Did you know most back pain can be eliminated with stretching?
Rob walked into the 24 Hour Fitness at the UC Irvine location asking for help. He was in obvious pain. He worked as a programmer at Blizzard. His goals where to get ripped, put on muscle, you know the typical male request. I analyzed his body and asked him one question, “When was the last time you stretched?”
“Stretch? I'm here to get chiseled for the ladies,” he smiled.
“Do you suffer from chronic headaches, crippling low back pain, or shoulder issues?”
His smile vanished. “Yes, yes and yes. How'd you know?”
“Well, you kinda look like a turtle.”
Rob straightened up. “I’m a programmer, everyone looks like this at work. That’s just how it is.”
“No, it’s not. Let me explain. A person with perfect posture looks like a skeleton. But when we attach muscles, the problems begin to happen. If the muscles are in the right position like the skeleton, life's dandy. Right position equals the right length, equals no pain.”
Rob straightened up like a pencil.
Poor Posture Forms Knots in Muscle Tissue
I jotted my head forward. “But when the body's in a fixed position like sitting, the bones stay in a shortened position for a long time. Unfortunately, this position causes knots to form in the muscles. These knots in the muscles pull the bones into a shortened position. Those shoulders are forward, rounded, and closer to my chest. This position causes knots in the chest muscles. The knots cause the muscle to be shortened and the shortened muscle pulls the bones closer. The closer bones change the body and causes joint pain. Therefore, the pain you experience comes from your poor posture.”
Rob started slouching again, his body returned to the classic turtlehead position.
“The human head weighs 8-10 pounds,” I told Rob. “Every inch your head moves forward, an extra 10 pounds of weight is added. Your head can add up to 60 pounds of pressure.”
Rob straightened up again to his full 6-2′ height.
“You’re in your early thirties and you look like a turtle. Not a good look. But, it’s not just looking like ET that’s troubling. The shortness in the muscles causes chronic pain. Neck pain is the third most common type of pain for Americans. In addition, neck pain can be either acute (lasting less than three months.) Or the pain can be chronic (lasting longer than three months.) And it’s not just men, women are three times more likely to have this issue.”
Turtlehead Issues
- headaches
- arthritis
- degenerative joints
- lowers breathing and lung capacity
- hurts mood
“Can I fix my head to get rid of the pain?”
“Luckily, there’s a simple solution for neck pain.” Rob followed me to the stretching area.
Neck Pain Stretching Instructions
- hold each neck stretch for a minimum of 25 seconds (30 seconds ideal)
- do all stretches on both sides
- perform at least 3 times per day
Most neck pain can be alleviated and eliminated with corrective stretching. But, the neck stretches need to be performed at least 3 times per day and held for 25 seconds. These stretches need to be part of your daily routine. They can be performed anywhere. You can do them while sitting at work, waiting for the elevator, waiting for a red light, any waiting. Add these stretches into your daily routine and say bye-bye to your turtlehead.
Rob nodded. “What about my low back? It’s killing me.”
Low Back Pain Can be Caused By Poor Posture
- Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide.
- 80% of people experience back pain in their lives.
- Half of all Americans experienced back pain last year.
- Tight hip flexors, a tight low back, and tight hamstrings can all cause pain in the back.
“You can also get rid of back pain with stretching?” I told Rob.
He looked at me like I was nuts.
How To Eliminate Pain with Stretching
“Stretching prevents and reverses the damage from our work environments. Therefore, a solid stretching routine helps you eliminate pain. Trust me, you want to get rid of pain. Pain directly impairs your ability to make good decisions. When you don't feel good, bad things happen. Not only, will you remove the pain, but your posture will improve. Perfect posture makes you look taller, fitter and skinnier. Stretching keeps you looking young.”
When you don't feel good, bad things happen.
I then walked Rob through a corrective stretching routine. Here’s the routine:
How to Stretch to Remove Pain
Stretching involves holding the muscle past its happy point for twenty-five seconds. Happy point is the last point where there's no pain. Trust me, you’ll know when you’re past the happy point.
Once you reach the happy point, hold constant tension in the position. Take deep breadths and hold the stretch with the proper posture for at least 25 seconds. You can hold the stretch longer, but 25 is the minimum time to make a change.
When to Stretch
Stretching before your workout gets your body ready for movement. This reduces injuries by loosening the tight muscles in your body. Stretching afterward also helps. The increased muscle temperature from the workout increases your flexibility. This means you can stretch farther after your workout. You can also stretch anytime you're waiting. Maximize your time by stretching anytime it's possible. You don't need equipment to stretch. You only need discipline. Discipline is one of the MAD Plan's pillar's for making a fitness permanent in your life.
The number and timing of your stretches matters. Muscles respond to length and time. Your body must be held in this position for the change to happen. Be consistent daily, and watch the magic happen. The key to making the pain disappear is consistency.
The Stretches
Here are the pain relieving stretches. Pick the area you feel needs help first. Start with those corresponding stretches. You can also perform all the stretches daily. Doing all the stretches everyday will help your body the most. It's a simple, but powerful practice.
Click here for your FREE Stretch Guide.
How Long to Remove Pain
Rob wanted to know what everyone wants to know. I told him it can take three to four weeks to see some results, but you’ll see a huge difference in 6 months. Be patient, be consistent and your body will change. You will feel better, and you won't look like a turtle anymore.
“Will I be ripped?”
This helps, by giving you the right mechanics for your workout. We'll need to focus on your diet to be ripped. But today, let's just get rid of your chronic pain, okay?”
He smiled and said, “Okay.”
Conclusion
If you suffer from low back pain, neck pain, headaches or knee pain, you can solve a lot of those problems with consistent stretching. I hope you find this information helpful. If you have a friend or family member who suffers from pain, please share these stretches with them. Pain sucks and we can eliminate it with simple, consistent, and correct practices.
Tony Arreola
NASM Master Trainer
Best Selling Author, Get Me Skinny
PS: Don't forget your FREE Stretch Guide.
References:
- Alvarez, D. J., & Rockwell, P. G. (2002, February 15). Trigger points: Diagnosis and management. American Family Physician, 65(4), 653–661. Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/0215/p653.html
- Bron, C., & Dommerholt, J. D. (2012, October). Etiology of myofascial trigger points. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 16(5), 439–444. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3440564/
- Coleman, C. (2017, April 18). Triggers points and physical therapy: Striking a nerve in a polarized profession. Retrieved from https://newgradphysicaltherapy.com/trigger-points-physical-therapy-striking/
- Knot in your neck? 4 ways to relieve trigger point pain. (2014, May 22). Retrieved from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/knot-in-your-neck-4-ways-to-relieve-trigger-point-pain/
- Myofascial trigger point therapy — what is it? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://namtpt.wildapricot.org/MTPT_What_is_it
- Shah, J. P., Thaker, N., Heimur, J., Aredo, J. V., Sikdar, S., & Gerber, L. H. (2016, July 1). Myofascial trigger points then and now: A historical and scientific perspective. PM&R, 7(7), 746–761. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508225/
- Clark, M.A., Lucett, S. C., & Sutton, B. G. (2012). NASM Essentionals of Personal Fitness Training (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Jensen M, Brant-Zawadzki M, Obuchowski N, et al. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Lumbar Spine in People Without Back Pain. N Engl J Med 1994; 331: 69-116.
- Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, et al The global burden of low back pain: estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases Published Online First: 24 March 2014. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-204428
- Vallfors B. Acute, Subacute and Chronic Low Back Pain: Clinical Symptoms, Absenteeism and Working Environment. Scan J Rehab Med Suppl 1985; 11: 1-98.
- The Hidden Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders on Americans, United State Bone and Joint Initiative, 2018.
- Rubin Dl. Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Spine Pain. Neurol Clin. 2007; May;25(2):353-71.
- Sauver, JL et al. Why patients visit their doctors: Assessing the most prevalent conditions in a defined American population. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Volume 88, Issue 1, 56–67.
It was Christmas 2002. In the middle of the night, I turned on the bathroom lights. Only to be startled by the reflection of the mirror. Yikes, what happened? This must be the exact opposite of a flat belly. Is my stomach hanging over my waistband? I needed to reduce fat, reduce my belly, reduce everything.
It looks like I’m pregnant, not a good look for a 23-year-old single male. Six pack abs would be great, but I just want to look less awful. Is less awful a look? I don’t think that’s too much to ask. All those late nights of fast food, ice cream, unlimited alcoholic drinks, and empty calories finally caught up to me. I desperately needed to lose weight.
“I just want to look less awful.”
But, here’s the big lie. Abdominal exercises alone will never achieve a flat stomach. Never. Trust me, I’ve tried. I once did 1,000 sit-ups for 7 days because my equally chubby friend told me Bruce Lee swore by this method. Without question, I tried feverishly. My stomach ached for weeks, but sadly, my tummy fat remained. I tried every ab exercise plan in the world, but nothing seemed to burn belly fat. Nothing.
Fail.
It wasn't until I became a personal trainer and fitness expert, that I finally discovered the only way to get a flat stomach. Like me, you’ve probably tried gimmicks, dietary supplements, shortcuts, week cleanses, waist trimmers, pills and everything else in the world. I’m here to eliminate the nonsense. I'm here to help you understand proper weight management.
