Cardio I Like? – Tabata Training
So usually when I talk about cardio, it is to rant against it. I HATE long, steady-state cardio.
I do however, really really like sprints. And tabata training falls within the sprint category.
Tabata training is essentially performing as many reps of an exercise as you can for 20 seconds. This can be running, jumping, squatting…anything. After 20 seconds of work, you get 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this process 8 times.
The whole set of 8 rounds is 4 minutes. But boy is it a deadly four minutes. I swear 20 seconds has never felt so long or 10 seconds so short!
In that 20 seconds you work as hard as you can – you give 100% effort. And in the 10 seconds that follow, you barely recover before your right back to work.
Yesterday, Candy and I did a squat jump and burpee mixed tabata. We alternated exercises each round and trust me…our legs and lungs burned. The first round of squat jumps, you feel the burn but you bust out about 1 per second. Then you go into burpees and your legs feel like jello. The 10 seconds of rest feels like nothing when you start jump squats again. Your legs burn after three and the 20 you did the first time seems like an impossible number to reach. But you push on, trying to complete as many reps as you can in that 20 second. And you keep pushing – through all 8 rounds.
After the 8 rounds, we did two minutes of jump rope and then repeated the four minutes of burpee-squat jump hell before two more minutes of jump rope.
12 minutes.
That’s all it took to make our legs and lungs feel like we’d done cardio for an hour…12 minutes. Of course the push up/pull up pyramid we completed before definitely didn’t make us feel any better…but even if we hadn’t…that 12 minutes would have been enough!
And the thing is, you don’t even need 12 minutes to get in plenty of cardio. You just need 4.
On Tuesday after a heavy leg workout, Candy and I did tabata sprints.
We jacked the speed up to 10.5 (which isn’t our fastest but give us a break it was after legs!). We jumped on and sprinted for 20 seconds. The first one wasn’t fun, but it felt doable. We jumped off to the sides and rested for 10 seconds. The second one was ok, but you could tell the last few were going to be a struggle.
After 8 rounds, I was wiped out. Four minutes of sprints…that was all it took to give me a great cardio workout.
4 minutes.
So why are you wasting 60 minutes on a treadmill when you can get great results just doing 4?
You save time by doing tabata workouts. You’ll burn more fat. And unlike long, steady-state cardio, you will not only improve your aerobic system, but also your anaerobic system.
I thought this was a great site for more information on Tabata training! Try it!! I guarantee you’ll get a great workout!
It’s hard not to preach…
Sometimes I find it very hard to keep my mouth shut when my clients talk about nutrition. I obviously share my opinions and views with them, but I have to remind myself not to continually preach to them about why their low-fat, crap food diet isn’t working.
And it’s hard. Because sometimes you just want to say, “Why are you claiming your diet is so healthy when it OBVIOUSLY isn’t working for you and you’ve been trying to lose weight FOREVER!”
But you can’t say that.
But sometimes it is just so hard to refrain…even though I do. I mean shoot if they were even claiming to eat Primal and not losing weight, I would want to preach to them to find something different.
I just don’t get how people just keep sticking with something that isn’t getting them results.
I mean I’ll try a diet for 90 days and if I’m not seeing any results, I’m done with it. Some of my clients have been doing their “diets” for years and haven’t seen results…
So why are they so set on sticking with their diet!?!
Is it a fear of trying something new and failing? Possibly…
Is it the difficulty of trying something new and potentially having to give up foods you like? Possibly…
Is it because they’ve heard the diet works for numerous other people? Possibly…
Is it because someone in the mainstream media cited some scientific study about the health of their diet? Possibly…
But are any of these really good enough reasons to stick with something you’ve PROVED to not work?
NOPE!
Stop paying attention to what mainstream media and your friends say worked for them! That isn’t one of the keys to finding your “dieting secret” remember!?!
Stop being afraid of trying something new! And risk giving up foods that you like! You may find other foods that you love even more on the new diet! Experiment!
I mean honestly, what is the worst case scenario? Nothing works?
If the worst case scenario is that nothing works, then nothing bad really happened, did it? I mean you weren’t seeing results before.
