Can't Eat Perfect All The Time

Today is Memorial Day. In Columbus, it is going to be hot and sunny, so I think we are heading to the pool sometime today. I hope you enjoy your holiday as well.

If you have been reading my newsletters for awhile, you obviously know that I try to "preach" eating correctly throughout your daily life. Not only will it help you with any of your sport endeavors that you might be doing, but it will help with your overall general health - lower cholesterol, reducing bodyfat, improve your immune system, etc.

You also know that I don't require you to do that 24/7. I suggest, even encourage, having a cheat day. There are a lot of foods out there that aren't considered healthy, but taste pretty good. I love a good pizza for instance. What I have learned, that if my clients do eat frequently throughout the day, they are usually eating 5-6 times (between meals and quality snacks). You multiply that by 7 days and you get about 35-42 meals a week. My clients that see success, will have maybe 3-4 cheat meals throughout the week and still be able to accomplish whatever health goals that they have.

You eat healthy the majority of the time, your body can handle the occasional cheat meal. It is when the reverse happens that you get in trouble. So, even though I allow a cheat day, the majority of my clients don't eat "crap" the entire day. What it turns out to be is eating a cheat meal at lunch this day. Then a cheat meal at dinner this night. All in all though, they are usually having 3-4 throughout the week and then eating healthy the rest of the time. This is no sweat for the body. They can handle these moments of indulging with your favorite foods.

With the holiday today, I'm planning on eating some healthy meals, but I do have a nice relaxing dinner planned with your traditional "unhealthy" choice. One of my more popular newsletters was when I wrote about one of my cheat days and the amount of food I had. People were amazed with how many buckeyes I ate during one such cheat day. Well today, I'm going to have some brats for dinner. Not some lower fat chicken/turkey brat, an original brat. I love the taste of a good brat on the grill and we just got a new grill I am dying to break in. I'll probably have some tostitos chips with it and who knows what else. My wife will be making that decision.

So, my request for you is enjoy your Memorial Day and all that it entails. Then tomorrow get back on track with your health goals which require your proper eating and exercising/training. Your body isn't going to add 3 pounds today if you eat wrong or all of the sudden you will lose all your strength if you don't lift. That's not how it works. Have a great day and I'm sure I'll have a brat for you as well.

I'll Be In The Columbus Dispatch This Sunday

This isn't going to be a real informative newsletter, just a big promo for this Sunday's Columbus Dispatch newspaper article that I was interviewed for. The Dispatch has a health section each month and I was interviewed by Misti Crane for an article in the section. There should also be a picture of me training one of my clients, Catherine Adams. I haven't seen the article yet, but I think the theme of the article is weight bearing exercises and the benefits. If you aren't able to look at the Dispatch this Sunday (I'm thinking she said Sunday), then go online at http://thecolumbusdispatch.com and search for it there. So if you get a chance, please take a look at it. I think you will enjoy it.

Dawn Weatherwax, Sports Nutritionist, Talks Shop

So this past weekend, I attended the Ohio State Strength and Conditioning Clinic which was held at Ohio State University. They had a pretty good lineup of speakers, but today I am going to talk about Dawn Weatherwax's presentation. She is the owner of Sports Nutrition 2Go and has worked with many different clientele including top level athletes from the NFL and MLB. I'm going to point out some of the more interesting points I found in her presentation and hopefully, you can take away something that might help you out as well.

• Just like I said in my newsletter last time about athletes being dehydrated before they even start practice, Dawn said that 3 out of 4 student athletes are probably not eating enough calories to fuel their bodies. She said the only true way to find out how many calories you burn is to get a metabolic testing. Coincidentally, we have a machine at our facility if you are interested.
• Speaking of hydration, she said that you should drink your body weight in fluid ounces to stay hydrated. Now, if you are working out or playing an activity, then this is adjusted even more. These fluid ounces can include orange juice, milk, and up to 16 ounces of coffee as long as you aren't adding cream, sugar, and other fattening substances.
• I talked last time about sodium's role in dehydration and she agrees that it is huge. So, if you are sweating a lot during your activity then you need to make sure that you aren't just staying hydrated, but also getting sodium in as well.
• When it comes to protein, you should try to ingest some 20-30 minutes after a workout. 20-30 grams should be fine, anything more than 40 is wasteful because your body can only absorb so much at one time. That is why you want to plan throughout the day to get your protein in at different increments.
• A deck of cards is the size of 3-4 ounces of protein which equals about 20 grams.
• There is no difference if you get your protein from food or a supplement. She likes supplements purely for the convenience. Advocare offers a great post workout drink called Post Workout Recovery. You can read about it by clicking here http://advocare.com/07111072.
• A male should consume 20-30 grams of protein every 3-4 hours. While a female should consume 16-24 grams of protein every 3-4 hours.
• A serving size of fruit or a vegetable is the size of a tennis ball.
• She likes the upper limits of the daily recommendations of foods, thus she says it is tough to get all that through food. That is another reason why she likes supplements, to get those daily recommendations with ease.

