April eNews 2010

in tHIS issue

are you working out too much

Tip of the month

quote of the month

do we need Added fibre

training for the city to surf

 

Are You Working Out Too Much?

One of the reasons people stop training is due to the anxiety caused by muscle soreness.  This usually occurs from the typical practice of undertaking the high volume training programs espoused in popular muscle & fitness magazines...the big mistake most people make is doing too much volume to soon!

Even YOU are probably doing too much volume. So here's what you need to do right now...

Take a look at every exercise, set, & rep in your workout program.

Is it there just to add volume & time to your workout or is it there with purpose, actually getting you closer to your goals?

Remember that training is simply a stimulus being applied to the body with the purpose of getting a specific adaptation.

Bottom line…you should be training to get results, not just to do more exercises and spend a lot of time working out.

If you do that, you'll save time, have less soreness, and maybe even get MORE results by doing less.

Here’s a sample workout:

Perform this 2-3 times per week for eight weeks and watch the improvement in your strength & posture.

Workout:

Exercise                                                                         sets x reps

 

1) Overhead Press                                                           6x5

2) Deadlift                                                                          6x3

3) DB Row [standing]                                                      4x6

4) Reverse Hyper                                                             4x8

5) Triceps [Band] Pressdown                                       3x8

6) Standing Ab Crunches [with band]                          3x8

TIP OF THE MONTH

Can you do a plank for 2 minutes straight?  

That is Dr. Stuart McGill's recommendation for healthy people.

Dr. McGill, a low back pain expert, has found that abdominal endurance corresponds with less back pain, so he recommends you build up your plank endurance to 2 minutes. If you can NOT do that, you are at greater risk of low back issues.

 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH  

"Be good to yourself. If you don't take care of your body, where will you live?”

 Kobi Yamada

CEO Compendium Incorporated

 

DO WE NEED ADDED FIBRE

Digestive stress and fatloss are two of the main conditions for which additional fibre, bran in particular, is recommended. Although it can be helpful for some, there are in fact other alternatives. In many cases  added fibre, particularly cereal fibre, may actually increase the risk of digestive stress. Although it is supposed to travel through the gut at a faster rate, it does not always do so and using it as a “stomach filler” when dieting is not always good either.

Constipation is a frequent complaint when people who have eaten a high-fibre, high carb, low fat diet and adopt a different macro percentage nutrition template.  However, that does not mean that the new diet is at fault. Constipation is really caused by their previous diet. What happens is this:

When we eat food the waste is moved along the bowel by circular muscles, in the same way as a worm moves. If you eat a high-fibre diet, the fibre itself forces waste through and the circular bowel action is made redundant. After a while it stops working. Now you change to a more natural diet with a lower ­fibre intake and your bowel muscles don't work as they should, so you get constipated.  The muscles will recover if you keep eating appropriately, (unprocessed foods, lean meats, good fats, etc,) and drinking more water.  What you should not do is go back to the high-fibre regime that caused the problem in the first place.  Obviously seasonal vegetables and fruits are good, but not in the vast quantities some people suggest.

Contrary to what the ‘experts’ tell us; we are not physiologically designed to consume processed foods.  Consuming foods low on the food chain is ideal.  High fibre processed grains [Breakfast Cereals, Oatbran Muffins, Muesli Bars, Breads & Pasta, etc] for most are problematic for efficient digestive health.

When you think about the marketing propaganda associated with breakfast cereals, the question begs, if the processed grains are so good for us, why do they supplement the product with sweeteners, vitamins, minerals and proteins.  It would appear that without these additives it not only tastes lousy, but its nutritional composition is questionable.  Have you ever thought about growing your very own wheat tree out back to compliment your fruit and vegie patch?

 

TRAINING FOR THE CITY TO SURF 

For many athletes running the City to Surf is not on their annual racing schedule. Runners usually tend to race distances that are familiar to them so they can compare and measure their success and improvement. The City to Surf can be considered an awkward distance to be racing which makes it difficult to focus on such a distance. Developing a training program for this distance can be complicated for many runners mainly because of this odd distance. This is why training and racing the City to Surf unique. It can be the perfect distance for training and racing if planned accordingly. City to Surf training is usually implemented through a gradual build-up phase of training. Training sessions are normally of high volume and long intervals with a high number of repetitions. The rest time between intervals can be very short or moderate but it never allows for a full recovery. The running pace is usually run between, slower than 10k pace to a little faster than marathon pace. The rest period between intervals and speed can be manipulated according to the needs of the athlete, taking into consideration the goals the athlete is trying to achieve during training. What makes training for the City to Surf unique is that most of the running sessions are done on the roads and/or dirt trails instead of the track. Interval sessions are run as fartleks or pick-ups. There is a great emphasis on hill work and tempo runs. During this type of training prep the main concern is the development and improvement of running strength and endurance.

Perform 2 continuous weeks of the easy training regime; then 1 week of the hard training regime.  Complete this cycle 4 times.  Afterwhich a new training cycle will begin.

The following is a sample of an easy week of training for the City

The following is a sample of a hard week of training for the City to Surf: