There are many psychological factors that impact the results achieved from your exercise or fitness program. I recently wrote about the importance of finding your motivation for changing your body, but that is just part of a bigger picture. For optimal progression, you also need a high level of arousal before as well as during the workout. I’m not talking about the arousal you get from checking out the opposite sex in compromising exercise positions, although this can make the gym experience more enjoyable. I’m talking about your level of arousal to complete the task at hand with the utmost enthusiasm and vigour. The fittest athletes in the world have many attributes in common contributing to their wellness. Sure, they have a high level of motivation, great discipline, exude great diligence in completing tasks but they also make sure that every workout is met with the highest level of arousal possible. So just how do they accomplish this and why are most of us in the dark about this seldom talked about, but crucial element to one’s training program?

Before I get into what it means to be aroused during your workout, I want to point out that I’m speaking to the trainees who want to get the most out of their gym experience. These are people who have a targeted goal to be a lot better physically than they currently are. For those who are only interested in “general fitness” and just go though the motions of exercise to feel good about themselves then high levels of arousal may not be necessary.

Establishing heightened arousal means to look within one’s mind to find those motivating factors that will increase performance and an adrenaline reaction. 

By definition, the word arousal means to stir up into activity or  elicit excitement. It can range in intensity from low (sleeping) to high (as experienced during a natural disaster).  A low level of arousal does not permit a high level of focus or concentration since it allows too many external distractions to enter your mind. Annoying gym music, excessive conversations in the training area, t.v.’s in every corner of the gym and pushy salespeople are all common examples. What happens is that low arousal inhibits adequate stimulation of the brain’s neurotransmitters, and the result may be a weak nervous signal that can affect yourworkout intensity. At this point it should be obvious that relaxation, deep breathing, and meditation are mental practices one should do before and after a workout, but not during.

Conversely, too much arousal can increase adrenaline, anxiety and muscular tension to such a degree that coordination difficulties can result. You may even find yourself oblivious to other important information; namely, a potential for injury while proper biomechanics deteriorate. This is especially true in highly skilled sports, such as hockey and football, where too much aggression ultimately results in error or injury. Therefore it should stand to reason that for a serious exerciser, their state of arousal should be one step below the highest level to avoid this problem.

A Question Of Sex

To achieve the best results from exercise, you must invoke a certain level of aggression or anger in order to become sufficiently aroused. It’s very common to see men displaying their aggression in the gym through their facial expressions and their grunting and moaning symphonies. Women, on the other hand, prefer to “suffer” in silence. Most women are raised to be “lady-like”, polite and different from men. Passiveness must be avoided if women want to achieve optimum results, whether it is to add muscle and strength or to lose fat. Just look at seasoned female athletes, they are very aggressive and they need to be aggressive to be competitive and to reach the pinnacle of competition. Regardless of your training experience or gender, aggressiveness and intense mental focus (without being concerned about what others in the gym think of you) takes practice.  I’ll offer some suggestions of how to do so shortly .

Are you not properly aroused?

Most people can identify when they aren’t  adequately aroused prior to a workout. Your mind wonders and you become easily distracted. You lack concern about how well the workout will proceed or how you will perform. You  lack enthusiasm or don’t not look forward to the exercise session. You may feel heavy in the limbs with no “bounce” in your step. If the goal is to maximize workout productivity, then you should watch for those signs and deal with them accordingly.

How to get aroused in the gym

You can increase your state of arousal , and the results of your training, by following a few simple guidelines. First, increase the rate of breathing, and focus on being energized. Eliminate any feelings of fatigue from the mind. Next, act energized; sustain good posture and perform some shadow boxing or household chores with vigour before exercise. Think of positive words or statements, like “energy”, “power”, “I can do it”, or “no pain, no gain”. Energized imagery can help to improve positive feelings, such as visualizing well-developed muscles, or an explosion of fireworks. Some people prefer to listen to upbeat rock music prior to exercise. Energetic music with 60 beats per minute is ideal during exercise since the music selections act as a metronome to maintain rep cadence. My personal preference is testosterone fueled hard rock of the 80′s to get things pumping.

It’s important, like anything in life really, to be cyclical in your approach. Your level of arousal should coincide with the demands of that particular workout or phase of your training. When the training is more demanding, these techniques can be used and backed off a little when the training demands are lower. For example, due to a lack of available energy and nutrients, it is hard to engage maximum mental fortitude when you’re in a fat loss phase . Conversely, an intense strength or muscle building program (where heavy weight and exhaustive workouts are used) would allow for a much higher level of concentration as the diet will likely supply the body with excess energy and nutritional support. In addition, you will find it easier to sustain your motivation long term on an exercise progam if you cycle or fluctuate your mental effort to avoid “mental burnout”.

As I always tell my personal training clients before each session, use your anger, resentment, jealousy or any other destructive emotion to facilitate the productivity of your workout. Not only will you release a lot of tension but you will have accomplished more than you ever thought possible.

It’s the summertime and I’m sure everyone is out hiking, running or climbing their way to new fitness levels right? Even if you’re not, I’m sure everyone has either experienced, or watched someone else experience, the dreaded “side stitch” that has crippled many an athlete or fitness enthusiast while exercising. It usually occurs in activities that involve repetitive torso movement, rotation or hyper-extension, such as running or swimming. It manifests as an aching sensation in the side of the torso that usually forces the individual to stop, bend over, tighten the abdominal muscles, breathe through pursed lips and massage the affected area. These are in fact the best ways to alleviate the pain. But what causes this phenomenon and more importantly how do we prevent it?

I’m glad you asked. There is nothing more frustrating than getting in the zone for an intense cardiovascular challenge only to be plagued by this condition. When I started doing the Grouse Grind again this year I found myself disabled at the 1/2 mark but I wasn’t even out of breath. I noticed it was happening at the same time and on a regular basis. This encouraged me to look into this matter a little more deeply and here’s what I uncovered.

If you ask people what causes side stitching, most will respond that it’s a buildup of  lactic acid or waste product in the muscle. This completely unfounded. Why does lactic acid get blamed for everything? It even gets blamed for sore muscles. All untrue. The medical community recognizes this condition as exercise-related transient abdominal pain or ETAP, and has proposed several theories as to its cause.

What Causes Side Stitches

The first theory suggests that the stitch arises when blood flow to the respiratory organs is compromised as it is diverted to the working muscles or to aid in digestion. So what your mother always told you was sound advice. Don’t go swimming or playing right after dinner. I’m sure my mother had no clue about ETAP, rather she just knew what was right and wrong. Don’t all mothers have that uncanny instinct? Anyway, in this scenario it should be obvious that the quantity, composition and caloric density of your pre-exercise meal should be considered

Possible Solutions: Wait 2-3 hours after a meal or consuming a large amount of fluid before engaging in vigorous physical activity. Just like Mom said. To reduce the amount of fluid in the stomach, drink small amounts frequently during the course of activity and avoid one large drink.

The second theory suggests that the stitch occurs from pulling of the gut on ligaments connecting the gut to the diaphragm. This can occur when the stomach is sufficiently full of fluid adding to the pressure in the abdomen. It also appears that fluids that differ in carbohydrate form also have an impact on the incidence of the stitch. This is likely due to varying digestibility and absorption rates of different types of sugars used in the drinks. It has been found that sucrose and frutose are the biggest culprits, while plain old H2O and glucose polymers such as maltodextrin result in the least incidence of side stitch.

Possible Solutions: It should be obvious that sports drinks containing glucose-polymers are a better choice than soft drinks and even sports drinks like Powerade that use a glucose-frutose blend, at least for preventing side stitches. Incidentally I eventually uncovered why I was getting stitches at the half way mark on the Grind; because that’s when I took a break and guzzled back half a bottle of Powerade. Within 10 minutes it hit me every time. Now I don’t drink anything. I just periodically bum some water from my girlfriend when the need arises. Aren’t I a nice guy?

Lastly, the third theory suggests that ETAP is associated with irritation of the parietal peritoneum, which suggests that the pain is caused by inflammation. The peritoneum is a thin layer of connective tissue lining the abdominal cavity and covering most of the digestive organs and glands. It functions to lubricate and protect the entrails. Said irritation can elicit a localized sharp pain.