I thought those were great tips on some questions that people always seem to ask me. Well now you know from an expert. To read more about Dawn and what she does go to http://sn2g.com. She was real nice and easy to talk to. We'll talk next time about some of the other speakers I saw that day.

How To Prevent Dehydration Before It Starts

I'm sure you were breathing a huge sigh of relief after my harrowing story last time about almost crashing because of dehydration. Yes, it was very dramatic. There should be a movie made about it. (Note the thick layer of sarcasm).

Anyways, I wanted to discuss dehydration a little more and what you can do to prevent it.

A lot of times we will judge our hydration levels with thirst. If we are thirsty, then we start drinking water to try and off-set it. Thirst is a delayed response. By the time you are thirsty, you are already starting down the path of dehydration. There was a study done on pediatric athletes and it showed that 2/3 of the athletes observed were already dehydrated BEFORE they started practice. Better indications are nausea, headaches, weakness, general irritability, cramps, and decreased performance to name a few.

The amount of hydration will vary based on the type of sport you are playing (wearing helmets or pads will be different than playing basketball), the weather conditions (is it hot, humid), the intensity of the activity, and the amount of chances the athlete gets to replenish fluids. Distance events will be different than say a basketball game where there are timeouts and substitutions.

So how do we determine if someone is getting hydrated?

One way is to weigh a properly hydrated athlete prior to their activity. Assuming they are properly hydrated, they should only lose 2% or less of their body weight during the activity. Even at a 1-2% loss of weight, the athlete's performance starts to hinder a bit. Greater than a 3% loss the athlete further disturbs the physiologic function and increases the chance for heat cramps. Anything past a 5% loss can lead to potential heat stroke.

This is why you will see athletic trainers weigh football players before and after practice during double sessions. They want to see how much weight is lost and make the necessary adjustments to the athletes hydration procedures.

The other way to determine the athlete's hydration is by urine. Lighter colored urine is great, darker colored urine isn't. The better indicator though is the weight loss.

To prevent this dehydration, you want to make sure you are drinking fluids (16-20 ounces) 2-3 hours before activity. Drink another 8-10 ounces 15-20 minutes before the activity and then 8-10 ounces every 15-20 minutes during the activity. After the activity, you should drink a good sports drink that has carbohydrates, electrolytes, and sodium to get back all your physiological functions. Ideally, you want to drink 25-50 percent more than what you lost during sweat to get you back to proper hydration levels.

Sports drinks that have carbohydrate concentration levels less than 8% (that way it doesn't upset your stomach), sodium, and proper electrolytes seem to work best, especially with children. Served cold, kids seemed to stay better hydrated with the sports drink than just plain, cold water. Basically, because it tasted better they would drink 90% more of it than just water. I use Advocare's Rehydrate to re-fuel my body. It tastes great, is low in sugar, has 100mg of sodium, and I really suck it down even if it isn't during an activity. You can get some and read about it here http://advocare.com/07111072.

I would avoid fruit juices, sodas, and sports drinks with carbohydrate concentrations greater than 8%.

If you are doing a distance event or an activity in extreme heat, sodium is even more important, and you want to make sure you get even more of sodium with salt tablets or salty foods including a sport drink. When the sodium balance in your body doesn't tip favorably for you, you lose the ability to transmit nerve impulses and proper muscle function. Cramping becomes even more prevalent, such as what I experienced last week. So get the sodium in during those conditions.

