Answer: The secret to speed other than being blessed with it at birth is to be blessed with at least a little bit of it. If you have a little of it you can take that a long way with patience and hard work. Weight training is essential to producing speed and being more explosive. Strength alone dies not make you faster but having it and developing more of it is an important piece of the equation. Use your strength to develop power and explosiveness. Develop core strength and work on your hip flexors and hamstrings. The increased power and explosiveness enables you to take a longer stride. Making your hams and hip flexors stronger allows you to drive, not float your feet to the ground to push off for your next step.
You also need flexibility. Flexibility opens your stride to cover more ground. Stretch after your muscles are warm. After leg training is completed in the weight room then make your stretch challenging with a trainer to assist you.
Finally, you have to include plyometrics to train new nerve patterns and reaction ability. You want your nerves to be able to fire muscles faster and faster. Recovery is essential for all this to pay off. Proper nutrition is needed daily to insure that your muscles are fully fueled and can recover from both training and competition. Water, protein, vitamins and minerals are all part of the program. Just the weights alone won't do it. It's an integrated program with several essential components which make you improve.
Remember "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work hard".
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: It has long been known that doing ab exercises alone will not build a six pack. Granted the exercises will build the muscles underneath the fat but you need big body movements to excite your metabolism and burn calories. Researchers at Southern Illinois University did an experiment with people doing 14 sets of ab exercises 5 days a week. They did this for 6 weeks. They had measured participants belly fat at the beginning of the experiment. At the end, they had not lost any belly fat or changed their waistline at all.
If you want a smaller waistline and crisp abs then you need to engage large muscle groups with exercises like squats, cleans, dead lifts and lunges to name a few. Also, you need to follow the 80/20 rule for healthy eating. 80% of the time eat clean. The other 20% you can have a light cheat. Do cardio at least 3 to 4 days a week for an additional 20 to 30 minutes to burn more calories, exciting your metabolic system even further. Finally, drink water at least 64 ounces of water daily, not diet soda or Crystal Light.
The best time to train is the time that suits you best. If you are a morning person and can make your schedule work then train in the morning. If your schedule is more suited to afternoon or evening, that's the best time for you. Your best time to train is what works best for you. Working out at a time that is inconvenient won't work for long.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: If you are disciplined enough to maintain that routine, then it can be very effective for building a conditioned look with your physique. You won't be able to build huge muscles but will stay very healthy and have an athletic appearance, especially if you are as disciplined with how you eat.
Push-ups can be very effective exercise with a little creativity. Modified push-ups, done with your knees touching the ground, engage about 49%of your body weight. Standard push-ups use 64% of your body weight. If you need more resistance a standard bench is between 18" and 24" high. Placing your feet on that with your hands on the ground increases resistance to 74% of your body weight while placing you hands on the bench keeping your feet on the floor reduces the stress to 41% of your body weight.
You can get creative with jumping jack push-ups by spreading your feet as you lower your body and pulling them back together as you push up.
Running man push-ups require you to lift one foot with your leg straight as you go down. Push up again then raise the other foot as you lower yourself. Pick up the pace and you look like you are running while you do push-ups.
You could add pull-ups to your routine for a more balanced approach.
You can use a variation of running routines to be most effective. One day do a longer run of 2 miles or more. Day 2 do an interval run using time or distance intervals. Day 3 do stairs or hill sprints. Day 4 do two sets each of sprints of 400 meters, 300 meters, 200 meters and finish with 100 meters. This gives you a good variety of routines to keep your training challenging which is a key to long term success whether your train in a gym or not.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: Congratulations! You have valid concerns about your return to training and getting back in shape. A c-section is a surgical procedure and requires time for recovery. Typically it takes six to eight weeks before your doctors will allow you to return to exercise more strenuous than walking. Until then, walk as much as they allow without interfering with your healing process Once you have received clearance from your doctor then you need to begin simple crunches and reverse crunches. One set of 10 to 15 reps of each should do for three days a week for the first week. Remember your abdominal wall is one long sheath of muscle which was cut and has healed It will be sore and feel rough because of the scar tissue. Push through but be sensible. Don't over do it.
Do a simple full body routine consisting of two sets of leg curls alternating with two sets of incline block lunges. These should not stress your abs too much.
Lat pullsdowns will stretch your abs a bit so be easy on those as you do 2 sets of these alternating them with 2 sets of incline dumbbell presses.
