Shout Out Health

FITNESS: Attune's Eva Pelegrin--Winterize Your Workout!

Does the prospect of wearing scarves, parkas and extra layers of clothing put a damper on your enthusiasm to hit the gym? These tips from holistic fitness expert Eva Pelegrin, founder of Attune Holistic Fitness in New York City, can help you winterize your workouts by tweaking your daily routine to keep your body, mind and spirit in harmony, no matter what the outside thermometer says:

Move it

It’s winter cold and you don’t feel like going to the gym--don’t. Stay indoors and move it. The best gym 
equipment you can ever have is your own body, so the main thing you need is willpower and imagination. Start trucking up the staircase! Walk one or two flights and alternately run one or two flights, pushing off mid-foot to help work your butt. Walk down fast, then repeat. You will be amazed how the real thing is so not like a Stairmaster.

If you only do one exercise, here’s one that will give you a total body workout anywhere. Start with a jug filled with water or other harmless liquid. Stand in a clear space with your feet shoulder width apart and place the jug close to your left foot behind your toe line. Keep your feet planted, hips square and back as straight as possible. Squat down and reach left to pick up the jug with both hands and quickly lift it up and across, as if to toss it on a six foot high shelf that is behind your right shoulder.

You should be rotating your torso and hips to the right. Immediately reverse the movement to lower the jug exactly where it was. Once you get the motion down, repeat as fast as you can for 10-15 reps. More reps can make this one a killer cardio workout. Switch sides with the jug and repeat for three sets. You can also use a backpack or other bag and adjust the weight to your ability.

Diversify your portfolio of protein and fat

Spread your protein and fat consumption throughout the day. Meals that contain more healthy fat and protein than carbohydrates keep your amino-acid levels high to enhance mental an emotional wellbeing, and promote stable blood sugar and higher energy levels. This not only makes you feel better, but also facilitates fat burning and appetite control. Conversely, high-carb diets combined with a lack of exercise can result in a gloomy mood, or even depression.

Rest assured

Stay away from sugar, alcohol and caffeine within six hours of bedtime. Getting sleep and getting rest are not the same, and any of these can interfere with a truly restful night’s sleep. Over time, such rest deprivation amplifies the impact of stress and can raise levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol; alter thyroid hormones; and decrease your output of human growth hormone and testosterone. These hormones directly affect your ability to gain or maintain your precious muscle tone, a healthy sex life, and deal with the many trials of life.

Stand up for yourself

Poor posture is a self-fulfilling prophecy of gloom. Research shows that the way we carry ourselves reflects our general level of health. Since the two are interconnected, you can improve your organs health, including your confidence, simply by improving your posture. So, practice carrying yourself erect, but relaxed – with the bearing of someone walking down the grand staircase in the movie Titanic.

Expose yourself

Plan ahead in order to get moderate and regular sun exposure, especially during the winter months when any sun is better than none. Moods tend to descend with temperature and daylight duration. Sunlight elevates both mood and sex drive by boosting testosterone and serotonin production. The sun also radiates ultraviolet and infrared waves which have been shown to enhance mood and contribute to your general well-being (light bulbs do not). Sunlight deficiency, on the other hand, can lower serotonin levels enough to bring on depressive symptoms.

--Eva Pelegrin is a Fellow of Applied Functional Science, and Founder of Attune Holistic Fitness in New York City.

FITNESS: Ready for Summer? More Muscle, Less Fat...Week 4

Put down the dumbbells for now, because this week is cardio only.

Do five to six interval training sessions, each lasting thirty to forty-five minutes. To review interval training, see the third paragraph of Week 3. The best time of day is first thing in the morning, before eating anything, but after having eight to sixteen ounces of water. It’s okay to do the workouts at another time if you’re just not a morning person, but morning will be MOST effective.

As the fat starts to burn away from the midsection, you’ll want those abdominal muscles underneath it to
start to show through. So, after three of the cardio workouts this week, do three sets of fifteen reps of the physioball crunch with progressive resistance as explained in my Six-Pack ab primer.

On the other two or three cardio days, do three sets of fifty repetitions of the ‘Bicycle Crunch’ -- Lie on a mat and start with your hands behind your head and your hips and knees at right angles; contract your left obliques (side abs) as you bring your right shoulder and your left knee slightly closer together and then repeat on the opposite side; make sure that you keep your eyes focused on the ceiling directly above you and that the movement is controlled by contracting your obliques and not by flailing your elbows and legs; make the movement smaller and more focused than you have seen or done in the past.