I hope that helps you out. Let me know if you have questions, but after reading this, I shouldn't hear about any of you cramping out or getting dehydrated during your event.

Dehyrdation Almost Caused Me To Pass Out While Driving

I wanted to talk about the topic of dehydration because I got a little dehydrated myself this past Thursday night. I play on a flag football team and we ended up playing 3 consecutive games this past Thursday and the temp was around 85 degrees. I thought I drank enough, but I didn't because 30 minutes after our game, I was starting to cramp up in my hamstrings and calves. So, what I'm going to do today is talk about my experiences with hydration and then on Thursday discuss the technical side of hydration and what you need to do to maintain proper hydration.

Way back when in high school, when I was a budding track star (if only in my mind), I remember my track coach telling me that you have to drink water constantly throughout the day if you have a late afternoon meet. He said, even though we were just sitting in class during the day that we were losing water and needed to continue to drink to keep those levels up. If we start drinking water before we compete, then it was too late and we were trying to make up ground on where our hydration needed to be at and it could affect our performance.

So, flash forward to a few years ago on Father's day. I was playing in our flag football playoffs late morning. It was sunny and pretty hot, so I was sweating a lot. I tried to drink water the night before and during the morning, but I don't think it was enough. I also brought a 32 ounce thing of water and a couple 16 ounce containers of Advocare's Rehydrate, for my money, the best replenisher out there.

I played two games and that was it (we lost the second game). I was starting to feel light headed and my body was aching. I rested for about 10 minutes then stumbled to my car. I don't think I felt sick, I just felt weak. I only lived 15 minutes from the field, but as I started driving, my concentration was starting to lag. I was really having a tough time avoiding passing out. So I pulled over to a Speedway and purchased two 32 ounce bottles of Powerade (it was on sale). I sucked both of those bottles down in a span of 10 minutes.

I immediately felt a heck of a lot better and drove on home. You ask me to drink 2- 32 ounce bottles of Powerade when I feel perfectly fine, I guarantee it will take longer than 10 minutes. If I do get it down, I'll probably feel bloated. But, at that time, once those bottles were in my body, I felt great and probably could have had another one.

My body on the other hand didn't recuperate so fast. I had a few strains and aches in my body and after talking to an athletic trainer friend of mine, he felt that the big reason I got those aches was because I didn't replenish my body quick enough. I was losing sodium and electrolytes quicker than I could get them in my body. He said that there was a lot of research out there suggesting that aches and cramping are caused by those sudden losses.

That is my tale in regards to hydration. Just gives you an example how quick it can change for you, but how fast you can suddenly get your senses back when properly hydrated. My next newsletter, I'll discuss research about what happens when you don't hydrate properly (not just my wonderful experience) and what you need to do to prepare for your competitions with good hydration.

Big No-No's That You Shouldn't Do At The Gym

As much as I want to inform you about speed training and development, I also want to talk about other topics that pop up relating to fitness or the health industry. So I decided to talk about some things you shouldn't do when you are at a health facility or specifically training at my facility. I think I wrote an email about this a few months ago, but if you have read some of my tweets in the last few weeks I have had some recent encounters with some no-no's that I need to get off of my chest. Most of these "rules" aren't written anywhere, but you need to know so you won't be "that guy."

