from 6/25/12 Post:

Keep A Short List 

It's not that you'll ever get through your to-do list as it is an ever growing list, but do try to keep a short list.  Huh?  A Short List is the ongoing dialogue of emotions and stressors in your daily life.....who frustrated you, who you are mad at, what your spouse did or didn't do that they should have, etc, etc, etc, the overwhelming, complicated triggers in our lives list.  Don't hold on to that garbage, because it's only hurting you....it's not changing the idiot that cut you off in traffic, it's hurting you!  Keep it short, simple, and sweet.  Deal with your mess daily and don't carry the balance over 'til tomorrow!

To Do's Have To's & The Remainder

from 3/27/13 Post:

Meeting Energy Needs 

from ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer 3rd Edition

Meeting Energy Needs for Optimal Weight and Body Composition

The relationship between weight and caloric intake is relatively simple:  If you eat more calories than you burn (expend), you will store the excess calories, and body weight will increase.  If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will use some of your existing body tissues for needed energy, and body weight will drop.  Consistently consuming too little energy will burn enough of your lean mass (muscles) that the rate at which you burn calories (called the "metabolic rate") will decrease.  The end result of a lower metabolic rate is usually higher body weight (from more body fat) because you lose your ability to burn the calories you eat.  Therefore, staying in an energy-balanced state or deviating from it only slightly is an important strategy for both body weight and body composition maintenance. 

However, what happens during the day to achieve a state of energy balance makes a difference.  If you spend most of the day in an energy-deficit state (i.e., you burned far more calories than you consumed) but then eat a huge meal at the end of the day to satisfy your energy needs, you might still be in energy balance at the end of the day.  However, it appears that people who do this have different outcomes than those who maintain an energy-balanced state throughout the day.  Eating small but frequent meals has the following benefits:

• Maintenance of metabolic rate
• Lower body fat and lower weight on higher caloric intakes
• Better glucose tolerance and lower insulin response (making it less likely that fats will be produced from the foods you eat)
• Lower stress hormone production
• Better maintenance of muscle mass
• Improved physical performance

Surveys have suggested that people (particularly athletes) tend to delay eating until the end of the day, and many experience severe energy deficits earlier in the day (particularly on days when they train hard and need the energy the most!).  Problems with energy deficits include:

• Difficulty maintaining carbohydrate stores (this would impede endurance in high-intensity activities)
• Problems maintaining lean (muscle) mass
• Lower metabolic rate
• Difficulty meeting nutrient needs (foods carry both energy and other nutrients)
• Increased risk of injury (undernourished athletes may develop mental and muscular fatigue that, in some sports, would predispose them to injury)
• Missed opportunities to aid muscle recovery

Maintaining energy balance throughout the day by consuming small but frequent meals during the day is an excellent strategy for reducing these problems.

from 3/19/12 Post:

To Do's, Have To's & The Remainder 

How is your "BALANCE Sheet" going this year?  Are there more to do's than done's?  How are you juggling all that you are responsible for?  Trust me when I say I know that there are more days than not that you just want to throw your hands up and go 'whatever'....but life moves on and so too do you.

When I was a gradeschool child I remember my grandmother telling me that if you wipe down the tub after every bath you don't end up having to clean it as often.  At the time I wondered why she was telling me this other than she was wanting me to wipe the tub down after every bath, and as I stood there contemplating using a dirty wash cloth to wipe down the tub (yes, even at an early age hygine & proper cleaning practices really mattered) she demonstrated how the task should work.  Another tidbit was from a great aunt who would finatically clean her house before she would leave it to go anywhere, even if it was just up the street for a visit with a neighbor for a few minutes, because she was taught growing up that you never want to leave your house how you wouldn't want a stranger to find it because you never know what your future holds.  It is words of wisdom like this that have stuck with me over the years.  In part because they were stand out moments in my childhood either because of the circumstance in which they were delivered or because they seemed so odd they left an impression for me to ponder over the years.   But if you really think about these two examples in particular and apply them not only to your life (home, work) but the way you view your fitness and nutrition routines, it really helps to put it all in perspective and balance.

Said very simply:  Don't get overwhelmed with the big picture of everything you are trying to accomplish....rather, break it down, make a plan, and consistently tackle your plan.  By doing what you can do moment by moment, day by day, amazingly it all gets done without any one thing undoing you.  Sure, you still have "those days" but overall, so much easier than having overwhelming task after overwhelming task on your plate (as it were) that you have to try and tackle as a whole.  Can be so defeating for sure!  What doesn't work is putting it off until the list, stack, task is so large there isn't even an obvious starting place.  This seriously applies to everything, fitness/health/nutrition included!

from 5/3/13 Post:

