Dara Torres outmuscles Michael Phelps

It is always fascinating to me how swimmers can be built differently but still be successful in the pool.

it is also fascinating to me how amazing an athlete Dara Torres is at the age she is (of course Michael deserves praise as well for being such a golf medal piggy – seriously Michael – let some of the other boys have a turn at the podium! Sharing is caring, I always say).

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Take a look at this video to see both athletes showering side by side (with suits on! trying to run a family blogpost here)

Make sure you pause it at 0.29. Then look again at 0.36 and do the comparison between both of these world class athletes.

You tell me who has more muscle. I think it looks almost equal, but not having the flipperlike arms and feet of Phelps, Dara definitely has more muscle and makes Michael look kind of streamlined and Dara a bit more athletic.

Of course, with 8 gold medals (and that’s just this Olympics!), who can fault him if he is a bit more lean in the physique department? Now if I could just figure out how to get a 7 foot wingspan on a 6’3″ body…

What do you think? I had to watch the video four or five times, but I honestly think she has the edge.

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How about you? Does Dara have more muscle than Michael?

She still looks amazing of course – her lat and rhomboid musculature could be the very reason that backless dresses were invented.

Speaking of Backless dresses:

Heres to two amazing athletes (and to the amazing bodies that swimming built!)

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

PS How about this amazing shot of Hilary Swank at the 05 Oscars? Maybe I should have made this post “the battle of the backs: Dara vs Hilary”

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Training Secrets of Olympian Dara Torres

Dara Torres has mastered the art of training her own body. But it didnt happen overnight.

Everyone seems amazed by Dara Torres and her olympic journey.

And rightfully so. She is an amazing woman with an amazing story to tell.

Daras daughter looks forward to competing against her mother in the 2020 Olympics.

But before you wonder if there is truth in all the ‘performance enhancing’ headlines, take a moment to ponder this:

what if her training and recovery routine is just that much better than the current system all the other athletes are using?

When I was in Australia I had the opportunity to work at the Australian Institute of Sport (a developmental center for Olympic and developmental athletes). Something I was constantly amazed at was the hours of training the AIS swimmers put in every morning. They would swim for hours and hours, perfecting their technique so they could carve through the water all the more effortlessly.

What I didn’t realize at the time (and what many coaches at high level competition also fail to realize) was the amount of overtraining that was happening. In fact, many swimmers are chronically overtrained.

Dara used to train like that. But not anymore.

Dara is now training 5 times a week in the pool – breaking world records and swimming half as much as her Olympic teammates.

How does she do it?

Swimming records depend on flawless technique in the pool. Once that technique has been learned, is it necessary to put in the same hours? Dara might be living proof that once perfected, training need not be so rigorous and focus can shift to other areas of performance.

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Dara is also an example of an athlete who has taken the initiative and chosen her own training routines. If she keeps bringing home the gold, who is to blame her for finding her own path to excellence?

Thankful to her moms and pops

The Dara Torres genetics, limb lengths and mental toughness all play a role in her natural affinity to gold medals – but lets also note the perfect swimming form her coaches constantly praise her for.

Dara Torres is one tough bitch

Wanna know how tough she is?

Dara Torres gave birth… but made sure she found time to lift weights and swim laps the very same day

Mental and physical gifts aside, perhaps the real reason Dara is getting her great numbers at such an age is the great support network she has built around herself.

Let’s take a closer look:

Dara Torres support team

1. Chris Jackson: Sprint coach
2. Andy O’Brien: Strength and Conditioning coach
3. Steve Sierra and Anne Tierney: Two full-time personal stretchers (these people work together to stretch Dara in ways a single person cannot. Might this be a key secret?)
4. Electro-physiotherapy – not sure of the science on this one, but a lot of the research points towards muscle rehabilitation rather than performance-based outcomes
5. Nanny to help look after her young ones
6. Nutritionist and meal plan program
7. doctor (her boyfriend) to ensure she stays in perfect health

Thankfully Because of the status she is, she receives assistance from sponsors to help pay for this team of (non-olympic funded) experts.

(Spare a thought for the other non-sponsored athletes who must work at Home Depot and live off of the ‘all-you-can-eat-pizza-bar’ to keep their training up with the hope for an olympic dream.)

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However, sponsorship/lack of sponsorship aside:

Daras workout may be a key:

holding weights while on a fitball makes for strong posture in the water

Daras workout believes that machines are built to help people get better at using machines, not swimming.

She often works out without sitting down in a single machine.

Her constantly changing regimen encompasses Swiss balls, medicine balls, bands and resistance cables in innovative and functional methods.

The compound workout she is driven through is designed to teach her muscles to be stronger together – not stronger apart. The finely tuned neuromuscular network she constantly builds upon means her body works together in all the right places.

Daras recovery may be even more important:

Dara receives daily attention from a couple of experts that stretch and massage her in innovative and brutally painful ways. The result? A body that regenerates quickly and moves smoothly come next workout.

Her workouts make sure the same muscles get worked out differently each time. Her massage/stretch team make sure her muscles get the maximal recovery. Her reduced swim load means she gets to practice her technique but not reach a point where she is overtraining. Which is where the majority of professional athletes are right now.

