Exercise

Twenty two years ago I fell into the world of bodybuilding by accident. I had absolutely no discipline, determination or confidence in myself. After many championships, television shows, movie star clients and successful businesses here are a few training tips that I have learned along the way.

1. MORE THAN JUST LOOKS: Realize exercise is more than just having a great physique. It is about strengthening the mind and heart and soul.

2. KEEP THE BIG PICTURE IN MIND: You will have good days and bad days. Keep a one day at a time attitude.

3. BE SOLD OUT! No matter if you are a competitive bodybuilder or just one who does it for a hobby, be sold out for life to exercise.

4. LEAVE YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR. This one will be hard for most of you to do. But to be a champion, you have to get rid of your ego. Your mind is your biggest competitor. In order to improve on your health you need to not be self-serving.

5. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: If you think you know everything, forget, stop right now. You never will know everything. Continue to learn all the time. Most importantly, share your knowledge.

Synergy: the working together of two or more things, people, or organizations, especially when the result is greater than the sum of their individual effects or capabilities

Momentum toward your goals is generated when all components of fitness are incorporated into your workout program.

” Heart-through cardiovascular workout

” Skeletal muscle-through strength training

” Joints-through flexibility exercises.

” Good Nutrition-through balanced sensible eating.

Some exercise is better than no exercise; however, if your program is lopsided with one or two of the same activities, you will not get the best results.

DRIVING THE CAR

Having synergy in your exercise program is like turning a car as you are driving down the road. It’s much easier to turn the wheel while the car is moving rather than when it is sitting in your driveway. Momentum allows you to steer the car, just as momentum allows you to continually progress in your workout program.

ROLLING THE SNOWBALL

Another example of having synergy in your workout program would be rolling a snowball. Once the momentum has started, it keeps building and building. Keeping that in mind, it is very easy to only do certain exercises that you like and those that take less effort; however, because this will not work, in the end you will end up having to workout harder and longer.

There are hundreds of different programs for professional triathlon training that will work for you. There are even more that won’t. For anyone who is looking for some great plans to get them going, think about your needs and your desired outcome.

Are planning on being a professional athlete, training and racing to stay healthy, looking to make friends, or maybe just training and racing so as to lose weight?

Sure, we could tell you just what to do to win the race, but really, there is no sure fire way to do it besides getting the knowledge you need, getting a great training program in place and working your butt of to get the results you need.

Professional triathlon training is geared towards pushing your body to the limits, to the point where you think it may just not make it. Here are some considerations for you.

Find one training program and stick with it. Sure, there are hundreds to choose from, but once you have chosen one that looks promising, stick with it. Results don’t happen overnight.

Many people dismiss the cool down as a waste of time, or simply unimportant. In reality the cool down is just as important as the warm up, and if you want to stay injury free, it’s vital.

Although the warm up and cool down are just as important as each other, they are important for different reasons. While the main purpose of warming up is to prepare the body and mind for strenuous activity, cooling down plays a different role.

Why Cool Down?

The main aim of the cool down is to promote recovery and return the body to a pre exercise, or pre-workout level. During a strenuous workout your body goes through a number of stressful processes, muscle fibers, tendons and ligaments get damaged, and waste products build up within your body. The cool down, performed properly, will assist your body in its repair process.

One area the cool down will help with is “post exercise muscle soreness.” This is the soreness that is usually experienced the day after a tough workout. Most people experience this after having a lay-off from exercise, or at the beginning of their sports season. I remember running a half marathon with limited preparation, and finding it difficult to walk down steps the next day because my quadriceps were so sore.

Long before you can enter into triathalon racing, you will need to prepare. You will need to prepare your mind and your body for the competition and the fight.

It will not be easy, but if you stick to it, you can overcome all the obstacles in your way.

Triathalon racing is a complex sport that just looks easy. What you don’t know is that there was a lot of preparation for the average triathlete

The run. The swim. And, the biking.

These three aspects of triathalon racing will need to be carefully understood and developed.

You will need to first prepare your mind for the struggle that lies ahead.

You will then need to prepare your body and make it as nutritiously sound as can be.

Then, you will need to condition it to the elements that you will test it on. How do you do all of these things?

Training and coaching. Be prepared to spend a lot of energy and time if your goal is to be competitive, but even if your desire is just to take part in triathalons and stay healthy this still is true.

