Tag: Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight

It’s time to explore the Flexitarian Diet.

You may have questions like:

What is it? 

Why’s it so popular? 

Will it make me more flexible?

The answer to that last one is “nope,” but the others we’ll explore today!

Have no fear, you’re in good hands.

We analyze different diets in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, so you’ve come to the right place to learn all about semi-vegetarianism. 

Is the Flexitarian Diet right for you? Maybe! Let our coaches help you decide.

Here’s what we’ll cover in our Beginner’s Guide to the Flexitarian Diet:

• What is a flexitarian? (Exploring “semi-vegetarians”)
• What do flexitarians eat? (The Flexitarian Diet Plan)
• How often do flexitarians eat meat? (The “flex” in “flexitarian”)
• Can cutting out meat help you lose weight?
• What are the benefits of being a flexitarian?
• Should I try the Flexitarian Diet? (Next steps)

Let’s get right to it!

What Is the Flexitarian Diet? (Exploring “Semi-Vegetarians”)

The Flexitarian Diet is a plant-based or vegetarian style of eating that allows for some animal products in moderation.

“Flex” comes from “flexible” and “tarian” comes from “vegetarian,” so a flexitarian is more or less a “flexible vegetarian.” 

In 2012, the term “flexitarian” actually entered the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as:

One whose normally meatless diet occasionally includes meat or fish.

Another way to think of flexitarians would be as “semi-vegetarians.”

This version of semi-vegetarianism was first formulated by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, in her book The Flexitarian Diet. 

In Blanter’s word:

“You can think of this diet as a ‘vegetarian-ish’ way of eating since this plan touts the basic principles and benefits of a plant-based diet, along with the inclusion of some animal proteins to a lesser extent.”

The goal of the Flexitarian Diet would be to minimize or reduce the frequency of eating meat, without removing it completely. 

This is what separates flexitarians from normal omnivores: the former are actively trying to limit meat consumption. 

Flexitarians just don’t want to eliminate meat 100% (for health or personal reasons), so they allow some into their diet. 

What Do Flexitarians Eat? (The Flexitarian Diet Plan)

Since the Flexitarian Diet actively tries to reduce the consumption of meat, the meal plan will be predominantly plant-based. 

Plant-based food choices on the Flexitarian Diet plan include:

• Whole grains. Rice, oats, barley, and buckwheat would all be examples of whole grains. Most plant-based diets include a sizable amount of whole grains as their base.
• Vegetables. Of course, even semi-vegetarian diets are going to include lots of vegetables! And they should because vegetables are great for you! They’re packed full of nutrients, fiber, and generally low in calories. Most people could stand to eat more veggies. If you find yourself not being able to stomach greens, I got you. Check out this post for tips on how to turn around any vegetable hater.
• Legumes. Beans, lentils, and soy make up the legume family. When cutting out meat, legumes would be a great way to get protein (more on this to follow).
• Fruit. Bananas, apples, and oranges all come from plants, so all are vegetarian-friendly. While high in fructose (sugar), they are also nutrient-dense. Our general stance on fruit around these parts is to eat “stick to whole fruit, avoid fruit juices.”
• Nuts and seeds. Again, they come from plants, so almonds, cashews, and pumpkin seeds are good to go on any vegetarian plan you pick. So is quinoa, which although is often thought of as a grain, is actually a seed. Mind=blown. Nuts and seeds, although high in fat and calories, are another great way to get protein on a semi-vegetarian diet.

Have as much of the above as you like (assuming it meets your calorie goals).

I know you’re curious about meat consumption and the Flexitarian Diet

We’ll devote our entire next section to it.

Before we get there, let’s talk about foods that you might NOT want to build your flexitarian meal plan around.

Since the Flexitarian Diet is an attempt to eat nutritiously, it not only encourages the consumption of whole plants but also discourages the consumption of certain foods too.

When following a Flexitarian Diet, try to minimize:

• Processed meat: bacon, sausage, and bologna. Proponents of flexitarianism advocate for unprocessed meat like grass-fed beef, pasture-raised chicken, fresh fish, etc. More on this next section.
• Refined carbs: white bread, bagels, pasta, etc. These foods have much of their fiber destroyed during the refinement process, making them more like sugar during digestion. 
• Added sugar: soda, donuts, cookies, etc. Also known as “junk food.” Delicious, of course. But these foods are high in calories and low on nutrients, so they belong in the “rare treat” category. 

The above list likely isn’t too shocking. Most health sites (and us in our healthy eating guide) recommend these foods be eaten sparingly.

Now, it’s time to talk meat!

How Often Do Flexitarians Eat Meat? (The “Flex” in “Flexitarian”)

The answer to “How much meat can you eat on a flexitarian diet?” depends on who you ask.

There are lots of variations of semi-vegetarianism, meaning there are a lot of different answers to this question.

Dawn Blatner discusses different levels of meat restriction in her book The Flexitarian Diet, which we’ll review below.

Here’s the progression plan for The Flexitarian Diet:

• Beginner Flexitarian:
  • Two meat-free days a week
  • No more than 26 ounces of meat the remainder of the week
• Advanced Flexitarian: 
  • Three to four meat-free days a week
  • No more than 18 ounces of meat the remainder of the week
• Expert Flexitarian:
  • Meat-free five days a week
  • 9 ounces of meat allowed the remaining two days

For reference, a three-ounce piece of chicken breast is about the size of your palm:

Another popular form of flexitarianism comes from VB6 (Vegan Before 6:00) which is exactly what it sounds like: follow a vegan meal plan until dinnertime. 

Naturally, there’s a book about this one too, this time from Mark Bittman. 

Like Blatner, Bittman encourages the consumption of whole plants and discourages the consumption of junk food.

That’s not too surprising, because every diet encourages the consumption of whole plants and discourages junk food (well, not the Carnivore Diet or the Military Diet). 

Other than following a 100% plant-based diet until 6pm, Bittman offers no specific rules for VB6.

You do you.

This is going to lead us to a larger point: “flexitarian” is up to interpretation. 

Since there are multiple plans for semi-vegetarianism, how much meat you eat will really depend on your goals and motives.

Does Cutting out Meat Help You Lose Weight?

Many proponents of flexitarianism will claim it can help with weight loss:

• Mark Bittman created VB6 (Vegan before 6) after his doctor told him to lose some weight.
• Dawn Jackson claims her Flexitarian Diet can help those struggling with obesity.

However, anyone selling a diet book is gonna tell you it can help with weight loss.

What does the science say?

Since there’s no set-in-stone interpretation of what makes a “flexitarian” a flexitarian, it can be hard to prescribe any specific benefits to the diet.

This is a concern Emma J. Derbyshire brought up in a review of semi-vegetarian diets in Frontiers of Nutrition.^[1] Derbyshire states that before any formal recommendations can be done on flexitarians, “official definitions of these diets are needed.”

You need to know exactly what you’re researching before you can make heads or tails of what’s going on.

However, weight loss itself has been studied a lot, so we aren’t completely stumbling in the dark here.

As we address in our guide How to Lose Weight (The 5 Rules of Weight Loss), our bodies obey the Laws of Conservation of Energy and Thermodynamics: 

To lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume regularly. 

It’s about as close to fact as we can get in nutrition science.^[2]

Here’s the thing about meat: it’s actually pretty calorically dense, especially when you compare it to fruits and vegetables.

This is 200 calories worth of sliced turkey (thanks to wiseGEEK):

Here is 200 calories worth of Saltine crackers (which are vegan):

When comparing a plate of meat to a handful of crackers, you might think: “Steve, there’s no way those crackers will satisfy me, I’ll need to eat more food,” then you’d be right. 

It’s why focusing on foods that fill you up without being overloaded with calories can help with weight loss. 

Let me share one more example:

This is what 200 calories worth of broccoli looks like:

So, YES, if you replace your meat lovers pizza, chicken parm with pasta, and bacon cheeseburgers with mostly fruits, vegetables, and other whole plants, you’ll most likely lose weight. 

It comes down to total energy (calories) consumed!

This is something we bring up throughout our Guide for Plant-Based Diets: be careful about replacing calorie bomb meat products with heavily processed junk food.

You might end up with the same amount of calories (if not more), which means you’ll have no weight loss.

Because from a protein perspective, meat can be a great source of nutrients.

Let’s compare chicken against black beans, since legumes (beans) are some of the most protein-dense plants you can eat:

• 100 grams of black beans: 22 grams of protein, 339 calories, 63 grams of carbohydrates (16 grams of which are fiber).
• 100 grams of chicken breast: 30 grams of protein, 165 calories, 0 grams of carbohydrates.

The same size serving of black beans has less protein, twice as many calories, and more carbs compared to chicken.

This isn’t to say you can’t get adequate protein from plants (we tell you exactly how to do it in our guide to vegetarianism), it’s just something you have to appropriately plan for!

All this to say: you can lose weight on a flexitarian diet as long as you burn more calories than you eat consistently. 

If semi-vegetarianism actually helps with that, great!

If not, no biggie, just try another path (here’s what I personally do).

Let me say that if you’re trying to lose weight and wondering if a flexitarian diet is the solution, I’m proud of you for at least THINKING about different nutritional strategies that might align with your lifestyle and goals. 

Lots of our coaching clients come to us with all sorts of different fitness questions, like what to eat and how to exercise, proving we all start from unique situations. The important thing is that you’re beginning to ask questions and looking for answers. 

If you want help on your journey, we’re here for you. Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program partners busy people just like you with a coach who will get to know you better than you know yourself.

A Nerd Fitness Coach can guide your weight loss and answer all your fitness questions! Learn more here.

What Are the Benefits of Being a Flexitarian?

There are all sorts of benefits from eating lots of plants.

Now granted, I’m on the record for stating I don’t buy into the claim that meat is inherently bad for you (we dig into it in this article). 

However, I’m also on the record for stating you should eat your fruits and veggies (scope out our Guide to Healthy Eating).

Let’s rap about the good things found in the plant kingdom:

• Fiber: studies have shown that eating dietary fiber (found in plants) can have loads of health benefits. Fiber from plants can help lower raised blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, and help with digestive issues.^[3]
• Vitamins and minerals: plants contain vitamins E, C, K2, and calcium, to name just a few. You need these things to survive. 
• Antioxidants: there are all sorts of toxins in the modern world (air pollution, BPA in plastic, etc). Plants, and the antioxidants in them, can help defend against some of these pollutants.^[4]

When you start to factor this together, it makes sense to eat a lot of plants.

It also makes sense that people who eat a lot of plants, like flexitarians, tend to be in good shape.^[5]

Whole plants are high in nutrients and low in calories, making them ideal for creating an energy deficiency.^[6] Again, this is needed for weight loss.

Here’s where the debate rages on the internet: are people who follow a plant-based diet generally healthier than omnivores because meat is bad for you, or because vegetarians tend to eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods?^[7]

It’s hard to say.

More studies are rolling in every day, so I’m not going to declare a winner over the other.

I will say that I actually resonate with a “flexitarian” lifestyle, though I just call it “mostly healthy eating” = eat mostly plants, healthy sources of protein, and keeping total calorie intake under control. 

The moral of the story: eat lots of plants…and maybe a little meat. 

Should I Try the Flexitarian Diet? (Next Steps)

Sure!

Why not?

There are worse ways to eat than tons of plants with a little bit of meat.

Being a flexitarian is actually not too different than following the Mediterranean Diet.

It’s the same way of eating, just with a new name. 

Author Michael Pollan summed it up years ago with “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”

Truth be told, healthy eating is more or less the same no matter what you call it.

They just label it with different names to sell books. 

Here’s what every nutrition expert agrees on:

• Focus on whole foods
• Eat plenty of protein
• Make room on your plate for lots of vegetables
• Minimize the consumption of processed food or junk food

We lay all this out in our Guide to Healthy Eating, which I would encourage you to check out.

If this is the first time you’ve tried to “eat right,” or the 17th, it’ll help you make small lifestyle changes towards a healthy diet.

This is our preferred approach here at Nerd Fitness.

That will bring me to my one concern on adopting The Flexitarian Diet or any other strict form of semi-vegetarianism: if you change too much at once, it might be overly difficult and you’ll grow frustrated.

Frustration can lead to abandoning a new way of eating. 

We see it all the time here: people go Paleo or Keto for 21 days, hate it, then go right back to where they started.

Since they’re now demoralized from the experience, they don’t even try anymore, which is where the real harm comes in.

So try a small step today:

• Make dinner this week.
• Try eating one new vegetable.
• Hell, make it exercise-related and just go for a walk.

This might be better than changing everything at once giving up meat for most of the week.

No matter what you do now, start!

You can’t create new habits if you never get going, so pick something you’re going to work on and try it for a week. Then look back and review your progress:

• If you did the thing, keep going!
• If you didn’t do the thing, no problem! 

Make a smaller change this time and try again.

Want some help along the way? The perfect path on where to go from here and what to change?

You got it!

#1) Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn more here!

#2) If you want an exact blueprint leveling up your nutrition, check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

If you follow our Nutrition missions, you’ll learn to eat healthier while earning XP! Sah-weeeet.

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Become part of The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so.

I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:

Alright, I think that about does it for this article.

Now, your turn:

What are your thoughts on the Flexitarian Diet?

If you follow it, when do you eat meat?

Any tips or tricks to make it sustainable?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: If you’re just starting to explore vegetarianism, make sure you read our Beginner’s Guide to Plant-Based Diets so you do it safely and effectively!

###

Photo source: Meal prep Sunday, How to turn kids off, LEGO with ham, What’s up doc, Vectored Vegetables, Tomatoes, Stormtrooper with a camera. 

GIF source: Book

The post The Flexitarian Diet Plan: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Semi-Vegetarianism first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/L24F7bv
via IFTTT

Today, I’m going to share The Batman Workout!

If you plan on fighting crime in your city, you’ve come to the right place. 

We specialize in creating nerdy-themed exercise routines in our Online Coaching Program, because we like to have FUN with our training!

Working out doesn’t have to be boring. Learn more here.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• How would Batman train in real life?
• The Batman Workout Day 1
• The Batman Workout Day 2
• Exercises covered in the Batman Workout
• FAQ for Batman Workout.
• How to train without a gym (Next Steps).

Alright, grab your cape, and let’s do this.

How Would Batman Train in Real Life?

As Ryan from GMB mentions in the video above, Batman needs to train for:

• Strength
• Power
• Agility

Now, a gym could be useful here. However, sometimes we don’t always have access to a fitness facility.

Maybe we’ve been thrown into some sketchy prison somewhere (thanks Bane).

BUT, that doesn’t mean we can’t work out. It just means we have to focus on bodyweight exercises:

As we mention in our Guide to Bodyweight Training, you really don’t need any equipment to get a full-body workout in. You just need the right plan.

Let me show you what I mean.

The Batman Workout DAY 1

 The Batman Workout Day 1:

Once you get proficient at a level, go up one level for that exercise and work on mastering that within the workout.

Don’t try and jump up to the next progression too quickly. Focus on form and performing each rep as cleanly as you can. That is what will get you strong and help you master the moves. Be sure to:

#2) How many reps should I do? How long should I perform the holds?

• Perform no more than 5 reps per movement for up to 3 sets.
• Work on performing holds for 5 to 8 seconds per set.
• Perform all sets of one exercise before moving on to the next exercise.

#3) How often should I do the Batman Workout?

Give yourself at least a day of rest in between the workouts.

You can even add in sprints or intervals on your off days for extra stamina work if you would like.