If you are a high level athlete, chances are you are overtrained right now

If you want to be doing whatever it is you do at an older age, here are some tips for you:

Secrets to help make you a ‘Dara Torres’ at whatever you want to be best at:

1. Get a massage on a regular basis. If you build up the waste in your muscles, you have to be able to remove the waste from your muscles. Simple equation, huh.
2. Stop eating food that you know is not good for you. You are what you eat. That means your joints are made of that crappy fast food you choked down last week. Crappy fast-food joints don’t last that long (in case you didn’t know).
3. Try things outside of your regular team protocol. If you want different results than everyone else, do things differently. Try relaxation. Try yoga. Try acupuncture. Try sleeping at a decent hour every night. If you look at the habits of the greats in any sport, they do the things that others don’t.
4. Be a stickler for form. Good form means relaxed muscles, smooth joints and reduced injuries. It also means better performances now and tomorrow. Daras coaches know she has her form down pat. She ought to, given the years of practice she has had. But she didn’t get it without focus and conscientious effort.
5. Make your next gym visit a functional training session. Your body will realize connections it never realized it had before. You will feel muscles that were previously dormant. You will curse me for giving you the idea for this workout but thank me later when your performance improves dramatically.
6. Stretch. Focus on loosening the tight muscles first – think about what tighten as you sit. Your chest, lats and hip flexors are a great place to start.

If you haven’t been doing any of this, then start tomorrow. It is never too late for good health.

Last word of wisdom for everyone out there, athlete and non-athlete:

If you are working hard, you should be recovering even harder.

Triathlete or Track & Field athlete, money-maker or mother of four – if you are putting in the effort, make sure you give yourself the opportunity to recover.

This will give you the best chance to keep you on your game and keep doing the things you love with less burnout, doing it better, and doing it at a high level for many years to come.

Live in Denver?  Go to WWW.FITNESSBYATLAS.COM to get a free pass to one of our classes

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

Quines mas macho?   Dara Torres es Michael Phelps?  Click here to read a post comparing the two

Top three all time blog posts:

how to get the perfect butt

the key component missed by 90% of flexibility classes

which is best:  treadmill, bike or elliptical?

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Flabby Triceps Begone. How to Erase the Under-The-Arm Sag-Factor

Batwings may be stylish on the Batmobile, but nobody thinks they look good attached to the back of their upper arms.

A common request from my personal training clients is the loose skin underneath their arms. Up until now I have had a series of top secret highly effective protocols that I closely guarded under lock and key.

But since this is not about me holding onto the information, but finding a way to share it with the world, here goes nothing:

Sara - you have to tell me how you got those triceps! The fate of the free world and my gym workouts depend upon it!

Know that your triceps are not purely a result of your fat. The way our hormone profile stands, we develop fat in key areas depending on how our profile is. High estrogen, Low progesterone, Cortisol and other hormones can all play a major part in how our body stores our fat.

As you will see, key diet and workout variables can be instrumental in helping us trim that problem area many women (and men!) experience.

The 6 best things you can do to tighten the triceps:

I wouldn't want to meet this cow in a dark alley - especially if I was wearing my leather jacket.

1. Eat several times a day and always ask ‘where’s the beef’.

Wait a sec.. this is for triceps, right?  Yep, you are in the right place.  If we can shave the fat off the tricep while we are trying to tone that muscle by the time the fat comes off we will have a nice looking tri ready to meet the world.  So, what’s with the picture of a cow?  Its saying you need to eat meat?  How does that make sense?

Well, you don’t need to ask ‘where’s the beef’ as much as you need to ask ‘where’s the protein?’ If you are eating regularly then your system is more able to stabilize (if you are running a race and you know a drink break is just around the corner then you can pace yourself more effectively. Since we are on top of the food chain, go for the quality high density proteins whenever possible (think hormone-free animal proteins).

Towelettes? We don't need no steenkin' towelettes!

If you are vegan, then…. juuuust rellllaaaaxxx… yooouuuu arrreee feeeliinnngg slleeeeppyyy.. Eaaaaaat soooome meeeaaaat….. (hey, it works for that guy that makes people act like chickens up on stage, right?)

Do not underestimate your bodies ability to anticipate what is coming next – your reward for eating small high protein meals more frequently will be leaner upper body fat (specifically the upper arms) and an improved metabolism and energy level. No, I don’t mean follow an ‘atkins diet’. I just mean make sure if you eat an apple that you have something protein to balance it out. Ok? Don’t go grab a roll of salami and start chowing on it like a hungry dog – that is not what I am suggesting here.

2. Get stuck into the ‘smart fats’ on a daily basis:

To regulate your hormone system and tell the body where to put the right fats, We need to supplement our diet with ‘smart fat’. Get some eggs, high quality fish/salmon oil supplements and good quality meats into your diet (think hormone-free filet mignon over mystery meat). A nice side benefit of the right fats is healthier joints and improved organ health.

3. Hold back on the booze

Of course this would never happen... My kid only drinks cosmos.