For a flat belly you need to understand a few basics:
– The Role of the Stomach
– Food Matters (A Lot…)
– Fat and Energy
– The Different Types of Fat
– What’s Bodyfat?
– Dropping Bodyfat to Flatten the Belly
– Ab Exercises Help Your Core but Flatten Nothing
– How to Finally Get a Flat Belly
The Role of the Stomach
The first principle to understand is your stomach. An organ aiding with digestion, it works like a muscle, expanding and contracting to process the foods we eat. You feel when your stomach is overfilled, expanding your waist circumference needing to loosen your pants. You also feel when you’re hungry from not having enough in your belly.
Although your stomach expands and contracts with food intake, the range of the movement is temporary. The movement’s range is small, we’re talking inches. Your stomach isn’t the issue, one single meal isn’t going to help much. While skipping a meal, might temporarily reduce bloating, you still won't have flat abs. Nope.
Food Matters (A Lot…)
The next area to investigate is what you’re eating. Are you practicing mindful eating? What happens when you eat more food than your body needs? But is it the food? No, it's the calories from the food. The fundamental ingredient to understand is calories. Calories represent the energy required to keep us alive. Think of it as precious fuel for our bodies. Back in our hunting days, meals were far and few in between. Humans crave extra calories, want extra food, it's our instinctual human survival system.
The real problem arises when we eat more calories than our body needs. After the food goes through the stomach, it enters the digestive area, where valuables like proteins, fats, carbs, vitamins, and water aid the body. The digestive system strips all the valuables from our foods. Proteins are the building blocks for your organization, carbohydrates are instant energy and fats are stored as a long-time source of energy. But anything your body doesn’t use will be converted and stored as fat in your body. Thus resulting in weight gain, no abs, and a sad, sad, life.
What?
Fat and Energy
Imagine you're sitting at a campfire. You're responsible for the fire to burn the entire night. You gather wood but don’t know exactly how much wood you’ll need for the whole night. You don’t want everyone to be cold, so you make sure to grab enough wood. Your fire starts, the energy starts burning. Throughout the night, you throw more logs into the fire. After the night, all the extra fire logs remain as extra unused energy. All that extra wood is simply extra energy that hasn’t been used. The excess energy is fat on your body showing up as extra body weight. I guess, back in 2002, I was a giant round ball of energy.
Visceral Fat and Subcutaneous Fat
All food is valuable energy to our human bodies. And any food your body eats but can’t immediately use will be stored as fat. This is how we gain weight. Fat mostly accumulates in two places, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is found under your skin, while visceral fat collects within the abdomen in the spaces around organs.
Visceral Fat
The visceral fat is the dark, yucky fat surrounding your abs. This is where that blasted fat tummy first appears. Unhealthy visceral fat needs to be removed. But because of its location, it’s hard to measure our visceral fat. Luckily, subcutaneous fat’s location helps us get a measurement… (“Whohooo, lucky us” said no one ever.)
What’s Body fat?
Go ahead and pinch your skin. The stuff under your skin that isn’t muscle is fat. Anything you can grab but can’t move is subcutaneous fat. This is your body fat, as trainers, we measure body fat with calipers. We take a one-inch pinch on four sites on your body, add up the numbers, crosscheck with a body fat table to get your body fat percentage. Some scales can also check your body fat with impedance. Your figures will vary, but the lower the body fat, the less fat you have, the less visceral fat and (drum-roll please…)
The lower the body fat, the flatter the stomach
Dropping Body Fat Flattens the Belly
Here it is! Your recipe to a flatter belly. To flatten the stomach, all you need to do is reduce your fat. That’s it. You can perform crunches, sit-ups, and planks all day. Resistance training builds muscle mass. But if your body fat doesn’t drop low enough, you’ll never reap the benefits of your diet and exercise. Your rock-hard abs will be covered in a marshmallow layer of fat. Which means no flat belly ☹
Ab Exercises Strengthen Your Core but Flatten Nothing
You can perform dozens of exercises for your stomach. This will boost energy, strengthen your core, but you’ll look the same. A strong core is vital for everyday life. Unfortunately, no matter how “new” the ab exercise is…it will do NOTHING to make your belly look flatter. Sad, but true.
How To Finally Get a Flat Belly
Focus on healthy eating. Drink water. Pay attention to your calorie intake. Eat fewer calories than your body burns. The best belly exercise is the one where you go to the grocery store, buy and eat the right foods. Perform total body exercises focusing on the major muscle groups, while keeping the core muscle (abdominal muscles) engaged. Focus on energy intake and energy expenditure. When you reduce your body weight, you'll get closer to those coveted abs.
No matter what anyone tells you, the best and only way to flatten your stomach is by focusing on fat loss. How many calories you eat versus how many calories you burn. What burns more calories? Try exercising while standing (burns more calories than sitting), start strength training, add aerobic exercise like highintensity interval training (HITT), increase the activity level in your daily routine. The higher the calorie burn throughout the day, the faster the weight loss. By losing belly fat you WILL get a flatter belly. The days of being scared to turn on the bathroom lights are finally over for me. But I want the same success stories for you.
I know the truth can be hard to hear. I went through this process myself. I’m an engineer, so I’m always looking for the fastest, simplest way. Unfortunately for a flatter stomach, ab exercises alone won’t work. I fell for the Bruce Lee 1,000 daily sit-ups. My stomach and pride were hurt. What kind of silly things have you done to reduce your waist? Please share with me in the comments.
Tony Arreola
NASM Master Trainer
Author, Get Me Skinny
PS: For more weight loss tips download your FREE Guide to a Flat Belly
References:
1. Clark, M.A., Lucett, S. C., & Sutton, B. G. (2012). NASM Essentionals of Personal Fitness Training (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
2. Your digestive system and how it works. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/yrdd. Retrieved 9/21/2019
3. Mason JB. Mechanisms of nutrient absorption and malabsorption. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Retrieved 9/21/2019
4. Johnson LR, et al. Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2012. http://www.clinicalkey.com. Retrieved 9/21/2019
5. Hall JE. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2011. http://www.clinicalkey.com. Retrieved 9/21/2019
6. What I need to know about bowel control. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/bowelcontrol_ez/index.aspx.
7. Marcia Wade. Web MD “The Risks of Belly Fat — and How to Beat Them” Retrieved 9/21/2019 from https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/the-risks-of-belly-fat#1
“What’s really the best full body workout?”
I asked my buddy David at the gym. It was 2003, we’d been working out for a few weeks without seeing any results. I was growing impatient. Does David even know what he’s doing? I desperately needed to drop the fat. But everyone had different answers, different full body workouts, workout routines, different everything. How can everyone have different opinions? I needed simple exercises to finally get the results I dreamed about. Does anyone know the answer? Imagine my anger when I discovered the truth about the fitness lies…
That’s when my fitness journey began.
Three years earlier in 2000, I set foot inside my first official gym. The place was intimidating. Everyone moved with purpose. I felt nervous, anxious like I didn’t belong. The junior high school dance all over again.
I was lost.
So I did what any other rational human being would do. I copied the ones that looked like they knew what they were doing. (Bad Idea #1)
I did a full body workout for over 2 hours that ill-fated day. (Bad Idea #2) Moving mindlessly from bench press to dumbells to leg extensions to seated calf raises. All while trying to read the instructions without looking like I’m reading the instructions.
The next day everything hurt. Obviously, good, right? No pain, no gain. Except it meant no more workouts. I would go for a couple of days, and then miss weeks, sometimes months.
Listening to my friend’s advice got me nowhere fast. I didn’t lose fat, but I did lose motivation.
Magazines (Bad Idea #3)
Welp, that didn’t last. Every month, “new latest and greatest total body workouts” would be released. But after a few months, the workout plans looked oddly similar. Burned again.
After two years of listening to nonsense and countless bad ideas (I stopped counting after ten.) I decided to become a certified personal trainer. Surely, I would find the answers here.
And I did.
Jeff Kryel (one of my fitness heroes) helped me learn the basics of fundamental movement. Exercise involves movement. But, exercise only benefits you if performed properly. Here’s the most valuable information from my first personal training certification.
Everything You Need to Know About Full Body Exercise
- How Our Body Moves (Motor Patterns)
- Executing the Exercise (Form)
- The Correct Number to Perform the Exercise (Repetitions)
- The Right Speed for Each Repetition (Tempo)
- Stop Using Momentum
- Correct Breathing
“Why do we need to work out the muscles anyways?” I asked in my personal training class.
Muscles are the focal point of resistance training, weight training, and core training. These are all names for the same process. Resistance training provides external resistance to the muscle being used. The ‘resistance’ is the external force added to the movement. Anything can provide external resistance: machines, barbells, dumbbells, and your own bodyweight. The added external resistance stimulates the muscle tissue. It breaks down (tears) the muscle tissue for repair.” Jeff replied.
Oh, that makes way more sense. That's where all the different names come from.
“We tear down the muscle to rebuild it? But, how does this benefit us?”
“Resistance training tears down the muscle tissue, by overloading the muscle with added resistance (weights, bodyweight, etc.) These microtears cause some soreness. The microtears go through a repair cycle. This is when and where muscle growth occurs. The body adapts to the new demand on the muscles.”
