San Diego Personal Trainer Shares Secrets

This is a pretty common question and I think many people are misinformed. Is orange juice a healthy drink? This question has two answers.

1. Yes, orange juice is a healthy drink. It has a high amount of vitamin C and potassium and a good source of folate and thiamin. It also contains cancer-fighting phytochemicals.

2. If your trying to lose weight orange juice is not the drink you want to be consuming on a regular basis. There is so much sugar per serving and sugar is what we want to avoid if we're trying to lose weight.

Remember, in order to lose weight we need to regulate our blood sugar levels. When sugar levels are high, the hormone insulin has to be released to help regulate the sugar in your blood. When insulin is released in your body it's impossible to burn fat. Not only will you not burn fat, you will actually store fat when insulin levels are high.

So be careful of all those juice drinks you may think be healthy. They may actually be causing you more harm than good

Tight hamstrings, tight hip flexors, and weak abdominals are usually the biggest contributors of lower back pain. Three out of five people will experience lower back pain in their lives at one time or another. These stretches and exercises are great ways to prevent lower back pain.

Stretch the hamstrings:

1. Lay flat on your back with both legs on the floor.
2. Lift left leg up as high as you can.
3. Pull your toes back toward your shin as leg is in the air.
4. As you slowly lift your leg pull behind your knee until a gentle stretch is felt in the hamstrings.
5. Lumbar spine(lower back) must remain neutral.
6. Hold for 20-30 seconds
7. Repeat 2-3 sets for each side.
8. Alternative technique: Following movement instructions, wrap towel around foot and slowly extend knee to ceiling until a slight stretch is felt.

Stretch the Hip Flexors:

1. Start in a kneeling position as shown.
2. Position right leg behind your body.
3. Slight lean your hip forward until you feel a comfortable stretch.
4. To enhance the stretch, reach same side arm up and over. It is important not to deviate forward or backward while reaching up and over.
5. Hold for 15-20 seconds
6. Switch sides and repeat directions 2-3 sets per side.

Stretch the Glutes:

1. Lay on your back.
2. Bend knees with feet on ground.
3. Put your right ankle on your left knee.
4. Bring your left leg up with right ankle still on knee.
5. Put your hands in between legs and pull gently until you feel a stretch in your glutes.
6. Repeat for opposite side.
7. Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds
8. 2-3 Sets per side

Parts 2 and 3 will be coming this week. Let me know how these stretches feel.

Preventing lower back pain is essential the older we get. Having a weak and injured back can be debilitating and could take up to years before we are pain free. I recommend doing some proactive exercises and stretches for the back. Here are two examples.

Stretch the Hips:

1. Lay on your back with legs up and knees bent at 90-degree angle.
2. Hold onto a stability ball with legs.
3. Slowly rotate your legs while holding onto ball to floor until you feel a comfortable stretch.
4. Hold for 10 seconds
5. Repeat for other side 10 reps per side

Press Up Stretch for spinal extension:

1. Lay on your stomach.
2. Place hands just outside the tops of your shoulders.
3. Inhale deeply and begin pressing upward (push up).
4. As you slowly push up, exhale and leave your pelvis/hips on the floor.
5. It is very important to relax the buttocks & spine muscles!
6. Hold the position at the top until you need to take a breath. As you inhale, slowly lower your body to the floor.
7. Repeat 10 times.
8. This is not a strength exercise! It is designed to aid in restoring normal motion in the spine.
   

   

Having a strong core can help prevent injury to the lower back. I recommend starting slow with these exercises and if you feel any pain, please consult your doctor.

Strengthen the Abdominals:

1. Lay on your back
2. Initiate a posterior pelvic tilt as shown (rotate the pelvis backward).
3. With the hands as shown, roll the thoracic(upper) spine off the ground up to a crunch.
4. Lower slowly and repeat. TRAINERS: Watch for a forward head carriage, anterior collapsing of the shoulders and holding of the breath. These are indications that the exercise is too difficult and should be regressed.
5. 3 sets of 25 or fatigue
   

Strengthen the lower back:

1. Lay face down on the floor.
2. Legs straight, and core and glutes activated.
3. Squeeze glutes and SLOWLY draw the shoulder blades backward (retraction).
4. Arms are at the sides with thumbs up towards the ceiling.
5. The chin should be tucked in towards the chest.
6. Your neck and spine are in a alignment at all times.As strength increases, repetitions may be held for longer periods.
7. Do not allow the head to extend backward.
8. If you feel discomfort in the low back, concentrate on squeezing the glutes.
9. Reps-10 each
10. Sets-3
11. Intensity-body-weight
12. Tempo-3 seconds per hold