Alcohol and nicotine can play havoc with the bodys fat levels. There has been much written about the benefits of cutting back on these two substances so I won’t bore you here with more info. Just know that the back of your arms and the consumption of alcohol and ciggies is connected. End of lecture.

4. Measure yourself.

We can improve that which is measured. If you dont know how much you have on that arm, then you dont know if it is getting better. Sometimes all we need is a little encouragement to want to get more committed. None of us are going to wake up tomorrow with major change in the back of the arm.

5. Work Hard and Sleep hard.

Your hormone profile will stabilize and your body fat levels will normalize the better quality sleep you get. Getting to sleep before 12 and sleeping in past 6 can be highly beneficial on a number of health and lifestyle related factors. As much as you love those late night informercials, watching television right before you go to bed can also prevent quality sleep even though you might feel you are getting to bed at a decent hour. Try a nice warm cup of herbal tea in the evening to help your body prepare for sleep. Play some soothing music. Take a few deep breaths and let your body know that deep relaxing sleep is just around the corner.

6. Lift hard

Tricep Kickbacks. Honestly one of the worst ways you can spend your time trying to get nice triceps.

The hormones stabilizing factor of lifting hard has been proving scientifically time and time again. Don’t be afraid of bulking up – think of those lean triceps you are after, bottle that energy up and get to shifting some iron!

What's that Sally? You want a shot at the push-up title? Downtown gym, 3pm! You best bring your A-game, flabster!

Remember: Tricep kickbacks are not the solution!

Tri Kickbacks are inefficient, non-functional and use one muscle and one arm at a time – and only truly works the muscle through about 1/3 of its natural range of motion.   You could do more for your triceps simply by pumping out a set of standing bicep curls because you would be burning more calories and therefore shedding the body of more fat that covers up that tricep.

All you are doing is firming up a muscle group that is shrouded by a layer of fat. There is no spot reduction from working a specific muscle for a specific area.

Lift for 3 sets of large compound exercises (squat, lunges, dumbbell chest press, chin ups or lat pulldowns) and do reps in such a way that if you did more than 12 you would feel the urge to grunt loudly like those guys with the big weight-belts and hairy backs. This will make your body move fat like never before and give you the tighter upper body you have been looking for.

So take notice of the small changes – if you can put lots of small diet and workout changes together, you can build an arm you will be proud to wave goodbye with.

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

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The Bench Press is a Useless Measure of your Strength pt1

Do you bench a lot?

Here are four reasons you need to alter your workout to do all you can to avoid the bench:

Reason #1: The Bench is an excellent test of your ability to push a bar off your chest while resting on a bench. Thats about it.

It is NOT a good indicator of your ability to perform in an athletic event (other than bench press contests, I guess). It is NOT a good indicator of how many push-ups you can do. Many athletes have been amazing without good bench press strength (see this article on Kevin Durant – he is one of the next NBA draft picks.)

It is NOT real world in any way shape or form (unless you happen to wake up with a bar wrapped across your chest every morning.)

(1) The person being tackled is not shaped like a bar. (2) The person tackling is standing up. (3) The person being tackled is trying to move to one side (unlike a bench press which is straight up and down)

Reason #2: The bench in bench press immobilizes your shoulder blades and can make you more susceptible to shoulder issues as a result.

Think about where your shoulderblades go when you lie down on a bench. Think about how freely they move in any other standing exercise. The difference between you standing vs you lying down with the blades pinned is staggering and is one of the main reasons people experience such shoulder issues as a result of this primitive exercise.

If you want a workable solution try dumbbell presses on a fitball. That works great for keeping the shoulderblades fluidly moving. It also requires other muscles to play in with the exercise.

Reason #3: You already have an overdeveloped chest.

Think about every time you get up off the ground. Every time you try to move furniture. Gravity is such that we use our chest much more than we use our backs. It is also the easiest thing to see in the mirror, so we naturally work it to make it more prominent.

Our poor back and rhomboids on the other hand get left behind more often than not. If our shoulders are pushed forward that can irritate the capsule which can lead to reduced force production.

Reason #4: Death

Every year a few people die doing this non-functional exercise, when they would receive so many more benefits from doing a dumbbell press or 1-arm flyes instead. If just one person dies because of this exercise, that means there are many more out there that have been injured through improper (or absent) spotting.

More often than not this exercise is safe.  However, every now and then, this happens:

Although I cannot deny that if you want to work a muscle group the chest press is an excellent exercise, the potential for injury (usually coming in the form of a more sneaky rotator cuff or elbow issue that starts as a twinge and grows into a bona fide problem) far exceeds the potential gains when we examine the close relatives of this exercise:

Alternatives to the bench press that significantly reduce the risk of shoulder injury and simultaneously activate the core:

Barbell/Dumbbell Press on Fitball

Dumbbell press on fitball

Chest fly on fitball

Chest fly on fitball

Push-ups with different hand positions

Push-up on Bosu Ball (those things are awesome!)

Standing one arm cable press (a personal favorite)

Of course, if you tell your friends about this they will likely want to keep doing bench press.

It’s human nature to keep doing what is easy rather than what gets us where we want to be.

