Your Brain on Exercise!  A quick and easy to understand post on what goes on with your brain/body with exercise and yet more motivations of why to get physical.

Exercise releases your dopamine (addictive and happy neurotransmitters!!) and endorphins (etymology of the word literally means inner morphine…which means euphoric/happy/pain relieving) among other things.

Physical activity literally releases the same chemicals as ess-ee-ex and drugs.  The only thing missing from this is rock and roll….which you can add in by listening to it on your Ipod.  Sex drugs and rock and roll baby….the healthy way!!

Studies have been done also that show that people who are obese lack receptors for dopamine.  You can create more and get rid of receptors. Your brain chemistry is very fluid and always changing.  The story about we are only born with a certain amount of brain cells at birth and then they only die is for the most part true….however a few years ago that was proven wrong also. We can create certain new brain cells. But that isn’t what’s important actually…otherwise babies would be very smart.

What’s most important is the connections that you create.  For example, a person can have one side of their entire temporal lobe (which includes the hippocampus which is responsible for memory) taken out and still have memory and still be the same as before!! How?  The brain creates new connections and/or compensates for what is missing.  The reason adults are smarter than children even though the brain cells of adults are dying with drinking, age, etc. is because they have created so many connections in their brain for reasoning, thinking, retrieving memory (which is stored all over the brain, the hippocampus is just the motherboard for memory facilitation).

We can change.  Our brains can change. Our attitudes can change.  Our behaviors can change. Even our taste buds can change (takes 2 weeks on average).

So if no other reason think of the fact that exercise gets you addicted (to something positive) and gets you as euphoric as morphine, and gets you as happy as ….well whatever makes you happiest.

For me it’s exercise and understanding the brain chemistry behind exercise helps me understand why.

And this is one addictive thing that you actually Can’t go overboard on.

The most detrimental thing that can happen from overexercising is muscle pulls and and muscle breakdown.  Not so bad compared to what happens if you overeat, overdrink, overdo anything else that’s addictive.

So what is your excuse now?  Cookies don’t release dopamine or endorphins. They (and most all breads) only release seratonin….which is your relaxing and comforting neurotransmitter.  Would you rather be euphoric and happy??

Go forth and work up a little sweat! And if it doesn’t work you can come back and complain right here in front of the world.

Remember to get your children, nieces, nephews on the right foot with Holygrain, the children’s fitness book designed to subliminally teach children about fitness principles.

Here are a quick 7 Must-Knows about lifting weights.
1. The most important part of the lift isn’t actually the lift. It’s the eccentric motion…the coming down.
General rule: lift for 2 counts, lower for 4 counts.
The eccentric (lowering) is where the actual muscle building happens.
2. Using your own body weight or rubber/resistance is a fantastic way to build muscle, is easy and you can do it anywhere. Just get very comfortable with a few key exercises like tricep dips on a chair and you will never have an excuse to skip lifting (which btw builds bone density..it’s not just for aesthetics)
3. Women…you cannot lift to heavy of weights. The most common mistake is not lifting enough for women…and doing alot of work to not see any results. Which is very un-motivating. The fear is generally always to ‘get too big’ but the only way to look like a body builder with muscles that are ‘too big’ is to use supplements also, and is not easy.
4. The time to eat protein is after a workout..not before.
Animal sources are the only complete protein with all amino acids. Sorry vegetarians. Animal sources though include fish, eggs, milk. For best muscle repair and growth you want approximately a 4 to 1 (complete protein) carb to protein ratio within 2 hours after working out.
My favorite post workout snack was a peanut butter and banana sandwich on wheat with flaxseed and turkey patty.
Half of working out is nutrition…how you ‘fuel up’.
5. Without getting too into detail about different methods of lifting…across the board you have the same theme.
Max out no matter what your goal is.
Max out as in your last rep should be extremely hard..not easy! Even if you just want to tone up and not build big and puffy muscles. If you don’t max out you are not really doing anything but wasting your time.
6. Technique is everything. Do not try to ‘look’ like your lifting more than actually know. Even if you have to ask someone (I would recommend asking a trainer…not someone on the floor who simply looks like they know) how to do something or use a machine it is Highly Recommended.
And here’s a secret from working in gyms…we all know if you know what your doing or don’t. You’re not fooling anyone but most important…without the right technique you will A. Not get results or B. Get injured.
So don’t be shy…if unsure be educated and read or ask!
7. Rest is just as important as nutrition. If you don’t rest 24-48 hours before another intense lifting session you are actually being counter productive and tearing down muscle rather than building it.
*Note you can do cardio pretty much unlimited.
But you have to rest between lifting. Approx 30 sec between sets and 24-48 between lifting days.

So this was an easy breakdown of the 7 elements to effective lifting.

Here’s 2 extra random tips too!
A. Creatine is the only researched effective supplement for building muscle.
B. Coffee before working out releases free floating fatty acids which helps you workout longer and stronger.

