Author: alwayshungrypt

4 Secrets to Fitness Success

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Joining a gym or signing up with a trainer is a great start, but if you really want to take full advantage of your fitness journey, there are a few intangibles you need to address to ensure you’re getting the most out of this journey.  Too often I hear stories of people “doing everything I can” to get in shape – regardless of their goal – only to hear one of these topics being left unattended, that I know could be the one thing holding them back from launching into success.  It would be great to know that all you had to do was workout a few times a week for 30-60 minutes and reach your full potential, but like any project you’ve done before (school, work, home), you know there are always additional pieces that need to be addressed in order for it all to come together! 

Only this time, the project is yourself!

So you’ve got your training program and you’re ready to go or already kicking butt, let’s talk about the 4 secrets to fitness success outside of the gym!  I’m talking about Nutrition, Rest/Recovery, Hydration, and Consistency!  These 4 pillars of fitness, wellness, and health are the driving factors that power any fitness journey from fat loss to muscle gain; athletic performance to just staying healthy for yourself and your family.  Let’s dive a little deeper, shall we?

Nutrition – You Can’t Outwork a Bad Diet

As much as it pains me to admit, all those cheesy affirmations about “abs are made in the kitchen” and “the best fat loss workout is 3 sets of 10 reps of not eating so much junk.” are true.  All the working out in the world is fine, but if you’re not fueling your body with the right things, you’re going to have a hard time reaching your fullest potential.  That being said, the aim is NOT perfection.  If we aim for perfection and have a minor slip up, chances are that we’ll backslide further down.  None of us are perfect as it stands, so to completely change and aim for 100% is just unrealistic.  Instead, we need to adapt a “Progress > Perfection” mindset.  Taking a minute to look at what you’re eating in a day, a few days, a week can really help open your eyes to the choices you make and better understand not only WHAT you eat, but also WHY you’re eating it.  From there, we can start to make better choices.  Regardless of your goals, a few rules of thumb include:

-Focusing on lean protein sources; complex carbs; and healthy fats

-Limiting consumption of highly processed foods, sugar, and alcohol

-Increasing the amount of fruits and veggies we take in

-Remembering that a bad meal isn’t the end of the world, but don’t miss more than 2.

Taking time to address your nutrition and make grocery lists that focus on options even slightly healthier than they currently are can be a major step in the right direction.  Clean up your nutrition and not only should you see the changes, but you’ll feel them as well!

Rest/Recovery – “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

Though that’s true, it will be the “long sleep”, but that’s a horrible position to take in regards to your health.  Everyone is different and functions on different levels of sleep, but the generally agreed level of sleep is 7-9 hours every night.  If you’re a person who regularly gets the same amount of sleep each night, you can tell a major difference on the days when you get more or less than that median and it’s not typically for the better.  Not only will less sleep make you feel prolongingly tired, but the additional time that you are awake and sleep deprived, the higher your chances of faulting on your nutrition, not having energy for your training sessions, and overall just not being your best self.  Finding a good sleep routine including turning off electronics; lowering the room temperature; blocking out all light; etc. can help better your sleep behavior and increase your recovery time.

Beyond sleep, rest days from training are crucial for your body to be its best.  If you’re training your body every day, you’re not giving yourself adequate time to repair and build into a stronger, healthier version.  When we workout – in any capacity – you are creating tiny tears in the micro fibers of your muscle tissue (not a bad thing), but if you’re not allowing the body enough time to fully recover those tears and continually pushing yourself, not only could you be more susceptible to injury, but using fatigued muscles won’t provide for best efforts in the gym.  Take your rest/recovery days seriously and you’ll see exponential leaps in your gym performance.

Taking it a step further, todays world is rife with stress.  When our stress levels are up, we are in a heightened state mentally and physically.  This can wreak havoc on our bodies in a variety of ways, but if we’re able to find outlets or work on how we handle stress to lessen the effect it has on us, the quicker our body can recover – from physical and mental stress.

Moral of this story – rest, recover, de-stress and see how much further you go after slowing yourself down.

 

Hydration – Now that’s some high quality H2O.

It can’t be stressed enough how important water is to your overall health.  If our bodies are made mostly of water, what makes you think that you should cut back on how much you take in?  The average person drastically undercuts themselves on how much water they drink daily.  And contrary to belief, you don’t need to slug a gallon per day.  Even hitting 100oz of water each day can drastically change your body physically and mentally.

Water keeps your muscles hydrated and healthy.

Water keeps your circulatory system clear and healthy.

Water keeps your waste system flowing and healthy.

Water keeps your skin clear and hair strong and healthy.

Water keeps you mentally fresh and healthy.

Water keeps your appetite at bay and healthy.

Water is the best.

It cools you down; it keeps food cravings away; it’s wonderful.

Drink more of it!

This does not include sodas, juices, energy drinks, alcohol, etc. just because “it has water in it!” The amount of every other bit of crap in all of those completely destroys any possible health aspect that water tries to help.  Limit or eliminate those from your routine and focus on water (or sparkling water) and you’ll feel healthier in so many different ways.  It’s the best supplement that everyone overlooks, don’t be one of that crowd.

