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experiencelifemag.com
Print › | Back ›
Look Before You Leap
Whoa there, champ! Before you throw yourself full throttle into New Year's exercise mode, first consider where you really want to land.
By Fernando Pages Ruiz, CSCS |
January-February 2003 |
You wouldn't build a house without a set of blueprints or save for
retirement without a financial plan. Yet at the start of every year, many of
us embark on a fitness program fueled by good intentions but totally lacking
in strategy. Sure, we want to look good and feel even better. But without a
well-thought-out line of attack we make mistakes, become discouraged, and by
mid-March, about three-quarters of us drop out. So, what do the 25 percent
who stick with it have that the rest of us don't? It's the mental equivalent
of a treasure map with a big, bold "X" and detailed directions on how to get
there: a good goal and the right plan.
The "X" Factor
Unless you crave hunger pangs and find exercise equipment irresistible, the
drive to whittle your waistline is motivated by ambition. For most of us,
the aim is simply a more appealing reflection in the mirror. Some want to
remain healthy. A scant few of us actually target tangible objectives, like
running faster, or lifting more weight. But of the elusive 25 percent of
people who keep their fitness resolutions alive for years on end, success
belongs to the latter category: Those striving for specific goals that lend
themselves to objective measurement.
Face it, your looks change from day-to-day and often reflect more how you
feel about yourself than how you appear to others or what you've
accomplished in the gym. The only way to turn elusive ambitions like
"getting fit" into more tangible accomplishments, like running 10 miles, is
to set performance objectives and then track the milestones of your journey
so you can measure how far you've come. Can you run a little faster without
getting winded, or farther before you tire out? If so, you can be sure you
are on the right road.
Unless you are obese and need to lose weight to exercise safely, you're
better off embarking on a journey toward better performance – in aerobics,
weight training, flexibility or your favorite sport – than to try to achieve
a certain look. In this scheme, losing 10 pounds becomes a byproduct of your
work toward improved performance instead of the ultimate goal.
Aside from the obvious benefit of taking the onus off your looks, improved
performance represents a better measure of superior fitness than weight
loss. Performance measurements reward you for what you do, rather than what
you don't (such as the foods you've stopped eating). So the first step in
taking charge of your fitness is setting realistic performance goals and
finding a workout you can stick with long enough to achieve them.
Target Practice
The most common fitness goals include losing weight, gaining cardiovascular
endurance, building strong muscles and bones, and improving flexibility. To
translate these into performance objectives, you need to measure your
existing capacity through a General Fitness Assessment (available at any
health club). Once you have those results, you need to set realistic
targets, such as improving selected measures by a certain percent every few
months. Of course, the amount of improvement that each person can reasonably
hope to achieve depends on his or her level of conditioning. The good news
for beginners is that the more out of shape you are, the more quickly you'll
see progress.
Finding the perfect workout strategy remains a highly individual matter.
Slimming down may seem impractical to you if it means cutting out your
favorite foods. Cardiovascular endurance might feel vitally important, but
not if it involves hours of scuttling on a treadmill. You may want to be
strong but not look particularly muscular. Or perhaps you're looking for
yoga-like flexibility but don't give a darn about enlightenment. No matter
what your goal is, you'll have to find a unique path that leads you toward
that objective without unnecessary stops and side trips.
To design a program, you'll have to consider not only your fitness goals and
your existing level of conditioning, but personal issues such as whether you
like to work out alone or in a group, time constraints, and even financial
resources. To figure out what might work, here are a few questions to
consider:
Do you like repetitive, predictable activity that lets your mind wander?
- If yes, consider swimming, cycling, walking and running.
-
If you prefer challenges that require concentration and skill, try a
martial arts class, circuit training, or yoga.
Do you like accomplishing long-term objectives?
- If yes, pick an activity that holds multilevel contests or tournaments,
like 10k running, karate or racquetball.
-
If you live in the moment and prefer recreational games that don't require
tough moral fiber, try water aerobics, body sculpting, or join a
cross-country walking club.
Do you like exercising with other people?
- If yes, join a group fitness class or running club where you can be fueled
by group energy ? and even make new friends.
-
If you prefer to exercise alone, then walk, run, or cycle on a trail, and
wear headphones at the gym so no one will talk to you.
Do you like the battle cry of competition?
- If yes, pick a sport that requires keeping score, like basketball,
volleyball, racquetball or tennis. Or challenge someone to keep up with you
in a cycling or step class.
-
If you prefer music, attend a class that's choreographed to music, or pick
an activity like in-line skating or running that you can do with a portable
CD player.
Choosing Wisely
Whatever mode of exercise you select, it's at this early stage that many
people make their first mistake: They start pumping away as if exercise was
nothing more than mindless movement. Soon they are exhausted, sore, and
cursing the very notion of fitness.
"We live in a culture that tends toward extremes," explains Carol
Agneessens, a rolfer and registered movement therapist in Santa Cruz, Calif.
"We either exercise too much or we skip exercise altogether." The
all-or-nothing mentality also leads many people to choose the wrong routines
for their body types. Agneessens suggests that if you have a soft physique,
with joints unaccustomed to withstanding the high impact of aerobics or
running, you should not set out to run five miles, but instead start with a
low-impact exercise, like swimming.