But there is a benefit to experimenting EVEN if you don’t see results. The benefit is YOU LEARNED! You learned more about dieting and probably discovered some new things that you both like and dislike.
I don’t want to have to preach about my how wonderful my diet is people! But please don’t preach to me about yours if it obviously isn’t working! Start experimenting…If you do, I’m more than willing to listen to any complaints or rave reviews that you have!
Strongest College Female Cheerleader
I got shown this article by numerous people today and yesterday so I felt the need to write about it.
While the article bothered me, I do love Anna's biceps!
But what I feel the need to write about isn’t the fact that she turned down money because she was asked to do steroids. I feel the need to write about how her strength was talked about in every single article.
If you read any article about how strong some guy is, the article will tell you his weight and height along with his lifting maxes. They do this to prove just how relatively strong he is for his height and weight.
But in most of the articles there is absolutely no mention of her weight and only a handful mention her height.
Why is this? How can we tell if those numbers are actually good if we don’t know her height and weight?
In all honesty, we don’t really know how strong she is…but I don’t think that matters to mainstream media or a majority of the population. And I’m not saying that she isn’t super strong. I think her numbers are great!
BUT still…why wouldn’t you prove that she is super strong by giving her height and weight like you would a man’s?
I think they didn’t even think to list her height and weight because to most of the population, any woman who lifts over 100lbs is ridiculously strong. I mean women aren’t supposed to lift super heavy weights so anything over 100 is huge right?
I don’t…for some reason this really bothered me. Am I reading into this lack of weight and height too much?
Or am I right? Does society still believe that women don’t lift heavy? I mean a 5 foot 10 woman with the numbers that Anna Watson has aren’t bad BUT they aren’t THAT awesome.
I mean I’ve seen enough women lift heavy to know that her numbers don’t stand out…which I guess is why they wanted her to do steroids…
Don’t get me wrong. She is strong and looks great. BUT RELATIVELY SPEAKING…she isn’t crazy strong like the article tries to hint at by only listing her numbers without her height and weight.
It just makes me think that society hasn’t fully realized just how many out there look super sexy and lift heavy weights!!
What do you think?
Studying Studies
I mentioned last week that one of the ways you can pick the best diet for you is by doing some research and looking at studies. I also mentioned that not only should you read the studies, but you also need to analyze them.
Does the study really PROVE what it claims to?
And trust me, you need to ask this question a lot.
I asked that question today when I found an article on Fox News called “Calories count but source doesn’t matter study says.”
UHM? Hello…the source is what matters most! And the crazy thing, is I just wrote a post about the fact that losing weight is about more than calories in vs. calories out!
So of course, I had to read this article because as you know I love a good rant.
But after reading the article, I realized the title was misleading…and now I was confused. Here I was ready to refute all of the article’s evidence saying that it is simply calories in vs. calories out, but that really wasn’t at all what the article was about…
The article was actually more about finding the a diet that you could stick to! I mean yes the article does hint that calories are all that matter, which I don’t agree with, but it makes a great point about the fact that if you don’t choose a diet you can stick to, no matter how well it is SUPPOSED to work, it won’t work for you.
“If you’re happier doing it low-fat, or happier doing it low carb, this paper says it’s OK to do it either way. They were equally successful,” said Christopher Gardner, a Stanford University professor uninvolved in the study.
In the end, he said, people should choose the diet that’s easiest for them to stick with.
See! You have to experiment and find something that works for you! Isn’t that another point that I make in my post about how to find your personal “dieting secret?” Why yes….I think it is!
One of the researchers also had a quote in the article that really made me smirk with satisfaction.
“They did have difficulties with adherence, so that really tempers what you can conclude,” he added.
Empowerment
Empowerment [ɪmˈpaʊəmənt]
- The giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization
- The giving of an ability; enablement or permission
I started thinking a lot about this last night as I was falling asleep….(Which unfortunately kept me from falling asleep and then made me start hearing creepy noises around the apartment, which I don’t usually hear since I’m passed out by like 8….)
Anyway, I started to think about how much more empowered I’ve felt since I started doing my heavy lifting/Crossfit style workouts a couple of years ago. Not only have I gotten physically stronger, but I also feel mentally stronger – more confident, more enabled, more capable.