Consistency – Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally…

It comes from what you do consistently.  It doesn’t matter what your fitness goal is, if you can’t make it a priority to consistently work on it or show up every day, then you’re leaving a LOT of success on the table.  Overnight successes or quick turn around stories often lead to rebounding back to the origin or worse because once the goal is reached, the habit disappears.  If you want to reach your fitness or health goals, you have to be willing to do the work.  You didn’t get to where you are right now – wherever that may be – overnight.  It took weeks/months/years of consistent habits and behaviors (whether positive or negative behaviors) to lead to where you are.  If you’re trying to lose 30 lbs, but you’re 50 years old; haven’t lifted a weight or eaten a healthy meal in 25+ years, you have to understand that it will take longer than 15 days to reach that goal.  That is years of habits and behaviors that need to be unlearned or re-focused toward the new goal you’re working toward.  You have to show up consistently and put in work on yourself every day in some capacity.  This doesn’t mean working out every day – as noted earlier, rest is an incredibly important aspect to any fitness journey – but you can focus on mindset goals, habit changes, those pesky stress inducing problems, etc.  Our health journey is more than physical and by consistently working on a little something every day, it may take months, years, decades even to reach where you want to go, but if you show up every damn day, I guarantee you’ll get there faster than if you yo-yo back and forth between bouts of crazy high and low activity.  “The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step”.  Take that step, then another, and another, and when you don’t feel like stepping, take another!

There is no end all; be all plan that will get you to your goals instantly – if there was, you’d bet your ass I would have tried it.  But know that when you start your journey and you address more than just your workout routine – dialing in your nutrition; planning rest days and recovery protocols; keeping hydrated; and creating habits that consistently get you showing up every day – you’ll be on the right path to success on your fitness journey, no matter the goal.

Now stop reading and go kick some ass!

Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

You’ve been killing it at the gym and you’re seeing some results, but something just isn’t clicking.  You’ve looked at sleep habits and stress management and increased your water intake, but there’s just one last hump you CAN’T seem to get over.

The dreaded grocery store!

Like anything we fear, the best way to overcome it is to take it head on and make it our friend.  Believe me, it wants to be, but forces greater than us or the grocery are trying to keep us apart!  Read on through and let’s address my favorite Healthy Grocery Shopping Tips!

Without getting too deep into the nutritional breakdown of how terrible most food products are now thanks to vegetable and seed oils, over processing, and essentially all boxed or bagged foods being a few science experiments away from being either plastic or dog food, there are a few simple tips you can follow to get your nutrition in check and moving in the right direction of all your other healthy habits as well!

We’ve probably all hear the adage, “Don’t go to the grocery store hungry.” Because if you do, chances are that you’ll purchase with your eyes and taste buds rather than your brain and body in mind (guilty!).  Being hungry in a store designed specifically to sell you any food imaginable is a recipe for impulse purchase disaster.  One of my favorite things to do that has helped me a TON in curbing impulse/poor food choices has been to simply MAKE A LIST.

There are a bunch of apps, but all you need really is your notes app or a pen/paper and about 2 minutes.

A couple of common misconceptions about eating clean/healthy are that either A) you must eat something extravagant and time consuming to make or B) all you can eat is chicken, broccoli, and brown rice.  Well, if you go with option B), your grocery list is going to be SUPER easy and if you go with A, you probably won’t be sticking to the list very long when you have to figure out all the ingredients you’ll need for that breakfast sandwich with poached egg whites, 1/3 avocado, cilantro lime hollandaise, blah, blah, blah that you’ll make once and end up throwing out the rest of the ingredients.

All you need are a few staple items that fall under your protein, carbs, and fats that are your “Go-To” items.  They will be the focus of most of your meals with rotations of combinations to keep it varied, but simple.  The main idea of going in with a list is to help keep you on track and help avoid the lure of all the things you don’t need, but will inevitably want as you stroll through the aisles.

Not only that, but knowing what you want, you can choose to put items on your list that are typically found along the perimeter of the store, rather than down the dreaded aisles of no return!  As mentioned a little earlier, the food products you’ll find in the aisles are heavily filled with processed foods, sugars, fats, and a bunch of other things that your body really doesn’t want, though your taste buds try to say differently.  It’s noted that modern grocery stores contain over 40,000 items, all of which want your attention and most being down these aisles. 

Grocery stores are mostly set with all their fresh ingredients along the outside perimeter – where all the fresh meats, fruits/veggies, milk, eggs, yogurt, etc… clean items you should focus on are located.  These can also be categorized as the food items with limited to no ingredient list.  A rule of thumb to help with your food list and grocery picking is that you want to aim for foods with the least amount of ingredients listed as possible.  The more ingredients you see on a food label – looking at potato chips and cookies – the more processed and less healthy they will be for you.

If you’ve already mastered shopping the perimeter and thinking, “yeah sure that’s fine for fruits/veggies, but meat (protein) is so dang expensive!” then you’re in luck.  Often times if you check the grocery stores website or app, they will showcase deals going on for all sorts of products, including protein and meats, to help you plan your weekly meals and shopping list.

Not only that, but it can help you focus on what types of protein you should buy in bulk!  Now, I’m not talking about buying 3 fridges worth of meat because that would be outrageous, but I can’t tell you how great it is to search the Kroger app and see that Beef Tenderloin Roasts are Buy 1 Get 1 Free.  They are still pricey – usually around $20-30 per roast, but if you can find them with the B1G1 deal, then you’ve just picked up at least a week or two’s worth of protein in one.  Buying groceries at the time can feel expensive because you’re buying a lot of 1 product at once, but when you look at it from above and see that you can get multiple meals out of one product (think a pack of chicken breast that may run you $10, that’s 3-5 dinners for that $10 pack compared to swinging through McD’s where even if you hit the value menu, chances are your meal is going to be at least $5-10 PER MEAL.

Meat freezes well and a quick thaw or throw right into a crock pot can help you get multiple meals for a great deal.  The price up front might seem a little high, but averaging versus eating out every meal or even just once per day, the savings is a no-brainer in the long run.