She warns, too, against the heroic attitude that many people bring
to their workouts, as if exercising in spite of severe pain and exhaustion
offered health benefits. It doesn't. This kind of valor belongs in love and
war, she says – not at the health club.
In her book The Fabric of Wholeness: Biological Intelligence and Relational
Gravity, Agneessens explores the relationship of body systems working
together to produce graceful, effortless movement. Agneessens recommends
cross-training to prevent injuries associated with repetitive stress. "Try
different things and listen to your body. You'll know when you're overdoing
it, and when you find something that feels right for you," she says.
If you're 20 pounds or more overweight, if you smoke or just quit, or if you
haven't exercised in recent memory, your first step will be a small but
critical one: You'll need to get used to moving your body by getting into
pre-exercise shape. This can take several months and should be a pleasant,
rewarding experience – even if the bathroom scale doesn't immediately
acknowledge your effort.
Track Your Training
There's an axiom in exercise: If you aren't getting stronger, more muscular
or developing better endurance, you're probably doing something wrong. But
physiological changes occur slowly and often elude casual self-observation.
And working hard for no apparent result can become very discouraging indeed.
So track your progress from the beginning. Because whether you just started
exercising today, or have recently completed your 10th marathon, it's
impossible to break personal-best records that don't exist.
A certified trainer at your health club can provide a battery of tests that
determine your body-fat ratios, strength, flexibility and endurance. Every
six to 12 weeks, reassess your fitness with another testing session. Keep
these records along with a daily exercise log and you'll begin to discover a
relationship between what you do and which routines provide the best
results. Sure, you should watch your weight. But if you track your training
progress, you'll tune into measurements that no bathroom scale or BMI chart
can deliver (see "Re-Assess Your Assessments," at the end of this article).
If you start gaining muscle (a good thing) it can translate into added
pounds. But a body-fat measurement just might console you that you are still
losing chub. On the other hand, you may discover that gains in one area
(such as endurance) are not supporting your goals in another (such as
strength). Subtle changes in your program may be required to keep you aimed
in the right direction. Improvements may seem small from week to week, but
as long as they are measurable, they'll give you an idea about where you're
headed. Without periodic testing, you might not be aware that your workout
routine needs an adjustment until you're a long way down the wrong road.
Getting Good Help
Although exercise isn't rocket science, it's a science nonetheless, and if
you're not happy with your progress, you may want to enlist professional
help. Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned gym rat, you can benefit from
hiring a certified personal trainer. A trainer can teach you how to use
exercise equipment correctly and help you develop a program that meets your
goals. A good trainer knows how to work around injuries and how to tailor an
exercise program to individual needs. He or she also knows how to motivate
you and communicate enthusiasm for your progress. You'll know when you're
working with a good trainer because no matter what level you are working on,
you'll feel like an Olympic athlete.
Since anyone can put on a pair of spandex shorts and print up business
cards, there are a lot of unqualified trainers out there. Make sure yours is
certified from a national organization such as the National Strength and
Conditioning Association, the National Association of Sports Medicine or the
American College of Sports Medicine.
Otherwise, hiring a trainer is a little like choosing a spouse: Your first
concern should be compatibility. Does your trainer motivate you and seem to
understand your goals? A trainer should have a broad level of experience,
including free weights, machines, cardiovascular training, flexibility, and
sport-specific knowledge. But remember, just like any specialist, trainers
usually know one thing best.
So if you want to get stronger without
muscling up, your best guide would be a trainer with a dance or gymnastics
background instead of a football player who is also a free weights expert.
On the other hand, if you want to look like the Incredible Hulk, avoid the
yoga teacher and choose a trainer with a bodybuilding background.
Jase Graber, a kinesiologist and personal trainer certified by the National
Association of Sports Medicine, often spends months working with clients to
undo the damage wrought by unqualified trainers. "For most people, the first
step isn't muscle building, or aerobic endurance, it is actually learning
good posture," says Graber. Our sedentary way of life leads to postural
misalignments that wrench the spine and strain the joints, Graber explains.
Strengthen yourself without correcting these muscle imbalances first, and
you effectively fuse your skeletomuscular system out of whack. Imagine your
body as drawn by Picasso in his cubist phase. Get the picture?
The body tends to favor its strongest muscles and uses these at the expense
of weaker ones, so the first thing Graber does with new clients is to study
their postural alignment to begin reversing this tendency. Essentially, he
retrains them to hold their body in alignment and use all of their muscles
properly. "A lot of times this doesn't look like typical exercise; it looks
more like Pilates," he says. After fixing the imbalances, Graber moves his
clients into a more traditional workout – but always with an absolute focus
on perfect form.
Of course, any well-rounded, nationally certified trainer can help design a
program tailored to your specific goals. But a trainer who shares your
goals, who is on the same page with you philosophically, will provide the
best training. And what's more, he or she can also become a role model. So
take the time to find someone who shares your exercise agenda, who takes an
interest in you personally, and who motivates you toward goals that fit your
age and temperament.
Landing Well
Launching yourself energetically into an exercise plan is one thing. Liking
where you end up is another. No matter how great your plan, if you are
embarking on a new fitness regimen – particularly one that is intended to
affect a dramatic change in your body – you should be prepared for some
surprises along the way. Some of them, no doubt, you will love; others may
take some adjustment.
