Tough Enough

There are so many reasons why I am such a fan of this exercise, the Dead Bug.  It works every layer of your abdominal musculature in a way that helps protect and support your back, and doesn’t strain your neck.  It’s forms the foundation of many Pilates movements, so mastering the Dead Bug is the key to great abs.

You need to start in neutral spine and then one at a time lift your legs, maintaining a 90 degree angle at your knee, so you’re feet don’t drop, as shown above.

Sounds easy, right?  The tricky part is maintaining your spine in the neutral position without flattening your back. You must contract the deepest layer of your abdominals inward, a sort of sucking the belly button in and up feeling. You can make the exercise less challenging by bringing the knees closer to your chest, and significantly more difficult by taking your knees further way, BUT if, as you move your knees away, you feel your belly button lifting, you have gone too far. The key is to find the position where you have to work to hold, but you can maintain for a minute or more.

Its harder than it looks.  You can test your ability to hold neutral by placing a partially filled blood pressure cuff under the small of your back and then watching to see if the arrow moves.  This gives you great immediate feedback about your ability to hold the position using your abs, and is a really great way to increase your motivation.  It’s surprising how tough this really is.

Once you’ve mastered the basic movement, you can add variations, which include lowering one leg, or taking both arms over your shoulder and then slowly lowering one or both overhead without letting your rib cage move.   And if you’re looking for a myriad of ways to increase the challenge, you’re ready for Pilates.  Just ask…

There are many variations and levels of the Dead Bug.  This one begins with both feet flat on the floor, abs in neutral. Maintain the 90 degree angle at the knee and lift one leg, then the other. One at a time return legs to the starting position, and continue cycling this movement while maintaining neutral spine.

If you don’t have a blood pressure cuff, you can check your ability to hold your abs by using your hands.  Take the fingertips of both hands, push them into your belly button so the back of both hands are touching and then move them 3 – 4 inches out from your midline.  Ensure you truly use the tips of the fingers, and maintain enough pressure you can feel tension in your ab muscles.

The key is to try and keep the tension symmetrical and even throughout the cycling leg movements, again easier said than done.  This version is a little easier than the pure dead bug, and is a great way to build strength for the upcoming more challenging variations.

A blood pressure cuff can be an excellent way to test your abdominal strength as it provides excellent feedback on your ability to keep your abdominals engaged.  If you’d like to know how,  just ask.

Maintaing a neutral spine is truly the foundation of every other strength training exercise. The basic premise is to maintain your natural neutral lower back curve, while contracting the abdominals inwards, as this is the safest and strongest position for your low back.

To find neutral begin by lying on your back with knees bent. Roll your belly button up towards the ceiling and feel your low back curve get larger, then contract your tummy muscles and flatten your low back into the floor. Now rock back and forth a few times until you can find a comfortable place somewhere in between.

From here contract your abdominals inward toward your spine without flattening your back, sort of like the sensation of sucking in your stomach, but be sure not to hold your breath.  You are now engaging the deepest layer of your abdominal wall, which acts like a built in support belt for your spine. Its from this position with abdominal muscles pulling in, that you should initiate all other exercises.

Performing this inward contraction will build your muscles functionally to assist in the activities of daily life.  When, you’re lifting groceries, kids, or participating in your favourite work out, think abs in and up – neutral spine. 

More on how to challenge your abs in this position coming up.

Positioning the spine and neck correctly is an essential foundation for Pilates, as well as most weight training exercises, and can be a great way to avoid neck pain through improving posture.

The idea is to glide (rather than tuck) your chin in, while at the same time lengthening the back of your neck.   Sometimes it helps to place your thumbs on the base of your skull and gently pull up. You will feel your neck lengthen and your chin move in slightly, but be careful it is somewhat subtle, not as extreme as I show here.

Also avoid the chin jutting up syndrome demonstrated above.  While this looks a bit silly lying down, people often do sits-up with their neck in this position, craning to lift themselves up, eyes on the ceiling. Take the time to position your head and neck into neutral first, and then hold throughout the exercise.

To improve posture practice the chin glide, back of the neck lengthen movement while lying down and standing up, and even more challenging, several times a day – like while sitting in front of the computer right now. 

Believe it or not, I don’t love going to the gym.  I can hear a couple of my friends proclaiming hallelujah.  Its because I love exercising outside.  You know… the glorious gulps of fresh air, the smell the gigantic fir trees, the bird songs, and watching the rowing skulls glide across the glassy lake water near where I live. 

