is also essential for bone growth and plays an important role in the absorption of calcium.(WebMD, DeNoon)

Supplementing with 400-1,000 IU a day can help keep your vitamin D levels in check. Some studies have shown higher dosages to be more effective at keeping your levels in check, but starting out on the low end and seeing how you respond is the best way to go.

Get your vitamin D levels checked through your doctor and see if supplementation is right for you! We could all use a little boost through these next few months!

-Eric



References:

http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d-why-you-need-vitamin-d