Seated dumbbell shoulder presses work well with high pulley rows for two sets of each and finish with dumbbell curls and triceps pressdowns for two sets of each. If you feel too much stress on your abs by doing pressdowns replace them with dumbbell kickbacks.
For your cardio, set your treadmill to incline at 10% to 15% and take a long stride to work your hams and glutes more. Start with 15 to 20 minutes each day for a week. Add 5 to 10 minutes the second week.
That should get you started.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: From a fitness and health perspective 2012 has the potential to be an amazing year. We are aware of the dangers of a complacent lifestyle and how to combat the health issues that occur because of it. Sitting has become the new smoking. Whether you have to sit because of your job or by choice the complications from that, lower back pain, neck and shoulder issues, joint stiffness, increased stress levels, are all well documented. Get up from your chair regularly and stretch or walk around your office or cubicle. Work standing up for a few minutes if you can. If you are on the road make time in your schedule for regular stops to move your body. Challenge yourself to walk and exercise at home if not for you then do it for and with your spouse or friend. Join a gym or fitness center, get some instruction from a trainer or even from a fitness magazine to get started. Just get started. You will feel differently and see changes in your body more quickly than you thought possible.
Be active with your kids lead them by example walk, hike, play catch, frisbee, tag or a sport they are interested in playing. Have fun with them and help them learn the advantages of being healthy. Get them off of the video games occasionally and play paintball so they can physically feel how exhausting the challenges are that they see in military video games. Refuse to be average. We are not perfect but we can all strive to be better.
It all starts with a choice to change and an attitude realizing that the decision to change requires a series of choices from getting up earlier to prepare healthy foods, to giving yourself a few minutes a day to exercise, to drinking water as your primary source and doing all of these things more frequently than not. Then they become your norm instead of the opposite.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: Change occurs when the pain of remaining the same exceeds the pain required to change. It would seem that you have reached that point. Being out own your own can be overwhelming simply because without self-discipline, the parameters established and enforced by coaches, parents and teachers no longer apply. Weight gain happens in both guys and girls because of unlimited choices in food halls, fast food, and alcohol. By the same token, most if not all, universities have well-equipped gyms and fitness resources for students. You just have to use them.
If you are home on break then you need to take advantage of the warm weather and get out and walk/jog. Do a mile with a combination of walking and jogging to get moving again.
A simple plan to use is two to three sets for each major body part.
Now that you have an idea about how to get started, and that routine is only to get you started. You'll need another workout within 2 weeks. Motivation comes from results which will take a month at most if you are training intensely and consistently. During this first two weeks you'll be sore. Use that as motivation to continue because you know if you are sore you are doing something positive for yourself and on the right road to being the best you can be. Choose a concrete goal with your weight loss and a date of completion. Look at the possibility of competition whether it's physique, a 5k or Warrior Dash. High school is done and now you need to be the best you can be by the time you graduate to grab the job you want.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: There are four pillars that make the foundation of a solid training routine. Each individually is a positive component of a healthy lifestyle but is not enough to make lasting impact and change your physique. Combined they set you up for a successful transformation.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: The reality of weight gain during the holidays from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day is not easy to avoid. We eat and drink way too much. When you consider that liquor sales have risen more this year than in the last 15 years , then we as a population need to take a break from all the excess and instill some self discipline. Maintain your dieting. Make good choices when you do go to celebrate with friends. Eat less casserole dishes and more vegetables. Choose lean meats and eat your fill with those and the vegetables. Feeling full will help you avoid the sweets and desserts.
Eating a light meal or snack prior to your party event will help you as well if you are determined to make better choices. Don't be overly worried if you do stray off a bit. It won't do as much damage as you think it would but that is only if you are making the choice to cheat occasionally. You still can't do it more than once a week.
From a social perspective don't make it a big deal that you are on a diet. People love to talk diet and exercise although relatively few actually engage in those activities. If some people at your party know you actually are trying to eat clean then they will sabotage your efforts by being social. Be low key stick to your plan and if you do slip get back on board the next day.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: Machines are considered the safest form of resistance training. They provide both a stable platform and a stable movement. Using a barbell and a bench you still have a stable platform but a less stable movement. With dumbbells, the movement is even less stable because of the dumbbells being used independently. If you were to use an exercise ball instead of a bench, both the platform and movement are unstable. The instability requires accessory muscles to get involved to complete the exercise. We often move on unstable surfaces and though machines are great exercise they don't translate their movement into athletics or sometimes real life situations as well as free weights.
