Equipment Overload

On Christmas Eve, my sister, Jess, and I went to a nearby fitness center to get our lifting on. Jess was basically following my lead as we did five upper body moves - some dumbbell, some machine, some cables - and a few ab exercises. Close to the end, she looked all around the gym at the rows and rows of machines and equipment, then turned to me and asked, "Sooo, is what we did the best way to lift weights? And if it is, why are all these other machines here?"

Jess is a Columbia graduate and - ivy or not - probably one of the smartest people I know, so I find it a little bit disturbing (on behalf of the fitness industry) that all of this is so confusing to her, and others. Shedding some light on questions like these is precisely the reason I started this blog.

Most gyms are composed of two types of resistance training equipment: machines and free weights.

Machines are designed to control the body's path in space to make the movement easier and enable us to isolate a muscle or muscle groups. Most machines are selectorized and have a weight stack with a pin that moves to select a given load, thereby facilitating quick weight changes from person to person. This is typically the circuit equipment that takes up the bulk of space within a fitness center. Most people are familiar with the leg extension, leg curl, inner/outer thigh, chest press, and other weight machines. These machines are perfect for beginners who are new to movement patterns, individuals who are overweight and for whom body weight exercises are less appropriate, those who have trouble lying down to perform exercises, or intermediate to advanced lifters who want to isolate one muscle or area of the body. The biggest disadvantage with weight machines is that they only perform one movement per machine...meaning you spend $3,000 bucks on one machine that works your quads, $3,000 on one that works your hamstrings, and so on.

Conversely, free weight equipment does not dictate the body's movement path, so using it requires more integration of the body's muscle groups and stabilization at the core. Free weight equipment consists of bench/shoulder presses, squat racks, cable equipment, dumbbells, barbells, etc. This is the space in the gym where we see rows of plain benches, racks and racks of dumbbells, and weight plates that can be loaded on to barbells. As the name "free weight" implies, there is plenty of freedom here to create your own exercise for a certain body part, and to compile or select the proper weight amount.

To elaborate on this point, consider a leg press machine. You can do one thing on it: a leg press. Now consider a barbell. You can use this one piece of equipment to perform lunges, squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, biceps curls, and much more. Thus, the advantage with free weights is the ability to exercise many body parts using the same equipment, provided you know what you're doing (for many, unfortunately, this is the disadvantage). A lot of people have free weights in their homes because they are less expensive than machines and store more easily, but can still be used to exercise the entire body.

So to further answer Jess's question, we used a sprinkling of the available equipment because we wanted to exercise the upper body and I chose these five exercises to make sure we exercised each muscle group. We used the machine assisted pull-up for back and the cable tricep pressdown, which enabled us to use the pin weight stack to switch back and forth quickly without fuss over plate-loading. We used free weights for biceps curls, shoulder presses and chest flies, which enabled us to do the same exercises at the same time. We could have done free weight exercises for back and triceps, and machine exercises for biceps, shoulder, and chest, and still achieved the same goal.

It's kind of like saying, "So you made rice for dinner. Why didn't you make barley or pasta or cous cous?" I guess it just depends on what you're hungry for...

Oh my god...you're still working out in the cold?!

YEA WE ARE. This is Philadelphia, not Toronto. Last night, the beginning was hard for some, stepping out into the wintry night. But after doing a set of squat thrusts while Britney's "Gimme More" pumped over the Boombox, we ended up looking something like this.

Yesterday's temp at time of workout = 35 degrees
Felt like = 28 degrees

Beware the Calories in Coffee

As it gets colder, and warm drinks become enticing as a means to regulate body temperature, keep in mind that, calorically speaking, not all hot beverages are created equal. A cup of black coffee contains about 5 calories - no worries, there. But as a general rule, the more wordy the name of your coffee becomes, the more calories it contains. Mocha, frappa, double, extra, w/ whip, w/ syrup, w/ caramel, etc. are all making your drink taste sweet, yummy, and in certain cases, adding on the amount of calories found in some meals.

Starbucks' nutrition webpage posts the calorie content for menu items. I've selected a few examples to post here. All drinks are "grande" size or 16 ounces. The dangerous ones appear towards the bottom in bold.

Coffee of the Week - Black: 5
Cappuccino - Whole Milk: 140
Cappuccino - Skim Milk: 80
Cappuccino - Soy Milk: 110
Caffe Latte - Whole Milk: 220
Caffe Latte - Skim Milk: 130
Caffe Latte - Soy Milk: 170
Caffe Mocha - Whole Milk: 290
Caffe Mocha w/ Whip - Whole Milk: 360
Caramel Macchiato: 270
Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino - Whole Milk: 310
Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino w/ whip - Whole Milk: 430

Keep in mind that even if you are drinking "regular" coffee, you add 20 calories for every Tablespoon of Half-n-Half (most of us use 2 TBSP) and 16 calories for every teaspoon of sugar (I've observed anywhere from 2-5 for this one) that you dump in there. Your innocuous cup of low-cal coffee may actually be tacking on calories of which you are unaware.

Perhaps you're wondering what I drink? If I'm on the go, I usually grab a 12 oz. coffee and add what I'd guess is a TBSP of half-and-half. I'm a coffee drinker so this is daily. If I'm couching at the local coffee shop with friends, I might go for a 12 oz. cappuccino or a latte, both made with whole milk. This is the kind of drink I have once or twice a month. And if it's the more rare dessert drink (every other month), I like a double-shot mocha, whole milk, no-whip:)

Don't forget to tip your Barista!!