#4) What if I don’t have a bar?

In the video below, Coach Jim walks you through what to do if you don’t have a pull-up bar:

For more here, check out How to Do Pull-ups Without a Bar.

#5) Can I wear a cap while doing the Batman Workout?

Yes.

Get strong without picking up a weight

Maybe you hate gyms. Maybe you travel like crazy. Maybe you just enjoy exercising outdoors.

No matter your reason, You CAN build muscle and size or simply lose weight and get in shape with only bodyweight exercises.

Just ask Jimmy here:

Jimmy didn’t want to leave his home to train, so we helped him build a plan to do just that.

Want some help from us too?

No problem!

Here’s how Nerd Fitness can get you ready to fight crime:

1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom bodyweight training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

2) If you want an exact blueprint for working out at home, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. 

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating bodyweight moves into your training.

Alright, that about wraps it up for today.

Tune in for more next time!

Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel.

-Steve

###

photo source: ©rosinka79/123RF.COM, batman action figure, 

The post The Batman Workout first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/tCxWKRa
via IFTTT

It’s time to learn how to touch your toes!

What makes me so confident you’ll be able to reach your little piggy wiggies?

Because we teach even the most “inflexible” of folks how to touch their toes in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, and we’ll share with you all our secrets below.

Want to become more flexible? A Nerd Fitness Coach can create a plan to make it happen!

Here’s what we’ll cover in our guide, How to Touch Your Toes:

• The benefits of being able to touch your toes.
• Why can’t I touch my toes?
• Determining your initial flexibility (We all start somewhere)
• The 4 best stretches to touch your toes (Improve your flexibility)
• How to become more flexible (Next steps)

It’s time to become bendy like Gumby! 

Awesome.

Let’s do this.

The Benefits of Being Able to Touch Your Toes

If you want to increase your flexibility, you’re gonna need to stretch.^[1] It’s how you make your muscles elastic and strong.

Why bother though? What’s the big deal about being able to touch your toes?

The benefits of stretching include:

• Increase range of motion. If you can move a joint through its full range of motion, you’re gonna have more freedom of movement. Confidently navigating the physical world is a sign of a healthy nerd, which is why flexibility shouldn’t be overlooked. One of the best ways to become more flexible is to stretch.^[2] 

• Improve posture. If you want to stop slouching so much, regularly stretching may help.^[3] Stretching works to improve muscle imbalances, which in turn might help your posture.

• Alleviate back pain. If you suffer from back pain, it might be worth starting a stretching routine .^[4] The muscles in your back might be tight, restricting your range of motion, which causes pain. Stretching can help loosen up the area, plus strengthen the muscle. This might help prevent future injury. 

Stretching, and the flexibility that comes with it, should not be overlooked when building a workout routine. 

While there are many indicators of good flexibility, one of the most popular is undoubtedly being able to touch your toes.

After all, it was so important the President had all American schoolchildren perform the “Sit and Reach” test to see if they could grab their feet.^[5]

Touching your toes might have been a struggle for you then. It might still be a struggle for you now.

What’s going on?

Why Can’t I Touch My Toes?

If you are unable to touch your toes, it’s most likely because of one of these four major reasons:

#1) Shortened/tight posterior chain muscles. Although most people think not being able to touch our toes just means your hamstring muscles are inflexible, in reality our whole system (including the lower back) can play a huge role as well! As Mark Rippetoe explains in this video about the Romanian deadlift, what you may think is a lower back issue is also a hamstring issue (and vice versa):

You see, the posterior chain is an interconnected series of muscles that includes our back muscles, erector spinae (muscles along our spine), lower back muscles, butts, and hamstrings.

The posterior chain is shown here:

Weak mobility points in one place in the system can become debilitating (and often easy to spot) when we do compound movements like the deadlift.

If you’re somebody who sits at a desk all day and struggles to touch your toes, you probably aren’t strengthening or lengthening these muscles because the chair is doing all of the work for you.

#2) You have relatively long legs compared to your torso and arms. People with long legs and short torsos will have a greater challenge than people who have short legs and long torsos and arms.

But fear not, you too can level up and get those toes touched.

#3) You have too much body fat. If you are overweight and happen to have a big stomach, it can certainly make touching one’s toes more challenging. Because you already know that diet is 90% of the battle when it comes to weight loss, focus on nutrition to begin losing weight (here are the 5 rules of weight loss to help you begin). This may be a factor in making it easier to touch your toes.

#4) You’re not warmed up yet. If you JUST woke up or spent all day in a car, you’re familiar with the rigidity that makes you feel like a steel girder. Your muscles act like rubber bands; the more they are used, the more they are warmed-up, and the further they can stretch. This is why we encourage people to go through a mobility warm-up before exercise!

Let’s put a plan in place to finally touch our toes!

Determining Your Initial Flexibility (We All Start Somewhere)

Before we can implement a strategy to develop more flexibility that allows you to touch your toes, we need to know your starting point.

As Peter Drucker said, “That which gets measured gets managed.” Or in this case, that which gets measured gets more flexible! 

The following comes from our free 5-Day Flexibility Series, which you can sign up for today!

THE “CAN YOU TOUCH YOUR TOES?” TEST:

1. Stand straight with your legs about hip-width apart. You want your legs to be straight, but don’t aggressively lock out your knees either (this feels like a “microbend” to a lot of people).
2. Begin by bending and leaning forward towards the ground with your quads (front of your legs).
3. Let your body rest naturally, as if you were a ragdoll. Keeping your hands relatively close together, straighten your fingers and begin to stretch down slowly to the ground.
4. Do this 2-3 times to get warmed up. Try to keep your legs straight by flexing or activating your quads; keep your legs straight, without locking your knees.
5. Other than the microbend, don’t bend your knees to help you get closer to the ground! I’m watching you. If you’re videotaping yourself on these to track your progress, note that depending on your body (and your hamstrings) your legs may not look 100% straight.

When you are ready, reach towards the ground and hold it for a few seconds. Measure the distance in one of the following ways:

• If you aren’t touching the ground, have a friend measure the distance from the tip of your fingers to the ground. If you don’t have a friend with you, place your hands on your legs and note where the tips of your fingers end up.
• If you can touch the ground, you’ll want to flatten your hands as much as possible, and record the distance from the top of your head to the ground. As you can stretch further, the top of your head will actually get closer and closer to the ground.
• If this seems easy, try hugging your calves and pulling your head in towards your body.

Record your measurement in a document or on a piece of paper (if you’re part of the flexibility challenge, we have a document you can print out), and/or save the photo/video to show how far down you are reaching.

The 4 Best Stretches to Touch Your Toes (Improve Your flexibility)

There are two key factors that will determine whether or not you are successful in gaining the ability to touch your toes as you practice over the next few weeks:

1. Actively stretching your muscles JUST past the point of comfort. Like strength training by adding 1 rep or a few pounds to an exercise, we want to stretch just beyond the point where we stretched last time so our muscles have to elongate.
2. Consistent practice and effort! You can’t improve your flexibility by stretching for 5 minutes once a month. You’d be better off stretching for 30 seconds spread out 10 times throughout the month.

That’s right. Studies confirmed that actively focusing on touching your toes for 30 seconds, 3 times per week was enough to lengthen hamstring muscles in 4 weeks. ^[6]

I‘m sure there’s an inappropriate joke to be made here about 30 seconds of effort, but I’m better than that (I think).

In less time than it takes to update your Facebook status, you could be touching your toes and make Gumby proud.

And I know you have time.

HOW TO TOUCH YOUR TOES (CONSISTENT FLEXIBILITY PRACTICE):

All I’m asking for is 2 minutes. 2 minutes! You can even spread these movements out throughout your day – I like to do them after I work out. After a long day at a desk, after driving, or upon waking up are all good times to work on flexibility!

Through each of the movements below, make sure you are breathing slowly and steadily.

You can follow along with all of the movements below that come from our really fun online course, Nerd Fitness Yoga (part of NF Prime). It’s essentially yoga for people that don’t do yoga.

THE 4 BEST STRETCHES TO TOUCH YOUR TOES:

1. Standing toe touch stretch – 30 seconds
2. Cat/Camel – 30 seconds (switch positions every 5 seconds)
3. Star stretch – 30 seconds (as many slow reps as you can)
4. Moon the sky – 30 seconds (as many slow reps as you can)

1) Standing toe touch stretch: Flex/activate the front of your legs, keep them straight, and bend over at the waist juuuust past the point of discomfort; hold that position for 30 seconds. Repeat this process every other day and hold it for 30 seconds.

2) We can loosen up a tight lower back by doing 30 seconds of moving back and forth every few seconds by doing a “cat” and then a “cow”:

3) You can also do what we call a star stretch to help stretch those legs out! Stand with your legs spread wide, and arms extended (hence the term Star!), and then reach down with one hand to your opposite leg; hold for five seconds, back to start, and repeat with the other leg.

4) Here’s another favorite movement of mine that helps improve my flexibility and mobility: the “Moon the Sky” stretch!

This is a great stretch to mix into your pre-workout warmup to get your legs, butt, and back prepared for work:

• Squat down and put your hands under your feet
• Slowly move your butt up with your hands remaining under your feet.
• Raise your butt and try to straighten your legs
• Go a TEENY bit higher each time until you can fully straighten your legs!

For any of the above moves, a good way to check your form would be to record a video of yourself and match it against the videos and gifs here. If they look close, you’re doing great!

If you want to have an expert review your stretches, our coaches can do just that in our snazzy app!

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach help you touch your toes! Learn more here.

How to Become More Flexible (Next Steps)

It’s now time to train to touch your toes!

Test your toe-touching abilities before and after doing the 2-minutes of exercise above, and I bet you’ll notice a difference right away – just wait to see what you can accomplish in a few weeks!

The cool thing about flexibility is that any combination of the stretches above will help you improve your flexibility as long as you consistently work on it a tiny bit every day.

I do mobility work: 

• When I wake up
• After I work out
• Throughout my day (when working at my desk)
• At the end of my day for a minute or two before bed

All added up, it’s less than 5 minutes of time, but it’s enough to show me some results!

If you follow our guide above, you’ll be well on your way to increasing your flexibility and touching your toesie wosies.

You just need to start!

Want some help getting going? A little extra push out the door? 

We built three perfect next steps for increasing your flexibility!

#1) Work with a professional Yoda! If you want confidence that you’re following a program that is tailor-made for your busy life, situation, and goals, check out our popular 1-on-1 Coaching Program.

Many of our clients have “increased flexibility” as one of their fitness goals, and they take comfort knowing a certified NF instructor is guiding them there. 

Our coaching program changes lives! Learn more here.

#2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join our amazing free community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion! Not only is it free to join, but we’ll provide you with loads of free goodies when you sign-up:

That should just about do it for our guide on How to Touch Your Toes.

Now, your turn:

Can you touch your toes?

Does attempting to “sit and reach” bring back horrors from grade school?

Any other tips or tricks for mobility training?

Let us know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Mobility Training series:

• The Ultimate Guide for Improving Flexibility in 30 Days
• How to Stretch
• 21 Basic Yoga Poses for Beginners
• How to Use a Foam Roller

###

GIF credit: banana, Danny Devito, gumby, patrick.

Photo credit: toe touch, posterior chain, roar, yoga sunset, the adventures of Gumby and R2D2, Stormtroopers and Gumby

The post How to Touch Your Toes (The 4 Best Stretches to Improve Flexibility) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/I6lDgYd
via IFTTT

Let’s get you comfortable using the bench press, starting today!

We specialize in helping people pick up barbells for the first time. So if the bench press makes you worry…DON’T PANIC. We’ll set you up with a plan so you can use it safely and effectively.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• How important is the bench press?
• What muscles does the bench press utilize?
• How to set up a bench press.
• The most important bench press tip (keep tight).
• Proper bench press form.
• What’s a beginner bench press weight? (Determining your starting weight)
• 5 common bench press mistakes. 
• How to ask for a bench press spotter.
• How to bench press without a spotter.
• FAQ on the bench press (including tips on getting started)

This guide is part of our Strength Training 101 series. I would encourage you to check out the rest of the articles if you’re just starting your weight training. 

If you’re in a rush, you can download the entire guide for free when you enlist in the Rebellion (that’s us!), by joining our free bi-weekly newsletter: 

How Important is the Bench Press?

For the last 30-40 years, the bench press has become the universal lift for bros everywhere to determine how strong someone truly is. 

You know, questions like:

• How much do you bench?
• Do you even lift?
  

As popular as it is, the bench press in its current form is less than 100 years old.

Until the 1930’s, people did a movement called the “floor press”, which was similar to a bench press only done from the floor.

In fact, at first many people did a movement called a “belly toss” – where the bar would come down and bounce off the belly to help the lifter get it back up.

The three movements – bench press, belly toss, and floor press were all popular until the 40’s and 50’s, when the bench press started to become more and more popular, as bodybuilders liked how the bench worked their pecs (better than the other two movements).

Arnold benches, for sure. 

As the bench press became more and more popular, powerlifting emerged in the 1970’s and separated itself from weightlifting as a sport of its own.

What Muscles Does the Bench Press Utilize?

The bench press is a great movement to have as a part of your strength program, and one move we consider to be a part of the “big 4” basic lifts. 

The other three lifts? 

1. The Squat
2. The Deadlift
3. The Overhead Press

Some of the issues coaches have with the bench press (such as a tight chest creating bad posture) don’t come from benching itself, but come from bench being one of the ONLY movements in your program, and can disappear when incorporated as a part of a well-rounded strength program.

In other words, don’t JUST train using the bench press.

The bench press is widely known as a “chest” exercise, however, that’s definitely not all it is. 

The bench press trains:

• Shoulders
• Triceps
• Forearms
• Lats
• Pecs
• Traps
• Rhomboids
• Plus pretty much every muscle in your upper body

However, the bench press doesn’t JUST use your upper body.

When you bench properly, you use your lower back, hips, and legs as well. Just like our other main lifts (the squat, deadlift, and overhead press), the bench press, while putting an emphasis on specific muscle groups, is a full-body movement.

Think about it – while you’re benching, the rest of your body is not just lying there doing nothing.

Your entire body should be working – your shoulders are pinched together and your lats are engaged, while your back, hips and legs are tight, stabilizing your entire body to create a solid base and help you generate drive from the round.

How to bench press: The Setup

There are a lot of different ways to perform the bench press.

We’ll start you out with a standard and basic bench press variation, which we believe is the best (and safest) method for general strength.

Remember: just because you see someone benching a ridiculous amount of weight at the gym does not mean they are using proper or safe form.

They could be an advanced athlete who is making compromises to their form (knowingly or unknowingly) in order to bench higher numbers.

What do you need to perform the bench press?

1. A weight bench with uprights:
2. Barbell – the standard weight is 45 lbs, but this may be too heavy to start. No matter how strong you are, I recommend starting with a PVC pipe or broomstick to learn proper form.
3. Spotter – once the weight gets heavy (we will discuss options later in case you just don’t have someone else to spot you)

How to Set Up A Bench Press

There are many different ways to set up for a bench press – as you’ll see by watching any powerlifting competition, or even by spending just 20 minutes in your local gym.

Some people get on the bench and curl themselves under the bar, some enter the bench from the back and slide in under the bar, and others just lie down and then get tight.

The key here is to set up in a way that helps you get your body tight and ready for the lift.

Before you begin, it might be a good idea to roll the bar forward on the uprights, as this is where you will be lifting it off from.