I should also note that there are 2 types of side stitching that you can experience. The common “minor annoyance” kind that is associated with food and drink. The second is more severe and can be described as “very painful and debilitating”. This form is brought on by dehydration from inadequate fluid intake and or missed meals. Make sure you drink enough water to stay hydrated throughout the day.

In addition to adequate fluid consumption, attention should be given to the importance of PH, electrolyte balance and antioxidant intake. You must understand the quality and quantity of the fluids you require. As a minimum standard, I recommend a minimum of 2-4 liters (depending on body weight and activity levels) of filtered water daily. Sadly, most people don’t even come close.

I hope this helps people understand this phenomenon a little better now. You don’t get them because you are out of shape but rather you failed to plan your food and liquid consumption properly.  And you know what they say ” If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Until next time, Stay fit and have fun!

I’m going to start a series aptly called “Reality Check” to help distill the information people receive in regards to planning a fitness program. In today’s fitness world there are many terms and concepts being erroneously perpetuated and I’ll look at couple of these now. Specifically I’ll be addressing some common confusion around women and weight training.

Reality Check #1 : Toning Your Muscles

As part of my my personal training service, I have all new clients fill out a detailed report that includes relevant information, not the least of which is goal setting. In that section I have clients put 8 common training goals in order of importance. These include weight loss, cardiovascular fitness and endurance to name a few. Most people, especially women, will almost always have strength and muscle building in positions #7 and 8. Now this isn’t because they don’t want to be strong with a lean muscular physique, rather that strength training or muscle building conjures up negative images for them. These same people will tell me their #1 goal is to be “toned” but they were concered that it wasn’t on the list. It must have been a mistake right? Actually no. When I’m confronted with this (almost every time I do a consultation) I promptly push strength training to the top of their list. Let me explain.

The term “muscle tone” or tonus describes an electrophysiological phenomenon, a measure of ionic flow across muscle cell membranes. It can be thought of as the muscle’s readiness to do anaerobic work. The more fit the muscle, the more electrophysiological activity it exhibits at rest. Lack of exercise leads to poor tone, aerobic exercise improves tone a little bit, low-intensity weight training improves tone more, and high-intensity training improves tone the fastest. This why a strength athlete’s musculature appears to be flexed even when  at rest.

Most exercise programs that claim to improve muscle tone are actually lower-intensity muscle building programs. You know the ones with very high reps counts. usually in a circuit setting. These are only moderately effective for improving muscle tone. If “tone” is the goal, strength is the method. Period.

Reality Check #2 : Women and Big Muscles

Everyone knows men want muscular development, for obvious reasons of masculine dominance and peer respect (and intimidation). But women who are afraid of developing ‘masculine’ muscles soon change their tune. Initial concerns of getting “too bulky” are quickly abandoned as they become aware of just how difficult it is too gain a significant amount of muscle. Strict nutritional, training and recovery protocol must be implamented 24/7 to accomplish this. In addition, you must possess the genetics and motivation to build large muscles. Most women have neither. Simply lifting weights is not enough to create more than a few pounds of muscle gain in most cases. However, this is the ideal scenario if you want to make subtle but noticable changes to your physique.

With rare exception, when a woman begins to see the shape of her triceps, roundness in her shoulders, sweep of the thighs, and particularly a hint of abs poking through the fat, she is hooked. Perhaps wearing smaller clothing sizes and being more ‘compact’ or ‘tight’ in dimensions is good encouragement to tolerate any added muscle. Such tolerance likely is the case since in today’s world an acceptable look for women ranges from the hourglass or ‘petite-and-slim’ look to the athletic.

Reality Check #3 : Developing flexibility

There is some concern from women that weight training will decrease their hard earned flexibility. This is simply not the case unless they train that way. A lot of younger women that I run into display an impressive degree of range of motion through most of their joints. This is usually because they regularly participate in activities that encourage extensive passive flexibility (ie. stretching on the floor) like most yoga. Of course there is nothing wrong with this (in most cases) but there needs to be an implement in place to develop ones active flexibility or ability to stretch under load .

In the same way a lot of weight lifters (if they develop too much mass)  eventually become stiff if they don’t stretch, you will likely soon develop hypermobile joints if you don’t get stronger. Your flexibility might seem impressive but is actually unsafe and unnatural. You cannot allow your joints to move through terminal ranges without a certain amount of strength supportting them or you risk injury. It’s always about balance. With intelligent weight training you can balance  out your active and passive flexibility (the active flexibility deficit).

