Even a BEAST like you needs rest days

Some of you may say, “Rest days?! Those are my favorite training days!”. Others may say things like, “I can’t take a rest day. I’ll gain weight.” “I don’t want to miss my favorite class.” “I don’t feel awake if I don’t work out.” “If I work out more, I’ll get better, stronger, or lose more weight.”. Cut it out, will ya?!

I’m here to tell you that is NAHT true. Rest days are critical to athletic performance for a ton of different reasons. Some are physiological and some are psychological. Rest is necessary so that the muscles can repair, rebuild and strengthen. No rest = no super strength, no Michelle Obama arms, and definitely no JLO glutes(wowza!).

What happens to your body during recovery?
Adding recovery time into your training program is important because this is the time that your body adapts to the stress of exercise and the real effects of training take place. Recovery also allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues (yes...this does happen). Exercise or any other physical work causes changes in the body such as muscle tissue breakdown and the depletion of energy stores (muscle glycogen) as well as fluid loss.

As much as I love seeing my clients/people who take my classes every day, I care enough about you to tell you to take a day off a week (at least!) to recover! Recovery time allows these stores to replenish and allows your tissues, ligaments and joints to repair. Without time to repair and replenish, the body will continue to break down from intensive exercise. When this happens, you have successfully hit the overtraining wall face first, and will eventually injure yourself (if you haven’t already). An injury will set back all of the progress you've worked so hard for, and you'll have to start from scratch- again. Some signs of overtraining include a feeling of general staleness, depression, overtired, lack of motivation, dehydration, decreased performance, cranky pants, injury, and the list goes on. If you want more info on overtraining, just Google it.

 

You don’t want to be THAT guy(or girl). Trust me! Does this look fun? NAHT at all.

 

Two types of recovery.
There are two categories of recovery. There is short-term recovery from an intense training session or class, and there is long-term recovery which needs to be built into a year-round training program. Both are important for optimal performance depending on how serious you are about your training regimen. Let’s take a closer look at the two...

Short-term recovery
A.K.A. active recovery, is something low intensity that you would do immediately following intense exercise. This recovery includes both the cool-down phase immediately after a hard training session/class, as well as during the days following the workout.

Another major focus of recovery immediately following exercise has to do with replenishing energy stores and fluids lost during exercise. This could be a protein shake within 30 minutes after your workout on your way home. Then as soon as you get home be sure to eat real food (veggies, meat, some fruits & fats), and drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated.

Short-term recovery is the time for soft tissue work (foam rolling), mobility drills, low intensity yoga, etc. to help move around that lactic acid build up that sits in your muscles after your workout and causes muscle soreness. We all know how that feels, especially when you walk around like a pony or have to slide down the wall to lower yourself onto the toilet. You know you’ve done it!

And finally....SLEEP! That’s right. Getting enough sleep is an important part of your recovery. Especially if you are going hard with training and taking classes throughout the week. So all you night owls, call it a night earlier than usual and get some sleep!

Long-term recovery
This recovery is mostly important for the serious athlete who trains hard daily, is training for an event, or working towards specific weight lifting goals. Most well-designed training schedules will include recovery days and/or weeks that are built into an annual training program. This is also the reason athletes and coaches change their training program throughout the year adding cross training, modifying workout types, and making changes in intensity, time, distance, volume, etc.

Self Myofascial Release (SMR) a.k.a foam rolling the calves

When should you take a rest day?
Listen to your body. If you are in a bad mood, not feeling motivated, having crappy training sessions, feeling like you’re getting sick or experiencing any other symptoms of overtraining, it’s time for a rest day. Maybe even two! Depending on how serious you take your training a rest day can consist of:

1. Doing nothing at all.
2. Working on your mobility/flexibility

Convinced?

You better be! If not, you can't say you weren't warned when you start to fall apart. If you're not resting enough, please do it starting today. Incorporate it into your schedule like I do. Understand, in order to achieve any goals you need to plan ahead. Set training days/classes, and rest days in your schedule so you will be sure to get it done.

 

Thank you all so much for reading! Today is my rest day so I'm off to work on my mobility so I can crush tomorrows workout. ;)

MOVE. Because your lower back hurts!

Hey Friends,

Recently I’ve been having a lot of clients, prospects, friends and family members asking me how they can relieve their lower back pain. My question for them is always, “do you spend most of your day seated?” and about 99% of the time their answer is yes. Well my friends, this is most likely the root of the issue.

In the world we live in today, we constantly find ourselves sitting. Think about it! We sit on the couch, we sit in the car, we sit on the T, bus or subway, we sit when we eat,most of us sit at work, and you’re most likely sitting as you read this right now. Not to say sitting is the worst thing in the world, but too much of it can and will have negative effects on your body (i.e. that lower back pain you have).

