Do It

Any information on exercise always centers on what should and shouldn't be done in order to meet goals. Well to many people get caught up in talking about what to do and planning activities. I'm all for planning and exercising smart rather than harder, but the first step is always starting. Start a regular program with activities that you enjoy. There is always time to improve and change a routine. Changing a routine just flat out easier than starting a routine.

So in review:

• Get started
• Do what you enjoy
• Stay motivated
• Change and improve often

6 Pack Secrets

Stop doing crunches. Abdominal focused exercises such as crunches and the superman only partially activate the abdominals. The area is difficult to activate and maintain force production. Recent studies point away from such exercises to dynamic lifting activities. For example a weighted squat performed with good upright posture does more to work the midsection than crunches or the superman.

The take home message is to activate these muscles and to think about your abdominals while performing your other standing lifting exercises.

References:
Hamlyn N, Behm DG, Young WB. Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities.
J Strength Cond Res. 2007 Nov;21(4):1108-12.

Traumatic Health

Long term lifetime health has many factors. Recent research has even identified that a one time traumatic event can have long lasting affects (Dorn et al). The mental affect is rather obvious since trauma increases stress. Stress then results in a whole mired of other problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease. The lesson here is not to avoid traumatic events (although I do recommend trying), the lesson is to take time to reflect and reduce stress. Quickly accepting and overcoming problems with decrease long term affects.

References:
A cohort study of the long-term impact of a fire disaster on the physical and mental health of adolescents.
Dorn T, Yzermans JC, Spreeuwenberg PM, Schilder A, Zee JV.Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Weights or Cardio?

Why chose? Again I'm going back to terms of intensity. Use weights with cardio in mind. Pump up your exercise routine. Maintain your intensity throughout the work. Now in order to do the effectively you need to do a few this to optimises your workout for cardio implementation.

*Have a plan: Know what set is next and where you are going.

*Set up first: Set your weights and have all your stations ready to go from one to the next.

*Plan an exercise routine that alternates from one body part to another.

An effective cardio weight plan needs to limits the time from one exercise to another. A time example is 1 min of constant lifting followed by 10-20 seconds of transition times. A plan with 5 separate exercises and 2 cycles would take about 15 minuets and would effectively combine cardio with weights.

Best Weight Loss Exercises

When exercising to lose weight there are three important tips to remember.

1st: Interval Training

When hoping to loss weight and burn fat our bodies with be most effective with some sort of interval training. This can be seen on weight loss shows when as 10-60 seconds of very intense running, or lifting. The should be performed at maximal exertion that can be safely performed with a speed or weight that can be maintained for that time period and not one second longer. These highly intense periods are followed light activity i.e. light jogging or walking.

2nd: Whole Body

The best way to maximize your weight loss is with an exercise that uses as much of your body as is possible. Great examples are push ups and the clean and press shown on the side. Swiss balls can also be added to a number of exercises to turn a partial activity into a full body work out. A great example of this is a bench press on top of a swiss ball.

3rd: Have Fun

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

Being a physical therapist I want to shed some light on a little heard of knee condition. Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a condition that typically causes pain under and around the patella/kneecap. The activities that usually cause the greatest amount of pain are climbing steps and deep knee bends. The pain is related to specific weakness that is around the knee. These activities require the greatest strength to control the motion and result in a great amount of pain.

In my professional practice I've found that hamstring strength has a protective effect for the knees. Here is a website with more information and a great set of exercise that if performed regularly can help alleviate pain and reduce the risk of an injury. http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/pfp.

One myth is that by using your knees you are going to wear them out and some people may even avoid walking to prevent this situation. Increased activity in childhood and throughout live promotes healthy bones and joints. Continue with weight training and other exercises throughout live is also very important. Again in my experience any hamstring strengthening exercises has a protective effect on knee health and should be emphasized.

Excitement

Side note about my family. Today I found out my wife (37 weeks pregnant) is on her way to having a healthy baby. We had an ultrasound today and the baby was found to be about 8 lbs. Fairly large but this is our first child and we just cant wait to have the baby.