Eating healthy doesn’t have to break the bank, cause anxiety, or be overwhelmingly complex.  If you feel overwhelmed, try taking 5-10 minutes before leaving the house and follow these tips to make the grocery store trip quick and painless.

Make a List

Keep to the perimeter as best you can

Check the grocery site/app ahead of time for deals

Buy protein sources (meat) in bulk

 

Here’s a sample of what one of my Grocery Lists might look like:

Fruit (2-3 seasonal)

Potatoes

Baby Carrots

Frozen Peas

Frozen Broccoli

Meat (check deals – beef tenderloin/rotisserie chicken?)

Yogurt

Milk

Eggs (30pk)

Noodles + Sauce

5lb bag of rice

Sweet Treat (life is about balance)

 

Happy shopping!

Effects of Genetics on Building Muscle

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

Recently one of my clients forwarded me a post by Dr. John Jaquish discussing the disadvantage people have in achieving their ideal muscular physique because of a genetic predisposition to shorter vs longer muscle bellies and tendons – leading my client to ask, “If I’m genetically destined to NOT reach my ideal physique, why even bother trying to build muscle?”

Post/Article: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=328419851980595&set=a.272880977534483

I will immediately throw out the information that I am NOT a doctor or an expert in any way, shape, or form unlike Dr. John Jaquish who has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and a lot more other credentials and experience I do not have.

That said, the effects of genetics on building muscle is the same as genetics in anything – everyone is different because our genetic codes are different.  No two people are exactly the same, therefore no two people are going to get the same results.

But that doesn’t mean that if you have “less than ideal” genetics that you won’t still be able to build muscle.

In his overall argument, Dr. Jaquish essentially compares the everyday person trying to build muscle to that of professional athletes.  In his defense, yes, your genetics will play a part in your ability to build the muscle, strength, size, and other abilities/skills needed to play the sport at a professional level that these people do.  Take Michael Phelps for instance – the guy is 6’5” with wide shoulder tapered to a small waist down his long torso with shorter legs but has giant arms, hands, and feet making him the ideal swimmer, and is what led him to winning every gold medal at every Olympics in history (slight hyperbole).

In his article/post, he goes on to discuss that people who have shorter muscle heads and shorter tendons that insert the muscle to the bone are more likely to build muscle better than those with longer muscle heads and longer tendons because they have to work harder to produce the same effort.

This is true to an extent, as smaller muscles have to work harder to do the same things that larger muscles do.  Think of a runner.  A shorter, stockier person is not going to be able to run as far, or as quickly as someone taller and slender without having to exert much more effort.

In an effort to convince you that his book about using HIS bands instead of weight lifting and calling out the comparison to athletes – who by nature are genetically gifted + work their asses off – he basically says its impossible to create your ideal body unless you won the genetic lottery. 

THAT is where I have a problem.

One thing I love about fitness and about our world all together is that everyone is different.  No two people have the same identical body and make up.  Sure you may be identical twins, but that doesn’t mean you both physically have to look identical.  One of you could enjoy running and build yourself into a more slender build person while the other picks up weight lifting and does it continually for 15-20 years building into a monster.  Sure you’re DNA is the same and your faces are identical, but the path you take and the work you put in for your desired outcome will result in completely different bodies.

What I’m getting at is that the genetic disadvantage that Dr. Jaquish is discussing, from my opinion, microscopically impacts how you build muscle.

Will it be harder?  Possibly.

But can you reach your ideal body? Yes.

What matters most is the effort you put in, the frequency at which you dedicate to doing it, how you rest and fuel your body, and remembering that the body you are building is not going to look like anyone else.

Effort – You can’t half ass your way to your best body.  You have to dedicate to showing up every day.  Bodybuilders and strength athletes (or athletes of any kind) will tell you that the results you get are a direct correlation to the effort you put in.  You can’t phone in your workouts, regardless of how you feel.  You have to show up consistently and buy in for the long haul.  Building muscle properly is not a “get rich quick” scheme, but a long-term investment.

Frequency – though 2 days per week of resistance training is good for the body, ideally you want to shoot for 3-4 days in the gym.  Focusing on 3-5 compound movements plus 2-4 isolated movements that hit all the muscles of the body in a week. 

Programming – As mentioned you’ll be in the gym regularly and targeting every muscle group each week.  Your program should progressively get more difficult as you get stronger/bigger.  The main focus of your program will be hitting 3-4 sets of each exercise with a rep range of 8-15.  You should be getting close to failure on each set (but not necessarily HITTING failure).  The two most overlooked, but important aspects of a muscle building program, would have to be the tempo of your movements and the rest period between sets.  Slow down your movement to a MINIMUM of 2 seconds both contracting and extending and keep your rest periods at no more than 60-75 seconds between sets.  The time under tension you’re keeping the muscles under will continue to create the micro-tears in the fibers we’re looking for that – when recovered – will grow in size.  The rest period helps replenish the energy to the muscles so they can get ready for the next bout of resistance and is extremely important!

Rest/recovery – Different than the rest between sets, your rest and recovery is of utmost importance.  Do not take lightly your mobility and stretching routines before, after, sessions and in between training days.  Keeping your body mobile and loose will allow it to move through it’s full range of motion which recruits as much muscle as possible, producing the best and most optimal results.  Unless otherwise noted, every movement should go through a full range of motion.  Any short cut or “cheating” can diminish your gains and keep you from your goals.  Also do not forget to take rest days between training sessions.  This time off is when your muscles are recovering from the damage you did during your training and is where the size of the muscles will continue to grow.  It is not suggested to train the same muscle groups less than 24 hours apart.  A good beginner muscle building split would be 3 days/week of training M/W/F with designated rest/recovery dates on T/Th/Sat/Sun.