Having the bar in the same spot in the uprights will help you with a standard setup that is the same every time.

Here’s how to position yourself during the bench press:

1. Squeeze your shoulder blades together (as if you were trying to hold a pencil between them), press your lats into the bench, and raise your chest up slightly towards the bar.
2. While you’re doing this, squeeze your butt and plant your feet into the ground. Your entire foot (heels included) should be on the ground, on either side of the bench.
3. Keep your entire body tight. The raising of your chest to the bar, squeezing your shoulders together, squeezing your butt, and driving your heels into the ground will create a tight arch in your back. (more on this later).
4. Imagine you are a superhero and pretend you are sucking all the energy out of the room and absorbing it. As you the bar descends, absorb that energy and get ready to explode upward with the bar.
5. Your shins should be perpendicular to the ground and directly below your knees. If they are out in front of you, your feet are too far forward and you won’t be able to generate proper drive.

When you look up, your eyes should be just north of the bottom of the bar – you should see the bar directly above your eyes. Your head, upper back, and butt should never leave the bench.

Note: Some people (including myself) find it easier to get tight in their upper back if they put their feet up on the bench, grab the bar, get tight in their upper back, and then place their feet on either side of the bench one at a time.

This is just another method and something you can try out after you get the hang of the bench!

Next, take your arms and put them straight up, and grab the bar. Your grip should be with your thumbs around the bar:

A thumbless grip is not to be used on the bench press, as it is unsafe, and often nicknamed the “suicide grip,” as it is far too easy for the bar to fall off of your hands and land on your body (warning: hard to watch).

When you hold the bar, it should be in the heel of the palm (the same spot in your hands as for the overhead press.) Your wrists will not be extended, and your forearms are under your wrists, forming a solid line of support.

If you hold the bar in the upper half of your hand or the fingertips, not only are you not in a strong position, but you could hurt your wrists.

Bench Press Grip:

Bring the bar (or, preferably PVC as we are just learning) down to your chest. At your chest, the width of your grip should make your forearms straight up and down (as perpendicular to the floor as you can).

Get a friend to help you (as you won’t be able to see on your own), or tape yourself so you can see. Don’t stress too much about getting your forearms 100% perfectly vertical.

Once you get comfortable with the movement, you may change the width of your grip, as there is wiggle room for personal preference, but this is a great place to start.

Also, keep in mind that your grip may seem way wider or narrower than your friends based on the width of your shoulders. This is normal!

Why would people alter their bench press grip?

• A wider grip is more pec-focused
• A narrower grip is more tricep focused

You will see powerlifters use a super-wide grip because it reduces the range of motion and therefore allows them to lift more weight in competition.

However, more weight does not always mean stronger, and our goal today is safety and strength!

This is why we recommend a grip with your forearms in a vertical position, it’s the most well-rounded and safest version for overall strength.

If you’re worried about whether you have the right grip in place, record yourself and match it against the videos in this guide. If it’s close, you’re doing great.

You could also record a video and sent it to your own Nerd Fitness Coach!

Click on the bottom below to learn more:

Your very own NF Coach can guide your weight training!

The Most Important Bench Press Tip (Keep Tight)

If you’ve set up correctly, your entire body should be tight.

Focus on the following when performing your bench press:

1. Think of your body as one single unit, not single muscle groups. 
2. Drive your feet into the ground, tighten your entire lower body and core, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and squeeze the bar. You should feel like one solid, single unit. 
3. When you tighten your body, your neck, upper back, and butt should be on the bench (and your feet and heels on the ground). 
4. When you drive your heels through the ground, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and raise your chest to the bar, it will form a small arch in your back – this is natural and what we’re aiming for. 
5. You don’t want to push your lower back into the bench to create a “flat back,” or try to not create an arch. If you have heard people talking about not using an arch in the bench press, they are most likely referring to the extreme arch used by many powerlifters:
6. That is not what we are going for here – that is a way to help you lift more weight by reducing the range of motion, and is only safe to look into when you have been benching for a long time and really know what you are doing. For overall strength, we recommend benching with a full range of motion instead of trying to reduce it.

Now, feel how tight your body is? It is very important that you keep this tightness throughout the entire movement.

Proper Bench Press Form

Now that we are set up and have our hands around the bar, we want to think about having our elbows tucked in and not letting them flare out.

One way to do this is that when you grab onto the bar, think about trying to bend it in half upwards towards the sky.

This “upward bending” cue will also help you engage your lats, which doesn’t actually help you with the press, but do help you keep your body tighter.

We review how to bench press with proper form in this video (taken from NF Prime): 

Here’s how to perform the bench press:

#1) Unrack the bar and position the bar directly above your shoulders (without losing tightness – keep squeezing your shoulder blades together!).

#2) Continue to look up at the ceiling, unlock your elbows and lower the bar to your chest. Don’t just drop the bar to your chest – you want to pull it down towards you with control.

#3) At the bottom of the movement, you want the bar to touch a few inches below your clavicles. If it’s up by your throat or on your stomach, it’s in the wrong position.

#4) Once the bar touches your chest, press up to put the bar back to its starting position.

Note that unlike the deadlift and squat, the bench press movement will not be in a straight up and down motion.

Because of our anatomy, the bar will follow a slightly diagonal path down, and then follow the same path back up.

#5) While pressing, remember to keep your elbows tucked in, and don’t let them flare out. 

Think about squeezing so that your biceps touch the side of your chest (though you won’t be close enough to have this happen), or try to get your elbows under the bar.

You don’t want to be too tucked though – the goal is about a 45-degree angle: 

#6) As you press, the same parts of your body that were touching the bench before should still be touching the bench, and your feet should still be on the floor. Don’t let any part of you (the most common is your butt) come off the bench.

To help prevent your butt from coming off of the bench, instead of pushing up when you drive with your heels, think of pushing up and back, towards the front of the bench (where your head is).

#7) To re-rack the bar, move the bar backwards to the uprights and touch them with the bar, and then let go of the bar. Don’t look at the racks, you know that they are there! For beginners, it’s great to have a friend help you guide the bar back to the right position in the rack.

What’s a Beginner Bench Press Weight? (Determining Your Starting Weight)

Okay okay, you’re wondering how much you should put on the bar as a beginner who is starting out with bench pressing. 

This is a very important question, and for somebody that is trying to level up as quickly as possible, you’ll be tempted to put WAY more weight on the bar than you can probably handle.

In other words, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash.

So here is what you are going to do.

Check your ego, and start with:

The bar. And ONLY the bar.

Shocking, I know.

Your ego will survive. I promise.

As we cover in our extensive guide “How Much Weight Should I Be Lifting?“, you should ALWAYS start every session with just the bar.

Hell, even veteran powerlifters who can bench press 500+ pounds will always start out by just bench pressing the bar.

You can too. Nobody in the gym cares. I promise you.

NOTE: The bar STILL weighs 45 pounds, which MIGHT be too heavy for you. That’s okay! You don’t go to show people how strong you are at the gym, you go to the gym to get stronger.

So start by making sure 45 pounds isn’t too heavy for you.

If you are even SLIGHTLY concerned that it might be, consider using dumbbells or finding a smaller/lighter barbell in the gym and using that to build up to the strength with the bar.

HOW TO BENCH PRESS MORE:

• Now, if you can bench press the bar safely, great.
• Do 3 sets of 10 on your first day in the gym.
• When it’s time to bench press again, add 2.5 lbs (1.2KG) to each side of the bar, and repeat.
• You’ll then be lifting a total of 50 lbs.
• Each week, add 5 pounds total (2.5 to each side) to the bar. This will be “slow going” at first. However, even at a paltry 5 pounds per week, you’ll rapidly reach a point in the next 6-12 months where you’ll approach a weight you can no longer lift.

“BUT STACI, I CAN LIFT WAY MORE THAN THE BAR, WHY START THERE?”

Because you need to train your body correctly, and we’re looking to build momentum. When you practice perfect form with light weight, your body starts to learn the proper pathway for the bar. Your muscles, tendons, and joints all learn how to bear the load of a weighted bar.

And each week, you get slightly stronger.

Repeat this week after week, combine it with a diet to get stronger, and you will build muscle like a superhero!

Maybe one day you’ll be able to bench people.

The entire strategy of our new app, Nerd Fitness Journey, is based off this strategy: slow progress over time. And because we’re nerds, you’ll actually build a superhero along the way (because why not!).

5 Common Bench Press Mistakes

1. Not keeping body tight – As soon as you lose tightness, you have the potential for missing the rep. Make sure even when you are warming up and the weight is light, that you keep your entire body tight.
2. Butt coming up – make sure your butt stays on the bench at all times! It’s easy to let it come up off the bench once the weight gets heavy and you really start driving through your heels. Instead of thinking about driving upwards through your heels, think about driving up and backwards. If you’re struggling with your butt coming up, either try putting plates under your feet or re-evaluating your foot position (or lower the weight).
3. Bouncing off your chest – when you come to the bottom part of the lift, don’t bounce! Lower the bar to slightly graze your shirt, and then press.
4. Half reps – One of the most common faults I have seen in the gym! Make sure you are hitting full range of motion every single rep (down to chest!).
5. Wrong starting, middle, and ending positions (pictured below) – we’ve learned in the past that a vertical line is the most efficient way to move a bar, but with the bench press, the safest is to move the bar at a slight curve. The bar will start and end above your shoulders, but the middle point of the bar will be below your clavicles. If your middle position is above your shoulders, in a vertical line, your middle position is too high.

How to Ask for A Spotter with the Bench Press

Spotting is a very important part of bench pressing – not only having someone spot you, but having you spot other people. It can be extremely dangerous to bench press alone.

A spotter’s purpose is to ensure the safety of the lifter – not to help the lifter with reps.

The spotter always watches every rep while staying out of the way.

The only thing they may help with is giving you a lift-off, but after that, it is all you!

*A lift-off is when you help the lifter take the bar out of the rack, and then let go of it when it is in the correct starting position.

You don’t need a spotter for your warm-up sets, but everyone should have one for their work sets.

How do you ask someone to spot you? “Hey, will you spot me real quick?” usually works (it’s really that simple!). I’ve never had anyone turn me down.

If you’re always at the gym at the same time as someone else, make friends and spot each other.

That way you’re not always nervous asking someone random to spot you.

If someone asks you to spot them, always ask:

• How many reps they are going for?
• Do they want a lift off?
• How would they like to be spotted?

Some people don’t want you to touch the bar unless they tell you to; others want you to help them guide the bar up if they start to fail, and others want you to take the bar immediately if they fail the rep.

Some want a lift off, and some don’t.

When you ask someone else to spot you, they will probably ask you the same questions!

What if I don’t have a spotter? Can I bench press without a spotter?

If you don’t have a spotter, you can use the power rack to bench.

A power rack would look like so:

NF Coach Jim demonstrates how to bench press using a power rack here:

Just set the pins at a level just barely below your chest, so if you miss a rep you can get out.

If you don’t have a power rack, and absolutely don’t have a spotter – you can either not put clips on the bar, and then let the weight slide off one side at a time, or do the “Roll of shame,” where you roll the bar down your body, sit up, and pick up the bar.

However, both of these methods are dangerous and you’re risking injury by doing them. Please do not bench press alone – especially when just starting out. Even if the weight seems light, it’s very possible to injure yourself.

The best thing you can do is to ask someone at the gym to spot you.

There’s nothing weird about it all – in fact, it’s normal and expected!

If that’s not an option, consider dumbbell presses or another chest exercise until you can find a spotter.

Frequently Asked Questions about The Bench Press (Plus Tips to Get Started)

1) “I see people with their feet up on the bench – what’s going on?”

This isn’t technically correct – but it’s really a completely different movement than your standard bench press. It eliminates the use of the lower body in the movement, and can be good for people with injuries or as an assistance exercise.

I’ve seen it the most in bodybuilding routines. We recommend you stick to the bench press form we presented until you master the movement.

2) “If the bench is one of the ‘big 4’, why do some people not bench press?”

The bench press is a great way to build strength. But out of the big 4, it is the lift that has the most alternatives available.

While it’s hard to replace a heavy deadlift, you can easily replace the bench press with push-up and dip variations and continuously get stronger with just your own bodyweight for a very long time.

Push up:

Dip:

Here are the best 42 bodyweight exercises if you want to start training that way first!

I personally keep the bench in my program because I enjoy it, but also because it’s a competitive lift in powerlifting.

Steve, however, has chosen to not bench press and replaces it with bodyweight variations of push-ups and a lot of gymnastics ring work.

3) “Okay, I get it! What do I do now?”

I’m glad you asked! I have three great options for you:

Option #1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom strength training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

Option #2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Check out Nerd Fitness Journey!

Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

Option #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. 

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It’ll help you start incorporating the bench press into your training:

So that’s all there is to it! Next time you are in the gym, give the bench press a shot!

Start with just the bar, and add weight each time when you hit your weights. Just don’t forget to have a spotter!

So, what kind of benching questions do you have for us!?

-Staci

PS: Don’t forget to check out our other articles in the Strength 101 Series!

• Strength Training 101
• Strength Training 101: Equipment
• Strength Training 101: Finding the Right Gym
• Strength Training 101: Where do I start?
• Strength Training 101: How much weight should I be lifting?
• Strength Training 101: Inverted Rows
• Strength Training 101: How to Squat Properly
• Strength Training 101: The Deadlift
• Strength Training 101: The Overhead Press

###

photo source: leg0fenris: legos, Alexander Danling: Benches, Christian Hernandez: Superman , Arch in bench press, LEGO bench press, Beam me up, please.

The post How to Bench Press Safely (5 Mistakes to Avoid) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/xntURLO
via IFTTT

Maybe you’ve felt this way: it’s only a matter of time before someone bursts through the door shouting “fake!” 

Then, they’ll have you hauled off to jail as a fraud…or ejected into space as an imposter:

Well, feeling like a phony is a real thing and we’ve found it to be fairly common amongst our coaching clients.

Luckily, we’ve learned a few strategies for overcoming “imposter syndrome,” especially on how it relates to fitness. Today, we’ll share our tips and tricks with you too.

We assign fun missions to our coaching clients to help them level up their mindset! Click here to learn more.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• What is Imposter Syndrome?
• How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 1: The Perfectionist
• How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 2: The Superwoman/Superman
• How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 3: The Natural Genius
• How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 4: The Soloist
• How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 5: The Expert
• Getting Rid of Imposter Syndrome (Next Steps)

Let’s jump right in!

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Imposter syndrome exists when a person doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments, despite external evidence of their competence.

(You’d know that if you watched my sweet video above.)

Those who suffer from imposter syndrome feel as though they do not deserve all that they have achieved, and instead incorrectly attribute their success to a combination of luck and deceit.

There is also generally a persistent fear of being seen as a “fraud,” that someone, somewhere, will uncover them for what they truly are. 

That’s imposter syndrome.

If you’ve ever felt like you don’t deserve your job or accomplishments, you’re not alone. It’s been estimated that 70% of the general population (evenly split between men and women) have felt the effects of imposter syndrome at some point.^[1] 

Dr. Valerie Young, an expert on imposter syndrome, states:^[2]

Impostor syndrome goes beyond a mere lack of confidence. People who feel like impostors hold themselves to an unrealistic and unsustainable standard of competence. Falling short of this standard then evokes shame.

Yeah, not good. 

How do we get like this?

Well, it differs depending on the person, but there are some similarities to be found. 

