personal-training | Personal Trainer San Diego / North County

How important is exercise to your health?

Jul 18 2020

Many people think that exercise is a pain in the butt and in some cases after a hard set of squats it literally is. I just wanted to take the time to remind people out there why it’s important.

My client said to me the other day that his heart rate “only” improved fifteen beats per minute since he started exercising a few weeks ago, from 95 BPM to 80 BPM. I answered him…only. Lets take a closer look at that according to the math and you may see “only fifteen BPM” in a different way.

Say a person begins a simple personal exercise program of jogging for 20-30 mins 3x a week. That person would end up losing a few pounds but more importantly, their heart rate would improve at rest from ninety BPM to seventy five BPM in most cases (as they say “your mileage may vary”). So lets take a quick look at how saving your heart fifteen beats per minute effects the number of beats your heart will save over time.

15 beats saved in 1 minute.

In one hour your heart will save 900 beats.

In twenty four hours your heart will save 21,600 beats .

In one week your heart will save 151,200 beats.

In one month your heart will save 604,800 beats.

In a year your heart will save 7,257,600 beats.

In five years, fifteen beats a minute less, will save your heart 36,288,000 beats .

In ten years, fifteen beats a minute less, will save your heart 72,576,000 beats.

In twenty years, fifteen beats a minute less, will save your heart 145,152,000 beats!

That is a lot of beats your heart has saved. Less work equates to a longer healthier life. There are people that change their life completely around and save thirty, even forty BPM! Can you see why exercise is the best tool for anti-aging.

Heart rate is also used to predict many other things like what training heart rate is best for your fitness goals. Many people have no clue how to determine what heart rate training zone is the best to burn fat, improve endurance, improve anaerobic capacity and improve overall health. Many people use a formula called Karvonen, which you can learn more about doing a google search. This formula helps determine percentages of your exercise heart rate that are used to achieve specific fitness related goals, such as:

40-50% -Healthy life style

50-75% -Burn fat

75-85% -Improve endurance

85-95% -Improve Anaerobic capacity

If math is not your thing, my web site has a calculator that does all that for you. On my site, there are other calculators which are useful to determine other fitness related markers. Just hover over the “calculators” tab at the top.

If those beats per minute were turned into dollars made, you would all be exercising right? So what’s stopping you? Your health is the most important thing next to God and your family.

Lets look at a scenario: You feel a little chest pain and go to the doctor thinking you are experiencing heartburn and you’ll get some Prevacid and call it a day. You’ve waited a long time to go because you were so busy. Now the doctor finds your blood pressure is high and sends you for some tests. When the tests come back they confirm something you thought only happens to excessively overweight people and not you. You need open heart surgery!

I don’t know about you but just the thought of that scenario makes that 20-minute treadmill work sound a lot better. Combine that with laying off the extra cheesy nacho’s and beer during the ball game or after shopping with the girls drinking Cosmo’s or wine. I hope that never happens to any of you.

Here are 5 other benefits of exercise. I could name about 50 but I picked these:

Improved circulation to all organs!!! Did you get that guys over 40.
Improved brain function and memory, meaning we can remember what our spouse said to us 10 mins. ago. Ladies we know you remember things from 20 years ago so imagine what that means guys. They’ll be like elephants and never forget.
More muscle tissue means a higher metabolism at rest but it does not mean more beer or wine.
Better skin from sweating, you have to shower though after the workout.
Stronger bones, which means better posture and more active life style into our golden years.

Something to try on your own. I know we all love to “tie one over” once in a while but people do not realize how much alcohol affects the heart. So the next time you know your going to go out and pour down a few pints try this. Before drinking, sit and relax in a chair for 5 mins and then take your heart rate for a minute. Write it down. After you start drinking take your pulse when you’re done. I know some of you may be too blasted to even do that but even after two to three drinks take your pulse again. Your heart rate will increase from 15-25 beats per minute just sitting there.

Hope that helped. God bless and remember to workout. If not, ignore your health…it will go away.

Blessings- John

Guys and girls…raise testosterone levels naturally.