When I turned on the tv today a nutrisystem gender based meal delivery plan was blaring. Highly annoying way to start a new year!! As a trainer watching this I am reminded that it seems the only way to get people to follow and listen to basic eating principles is to make them pay (financially…not drop and do 20..).

These programs have been around forever and are all basically the same. The difference I see in this one is that the boxes do not have trans fat which is great.

But why do people have to pay extra just to eat right?
Why can’t people just save their money, willingly follow basic eating principles and Willingly follow and shop for fresh and healthy foods?

And let’s not play dumb here…they even mentioned it on this QVC commercial. Shop the perimeters of the grocery store..where they carry less packaged foods. Picking the right foods is Not brain surgery even for clueless. Shop the perimeteres. And most importantly, think to yourself when you’re about to buy or eat anything, will this Help or Hurt My Body?

The point of shopping the perimeters is because packaged foods are more costly and in general much more unhealthy.
You are a living organism that has cells utilizing energy (food) at every moment. When you put in fresh, healthy, and still ‘active’ foods your body appreciates it rather than putting in food full of chemicals and things like transfats that are there to preserve food’s shelf life. The Holygrain book teaches about transfats to young children. Alot of it is common sense.

Forget paying to have something ‘force feed’ you like a baby. I think by willingly thinking about what you put in your body and applying basic nutrition principles you will not only save money but you will Take Responsibility for your actions which will Truly help in the long run.

And never forget….you are what you eat.

Here’s a trick to trick yourself into not eating as much. Procrastinate. Eating anyway. Not working out and not work.
Procrastinate and put off eating. You probably do it for other things. Put it off and when you’re stomach actually says your hungry..hungry…hungry…then sit down and Enjoy it since you waited for so long. Savor it. You earned it!

Here is the candid and honest truth about why Most people are ‘fat’ or have fat that they want to lose but “can’t”.

Number 1 Reason:  Dishonesty with oneself.  You HAVE to be honest with yourself first about what you eat, your habits, and your goals.  Then you should be honest with others or just not say anything.  I cannot emphasize this enough. Let me explain.

I have observed time and time and time again people saying out loud ‘oh, i only had a salad for lunch’ or ‘oh i don’t eat that (oily or fatty meat etc).  Appearing like the saint. So that nobody can ‘blame’ them for being big.

And this may sound mean but I apologize….it is True. There is a direct correlation of the amount of lying (whether they realize it or not) about how little one eats and their size/mass.  And that probably (though not studied yet that I have found) says alot about the root problem….which is simply put: Denial.  Plain and simple.

If you eat a whole large pizza by yourself Admit it. If you eat a whole chicken Admit it. If you eat a whole gallon of non-fat/partial or full fat ice cream…it doesn’t matter…admit it!

Forgetting about these things, pushing them away as they happen to make them essentially ‘not happen’, denying and/or just lying to yourself about these is what is going to kill you.

Skinny people and especially health conscious people admit all the time what they ate….whether good or bad. If they ate half a gallon of ice cream they will acknowledge and admit it!!  It doesn’t have to be a public announcement.  In fact Nobody needs to know but yourself….the most important person in the matter!

If you find yourself wondering why you can’t seem to lose weight and you try and try and try….stop. Sit. And be honest with yourself only.  Think about your habits. Think about the truth. And make a clear plan and commitment to change whatever is getting in your way.  It can be a number of things.  I am only writing specifically about this because I see it as the Number One issue keeping people from losing weight.  And PS…things work in reverse also.  Very fit people often will admit that it’s a *ell of a lot of work but it’s worth it for them.  One of the housewives of orange county-Tamra I think admitted it too which was very commendable. She said it’s a ton of work to look good but it’s worth it…and she proved that true. She looks amazing and is a mom!

Great Trainer example!  I was training an middle age overweight/borderline obese male who has previously had a heart attack. He Needed to lose weight to ensure longetivity.  I gave him clear and personal nutritional guides and exercise regimes to fit his lifestyle.  He’s losing weight very slowly and one day barks at me: Why am I not losing weight??!!  I had a hunch and opened his fridge (This client had a home gym and luckily I had access to his fridge and kitchen) without his permission, angry because if he listened to my regime he would be losing a lot of weight, and found a 24 pack of doughnuts with half gone!!   Looking back I should have thrown them at him.  How dare people accuse others in front of their face when they clearly are completely ignoring everything you tell them….and then you blame Them. Blame yourself!!!

Trainers nor anybody is a puppet master.  Nobody can pull strings for you or make miracles happen.  They can help. And push. And do everything in their power to help.  But at the end of the day You are in control and You are responsible for you!!!

Agree??  Don’t make me throw doughnuts at you…

Hello!

This blog has been re-setup after a few months of inactivity. Why?

A computer programmer I hired had gotten a malicious malware virus on his server which was unfortunately still connected to my site and somehow impacted my site and blog.

The site was cleaned and redone. The blog just wasn’t because it had some info on there that sadly couldn’t be restored.

But that’s alright because on here I will upload content and info that is more fresh and updated.