Weight Management Archives -

TOP 3 MISTAKES you are making in the gym

Posted on July 10, 2022August 10, 2022 by Frank Miller

There are a variety of interesting things I see people doing at the gym that really serves them no real benefit. I’ve narrowed it down to these TOP 3 mistakes…

3. Steady-State-Cardio

If you are still stuck on the elliptical for the past year with minimal results, its time for a change. High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to be more effective in anaerobic and aerobic capacity as well as burning fat. These exercises are short, explosive bursts of energy followed by a minimal to moderate rest. There are numerous studies out there that state High Intensive Interval Training burns 9 times as many calories as jogging on a treadmill! So if you want maximal fat loss in a 1/3 of the time you’d be on a treadmill, you need to do some interval training!

2. Improper warm up

To many times I have seen people head right to a treadmill, run for 5 minutes and then go bang out some chest and triceps. Or better yet, doing a few warm up arm circles just before they hop on the bench press. My question to them is, how is working on your aerobic capacity a warm up for your anaerobic exercises? And how was swinging your arms around for 10 seconds helpful? It’s not. In this example, if you are training chest, you should be performing a variety of shoulder exercises such as internal/external rotations (as seen in the picture) to warm up the rotator cuff, then do a couple of sets of the exercises you are performing to get the muscle active. That, is the proper way to warm up.

1. Improper Form/Technique

Are you a gym goer that has had some sort of lower back pain or annoying shoulder pain? It is most likely due to improper form or poor technique over a period of time. On any given day I would dare to say that 50% of the people in the gym are not doing exercises correctly. It is very difficult to bite my tongue when I see people doing deadlifts with a rounded back or a lat pull-down with an abdominal crunch thrown in the mix. Proper form is absolutely crucial to your results. It is the difference between increasing muscle protein synthesis and fat burning or potentially injuring yourself. My suggestion to you is to get an experienced trainer even if its just for 2 or 3 sessions just so you can learn how to PROPERLY workout. With proper form you can maximize your results more quickly and efficiently!

Top 3 Reasons America is FAT

Posted on February 1, 2022August 10, 2022 by Frank Miller

I am sure that by now it is no new news that America has an obesity problem. A staggering 35.7% of American adults are obese and 17% of children and adolescents ages 2-19 are obese. This is almost DOUBLE that of what is was in 1990 where states only had obesity rates no higher than 14%. Check it out HERE. In light of this trend over the past 20 years it is a potential that the obesity problem can become an epidemic in this country. I have narrowed down a list of the Top 3 reasons for the obesity problem in America…

#3 Massive Advertising and Marketing

Corporate companies spend millions of dollars every year in an attempt to sell you their “superior health product”. They put fancy, colorful labeling and big bold catch words that immediately catch your eye. ORGANIC AND LOW-FAT. 8 WHOLE GRAINS PER SERVING! I mean, it sounds pretty good right? The problem is, you as the consumer may not know any better, and corporate companies capitalize on this (check out my article on LOW FAT). Furthermore, the healthy foods that these companies usually are marketing are highly processed foods such as cereals, candies, snack foods, microwave dinners, frozen pizzas, deli meats… the list goes on. The advertising of less expensive, “healthy” foods is usually the sales point for most people. Save money and be healhty, perfect! However, you will be shelling out a lot more money on medical bills in the future if you had just spent a few more bucks on lean meat and veggies in the past.

#2 Fast Food

This has become one of the most prominent and visible food attractions in America. If you think corporate companies are spending millions on cereal boxes, then they are spending even more to get you to go through their drive-thru for dinner and call it a night! Fast food is visible, easy, cheap, and convenient. I mean, they have everything you can want if you are on the go. Hell of a marketing tactic. But the truth remains; by eating fast food, you are just doing an extraordinary disservice to your body and health. Fast food contains little to no nutritional value, a ton of added salt (sodium) and preservatives, trans fat, sugars and refined flours. These foods are heavy in poor calories, and by that I mean the protein, fat, and carbohydrates are of poor quality. The food is also so inexpensive because it is very cheap to massively produce. You think that’s chicken in your nuggets?! Guess again. All of the said things are detrimental to your health over time and not limited to heart problems, diabetes, high cholesterol, and to top the cake…obesity, which actually leads to the previous problems. Too many people just opt for the easy way out with food and are just… what seems to be lazy. Whether it is due to mass advertising or fast food being extremely visible, it comes down to my #1 reason. . .

#1 Misinformation

We have become a society and leaders of disinformation. Sure, there is always great information on TV and in magazines and even websites like this one! The problem is, the average person knows so little about correct eating habits, it is very difficult to apply the most basic parts of nutrition to day to day life. It is due the above reasons of your favorite and “trusted” enterprises giving you what you think is the correct path for health and nutrition, and you FOLLOW IT; because you simply don’t know any other way. The average person in this country would think that if they have to start dieting, it means they have to follow some sort on name brand diet (Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers) when in reality the term diet just mean the foods you are consuming. Go ask someone to tell you to name 5 individual foods that are high in fat; you’ll probably be surprised to hear the answers. I mean, that is if YOU know the answers yourself! It seems that our nutritional knowledge has become so skewed and misguided that it has lead the country to having an obesity problem. In the end, the real culprit is the individual. We all have minds of our own and need to learn to be conscious of our habits and decisions when it comes to dieting and health. The real question to ask now is, what if we had or were given the truth and real knowledge about nutrition and the food we eat? Would we follow this golden advice or just continue with our ways? I would hope we follow it, but still most people would just opt for the easy fix of fast food, frozen pizza, or 32oz sodas. And when its all said and done, it is just sheer laziness to not try and make a change.

Your fitness goals happen 24/7!!

Posted on February 6, 2020August 11, 2022 by Frank Miller

Lets jump right into this. Lets say you are new to working out and you start your routine with 3 days per week with 1 hour workouts. EXCELLENT WORK! You’ve already completed half the battle by just getting off the couch or out of the office chair to get a workout in! And lets say you burn about 250-400 calories in a light to moderate weight training/functional training session. Honestly, you are doing great so far. But now is where you really need to stop and think about your time spent working out and if your are really maximizing your ability to attain your fitness goals. You are working out 3 hours per week out of the 168 hours in the week. In reality, only 1.7% of your time is spent working out!! Let me say that again, ONLY 1.7% OF YOUR TIME! So the real question here is, what are you doing with the other 98.3% of your time in the week to lose that weight or gain that muscle!? What this really boils down to is your lifestyle choices. Are you dieting correctly? Are you getting proper sleep? Do you drink alcohol and/or smoke? Do you party or stay out to late? Are you really in this for the long haul? These questions are crucial to ask yourself if you are serious about hitting your fitness goals. And ask yourself, ARE you serious about this? Look, weight loss and muscle building doesn’t happen over night and is not an easy task. If it was easy, America probably would not have an obesity problem. Listen, you don’t have to become a fitness fanatic or lock yourself in a gym to get results, you just have to be willing to make certain changes in your lifestyle choices in order to get those abs that you want or those arms to be admired. So keep up the hard workouts! Believe me, those calories burnt and that muscular fatigue is all going to be worth it! Just remember that this fitness game is a 24 hour, 7 day a week process.