It may be, for example, that you make faster progress, or slower progress,
than you anticipated. It may be that you start feeling different in your
body than you have in the past, or that your priorities and interests begin
shifting. It may even be that just as things start going really well, you
start finding ways to undermine your own success and return to the "safe"
reality you knew before.
So review and revise your plan as necessary. Celebrate your successes, but
don't be shocked by setbacks. Above all, look at your fitness approach as
both a strategic action plan and as an experimental adventure. While you
will start with an empowering destination in mind, there are also likely to
be many interesting stops and segues throughout the journey. So keep your
goals always in sight, make your course corrections as necessary. And don't
forget to enjoy the discoveries you encounter as you go.
Where to Start
Yes, It would be nice if we could become svelte and strong overnight. But it
just doesn't work that way. In fact, first off, most of us need to develop
enough strength and endurance to make "real" exercise – the kind of workout
that yields results you can see in the mirror – possible.
If you are more than 30 pounds overweight, start out by training
consistently at about 50 percent or less of your maximum capacity. As you
get closer to your ideal size (not more than 10 to 15 pounds overweight) you
can start to shift your program from fat loss to muscle building.
Don't worry, you'll get back to burning off fat in the next training
cycle, but first you want to gain enough strength and stamina to support
your efforts. You'll find it's hard to restrict calories, especially
proteins and fat, when you engage in a serious strength-training regimen.
Your body demands fuel, and this is an excellent time to learn how to eat
well, rather than eat less.
After eight to 12 weeks on a strength-training program, it's time to shift
back into a fat-reduction mode. This does not mean you have to abandon the
barbells entirely, but you'll want to emphasize endurance and aerobics. You
can harness the power you gained during the strength phase to intensify your
aerobic exercise and speed up your metabolism.
At this stage you may want to start interval training (varying your speed
and intensity) to increase the efficiency of your aerobic workouts. When
you're back in the weight room, instead of isolating your lifts with rest
periods, try circuit training: Move from one exercise to the next without a
rest interval, or run a lap between sets. Increase your repetitions, but use
lighter weights. Your heart will pump, you'll sweat, and your body will
start to crave carbohydrates, so don't try the Atkins diet at this time. But
do watch your intake of sweets, carbs and sugary liquids. A single
self-indulgent meal can ruin hours of exercise. Choose water over sugary
drinks, complex carbs over starches and sweets, wine over beer, and then
watch the pounds take their leave.
Mission accomplished? Not quite. It's important not to get attached to any
one fitness program because gains wane as your body adjusts to the physical
demands. Plus, your brain tires of the routine. So, once you've lost another
10 to 15 pounds (figure this'll take six to eight weeks), resume strength
training. As soon as you shift back to muscle-building mode, a few of those
pounds shed during the aerobics and endurance phase will find their way back
into your subcutaneous tissues. But you'll be back to fighting fat in about
six to eight weeks, with even bigger guns. Soon, even your most ambitious
fitness goals will come into clear view.
Hey, Look at You!
Scientific assessments and formulae have their merits, but they don't
entirely preclude the low-tech approach of checking yourself out in the
mirror. If your muscle tone looks significantly better than it did last
month, your workout is doing the trick. If you're not getting results, don't
keep wasting your time with the wrong trainer or routine.
Another important subjective measure is how you feel. If your program is
working, you should notice that you have more strength and energy. If you're
wiped out for days on end, you're probably overtraining. You'll reap more
from a regimen that feels right to you than any hypothetical super-training
method developed by some jock for a college football team. Remember, the
only successful fitness plan is the one you'll stick with and enjoy!
Bodybuilding vs. Body Sculpting
There are two ways to create shape: By adding or subtracting. While the
mason bonds bricks to construct a wall, the sculptor chips away at the stone
to reveal its latent form. Similarly, bodybuilding and body sculpting
represent two different approaches to looking more muscular. One involves
stimulating the growth of lean body tissue, while the other involves
shedding fat. This distinction reveals another common pitfall taken by
exercisers – trying to build muscle while rapidly reducing fat.
While it is possible to tilt the balance toward bigger and leaner, trying to
do both simultaneously can be an exercise in futility. Pumping iron
certainly won't trim your waistline as effectively as dieting and aerobics.
On the other hand, restricting calories and doing hours of step classes will
defeat your muscle-building work in the weight room. When you start a
training program it's important to choose one goal at a time and emphasize
it until you have obtained a specific result.
Don't Play to Your Strengths
Funny thing: Flexible people tend to like yoga. Strong, compact people often
enjoy resistence training. Those with strong lungs get the biggest kick out
of cardio. But all these types would do well to swap their routines now and
then, even if it means sometimes working outside of their comfort zone.
While it's fine to design your training around your personality and
your natural physique, don't fall into the trap of developing a mindless,
too-easy or homogenous routine. No matter how much you enjoy a specific type
of exercise, your day-to-day training should still vary – from session to
session and throughout the year – to develop a balance between strength,
endurance and flexibility.
Think of it this way: All exercises have an
expiration date of four to eight weeks. If you vary your workouts at least
four times a year, you'll begin to discover specific combinations that work
well for you. You'll also avoid getting hurt by overtaxing your joints with
repetitive motions, and you'll learn more about the science of exercise,
which helps you become a more knowledgeable fitness consumer.
