Write Down Your Goals!
“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” – Galatians 1:10
Here are this week’s reminders and updates for members of Underground Fitness Revolution.
Fitness Quote of the Week:
“Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.” – Earl of Derby
Scheduling Reminder:
Please remember to schedule your sessions for our next phase of training (March 1 – 19). Have fun with your recovery workouts this week. This is a great time to participate in other activities you enjoy such as biking, playing games with your kids (tag, basketball, kickball, etc.) and just staying active and having a little fun while helping your body to recover.
We’ll hit it hard again beginning March 1. Be ready!
Body Blueprint Screening:
We are going to perform our Body Blue Print Screening (the Functional Movement Screen™) Monday! Be sure to arrive at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm for the screening. If you can’t make it today, please let me know another day this week that will work for you so we can make arrangements.
The Functional Movement Screen™ is not a workout. It’s a testing method to find weaknesses and imbalances. You will still want to train on your own Monday or three other days this week.
Goal Setting:
If you want to achieve your health and fitness goals, be sure to write them down. I want you to write down:
• 3 short-term goals
• 3 long-term goals
Once you write down these goals, put them on your bathroom mirror and review them every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed. Say them aloud and it will help program your mind to help you acheive them.
Also, consider setting PROCESS goals instead of just outcome goals. A process goal is “I will perform my Underground Fitness Revolution workouts 3 days per week” or “I will use a food log for 12 weeks.” And then if you meet your process goals, your outcome goals (i.e. you want to lose 10 pounds) will take care of themselves – and you’ll have better life-long habits!
And you should do this for not only your fitness goals but also other areas of your life including financial, relationships, etc.
Don’t Focus on Scale Weight:
You can’t judge your results by scale weight. Muscle weighs more than fat and it takes up 1/3 less space. This means that you could still weigh the same after training for a few weeks or even a few months because you may be gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. Yet, you may notice that your clothes fit looser or you look different in the mirror. Also, your scale weight doesn’t reflect how much muscle or fat that you have. If you only focus on your weight, you may become frustrated with your progress and lose motivation.
Remember what I’ve said before: You MUST build strength and muscle in order to burn fat. Muscle is the ONLY thing that is metabolically active. You need muscle to increase your metabolism so you can burn more calories and more fat! If you don’t build muscle and gain strength, you will only end up a skinnier fat version of yourself. And no one wants to be thinner if you are still fat and flabby!
In order to gauge true progress, we HAVE to record circumferences so we know whether you’re improving or not. This is why we are tracking circumferences each month to judge your progress. In addition to circumferences, we take photos every three months and track your weight each month.
Nutrition Tip of the Week:
Drink water from a refillable water bottle rather than a cup or small water bottle. It may seem like a little thing, but simply switching to a 24-32 oz. refillable water bottle and refilling it 3-4 times (rather than having to refill an 8 oz. glass 10 times a day) can make a HUGE difference in how much water you drink.
Remember, you want to consume a MINIMUM of half your body weight in ounces each day. If you weigh 150lbs., you should drink at least 75 ounces of water each day. Your urine should be clear.
Also, gulps are better than sips to keep you hydrated (Men’s Fitness, pg 15, Nov. 2009). Gulping water engages the stomach’s stretch receptors and increases intragastric pressure, allowing your body to replenish its reserves faster, while lowering your risk of cramps!
Fitness Tip of the Week:
Can you do a plank for 2 minutes straight?
That is Dr. Stuart McGill’s recommendation for healthy people.
Dr. McGill, a low back pain expert, has found that abdominal endurance corresponds with less back pain, so he recommends you build up your plank endurance to 2 minutes.
If you CANNOT do that, you could be at greater risk of low back issues.
Latest Research Studies:
Study Number 1:
Reference: Br J Sports Med 2009
Testing: Dose-response relationship between physical activity and mental health
UK researchers wanted to see how important physical activity is for better mental health. They studied 19,842 men and women and found:
- Any form of daily physical activity was associated with a lower risk of psychological distress.
- The more activity you did, the greater the reduction in distress.
- And while low-intensity activities like housework and gardening helped, the best results were from sports.