Free weights are excellent and can be used to strengthen all kinds of movements and translate well into sports. Machines can be implemented into a training program to maximize their potential. For instance, with their weight stacks they can easily be used to extend a set with railroads, drop sets or rest pause especially if you train alone. By using one of these techniques through one plane of movement and adding a variable plane exercise after it, you can exhaust one muscle or muscle group, recover and get excellent growth. Machines are a great place to start training and to use if you have an injury to work around. They can be used effectively to get you in shape and strengthen muscles. They are a wonderful asset and can make a good, effective exercise routine. Be open minded and explore a variety of techniques like free weights, kettlebells, battle ropes or tires to name a few to make your training more effective and your life easier.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: To make sure the holiday festivities don't completely ruin your progress, take some steps to minimize the damage. You can have a light healthy snack before you arrive for the big meal. If you go in hungry, really hungry you will make poor decisions about the amount of food you eat. Choose more protein sources than carbohydrates. Eat more turkey than stuffing and load up on the vegetables as well. If the desserts are calling out to you then have a modest serving of that special holiday treat. Just don't eat the whole thing. Go easy on the alcohol. There are lots of calories to deal with on top of the food. Having a good meal with your family is not going to ruin your progress but be wise.
The worst thing you could do is to deprive yourself of the spread entirely and make a big deal about your dieting and weight loss. Expect people to comment about your success so far and scrutinize the items on your plate. Don't be surprised by the comments either. You can deflect some of that by saying you have the blessings of your trainer whether you have one or not.
On Black Friday return to your gym and get back to work. You may be sluggish from the feast and lethargic as you begin your workout but within a few minutes you should be back to speed. On the weekend make an attempt to be a bit more stringent with your eating than you usually are. The bottom line is to enjoy the holiday, enjoy your family and fellowship and enjoy the food. Then move back to work to finish what you started.
God bless, keep training and Happy Thanksgiving,
Daryl
Answer: For too long the fallacy has existed that lifting weights will impede or restrict growth by causing the bone's growth plates to close. A young man of sixteen has tremendous growth potential due to the extremely high level of testosterone being produced along with high amounts of growth hormone. With proper training and nutrition along with those raging hormones he could experience the greatest growth of his life.
Repeated clinical studies have refuted the misconception of problems with growth due to weights. Resistance training of any type places a load on the muscles, connective tissues and skeletal structure that produces growth, strength and increased density in all of the above. In younger athletes though, make sure the training is fun and challenging. Keep it moderate in duration and not at maximum load levels. Use multiple joint exercises as the core of the routine and not as much from isolation exercises. The training needs to affect both the muscles and nerves communication with the muscles teaching groups of muscles to work together. Use exercises that will translate easily to the playing field.
With athletes under 12, begin with core strengthening exercises that use bodyweight as resistance instead of just getting in the gym. You can have them do push-ups, pull-ups, squats and lunges. Work on jumping by literally jumping on blocks or benches. Train both jumping on a box and jumping off the box and dropping into a squat. Teaching a child, both boys and girls, to train and how enjoyable and beneficial it is is an invaluable lesson that will assist them throughout their lives.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: Since you have never worked out before this is normal. That may not sit well with your perception of being successful in the gym but you already expressed the other beneficial aspects you experienced from your training. When you begin training, your muscles are sore at first from what is referred to as DOMS ( Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). One of the Aspects is that your muscles actually swell just a small amount. As you continue to workout, your muscles respond to the work load placed on them by demanding more amino acids for tissue repair. So you should have added more protein to your daily food consumption. You should have decreased the amount of fat you eat and adjusted the type of carbohydrates to being a greater amount of low-glycemic index carbs which have a greater amount of fiber and generally more nutritional value. Since your muscles are over 65% water, you need to be drinking more water. All this tends to add weight at a cellar level. This means more weight on the scale. The positive side effect of this is that you are actually smaller and your clothes are looser. If you had your body fat calculated before you began and after a month you probably would see a decrease there in spite of the scale.