Know that this article is not about to convince your friends to do the more functional and practical alternatives listed above. Just don’t let them come crying to you when they start to experience back/shoulder/neck/elbow/wrist pain or postural imbalances from doing such a non-functional exercise.

In short, the bench press is an easy exercise to teach and do. That doesn’t make it the best, and it doesn’t mean there aren’t a dozen other exercises out there that will provide better gains for the energy and effort expended.

Jamie Atlas

http://jamieatlas.com

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High Heels are Ruining your Posture and Feet: Here’s Why

Wearing high heels can be the source of foot deformities, sciatic nerve pain, knee pain, herniated discs and a range of other crippling maladies. But why am I telling you this…

You don’t even care!

Ladies, don’t even try to fool me for a second… I know you don’t care.

Right now in your head the subconscious wheels are turning, pre-discounting every comment this article is about to make. It wouldn’t matter if I came up with some statistic that showed your teeth would fall out from wearing high heels – you would simply discount it with a wave of your hand and a comment like “that’s why god invented dentures’.

If all women suddenly decided that they cared, there would be a collective rumble as one and all would gather all their berardis, ferrugias and guccis and ignite them all in a large bonfire the likes of which could be seen by the Mars Lander.

This would be immediately followed by a series of high fashion assassinations to which the french revolution pale in comparison (watch out, Blahnik -you’re first on the chopping block!).

This race in high heels is brought to you thanks to the generous support of your local podiatrists and physical therapy association. Every participant gets a free consult and shot of painkiller following the race.

This pricey piece of Manolo Blahnik costs $7000. Thats just for the left one (yep, thats $14,000 if you want the full pair). It should come with a chiropractor and bunion surgery 50% off voucher.

So maybe you DO care and I am being cynical. Maybe it’s not your fault. Lets look at how society has conditioned you to need these fashion tools of torture.

If you already wear heels on a regular basis, you have had the following yo-yo thought process probably as many times as you have worn heels:

Order of thinking for the ‘high-heeltarded’:

This is the kind of advertising that makes me queasy. I look at this and all I hear is: Yoouuu arreee inadequate...Youuu willl nevveerrr bee goood enouuugh... noooobody liiikes youuuu...Youuu haaaave noooo liiiiife - ok so maybe that last bit might be true 😉

Featuring your logical conscience, and your socially bred feelings of inadequacy

Woman in high heels gets out of car, takes first step and goes through standard thought process below:

“Oh man, these shoes kill! Why do I even wear these things?!”

“But my legs look so much nicer in them – and whatever would I match with my dress”

(second step, proceeding compression/impingement of every bone in the foot accompanied by searing pain)

“That is it! My back is already starting to hurt me, my toes are warping into some strange bonsai tree-looking disfigurement and I don’t even like this guy that much!”

“Oh but look at her shoes? She looks so glamorous in them! Maybe she looks a bit uncomfortable, but how would any man even notice her tear-streaked face and muffled cries of pain when she has such beautiful legs!”

And so you walk on, excruciating step after excruciating step, paying the price for beauty…

And even though I know you are held back by your guilt-laden fashion shackles, it is my dream that maybe… just maybe…. there is a little girl out there in cyberspace who has not yet had her mind corrupted by the collection of fashion magazines, womens shoe stores or the constant barrage of “sex and the city” reruns. Maybe it’s too late for you to change. I don’t think it is ever too late. Only you can know.

Look at those high-heel free legs! Now THAT's fabulous

Next time you think twice about wearing tennis shoes to work, think about these legs and remember that you can look just as good in sneakers no matter what you are doing.

But I look so good in heels! Surely standing in High Heels improves my posture?

When you are standing in the high heels, yes, your posture is improved – because if you did not stand tall then you would fall forward. By tilting the back heels up, our upper body instinctively leans back to prevent imminent toppling over.

But here’s the catch – if you stand in heels, then your feet are tilted up. This creates a chain reaction that can cause your hips to counterbalance your elevated heels by tilting the pelvis forward.

Standing in heels can cause your pelvis to tilt forward, putting excess pressure on your lower back.

Is that all? Of course not! If the pelvis learns to stay tilted forward (which can happen if you wear high heelsand/ or work at a desk most of the day) then as you can see above, when we stand our lower back is swayed in and our upper back must respond by arching back.

This chain reaction from the heels to the hips to the upper back has the potential to be a factor in pain and dysfunction in every joint throughout the body and other maladies associated with posture.

Urinary track infections can also be related to wearing High Heels. But dont’t take my word for it – click here to read an interesting article that references Larrian Gillespie, M.D.

Maybe I have been too harsh. Maybe not all of this information applies to you and you are careful and concerned about your feet. If that is the case, then I applaud you for putting your body and your feet before fashion.

Here is the take-home message I want this article to give you:

If you have foot problems, low back, knee, hip or neck pain, avoid high heeled shoes at every opportunity.

If you don’t have any problems, then please use these weapons of fashion in moderation. For your feets future. For your posture.

Experiment with different shoes. Play with your style. At least find something that you can wear to less important days/nights.