12 Days of Fitness

Admittedly, in the land of fitness, a derivative of this song to plan a workout is not the most creative idea...sorry! But I think the rendition we did at the Art Museum last night was fairly inspired.

Similar to a ladder, we started at the bottom, or "rung" 1, then did 1 and 2, then 1, 2, and 3, and so on until we got to 12. And when I say "we," I mean "they": Cathy, Paul, Janet and the Dans. They all came through every single repetition of what most said was one of the hardest group workouts yet!

Here's what Trainer gave to Muscle Group on the 12th round:

12 Mountain Climbers
11 Arms-a-dipping
10 Lunges, walking (10 out, 10 back)
9 Quads-a-squatting
8 Planks-a-walking (8 "steps" each way)
7 Stairs-a-stepping (7 step-ups each leg)
6 Push-ups, rotating (6 to each side)
5 Squat Thrusts
4 Tricep Push-ups
3 Stair Flights
2 Trash Can Touches
1 Plank 'til everyone's done

Highlights: A total of 84 rotating push-ups and 36 triceps push-ups per person, jealous onlookers from Fairmount Running Club on rounds 11 and 12.

Cardio - Are you working hard enough?

You can probably picture the cardiovascular equipment room within a fitness center: a few rosy-faced individuals pounding out sprints on the treadmill, two friends chatting next to each other on the Ellipticals, someone reading People magazine on the bike, another reading a novel on the Stairmaster with elbows locked out and leaning on the handlebars...you get the picture. All of them will say, "I went to the gym and did 30 minutes of cardio." But who was actually working hard enough?

When it comes to cardiovascular exercise, "working hard enough" refers to the body's ability to accomplish two things: caloric expenditure and improvement in the capacity of the cardiovascular system (i.e. the heart and blood vessels' ability to deliver oxygen to the skeletal muscles).

Caloric expenditure will happen at any intensity level. You burn calories even when you're at rest. However, and this is sort of a no-brainer, the more intensely you exercise, the more calories you will burn. For example, let's say you're a 150-lb person and your goal is to burn about 500 calories. You just put it in an hour on the treadmill...did you work hard enough? If you walked the hour, the answer is no. You probably expended about 300 calories. If you jogged, the answer is yes as you probably burned closer to 500 or 600 calories. Clearly, higher intensities offer greater caloric expenditure and overall duration can be reduced to meet a specific goal.

Unlike reaching a desired caloric expenditure, which can be achieved through a balance of intensity and duration, improving the ability of the cardiovascular system must be achieved through reaching a desired intensity, or heart rate. To improve cardiovascular fitness, you need to exercise within your target heart rate range which is approximately 64%-94% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). MHR is estimated as 220 - age.

It's not as confusing as it sounds. I'm 25 so my MHR is 220 - 25 = 195 beats per minute. I should be exercising within a range of 125 (195 x .64) and 183 (195 x .94) beats per minute.

As a quick test to calculate heart rate while at rest or while exercising, count your pulse for 6 seconds and add a "0" to the number. For example, if you counted "7," your heart rate is about 70. To achieve my target heart rate of 125-183, I would hope to be counting between 13 and 18 beats in 6 seconds which would estimate my heart rate at 130-180.

An even quicker way to estimate if you are in your target heart rate range is to use the Talk Test. If you can carry on a conversation while exercising just as you would if you were sitting around the dinner table, your intensity is too low. However, if you are so out of breath doing your cardio that you are unable to speak, your intensity is too high. You should be slightly winded but able to talk to someone while exercising.

Whether you monitor calories on the treadmill display, estimate your target heart rate using a 6-second pulse, or use the talk test, the main idea is to check in with your body and periodically ask yourself the question, "Am I working hard enough?" The more you focus on Britney's latest pregnancy, the less you are able to focus on your own body.

Fabulous Four

Please take a look at these four and tell me if, "...but it's cold!" is a valid excuse not to workout. Shout outs to Cathy, Emily Teel, Laurel and Ruth for completing the first ever sub-freezing Muscle Group. Wha-what!

High Temperature for December 6, 2007 = 32 degrees
Number of complaining participants at Muscle Group = 0
Number of people from Muscle Group who brought a camera = 2
Number of Muscle Group members, including me, who knew how to use them = 0
Number of times I tried to take this picture = 15
Number of minutes it took me to download it to blogger once Ruth sent it to me = 43
Number of dips performed during workout = 100
Laurel's Chaturanga improvement from triceps strengthening = priceless

Click here to learn more about being a part of Muscle Group, where we do more than just try to take pictures...

Mission Accomplished!

Yesterday, six members of Muscle Group (MG) worked out on a wintry evening and sponsored a runner at Back on My Feet. One thousand thanks yous to Dan Dengel, Emily Teel, Abram Lipman, Cathy Schweiger, Daniel Joyce, and Janet Harper for your daily MG contribution and an extra thank you to those who chipped in a little extra. It went a long way...

Together we raised the $100 needed to get a new member started in the Back on My Feet program. This money will go towards gear and incentives for a new runner. If you think it's cold when we start out, these program members will likely brave the fiercest of winter temperatures as their groups runs begin at 5:45AM! They'll be happy to have the gear:)

The donation is under my name (I did throw in some money but, no doubt, you guys made it happen!) and can be viewed at https://www.active.com/donate/backonmyfeet.

AWESOME JOB.