Ultimately, to take charge of your body you have to become better educated,
develop a personal plan and then learn to make subtle adjustments as you
progress toward your goals. Remember, the best program or personal trainer
on earth can't substitute for intelligent self-awareness. In the words of a
famous yogi, *Your body knows best.* So listen to it, and little by little
it will take you where you want to go.
Reassessing Assessments
Not sure if you should be tracking your BMI, BIA or the thickness of your
arm flab? Here's the skinny on the most popular body-composition
measurements.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Popularized 30 years ago and still used by nutritionists and health
professionals to gauge a person's weight-related health risks, the Body Mass
Index is a popular assessment tool mainly because it's so easy to use: All
you need is your height and weight and access to a BMI Chart. (You can take
a look at one online at www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm.)
For ballpark evaluations, it's okay. But according to Dr. Terry Shepherd, a
professor of exercise physiology at Marshall University in West Virginia and
the owner and creator of The HIT (High Intensity Training) Center, there are
several reasons why the BMI chart is not an ideal or accurate gauge of a
person's body composition – particularly for an individual who is building
muscle.
In fact, the BMI is not really much use for individuals in general, he says.
"If you want to know what the general fatness level is of the citizens of
New York, then BMI is a useful tool because it is calculated to give a good
estimate of distinct populations."
In essence, the equations that determine BMI have been created to average
out people on all ends of the fitness spectrum. But as any annoyed athlete
or bodybuilder who's had a BMI chart indicate that he or she is obese can
attest, averages don't do you any good if you aren't average. If you weigh a
lot because you're a buff specimen of solid muscle, a BMI chart will not get
you even close to an accurate result.
Another reason why BMI is often inaccurate is because there are no specific
indicators for men vs. women, despite their very different body
compositions. Race, ethnicity, nationality and age also affect body
composition, but none of this is taken into account. Plus, the weight ranges
within the BMI chart are themselves comparatively huge. Bottom line: Look
yourself up if you must, but please take the results with a grain of salt –
and all of the caveats issued above.
BIA Analyzer
Another popular but often misleading assessment tool is bioelectrical
impedance analysis (BIA). Similar in appearance to a bathroom scale, BIA
analyzers shoot electricity through the body to measure fat. The problem is
that in order to get an accurate reading you must have fasted, be optimally
hydrated, and not have exercised for several hours. "It's good for someone
lying in a hospital bed," says Dr. Shepherd. "But hardly anyone who uses it
in a health club setting will meet the criteria for accuracy. People jump on
a BIA analyzer after working out, get wacky results and become very upset."
Skinfold Measurements
Measuring a person's skinfolds is the most widely used body-composition
testing method for assessing body-fat percentage. A caliper is used to pinch
several areas on the body to measure subcutaneous fat tissue. The advantages
are that it's noninvasive, inexpensive and easy to perform. But to get
accurate results, a well-trained pro must perform the procedure and the
calculations. Furthermore, all follow-up measurements must be taken by the
same person in order to account for human error. Dr. Shepherd cautions that
the equations used are based on the general population and are therefore
vulnerable to the same flaws of BMI. He suggests that a more accurate way to
access your progress is to skip the part of the procedure that converts the
readings to percentages and instead just track the raw measurements as
benchmarks of your progress.
Displacement
Also known as hydrostatic weighing, this method employs Archimedes's
principle, which states that when a body is submerged in water, there is a
buoyant counterforce equal to the weight of the water that is displaced.
Because bone and muscle are denser than water, a person with less body fat
will weigh more in the water than someone with excess body fat. Currently considered the gold standard in body composition assessment,
underwater weighing is highly accurate if it is performed correctly. But for
it to work properly, the person being measured needs to be able to exhale
all the air out of his or her lungs while underwater. In other words, if you
have issues with being submerged, this is not the method for you. Dr.
Shepherd believes that underwater weighing will soon be replaced by a
technology called the Bod Pod®. Basically an egg-shaped capsule you can sit
in, Bod Pod uses air pressure to arrive at the exact same figure as
underwater weighing. For more information, check out the Bod Pod Web site at www.bodpod.com.
The Bathroom Scale
Anyone who is into fitness knows that the bathroom scale is not the most
accurate way to measure your body composition. So it's surprising that Dr.
Shepherd has anything good to say about it. "The scale is a very important
tool," he says. Assuming you also have a mirror to tell you when you are
gaining muscle weight and when you are just packing on the flab, "it's a
very simple way to know if you are putting on unwanted weight." No need to
weigh yourself daily, says Dr. Shepherd, but do keep track of your weight
over the long run. If you see the scale creeping up over the course of a
month or so (and if your tape measure confirms the trend), you know it's
time to re-evaluate your diet, exercise or both.
Common Sense
If you feel strong and energetic, if you can move with grace and take pride
in your body's integrity, then you are probably within range of a healthy
(if not perfectly ideal) weight. Many health experts insist that your real
"ideal weight" is the one your body naturally achieves when you are living
right, feeling happy, eating a moderate, healthy diet and exercising daily.
Create those conditions, and you may decide to toss all the other means of
assessment out the window for good.