“Do we want muscle microtears?”
“The breakdown and repair cycle make our muscles, bones, joints, and minds stronger. The inflammation triggers cell regeneration, keeping you young, fit and healthy. Resistance training forces your body to recover.”
When we don’t weight train, our muscles and bones become weak. Weight training breaks down muscle tissue, forcing it to rebuild. Once rebuilt, your muscles will be a little stronger. As we continue working, eventually your body becomes stronger.
“What’s the best full body workout?” I asked.
“That depends.”
Not the answer I was looking for.
Full Body Movement (Motor Patterns)
“First, you need to understand motor patterns or mechanics. These are a fancy way of saying how your body moves. If you do a dumbbell bench press, do you feel it in your chest? Most beginners don’t know how to “feel” an exercise in a certain spot. They remember the slogan, ‘no pain, no gain.’ Which is wrong. You need to feel the right muscle turning on at the right time (mechanics.) The correct muscles need to fire with a controlled movement.”
You lost me, Jeff.
Turning Off the Wrong Muscles
“Only the intended muscles need to work. Muscles like your neck, shoulders, etc. need to be off. When performing the exercise correctly, ONLY the intended muscle and your core activate. The rest of your muscles remain idle. Correct mechanics are difficult to develop by yourself. The ‘feel’ of the exercise is specific.”
“What do you mean by ‘feel?’”
“For example, when I perform a back row, I feel it only in my back. The intended muscle and a little in my arms (primary, secondary mover.) My neck and shoulders aren’t engaged. Most beginners feel this exercise in their arms, shoulders, and neck. They don’t feel anything in their back, nothing.”
“What if I don’t FEEL it, where I NEED it?”
“This is common and means the primary mover, one of the biggest calorie-burning pieces of machinery isn’t working. The muscle we’re targeting isn’t turning on. Yeah, that’s a major problem. The right mechanics can be developed by understanding what muscles need to be turned on and what muscles need to be turned off.”
“How do I tell my muscles to move?”
“Muscles only move by responding to a signal from the brain (neural activation.) The brain sends a message to the muscle telling it to activate or to relax. Muscles can only squeeze or relax. Muscles attach to bones, by squeezing the muscle it pulls/pushes/rotates the bones creating movement.”
“Why am I supposed to care?”
“If you work out your back, but can’t feel your back working, then you’re NOT working out.”
Rats.
Perform the Exercise (Form)
“Whether you’re standing, sitting, or lying, you need to be in proper alignment. During our workout, we need our posture to be in a good soldier-like position.
Proper Posture: head back, chin tucked in, ear over the shoulder, tailbone tucked in, back perfectly flat
Having good posture is the first step in having good mechanics. It will also help avoid potential injuries.”
How Many Times Should I Do the Exercise (Repetitions)?
Jeff gave me the standard answer. And after years of field practice, I disagree. I don’t believe in a set number of repetitions. I’ve never used a number, but I have found a rep range to be most effective. Muscles respond to force and time of exertion. There is no exact number, so a rep range works best. For muscle growth, you need to be in the lower range (heavyweight.) (8-12) 3-4 sets. For most people to build muscle, 3 sets in the range of (8-12) works. Beginners need to stay in the (12-15) range.
Why, and who is a beginner?
If you think you’re a beginner, then for sure you’re a beginner. Beginners don’t have full control over exercise movements. Ex: if you’re doing a barbell chest press and the barbell shakes (quite common) then you’re a beginner. Don’t worry about being a beginner. No matter what anyone says we all started as beginners.
When I first learned about these topics, I gladly tried them all. But a lot of what I was taught didn’t apply in the “real world.”
Here’s another example where the textbooks can lead you down the wrong path.
How Fast Should I Go?
You’re talking about tempo, which is hard to apply. Much too complicated for such little rewards. Speed only requires common sense. To maximize resistance, we need to minimize momentum. The movement needs to be a smooth, clean, and consistent movement with no jerking. It should continue smoothly throughout the repetition and the set. This should be your tempo for most of your exercises. Tempo only changes during an isometric movement (static or no movement) like a plank. Or while performing explosive movements. Great for advanced athletes. But most of us can stay in the slow, controlled tempo. Trust me, one less thing to worry about.
What the books fail to mention can hurt you. I’m talking about momentum.
Stop Using Momentum
When you swing the weight, it’s called momentum. It’s a way to cheat. Not only are you cheating yourself, but you’re risking injury. Common uses of momentum in the gym are performed by guys doing bicep arm curls, they’ll swing their backs to wield a heavier weight. Measuring their strength by the number on the dumbbell. But muscles don’t recognize numbers.
Muscles only respond to resistance. To maximize resistance, stop swinging or jerking the weights.
Momentum is hurting not helping you.
Anyways, back to my personal training class.
Proper Breathing
“When should I breathe?” Another trainer in the class asked.
“Always. When you perform an exercise, constant airflow maximizes results.
For maximum results. Don’t hold your breath.
Most exercises move in opposite ways (in/out or up/down.) Whether you breathe in during the up phase or during the down phase doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you’re breathing. Make sure the breathing is constant,” Jeff answered.
Slowly the fitness lights turned on.
I was proud of my week-long personal training certification, I understood how and why we move. My training class taught me good form and a proper foundation. But I needed more, much more.
It was 2002, I was a rookie personal trainer at 24 Hour Fitness at UC Irvine, AND I knew it all… (Don’t we all at 23 years old?)
I started working out with trainers, but I noticed a problem. The trainers picked they’re own workouts based on what they liked to do. Not what the client needs or wants
Common Personal Trainer Example:
If Sarah likes to do kettlebell workouts, then guess what? All of her clients did kettlebell workouts.
If Justin liked to clean and jerk, then all his clients clean and jerked.
???
I watched every single trainer train. I wondered about the training rationale. We weren’t taught any of that in class. My first real lesson in theory versus application. Why did we learn all those total body workouts anyways? My body did lose fat, but I didn’t see the results I wanted. The cover of Men’s Health still eluded me.
So many exercises, which ones do I pick?
Every trainer had a different answer, and their exercises were always the best. This was frustrating not to mention wrong.
I spent 7 years at 24 Hour Fitness, working my way from rookie personal trainer to Fitness Manager all the way up to General Manager. I worked at 6 different gyms with hundreds of personal trainers. A key part of my job was developing rookie trainers. In October 2007, I remember a rookie trainer named Kaycee asked me that same haunting question,
“What’s the best full body workout?”
After years of fitness, I still didn’t know the answer. I had an epiphany. Let’s not guess anymore, let’s measure.
In those times, we used the BodyBugg (the world’s most accurate calorie tracker) Later bought by Jawbone and discontinued ☹
Calorie Burning Tests
We began the fitness tests. We tested the number of calories burned during each exercise. The trainers checked compound movements, isolated movements, and circuits. The experiment tested males, females, big and small clients. I couldn’t wait to see the results.
The data completed changed my approach to training.
I didn’t know it at the time, but it was here in 2005, I discovered my future company’s Total Body Project's Big Three.
Most clients want to lose fat. Logically, the best total body workout would be the workout burning the max number of calories in the shortest amount of time.
The data was clear, the rationale simple, target the bigger major muscles.
Two years later another rookie trainer asked me, that same question.
“What’s the most effective workout for fat loss?”
After 10 years of experience, 5 certifications, 2 degrees and success with hundreds of clients. I finally knew the correct answer.
Which Full Body Exercises to Perform
The most effective fat loss workout is a full body circuit, a total body project. This type of full body workout routine ensures our heart rate operates at the target heart rate (higher heart rate means more calories burned.) By focusing on the major muscles, we guarantee you burn the max number of calories in the shortest time. A circuit focused on the chest, back, and legs burn the greatest number of calories.
I don’t know why we complicate fitness? I really don’t. Here’s your definitive full body workout guide. These are the exercises you should do, the major muscles you should target, and the muscles to avoid. Most people fail in fitness because they aren’t consistent. They fail because they lose motivation. Keep fitness simple, focus on major compound movements, and remember most aesthetic changes come from executing your diet plans.
The Definitive Full Body Workout Guide: TBP’s Big Three
- Chest
- Back
- Legs
- Always Include Abs
- Nice-to-Haves vs Have-to-Haves
- Full Body Workouts – Combination Exercises
- Exercise Selection (Myth)
- Start with Machines
- Exercises to Avoid
- Muscle Pain vs Pain
- Total Body Circuits
#1 Full Body Primary Muscle: Chest
Pectorals: A large muscle that inserts on the front of your shoulder and into your clavicle. It burns a considerable number of calories. Our total body circuit always includes a pushing exercise using the chest.
Things to Know About the Chest Muscle
Females typically have a harder time activating this muscle. Push-ups are for boys is the classic saying. But all females need to develop working chest muscles to build muscle. Females can perform push-ups even better than boys.
If you’re new to resistance training, it’s typical to feel the exercise in your shoulders and in the neck area. Corrective stretching will help you establish the correct movement patterns.
Exercises: Barbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Chest Press Machine, Incline Dumbbell Press, Incline Barbell Press, Flys, Mountain Climbers, Assisted Push Ups, Push Ups
How To Perform
Chest Press: Make sure wrists are straight, maintain proper alignment throughout the exercise. Relax your neck and shoulders. Tighten the abs. Visualize the chest muscle lengthening and contracting.
