A Case for Legs, Part 2.

  Last week, I wrote about the importantce of adding a squat variation to your workout routine.  But I wouldn't be doing a blog entitled "A Case for Legs" any justice if I failed to reveal the importance of a deadlift variation to the development of your legs. So here it goes!

  Deadlift's get a bad wrap from the everyday gym go-er.  Most people think it's only for BIG guys, or that it's an exercise that will only hurt their back and leave them paralyzed.  The name DEADLIFT even sounds a lot more intimidating than other exercises like the "sissy squat" or the "chest butterfly" for instance.

  True, you can slip a disc (or worse) if you perform the deadlift with a curved spine; but if you correctly perform a deadlift or any of its variations, there's no better exercise you can do to strengthen your posterior chain .  Here is a list of just some of the benefits of performing a deadlift, outlined by renowned strength coach and competitive powerlifter Eric Cressey in this article.

1.)  "The posterior chain is of paramount importance to high-level performance; watch the best sprinters run, and you’ll see that they seem to just “float”—and it’s because they’re running with their hamstrings and glutes. In contrast, watch a guy who runs with his quads, and you’ll see that his hips are bouncing up and down; there’s a lot of wasted movement. The glutes and hamstrings are all fast-twitch fibers with a lot of strength, speed, and size potential—potential you’ll never realize without deadlift variations."

2.) "Strengthening the posterior chain with closed-chain movements like deadlifts also reduces injury risk. Weak hamstrings are a serious risk factor for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, patellofemoral pain, and a host of other problems at the knee, hip, ankle, and lower back."

3.) "Deadlifts have a better functional carryover to real world performance than leg curls, glute-blasters, and all the other silly machines out there."

4.)  "Deadlifts can be a tremendously valuable corrective training exercise if coached correctly. I’ve used them in the correction of IT [iliotibial] band friction syndrome, lower back pain, lateral knee pain, groin pain, and a host of other torso and lower extremity problems. The secret rests with the proper execution of the exercise. "

If you are still skeptical, don't be.  Just get out try it and see for yourself. After your done catching your breath, tell me how it went.

If you are nervous about performing the correct technique, stayed tuned for part 3. where I will demostrate how to properly execute a deadlift, and a squat.

A Case for Legs

  I love squats!  Why you ask?  Well honestly, what's not to love?  It's the perfect example of human movement and you do it everyday, just not very well.  Squats are bad becasue when you do them it hurts your knee's and back you say?  Maybe what you call squats is hurting you, becasue the squats I know would never do that to me.  The fact is you will never be a strong as you want to be if your not doing squats.  Simply put, "You ain't squat, unless you squat!"

For those trying to lose weight:

The main objective when you are trying to lose weight is that you want to be able to burn more calories than you take in.  Plain and simple.  You can accomplish this by eating less than your metabolic rate, or you can burn more calories than take in through exercise; or both! 

So when we think about burning the most amount of calories during exercise, we should probably perform exercises that involve multiple, big muscles to burn the most amount of calories right?  Well I don't have any bigger muscle's than the ones that make up my leg, and I can't think or an exercise that uses more muscles than a squat (i.e quad, hamstring, glutes, core, back, arms, chest).

For those trying to gain strength:

I've never seen a weak person perform a back squat, front squat, or goblet squat.  The guys I normally see pumping iron in the squat rack (the thing you use as a coat rack), seem to also have a broad chest, wide shoulders, and strong backs.  Why?  Well it's simple really.

Studies have shown that squats and deadlifts helps your body release more growth hormone and testosterone than any other exercise.  You need these hormones to build muscles.  And when these hormones are released, they aren't just released in your legs, but they circulate to all of your muscles.  So I repeat, " You ain't squat, unless you squat!"

For everyone inbetween:

Squatting really is for everyone.  Let's look at this exercise from an injury prevention standpoint.  Strengthening the muscles around your hips and knee help make those joints more stable.  How many of you know and elder person in your own family that has had total knee replacements, balance issues, flexibilty issues, and so on.  Hell, this person may not even be that old.  So wouldn't you like to avoid these future problems?  Of course you do.  That's why you need to start squatting today. 

For you runner's, cyclists, and weekend warriors, you can improve your stride length, rpm's, and avoid self medicating those aches and pain's that can only be described as "life pains"  by devoting a little more time to the main muscle groups you use everyday.

Well I'm glad I've finally convinced you.  Now if I could only convince you to start doing DEADLIFT'S, we'd really be getting somewhere.

Getting the Work In. Everyday.

     Good Morning!  I apologize for the tardiness of this post as the recent snowstorm prevent me from finding some time to write.  However, the snow has become my inspiration for this post, so it all works out in the end.

    I woke up last Thursday morning to find my car in cased in a little over a foot of snow on each side.  After an hour of shoveling heavy wet snow, I was still stuck due to the sheet of ice that was resting underneath my tires.  After dragging out a 50 pound bag of salt from the basement to carefully pour over the ice, I had my girlfriend take the wheel as I pushed from the bumper to finally free my car of its winter prison.  After all that I thought to myself, "Man that was a pretty good workout!"