Even with good posture, sitting for extended periods of time places excessive pressure on your lower spine and causes your hip joints to stiffen up from lack of movement. Your hip flexors, which are a group of muscles (psoas major, illiacus, sartorius, pectineus) in your hip that flex and extend your hip joints, shorten or tighten from the seated position. This can cause disc hernia, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, chronic back pain and other muscle disorders.

Since some of the muscles of the hip flexors (psoas major, illiacus) are attached to your lower back (lumbar spine), tight hip flexors pull the spine toward the front of your body. This tightening causes excessive stress upon the spine and weakens the muscles in your ass, ass, ass, ass (sorry I had to), leading to poor hip extension which affects daily movement patterns such as walking, running, and going up and down stairs.

For the athlete or avid gym go-er, tight hips will not only cause your lower back to be sore, but it will limit the depth of your squat and also keep you from assuming proper positioning/technique for many key lifts such as deadlifts, cleans, snatches, squats, etc., potentially leading to serious injuries. Naht good!

Here is one of THE BEST stretches you can possibly do to help treat this issue. Your assignment is to....

1. TEST: Perform 5-8 body weighted squats.
2. MOBILIZE: Perform Couch Stretch for 2 minutes on each leg 2x (that would make 4 minutes on each leg. But, you knew that)
3. RE-TEST: Perform 5-8 body weighted squats again.
4. TAKE NOTE: To changes in the quality in your squat. More upright torso, depth, etc.
5. Enjoy the benefits of this stretch free of charge. Love you too... ;)

Feel free to leave comments, feedback, ask questions, etc. I'd love to help in any way possible! Also, you can find me on twitter @AMOfitness and @soultrainnation.

Basics on foam rolling

Self Myofascial Release (SMR)- “A safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion.” (http://www.myofascialrelease.com)

Here are some of my SMR tools (http://tptherapy.com/)

I like to refer to SMR as foam rolling or trigger point therapy, although some like to refer to it as soft tissue work, torture or punishment. Either way, foam rolling is essential for anyone who sits for extended periods of time, who experience chronic pain (knees, lower back, etc.), and for those looking to increase flexibility/range of motion while decreasing the risk of getting injured. Everybody should foam roll! The benefits of foam rolling significantly outweigh the 20 minutes (or more) of “torture”. The more you do it, the less painful it becomes.

“I don’t need to foam roll. I stretch!”. That's awesome! But, you still need to add foam rolling into your training program as well. Traditional stretching techniques (static or dynamic) simply cause increases in muscle length. Foam rolling, on the other hand, offers these benefits and the breakdown of soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue (knots). Here is an example of what happens when you stretch, but don’t foam roll:

Here you have an elastic band (your muscle) with a knot or trigger point (relaxed)

This is what happens when you stretch that muscle (without foam rolling)

What happened there? It only made the knot tighter (not disappear) and now it’s even more of a pain in the glutes to get rid of. Eventually, you will tear that muscle (above or below the knot) and you will be sitting on the sidelines for a little while, wishing you had listened to me when I told you to foam roll.

HOW TO FOAM ROLL
Simply, use your own bodyweight to sandwich the roller between the targeted area (TA) on your body and the floor. Now, what I usually like to do is roll over the entire length of the TA a few times to warm up the soft tissue a bit. After a few rolls, keeping your muscles relaxed and all of your weight bearing down on the foam roller, slowly start to roll over the TA until you find your first trigger point(knot). Trust me, you'll know when you find a knot. Once you've found a trigger point hold it on there for 15-30 seconds before moving on to the next one. Repeat this throughout the TA until you have paused on each trigger point.

Doing some work on my TFL/I.T BAND(Tensor Fascia Latae)

Believe it or not, the more you foam roll the easier and less painful it will be. One day, you will need to increase the intensity on the soft tissue. In order to do this, simply apply more of your body weight to the roller. The simplest way to do this is by either progressing from rolling both legs at once to one leg, or by "stacking" one of your legs on top of the other to increase the pressure. Other ways to increase pressure on soft tissue include:

• Using a higher density foam roller (black foam roller at most gyms or one made of PVC or any other piping)
• Taking your foam roller to a more solid surface. If you usually foam roll on a mat at the gym or on carpet at home try moving to the gym floor or hardwood.

As with almost anything in the world of training, there's large room for experimentation, so you'll definitely want to play around with the roller to see what works best for you. Try rolling from all angles and maybe even holding on a trigger point and rocking from side to side. Make love to it! Just be careful to avoid bony areas.

Another technique I’ve found to be beneficial is to work from the nearest to the center of the body (proximal) to the furthest point from the center of the body (distal). For example, instead of working your quadriceps from top to bottom all in one shot, shorten your stroke a bit. Roll the top half first, and after it has loosened up, move on to the bottom half.

RECOMMENDED AREAS TO TARGET
Below I have recommended a few of my favorite targeted areas along with some videos for you to watch and learn from. I’m not saying these are the best videos ever created. They are simply to point you in the right direction and give you a good idea on how to use a foam roller. With that said....Get your foam roller and twerk out those knots.

