Your Workout isn't Working; Want to Know Why?

We are going into the second month of the New Year, how are things going? By now you could have lost around five-ten pounds, dropped a couple of inches off your waist line, and established yourself at the front of the New Year Res pack. So, what's up, where are you, are you happy with your results so far, if not lets have a little talk, just a heart to heart and give me a chance to tell you what might be going wrong and how you can fix it.

Intensity is one of the most overlooked aspects of exercise, if you are not getting the results you want you probably aren't working out hard enough. You have to take your training to failure to make gains. This means that if you are lifting weights you have to push it until you can't push anymore. If you are in a stationary bike class turn that nob until you smell the smoke from your legs and even then push harder.
Next, if you have been going to the gym and getting on the same elliptical machine at the same setting for more then a couple of weeks it's time to change it up. If you haven't been working out for a while you will lose weight initially but you plateau quickly, make sure you are switching between different machines on a regular basis. The body is extremely adaptable and will eventually do the physiological equivalent of laughing in your face if you are not varying your cardio workout.
If just don't enjoy lifting weights and you tend to go to the gym to work the cardio machines take a class. Don't worry if you are not the most coordinated person on the planet, everyone in that class was a beginner at one point, sit in the back and build up your confidence. Not only will this take you to the next level in your workout but, the moves you learn will translate well to the gym floor when you decide to add resistance training to your routine.

Consistency is a big road block for so many, I see people that really want to make changes in their lives yet only make it to the gym a couple of times per week. They beat themselves up lifting heavy and running hard; when the work is done they have just enough energy to drag away. For many the feeling is great but for what ever reason they just can't keep it going and it may take a couple of days for them to cycle back up and get back to the gym.
You have to get in a little something everyday; don't believe the hype, three days a week will work initially just getting started but if you don't have any limitations you should work up to five days a week. Make the time, set it up like you would an appointment, and get there, stop making excuses. Become a morning person, people that work out in the morning are much more likely to make it to the gym. Come up with a strategy for the days you can't get into the gym, something like a workout DVD, some hand weights, a stability ball and some Therabands would be great for any home gym.

Diet had to make this list, and for many of us I know this one might be at the top of the your reasons for not having the body you want. The role of food in our lives is different for everyone; maybe you are an emotional eater or you can't control your appetite in social settings. Maybe you have been roped into a fad diet or you just are to busy during your day to get in healthy eats.
You have to decide what you want to get out of your gym experience then fashion your food choices around that. If you want to lose weight and tone up cut the calories you consume by fifteen percent or five-hundred calories, which ever is the lowest number. You will also have to cut the crap food out of your diet, and no, eating an entire sleeve of rice cakes throughout the day is not going to do it. If you want to put on lean muscle reverse the formula above, cut the crap, and focus on increasing your protein intake.
In both cases you will need to try to stick to a plan that has you eating three meals a day with two snacks. Keep the processed food consumption down to a minimum and don't rely to heavily on supplements to get you to goal. Don't be to harsh on yourself either, find a dietitian and get some realistic information to set a realistic goal.

Sleep, Z's, siesta, we don't get enough of it, and if you are trying to decrease body fat lack of sleep will work against you. Who ever came up with the forty hour work week should be taken down to the town square and flogged as soon as we get off work. Having said that I endorse any candidate for president that promotes no more then a thirty hour work week with a mandatory two-hour break for eating and exercise.
When you don't get enough sleep your body stresses and produces the hormone cortisol in response to this stress. Cortisol is associated with the "fight or flight" mechanism of the body and releases glucose, protein, and fat into the blood stream in preparation for the perceived danger. Now, your body has this extra fat floating around in the blood stream and it sends it to storage in the area that it thinks needs the most protection. That's right, your gut, also the location of some of the most vital organs in the body which are cozy and secure in the new layer of visceral fat that surrounds them.

Don't give up, make this the year that you start doing what is right for your body, not what is convenient. Be realistic, be specific and have fun, find a way to be proactive about your health that you will enjoy. If the gym is not for you look into a recreational sport that will get that heart rate up.