An example might be someone performing a basic hamstring stretch on a mat to a desirable range but are unable to duplicate that range while under load in a Straight Leg  Deadlift. This is not good and may eventually result in injury. This deficit also correlates positively to your performance in a chosen sport. If your joints are unstable, your power and strength will suffer. The bottom line ladies: I know you love your yoga but make sure you compliment your flexibility with a sound strength training regimen.

I hope this helps some of you make more informed decisions about setting up a workout schedule. I’ll be back soon with more reality checks, this time for men.

Of the many factors that influence how long an individual will stick to a particular diet regimen, a lack of results may be the biggest.

The fact is most diets simply don’t yield the results that people are looking for to warrant the sacrifice. In the initial stages a typical dieter will give it everything that they’ve got for a week, two weeks, three weeks or more. Maybe the first week goes well, second week is a little bit slower and by the third week they didn’t lose anything. The forth week they continue to diet and exercise and they still didn’t lose anything. What do you think is going to happen? That person’s going to say, “Screw this! I’ve only lost four pounds so far and I have to do this until I lose 30 pounds? It’s just completely unrealistic.” People will just end the diet because they’re not seeing a return on their investment.

Your return is the results that you’re seeing whether you’re looking in the mirror and you’re seeing positive change, is there change physically in your body? Is there change when you step on the scale? Is there a change when you wrap that measuring tape around your waist? If there’s not, it’s disheartening, it’s discouraging and people simply aren’t going to follow through with a program that is not getting them the results that they’ve after. Who can blame them for giving up the fight. If I was spending 12 hours a day on my business and I never made a dime, then I probably wouldn’t continue in that line of business or with whatever I was doing for very long. Dieting is no different. It’s not that you “just don’t have what it takes”, it’s that NO ONE is going to continue to work hard with no pay off.

For for 99% of dieters, the type of programs that they’re doing are the type of programs that will cause them to plateau after a very short period of time, where they end up not getting the results that they want to achieve. These include diets that exclusively restrict or recommend excess consumption of a particular nutrient ( carbohydrate, fats or protein). Although these approach can work well short term if done correctly ( and under expert supervision), most will receive little benefit and may likely damage their metabolism in the long run. In light of this, people still want the quick fix and unwittingly adopt the fad diet approach as the only way to eat. They lose some weight initially, quit the diet because it’s not sustainable, put the weight back on, go back on the diet and the merry-go-round continues. This is the plight of the modern dieter.

Like any pursuit in life, you need to prepare thoroughly for the challenges ahead if you are to reach your goals on schedule. This means establishing baselines, reasonable timelines, measurement tracking systems, identifying behavioral limitations, food preparation strategies and a host of other criteria to determine the right path for you. I have found that most of my client tend to struggle with the food preparation part. It is often difficult to build new habits but by having a plan from the beginning and making gradual changes at your own pace things will be much easier.

Don’t expect optimal results from a fat loss program unless you’ve completed the following preliminary checklist:

• Have you clearly established a specific goal (the exact amount of weight you want to lose by the end of the program)? Did you write your goal down to review daily?

• Have you calculated your calorie and macronutrient needs for each day based on the specific recommendations from your trainer and activity levels?

• Did you decide how often you will prepare your meals (daily, biweekly, or weekly)? Twice weekly is recommended.

• Did you plan out the entire first weeks menu? It is best to do this meal by meal and then make any adjustments or substitutions as you see fit during the week. Having a plan in place is fundamental to success. Be prepared.

• Did you set-up an optimal meal-time schedule based on your daily availability? For example, 7am breakfast, 10am mid-morning snack, 12:30pm lunch, 3pm mid-afternoon snack, 6pm dinner. Meals should be spaced 2-3 hours apart.

• Did you go grocery shopping for all the food items needed to prepare your first week of meals?

• Do you have a method for logging and tracking your actual daily food intake for future reference?

 Most people may not realize that this much thought and preparation is necessary and those that do, seldom fullfill the obligation. That leaves only the small minority that understand that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail . . . . . Get things right from the start and begin realizing the lean and muscular body you had envisioned to keep you motivated for now and forever.

