First time hearing about foam rolling? Have you seen one before but couldn’t figure out what the person was doing on it?

Foam rolling has been gaining popularity among fitness professionals and their clients for many years. It allows you to take care of your soft tissue(the tissue that holds your muscle fibers together) without the cost of a massage therapist. There are many benefits to foam rolling and it’s about time everyone took notice and made it a part of their exercise routine.

Foam rolling requires the use of a FOAM ROLLERthat is generally 6” thick and 36” long.  Foam rollers come in different evels. The less dense, the less pressure that will be applied to the muscle. Self massage can be painful when first starting because the fascia is tight, but over time the fascia will release. We always recommend beginning with a less dense roller and working your way up to a denser roller.

Why practice foam rolling? It will help prevent injury and improve recovery from a workout or injury. It can be done before or after a workout and takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. It targets areas of overuse or injury and gets the muscle/fascia to release. Basically, you’re ironing out the muscle and fascia to lie properly, which will improve range of motion and posture. Foam rolling is also going to increase blood flow to the areas you’re rolling out, so it’s great to do before you stretch. Some fitness coaches would even tell you that stretching is almost useless without rolling first.

What is the procedure for foam rolling? You’ll be rolling out all the large muscle groups in your body and will need to roll the entire length of each muscle a couple of times. When you find tight areas (called “trigger points”), spend extra time trying to get those muscles to release. You can spend up to 30 seconds on the trigger points.  The focus should be on muscles and not joints. If you are really tight or sore, you can foam roll (self-massage) up to 12 times a day.

Start foam rolling today. Every home, work place and gym should have a foam roller. It is not only great for recovery, but will also give you a greater sense of well-being and relaxation.

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Metabolic circuits amplify your workout

Do protein shakes really work?

The secret to to a lean, sexy body

Q: A few days a week, I get to the gym at 5:15 a.m., and on other days at around 9, for a total of 4-5 days of weights and 3-4 of cardio. On the days I go at 5:15 a.m., I have to do cardio first to “wake up,” then I do weights. I have to eat something prior to cardio because I’m hungry, so I bring a shake with water, protein and about 1/4 C of Oat Bran (for the carbs) mixed together. I drink about 1/4 of it prior to cardio, then the rest as I am lifting weights. Should I be drinking it all after the cardio, so it can get into my system before the weights? Or all before cardio? And if I drink it before cardio, won’t all my energy be gone by the time I get to weights? – Davida C.

A: Drinking your shake before you start cardio is going to provide you the maximum amount of energy. And it will ensure that the protein gets to the muscle to limit muscle damage and improve muscle recovery.

The carbohydrates in the drink are digested almost immediately and converted to glucose. The body will depend on the glycogen stored in the muscle and the available glucose in the blood from the drink to provide the energy for the exercise.Waiting until after cardio to drink your protein shake is only going to postpone the delivery time of the carbohydrate to the muscle.

There are two carbohydrates at work in your shake: simple carbohydrates that will give you the immediate energy you need to “wake up,” and complex carbohydrates that will digest more slowly. The combination of complex carbohydrates and protein will fuel the rest of your workout. Workouts over an hour and a half will need additional supplementation during the workout.

Adding the Oat Bran will decrease the glycemic response of the shake due to its fiber content, and will slow down the release of the carbohydrate into the blood as glucose. This can be important because the Oat Bran provides more complex carbohydrate, since most protein shakes’ carbohydrate sources come from simple carbs like sucrose.

The more carbohydrates you eat before the workout, the less protein your body will need to use for energy during the workout. Preserving protein to do its job (which is to rebuild tissue) is the key to getting the maximum benefit from your workout. The more protein that is left to support the maintenance and building of lean muscle mass, the higher your metabolism will be and the better you will perform in your subsequent workouts.

A pre-workout protein shake should have a 4:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio. Generally, good protein shakes contain a 1:1 ration if taken with water. In order to get the carbohydrate into a shake you will need to add it by putting in grains or fruit. There should be 200-300 calories in a protein shake for an average-weight woman and 300-400 calories for an average-weight male.

If you are doing a pre-workout shake 30 minutes to an hour before your workout, make sure that you are eating a blend of protein, carbohydrates and fat in your next meal. That meal should occur 30 minutes to an hour after your workout to get the most benefit.

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A: Strength training should be done before cardio to increase the effectiveness of the total workout. That’s because you want to make sure the movement you will be performing with resistance are done correctly. The greater the loads used while doing strength training, the more effective the workout. Performing each movement correctly, and with the maximum amount of muscle involvement, increases the quality of the workout. Cardio can wear you out and deplete energy stores if done before strength training.

The energy primarily used during your workouts is called glycogen, and it’s stored in all of your muscles and your liver. Glycogen comes from the carbohydrate you eat from 0-24 hours before the intense activity. As soon as you start exercising, glycogen stored in the muscle and liver starts to be depleted. Low or depleted glycogen stores will decrease exercise intensity and time ’til exhaustion, and can make you feel tired. If glycogen isn’t available, the body depends protein and fat to provide the energy your body needs, and they are not very efficient sources of energy.