Jul 4 2020

So you’re 40 years old and you’re in the gym hitting the weights hard and eating right. A few months goes by and you’re not seeing results. You feel tired, weak, you have no energy and the last time you saw your “soldier solute” was when you had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I think you get the “point”. You may be suffering from “Low T”.

This subject is nothing new and is the latest topic for guys trying to put more lead in their pencil. Sorry I just can’t resist all the adjectives.

At any rate, it’s probably a good idea to have your “T” levels checked by your doctor, which is done through a simple blood test. You may find that one simple pellet or cream is all it takes to get your MoJo back. At any rate, it’s time to see what it is in your life that may be effecting the your “lead levels”…..so to speak.

Ladies don’t be fooled. You need testosterone as well, but the only difference is you require much lower levels than men but it is still an important part of your well being. Like having trouble losing those last few pounds, trying to squeeze into an old outfit or you just don’t know why you’re always tired? I put together a list of what I found are the biggest culprits to lowering testosterone.

Remember to always check with your doctor and don’t just take my word for it. Low T might be related to an underlying medical condition such as a tumor or disease. You can also research much of this information as well. Keep in mind not just people over 40 suffer from low T. Your lifestyle and stress levels or disease can determine it as well.

#1
I recommend that you stay away from high-protein, low-fat diets, especially if you’re doing a lot of endurance related activities like running, cycling or swimming. Not enough carbs can create a condition called ketosis which is good for VERY short term weight loss, however, over longer periods of time it is extremely bad for testosterone levels as well as your overall health. The kidneys reabsorb some testosterone from the blood but in the presence of ketones they lose out and it’s excreted.

#2
Eat a diet rich in monounsaturated fats. This has been known to help the body make hormones like testosterone. Foods high in Mono unsats are walnuts, avocados and almonds as well as flax seeds and fish oils.
“Incidently “T” is made up of cholesterol. So, the rumors about eating a whole egg once in a while are true, only IF you do not suffer from elevated cholesterol levels.
Again ask your Doc.”
#3
Starvation is a testosterone killer! To stay lean, while still maintaining optimal testosterone levels, I recommend eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. In order to create testosterone, your body needs an adequate supply of calories. (about 11 per pound of lean body weight) This is why so many good meal plans only implement 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week. When calories are too low (or if you starve yourself) the metabolism slows down. This, in turn, slows down testosterone production, to conserve energy. Before you know it, your hard earned muscle is wasted and used as energy to supply amino acids for glycogen through a process called Gluconeogenesis.

#4
It is important to be sure that you are getting enough sleep. This is imperative for testosterone production. The body’s circadian rhythms are extremely important and they have a direct effect on your testosterone levels. Most males are very familiar with certain effects of those elevated testosterone levels that usually occur in the morning, which is when “T” levels are highest. I won’t go there I promise.

#5
Try having sex more often (once a day is good). Many of our lifestyles effect us especially with work, kids, and stress. This makes having sex fall low on the priority list. Having frequent erections will increase the amount of testosterone in your bloodstream naturally. Sexual arousal sends messages to the brain and the pituitary gland in turn releases a chemical called LH- this stimulates “Big Jim and the twins” to make testosterone. (Need I say more?)

#6
Alcohol is bad because it upsets the balance of the liver. The liver has to work extra hard to produce enzymes to breakdown the alcohol. The same enzymes that help breakdown alcohol are also required for testosterone production. In the presence of alcohol, these enzymes, (located in the testes for testosterone production) are diverted from the testes to help break down alcohol. Makes it easier to pass on that whiskey and coke or a “high ball”.

