Having a plan is important for exercise regime

Balancing weight training and cardio regime is essential

By CHRIS CLINE
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Simply ripping out dumbbells repetitions in the gym or pounding the track of a treadmill will not get great results by themselves. Anyone serious about getting in shape must have a plan.

Kevin Snow is the assistant manager at Better Bodies Inc. He always had an interest in fitness, but admits he never got into the gym scene. That changed two years ago. He changed his line of work and took a job in management at the gym. For Snow a transformation was about to get under way.

“Two years ago I had just turned 30,” he said. “As soon as you hit that milestone your metabolism changes. Another thing that changed for me was my outlook on life. I wanted to be healthy. Being healthy helps the overall aging process and how we see ourselves. I focused on changing my eating habits and hitting the gym. Being in the gym is a motivating factor.”

Snow said having a support group around him that would push him was important for his success. He credits his workout partners for his new physical condition.

“It’s very motivating to work out with other people,” he said. “Even though we joke around with each other when we are working out, we push each other to get that last repetition. Working out is hard work. You have to stay motivated. Having people behind me in the gym atmosphere is what kept me going.”

Snow recently had a friendly fitness challenge with one of the other managers at the gym. He started out at 154 pounds.

“I was eating right and exercising about five times a week,” Snow said. “I made sure I was getting enough protein. At the end of the challenge I weighted 178 pounds. I gained over 20 pounds, but 14 pounds of that was solid muscle. That’s what we want to go for.”

He said his own personal experience has helped shape his approach when dealing with members at the gym.

“I know how it feels,” he said. “You don’t always want to work out. I always try to reach out and encourage people to go the extra mile. That little bit of extra motivation can go a long way. I know I want a positive atmosphere when I am working out and that’s what I want to provide for everyone else.”

Jerry Toler is a certified personal trainer and nutritional counselor at Better Bodies Inc. He said balancing weight training and cardio regime is essential to any plan.

“Cardio needs to be done at the right time and at the right intensity,” Toler said. “Five to six times a week. There are two optimal times during the day to do cardio. The absolute best time for fat loss is first thing in the morning before you have anything to eat.”

 He said the reason for that is because a person has gone about 10 hours without supplying their body with any energy. So stored energy is very low. Burning the stored energy will lead to the body mobilizing fat. The second best time is after a weightlifting session, according to Toler. He said a person cannot burn body fat until they have used up all of their stored energy.

Depending on a person’s physical level he recommends his clients stick it out for 30 minutes during a cardio session. He said as a rule of thumb a person should be running hard enough that it’s difficult to carry on a conversation.

“That’s where you want to stay,” he said. “After about a two minute warm-up, get your breathing up to that point. Maintain that as long as you can and make a note of it. Each time try to stretch that period out a little bit longer.”

Toler likes to split his clients’ weekly weightlifting in three days. One day is for legs. The second day is for chest, shoulders and triceps. The third day is for back, rear dells and biceps.

“The reason I split them up in that way is because legs are very tough,” he said. “You move the most weight with legs because they are the strongest muscles. I don’t like to train anything else with legs.”

Toler said on chest day, shoulders and triceps are worked. On the back day, the rear dells and biceps are worked.

“Depending on what kind of shape the client is in, the first thing we train are calves,” he said. “The reason we train calves first is because they take up very little energy. However, they burn really bad so they need a lot of mental focus. The next thing you train are your quadriceps. That could be on a leg press, the half squat or a Smith Machine squat. It all depends on the client’s level of fitness. After that we will do leg extensions and then a hamstring exercise.”

For someone that is at a more advanced stage Toler said he would introduce squats into the routine.

“That’s an advanced thing and is something that has to be taught,” he said. “Before I put anybody on a squat, especially someone that has never squatted before, we will simulate squats on the Smith Machine. This will get the motion nice and safe and will also get people used to how deep they need to go.”

He said runners have a misconception of having a lot of strength in their lower bodies. Muscle fibers in the legs are very diverse. Toler said runners have great endurance in their legs, but don’t necessarily have a lot of strength in the muscle fibers.

“That’s because if they are just running, they are not doing anything to strengthen their legs,” he said. “Runners are endurance athletes and they have endurance type muscle fibers — more than they do anything else. It’s easier for them to run five miles than it is for them to do a leg press with 400 pounds. Yet, doing the leg press in addition to the cardio will only increase their overall health and strength.”

Toler said a beginner should do a lower weight with higher repetitions. If the goal is to lose body fat, the repetition range is always higher. If the goal is to build muscle, you want three repetition ranges involved.

“One range is around 12-15. The medium range is about 8-12 and the lower range is 6-8. Once my client is in good physical shape they go to failure each time. When you push yourself to failure, you have pushed that muscle as far as it can go. There is no waste in anything that we do. You have to be in good physical condition before we can push it to that limit.”

For the chest workout day Toler recommends the bench press, dumbbell press, incline bench press or incline dumbbells. He said dumbbells recruit more muscle fibers than barbells because you have to individually balance them.

“I prefer dumbbells because I have a little bit of a shoulder problem and I can adjust those,” he said. “Proper technique and proper form are a must or you will turn it into a shoulder exercise rather than a chest exercise.”

He recommends working abs at least three times a week, on the two off days and during one day on the weekend.

“Always work your lower abs first,” Toler said. “The reason why is because your upper abs assist a little bit. If you work your upper abs first and they get tired, you sell your lower abs short. Before you do the movement it’s important that you suck your stomach in and tighten it in. Then do the movement. It gives a better contraction and avoids developing an oval abdominal wall.”

After a workout Toler recommends drinking a protein shake within 30 minutes. He said for people who workout hard, the post workout drink is very important.

“After you get done working out you have about an hour window in which your muscles are like sponges,” Toler said. “They are waiting to absorb and replenish what we just wasted. It’s not only a good idea to get a good source of protein, but also carbohydrates as well. They do have 50-50 shakes and those are OK. Most protein shakes do not include carbohydrates, though. Stay away from simple sugars. You don’t want sugar in there.”

Chris Cline is a reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at 573-431-2010, ext. 114 or at ccline@dailyjournalonline.com.



 

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