Workout Wednesday: Circuit Training

Over and over again I have told you about the importance of cardiovascular workouts in the pursuit of losing weight. You know that it is the best way to burn the maximum amount of Calories. You also know that strength training is important for a few reasons. Strength training increases your strength (duh!). This is important for those of you who want to see improvements in your performance in any sport like biking, rock climbing, swimming, really anything. Muscle growth is also important to increase your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn on a daily basis. Circuit training brings cardio and strength training together.

So what is circuit training? Basically, it is a bunch of different exercises that you do back to back. Doing them one right after another allows your heart rate to get up for a longer period of time than traditional strength training would. HIGHER HEART RATE = MORE CALORIES BURNED. You can customize the workouts to strengthen the different areas of your body.

Here is a tip, instead of focusing on small muscles like biceps, triceps, or calves by isolating them in an exercise like bicep curls, work on a larger muscle group and work on the smaller muscles simultaneously. For example, instead of just doing a shoulder press (small muscles), do a shoulder press while lunging (large muscles). This will help you get more bang for your buck. Small muscles burn few calories, while larger muscles burn more.

Here is an example of a circuit training workout (do a cardio warm-up first to prevent injury):

• Jump roping (2 minutes) You don't need an actual jump rope to get the benefits of this plyometric workout
• Bicep curls while doing squats (2o repetitions)
• Crunches (3o repetitions minutes)
• standing rows (20 repetitions)
• Calf raises while doing shoulder presses (20 repetitions)
• And then repeat until you've been exercising for 20 minutes. Remember do not rest during the 20 minutes, this keeps your heart rate up and allows you to burn the maximum amount of Calories in the least amount of time WHILE strengthening your muscles.

Yesterday I bought Jillian Michaels workout DVD "30 Day Shred" which is based on this interval concept. I'll let you all know if I'm 'shredded' in 30 days!

Metabolic Rates

How many Calories do you burn in a day? How many Calories should you be consuming to lose, maintain, or gain weight? The first step to answering these questions is to determine your metabolic rate.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of calories you burn in a day just by doing autonomic bodily functions like breathing, heart beating, hair growing, and maintaining temperature. This is based largely on your size and age. You can use calculators, like this one, to estimate your BMR. Please note that these are only estimations. Your true BMR is going to be affected largely on muscle mass. The more muscle you have the more Calories you burn to maintain that mass. Also, your hormone levels also affect your BMR.

After determining your BMR, you need to calculate how many calories you burn doing your basic daily activity (this does not include exercise). This is called you active metabolic rate. This considers the type of work you do during the day. Think of it as a scale of 1-4.
1-sedentary (mostly sitting: receptionist, accountant)
2-little active (standing and walking)
3-more active (moving quickly, some lifting)
4-very active (construction worker)
I consider myself at a 2 so I would multiply my BMR by 1.2 to determine the amount of Calories I use in a day minus my workout. A construction worker would multiply his/her BMR by 1.4.

If you are trying to lose weight, you need to create a Calorie deficit meaning you must burn more Calories than you consume. In that case, eat less than the amount of Calories you calculated. If you are very overweight it is safe to create a larger Calorie deficit. If you need to lose 20 lbs or less, you should have a smaller Calorie deficit. That being said, you should never let your Caloric intake be less than 1100 Calories for women or less than 1400 for men. Doing so is going to put your body in starvation mode. This makes your body catabolic (break-down muscle, stores fat) instead of anabolic (build muscle, burn fat). Yes, you will lose weight, but much of that weight will be muscle and when you start eating normal, you will gain all the weight back because of the catabolic state your body is in: yo-yo dieting is established. Starvation can cause serious damage to your metabolism.

Of course, you can also create a Calorie deficit by exercising more. One problem with doing this is that exercise requires energy and the more you exercise the hungrier you become. Plus, working out for 30 minutes a day will only burn about 300 Calories, not enough to create a significant deficit especially if you are not tracking the amount of Calories you consume. That being said, try to eat less than the active metabolic rate that we calculated above if you want to consistently lose weight. If you had a serious workout and are starving, don't be afraid to eat a little. Just don't eat back all your Calories and waste all the hard work you have done.

If you are trying to maintain weight, eat as many Calories as you use in a day and take in consideration how much you exercise. A good way to calculate the number of Calories you burn in an exercise is to assume you are burning 10 Calories per minute which is a pretty standard average.

If you are trying to gain weight, increase your Calories consumed by eating more lean protein and incorporate strength training into your workout.

None of this will matter if you are completely unaware of the amount of calories you consume. Weight loss is basic math based on this equation:
Calories consumed-Calories burned
In order to lose weight, you must have a Calorie deficit. It is as simple as that. So make sure you are aware of the amount of Calorie you consume. Most people assume they eat less Calories than they actually do. Take a notebook and for at least a week, track the amount of Calories you eat. It really isn't very hard. Look at nutrition labels and take into consideration the serving size they list. If one bowl of cereal is 140 Calories for 1 cup and you eat 1.5 cup, write that you have consumed 210 Calories and remember to look at the milk. Don't be afraid to use a measuring cup to be completely accurate. There are also many websites, like this one, that list the Calorie content of food, even fast food. I was horrified that my "healthy" choice of a grilled chicken jalapeno sandwich at Carl's Jr was 670 Calories. That in itself is a good reason to stay away from fast food.