Fuel – As noted in a previous post, carbs heading into your workout will provide the energy the muscles need to work, while a protein centric meal after will help replenish and re-fuel the muscles aiding their recovery and helping them build nice and strong for next time!  Stay away from sugars, alcohols, and processed foods as much as possible – sticking to lean sources of protein; complex carbs/veggies; and healthy fats/oils in proper amounts.

Yes your genetics play a part in your bodies ability to build muscle when comparing the average joe to professional athletes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach your ideal physique through regular resistance training and progressively pushing your muscles with proper programming.

Every one’s body is different and we all can reach our peak physiques with the right effort, frequency, programming, recovery, and fuel – it’s just a matter of buying in to the long term investment of your health and being the best version of you possible to reach the best version of you.

But don’t ask me to make you look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club… THAT was peak genetic lottery…

3 Hacks to Fix Your Aching Lower Back

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

If you’re like I was when I sat a desk for 8+ years after college, your body might resemble that of a croissant when you sit down.  Slouching with rolled forward shoulders and a lower back that lights on fire if you sit for more than 10 minutes, regardless of the position you try to move around in.  Modern society and the work that we perform is designed to destroy our posture, leaving our bodies broken in the process.  Everything we need is directly in front of us, keeping us in a position that focuses on reaching, lurching, leaning forward at almost all times.

A “normal” posture used to mean a straight spine (with natural curve), wide shoulders drawn back, arms at our sides with palms of hands facing each other.

These days, it more resembles a rounded forward spine, exaggerating the curvature, rolled slouching shoulders with a craning neck, and arms that are brought forward toward the front of the body with palms now facing the body rather than each other (thanks typing!)

It’s no surprise with these things in mind that people complain of lower back pains so much and how often we see our co-workers and friends stand up and stretch their lower back trying to alleviate any pain with little to no (long term) avail.

Aside from getting a job that forces you to get one of those posture correcting chairs – let’s take a look at 3 hacks to fix your aching lower back for good!

  1. Stand up at least once every hour.

As we said and you’re probably aware, we sit down… a lot.  At work, in the car, at home, etc.  Comfort is great and sitting is really nice because standing is awful.  Only thing better than sitting is lying down.  But in a world of sitting, it has left lumbar support and lower backs everywhere screaming in agony!  One of the simplest things you can do is set an alarm for 55 minutes and every time it goes off, stand up.  Just stand up and work or walk or do nothing, for at least 5-10 minutes.  Once that standing time is up, you may repeat sitting back down, but you have to re-set the 55 minute timer.  Standing every hour can help offset a number of the lower back problems we feel by allowing the area a time to actually work.  Contrary to popular belief, stretching the lower back is not only not helpful, but could exacerbate any issues you might be having.  Your hip flexors (on the front of the body) have been engaged the entire time, as you sit with your legs at 90 degrees in front of you.  The muscles on the back side then have had to stretch to accommodate their flexion and which muscles do you think have been stretched?  That’s right – the lower back/lumbar/glute muscles.  By standing up, you are able to relax the hip flexors and engage the lower back/glute muscles to contract, thus alleviating some of that anxiety.

 

  1. Stretch

Now, I know what you’re thinking… you LITERALLY just said not to stretch the lower back, and I stand by that.  But you still need to stretch other parts of your body.  As we discussed in the opening of this article, the way we work and live has us in a near perpetual state of our body pulled FORWARD.  As we noted in the last section, those hip flexors, which pull our legs forward (when we sit) have been active the entire time we’re seated, and our lumbar has been stretched just as long.  If your lower back is aching, chances are it’s not the only area that’s not sitting properly.  Chances are your shoulders are rounded forward too with a little bit of a neck craning to compensate.  If you don’t feel pain in these areas now, continued postural problems may cause pain down the line, so while we’re addressing the lumbar region, let’s hit the upper back area as well!  Incorporating stretches that focus on our chest muscles (pecs), our neck, and our hip flexors can help relieve the tension those muscles are constantly under – and like we addressed, when one muscle is stretching, that means the other is contracting, ie our lower, upper, and middle back muscles that may be fatigued and overly stretched, can now get to work strengthening up and bringing us into a taller, more natural (and comfortable) position.  A quick Google search for a Hip Flexor, Pectoral, or Neck stretch can find you an infinite number of easy to implement stretches that you can use throughout the day to relieve that pain.

 

  1. Strength Train

Surprise, surprise that a personal trainer would tell you that the best way to alleviate pain would be to strengthen something! 😊  Well, if you’ve been paying attention, this part won’t surprise you, but if you’re still a little lost, pay attention.  As we noted with STANDING UP and STRETCHING, one of the biggest reasons that our lower back can flair up on a moments notice because of poor posture has A LOT to do with the lack of strength in the muscles that make up that area.  The pain from sitting/poor posture is because those muscles have been stretched too far, for too long.  It may sound counter-intuitive but if you begin strengthening the area of your lower back, hips, and glutes (and why not hit the upper back/rear delts/neck while you’re at it) can dramatically decrease your risk of pain in that region.  Strengthening those muscles in the gym can also help stretch the overactive hip flexors, pecs, and shoulders as mentioned earlier as well.  Again – when one muscle group is working, the opposite muscles are stretching – it’s a win, win! 

Try incorporating exercises such as Deadlifts, Rows, Pulldowns, Dead Bugs, Bird Dogs, and Superman Extensions to build up the strength and endurance of the posterior chain primarily in the lower back and glute region.  I promise that even 3 sets of 8-12 reps of 2-3 of those exercises a MINIMUM of 1 time per week will help you see exponential relief to chronic lower back pain.

