Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Man in motion

As Head Instructor of a Martial Arts School, I get asked health related questions all the time. What should I eat before class? What is a good way to lose/gain weight? I am SO sore, how do I stretch this muscle? I can answer all of these and more. Why?

I am fortunate because in a previous life I worked for a Health Club as an Certified Personal Trainer (ACE Certified) and in a Physical Therapist's office as a PT Tech.  I also hold an Assoc. AND a Bachelor's in Kinesiology. 

Let me warn you, what is passing for Personal Trainers today is sad. Anyone, I mean anyone can pay as low as $69.95 for an ONLINE course and boom, you get a certification to print out at home.  Ask what degrees and certifications they hold.  Look for ASCM, NSCA, NASM, ACE, AFFA and CI. These require months of intense study and require continuing education to keep said certification.

Why the rant on Certifications and Education? Lately EVERYONE is a self proclaimed health expert because they say, "the internet said" this is the latest and greatest exercise. "The internet says" don't eat this much or this food. So because some wahoo says something worked for them all of a sudden they are the guru of fitness. Yes, there is a lot of good info out on the internet. Just make sure it is a trusted source.

Man in motion by Leonardo DaVinci
The human body is quite a miracle. It works on a simple principle, put energy in you get energy out. I've always have compared the body to a car in a sense. You need to put gasoline in your car to get anywhere, right? Same with your body, you HAVE to eat(gasoline) for your body to function. You can not take a road trip without stopping at the gas station at some point in your trip.

The human body requires anywhere from 1600-2800 calories per day to MAINTAIN current weight. Why the 1600 calorie difference? Because EVERYONE is different. Some people are sedentary and require less, some are VERY active and require more.

There is a population of people that believe that if I don't eat I can lose weight. These are the same people who say, "I just don't have enough energy! I need something to perk me up." NO!!! You NEED to eat! People gain weight for two main reasons, Either they are eating TOO much and not doing anything or not eating enough and can't do anything. The human body works off this, I eat for energy and need to do something with this energy. I can move and burn it off or do nothing and STORE the energy for later.  There it is, the root of the problem, most people do nothing. They hope that a magic pill will come and take their fat away. As I said earlier you have to eat AND do something, like walk, ride a bike, run, martial arts, canoe, jumping jacks, etc... you get my point. You have to MOVE!!! The human body was designed to move not to sit for hours on end.

I am being very simplistic and not delving into types of food or certain diets or exercise regimes. To stay with my car analogy, the higher the octane the cleaner the fuel. So the more natural your food is the better it is for you. Stay away from the Fast Food places. Back in the day they were closer to natural, but now they are a den of processed madness.

There is so much more I can go into. One of my favorite classes was Exercise Physiology, we went in depth of how the body utilizes the energy you intake. I plan on going further in later posts.

Live Life!!!!!

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