Common Mistakes: Arching the low back, bringing the head forward.
Chest Flys: Tighten the abs, relax the neck, lock the elbows and bring the arms together in an arch. Beginners should start with flys, until they can properly feel the muscle engage (tighten/squeeze).
Common Mistakes: Arching the low back, bringing the head forward, not locking out the elbows.
Mountain Climbers: Bring the knees up, slightly touch the toes higher and return, maintain consistent tempo. This is a good beginner core exercise to help develop chest strength.
Common Mistakes: Shoulders should not go past 90 degrees, look for a right angle. If this exercise is too difficult or performed improperly, low back pain can occur.
#2 Full Body Primary Muscle: Back
Lattisimus Dorsi: A big muscle originating at the bottom of our spine and inserting on the front part of our arms. The back is a huge mover that approximately 70% of females and 50% of males don’t properly engage. The back muscle is a pulling muscle. This means we engage the muscle by pulling anything towards you.
Things to Know About the Back Muscle
The back is a strange muscle to use. We instinctively know how to use our arms, but our back? When we start with a barbell row or a lat pull-down we rely only on our arms. It’s only through proper mechanics that the back muscles can be engaged. A proper pull will have little feeling on your arms while most of the tension will be on the back muscles.
Exercises: Lat Pull-Down, Pull-over, Row, Standing Row, Seated Row, Bent Over Row, Barbell Row
Lat Pull-Down: Think of pulling the bar apart. Try to bring the elbow toward your ribs. Visualize the movement and think of breaking the bar apart.
Pull-Over: Arms perfectly straight. Any slight bend in the arm causes the tension to go to the triceps (back of the arm). Pull with your armpits. Under the muscle.
Row: My favorite back exercise, keeping the abs tight, pretend you’re squeezing a pencil with your shoulder blades. Pin the shoulders back. And squeeze the back muscle. The major benefit of the row exercise is it can be combined with another one of the big three movers for even more caloric expenditure. Rows are great for lunges, squats, and single-leg exercises. Making this circuit one of the biggest calories burning combinations possible.
Common Mistakes: Sometimes I see females performing a bent over row with a light dumbbell. This may look like a good move. But the problem is the back muscle is too strong for the light dumbbell. The movement works but with more weight. The back muscle is quite strong and if you only use five pounds, it doesn’t really benefit you.
#3 Full Body Primary Muscle: Legs
Quadriceps/Biceps Femoris: Huge muscles consisting of the quads, hamstrings, and glutes. The front of the leg, the back of the leg and the butt.
The final and biggest muscle of the Big Three. We need to work all of these muscles to get results. Yes, guys you also must work the legs and no…walking doesn’t count. The movements need to provide external resistance. Legs are crucial because they’re a versatile muscle requiring large amounts of blood and oxygen to perform exercises. You can combine leg movements with any muscle. You’ll burn more calories exercising your legs. Legs are a great way to add some of the nice-to-have muscles, arms (front of the arms, back of the arms, biceps triceps)
Things to Know About the Leg Muscles
Lunges and squats are incredibly versatile exercises. Be careful with knees, ankles, and position. Be extra careful with plate loaded exercises. Exercises with a heavy bar across your neck increase the pressure on the joints. Any error in the movement and you can hurt your fragile back. You probably want to keep your back healthy for things like walking, living, and stuff.
Squats: The correct form on a squat is the most difficult movement to master: tailbone tucked in, abs tight, keep the back straight, chin tucked in, head aligned with the body, don’t bend past 90, and feet hip joint apart.
Exercises: Ball Squat, Wall Sit, Front Squat, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Hamstring Curls, Leg Press
Lunges: Push through the ground, through the ground like you pushing the ground away from you. Foot flat and driving through the heel activating your butt.
Variations and Progressions: Lunge to 1–leg Balance, Box Lunges, Jump Lunges, Push Back Lunges
“But what about my abs?”
Always Include Abs
Abs are the sexy muscle everyone gravitates to. How can I get my abs of steel? Sadly, crunches won’t do it, trust me, I’ve tried. Abs are a smaller muscle group perfect to use with all movements. But, there’s no magic ab exercise to flatten your tummy, sorry. To achieve a perfect waistline, focus on removing the body fat covering your abs. This can ONLY happen by lowering your body fat percentage enough for the abs to be seen.
But which ab exercises are the best?
Fine, there’s basically two: crunches and planks.
Crunch: The floor crunch. Back perfectly flat, tuck your tail bone under you, and activate your abs. Hold your neck for support and keep the abs tight on the way up and down.
Plank: Best exercise for abs, but be careful when performing exercise. Make sure you are in the correct position, spine parallel to the ground, feet hip joint apart, Don't let your low back drop. Squeeze your abs and your butt, elbows 90 degrees, chin tucked in, aligned with ear. You shouldn't feel any pain in your low back.
The best way to work your abs is by combining core-training or functional training with your program. By using core-training, you will engage your abs and work a bigger muscle giving you more bang for your buck. Bodyweight workouts can give you great fullbody workouts using only your body weight and emphasizing the core with no need for equipment.
“What about the other muscles, like arms, back of my arms?” Jessica my client asked me.
The best way I know how to explain our solution is by grouping the exercises into nice-to-haves and have-to-haves.
Nice-to-Haves vs Have-to-Haves
The nice-to-have exercises consist of muscle groups not yielding as great results as the Big Three. The Big Three's Have-To-Have Movements also use the secondary, nice-to-have muscles. The have-to-haves get you the results, the nice-to-haves make you feel good about your workout, but aren’t as beneficial. Most exercises have primary and secondary movers involved. So working the have-to-have muscles naturally, include the nice-to-have muscles.
Example:
The chest (have-to-have) also uses the triceps(nice-to-have) and the shoulders (nice-to-have.)
The back(have-to-have) also uses biceps(nice-to-have.)
The legs use your quads (have-to-have)hamstrings (have-to-have) and glutes(nice-to-have.)
Focusing on the have-to-have muscles also works the nice-to-have muscles. But with a focus on the bigger, more productive muscles with more muscle mass, you can achieve your goals faster.
Alright now for the good stuff. For maximum fat loss perform full body workouts.
Full Body Workouts – Combination Exercises
In resistance training, the bigger muscle groups burn 3-4 times the calories as the smaller groups. Don’t waste your time with biceps triceps or calve raises. Training smaller muscle groups is a giant waste of time. It’s hard enough to work out. Working out with no results is a recipe for disaster. Motivation waivers, if you don’t see results, you’ll quit…again. Don’t quit again, focus on a full body, core-training circuit to see the most benefits.
Which Exercises Should I Pick?
There are thousands of exercises in the world, wait, let me clarify, there are thousands of VARIATIONS of the same exercises. This is crucial to understand; the actual movement of the muscle doesn’t change. Think about it, muscle connects to the bone, connects to another bone and can only contract (squeeze) or relax. This means you’ll hear a lot of exercise noise. There’s little variation in this area, don’t get caught up in the latest trends (Crossfit, boot camps, kettlebell workouts, butt workouts.) The fundamentals of resistance training have always remained the same. If you look at the arm muscle, you can only squeeze it, or relax it, that’s it. Do you think it matters if you’re sitting, standing or lying down while doing a biceps curl?
Exercises are like screwdrivers.
A screwdriver only works a certain way. Even if you use it facing up, facing down, under a sink, in the car, the screwdriver still works exactly the same way. The function of the tool doesn’t change because you change the position of the movement.
Don’t fall for the hype, muscles only move in a limited number of ways. Keeping the movement simple ensures a safe, proper, muscle building workout. The most important element in resistance training is feeling the exercise in the proper spot.
Feel It Where You Need It
Without this feeling, you’re not getting any benefit from working out.
There will always be a new fad, a new butt workout, a new whatever. These “new” exercises are nothing new, they’re merely variations of the same exercise for the same muscle. Simplify before you complicate. Is it really the lack of knowing thousands of exercises that’s keeping you from achieving the body of your dreams?
Start with Machines
Machines are best to learn correct movements because they force you to move in one direction. It’s harder to mess up the exercise. Machines help a beginner develop the proper movement, it can also help seasoned users add more weight without adding potential injury.
Progress Slowly
Once you have mastered machines, start using cables, bosus, balls, TRX, etc. No one ever failed in fitness because their workout wasn’t complicated, no one. I’ve personally helped many achieve incredible success. We succeeded because of discipline and consistency. Keep it simple, basic, and consistent.
Exercises to Avoid
Sit-Ups
Please don’t do sit-ups, it’s an old-school exercise that’s bad for your back. Perform crunches instead. The have the same benefit but won’t destroy your lower back. Not all pain is good, and some id very bad.
Leg Raises
Be careful with leg raises. Most people I see trying to do this movement, shouldn’t. They arch their back, causing pain to their lower back.
Pro Tip: If your low back hurts during ANY ab exercise, you’re doing it wrong, or more likely, your body isn’t ready for that movement.
No pain, no gain?
Wrong. Pain sucks.
