Supplement Sunday time with Mike

Let us sit down for a moment and talk about what vitamins and minerals you take into your body. Do you get everything you need daily from your diet? probably not... this is where the multi vitamin comes into play.

In the fitness world there is a problem with over complication. Muscle movements and routines are are confusing to the general gym base because of all the opinions floating around.  Supplements are infinitely more confusing unless you have a degree in nutrition/chemistry or pharmaceuticals. Even with those degrees i can't promise that you won't be overwhelmed with great PR and misleading statistics from the companies who have spent decades telling everyone that this one pill will make them ripped/skinny/strong.

This weeks topic is the multi-vitamin. I am starting with this one because i can recommend this one to anyone and everyone. weight loss, muscle growth, muscle/join rehab and over-all fitness can all be linked to having the right amount of vitamins and minerals. Now don't get what i am saying the wrong way, a vitamin wont solve all your problems, however, it will help you go in the right direction. Here is that tiny disclaimer at the bottom of every TV ad ever, "With proper exercise and nutrition, this vitamin will be the most useful".

Is there a difference between walmart brand vitamins and more expensive ones? It all depends on the active ingredients and how they are produced. instead of breaking down how vitamins have been synthesized in a lab and how the price of the product is reflective upon its marketing. Here is a list of 100 vitamins and their overall score. But don't just go by this list, i would pick a highly rated product and then crosscheck it with another website to make sure their isn't a bias on the one website!

Next weeks supplement will be Protein!

Today is a Rest Day in the Sisu Fitness World. But that doesn't mean you cant

make some gains. Get out and do some shopping to prepare your cupboards and

your refrigerator for when those food cravings kick in! If you have junk food 

sitting around in its easy to open and premade packaging, you will find yourself

grabbing a bite (or several bites) whenever you find it convenient.

Prepare some small healthy snacks around 250-500 calories to grab when those

mid morning/afternoon/evening cravings come on. 

Here are 9 tasty options!

-Mike

Getting the Core You Want

Everyone wants to have a 6 pack or a toned midsection but don't know how to get there.

 It takes hard work but in ways that can be done without changing to much of what you do. Adding simple changes and adding increased focus during your workout will get you to where you want to be.

Step 1: Variation to the norm. Crunches and situps are a thing of the past; its time to learn some new twists (literally).

Use the pullup bar in your gym or a sturdy tree branch and do knees to elbows, toes to bar, knee raises. Adding in new movements causes your body to make new connections and adapt to the added stress.

Step 2: While workout, instead of taking that 30seconds - 1minute of rest, drop down and hold a plank for your rest period. or if you are using a flat bench, do some leg levers or flutter kicks. Decreasing rest keeps your heart rate up to increase fat burning and adding core movements between sets really add up for the amount of reps done. Added bonus of decreasing the time spent in the gym because of the time you aren't spending at the end of your workout just doing core.


Step 3: Increasing core stability. Certain movements can be done sitting can also be done standing for added benefit. If you are doing dumbbell shoulder presses sitting on a bench, Stand up! The weight being lifted has to now be balanced and controlled thruout your body which activates your core and mid line stability. To increase this effect even more, do single arm shoulder presses at a time. This causes you have to balance your upper body and to keep everything stable.

My goal is to not get you abs, it is to stabilize your mid section which helps you -

• More functional workouts that translate into daily life activities
• Improved performance in sports
• Reduction in the risk of injury
• Better ability to function each day
• Interesting workouts that challenge you in new and different ways

 Workout: June 17th, 2013

Run 1 Mile 

30 push ups

30 sit ups

30 mountain climbers

Run 1 Mile

 

Fitness Motivation (Bonus Post)

"The end goal of fitness is to live a better, healthier life. "

The process to get there is long and drawn out with focus on diet, exercise, sleep and hydration. With each one of those topics a long process in itself. I find it easiest to take them all one by one and break them down until you no longer have to think about them individually. Exercise turns into a habit, diet turns into a life style, sleep comes easy and for enough hours, hydration turns into running to the bathroom because you forget just how much water you are drinking.

“Just know, when you truly want success, you’ll never give up on it. No matter how bad the situation may get.”

The start to this long journey is to get and stay motivated. There are many forms of motivation and more and more coming onto the market every year with the advent of technology. 

Self Motivation: Wanting to better yourself and using your will power to make it happen. This is the basic free package of motivation. This is the one that is tried and true and is for the strong willed individuals.

Forced Motivation: This is similar to self motivation except there is usually an ulterior motive for making a change. Whether it was out ancient ancestors having to become fit and stronger to find a mate or to survive; or modern day humans who have to make a change so they can manage their diabetes or have a minimized risk of injury, or other health related topics.

Point Based Motivation: a rather new form of motivation that comes from digital tracking of exercise and exertion. First Pedometers and now phone applications that tell you how many calories you have gone thru in a workout. A great tool to have at your disposal whether its for losing weight, or tracking how many calories you need to take in to gain weight (healthy weight).

Short Term Psychological Motivation: Looking at motivational pictures, videos, quotes and stories. These will only effect you for about 5 minutes before your mind becomes focused on something else. However, if seeing a motivation picture gets you out of your seat and in the mindset to work out, keep doing it!

      - Long Term: Take a motivational source and hanging it on your wall, keep it ask your background on your phone, computer, putting that picture of the goal you want on the mirror in your bathroom or on a sticky note on your wall and dont take it down until its reached.
Ex: I used to have a sticky note with a big 300 on my wall until i had reached the 300 pound bench press goal that i set for myself.

Use what ever technique you need to get yourself headed into the right direction. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below.

Workout 

50 - 40 - 30 - 20 - 10

Mountain Climbers

Pushups 

Situps

(50 reps of each movement, and then 40 reps of each movement)

Rest 5 minutes, Run 2 miles at a moderate pace.