However, at certain times of year, particularly in Canada, it’s just not possible.  Plus, I strive to fit a good weight workout in at least twice per week, so when I go to the gym I am a woman on a mission.   It’s the one time I plug myself into my IPOD and go for it.  Here are three of my favourite strategies for making my time there as efficient and effective as possible.  I hope they help you to do the same.

Supersets make the most of the moment by performing exercises for opposing muscle groups back to back. This means your rest interval for one muscle group becomes your work interval for another. There is a hidden benefit; as you work the agonist muscle group, you actively stretch the opposite muscle. the antagonist.  Here are a couple of examples:

Lat Pulldown – Shoulder Press

Chest Press – Mid Row

Chest Fly – Reverse Fly

Bicep Curl – Tricep Extension

Leg Extension – Let Curl

Circuit Training intersperses cardiovascular training with strength training, so the heart rate and calorie burning levels, stay elevated, while you achieve the benefits of strengthening.  Ideally, keep the heart rate elevated for at least three minutes and keep your strength intervals from a minute to a minute and a half.   I also try to pique my interest by alternating cardio equipment. This can be a great strategy at busy gym times, as you can just fit into whatever is available at the moment.  Here are a couple of examples:

3 minutes on the Stationary Bike (Oh joy, but even I can endure three minutes of cycling nowhere)

1 set of push ups (keep head above level of heart)

3 minutes on Rower

1 set of Mid Row

Repeat

3 minutes on elliptical

1 set of leg curl

3 minutes on stair climber

1 set of lunges

Repeat

Interval Training, one of best ways to catapult beyond a fitness plateau,  alternates intervals of high and low intensity cardiovascular work.  This can be formal, timed combinations, or informal, make it it up as you go along pieces of differing lengths, often referred to as Fartlek Training.  I’m not sure exactly where the name came from, but there you have it.  High intensity intervals are a little more stressful on the body, so you want to be sure you have some preparatory base training first.  This can be a fabulous way to keep your motivation up on the treadmill, and is great time good time to incorporate training with a Heart Rate Monitor.

Here is an example for a treadmill work out:

8 minute gradual warm up

4 minutes at typical cruising speed

2 minutes at .5 k faster

2 minutes at another .5 k faster

3 minutes recovery, slightly lower than cruising speed

Repeat, but finish with one minute at even .5 k higher

After recovery, plot a similar strategy with a hill, and then alternate.

Which is better, machines or free weights?

There really isn’t a right answer, except to say they both have benefits.  Machines are ideal for beginners in terms of body position and alignment, but they are often intimidating and require some assistance in setting seat positions and adjustments correctly.  In many cases machines effectively isolate muscles, and target muscle groups difficult to hit with free weights.

Free weights on the other hand, are more functional as you can more closely mimic activities of daily life, including sports.  You also engage other muscle groups, particularly your core (abs and back) and have the added benefit of training balance and proprioception.

Ideally, a program will include some of both, so over time as you change up your routine, be sure to make sure your choose exercises for each muscle group that include both free weights and machines.  For example if you have been doing a Lat Pulldown for a while, try a seated, or bent over row which target the lats in a different positions.

How many reps and sets should I do?

This depends very much on your goal.   Typically we say low weight/high reps for muscle endurance or overall fitness, and high weight/low reps for serious muscle building.  So, if your goal is overall fitness you should be lifting a weight around 12 times before achieving muscle fatigue, but if your goal is to ‘bulk up’ you may only be completing 6 repetitions of a much heavier weight.

Research shows that single set training can be very effective, provided that one set is a good one,  achieving “momentary muscle fatigue”.  Certainly, performing two, or three set is more effective, but not proportionately so.  However, if your goal is to build muscl the extra time invested in multiple sets is well worth it.

The bottom line is, if time permits perform two to three sets, but when squeezing exercise into a busy life, know that one set of an exercise will still have significant impact.  Some is better than none.

 How do you know how much weight to lift?

There are some fancy technical tests out there, the most common one being the one repetition max, but in most cases they aren’t practical, so even as “fitness professionals” we use a guesstimate.  We take an educated guess of what we think you can lift, and the then we err on the side of caution, teaching the exercise and watching how many times you can complete with ease.

For example, if you identify you would like to “tone up” a little, you would most likely be best lifting in the 12 rep range.  If you can complete 20 reps, we need to up the weight because it’s too easy and you will not achieve your desired outcome.  Let’s say we up it too much, and you can only complete 6 reps with perfect form, then we need to lower your weight.

Be sure not to stop at 12 reps because your program says 3 sets of 12….a common mistake.  Keep going and if you reach 15 or more, you know in order to get results you need to increase the weight next time.  The best exercise regimens are not long, they are efficient and effective.