Dr. Young identifies five common characteristics of people who generally feel like a phony, despite the evidence to the contrary.

The five types of imposters are:

• The Perfectionist
• The Superwoman/Superman
• The Natural Genius
• The Soloist
• The Expert

It’ll be important for us to understand each of these, so we can determine some tools and strategies for overcoming them.

So let’s tackle each of these five types of self-diagnosed “imposters” and how it can relate to your fitness journey.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 1: The Perfectionist

What’s going on with the Perfectionist?

The Perfectionist feels like the work they do must be 100% perfect, 100% of the time.

They set insanely high goals for themselves, which often prove unattainable.

Even when the Perfectionist HAS clearly succeeded at a task, they often feel that they should have done better. Then self-doubt creeps in. 

There are some pros and cons here:

• On the one hand, it’s good to have high goals. This shows a lot of internal motivation.
• On the other hand, if the goals are so high that they mentally cripple you, then they’re not serving you well.

How’s this related to fitness?

The Perfectionist will often have an “all or nothing” approach. If they can’t get an hour workout in, then they’re not going to even bother with it. 

This isn’t good, because the “perfect” time to workout rarely happens. 

What to do instead?

Change your expectations around fitness.

Yeah, an hour workout would be great. But even just a five-minute workout is better than “no workout.”

As Theodore Roosevelt put it:

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

With that in mind, here’s a simple 5-minute routine you can do:

• Minute #1: 20 seconds of push-ups, 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of push-ups, 10 seconds of rest.
• Minute #2: 20 seconds of squats, 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of squats, 10 seconds of rest.
• Minute #3: Plank for as long as you can, then rest until the end of the minute.
• Minute #4: 20 seconds of lunges, 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of lunges, 10 seconds of rest.
• Minute #5: 20 seconds of push-ups, 10 seconds of rest, 20 seconds of push-ups, 10 seconds of rest. (unless you have access to pull-up bar or alternative, then do pull-ups)

If that seems too easy, you can also look into doing a Tabata Workout, which will have you doing High-Intensity Interval Training in just a few minutes.

The important thing here is to embrace “good enough.”

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 2: The Superwoman/Superman

What’s going on with the Superwoman/Superman?

The Superwoman/Superman feels like they should excel in every role they take.

• Great spouse? Check.
• Mother/Father of the year? You bet!
• Amazing colleague? Guess who’s clocking in overtime!

The Superwoman/Superman is addicted to this validation, thus they are externally motivated.

Again, we have some pros and cons:

• On the one hand, it’s great they want to contribute to the team.
• On the other hand, if there’s no one around to praise them, things might not get done.

How’s this related to fitness?

The Superwoman/Superman often needs an outside event to prepare for, like a 5K. Or maybe they want to get in shape for a wedding or a reunion.

Without such an event, they might not feel validated enough to get to work.

What to do instead?

External motivation is a great kickstart, but look to build internal motivation by doing something even if no one else knows about it. Do the task for its own sake.

To build internal motivation, ask yourself: how do you feel before, during, and after a workout?

By constantly reminding yourself of the positive feelings, you can help build internal motivation. This strategy can help wean you away from exclusively being driven by external forces.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 3: The Natural Genius

What’s going on with the Natural Genius?

The Natural Genius feels that everything in life should come easy to them. They judge their competence based on the ease and speed of their efforts. 

If it takes them a long time to master a task, they just assume they suck. Then they start to feel shame. 

Some pros and cons of the Natural Genius:

• On the one hand, it’s awesome to have a lot of success in various aspects of life. There’s nothing to feel guilty about!
• On the other hand, this feeling of shame might stop you from growing in new areas. 

How’s this related to fitness?

If the Natural Genius isn’t instantly good at something, they push it aside:

• I can’t bend like that, so I’m throwing away the yoga mat.
• I never catch anything, so I’m quitting Ultimate Frisbee. 
• Everyone is faster than me, so I’m not showing up to the 5K.

What to do instead?

Remember, being bad at something is the first step to being ok at something.

Or…

To help here, look for evidence of something else in your life that was hard – but you pushed through and accomplished it anyway. 

It could be something big, like graduating from college, or small, like building a birdhouse.

The important thing to ask: How did you feel after that?

Also, understand that the work is necessary. You’re never going to be good at EVERYTHING. Instead, enjoy the process and the learning curve ahead!

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 4: The Soloist

What’s going on with the Soloist?

The Soloist believes they have to do everything themselves.

If anyone ever gives them any assistance, it’s a fail, because now they can’t take any credit for the success.

Even if the Soloist finds themselves in trouble, they won’t reach out, preferring to struggle alone.

You’ll often hear the Soloist say things like “I don’t need anyone’s help.” 

Like all our “imposters,” there are some pros and cons here:

• On the one hand, it’s great to want to be self-sufficient
• On the other hand, this may cause unnecessary stress.

How’s this related to fitness?

If the Soloist runs into any health or fitness struggle, they often shut down communication around the topic. 

Ironically, we see this from time to time in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program. A client will be doing great, kicking-ass with their workouts and nutrition, and they’ll communicate daily with their coach. But the second they run into any snags, they disappear, almost as if… 

What to do instead?

Recognize when you feel like going into “hermit mode” and proactively reach out to others!

Truth be told, the best time to do this is actually before you run into trouble.

Look, things will come up:

• Work will turn insane.
• A tire will go flat. 
• Your kid will get sick. 

One of the best things you can do when struggling (in fitness or anywhere) is to reach out to someone. 

• One, they might have some advice.
• Two, even just an open ear can be helpful when things aren’t so good. 

That’s why we actually encourage everyone who joins Nerd Fitness Prime to reach out to our private Facebook or Discord group. Everyone in there is on a similar journey, so when things go bad, the community can relate.

Someone there might even know what to do.

Whether through the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, work, or some other group, finding an “accountabuddy” can be really helpful when trying to get in shape. 

Look around and if you see somebody who’s also on a similar path, say “Hey, let’s do this together!!!”

You don’t have to do this alone. Learn more here.

How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome Part 5: The Expert

What’s going on with the Expert?

The Expert defines themselves by what or how much they know.

Believing they’ll look foolish if they don’t know something, they’ll seek out more information. And more. The Expert endlessly researches a topic, always needing to absorb more. 

Also, somewhat ironically, the Expert does not view themselves as an “expert,” instead they choose to remind themselves of their ignorance. 

Again, there are strengths and weaknesses here:

• On the one hand, being curious is awesome.
• On the other hand, constantly searching for more information can be a form of procrastination.

Or as Morpheus teaches Neo: 

How’s this related to fitness?

We actually have a term for this around Nerd Fitness: Underpants Collector.

It’s from a South Park episode, where the Underpants Gnomes steal people’s underwear to gain “profit.”

The trouble is, they don’t know what to actually do with all the underwear they’ve thieved. 

This makes somewhat more sense if you watch the episode. Somewhat. 

The morale of our South Park tangent: be careful of gathering a bunch of information and then not doing anything with it.

Trying and failing and learning from previous mistakes is more valuable than spending additional time researching, then not attempting anything.

What to do instead?

Here’s another term we throw around Nerd Fitness: Use 20 Seconds of Courage.

Rebel One explains it all in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/G6Gap9WCSYU

It’s tough, but if you can suck it up and pull the trigger to act, the momentum from that initial decision will propel you forward.

Yes, it’s scary to act and less scary to read more. But acting is what will truly make you an expert.

Getting Rid of Imposter Syndrome (Next Steps)

Perhaps you’ve seen yourself in one of these “imposter” subgroups. 

It could be in your fitness and non-fitness related words and actions.

As we covered, each “imposter” comes with certain strengths. But there are also weaknesses.

If you find yourself feeling like a fraud, try one of the strategies we covered today:

• Reevaluate your expectations around “perfect.” 
• Search for internal motivation around the work you need to do.
• Remember that it’s okay to “suck” at things now and then.
• If you run into trouble, it’s okay to reach out for help.
• Ask yourself if you really need to read another internet article, or is it time to act.

If you need help acting, I have three next steps for you.

Next Step #1) Our Online Coaching Program: if you find yourself struggling as the Soloist, maybe it’s time to ask for help.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

#2) If you need a “trigger” to act, check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

Next Step Number #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. It’s the best place to find an accountabuddy.

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!

Alright, I want to hear from you:

Do you occasionally see yourself as an imposter or fraud?

Which one of the subgroups do you recognize in yourself?

Any tips or tricks for overcoming imposter syndrome?

Let me know in the comments!

-Jim

PS: Props to Dr. Valerie Young for helping people overcome imposter syndrome. Young is doing good things in the world. 

###

Photo source:  Clean Room, Andriy Popov © 123RF.com, Maxim Maksutov © 123RF.com, bennymarty © 123RF.com, sunset, Roosevelt quote. 

The post 5 Strategies for Overcoming Imposter Syndrome (to Get in Shape) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/4RyFjNI
via IFTTT

So you’re gonna buy yourself a gym membership?

Great! I have one too!

Having access to a dedicated place to get stronger and train can be really helpful for leveling up your life.  

So if you want a gym membership yourself, I support your decision 100%.

However, there’s a lot to consider when thinking about purchasing a gym membership (click each to go to that section):

• Which gym should I pick?
• What should I do before I sign a contract?
• What are some tips to save money on my membership?
• How do I train in a gym?
• How can I overcome anxieties in the gym?
• Is there an alternative to purchasing a gym membership?

These are great questions!

Let’s make sure you have answers to all six.

And if you’re joining a gym for strength training purposes, make sure you download our massive guide: “Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know.” Get yours free when you sign up in the box below:

HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT GYM?

As part of our Strength Training 101 series, we dedicate an entire article to picking the correct gym. Let’s recap some of it right here for you.

Here’s How to Find the Right Gym:

#1) WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR? Picking a gym isn’t as easy as running to the closest one and signing up. There are a lot of things you need to take into consideration. There’s equipment to contemplate, classes offered to compare, and distance from your home to calculate.

It can be a good idea to create a list of things you are after, to make sure the gyms you research have what you need. Want such a list? You got it.

There are also types of gyms to think about. You’ll mockingly hear big-name-chain gyms referred to as “Globo Gyms,” taken from the critically acclaimed masterpiece, Dodgeball.

You can think of Globo Gyms as your standard large franchise like 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, Gold’s Gym, etc. You know, the big commercial gyms.

Oftentimes their price and location make for a convenient membership. I am a member of a Globo Gym. It’s conveniently located and fits my budget.

On the flip side would be a locally owned gym. Something where the owner hangs out and greets everyone. You’ll often find more free weights at such a gym, which is awesome, but it might come at the expense of other amenities like childcare.

These are some pros and cons to weigh.

The other thing to consider would be a CrossFit gym. More expensive, but arguably more of a community setting than you’ll get at a “Globo Gym.” Although they tend to be a little pricer.

Bringing us to…

#2) WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET? How much are you willing to spring for your membership? You might get away with as little as $10 a month. Conversely, a $400 monthly membership is not unheard of.

Although typically a gym membership will run you $30-$50.

To put the cost in context, it can be important to consider the gym’s amenities offered. Do they hold free classes like yoga? A single class can cost $10-$15, so if you plan on attending a few, this can quickly equal the price of your gym membership.

Do they offer childcare? If you need someone to watch your offspring, this alone might be worth the membership. Refer to our list above for some ideas.

#3) HOW IMPORTANT IS LOCATION?  Don’t set yourself up for failure here. If your gym is all the way across town, you may end up less likely to use it.

Consider a location on the way to or from work.

If you have to pass by the gym twice a day, you’re much more likely to stop in.

Might be worth springing more for a convenient location for your day-to-day.

As I mentioned, this entire section on “Finding the Right Gym” was taken from our Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know ebook.

It walks you through every aspect of starting a strength training practice, from equipment, specific workouts, and how to know when you should progress to lifting more weight. You can grab it for free when you join the Rebellion below!

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE I PURCHASE MY GYM MEMBERSHIP?

So you’ve narrowed down the type of gym membership you want to purchase.

Before you pull the trigger, do the following:

Get a guest pass.

Some gyms give out free passes for a week or two, some you have to pay for (e.g. $20 for 20 days). Even if you have to pay for it, this is probably the best money you can spend.

After all, you don’t buy a car without test driving it, right?

Make sure you head to the gym at different times of day that align with when you plan on going regularly.

There’s nothing worse than finding a perfect gym, signing a big contract, and then discovering that the gym is so swamped with people after your workday that you can’t even get to the equipment you’d like to use.

During your guest visits there are lots of things to look for.

Questions to Ask When Checking Out a New Gym:

1. Is the equipment in good working order?
2. Is there enough equipment for everyone or are you fighting for a bench?
3. What’s the general vibe of the gym? Does it seem clean?
4. If you’re going before work, are there enough showers available?
5. Did you have to wait to use one?

It’s also never a bad idea to talk to the other members and ask them what they like and dislike about the gym.

You can also read reviews online on sites like Yelp or Google, but remember that people are more likely to complain than compliment, so take all online reviews with a grain of salt.

Nervous about approaching people? Read this.

HOW DO I BUY A GYM MEMBERSHIP?

At this point, you’ve decided to pull the trigger.

Want some potential money-saving tips? I got you.

To Save Money When Buying a Gym Membership:

#1) Join with a friend or family member. Gyms can be sales-driven, so bringing in someone else can make for an enticing offer. They likely have a quota to make, so the more the merrier. It’s worth asking every gym about a family plan.

#2) Join in January (or keep an eye out for specials during the slow months). The start of the new year brings a fitness craze, and many gyms capitalize on this by waiving fees or offering discounts. If it’s near, it might be worth signing up during this rush.

January won’t be the only time gyms offer specials. Google “name of gym deals” and similar items to see if any recent ads show up, as well as check on sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. If you just missed a deal, bring it up to them. They very well may still offer it.

If not…

#3) Haggle. While this can be uncomfortable for some, asking for a discount won’t hurt. The worst thing they’ll tell you is “no.” The best thing that could happen is they’ll give you a free membership.^[1]

While I’m joking on that last part, many people do have success with negotiating gym membership fees, especially at locally owned stores which don’t have corporate oversight.

It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Once you settle on a price, the next step is contract time.

Keep an eye out for the following in your contract:

• An out clause, in case you move, lose your job, etc. Often you can get out of a contract if you move a certain number of miles from the club without a fee, but usually, any other item requires an “early termination fee” to get out of your contract.
• Can you freeze your contract if you go out of town or are on vacation?
• What happens if the club goes out of business?
• Does the membership renew automatically?

Always get everything the salesperson promises you in writing (and remember that most of the time they are working on commission). I’d also suggest that you get a copy of the contract and take it home with you to read before you sign it.

If they won’t let you do that, that’s a bad sign.

Remember, if the salesperson is overly pushy, or you don’t feel comfortable for any reason, walk away. There are a lot of gyms out there that would be happy for your business.

Got your membership? Perfect. Now the fun starts!

HOW DO I TRAIN AT THE GYM?

If you’re worried about what to do at the gym, you’ve come to the right place.

We have an entire guide on “How to Train in a Commercial Gym,” which you should check out. If you’ve never worked out in a commercial facility, it’s a great place to start.

I personally train in such a facility and I wrote about being the only Rebel in a big box store right here. Read it for my personal tips on how to get in, take care of business, and get put.

You can also check out this article to make sure you walk into the gym with the right equipment in order. Be prepared!

