EXERCISE SELECTION

EXERCISE SELECTION

You’ve decided that you want to strength train. Or you are ready to take it to the next level. How do you choose the correct exercises? There is a way to do this. It’s important to have it not be random. To pick the right exercises we need to understand the major muscle groups, their joint actions, different classifications of exercises, the different modes, and your personal needs.  

The Major Muscle Groups

The first place to begin is with the major muscle groups that are responsible for our human movement. These major muscle groups are the hip muscles (gluteals), thigh muscles (quadriceps and hamstrings), the chest muscles (pectorals), upper back muscles (latissimus dorsi and rhomboids), the shoulders (deltoids), the upper arms (biceps and triceps), the midsection (abdominals, erector spinae, obliques) and the calf muscles  (gastrocnemius and soleus). All of these muscles are responsible for major human movement. These muscle groups need to be trained consistently. 

Joint Actions

When we understand joint actions we will have a much better understanding of how to select an exercise for each muscle group. Each muscle has an action that moves bone. We call this a joint action. When we understand this we also learn that we don’t need to over-complicate exercise selection  with picking too many exercises per muscle group.

A key to exercise selection is to pick the exercise that best replicates the joint action and works the muscle groups that you need to work. You do NOT need to exercise the joint action over and over by choosing different exercises per joint action in a training session like some trainers will lead you to believe. 

Compound Versus Isolation Exercises 

Another consideration is when to choose compound exercises, isolation exercises, or both. 

Compound exercises are exercises that work more than one muscle group at the same time, therefore, more than one joint action. During a compound movement, more than one joint is involved so therefore more than one muscle group. With isolation exercises only one joint action is involved so only one muscle group. 

An example of a compound exercise is an overhead press. With the overhead press both the shoulder and elbow joints are involved. There are two muscle groups involved in this exercise and they are the deltoids and the triceps.

An example of an isolation exercise is a side raise. You are only using the shoulder joint and only using the medial deltoids. Another example is a triceps pressdown. The only joint involved is the elbow joint and the muscle involved is the triceps.  

It is best to do both compound exercises and isolation exercises. Compound exercises can be more efficient. You can get more work done with less exercises. They also replicate many of our human movements because we rarely do a few movements independently.

Isolation exercises are great as well because in some cases those muscles really do need to be singled out. At times, in compound exercises, the stronger muscle group takes over and does more than its fair share of work. 

Pick a compound exercise and an isolation exercise for each muscle group. You can pick more than one each to have for variety but you don’t need to do more than one compound and one isolation exercise per muscle group in a training session. 

Some bodybuilders and gym goers falsely think that you need to train muscles from many different angles. This has not been proven and not seen in my over thirty years of experience and learning. For example, they may think that for triceps you need to do a seated dip (compound exercise) along with a pressdown, tricep kickback, and overhead tricep extension all in the same training session because the triceps (or whichever) need to be hit from many different angles. Let me take you back to joint actions. The joint action for the triceps is elbow extension. This means that the angle of the elbow is increased.  Do you really think that the triceps can feel whether it is a pressdown, kickback, or overhead tricep extension doing that movement? I highly doubt it. Pick one compound and pick one isolation exercise per muscle group per training session. 

Mode

Free weights, which are barbells and dumbbells, selectorized machines, body weight, and elastic bands are all good modes for strength training. They all have their pros and cons. Our body needs resistance for the muscles to grow. All of these forms of resistance work. I have my favorites and others have their favorites. There are convenience issues, there are safety (spotting) issues, there are space issues. All of these considerations matter. But there is no best mode. There may be a best mode for you at a given time. 

Choose your exercises based on  the modes that you have available to you and work best for you. A goblet squat is a squat using a dumbbell, a leg press is a squat using a machine, and a barbell squat is a squat using barbells. All are great tools. 

Pick exercises that cover a compound and isolation exercise for each muscle group and use the mode that you have available to you and works best for you. It is great to have a variety of exercises that work best for you. It’s good to have variety. This keeps you from getting bored.

Summary 

Make sure that all of the major muscle groups are being addressed on a regular basis. If you determine that you have deficiencies in some muscle groups make them more of a priority but do not just totally ignore other muscle groups. Pick an isolation and compound exercise for each muscle group and use the modes of resistance that you have available to you. Learn different exercises for the muscle group but not because you need to do MORE per training session but so you have variety.

SETS REPS AND LOADS

SETS REPS AND LOADS  

You want to start working out? Great! You want to improve your workouts, and you go online and there is so much conflicting information on how to do it. There is much conflicting advice on how many sets to do. How many repetitions per set? And how heavy should the loads be? These questions are asked over and over in training circles.  