Any other queries regarding making the most of your weight training workouts?

By popular demand, Harlie demonstrates the ultimate abdominal crunch. Begin by sitting on the ball, feet about hip width apart and walk your feet out while leaning back into the ball until you are in this position. It’s essential that the curve of the ball supports the natural curve of your back.

From here crunch up like you normally would, thinking about drawing the belly button in as you move your ribs towards your hips and keep your neck neutral. Avoid tucking the chin into the chest or craning the chin up towards the ceiling. It is also important to make sure as that you complete the lowering phase of your crunch, you don’t lower too far. There should be tension on the abdominals the entire time.

You can vary the level of the crunch by altering your starting position. To intensify walk the feet in closer to the ball and slide your body until you feel the increased tension in the abs. Hips here should be fairly level with shoulders. To de-intensify, walk the feet away from the ball and lower your hips until you find yourself beginning on an incline.

For all positions keep abs engaged throughout, exhale on exertion and focus on relaxing your neck. Once you have mastered a crunch on the ball, the floor is never the same

I empathize with the reader who posed this problem.  Finding myself on the other side of 40, I notice many similar questions popping up in my own mind.  However, good news is on the way.

First the not-so-good news.  When it comes to muscle, the old adage “use it or loose it’  applies.   We begin to loose muscle mass after the age of 29.   (Note to reader: never take a course on the physiology of aging in your 29th year.  Evidently, that’s the moment when everything in the body reaches some sort of miracle peak.  Sigh)  Combined with our sedentary lifestyle, this age associated decline becomes noticeable far too quickly. 

However, its never too late.  Adults have been able to achieve significant strength gains right into their eighties, with minimal effort.   Twenty minutes two times per week is all you need.  Below are my top ten fundamentals for weight training, and a sample gym program.  I hope they inspire you to realize its doable.  Truly, seven exercise repeated twice per week as noted below is all you need to rediscover those glorious biceps and glutes.

WEIGHT TRAINING FUNDAMENTALS

1. Repetitions – For overall all health and fitness strengthening goals, perform 8 – 12 repetitions (reps) of each exercise.  To achieve more serious “bulking up” choose a heavier weight so you are only able to complete 6-8 reps.    Remember,  curling a two pound dumbbell 25 or more times, does not constitute strength training.  In order to be effective in building muscle, a good weight exercise needs to elicit momentary muscle fatigue, meaning you are not able to complete another rep with proper form.  
2. Sets – For overall health and fitness overall strengthening goals, between 1 – 3 sets is ideal.  It’s only when you want to achieve more serious “bulking up” that 3-6 sets are needed.  Current research supports the effectiveness of single set training, provided it’s a good set.
3. Breathing – Always out on exertion – in for 2 out for 2,  If you are patient, which I am not,  you can lengthen this to a 4 count.
4. Exercise Selection – For overall health and fitness strengthening goals, one exercise per body part is adequate.   Serious weight lifters may complete as many as 6 exercises per body part in one session.
5. Rest in between sets – 90 seconds or more to allow the muscle to recover.  You can make your workout time more time efficient, which I like, by exercising an unrelated muscle group while you recover.   You may do a set of leg press, which you recover from the chest press.
6. Rest in between workouts – 48 hours minimum for any given muscle group.   This is necessary for muscle building and can be accommodated by alternating muscle groups.  For example, you could do a split routine where you work lower body one day and upper another.
7. Frequency – 2 times/week per muscle group to maintain, and 3 times/week to gain
8. Avoid bouncing ballistic type movements
9. Avoid Hyperextending or locking joints.
10. Variety, variety, variety.   Be sure to avoid locking into the same old routine.

SAMPLE GYM PROGRAM

1. Leg Press
2. Seated Hamstring Curl
3. Bench Press
4. Seated Row
5. Standing Bilateral Bicep Curl
6. Tricep Pressdown
7. Fabulous Core Exercise

While I am not a fan of exercise fads and gimmicks, there are many great fitness devices and pieces of equipment I love.  So, if your New Year’s resolution involves getting more active, consider eight of my faves.    All links click through to more information.