Well, it’s been a little while but I’m back to regular posting, with more strategies to improve your health and lifestyle. Nowadays everyone is at least aware that they NEED to exercise to stay healthy, but is knowing this enough? Usually not. There needs to be an underlying conscious, or subconscious incentive to reach a particular goal. Of course I’m talking about motivation.

How a person becomes motivated depends on their personality and can be enhanced with the promise of a desirable reward. But a strong motivation does not mean a long-lasting motivation. Millions of people each year are highly motivated to develop a fit body and to lose fat, only to realize a sense of failure, shame, and laziness; often upon discovering how much effort it takes to develop such a body. As an aside, did you know almost every commercial fitness centre relies on this trend to ensure they can meet new business quotas each month? If you pay and don’t show up, then business is good. But that’s another story for another post.

A person’s level of motivation will have the greatest impact on achieving their goals.  We need to dial into what we really want and fully understand what it takes to get there. I feel that there are 5 important motivational strategies you can use to keep on track . I will discuss them in detail but it’s up to you to implement them into your own fitness regimen.

Setting Up The Right Environment

Everyone responds differently to a particular environment. When choosing a gym or place to train, make sure that the atmosphere is such that you look forward to going. It’s amazing how many people join busy gyms and complain about the crowds and pushy salespeople. Or someone who tries to exercise at home and complains they don’t have anyone one to work out with and a lack of equipment options. No wonder so many people lose interest and quit. If they only took time to consider the environment they train in, these common scenarios could have been avoided.

Some environments may encourage competition, but not everyone is motivated by this.  Some people are very competitive, whereas others are noncompetitive. Some people enjoy competing with themselves, but they find it pointless to try and emulate someone else in terms of physical appearance, strength, or accomplishments. With so many different personalities it is clear that where you train, and with whom you train will greatly impact your motivation in the long run.

Your at home environment also needs to be considered, especially if you train there. Using visual aids like inspiring posters and progress reports of measurements or accomplishments that can be readily seen can be helpful as well. It may be important to get rid of tempting junk food and any distracting devices in the exercise area. The type of music in your workout area  may also be a factor for you, although most people are using ipod’s these days anyway.

Vary The Exercise Demands

The level of exercise demands must be flexible to maintain motivation. Although hard and intense activity is necessary to make the best progress, there must be times of easier exercise to allow minor socializing, to ease mental anxiety or to enhance joy of exercise. This is not to say that hard exercise cannot be enjoyable, but cycling demands, with periods of repose, can allow for greater long-term adherence and pleasure from an exercise program. This is true of any endeavor in life; we cannot commit ourselves fully to any one thing all the time.  Just as our biological functions work in a cyclic manner, so too must our motivation and how we apply ourselves to achieve our objectives.

Don’t Make Too Many Goals

I can really relate to this one. While it’s important to set goals, too many competing goals can derail all of them in no time.  It’s like trying to ride 5 horses with one ass. A person may want to exercise hard and lose weight, but  may have other goals that require serious commitment, such as becoming a professional musician or studying full time to achieve his Ph.d.

Competing goals can create a deep sense of psychological fatigue if a person focuses too much on too many things at one time. Doing so can affect exercise quality and intensity. There is nothing wrong witht a person who places greater importance on other activities or interests besides exercise, but goals need to be prioritized. It may not be realistic to want the best body possible if other goals have taken priority, since the mental and physical effort likely will not be available in order to achieve that goal.

Avoid Exercise And Diet Templates

I hate to say it but a lot of books and even fitness professionals are in the business of selling these “done for you” exercise and diet programs that are essentially produced with computer software. I’ve seen regular people given diets that most competitive bodybuilders couldn’t follow. Seriously though, could someone with poor discipline to eat well really be expected to eat chicken and broccoli 6 times a day for 3 months? Of course not. They will lose motivation and quickly fall off the program. For a person to be motivated on an exercise and diet plan they must be taught how to eat the foods they enjoy and to exercise with a system that is productive and that they enjoy. Just because a program works well doesn’t mean it will work for long if you’re miserable doing it.