These topics are what are called acute program variables for strength training. There are other variables like exercise selection, rest time, and the tempo of the movement, but the following are the most common that are talked about: set number, repetition number, and load. Knowing how many and how much to do has its place but understanding why is more important. Hang on…… 

Let's talk about what these recommendations are. Repetitions are how many times you lift the weight. Sets refer to the number of times you do the actual exercise. And the load is how heavy the resistance is. Typically, you will see exercise prescriptions that look like this: Squat: 3 x 10 x 100 pounds. This means that a person is doing the squat exercise three times (three sets), doing ten repetitions each set, with 100 pounds.  I’ll write up a prescription like this for a client before we begin an exercise session. But there is a reason we choose these variables and understanding why certain numbers are chosen is the most important thing to keep in mind. I’m going to hopefully leave you understanding this when you have finished this section.  

The top exercise science organizations establish recommendations for these and all the other program variables. The ACSM, which stands for the American College of Sports Medicine, has for years advocated doing 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps with a load that is challenging. They have updated their recommendations over the years by using a percentage of a person’s one-rep maximum. The one-rep maximum is the heaviest load a person could do for a single repetition. I don’t recommend trying to figure that out. For example, the ACSM and other organizations would now write up a program that looks more like this: 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps with 67-80% of the one- rep maximum. The ACSM has updated with different sets and reps and load schemes for different adaptations such as strength, endurance, hypertrophy, and power which are the four adaptations.  

The NSCA, which stands for the National Strength and Conditioning Association, has even more specific guidelines regarding these. For maximal strength they say trainees should do three to six sets of six or fewer reps with loads greater than 85% of the one- rep max. For muscular endurance, the NSCA states that trainees should do two to three sets of 12 to 20 reps with <67% of the one-rep max. For hypertrophy they say that trainees should do between three and five sets of 6-12 reps with 67 to 85% of the one-rep maximum. For power they say that trainees should do between three and five sets of one to two reps with 80-90% of the one-rep max or three to five sets of three to five reps with 75-85% of the one-rep max. 

There has been some newer research that says that hypertrophy can occur with loads as light as 30% of the one-rep maximum which translates into extremely high repetitions. I believe we can get carried away when we start micromanaging these numbers so literally. Silly stuff in my professional opinion. Numbers have their place, but we exercise professionals can do a way better job of explaining what we really need to focus on and not get too carried away with numbers.  

The other variables I mentioned earlier, tempo, rest time and exercise selection and the exercise order all impact how many sets, how many reps, and how heavy. All of this is connected. And it all comes down to what is going on within the muscle. There is a method to the madness.  

Tempo refers to what the speed of lifting is. For example, a “six second” rep is a moderate speed repetition. This is often done by lifting the weight (the concentric phase) for two seconds, pausing at the top for one second (the isometric phase), and lowering the weight (the eccentric phase), to a speed of three seconds. There are other recommended tempos that are faster. And there are some tempos that are slower. Typically, the exercise science organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine state to do a moderate tempo of four to six seconds. There is not a universal tempo that is best for everyone. The point I’m making now is that tempo impacts “how many.” 

When I was teaching sports medicine, I would have two students stand back-to-back with the dumbbells in each hand that were the same for both students. I would have them perform dumbbell curls. I would have them do 15 repetitions. I would give them no direction on what tempo to lift at. They were recommended to go with a tempo that felt most right for them. Thankfully, this experiment always worked out. One would finish the 15 reps noticeably sooner than the other. In fact, often it could be a 5-repetition gap. How are those 15 reps the same? For one, it was faster and the other slower. How could the body respond the same to “15” reps when one is doing work for a longer period with the same load? And now stretch this out to every set, every exercise they do that day? Yet, we value the number of reps so highly? 

The biggest variable that increases strength and hypertrophy is intensity. Those variables listed above do NOT guarantee intensity. Is bench pressing 300 pounds intense? Not if you can bench press 600 pounds. Is doing 30 repetitions intense? Not if you are able to do 50 repetitions with that same load.  

A key factor is what is called time under load.  The sets, the reps, the loads are there to stimulate a muscle. Put stress on the individual muscles. Stress the muscle both structurally and metabolically. When a muscle is brought close to exhaustion and is done so within the anaerobic window, you have done what you can to make it grow. If you have stressed the muscle and follow that up with rest and fuel, it will come back stronger.  

Time under load refers to how long the muscle is kept under tension. In my example above about the two students, one of the students stayed under load longer than the other, therefore, his/her set was more intense. The sets, reps, and loads, and tempos for that matter are tools to keep us under load for a period. This is the spirit of the law versus the letter of the law. I don’t believe some of the professional organizations do a good enough of a job explaining this or even requiring their coaches to understand this. One tool that can help us use these variables more for our benefit is to use ranges versus absolutes.  

An exact number does not need to be prescribed. Ranges work well. Maybe your ideal range is 10 to 20? Another person’s range where they seem to get the most benefit is lower, such as eight to ten?  It’s also common that ranges can vary per exercise. And you certainly can experiment with different ranges at different points of your training rotation.  