Muscle Pain Versus Pain
Pain isn’t needed in your exercise routine. A crucial difference exists between muscle pain and pain. Proper pain is muscular. It will be on the muscle. The muscle is anything you can squeeze (contract.) So, if your arm hurts, it should be the muscle part, where you can flex. And not the elbow, wrist, or anything that isn’t muscular. Tendons, ligaments don’t “squeeze” so they should NEVER hurt during a workout. The same goes for ankles, low back, and shoulder joints.
Problems with Low Back Pain
Anytime your core is placed in a compromising position: ie plank or leg raises. The muscles holding you up are the abs and butt. But if you’re too tired, or if the muscles aren’t strong enough, your core gives up and your low back jumps in. You’ll feel excruciating pain. There should never be any low back pain when working out…ever. Avoid all exercises causing low back pain immediately. Movements causing your low back to be sore are wrong. The low back (erector spinae) is a delicate muscle used to support your body, don’t hurt it, you’ll regret it.
How To Perform A Big Three Full Body Circuit Training Program
Pick 3 Exercises: a pushing (chest) exercise, a pulling (back) exercise, and a leg exercise
Combine Into a Circuit: Do a set of each with no rest in between
And Ta-Dah! You’re done.
Depending on your goals and fitness level, you can perform a full body workout two to three days per week, with at least a rest day in between. These fundamentals will help you gain muscle, but to really change how your body looks you’ll need to drop fat by understanding meal planning an incorporating a fitness tracker. Weight loss always changes the body the most. Here's the ONLY way to get a flat belly.
Why does the fitness industry make it so complicated?
It’s just what we do ☹
Total Body Project
In 2009, I left 24 Hour Fitness and started Total Body Project. The pressure was on. Going from a comfortable living to making zero dollars can force major changes. Although I knew the formula for exercising, I never really buckled down on the nutrition. Good enough, wasn’t good enough when you’re the face of the brand.
Even though I knew the exercises, it wasn’t until I mastered the mind that I finally achieved the body of my dreams. Now, you know the exercises, a part of the answer, but only a part. You need to learn the MAD Plan to master your mind. Don’t waste 19 years looking for answers, I’ve found them. Learn from my mistakes, and get that body you deserve.
Tony Arreola
NASM Master Trainer
Best Selling Author, Get Me Skinny
PS: Don't forget your FREE WORKOUT GUIDE
References:
- Clark, M.A., Lucett, S. C., & Sutton, B. G. (2012). NASM Essentionals of Personal Fitness Training (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Robin Huw Crompton, David M. Warshaw, Norman R. Alper, Warren F. Walker, Robert E. Davies, John Gergely. Muscle Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/muscle on Sept 28, 2019
- Jennifer R. Scott. How to Start Resistance Training Retrieved from https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-resistance-training-3496094 Aug 13, 2019
- Gabriel, D. D. (2006). Neural adaptations to resistive exercise: mechanisms and recommendations for training practices. Sports Medicine, 133-149.
- Shield, D. A. (2004). Assessing voluntary muscle activation with the twitch interpolation technique. Sports Medicine, 253-267.
- March 8, 2016 from https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-ultimate-guide-to-posture/ Retrieved on Aug 12, 2019
- Merriam-Webster. “Definition of Momentum.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/momentum
- Merriam-Webster. “Definition of Pectoral.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pectorals
- Merriam-Webster. “Definition of Pectoral.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/latissimus%20dorsi
- Muscles https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/leg-muscles#1 Retrieved on Aug 13, 2019
(Sigh..) Not knowing how fat loss really works hurt me for 17 years. Clients, friends, neighbors have asked me some form of this question. What should I eat? What’s the fastest way to trim my waist? How do I get rid of this? To help anyone, I first needed to help myself. No one likes a fat trainer. And sadly, I was a fat trainer.
The answer surprised me and it will surprise you. You only need to master two keys to succeed in fat loss. Just two. Master fat loss with these two keys.
What You Need to Know for Fat Loss to Work for You
- Understand the difference between fat loss and weight loss
- Understand calories and how many you should eat
- Make sure you’re moving enough
- Drink enough water
- Execute your plan
Master Fat Loss with Five Principles
Take a moment and quiz yourself. Do you know your specific answers? Even after my first training certification in 2002, I didn't understand all five. Epic freaking fail.
1. Understand the difference between fat loss and weight loss
Do you remember the last time you checked out at the grocery store? Did you glance at the magazine headlines? Some celebrity always loses 10 pounds in 3 days, or 15 pounds in 10 days with a “new” diet. Can this be true? Or are they lying?
It might actually be possible…
Say What?
Yes.
But weight loss and fat loss are not the same.
Weight loss can happen instantly, but true fat loss always takes time (sometimes a long time.) Fat loss is the process of your body converting fat matter into usable energy. Fat loss and weight loss are very different.
Have you ever tried to grab water?
Have you ever grabbed fat?
You CAN grab fat, but you CAN’T grab water.
If you can grab it, you can lose it.
Why Our Weight Changes Daily
- Water (Body is 65% water)
- Carb Intake (Carbs hold water: Carbo – HYDRATE)
- Sodium Intake (Salt retains water)
- Bowel Movements (Poop, if it’s in you, it’s IN you)
- Time of the Month (Females)
A daily weight change of 2-5 % of total weight is normal. In 2002, two years after my brother’s passing. I didn’t care about anything…including myself. I crept up to 192 pounds. For myself, a daily weight change of 4-9 pounds is normal.
I wish I would've known this back then. In college, fast food was the norm. My diet attempts included ordering a #1 with no mayonnaise, no cheese and a diet coke. The next day I would jump on the scale. Boom, down five pounds! But, the next day, I would walk off the scale up seven pounds (instant sad mode.)
2. Understand calories and how many you should eat
“I didn’t realize it was so simple.”
I’ve heard this phrase from my clients dozens of times when they first learn about calories. I can teach you about carbs, fats, and proteins, but why? To lose fat, you don’t need to know a lot, you only need to understand calories.
Calories. I know, I hate the word, too.
But for us to have any chance of reaching your goal. You need to understand calories. Especially, how they relate to fat loss. Many diets, cleanses, and media promise you calories don't count. I wish it was true, but sadly, it isn’t. If you ignore this basic fact, you will struggle with fat loss.
Calories always count, always.
An energy deficit results in fat loss, this is the only way fat loss can happen. Any successful diet claiming you're not counting calories, still places you in an energy deficit. Meaning you're still eating less calories than your body burns.
Calories always count, always.
Every successful diet makes you eat less calories than your body burns. So, even if you're not counting calories, you're still counting calories. Sorry.
Calories always count, always.
I know you don't like calories. And you hate watching calories for the rest of your life. So, I'll give you a moment.
Ready?
Like my mom always told me. “It doesn't matter if you like it or not. Get it done.” Calories are a fact of life. Calorie management is a basic governing law. Calories, like money will always matter in your life. Your feelings won't change the facts.
Calories always count, always.
But what are calories?
Calorie: a unit of energy, defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius.
What?
The non-nerd version:
Calories are the currency of energy. A calorie is just a form of energy, 1 pound of fat = 3,500 calories. To burn one pound, you have to burn 3,500 calories.
“How many calories should I eat?”
If you can’t answer this question, you will never lose the fat. In 2002, I had no idea what a calorie was, at all. Nobody told me, I was never taught in school, the internet didn’t exist. But lucky for you and my clients, we know how many calories you need to eat to lose fat.
A good gauge would be to add a zero to your body weight. I weighed 192, I should eat 1900 or less calories. As your weight decreases the number of calories also decreases. Use My Fitness Pal to help monitor caloric intake.
3. Make sure you're moving enough
Caloric intake is only one side of the solution, the most important side and the easiest to control. If you’re not losing weight, you're not moving enough for your body to burn the extra calories on your body. Use a FitBit or other fitness tracker to measure caloric output.
Here’s the good news:
Calories function exactly like money.
Managing calories is like managing money. If you want to lose fat, burn more calories than you eat. If you want to be rich, make more money than you spend. Using an activity tracker will help you keep you active, logging your nutrition will show you how many calories you’re eating. Manage your caloric budget like money, every savings of 3,500 will equal one real pound of fat.
4. Drink enough water
Stop reading this and go pee. Check the color of the pee.
*More steps required for females*
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
So…
What color was it?
Yellow, light yellow, brownish, clear? If it wasn’t clear you’re not drinking enough water.
Water consumption should be equal to half your body weight in ounces.
Ex: weigh 192 lbs = drink 96 ounces = approximately 12 glasses of water.
I know it sounds like a lot. Most people think they’re hungry, when in fact they’re actually thirsty. Imagine if all this time, when you thought you were hungry, you were just thirsty. Water might be the easiest way to lose fat, ever.
Take a moment and re-read the four principles. Do you understand each one? I cover these principles first with all my clients. If they can’t understand these fundamental principles to understand how fat loss works, the party stops here. Once they fully understand the basics, then we can move into the more challenging part of the solution.
Oh, you thought it would be easy?
I wish it was, but once you know the information, you must be willing to accept the difficult part:
5. Execute your plan
Back in 2002, a potential client told me. “I don’t need a trainer. I know what to do.” This statement hurt my feelings. After all, this was my profession. And I was still a fat trainer (not a good look.)