These 3 tips can save a lot of money at doctors, chiropractors, or on devices to alleviate pain and they can help rid you of it for the long haul!* 

I am not a doctor and any prolonged issues or deeper stresses than just “lower back ache” should be addressed by a physician or specialist, but for everyday soreness and discomfort, you will be amazed at how simply standing a little more during the workday; stretching the front of your body; and doing some simple Bird Dogs can rid you of chronic back pains you never thought you’d get rid of.

What have you tried to alleviate back pain (minus pills) that you thought might work, but kept you on the side line?

 

*One of my clients came to me noting chronic back pain that had her seeing a chiropractor multiple times per WEEK but after only 3-4 weeks of strength training with me, in which we focused on implementing Bird Dogs, Rows, and Deadlift variations to strengthen the area, she has YET to go back to the chiropractor. This was over 14 months ago (Blog posted 5.24.21)

Post Workout Showdown Protein vs Carbs

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

The workout is done. You kicked its butt and you can already feel your body getting sore as the muscles begin the process of repair.  You’ve walked in the door to your home and popped open the fridge to make a quick meal as your belly rumbles, begging for some food to replenish.

You know you need a clean meal made of quality food sources to keep you on track for your goals – whatever they may be – but you’re not sure if you need to lean more heavily toward carbohydrates or protein in the post-workout hours.

It doesn’t matter what your ultimate goal with your fitness journey is, protein and carbs (and fat) are high priority macronutrients that are found in all foods and need to be consumed in their appropriate proportions to help your body.  Every meal should be well-balanced around these macros but the timing in which you consume higher quantities of one of another could benefit your results and progress more than you probably thought.

So which do you focus on post-workout?

If you guessed protein, you’d be on the right path.

While carbohydrates are still good and necessary for your body and help replenish your energy stores – their primary function – it is protein that we want the bulk of our post training meal, snack, dish to be made of.

Photo by Klaus Nielsen from Pexels

While you are training, whether lifting weights; doing yoga; playing a sport; etc. your muscles are contracting and expanding and using energy (carbs) and in doing so, creating micro-tears in the muscle fibers.  We’ve discussed this in past articles, but these microtears are necessary proof that the muscles are working.  This is what causes inflammation during training, it releases the energy and creates waste (lactic acid).  During the recovery time period – when the muscles are not being used – they are doing everything they can to recover before you put them under stress/resistance again.  In order for the body to do this, it breaks down the food we eat and funnels the protein directly to the re-building muscles.  The muscles then take the protein and use it to repair and rebuild stronger and better than they were.  This is why/how we are able to adapt to heavier stresses – the more your body gets used to a certain stress, the stronger the muscles become to manage it, hence why we continue to increase the resistance (higher weight/reps, less rest, more sets, etc) to continue to build a better body.

Though your standard diet should provide enough protein (about .8-1.0g per pound of bodyweight), if you’re not feeling like recovery is happening as quickly as it should, or you’re on shorter turn around between training sessions or use of particular muscles, a higher protein meal or added protein source (shake) after training sessions can help the body recover quicker but quickly facilitating protein back to the muscles to begin repairing immediately and getting you back in shape quickly.

Carbohydrates do have a special place in the body as they are the energy source for almost all bodily functions and complex/high quality carbohydrates are suggested to keep you going, focusing on them post-workout is not as highly regarded compared to protein.  Carbohydrates should be more focused prior to a training session as they will help provide the energy needed to get through your training session.

It is recommended to find a balance and take in both protein and carbs (along with healthy fats and plenty of veggies) at all meals, if you’re looking for an added boost, protein centric meals/snacks after training could go a long way to help speed up recovery and help build better, stronger muscles vs post training carbohydrates.

I personally enjoy chocolate milk, a protein shake, eggs, or a quick chicken breast wrap as my go-to post workout protein meals.

What is your favorite protein source?

Learn the 3 Secrets to Sleeve Busting Arms!

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

When I started my fitness journey, I followed a number of free training programs I had found online – mostly via bodybuilding.com before they started requiring memberships for access.  During that time one of the parts of my body that saw great results was my arms – my biceps and triceps.  Over the years, they became a notable point of conversation if anyone was admiring a part of my body and

Dumbbell Biceps Curls

 

  1. Negative Reps

One of the first training techniques I learned in the gym through my friend Manuel was the “negative”.  It’s one of the easiest ways to train, but most often overlooked methods because it’s boring, it’s exhausting, and it hurts (in the good way).  When an exercise is done, focusing on the NEGATIVE, what we’re talking about is the portion of the movement when the weight is moving down toward the ground, which could be the dumb/bar-bell, your body, the stack of plates, etc.  This is the eccentric motion of the exercise when the targeted muscles are lengthening out after having been contracted.  For example: During a biceps curl with a dumbbell, when you lift the dumbbell from your hip up to your shoulder by flexing your elbow, you are contracting the biceps muscle which engages it to pull the elbow/forearm up.  Having reached the shoulder, it’s now time to lower the weight back down.  Releasing the contraction of the biceps, the muscle then stretches back into place.  By slowing down the time we allow the muscle to release the tension, we are forcing the muscle to work harder and longer than it would be if we just let the weight drop.  The longer time under tension of contraction, the more the muscle is working; therefore the more the muscle will become stronger, and bigger.

 

Aim for a 3-4 second negative per rep, doing 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.