Exercise For The Right Reasons

Some people exercise for the wrong reasons, such as building muscles so that they can threaten and intimidate  people more easily. Martial arts schools are inundated with this attitude. Also consider women who are obsessive about exercise because they hate their bodies and they feel fat, yet they may be thin and borderline anorexic. There are many positive reasons why a person should exercise, and those reasons include greater confidence and to promote good health. If the reasons to exercise are to enhance the ‘positive’ rather than the ‘negative’, there is less burden to succeed, exercise becomes more enjoyable, and the ability to reach and appreciate a state of peak condition will be easier.

At the end of the day there are many factors that can influence your level of motivation and you should now understand a few of them. The ability to become increasingly stronger, to build a better body and to reach peak conditioning requires hard work and knowledge of how your body responds to exercise and the reasons for your motivation. It also takes perseverance,  but taking stock of what motivates you to succeed may have the most profound impact on your success or failure.

Many people aspire to change their appearance through diet and exercise, but the intention can sometimes be misplaced.  You see, not everyone has what it takes to succeed at such an endeavour. The most important thing you have to embrace before embarking on a body transformation is your readiness for change.

I’ve always loved the popular 80′s slogan “You’ve got to want it!”  Although it was used to sell supplements, it really rings true for most things in life that are worth having. The problem is, it’s not enough to just want it. If you’re not ready to do the work necessary to accomplish your goals then improvements in your body composition, health and physical performance will continue to elude you. I’m now going to offer a checklist of attributes that you must possess before you attempt to make real, sustainable changes in your body. If you meet these criteria, then you may just be a candidate for a physical transformation.

You Should Attempt A Physical Transformation If . . . . . .

1.  You are willing to do at least five hours of physical activity each week.

2. You can accept responsibility for the way your body is today and understand that, while your old habits don’t make you a bad person, they still need to be changed.

3. You are ready to spend less time with people who offer little or no social support for your goals while spending more time with those who do offer support.

4. Your work environment presents significant barriers to you exercising and eating well, and you would consider speaking to your employer about changing some of these conditions or you are  willing to find new employment.

5. An expert presents some information on diet and exercise that contradicts what you currently believe, and you maintain an open mind and give it a try.

6. You have accepted the fact that you’re in worse shape now than when you were younger because you are far less active than you used to be.

7. You can accept that your workouts, at times, will be hard and that you will need to tolerate high levels of discomfort.

8. You often look in the mirror and feel frustrated, upset,or humiliated because of how your body looks.

9. You often feel run down and tired, and understand that the source of these feelings are your poor lifestyle choices

10. You are currently taking medications for heart disease, high blood pressure, or Type II diabetes that you didn’t have to take when you were younger.

11. You are willing to join a gym today.

12. Someone told you that you’d need to throw away all the foods in your cupboards today and go shopping for different foods that are more appropriate to your goal,you would do it.

13. You are willing to wake up in the morning a bit earlier and stay up at night a bit later to accomplish your goals if needed.

14. You are prepared to make a detailed log of the foods you eat, chronicling how much you ate and when.

Congratulations if you can relate to most of these points. You clearly have things on track and probably just read my blog for amusement. You’ve either realized your body’s potential or are on the road to a successful physical transformation. Way to go! If you’re not that far along yet, if you can agree to all of these terms with the utmost honesty, then you are ready to begin your journey. 

If most of these points don’t apply to you then you’ve got a tough road ahead. In fact, it doesn’t look like you really want to change at all. Is this true? Are you simply toying with the idea of improving your physical activity habits and eating habits? If so, you’re not really ready to make a change. With each passing year that you avoid good activity and nutrition habits your risk for disease increases. Not only that, you’ll progressively gain fat, lose muscle, and look much older than your actual age. These are the consequences of remaining indifferent to the weight you’ve gained, physical inactivity and bad eating habits. Are you ready to deal with these things? Don’t stay indifferent any longer. Take an honest look at how you’ve changed (on the inside and out) and admit that you could use a tune-up. 

If this sounds like you, step outside of your shell and seek out some people who are exercising, eating well, getting results, and having fun doing it. Clearly, millions of people out there are following a healthy lifestyle and loving every minute of it. But thinking that they never had difficulties to overcome like you do is a mistake. At some point in time each and every one of them had some old set of unproductive habits to discard. Once this was accomplished, they could easily get into the zone. And you can, too. What are you waiting for?