The Olympics and What Kind of Chicken Are You?

tanya — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:43:40 -0700

Are you better at quick bursts of energy or endurance exercise?

If you can identify correctly which you are better at you can create a custom wellness program that will take advantage of your natural abilities and propel you further than you thought possible. Which leads to a question a client recently asked me.

Q: What is the difference between fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers?

A: The two type of muscle fibers are fast and slow. Most of us have 50% of each type. These fibers react differently to cardio and weight lifting. Slow fibers are more effective at aerobic exercise, thus it is more effective at using oxygen for continuous extend muscle contractions over a long time. These fibers are great for long distance running and any other type of endurance training.

Fast twitch fibers behave the opposite. They are anaerobic (without oxygen) and therefore use anaerobic metabolism to generate fuel. Fast fibers are much more effective for quick bursts of energy such as weight lifting and sprints. These fibers fatigue much quicker than their slow counterparts.

Both fibers generally generate the same amount of force, but fast twitch fibers fire their force quicker than slow fibers, thus getting their names fast and slow twitch fibers.

Interestingly, Olympic sprinters have been shown to have 80 percent fast twitch fibers while marathon runners tend to possess 80 percent slow twitch fibers.

Have you ever wondered why chicken breasts are white and their legs are dark?

Slow twitch fibers are red because they contain myoglobin (which carries oxygen), and fast twitch are white. Chickens are ground dwelling birds so they need to walk long periods of time. This requires slow twitch muscles so they won’t fatigue over a long period of time. That is why you get the dark color. The wings and breast are used for a quick flight response from danger. This requires fibers that respond to quick bursts of energy. So they need fast twitch fibers, resulting in white meat.

Now you didn’t ask; but, me, I can go for longer periods of exercise than Ryan. He has me beat in sprints and weightlifting. So from that you could reasonably think that I’m dark meat and he’s white meat. Just another example of opposites attracting!

Stretching is important but does it need to take up a quarter of my workout?

tanya — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:54:43 -0700

Q: My trainer takes 15 minutes at the end of the session to do stretching. I feel this takes too much time out of my workout. Is this really necessary?

A: I always notice trainers having their clients stretch at the last quarter of their session. I personally do not do this with my clients. I cringe when I see trainers actually stretch the clients out as well. Only the client knows how far to go and it is such an easy way to injure the client.

Stretching is important because it lessens chance of injury and also helps alleviate some of the muscle soreness that develops the next day. I will share with you a way that has always worked for me and so far has never hurt any of my clients in the whole 15 years I have been training (knock on wood).

I have the client stretch the muscles they are going to work out that day at the beginning of the workout. This takes about 1-2 minutes. Then when we break between a set, I have them stretch the muscle they are exercising again. At the end of the workout, I have them repeat the stretches from the beginning of the workout. This takes another 1-2 minutes. Total stretching time is 2-4 minutes out of the workout. Stretching in between sets doesn't take up any extra time since you would be just standing there anyways resting.

How to get a Great Workout with Half the Time

tanya — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:59:35 -0800

Don't have time to workout your usual routine? or Want to shock your muscles? There are many ways to speed up your workout. Here's one way to speed up the time, while getting the same benefits. I also use the following technique to shock my clients once in a while.

Back-to-back speed training is a great way to cut your workout in half. Note: You have to be creative if you workout in a gym because you don't want to tick other members off by hogging half the gym equipment.

Back- to-back training can be done by picking 3 exercises per body part and going back to back.
For instance, grab a pair of free weights and do 3 different bicep exercises without stopping. Break for about 30 seconds, and repeat the process 2-3 times.

If you have 30 minutes, I would recommend that you pick two body parts and abs.

Here's an example:

Chest:

Incline chest press machine (15 reps)
Fly machine (15 reps)
Free weight chest press on flat bench (15 reps)

Break for 30 seconds and then repeat one or two more times.

Legs:

Leg extension machine (15 reps)
Lying hamstring curls (15 reps)
Calfmachine (25-35 reps) Note: Calves respond better to lighter weight with more reps

Break for 30 seconds and then repeat one or two more times.

Abs:

Leg lifts (15-25 reps) for lower abs
Side crunches (15-25 reps) for obliques
Crunches on a ball (15-25 reps) for upper abs

Do all 3 ab exercises in a row, then break for 30 seconds and repeat one or two more times.

Believe me, this will be a challenging workout and will definitely give your muscles a jumpstart. So get your iPod on and pound through it!

Nutrition Analysis at Restaurants

tanya — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:28:55 -0800

When we first got our puppy, we searched endlessly to find the right dog food brand for him. We read nutrition labels and found the proper ratio of nutrients appropriate for our breed.

I began to think, it's funny how we as consumers make sure our pets are eating properly, now even the raw food diet is being talked about for pets. At a local pet store, we even saw a class the store was holding where a "pet nutritionist" was saying what pets should be eating. In observing the
class, I began thinking, I wonder how many of these people sitting in the class know what they are eating.

Most restaurants serve whatever they want. I have the ability to do nutrition analysis on anything served in a restaurant or bakery. Most restaurants aren't interested in participating in it....why? Are they afraid to let us know what they are giving us? One local vegetarian
restaurant wrote saying they are not interested in nutrition facts and signed the e-mail as "In good health." Interesting, they are all about health but not about informing themselves or their customers what they are making.

I hope restaurants will eventually understand the importance and advantages of providing nutrition facts. Even if their worst fear happens and a menu item is very high in
calories, they can always adjust their menu to a lower fat or calorie option. If consumers demand nutrition information, restaurants will feel the pressure to get with the program and update their information.

Let me know of any restaurants you would like to have nutrition facts on and I will be happy to contact them. It can even be out of state since I can do it through e-mail.

Keep your brain fed & your body lean – Eat Carbs!

tanya — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:23:23 -0800

I walked into a Mexican restaurant the other day and saw they had a lo-carb menu item that they were promoting at the restaurant. Seriously, are people still on the lo-carb kick? Or are restaurants behind the times?

Of course people will lose weight on a low carb diet because how much meat can you really scarf down before you start gagging? A 3 ounce piece of chicken only has 120 calories. So of course folks lose weight because they are consuming less calories and getting full fast.

My fiance and I eat pasta almost every day and I have been at my lowest weight at 121 pounds for the last 5 years. The problem for many is that pasta is easier to eat then chewing a piece of meat 100 times before you swallow, allowing your stomach to feel full quicker. So since it’s easier to eat carbs and only takes a few chews, we tend to eat many more calories than eating meat.

Even if all you ate was broccoli, but ate 3000 calories of broccoli a day, you would still gain weight since it would be more calories than the normal person can process in a day. So lo carb isn’t the trick to weight loss, it just tricks people into thinking carbs are bad. It goes back to overeating is bad, not carb eating. Italians even eat pasta for breakfast and don’t have near the weight problem as Americans do. They just don’t overeat pasta or any other food.

We are designed to eat carbs. Our brain runs on glucose (broken down carbs), so we can’t even function properly without carbs. So keep your brain fed and your body lean: EAT CARBS!!!