 

  1. Drop Sets.

A big proponent of bodybuilding style workouts that helps people build muscle and tone quickly is the incorporation of drop sets.  What this means that you pick a number of reps and perform the heaviest weight you (safely) can at that weight, then immediately drop the weight down by about 20-25% and perform another round of reps without rest.  Once you’ve completed both number of reps at the original and dropped weight, THEN you take your rest break.  Reset the weight to the starting point, and go again.  The idea here is to push the muscle close to it’s failure point, meaning if you tried to do one more rep, it would be almost impossible (without risking injury); but then by dropping the weight by that 20-25%, your muscles are still able to keep going for a few more reps.  This pushes the capacity of the muscle to work, building stronger and larger muscles.

                One of my favorite set/rep schemes if you’re looking for an extra challenge is a DOUBLE drop set, in which you perform 2 drops of the weight in 1 set.  If you’re up for it, try 3 sets of 10-12 reps, dropping the weight twice per set (perform 10; drop the weight + perform 10; drop the weight again; perform 10; rest; reset; repeat).

 

  1. Save for the End.

If you’ve programmed correctly, the bulk of your training program should be focused on compound movements – exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc – that utilize more than one muscle group and perform more than one joint action.  Because of that, during the main focus of your workout, you are already using the biceps and triceps as accessory/support muscles in exercises like presses (triceps) or pulls (biceps).  Since they’ve already been used, they are already feeling the pump of blood and oxygen coursing through them.  Now is the time to take it to the next level by isolating them for ultimate growth!  This is now the time to do your negative reps and drop sets.  The isolated work that focuses solely on the pre-warmed up biceps/triceps will help take your progress over the top.

 

It’s no secret that toned arms are seen as sexy and as someone who’s received compliments for having a big arms, I can tell you that the 3 secrets laid out here, are where it’s at when you want to grow bigger arms.

Hit a great workout then finish off with some negatives and drop sets consistently, and you’ll start busting sleeves in no time!

What’s your favorite exercise to work your arms?  Sound off in the comments below!

Pre-Workout: To Use or Not to Use, That is the Question!

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

The clients I work with and people who have asked to know my stance on supplements is that you don’t need them.  They are beneficial in many ways to help you toward your goals but being an industry that is non-regulated (in the US), the number of supplements that the body can ACTUALLY benefit from pales in comparison to the number of products on the market.

Avoiding going into every detail, I was questioned specifically about my take on Pre-Workout – would I recommend it or not?

First let me start by saying, I do not recommend any sort of supplement as necessary without consulting your physician, and I am not affiliated to any specific supplement brands.  Any products mentioned in this post are based solely on my own experiences and products that I have or currently do use.

Like any question you’d ask to a good trainer, the real answer to, “Should I use pre-workout or not?” is:

“It depends.”

It depends on… your level activity; intensity of your training; goals; sensitivity to caffeine; sensitivity to other ingredients in pre-workout; desired effect; etc.

Let’s take a step back for a minute and address the question of what pre-workout is and what is it for/what it does.

Pre-workout is a supplement designed to help boost your energy, blood flow, and focus prior to a training session to help you achieve optimal results.  The main ingredients are typically caffeine, beta-alanine, creatine, niacin, and a series of other random ingredients depending on what that products manufacturer decides it wants to add.

Focusing on those main ingredients, caffeine is typically the most common at about 200-250mg per serving in most pre-workout products.  Caffeine is a stimulant designed to increase your energy levels and clear fog from your brain to allow focus on the task ahead.  Beta-alanine is a vasodilator which means that it increases the size of blood vessels to allow for a large flow of blood through the body.  This helps training sessions as your blood is able to move more oxygen into the muscles to help them maintain work and continue pushing even when you want to quit.  Creatine is the main component of muscle building supplements and helps our bodies avoid atrophy.  It doesn’t make you bulky but can cause you to retain a bit of water.  If you are on a muscle building or toning program, creatine is a great supplement to incorporate to help build strong, sexy, toned muscles.  Finally, Niacin works also as a Nootropic supplement focusing the mind and boosting energy. 

Beyond those, there can a ton of other filler ingredients that get advertised as helping you, but ultimately probably don’t do much.

In rants I’ve made countless times, there are only about 3-4 supplements that I would recommend someone take if they were interested (of their own volition) that would aid their training – caffeine, creatine, protein, multi-vitamin, maybe a couple of others.

As you’ll notice, caffeine and creatine are on that list – 2 of the biggest players in most pre-workouts.

The reason I support those 2 ingredients is that they are the only supplements that have conclusive evidence of working for those who take them in addition to regular training.

The problem with pre-workout products isn’t the ingredients that work, it’s all the filler that’s unnecessarily added. 

As I mentioned earlier, the supplement industry is largely unregulated in the US and with that, companies will make claims of ingredients being in their product but the factual amounts they claim could be skewed.  Often seen as a “proprietary blend” they will throw random amounts of ingredients together in the bottle so they can claim they are in the product, but without having to disclose how much.  Also, they do not have to be pure substances and often these bottles of product are filled with artificial flavors and ingredients.

So going back to the original question – should you use pre-workout or not – I would say that you can if you feel like you need an extra boost to get through your training sessions.  It would be beneficial to those who train in the morning, but be wary of later training sessions especially with pre-workouts that use caffeine as it could disrupt your sleep patterns, which we don’t want to do.  Thankfully they have started making less potent or stimulant free products which primarily utilize Vitamin B12 (or Vitamin B Complex) to provide energy, but be aware that an over intake of any vitamin can be detrimental.

