HOW DO WE STAY FIT?
A question frequently ask by clients and members is, “What
do you and your team do to stay in shape?” or some version of that question.
You may think as fitness coaches we are all just naturally gifted, genetic,
badass fitness freaks. But, that’s not the case. We have the same struggles as
you. So in order to stay fit this is what we do.
When is comes to exercise the goal is to move everyday.
“Life is movement and movement is life.” For workouts the goal 3-4 per week,
usually 3 strength and one that’s some version of a HIIT (high-intensity
interval training) workout. For those familiar with what we offer at DF that
would be three Small Group Training Sessions and one of either Afterburn,
Functional Cycle, or Burn Zone. With that being said listen to your body, if it
has been an especially crazy week and you just aren’t feeling it get in two to
three workouts and spend more time on foam rolling and stretching instead. But,
for the most part some type of movement each day and 3-4 workouts per week with
some foam rolling on the days in between is the way to go.
Each workout is also tracked with MyZone, our heart rate
monitoring system at DF, personally I like this more to see how the body is
performing during the workout and to help with looking at recovery between
sets, than for the tracking of workouts over time. Overall, it allows for a
more effective workout.
You’ve probably heard it before, but it’s worth repeating.
“You can’t out exercise a bad diet.” While it’s important eat a healthy diet,
you do not have to be a purist. Enjoy splurges from time to time and learn what
you can and can’t get away with. This is where the 80/20 rule comes in. If you
eat healthy 80% of the time, the other 20% of the time you can eat what you
want. Most people however are closer to 50/50 than 80/20 and that is why so
many struggle with their weight.
As far as diets go, some are good and some aren’t. However,
diets all are based on the same principal, which is calorie restriction. At the
end of the day all the really matters is the number of calories in, and the
number of calories out. If you eat more than you burn and you gain weight, eat
less than you burn and you lose weight. With that being said, diets are NOT the
answer to maintaining a healthy weight. Diets are a short-term solution to a
long-term problem. The more effective strategy is to develop and adopt healthy
eating habits for life. This includes focusing on eating natural meats,
vegetables and fruits, a moderate amount of unprocessed or minimally processed
carbs, and limiting sugars and other processed foods.
Tracking what you eat with a system like dotFIT has been shown
to produce better nutritional changes and results than not tracking and is what
we recommend for all new members and/or those struggling to see the results
they want.
What about supplements? Everyone is looking for that magic
pill that will get him or her results without putting in the work. It doesn’t
exist. There are however, a few supplements that we recommend for all of our
members and ourselves. These are a whey protein recovery shake, fish oil, and a
multi-vitamin.
A whey protein recovery shake will provide your body with the
nutrients needed after your workout to build and repair muscle tissue and
ultimately lead to speeding up your metabolism and a leaner body. The best
recovery shakes contain about 20 grams of whey protein and about 40 grams of
carbohydrates.
Fish oil as numerous benefits from improved mental and
cognitive function to a healthier cardiovascular system. It has also been shown
to help lower levels of body fat, which is what we are after. The recommended
dosage is 1-4 grams per day. However, not all fish oils are created equally.
Many of the cheaper discount store brands do not contain high levels of EPA and
DHA, which are the two types of fatty acids that provide most of the benefits.
So when looking for a fish oil supplement make sure that the EPA and DHA equals
at least 1 gram (or 1000 mg).
Even the best diet as nutrient holes in it that need filled.
If you body has all of the nutrients necessary in adequate amounts it will be
able to function properly, which means a leaner and stronger body for you. This
is why we recommend taking a quality multi-vitamin supplement daily. This will
act as an insurance policy for your nutrition making certain that you have
available everything your body needs.
One of the biggest thingsthat you can do to improve your
health and fitness is to get more sleep. The average person needs between 7-8 hours
per night, but only gets somewhere around five and the quality of that five
isn’t usually that great.
Why, is sleep so important? During those 7-8 eight hours
your body is repairing and restoring every cell in your body. When you skimp on
sleep you affect the repair processes in your body. This means that the workout
you did today will not yield you with all the results it could have because you
didn’t allow your body to properly recover. Instead of repairing muscle tissue
for eight hours and being recovered and ready to go tomorrow, you end up with
less muscle tissue recovered and a lower metabolic effect than you could have
achieved (i.e. not as much fat burned). Also, when your body does not get
enough sleep it reacts by releasing stress hormones, one of which is cortisol.
When your body has high levels of cortisol and other stress hormones present it
slows the metabolism, because it’s dealing with the stressor, which leads to
depositing a nice blob of fat on your stomach, butt, and thighs. And thinking
you can make it up on the weekends, doesn’t work either.
Lastly enjoy your life. We don’t recommend that you live to
workout and be a purest fitness junky that goes to the gym seven days a week
and only eats locally grown organic chicken and vegetables. Instead workout to
live and enjoy your life. Live a healthy and fit lifestyle to allow you to do
the things you enjoy. If that includes a few drinks on the weekends or during
the week so be it. If it’s a dessert or pizza and wings on occasion who cares.
If your not going to enjoy yourself from time to time what’s the point?
Don't forget about Rock Your Jeans, sign ups are at the shake bar, we will accept sign ups clear up until the start date of 9/26! Get ready to rock your jeans!!
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We Change Lives!
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