Discerning Good From Bad Fad 

It is no small wonder that anyone succeeds at actual balance, healthful living, functional fitness, fat loss, etc.  Bookstores are filled to the brim, shelves upon shelves, of contradicting information.  And not just there, but magazines, television, internet...all filled with fads and fabulously tantalizing quick fixes.  Regardless of what the latest Hollywood hottie does or the "next best" 30 days to all your dreams coming true trend is, being fit and healthy is a day in/day out lifestyle.  There is no one-size-fits all program and there are no quick fixes that actually work (short or long-term)!  Not all bodies are the same and neither does any one program work for all people.  Success is dependent upon consistency regardless of what you are doing.  Consistently eating well, consistently moving and stretching your body, consistently sleeping well, and consistently putting you on the list of to-dos=SUCCESS!  That's it...simple, consistency.  We are not talking about penalizing yourself from parties, family fun, food depravation or punishing workouts.  We are not talking about excuses for hormones, prescriptions, or age because none of those have anything to do with getting fit and healthy the correct way.--Sure they hinder you if you go the "fad" route, but not if you are consistently feeding your body supportively and moving functionally.  You can get fit and healthy at any age and every age regardless!!!  We are not talking about investing tons of time or money as getting fit and healthy does not require either of those!  Video: Shocking Before and After Transformation Photos In 5 Hours

The benefit of a certified personal trainer is that they can assess you and determine what possible impingement(s) and what functional movement patterns need to be corrected and can CUSTOMIZE a workout program for you, the individual.  Not everyone can afford a personal trainer and that is why I provide the information I do on this site...it is the next best thing to meeting with me one-on-one...and it's free.

Keys to discerning the good information and a good program (and trainer) from a bad fad:

• Always go with a personal trainer who has a certification from a nationally accredited agency.  The top four NCCA certified personal trainer certifications are:  American Council on Exercise (ACE), American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM).  I am certified through ACE and will additionally be certified through ACSM in 2014.  There are numerous "trainers" out there who did not study or "test out" through a NCCA approved agency but paid some money online and received a piece of paper "certifying" them to train folks.  The harm here is the lack of education on the body (physiology and kinesiology) and programming.  Beyond that, make sure they keep up with continuing education to know the latest research and breakthroughs.  Make sure the information you read and/or the trainer you utilize is properly educated.  Knowledge is power, but bad information is truly harmful!
• If a program is offering up "quick fixes" and fad solutions, then skip it and find something that is sound and balanced.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• A good program should educate you on the facts of weight/resistance training so that you know muscle equals metabolism and has nothing to do with gender.  Weight/resistance training isn't just for bodybuilding men...Women are not going to bulk up just because they utilize dumbbells and kettlebells larger than 10 lbs. -- they will however lose their fat and trim to that size they want to maintain!  If a program is taking up a ton of time with workouts making you feel that rest is for the weak, then it is a lie and you'd be better finding a program that helps you build your muscle, protect your joints, and rest your body in a balanced doable way!!!
• A good program should educate you on the facts of nutrition and supportive eating--Eat often and for your body!  It should not recommend no fat foods, no carbs, no to low protein, low calorie, liquid only fasts, hunger is your friend, timing fasts, etc., fad garbage!
• If a program touts that it has to be expensive to work then walk far away!  Neither fitness nor nutrition nor workouts or trainers or programs need to be costly to be effective...in fact quite the opposite is true!

You don't just clean your house once in a lifetime and it always stays clean!  Being fit and healthy is not a once and done process!!!

April Schedule

from 4/6/12 Post:

Body Comp v Scale? 

Did you know that muscles make up 40-50% of your body weight?  What about the fact that they are comprised of 72% water, 20% protein, and 8% minerals, glycogen, & triglycerides?  Did you read the post on Greater Muscle Mass = Higher Metabolism?  Do you realize that a pound of lean muscle not only drives your metabolism but takes up far less space in your body than fat?  So your scale didn't move!!!  How do your clothes fit?  Wouldn't you rather be healthier and in smaller clothes than the scale going down at a fast rate?  Really???  Personally, I'd rather be 10 lbs heavier than folks would ever know and in smaller clothes than 20 lbs less than folks would ever guess because I'm in larger clothes.  That's right, if you are "dieting" and/or over exercising you could very well be ticking down on the scale but your clothes not fitting much better and certainly not in smaller sizes because you are not losing the fat.  Get over what the scale says and go by the tape measure!

from 1/31/13 Post:

Trigger Points 

Excerpts from The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook by Clair Davies, NCTMB

"Trigger points are known to cause headaches, neck and jaw pain, low back pain, the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome, and many kinds of joint pain mistakenly ascribed to arthritis, tendinitis, bursitis, or ligament injury.  Trigger points cause problems as diverse as earaches, dizziness, nausea, heartburn, false heart pain, heart arrhythmia, tennis elbow, and genital pain.  Trigger points can also cause colic in babies and bed-wetting in older children, and may be a contributing cause of scoliosis.  They are a cause of sinus pain and congestion.  They may play a part in chronic fatigue and lowered resistance to infection.  And because trigger points can be responsible for long-term pain and disability that seem to have no means of relief, they can cause depression."