For most of us we live in a black and white world. Good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. For a few of us the shade of grey is more appealing. In the world of fitness and exercise most people, novice and advanced exercisers (athletes) there is generally a correct and incorrect way to exercise. Just as in any other specialty or business there is much research that goes into doing the right thing from the wrong thing. There are consequences from doing the wrong thing and rewards from doing the right thing.

In fitness and exercise there are a scant few of us that understand the right way to exercise from the wrong way to exercise. Much research is done and continues to be done and interpreted on the correct way to exercise, the beast way to fire the muscle or the fastest way to burn fat. But there is a very scary reality at play here. There is so much miss-information and so many accepted ways to do things, the wrong way, that when you see people doing the proper exercises it looks wrong to you.

I cannot imagine that there is anyone past the age of about 10, that has never had calf cramps. Let’s face it, they are horrible. From having no pain and full movement to excruciating agony in a matter of seconds. I think that you can relate to that. If you are into sports though, calf cramps are far more common, and can stop you in your tracks. So what are calf cramps exactly? Anyone competing in sports know that they usually occur after strenuous exercise. But what about those poor folk who wake up with cramps for no discernable reason. So, how do they occur?

How Calf Cramps Can Occur
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Although not an exhaustive list by any means, here are some common causes of calf cramps

? Dehydration: If you are involved in any sports, especially if you are serious about it, you should always ensure that you maintain your fluid levels. As you get hot, your body sweats, and you lose fluid. If these fluids are not replaced, there is a danger of dehydration, and dehydration can accelerate the onset of calf cramps.

Warm up

Warming up before exercising has physiological and psychological benefits. If you begin vigorous exercise without warming up, it can stress muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and the heart, which can lead to serious injury. It’s also difficult to mentally prepare yourself for a hard workout if you don’t gradually ramp up your level of activity. And it shouldn’t take long. All you need to do are some light exercises that gradually increase your blood flow and muscle temperature.

Frequency and intensity

If you’re interested in the health benefits of exercise, you should aim to exercise at least three times per week at about half your maximum capacity.

The best way to judge your exercise intensity is by comparing your exercising heart rate with your maximum heart rate, which you can estimate by subtracting your age from 220 beats per minute and multiplying the resulting number by 65%. (Or just fill in the blanks: 220-age x .65 = half your maximum capacity, in beats per minute.)

When you’re exercising, check your pulse, count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds and multiply that by six to get the number of times it beats in a minute. Compare that number to the one you worked out with the formula above.

A question I am frequently asked by females is, “What is the best exercise I can do for my butt?” In my opinion, there is nothing better you can do for your butt than lunges. They target your glutes, hamstrings and quads, and can easily be modified for beginners to advanced exercisers.

If lunges are new for you, begin with a reverse lunge. Start with your feet together. Step back with your left leg. Bend both knees. The right shin should remain a straight line with the right ankle. The left knee should go straight down and almost touch the floor. Press through the right heel as you come up and bring feet back together. Now repeat with the other leg. Perform 12 repetitions per leg, and work up to 3 sets per workout. Feel free to hold on to something sturdy for support if you need to at first. Then, as you get stronger and more stable, you can do these lunges without the extra support. Try adding dumbbells at your side or a barbell across your shoulders for an increased challenge.

While working out in the gym, I have noticed that many exercisers tend to skip two very important parts of their workout. It is crucial that exercisers starts with a warm-up and ends with a cool-down. As a fitness educator, I educate my clients of why they should include warm-ups and cool-downs in their workouts.

Warm up before vigorous exercise is crucial. Warm-up prepares the heart muscle and circulatory system. When you start physical activity, blood flow is not immediately available to the heart and muscles. A proper warm-up decreases the risk of irregular heartbeats associated with poor coronary circulation. A proper warm-up also improve performance, since it minimizes the premature formation of lactic acid at the start of physical activity. In addition, warming up raises the temperature of the body. For each degree of temperature elevation, the metabolic rate of the cells increases by about 13 percent.

Another reason is warming up helps prevents injuries. Muscle elasticity and the flexibility of the tendons and ligaments are increased. Synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints, is released during easy activity. In general, warm up prepares the body for the increased demand of intense exercise.