You will find it is pretty difficult to stay under your Calorie goal. If you have a bad day, don't give up. Just exercise more that day. You can allow yourself some treats, but that leaves you less Calories for the rest of day.

So here is the challenge: Track you Calories for at least a week and try to stay under you Calorie goal.

Motivation Monday: Setting Yourself Up For Success

It happens to all of us at one point: we start out with good intentions and a workout schedule, but then life catches up to us. Or perhaps you are discouraged by seeing how it is so easy for some, but difficult for yourself. Either way, don't beat yourself up! Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect and everybody has weaknesses. For many of us, our weakness is food. For others it maybe something less visible. I think it is key to keep everything in perspective.

Here are some great ways to help set yourself up for success:

1) Implement health one step at a time
Don't try to completely undo all of your bad habits in one day. That is a set up for failure. Instead, just focus on one thing at a time. One week, focus on eating smaller portions. The next, make sure you buy healthier food. Then you can start exercising for 20 minutes just 3 days a week doing cardio. Baby steps.

If I had to tell you which steps are most important I would say first, your diet. Make sure you are eating less Calories. One thing that will help you is to eat more vegetables, water, and fiber. You will fill full, but with a lot less Calories. You can lose weight just by changing your diet. I have done it, myself, a few times.

Next important thing to lose weight would be to implement a cardio workout 3 times a week. You might start with just walking. I walk all the time because it is the easiest thing to do with my baby and I am not lying by saying I lose weight when I go walking. It is true! But if you are doing something less intense, like walking, just do it longer.

2) Set small reasonable goals for yourself
Your goal shouldn't just be "lose 50 lbs." That is a good long term-goal, but if that is all you focus on, you will become discouraged because it seems so far away. Instead create short-term goals, like losing one or two pounds a week. That seems much more reasonable. Also review your goals each morning and write your goals for the day (a to do list). You might have a goal to jump rope for 10 minutes or to make a healthy dinner. Your goals might even include NOT going out to eat for any meal. When you see that you can achieve your small, day to day goals it will give you strength to pursue larger goals, like losing 50 lbs or running a half-marathon.

3) Create a support system
It is hard to make such life-altering changes in your life without the complete support of those around you. You want you parents, children, spouse, significant other, and friends to be on your side. Be very upfront with them. Making these goals are nothing to be ashamed of. The people around you will probably be flattered that you are sharing your goals with them and that you are asking for their help. Don't try to do it on your own. If you come across people who are not supportive, don't bring up this part of your life with them. They will just bring you down.

Find someone to workout with, whether it be a walking buddy or someone to head to the gym with. For you mothers out there, take turns with someone to babysit while the other exercises.

4) Begin with the end in mind
I stole this one from "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Steven R. Covey. (I recommend the book to anyone) Pictures are great: picture of you "before," pictures of people who have made amazing transformations, and pictures of you along the way. This will help you see the big picture and give you a visual for the end result.

Running is hard. I think the mental aspect is even harder than the physical one. It is hard to stay motivated and keep your mind occupied, especially during the long runs. One thing I like to think about is me. I picture myself finishing the marathon, wearing a swimming suit, rock climbing up a steep cliff, etc. I like to think about the strong, healthy person I am becoming and that motivates me to push just a little harder.

When I started trying to run after I had a baby, I couldn't believe how difficult it was. It literally hurt me to jog 10 minutes, but I just told myself that if I push myself today it will be that much easier tomorrow. And it was. Jump forward 6 months and I am going to run a half-marathon this week. My mile pace has improved from like a 15 minute/mile (I don't even think that is considered a slow-jog. I was slow.) to somewhere around 8 minute/mile.

5) Redefine who you are
Health is not a short-term endeavor. It is a lifelong goal. All the changes that you are making for you and your family should be sustainable forever. Of course, right now I should clarify that there is difference between trying to LOSE weight and MAINTAINING weight. It is much easier to maintain, but it is still necessary to live a healthy lifestyle.

This sometimes means redefining who you are. You are not that person who orders a large soda with every meal. You do not eat donuts for breakfast. You like the way exercising makes you feel. You enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables. You even have a physical activity that you love to do every week, whether that be running, tennis, swimming, biking, karate, kickboxing, walking, gardening, snowboarding, hiking, yoga, dancing, or lifting weights. Most importantly, you are confident. You are not weak, but strong. You can achieve anything you want to do. If you want to do a triathlon, you can do it (with much training, years of training in my case). You will not have those risk factors for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (which is the number one killer of women in the United States). Instead, you will live a long healthy life and be there for your children and your grandchildren.

Losing weight is about so much more than looking good. It is about being the best you can be.