"I [Davies] found that, although the physiology of a trigger point was extremely complex, a trigger point for practical purposes could be viewed as what most people call a "knot": a wad of muscle fibers staying in a hard contraction, never relaxing.  A trigger point in a muscle could be actively painful or it could manifest no pain at all unless touched.  More often, though, it would sneakily send its pain somewhere else.  I gathered that much of my pain, perhaps all of it, was probably this mysterious displaced pain, this referred pain.  It was a mistake to assume the problem was at the place that hurt!  

"Janet Travell and David Simons describe a trigger point as simply a small contraction knot in muscle tissue.  It often feels like a partly cooked piece of macaroni, or like a pea buried deep in the muscle.  A trigger point affects a muscle by keeping it both tight and weak.  At the same time, a trigger point maintains a hard contraction on the muscle fibers that it is a part of.  In turn, these taut bands of muscle fiber keep constant tension on the muscle's attachments, often producing symptoms in adjacent joints.  The constant tension in the fibers of the trigger point itself restricts circulation in its immediate area.  The resulting accumulation of the by-products of metabolism, as well as deprivation of the oxygen and nutrients needed for metabolism, can perpetuate trigger points for months or even years unless some intervention occurs.  It's this self-sustaining vicious cycle that needs to be broken (Travell and Simons 1999, 71-75).

The difficulty in treating trigger points is that they typically send pain to some other site.  Most conventional treatment of pain is based on the assumption that the cause of pain will be found at the site of the pain.  But trigger points almost always send their pain elsewhere.  This referred pain is what has always thrown everybody off, including most doctors and much of the rest of the health-care community.  According to Travell and Simons, conventional treatments for pain so often fail because they focus on the pain itself, treating the site of the pain while overlooking and failing to treat the cause, which may be some distance away."

Trigger points can develop in any of the two hundred pairs of muscles in the body, which gives them a wide territory for creating mischief (1999, 13).  Trigger points can last as long as life and can even survive in muscle tissue after death, detectable until rigor mortis sets in (1999, 68).  

An underestimated trait of trigger points is that they can exist indefinitely in a latent state, in which they don't actively refer pain.  Travell and Simons believe that the long-term effects of latent trigger points may be of even greater concern than the pain caused by active ones.  They assert that latent trigger points tend to accumulate over a lifetime and appear to be the main cause for the stiff joints and restricted range of motion of old age.  In addition, the constant muscle tension imposed by latent trigger points tends to overstress muscle attachments even in younger people, which can result in irreversible damage to the joints and may be one of the causes of osteoarthritis.  You may not suspect that you have latent trigger points, but they're very easy to find.  They're exquisitely painful when pressed on.  Latent trigger points can be activated by very little stress or strain (1999, 12-21).

Not infrequently, people think that myofascial trigger points cause only pain in the face, teeth, and jaws, getting "fascial" mixed up with "facial."  Trigger points certainly can cause face pain, but myofascial pain can occur anywhere in the body.  The prefix "myo" in myofascial (MY-oh-FAH-shul) refers to muscle.  Fascia (FAH-shuh) is the thin, translucent membrane that envelopes and separates muscles like shrink-wrap.  (A good place to see fascia is on a chicken leg.)  When you have trigger points in a muscle, the fascia covering it typically gets tight and inflexible and becomes part of the problem.  

Luckily, in troubleshooting your own myofascial pain, the trigger point's exquisite tenderness to pressure always gives it away.  Trigger points always hurt when pressed on--there's never any question.

Pharmaceutical treatments only mask the pain.  The good  news is that trigger points can be surprisingly easy to fix on your own (and especially with the aid of a good massage therapist).  Additionally, referred pain is now known to occur in predictable patterns making it easy to determine which trigger points to work on.  In the upcoming weeks, I will be posting some common trigger point issues and how you can fix them  yourself, so be on the lookout for what might be causing your pain!!!

I will continue this series every Thursday:  Next Thurs I will continue sharing excerpts from Clair Davies' wonderful book on attachment trigger points, the mystery of referred pain, trigger point symptoms and self-massage techniques.  Subsequent weeks will be on some common situations starting with shoulders.

Even though I am posting excerpts from Mr. Davies' book The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, I am by  no means able to post every important facet on this subject and highly recommend you purchasing this book for your own reference...it is that good!  Clair Davies' story is amazing as is his entire book.  I am very grateful to his dedication and revelation of this subject matter!!!

For the entire Trigger Point Series Posts:
Trigger Points
Referred Pain,Trigger Point & Symptoms
Shoulder Trigger Points
Back Trigger Points
Hip & Knee Trigger Points
Final Word On Trigger Points

from 9/9/13 Post:

Knowing Achilles Tendinitis from Plantar Fasciitis 

"Pain on the back of the heel is usually Achilles tendinitis, not plantar fasciitis. While symptoms may be very similar, they are two very different conditions. The Achilles tendon is the large tendon that attaches to your heel bone right where the back of your shoe hits your ankle. This motion provides the power in the push off phase of the gait cycle. Pain in this area is related to inflammation and overuse of the Achilles tendon.