Afraid you’ll make a fool of yourself the first time you try and work out with your new membership?

I’m prepared for that too!

I wrote an article “How to not be a newbie at the gym” covering this exact concern.

Jim Bathurst, our head male trainer for Nerd Fitness Coaching, also wrote a sweet article on “29 unwritten rules” for proper gym etiquette. You can check that out right here.

Both should help for the first time you step foot in the gym to train.

What’s that? You have absolutely NO idea what you’re doing in a gym and you wander around like a lost sheep without a shepherd?

You’re not alone! There’s nothing worse than feeling foolish or worrying so much about doing something wrong that you never try in the first place.

Our advice would be to consider enlisting the help of a trainer – if you can afford it – for a few sessions to help you get started.  

If you want full accountability, expert guidance, and consistent instruction, we have you covered there too.  Check out our online Coaching program that might help you too! If you’re just starting out, and have no clue where to begin, we got you covered! We can build you custom workouts, provide accountability so you can follow through and crush them, or help you change your nutrition strategy if you’re trying to lose weight. We work with busy people just like you, helping many of them step foot in the gym for the first time.

Wanna see if we are a good fit for each other? Click on the big image below to schedule a free call with our team:

WHAT IF I’M SCARED OF THE GYM?

If you’re nervous about even stepping foot inside a gym, you’re not alone.

We get tons of emails from Rebels anxious about walking in the door of their local fitness facility.

This is understandable, because stepping foot into a commercial gym to train can be intimidating. The people there all seem to know what they’re doing, making you a potential outsider.

I’ll tell you what I tell all Rebels nervous about walking into a gym:

1. Everybody around you is just as self-conscious as you are. Yes, that super jacked dude. Or that thin (or jacked), fit woman on the elliptical. They aren’t focused on you, because they’re too busy living inside their own head wondering if everybody is thinking about them.
2. Everybody starts somewhere. You don’t have to be strong and fit to train in a gym. You go to the gym to get stronger, more confident, and then you’ll become fit.
3. MOST will applaud you for trying. When I see somebody who is severely overweight at the gym, it makes me happy – they’re trying to better themselves. This is the mentality 95%+ of the people will have.
4. MANY will be too self-focused to even notice you. These are the dudes lifting up their shirt in the mirror to check their abs, doing bicep curls in the squat rack, and/or making sure they take photos to post on Instagram to prove they did, in fact, go to the gym.
5. A RARE few will judge. Though they’re not just judging you, I promise. They’re judging EVERYBODY around you because they can’t help but compare themselves to others. This is no different than in real life. Screw these people, haters gonna hate, Slaters gonna slate.

After explaining these points to a worried Rebel, I then bring up the idea of “20 Seconds of Courage.”

It’s something Coach Matt brings up in the video “How Not to Be Scared at the Gym!”

Our lives are a series of decisions.

And each individual choice really doesn’t take that long to make – less than 20 seconds. Once you make that decision, you set yourself on a course with no way off, until you make another decision.

You don’t have to be courageous for a full hour. 20 seconds will be enough to walk into a gym.

I want you to use 20 seconds of courage to enter any local fitness facility. From there, you can start thinking about actually purchasing a membership.

WHAT IF I DECIDE THE GYM ISN’T RIGHT FOR ME?

Hey, I get it. The gym can suck.

If you want to get a membership to start working out, great!

But if it’s not your bag, don’t sweat it.

There are tons of other options outside of the gym:

• You can start doing bodyweight exercises from home.
• You can start doing an at-home yoga practice.
• Like the outdoors? Start working out there!

There’s is nothing, written anywhere, that says the only way to get fit is in a commercial gym. And if it is written, it’s just some sales propaganda.

Do what’s best for you.

However, if you DO want to start working out in a gym, follow the tips laid out in this article:

• Scope out some different facilities
• Try out a guest pass or two
• Have a workout plan prepared when you enter to train.

What kind of plan should you have?

Welp, these are the tools we’ve created to help you CRUSH the gym:

1) Our popular 1-on-1 coaching program. No more guesswork, no wondering if you’re doing the right program, no shame or guilt. Just results that don’t suck, and a plan that doesn’t make you miserable. 

We keep you accountable to make sure you actually do your workout, we answer any questions you have, and we cheer you on every step of the way:

Expert accountability and support in your pocket. Learn more about our Coaching Program and App

2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts at the gym (or at home), check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

3) Join the Rebellion! Our free community numbers in the hundreds of thousands scattered throughout the globe, and we need good people like you!

You can join by signing up in the awesome yellow box below, and I’ll send you a bunch of free guides and printable workouts, including our Strength 101 guide! 

Alright, I think that about does it for this article on buying and using a gym membership.

Did I miss anything?

Do you have any advice for someone just stepping foot in the gym?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve,

###

All photo sources can be found right here.^[2]

The post Buying a Gym Membership: 6 Things to Consider Before You Purchase first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/RVObphk
via IFTTT

If you find yourself struggling to talk with people, or you want to try and meet NEW people, you’ve come to the right place!

Today we’re gonna teach you how to master a conversation, instead of staring at your feet hoping somebody else will come talk to you.

These are the 4 steps you can master to talk to ANYBODY about ANYTHING:

• Step 1: How to Make Small Talk – and Not Suck at It (Human Interaction)
• Step 2: How Do You Talk to Random People (Thoughtful Small Talk)
• Step 3: How Can I Be Good at Talking (Be Quirky)
• Step 4: How Can I Be Fun to Talk To (In Defense of Being Imprecise)
• How Do You Interact with Others (Start Talking)

By the end of today’s article, your friends will need a muzzle to shut you up.

Believe it or not, we actually often work on “social skills” with our 1-on-1 NF Coaching clients.

Many clients are bettering themselves to start dating again, so we work hard to help them level up all areas of their lives.

Trying to improve your life? Learn how a Nerd Fitness Coach can help!

Okie dokie, without further ado, let’s jump in.

Step 1: How to Make Small Talk – and Not Suck at It. (Human Interaction)

The main reason we human folk seek to connect with one another is that it scratches a social itch.

Our social needs are just like hunger and thirst—we eat, drink, and talk to people because there’s a gap between our actual state (hungry/thirsty/lonely) and our ideal state (satiated/quenched/connected).

Your brain is saying, “Dude, mind helping me out a little? I’m not where I want to be.”

The whole idea here is to feel better after than we did before.

You ever talk to people who are in a super sour mood?

It’s kind of contagious, isn’t it?

Unless you happen to be friends with people who can make crankiness charming (such as professional comedians), it’s usually a bit of a bummer.

Let’s not be bummers!

Let’s be those other kinds of people, the ones who leave our conversational partners in good moods after they talk to us.

Engaging in happy small talk isn’t just good for the people we talk to, by the way—it helps us as well. “Fake it ‘til you make it” is more than just a catchy rhyme.

The idea that acting a certain way encourages us to be that way has been around since Aristotle’s time. Take a look at his quote (from over 2,300 years ago!):

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way.

We become just by performing just actions, temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by performing brave actions.”

Turns out the man knew what he was talking about.

A team led by Fritz Strack showed in 1988 showed^[1] that simply holding a pen in your mouth in a way that simulates the muscle movements of smiling makes cartoons seem funnier than when you hold it between your lips like a straw; other studies have shown^[2] that merely crossing your arms can make you more persistent!

So the next time you’re feeling surly and looking for a change, challenge yourself to talk to someone in a more upbeat way and see if that helps shake it off.

I’m not suggesting you bop around like sunshine and fairy dust, but isn’t it powerful to realize that by simply chatting with another person in a positive way, you can walk away from the conversation with both you and them feeling better off?

(Feel free to give a little mental fist bump to Aristotle when you see how well this works.)

Step 2: How Do You Talk to Random People? (Thoughtful Small Talk)

Good small talk adapts in real-time, thoughtfully and attentively applying to whatever is happening in the moment.

This may sound overwhelming at first, especially if you like to plan things to say out in advance. The trick is to take a step back and pick one thing, anything, on which to focus your attention.

There’s a finite list of what this thing will be:

1. Whether it’s sunny, rainy, or snowy, that’s weather.
2. Whether it’s a street parade, an art exhibit, or a hot tub limousine driving by, that’s scenery.
3. Whether it’s someone with crazy shoes, a guy doing back handsprings, or a woman swinging from a chandelier, that’s people.
4. Whether it’s a cute baby, a fluffy puppy, or a cool book, that’s belongings.

See how all of a sudden you can imagine having one or two prepared responses that can still perfectly apply to even the most novel of situations?

Now, this may only get you as far as your first or second line within a conversation, after which you may need to start coming up with stuff in the moment.

But the same logic of “step back/pick one thing” applies here too, and will help you keep from getting overwhelmed or panicking about what to say.

Here’s an example of small talk:

You: “I think I literally saw a cat and a dog raining down from the sky today.”

Them: “Ha! I know, right? I thought it was supposed to be spring.”

You: “It must be really tough to be a weatherman. You’re either stating the obvious or you’re a liar.”

Them: “My cousin is a weatherman.”

Curveball! You haven’t prepared anything about weatherman cousins! But this is interesting and novel enough to justify a conversational tangent all its own (and could fall under the category of jobs, if you wanted to add it to your earlier list). Try a simple question.

You: “Oh, interesting. How’d he or she get into that?”

Before you know it, you’re having a unique conversation, not banal “small talk”.

You’re also learning things about your conversational partner (and they about you), which will help you build from one-off conversations with strangers to consistent friendships and relationships with people.

Challenge yourself to identify these “one things” (weather, books, back handsprings) as you’re out interacting with people.

Use the comfort of a prepared line to open with if you like, but with the goal of finding something interesting that’s happening in that moment to comment on. Your conversations will instantly be more thoughtful, and the people you’re talking to will feel it, too.

Step 3: How Can I Be Good at Talking? (Be Quirky)

My cousin Kim met my fiancé for the first time a few months ago.

As soon as we all sat down, she said to him, “Tell me every single thing about yourself, starting from birth, and ending with right now.”

I thought it was just about the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.

If my friend Jess is at someone’s house for the first time, she’ll say, “If I were the bathroom, where would I be?”

She gets the answer– and a chuckle.

My friend David struck up a conversation with a cute girl in Jiffy Lube by asking her if she thought the guy in the waiting room looked like a beagle.

He called me to thank me for introducing him to his girlfriend.

These examples all have in common the theme of turning awkwardness into awesomeness. They’re about being confident, not being smooth.

Sometimes dialing up the awkward dial can be just what everyone needs to loosen up a little, like when my friend Mike starts his presentations at work by saying, “If I seem incredibly nervous, it’s because I am indeed incredibly nervous.” It’s a bold strategy, to be sure, but it can be incredibly refreshing.

There’s something undeniably fun about someone who says, “I’m hugely overcaffeinated right now, so I may pass out at some point. How was your weekend?”

In short, don’t feel pressure to rigidly adhere to some abstract notion of what small talk should be, losing all of your own delightful personality in the process. You’re a member of the Rebellion, after all!

You challenge conventional wisdom and embrace the weird every day– let small talk be no exception.

Step 4: How Can I Be Fun to Talk To? (In Defense of Being Imprecise)

Remembering the little things? Sweet. Remembering every little thing? Creepy.

I happen to be in possession of a frighteningly good memory; I remember specific conversations (as well as where they took place, and what we were wearing) with people who couldn’t pick me out of a lineup.

I’m absolutely the person who goes up to people and says, “You’re a chiropractor? We sat next to each other on a plane from L.A. to San Francisco about a year ago, right?” Yes, right… but it didn’t matter. The dude was thoroughly creeped out, and I couldn’t blame him!

I’ve had to learn to hold back a little (okay, a lot) and not spew forth with every single thing I remember about my last conversation with someone the next time I see them.

Instead of: “how was that conference you went to in Phoenix?” go with, “You were going out of town when I saw you last, right?

Instead of: “Is your upper left molar feeling any better?” go with, “Hey, how’s it going?”

Like a good hairdo or pocket square, it sometimes takes a bit of effort in conversation to make it seem effortless, but it’s far preferable to freaking people out.

Take your time.

With each conversation, you’re watering a healthy plant, not dousing a fire. 

In fact, leaving a bit unsaid is probably the best way to ensure future conversations, and give you something to talk about next time!

Besides, when you’re imprecise, you allow the other person to narrow in on a topic that they are comfortable with, rather than forcing them to talk about their upper left molar!

How Do You Interact with Others? (Start Talkin’)

With these four keys in mind, you’re ready to start small talkin’.

Challenge yourself to approach one person a day and strike up a conversation, even if it’s brief.

Like everything else we do in life, good social skills can be learned, developed, honed, and improved. 

Though, it’s really tough to practice unless you commit to TRYING it out.

And who cares if the conversation goes poorly?

Failure is awesome.

Odds are you will NEVER see that person again in your life, and your life is no different now than it was 5 minutes before the conversation.

Of course, the opposite could be true: you could meet somebody awesome.

And there’s only one way to find out which outcome you’re gonna get.

If you’re feeling really rusty, give it a shot with a friend or family member and ask for a little feedback afterward.

If you’re feeling bold, approach someone you wouldn’t normally talk to. If you draw a blank, ask a question.

Breathe, smile, listen.

Most of all, remember why you’re doing this, and remind yourself that you’re not imposing on someone by having a pleasant conversation with them—you’re making their day a bit brighter, and you should never be made to feel bad about that.

As always, I’m very interested to hear what you think, and how these lessons feel when you take them out for a spin.

We all crave regular social interaction; you might be surprised by how easy being good at small talk really is!

What are your major hangups with small talk?

Where do you plan to give these tricks a try?

-Lindsay Miller (good friend of Steve, and the Relationship & Social Skills expert of Nerd Fitness!)

PS: Like developing your social skills, getting healthy can be really intimidating, which is why we’ve built services and products to help you overcome the chaos and feel confident in the actions you’re taking every day:

#1) 1-on-1 Online Coaching: A coach from Team NF gets to know you better than you know yourself and builds a workout program and nutritional strategy that fits your busy life, your body type, and your goals.

#2) If you want an exact blueprint for learning new skills, check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

You can even join our private community of nerds, many of whom are also trying to improve their social skills!

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Just want to learn more about what we do? That’s great too! Grab your free Nerd Fitness Starter Kit by clicking in the box below and I’ll send it right over!

###

Check out Lindsay on Twitter @RellimYasdnil or send questions/comments at LoveAndDatingAdvice@gmail.com.

photo source:  lego small talk, happy, thoughtful, mw3016chi © 123RF.com, catchyimages © 123RF.com, storm trooper

The post The 4 Step Plan to Talk to Anybody (About Anything) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/3IlXczA
via IFTTT

So you’ve hit a workout or weight loss plateau the size of a…well, an actual plateau, eh?

Have no fear, our step-by-step guide will get you back on track! (Plus, the most badass Bruce Lee quote you’ll ever read).

Whether you’ve stalled in your weight loss journey, strength training, or some other fitness benchmark, today we’ll tell you exactly how to keep progressing by sharing with you the exact tools we use with our coaching clients.

A Nerd Fitness Coach can design you a program to keep progressing! Learn more here.

Don’t lose morale. Together we got this!

We’ll cover:

• What is a plateau?
• How do I know If I’ve hit a plateau? (3 ways to tell)
• Why am I plateauing? (4 reasons why)
• Is a plateau normal? (The Dip)
• What should I do when I hit a plateau? (Setting Personal Records)
• 5 tips and tricks for overcoming a plateau

Alright, let’s do this thing.