Continue with the three days in which you eliminate starch and sugar, but this week do them consecutively, three days in a row. On the first day, sugar will be largely eliminated from the blood stream and your body will start releasing and burning fat more selectively. By days two and three, sugars stored in your muscle (glycogen) will also have been burned leaving your body little choice but to get energy from stored fat. But it is essential to eat proteins and vegetables (and some dairy and healthy fats are okay, too) frequently. If you are not eating frequently enough, and find that you are hungry all the time, your body may have trouble releasing the fat to be burned in the muscle cells. Don’t make that mistake and diminish the amount of fat you are capable of burning this week. For more on nutrition, don’t forget to request my two-page “Supportive Eating Guide” by sending an email to [email protected] with “Supportive Nutrition” in the subject line.

FITNESS: Ready for Summer? More Muscle, Less Fat...Week 3

OK, it's time to switch things up. You’ve built some muscle these past two weeks (here's Week One and Week Two); now lets use your faster metabolism to really burn off some fat.

This week, do three strength workouts using the same exercises, but do them as a circuit - perform fifteen repetitions of each exercise going down the list without resting in between exercises.

When you've finished the circuit of exercises, immediately get on a cardio machine (treadmill, elliptical or bike) for 6 minutes of interval training done as one-minute intervals, starting with an ‘up‘ interval. The last minute will be a down interval. Follow this with two minutes of rest. Repeat three times. Finish with twenty minutes of interval training. And do two additional 30-minute cardio workouts this week the same way I suggest in week 2.

Got that? It's intense to be sure, but effective, trust me!

Week 3 is the first of two weeks of extreme fat loss. We want to bring our nutrition into line with the changes we’ve made to the exercise program so that the two work together to create an environment where your body is burning more calories and selectively burning more calories from fat.

A VERY effective tip that makes stored body fat more available to be burned is called ‘carbohydrate manipulation’ and here's how it works: On three of the days this week on which you are not strength training, completely remove all starchy carbohydrates and simple sugars from your nutrition plan. Eat as much lean protein and vegetables as you like. It’s okay to eat some healthy fats, but don’t overdo it. It’s very hard to remove ALL sugars, but do your best - anything with more than about 8-10 grams of sugar is too much. And drink more water than you are accustomed to drinking. Try to get your daily calorie count equal to roughly your body weight multiplied by 12.

Now here's some really good news: I have found that it is not unusual for clients to lose two to three pounds of body fat (in a week) on a program like this one.

This week builds on the two before it and won't be as effective unless you’ve added some muscle to your body. If you feel like you want or need to add some more muscle at this point, repeat week 2 before going on to week 3. The work is getting intense but believe me, the results will be worth it. Good luck! I'll be back next soon with our 4th and final week. -- Greg Rothman, MS PT ([email protected] or Empower Fitness on Facebook)

FITNESS: Ready for Summer? More Muscle, Less Fat...Week 2

I hope you got off to a great start with Week One of my four-week 'more muscle, less fat' summer fitness program. Remember, if a lean, toned body is what you’re after, watching the scale like a hawk is not the answer. Maintaining or building lean muscle tissue and releasing and burning fat is most often the real goal. Keep this firmly in mind as we move forward

In week two, you'll continue to eat in a supportive manner or email me at [email protected] for my "Empower Fitness Supportive Eating Guide." While we're on the topic of nutrition, this is a good time to make sure that you are getting enough water each day (drink one ounce for every two pounds of body weight). And it's a good idea to take a good multi-vitamin and a fish oil supplement daily. I recommend these organic supplements here.

WEEK 2: Do the same workout as in Week One three times this week, but do 3 sets of 12 repetitions (instead of 2 sets of 15 reps). Since you’re doing fewer reps in each set, increase the weight accordingly for the first workout this week, and continue to use progressive resistance to build lean muscle by increasing the weight in each workout as long as you are able to complete the 12 repetitions.

Follow each workout with 20 minutes of cardio done as interval training. Do an additional 30-minutes of interval training on another day, preferably first thing in the morning, before you eat. Make sure to drink at least twelve ounces of water before you do the cardio.

You should be adding muscle to your body and this week it will start to be noticeable not only in the mirror, but in the additional weight you lift as well. Your metabolism is speeding up; you might notice that you are hungrier. Eat those small, frequent meals and fat loss is inevitable.

Get ready for week three: We're really going to change things up and get your metabolism working FAST. -- Greg Rothman, MS PT ([email protected] or Empower Fitness on Facebook)

FITNESS: Ready for Summer? More Muscle, Less Fat (in 4-Weeks)!

Every year when the spring weather hits, especially on those extra gorgeous days when the sun shines bright and we can walk around in short sleeves, people start asking me: “What’s the best way to lose weight... FAST?” I have some great tips for how to accomplish this, but the question also begs for some clarification.

What people really mean when they say they want to ‘lose weight’ is that they want to lose fat. If a lean, toned body is what you’re after, watching the scale like a hawk is not the answer. Maintaining or building lean muscle tissue and releasing and burning fat is most often the real goal.

