Better Is Better

Momentum

It is so easy to be optimistic, enthusiastic and energetic about our goals when we have momentum.  In fact, when I started my coaching business I named it Momentum Coaching for that very reason.  I gear my clients' training around staying in that momentum zone which will constantly carry them forward.  But what sets the successful apart is their ability to push through when the momentum slows, stops or even reverses a bit.

What brought this musing on is the ranking on my No-nonsense Healthy Fat Loss lens on Squidoo.  Since launching the Lens, it has seen a meteoric rise in rankings.  But today for the first time it took a small dip.  For a minute or two I was a bit dejected about it, but then I remembered that the internet is a fickle place and that I created the Lens to help people get the body they want, in a healthy way, over the long haul.  So I won't let day to day dips get in my way of being enthusiastic about my project.

The same holds true with our healthy lifestyle.  You may slip from time to time.  Perhaps you eat a meal which is not compliant with your plan for healthy nutrition.  Perhaps you miss a training session.  But the important thing is to not allow that slip-up to serve as an excuse for slipping into a little pitty-party which ends up turning into a huge food binge or a week off from training.  I have found the best way to ensure that I get back into the "momentum zone" is to have principles and a plan.  For instance, if I adhere to nutritional principles (rather than a "diet) it is much easier to get back on track.  I know that I do eat certain types of foods and I don't eat other types of foods, so when I get back on the wagon I just need to stick to my guns.  That way, it is not a complicated process of counting portions, carbs, calories, grams, etc.  Once I am following my principles, it is easy to get the portions, etc sussed out.

As I mentioned, the other trick is to have a plan.  If you do not have a training plan and a nutritional plan it is easy to slide out of the momentum zone.  If you just "work out" (exercise without a concrete training goal and a plan of how to get there) it is easy to put off a session or two or three.  If you are training for something, it is a lot harder to justify missing an extra session if you have already missed one.  With one eye on the goal, be it health, fat loss, sports performance or muscle gain, you will feel the pain when you don't train.  You will want to keep the momentum going because you can see the destination.  If you are just working out, there is no destination.

So get a plan, define your principles, start training and you will hit the "momentum zone."

Cardio Smarts

I've been experimenting a lot lately with different ways of applying HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  Did you know that such high intensity intervals results in a 9 fold greater fat loss, calorie for calorie burned, versus steady state cardio.  This is because the body has to work so hard post exercise to climb back to a normal metabolic state (EPOC - Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption).  You can find some further information on HIIT at my No-nonsense, Healthy Fat Loss page on Squidoo.

One of my favorite HIIT protocols, which I used recently in one of my Training Hierarchy Pyramids is the Tabata protocol.  Check out the benefits in the following excerpt...

Men's Fitness, May, 2004 by Alex Koch
In Tabata's study, the researchers found that guys who used the routine five days a week for six weeks improved their maximum aerobic capacity (a measure of your body's ability to consume oxygen--the more oxygen you can take in, the longer and harder you'll be able to run) by 14%. What's more, it also improved anaerobic capacity (which measures your speed endurance, or the duration you're able to sprint at full effort) by 28%. So the Tabata Protocol is the rare workout that benefits both endurance athletes and sprinters--hard to accomplish. Consider: A study of traditional aerobic training--running at 70% of aerobic capacity for 60 minutes--for the same number of weeks showed an improvement in aerobic capacity of 9.5% and no effect on anaerobic capacity.

So, as you can see, above and beyond the fat burning benefits of HIIT, and specifically Tabata, there are also significant benefits regarding athletic performance.  In my opinion, this also adds fuel to the argument against the age old myth that you have to build up a "base" level of cardio by doing steady state work.  Clearly, interval work builds the base at the same time as it improves your sport specific energy needs.

You can also read more about HIIT in an article I wrote for CST Magazine: CST For Fat Loss.

Neither here nor there...

I find one of the worst places to be with regards to nutrition or exercise is somewhere in the middle, where you are neither doing your best nor your worst.  When you are doing your best, you are on top of the world.  You are invigorated and have momentum.  When you are doing your worst, you hit rock bottom and kick your own butt to get yourself going again.  But when you are somewhere in the middle, you can ride it out for quite some time with rationalizations and procrastination.  "Oh, I'll get serious tomorrow."  "Well, just one hamburger won't hurt."  Stuff like that seems so innocuous, but it adds up quickly.

I like Dr. John Berardi's 90% rule.  He postulates that if you are following your plan rigorously 90% of the time, you will see progress.  If not...  So by recording your performance vis à vis your plan, and determining if you are at least a 90% adherence rate, you will be able to stay on track while having a little bit of leeway for deviation.  And by sticking to only 10% deviation, you avoid slipping into that middle ground of mediocrity.

Food for thought...

Too much of a good thing.

You would think I would learn this lesson eventually, but it never seems to sink in.  I recently went on vacation.  And although I was very careful to stick to healthy foods which I have learned work for me, I was not at all careful about how much or how often I was eating.  As a result, I gained 5 lbs over the course of a week.  It just goes to show you that too much of a good thing can lead to negative results.  This can apply to your nutrition or your training.  Well, back on the wagon... :)

Welcome to my new blog

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to this new blog devoted to health first fitness and sports performance.  With so much information, and mis-information, out there related to health and fitness, I hope to use this as a venue to express no-nonsense information on the subject as I read, explore and work with my clients and myself.

Cheers,
Adam