Strengthen the core:

1. Beginners can start out at 15-30 second holds and work themselves up
2. Assume a face down position with elbows bent and hands under your shoulders.
3. Draw your belly button inward toward your spine this will help you contract the abdominals.
4. With correct postural alignment tighten buttocks and lift body up onto forearms and toes.
5. Body should be parallel to floor at all times.
6. While maintaining the abdominal draw-in contraction, hold alignment for 15-30 seconds for beginners and 45-60 for advanced
7. Keep chin tucked in.
8. Form is more important than how long you can hold it.
9. Reps-15 seconds-1 minute
10. Sets- 2-3
11. Intensity- body-weight
    

Let me know if this has helped. Sharing comments is always welcomed.

Why does my neck hurt when doing abdominal crunches? This is one of the biggest concerns I hear when someone starts doing crunches. There could be many reasons why your neck hurts when doing crunches, I'll share a few below.

1. Most of us hold most of our stress in our neck and upper back. Stretching the neck would be a great way to help easy the tension in the neck.

2. Your neck is weak and we need to build strength in the neck. The pain should dissipate after a few weeks of doing the exercise.

3. Your performing the exercise wrong. Are you pulling your neck forward with your hands behind your head? If so, try resting your hands behind your head and focusing on pushing the lower back into the floor. Also keep the elbows pulled back as you move forward into the crunch position.

4. Here's a video with over 10 abdominal exercises. Try the ones that don't put strain on your neck and back.

Here's a quick tip to help with the pain in your neck. Press your tongue on the top of your mouth when doing crunches. This should help elevate some of the tension in your neck.

Let me know if that helped:)

What are the effects of cortisol? In its normal function, Cortisol helps us meet these challenges by converting proteins into energy, releasing glycogen and counteracting inflammation. For a short time, that’s okay.

Sustained high Cortisol levels destroy healthy muscle and bone, slow down healing and normal cell regeneration, co-opt biochemicals needed to make other vital hormones, impair digestion, metabolism and mental function, interfere with healthy endocrine function; weaken the immune system, etc.

When stressors are encountered, the adrenals are the first line of defense and under normal conditions can resolve the stress and reset the body to a state of ease – adaptation => balance => functional efficiency = > health

But when stressors become chronic and the adrenals fail to resolve the stress, a perpetual state
ensues of -- failure to adapt => imbalance => functional inefficiency => disease

The following are examples how of metabolism regulated by the adrenals and provides a short sampling of symptoms that can manifest as a result of adrenal stress/fatigue/insufficiency:

Blood Sugar Regulation

• Hypoglycemia
• Insulin Resistance
• Hyperglycemia
• Diabetes
  

Muscle Health

• Muscle wasting
• Muscle weakness
• Bone loss, osteopenia, osteoporosis, arthritis
• Connective tissue problems – sprains, strains, tears
  

Neural Health

• Poor sleep
• Can’t fall asleep, insufficient sleep, fall asleep but awaken and can’t get back to sleep, restless sleep, nightmares, can’t shut thinking off
  

Quality of moods

• Depression, anxiety, fear, panic attack, sadness, apathy, nervousness, easily upset, moody, worried, timid, cry easily, no motivation, anger and irritability (especially as relieved by eating)

Memory and Learning

• Forgetful, poor memory, hard to learn new things, confused thinking, spacey, thoughts too rapid, thoughts too slow, foggy thinking, neuronal connectivity impaired, neurotransmitter imbalances, poor concentration, hard to think quickly, procrastination

Thyroid function

• Feeling cold often, low body temp, low energy, dry skin and hair, headaches, migraines
• Adrenal stress (elevated Cortisol) inhibits thyroid
• Androgen and estrogen hormone levels, excesses, deficiencies, imbalances
• Edema, fluid retention, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, lethargy, low endurance, etc.
  

Fat and Protein Metabolism

• Overweight , underweight
• Fat distribution
• Digestion/Indigestion
• Protein turnover
  

Mucosal Barrier Integrity

• 1st line of defense against pathogens
• As the adrenals weaken, susceptibility to getting sick with pathogens (bacteria, virus, fungus, parasites) increases
• Heavy metals
• Environmental pollutants
• Chemicals
  

Immune system regulation

• Frequent illness
• Illness lasts a long time
• Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory responses
• Pain, inflammation, especially in neck and upper back
  

As you can see if your under stress, you better learn how to manage it, or these possible symptoms may appear. To learn more about Adrenal Fatigue contact me today.

