Don't let fitness take a summer vacation

Oh, how I love the summer and the warm weather, and the opportunity it gives me to be more active outdoors.
I am more active overall, because I still do my typical strength training workouts, but I also get in more cardiovascular workouts — walking, jogging, biking and playing outdoor sports.
As a trainer, though, my clients tell me they don't need to do their usual workouts because they're involved in so many more outdoor activities.
Granted, there are the few who actually train their rear ends off (tri-athletes), who run, bike and swim several hours a week.
But trainers know what most of our clients are actually doing more of is sitting on their boats drinking beer, driving golf carts around the golf course and lounging poolside drinking margaritas and eating chips and salsa.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all about enjoying summer and having fun while the sun shines.
I love all of those activities, too. Feel free to invite me to join you, by the way.
Seriously, though, we still have to make sure exercising and taking care of our bodies is a priority.
We all need vacations, time to get away, relax and just enjoy life. Our bodies' fat factories don't take a vacation just because you do.
I hate for someone to work hard all year, to finally get into a consistent exercise routine, build up his metabolism and start losing weight — and then throw it all away by taking the summer off.
My goal is to encourage everyone to be more active, stay on a fitness routine, eat healthier and not throw away all his or her hard work, so that at the end of summer he can be healthier, fitter and happier.
Ironically, when fall rolls around, most people come back heavier, less fit and more frustrated. There's still three weeks of summer left, and some beautiful fall weather ahead.
Make the most of it. Get moving, get it in gear (and tighten that rear).

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
The week took its toll on me, so other than some active time with Mason and Hailey, I kind of took it easy today.

~Feelin' Alive!~

7 Things to Know About Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC)

What happens to your engine at the end of a long car trip? It doesn't require a degree in automotive engineering to know that once you've reached your destination, your car’s engine stays warm as it gradually cools to a resting temperature.
Here's a cool fact: The same thing happens to your body after exercise. Similar to how a car’s engine remains warm after being turned off, once a workout is over and you’re back in your daily routine, your body’s metabolism can continue to burn more calories then when at complete rest. This physiological effect is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. Also known as oxygen debt, EPOC is the amount of oxygen required to restore your body to its normal, resting level of metabolic function (called homeostasis). It also explains how your body can continue to burn calories long after you've finished your workout.
Your metabolism is how your body converts the nutrients you consume in your diet to adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fuel your body uses for muscular activity. ATP is produced either with oxygen using the aerobic pathways or without oxygen relying on the anaerobic pathways. When you first start to exercise, your body uses the anaerobic energy pathways and stored ATP to fuel that activity. A proper warm-up is important because it can take about five to eight minutes to be able to efficiently use aerobic metabolism to produce the ATP necessary to sustain physical activity. Once a steady-state of oxygen consumption is achieved, the aerobic energy pathways are able to provide most of the ATP needed for the workout. Exercise that places a greater demand on the anaerobic energy pathways during the workout can increase the need for oxygen after the workout, thereby enhancing the EPOC effect.
Here are seven things you should know about EPOC and how it can help you achieve optimal levels of calorie burning from your workouts:

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
It was definitely time to give my body a break today.  It seems those TGUs I did yesterday (in addition to everything else I did during the week) really left a mark and I woke up very stiff and sore.  But, I couldn't just be a couch potato all day, so I settled on a moderate intensity 30 minute heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Does High Fat + Stress Slow Metabolism?

Fitness pros: You know that some clients respond to stress by eating. Now a new study has found that experiencing one or more stressful events the day before eating a single high-fat meal can slow women's metabolism, potentially contributing to weight gain.

Researchers questioned study participants about the previous day’s stressors before giving them a meal consisting of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat. The scientists then measured the women's metabolic rate—how long it took them to burn calories and fat—and took measures of blood sugar, triglycerides, insulin and the stress hormone cortisol.

On average, in the 7 hours after eating the high-fat meal the women who reported one or more stressors during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than the nonstressed women—a difference that could result in weight gain of almost 11 pounds in 1 year.

The stressed women also had higher levels of insulin, which contributes to the storage of fat, and less fat oxidation (i.e., conversion of large fat molecules into smaller molecules that can be used as fuel). Fat that is not burned is stored.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Run and a TGU/Pullup/Pushup Workout
I was going to kind of take it easy this week, but it hasn't really worked out that way.  It was just too nice outside to not go for a run on the J-Ville Forest Park trails.  Afterward I spent some time in my gym doing KB Turkish Get-ups, pullups and pushups.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Seven fitness fails that are sabotaging your goals

Whether you're not doing something you should be or you're doing something that you shouldn't be, exercise mistakes result in one thing: A frustrating plateau. The problem is, not all fitness fails are obvious and, what's worse, some even disguise themselves as legitimate practices.

That's why we've rounded up some of the most common fitness faux pas that sabotage your goals. Once you figure out which of these workout no-nos you're guilty of, you'll be sure to see your progress skyrocket.

_Fitness Fail No. 1: Thinking you can 'undo' your sedentary life at the gym.