#7
Over training is a sure fire way to lower your testosterone levels. When the body is under stress, it secretes cortisol, which competes with testosterone. This process occurs when we over train. Signs of over training are: sore joints, sleep problems, loss of appetite and an overall feeling of being tired and run down. So what is better, Under training or over training? Under training, because you get zero progress. Over training- you get negative progress. So what is a guy to do? Call a good personal trainer like me ☺

#8
Lift weights! It is crucial to choose exercises that use more than one joint at a time. For example, the best three moves you can do are squats, bench presses and dead lifts. The reason for this is, these movements require large amounts of energy, which in turn create large levels of blood lactate in a short period of time. These high lactate levels (that are not constant but sporadic) stimulate testosterone production! However, it is important to keep in mind that lifting too hard and too long can shift the body into cortisol production—- and we already know that is something we want to avoid.

So what I recommend is: lifting weights for no more than 1 hour a day. Perform at least three sets of 6-15 repetitions on each exercise and 10-15 total sets of heavy or moderate weights every day and train one body part per week per day. Ladies, the heavy weights are especially important for you, to prevent bone loss as you age and to keep the loss of female hormones to a minimum. We cannot beat natural decline, but we can stave it off and slow it down. When you lift weights your body is in an “anabolic” state. Meaning it’s focused on building up. When we don’t lift weights our bodies go into a catabolic state. This process catabolic state speeds up as we age and starts after age thirty.

#9
As far as natural supplements, I don’t believe in any of the millions of gimmicks out there that claim to increase testosterone and give you a sex drive as well as a manhood rivaling a porn star. However, if you’re a gambling man, there is one that many people claim works for them. It’s called Tribulus Terrestris. Another highly recommended supplement is Zinc. A natural food source is Oysters. They are loaded with Zinc, which helps natural testosterone production. So how does one determine if they are zinc deficient?Try this test:

#10
Testosterone Testing is another important step in the process. Be sure you are not only tested for your total free testosterone but also your bound testosterone. There is a substance called Sex hormone binding globulin that takes a “free ride” on your precious boner builder and renders it inactive. So even if you have high levels of testosterone, you may be “all bound up.” Check out this web site for more info on testosterone:

Good luck and play hard! Whoops… I did it again

Exercise Myths and Why!

Dec 27 2010

I’ve been a personal trainer for well over thirty years and it never ceases to amaze me how some of the mainstream media and public still believe certain myths about diet and exercise as fact. So what I will try to do here is “debunk the funk” about some of the most common myths that many people believe to be true. We all have our excuses not to workout or to stay out of the gym but in order to see great results, we need to STOP making excuses, and as my company slogan says- “Get over it”.

So I decided to list the most common exercise myths in the order of what I believe to be the most rediculous.

1) “Lifting heavy weights or lifting any weights makes you bulky.”

This aggravates me more as a personal trainer than any of the other myths on the list. I can point out many men under 150 pounds that can lift far more weight than I can. They are actually skinny. So what makes someone bulky you ask? It’s simple: Your Fork! Weight lifting and the type of results you want to achieve all depends on how you workout with those weights. So many woman are tricked into this “bulky belief” which robs them of so many benefits, such as greater bone density to prevent osteoporosis, strength that helps them in everyday life and vital hormone and immune system stabilization that only hard work can attain as we age. Lastly, an increase in metabolism at rest, due to an increase in lean tissue (not bulky fat). Muscle cells have something called a mitochondria which is the powerhouse of the cell and uses energy. With an efficient mitochondria a person can burn more calories at rest. Here’s more info on weight training’s benefits.

2) “Too much muscle turns into fat”

This one is so crazy that it doesn’t even warrant much of an explanation. Muscle is muscle it can not turn into fat. What makes this seem true is many of the bodybuilders and football players continue to eat like they did when they were competing and put on weight when they quit because their eating habits do not change.

3) “If I don’t eat I will lose more weight”

This is true at first, however after 24hrs your body begins to slow the metabolism to accommodate for the lower caloric intake and before you know it you’ll find yourself putting weight on by eating just a Tic Tac. So try to aim for a daily caloric deficit of 300 calories below your maintenance. This will prevent the body from slowing the metabolism. As a general rule of thumb, a good way to find a starting point to determine your daily caloric intake is to take your body weight and multiply it by 15. Realize some people may require more or less. This is only a starting point and a safe amount of weight loss per week is 1-2lbs. If you lose more than 3 pounds in a week you run the risk of slowing your metabolism. Here’s some good information about nutrition and personal fitness.