He wasn’t in great shape, and I believed him. I believed everyone for years. I thought I knew what to do, but as a chubby trainer. Did I really know what to do?
No.
Knowing what to do and doing what you need to do are very different. I spent the next 2 years losing the weight while gaining invaluable insight. I ran into the same landmines you do. Like having a plan, then failing during the weekend, giving in to peer pressure in the break room, and overeating at parties.
After 17 years of experience, 2 degrees, and 7 certifications I can tell you the answer is simple. The reason we struggle is because we eat more than our body needs.
Move More and Eat Less
“That’s it!”
While it is a simple theory, it is difficult to apply.
Here are some tips to get you started on your fat loss journey.
Start with Small Changes
If you start with drastic changes, you’ll struggle. That’s why most diets don’t work. Start with making less mistakes. Like no mayonnaise, candy only once per day, fast food only on weekends. Build off your wins as you work to create new habits.
Have a Strategy for Dinners/Weekends
If you know you’re going to overeat, (family dinners, bdays, parties, etc.) Plan for it. Eat less before the event, like a soup or salad. Save your calories for the event. The plan will work exactly like a budget, save what you want to spend.
Make It Simple
Don’t waste energy complicating matters. How much sugar? How many grams of carbs? Focus on less calories. Blah, blah, blah. Stay away from “Del Taco.” Don’t have seconds and thirds. Junk food is called junk food for a reason. And eating while intoxicated usually leads to a poor choices.
Download Your FREE Fat Loss Failure Prevention Guide
I’ve been there. I've walked the walked. Through trials and tribulations, I found the answers to your struggles. After years of working directly with fat loss clients,I learned the simple strategy to avoid fat loss failure. I call the solution the MAD Plan. I’ve used it successfully for years. You can have the plan for FREE!
Download the plan, learn the simple way and understand how fat loss really works. I'm no longer a fat trainer, and my clients don't need to waste time or money with techniques that don't work. After you download your free guide, let me know in the comments if you found the guide useful.
Tony Arreola
NASM Master Trainer
Best Selling Author, Get Me Skinny
PS: Download the Secrets of the Skinny NOW
References:
- Clark, M.A., Lucett, S. C., & Sutton, B. G. (2012). NASM Essentionals of Personal Fitness Training (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.
- Merriam Webster. “Definition of Water” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water
- Merriam Webster. “Definition of Fat” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fat
- USGS “The Water in You: Water and the Human Body” https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects Retrieved on Sept 21, 2019
- Jessie Szalay. “What are Carbohydrates?” https://www.livescience.com/51976-carbohydrates.html Retrieved on Aug 14, 2019
- Cleveland Clinic “Feel Bloated? 5 Odd Reasons for Your Stomach Pain” https://health.clevelandclinic.org/feel-bloated-5-odd-reasons-stomach-pain/ Retrieved on July 1, 2019
- Abdominal fat and what to do about it. (2015).
health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it - Cummings, JH., et al. (1992). Fecal weight, colon cancer risk, and dietary intake of nonstarch polysaccharides (dietary fiber).
gastrojournal.org/article/0016-5085(92)91435-7/pdf?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2F - Diarrhea. (2018).
medlineplus.gov/diarrhea.html - How often does the average person poop? (n.d.).
umass.edu/mycenter/documents/bb/poop.pdf - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2015). Chart of high-fiber foods.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948 - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2017). Weight-loss basics.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/basics/weightloss-basics/hlv-20049483 - Picco MF. (2018). How long does it take to digest food — from the time you eat to the time you excrete it?
mayoclinic.org/digestive-system/expert-answers/faq-20058340 - Slavin JL. (2005). Dietary fiber and body weight. DOI:
10.1016/j.nut.2004.08.018 - Cheuvront SN, et al. (2013). Physiologic basis for understanding quantitative dehydration assessment. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.112.044172
- Gorczyca AM, et al. (2016). Changes in macronutrient, micronutrient, and food group intakes throughout the menstrual cycle in healthy, premenopausal women. DOI: 10.1007/s00394-015-0931-0
- Guarino M, et al. (2011). Progesterone receptors and serotonin levels in colon epithelial cells from females with slow transit constipation. DOI:
10.1111/j.1365-2982.2011.01705.x - Inam QU, et al. (2016). Effects of sugar rich diet on brain serotonin, hyperphagia and anxiety in animal model of both genders.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27166525 - Jenkins TA, et al. (2016). Influence of tryptophan and serotonin on mood and cognition with a possible role of the gut-brain axis. DOI:
10.3390/nu8010056 - Julian R, et al. (2017). The effects of menstrual cycle phase on physical performance in female soccer players. DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0173951 - Kohndoker F, et al. (2017). Serum calcium and magnesium levels during different phases of the menstrual cycle.
pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4c86/12a9144274336b0dd1d48795b2d56afcc01e.pdf - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Edema.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/edema/symptoms-causes/syc-20366493 - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Menstrual cramps.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menstrual-cramps/symptoms-causes/syc-20374938 - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
mayoclinic.org/es-es/diseases-conditions/premenstrual-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20376780 - Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Water retention: Relieve this premenstrual symptom.
mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/water-retention/art-20044983 - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). (2015).
acog.org/Patients/FAQs/Premenstrual-Syndrome-PMS?IsMobileSet=false - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS). (2018).
womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome - Racine SE, et al. (2011). Differential associations between ovarian hormones and disordered eating symptoms across the menstrual cycle in women. DOI:
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10.1371/journal.pone.0191022
When we fall for weight loss myths, we suffer. When we're promised quick results, but instead fall flat on our face it’s devastating. We're less likely to try again. Obesity is surging. There are currently 175 million overweight or obese teens and adults in the United States. We need proper guidance. I won't promise what I can't deliver. I promise you the truth. Changing your lifestyle won't be easy, but it'll be worth it. You deserve great health. Let's start with a stand. Let's make today the day we stop falling for these notorious weight loss myths.
15 Common Weight Loss Myths
1. “Sweating more makes you lose weight faster.”
2. “Running makes you lose weight instantly.”
3. “Eating bread makes you fat.”
4. “Fasted cardio makes you lose weight fast.”
5. “I have a slow metabolism.”
7. “Lifting weights will make me bulky.”
9. “Crunches target your stomach.”
10. “HITT training is the fastest way to burn fat.”
11. “Hormones are causing me to gain weight.”
12. “Women don’t need to lift weights.”
13. “Cardio speeds up weight loss.”
14. “Lifting weights turns you into a fat burning machine.”
15. “I’m getting older, my metabolism is slowing down.”
1. “Sweating more makes you lose weight faster.”
We’ve all seen that guy wearing trash bags or a sweat suit. They look hot, silly, and in no better shape. Are they onto something? Let's take a deeper look. The human body is approximately 60% water. If our human body weighs 180 pounds, 60% of the weight is water, which means 108 pounds of your weight is water weight. On the scale your weight can vary anywhere from 2-5% of your body weight daily. That means the weight can vary from 3-9 pounds for our 180 pound example. If we have 108 pounds of water, and we dehydrate ourselves by sweating as much as possible. We can drop up to 20 pounds of water in extreme cases. We can bring down our weight on a scale to 160 pounds in a very short time.
But, it's only a water weight loss not fat loss. Great for making weight in a fight, but not for changing your appearance. Unless you're training for a big fight, you're playing with fire. Sweating too much can compromise your health. You will lose water weight, but you run the risk of many severe health problems:
Sweat is mostly water, and sweat is used to cool the body down, so you won’t die. Not dying is good.
Dehydration from vigorous exercise, increased temperature or not enough water can cause:
- Heat Exhaustion: These can range in severity from mild heat cramps to heat exhaustion to potentially life-threatening heatstroke.
- Swelling of the Brain (Cerebral Edema): This can happen when you drink water after being dehydrated. The brain is desperate for water and pulls water, sometimes too fast causing swelling and sometimes cellular ruptures.
- Seizures: Electrolytes in water carry electrical signals from cell to cell. If your electrolytes are compromised, the normal electrical messages can become distorted. This can lead to involuntary muscle contractions and sometimes a loss of consciousness.
- Low Blood Volume Shock (Hypovolemic Shock): When low blood volume causes a corresponding drop in blood pressure and a drop in the amount of oxygen in your body. This can prove fatal.
- Kidney Failure: This life-threatening problem occurs when your kidneys can no longer remove excess fluids and waste from your blood.
- Coma and Death: When not treated promptly and correctly, severe dehydration can be fatal.
People’s bodies average two to four million sweat glands. How much sweat is released by each gland is determined by many factors, including gender, genetics, environmental conditions, age and your fitness level.
Weight Loss Myth versus Fat Loss Fact
Fat is matter, it's a substance you can grab, it's a real thing. For fat loss your body needs to convert the extra fat mass into energy. The human body is sixty percent water, so cutting water out, or sweating it out, will only give you a temporary weight loss. You temporary lose the water in your body, but once you re-hydrate your weight will come back. To lose one real pound of fat, you need an energy deficit of 3,500 calories. A realistic fat loss goal is one to two pounds per week.
Fitness Simplified: While wearing a sweat suit, not drinking water and sweating too much can be dangerous in extreme situations, it can be helpful in measuring your own effort.
