Why Sit-Ups Suck and Planks Don’t

Want a stronger core? Skip the sit-ups

Sit-ups once ruled as the way to get tighter abs and a slimmer waistline, while “planks” were merely flooring. Now planks — exercises in which you assume a position and hold it, otherwise known as an isometric exercise — are the gold standard for working your core, while classic sit-ups have fallen out of favor. Why the shift?

One reason is that sit-ups are hard on your back — they push your curved spine against the floor. Sit-ups also work your hip flexors, the muscles that run from the thighs to the lumbar vertebrae in the lower back. When hip flexors are too strong or too tight, they tug on the lower spine which can be a source of lower back discomfort. Most people already spend enough time in a sitting position…working at a desk, sitting on a bus or in a car etc.

Second, planks recruit a better balance of muscles on the front, sides, and back of the body during exercise than sit-ups, which target just a few muscles. Remember, your core goes far beyond your abdominal muscles (I’ll be publishing a short piece on what the core is and why it is important in the near future).

Finally, activities of daily living, as well as sports and recreational activities, call on your muscles to work together, not in isolation. Sit-ups strengthen just a few muscle groups. Through dynamic patterns of movement, a good core workout helps strengthen the entire set of core muscles — the muscles you rely on for daily activities as well as for sports and recreational activities.

You’re Doing It Wrong

YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG

CORRECT FORM AND WHY IT MATTERS

Have you ever been to a gym and seen that guy with the 60lb dumb bells in each hand, swinging his whole body back and forth, hyper-extending his back with each curl? Yeah, that guy. Or that gal doing lunges with her knees over her toes at each step? Yup, that gal.

They are wasting their time. They are also putting themselves at great risk for injury.

The guy using his whole body to move the dumb bells isn’t using his biceps, the intended muscle group. He is hyper-extending his back = risk of back injury over time.

The gal with her knees over her toes is shifting her body weight to her front and putting great strain on her knees, overstretching and weakening her tendons and ligaments. She is also forcing the calf muscle to engage more and the quad to engage less.

Form matters. It matters a lot. It matters more than almost anything when trying to gain results and become a healthier individual.

Don’t think that just because you are moving your body you are getting the maximum benefits, or even any real benefit depending on how much risk of injury you are putting yourself in. Here is a saying that is tried and true: Quality over quantity. Who wants to have sex with someone 20x a week if it sucks? Why spend two months on vacation somewhere you don’t like? Would you want 20 friends who aren’t there for you when you need them or one really good friend that is?

Similarly, why waste your time doing your exercises half-assed when you could spend the same amount of time doing them correctly and gain so much more! When your technique is sloppy, you are just wasting your time and energy and potentially your money.

HOW YOUR BRAIN WORKS

Your brain is lazy. It will always try to find the path of least resistance. How does this translate to proper form? Well, when you exercise your brain will automatically be looking for ways to make it easier.

When you exercise, your body moves in a complex way, muscles pushing, pulling and stabilizing throughout each stage of movement. If you let your brain have its way you will end up doing exercises incorrectly and begin to form improper movement patterns throughout your body. These improper movement patterns are caused by muscle imbalances: when a muscle that was not designed for a certain movement becomes dominant and takes over the movement a now weaker muscle should be performing. The new improper movement pattern may “work” temporarily, but the dominant muscle is not designed for the new movement and this leads to risk of injury.

So, not only are you not working certain muscles and over working others, you are setting yourself up for injury and potential disaster.

So, don’t listen to your brain. Well, the lazy brain at least. Listen to your smart brain. The one that wants the most out of a workout as safely as possible, the one that got you to the gym in the first place, the one that wants to be healthier, happier, sexier and feel great, the one that wants to continue to be injury free so that you can continue to exercise and be fit!

Accelerate Your Fat Loss Results

Meal prep is a fantastic way to keep on track with your eating throughout the entire week.

The idea is to plan out all of your meals on the weekend, most often on Sunday, then do the shopping and the prep at one time for the entire week. This day is labor intensive, but then your food is ready-to-eat for the next 6 full days.

Here’s my 5 Step Meal Prep Guide to make your next food prep week really simple:

Step One: Planning

Get out your notebook and pen or pull up a blank note page on your iPad, it’s time to start planning for the week. Here are the questions that you’ll need to answer:

1) How many meals do I need each day?

• Check your calendar for special events
• Consider your appetite throughout the day
• Look at each day separately

2) How many servings do I need for each meal?

• Consider who in the family needs which meals
• Check the calendar for guests or visitors
• Look at each day separately

Step Two: Recipes

Now it’s time to translate those meals + servings into actual recipes. Take a moment to consider the produce that is in season and any special requests or food allergies.

