How To Work On Your Balance | Ask Erik

Ann, who is almost 70 years old, wants to know how she can work on her balance.

Erik recommends: 

1. Strength train with compound exercises
2. Specificity - work on balance exercises 2-3 times a week

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Weight Loss Stalled?

 

In the beginning stages of weight loss most people will find:

  • a 1-2 pound loss on the scale each week
  • better energy
  • motivation to continue the journey 

Momentum Falls Off

You have been riding on the momentum of the weight loss wave until the last few weeks hit.  That damn scale hasn’t moved a fraction of an inch and you are stuck.  Panic is starting to set in and you are thinking of taking drastic measures to ensure you reach your goal.  Take a breath and let’s take a logical approach to dealing with the inevitable plateau.  

If you have gone more than 2 weeks without the scale budging it’s time to change things up. 

Bust Through That Plateau

1.  Decrease Calorie intake - The easiest place to start is to cut more calories out of your daily allowance.  The mistake most people make is they cut too many calories out at once.  Instead take a conservative approach, decrease your calories by 100 per day.  You must make sure that you are eating adequate protein and fat levels every day, so to cut calories, decrease the amount of carbs you are eating.

2.  Lace up your shoes - The 2nd place to help promote fat loss is by increasing your cardio.  How much cardio should you be doing and what types of cardio should you be doing - HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or LIIS (Low Intensity Steady State)?

The answer is both, but I give HIIT the advantage.  2-3 days of HIIT is more than enough to accomplish the job.  An example of this would be 5-8 reps for 25-45 seconds at a 90% + effort is plenty to get the job done.  You will need to rest for 1:30-2+ minutes before attempting another rep. 

HIIT Workouts

  • spin bike
  • sprints
  • sled
  • tire flips
  • stairs
  • rowing
  • running hills

LIIS workouts

For those less experienced exercisers or for those cardio haters LIIS probably is a better way to go.  3-5 times a week, 45-60 minutes.

  • stroll
  • easy bike ride
  • recumbent bike

3.  Change your goals - Maybe it is time to switch things up.  Being in calorie deficit can take a toll on you psychologically and affect your social life.  Let’s assume you now have healthy levels of body fat, maybe it is time to focus on another goal that is motivating and has you excited. 

One of the better fitness goals that I can tell you to do is to focus on strength training, the benefits of being strong are endless.  Remember skinny does not mean fit.  Your strength has a direct affect on how you interact with your environment.  Strength training will do the following:

  • increase bone density
  • improve your posture
  • improve your work capacity
  • build some serious self-confidence

Let It Go

Strength training is the best thing you can do when taking on father time. 

Constant dieting can be a daunting task. It might be time to let go of the idea of perfection.  If you have been at it for a while change things up and focus on just eating well, exercising, moving everyday, and having some fun. 

Contact me if you need help getting over the weight loss hump. I can design a personalized fitness & nutrition plan for you. 310.251.7420

Image credit: Sebastian Molinares on Unsplash

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Erik's Weekly Fitness Tip | Sticking To The Basics

 

What The Basics Aren't

  • The basics aren’t sexy.
  • The basics don’t grab the headlines.
  • The basics, quite frankly, can be boring.  

But, the basics produce results! 

People have a hard time believing me that when it comes to fitness, all you need to do is stick to a few basic principles and you get results. 

Complication

Now complication looks sexy, shiny, fun, and all the cool people are doing it.  The fitness and supplement world is littered with this junk:

  • program hopping
  • infomercials of ab rollers with ripped models (who by the way did not get those ripped abs by doing the ab roller)
  • Shake Weight
  • vibrating platforms
  • diet pills that sound to good to be true
  • fancy machines at the gym
  • 8 min abs/buns
  • Power Balance bracelets with a special hologram to improve balance (my personal favorite) 

All hype, all snake oil, all totally crap.  But these companies do know one thing, they know how to sell.  They know how to reach that emotional trigger to get us to buy their product or to try their cutting edge workout programs.

But trust me on this, focus on the basics and you’ll get the results you are looking for, without wasting a bunch of money and time on junk that you’d wind up selling at your next garage sale

What do the basics look like?

  1.    Consistently eating well
  2.    Not over eating
  3.    Moving every day
  4.    Avoiding sugar
  5.    Doing squats
  6.    Jogging, running, riding a bike
  7.    Incrementally making your workouts harder
  8.    Sticking to one program
  9.    Setting a goal and sticking it out until you hit that goal
  10.    Let’s not forget the most important thing of all…you have to put in the work! 

If you'd like to get back to the basics, call on me 310.251.7420. I offer tailor made fitness & nutrition programs.

Image credit: Ben Warren on Unsplash

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