How To Use: Keep everything equal, meaning proper clothing, proper hydration, and a cool temperature. In this situation, sweat can be a good indicator of effort. Sweat can show you if you are putting on a good effort, compared to yourself. The key to the game is caloric burn, and if it feels harder then it is harder, and harder always burns more calories.
2. “Running makes you lose weight instantly.”
“My friend started running and she lost a ton of weight,” my client Kelly said.
I’ve personally trained over 50 clients in endurance events. Whether you’re training for a marathon, half marathon or 5k, running didn't make anyone lose weight.
Not one.
In fact, in my estimates people misjudge the amount of calories their body burns. Most people eat more calories “carbing-up” for a race than they do running one. Just because you’re running, doesn’t mean you get a free pass at the buffet line. Don’t let running be another creative excuse to overeat. Fat loss comes from eating less than your body consumes. And your body burns calories far less than it can consume.
Fitness Simplified: Running isn’t a fast track to fat loss, just another sad fat loss myth.
What to Do: Running is a great cardio, strengthens your legs, strengthens your heart, strengthens your mind. Run, but only count it as exercise and incorporate it with a healthy diet for best results.
3. “Eating bread makes you fat.”
“Oh, I don’t eat bread,” said everyone in the last seven years.
Poor bread, I love bread, but it got such a bad rap. But how can cutting bread make you lose weight?
Easy.
Breads are carbohydrates. (Carbo-HYDRATES) Emphasis on HYDRATE, like water.
Carbo-HYDRATES
Carbohydrates are your primary source of energy. Coincidentally, they hold a vast amount of water. Lose the carbs and guess what happens? You lose water weight, again a temporary weight reduction. But you need carbohydrates in your life. Carbs are an essential macro-nutrient, like protein and fat, they provide essential functions in your health. Unless your diabetic, or pre-diabetic then you don't need to worry about carbohydrates.
Fitness Simplified: Don’t let carbs scare you.
How To Use: If you want to lose weight don’t limit the carbs, limit the calories.
4.“Fasted cardio makes you lose weight fast.”
We can probably blame Instagram for this one. We’ve heard our body is supposed to burn more fat when it’s in a fasted state. This is correct, the body burns more calories from fat stores. Which is great if you’re trying to burn less calories and only the ones from fat.
Do you know which ones those are?
When you grab your love handles, what kind of fat are you holding? Do you care or do you want it gone?
Yeah, me too.
Fasted cardio is a fast way to pass out. When you have energy in your system, you push harder and thus burn more calories during the workout. It’s hard to burn calories when you’re light headed and laying down.
Fitness Simplified: Use common sense for your workouts. If you can power through a workout with only coffee or a small banana then go for it. If you feel awful with no fuel in your system, don’t do that. There's no one since fits all solution, do what works best for you.
How To Use: Don’t complicate calorie burn. When something feels harder, you’re working harder. When you work harder, you burn more calories. Burning more calories, gets you there faster.
5. “I have a slow metabolism.”
Metabolism: Converting food into life energy
Our metabolism converts calories from food into energy to live. During this complex process, calories are converted into the energy your body needs to function. Even at rest, your body needs energy for all its regular functions, such as breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, and cellular maintenance. The calories your body uses to perform these basic functions is known as your basal metabolic rate, “metabolism.”
Fat Loss Factors
While age doesn’t affect metabolism directly, other factors exist between people that account for differences in our individual metabolic rate. (How many calories our bodies burn, with no physical activity.)
- Your Body: Larger people burn more calories. It takes more energy to power a garbage truck than a shopping cart.
- Your Sex: Men usually possess more muscle than women. Having slightly more muscle than fat means a slightly higher energy demand. Muscle requires energy, fat doesn’t.
Although we don’t have control over how many calories our bodies use, we can control the demand for calories. This can be increased with physical activity. But not the type your thinking. Not weights, not exercise, but movement. Yes, any and all movement.
Fitness Simplified: Think of your metabolism as a funnel. You can’t change the speed of the funnel. That remains pretty much the same. What you can do is pour more energy into the funnel.
How To Use: You can’t increase your metabolism rate, but you can use it more. By moving more, your body uses the funnel more. By moving more, your body needs more energy, and when your body needs more energy, it uses the energy from the fat in your body.
Move more, lose fat faster.
6. “You can spot train.”
I’ve met countless ladies who desperately want to get rid of their bat wings. I get it, I want to help you get rid of that too. Unfortunately, like our height (I wish I was a little bit taller) we aren’t in control of our genetic make-up. Your genes, (so in essence your parents) are the ones to blame for those thick thighs. Genetic factors influence whether people store fat around the trunk or in other parts of your body. Males store fat different from females. Individual fat storage also varies from person to person. And trust me, the place where you store fat, is not where you want it.
Sucks, but true.
But what can we do?
To minimize fat in the areas you hate, you need to minimize fat everywhere in the body. Yes, lower your overall bodyfat and everything will look better. I know the look you want, and to the look you want means the bodyfat needs to come down everywhere. The first place you gain fat is the last place you lose it.
Fitness Simplified: Don’t target specific areas, target the total body.
How To Use: Focus on exercise that burn more calories. Total body workouts burn more calories because bigger muscle groups burn more calories. Burning more calories reaches your goal faster.
7. “Lifting weights will make me bulky.”
Females fear lifting weights, because they fear getting bigger and looking manly. While there are similar percentage improvements in strength with resistance training, increases in muscle size are typically less in women than men. While it is true both women and men produce testosterone, which is an anabolic hormone that plays an important role in growth and the repair of tissue, men produce up to 10 times more testosterone than women. This is one of the primary reasons men produce a greater amount of muscle mass over a shorter period of time.
Women only look bigger if they lift weights, but don’t adjust their diet.
If you keep the bodyfat or increase the bodyfat, and add more muscle. You will get bigger, if you keep the muscle and lower the bodyfat you will get smaller, and look more toned.
Fitness Simplified: It’s more important for females to lift weights than men.
How To Use: You don’t have to kill yourself in the gym. You only need to stimulate the muscle and bones in your body. Adding external overload (resistance training) will help your bones and muscles grow stronger. Your bones like your muscles are living tissue. Perform a total body workout 2-3 times/week.
8. “No pain, no gain.”
This fat loss myth alone causes more people to avoid the gym. While there is some discomfort in resistance training, flexibility and cardio training. The discomfort can be minimal. Think of it, this way. You need to go slightly past the breaking point for your body to rebuild. Then we rest, recover, and come back stronger. We repeat this process and you slowly become stronger, more flexible and improve heart strength. Like the three little pigs story, you need to breakdown the house and then rebuild stronger. When you push too hard, it’s painful, dangerous and you will quit. Obviously, it hurts too much. Quitting gives you zero benefit.
Fitness Simplified: The workouts need to be slightly uncomfortable, unnecessary pain will only force you to quit.
How To Use: Don’t think of the exercise as a punishment. Think of it as a reward and push yourself enough to produce natural endorphins. Plan a day of rest in between workouts. Start with about an hour of resistance training and roughly 20-30 minutes of cardio. Start slow and build. It’s more important to be consistent than to go hard.
9. “Crunches target your stomach.”
This weight loss myth is closely correlated to spot training. The body essentially has three layers. Muscle, bodyfat and skin, when we measure bodyfat we pinch all three and get bodyfat percentage.
When you target the abs with crunches, you do make the muscle stronger. Which is great for strong abs, but the problem isn’t the muscle. The problem is the fat covering the muscle. I call that layer the marshmallow layer and this layer is the problem. But doing every crunch known to man will not do anything to change the appearance of your tummy. You need to remove the extra fat to have the abs look better.
Fitness Simplified: Crunches make your abs stronger but does nothing for the looks.
How To Use: Crunches, planks, and core work are great exercises. But these exercises do nothing for the appearance of the midsection. To trim the waistline, usually the best exercise is the one where you eat the right amount of calories.
10. “HITT training is the fastest way to burn fat.”
High Intensity Interval Training (HITT) is alternating between timed hard cardio, and then a timed rest interval. You then repeat the circuit, hard and rest, hard and rest. Trainers like to tell you that you burn more calories in this matter. But, here’s the problem with this method.
Example:
150 female doing HITT (5 minutes on, 1 minute rest) repeat X 5 = 30 minutes
If during the High Intensity phase you push you burn up to (8 cals/min)
During the Rest you rest (1 cal/min)
Total: (25 X 8) + (5 X 1) = 205 calories
Compare to a lower but manageable intensity for 30 minutes.
(30 X 6) = 180 calories
The Caloric Difference:
The difference is 205 – 180 = 25 calories (or 2 jelly beans)
This doesn’t even consider that towards the end of your interval training, it’s hard to match the same effort. You probably wont have the same energy as the first couple intervals, less effort means less calories.
Interval training does have a role increasing VO2 max, helping your cardio increase, but as far as fat loss goes, it’s just another fat loss myth.
Fitness Simplified: HITT isn’t a shortcut, it’s just another workout.
How To Use: HITT can be fun to mix up your workout. Incorporating a total body circuit with recovery will help you burn slightly more calories(slightly.) But the bulk of your caloric burn with come from constant activity. Steps, activity and eating the correct number of calories.