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Look Before You Leap
Whoa there, champ! Before you throw yourself full throttle into New Year's exercise mode, first consider where you really want to land.
By Fernando Pages Ruiz, CSCS | Features,
January-February 2003 |
You wouldn't build a house without a set of blueprints or save for
retirement without a financial plan. Yet at the start of every year, many of
us embark on a fitness program fueled by good intentions but totally lacking
in strategy. Sure, we want to look good and feel even better. But without a
well-thought-out line of attack we make mistakes, become discouraged, and by
mid-March, about three-quarters of us drop out. So, what do the 25 percent
who stick with it have that the rest of us don't? It's the mental equivalent
of a treasure map with a big, bold "X" and detailed directions on how to get
there: a good goal and the right plan.
The "X" Factor
Unless you crave hunger pangs and find exercise equipment irresistible, the
drive to whittle your waistline is motivated by ambition. For most of us,
the aim is simply a more appealing reflection in the mirror. Some want to
remain healthy. A scant few of us actually target tangible objectives, like
running faster, or lifting more weight. But of the elusive 25 percent of
people who keep their fitness resolutions alive for years on end, success
belongs to the latter category: Those striving for specific goals that lend
themselves to objective measurement.
Face it, your looks change from day-to-day and often reflect more how you
feel about yourself than how you appear to others or what you've
accomplished in the gym. The only way to turn elusive ambitions like
"getting fit" into more tangible accomplishments, like running 10 miles, is
to set performance objectives and then track the milestones of your journey
so you can measure how far you've come. Can you run a little faster without
getting winded, or farther before you tire out? If so, you can be sure you
are on the right road.
Unless you are obese and need to lose weight to exercise safely, you're
better off embarking on a journey toward better performance – in aerobics,
weight training, flexibility or your favorite sport – than to try to achieve
a certain look. In this scheme, losing 10 pounds becomes a byproduct of your
work toward improved performance instead of the ultimate goal.
Aside from the obvious benefit of taking the onus off your looks, improved
performance represents a better measure of superior fitness than weight
loss. Performance measurements reward you for what you do, rather than what
you don't (such as the foods you've stopped eating). So the first step in
taking charge of your fitness is setting realistic performance goals and
finding a workout you can stick with long enough to achieve them.
Target Practice
The most common fitness goals include losing weight, gaining cardiovascular
endurance, building strong muscles and bones, and improving flexibility. To
translate these into performance objectives, you need to measure your
existing capacity through a General Fitness Assessment (available at any
health club). Once you have those results, you need to set realistic
targets, such as improving selected measures by a certain percent every few
months. Of course, the amount of improvement that each person can reasonably
hope to achieve depends on his or her level of conditioning. The good news
for beginners is that the more out of shape you are, the more quickly you'll
see progress.
Finding the perfect workout strategy remains a highly individual matter.
Slimming down may seem impractical to you if it means cutting out your
favorite foods. Cardiovascular endurance might feel vitally important, but
not if it involves hours of scuttling on a treadmill. You may want to be
strong but not look particularly muscular. Or perhaps you're looking for
yoga-like flexibility but don't give a darn about enlightenment. No matter
what your goal is, you'll have to find a unique path that leads you toward
that objective without unnecessary stops and side trips.
To design a program, you'll have to consider not only your fitness goals and
your existing level of conditioning, but personal issues such as whether you
like to work out alone or in a group, time constraints, and even financial
resources. To figure out what might work, here are a few questions to
consider:
Do you like repetitive, predictable activity that lets your mind wander?
- If yes, consider swimming, cycling, walking and running.
-
If you prefer challenges that require concentration and skill, try a
martial arts class, circuit training, or yoga.
Do you like accomplishing long-term objectives?
- If yes, pick an activity that holds multilevel contests or tournaments,
like 10k running, karate or racquetball.
-
If you live in the moment and prefer recreational games that don't require
tough moral fiber, try water aerobics, body sculpting, or join a
cross-country walking club.
Do you like exercising with other people?
- If yes, join a group fitness class or running club where you can be fueled
by group energy ? and even make new friends.
-
If you prefer to exercise alone, then walk, run, or cycle on a trail, and
wear headphones at the gym so no one will talk to you.
Do you like the battle cry of competition?
- If yes, pick a sport that requires keeping score, like basketball,
volleyball, racquetball or tennis. Or challenge someone to keep up with you
in a cycling or step class.
-
If you prefer music, attend a class that's choreographed to music, or pick
an activity like in-line skating or running that you can do with a portable
CD player.
Choosing Wisely
Whatever mode of exercise you select, it's at this early stage that many
people make their first mistake: They start pumping away as if exercise was
nothing more than mindless movement. Soon they are exhausted, sore, and
cursing the very notion of fitness.
"We live in a culture that tends toward extremes," explains Carol
Agneessens, a rolfer and registered movement therapist in Santa Cruz, Calif.
"We either exercise too much or we skip exercise altogether." The
all-or-nothing mentality also leads many people to choose the wrong routines
for their body types. Agneessens suggests that if you have a soft physique,
with joints unaccustomed to withstanding the high impact of aerobics or
running, you should not set out to run five miles, but instead start with a
low-impact exercise, like swimming.