1. Return your weights - I don't know how many times I have to go to the gym and see stacks of 45's left on a bar from some idiot who was deadlifting the world. It is very simple. If you are strong enough to put the weights on the bar, you are strong enough to take them off. If you can't do that, you shouldn't lift at a public gym.
2. Guys shouldn't put their hair in pigtails - I'm not kidding, I saw some guy with his hair in pigtails. I don't really know if this is a big no-no, I just find it odd. If you choose to do this, be prepared to handle the stares and possible rude snickers from some people. Of course, I would never do that. I will just tweet about it when I get a chance.
3. Spandex is out - Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I think it should be. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a guy. So if I see a nice looking woman in spandex, chances are I might sneak a glance. But, this goes for both men and women, if you wear spandex, I hope you can pull it off and be prepared for people to look. Especially guys wearing those compression/biker shorts, squatting and lunging. Yuck. 'Nuff said.
4. If you are lifting weights, you shouldn't be able to carry a conversation - If you have followed my tweets the last couple weeks, you probably have heard about the two ladies that train at the gym. They do not shut up. They talk constantly and nothing interferes with their conversation. Not the dumbbell chest press, not their arm curls, not their shoulder raises, nothing. If you can talk while you are exercising, you are wasting your time and hurting my ears. Chances are your intensity isn't at the level it should be to develop lean muscle and accomplish any of your fitness goals. Turn up the intensity to the point where you should be focusing on lifting your weight and not if "Sally has slept with the postman."
5. Wipe up your sweat - I have all my clients wipe everything down after they use the equipment at my facility, but I'm amazed when I'm at other gyms seeing big gobs of sweat stains on the benches. I'm glad you are dripping with sweat, but wipe the machine down for the next person.
6. Please cleanse your bowels before lifting - This is me trying to be polite in saying that some of you have some powerful gas that seeps out every so often. Man, recently I have walked into some thick fumes that have almost dropped me. I don't know what you need to do, be more discreet, go to a corner, stay the heck away from me, but please do something!!

Those are just the things I have stumbled across in the last few weeks. I know there are more, but I wanted to point these out today. Hopefully, we can start a movement and spread this around so everyone is aware of what is happening. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Feel free to post comments on my blog, http://fitnessplanning.blogspot.com or my facebook fan page http://facebook.com/fitnessplanning.

Albert Pujols's Running Form

I had been meaning to discuss this about a week or so ago, but with the draft happening, I forgot about it. I was watching the St. Louis Cardinals play a baseball game when Albert Pujols came to the plate. If you don't know Pujols, he is their MVP candidate on an annual basis. A stud of a hitter. He proceeded to smack a weak grounder to third and ran to first as hard as he could.. He was called out, but Albert was noticeably limping after that run and was taken out of the game.

At the time, I made a tweet suggesting his running form could be improved. They replayed his run 5 or 6 times to see where he might have tweaked his leg. Here was my exact tweet after watching him run:

"Albert Pujols tweaks his leg running to first. He needs to learn to run. Get on the balls of your feet and strengthen your hamstrings." - April 24, 10:50pm.

Low and behold, it comes out the next day in the paper that he tweaked his hamstring running. I think he sat out a few games because of it.

So, let's review my tweet. The first thing I saw was Albert running on his heels. This is one of the more common errors I see when people run. Trying to sprint on your heels is not good. There isn't any padding on your heels and you send a myriad of shock waves up your leg because of this. You can generate more power by sprinting on the balls of your feet. This can be strengthened by repetitive drills or strengthening that area. Some people just can't get up on the balls of the feet efficiently.

The strengthening the hamstrings comment I made because as his foot/leg was exploding off the ground, you could see his hamstrings weren't getting much power. That movement basically is a leg curl and when you watch sprinters run, when their legs are cycling through they are almost kicking their own butt, they generate so much power. It was no surprise to me that he tweaked his hamstrings when he was running after watching him run.

Albert obviously has strong legs. Just look at them. He could spend more time on the hamstrings though. His other muscles - quads and glutes - are generating a lot of power and his hamstrings are struggling to keep up, that is why he tweaked them. If he strengthened his hamstrings, he would probably run faster and help with injury prevention.

I had recently talked about the glute ham machine being one of the most important machines out there for speed development. Hopefully, my breakdown of Albert's running form and his subsequent injury helps to illustrate that point just a little more.

What Are The Best Methods For You To Run Faster

In case you didn't know, last week I was on vacation and spent a lot of my down time catching up on some of my reading. I subscribe to a lot of periodicals and magazines and consequently, they pile up by my bedside because I don't get time to read them. I read an article in the NSCA's Strength and Conditioning Journal that I thought I would share with you because I thought you might find it interesting.

The article was a study comparing some of the more popular methods for getting an individual to run faster. A lot of people have many programs, so they analyzed the more popular methods and this is what they came up with.