   And it really was!  And it just goes to show that even if you literally and physically can't get to the gym, there are so many opportunities to make a workout out of your daily chores.  Just got back from the grocery store?  Well why don't you take one of the heaviest bags and carry it up and down the stairs about four or five times without stopping.  Or maybe you take that 5 gallon tub of ice cream you just bought on sale from BJ's and do 30 squats while holding it at your side like a briefcase.  With any luck, the ice cream might have melted by the time you catch your breath.




  The point is that there is always time to get in the WORK!  When we were young, snow days meant a free day to do whatever we wanted.  But the consequence of these "free days" never sunk in until we were still sitting in class a week before the 4th of July.  If you have weight loss goals, strength goals, or any other fitness related goals, days off can be a virus.  If you're O.K. with taking today off just because there's a little bit of snow on the ground, what's stopping you from taking tomorrow off because it's still just too cold outside?

   Don't let yourself off the hook!  A wasted day puts you one day behind your ultimate goal, and those days will add up.  Keep yourself honest and put in the work no matter what!

OK, I'm Here. Now What?

      Congratulations!  You made your resolution to get in shape this year, handed over your credit card to your local fitness club, picked up some moderately priced workout attire with a matching nalgene.  You even got up early to get to the gym BEFORE work.  Now let's get started.......With what exactly?

      Everything in life just seems to work better when you have a plan.  You don't just wake up in the morning at any old time and rush out the door.  You plan to wake up at a certain time (or if you're like me, plan to press the snooze button a certain amount of times).  You plan about how long it will take you to shower, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for school, how long it takes to drive to work and amazingly, you seem to get there at a time reasonable enough that no one asks any questions as to where you've been.  If your not planning to succeed then your planning to fail.

     Same goes for your exercise routine.  If you've been too busy just working out the logistics on simply getting to the gym, when you get there you'll inevitably end up completing a mish mosh of exercises you see other's doing followed by a half hour walk on the treadmill.  After a month or so of doing this you'll find that you have made zero improvements and begin to consider cancelling your membership.

     First of all, you should have some way for measuring your success.  A few simple measurements you should be aware of is your weight, blood pressure, and body fat percentage.  Most gyms will have a scale, BP cuff,  and simple electronic device to estimate your body fat percentage.  Retake these measurements every 6-8 weeks or so to see how your improving. 

  As for your exercise program, you can develop your own by following these general outlines that I think will give you a pretty decent, balanced workout.  If you feel uncomfortable creating your own program, or need some extra motivation, then a competent personal trainer is what you should look for. 

   To start your exercise routine, you should warm up with 5 minutes of cardio, meaning a 5 min walk on the treadmill, elliptical, or bike.  You could also follow that with a short five minute stretching routine.

  Your strength training routine will consist of 5 different muscle groups that will give you a nice total body workout.  I would perform 2 different exercise per muscle group, and do 2 set of 15 repetitions if you're a beginner, and 3 sets of 8-12 reps if you're a little more advanced.  The muscle groups are:

                1.  Upper Body Pushing Muscles
                     i.e.- chest press, shoulder press, chest flye, pushup, shoulder raise, tricep extension

                2.  Upper Body Pulling Muscles
                     i.e.- back row, lat pulldown, back flye, bicep curl, pullup, bodyweight row, upright row

                3.  Knee Dominant Exercise
                    i.e. squat, lunge, step ups on bench, pistol's, wall squat

                4.  Hip Dominant Exercises
                   i.e.- deadlift, lying hamstring curl, romanian deadlift (RDL's), good morning's, bridges
             
                5.   Core Muscles
                   i.e. plank, physioball rollouts, birddog, superman's.

   If you don't know what some of these exercises are, look them up online or have a personal trainer instruct you because the last thing you want is to injure yourself doing something that is supposed to improve your health! 

   Once you complete those exercises, I would end with anywhere between 10-30 minutes on any piece of cardio equipment.  Keep track of the weights you use for each exercise by writing them down in a workout notebook.  It's always a good idea to write out your routine so you know exactly what you have to do so you can use your time efficiently in the gym.  You might also want to write down your goals or an inspirational quote on the first page of your notebook.  Constantly being reminded of your goals will definitely give you an extra push of motivation on days when your just not feeling it.

  Today is the FIRST day of the new you!  Enjoy the process and have fun.  Now there's nothing left to do, but to do it!

Has Cabin Fever Set In For You Yet?

   Around this time each year, the weight of winter seems to take effect on me.  The days are still short, it's too cold to be outside very long, and the majority of my day has me cooped up inside.  To make this worse, everyday I wake up to go to work before day breaks, and I go home from work after the sun has set, so the only sunlight I see is through the tinted glass windows from where I work or from my car.  If my situation sounds anything like yours, its not hard to understand why you may be feeling anxious or depressed around this time of year.  And with no real holiday's in sight after MLK day (Valentine's day does not count in my book), this definitely makes the winter seem that much longer.

   So how can we combat this yearly struggle of boredom and depression?  Should we run to our doctor and beg for a two month supply of Prozac?  Or maybe we should join our local tanning salon and bake for  20 minutes a couple times a week to get an extra does of UV rays we're so desperately missing. 