1. Indoor Cycling Trainer - Good quality home cardiovascular exercise equipment, such as treadmills and ellipitcal trainers, is expensive, and the cheaper pieces are truly not worth the investment.  Cardio equipment needs to not only withstand sustained repetitive movement, (unless of couse it is functioning as the aforementioned clothers hanger) the biomechanics have got to be right, or you risk injury.   For a couple of hundred dollars you can instantly convert your current bike into a stationary one, indoors or out.   I loved this when my daughter was little and I couldn’t just lace up my shoes and run out the door.  I’d blast some of my favourite spinning tunes and imagine myself screaming down the road, wind in my hair.  The magnetic and fluid models are quieter, but more expensive and if you’d like to try balance training at the same time, try the roller.  Be forewarned this takes a great deal of attention!

1. TRX - This has got to be one of the best fitness innovations of the past decade.  Its simple, yet extremely versatile and can be used in a myriad of locations.  It’s simple strap and pulley system can be easily affixed to door frames or beams, utlilizing one’s own body weight as resistance.  The kicker is it comes complete with an instructional DVD.  For $200.00 you won’t find a better bang for your fitness buck.

• Exercise Ball - So simple it doesn’t seem worth mentioning, but some of the most effective strengthening exercise I know are on the ball, or can be made more effective by using the ball.   You can also use it to stretch, do yoga or Pilates, and I happen to be sitting on one as I type this post.

1. Garmin - I have to confess I don’t have one of these, most likely because I am afraid  I won’t be able to work it, but many of my favourite running campanions swear by them for increasing motivation.  There are different models, but the most techy ones include a heart rate monitor, which is deserving of its own post, and a GPS.   You can later plot and graph runs complete with elevation gains and corresponding heart rate responses.  What fun!  Especially if you are technically inclined, which regretably I am not, although I did manage to set up this blog.

1. All Pro Adjustable Ankle Weights - I am not a fan of home dumbells.  How do you have enough to work muscles of different sizes?  Am I the only one that seems to trip over them? The really cheap hex ones also shed nasty chips which can be dangerous near eyes.  These adjustable ones come on differing sizes up to 20 pound and include removable one pound bars so you can make any weight you would like.  You can even put two on one appendage.  The velcro attachment works great for those with joint concerns and allows for a variety of leg exercises including the ever popular inner and outher thigh.  (Please ask me more about these, because I am dieing to tell you.)

1. Power Block - For pretty much all the same reasons above, I like this product as well, and so does my friend and long time fitness colleague, Janny Bird, Fitness Diva.  It is portable, easy to use and transports well.   While the initial price seems high, remember you only need purchase one set.

1. Bowflex - An oldie, but a goodie.  The Bowflex is effective, versatile and compared to many other home gyms can be easily stored.  For those who really want to ‘bulk up’  the bowstyle resistance may well not be enough, but for the average mortal, its more than ample.

1. Eye Pillow - An eye pillow?  We carry so much tension in our faces.  Try concluding a great workout by reclining for a few minutes, listening to one of your favourite soothing pieces of music, with this over closed eyelids.   Its like dessert.  Better even.

How about you?  Any favourite home exercise devices I haven’t mentioned?

That’s my word for New Year’s Fitness gimmicks and fads, and it best expresses my feelings about said gimmicks and fads when the vowels are drawn out making it sound a lot like giiiiiiifaaaaaaw. 

I go crazy at this time of year when even my closest friends, who have been subject to my endless rants about how to achieve true lifelong health and fitness, still feel irresistibly compelled to purchase some trendy piece of fitness equipment destined to become a very expensive clothes rack, or worse yet start some ‘special’ three month fast guaranteed to take off pounds fast.

So I ask myself why, and maybe you can help me, but I think like pretty much every thing in our society we want the quick fix now, especially if we can buy it.  Peter Senge, writes about sustainable change in his recent book The Necessary Revolution.   He talks about how our addiction to short term easy fast fixes often keeps us from dealing with the deeper cause of a problem or issue, but that truly sustainable change only comes from dealing with the fundamental root issue which usually requires more initial effort, hence, we avoid it.

Yes… every year on January 1st, millions of us embark on countless new diets.  We purchase reams of useless and bizarre exercise devices (for lack of a better word), and we allow ourselves to be talked into gym memberships, signing contracts in our moment of weakness, binding us to monthly dues for years to come.  Yes, we spend billions and billions on quick fixes, which ultimately don’t work.

There really is another way, but it means we need to look at how we live our lives each day and commit to making healthy change.  The good news is this method endures.  Its effects are viral, touching all aspects of our lives and those around us positively, and it costs far less than all those listed above. 

This year I am dedicating this blog to providing you with information, gleaned from my twenty year career as a fitness professional, and hopefully inspiration, to assist you in creating long term effective, sustainable health and fitness changes in your own life.  Remember though, you won’t find any giiiiifaaaw here.

Here’s to real change in 2010!