Breaking down protein and fat to provide you the energy for your strength training workout will make you feel sluggish and tired. And you don’t want to break down protein because that means you aren’t going to have the protein to maintain or build that lean muscle mass you’re working so hard to create.

Strength training should be done first to make sure that you have as much glycogen as possible to perform the movements effectively. If cardio is done first, it will deplete glycogen stores and leave your body to depend on protein and fat – decreasing the quality of your workout, and limiting your body’s ability to create lean muscle mass. Cardio can be done at the end of a strength training workout, but needs to be completed by the end of 90 minutes of working out. Glycogen stores are completely depleted after 90 minutes of medium to high intensity workout.

Eating within two hours before your workouts will help keep glycogen levels high during the workout. That meal can be a protein shake with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. The protein shake will ensure that those carbs are available and give you the advantage of having protein available at the end of the workout to start rebuilding muscle. Remember, simple carbs are ok to eat before a workout because they will get into your bloodstream faster than complex carbs, and they’ll be used up by the end of a good session.

Burnt out on cardio? Good news!

How to time your pre-workout protein shake

Q: How should I eat in preparation for workouts and sporting events? – Thomas M.

A: Nutrition before a strength training workout or sporting event can determine your level of performance. There is no difference in the nutrition needed for a workout or sporting event under an hour and a half, because the activities are very similar in their demands. Most sports and strength training activities rely on the anaerobic energy system, meaning short bouts of movement from 10-45 seconds. Having the right nutrients available during these bouts of exercise is going to be essential to your performance.

The secret to exercise energy

The nutrient that provides the energy that gets muscle moving is glycogen. The most efficient and fast way to get glycogen is by eating carbohydrates. If glycogen isn’t available from carbs, the body will pull from less efficient sources of energy – protein and fat. Relying on protein and fat to provide the glycogen will make you feel sluggish and tired during your activity. To have the maximum amount of glycogen available for your workout or sporting event – in order to perform at the highest level – glycogen needs to be stored from carbohydrate eaten before the activity.

How do you make sure that glycogen is available from carbohydrates when you workout? Eat them before your workout. A full meal three to four hours before your workout with carbs, protein and fat should help get the glucose into your system that will be converted to glycogen. Ideally, you’ll also drink a shake or smoothie 30 minutes before your workout with a 4:1 carb to protein ratio. The shake should contain somewhere between 200-300 calories. If you are working out in the morning just after waking up, you need to do a shake, meal replacement bar or small meal.

The importance of proper nutrition

The people who most often fail to practice proper nutrition before activity are those who need it most: children, young adults and people trying to achieve a healthy weight. Parents need to be more educated about nutrition and teach these principles to their children. Kids who are in sports need to understand how and when they should be eating to make their practices and games more productive.

People trying to achieve a healthy weight need to make sure they have eaten correctly to build lean muscle mass and have the calories they need when they workout. When you are trying to obtain a healthy weight, you are going to be in a calorie deficiency for the entire day. But be pro-active: put the right nutrients into your body before your workouts and immediately after. After a workout, you want to make sure you eat or supplement with a protein shake that has a 1:1 carb to protein mix.

We have a motto that we teach our clients: “Do the little things really well and you will be successful.” Proper nutrition before a workout is a little thing, but can create huge results.

An often-overlooked must: warming up your muscles pre-workout

What’s the trick to timing a protein shake?

Hit a fitness plateau? Read this

Q: Can you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? -Zaaga

A: What a great question.  Everyone should be asking this question, because maintaining muscle or building muscle while losing fat is the key to long-term weight loss success.  Every workout you do should promote muscle building and caloric burn when you are trying to lose weight.  If exercise and healthy eating are done correctly, you will build muscle and burn fat.

There are four keys to maintaining or gaining muscle mass while you lose fat. The first key is that you need to be doing strength training exercise that promotes the breakdown of the muscle.  The second is to have the nutrients available, primarily protein, to rebuild the muscle during and after the strength training workout.  Third, do interval cardio workouts that raise your heart rate and fatigue your muscles.  The last key to losing unwanted fat is to make sure that your caloric intake is 300-500 calories less than what you require.  But don’t go lower than that: sometimes people decrease their calories to extreme levels, and the body counters by using protein as an energy source to survive.

People who are overweight and need to lose body fat have excess energy stored throughout their body.  Eating fewer calories than you expend isn’t going to make you lose muscle. Your body will make up the difference by using fat to provide the necessary energy your body needs.  We emphasize the need to be on the right program to achieve your weight loss goals and maintain them for the long-term.

The challenge in the weight loss industry right now is that many diet makers would like you to believe it’s impossible to maintain or even gain lean muscle while dieting.  It is not impossible.  Many popular diets, like MD Diet and the HCG Diet, even recommend that you don’t workout.  The primary way these diets get you to lose weight is by putting you on a very low calorie diet.  There is no way to maintain muscle mass while on these diets because of the body’s need for energy.  Part of the weight you are losing on these kinds of diets is muscle mass.  We have major concerns with the diet industry and the negative effects it has on healthy choices.  Pure weight loss isn’t the key to a successful diet, the key is the promotion of healthy habits and behaviors.