  Truth is, the best and simplest way to break out of our mid winter slump is to get off our couch and MOVE!  The fact is that many studies have concluded that regular exercise can improve your mood and lower your chances of feeling depressed.  WebMD explains that "when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain."  In addition that that, endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, a feeling best related to "Runner's High" which is a feeling a euphoria some runner's feel after a long, intense run. 

  Now I know for a fact that whenever I complete an aggressive or difficult workout, I wouldn't exactly call what I feel "euphoric," but I do feel good.  And let's be honest, if working out felt THAT GOOD, a lot more people would be doing it on a regular basis.  So let's put that into some perspective. 

  The facts are that regular exercise have been proven to :

         1. Reduce Stress
         2. Ward off anxiety and feelings of depression
         3. Boost self-esteem
         4. Improve Sleep.

   That's all well and good and it's probably something that you've heard before.  And chance's are simply knowing these facts hasn't made you leave your couch and start exercising just yet.  But really, these are the reason I find working out a regular basis helps me improve my mood, and get through the dog days of winter:

       1. I Sweat!
  Challenging my body and sweating on a daily basis really helps me release some frustration I have built up throughout my day.  Because of that, I'm a more pleasant person to be around and I can better enjoy spending time with friends and family. 

      2.  It's MY TIME
   When I work out, I think of no one else but myself.  How much of your day is spent trying to please someone else or spent doing things that have to be done, but you don't necessarily like doing them?  My point is that if you don't MAKE time for yourself, who will?  Exercising is my time, and I spend it doing something I like.

    3. I MIX UP my exercise routine.
  My whole day is a routine.  For the most part, that's a good thing but it can get monotonous and boring after awhile.  My workout is anything but routine.  I'll lift weights one day, run outside go snowboarding another. Hell, I'll even enter into an occasional hula hooping contest with my niece.  I don't worry about what the standards experts say I must do, I do what I like, because I won't do it otherwise.

    4.  I know it's GOOD for me.
   Working out is a hobby that I know will be 99% good for me.  Other hobbies that are easily done in the winter like baking, gambling, and drinking will only leave me fat, drunk and poor.  When I'm exercising I know I'm improving myself and feeling better about myself in the process. 

   So defeat cabin fever today!  The only person that can pull you out of this mid winter slump is yourself.   Take control and don't let this winter end up like your last winter.

Is Your Free Will Holding You Back?

  Over the holiday's, I began reading a book called, Never Let Go by Dan John.  By all accounts, Dan John is a legendary and well respected strength coach for high school, college, and Olympic athletes.  In addition to that, he is also a stellar author.  Never Let Go is a fantastic book that gives Dan's personal philosophy on lifting, living and learning in a very easy, matter-of-fact way that I think anyone can connect with.  In the first chapter, Dan explains why your free will may be holding you back from your fitness goals as well as personal goals.  I thought I'd share these thoughts with you, as well as adding some of my own.

  If you're like me and went through catholic schooling for the majority of your life, then you without a doubt understand the concept of "free will."  However, Dan does not turn this topic into a religious discussion.  He mentions that one of the things people talked about during his days doing work with prison ministry is how buff the inmates are. And what is (hopefully) the main difference between you and a prison inmate?  Free will.

  That's right, free will.  And for me, this is what I took away from that statement:

          What do I do when I have no other choice?

  It's easy to put things off when you know you DON'T HAVE to do them.  But it's amazing to see the motivation I have when I'm up against the wall and have no other choice.  How many rags to riches stories have you heard that you think to yourself, "Man, how on earth did that person start something from absolutely nothing?"  My simple opinion, because they had to.  If they wanted to change their situations, they had no other choice . 

  But how can you relate this to workin' out and eating right? 

  My question to you is, "How long will you wait until you have no other choice but to start taking your health seriously?"  Does your free will run out when you are diagnosed with diabetes?  Or does it run out when your blood pressure is 160 over 90 (if you don't know if that's bad or not, your free will has run out)?  Or does it only run out when you can't see your feet anymore?

  Here's a thought.  Why wait until there is no other choice?  Let's take responsibility now while we're still reasonably healthy  and never let ourselves get to the point where we lose our free will.  And while we're at it, let's have some fun and spend some time doing something for ourselves for a change.  Man, that's some free will I can get with......

Happy New Year!

    First off, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy New Year.  For many people, the start of a new year is a time to have a fresh start, set new goals, and reflect on the events of the past year.  Here at Plexus Fitness in downtown Wilmington, DE, we are using the start of 2011 in a similar fashion.  We are very excited about the growth of our club over the past year and we anxious to give more to all of our customer's and clients in 2011.

   With that being said, we have added some additional resources that will enable us to provide you with fitness tips, nutritional information, and thought provoking and motivational pieces that YOU requested through your responses in our questionnaires and from what you have told us directly.  We will be making weekly updates to our Facebook page and YouTube channel, tweets from our new Twitter page and weekly additions to this new blog! 
  
   These new additions will keep US directly connected with YOU!  So please add us as a friend, become a follower, and tweet us as we head into the new year!  We hope grow in serving Delaware by helping those who want to commit to a healthy lifestyle.