Vancouver Personal Training: How do I get a good chest workout without a Personal Trainer?

Question: Sometimes I feel like I need a personal trainer to help spot me when I am doing heavy sets of chest press but I am confident with most other parts of my workout, what do you suggest?

Answer: A good spot can be hard to find. If you are doing a heavy program and you do not have a spot you may want to consider doing strip sets. With strip sets always do two or three sets to warm up. Once you are warm then you need to decide what weights you are going to use. If you are doing a strip set with Bench Press you need pick the weights and reps for each set. If you decide that you will do a strip sets with three weight adjustments then you need to determine your starting weight and the incremental drops. If you are looking to increase your power then you may want to start with a set of four reps with a heavier weight and increase your reps as you decrease your weight. For instance, if you can perform four reps of 185lbs on the first set, then drop down to 135lbs on the second set and perform six reps. Then you can drop down to 95lbs for the third set and perform eight reps, and for the final set go down to just the bar and perform 12-15 reps. The key is to load the machine with smaller plates so you can unload quickly to get to the next set. Think of this as one really big set so you need to take as little rest when you are unloading the weights as possible. This is a great way to get an intense workout without having to pay for a personal trainer. This is a very advanced workout system so do not try this out if you are at a beginner level.

Vancouver Personal Training: Should I workout before or after breakfast…

Ask Shaun: Should I workout before or after breakfast

Question: Is it better to work out in the morning or evening. Is it okay to do a major workout in the morning without eating first thing?

Answer: I generally recommend morning workouts because there is usually less procrastination; however, it really is an individual thing. It does not make a big difference if you eat before or after your workout, that is also an individual thing. I usually encourage clients to exercise before breakfast, although some people experience low blood sugar so they need to eat first. All in all it is most important that you workout at a time that works best in your schedule so you are most consistent.

Question: What is a good exercise for lower abs?

Answer: When it comes to training the lower abs the reality is that most times people have poor technique. With poor technique you are targeting the wrong muscles such as the hip flexors and not the abs. Similarly, if you are swinging and using momentum you are not getting the most out of the exercise. There are many great exercises for the lower abs including bicycle kickouts, leg scissors, and leg raises, but they are not effective if you do not maintain posterior pelvic pressure(push your back towards the floor). There is a great exercise device called the Abdometer that measures your pelvic positioning to ensure you are performing the correct technique and effectively isolating your lower abs.

Vancouver Personal Training: What is a good fitness program for beginners…

Question: What is a good fitness program for beginners, I am 37-years old, live in Vancouver, and have not had any fitness training?

Answer: The best approach is to add a little at a time so your body and schedule can adapt. The first step is to decide how much time you can devote to exercise. If you can start with three 45-minute workouts each week that would be great. Fitness training works best if you are consistent, so be sure to schedule it so it does not interfere with other activities. For many people, doing it first thing in the morning is the best way to ensure consistency. It is also a good idea to have a day in between workouts so a schedule such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday usually works best.

There are a few different ways that you can organize what you do inside each 45-minute workout. A simple approach is to do 25 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and 20 minutes of strengthening exercises. An alternative approach is to do a circuit workout where you try to keep your heart elevated so you achieve a cardiovascular and strength workout at the same time. Circuit workouts are most effective if you monitor your heart rate to ensure that you are in your target zone.
Once you get comfortable with this routine you may want to add outdoor activities on the days in between your workouts. There are many health and fitness activities in Vancouver that allow you to greatly appreciate our surroundings, think about going cross country skiing in the winter or in-line skating in the summer. As you get more advanced you may want to hire a personal trainer to bring your workouts to a higher level and to ensure that you are performing your exercises with the best technique.

Vancouver Fitness: Preventing Diabetes Through Exercise

Most people know that diabetes is a chronic disease caused by high blood sugar, and that it can be controlled, though not cured, by insulin. Fewer people know that diabetes can cause kidney damage, nerve damage, blurry vision, blindness, and heart and circulation difficulties. And, even fewer know that in many cases, Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or controlled without medication, by a commitment to exercise and healthy living habits.