Plantar fasciitis is typically on the bottom of the heel. Pain and inflammation of plantar fasciitis is also related to overuse.

Achilles tendonitis starts after a particular activity places too much stress on the tendon. This condition usually hurts when you first get out of bed in the morning and can also be worse after heavy activity. Swelling and worsening pain occurs if the condition goes untreated. Most people tend to delay seeking treatment assuming that it will get better on its own.

If you start having Achilles tendon pain it is best to immediately modify your activities to reduce pain. Since this is an overuse injury, the best immediate treatment is to rest your foot and ankle. Anti-inflammatory medication can be helpful for both swelling and pain. If the pain continues for over a week, it is advised to seek medical attention from an orthopedic specialist.

Healing of the Achilles tendon is often slow. Initial treatment involves both immobilization and activity modification. Physical therapy is also an important part of the recovery process. For severe cases that become worse despite appropriate treatment, surgery is a consideration." ~Dr. Sandra Klein

Plantar Fasciitis

"Plantar Fasciitis - inflammation in the sole of the foot.
Who gets it? Everyone. People who are active either at work, home, or athletically are more likely to get plantar fasciitis. It is common in runners and walkers and in people who stand for prolonged periods of time.  Pain is located in the arch near the Heel. It is worse in the morning when you get out of bed as well as after prolonged sitting.  The cause of plantar fasciitis is usually related to a tight calf muscle. There is a misconception that the pain is a result of a Heel spur. A spur may form but it is as a reaction to the inflammation in the plantar fascia and is not the cause of the pain."  ~Dr. Stacy Bacon

*****

from my 5/8/12 Post on Is Tendinitis Your 'Achilles'?
    

Got pain in your heel?  Let's see if it could be Achilles Tendinitis....

Signs & Symptoms of Achilles Tendinitis are pain in your heel about 2 to 6 cm above the tendon insertion into the heel.  Usually this pain is in the morning first thing and sharp or burning pain that increases with more vigorous activity.  Weak calves can be the cause as can high arches, flat feet, poor footwear, poor flexibility, lateral ankle instability, or errors in training along with leg length discrepancies, age, or prior injuries.  Running uphill increases the load on your calves and Achilles, so if you do a lot of running be sure you are properly warming up and stretching your calves.

If you have Achilles Tendinitis you can control the pain and inflammation by "ice" (ice, compression, elevation) as well as doing calf raises and stretching.  Beyond that, be sure you are utilizing proper training techniques, proper footwear, and are at the proper weight for your height.  Know that if you do not mend and instead push through the pain you could be risking an Achilles rupture.  Just as with overtraining, overstretching is just as bad and can cause irritation to the musculotendinous unit.  Aim for restoring proper length to the calf muscles to decrease symptoms without overexertion.

Excellent calf stretches are:

*Standing lunge with the back foot heel pressed into the floor for at least 6 breaths;
*Standing lunge with the back foot heel pressed into the floor and back knee bent (this takes the stretch further into your heel) for at least 6 breaths;
*Standing on a step with one heel hanging off for at least 6 breaths.

*****

With Achilles Tendinitis strengthen the calves as well as stretch them.  With Plantar Fasciitis avoid calf strengthen moves and focus on stretching the calves. 

from 9/10/13 Post:

Knee Pain 

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS), Chondromalacia, and Infrapatellar Tendinitis are all knee pain culprits.  PFPS pain is primarily in the front of your knee.  Chondromalacia is primarily under the knee cap.  Infrapatellar Tendinitis is pain in the distal kneecap into the infrapatellar tendon (inflammation of the patellar tendon where it inserts in the tibia--distal part of the patella and proximal tibia).



Chondromalacia is caused by the posterior surface of the patella not properly tracking in the femoral groove and causes the cartilage under the patella to become damaged by softening or wearing it away.  Be sure to check out this video on YouTube for help with both Chondromalacia and Patellofemoral Pain:  http://youtu.be/xWC4fLSSV6E

from 6/25/12 Post on Runner's v Jumper's Knee
     

Runner's Knee or Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) is anterior (front) knee pain and is often confused with chondromalacia (which is a softening or wearing away of the cartilage behind the patella resulting in inflammation and pain).  PFPS can occur either with overuse, repetitive loading activities causing abnormal stress to the knee joint, or through biomechanical abnormalities altering the tracking of the patella and alignment, or muscle dysfunction and tightness.  If you have pain with running, ascending or descending stairs, squatting, or prolonged sitting, or if you have a gradual achy pain that occurs behind or underneath the patella, or knee stiffness for a prolonged period of time, then you might want to look into the possibility of PFPS and treatment.

