How do you know when you are working at a higher intensity? We have a built in mechanism that gauges that for us. It is called our heart rate. Many experienced athletes and fitness enthusiasts can tell when they are pushing themselves intuitively but others should acquire a heart rate monitor. At the end of the article I have listed the top rated monitors available at Amazon.com. The constant change in heart rate is very beneficial for our bodies because of the indirect effect that it has on our EPOC levels. EPOC stands for excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. EPOC occurs when the body’s metabolism is elevated for an extended period after exercise.

The intensity of the exercise is directly correlated with EPOC levels. Here’s a good motto to live by in regards to interval training; work harder don’t work longer. When you push your body for those brief but intense spurts it will continue to burn calories after the training session in order to replenish energy supplies. During training, you will have likely depleted all of your muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) and your muscles will need energy. The muscles begin to breakdown fat to restore their energy in a process called fat oxidation. We will go into more detail about fat oxidation later next week.

Five of the most popular heart rate monitors and a body fat analyzer to track your results:

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

There are two things you have to do to take advantage of the thermic effect of food. Number one is eating 4-6 smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. Every time you eat, your metabolism goes up slightly for a few hours to process the meal. By eating more frequently you reduce the risk of overeating at a meal when you are hungry. Haven’t you noticed you tend to eat more food after going a long time without eating? It is hardwired into our primal instinct to do so. Our bodies took thousands of years to evolve into the modern day state. In early days food wasn’t always in abundant supply and there were no dollar menus. We also had to expend calories chasing prey down or foraging for nuts and berries. To protect us, our bodies became very efficient at storing body fat for times of famine. Fast-forward a few millenniums where you only have to take a few steps and open a refrigerator or drive up to a local fast food place to get a meal. We are the only animals (not in captivity) besides scavengers who spend so few calories to get a meal. Now you can see why there is an obesity epidemic going on in America.

The second part of the thermic effect of food has to deal with the macronutrients. The three macronutrients are protein, carbohydrate, and fat. Of the three, protein is the most relevant to this discussion. Your body spends more energy trying to break down proteins than it does for carbohydrates and fats. It is estimated that 25-30% of the calories consumed from protein sources are used in digestion compared to 15% for carbohydrates and 2-3% for fats. This goes to show that a calorie is not a calorie. If you were to eat equal calorie meals comprised of the different macronutrients, the protein meal would be more beneficial to your weight loss goals. Many people have seen great results by using the Atkins diet and other high protein diets due to this. In my opinion, some of those diets are too restrictive but you can up your protein intake in a balanced diet. My favorite is the 40/30/30 ratio -carbohydrates, protein, and fat respectively. That’s the percentage of calories you should get from each macronutrient in your diet. For example, if you were to eat 2000 calories daily this would be the breakdown: 800 calories (200 grams) from carbohydrates, 600 (150 grams) calories from protein, and 600 (66 grams) calories from fat.

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

How can you beat the odds? Outlined below are 8 things that you can do to ensure your success when beginning an exercise program. I have studied the habits of the people who have succeeded with their weight loss goals and noticed they performed many of the same activities. All of them didn’t do everything on this list but did most of them. That’s the beauty of diet and exercise. It’s not what you do all of the time, it’s what you do most of the time. Here’s the list:

1. Begin with the end in mind- Stephen Covey popularized this saying with his landmark bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Beginning with the end in mind means knowing where you want to go in life and progressively taking steps towards that goal. Having a clearly defined vision of where you want to go is the key to any success. Nobody wakes up and accomplishes anything significant by accident. If you want to get in shape, figure out where you want be then focus on what you have to do to get there. Begin to draw up a blueprint of what you will have to do, what you will have to sacrifice, and why it is significant to you. He who has a strong enough why can bare any how. Also, figure out what is standing in between you and your goal. Knowing what obstacles or challenges you will have to overcome can help you adjust your plans accordingly.

2. Be Committed – After you have set your goal, be 100% committed to reaching it. I don’t care what life throws in your way keep your eyes on the prize. Be prepared to go over, under, around, or through any obstacle. When obstacles get in the way, change your route to reach your goal but not your resolve to reach your goal.

3. Keep a journal - You can’t manage what you can’t measure. How do you know if you’re doing the right things? Contrary to popular belief, the best way to tell doesn’t have to do with scales or measurements. Of course the results are a measure of the strength of the effort, but you must make sure you are on the right path. The best way to to know if you are on the right track is to focus on your activity. When you keep a journal for exercise/ nutrition you hold yourself accountable. That way you can always look back to see what you did to get in shape or what you didn’t do to get in shape. It’s easy to lose track of what you ate or how many times you workout during the week unless you write it down. I recommend you write in your journal daily. If you don’t think it is something you can do long term, try it for 30 days. I guarantee that you will find you’re more productive in those 30 days keeping track of what you do.

4. Prioritize your workouts – This ties in with being committed. At the beginning of each week, schedule your workouts. During those times, let everyone (including family) know that you are off limits. Anyone who cares about you should not complain about your unavailability for one hour a day four times per week. If they do, drop them! No, seriously though, I was once told that love is wanting the greatest good for someone else. Your family will be understanding and supportive of you in your fitness quest.