She warns, too, against the heroic attitude that many people bring
to their workouts, as if exercising in spite of severe pain and exhaustion
offered health benefits. It doesn't. This kind of valor belongs in love and
war, she says – not at the health club.
In her book The Fabric of Wholeness: Biological Intelligence and Relational
Gravity, Agneessens explores the relationship of body systems working
together to produce graceful, effortless movement. Agneessens recommends
cross-training to prevent injuries associated with repetitive stress. "Try
different things and listen to your body. You'll know when you're overdoing
it, and when you find something that feels right for you," she says.
If you're 20 pounds or more overweight, if you smoke or just quit, or if you
haven't exercised in recent memory, your first step will be a small but
critical one: You'll need to get used to moving your body by getting into
pre-exercise shape. This can take several months and should be a pleasant,
rewarding experience – even if the bathroom scale doesn't immediately
acknowledge your effort.
Track Your Training
There's an axiom in exercise: If you aren't getting stronger, more muscular
or developing better endurance, you're probably doing something wrong. But
physiological changes occur slowly and often elude casual self-observation.
And working hard for no apparent result can become very discouraging indeed.
So track your progress from the beginning. Because whether you just started
exercising today, or have recently completed your 10th marathon, it's
impossible to break personal-best records that don't exist.
A certified trainer at your health club can provide a battery of tests that
determine your body-fat ratios, strength, flexibility and endurance. Every
six to 12 weeks, reassess your fitness with another testing session. Keep
these records along with a daily exercise log and you'll begin to discover a
relationship between what you do and which routines provide the best
results. Sure, you should watch your weight. But if you track your training
progress, you'll tune into measurements that no bathroom scale or BMI chart
can deliver (see "Re-Assess Your Assessments," at the end of this article).
If you start gaining muscle (a good thing) it can translate into added
pounds. But a body-fat measurement just might console you that you are still
losing chub. On the other hand, you may discover that gains in one area
(such as endurance) are not supporting your goals in another (such as
strength). Subtle changes in your program may be required to keep you aimed
in the right direction. Improvements may seem small from week to week, but
as long as they are measurable, they'll give you an idea about where you're
headed. Without periodic testing, you might not be aware that your workout
routine needs an adjustment until you're a long way down the wrong road.
Getting Good Help
Although exercise isn't rocket science, it's a science nonetheless, and if
you're not happy with your progress, you may want to enlist professional
help. Whether you're a newbie or a seasoned gym rat, you can benefit from
hiring a certified personal trainer. A trainer can teach you how to use
exercise equipment correctly and help you develop a program that meets your
goals. A good trainer knows how to work around injuries and how to tailor an
exercise program to individual needs. He or she also knows how to motivate
you and communicate enthusiasm for your progress. You'll know when you're
working with a good trainer because no matter what level you are working on,
you'll feel like an Olympic athlete.
Since anyone can put on a pair of spandex shorts and print up business
cards, there are a lot of unqualified trainers out there. Make sure yours is
certified from a national organization such as the National Strength and
Conditioning Association, the National Association of Sports Medicine or the
American College of Sports Medicine.
Otherwise, hiring a trainer is a little like choosing a spouse: Your first
concern should be compatibility. Does your trainer motivate you and seem to
understand your goals? A trainer should have a broad level of experience,
including free weights, machines, cardiovascular training, flexibility, and
sport-specific knowledge. But remember, just like any specialist, trainers
usually know one thing best.
So if you want to get stronger without
muscling up, your best guide would be a trainer with a dance or gymnastics
background instead of a football player who is also a free weights expert.
On the other hand, if you want to look like the Incredible Hulk, avoid the
yoga teacher and choose a trainer with a bodybuilding background.
Jase Graber, a kinesiologist and personal trainer certified by the National
Association of Sports Medicine, often spends months working with clients to
undo the damage wrought by unqualified trainers. "For most people, the first
step isn't muscle building, or aerobic endurance, it is actually learning
good posture," says Graber. Our sedentary way of life leads to postural
misalignments that wrench the spine and strain the joints, Graber explains.
Strengthen yourself without correcting these muscle imbalances first, and
you effectively fuse your skeletomuscular system out of whack. Imagine your
body as drawn by Picasso in his cubist phase. Get the picture?
The body tends to favor its strongest muscles and uses these at the expense
of weaker ones, so the first thing Graber does with new clients is to study
their postural alignment to begin reversing this tendency. Essentially, he
retrains them to hold their body in alignment and use all of their muscles
properly. "A lot of times this doesn't look like typical exercise; it looks
more like Pilates," he says. After fixing the imbalances, Graber moves his
clients into a more traditional workout – but always with an absolute focus
on perfect form.
Of course, any well-rounded, nationally certified trainer can help design a
program tailored to your specific goals. But a trainer who shares your
goals, who is on the same page with you philosophically, will provide the
best training. And what's more, he or she can also become a role model. So
take the time to find someone who shares your exercise agenda, who takes an
interest in you personally, and who motivates you toward goals that fit your
age and temperament.
Landing Well
Launching yourself energetically into an exercise plan is one thing. Liking
where you end up is another. No matter how great your plan, if you are
embarking on a new fitness regimen – particularly one that is intended to
affect a dramatic change in your body – you should be prepared for some
surprises along the way. Some of them, no doubt, you will love; others may
take some adjustment.