I personally DO use pre-workout, and though I’ve used many different kinds with varying results, the one I continually come back to is Pre-Kaged by Kaged Muscle.  It’s a product I’ve followed since its inception 5-7 years ago and believe works best for me.  They use natural flavors and no artificial additives.  It’s pricier than most products – but like anything else, the higher the price, generally the better the quality.

If you are sensitive to caffeine, niacin, or any other ingredients, I recommend not taking it – there are other alternatives and unless you are training extremely hard on a regular basis or professionally, a cup of regular coffee (black, no added cream, sugar, etc) has enough caffeine to get you through.  There is a movement by many fitness/health “guru’s” I have seen via Twitter of eliminating caffeine all together and switching to local honey as their stimulant, but honey is basically just natural sugar which gives you an energy boost like caffeine would.

If you’re not sure if you should take a pre-workout or have questions about ingredients, you can always consult your physician to be sure.

Need an extra boost in the gym and not a coffee or energy drink consumer, maybe give pre-workout a try, but know you don’t NEED it, but it can help push through tough training sessions.  Just be careful of ingredients and going overboard with caffeine later in the day.

Have any other questions about supplements or ingredients you’ve seen on your pre-workouts, drop them in the comments and I’d be happy to answer!

Special THANK YOU to my client Terry D for posing the question in the first place.

4 Secrets to Toning Up

Posted on by alwayshungrypt
You’re not going to get bulky, I promise.
Those reasons are for a different post entirely, so we’ll focus on toning up!
One of the more common goals I hear from potential clients (men and women alike) is the desire to “Get toned!”
Start with my 4 Secrets to Toning Up

and you’ll be on your way in no time!

1. PRIORITIZE COMPOUND MOVEMENTS
Classified as a movement that uses more than one “joint action” these can include:
 -Squat
 -Hip Thrust
 -Lunge to Lateral Raise
 -Dumbbell Curl to Overhead Press
They can typically move the heaviest resistance/weight, helping build muscle to create tone.  Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps of these exercises.
2. EAT A HIGH PROTEIN DIET
Protein is the building block of muscles. Resistance training breaks down the muscle tissue, so maintaining a high protein diet (~1-1.2g per kg of weight) will help re-fuel your muscles to get bigger and stronger!
3. FOCUS ON SLEEP/RECOVERY
Often overlooked by a “I’ll sleep more when I’m dead” mentality by a lot of people, one thing we can all do is take sleep/recovery a little more seriously.  Clearing a foggy brain, providing more energy, and giving your body the time it needs to properly rest and re-build the muscle used during that days training session is vital to help get you toned in no time.  Shoot for 7-9hrs per night!  And reminder, you can’t make up for lost sleep, be consistent, get consistent results!
4. SLOW AND CONTROLLED TEMPO
It’s great that you’re hitting compound movements and starting to feel good, but if you want to speed up the process, it’s time to slow down the reps. Each rep should aim for a 2 second contraction and 2 second extension at minimum. During the movement, the muscle shortens and lengthens, breaking down with micro tears on each rep. Slowing down the movement forces harder work (more micro tears), so when the muscles rebuild thanks to protein and the rest/recovery, they’ll be stronger and more toned/defined!
That’s it!
To get toned, you have to have muscle to show off. Follow those 4 steps and you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of the game to building your ideal body.
Which “secret” are you going to work on today?

Worth It?

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

I don’t want to work out today.

I don’t want to eat that grilled chicken wrap and spinach today.

I don’t want to meditate today.

I don’t want to read that book today.

I don’t want to go for a walk today.

I don’t want to study today.

I don’t want.

I don’t want.

I don’t want.

These are the things we say to ourselves when we feel overwhelmed, tired, stressed, frustrated, angry, etc. and follow it up with things like, “is it even worth it?”

We live in a day and age which has taught us that the best rewards are those that we receive instantaneously and that being patient for the long-term is not necessarily bad, but unbearable to do!  So we get to a point where motivation wanes and think any of the thoughts above followed by the question – “is it even worth it?”

Unquestionably the answer should be a resounding, “ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY!”

The best results come in the long term.

Putting on muscle takes time; following a program that’s designed to increase in progress meticulously and marginally over months, even years!

Losing weight (correctly) takes time; following a nutrition plan that changes not only how much you eat, but how you eat and the habits surrounding over months, even years!

Earning money takes time; savings and investing through the lows and highs over months, even (most likely) years!

You get the point.  It takes time; patience; work; and keeping your eye on the end goal to reach the heights you are trying to climb.

Like everyone else, I have the days when I wake up and think, “Ugh, I do NOT want to work out/eat healthy/move at all today.” But these are also the days where showing up is most critical.  It’s not a matter of beating out anyone else who would give in and stay home but beating that version of myself who wants to skip today because I take my mind from tomorrow.  Take the action and do the damn thing now so that tomorrow you’ll thank yourself.

“But Eric, what if I just DO NOT WANT to do it anymore and my dumb brain wins out!?”

Good question, friend.

We’re not perfect and there may be times where that happens.  Sometimes we HAVE to take that day off, and that’s okay.  But from there 2 things can/need to happen.

  1. Do not skip a second time.

Skipping once is fine – maybe your body is telling you it NEEDS the rest/break.  Maybe life DID just get too busy and too in the way.  That’s fine, it happens.  What cannot happen, is missing twice.  When you miss twice, you have now started a new negative habit.  One where you are more open to taking your foot off the gas.  One where “stop and smell the roses” is something you’re okay with.  Next thing you know it’s been days, weeks, months later and you’re still in the same place or worse instead of continuing forward.

 

Take the mental health days when needed and get the rest you need, but do not let it bleed into multiple times.  Get back on the horse and keep going.