1) Find your recipes

• Browse around on your favorite recipe site
• Pull out your favorite cookbooks
• Find your family favorite recipes

2) Focus on a core group of ingredients

• Plan recipes that use similar ingredients

3) Calculate leftover meals

• Making enough of some recipes for leftover meals saves time

4) Make your list

• Narrow down to the exact list of recipes

Step Three: Grocery List

Take your list of recipes and create a grocery list. A few things to keep in mind…

1) Pay attention to recipes that you’ll double or triple

• Make sure to include all ingredients in your list

2) Organize your list into these convenient sections:

• Meat/Seafood/Egg
• Organic Produce
• Herbs/Flavors
• Pantry Items

3) Check your pantry for items that you already have

• Save money by avoiding double purchases

Step Four: Shopping

It’s time to head to the grocery store! Take your list and, if you’re lucky, a helper down to your local market and go through each section item by item.

Step Five: Food Prep

You have options when it comes to the actual prep of each of your meals. Many you’ll be able to fully make right away and pack in the fridge. Other recipes you’ll want to simply do the chopping, measuring and organizing in order to make the meal hot and quick before you plan to eat it.

Which recipes should you fully cook in advance? The truth is that this is really up to you and your schedule. Here’s a good game plan if you don’t want to fully cook everything on Sunday 🙂

• Fully make the baked goods for the week.
• Chop all vegetables.
• Gather all seasonings.
• Fully cook Monday’s dinner.

Getting into the habit of prepping your meals for the week is a surefire way to accelerate your fat loss results.

Video Blog: Calories In Vs. Calories Out – Yes, It’s That Easy

As with all calories — whether they come from carbohydrates, protein or fats — your body converts what you don’t need for energy into stored fat, which will remain until you burn it off.

3,000 Calories In

2,500 Calories Out/Used

500 Calorie Excess

= Equals Fat Stored

IS YOUR DIET RIGHT FOR YOU?

IS YOUR DIET RIGHT FOR YOU?

There are a plethora of different diets out there, all claiming to be the best. But are they the best diet for you?

From diets like the Paleo diet, vegan raw food diet and the infamous Atkins diet, one thing these diets all have in common is that they were not made for YOU.

Everyone is different. Most of us begin learning this at a very young age. So, what my body may require for optimum health is going to be at least slightly different from what your body requires. This is why choosing a pre-made diet and forcing your body to live within this box is never a good idea.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

So, let’s step outside of the box for a moment.

Imagine that you and your body are best friends. Imagine that your body whispers all of its secrets to you, that you have intimate knowledge of what it needs to be healthy and happy; that you don’t have to fight it or force a diet not suited for it onto it. You know what it needs and you live happily together.

This is possible. What it takes is awareness, knowledge and will power.

Awareness is not that easy. It means really listening to your body, eating a type of food at a certain time and NOTICING WHAT HAPPENS. Do you feel good? Bad? Are you full or still hungry? Stomach upset? Low energy or high energy? Can you think or does your brain feel slow?

As you become more aware of the food you are putting into your body, you start to notice which foods make you feel good and which ones don’t. Which ones give you energy and which drag you down.

This helps in finding out what foods to keep in your diet and what foods to avoid.

TO KNOW OR NOT TO KNOW

Knowledge is somewhat easier. You can research food, your energy systems and nutrients such as fat, protein and carbohydrates. You can learn about the Krebs Cycle, when and what to eat for certain training results, what moods certain foods can contribute to and more. However, it can be a daunting task when you have very little extra time in your day and you will have to be careful of the ever-growing forest of misinformation that pervades the web.

That’s where a professional can help. You can work with a trained professional nutritional consultant like me, one that has already done all the leg work of study and can help steer you in the right direction. Once the consultant has knowledge of your medical history, body type, and nutritional habits I can help guide you towards a nutritional diet that is made for you and your particular body.

Whether you decide to go it alone or to work with a professional, you are certain to feel better and see fitness results faster when your diet is created just for you and partnered with a custom workout program.

It’s all about seeing yourself as the true individual that you are.

WILL OR WONTCHA?

Will Power. What is will? Your will is that part of you that knows you need and want shed those thirty pounds and is WILLING to do what it takes to make it happen. It is the part of you that won’t settle for mediocre anything, that keeps going even when your lazy brain wants to stop. It is the fire that ignites you. It tells you when not to eat the food that you know makes you sick or unhealthy or drains your energy. It tells you to eat the healthy foods instead of the unhealthy foods. It motivates you.

It is very smart. And extremely sexy. ‘)

It is something that is constantly shaping inside of you, a work in progress. Every time you reach inside and find the will to do something positive for yourself (usually something your lazy brain disagrees with!) you are building your will muscle and creating a more powerful YOU. A healthier and happier YOU.

A more complete YOU.

So, when searching for that next perfect diet plan, just remember “You are

what you (cre)ate.”

Please message me with any questions you may have regarding this post.

ML