11. “Hormones are causing me to gain weight.”
Hormones are a touchy subject and probably used the most to prey on females. It's a convenient excuse for weight gain. It’s a hands-off approach and others choose to sell you their product of choice to help these hormones. If you want to see for yourself google “Weight gain and hormones” and immediately it isn't your fault. The problem is hormones don’t cause weight gain. Eating more calories than your body needs causes weight gain.
Hormones Don't Cause Weight Gain
While hormones, sleep and stress can cause other issues. The main issue is eating too much, I know it hurts to tell you. But it’s true. I’ve personally helped many clients who had thyroid issues or other hormonal imbalances. And while these issues are real, when it comes to weight gain it just isn’t the case. Menopause is another area where muscle loss occurs lowering the metabolic rate, but again not enough for weight gain. Weight gain only happens when the hormone imbalance causes you too eat too many calories. If you can control the urges, fight the temptations and stick to your plan, you will succeed.
Fitness Simplified: Hormones alone can’t cause weight gain. Eating too many calories, and not moving enough causes weight gain.
How To Use: If you feel hormones are really slowing you down, then perform what I call I a “Deep Caloric Audit.” Figure out exactly how many calories you’re eating (especially weekends) and figure out your activity level. Follow these numbers religiously for 2 weeks and look for either the caloric surplus or the caloric deficit. Energy is energy, and when your body intakes more energy than it needs, it will store the extra energy as fat regardless of hormones.
12. “Women don’t need to lift weights.”
This fat loss myth can cause severe harm to females. Females produce estrogen. Estrogen weakens bones, lowering bone density. Resistance training keeps bones strong. Lifting weights is only a form of resistance training. You can also use machines, bands, balls and your body weight to get the same benefits. Any external resistance (weights included) will provide the stimulation needed for bone and muscle growth.
Fitness Simplified: It’s more valuable for females to do resistance training than men.
How To Use: Focus on workouts that you like, but focus on the total body. Ladies tend to avoid the weight room and focus on crunches and booty work. Although this is awesome and I thank you. It will provides minimal results because you’re missing the biggest muscles in your body. And bigger muscles burn more calories, getting you skinny faster.
13. “Cardio speeds up weight loss.”
“You need to run to lose weight, you need to push to lose weight faster. I’ve heard this one a lot. And the facts are true. While you burn more calories during a cardio session, you don’t burn nearly enough to offset a poor diet. Cardio is a form of movement, but only lasts a small duration (usually 30 minutes.)
Your day is 24 hours, 1,440 minutes. That means your 2% of your day, your burning more calories. But what about the other 1,410 minutes 98% of your day?
You will burn more calories during that period, but not as many as you would like. Cardio keeps your heart and lungs strong. Cardio focuses on the cardiorespiratory system, it will strengthen your heart, but it will not speed up fat loss.
Fitness Simplified: Cardio helps your heart and lungs. But it won’t speed up fat loss. Focus on total caloric expenditure (total movement matters more.)
How To Use: Don’t count on cardio for fat loss. Count on cardio for heart strength. Count your steps. Steps represent movement. More movement means faster fat loss. Track your resting heart rate, as your cardio increases your resting heart rate (RHR) will decrease.
14. “Lifting weights turns you into a fat burning machine.”
We’ve all heard this myth in the gym, especially by trainers (myself included.) I fell for the bait. I thought as long as I lift weights, I can eat whatever I want. Turns out, if I eat whatever I want I gain weight.
Shocker.
But what about this fat burning muscle machine I was promised?
At rest, muscle does burn more calories than fat. But not much more, not enough to give you free pass at the buffet. The data is clear. A pound of muscle burns six calories per day while a pound of fat burns only two. Yes, it’s three times more calories, but how much is that?
Example:
Let’s say you weigh 200 pounds and your bodyfat percentage is 20%, and your muscles burn 20% of the caloric burn.
You work hard to lose 20 pounds, and add 1 pound of muscle (muscle is very hard to add, but that’s a story for a different day.) You drop your bodyfat down to 15%
Your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate: the calories your body uses to keep you alive.) Brain (20%), heart (15-20%), liver (15-20%), kidneys, lungs, fat, tissues(10-15%) and muscle(20-25%).
First example:
Weight 200, Fat = 40 pounds, Lean Body Mass(muscle, bones, etc.) = 160. RMR Would be roughly 2000 calories, with 20% burn with muscle. This will be 400 calories/day.
Second Example:
Weight 180 pounds, Fat = 27 pounds, LBM = 153 pounds. You add one pound of muscle and increase your caloric burn to 21%.
RMR= 1800 calories, Muscle 378 calories from the increased muscle.
So you added one pound of muscle, lost 20 pounds of fat, and increased caloric expenditure by… (-22 calories?)
Correct, contrary to the popular belief. Adding muscle, getting fitter, makes you an efficient machine, not a calorie burning machine. When you’re lighter, fitter, and stronger, it takes LESS energy to move. It takes LESS energy to run. Become fitter makes movement easier, and easier movement burns LESS calories.
Weight Lifting Research:
- In 1995, researchers at the University of Limburg in the Netherlands published a study in Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise on 21 male subjects and determined that weight-training “has no effect” on RMR
- In 1994, researchers at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark compared 10 bodybuilders with 10 lean subjects. Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the report found that intense weight-lifting did not result in any measurable EPOC.
- In 1992, researchers from the University of Texas at Austin compared intense weightlifting with intense aerobic exercise on 47 males and reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that “RMR did not significantly change after either training regimen.”
Fitness Simplified: Lifting weights is important but doesn’t mean you can eat anything you want.
How To Use: Lifting weights can change how your body looks, but only if you execute on your diet. 90% of how you look depends on what you eat.
15. “I’m getting older, my metabolism is slowing down.”
As we discussed earlier, metabolism is the process of converting food into energy. Your body wants to live, so it will always convert food into energy.
Age has no bearing on metabolisms.
Metabolism and Weight Loss Myths
The body will always convert calories into energy in the same way. But as we age, we lose some muscle mass and are far less active. A metabolism is defined as the chemical processes that occur within a living organism in order to maintain life. The metabolism doesn’t change. When you read articles about “speeding up” your metabolism, they’re referring to total calories burned. And we all know how to burn more calories, move more.
Age and Weight Loss Myths
As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight, slowing down calorie burning.
Fitness Simplified: Your metabolism doesn't ever slow down. Don't slow down your activity, less activity as you age, means less calories burned.
How To Use: Always burn more calories, than you eat to be lean forever.
You possess the knowledge to beat the 15 most common fat loss myths. I wish there was an easier way, but with hard work and common sense you can accomplish all your fitness goals. The fitness game can be unnecessarily confusing. Focus on the fundamentals, be patient and you'll be successful.
Free Weight Loss Myth Checklist
I put this valuable list together in a convenient PDF, you can have the checklist for free. This will help your arguments 😉
What are some weight loss myths you've heard? Please share in the comments below. Maybe you can help someone avoid falling for weight loss myths.
Tony Arreola
Best Selling Author, Get Me Skinny
NASM Master Trainer (OPT, MT)
Weight Loss Specialist (WLS), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES),
Sports Fitness Specialist (SFS), Behavior Change Specialist (BCS)
PS: Don't forget to Grab Your Weight Loss Myth Checklist
References:
- Center for Disease and Control, “Childhood Obesity Facts” https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html
2. American College of Sports Medicine, Sawka, M. N., Burke, L. M., Eichner, E. R., Maughan, R. J., Montain, S. J., & Stachenfeld, N. S. (2007, February). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement [Abstract]. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39(2), 377–390. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17277604
3. Hansen, Julieann. “The Science of Sweat”. American College of Sports Medicine. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved September 19, 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9303999
4. Sparks, Dana. “Dehydration can lead to serious complications”. Retrieved September 19, 2019 from https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/dehydration-can-lead-to-serious-complications/
5. William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR. “Medical Definition of Carbohydrates”. Retrieved September 19, 2019 from https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15381
6. Center for Disease and Control, “Diabetes.” Retrieved September 19,2019 from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fdiabetes%2Fhome%2Findex.html
7. Merriam-Webster. “Definition of Metabolism.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metabolism
8. Merriam-Webster. “Definition of Calorie.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calorie
9. Cleveland Clinic Center for Consumer Health Information: “How Does Exercise Improve Depression?”
10. American Psychiatric Association, Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Major Depression, 2000, and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR, American Psychiatric Pub, 2000.
11. National Academy of Sports Medicine. “HIIT, HVIT, or VIIT: Do you know the difference?” Retrieved from https://blog.nasm.org/sports-performance/hiit-hvit-viit-know-differences/
12. UCLA Health. “What is Menopause?” Retrieved from http://obgyn.ucla.edu/menopause
13. US National Library of Medicine. “Hormones” Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/hormones.html
14. Melinda Ratini, DO, MS. Web MD Thyroid Symptons Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/women/ss/slideshow-thyroid-symptoms-and-solutions
15. Clark, M.A., Lucett, S. C., & Sutton, B. G. (2012). NASM Essentionals of Personal Fitness Training (4th ed.). Wolters Kluwer.