We should be focused on how the muscles feel as we’re going through the range of motion. Do you feel a burn in the muscles? That is a good thing! If it is burning it’s working. Let’s revisit the newer research I described above about how 30% of the one-rep maximum is heavy enough to elicit hypertrophy. I don’t believe that was intended so that every coach now figures out the 30% on each exercise. No, what this tells us is that we don’t have to use heavy weights. We can get the same benefits using lighter loads and doing more reps if it is to failure. Exhaust the muscle, period.  

How many sets matter, but this only matters about how many sets that were taken close to failure. We want to get results, but we don’t want to overtrain. Doing 4 sets of 10 of a load that you could have done 20 repetitions with is different from doing 4 sets of 10 to failure. We need to consider a set is only a set when it really is close to your best. This way we can decide how much volume you need. How heavy should come down to what load you can use in good form and work to failure in the anaerobic window which is roughly 30 to 90 seconds. There is a time and place for not going to failure, of course. Learning a new movement, doing lighter days to work on form, and working on muscular power are all great reasons to not approach failure. But to gain strength and hypertrophy the muscles need to be challenged.  

We do need to overload the muscles by using more load within our ranges. Using more load in the range you chose is indicative of getting stronger and better, but I do believe that happens more naturally when you understand that you are trying to exhaust the muscle.  

Exercise selection and order will affect how heavy the loads are. If you start your training with chest presses most of the time but you choose to do it after fly's and push-ups, you will not be able to do the same load for the same amount of reps. Does that mean that chest press that day was not beneficial? Of course not. It’s about fatiguing the muscle.  

How many sets, reps, and how heavy? Focus on two F’s. Form and feel. Do the number of sets that adequately fatigue the muscle groups. You will have to decide that number by paying attention to the results you are getting. Everyone is different. If you tend to push yourself hard, you will need fewer sets. How many reps is figuring out a good range that puts in a range to where you really feel the work you are doing. This range is 10 to 20 reps? How this is decided more by the time, with experience, you will know. What load will put you in that window of time under tension? Go by feel. Go to the gym. Choose your exercises and try to exhaust the muscle in good form. It really is that simple.  

Get This Smart Watch Off My Lawn!

GET THAT SMART WATCH OFF MY LAWN!  

I was out for a nice ride on my bike this past weekend. I like to ride down the at the Edgewater Trail which is a paved trail close to where I live. It can be a very peaceful place to ride. Cyclists don’t have to worry about cars and there are mostly thick woods on each side of the nicely widened trail.  

Cycling and other forms of exercise are a great place for me to meditate. I can lose myself in my thoughts, a good podcast, or music depending on how the mood strikes me. With cycling the workout is typically longer. I can usually get in a nice full podcast with plenty of time to think after it ends and let it all sink in.  

My ride this past weekend was mostly this way until my technology began to fail and then I spent too much time trying to adjust to it and a lot of this was unnecessary! Of course, without my phone and my AirPods it would have been hard to listen to my podcast or my playlist if I had chosen to do that. What I did not need was my smart watch! 

Smart watch huh? Says who? At my halfway point I turned around and refueled. I paused my “smart” watch and thankfully I had not been paying too much attention to it most of the ride. When I hit “resume” on my watch is when the fun began. I noticed the watch kept pausing on its own. Looking back, I should have simply said oh well and kept riding. But the impatient side of me felt like if I had it on, I wanted it to work! I would flip my wrist over so I could see the touch screen better and hit “resume.” I would get in my aero bars and get back to my podcast and it would notify me via my airpods that it was paused again. After about 3-4 rounds of this fun and games I finally said the heck with it and just rode. This is what I should have been doing anyway. The “smart” watch wasn’t done. I have never had this happen before but every 30 seconds or so a command would come through my AirPods saying “segment 67 hard”. I’m not actually even sure if it said "hard,” “fart,” or what. In all seriousness it sounded like it could have been either of those words. I just know it was counting from 67 and was doing this every 30 seconds It would blast through my AirPods. So much for the peaceful finishing of the podcast.  

I have said before that my rides, runs, workouts, etc. are a great place to come up with content and as I was coming back listening to my watch update me every 30 seconds, I realized that this was one of those times. Why am I wearing this stupid thing? How much have they really helped us? Me? How much? I knew how far I was going. I know this trail. Did I need the GPS? Nope. I knew what effort I was going to ride. Did I really need the instant MPH to go faster or slower? Nope. I was barely paying attention to it? Did I need the heart rate to keep me in a zone? Nope. Like most smart watches the heart rate is often inaccurate anyway. Did I need the average speed at the end? Nope. That’s the worst in fact because all that does is make me compete against an imaginary speed my ego says I should do.  