To do this, it is essential to eat well and exercise efficiently. Especially if you want to see results fast. Here’s a simple but highly effective four-week plan* to help you get the lean, toned body you desire:

WEEK 1 - Before you even set foot in the gym, we have to talk about what you eat--and when. Eat supportive meals every three hours from the time you wake up until a few hours before you go to bed.

A supportive meal consists of roughly equal portions of a lean protein (skinless chicken breast, egg whites, less fatty cuts of steak, etc), a good starchy carbohydrate (sweet potato, oatmeal, brown rice, etc) and a fibrous carb (pretty much any vegetable, though green leafy vegetables and bright colored veggies like red peppers are best).

 For a guide to the rules for eating in a way that supports your goals and a great food list you can put up on your fridge, email me at [email protected] with “Supportive Eating Guide” in the subject line.

Try to consume daily calories roughly equal to your body weight multiplied by 14. Now that you’re eating in a way that allows you to hold onto or build muscle and burn body fat, it’s time to hit the gym.

I suggest these big, compound movements to get your muscles revved up for fat-burning: Barbell Squat, Dumbbell Chest Press, Dumbbell Row, Dumbbell Overhead Press, Dumbbell Biceps Curl, Dumbbell Triceps ‘French’ Press and the Physioball Crunch.

Complete 2 sets of 15 repetitions for each exercise, with a weight that allows you to JUST complete the sets before exhaustion. Repeat the workout two more times this week with a day of rest between each workout. You will not see impressive results unless you are using ‘progressive resistance’ which means that if you finish the sets today, you must increase the weight for the next workout. If you are unable complete the sets, just do more repetitions with the same weight in your next workout.

Follow the workout with 15 minutes of cardio done as interval training, such as running/jogging or a stationary bike or stairmaster or whatever you enjoy the most. If you like, turn on some music, make it fun, and enjoy the process as much as possible. For more specifics on this, see my last article on “4-Steps to A Sexy Six-Pack."

Watch for Week 2...next week! -- Greg Rothman, MS PT ([email protected] or Empower Fitness on Facebook)

*Be sure to get a check up and OK from your doctor before starting any exercise program.

FITNESS: 4-steps to a sexy six-pack (for real!)

As sweaters go back into closets and tank tops reappear, people start asking me the age old question: How do I turn this spare tire into a six-pack?

Fortunately, I've got the answer, but keep in mind that if it were easy, everyone would have one. But if you’re willing to make some positive changes, do the right things in the gym AND in the kitchen, you can shed the body fat and reveal your inner six-pack.

Here’s my 4-step plan to six-pack abs.

1. You ARE What You Eat (and so are your abs): Seventy percent of your results will come from what AND how you eat, and that includes eating breakfast! Eat a supportive meal, one containing roughly equal
portions of a lean protein, a starchy carbohydrate (whole grain) and a fibrous carbohydrate (vegetable) within thirty minutes of waking. Continue to eat a supportive meal every three hours. Eat until you are satisfied (but not full) and the calories should regulate themselves. Minimize sugars, simple starches and processed foods - your body will store these as fat. Eating in this way stabilizes your blood sugar creating a hormonal environment in which sugars are burned for energy instead of stored as fat.

2. Muscle Up!  Now that your nutrition is working for you, providing good energy to your muscles, it’s time to work them out. Lean tissue (muscle) not only makes you stronger but also is metabolically active (fat is burned in the muscle cells). Add muscle by working your major muscle groups with big, compound exercises (squats, chest presses, rows, overhead presses). You build the most muscle by doing sets of 8-12 repetitions. Keep track of how much you can lift and do either more reps or more weight each time you work out. Progressive resistance ensures you will add muscle.

3. Do Short, Intense Cardio. Do only a moderate amount of cardio, but make it intense. Always do cardio after your strength training, not before, when you’ve burned the sugar in the blood and muscle. By doing so, you’re going to burn more calories from fat. Work as hard as you can for a minute or two and then cool down for the same amount of time. Repeat this for 30 minutes, three or four times each week. This is called interval training and is most effective for fat-burning. Long, consistent cardio tends to burn more muscle than it does fat and is counter-productive if the goal is lean, toned abs.

4. The ONLY Ab Exercise You’ll Ever Need: As the fat burns away, you’ll want strong, hard abdominal muscle underneath. Build it by working it hard through it’s full range of motion. Here’s the single best exercise for building the six-pack (the rectus abdominis): Support your low back on a physioball; stretch back so your rib cage lifts upward and then squeeze your abs and press your ribcage down hard. That’s it! Repeat for 3 sets of 15 reps. Once you can do that, add weight each time by holding a dumbbell behind your head; start light and then progress the weight once you can do 3 sets to completion.

Following these four simple steps will put you on the path to carving out a sexy six-pack. If you start now, your abs could make their debut just in time for beach season. --Greg Rothman, MS PT ([email protected] or Empower Fitness on Facebook)