Build muscle and lose fat with metabolic circuits

Read 10 muscle-building tips at Stronglifts.com

A: If you want to be fit while you’re pregnant, you need to be fit before you get pregnant. That way you’ll be able to maintain a much higher level of fitness throughout your pregnancy, even though you will have to decrease the intensity of your exercise program.

If you have not been participating in a workout program, you will want to start out with the basics and increase your intensity slowly as you start to get more comfortable with the exercises. Always consult your doctor before starting a workout program while pregnant.

From a fitness coach’s perspective, exercise is absolutely vital during pregnancy. If you can, do a complete fitness program that includes both strength training and cardio. Sometimes it may be difficult to work out because you’re nauseous, but be patient and do what you can. Working out during your pregnancy will give you more energy and allow you to maintain your fitness level. That means you’ll recover and get back to your pre-pregnancy fitness level more quickly.

Weight gain is a major issue with pregnancy and these are the most current guidelines for pregnancy weight gain from the Institute of Medicine (IOM):

If your pre-pregnancy weight was in the healthy range for your height (a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9), you should gain between 25 and 35 pounds – gaining 1 to 5 pounds in the first trimester, and about 1 pound per week for the rest of your pregnancy, for the optimal growth of your baby.

If you were underweight for your height at conception (a BMI below 18.5), you should gain 28 to 40 pounds. If overweight for your height (a BMI of 25 to 29.9), you should gain 15 to 25 pounds. If you were obese (a BMI of 30 or higher), you should gain between 11 and 20 pounds.

In order to stay within these recommendations, it is essential to not only exercise but to be on a healthy eating plan. Generally, women are only recommended to increase their caloric intake by 300 calories a day to provide for the growth and development of the baby. Pregnancy should not be a break from participating in a healthy eating program. It’s actually more important to be eating foods that provide the nutrients your body needs.

An important point to remember is that weight gain can come from many different sources: baby, body fat, muscle or swelling. The healthy weight gain should primarily be everything associated with the baby and your body trying to support the baby. If you are swelling you should definitely be working with your doctor. Many of the prescriptions used for nausea can cause swelling and water retention. For example, Zophran decreases urination, which in turn would cause water retention and weight gain.

Pregnancy is very challenging on your body, but don’t get discouraged. Make healthy choices and realize that it will take some effort to stay fit while pregnant.

Pregnancy Today’s tips for starting an exercise program when you’re expecting

Learn the benefits of prenatal yoga at BabyCenter

A: We are going to include this whole question because we often have this issue with people that we workout with and you may feel like this person does.

“I usually workout 4 – 5 times a week. I eat pretty healthy over all especially compared with other smaller girls around me. I know I have a really low metabolism and have struggled with my weight all my life. I have recently gained like 10 pounds and I am trying really hard to get rid of it. I upped my workouts to running 3 miles (30 min for her) 5 times a week, 4 (1 hour) cardio classes a week, and 2 (1 hour) strength training classes. I also eat about 1200 to 1500 calories a day of fruits, veggies, lean protein, and complex carbs, and drinking 85 oz. of water. I have been doing this regimen for 2 weeks now and keep gaining weight. Do you have any suggestions for me or is this typical when really upping the intensity? Thanks for your help, I am just really frustrated and I can’t figure it out.”

To start out our number one thing we would have them do is start tracking everything they are doing. We want them to weigh themselves and do a body fat analysis to start out. For at least a week we would have them report all the activity they are doing and get them to track their eating on www.dailyburn.com. We would analyze the data after a week and make sure there was absolutely no fudging of the data. We hate to bring this up, but often times when we are working with clients and they aren’t seeing success losing weight it is because they aren’t reporting what is really going on.

If after a month of tracking everything accurately we aren’t having any success we need to get a professional involved and have them do some testing.  Generally they would meet with a doctor and do some testing.  For example, they might find that their thyroid isn’t functioning at the level it should be.  Sometimes a sign of low thyroid function is feeling tired and lethargic.

In this particular case with what we know from the question we would have them stop doing the long 3-mile runs and just do interval runs or cross train on another cardio machine. The interval runs are 5-minute warm-up HR 135 and 1-minute Hr 175 as fast as she can go 2-minutes HR 135 walking or slow jogging and repeat the 1 and 2 minute interval 3 or 4x as she gets more comfortable with the intervals she can go up to 5-6x and always finish with a 5-minute cool down. This particular cardio program is advocated by Alwyn Cosgrove in his manual AfterBurn.  The intervals cause increased calorie burn for up to 36 HR after the workout and help build lean muscle which drives metabolism.

We would cut out at least two of the cardio classes and add an extra 1-2 strength training classes that should be strength training circuit classes.

Nutrtition around the workout is essential.  They should be eating or supplementing with protein 30 minutes before or 30 minutes after the workout to maintain lean muscle mass. They should be eating 5-6x a day and eating most of their carbs in the morning or right before their workout.

We don’t want to write a whole e-book here, but we could because this particular situation is something we constantly come up against.  We will break some of these ideas down into shorter posts as we go along.