Look how happy Janice Dickenson is to be wearing something other than stilettos! (maybe her security guard date has something to do with it as well)

You can be glamorous, attractive and as fabulous as you want to be without artificial elevation. Just take a look at these fashion forward pics:

James Blunt loves flats. He thinks 'they're beautiful, it's true'

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

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Afternote: I got some great responses to this post, but was really excited to stumble across this other post (click here to view it) that reinforces the whole anti-heel thing and comes from a womans perspective (because I don’t wear heels – you try finding size 15 heels!)

After-afternote: If you wanted to take the attention away from your feet, you might want to look at the ‘perfect butt’ exercise combo I put together. You can read all about it (and watch a short video of the exercises) right here

Do YOU want to be a Personal Trainer? What you Need to Know pt 2

To continue pt 1 of this post, let’s jump in with what happens in the life cycle before people even think of becoming part of your clan of clientele:

The WiiFit is just one of your competitors in the Personal Training/Fitness market

Things a person tries/considers before they even think about getting a personal trainer:

• buy an infomercial product
• try an exercise/nutritional program that a friend did
• pick up a fitness/health book or two from the local store
• do some research on the internet
• ask some friends what do
• ask a personal trainer at a party (one of my favorites is talking about nutrition over dessert and wine!)
• start attending group gatherings that focus on nutrition or exercise
• work out with a friend
• sign up for a membership at a local gym
• go jogging/walking with a couple of friends

You may not yet realize it, but your potential future co-workers are not making your quest to change the above pre-conceptions any easier. Think for a moment about a picture of a personal trainer.

French guy... drinking Wine? No way!

What images ran through your head when thinking about Personal Trainers? What you see as a personal trainer might be very different than what others see.

You are a stereotype until you prove otherwise

Thats you, Mister or Miss Personal Trainer.

Think of the standard assumptions people make about this occupation.

Ever seen ‘Celebrity Fit Club’? Bravo’s TV Show ‘Workout’? ‘Worlds Biggest Loser’?

Those are just a few of the stereotypes you will have to overcome.

The potential negatives of using a Personal Trainer:

• The greatest financial investment for no guaranteed results
• Might mean pain such that I cannot walk tomorrow
• Chance of public embarrassment with everyone staring
• Admitting that we cannot do this without professional help
• The last option – if this doesn’t work, chances are nothing will

The negative perception of the personal trainer by the public:

• the pretty boy/girl of the gym
• boisterous
• self-centered
• as loud and and brash as they want to be
• the person that you curse the next day when your entire body breaks down into rigor mortise
• able to bring regular people to vomit/tears/tears as they vomit
• during a session is more occupied with the other pretty boys/girls in the gym than their client

And so having reviewed those odds, it would seem it is a miracle that the person is willing to be seen talking with a Personal Trainer at all!!!

If the person is able to overcome their fear and reservations of all of the above, then then are at last ready to tentatively step up to the plate. But your battle to make someone feel comfortable and accepted under your expert tutelage is far from over.

Probably not the guy who coined the phrase 'Hugs not drugs'

The fear of the unknown

There is a good chance that your client is afraid of what people will think of them working with a trainer.

They are afraid that other people/co-workers will stare. Judge. Sneer. Doing a session with a personal trainer is the same as placing a large neon sign on their head that says ‘look at me! I am the dummy that doesn’t know how to workout like the rest of you guys.”

The timeless crossroad

As a personal trainer, you might not even realize the amazing amount of power you wield.

Having read this, You now understand the journey this person took to get to you.

You now have an idea of the courage they had to swallow and the cash they had to dish out to spend time with you and your expertise.

A good trainer has the potential to achieve the following:

• Change someones attitude to fitness
• Change someones attitude to life
• Change the way their family/co-workers/new people they meet see them
• Change the direction in such a way that even after they stop training with you they may continue on a path that could lead to amazing hikes, game winning shots and a self-respect and lust for life that might not have previously been possible.

You can have all of the blame and a small piece of the glory. Sometimes your client wont even see the change in their life that you create. But know that when they meet you, their life is at a crossroads. You have a change to create immediate and longlasting change that could change the lives of people you will never meet simply by them being an inspiration to others.

You can be a Superhero

You can make the world a better, healthier place. One person at a time.

In fact, you might be able to stop someone from going down a path that could lead to them dying ten years earlier from a lifestyle related disease.

You could gift someone ten quality years of life.

You could save someones life.

What could be more important than that?

So, having read pt 1 and pt 2 of becoming a Personal Trainer, if you still are keen to get started as a trainer, then go get certified.

But only if you are ready for that responsibility. Only if you understand the power to change that your client will place delicately and squarely on your shoulders.

Above all, only become a trainer if you are willing to treat every client with reverence and gratitude. For although you didn’t see it, they came a long way to get to you.

Be the trainer that respects them.

Be the trainer that shows them how.

Be the trainer that changes them forever.

Jamie Atlas

PS I run Personal Trainer development courses periodically. If you are interested in being part of the next course, click here to view my contact details and ask me more

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Do YOU want to be a Personal Trainer? What you Need to Know pt 1

Being a personal trainer carries much responsibility. More than most realize.

I get a few blog responses from people who have recently become trainers or are about to become trainers.