What is a Plateau?

A plateau occurs when you stall out on progress despite continuing to do “all of the right things,” usually including:

• Eating right
• Exercising properly
• Getting adequate rest.

And so on.

Our bodies go from losing weight consistently to getting stuck at a certain number.

Or we go from building muscle and getting stronger, to having a week or two where we can’t seem to lift anything heavier.

We call this point in our training “The Plateau,” and we don’t like being stuck on them.

As we learned in a previous article on happiness, humans (nerds especially) are happier when we make progress.

When we work hard for something and don’t see progress, we get unhappy.

How Do I Know If I’ve Hit a Plateau?

I get a lot of emails from people who tell me they’re stuck on a plateau.

They talk about how they’ve been eating right, exercising, and getting enough rest and they can’t seem to make progress!

They throw their hands in the air, freak out, get discouraged, and give up or quickly move on to the next plan that they hope will work.

When somebody comes to me saying they’ve plateaued, my first response is always:

“Have you REALLLLLLLLY plateaued? REALLY?”

In a strong majority of the cases, plateaus are really just issues with concentration, tracking, and discipline in disguise. Before you think you have plateaued, consider the following:

1) HOW IS YOUR NUTRITION…REALLY? Oftentimes we think we are being diligent, until we realize that after a few weeks of eating great we’ve started slacking. “Oh I’ve been good, just this one time…” and “Hmmm, sure why not” become more commonplace as we start to fall back into old habits. Track your calories for the next week and check your numbers.

And even if you are eating the right amounts of food, there’s this: as you lose weight, your metabolism slows down. This isn’t sabotaging black magic, it’s science.

There’s simply LESS of you that your body needs to maintain.

Here is the estimated daily resting calorie burn (“sit on your ass all day”) of a 35-year old male nerd at 3 very different weights:

• 300 lbs: 2,600 calories.
• 250 lbs: 2,300 calories.
• 200 lbs: 2,000 calories.

You might have hit a plateau simply because you’ve reached an equilibrium of calories consumed to calories burned! This means you need to adjust your calorie intake to continue losing weight.

If you are trying to bulk up, are you eating ENOUGH calories to promote muscle growth? Rededicate yourself for two weeks, track your meals, and see if progress picks back up!

2) HOW ARE YOUR WORKOUTS…REALLY? If you are weeks or months into a workout plan, I bet the initial luster of “NEW! PROGRESS! WINNING!” has worn off.

Have you been skipping that last rep, cutting out an exercise here or there, or getting bored and wanting to go home?

I know when I hit a plateau at the gym, it’s generally because I haven’t been pushing myself as hard as I had been previously. Track your workouts diligently for two weeks and see if these changes kick you back on track.

If you need a tool to track your workouts, check out Nerd Fitness Journey. It’s designed so when you wake up in the morning, you know the exact next step to help you reach your goals.

You can try it for free right here:

3) HOW iS YOUR SLEEP?…REALLY? This is one that most people skip out on. They are exercising, eating right, but for whatever reason, they’ve been slacking on their sleep.

It’s might be too much television…

We all know sleep is important – lack of sleep leads to increased levels of stress, less time for our bodies to rebuild muscle, to recover from strenuous activity, and more.

I know that if I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, then my performance in the gym the next day will suffer.

Can you honestly say you’ve spent two weeks with quality sleep, nutrition, and exercise?

In many cases, we think we’re stuck, and in need of some sort of drastic change or adjustment to kickstart progress again. Now, there are definitely instances where we ARE stuck or stalled, and that’s when things need to change.

However, before we cover the dreaded plateau, let’s get a few things clear.

Why Am I Plateauing?

To start, linear progress cannot continue indefinitely: 

1. If you are learning to squat and you start with just the bar, adding 5 lbs a week (which is how you should learn to squat!), you will eventually reach a point where your body cannot build the strength/muscle fast enough to continually add 5 lbs a week. If it DID work that way, in three years everybody would be squatting 1,000 pounds.
2. You will run into the same issues with weight loss. For example, it’s easier for you to lose 3 pounds a week when you are at 300 lbs than it is to lose 3 pounds a week when you are 150 pounds….there’s more of you to “lose” when you’re bigger and thus progress will be easier. If you could lose 2-3 pounds a week every week forever, at some point you’d disappear, and we don’t want that. Weight loss might slow to 1 pound every other week.
3. Your margin for error gets smaller. When you are at a higher body fat percentage, or just getting starting with training, you can make a lot of progress quickly due to there being MORE of you to lose, or MORE gains to make quickly. As you start to make progress, you can’t keep making big progress without making more and more effort.
4. Adaptive thermogensis. Our bodies WANT to maintain the extra body fat we have (“I don’t know when I’ll need this, better save”), and are actively working in unison to preserve it – so even after a few pounds, it’s going to be a persistent challenge to keep progressing. It’s a subject a dive in deep in the article “Why can’t I lose weight?” If you’ve stalled on your weight loss journey, this might be the problem, as your body is adapting to the body fat being lost.

Your progress at a consistent pace will definitely slow down, which can FEEL like a plateau. 

If you’ve been training for more than a few months, you might need to slightly adjust your expectations. Maybe this week you can only add 2.5 lbs to the bar. Or 1lb. Maybe your muscle-building will crawl to 1 lb gained a month.

It happens to all of us. Even Batman.

Now, if your progress stalls out COMPLETELY or you actually regress, AND you are doing all of the right things, then congrats!

You MAY have plateaued.

Like in games like World of Warcraft, at some point you will stop gaining experience from killing rats – you could spend all day doing so but because you’ve hit a certain level they no longer provide you with value.

It’s time to move on to attacking spiders, then orcs, then dragons.

It’s something Coach Jim brings up in this video on progressive overload:

When you started out, just doing 5 push-ups might have felt like a full workout. Now you can do 50 push-ups for a warm-up and not break a sweat.

Our bodies are constantly adapting and learning to manage the stresses we put on it, seeking the path of least resistance.

Back to our gaming analogy:

If it’s something worth doing, there will most likely be grinding involved, and that’s why I need to talk to you about The Dip.

No not a strength training type of ‘dip’, though those are good to help bust through a plateau too!

You can learn more about how we help build plateau-less workouts at Nerd Fitness by downloading our free Strength Training 101 eBook when you sign up in the box below:

Is a Plateau Normal? (The Dip)

I want to introduce you to Seth Godin, author of The Dip.

We all hit plateaus in our lives and quests for health and happiness. In order to be successful at the task at hand, we need to grind our way through that low point (or flat point) until we can climb out and continue progress.

Here’s a visualization of the dip:

When you first start something new, you can make quick progress, and everything rocks because you see big changes.

However, after a few months, the reward you get from your effort decreases and it seems like you’re rapidly slowing down:

1. In the first few weeks of weight loss, everything is GREAT! The scale is moving, your clothes are getting looser, progress is exciting because it’s coming so quickly. Then, you might have a few weeks where you’re really trying hard and yet…the scale stalls or increases.
2. When building a new running habit, each new run is exhilarating – you rapidly progress from wheezing and coughing after two blocks to now being able to run a whole mile! A few months later, that progress slows, and you find yourself struggling with the same distances and speeds even though you’re doing all of the right things.
3. When lifting weights, the first few months can be life-changing. Squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, push-ups. Every session in the gym is an opportunity to see massive progress compared to the time before, except for that week or two when you walk in and you have to lift less than before! What gives!?

When we hit that dip/plateau where our hard work seems like it goes unrewarded, it’s easy to give up and say, “I’m a failure.”

Not true.

We will all experience a dip when it comes to progress on things that are important to us.

If we want to TRULY be successful, we need to anticipate the dip’s arrival and plan for it so that it doesn’t completely derail us.

Much like grinding out experience points in an RPG, sometimes we need to grind out practice in life, workouts, nutrition, and more…until we can hit that sweet spot for progress again.

So, how do we stay dedicated, focused, and motivated through the dip?

How do we progress during the plateau when we feel like our hard work is a waste of time?

We focus on small wins, and find a way to get a teeny tiny bit better.

What Should I Do When I Hit a Plateau? (Setting Personal Records)

In order for us to crawl out of a dip or off a plateau, we need to find a way to make a small win every day.

Think of these small wins like “a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

The longer we’ve been training, the older we get, and/or the more advanced we get in our training, the more likely we’ll be to hit plateaus and the more necessary it will be to grind out small victories, prepare for dips, and power through them.

Here’s how you can grind out your own small wins and prove to yourself that you are still progressing when you are in the dip:

1) TRACK EVERY SET, REP, AND WORKOUT. Find a way to be better today in SOME WAY than you were yesterday, and prove to yourself that you are still making progress – even if it’s progress in a different way than you were progressing before.

If you are stuck at 3 sets of 5 reps of 150 pounds on the bench press and haven’t been able to go up to 155 lbs for a few weeks, try 3 sets of 6 reps of 150 pounds.

Or 4 sets of 5 reps of 150 pounds.

Then come back to 3 sets of 5 reps of 155 a few weeks from now, and see if you can do that.

If you wait 60 seconds between sets, try waiting 90 seconds instead and lift a different amount

As long as SOMETHING has progressed in some way – your total amount of weight lifted, decreased time between sets, one extra rep, or one more pound lifted – it proves to yourself that you made progress. Remember, progress makes us happy.

RECORD EVERYTHING.

2) COLLECT TINY WINS. Optimus Prime doesn’t transform with one single movement; it’s a combination of hundreds of thousands of tiny movements that happen rapidly.

We are transformers (Joe especially), and our small changes add up too.

It’s these tiny, small victories that can push us over the edge. Enough small victories and we can reach that tipping point, that end of the dip where progress continues again.

Find a way to set a tiny win in SOME WAY each day that shows you that you are getting better/faster/stronger.

Here’s an example: I have been working on handstand balancing. For the past few months, my progress has stagnated and even gone in reverse on some days (helloooo Dip!).

I continued to work on building the habit of handstands for five minutes a day (Hard Hat challenge for the win!). Progress felt nonexistent, but I knew that my continued dedicated practice was adding up in ways that didn’t make themselves readily apparent.

I had “stalled,” so I focused on getting tiny wins: increasing flexibility in my wrists, staying against the wall as long as I could, practicing my kick-ups, tightening my core, etc.

Despite not being able to balance for longer than 10 seconds at any point in the past, I kicked up into a handstand, without even touching the wall (something else that had never happened before), and I held my handstand for 24 seconds!

I still have a ways to go before I’m holding perfectly vertical handstands for 60+ seconds, but months spent grinding out practice in the dip have paid off.

I made it through the plateau, and my progress has continued rapidly after struggling for months. Those months of struggle were teeny tiny wins in different ways that added up until I hit that tipping point where progress exploded.

3) TRACK OTHER METRICS OTHER THAN THE SCALE. The scale can lie. The scale will DEFINITELY slow down even if you are making progress in healthier ways, simply due to the fact that you have less weight to lose than you did before! You might also be dealing with extra water weight, or bloat, or menstruation, or anything in between.

So, track other things! Here’s what you can track to help keep you motivated while plateauing:

1. Take biweekly photos. Who cares if the scale isn’t moving. Are you looking better? Are you FEELING better? Do your clothes fit better? That is progress.
2. Take measurements. Spend 5 bucks on a cloth tape measure (or one of these), and measure the important parts of your body. Maybe the scale isn’t moving, but you took half an inch off of your waist. Or maybe you added a quarter of an inch to your arms.
3. Track your body fat percentage. A simple caliper is enough to show trends. Remember Saint? His weight went UP but his body fat percentage dropped. Had he only been tracking the scale, he might have panicked during his ‘dip.’ Fortunately, he was tracking more metrics and used that momentum to catapult himself to victory.

The goal is to consistently prove to ourselves that we are moving one step closer to our goal. 

This is exactly the system we used when we built Nerd Fitness Journey.

When you’re working through the app, not only are you doing fun missions, but you’ll see how tasks build up to your larger goal. There’s no getting stuck or frustrated, just log in and work on the next adventure.

If you want, you can sign-up for a free trial right here:

5 Tips and Tricks for Overcoming a Plateau

The above is just the beginning. This will also help you make progress and get out of that dip:

1) Shock your workout. Our bodies crave efficiency, and love to be as lazy as possible, but we truly thrive on chaos. So introduce some chaos into your system!

Note: This is NOT the same as “muscle confusion” (which is a made-up marketing term to sell DVDs). We’re still progressing, lifting more, and doing the same exercises – we’re just throwing in some variation occasionally to help stimulate progress. 

If you do the exact same thing over and over and over, your body becomes more efficient at that activity.

In fact, your body can learn and adapt after doing the same thing enough times so that it burns fewer calories to carry out the process. So mix it up!

• If you are trying to run a faster 5K? Mix in a day of sprints rather than just basic runs.
• Trying to increase your deadlift? Rather than just doing a 1-rep max, do a day of higher volume, or train the deadlift twice a week.
• Want to squat better? Squat with higher frequency. NF Senior Coach Staci followed an advanced Smolov Squat program for 13 weeks (Warning: not for beginners). Your body can adapt and overcompensate by getting stronger.
• Want to improve your upper body strength/size? Try doing a PLP program along with your regular workouts. Starting with 10 total reps of Pull-ups, Lunges, and Push-ups, and every day add a rep, for 50 days.

2) Adjust your diet. Your body can also become quite efficient with calories (not to mention the oft-mentioned but controversial “starvation mode” theory), and can sometimes struggle to progress.

As we lay out in “Why can’t I lose weight?,” if you’ve lost a decent amount of weight, your body now burns significantly fewer calories each day (there’s less of you to manage!) This means you need to adjust your calorie intake!

So, I would start by tracking your intake and determining how many calories you should be eating.

ONLY after that doesn’t work would I recommend the following:

Consider throwing in one day a week of OVER eating, along with days where you are intermittent fasting. Keep your body guessing and see if that shocks your system back into weight loss mode.

Consider adjusting your macronutrient breakdown. Keep your protein intake high, and adjust your carbs and fats. Some people feel better or worse with high fat or low fat, high carb or low carb.

And remember, thermodynamics still rule all: weight loss requires caloric deficits.

3) REST! I’ve heard it said “there’s no such thing as “overtraining, just under-recovering.” Are you getting enough sleep?

Maybe you’re a new parent and trying to maintain your old workout routine on 2 hours of sleep a night.

Or work has you stressed like crazy and it’s causing you to eat like crap.

Rest is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle that it needs to be prioritized too. In the book Essentialism, this is referred to as “Protecting the Asset.”

You are the asset.

If you are trying to do too much, or you’re caught in a plateau, consider a week off, refocusing on sleep and recovery, and come back refreshed.

4) Adjust your goals. Maybe your body needs a new dragon to slay.

Again, nature loves chaos. If you are focused solely on weight loss, you might feel like you have stalled out. So shift your focus. Work on handstands. Or running faster.

Or doing your first pull-up.

Pick a new skill!

Try something different. Give your body a chance to recover and then come back to it.

If you’re solely focused on the scale and it stalls out, it can be depressing. So put the scale away for a month, and instead focus on the process of getting stronger and eating better. Stop stressing and remember to enjoy the game you’re playing.

5) Accept that we have bad weeks. We are complex pieces of machinery.

Sometimes shit happens.

We just have bad weeks and can’t lift enough or we GAIN weight when we expected to lose weight. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t make you a failure, it makes you human.