I’m not intimidated by challenges or other people’s negativity. I actually believe that my workouts have helped me develop a stronger sense of self.
It’s kind of weird to think that something I’ve always done just for fun and to keep physically healthy, may have actually done even more for my mental health and strength.
Why has working out made me feel so empowered?
Because I’ve taken risks and experimented. Every single workout, I risk failure. I risk not lifting up more weight. I risk not being able to complete all of the challenges I’ve written out for myself that day.
Each and every workout though, I REFUSE to give up. I refuse to not push myself to my limits.
And guess what? I never fail even when I fail.
Sometimes, I can’t lift up as much weight as I want. Sometimes, I can’t run that last sprint as fast as I would have liked. But the thing is, I TRIED. I risked failing.
Just like I risked failing when I entered that powerlifting meet.
And guess, what? The risk paid off because now I’m more confident and stronger. AND I even found something I enjoy!
I dared to try something new. And each and every time I experiment with my workouts, I push myself to overcome new challenges and risks. I’m not afraid to face failure because I know it will only make me stronger.
Daring to try something new. LEARNING and EXPERIMENTING. Risking and ACCEPTING failure…No wonder I not only got physically stronger, but also mentally tougher….
And the thing is, I think my new dieting endeavors and experiments are having the same payoff.
There are risks every time I adjust my diet. I always worry the new adjustment won’t get results or will even cause me to backslide. Each and every time I change something, I make myself face new challenges. Sometimes I even push myself to the limit of my self-control.
But each time, I learn something new about myself. Whether or not I succeed or fail, I learn something new.
And the thing is, I never give up.
And never giving up, gives me confidence not only in the realm of diet and fitness, but in everyday life. My experimentation and risk-taking with diet and fitness have empowered me.
Now, what makes you feel empowered?
Interesting stuff from this week
- My post on Thursday had to do with the lingering belief that women aren’t men’s equals in the sports and exercise arena. Fit and Feminist also had a post concerning a similar issue, which I thought was interesting. It seems that strong, competitive, athletic women still aren’t full accepted by society. Instead society keeps trying to make these women more acceptable by imposing rules to make them more feminine. What do you think?
- So I made a couple interesting food discoveries this week. I found wild boar salami!!!! Nitrite free wild boar salami!!! IT IS AMAZING! Thank you Meat House! Also, Trader Joe’s had an aged raw goat’s milk pecorino romano. YUM!!! Nice and salty and delicious. And the best part is…it’s raw milk!
- I also have two delicious recipes I want to share. One is for a Primal cheat day – chocolate macadamia nut bark with sea salt. I didn’t follow Mark’s recipe, but he did give me the idea!
- The second is a protein shake, which is absolutely delicious! It is Trader Joe’s light coconut milk, coconut oil (for some good healthy fats), chocolate protein and water! If you like the taste of chocolate and coconut together, you will LOVE this protein shake! AND the coconut milk makes it nice and creamy and thick! Plus not only are you getting some protein out of this shake, but also all of the health benefits of coconut.
- Ok…”all natural” as a label on food means absolutely nothing. There is this new diet aid, called Proasis, which is essentially a protein and vitamin shot that they state is “all natural.” They claim it helps a dieter get all the vitamins, minerals and protein that they won’t get on a diet for weight loss. For one, how can a protein shake, fortified by vitamins be “all natural?” Two, if you do the RIGHT diet to lose weight, you will get plenty of vitamins and minerals and protein! Uhm, Paleo/Primal anyone!?!
- There is a children’s book now for “Paleo” children!! The book is called “Paleo Pals” and helps parents get their children excited about Paleo eating! Really neat! I love how much of a “culture” Primal and Paleo have become!
- One last thing…have you ever noticed that when one thing in your life is going right, you feel so much better about everything else? I have!! So I’ve made it through three weeks of this new diet, which is a strict version of Primal and I’ve started to look and feel great! It’s amazing how looking and feeling great gives you so much more confidence in every aspect of your life. You know the saying, “When it rains, it pours?” Well I guess the opposite can be true! When you have confidence in one part of your life and are happy, the happiness and confidence can really spread to other portions of your life!