Jumper's Knee or Infrapatellar Tendinitis is an overuse syndrome characterized by inflammation of the patellar tendon.  Typical in sports such as basketball, volleyball, jumping sports producing significant strain in the tendinous tissues.  Causes can be poor running style, overtraining, sudden changes in training surface, lower-extremity inflexibility, or muscle imbalance.  If you have pain in the distal kneecap into the infrapatellar tendon or pain when running, walking stairs, squatting, prolonged sitting and you do a lot jumping activities, you might want to look at your footwear, training techniques and frequency.

How our feet move directly impacts how the knee functions just as how tight or weak our thigh muscles and hip function directly impacts how the knee functions.  Be sure to check out the Workout Tidbits Page for help with good training/form.

Law of Facilitation  The body subscribes to the law of facilitation, meaning that the body will achieve the desired movement following the path of least resistance.  If your body has any mobility-stability compromises, you will end up with dysfunctional movement causing inevitable breakdowns at your weakest link.  This is corrected by focusing on moving correctly as opposed to just moving.  A great example is the squat and the push up.  If you just move through either of these movements regardless of incorrect movement just to say you got the move done, you are actually causing layers of damage to muscular and joint function which will impede your progress to moving correctly in those and other movements.  An excellent way to get in touch, stay in touch, as well as improve your mobility-stability issues is to STRETCH.  Yoga is an excellent way to accomplish this.  When you are stretching, regardless of what modality you use, pay attention to what is tight and what is overcompensating for your “weak links” and communicate those findings to me during our sessions.  We can work together to improve your movements so your body doesn’t have to “compromise” to move.

Do Your Best....

How Yoga Transforms Your Body

from 10/17/12 Post:

Muscle Cramps 

Great tip from Men's Health:

Make a Muscle Cramp Vanish by Bill Hartman, CSCS PT

Don't Stretch ... Cramps are caused by your muscles contracting uncontrollably, and your natural reaction when a cramp sets in is to try to stretch your way out of it.  Resist the urge to elongate the muscle.  Stretching only puts your muscle through more strain, which could lead to more pain.

Flex Instead ... Leverage the intelligent approach: reciprocal inhibition (RI).  This is a nervous-system phenomenon that you can activate yourself.  When you contract the muscle on one side of a joint hard enough, the opposing muscle--the one cramping, in this case--will stop firing, easing the cramp.  The following cramps are the most common.  The next time on strikes, put RI into action with these moves.

*Bottom of your foot cramp = Lift your toes toward your shin.
*Calf cramp = Bend your ankle, bringing your foot toward your shin.
*Hamstring cramp = Sitting or standing, fully extend your lower leg.

Why Good Posture Matters

We live in a fast paced world today with little focus on mind-body connection unless we take the time to unplug and pay attention....for real.  By the end of a day you are most likely hurting in your upper back, neck, shoulders, low back, hips, etc., and more than likely your posture throughout your day plays a big, big role in this ongoing pain cycle.

Posture is key, but it can't just be a stretch and then right back to slumped over business as usual.  A solid stretching or yoga practice helps with awareness and alignment; but in addition to stretching and awareness, you need to be sure and apply good posture practices throughout your day and including tv viewing hours.  You'll know it's become habit once it no longer "feels weird" to sit or stand with good alignment.

Why is it important?  You mean besides eliminating unnecessary aches and pains?  Poor posture not only causes grief to your muscles from either being overly contracted or overly flexed, but it pulls your skeletal alignment out of place and causes dysfunctional movement patterns and joint issues over time.  Good posture doesn't just look good, but it feels good once you put it into practice.  Added benefit is you will actually look up to 10 pounds slimmer just by standing with good form!

Stages of Understanding

from 12/29/11 Post:

Stages of Understanding 

Is life perfect?  No, and nor will your fitness (and/or weight loss) journey be perfect.  Nothing in life is about reaching perfection but about doing your perfect best every opportunity you have to do it and understanding what that means.  Your perfect best changes from moment to moment as your circumstances change....but mostly as your understanding of your journey changes.  I was reading an article some months back that said "before you can know something, you first have to learn it; that understanding is necessarily a process of steps; and that this process takes time...everyone has to progress through certain stages of understanding."  It went on to draw the analogy of learning to play the piano or knit....one starts out very crudely but with practice and ongoing understanding improves and evolves.  In other words, with each stage of understanding of any craft, profession, or journey the start is always crude and then the destination is always further the closer we get to it because not only does our ability improve and evolve and become less and less crude but also we understand that one's learning, development....journey is never at an end (as the saying goes, the more you know, the more you realize you need to learn).  So, know that however clumsily any week/effort/workout goes you can learn something from it and move on to the next, better equipped to succeed further.  As this is not about the destination but the journey itself....The destination helps us set goals, but the journey is what makes us who we are and appreciate what we have.

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ Which strengtheneth me."  ~Philippians 4:11-13

from 5/23/13 Post:

Go INTERVALS Go 

from Men's Health June 2013 issue:

THREE ... the Number of weekly interval workouts that match the effectiveness of five long cardio sessions when it comes to boosting cardiovascular health.

from my 6/19/12 Post:

How Effective is HIIT?