What I really needed on this ride was to exercise and clear my head. I needed to get out of the indoor world of screen gazing and exercise my muscles, let my mind wander, and listen. The smart watch was the only thing getting in the way of this. I realized that for me I don’t need a GPS and a watch. Why? I know how far I’m going, and I know my effort. These things can be a major distraction. For me. I realized that there was plenty of fitness long before these things were invented! Do we really need instant information? I can remember the days of when I first was doing running events and endurance events. I had my trusty Casio watch. I did not have enough extra money to have the Ironman Timex watch yet so us budget folks had a Casio! And you know what? I got along just fine. I could know my distance by driving down the road in my car and looking for a landmark to remember the mileage. Do any of you old-timers remember doing that? Naturally if I was going for time my trusty Casio was more than capable.  

I’m sure these tools, like any new advances, serve their purpose for many. But for me, I (hope) I learned my lesson. I don’t need all the feedback. In fact, I need less. I determined after that for me these sports watches have two valuable pieces of feedback I can sees as useful: they do count steps and I do like to look at that at the end of the day (key…end of the day), and they are good for checking the heart rate (when they work). I do use this at times witch clients (when they have their watch on naturally!) to see how well they’ve recovered. But for the other stuff? You can keep it. I’m going shopping for a $9.99 Casio.  

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same

The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same  

I have been doing personal training for thirty years. As I reflect, I realize that I am battling the same myths and misinformation now as I was when I began my career. I really do not say this as a complaint. Ultimately, I’m happy to say I’ve been doing this for thirty years and when I began, I doubt I would have made that prediction. I’m simply noting this, and I find it interesting. People are people as they say.  

Thirty years ago, people believed in spot reduction. Thirty years later, they still do. Thirty years ago, people were looking for the magic diet. This diet may have been disguised differently than it is now, but the belief in a magic diet carries on.   Thirty years ago, people were looking for celebrities to lead them to fitness. They may not have realized that is what they were doing. But the celebrities that looked fit were suddenly experts on physical fitness. Thirty years later people are doing the same thing. Now they may be called influencers. But the concept is the same. People are looking for unqualified people to lead them simply because they may look good.  

The health and fitness industry has changed in thirty years. We have more active professional organizations now such as the American College of Sports Medicine. Science is louder now. Professionalism is greater now. The qualifications, at least in the industry, are more valued now. Through this we have made some fabulous changes. One of the changes I have seen is physicians are far more involved in recommending exercise to their patients. And physicians are now selling their patients on strength training. The medical professionals and fitness professionals have closed a gap over the past thirty years. I have a few clients that are physicians that I know for sure are preaching the values of working out and lifestyle diet changes to their patients.  

With these positive changes we still see that people believe the myths and look for an easier and softer way to become more physically fit. The only way to do it is hard work and discipline, but the grifters are still selling other ways (and they always will), but too many are still “buying it.” That thing you bought that melts the fat when you wear it seems too good to be true huh? Correct it is. The pill you can take that will burn off the meal you just ate seems just a touch hokey huh? Hey someone buys it. As long as people keep buying, the grifters will keep on selling. Committed exercise routines which take discipline is a hard sell, but it’s the only one with long-term pay offs. To me 1000% is worth it. Eating within your means is far harder than buying a new diet program but the long-term benefits pay 1000-fold. So many times, clients tell me that once they got the new (positive) habits going it really wasn’t that hard anymore. Getting people to that point seems to be the hard part. Less than 20% of the population is on an exercise program that they will stick to. That’s not enough. How can we change this? I do think people knowing the facts and the truth helps.  

Working out with resistance two to three days per week really does work. Talk about a return on investment! For my business minded folks out there remember there is no wealth without health. Doing three to five days a week of aerobic exercise really does work. The two standards I just quoted have been tested and confirmed by the American College of Sports Medicine for decades.  If someone is selling you a complicated exercise formula, they aren’t citing facts.  We know that if we eat a moderate diet of just what we need and limit saturated fats and sugars, we are taking a huge step in improving our health.  But the loudest and incorrect folks are selling special diet plans.  

I don’t get discouraged when the masses still seem lost. I train my clients. I write my papers. I preach on my podcasts. I like to try to help people that ask me directly for help. I think of the Starfish story. A young person is on the beach throwing starfish back into the ocean. A person comes up and tells the young person that they can’t save them all. The young person responds with “but I can save this one” as they throw the starfish into the ocean. When a person comes to the gym and tells me that they saw on Instagram a super food to put in their smoothie that melts fat, I can simply explain to this person that that is simply false, and I typically suggest not follow those types.  

That’s all I can do, right? That’s all we can do if we have the knowledge and passion to work in the health and fitness industry. There will always be people that really do want help. There will always be people that will seek out correct and trustworthy information. That will remain my focus. When the person is ready, I am also. I try to remain ready. As far as trying to change the culture and people in general, I am about as likely to carry that out as I am to change my mind. 

As the Depeche Mode famously said: People are People so why would it be, that so many people want to work out with me. I think that’s what they said, right?  

