The Vlog

I work out at Anytime Fitness.

One of the more interesting things I see is that about 90% of the college-aged women I see will begin with about thirty minutes of cardio (including steady-state or interval training).

Afterwards they might do some strength training, usually core work and maybe some direct arm work like curls or triceps extensions. I’m guessing that their goal is to lose fat or to tone up.

Given the enlightened information in women’s publications — “Women’s Health,” “Oxygen,” and “Self” — I would have expected most women to have switched to doing strength training first. I suspect the problem is a thing called tradition. Women, like men, tend to do what other women (or men) do.

Why should a person do strength training first?

When you start with strength training you help to mobilize fat around the body to be released.

Strength training also helps to build or at least maintain muscle mass. The research is filled with studies showing cardio-only exercise results in decreased muscle mass and thus leads to decreased metabolism.

Also, cardio done after strength training is beneficial because aerobic work helps burn the fat which was released by strength training. There are other benefits to doing strength training first, but these considerations are some of the most important for fat loss.

Von

Sometimes the toughest part of a workout is finding a place to do it in, especially when you’re traveling.

As a trainer I dread hearing a client say they’re going on vacation because all too often that means skipped workouts. That doesn’t have to be the case.

I’ve developed lots of circuits that can be done in a motel room. Bridges coupled with T push ups in ten-minute sets can make for a challenging workout.

Talk to me before you travel and I’ll give you a routine to take with you.

Von

Great for in-room workouts

I enjoy running around the lake.

I often do it with my shirt off for maximum Vitamin D absorption and not to show off (yeah right). People are often surprised when I tell them that I never did any ab exercises to get my 6-pack. What exactly did I do?

I simply followed a low-carb plan consistently (not hard). And I did heavy strength training like squats, DB presses, chin-ups, and bulgarian split squats along with interval training for about an hour a day. And I did zero ab work.

Now, I’m not saying direct ab work is going to hurt you, only that without strong nutrition and a balanced exercise program, a 6-pack will not happen.

Von Gillette

I enjoy meditation.

Meditation sets the “tone” of my day so I am more clear, focused, and feeling confident.

Although I’ve done many different types of physical activities and sports, I’ve always found it elusive to achieve a meditative state while doing physical activity. Then a former client asked me to try a yoga class with him.

I took advantage of the offer and loved it. I got in a pretty good workout, was able to meditate, and afterwards I felt great.

Working with my clients, I would see individuals who were stressed out and barely had enough time to get in a workout. I knew that for them yoga could be very beneficial. Now that I’ve tried it myself, I know that yoga is very beneficial.

I highly recommend yoga to anyone with high stress levels and too little time to relax and quiet the mind.

Eating when you’re on the road can be difficult. I’ve found some great food staples that I now carry with me whenever I travel.

Grass-fed beef jerky. I buy mine from my old third grade teacher, Mrs. Eichten. You can order her grass-fed buffalo jerky from SpecialityCheese.com. Mrs. Eichten’s jerky possesses Omega 3 oils, zinc, B-12, and lots of protein.

Nuts. I prefer pistachios, salted roasted cashews, and tamari pumpkin seeds, but any kind of shelled nuts travel well. If you worry about getting your hands greasy, I recommend raw nuts like almonds or walnuts.

Dried fruit. I like dried apricots, apples and bananas but again you have many kinds of dried fruit to pick from.

Trail mix. A great snack food if you pick wisely. I prefer a “Swiss mix” of whole oats, dates, sunflower seeds and almonds. I also add a little xylitol to mine, but try to avoid the mixes with M&Ms or sugar additives (like sugar cane, honey, or just plain sugar)!

Some of you should consider salt intake when stocking road food, and it’s a good idea to take along a plastic spoon for the trail mix.

Our bodies tend to reflect the values of our friends. If your spouse or friends take care of themselves, you are more likely to pay attention to your diet and whether you get enough exercise. If you spend time with people who are fit, you will be inclined to become more fit.

This is not to say that you should dump your fat or underweight friends, but it does not hurt to be aware of their influence over you, your diet, and your activity levels.

To improve your body, learn from people who are fit. Fitness is not learned by meeting at coffee houses for cookies and lattés. Discussing which brand of premium ice cream tastes best is not the kind of dialogue you need to be engaged in.

Learn from your fit friends. Don’t be shy about asking them questions about their diet and fitness habits. And then try to be a good example to your friends who are not fit.

Nutrition is controversial. Consider the plethora of organizations, corporations, governments, researchers, and well-meaning individuals invested in telling you what to eat and what not to eat.

Understanding the economics and social factors of nutrition is, I believe, just as important as knowing which foods are truly healthy. Who do you trust?

In general, this is the order in which I rank the experts I trust most (and how I qualify them):

1. Researchers. Look for research studies not funded by corporations. Pubmed (www.pubmed.gov) is my favorite place to go to for any published study. But just because it’s in Pubmed doesn’t mean it wasn’t funded by a corporation seeking to tout their products’ healthiness.

2. Individuals. Look for individuals who use research and actually get results with clients who they work with. Some of these people may be dietitians, professors, nutritionists, trainers, doctors, authors, holistic practitioners, etc. But most of these people are private, do not offer supplements or the promise of a “quick fix,” and are open-minded to research.

3. Organizations. Look for an organization’s sponsors (if they have any) and how much research they actually quote. For example, do a check on the American Dietetic Association’s sponsors and ask yourself, “Why would a corporate sponsor promote a powerful organization which gives recommendations to the general public?”

4. Governments. Consider that a government must give recommendations for feeding whole populations. Also, corporations which lobby the most have a lot of sway in what is recommended for the general population. And by the way, no two governments make the same food recommendations for their populations.

5. Corporations. The food industry is notorious for making less than honest claims about their products, so be careful (and be especially careful regarding “supplement” companies). The best way to judge a corporation is to look at their product’s actual ingredients and decide for yourself if the ingredients are healthy and actually safe. If they are a supplement company, check out www.pubmed.gov and see if they’re product or ingredients has solid research.

You might want to say something about just putting the name of the food or product into Google to see what comes up.