San Marcos Personal Trainer and Boot Camp Instructor Reveals 7 Father’s day Fitness Tips

Father's Days is time to celebrate what our father's have given and sacrificed to allow us to lead the lives of our dreams and fuutre, but is acctually more of a rude awakening.

Look, I hate to be negative, but something needs to be said.

Our father’s are in the worst shape of their lives, many are suffering from a very scary condition called Metabolic Syndrome X.

One of the main indicators of someone who has metabolic disorder is abdominal obesity.The scary part is that many of our father’s have the look of a big 'ol "beer belly"!

Please read below for an excellent description of Metabolic Syndrome from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp:

What is metabolic syndrome?

"An association between certain metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s. In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic risk factors that come together in a single individual. In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis - depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless, the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular disease is well accepted.

The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese.

Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues. Because of the central role that insulin resistance plays in the metabolic syndrome, a separate article is devoted to insulin resistance.

How is metabolic syndrome defined?

The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is doing the defining. Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:

1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.

2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.

3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.

4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.

5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome:

1. High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria:

2. Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0.9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches.

3. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or an HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.

4. Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure).

And though Metabolic Syndrome affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have the dreaded “beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions."

But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.

See below for the top 7 fitness tips to help save our father’s lives:

1.) Lay off the Beer

It’s no wonder why our dads have a keg for a belly and not a six-pack. See below for the best way I know of explaining how detrimental alcohol can be on your body composition:

How Alcohol Makes You Fat:

Alcohol passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach. From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream. The remaining alcohol moves to your intestines and is absorbed from there. The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since alcohol is toxic to the body. Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.

If you booze, you WON’T lose!

What Does this Mean?

-Your body effectively processes 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour

-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning up to 6 hours. This is in addition to the fact that your body will be storing fat during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. One day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when it comes to your fat loss!

-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages can promote even further fat gain due to the insulin surge that triggers fat storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)

The Bottom Line

If you really want to be lean, you have to minimize ALCOHOL consumption!

If you must drink:

a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer

b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max

References:

Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”

2.) Work your lower body and quit being such a pansy

Most dads typical perform a meathead workout that emphasizes the upper body only. If you want to look like Johnny Bravo where you are built up top with chicken legs, then keep doing what you’re doing.

However, it is important to note that strong, muscular legs are the key to torching your beer belly. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body. Not working your legs is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:

a.) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning

b.) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts

c.) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat

So if you want better abs, you better start using those legs today! This can be easily accomplished with 3 total body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.

3.) Do something besides bench presses and curls

Look- I understand why guys don’t want to train their legs. Unless you are at the beach in a speedo, no one is going to see them! So there is simply not as much motivation to put the time and effort into your lower body as there is for your upper body which is always on full display at the beach or poolside.

However, if you are trying to develop a really nice upper body, you need to start venturing outside the norm of bench presses and curls. Don’t forget, you do have muscles on the backside of your body too!

In fact, your lats (the wings that extend from your arm pit to the bottom of your rib cage) are the biggest muscles in your upper body and when developed they really help promote that V-shaped torso that both makes your waist look smaller and your wife happy ;)

Start doing at least the same amount of pulling as pushing (if not more) unless you want to end up like the Quasimodo.

Lastly, only do isolation movements like bicep curls if you have extra time after your the meat of your workout. Compound movements like rows and pull-ups work your biceps just as intense, and since they allow for the use of heavier loads, they also provide a better growth stimulus to maximize your results in minimal time.

4.) Don’t eat like those idiots from NutriSystem

Here’s my take on the theory behind NutriSystem:

“I’ve got an idea for an incredible product and marketing campaign:

Let’s gather a group of genetically gifted former professional athletes that have put on some pounds since ending their playing days. We’ll have them all get their asses kicked by top personal trainers while following a restricted calorie diet so we lean them out real nicely.

But then we lie to the overweight male coach potato consumer and tell them that they got these results from eating the same food they are currently eating- you know, pizza, lasagna, sweets, etc. Except we’ll make the meals the size of a dime so they can still technically eat what they want and lose weight at the same time.

To make it even better, we’ll pre-package all of their meals for them to buy from us so these lazy bastards don’t have to do anything besides nuke it up and eat it!

We’ll make millions!”

Well, that’s exactly what has happened- thousands of sports-loving, ESPN-watching dads have been swindled to buy into this gimmick that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight without exercise- because Dan Marino did it!

If you really think you can continue eating the same foods that got you that beer belly in the first place, then I’m not sure how I can help you. And yes, there is portion control within the system, but to me it’s a like a big terd versus a small terd… IT’S STILL A TERD!

5.) Accept that you probably need some professional fitness advice

Seek out the guidance of a fitness expert like busy mom’s do and get life-changing results. What you don’t know about training can and will hurt you, but what you think you know can and will KILL you!

Quit being so stubborn and macho. You are no less of a man if you hire a personal trainer or join a boot camp because your wife and her lady friends do it. In reality, women are simply smarter than you because they effectively outsource their fitness needs to an expert whereby you try to re-invent the wheel on your own with little to no results.

If you want to lose your beer belly, follow the lead of the ladies ;)

6.) Make sure you perform a 5-minute warm-up

You can’t afford NOT to warm-up. It’s like pushing the pedal to the medal in the dead of winter in your frozen car that you just started- things just don’t work right and you’re not going anywhere. A cold car can't run on all cylinders and neither can you!

It will only take you about 3-5 minutes to lengthen your muscles and lubricate your joints to help prevent injury and make your body ready for a more effective workout, so don’t skip the warm-up!

Below is a great 5-minute body weight warm-up that I have used in our boot camps:

Alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for each exercise in the following warm-up circuit:

1- Stationary Running

2- Jumping Jacks

3- Squats

4- Lunges w/ Rotation

5- Arms Across Chest

7.) The “no pain-no gain” attitude will leave you a bitter, crippled, and grumpy old man

The “no pain, no gain” mind set is quite possibly the most abused practice in fitness. Pain can be a good thing as long as it’s the correct type of pain as outlined below:

When exercise MAKES YOUR MUSCLES BURN, that’s a good pain- this means you are pushing past your comfort zone to produce a change, working with intensity to torch calories and build muscle, and burning sugar so your body can burn fat for hours and hours after your workout.

When exercise MAKES YOUR JOINTS HURT, that’s a bad pain- meaning you are quickly wearing down the structural integrity of your joints and will soon be unable to do anything without pain or stiffness. This is most often caused by a combination of using too heavy of loads, poor exercise form and technique, strength imbalances, and lack of mobility and/or flexibility- more reason to heed Tip#5 and seek professional help!

I have worked with many dads who have beaten their bodies down and nothing’s more depressing than a dad who can’t play with his kids or enjoy recreational activities with his friends. Do yourself and your family a favor and stop being such a meathead when it comes to exercise and start taking care of yourself. Exercise doesn’t have to hurt to get results and nobody wants another grumpy AND injured old man ;)

Happy Father’s Day! I love you Dad. You mean everything to me ;)

Committed to Your Health,

Heath Herrera, M.Ed., CSCS