Coach Rob  

TO 5K OR NOT 5K, THAT IS THE QUESTION

You know that really isn’t the question! We should 5k! Or you should 5k if you want to 5k! What on earth am I rambling about? I did a 5k over the weekend. I do many 5k’s. This past weekend I did a 5k as part of the Juneteenth Celebration. It was held over at Daytona’s Esplanade Park on Beach Street. What a beautiful park! The organizers did a great job of putting this 5k on. For those that may be living under a non-activity rock, a 5k is a 3.1-mile footrace.  

It was hot! It was hot as ......... What can you do? It’s June. It’s Florida. It was 8 o’clock in the morning. The sun happened to be standing up and there was not a cloud in the sky. Why did I choose to 5k on this day? Well, why not? Wait, I just said why not. But it was worth it. I mean there were times when I wondered if there were enough people around to handle me if I keeled over, but I didn’t! Thankfully.  

I do many 5k’s. I like them in a sick sort of way. They challenge me. I used to run them much faster. Now I don’t! But they challenge me because they are hard. No matter how much I remind myself to pace it, I still always reach a point where I want to quit. Quitting is relative. I can outright quit and find the fastest way back to my car; I can walk, (not on purpose but walking with a screw it mindset), and I can drastically slow down and just find a way to finish. The last one isn’t really quitting, but it is quitting some. If I am not attempting to do my best, it is sort of a quit. Naturally, it’s the most benign quit... All of these are versions of quitting.  

I do 5k’s to fight the level of quitting that I will feel. I know I will reach my point and I try to train myself to not quit at any level of those. I read and read often that we should do the hard things. We get soft if we don’t challenge ourselves. This is one way I practice doing hard things. Running a 5k or any foot race at my best is HARD!  I can get the age group accolade here or there, and I’m sure there was a time when that mattered more than it should. But now my goal is more intrinsic. I want to see how I’ll do under pressure. I want to make it hard. Can I deal with it? I don’t know. I get to see it each time.  

As I was running this particular 5k my brain was off in the direction of thinking of podcasts or writing ideas. That’s how I entertain myself as I am trying not to quit. In this race, I was listening to the Rolling Stones latest album, still marveling how in their 80’s those dudes didn’t quit. I saw them in concert a couple of weeks ago and was blown away at how well they move on stage! They are 80! I thought they were done when I graduated college over 30 years ago! As much as the Stones were keeping me running, I was still preoccupied with looking around to come up with content. I’m not sure if I looked for the content but the content found me. 

This is what I noticed. I would guess everyone is there to challenge themselves. I mean who really wants to run around a park in a figure 8 course when it feels like we’re running in hell, and the devil turned the heater on? Yes, it felt like that! Did I mention how bad it sucked? I bet you’re wondering if I quit. Well, kind of. I went with quit #3 which I don’t know if it was a conscious choice. But around mile 2 I let the ego go and I realized I was not going to hit my goal pace and I wasn't even going to try to anymore. Let’s just run this mother in. Don’t judge me! At least I have some writing to entertain you with. 

Yes, there were many people there. That’s a wonderful thing. People were running to celebrate the holiday and just running! Both great. But man, many people do some dumb things. And I don’t know if they know it! But I want people to continue to run these things, and we all have a much better shot at running them if we don’t do silly things.  

First and foremost, pace! There used to be a time when I could get up front and let it rip the first mile and hold it. If I was passed it was because I got passed by a faster, more experienced runner. Now, that’s not an option. I may get closer to the front to avoid getting into a scrum with ten to eleven-year-olds whose parents decided to ignore the warnings of the race director. Typically, the kids will all line up in front like it’s a 100-yard dash. They will sprint roughly 100 yards and make a dead stop in the middle of the street causing a backup on the road that will rival I-4 during rush hour.  

These days, I end up very midpack. And what I notice in midpack is that people don’t have the experience of the front of the packers and they make a lot of tactical errors! It’s funny, in a way. When people blog now, they are more or less writing a short research paper. My understanding of blogging years ago was that I was writing a diary on a certain topic that I was going to make public. Naturally there must be some editing or it may make zero sense and you also might see how crazy the writer is.  In this case, me. So, there will be some editing, but too much editing takes away from the authenticity. When we start writing for effect we begin to lose the mojo. And, most importantly when I blog, I’m not drawing any conclusions. I’m adding my thoughts. These might be educated and experienced thoughts, but they also can be and almost certainly are biased. And they flat out can be wrong! Sue me!  

I notice entertaining things as a midpacker. Early in the year I was running a 5k with someone I coach. It was the Matanzas 5k in Saint Augustine and it was still cold! This runner is far faster than I am. And she was just coming back from an injury, so she was going to run it at my pace. Midway through the 5k I asked her if she now realized what I had to deal with “back here”! I know that sounds extremely judgmental, but she said “yes!” What did we deal with? People that had zero clue how to pace. They would sprint and walk, sprint and walk. Who cares? I do! It’s distracting. And guess when they choose sprint? Yup, right when we run up on them. You’ll get a sideways look and boom! My thoughts, and sadly sometimes my outside voice goes “dude or dudette, I'm not racing you!”  I mean, I am because I’m signed up, but I'm not! I’m just trying to hold my pace. I have a good idea as to what my pace should be based on my level of fitness, the terrain, and the weather. If it’s a flat course, cool, and I’ve been training, I should be near my best pace. And years of training and racing dictate where that is. If it’s hot, off road, and hilly, I still have an idea. And I know it’s not where my best pace would be. 