These two upper back exercises are a great way to increase strength and size in the latissimus dorsi.

Most people have poor posture and should incorporate back exercises in every workout. Most people that have rounded shoulders and poor posture have tight pectorals and weak upper back muscles. By stretching the chest and strengthen the upper back you will see your posture improve in a few months. Always consult a personal trainer before starting a new exercise.

This video demonstrates two upper back exercises that you can with resistance bands or a cable machine in the gym.

This TRX workout demonstrates how to exercise the chest and back. The first exercise is an atomic push up and the second exercise is the row.

I recommend implementing a TRX workout in all exercise programs.

Here are a few ab exercises for free. So many people want to know what's the most challenging ab exercises. On top of that, they want ab exercises that can shrink the midsection. Let me clear something up, there is no such thing as spot reduction. If you want a smaller midsection you must clean up your diet. That's the bottom line.

This video is for those of you who want to challenge yourself and try new ab exercises. This is a bicycle using the Bosu. The Bosu is a great tool with unlimited exercises.

Enter to win Free Diet Plan Menus. So many people are asking for menu plans I thought I would have a contest. I will personally offer free diet plan menus to the first five subscribers that respond to this blog post. You will need to answer three questions;

1. Send me a three day food log. Be exact on the quantity of food and times you're eating.
2. Give me your weight, age, gender, and goal.
3. What have you tried in the past? Did it work? Why didn't it work?

Why would you want Free Diet Plan Menus from me?

• You will learn the right way to eat, which can set you up for years of success in reaching your goals.
  
• I'll even offer a 10 minute Free Phone Consultation where you can get all your questions answered.
• I'm a health professional that enjoys helping people. All I'm asking in return is patience and openness.
  

Is it possible to lose 10 lbs a week? I think its possible, but one must be obese or overweight to see that much weight come off in one week. It most cases, it would be unhealthy for someone to lose that much in one week.

Here are my Top 4 Secrets to lose 10 lbs a week.

1. Do interval training when it comes to cardiovascular exercise. Example; whatever cardio you do, I want you to sprint for one minute and rest for one minute. (you could also go at a very slow pace in the 1 minute rest stage). Repeat this cycle for 20 minutes. At the end you will have sprinted for 10 minutes and rested for 10 minutes. This is one of the best ways to burn fat and gain muscle. In the sprint stage, I want you to exert yourself where you will need to catch your breath when that minute is done. Got it!

2. Eat every 3 hours. Small meals composed of 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat (good fat). You may want to contact me for more information on this topic.

3. Resistance train every other day. When training I want you to do a full body circuit training routine. Quick exercises composed of increasing heart rate and burning calories.

Do these exercises in order at 45 second intervals with 30 seconds rest. Repeat this routine 2-3 times. Go at your own pace.

• Squats
• Push Ups
• Rows
• Bicep curl with shoulder press
• Core twist
• Lunges
• Pull Ups/Pulldowns
• Plank
  

4. Drink lots water and recover properly. (Drink half your body weight in ounces of water everyday). Get your sleep. It's more important than you think.

You will need all four components in sync if you want to lose 10 lbs a week. I know you can do it, who's the first? Who wants to take on this challenge and see what's possible?

Here's a short resistance band circuit routine that you can do anywhere.

This beginner arm workout can be done with one resistance band. The first exercise is the tricep pressdown and reverse pressdown. The next exercise is the bicep curl. Both exercises are using resistance bands.

I recommend doing 12-15 repetitions for each exercise in this beginner arm workout.

Have you heard about this epidemic? It's called childhood obesity. I highly recommend if you have kids, know kids, have brothers or sisters that have kids, this is a must WATCH VIDEO!!!

What's so good about black pepper? So I was doing some research on the benefits of black pepper and I thought I would share what I found.

*Black pepper contains very potent solar energy, and is a powerful digestive stimulant. It also stimulates the plasma and the blood, the nervous system, the spleen, and reduces fat.

*It is benefical for chronic indigestion, helps with toxins in the colon, sinus congestion, and can stimulate circulation to help warm cold hands and feet.

Black pepper can be taken as a spice, an oil, a tea, or a compress.

I don't know about you, but I'm going to start adding black pepper to my meals starting today.

Caution: Overuse of stimulant herbs can impair your body's natural balancing systems.