With all of the positive results from your training, you seem to be investing in a good program. Keep it up and set new goals to keep your attitude and program working as well as it has been.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: Anytime you assign time in your busy day to do something for yourself, to help you to feel better physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually you can bet something will pop up to try to prevent your success after the first few days. It is difficult to explain but it is true for everyone. Those who seem to be successful have problems lurking around the corner just like you but they tend to make adjustments and even more self-sacrifice in order to reach the ultimate goal. It requires self-discipline and being able to adapt, improvise and overcome.
That may sound like a commercial for the Marines but it is true for those who are driven. If you do eat something that you know is not on your health and fitness plan, get over it and move on. Instead of beating yourself up emotionally and feeling like a failure, ask yourself the more pertinent questions: why did I eat that? What was going on when I felt like I had to have it? Were you angry? Hurt? Sad? If it was any of those then the next time you have the same or a similar craving stop before you eat it and ask yourself why you need it. Will it satisfy what it missing? Is it worth eating and having to train harder to burn off? Why not just skip the eating junk part and train? Believe this, eating a cinnamon roll, for example, is tasty for a few moments for sure. Being in shape, feeling good and confident in your own skin, looking better naked feels better than anything tastes.
It takes practice to say no to foods you think you can't live without and not feel deprived after you walk away from it. At some point you have to begin to do just that, begin. Do it once and be a bit upset that you didn't eat it. That's better than feeling guilty that you did. We all have the strength to be better no matter what the goal is. We all just have to take the first step to reach that goal and grow a little stronger as we continue on the path to success. The setbacks that follow will be small speed bumps the closer you get to your final success.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
Answer: After age 50, for some men things tend to go south quickly. If you were not working out prior to turning 50 it's a good place to begin. One notable client at Body Unlimited, Mike Musselwhite, began training at age 56 and enjoyed it so much he decided to take it up about 5 levels. He has competed in and won a multitude of bodybuilding competitions including the Over-60 Heavyweight National Championships. Now at age 64, he continues to compete and win at the national level. He is just one of many who found fitness as a passion at a later age and embraced training and diet as a fountain of youth.
Obviously, we are not as powerful or quite as strong as we are when we are in our 20's or even 30's. This is due, in part, to lower serum testosterone in men which decreases with biological aging. How many years you have been here is less important than how well you have maintained your body from a health standpoint. Not using tobacco, limiting alcohol, how active you have been, eating more nutritious food instead of food with empty calories, how much water you drink, these are all factors which help you to age more slowly. If you have not been as good to your body through the years as you could have been, you can still make changes to how you feel and how you look by beginning to do them now.
If you have been working out then intensity is your best tool for making improvements in your training and in yourself. Exercising may feel different because of limited time and the much higher stress load you carry. When you were younger, you had little to deal with compared to now when you deal with financial issues, your kids, your job and even our spouse. All these add up and tend to distract you during your workouts. Give yourself 45 minutes three times a week and shift your focus to training. If you make your training challenging, set goals for your workouts from increasing your bench to completing your workout in less time while increasing your work output. Intensify your training and you will see increased results from your efforts. You will feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.
The best idea to remember is that your attitude will limit you or it can propel you to excel. Age is not the limiting factor. I had a 91 year old client who was as active as someone 30 years younger. She said she stopped telling people how old she was if they asked when she was 85 because she started feeling old. So what she did tell them was that she was a 1919 model and let them figure it out. She still hasn't slowed down.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl
The key to using all these positive factors is to make sure that they are training with methods that are safe and effective while they are in the gym and to get the proper nutrition and rest in order to reap the benefits of their efforts. With their hormones raging, they are capable of making huge differences in strength, speed and sheer size. Whatever changes they do make with their bodies, these changes need to be transferable to the playing field whatever the sport. Don't just make them strong, make them explosively strong so they can move opposing bodies on the field. Don't just add weight to their frame, add muscle which makes them capable of delivering a hit and absorbing a hit with minimal effect except on the opposing player.
None of this should occur during the season. They have too much to handle as it is. School and grades have to come first, followed by learning the game plan during practice each day to face the next team. Then they have to recover from the game itself on the weekends. When the season is over, then it's time to put training back into their daily lives 3 to 4 days a week. A long-term training plan using weights and a Crossfit-style workout to help maintain a high level of cardio conditioning. Core strength training is essential as well an effective eating plan to maximize their potential and training recovery.
Finally, teach them that once this game is done for them no matter which level of play they can reach, they should know how to take care of their bodies through training, nutrition and recovery. In reality, it's never too late to start training whether you are 17 or 70.
God bless and keep training,
Daryl