If you don't look like you just stepped out a fake tanning booth after not eating for 3 weeks, don't worry. You don't need to look like this to become a personal trainer. In fact, it can be intimidating to others if you do.

If you are considering becoming a trainer, know that it is NOT anything like you see on TV. It can be a thankless and frustrating occupation. Or it can be the best thing you have ever done. The choice will be up to you. But in the name of having full disclosure, allow me to talk you out of this supposed ‘occupation’.

Reasons NOT to become a Personal Trainer:

You won’t get a full workout in ever again. People will want to talk to you in the middle of sets.

They will ask you questions and blab on about their new Ipod playlist while you nervously eye the clock, wishing you could go back to the days of anonymity when people had no idea who you were.

Then, after a 10 hour day of having clients, the last thing you will want is to work out at the same place you train.

You will work from 5-9 – not 9-5. Erratically At 5am you will have clients, at 7 and 8pm you will have people that want to train. Why? Because the people that want to train with you also have jobs so they can afford to train with you.

Your clients will have important jobs then they probably start early and/or work late. So they need you to fit their schedule. You will have busy days and quiet days. You will also have big gaps in the middle of your day that will leave you unsure of what to do or how to fill them before your next client (possibly if they don’t no-show) arrives.

It’s hard work

75% of trainers quit after 3 months because they do not make enough to pay their own bills.

To be a Personal Trainer is to always be ‘on’, always be helping people, to be a walking advertisement that is dedicated to helping others achieve more out of their workouts – and their life. To not be afraid to ask people to shell out thousands of dollars for the honor of training with you.

Most Trainers cannot handle the fact that people do not automatically line up to be trained by them. This is a job that requires you to build a customer base. Once built, you have the opportunity to live an amazing life surrounded by amazing clients that will teach you amazing things.

But until then, you better get used to filling cups of water and walking aimlessly through the gym with a permasmile locked on your face.

If you are thinking of becoming a personal trainer, know this:

You have the opportunity to change people’s lives. In ways they never imagined possible.

After his client snapped, Jake the trainer used everything at hand to defend himself.

I’m not saying that your clients will one day sit around the campfire and sing songs of your body-transforming workouts. But fame or no fame, being a personal trainer is one of the most important jobs you will ever have.

Still feel the desire to help others in a way that no other occupation can?

So if that didn’t scare you off, congratulations, and what is wrong with you, you sick puppy!?

If you are still interested and know the sacrifices involved, here are some more real (but slightly more positive) things you need to know before becoming a Personal Trainer.

Sometimes you are the last chance a person has before they give up on being healthy altogether.

The Doctor is ‘out’

The doctor wont help them get to optimal health (not trying to rip on doctors, just saying that they don’t learn how to be superhealthy, they learn how to stop you from being unhealthy. There IS a difference).

With friends like these… Who needs enemies?

Sometimes our friends help us. Sometimes they drag us down. Sometimes they don’t know what they are talking about and recommend you to do the MegaCleanse 7000 because they heard about it watching the E channel and it totally worked for some random celebrity. They might be right. But they haven’t been trained to give honest, tough love advice. Nor should they. Thats the job of someone who cares enough to tell the truth about the problem but also have the knowledge to provide the answer.

Think personal training is all about carrying a fancy clipboard and shouting at people for ‘just one more’?

Think again.

The client sees their Personal Trainer as all of the following:

• a confidant
• a listening ear
• a person to remind the client of what is really important
• the voice in their head next time they want a donut
• the person that keeps them accountable
• the reason they show up
• the one who will help change their world
• the boss of the workout

Knowing that you have many hats to wear on top of being able to count to 12 and give high fives, you should also know that people have tried almost everything else before they decided to spend big money on you.

See pt 2 of this article to see why people are scared to death of personal trainers and the hurdles you must overcome to win their trust.

Jamie Atlas

htp://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

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Womens Fitness: How to Work out Without Bulking Up

Every woman worries about bulking up when they work out.

If you workout the wrong way, you have a good chance of gaining size where you don’t want it.

The real shame is that you haven’t been taught how to workout to tone muscles and how to workout to gain size!

If you want to gain muscle size, then you should workout like a bodybuilder. If you don’t, then you shouldn’t. Unfortunately this isn’t as simple as it sounds.

Chances are you don’t want to be the next WWE female wrestler, but chances are also good that nobody has been able to tell you how to create different changes other than to say ‘workout at a lower intensity’.

Are you working out like a bodybuilder? Do you know the difference?

Here’s what to look for – Bodybuilders usually work out in the following manner:

Isolated muscle groups (using machines that work just one muscle at a time – e.g. leg extension for the quadriceps muscle at the front of the upper leg or the bicep curl for just the bicep).

Split Routines (workouts that specialize the workouts to upper or lower body – e.g. chest and triceps, back and biceps).

High Intensity workouts such that they have trouble walking/opening doors/feeding themselves the next day

Either of the first two look familiar to your regular workouts?

If you are interested in gaining muscle, then you would be best served to avoid all of the above. However, that leaves you with a dilemma.

Isolated muscle groups are used in almost every exercise in your average gym workout or aerobics class!

