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TXHRT4U's Recent Blog Entries
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Thursday, October 18, 2012
3 Approaches To Improving Your Fitness And Reaching Your Goals (1 of 4)
There are a wide variety of cardio exercises, but in general, all of them fall into one of three categories. Probably the most well-known is slow, steady-state aerobic training, which includes activities like brisk walking, jogging, biking, and rowing.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are anaerobic workouts, which consist of short, intense bursts of energy. Sprints and high-intensity interval training – repeatedly alternating short bursts of energy with brief, low-intensity activity – fall into this category.
The third type of cardio workouts fall somewhere in the middle, balancing aerobic and anaerobic activities to achieve your fitness goals.
How do you know what type of cardio is best?
There’s no right answer for everybody. But if you begin by understanding your personal fitness goals, it’s easier to choose a plan that’s right for you.
"BRING IT X's 2"
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Why Exercise Programs Fail (Part 3)
The solution is a concept known as "periodization" or the secret to progression.
This is a term that refers to setting up your training into specific blocks of time (or periods), with each period focusing on a specific fitness quality. The goal is to periodize in a way that allows the qualities you develop to build upon one another, creating a system where each period is more effective because of the ones that came before--this is known as ”progressive programming.”
If you set up your programming in the right way, you're consistently making progress because each week you'll be utilizing qualities developed the week prior to that. Instead of a series of two-steps-forward-one-step-back cycles, you're making consistent, forward and direct strides towards your goal.
"BRING IT X's 2"
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Why Exercise Programs Fail (Part 2)
You see, your body is a tricky organism, and while variety definitely has a place, it's only truly effective if you structure that variety in a way that allows these programs to build off of each other. The truth is that in most cases, it's the opposite that occurs.
For example, if you perform a muscle-building program that utilizes very low reps, you'll increase strength in that rep range. (And, assuming volume is high enough, you'll gain mass). However, your strength endurance will drop--meaning, your ability to train effectively with high reps decreases.
After that program, you jump onto a fat loss program, and most of those programs require you to train with high reps; however, your body is now deconditioned with regard to such training. In order to do the program, you have to lighten your weights considerably. So, yes, you'll burn some fat, but you'll also get weaker.
You can see where I'm going with this. People seem to put a lot of thought (hopefully) into the program they choose--but all that consideration won't mean much if you don't put as much thought into the order in which you perform those programs.
"BRING IT X's 2"
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Why Exercise Programs Fail (Part 1)
That trick, simply, is to avoid the mistakes that most people make.
If you can manage to avoid some of the more common mistakes, I guarantee you'll see your progress skyrocket. And one of the biggest mistakes, by far, is a phenomenon known as program hopping--which is when clients move from program to program to program, often without even finishing them. So you do a muscle building program; then you want fat loss, so you do a fat loss program. From a logical perspective, that does make a great deal of sense and things should go well.
Regrettably, logic and physiology don't always play nicely together.
Here's the problem: when you jump from program to program, these training methods often vary from each to a very significant degree. Of course, on occasion, that works out well, and the "change" in stimulus can lead to increased metabolic disturbance and force an adaptation. Translation: you lose fat, gain muscle, or achieve both at the same time. (Yes, it is possible.)
more to come....
"BRING IT X's 2"
Friday, October 12, 2012
Nutrition: How to gain control over eating - without starving
* Principle: Control calorie intake so your exercise can burn off the fat.
* Food is fuel for the next workout or the next 3 hours-keep it flowing in controlled amounts.
* Food contains the building blocks of muscle, bone, organs which must be replaced daily
* Budget daily totals-through portion control- this keeps you in the conscious brain.
* Combining foods so that you feel satisfied with fewer calories consumed.
* Get a "reality check" as you account for the calories every night-eaten and burned (vitamins, minerals, protein, etc.).
* You're in control: Set up your reality check--websites, weight monitoring programs, etc. Look at fitday.com, calorieking.com, sparkpeople.com, and the apps like Fat Secrets.
* The key to feeling good is managing blood sugar level, which helps you maintain motivation.
* Eat every 2-3 hours.
* Never say never-don't totally abstain from foods you love, ration them- budget them!
* Drink water or other low/non calorie drinks with food and throughout the day to feel satisfied longer.
* Crucial for workout energy: eat 100-300 calories within 30 min. of the finish of a workout (composed of 80% simple carb/20% protein).
* By writing down everything you eat, you can maintain conscious control over eating and avoid subconscious reflex eating (with no accountability).
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND SPARKERS!!!! GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE RACERS THIS WEEKEND  
"BRING IT X's 2"
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