Also, I’ve created a “Question Submission” page. I’ve already gotten a few questions, which I will address tomorrow in a post. Thank you for the submissions and keep them coming!
Top Dieting Secrets REVEALED!
Guess what!?! There are no secrets!
"You're eating a chocolate bar and walking at 2." Response..."I'm in the fat burning zone."
I wish there was some great secret that I could share with you (because then I would be a millionaire), but there isn’t.
No one has a magic tip that will make sticking to a diet easy or make the weight just melt off effortlessly.
BUT, I can give recommendations about how you find the “secret” that will work best for you.
The keys to finding YOUR secret to success:
- Research
- Experiment
- Be patient and dedicated
You win – I quit
uhm...YEP!
I taught subbed a muscle conditioning class yesterday for Brian in which I pretty much killed everyone. Two exercises from the end, one guy stood up and said, “You win. I give up.”
I think my jaw dropped in shock.
I win? How does you quitting mean I win?
I was super upset by the fact that not only did he quit, but he also rejected my critiques of his form during class. He made a nasty retort when I tried to correct his lunge form and he made a nasty retort because he couldn’t handle the intensity of the class.
I was trying to help him and give him a great workout – not make him angry or make him feel bad!
Apparently he was so angry that he walked out of the class and told Candy that “There is something seriously wrong with that woman.” (Of course Candy thought he meant it as a complement, but I knew that it wasn’t based on his reaction from the class. haha)
But I honestly didn’t understand why the guy was so upset. Brian’s classes were always murder – I was just trying to match Brian’s intensity!
I was so upset in fact that I mentioned the incident to just about everyone, including Brian who usually teaches the class. Brian said that the guy had grumbled when Brian had directed him to do push ups from his knees (his form was bad when he did push ups from his toes). Apparently he listened to Brian even though he wasn’t happy about it.
But when I gave him some form advice, he shot me down and refused to follow it. So I asked Brian, “Why did he listen to you but get really upset at me?”
Brian said, “Maybe because you’re a girl.”
Again, I think my jaw dropped.
WHAT!?! He didn’t want to listen to the teacher and TRAINER because of my gender!?! Was Brian being serious?!?
Yep he was. Sadly enough there are some males out there that won’t listen to a trainer because the trainer is female.
Why? Why should my gender matter? What difference does it make that I’m a girl?
The only explanation I can find is that his belief that I shouldn’t be critiquing him came from the belief that women don’t AND SHOULDN’T lift heavy weights and that all they do is run.
In some men’s minds, the weight room floor is still a male domain.
Seriously, can someone of the male species explain it to me? Why don’t some of you men think women belong in the weight room? Why do men shun female advice in the gym?
Who gets paid to write this shit? (Excuse the language)
Seriously who the heck pays stupid people to write stupid articles that only serve to further mislead the public about diet and exercise?
haha
I had another post planned for today, but when Francine posted a link to my wall called “10 Fitness Facts that Everyone Gets Wrong” and said, “OMG WHO WROTE THIS? THEY SHOULD BE JAILED,” I felt the need to read and RANT about it.
I first started reading the article and thought, “Ok I don’t like how this guy words stuff, but I see his point.”
I mean, no you don’t have to train hard to see your abs. You can have the strongest abs in the world, but if you eat too much and store excess fat, you will never see them. Dieting really is key to getting six-pack abs.
I also saw his point about the point of exercising NOT being about burning calories. Exercise should be used to get in better physical shape. Diet is truly at least 80% of the weight loss battle.
But that is where my agreement with him ended and my temper rose exponentially.
He next claims that “weightlifting is an effective fat loss strategy” is false. He says that it pales in comparison to cardio when it comes to calorie burn.
EXCUSE ME!?!
Here is a link (Fat Loss Wars: Cardio vs. Weight Training) about how good weightlifting is for fat loss (this article also disproves a few of his other points). Even his own site refutes him. I found another article on Askmen.com called “Weightlifting for Fat Loss” that states:
Choosing to abandon your weight-lifting program when it’s time to cut fat is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, so be sure you don’t commit this progress-damaging error.
Below are a few points from his article that I would also like to dispute:
- He states that “Weightlifting does burn calories, but when compared to hard aerobic training, it pales.” While that is true if you only consider calories burned while you are working out, it is false when you consider OVERALL calorie burn. Here is a quote from Women’s Health proving that weightlifting is great if you want to burn calories and torch fat: “Though cardio burns more calories than strength training during those 30 sweaty minutes, pumping iron slashes more overall. A study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that women who completed an hour-long strength-training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in the 24 hours afterward than they did when they hadn’t lifted weights. At three sessions a week, that’s 15,600 calories a year, or about four and a half pounds of fat—without having to move a muscle.”
- The author of this horrendous article then states later, “as you improve physical fitness, your body begins to operate more efficiently so that you burn fewer calories while at rest and during exercise. While this is true, it is easy to keep challenging yourself so that you keep your body burning more calories. Here is another quote from Women’s Health again explaining how important weights are to burning calories and fat: “What’s more, increasing that afterburn is as easy as upping the weight on your bar. In a study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, women burned nearly twice as many calories in the two hours after their workout when they lifted 85 percent of their max load for eight reps than when they did more reps (15) at a lower weight (45 percent of their max). (This is also proof that women should lift heavy weights!!!!)
- He also has the audacity to state that low carb diets aren’t an effective weight loss tool. UHM WHAT!?! Has he ever seen Marks Daily Apple? There are about six million success stories on there that prove just how great for you a low carb diet is!
- And then he goes on to state, ” I know that some experience weight-loss success with this approach (low-carb), but I consider this diet as a last resort for the lazy.” WHAT!?! How is someone doing something healthy lazy? Just explain how a low-carb diet is lazy?!?!?!
- And the last point I would like to rant about is his comment that low-carb diets “restrict the good carbs that are essential for exercise performance, the ones that can be quite satiating and contain valuable nutrients.” Uhm no. I’m sorry low-fat diets restrict way more nutrients than low-carb diets. I eat ten bazillion more vegetables and fruits on Primal than I ever did on any other diet. I mean on a diet where you aren’t allowed grains, rice or legumes where else are you going to get calories from but nutritious fruits and vegetables!?!? All low-carb diets do is cut out the crap.
Get off the floor and stop doing crunches
99% of the people you see in the gym at some point do crunches, planks…any sort of ab exercise during their workout.
But only about half of those people ever do some of the BEST exercises for their abs and for that matter their entire bodies (and these exercises AREN’T crunches!)
They are four awesome exercises called the pull up, push up, back squat and deadlift. And to be honest, they are really all you need to have great arms, chest, back, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings and even calves!
So why are you wasting time on crunches? Actually, why are wasting time on a lot of those silly single muscle group movements!?! I mean seriously…those exercises only help the top 1% not the average Jane/Joe.
If you think you don’t have enough time to workout, you should stop wasting it by doing crunches and single muscle group movements and start doing these four exercises!!!
Pull ups:
Let’s face it…we know these are a great exercise because no one ever wants to do them! When no one wants to do an exercise, it generally means it is hard.
Just look at all the muscles used:
- Lats
- Lower sternal fibers of the pec major
- Posterior deltoid
- Teres major muscles
- Lower traps
- Pec minor
- Levator scapulae
- Rhomboid
- Serratus anterior
- Bicep
- Rectus abdominis
- Erector spinae
- Transverse abdominis
- Obliques
All of these muscles are used some more or less depending on which pull up variation you perform. (And if you need to make all of those muscles work harder just hang some weight around your waist or perform repetitions till failure!)
Grip can effect which muscles are used more during the movement. Chin ups and narrow grip pull ups are usually the easiest and engage the most bicep while wider grip pull ups isolate the lats more. For example, with a chin up the biceps brachii are used the most but with a prone or pull up grip the brachialis and brachioradialis (muscles that are part of the bicep) are used more than the biceps brachii.
Even the positioning of your lower half can alter which core muscles are doing more work. Ideally you want a straight position though so you are fully engaging every muscle in your core!