So on days when you feel great, PUSH yourself harder. On days when you feel like crap, scale back the heavy lifting and focus on more reps or better technique.

The greatest predictor of success in our lives is grit (which can be developed). Grit is what you need to slog through these slow weeks. These dips are where we find out who’s truly dedicated. I know you are, and you know you are.

Remember, look for any sign of progress in any way to reveal that “light” at the end of the tunnel.

If you are stuck on a plateau when it comes to strength training, consider working with one of our Yodas in the 1-on-1 Online Training Program at Nerd Fitness! No guilt, no shame. Just somebody to keep you accountable, expert guidance from somebody that knows you, and peace of mind knowing you’re doing the right thing!

How did you break through your plateau?

Here’s that dope Bruce Less quote I mentioned earlier:

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there. You must go beyond them.”

-Bruce Lee

Hopefully, I’ve covered everything you need to know about plateaus. What’s that? You were expecting some lame joke about plateaus somewhere?

You know me too well. Okay, how bout this one:

Did you know that a plateau is the highest form of flattery?

Get it?

Thank you, I’ll be here all week.

I want to hear your story:

• Have you successfully busted through a plateau? Leave a comment with how you got out of it.
• Are you currently stuck? If so, what’s ONE SPECIFIC piece of advice you’re taking from today’s article to apply to what you’re going to do this afternoon?

Let’s hear it! I’m excited to hear how I can help.

-Steve

PS: We know starting with this stuff can be intimidating. If you’re looking  to take it to the next level:

• 1-on-1 Online Coaching: A coach from Team NF gets to know you better than you know yourself and builds a workout program and nutritional strategy that fits your busy life, your body type, and your goals.
• Nerd Fitness Journey: a fun app that will show you the path for overcoming any plateau. Sign up for a free trial below:

###

Photo Sources: olegmit1 © 123RF.com, Nattapol Sritongcom © 123RF.com, seeveeaar: success, Stefan Baudy: question, clement127: Eurobasket 2015, Four Bricks Tall: Mountain Biker, JD Hancock: Heroes, Anton Ivanov © 123RF.com

The post 7 Reasons For a Workout or Weight Loss Plateau (& 5 Quick Fixes) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/6OcYTS5
via IFTTT

So you want to learn about functional fitness?

Great!

We create strength, balance, and flexibility workouts as part of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, so you’ve come to the right place to learn about functional fitness.

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach build a custom workout for your exact situation! Learn more here.

Plus, we add sweet LEGO photos for good measure. 

Here’s what we’ll cover to answer the question: “What is Functional Fitness?”

• What is functional fitness and why is it important?
• What are the best functional fitness exercises?
• What is a functional fitness training workout?
• Is CrossFit functional fitness?
• How to build functional fitness (Next steps)

Let’s do this thing!

What Is Functional Fitness and Why Is It Important?

Functional fitness means training your body for everyday activities, and to make daily motion easier and safer.

When we practice functional fitness, it’s for activities like:

• Carrying groceries 
• Picking up small children
• Walking in nature
• Being mobile on the floor 
• Fighting off sharks

Functional fitness seeks to build strength, flexibility, and balance for navigating the physical world and the objects in it.

We do this by replicating and practicing movements necessary in the real world: squatting, pulling, pushing, bending, climbing, walking, and running.

Personally, I like to think of it as becoming “antifragile,” or being able to physically handle the chaos of life. 

So for functional fitness, we prioritize natural movements (squats, pull-ups) over exercises that are done on a machine (leg presses, lat pulldown).

Here’s the rationale: in your everyday life, you probably won’t find yourself in a situation where you have to push weights along a guided track…while seated:

But you’ll probably find yourself in a situation where you have to lift an object from the floor, then raise it above your head, like loading your luggage into the overhead bin on a plane.

So it makes sense to practice:

And this too:

Here, the kettlebell is substituting for an object you may have to pick up and lift during your everyday life: a book, a pet rabbit, a cursed golden idol, etc.

It’s why we encourage free weights instead of machines, because free weights force you to balance and control objects just like you have to in day-to-day life. 

Another thing to consider for functional fitness: “compound exercises.” 

Compound exercises require more than one muscle group working together for the exercise (squats, pull-ups), so they replicate the way your body actually moves. This would be different from isolation exercises like biceps curls, which more or less train JUST your biceps muscles to move one particular way.

Since functional fitness seeks to improve your body’s ability to work as one unit, compound exercises are encouraged!

As they say, variety is the spice of life.

Let’s give you one last example of functional fitness.

Compare running on an elliptical vs going on a short hike:

• Both will get your heart rate up.
• But a hike will challenge your stability and balance as you move over uneven terrain. The elliptical, on the other hand, provides a repetitive motion over and over.

There is a time and a place for both, but it’s important to introduce variety and instability if your goal is to develop all-around functional fitness.

What’s that? You want exact exercises to try? 

You got it!

The 10 Best Functional Fitness Exercises

A functional fitness workout prioritizes natural movements that help us conquer the obstacles and tasks faced in our everyday life.

Here Are the Best Functional Fitness Exercises:

#1) Squats

Squats are one of the most fundamental functional movements in our lives.

Getting off the ground, moving in and out of chairs, and shoveling snow will all be easier after a regular squatting practice. 

Simple bodyweight squats are a great way to get started, but if this is too tough at first, start with assisted bodyweight squats:

Once you get comfortable with a regular bodyweight squat, you can start incorporating weights, like with a goblet squat:

If you build up to a 30-pound dumbbell, this move can replicate picking up a small child off the ground. Practical and functional if you’re a new parent. 

2) Deadlifts

Speaking of picking up stuff off the ground, let’s talk about the deadlift as a part of functional fitness.

Moving furniture, grabbing bags of dog food, and taking a sleeping child to bed are all forms of the deadlift. When you start to incorporate the deadlift into your life, you make all these movements easier (and safer). 

If you’ve never deadlifted before, it can be a little intimidating. A good place to start might be the Romanian Deadlift with very light dumbbells:

If you’re looking for other deadlift variations, or you want to make sure you have proper form, read our full guide with step-by-step instructions on how to deadlift safely.

#3) Overhead Press

The overhead press is another exercise that will provide benefits in daily life:

• Placing a cast iron skillet into a top kitchen cabinet
• Hoisting luggage into the top bin when flying
• Showing off the piece of the Triforce you just scored

Performing the overhead press will not only increase your upper-body strength, but it will also strengthen your core, since you balance and stabilize yourself while standing and lifting. Compare this to the bench press, where the bench itself offers support during the movement.

Again, some lightweight dumbbells are a great starting point if you’re just getting started:

Make sure you read our full guide on how to perform the overhead press for more variations and tips for progression.

#4) Farmer’s Walk

The farmer’s walk is really simple: pick up a couple of weights and walk.

To up the difficulty, pick up more weight. Or walk further. 

Very basic, yet very functional, because most of us carry objects from one place to another all the time. 

When performing the farmer’s walk:

• Pick the weight up with a good form
• Keep a tight posture with your shoulders back
• Take small, manageable steps

That’s it.

The farmer’s walk will challenge your arms, back, shoulders, core, and grip.

Being able to lift and carry heavy objects is about as functional as you can get.

#5) Bear Crawl

When we’re young, it’s a given that we’ll be mobile on the floor.

As adults, eh, not so much. The only interaction with the floor comes from us standing on it. We won’t even sit on it without a chair helping us. 

Not very functional. 

Enter the bear crawl…

To perform the bear crawl:

• Begin in a tabletop position.
• Bring your knees up, so they hover.
• Using opposing arms and legs (ex: right arm, left leg), take a small step forward with each limb. You want to use small steps so your torso is stable, instead of rocking side to side.
• Repeat on the opposite side. 

It’ll look like this:

#6) Walking Lunge

The walking lunge is going to provide lower body strength, as well as balance, for when you come in and out of the movement.

To perform a walking lunge:

• Stand with a shoulder-width stance.
• Step out with your right leg.
• Lower your hips until your back leg’s knee almost touches the ground.
• If you stepped out far enough, your front knee won’t extend past your toes.
• Explode forward and up by pushing off with your back leg and up with your front leg.
• Bring both feet together, and then step forward with your other foot and repeat.

#7) Pull-Ups

When discussing the best functional fitness exercises, we can’t neglect your “pull” muscles.

Being able to lift yourself up is very functional, and may save your life if you’re being chased by velociraptors.

If you can’t quite get your first pull-up yet, an inverted bodyweight row will help you build strength until you can.

#8) Kettlebell Swing

The kettlebell swing is an explosive full-body movement that focuses on building strength with your hip hinge.

How to perform the kettlebell swing:

• Get down into a bent-over, flat-back position and grab the kettlebell with both hands from the handle.
• Swing the kettlebell behind you, then get ready to jump up.
• Jump up (without leaving the ground) and swing the kettlebell up. You should be standing tall at the peak of the movement.
• Reverse the movement and bring the kettlebell back down and behind you.
• Repeat.

If you want more tips for training with a kettlebell (a great tool for functional fitness), then check out “The 20 Minute Beginner Kettlebell Workout.”

#9) Push-Ups

Push-ups, the ole fitness staple. But being able to hold yourself firm in a straight line (don’t sink), while pushing yourself up will create a lot of core strength. And a great functional exercise. 

Plus, you can add some variation to level them up, creating a more dynamic exercise. 

For example, you can do dive bomber push-ups:

#10) Step Up

It doesn’t get much more functional than going up steps. Life doesn’t always provide us with elevators.

If this seems too easy, start mixing weights into the practice:

BONUS: #11) Handstands

On the one hand, handstands are really tough. On the other hand, the amount of strength and balance required to perform handstands are central to functional fitness.

And…ah…you need both hands to do it…unless you’re Luke Skywalker:

We have a full guide that will walk you through getting your first handstand, from simple wrist stretches:

All the way to handstand push-ups:

Are you doing these moves correctly? A good way to check would be to record a video of yourself and match it against the gifs and videos here. If they look close, you’re doing great!

The other option would be to have a trained professional review your form, which we can do in our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program!

Our spiffy mobile app lets you send a video of your training directly to your coach, who will provide feedback so you can perfect your technique.

They’ll also build a workout program that’s custom to your situation, which can improve your functional strength!

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach build you a functional fitness workout and check your form! Click here to learn more!

What Is a Functional Fitness Training Workout?

Now that we’ve gone over specific functional fitness exercises, let’s pull them together!

Let’s pull a video to do so!

How to Build Your Own Workout :

As Coach Staci mentions in the vid, for a beginner just getting started, we’d recommend doing a full-body routine, two to three times a week.

A full-body workout will need to include:

• Quads (front of your legs).
• Butt and hamstrings (back of your legs).
• Chest, shoulders, and triceps: (“push” muscles).
• Back, biceps, and grip ( “pull” muscles).
• Core (abdominals and lower back).

Since we prioritized compound exercises in today’s post (because they are more aligned with functional fitness), our muscle groups will overlap when we build our routine.

That’s a good thing.

Using the exercises covered earlier, our Functional Fitness Workout could be:

• Quads: Bodyweight Squats
• Butt and hamstring: Deadlifts
• Chest, shoulders, triceps: Push-ups
• Back, biceps, and grip: Pull-ups
• Core: Bear Crawl

That’s it! If you start doing this once a week you’ll be well on your way to building functional fitness.

If you want to do this twice a week, maybe switch out some exercises:

• Instead of push-ups, try the overhead press
• Instead of squats, try lunges
• Instead of pull-ups, try bodyweight rows

One important point: no matter what routine you pick, always warm up first!

It can be simple arm circles:

Or some jumping jacks:

Warming up is important because we want your muscles engaged and loose before we jump right into our training. So warm up for about 5 minutes before jumping into your workout.

As long as you include your warm-up, you can now start your training.

If you want more help building a functional fitness practice, I have a couple of resources for you:

1. How to Build Your Own Workout Routine: our guide will walk you through building your own training practice. We’ll teach you what exercises you should do, how many sets and reps you should perform, and how often you should work out. It’ll help you start performing functional fitness exercises today.
2. Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program: if you want a more customized approach for your exact situation (kids, an old injury, you turn into a werewolf once a month), then check out NF Coaching. We’ll build you an exact plan of attack on how to become a functional fitness master.

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach guide your functional fitness training! Learn more here.

Is CrossFit Functional Fitness?

CrossFit claims to support “functional movements” by using “safe, effective and efficient movements similar to those you use every day in life.”

So yeah, that does sound like what we’ve been talking about this whole time.

The difference with CrossFit is the intensity. It’s something we highlight in our Beginner’s Guide to CrossFit.

CrossFit does promote functional fitness. It’s why you’ll see people carrying sandbags, flipping tires, and wielding sledgehammers at CrossFit gyms:

But the intensity is another noteworthy aspect of CrossFit. Workouts are done in a group setting, with people cheering you on.

While this can be great for motivation, it can be less great when trying to move at your own pace and train with proper form.

Now, this is a generalization, and all CrossFit gyms will have their own characteristics and culture.

If you’re curious, it doesn’t hurt to walk through the door of your local CrossFit gym – just make sure you read our Crossfit Beginner Guide first. I’m sure they’d love to see you and show you around.

How to Build Functional Fitness (Next Steps)

We’ve covered a lot of different ways to increase and build functional fitness.

But our article barely scratched the surface:

• Gymnastic rings would be a great way to promote functional fitness.
• Working your way towards your first handstand is fun strength practice.
• A yoga routine could also be considered “functional.”
• A hike would be a great way to prepare for traveling through natural landscapes.

Also, let’s not get close-minded here. Being strong will help you navigate the world in front of you, so in that sense, any form of strength training could be considered “functional fitness.”

So would parkour, which has you traveling through urban landscapes:

Just find something you like and get started!

The more you do, and the more variation you include (barbell training, yoga, and hiking), the more functional fit you’ll be.

This is how you become “antifragile.”

Now, all that’s left to do is start:

Want a little help getting going? The perfect next step on how to begin your functional fitness journey?

No problemo!

Here are 3 options to continue with Nerd Fitness:

Option #1) If you want step-by-step guidance on how to get strong, lose weight, and level up your life, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

Option #2) If you want a daily prompt for functional fitness workouts, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

Option #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion.

Sign-up below and receive our free guide Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. It includes step-by-step instructions for the Best Functional Fitness Exercises covered in today’s guide. 

Alright, enough from me. Your turn:

Do you practice functional fitness?

Do you have any specific exercises you cover?

Any tips or tricks for someone just getting started?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: Strength training would be a great way to promote functional fitness. If you’re not sure where to start with your strength training journey, start here.

###

GIF Source: Bear Crawl, Batman vs Shark, Triforce, Indiana Jones, CrossFit, Chest Press, Parkour

Photo Source: “I’m Batman,” Wandering, Strongman, Scenes from an empty lot in Brooklyn, vol 1., Antonio Guillem © 123RF.com

The post The Ultimate Guide for Functional Fitness: Exercises and Workout Plans first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/D8KCm4a
via IFTTT

You’re here to learn about supplementing with creatine.

Perhaps you’re wondering: what exactly does creatine do? Should I take creatine to get strong?

We weigh the pros and cons of different supplements as part of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program, so you’ve come to the right place to get the lowdown on taking creatine.

Should you take creatine? If so, when and how much? Let our coaches help you decide!