Do others understand their pace? What part of them thinks that sprinting all out and walking is ideal? Let me give you a little science here. There is such a thing called oxygen debt. This means that our body thrives at a steady rate. This is when we are at our best aerobically. We are bringing in Oxygen and getting rid of Carbon Dioxide at an equal level. It also occurs at the same time as producing lactic acid and ridding the body of lactic acid at the same rate. We are in great balance! When we go at a pace our body cannot maintain, we go anaerobic. When we do that there are no free lunches! It will come back. It will come back! And now any enjoyment you may have had running turns into you wishing a car would run you over and end this race because you don’t want to quit. Don’t laugh. I have felt that though and others I have trained with have reported back the same feeling. Remember above where I said some editing is necessary?  

Oxygen debt tells us that the body must be repaid in ATP, “energy currency” of the cell. So, the body will slow us down until the equal pace has been restored. Sadly, it is now going to be slower than your anticipated race pace and not even. Get it? What I’m saying is it does not pay to sprint and walk! I’m not talking about when people run/walk at a scheduled interval. That is a good strategy to maintain pace. (although for the love of God will you please move to the right when you decide it’s time to go on your walk interval?). It’s like you are hammering down I-4 and Betty blue hair decides it is time to hit her brakes at 70 MPH because she must get over in 7.4 miles. Anyhow, the sprinting I'm referring to is when you are going way faster than your goal. Here is a great rule of thumb. What is your average pace for a 5k? Don’t try to run faster than that. Run at it or just below it. That is your pace! Adjust based on conditions. Will it improve? Yup! If you learn to pace right and you are training correctly. I’m always surprised (but why am I surprised?) when I see people that tell me their goal pace or typical goal pace is a 10-minute mile and they start out at an 8-minute mile. What the hell are you doing bro? Do you think that you are suddenly a different person? Are you dumb or arrogant, or clueless? I say the latter. I think people are so worried about other people that they get caught up in it and can’t focus on themselves.  

Next! Also, when we are in the mid-pack areas, and along the same lines of pace, the people that go out like they are suddenly Steve Prefontaine start with a fury. Don’t even get me going on the kids again. Ok, wait, let me rant on the kids. Parents, they don’t want to be here. Ok? Get it? How do I know? I was ten once. I would have called HRS if there was such a thing when I was ten if my parents tried to get me to run 3.1 miles on a Saturday morning when Scooby Doo was on, and I had waited for it all flipping week. Did you want to be there at ten? No. Liar! We parents are trying to be “good parents.” We think we are setting a good example. We think we are trying to get our kids to have physical discipline. We aren’t doing any of those things. If the kids watch us make healthy choices, there is a good chance that they will make that same choice one day when it’s time. If we force them before it’s time, there is a good chance they will hate you.  

Next, if you do force these poor bullied kids into doing a 5k because your neighbor, Alice, has her perfect little children there every week, keep in mind they may do it, but they hate it. And they are going to hate it more and you stand there and yell at them to run! I love that! I’ll finally catch up to one of these little kids and he or she is walking with the extremely disappointed Dad with the classic Dad bod, and I’ll hear “run, don’t let that old guy run by you.” Thanks, buddy. Look, they don’t want to be there to begin with and if they do, you make it suck and they’ll not only hate running they’ll hate you.  

Back to the start. Pace! How do I know you aren’t going to hold your pace? A very good clue is when it’s a spring/summer day in Florida and you are wearing the race shirt, tights, and you have a hydra pack on your back. Bro, it’s a 5k. There will be water and even if there isn’t, if you are smart, you’ll be fine. Ok, there will be water on the course. This is the look of I’m doing my first 5k or I’m new to this. Great! But ask for some advice. You don’t need to dress like it’s 50 degrees. Notice experienced runners will often run shirtless at 50 degrees because they know it will warm up. They know their body will warm up. Why? They have experience. You may not run shirtless and ladies, you can’t! And many men, you shouldn’t! But you don’t have to wear a cotton shirt, tights, and even a long sleeve t-shirt in a spring/summer 5k. It says you don’t know. In this case, ignorance is a defense. But this also tells me/us that you are not experienced. So why are you now trying to keep up with the top ten people in the first 100 yards? That’s how I know. And then they slowly or most of the time quickly come springing BACK to center. Only to end up walking. Why? Why put yourself through that? PACE. If you have never run a 5k before, tell yourself your goal is to finish it and not have to slow down or stop. What is wrong with that?  