4) “I just want to work my stomach so I can spot reduce”.

Are you sure??
The initial feeling of spot reducing that many new exercisers experience is the toning of a muscle that was not used for a very long time. After that, all one can do is build that muscle and not spot reduce the fat around it. Unfortunately when God created us, he made us all unique and we all deposit fat differently. Some around the stomach, some around the hips and butt and others between the ears. The ones that develop fat between the ears will never lose weight because they continually believe these crazy myths and try to replace hard work and dedication to a healthy lifestyle with fad diets, pills and potions and other drugs that make your stomach look…down right nasty.

4) “Stretch before you workout”

Although I am a big believer in stretching it is also possible to over stretch and impede performance. In sport a muscle requires a certain amount stretch reflex to attain maximum speed and performance. By over stretching an athlete can impede this reflex and slow his or herself down or worse cause injury. Light stretching on a daily basis before and after exercise or sport is best. Stretching should be relaxing and not painful.

5) “Don’t eat before you workout”

This school of thought is correct when it refers to a large meal, however studies have found that small feedings a half hour before exercise actually helps to limit fatigue and muscle tissue breakdown. Realize it is not advisable to eat prior to a competitive event and it’s a good idea to speak to your coach or nutritionist if you are competing in any activity.

6) “Don’t eat fatty foods”

This pertains mostly to trans fat or saturated fats. The fats contained in walnuts, seeds, avocados, fish and oils such as olive oil are excellent for maintaining health and should not be avoided unless there is a medical reason why.

Well I hope this information helps and as always if you are under the care of a doctor or nutritionist always ask them what to do before adding or changing your diet and before beginning an exercise program.

Personal Training Tip: Staying motivated to workout and eat right

Sep 11 2010

The alarm clock goes off: You hit the snooze knowing you have to go to the gym and throw around weights and move your body in ways that makes you want to hit the snooze again. Now it’s raining out, cold and you’re nice and warm in your bed… so… you hit the snooze again. Before you know it your Personal Trainer is calling wondering where you are. Or you make it to the gym hoping that he/she doesn’t show up; however if you workout with me you know that’s a fat chance.

Does this sound familiar? You’re not alone. Being in the fitness industry for over 30 years, I’ve seen every excuse to not workout. Some excuses are good but most are bad. I especially love the honest one’s like: “I got hammered last night on Margarita’s and pizza and I feel like crap.” (I won’t mention your name you’re secret is safe with me)

At any rate, lets face it we’re all human beings, we have emotions, desire’s, likes, dislikes and more importantly a lifestyle. If I sat here and told you working out is a blast and I love eating good all the time I’d be a liar with a nose the size of New Jersey. The truth is that I also constantly struggle, and everyday I have challenges. Every time I walk into Starbucks I can swear that the French Toast Muffin calls out to me, but I ignore it like a telemarketer and move on.

So how does one stay motivated and still enjoy the finer things in life? It’s called balance and I’m not talking about the stability ball. Here are some helpful hints that help get me through.

For working out:

I love working out so it’s not a problem for me. I can tell that many of you would rather have your toenails ripped out. To get over this tell yourself “You Like It”. If anyone remembers Freud from psychology class, we all know what a self fulfilling prophecy is. So make it a positive one and not negative by being excited to go to the gym and watch your body improve in regards to strength, coordination and endurance. Remember the old saying “Pain is weakness leaving the body”!
Set clear attainable goals. Unrealistic goals like losing 4-5 pounds a week is not only crazy but unhealthy. Strive for 1-2 pounds a week at most, if you are under 30% body fat.
Use visualization. Picture your body munching on all the fat cells while your working out. You can do this with your diet as well, whenever you eat good healthy food.
Take a challenge from a co-worker who is harassing you about working out or eating better. No one wants to lose to the office loud mouth.
Wear clothes that are not flattering to a body part you do not particularly care for. For example, if you hate your stomach wear tighter fitting shirts around your mid section while working out to remind yourself why you’re there. Who cares what other people think, they’re not you and honestly, are we all really that important to each other. Once that stomach shrinks down those same people will compliment you on your hard work and new appearance and that my friends is positive reinforcement!