So get vigorous physical activity with friends (like your friends at Underground Fitness Revolution during our workouts) and you’ll be happier and less stressed.
Study Number 2:
Drs. Tarnopolsky and Phillips from McMaster just published an interesting study.
Reference: Med Sci Sports Exerc.
Testing: Body Composition and Strength Changes in Women with Milk and Resistance Exercise. Josse AR, Tang JE, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM.
20 young women were put into one of two groups:
1) Resistance training plus fat-free milk
2) Resistance training plus a carbohydrate drink
Both groups drank 16 oz. of their drink after a workout, and then another 16 oz. an hour later.
That’s right, the milk group drank a quart (32 oz.) of milk per day!
Total calories were about 400 extra per day for both groups, but the carbohydrate group didn’t have protein in their drink. Both drinks were flavored with vanilla to “mask” the identity of the drink.
No side effects reported.
The workout was intense, frequent and had a lot of volume. (That’s good and bad, as you’ll see.)
The girls trained with weights – on machines – 5 days/week for 12 weeks. (Researchers tend to use machines to avoid the learning curve required with barbell and dumbbell exercises.)
However, it’s likely the 5 days/week was too much volume, as 3 subjects reported overuse injury. But, in total they had a 92 percent training compliance.
Results:
Weight Gain:
Carbohydrate = 1.9 pounds
Milk = 1.1 pounds
Lean Mass Gain:
Carbohydrate = 2.4 pounds
Milk = 4.2 pounds
NOTE: Lean mass is not just muscle, but would be most of the measurement.
Fat Loss:
Carbohydrate = 0.67 pounds
Milk = 3.5 pounds of fat lost!!!
The milk group also got stronger in a few exercises.
The milk group gained lean mass and lost fat at the same time and got stronger.
The researchers concluded, “Heavy, whole-body resistance exercise with the consumption of milk versus carbohydrate in the early post-exercise period resulted in greater muscle mass accretion, strength gains, fat mass loss, and a possible reduction in bone turnover in women after 12 weeks.”
That’s why I recommend that you drink chocolate milk after a workout or a specially-formulated post-workout drink like Prograde Workout.
Study Number 3:
Caffeine research and three reasons why I don’t use it!
Reference: J Strength Cond Res. 2009.
Testing: Efficacy of Acute Caffeine Ingestion for Short-term High-Intensity Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review. Astorino TA, Roberson DW. Department of Kinesiology, CSU-San Marcos, San Marcos, California.
- The researchers did this review because past research has shown that, “caffeine typically increases endurance performance; however, efficacy of caffeine ingestion for short-term high-intensity exercise is equivocal.”
- They found that, “11 out of 17 studies revealed significant improvements in team sports exercise and power-based sports with caffeine ingestion, yet these effects were more common in elite athletes who do not regularly ingest caffeine.”
- “Six of 11 studies revealed significant benefits of caffeine for resistance training.”
- AND… “Some studies show decreased performance with caffeine ingestion when repeated.”
How you and your workouts respond to caffeine is individual. I’ve had great workouts with and without it. I’ve felt good and bad with it and without it. It’s really up to you if you want to use caffeine before your workouts to give you a boost. Also, I don’t have any faith in the claim that caffeine helps you lose fat – a proper diet and training is the key.
So what are my 3 reasons not to use it?
- I get jittery and can’t sleep with it. I rarely ever use caffeine, but when I use a Spike Shooter or other caffeine boost prior to training, it keeps me up too late at night and when I do sleep, it’s very light and I feel unrested!
- Dependency – Listen, you can almost “mentally cripple” a caffeine addict by taking away their caffeine. They get massive headaches, no energy, irritable, etc. I was talking to a friend who tried to cut out caffeine recently, and for 2-3 days she experienced the worst headaches and was unable to do anything - I don’t need that. No thanks!
- I simply don’t need it. I have a lot of energy right now. I have really good workouts, great nutrition and good sleep patterns.
Sure, I might take some caffeine before a tough workout if I’m feeling like I have a lack of energy or if I’m more tired than usual, but I don’t need caffeine every day. In fact, I may only use caffeine once a month or less.
That’s all for this week’s updates! Get rested and ready to go for our next phase of training.
Dedicated to your health and fitness,
Nate