Here’s what we’ll cover in today’s guide:

• What is creatine?
• What does creatine do? (An introduction to ATP)
• What are the benefits of creatine?
• Is taking creatine safe? (Is creatine bad for your kidneys?)
• How to train on creatine
• Common mistakes when taking creatine
• What is the best creatine to take? (Brand recommendations)
• How much creatine should I take?
• When should I take creatine?
• Should I supplement with creatine? (Next steps)

It’s a lot to cover, so let’s jump right in!

What Is Creatine?

Creatine is a naturally occurring substance found in muscle tissue.

Right now you have creatine, specifically creatine phosphate, in your body. All vertebrate animals do.  

Yes, even corgis.

Think of creatine as an energy reserve your body taps into when it needs a boost. Or like an extra energy tank in Metroid or Mega Man.

Our bodies naturally produce creatine in our liver, pancreas, and kidneys.

We also obtain it from certain foods, because all vertebrate animals contain creatine in their muscles.

So if you eat meat, you are getting extra creatine in your diet. Red meat in particular (beef, lamb, bison), has the highest levels of dietary creatine.

(Don’t eat meat? Cool. Read our plant-based guide.)

Outside of diet, people often supplement with creatine. It’s one of the more popular supplements taken, and in fact, is THE most popular supplement taken amongst college athletes.^[3]

The reason people supplement with creatine:

The more creatine you consume – whether through nutrition or supplementation – the more will be found in your muscles.

Why should you care? What does creatine do, exactly?

What Does Creatine Do? (An Introduction to ATP)

Science time! To discuss supplementing creatine with any justice, we need to talk about ATP.

All cells rely on adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for energy. It’s our body’s energy currency.

Sort of like “Mana” in World of Warcraft or Magic: The Gathering, ATP is a fuel tank for doing awesome things like running, doing pull-ups, or summoning lighting.

But much like “Mana,” ATP can be replenished only so quickly by your body. With intense enough exercise, you’ll use more ATP than your body can produce. Which means you’ll run out.

It’s why people can only sprint at 100% maximum effort for a short amount of time. You just plain run out of juice, or ATP.

Depending on how you are exercising, your body will replenish its ATP through one of three ways:

• Less than 10 seconds, for exercises like short sprints or heavy lifting, ATP is replenished with creatine phosphate stored in muscle tissue.
• 30 seconds to 2 minutes, for activities like swimming a few laps, ATP is replenished with glycogen found in your muscles.
• Greater than 2 minutes, ATP is replenished with oxygen and glucose. You can think of endurance activities for this stage.

I get it, there’s a LOT more to it than that (The three systems often blend into each other, so it’s not so clear cut).^[4]

Why I bring all of this up: your body can quickly convert creatine to ATP (in seconds).

This means the more creatine you have stored in your muscles, the longer you can utilize the phosphagen system – short and intense energy – to produce ATP.

It’s math:

• The more creatine you consume, the more will be found in your muscles.
• The more creatine you have in your muscles, the longer you should be able to sprint at max effort (or lift heavy, etc.).

Granted, there’s a point where your muscles become saturated with creatine and your body can’t hold anymore.

We’ll talk about dosage and absorption rates shortly. But first…

What Are the Benefits of Creatine?

There is good evidence to suggest that creatine supplementation does, in fact, allow for longer periods of intense exercise by helping to produce more ATP. ^[5]

One such study found that supplementing with creatine for 28 days allowed users to increase their bike sprint by 15% and bench press performance by 6%.^[6]

This is generally why people supplement with creatine. If you can produce more energy for more intense exercises, you can workout harder.

• Instead of stopping at 10 reps because of exhaustion, perhaps you can squeeze out that 11th rep if you are storing more creatine.
• Normally you slow down your sprint at 10 seconds, but now you keep going until 12.

If you’re looking to improve physically, being able to achieve one more rep or just a few more seconds of a sprint can be critical.

Creatine has a boatload of other benefits too:

#1) Cell signaling. Creatine has been shown to increase satellite cell signaling, which helps your body communicate its “needs” better. I personally picture a little cell crying out “help me, I’m broken” when thinking about cell signaling. However, improvements in cell communication can have an impact on muscle repair and growth.^[7]

#2) Cellular hydration. Creatine helps your muscles retain water, which helps them work more efficiently.^[8] Hydrated muscles perform better than dehydrated muscles, so creatine as a performance enhancer seems appropriate.

#3) Muscle growth. Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase the hormone IGF-1, which is needed for muscle growth.^[9] In fact, the International Society and Sports Nutrition states “Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.”^[10]

Don’t get thrown off by the “creatine monohydrate.” We’ll talk about types of creatine shortly. Just know that creatine has been shown to aid in muscle growth.

#4) Brain health. While not technically a muscle, your brain stores creatine. Can more stored creatine help with brain health?

There is research and evidence that suggests some conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and epilepsy can all be helped by supplementing with creatine.^[11] A creatine supplement might also help with memory and cognition in the elderly.^[12]

Also, I have to highlight this study linking creatine supplementation with working memory and intelligence.^[13] This makes sense because your brain also uses ATP, which remember, creatine helps produce.^[14]

All of these studies are going to lead to a natural question…

Is Taking Creatine Safe? (Is Creatine Bad for Your Kidneys?)

The use of creatine has been “extensively studied,” which makes my job of recommending it easy.^[15]

The International Society of Sports Nutrition analyzed over 500 studies on creatine usage and concluded:

“There is no scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.”  

However, we should acknowledge there is anecdotal evidence that taking creatine can cause: ^[16]

• Kidney damage
• Dehydration
• Diarrhea
• Upset stomach

Kidney damage would be the most serious of these, let’s talk about that specifically for a moment.

Again, no study has been able to verify the claim of organ damage, and kidney function with creatine supplementation has been looked at specifically.^[17]

However, if you have a history of kidney problems, it might be a good idea to talk to a doctor before you start supplementing with creatine. Better safe than sorry.

The other concern would be dehydration and diarrhea, which actually might have an easy cause and solution.

I mentioned earlier that taking creatine can help with muscle hydration. Because your muscles are holding onto more water, this leaves less water for other places. So if you start taking creatine, you should also increase your water intake!

Shoot for 16-18 ounces of water (a half-liter) for every 5 grams of creatine you take. We’ll devote an entire section to dosage in just a moment.

It should also be noted, that being dehydrated puts extra stress on your kidneys. It can also cause diarrhea.

Drink water.

How to Train on Creatine

The reason creatine is so popular is because of its impact on athletic performance.

For you to receive most of the benefits of supplementing creatine, you’ll need to work out. The creatine won’t lift that barbell for you.

The interesting thing about creatine: nearly any type of physical performance has been linked to improvement when combined with creatine supplementation.

For example…

Supplementing with creatine has been shown to improve:

#1) Strength training. If you’re looking to grow strong, you need to lift heavy. Taking creatine has been shown to increase muscle strength.^[18] In other words, taking creatine can help you lift slightly heavier or slightly more.

If you do this consistently, you could start to achieve gains faster than you would without creatine supplementation.

This is the number one reason people take creatine.

#2) Endurance. Despite creatine’s popularity for strength training, it can also be used as a tool for endurance athletes. That’s because creatine has been shown to increase glycogen stores.^[19] If you remember our example from earlier on different metabolic ways to replenish ATP, you’ll recall that glycogen is a medium to long term energy source.

Meaning the more glycogen you have, the longer you can run. If you’re looking into improving an endurance sport, creatine might be worth checking out.

#3) Recovery. Creatine has been shown to help reduce inflammation and muscle soreness.^[20] Shorter recovery times, means you can get back to training sooner. More gym time can equal a stronger you.

No one likes being overly sore. Creatine may help a little here.

When you start to learn more about creatine, it makes sense why so many athletes take this supplement.

However, I do need to mention that a majority of the benefits of creatine supplementation kick in with the conjunction of a regular exercise practice.

Supplements must be combined with a good solid workout! You don’t get big muscles or faster speeds from only protein and creatine.

They need to be combined with a proper training program!

If you’re not quite sure how to get going, I’ve got a few resources for you.

• The first is our Beginner Bodyweight Workout. It’s a circuit – where you quickly go from one exercise to the next – that you can start doing tonight in your living room or basement or spaceship. It’s one of our most popular routines here at Nerd Fitness, and it’s something you can do from your own home. No gym required. Or…
• Follow our 6 level Gym Workout Program if you DO have access to a gym. It’ll help you get started with strength training.

If you want someone to help guide you – and hold you accountable – we can help with that too!

A Nerd Fitness Coach can guide your weight training! Learn more here.

Common Mistakes When Taking Creatine

So far this article has more or less come out as an advertisement for creatine supplementation.

While there are a lot of great benefits of creatine, and not much in the way of studies showing harm, we need to talk about one potential downside.

Bloating.

Since creatine helps you retain water, you might feel a little bloated after taking it. Granted, hydrated cells perform better. But it can still be uncomfortable and cosmetically unappealing to hold onto a bunch of water.

The dosage and timing of taking creatine might be a factor, which we’ll talk about soon.

However, if bloating continues to the point that it’s interfering with your life, stop supplementing with creatine.

Speaking of creatine challenges, there’s also the fear that taking too much creatine could upset your stomach.^[21]

We’ll get to proper dosage of creatine in just a moment, which might solve this.

It should be noted, that certain types of creatine are sold as “anti-bloating” and “easy on the stomach.”

Let’s talk about types and brands of creatine right now, by looking into these claims.

What Is the Best Creatine to Take? (Brand Recommendations)

Creatine actually exists in multiple forms. We’ll go over each one briefly, plus give our recommendation on which type to take.

We’ll then leave you with a brand or two to try out.

First, some different types of creatine:

#1) Creatine Monohydrate is the most common, and thus the most studied form of creatine.

It’s essentially a creatine molecule and a water molecule combined.

This would be the form of creatine we recommend. When we discuss the benefits and safety of creatine, we mean creatine monohydrate, because it’s the form that ends up being used in research.^[22]

If there is a downside to creatine monohydrate, it would be that your body might have trouble absorbing all of it.^[23] Which means you can pee a lot of it out. When people sell other types of creatine, they’ll generally claim their version has a better absorption rate.

#2) Creatine Ethyl Ester is thought to be absorbed into the body easier than creatine monohydrate. There may be some evidence that this is true.^[24]

However, when it comes to body composition, creatine monohydrate still looks to be superior.^[25]

#3) Creatine Hydrochloride is another form of creatine that is touted as being absorbed easier than creatine monohydrate. You’ll also see claims that it won’t make you bloated.

Early evidence may back some of the claims of better absorption rates, but I would hold off on this form of creatine until more studies are done on its safety.^[26]

#4) Buffered creatine attempts to solve the stomach issues that are anecdotally reported as a side effect of creatine consumption. This form of creatine is mixed with an alkaline powder, with attempts to make it easier to digest. So far studies on the results of these benefits are mixed.^[27]

Again, for now, I’d avoid buffered creatine until the research concludes its safety.

Hopefully, I convinced you to stick with creatine monohydrate. Again, it’s the most tested version of creatine there is, which makes it the most recommended.^[28]

Want some recommendations on brands?

The brand of creatine monohydrate I personally take: Bulk Supplements.

• dotFIT is another good brand for you to check out.
• MyProtein also carries a good choice.

Both of those are creatine monohydrate options.

If you are going to take creatine, take creatine monohydrate. This leads to the next question…

How Much Creatine Should I Take?

The question “How much creatine should I take?” will lead us to the topic of Creatine Loading.

The theory on Creatine Loading goes like this:

At first, you’ll want to take more creatine so your muscles start storing it in greater quantities. Then you can taper off, as your muscles will already be saturated to their max with creatine phosphate.

Studies have shown this is the most effective way to increase creatine levels in muscle.^[29]

Note, your results may vary, though the strategy below is well researched. Do what works best for you! I’m no doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

Here’s how to Creatine Load: 

• For 5 days, consume 20 grams of creatine per day to ‘load’ your muscles.
• After this period, then you can go to 3 to 5 grams of creatine per day.

If you’re concerned about taking 20 grams of creatine a day (more is not necessary or beneficial), the other strategy would be to just take 3 to 5 grams of creatine a day. In three to four weeks your creatine stores will be full.^[30]

If you have stomach issues with 20 grams a day, forget about loading. Stick to 3 to 5 grams a day and you’ll be fine.

This is the strategy I employ: 5 grams of creatine on training days mixed in a small amount of water, consumed like a shot, immediately following my workout.

This leads us to…

When Should I Take Creatine?

Studies demonstrating the best time of day to take creatine are mixed.

When it comes to “Should I take creatine before or after my exercise?” this study showed it didn’t really matter.^[31]

It might be up to your personal preference on whether to take creatine before or after your training.

However, there is evidence you should take creatine somewhere close to when you exercise.

One study split subjects into two groups.

• The first supplemented with creatine immediately before and immediately after their exercise.
• The other took creatine first thing in the morning and again at night.

The experiment found the first group gaining the most muscle and strength.^[32]

I would recommend taking creatine either before or after your training practice. Maybe split your intake and do a little bit of both. Take a mixture with you to the gym, start drinking it before working out and finish it right after.

On rest days, when you take creatine matters less. The point of taking creatine on a rest day is to keep the creatine phosphate content of your muscles raised for when you do workout next.

Take it whenever it is convenient on rest days. But take it close to when you work out on a training day.

Should I Supplement with Creatine? (Next Steps)

You don’t need to supplement with creatine.

If you’re eating a varied diet that includes a little bit of meat, you’ll be consuming and building plenty of creatine.

Our stance at Nerd Fitness: if you have a healthy diet, you don’t need to worry about any kind of supplementation. Eating nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruits, and meat will provide you with all you need to thrive.

However, if you are strength training and looking to maximize your gains, a creatine supplement might be worth looking into.

• There’s decent evidence in support of it allowing people to increase their athletic performance.^[33]
• All the downsides of creatine don’t appear to be supported by the data.^[34]

To be fair, more long-term studies will be welcome on the safety of creatine supplementation.^[35]

And just to be safe, if you have any history of kidney trouble, make sure you talk to a doctor first before you start supplementing with creatine.

Okay, I think that about wraps up the article on creatine.

…still here? Perfect!

I have some great recommendations on where you should head from here. A perfect next step as you progress on your fitness journey:

#1) If you want step-by-step guidance, a custom weight training program that levels up as you get stronger, and a coach to keep you accountable, check out our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

#2) If you want an exact blueprint leveling up your nutrition, check out Nerd Fitness Journey! Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

If you follow our Nutrition missions, you’ll learn to eat healthier while earning XP! Sah-weeeet.

#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so. 

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our guide, Strength Training 101: Everything You Need to Know. 

Now I want to hear from you:

Do you have experience taking creatine?

What results did you see?

Does it sound like I’m being sponsored by the supplement industry?

Or am I not praising creatine enough?

Let me know in the comments!

-Steve

PS: If you’d like to learn more about our stance on the supplement industry, make sure you read “What Supplements Should I Take?”

###

GIF source: Lab dog, Muppet, Simpson’s Doc, Bunny, Wayne, You Do You.

Photo source: Evgeniy Losev © 123RF.com, Creatine Powder, Gandalf, Sprint, scientist-minifig, New Years Resolutions, Stomach Ache, Teaspoon, Measuring Cup, Clock, Running

The post The Ultimate Guide to Start Taking Creatine (What is Creatine?) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

from Nerd Fitness: Helping You Lose Weight, Get Stronger, Live Better. https://ift.tt/sCK2wIG
via IFTTT