If you do a dumbbell bicep curl with ‘proper form’, you have effectively isolated the bicep and have therefore given it the signal to grow. You are essentially sending the signal to your body to give you bigger arms. If you do it with improper form then you have an increased risk of injury! Surely there must be a solution that gets us where we want to be without turning us into the next Chyna along the way!

Notice how two of the above pictures are doing the same exercise? Wouldn’t it make sense to add extra muscle groups such as in the squat with bicep curl example on the left?

If you were looking for completely different (in fact OPPOSITE) results, wouldn’t it make sense to do a completely different exercise?

If you do side shoulder raises then you are asking your body to build you some natural shoulder pads.

If you split your program up by body parts then you are again stepping into the bodybuilding world.

Is there a solution that allows women to get the toned athletic body they are after?

The solution can be found through ‘functional exercises’. These are exercises that are based on using muscles together to help you with your daily functional activities. The good news is that functional exercises also burn more fat than traditional isolating exercises.

How to tone muscles without expanding them:

Rule #1: Always combine muscles together.

Do a bicep curl with a squat. Do a tricep press into a lunge. Discover exercises such as the woodchop, the bent leg dumbbell deadlift, the standing chest fly and these three exercises:

The following video shows three exercises for runners, but they are also my three favorite that I have every client do that walks into my studio. Just these three exercises work almost every muscle in the body

Rule #2: Mix up the combos, not the body parts.

If you do a new exercise then you are working the muscle in a different way. If you want to workout 5 times a week then compile a list of 30 functional full body exercises and do 6 exercises each day. If you want to hire a trainer at your local gym for a session then do that and ask them for a list and have them show you how to do it.

if you don’t know where to start or what to do then you could set up an in-home session – click here to understand how an innovative personal training company can help you workout from home on your own schedule

Rule #3: A little soreness and a little grit is good.

Some soreness the next day is good – the intensity of your workout doesn’t have to be such that you crack a filling, but does have to be enough that you give a slight grimace at the end of the set (think ‘tight jeans’ grimace but not ‘compressive evil high heels’ grimace) .

Because we are no longer isolating muscle groups your capacity to grow muscle is significantly reduced. Because we are also working multiple muscles every time, the toning of these multiple muscle groups also becomes the primary focus of your body. So once you feel confident with the technique, fire up the Gloria Gaynor on your ipod and get into the workout.

Rule #4: Remember that you are working more muscles, which means burning more calories

If you do a isolating bicep curl, you burn one muscle group. If you do a ‘squat with a bicep curl to overhead press’ then you just worked about 15 more muscles in the same time period. Which one worked more muscles? Which one burned more calories? Which workout style is going to get your body leaner and meaner in a shorter period of time?

Do I ever use these muscle-isolating machines? No, I don’t.

Do I ever have any of my clients use there machines? No, I don’t.

Every workout I ever do has a functional training focus to it. But I dont do it because I want to stay lean. Nor do I work in a functional movement system to have toned muscles.

I do functional workouts because they are fun.

At the end of the workout I have a sweat on my brow and a smile on my face – what more could I ask for than that?

Yours in health,

Jamie Atlas

PS  If you would like to know more about functional personal training for max toning and fat-burning or have a burning fitness question that needs answering , please email me. You can find my email contact details here

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Treadmill, Bicycle or Elliptical machine? pt 2: The Bicycle

The bicycle athlete is somewhat of an unusual creature.

Throw a mix of athleticism in with a liberal serving of obsessive-compulsive tendencies – stir and garnish with a sprinkling of pack mentality for indoor cycling and you have your everyday cyclist.

At least he's wearing a helmet, right?

Low back pain and some muscular imbalances are usually shown in the more mature cyclists, however this is not always the case and can be avoided if the bike-bound have been diligent with their off-road conditioning.

What are the benefits of cycling on a regular basis?

If you haven’t really gotten into riding the bike, you will find it hard to compare this to understand the zen-like tranquility that comes from traversing through a gently undulating countryside.

Of course, you may have also attended a high energy indoor cycling class where Lycra and Van Halen seem to be making their respective comebacks.

The Bicycle:

I like: This equipment allows the user to build their heartrate in a way that the treadmill and elliptical cannot. It also is easier on the joints of the lower body (but not necessarily those of the hips and low back). There are no mainstream treadmill or elliptical classes – if in need of a workout you can walk into almost any gym and experience a sweaty workout where you will experience a camaraderie with other fellow cyclists.

I don’t like: Without proper off-bike conditioning the body can develop massive imbalances in the hip, low back and thighs. As we crouch over our back lengthens as our abdominal wall and hip flexors shorten.

The average cyclist can sometimes be ‘quad-heavy’ in their technique- meaning that the cyclist ‘pushes’ down with each pedal but omits the remainder of the cycle stroke resulting in weaker hamstrings and stronger quads – which creates imbalance.

The end result?

Pain aside, Mike the Avatar was more concerned about the strange orange and green glow coming from his lumbar spine

Plant yourself just beyond the finish line of any long-distance cycling race to see an impressive collection of cycle-athletes clutching their low back and groaning in symphony as they dismount from their respective 2-wheeled steeds.