5. Find a workout partner – Finding a workout partner can be very beneficial to you. There is someone else to hold you accountable for showing up to the gym. Some days you may not want to go but will show up because you don’t want to let someone else down. They can help spot you on difficult exercises and give a much needed push when you are ready to quit. Personally, I am always in my best shape and at my strongest when I have a workout partner. There is one point to keep in mind about workout partners. You are at the gym to exercise not socialize! Spend a few minutes talking about your day, family, work, etc. before you start working out or save it for the cool down. You should keep small talk to a minimum between sets especially since you will be alternating equipment. While your partner works you rest and when you work your partner rests.

6. Train with the proper intensity level – This has to be the biggest mistake most people make when they are at the gym. They either workout with weights that are too much to handle or to little to make a difference. The former is typically committed by the males in the gym. We pride ourselves on our strength and athleticism but check your ego at the door of the weight room. Lifting too much weight than you are ready for will probably not benefit you. You will probably start to recruit other muscles to help lift the weight which can turn an isolation exercise into a full body workout. You will work up a sweat but won’t see any results. Even worse, you can possibly set yourself up for injury. I’ll tell you like my old high school coach told me; “Focus on weight and you’ll impress some guys in the gym, focus on technique and you’ll impress the girls on the beach”. That was enough for me, I’ve been refining my technique ever since! The best thing about lifting with proper form is that you will eventually become stronger than someone who just throws up weights recklessly. After a while, their progress will halt due to injury, muscle imbalances, and/or lack of stabilizer strength.

The latter mistake is done by everyone. Lifting a weight for 15 reps when you could have done 25 is a waste. Not only is that weight to light to trigger any significant adaption besides endurance, you didn’t fully challenge the muscle. Muscle growth occurs as a response to a stimulus, an overload. Many women lift very light weights because of a fear of bulking up like a man. In 99.2% of the women out there, this is not a valid concern. Women lack the amounts of testosterone needed to pack on as much muscle as the fellas. Even still most of the guys who they picture are professional bodybuilders who are using many “substances” to get that size. In my years, I have yet to meet an overdeveloped natural bodybuilder. Also, it is more than just training and rep ranges. You have to factor in your diet as well. Don’t eat like a horse if you don’t want to look like a pig.

7. Periodization – Periodization is the division of a training program into smaller, progressive stages. It sounds like an oxymoron but changing your routine up every few months prevents you from falling into a routine. Your body will keep adapting as long as you keep providing fresh stimulus. Have you seen people who go to the gym religiously and run an hour on the treadmill but can’t lose the pounds? It’s because their body has adapted to the workout. To keep seeing results and to stay motivated, change things up every 8-10 weeks at the max. Focus on endurance one month, strength the next, and so on.

8. Look forward to your workout – This is the final piece of advice. Don’t dread going to the gym like it is some type of chore. It is an active investment in your health and well being. Think about it like this, for every hour you spend in the gym, you are adding an extra day to your lifespan. Look at it in monetary terms, for every dollar you put in the bank you get twenty four back. That’s an awesome return you won’t find anywhere else. Factor in the magic of compound interest a.k.a working out continuously over the years and it gets even better. Start investing in your health today!

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.

Your workouts should be a blend of cardio and resistance training. If you have an hour for the gym, 30-40 minutes should be used weight training and do cardio for the remaining 20-30 minutes. Begin your workout with a 5-10 minute cardiovascular warm up to get blood flowing to the muscles and to raise your body temperature. This will help reduce the chance of injury. Unless you have a muscle imbalance, save your stretching for after the workout. There is plenty of research showing that stretching before lifting weights reduces the strength of the muscle and its overall performance.

A good training split to follow is: Upper-Lower-Rest-Upper-Lower-Rest-Rest, rinse and repeat. On days labeled “Upper” you will focus on upper body exercises exclusively. Stick with compound movements that target the large muscle groups (chest and back). Do about 3-4 exercises each for chest and back, 2 exercises for shoulders/traps, and 2-3 for biceps and triceps. Abdominal and core training can be done with upper body or lower body but should not be done everyday. Many people will say that you can train abs everyday. You can, but how effective will it be? Your muscles don’t grow in the gym. The gym provides the stimulus for growth but it is your rest time outside the gym and good nutritional habits that will build lean tissue.

Lower body days will focus on your legs. Incorporate some balance and reactive (plyometric) training. Don’t forget to do single-leg exercises regularly to prevent muscle imbalances. It is estimated that some people who do bilateral exercises exclusively can have an imbalance with one leg up to 10% stronger than the other. This can lead to an awkward looking size difference or injury. Try to do around 8-12 total exercises during leg day. Play with the rep ranges frequently but try to stay in the 8-15 range for legs. From my personal experience, I have noticed that they respond better to slightly higher reps. That could be do to their constant use and supporting our body-weight on a daily basis.

To have your fitness questions answered, go to our contact page and type “Ask the Alchemist” in the subject line. Ask us any question you have regarding fitness and nutrition. Each week 2 questions will be selected and a response will be posted.

If this post has helped you in anyway, please feel free to make a donation to our “Lose Weight, Save A Child” fitness challenge. We are raising money to help those who need it the most. Thank you.