It may be, for example, that you make faster progress, or slower progress,
than you anticipated. It may be that you start feeling different in your
body than you have in the past, or that your priorities and interests begin
shifting. It may even be that just as things start going really well, you
start finding ways to undermine your own success and return to the "safe"
reality you knew before.
So review and revise your plan as necessary. Celebrate your successes, but
don't be shocked by setbacks. Above all, look at your fitness approach as
both a strategic action plan and as an experimental adventure. While you
will start with an empowering destination in mind, there are also likely to
be many interesting stops and segues throughout the journey. So keep your
goals always in sight, make your course corrections as necessary. And don't
forget to enjoy the discoveries you encounter as you go.
Where to Start
Yes, It would be nice if we could become svelte and strong overnight. But it
just doesn't work that way. In fact, first off, most of us need to develop
enough strength and endurance to make "real" exercise – the kind of workout
that yields results you can see in the mirror – possible.
If you are more than 30 pounds overweight, start out by training
consistently at about 50 percent or less of your maximum capacity. As you
get closer to your ideal size (not more than 10 to 15 pounds overweight) you
can start to shift your program from fat loss to muscle building.
Don't worry, you'll get back to burning off fat in the next training
cycle, but first you want to gain enough strength and stamina to support
your efforts. You'll find it's hard to restrict calories, especially
proteins and fat, when you engage in a serious strength-training regimen.
Your body demands fuel, and this is an excellent time to learn how to eat
well, rather than eat less.
After eight to 12 weeks on a strength-training program, it's time to shift
back into a fat-reduction mode. This does not mean you have to abandon the
barbells entirely, but you'll want to emphasize endurance and aerobics. You
can harness the power you gained during the strength phase to intensify your
aerobic exercise and speed up your metabolism.
At this stage you may want to start interval training (varying your speed
and intensity) to increase the efficiency of your aerobic workouts. When
you're back in the weight room, instead of isolating your lifts with rest
periods, try circuit training: Move from one exercise to the next without a
rest interval, or run a lap between sets. Increase your repetitions, but use
lighter weights. Your heart will pump, you'll sweat, and your body will
start to crave carbohydrates, so don't try the Atkins diet at this time. But
do watch your intake of sweets, carbs and sugary liquids. A single
self-indulgent meal can ruin hours of exercise. Choose water over sugary
drinks, complex carbs over starches and sweets, wine over beer, and then
watch the pounds take their leave.
Mission accomplished? Not quite. It's important not to get attached to any
one fitness program because gains wane as your body adjusts to the physical
demands. Plus, your brain tires of the routine. So, once you've lost another
10 to 15 pounds (figure this'll take six to eight weeks), resume strength
training. As soon as you shift back to muscle-building mode, a few of those
pounds shed during the aerobics and endurance phase will find their way back
into your subcutaneous tissues. But you'll be back to fighting fat in about
six to eight weeks, with even bigger guns. Soon, even your most ambitious
fitness goals will come into clear view.
Hey, Look at You!
Scientific assessments and formulae have their merits, but they don't
entirely preclude the low-tech approach of checking yourself out in the
mirror. If your muscle tone looks significantly better than it did last
month, your workout is doing the trick. If you're not getting results, don't
keep wasting your time with the wrong trainer or routine.
Another important subjective measure is how you feel. If your program is
working, you should notice that you have more strength and energy. If you're
wiped out for days on end, you're probably overtraining. You'll reap more
from a regimen that feels right to you than any hypothetical super-training
method developed by some jock for a college football team. Remember, the
only successful fitness plan is the one you'll stick with and enjoy!
Bodybuilding vs. Body Sculpting
There are two ways to create shape: By adding or subtracting. While the
mason bonds bricks to construct a wall, the sculptor chips away at the stone
to reveal its latent form. Similarly, bodybuilding and body sculpting
represent two different approaches to looking more muscular. One involves
stimulating the growth of lean body tissue, while the other involves
shedding fat. This distinction reveals another common pitfall taken by
exercisers – trying to build muscle while rapidly reducing fat.
While it is possible to tilt the balance toward bigger and leaner, trying to
do both simultaneously can be an exercise in futility. Pumping iron
certainly won't trim your waistline as effectively as dieting and aerobics.
On the other hand, restricting calories and doing hours of step classes will
defeat your muscle-building work in the weight room. When you start a
training program it's important to choose one goal at a time and emphasize
it until you have obtained a specific result.
Don't Play to Your Strengths
Funny thing: Flexible people tend to like yoga. Strong, compact people often
enjoy resistence training. Those with strong lungs get the biggest kick out
of cardio. But all these types would do well to swap their routines now and
then, even if it means sometimes working outside of their comfort zone.
While it's fine to design your training around your personality and
your natural physique, don't fall into the trap of developing a mindless,
too-easy or homogenous routine. No matter how much you enjoy a specific type
of exercise, your day-to-day training should still vary – from session to
session and throughout the year – to develop a balance between strength,
endurance and flexibility.
Think of it this way: All exercises have an
expiration date of four to eight weeks. If you vary your workouts at least
four times a year, you'll begin to discover specific combinations that work
well for you. You'll also avoid getting hurt by overtaxing your joints with
repetitive motions, and you'll learn more about the science of exercise,
which helps you become a more knowledgeable fitness consumer.