Sitting is almost inevitable in our modern world - sit in your car, sit at your desk, sit on your couch. But you're combatting all that on-your-butt time by meeting the daily 30-minutes-of-moderate-to-vigorous-exercise requirement at the gym, right? Unfortunately, that's not how it works. Previous studies have demonstrated that the risks for diabetes, obesity, blood pressure, and even mortality linked to high sitting time remain significant after controlling for physical activity.

If you're not convinced that an athlete can still live a sedentary lifestyle, consider a recent study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health that looked at sitting behaviors of marathon and half-marathon runners. The 218 runner participants trained an average of 8 hours (marathon runners) or 6 hours (half-marathon runners) per week. There's arguably no better example of a highly-active individual than a runner, so it's shocking that the research also found that runners still sit nearly 10 hours a day during the week and 8 hours a day on the weekends. In a striking paradox, this population is considered both highly active and highly sedentary, or, as the researchers call them, "active couch potatoes."

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run
After a relatively low volume and intensity day yesterday, I picked things up a bit today with a good run on Lower Table Rock.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Unintended Consequences Of Food Substitutions

Life is always a series of tradeoffs, but you may have unintended nutritional consequences when you substitute one food for another. In the quest to cut calories, sugar, cholesterol or fat, you can sacrifice important nutrients. Here’s a look at the cost of common food swaps:

Egg Whites for Whole Eggs
An egg white omelet is a high-protein, low-fat breakfast much loved by fitness enthusiasts and dieters. While egg whites are healthy, egg yolks are the real goldmine of nutrients. Half of the protein in an egg is in the yolk, along with all of the vitamins A, D, E, B6 and B12, plus the minerals choline, iron and zinc. The yolk does contain all the cholesterol, but eggs are very low in saturated fat —the fat that has the most impact on blood cholesterol. A large egg has 215 milligrams of cholesterol and one whole egg a day is within the dietary guidelines for healthy adults. So, next time you want an egg for breakfast, don’t toss the yolk.


Almond Milk for Dairy or Soy Milk
Plant-based milks are all the rage, but did you know that almond milk has only 1 gram of protein per cup, compared with 8 grams for cow or soy milk? Getting sufficient protein at breakfast is a challenge for many of us, so if you are a cereal-and-milk lover, remember that almond milk on your Wheaties won’t deliver a protein punch. Almond milk is also short on potassium at 120 milligrams, compared with 382 milligrams in cow’s milk and 287 milligrams in soy milk. Potassium is a shortfall nutrient in the diets of many Americans, so a good breakfast strategy is a whole-grain, high-fiber cereal with dairy or soy milk. You can toss in a few whole almonds to boost the nutrients without shortchanging your protein or potassium intake.

Popcorn for Nuts
Popcorn is a whole grain and that’s the good news, but nuts deliver so much more. All nuts are healthful, providing protein, vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients that popcorn can’t deliver. Studies have also found that a small portion of nuts is high on the satiety scale, meaning they help you feel full longer. Movie theater popcorn is especially high in calories and added fat. The Center for Science in the Public Interest found that a medium popcorn ranged in calories from 600 to 1,200 (9 cups to 20 cups) across three movie theatre chains. To be sure, nuts are high in calories and eating a whole bag of smoked, salted almonds or dark chocolate-coated pecans can sabotage a healthy diet, but a small handful is a good snack to curb hunger and to add variety to a salad, a grain or vegetable dish.

Post-Workout Whey Protein Shake for Real Protein-Rich Food
Whey is one of two milk proteins (the other is casein) and is an excellent source of branched-chain amino acids such as leucine, which appears to be an anabolic trigger to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. However, whey protein shakes are the not the only way to get the anabolic effects. Real food delivers high-quality protein and leucine, often at a fraction of the cost. Milk has been studied as a recovery beverage and found to be a good delivery vehicle for amino acids, with the added bonus of providing naturally occurring sugar (lactose) and a host of vitamins and minerals. Another good real food option is cottage cheese; a cup of low-fat cottage cheese has 28 grams of protein (most of it whey). Pair it with fresh fruit (pineapple, peaches or melon) and you've got a perfect recovery snack with more nutrients than your shake (and I’ll wager it tastes better, too).

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
Today I had to take a break....my body told me I had no choice.  So, the only exercise specific activity I did was a moderate intensity 30 minute heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Parents Think Their Overweight Kids Are Healthy

New research shows parents often think their overweight kids are a healthy size

Parents are increasingly viewing their overweight kids as “healthy.”

Between 2005 and 2008, parents—mostly mothers—were more likely to say they viewed their overweight child as healthy, compared to parents surveyed between 1988 and 1994, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatrics. The largest increases were seen among low income parents, followed by African Americans. These also happen to be groups at a higher risk for obesity.

What’s troubling is that parents often judge their child’s weight based on how he or she measures up to their peers, suggesting that overweight is increasingly the norm, the researchers say. As Americans get heavier, the new study suggests, perceptions of what’s healthy becomes distorted.