Finally, as I was walking back in this joyous 5k where it was 100 degrees and Ellen was claiming it was 200% humidity, I saw a fellow who was finishing the 5k. He was now walking at a pace that I was walking as I was cooling down and going back for my friends. Now, I have a lot of experience, so I was making sure that I was not being a jerk and getting in people’s way. I’m aware and typically on my best behavior at this point in the race (because the torture is over). I looked at the young man and said, “you will feel a lot cooler if you take off your ball cap.” I explained that heat rises. He said thanks and took off the hat. He looked at me and said, “I already feel cooler.” He then went on to explain that it was his first 5k. I told him I understood and made a comment about how the important thing was the holiday (it being the Juneteenth) and as a black American he really appreciated that and stated, “yes sir that is right!”  

So, what did I learn? Many people don't know. They just don’t. And running events can be such a great hobby. I have really enjoyed them for different reasons through the decades. It's something we can do for a long time. And it’s something that can improve someone's health. More people are going to stick to an exercise program if a hobby is involved. People simply want to be taught. Where is the instruction book? I mean there are some, but most don’t want to investigate that. I can't blame them, but us more experienced runners can attest. Now, it’s important how we do it. I have been known to be a jerk and disguise myself as “helping” when I simply wanted this space invader to get out of my stratosphere. But again, this is a blog!  

Running can be a beautiful thing. How can we go to these events and have our best time? Or simply not hate it so much that we refuse to go back? There are ways! Did this help? It helped me!  

Rob Maxwell  

Jughead Jeffrey

I have a client who was joking with me about how I should up my muscle head game and start carrying around a gallon jug of water everywhere I go. As always when this client says things I laugh because he has an excellent sense of humor. For those who don’t get this, there is a running joke that bodybuilders always carry around a gallon jug of water.  

Last weekend I was dehydrated. I know this because I was bloated and seemed to be retaining fluids. That’s usually one of my signs. There are other reasons for feeling and being bloated. I knew my body well and knew I was feeling dehydrated.  

At the beginning of the week, I told myself I needed to up my water game. Bodybuilders tend to get a lot of things correct when it comes to exercise and diet. They’ve done this long before there was such a thing called “fitness influencers''. For example, bodybuilders have been walking around with one-gallon jugs of water for at least two decades. Now, the trend is for everyone to walk around with their special Stanley water bottle. What was it last year?  

You may be wondering why the jug of water. The water requirements given to us by the American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine range from drinking ½ of your weight in ounces to up to a gallon (128 ounces) daily. If you are active, you need to be at the upper end. Bodybuilder says, “Problem solved, I’ll get a gallon from the supermarket and drink.”  Sure, we can drink too much, but it is rare. The jugheads are pretty smart when it comes to this. Just buy a gallon, when it’s gone, I drank a gallon! We have fun, but who’s the dumb one? 

 I have two points to make on this. A less important one for now and a more important one.  Let me start with the less important one. Bodybuilders who have famously been picked on for being muscle heads and even can be thought of as idiots make so many great points, typically with their actions. Let me make it clear that this reputation is ignorant. There aren't any groups that are dumber or smarter than any groups. Right? You know this right? Arnold Schwarzenegger used to be made fun of for how he spoke. He took speech lessons before acting because experts said he was dumb. Well, last I checked, his social and financial status has trumped most people who have ever lived. So, if that’s dumb, sign me up. 

The stereotype is false just like all stereotypes. We have smart muscle heads and dumb ones! We have smart lawyers and dumb ones. We have smart athletes and dumb ones. We have smart politicians and dumb ones (ok maybe to get into this profession we’d have to question if they were ever smart!). And naturally, I’m using “dumb” tongue in cheek. I don’t believe any of us can judge who is smart and, who is dumb.  

As a group of athletes, they tend to get so much right about working out. Maybe because they are obsessed with progress? Maybe we can learn from their obsession. They tend to, almost always, drink the correct amount of water. They’ve been eating “clean” decades before Izzy influencer told you to. Bodybuilders told you not to diet and simply make lifestyle choices such as working out and eating clean long before Franny Facebook told you about her “clean eating” method. They get a lot right!  

Now to my second point: Drink more water, people! Pure water! I was making the mistake of drinking a lot of seltzer water and water substitutes. Why? Boredom, I guess. I have one client who always says he drinks pure water and iced tea. And that’s it. That’s rather good! As Americans, we drink that and everything else. Soda, diet soda, lattes, seltzer water, Gatorade, Powerade, G2, Perrier Water, smoothies, Frappuccino's, beer, wine, etc. When you start bringing your beer, to the gym, in your Stanley Thermos to work out, we get to talk. Don’t laugh, it’s happened (long before Stanley Bottles were a thing, but beer was brought into the gym). People are weird! Hazel and Pebble, my little furry kids at home, drink their water daily from both of their bowls. They drink them down and I fill them up. That’s it. They don’t ask me to add an additive to their water, so they drink it down. Now, occasionally if I leave that toilet seat up, Hazel might hydrate via the toilet fountain. Not ideal.  