LOWER LEG (posterior)
CALVES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6aiK6C1HXs&feature=relmfu
PERONEALS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXFt7YcQWw0&feature=relmfu
HAMSTRINGS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WErpKRJFQ3A
HIP ROTATORS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT61cVqCadc&feature=relmfu

LOWER LEG (lateral/anterior)
TFL & I.T BAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWh6HI_iLTg
QUADRICEPS & HIP FLEXORS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AuuNXB8_gk

UPPER BODY
LATISSIMUS DORSI (lats.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD14c2IePWs
CHEST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HddLMhubEN8
ENTIRE BACK & TRAPEZIUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4SfRIdQZZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN4eHnp67-g

WHERE CAN I GET A FOAM ROLLER
Amazon.com
Citysports.com
tptherapy.com

CONVINCED?
If you're not already using a foam roller to help improve tissue quality, flexibility, and range of motion, that needs to change immediately.

I can't stress enough how much it can help. If you've been using a foam roller, I'm willing to bet it's time to take it up a notch. Similar to resistance training, the body needs some form of progression when it comes to soft tissue work.

If you've been suffering from injuries for any length of time, I'm 100% confident that incorporating the movements suggested above into your current training program will go a long ways in terms of offering you relief that you never thought would be possible.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at anthonymichaelortiz@gmail.com;
I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have. As always, thanks for reading! :)

Cardio?

Me: "What are you doing for a workout today?"
Gym Member: "Today is my cardio day!"
Me: "Nice! What does that consist of?"
Gym Member: "Me on the elliptical for 30 minutes or run/walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes. You know..getting my sweat on!"
Me: "Sounds fun...(naht!) Well, what are you trying to accomplish by doing that?"
Gym Member: "I'm trying to lose some weight...."

Now, there is nothing wrong with doing "cardio" for 30 minutes as long as you are working hard. However, nowadays you will find people on the stationary bike, elliptical trainer or treadmill; while either reading a book, texting, talking on the phone or watching T.V. If you can do any of these activities while doing your "cardio" then clearly you are not working hard enough. That’s my opinion at least, and I'm sure other trainers would agree.

What is cardio? This is a good question that one of my athlete's had asked me to post about this week. Well, according to the American College of Sports Medicine, cardio, or cardiovascular exercise, is any activity that increases heart rate and respiration while using large muscle groups repetitively and rhythmically. The root word "card," or "heart," provides a clue as to why this type of exercise is so important. By providing training that progressively challenges your most vital internal life support network, cardio can improve both the function and the performance of your heart, lungs and circulatory system. There are many aerobic activities that you can do inside and outside of the gym. Just take your pick! Here are some options for you:

OUTDOOR CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES

• Walking
• Running
• Jogging
• Hiking
• Biking
• Swimming (can be in-doors as well)
• Jump roping (can be done in-doors as well)

IN-DOOR CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES

• Treadmill
• Elliptical
• Rowing machine (my fave)
• Stationary bike
• Stair climber
• Ladder climber
• Arc Trainer

ATHLETICS

• Football
• Soccer
• Basketball
• Hockey
• Ice skating
• Skiing
• Dance

OTHER

• Circuit training
• Plyometrics
• Kettlebell training
• Also, some power lifting exercises such as power cleans, etc.

Why do people do cardio? There are many benefits to training your cardiovascular system. To name a few:

• Weight-loss (number one reason people do cardio)
• Decrease stress levels
• Increase lung capacity and VO2 max
• Decreases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, etc.
• Increase in muscle mass/tone
• Decreased body fat

I can keep going, but hopefully you get the picture. It's good for you! It's even better if you couple your cardio training program with resistance training. But, that’s a whole other story!

How do I lose weight by doing cardio? Simple, burn more calories then you eat. It's no secret; when it comes to losing weight, all that matters is calories consumed vs. calories burned. Now, that doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want because you are burning calories. You are what you eat! Remember that. If you eat crappy food you will have a crappy physique no matter how many cals you burn. If you want a nice lean body with low body fat, you need to eat fresh fruits, veggies, lean meats, and whole grains.

How many days should I do cardio? Once again, this all depends on what your goals are and what your current training program consists of. For example if you are looking to lose weight and all you do is cardio with no resistance training, I recommend you do it most days of the week (4 or more days) with a goal of 300 - 500+ calories to burn. Now, if you do include resistance training I would recommend doing cardio 2 or 3 days a week. Keep in mind that there are many factors that will effect the answer to this question. Such as how intense your training is, frequency, goals, etc.

In conclusion, doing a little cardio never hurt anybody! As long as you know why you're doing it and you're doing it effectively based on your goals. Also, be sure to include resistance training into your regime. Doing cardio only will only get you so far!