After you eat, and the glucose you ingested leaves your intestine and enters your bloodstream, there are only two places in your body that sugar can be stored: your muscles and your liver. When your muscles are not exercised they become full of sugar, leaving nowhere for it to be stored after it enters your bloodstream. Over time, this can cause diabetes.

There are different types of exercise that help prevent the onset of diabetes, and they work in a variety of ways. To begin, there is strength training. Strong muscles help fight diabetes, because they use the insulin in your body to change excess glucose into glycogen. Your body then stores this glycogen in your body as fuel instead of storing sugar, thus lowering your blood sugar level. Moreover, when you are engaged in the actual act of lifting weights, you are using the glucose stored in your muscles as fuel to complete your exercises, resulting in a further decrease in your blood sugar level. Essentially, you empty the sugar from your muscles by exercising them.

Next is “intense” exercise. A study done at Yale, and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in January 2006, showed how exercising intensely does far more in preventing diabetes than working out at a more leisurely or moderate pace. In this study, a group of healthy, non-obese, inactive women aged 72 and older were divided into groups, and participated in hard, moderate or easy exercise training programs. All three groups burned 300 calories per exercise session, but the intense group was the only one to show a significant improvement in their ability to use sugar and suppress fat formation. In other words, when you exercise more intensely, you empty the sugar from your muscles more quickly.

But don’t let this information scare you. Jumping into strength training or an intense exercise program might sound intimidating, especially if you aren’t used to living an active lifestyle. The good news is, they aren’t the only ways to help prevent the onset of diabetes. Cardiovascular exercise, such as jogging, swimming or using an exercise bike, increases your blood flow, therefore burning the extra glucose your body doesn’t need. And, a combination of strength training and cardiovascular exercise will help keep your weight down, further lowering the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.

Still intimidated? There’s more good news. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal showed that simply walking, running or jogging 10 000 steps per day improves your insulin sensitivity, which in turn reduces your risk of developing diabetes. This study, conducted by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, showed that middle-aged adults who increased the number of steps they took daily over a five-year period to reach 10 000, had a threefold improvement in their insulin sensitivity when compared to a similar person who increased to only 3000 steps.

10 000 sounds like a lot; it’s the equivalent of approximately eight kilometers. So while it’s an excellent goal to aim for, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get there right away. And, there is more good news: a 2006 study called the Diabetes Prevention Program shows that walking just 30 minutes per day five days per week, along with maintaining a healthy diet, can cut the risk of diabetes in half for high-risk patients.

So what does this all mean for you? It means that no matter where you are on the activity scale, or how comfortable you feel with exercise, there are steps you can take to prevent the onset of diabetes. Even better: there’s always room to grow, and new goals to strive for.

Shaun Karp is a certified personal trainer. For further information call 604-420-7800 or go to www.karpfitness.com.

Vancouver Hockey Training: I play hockey on an old timers team in Vancouver…

Question: I play hockey on an old timer’s team in Vancouver. As a personal trainer what type of advice can you give an old guy?

Answer: It is great that you are staying active! If you are looking to improve your hockey performance the key is to design a balanced workout. For instance, many hockey players have sufficient strength in the front of their legs (quadriceps), but lack strength in their hamstrings. It is also important to ensure that you do core exercises for your upper and lower abdominals in order to avoid lower back pain. When performing upper body exercises make sure that you have a balance between your push and pull exercises. If you do lots of bench press or dumbbell press and not enough for you latissimus dorsi and back muscles you may develop forward rounded shoulders and be more susceptible to a shoulder injury. It is also important to perform cardio a minimum of three times per week and stretch on a regular basis.

Question: I was watching a personal trainer in a Vancouver facility performing an arm superset, what is a good combination for this?

Answer: You can perform a great arm superset with a pair of dumbbells. To start, hold a dumbbell in each hand and perform Seated DB Curls (you can find specific instructions for this exercise in our exercise guide). After ten repetitions lie on your back and perform Tricep DB Extensions for ten repetitions(you can find specific instructions for this exercise in our exercise guide). Perform these two exercises back to back for 3-5 sets each with no rest in between your sets. Supersets are effective because you can eliminate the rest time between sets. Be sure to use a comfortable weight or you will feel some soreness in your arms the next day! Many personal trainers utilize supersets because they are a great way to increase the intensity of a workout.