For eating right:

I always eat before I go out to dinner with friends, so I don’t go overboard on the pre meal snacks, like bread, garlic and olive oil.
Out of site out of mind. I don’t even let them put the bread on the table. Once a week I reward myself with it though.
Fill up on vegetables as much as you want you can, even put a little olive oil on them.
There are 4 ways your body turns down the hunger signal.

1. Blood sugar rising is number one. So eat “slow burning” carbs chewed well. I.e. Any whole grain.
2. Warm foods- Heat things up.
3. Distention or expansion of the stomach wall. i.e. Fiber
4. Hormones- Ghrelin is a hormone the body secretes in response to mealtime or starvation. By eating smaller more frequent meals you can keep this hormone from going haywire. Another thing to keep it at bay is to eat protein with every meal and surprisingly, getting 8 hours of sleep.

Don’t drink water or any fluids with meals. This dilutes digestive enzymes and can lead to malabsorption of nutrients; which in turn can cause nutrient imbalances leading to cravings, bloating and gas.
Balance your intestinal flora. Certain bad bacteria can overcome our gut from antibiotics, alcohol and poor diet. These “Bad Bacteria” set up shop in our intestines and stomach and some of them can cause cravings such as sugar. So try to limit your alcohol consumption and bad eating habits. A good coarse of probiotics won’t hurt either, so talk to someone who is knowledgeable in supplements.
Lastly, I always think health first whenever I am deciding what to eat. Too many times many of us do the opposite. We eat first, think about it after and get depressed. It’s a vicious cycle because after a while you feel defeated and the road ahead looks long, so we give up. What you need to realize is that if you are not seeing benefits in your body fast enough, there are significant changes going on inside that will help you live a longer healthier pain free life. One thing you must remember, weight gain not only can shorten your life it can also make the quality of it bad as well. Excess weight causes strain on the joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments. That can lead to arthritis, tendonitis, bursitis and a whole list of itis’. So when I am looking at food, many times I say to myself, “Self- is that piece of cake worth the regret I’m going to feel not to mention what it’s going to do to my insides.”

So there you have it in a nutshell. Eat, live and be healthy all.

Lessen your cancer risks

Jul 30 2010

Cancer kills more than 500,00 Americans each year, and I said only Americans! Many of us know how to decrease our risks and the most popular way is to quit smoking; however that decreases 1/3 of your risk. Another 1/3 is genetic disposition and another 1/3 is through diet and exercise. So if my math serves me correctly, by exercising properly and and eating right, you can diminish your risk by approximately 33%. Combine that with putting down the cigarettes and you cut your risk by approximately 66%. If I told you that you had a 66% chance to win the lottery would you buy a ticket? We shell out money routinely for that with far less chance of return. Do you know how much cancer treatments cost? Sometimes more than a lottery can pay out. Do you know how painful cancer can be? Can you turn back the hands of time? No, but if you are diagnosed with one of the many forms of this debilitating illness, you’ll wish you could and correct all those bad habits that contributed to it’s development.

So how can you decrease your risk? According to the Food and Nutrition Science Alliance (FANSA) the following is a good start:

1) Eat plenty of Fruits, Vegetables, whole grains and legumes.

2) Avoid highly processed foods that are high in fat or sugar.

3) Chose activities that are moderate or vigorous exercise.

4) Limit or abstain from alcohol.

If you are not familiar with how to eat properly it’s always a good choice to hire a Dietitian or Nutritionist and exercise can be intimidating as well. A good personal trainer goes a long way for healthy long lasting results.
To learn more about cancer risks for men and women Visit health information at Harvard University.

How important is exercise to your health?

Guys and girls…raise testosterone levels naturally.

Exercise Myths and Why!

Personal Training Tip: Staying motivated to workout and eat right

Lessen your cancer risks

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