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is anaerobic training that allows you to cut cardio duration without sacrificing the cardiovascular benefits. HIIT primarily focuses on anaerobic pathways with numerous HIIT ratios that can be utilized such as a 1:1 (e.g., 30 sec of work to 30 sec of active recovery beginner Interval), a 2:1 (e.g., 20 sec of work to 10 sec of active recovery Tabata or 60 sec of work to 30 sec of active recovery intermediate Interval), or a 3:1 (e.g., 45 sec of work to 15 sec of active recovery advance Interval). The beauty of HIIT is that it not only cuts your workout duration, but in a lot of ways is way more effective than longer duration endurance cardio, especially when it comes to fat burning. But, to be effectively performing HIIT you have to be intensely working out in the "work" phase.
During exercise, higher levels of intensity cause an increase in respiration to allow larger volumes of air to move into and out of the lungs to facilitate increased delivery of oxygen and the removal of carbon dioxide. Simple, basic, you work harder resulting in you breathing harder. And as with everything, this simple process has a name...minute ventilation or Ve. There are two deflection points in the otherwise linear increase in Ve and that is VT1 and VT2. When you are exercising below VT1 you are able to carry on a conversation fairly normally. This is not very intense exercise and below VT1 is where a lot of long duration, steady state, endurance running/exercising is. At or just above VT1 is where carrying on a conversation is a little more difficult and speaking is slightly uncomfortable. Exercise just below VT2 represents the highest intensity an individual can sustain for approximately 20-30 minutes. Speaking is very broken and choppy just below VT2 and not at all at or above VT2. Intensely working at VT2 and above is where HIIT should be on the "work" phase. Active rest should be between VT1 and VT2 allowing your body to recover from the work phase without lowering your heart rate too much.

Recent research shows that the cardiovascular adaptations that occur with HIIT are similar, and in some cases superior, to those that occur with continuous endurance training (Helgerud et al. 2007; Wisloff, Ellingsen & Kemi 2009).

A Few DOs 'n' DON'Ts .....

Here are a few DOs 'n' DON'Ts to get you to where you want to go......Yes the pic is horizontal, yes I tried everything to flip it....as it appears vertical in every other medium but here and Facebook, I'm at a loss. Stretch your necks and read the DOs 'n' DON'Ts to get you to where you want to get to with your fitness and weight loss goals Come to the VEF Studio for the "vertical" version www.veryeffectivefitness.com/

Healthy & Yummy Recipes 

Breakfast
~Be sure to scroll to bottom of PAGE for LINKS to other Recipe Posts~

Kashi Cereal Breakfast:

1 cup of Kashi GoLean Cereal

1 cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch

1 large Banana

¾ cup 1% or Skim Milk

w/whole Grapefruit (or other Fruit of choice)

Rolled Oats with added Protein:

½ cup Rolled Oats

¾ cup Water

1 Scoop Whey Protein Shake

¼ cup of Walnuts

1 tsp of Cinnamon

w/whole Peach (or other Fruit of choice)

Breakfast Burrito

2 large Eggs scrambled w/a ¼ tablespoon of Olive Oil

2 Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Links cut up & scrambled w/eggs

1 ounce Colby Jack Cheese

1 FlatOut Light Flatbread

w/1 serving of Seapoint Farms Edamame Shelled on the side &/or 1 serving of Fruit

Fried Egg Sandwich

2 large Fried Eggs

1 tablespoon of Flaxseed (sprinkled on top of cooking eggs)

1 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper

1 Arnold Select Sandwich Whole Wheat Thin

w/1 serving of Seapoint Farms Edamame Shelled on the side

w/1 serving of Fruit

Spicy Fried Egg Scramble

¼ tablespoon of Olive Oil

½ whole Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange) sautéed just before cracking eggs in skillet

½ Jalapeno Pepper cut up & mixed w/Bell Pepper before cracking eggs in skillet

2-3 large Eggs cracked on top of sauté (as if to fry but once eggs start to fry, cut up to almost a scrambled state w/sauté; season with ½ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper

Top served mix with a ¼ cup of Athenos Feta Cheese Crumbled &

½ cup of Seapoint Farms Edamame Shelled

w/1 serving of Fruit

Spicy Flaxseed Scramble

2 large Eggs scrambled w/a ¼ tablespoon of Olive Oil

½ Jalapeno Pepper cut up & scrambled w/eggs

2 tablespoons of Flaxseed scrambled w/eggs

½ cup Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange) sautéed just before pouring egg mix in skillet

1 cup of wilted Spinach (served under eggs)

½ cup of diced Tomatoes (served on top of eggs)

¼ cup of Athenos Feta Cheese Crumbled (served on top of tomatoes)

w/1 serving of Fruit

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs w/Quinoa

2 large Eggs scrambled w/a ¼ tablespoon of Olive Oil

2 Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage Links cut up & scrambled w/eggs