We need to drink pure water. How much? More. We need water. Our body is 70% water and needs to stay hydrated. Most of us don’t drink enough. Water helps us lose weight and maintain our body weight. Staying hydrated helps with digestion. Helps with absorption. It obviously helps with maintaining our body temperature. It is the biggest variable there! Drink pure water.  

The Jugheads have tricks. Maybe it’s time you join the world of muscle heads and walk around with your gallon of water! If that isn’t for you, what is going to be your trick? It’s not about knowing the information, it’s about how we are going to apply the information.  

What will be your trick to making sure you are drinking more and enough pure water? 

OPTIMIZING

  Can there be a better word for 2024 than optimizing? Is the new generation going to be known as the optimizing generation? I guess there is nothing inherently wrong with optimizing. I guess? Then again, I'm not sure. I suppose we can leave this up to debate.  

 But it’s not always best and oftentimes what we’re trying to optimize is downright silly. And who’s optimizing? The following are some examples of things I see being argued about on the internet this week. The first one was looking at whether bananas are hurting the other nutrients of the fruits mixed with your smoothie. Really? Did you know that 12.3% of the population are consuming the recommended intake of fruit daily in the United States? Yet some influencers are bashing bananas? The banana study is false. They are fine!  

 Also, this week the debate about protein intake rages on. And not even whether we need it. Of course we do, but at what exact gram we need it individually! Look, some metrics are great, but are we getting carried away? How many grams of protein does a gorilla get? I am not sure either, but they are pretty jacked. At best, according to the research only 50% of Americans are even attempting to stick to a healthful diet, but we are arguing about perfecting protein.  

 Here are some more debates: oatmeal; good or bad? Fasting-cardio superior to non-fasting cardio? Rep ranges in the gym. Some of these are ongoing and will never end. According to research, less than 20% of Americans are doing the bare minimum of cardiorespiratory exercise and strength training weekly. Yet, the optimizers are sweating the details. Let them. Who cares?  

 I get it. It is typically people super interested in a topic arguing with others that are also super interested or invested. Fitness is not only my job but my hobby. I love looking at different studies. But I am aware enough to know that most experts and dare I say influencers are asking the wrong questions. And influencers are not experts! The question should not be about what is best. The question should be how we get more people to exercise and more people to eat healthier. We should be asking how we get more Americans to the mean.  

 We live in a country of feast or famine. We do have some extremely fit citizens! And we have more unfit citizens than any other country in the world. Can't we balance this? Can’t we become a country of more moderation? I believe in the fact that we are only as strong as our weakest link. We all impact each other.  

 Here is the problem with the influencers fighting on the internet. It trickles down to the masses. Things get retweeted and shared and the person that is trying to get started reads it and gets confused. The paralysis of analysis kicks in and they do not do anything. Someone might counter with people should be aware enough to not be easily led. That might be true. But two things can be true at the same time. And the influencers need to be more responsible for their part. Here is the problem with that, they will not. They cannot. Why? They are not educated. Most simply do not know better.  

 Research shows that less than 20% of fitness influencers on social media have even the most basic of training. Less than 20% have ANY credentials. They are not the experts. They are the loudest. They are possibly the fittest (looking), but as I have always said, you cannot ask a racehorse how it got fast. I mean you could, but you will not get an answer. And you might get a similar blank stare if you were to ask an influencer. If fitness influencers are so inclined to be famous and tell you what to do, why would they not be disciplined to get the proper education? They are busting people for their lack of discipline to eat well, and they won’t discipline themselves to study. I’m sorry but looking the part is not enough. We can’t change them. We can change you. You can change you. You need to learn who to follow and who to listen to. Can you stop looking for an optimized plan and simply follow common sense and eat better and exercise?  

 Read these: 

• Around 2000 B.C.E the Egyptians introduced structured fitness training to the world

• In 386 B.C.E Plato invented physical education 

• Somewhere between 460 and 370 B.C.E Hippocrates wrote the first exercise prescription 

• The first gym membership is reported to be in 1848 owned by a man named Hippolyte Triat 

• Jerick Revilla invented the modern-day pushup in 1905 

 Do you really think there are new things under the sun? We’ve known about exercise for centuries. Sure, there have been some modern advances, but they really are few and far in between as far as what brings value to increasing fitness. We still haven’t learned that much about executing this knowledge and getting to the gym.  

 Let’s walk away from optimizing the perfect way to eat and exercise. Let’s instead do all we can to get ourselves on a regular, sustainable, exercise program. How do we get our friends to exercise if they aren’t? We should tell them why it works for us.  When I was in my teens and overweight, I felt awful about myself. When I got into shape, the world changed. We talk more about what we were like, what we did to change that and how we feel now. The internet debates will always be there. Before this they argued at the “water fountain.” We can choose what we take part in. Do you want to be part of the problem or solution?  

 I choose to be part of the solution.