Exercise and Eat for Summer
Literally come September you immediately see people coming out of the woodwork at the gyms and outdoor exercise areas around the city – actually, its pretty much that way in most of the civilized world at the beginning of Spring. This time rather make it a habit that doesn’t get lost.
What can you do to get yourself ready and fit for summer? There are heaps of options and alternatives – you need to pick one that is best suited for you because at the end of the day you are what counts the most.
If you want to burn calories you need muscular demand in some form. This comes from doing walking / running, swimming, boxing classes, spin class, body weight exercises, even flexibility sessions and, yes – most of all, weight training.
All of the above are going to help you burn your calories. However, it is the right balance of all the various types of the above that suit you that are going to make the difference. Too many people rely on too much of the same thing to lose weight or get in shape.
This is just one suggestion I make to improve the fitness of my clients. Before I do, I make it clear to them that they should be getting their core strength (abs, glutes + joint stabilizers through functional movement exercises) stronger first before getting into this – it may take longer but it will be healthier.
To start, I look at their week and decide with them what it is they can achieve over and above what they already have to fit in. Then we look at what can be moved around or dropped away. Then we begin with at least two days a week of weight training - training the entire body in one session – no longer than one hour. One exercise of two to three sets of twelve to fifteen reps per body part is a good place to start.
From there, we may try include two days of cardiovascular training. This can be running (although if new to exercise I suggest brisk walking or swimming) to be done once a week. I then suggest the other session is devoted to some form of interval cardio training. In the beginning something like a boxing class or a spin class might be the more effective. If you lack a gym, the running and walking between lampposts and varying the distances is just as effective.
Then we consider fitting in 2 days devoted to something calming like tai-chi, Qi-gong, yoga or just plain stretching sessions. These exercises are great for bringing the body and mind back into balance with each other. And in today’s society these are simple exercises that are not used enough.
Along with exercise you always need a healthy nutrition plan. There is many a biochemist and others that will tell you nowadays it is more a case of 90% diet and 10% exercise.
Do not start your fitness regime with any type of diet. Diets do not work, calorie restriction, frankly, is more harmful than helpful. Different people have different needs for various levels of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. All these macro-nutrients (along with the micro-nutrients that follow) are what keep us healthy and balanced today. When the body is not getting these in their correct forms, that’s when we get people becoming overweight, unhealthy and unhappy. This is because they are not eating according to individual biochemistry needs. I Metabolic Type all my clients to help fulfill their body’s requirements to run at optimal health and balance. My clients fulfill their goals with me because they eat according to their biochemistry needs and because we look at more than just exercise with regards to their health and weight loss.
So for the real deal to happen it's about balancing your exercise (and choosing the right type of exercise for you) and getting the most out of what you eat. If you are not getting the right nutrients, your body is slowly giving up. If you are not exercising correctly – too much or too little – your body is slowly giving up. Find out from professionals as to what you need to eat and how to exercise to lose weight and get in to a healthy condition that your body is going to love you for. Six days of the week are already planned above. Don’t start it all in the first week. Start with one principle for a week or two. Then add in the next and so forth. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is your health plan going to be achieved in one week. Start slow, build for a month or so and next thing you know….
Sensitivities and 6 pack abs
Ahhh, those very interesting words – food sensitivities – be they gluten, diary, soy, eggs etc. Those who don’t experience any identifiable symptoms of indigestion or IBS or similar would be of the belief that they were not being affected by it in any way. Those who have identified it as a problem have probably had digestive experiences because of it that they would rather not repeat again.
When I met my wife she was trying to do the gluten free thing, and the products tasted rubbish and being ignorant myself back then and under my ignorant influence, regrettably, she moved back into mainstream nutrition. Years later as my interest in nutrition and how our health is affected by it increased, I discovered to my bewilderment that both of us were at least sensitive to it – luckily if one looks at gluten free foods today there is a much larger range that tastes a lot better too. Another key issue today is the effects of modern food processing and how it affects the body. There are too many issues relating to this topic to raise in this one article, the below is just an overview.
In a global body sense with regards to sensitivities/allergies – be it gluten or diary or soy etc – it is the gut that is affected in a rather big way. But as I mentioned from my own experience, so many people have no idea of the problem in the first place. This is because they are so used to feeling the way they do that they have no idea of what it feels like to be without their current worries internally.
One common complaint I always get in the fitness industry is “I have tried so many things but I just cannot ever seem to get this bump at the bottom of my tummy to disappear”. There is a very good reason – many times it has to do with a food they are ingesting that is causing the problem. Clients serious about their long term health often accept my suggestion of completing a cleanse on a type of sensitivity nutrition plan.
The proper thing to do for yourself would be to actually try and remove suspicious foods from your diet for a while. Even just 3 – 5 weeks of no gluten will create a significant difference in how your body reacts to nutrition and day to day events it needs to function through. After this period you can try re-introduce the suspicious food again. Try it after a break and you are bound to feel effects that could range from headaches, bloatedness, runny/congested nose, ear ache, vertigo, asthma, bronchitis, excessive phlegm, abdominal distention, muscle cramps, allergic myalgia, swelling joints, acne, eczema, nausea, diarrhea, constipation and others. The big thing to remember with sensitivities/allergies is that everyone will have differing reactions to different foods/stimulants. And abstaining for a few weeks does not necessarily solve the problem – these sorts of issues need to be looked at with the proper professionals.
Before even bothering to think about the physical benefits of the FLAT tummy / 6 pack abs, my clients are noticing the changes in their day to day health. More energy and better concentration are common features that are mentioned in how they feel.
My point to you is about your health and your abs. Underneath all the muscle you have all your organs. Your digestive organs are especially important in your overall health and immune system. The muscles surrounding these are also known as your “core stabilizers”. Muscles and organs act in the same way as joints and muscles do. If there is inflammation around the joint, the stabilizer muscles in that area tend to “switch off” and not do their job in the same way as when everything is working really well. The same can be said of the tummy when it is inflamed, bloated or sore. Your ab muscles surrounding it are going to be inflamed too. Which means they will stick out a bit further than you might want them to. So from a “look” and a functional perspective you are losing out. Your body is not physically going to be able to exercise as well as it could with no inflammation (because that mid-torso region is crucial to overall body strength and ability) and you are just not going to get that final flatness you really want for the beach.
If you have tried so many things already when it comes to exercise, have you tried looking at your food and your overall health instead? The flat abs body with the great physical shape come because the internal systems of your body are working really well, not because you are hammering yourself all the time in the gym. Start to work smart and look at the total system, not just bits and pieces of it – the health from within dictates the look outside.