1 ounce of Colby Jack Cheese

1 serving of Seapoint Farms Edamame Shelled or 1 cup of fresh, chopped Asparagus

1 cup cooked Quinoa

w/1 serving of Fruit

Healthy Pancakes

1½ cups Rolled Oats

1 cup Low Fat Cottage Cheese

7 Egg Whites

1½ tablespoons Cinnamon

3 pkts SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener

Dairy Free/Gluten Free Pancakes

2 cups Garbanzo Bean Flour

4 teaspoons Baking Powder

3 Large Eggs

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

2 tablespoons Sugar (or SweetLeaf Stevia Sweetener)

½ teaspoons Salt

2 cups Water

2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

2 tablespoons Cinnamon

Greek Yogurt Parfait

1 cup of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

1 cup of Blueberries

½ cup of Strawberries

2 tablespoons Flaxseed (sprinkled on top of mix)

½ cup of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (sprinkled on top of mix)

Simple Fruit Smoothie

1 cup of Blueberries

1 cup of Strawberries

1 large Banana

1 cup of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

 Simple Green Smoothie

1 cup of Blueberries

1 cup of Strawberries

3 cups of Spinach (or 2 cups of Spinach & 1 cup of Kale)

1 med-large Apple (or 1 med-large Banana)

1 serving Protein Shake mix (or 1 cup of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt)

Green Smoothie

1 med-large Apple

1 cup of frozen Blueberries (if fresh, 1 cup of ice)

1 cup of Strawberries (or Raspberries)

2 cups of Spinach

2 cup of Kale

1 Cucumber w/peel (or 1 cup of Water)

1 serving Protein Shake mix (or 1 cup of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt) in or on the side

Variations: you can also add Banana and/or carrots, beets puree w/ginger, wheat grass, etc.

Breakfast Sides:

Blueberry Syrup:  1 cup of Blueberries microwaved until a little soupy (part berry, part soupy), mixed w/1-3 tablespoons Flaxseed (optional) and/or (1 tablespoon of Sugar-Free Maple Syrup) (optional) 

Protein Shake Coffee Latte:  1 Protein Shake mixed with 2½ + cups of Coffee

Raspberry Chocolate Protein Coffee:  Brew coffee as normal but add one tea bag to the actual pot the coffee drips into so it steeps while your coffee is brewing.  The magic tea bag to add is:  Lipton Superfruit (red goji and raspberry) Green Tea.  Leave the tea bag in until you have drunk all the coffee just gets better with age.  This alone makes an excellent flavored coffee.  If you either let the coffee cool to room temperature or chill it then add 1 scoop of your chocolate protein shake mix to your desired amount of the coffee/tea (I use about 2 ½ cups) & mix (in blender bottle or whatever you usually mix your protein shake in)…do not add extra water, just the coffee/tea/shake mix.  Such as super yummy treat!!!

Lunch/Dinner

Feta Olive Salad

3 cups Romaine Mix

2 cups Spinach

½ large Cucumber w/peel

½ Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange)

1 cup diced Tomatoes

¼ cup of Athenos Feta Cheese Crumbled

1 serving Mezzetta Calamata Olives

1 serving Spanish Olives

2-3 ounces of Chicken diced or strips

2 tablespoons Kraft Light Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

(you can add Radishes, carrots, etc.)

Cajun Chicken Salad

3 cups Romaine Mix

2 cups Spinach

½ large Cucumber w/peel

½ Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange)

1 cup diced Tomatoes

3 ounce of Chicken strips sautéed previously in Olive Oil & Cajun Seasoning

4 tablespoons Salsa

(you can add any veggie and/or a ¼ cup of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt)

Spicy Chicken and Avocado

3 ounces of Chicken cut into strips & sautéed w/Olive Oil & seasoned w/Cajun or Cayenne

½ Bell Pepper (red, yellow, or orange) sautéed w/Chicken when Chicken is almost cooked

3 cups of Spinach wilted in w/Chicken & Bell Pepper

½ diced Avocado mixed w/3-4 tablespoons Salsa & ¼ cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt (served on top of cooked Chicken mix)

w/1 Serving Black Beans mixed w/1 Serving Kernel Corn

Sautéed Chicken and Veggies

3-4 ounce Chicken Breast sautéed w/previously sautéed to caramel (yellow) Onions & Olive Oil

(if cooking 3-5 Chicken Breasts=1 tablespoon Olive Oil & 1 med-large Onion)

w/any veggie mix (such as 1-2 cups steamed Broccoli & 1 cup steamed Carrots) and Brown Rice, or Quinoa, or Sweet Potato, etc.

Kale Pepper Chicken

½ TBL Olive Oil

1 Whole Red or Orange or Yellow Bell Pepper cut in chunks

1 Whole (or half depending on taste for the spicy and size of the pepper) Jalapeno Pepper diced

3 Cups chopped Kale

3 Ounces diced or shredded cooked Chicken

½ Cup cooked Quinoa

Dash of Cayenne Pepper

Heat up olive oil in skillet then add chopped peppers and sautee for a few minutes before adding all of the kale.  Cook added kale and peppers until the kale is just starting to get wilted as you want the kale to still have some crunch; so just long enough on the heat to absorb some oil and bring out the deeper flavor of the kale.  Add the cooked peppers and kale mix to the warmed chicken and quinoa.  Mix then sprinkle with a dash of cayenne pepper. 