Ultimately, to take charge of your body you have to become better educated,
develop a personal plan and then learn to make subtle adjustments as you
progress toward your goals. Remember, the best program or personal trainer
on earth can't substitute for intelligent self-awareness. In the words of a
famous yogi, *Your body knows best.* So listen to it, and little by little
it will take you where you want to go.
Reassessing Assessments
Not sure if you should be tracking your BMI, BIA or the thickness of your
arm flab? Here's the skinny on the most popular body-composition
measurements.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
Popularized 30 years ago and still used by nutritionists and health
professionals to gauge a person's weight-related health risks, the Body Mass
Index is a popular assessment tool mainly because it's so easy to use: All
you need is your height and weight and access to a BMI Chart. (You can take
a look at one online at www.consumer.gov/weightloss/bmi.htm.)
For ballpark evaluations, it's okay. But according to Dr. Terry Shepherd, a
professor of exercise physiology at Marshall University in West Virginia and
the owner and creator of The HIT (High Intensity Training) Center, there are
several reasons why the BMI chart is not an ideal or accurate gauge of a
person's body composition – particularly for an individual who is building
muscle.
In fact, the BMI is not really much use for individuals in general, he says.
"If you want to know what the general fatness level is of the citizens of
New York, then BMI is a useful tool because it is calculated to give a good
estimate of distinct populations."
In essence, the equations that determine BMI have been created to average
out people on all ends of the fitness spectrum. But as any annoyed athlete
or bodybuilder who's had a BMI chart indicate that he or she is obese can
attest, averages don't do you any good if you aren't average. If you weigh a
lot because you're a buff specimen of solid muscle, a BMI chart will not get
you even close to an accurate result.
Another reason why BMI is often inaccurate is because there are no specific
indicators for men vs. women, despite their very different body
compositions. Race, ethnicity, nationality and age also affect body
composition, but none of this is taken into account. Plus, the weight ranges
within the BMI chart are themselves comparatively huge. Bottom line: Look
yourself up if you must, but please take the results with a grain of salt –
and all of the caveats issued above.
BIA Analyzer
Another popular but often misleading assessment tool is bioelectrical
impedance analysis (BIA). Similar in appearance to a bathroom scale, BIA
analyzers shoot electricity through the body to measure fat. The problem is
that in order to get an accurate reading you must have fasted, be optimally
hydrated, and not have exercised for several hours. "It's good for someone
lying in a hospital bed," says Dr. Shepherd. "But hardly anyone who uses it
in a health club setting will meet the criteria for accuracy. People jump on
a BIA analyzer after working out, get wacky results and become very upset."
Skinfold Measurements
Measuring a person's skinfolds is the most widely used body-composition
testing method for assessing body-fat percentage. A caliper is used to pinch
several areas on the body to measure subcutaneous fat tissue. The advantages
are that it's noninvasive, inexpensive and easy to perform. But to get
accurate results, a well-trained pro must perform the procedure and the
calculations. Furthermore, all follow-up measurements must be taken by the
same person in order to account for human error. Dr. Shepherd cautions that
the equations used are based on the general population and are therefore
vulnerable to the same flaws of BMI. He suggests that a more accurate way to
access your progress is to skip the part of the procedure that converts the
readings to percentages and instead just track the raw measurements as
benchmarks of your progress.
Displacement
Also known as hydrostatic weighing, this method employs Archimedes's
principle, which states that when a body is submerged in water, there is a
buoyant counterforce equal to the weight of the water that is displaced.
Because bone and muscle are denser than water, a person with less body fat
will weigh more in the water than someone with excess body fat. Currently considered the gold standard in body composition assessment,
underwater weighing is highly accurate if it is performed correctly. But for
it to work properly, the person being measured needs to be able to exhale
all the air out of his or her lungs while underwater. In other words, if you
have issues with being submerged, this is not the method for you. Dr.
Shepherd believes that underwater weighing will soon be replaced by a
technology called the Bod Pod®. Basically an egg-shaped capsule you can sit
in, Bod Pod uses air pressure to arrive at the exact same figure as
underwater weighing. For more information, check out the Bod Pod Web site at www.bodpod.com.
The Bathroom Scale
Anyone who is into fitness knows that the bathroom scale is not the most
accurate way to measure your body composition. So it's surprising that Dr.
Shepherd has anything good to say about it. "The scale is a very important
tool," he says. Assuming you also have a mirror to tell you when you are
gaining muscle weight and when you are just packing on the flab, "it's a
very simple way to know if you are putting on unwanted weight." No need to
weigh yourself daily, says Dr. Shepherd, but do keep track of your weight
over the long run. If you see the scale creeping up over the course of a
month or so (and if your tape measure confirms the trend), you know it's
time to re-evaluate your diet, exercise or both.
Common Sense
If you feel strong and energetic, if you can move with grace and take pride
in your body's integrity, then you are probably within range of a healthy
(if not perfectly ideal) weight. Many health experts insist that your real
"ideal weight" is the one your body naturally achieves when you are living
right, feeling happy, eating a moderate, healthy diet and exercising daily.
Create those conditions, and you may decide to toss all the other means of
assessment out the window for good.
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