The Fitness Guru

I’m addicted.

OK, not addicted, but I am enjoying my newest app addition. The Tabata Timer.

For those of you not familiar with Tabata training, it is a method of high intensity interval training where you perform 20 seconds of incredibly intense cardio-vascular exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, based on a 1996 study by Dr. Izumi Tabata. This interval is repeated eight times, making your total Tabata-thon 4 minutes long. The benefits include increased anaerobic capacity (the ability to sprint for longer and more intense periods) as well as possible long term fat burning benefits. Can I get an “Amen!”?

Though not for everyone (and certainly if you are just starting a fitness program), Tabata interval training can be a wonderful addition to your fitness regimen.

So then I find the app. Very simple to use, it gives you a timer that splits each interval into 20 and 10 second periods and keeps track of how many cycles you have completed. When you arrive at the eighth and last cycle, you are rewarded with a medal-clad figure throwing its arms up in victory. Angry Birds doesn’t give you that!!

So check out the app HERE and send me your feedback, both on the app and the workout!

Videos to come!!

Rock on!!

You know that feeling I’m talking about: you wake up in the morning and you are really feeling that workout from the previous day….or sometimes even two or three days before. That pain is known as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)– ooooooh fancy name for “Ouch, I kicked my own butt!” If you’ve been exercising for a while, that pain can send you the message that you are really bringing it (No Pain, No Gain); if you’re new to exercise, you may use that as an excuse to put off exercising for a good long while. Don’t. No excuses.

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No Pain, No Gain is not the greatest messaging: sure, you want to push yourself in an effort to get stronger, but push too far and you run the risk of injury. So what do you do if you get hit with DOMS? Here are some ideas:

• Get moving, sooner rather than later. Don’t go heavy handed into another workout but do something light: a brisk walk, a light jog, some easy stretching– anything that can help your body open up and get your circulation going.
• Hydrate: keep drinking water. Get more fluid into your system. Your body thrives on water. And no, coffee and soda don’t count.
• Try a nice hot bath bath with a cup of Epsom salts. The salts are great for soothing tired muscles.
• Find a great anti-inflammatory cream, particularly one with Arnica, an herbal anti-inflammatory. Traumeel makes a great cream and it’s always easy to keep a tube in your medicine cabinet.
• If you must, pop an ibuprofen tablet but follow the directions and don’t swallow them by the handfull. Honestly, it will wreck your stomach.
• Splurge every so often on a massage. If you are going to spend a lot of time challenging your body, make the investments in healing it as well. You will be able to work out better longer for it.

If you think you’ve injured yourself– if the area is swollen, discolored and/or sensitive to the touch– you may be suffering from a strain or a sprain. Check with your doctor. They can diagnose a strain (the over stretching or tearing of a muscle), a sprain (the over stretching or tear of a tendon) or even a stress fracture in the bone. If the doctor finds a strain or a sprain, they will probably suggest that you use RICE to help heal.

• R : Rest. Yes, my brave New Yorker, you must rest the injured area. That doesn’t mean skipping hills when you go for your run, that means skipping the run. Short term smarts on your part will lead to a much faster recovery. Note that if you avoid resting a strained tendon, the recovery could take longer than if you’d broken a bone. I know, I know….I’m such a dark cloud.
• I : Ice. Ice the injured area. At times, I think it’s easier to get New Yorkers to root for the Red Sox than to ice an injury. Take an ice pack, or even a bag of frozen vegetables, wrap it in a light cloth and apply it to the injury for 10-20 minutes. Do this three or four times a day and it will do wonders in terms of getting rid of the inflammation and allowing nutrient-rich circulation back to the area.
• C : Compression. Wrap the area in a bandage– not so tight as to cut off circulation, but just enough to feel the compression.
• E : Elevation. Elevate the injured area for 10-20 minutes several times a day. This means that if you have injured your leg or ankle, lie down on the sofa and put you legs up. This, like the ice, will do wonders toward helping to alleviate the swelling.

Be smart: follow the RICE plan for a few days and you will be up and at it again. If you find you keep injuring the same area, take a good long look at how you are training that particular area and maybe, just maybe, make a few changes.

If you have any thoughts about injuries or any questions about exercise or fitness, shoot me an email at michael@fitnessgurunyc.com.

Rock on!!

Hit or Myth: for a workout to be effective, there has to be some pain.

MYTH.

Though you may feel tired and sore the day following a workout, depending on which muscle groups you’ve worked plus your level of exertion, you shouldn’t be feeling pain DURING the workout. Plus, the tired and sore feeling should dissipate with 24 to 48 hours.

Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If the workout is painful, check your form and your ability to complete the exercise efficiently. Pain may suggest you’re already injured!

No brain, no gain!

Morning Brew at the DUMBO General Store

Caffeine can help your workout by increasing endurance (it slows the breakdown of glycogen giving you more fuel over the course of your workout), delaying fatigue, keeping you more alert, and lowering “perceived exertion” so that you can work a little harder. The average cup of coffee has 60 mg of caffeine which is perfect for the 150 lb exerciser.

Just use caution if you have an adverse reaction to caffeine. If you are not used to caffeine, start with a small amount and make sure that it doesn’t give you the post workout jitters.

This week we have a lower body workout with a lot of cardio intervals. The music is heavily ’80′s, with a little ’90′s thrown in for flavor.

Download it, try it out and let me know what you think.

Remember, the podcasts are for you. Let me have some feedback so that we can give you the best possible workout!

Click away!

The response to the Personal Training Podcasts has been terrific!! You all seem to be getting into the idea of CyberTraining 1.0.

This week’s workout is a focus on upper body work with some cardio thrown in for fun! It’s 55 minutes from soup to nuts! Give it a whirl.

This week’s upper body focus is a result of a request for an upper body workout. It’s that simple. Ask me and I’ll make it happen. Also, let me know what soundtracks you want. If you want to workout to all Sinatra (hey, ya never know) tell me and I will post the podcast.

These workouts are for you! Let me know how best to shape them!

And the Winner is…..

It was a very difficult process. So many of you submitted great entries. But after dozens of entries, some hand wringing and debate among our judges, the winner of the First Annual Guru Makeover is…….

Christine Barker of DUMBO, NY!

Stay tuned for updates on Christine and her fabulous makeover.

And thank you to everyone who entered!! We are going to have lots of other great contests in 2010, so stay tuned!!

Podcasts

So a few brave people have tried the new Free Personal Training Podcasts and the feedback has been fantastic. It’s so easy to use. Download the podcasts from our ever-expanding library HERE, add the podcast to your iPod, and come into the Guru for a workout with your Cyber-Trainer. Michael will guide you through a variety of workouts with an eclectic mix of music and various workout times! Check it out now and catch the wave!!

The Fitness Guru is going to be offering FREE Pilates Mat Classes in Brooklyn Bridge Park every Tuesday evening through the Summer, beginning July 7th!! Come and join us for a terrific workout at the base of the Beautiful Brooklyn Bridge. Sign up is at 6:30pm with the Class starting at 7pm on the dot!!

The Countdown To Class!!

No dates present

We finally have the Cardio-Strength Circuit Podcasts available for download right HERE. For those of you who don’t know about the Circuit, it is a wonderful idea thought up a couple of decades ago by my good friend, Joel Kaye: spend just a few minutes on each piece of equipment and in a quick hour, you have worked your body in every possible direction. Of course, we have added our own spin to the Circuit idea, including the Podcasts.
Now you can download an hour long workout right onto your iPod. Bring your iPod to the Studio and you are ready to rock!! You get an hour of music and instruction on how to use the Circuit to your best advantage. It’s like having a persona ltrainer right there with you.

Give the Podcasts a try and then let us know what you think. LEt us know what other sorts of music you want to hear, and what other workouts would light up your fitness life. We will make it happen.

Enjoy and Rock On!!!

No, it’s not a ski run. It’s what I do when I’m strapped for time and I want as solid a workout as possible. Here’s how it works:

1. First, I start with 5 minute warm up on the elliptical machine.
2. Next, I choose five exercises, A thru E.
3. Each exercise should work a different body part: legs, arms, abs, etc. I will also add a cardio vascular exercise like Mountain Climbers or Jumping Jacks
4. I start with one set of exercise A. Then I wait 30 seconds. Then I do exercises A and B. Wait 30 seconds. A,B and C. And I continue on until I have A,B,C,D, and E.
5. Now I start with E. Wait 30 seconds. E,D, wait 30 seconds. And all the way back to E,D,C,B and A

Each Diamond should take about 15 minutes to complete. If I have 30 to 45 minutes to workout, I will do two Diamonds back to back. And the great thing is that I can keep changing the exercises from Diamond to Diamond so that I never get bored.

It is a high intensity workout so be careful and patient the first time out. But give it a try and you’ll find the Diamond is a fun, creative way to make the time fly by in the gym.