You Need More Than Running to Strengthen Your Legs

I hear this statement all the time from guys "I don't need to work my legs because I run".  Well, I'm sorry to inform all you guys who think that way, running is not the same as strength training your legs.  While running improves your cardiovascular fitness, it does very little in the way of building muscle mass and strength in your legs as weight lifting does.

Just as a house is only as strong as its' foundation, your legs are the foundation for a strong body.  In addition, your legs are the largest muscle group in your body and that means they are major calorie burners, thus the more muscle mass you build in your legs the more calories you burn all day.

Now that you see how important it is to strength train your legs, below is one of my favorite exercises for building muscle mass and strength.  It's called the Plate Loaded Leg Press.

Have a seat in the leg press.  Make sure that your lower back and butt are firmly press against the seat (and do so throughout the whole range of motion in this exercise).  Place your feet shoulder width apart about 4 inches from the top of the foot rest.  Now, press the weight up, unlock the safety catch, and lower the weight down toward your chest until your thighs are parallel to the foot rest (inhale on this part of the exercise), then press upward until your legs are fully extended, being careful not to lock your knees (exhale through this part of the exercise).  Perform this exercise one to two times per week for 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions at a resistance with which the last 3 repetitions are hard to complete.

Strength training is the best form of exercise to increase your muscle mass, and strength which is very important as you age.  You can download my favorite strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

A Message to the Baby Boomers

I'm a personal trainer and member of the Baby Boomers and it's my mission to to help each one of you to stay healthy and fit as you age. Your body is designed for movement and the worst thing you can do for your health is to become inactive. "Use it or lose it" is especially true when it comes to maintaining your muscle mass, strength, and independence as you age.

Research has proven that strength training is the best thing you can do to preserve your muscle mass, increase your strength, and stay independent as you age. Strength training is important because as early as your 30s you can begin to experience age related muscle loss know as sarcopenia, and this process accelerates with time is left unabated. If you are inactive, you can lose up to 10 pounds of muscle each decade starting at age 40.

Loosing muscle is detrimental to your fitness because muscle is the component of your body that burns the majority of the calories you consume each day. Therefore, when you lose muscle your body requires less calories to function. Consequently, those extra calories you consume are stored as fat around your waist, hips, and other places.

Your body constantly burn calories, even when we’re doing nothing. This resting metabolic rate is much higher in people with more muscle. Every pound of muscle uses about six calories a day to sustain itself, while each pound of fat burns only two calories daily. This small difference can add up over time. In addition, after a bout of strength training, muscles are activated all over your body, increasing your average daily metabolic rate.

Fortunately, strength training can mitigate, and even reverse the loss of muscle at any age. Studies have shown that people in 90s gain muscle, and increase their strength level when they start weight lifting on a regular basis.

Increasing your metabolism isn’t the only benefit of strength training. It also helps:

Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.

Control your weight. As you gain muscle, your body burns more calories more efficiently which can result in weight loss. The more toned your muscles, the easier it is to control your weight.

Reduce your risk of injury. Building muscle protects your joints from injury. It also helps maintain flexibility and balance which are crucial to remaining independent as you age.

Boost your stamina. Building muscle helps to increase your energy level.

Improve your sense of well-being. Strength training can boost your self-confidence, improve your body image, and reduce the risk of depression.

Sleep better. People who strength train on a regular basis are less likely to have insomnia.

Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis.

It's my hope that 2016 is the year you take control of your health and fitness by starting to strength train on a regular basis.  Start by finding a certified fitness professional to design a safe and effective exercise program for you.

A good strength training program should consist of exercises that target all the major muscle groups and should be performed two to three times each week.  You can download my favorite strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Design Your Cardio Around Frequency, Intensity, and Duration to Burn Fat

Your body has two basic ways of generating energy for your muscles in response to exercise.  One involves your body using oxygen to burn calories to provide fuel to exercising muscles.  In this method, your body is most efficient in burning stored body fat because fat must have oxygen present to be converted into energy to fuel your muscles.  Activities that cause your body to use this method to generate energy are called aerobic.  Examples are brisk walking and slow running.  When you are doing activities such as these, you are exercising in the aerobic zone.

The other method that your body provides fuel to muscles does not require the use of oxygen.  In this method your body primarily uses carbohydrates that are stored in the muscle to generate energy.  Activities that require a quick burst of energy such as heavy weight lifting and sprinting require your body to use this method.  Activities that cause your body to use this energy production system are called anaerobic exercises.

Knowing which energy system you are using when you exercise is important if you want to maximize fat burning.  In my fitness program, I do strength training in the anaerobic zone to build and maintain muscle; I do cardio in the aerobic zone to burn fat.

When planning your cardio exercise program design it around the following three concepts:

• Frequency – I recommend you do at least three sessions of cardio each week but no more than six.  This is ample exercise to achieve the health benefit, and burn body fat, while also giving your body maximum recovery time to build and maintain your hard earned muscle mass.  I personally do four to five cardio sessions per week as a part of my fitness program.

• Intensity – I suggest you do your cardio exercise in the range of 60 to 80 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate.  This is called your aerobic zone and is where your body is most efficient at burning fat as fuel.  Anything above 80 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate will tap into your anaerobic energy production system meaning you will stop using stored body fat to feed your muscles.

Use the following method to calculate your estimated maximum heart rate and your aerobic exercise zone.  Take the number 220 and subtract your age.  This is your estimated maximum heart rate.  Now take 60 percent of this number to get the lower end of the range of your aerobic zone and 80 percent of this number to get the upper end.

For example, I am 57 years old, so my estimated maximum heart rate is 220 – 57 = 163 beats per minute (bpm).  Therefore, the lower end of the range of my aerobic zone is 163 bpm x 60% = 98 bpm, and the upper end of my aerobic zone is 169 bpm x 80% = 130 bpm.  So when I do my cardio exercise, I work out at a heart rate between 98 to 130 bpm.