Riding for extended periods of time with poor technique and/or an inadequate conditioning and stretching program is likely to have a negative effect on your posture.

Postural issues are not mandatory, but without balance in your workout programs the chances of a myriad of spine and muscular imbalances increase dramatically.

Major advantage:

Riding a bike can be enjoyed without much technique, has offerings for group classes (which can be accepting or hostile – it all depends on whether you grabbed someones favorite bike or not).

Cyclists can be extremely particular about which bike they use in the indoor cycling classes and some will become verbally disappointed if their bike is claimed by an innocent visitor. Sometimes I wonder why they dont just get it over with and pee all over their favorite bike as a form of territorial marking.

Major disadvantage:

People will sometimes ride the recumbent bike as if they were resting on a beach in Cancun. Other times cyclists fail to realize the benefit of using a variety of equipment to make sure their upper body actually gets to workout as well.

The #1 Disadvantage?

Bending over a bike looks way too much like bending over a desk. Most of us are already too well practiced at hunching over a computer to get those TPS reports in by Friday. If we go to the gym, lets make sure we have an opportunity to stand tall for at least part of our lunchbreak before we return to our our ergonomically-insensitive workstation.

Overall:

The bicycle is an excellent piece of equipment. Any athlete can develop excellent cardio and leg strength – but not without a price of tight hip flexors, weak lengthened hamstrings and hunched forward upper body posture.

Solution?

1. Stretch out the hip flexors any chance you get
2. Do lots of hamstring exercises (like a deadlift) as part of a regular workout
3. Stretch the chest to keep things from caving in
4. Ask a trainer about improving your posture to keep the torso tall when not strapped into your tricycle.
5. Get a massage to make sure your body is staying limber.

Where does the bicycle fall in my ranking of which is better?

It's a bike.. no wait, its a treadmill.. Umm.. A Treadcycle??

If you have no low back pain, decent flexibility and dont mind repetitive exercises (I mean really repetitive – the indoor bikes don’t have much of a steering wheel to them) then cycling is probably right for you.

However, if you spend all day sitting at a desk I would categorize this as a ‘participate no more than 1-2/week’ exercise to do – if just because I would want your body to remember how it feels to stand tall like the other modern primates do.

If you enjoy the biking, then by all means get out there and ride like the wind! Just be sure to mix up your rides, mix up your terrain and mix up your exercise routine so you stay riding injury free for a long time into the future.

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

Treadmills, Ellipticals and Bikes – part 1 of this article here

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Runners and Triathletes: 3 Exercises That Are Guaranteed To Help you Run Better

Most Running Programs are not designed for Runners.

They are likely excellent programs in themselves – their major fault is that they usually work your body in a completely different way than the actual movement of running.

Spiderman was dangerously close to finally catching the 'Lycra Bandits'

The runners and the dumbbells should be friends:

When weightlifting started to enter mainstream popularity, many runners found themselves ‘hitting the gym’ in the quest for faster times.

Unfortunately for the majority of the runners diligently working out , they mostly experienced slower times, greater fatigue and increased incidence of injury. But why was this? Part of this was that they were working out without the science available today, but beneath this was a major factor:

Your average ‘running workout’ has no consideration for the actual sport of running

Do you run with one leg at a time, or two legs at a time? If you ran one leg at a time would it make sense to teach your body to be better at pushing off one leg at a time?

The answer becomes evident if we look more closely at how you naturally run:

Kangaroo vs Leopard

Kangaroos use both feet at the same time to move forward

Do you run by using two legs at once – like a kangaroo?

Notice how the rear leg and the opposite foreleg are on the ground at the same time - similar to how we naturally run

Or with opposing legs – like a racehorse?

Do most of your exercises have you working out two legs at a time?

Would it also make sense to exercise opposing leg and upper body segments at the same time?

What if I told you that most of the exercises your program has you doing are probably of little or no use to your running prowess?

Common exercises that give poor ‘return on investment’ in regards to running

• squats
• leg presses
• leg curls
• leg extensions
• adductors/abductors
• bench press
• lat pulldown

Your exercise program should reflect how you run. Most don’t.

The below picture demonstrates how we run using one leg forward while swinging the opposite arm forward with each step.

As demonstrated in this picture, as you run you counter-rotate through the upper body (notice how every leg has the opposite arm forward?)

Here’s a quick 3 minute video that shows the #1 exercise for every runner or triathlete to do.

Just to be sure, I have included another 2 exercises in this video just to be sure you don’t leave unsatisfied:

Watch the video below to see the exercises that will have you running at your best ever!

If you only have 20 minutes in the gym, do the above exercises for 3 sets of 10-15 reps each side and you will see marked improvements.

You now have an exercise for your upper body, core and lower body that are all designed to help you run better.

Just a few of the changes you should see from doing the above exercises:

• Improvements in your running strength/times and technique
• Elimination of those niggling injuries that come from long runs
• Greater return in your time and effort invested in the gym

if you liked this post, you might also enjoy:

Never run on a treadmill again pt 1

Never run on a treadmill again pt2

which is best: treadmill, bicycle or elliptical?

Jamie Atlas

https://jamieatlas.wordpress.com

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