And there are no excuses for not doing pull ups. There is always a pull up assist machine around OR a band you can use to help pull you up. Heck even start with jumping pull ups! There is no excuse to skip these! There is a variation for all fitness levels!
Push Ups:
Again, rarely are women doing push ups in the gym and neither are men actually…Men usually prefer the more illustrious bench press…But push ups are AMAZING! AND there are a bazillion variations of push ups so they will never ever be too easy!
If you need proof of how amazing, here is a list of all the muscles worked:
- Deltoids (anterior, posterior and medial)
- Triceps
- Pecs (both major and minor)
- Rhomboids
- Erector spinae
- Rotator cuff
- Serratus anterior
- Rectus abdominus (ABS!!!)
- Transverse abdominus (Oh and abs again!?!)
- Gluteus maximus
- Quadriceps
You may be thinking, “What?! Push ups work your legs too!?!” YES THEY DO!!!
Your glutes and quads aren’t primary muscle groups in the movement, but they do assist if you do push ups from your toes. They keep your body in a nice straight line!
And like the pull up there are variations that work the muscle groups listed in different ways. There is the narrow push up, which engages more tricep and shoulder (also known as the chaturanga or even the diamond push up) and there is the wide grip push up, which isolates the chest more. There is also the decline push up where you elevate your feet, which not only makes the push up harder but also works your pec major more. AND if you put your hands on unbalanced or uneven surfaces you can work your core more!
I mean there are just a bazillion push up varieties so you will never get bored. AND beginners can’t claim push ups are too advanced! Push ups from the knees are a great modification as well as incline push ups. You can even start by doing push ups by leaning against a wall! There is no excuse why anyone can’t do an incline push up against the wall! 😉
Back Squat:
Ok I love legs so I really love this move. And not only does this move work the biggest muscle group in your body but it also really works your core! (And if you want a great butt….SQUAT!)
A quote from “Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training” stating just my point!
Squats are considered a vital exercise for increasing the strength and sizeof the legs and buttocks, as well as developing core strength. Isometrically, the lower back, the upper back, the abdominals, the trunk muscles, the costal muscles, and the shoulders and arms are all essential to the exercise and thus are trained when squatting with proper form.
So the muscles worked:
- Glutes
- Quads
- Hamstrings
- Transverse Abdominus (abs!!!)
- Erector Spinae
- Abductors
- Adductors
- Soleus (calves)
- Gastrocnemius (calves)
So one thing I haven’t mentioned with the two previous exercises (which is also true for them), but all of these strengthen your lower back, which so many people neglect while doing all of their crunches! And trust me, your back is as much a part of your core as your abs are even if it isn’t something you notice while wearing a bikini.
And there are also a bazillion variations of the squat. I personally have picked the back squat here to highlight because it is the most basic and you can add a ton of weight to it to make it challenging (I like heavy weights!).
Deadlift:
MY FAVORITE EXERCISE EVER!!!
Maybe I love it because it works like everything!! It works everything from your fingers (grip strength!!) to your toes!
It works (and I copied this list because well…the deadlift works everything).
- Torso
- Front
- Abdomen
- Rectus abdominis (under aponeurosis)
- Obliques
- Abdominal external oblique muscle
- Abdominal internal oblique muscle
- Abdomen
- Back
- Iliocostalis
- Intertransversarii laterales lumborum
- Latissimus dorsi
- Levator scapulae
- Longissimus
- Quadratus lumborum
- Rhomboideus major
- Serratus posterior superior
- Serratus posterior inferior
- Splenius cervicis
- Teres Major
- Trapezius muscle
- Front
- Legs
- Quadriceps
- Rectus femoris
- Vastus lateralis
- Vastus intermedius
- Vastus medialis
- Hamstrings
- Biceps femoris muscle
- long head
- short head
- Semitendinosus
- Semimembranosus
- Biceps femoris muscle
- Quadriceps
- Hips
- Gluteal muscles
- Gluteus maximus
- Gluteus minimus
- Piriformis
- Superior gemellus
- Gluteal muscles
- Forearms
- Flexor digitorum profundus
Enough said? haha
Man Bicep 