Assisted Running - This is a type of running drill that gets you running a little faster than what you normally do. The goal is to improve your stride frequency, thus getting you to run faster. Your legs are turning over at a quicker rate. You also have to find an intensity that gets you running faster, but does not compromise running form. The moment you start losing your form, then you need to lessen the intensity. There were three methods they analyzed:

• Assisted Towing - This is where a sprint cord is attached to you, stretched out to a maximum length, and then you start running towards the anchoring of the cord. The cord pulls you so you can run faster. This was the method they liked best because it can most resemble sports-specific characteristics. It also has a great acceleration phase that transitions to maximal velocity.
• Treadmill Running - You run on a really fast treadmill. That's basically it. The researchers didn't like this because the way you run on a belt is different then running on a game field. It is also a very costly method.
• Downhill Running - This was the cheapest method, but bottom line it is tough to find the right angle of a downhill slope that is effective. Arguments can be made for grades of 5-10 degrees, anything greater can possibly create a braking effect which would slow you down.

Resisted Running - This is running with some type of resistance with the hopes of increasing stride length. The resistance will develop increased leg strength to help with acceleration and maximum speed. Here were the methods analyzed:

• Resisted Towing - You are attached to a sprint cord or a sled that are located behind you. You are basically sprinting pulling either the sled or a person connected to the cord behind you that creates resistance. The researchers liked this one the best once again because of the sport-specific characteristics it can provide. Once again, you need to run with proper mechanics or the intensity will have to be adjusted.
• Uphill Running - Once again the cheapest method, but not the most practical. The angle of the slope is important for this type of running as well.

The researchers loved strength training and plyometrics as well. They feel both of these methods are imperative to getting your athletes to run faster. A strong athlete is going to be a fast athlete.

I will say that the two methods these researchers recommended are the methods that we use at my facility. It only takes a little space and a few pieces of equipment to utilize those methods. We recently got a speed sled that we have been integrating into our program for our athletes. It brings another element into what we can do for speed training.

To me, this article just reaffirms that what we do with our speed program is the right path to a faster athlete. We are implementing the right methods with our training and progressing the way we need to with each athlete to improve their speed. I'm glad I stumbled across this article. Hopefully, for my next big article I read it won't be at my next vacation, but sometime a lot sooner.

My NFL Draft Predictions: Did Running Fast Get Prospects Drafted?

Well, the 2011 NFL draft is over and it is time to take a look at my predictions and see how well I did. All my predicitions were based on their performance during the NFL combine and what little knowledge I had on these players. So let's take a look.

• Running Back - I had Roy Helu of Nebraska going in the 3rd round and the Redskins picked him in the fourth. Upon listening to the analysis though, the Redskins did trade up for this guy because Shanahan felt he really fit their system. His speed and quickness certainly helped him here, the experts were doubtful on his blocking ability. So, I was off a little bit here.
• Wide Receiver - My pick here was Greg Little and my thought was a late second, early third round pick. I nailed this one as the Browns drafted him in the late second. Woo-hoo!!
• Tight End - Virgil Green was my tight end with my prediction going late third, early fourth. I was way off here as Virgil got drafted in the seventh round. In fairness, he was the first pick of that round so it is close enough to be a sixth round pick. (reaching) But, ESPN's analyst Todd McShay did say he was surprised Green fell this far and he had him rated as a fourth round pick. So, that makes me feel a little better. Maybe the Broncos got a steal here.
• Offensive Line - Jason Kelce was my pick here and I had him going, once again late third, early fourth. I guess I like that area of the draft. Well I was off a little bit here, as Jason went to Philly in the sixth round. At least he got drafted.
• Defensive Line - Another Nevada guy, Dontay Moch, was my pick here going in the early to mid third round. Low and behold, he was the second pick in the third round. Bam!! Got that one. I can see me taking Mel Kiper's job.
• Linebacker - Unless they were a big name in college football, I don't know many players beyond the Buckeyes and some of the Big 10 teams. Having never heard of Von Miller, I guess my mid to late first round was a safe pick. Von is a stud as Denver picked him with the second pick in the draft. I almost feel like I blew this one, but the first round is the first round.
• Defensive Back - Jimmy Smith was my pick here. The defensive back from Colorado was picked in the late first round by Baltimore and that is exactly what I said.

Honestly, I don't know if this proves anything, but it sure is fun to do each year. I got four out of seven which ain't bad I guess. If you are in high school trying to prep for a combine, feel free to contact me and see if my program can help you out. Good numbers won't assure you of a starting spot, but it will certainly get you a decent look. All these players did get drafted.