“We rarely compare our weight status against an absolute scale or a number recommended by doctors,” says study author Dr. Jian Zhang of Georgia Southern University. “Instead we compare to what our friends, neighbors, and coworkers look like. If we look like most of others, we of course perceive that we are just fine. As the prevalence of pediatric obesity has tripled within decades, the socially accepted ideal body weight may also be shifting accordingly.”

As more children become overweight, the trend shows that more parents will not think their child is unhealthy, and will be less likely to take action. That could lead to a vicious cycle, the researchers warn. “At a certain point, if no effective strategies are taken now to reverse this trend, all kids are obese, and they continuously carry the extra weight and the risk of various health problems into adulthood,” says Zhang.

The researchers call on pediatricians to talk to their patients—and their patients’ parents—about a healthy weight.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
After opening two large cans of whoopass on myself yesterday, I figured I'd kind of take it easy today.  So I headed out to the J-Ville Forest Park trails for a short, easy hike....just a little active recovery time....or so I thought.
9+ miles later I finally made it back to my car.  There's just always one more hill I can't resist climbing and one more trail I just gotta explore.

~Feelin' Alive!~

5 Habits That Will Help Increase Your Longevity

Growing older is a fact of life. We all want to live long and happy lives, but unhealthy habits can put a kibosh on the quality of those years. Listen, I know that you are busy. I’m busy too! But living healthy doesn't have to be a chore. To equip your body for the marathon that is life, incorporate these five habits into your normal routine.

1. Aspire to Eat Clean
If you take a close look at a carrot, you’ll notice a lack of an ingredient list on its back. Just pure carrot. When you eat food that comes out of a box, a can or a take-out container, “pure” is instantly thrown out of the window. Instead of fueling your body with preservatives, chemically altered fats, extra sodium and artificial flavors courtesy of ingredients that you can’t pronounce, eat foods that are closest to their natural state as possible. Aim to get the majority of your daily calories from fresh fruits and vegetables, minimally processed whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, lean meats and fish. A body that is fueled operates better (and longer!) than a body that is just fed.

2. Drink More Water
The advice varies—while some suggest drinking the classic eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day, others say to take your body weight, divide it in half and drink that many ounces. What we do agree on is that drinking water—lots of water—is a must-have healthy habit. Because water is our body’s principal chemical component and makes up about 60 perfect of our body weight according to the Mayo Clinic, water should be our drink of choice over sugary, calorie-laden drinks. Yes, Coca-Cola can provide a temporary caffeine boost, but it falls short in all other benefits. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that water helps your body maintain a normal temperature, lubricates and cushions joints, protects the spinal cord and other sensitive tissues, and gets rid of waste. Make a water bottle your fifth limb and continually refill it to hydrate your body the entire day.

3. Move More and Move Often
A 30-minute daily trip to the gym is good, but adding constant movement throughout your day is even better. Instead of finishing a workout and calling it quits for the day, activity should be a 24/7 priority. By now, most of us have heard that sitting is the new smoking and long bouts of inactivity really is the kiss of death. The Sax Institute’s “45 and Up Study” found that adults who sat for 11 hours or more a day had a 40 percent greater risk of dying in the next three years compared with those who sat for fewer than four hours a day. Stand up every half hour at work, lap your house while talking on the phone, add a short nighttime walk—it doesn’t matter how you do it, just move more. I tell my clients everyday that a workout of some sort is a personal triumph over laziness and procrastination!

4. Think Positive
Thoughts are powerful, so be sure to pay attention to yours. Do you encourage yourself with positivity or hold yourself back with negativity? The Mayo Clinic reports a number of health benefits associated with positive thinking, including increased life span, lower rates of depression, greater resistance to the common cold and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, among many other things. Hang your favorite uplifting quotes on your fridge or bathroom mirror. Come up with a positive mantra that you repeat to yourself when you feel negativity swirling in your head. Make it a goal each day to be more positive than the day before. A happier life is a longer one. One of my favorite quotes is by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

5. Don’t Forget to Strength Train
Too often people get psyched that they are exercising most days of the week—with some type of cardio—and they forget about strength training. Not building and maintaining muscle could be one of the biggest mistakes related to your health. Studies have shown that after the age of 40, people lose about 8 percent or more of their muscle mass each decade. Not only do muscles keep our bodies functional, mobile and strong, but they also help burn calories even when you’re not working out. Seriously, muscle is the key to metabolism in our golden years. “Strength training” does not mean you need to become a body builder and lift heavy barbells. Free weights, resistance bands, muscle sculpt classes or even using your own body weight with push-ups, planks and squats all work.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- The ~TOPFIT Birthday Workout~ and an Upper Table Rock Run
My birthday present to myself.......the infamous and patented ~TOPFIT Birthday Workout~.....4 circuits of KB swings (24 kg), burpees, pullups, pushups, SB crunches and SB leg curls. The repetitions on the four circuits were 56, 8, 25, 58 (my age and the date of my birth).
I figure if I can survive this workout, I'm probably good for another year.
A little later I had a good run on Upper Table Rock.

~Feelin' Alive!~