The easiest the way to see if you are staying in your aerobic zone is with a heart rate monitor.  If you do not have access to a heart rate monitor, you can use the following method to check your heart rate and stay in your aerobic zone.  Take the lower and upper range numbers you calculated above and divide them by four.  This is your 15 second heart rate count.  Then during your work out periodically stop and check your pulse for 15 seconds to see if your heart rate falls between the two numbers you just calculated.

I’ll use my example again.  The lower and upper ends of the range of my aerobic zone is 98 and 130 bpm, respectively.  Therefore, my 15 second heart rate count is 98 bpm / 4 = 25 for the lower end of the range and 130 / 4 = 33 for the upper end.  Thus, when I’m doing cardio, I stop to check my pulse for 15 seconds making sure the number I get is between 25 and 33, so I’m in my aerobic exercise zone.  This is the intensity range that my body is most efficient at burning fat for fuel to provide my muscles the energy to exercise.

Duration – It is my observation that you get the most benefit from your cardio program if you combine it with strength training and do between 30 and 45 minutes three to six days each week.  Do the 30 minute sessions after strength training and the 45 minute sessions on the days that you do not weight lift.

Design your cardio exercise program around the three principles above and you’ll notice a real difference in the way you look and feel.

A strength training program combined with regular cardio is the most effective way of maintaining your health and fitness level.  You can download my strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Add Muscle to Lose Fat

As the New Year approaches, people make resolutions about weight loss and most of them start a low- calorie diet in January to accomplish this goal.  By the end of February, if they can hold out that long, some people will have lost a significant amount of weight and will return to their old eating habits.  "Let's face it, we are creatures of habit".  However, when they begin eating the same things they did before starting their diet, they quickly find the scales zooming past their original weight, and wonder, "what is happening to their body"?

The above scenario happens millions of times each year.  At any given time more than half our adult population is dieting, only to be disappointed with the results when they return to their normal eating habits, and here's why.  You have to add muscle in order to lose fat.

On a typical low-calorie diet over 25 percent of the weight loss comes from muscle and this is detrimental to maintaining weight loss in the long-run because muscle is key to having a high resting metabolism (the calories your body burns just to survive).  Think of it like this; if you were an automobile, your muscle mass would be the engine that provides the power for your movement, and the bigger the engine the more fuel you consume.  Just as in this illustration, the more muscle mass you have the more calories your burn on a daily basis.

Adding muscle mass has a two-fold effect of increasing both physical capacity ( a larger engine), and resting metabolism (daily caloric requirements for survival).  Thus, the more muscle mass you have the more calories you burn both when you are active and when you are at rest.  And your muscle's favorite fuel at rest, and during low intensity activity is body fat.

So, how do I add muscle your ask?  Here's the answer, research clearly demonstrates that regular strength training can add muscle to your body at any age.  Results of studies show that people who engage in a strength training program 2 to 3 times each week that addresses all the major muscle groups on average gain 3 pounds of muscle and lose 4 pounds of body fat in a 3 month period. As a result of the increased muscle development and energy requirements of strength training, they increase their daily caloric requirements by approximately 15 percent.  For the average person that's equivalent to burning an extra 250 calories each day.

As you can see from the above, the best approach to long-term weight loss and an improved body composition is to add muscle, and the best way to build muscle is by regular strength training.  If you are convinced that this is the way you want to lose weight while improving your strength, checkout my strength training routines at Forever Fit and Firm.

Two Stretches for Lower Back Stiffness

Ever get up with a stiff back?  If so, try these two stretches below after a 10 minute walk to warm-up your muscles.

Lower Back Stretch

Lie on your back, and fully extend your body.   Bend your knees, and bring them in front of you to a position where you can reach them with your hands.  Firmly grasp your knees, and gently pull them toward your chest until you feel the stretch in your lower back.  Hold that position for 30 seconds.  Breathe normally.

Hip and Oblique

Lie on your back, and fully extend your body.  Bend your knees and bring your feet close to your butt.  Place one ankle over the knee of the opposite leg.  Slowly rotate your body in the direction of your crossed leg, while keeping your shoulders flat on the floor until you feel the stretch in your hip and oblique.  Hold this position for 30 seconds then, relax and do the other side.  Breathe normally.

Strength training is the best form of exercise you can do to maintain your muscle mass and strength as you age.  Trust me, I'm in my 50s and I strength train 3 to 4 times each week, and I'm as fit and strong as ever.  You can download my strength training programs by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.

Two Exercises For a Strong Mid-Section

Having a strong mid-section is key to preventing lower back pain.  Add these two exercises to your fitness program to really strengthen your abdominal and lower back muscles.

 Planks

Planks are good for strengthening and developing your abdominal and lower back muscles. Position your elbows on the floor directly beneath your shoulders, and fully extend your body flat on the floor. Now, in one motion raise your entire body off the floor with your back completely flat. Tighten your stomach, and hold this position for at least 30 seconds. Relax for 15 seconds, and repeat this exercise 10 more times

Vertical Knee Raises

 

Vertical knee raises strengthen and develop your abdominal and lower back muscles.  Position yourself on the machine to where your weight is resting on your elbows and your lower back is firmly pressed against the back rest.  This is your start position.  Exhale while slowly bringing your legs toward your chest and keeping a slight bend in your knees.  Lift your legs to slightly higher than parallel to the floor, and inhale while slowly returning to your start position.  Start with 2 sets of 15 repetitions.

Strength training is the most important type of exercise for maintaining your muscle mass, and improving your strength as you age.  Download my complete strength training programs for beginners to advanced level by clicking on this link: Forever Fit and Firm.