Exercise as Medicine

Graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder I landed my first job as a pharmaceutical sales representative working everything North of Denver. It was a great first job, company car, an expense account, and part of my territory included most of the popular snowboarding spots. I would go out everyday and try to convince physicians that my products were the best choices for their patients suffering from poor cardiovasucular health.

I would start many of my conversations with a patient picture; "Doctor, let me ask you, do you have one of those out of shape, middle aged patients that has tossed exercise to the curb years ago and has uncontrolled hypertension?" Many of them would shake off the image they see every morning in the mirror and agree with me that they did have this type of patient. The thing was that they all had this type of patient and I new it; my job was to convince them to prescribe a pill instead of pushing a better way of life.

Medicine is changing, the price of health care is getting higher while the coverage offered by employers is decreasing. In this hostile environment you can't help but to be proactive about your health and doing what is best for yourself and the people you care about. Exercise is medicine, inexpensive and available to everyone, it can be taken a couple times a day or as needed. You should never skip a dose but if you do, make it up the next day and it will work just as well.

In the commentary "Exercise is Medicine" by Harold Elrick, MD, Dr. Elrick sites the eight most common preventable medical disorders in the US: "heart disease, cancer, stroke, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, and osteoporosis." These are diseases of the lazy and overworked, what has happened to our society, what are we living for, and why our we dying out of shape and over weight?

There will never be a pill, surgery, or medical procedure that could benefit and enhance so many aspects of an individual the way exercise does. I am not just talking about diseases, fitness positively augments intelligence and thinking in general by increasing blood flow to the brain. Losing weight promotes positive self-image and increases self esteem; you feel better, look better and save the money that you would normally spend on a therapist.

When I worked in surgery I would often hear doctors say, "you either pay for it now or suffer with it later." The wisdom in these words echo in my head every time I miss a workout or see an obese person struggling up stairs or watch my mom smoke another cigarette. Going into this year you have to stop making excuses, stop thinking about why should you exercise and realize how much better you will feel when you do. This isn't a bitter pill to swallow, but if it does give you any problems just hide it in some peanut butter, you won't even know the difference.

New Years Resolutions

Hey,

Welcome to the new year; funny thing how the changing of a date allows us to wipe the slate clean on the previous 365 days. So be it, any opportunity to change your life for the better should always be taken advantage of. By this time most of you believers out there have either made you resolutions or are contemplating what they will be.

Do I even have to mention that the statistics are not in your favor; I have decided not to even include how little of a chance you have of actually following through. Instead, I will focus on the strategies that have worked for myself and others. After working through the internet I have come up with this quick compilation of some of my favorites.

Dr. Stephen Kraus at the "SelfGrowth.com" website suggest four of the top strategies for keeping on track with your resolutions. My favorite two are create a plan for success as well as a plan for slip-ups. Plan through what you want and how you will get it, be detailed, be specific, and be realistic. Build your plan around a time line that includes check points along the way to a set goal. Also keep in mind how you will identify setbacks and deal with them as they occur along the path to success.

At the "GoalsGuy.com" Gary Ryan Blair suggests that you tackle only one resolution at a time, "divide and conquer." This is such an important point to make because few people pick just one aspect to change in their lives, most identify many different things. Try to avoid laundry listing the things you want to improve instead pick a handful of tasks and work through them one at a time.

Looking at "About.com" Wayne Parker points out that your should focus on the positive goals not negative "leave behinds." Say that you want to quit smoking, instead of writing down "I want to stop destroying my body by filling my lungs with toxic, carcinogenic, life shortening smoke," write "I want to improve my life and make the world better for myself and those around me by not smoking." You know who you are.

These are just a couple of my favorites for achieving success this year to get in shape and lead a more satisfying life. If you haven't put it on your list please start exercising and eating better on a regular basis. Exercise is medicine, it should be taken daily and enjoyed often. For more tips please visit me at www.naturalselectionwellness.com.