Curry Kale Lentil Soup

4 cup Vegetable Broth (for lower sodium omit broth and just season with desired Herbs & Spices)
1 cup Lentils
2 tsp. Curry Powder
4 cup Fresh Kale  (Cook lentils in vegetable broth. When almost done add curry powder and fresh kale. When kale has wilted down serve.)

Italian Chicken

3-4 ounce Chicken Breast baked w/Light Italian Salad Dressing on 350º or Grilled (after marinating in dressing)

w/any veggie mix and grains or as a Sandwich w/Lettuce or Spinach & Tomato & Turkey Bacon and 1 tablespoon Honey Mustard Dressing

Barbecue Chicken

3-4 ounce Chicken Breast baked w/Barbecue Sauce on 375º til extra tender, then fork shred chicken

Served a top any Salad configuration or as a Sandwich w/Bush’s Grillin Beans Smokehouse Tradition & Kernel Corn

Chicken and Pasta

3-4 ounce Chicken Breast sautéed w/previously sautéed (red) Onions & Olive Oil

(if cooking 3-5 Chicken Breasts=1 tablespoon Olive Oil & ¾ of large Onion)

1 ½ cups of following previously sautéed mix:          1-2 Zucchini chopped

                                                                                    1 Red Bell Pepper

                                                                                    1 Orange Bell Pepper

                                                                                    ¾ large Red Onion

                                                                                    ¾ tablespoon Olive Oil

w/1 Serving of Whole Wheat Angel Hair or Linguini Pasta & 1 Serving Marinara Sauce

Tuna Salad

5 ounce can of Chunk Light Tuna in Water

1 hard boiled Egg

½ cup diced Cucumber w/peel

½ cup diced Tomato

1 tablespoon Kraft Light Mayo (or Kraft w/Olive Oil Mayo)

1 teaspoon Yellow Mustard

w/Arnold Select Sandwich Whole Wheat Thin as a Sandwich or as a Salad w/Greens, etc.

Cottage Cheese & Red Beans

1 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese

1 cup Red Beans (dark or light)

3 tablespoons Flaxseed

4-6 tablespoons Salsa

Greek Yogurt w/Grapes & Walnuts

1 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt

1 cup Red Seedless Grapes

¼ Diamond Shelled Walnuts

3 tablespoons Flaxseed

Greek Yogurt/Cottage Cheese

½ cup Cottage Cheese

½ cup Greek Yogurt

3 TBL Flaxseed

½ TBL Cinnamon

1 medium Peach

Variation: 1/4 cup Cottage Cheese with ½ cup to ¾ cup Greek Yogurt with the flaxseed/cinnamon and added ¼ cup Walnuts and fruit on the side

Peanut Butter Sandwich

2 tablespoons creamy Peanut Butter

3 tablespoons Flaxseed (mixed w/Peanut Butter)

1 Arnold Select Sandwich Whole Wheat Thin (spread Peanut Butter mixture on thins)

¾ tablespoon Honey (a top spread)

w/Fruit Serving

Lunch/Dinner Sides:

Sweet Potato: (cook in microwave til done then open up & mix in 1 tsp Cinnamon & ¼ tsp Ginger)

Sweet Potato Wedges:  Sliced Sweet Potatoes, lightly sprayed w/Olive Oil and seasoned w/Cinnamon & Ginger or Cajun Season & baked at 350º for about an hour

Kale Chips:  Wash & pat dry Kale, tear in pieces & spread out on baking sheet, lightly spray w/Olive Oil then season w/Cajun Season or Cayenne Pepper or Sea Salt/Ground Pepper or Red Wine Vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar & then bake at 350º for 10-15 min (until crisp)

Snacks

Protein Shake & Large Apple

Think Thin Brownie Crunch Bar w/Fruit Serving

Nuts & Fruit

1 Serving of Nuts (Almonds, Walnuts) & 1 Fruit Serving

Peanut Butter Banana

2 tablespoons creamy Peanut Butter

2 tablespoons Flaxseed (mixed w/Peanut Butter)

1 large Banana (spread Peanut Butter mixture on Banana)

Side Fruit Treat

½ cup sliced fresh Strawberries

½ cup fresh Blueberries

½ cup – 1 cup fresh sliced Banana

1 tsp Cinnamon (just sprinkle then mix in the Cinnamon on the fruit)

w/side of protein or as dessert following a meal with protein

Any Yogurt or Lighter Meal Options from Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner

Links to Posts with Recipes: 
Case of the Mondays? 
Aging Fruits & Veggies
Versatile Beans
What Was Your Dinner?
Additional Recipes
Yummy Sweet Lunch
Veggie Yumminess
Savory Eggs