 

  1. Re-evaluate your goals.

‘Ope, you skipped again and again and again and now you’re back to where you started and staring down barrel of needing to get back to it.  If this is you, then I caution you to not throw yourself back into the same goals and routine you were in before.  If you’ve taken time off and now getting back into it, you need to take time and re-evaluate the goal and your approach.

 

Clearly something didn’t click the last time through and taking the time to figure out what went right, wrong, and how it will be different this time, can help you dial it in to be successful this time around.

Maybe life got crazy.

Maybe what you were doing wasn’t exciting.

Maybe it wasn’t getting the results you needed.

Maybe it didn’t fit your schedule.

Maybe you didn’t have the right mindset.

 

Addressing what DIDN’T go well, and taking stock of what DID go well, can then help you create the plan to be successful this time.  This also helps you make sure that your goals line up with your values which is a big motivator to help you keep the eye on the long term.

 

Life is crazy.

Bettering yourself is hard.

Throwing in the towel feels like a super easy solution.

But the second you ask yourself, “is it worth it?” and you can answer, “FUCK YES!” is the moment you will level up and start truly becoming your best self.  But if you do decide to skip, make sure to not miss more than twice and skipping becomes a new habit, take the time to re-evaluate and address how you’ll change this time to make it successful.

The road is long and difficult to navigate, but when you reach your goals, the view is extraordinary!

What hard road are you walking?

Resistance Training 101

Posted on by alwayshungrypt

We all start somewhere and stepping foot on a gym floor can be one of the most nerve-wracking things in the world if you don’t have a plan.  One of the first things I learned that helped me and a few of my clients when we started was keeping our plan SIMPLE. Welcome to Resistance Training 101 – Beginners Guide to Fitness.

There are a ton of pieces of equipment (barbells, dumbbells, cables, machines, etc) on a commercial gym floor (Planet Fitness; Esporta Fitness; etc.) but when you take a bird’s eye view, you’ll notice every exercise is a variation

of just 7 movements that our body does:

  1. Push (chest, shoulders, triceps)
  2. Pull (back, biceps)
  3. Squat (quadriceps)
  4. Hinge (glutes, hamstrings)
  5. Lunge (full leg)
  6. Rotation (core/abs)
  7. Gait (walking, total body)

 

When starting out, the first thing you need to learn is HOW YOUR BODY MOVES through each of these 7 movements and begin building from there.  It doesn’t matter what your goal is, if you’ve never stepped foot in a gym, the first

Push

thing you should do is learn how your body moves.  Not only will this help you push yourself and make strides quicker than those around you, but it will help your mind and muscles develop a connection to learn how to safely move, which will help avoid injury as you increase the resistance/load (weight).  

PULL

When coming up with your plan, my suggestion would be to pick 1 exercise that falls under each category to be your workout that you repeat 2-3 times per week for 2–4 weeks to properly develop HOW to do it and how your body moves.

Making it even simpler, begin by using machines or your own bodyweight as they are the most stable and can help you learn the basic movement pattern of the exercise.  One rule to keep in mind is you want to start with the most stable exercise possible and machines, being the most stable, literally only have 1 way they work, which helps you develop the proper form for the exercise.

Squat

Once you’ve completed the 2-4 week entry period, then take a step back and decide how you want to attack your goals.  You will be able to decide if you want to train 2, 3, or 4+ days per week and then build your program or plan from there.

One of the most popular goals I’ve come across is combining Burning fat + Getting toned (building muscle).  I say this not only from what I’ve discussed with my clients, but because this is similar to goals that I have gone after and achieved personally.  To do this, I/we have seen best results by doing 3–4 sets of each chosen exercise at about 10–15 repetitions per set (resting 45–60 seconds between sets).

Hinge

**Not sure what weight to use (if more than Bodyweight)?

When you choose a number of reps you’re shooting for, the weight should be heavy enough to hit that number of reps with difficulty, but not so heavy that you can’t safely get there; or light enough that you finish and think, “hmm… could have done 10 more…”**

If I were starting out, a sample workout I might try (and similar to those I have applied to clients on their first few days) would look like this:

A. Chest press machine (3 sets; 12 reps)

B. Seated close grip row (cable maybe?) (3 sets; 15 reps)

C. Leg Press machine (3 sets; 15 reps)

D. Dumbbell deadlift (3 sets; 12 reps)

E. Bodyweight stationary forward lunge (3 sets; 8–10 reps each leg

F. Russian twist (3 sets; 20 reps each side)

G. Dumbbell farmer carry (3 sets; 30–50yds)

Lunge

Do your best to maintain focus on controlling the weight and as you get better, increase the weight and plug in new exercises that still work toward your goals and vary it up.

Consistency and patience will lead to the best results.

Once you’ve got the basics down, if you’re looking for that edge, there are TONS of free programs or helpful hints and tips you can find and all the exercises in my sample workout can be found with a quick Google/YouTube search.

Fitness is for everyone; and everyone started somewhere – you got this and remember that wanting to walk this journey means you are working toward a happier, healthier you – physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc.

 

Still not sure what to do or need that extra bit of accountability?

Rotation

It’s never a bad idea to hire a coach or trainer.  One of my specialties is helping new people learn their way around the jungle gym of their fitness facility and learning how amazing the human body can be.  If you’re tired of waiting around and ready to make the change, head to the Online Client Application and fill it out and let’s talk today!  Get all the structure and accountability you need from an in-person trainer, with the flex to train any time, any where in the world at a fraction of the cost, with the best in the world! (me! 😊)

 

Eric Hinrichsen

Always Hungry Personal Training | Columbus, OH

Gait