Regular massage is truly one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to stay Fit After Thirty! Besides, regular massage can go a long way toward helping achieve some of the following major health benefits of massage:

1.It can prevent PMS! Now, that alone should be reason enough to go get one!

2. It reduces the stress hormone, cortisol (which causes inflammation in the body resulting in disease and premature aging), while increasing the feel good hormones, serotonin and dopamine.

3. It blocks the nervous system’s pain receptors.

4. It slows your heart rate.

5. It reduces blood pressure.

6. It eases insomonia.

7. It boosts immunity.

8. It increases blood flow to muscles, which can help them heal.

9. It eases the pain of fibromyalgia, cancer, labor pain, and migraine.

10. It increases brain wave activity that is linked to improved attention.

bonus reason (it helps increase libido, so maybe you can tell your man at home why he should help chip in for a regular monthly massage!)

• Lifting weights will help you lose body fat. The average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3-5 pounds of fat. As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. That’s a win for me!

• Lifting weights won’t cause you to bulk up. Women have less of the hormones that cause muscle bulk, so lifting will help the muscles to define and this helps your clothes both fit and look better.

• Lifting will decrease your risk of osteoporosis. Research has found that weight training can increase bone mineral density by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with taking your daily calcium, means less bone fractures later in life.

• Lifting weights helps improve your attitude and mood. Women who strength train feel more confident and capable, both of which are important factors in fighting depression.

Many dedicated exercisers like to work out early in the day; in fact, it’s been shown that people who exercise first thing in the morning have a higher level of exercise adherence.  However, there exists much debate over whether a pre-workout meal will ultimately benefit or hinder exercise outcome.  Unfortunately, this debate is not easily solved, simply because the outcome is not defined.  Is the goal performance?  Fat loss?  Muscle gain? For our purposes, let’s create two distinct goals and evaluate each.  The first is performance, including both training for physical competition like a road race or triathlon, as well as training for muscle strength or size. The umbrella of “performance” covers both of these types of training because they both require the same hormonal and caloric environment to be attained.  More on this later.  The second goal to be addressed is fat loss (i.e. decrease in body fat %).  Once the goal is defined, it becomes easier to steer the debate.  Likewise, it will depend on the mode of exercise: weight training versus cardiovascular exercise.

Morning Cardio for Fat Loss

The old bodybuilding mantra declares that doing morning cardio on an empty stomach will help burn more fat than eating beforehand.  Let’s begin by dissecting this statement and evaluate its truthfulness.  It’s true that 90% or more of exercisers want to lose fat and improve body composition.  And it seems logical enough that doing cardio on an empty stomach would facilitate this goal since if there is nothing on the stomach to burn, like a breakfast, the body must resort to using its fat stores for energy to exercise.  Unfortunately, it is not this clear cut.  It is important to evaluate the hormonal situation of the body upon waking.  The body has just undergone an overnight fast and during the night, the body uses both its blood sugar and some of its sugar stores (glycogen) to do work, like repair muscles, digest food, detoxify the body and boost immunity, etc.  Luckily, the body also uses fat to propel this work too; you are always using both fat and sugar as energy all the time, the ratios of which are determined by intensity of movement and available substrate.  Upon waking, several important catabolic hormones are usually elevated because they assist in breaking down sugar stores, fat and even a bit of muscle to continue to make sugar available to do the work described above.  These catabolic hormones are cortisol, glucagon and adrenaline.  On the other hand, human growth hormone (HGH), an anabolic hormone is also elevated during sleep since this is the most optimal time for muscle building.  So, what does this hormonal soup mean for potential fat loss efforts?  Well, it really depends on the substrates available, particularly the amount of stored carbohydrate that is left in the muscle and liver to be used for energy to propel exercise.

Recent studies showed that depletion of carbohydrate stores enhanced fat usage significantly at sub-maximal workloads.

Another study, was done on post-menopausal obese women.  The study evaluated the effects of pre-workout meal timing on fat utilization during exercise.  The interesting thing was that the amount of calories burned in both protocols was the same, yet the semi-fasting state pulled more calories from fat.  This begs the question—is a calorie really a calorie?  More on this later.

Though there is much research that supports exercising on an empty stomach to increase fat oxidation, these studies tell us nothing about the individual tendencies of the exerciser.  For example, many trainees cannot and should not exercise on an empty stomach because they experience lightheadedness, dizziness and even nausea as a result of low blood sugar. Interestingly, this occurs more with untrained exercisers hinting at inefficiency in fat and glycogen break-down. If you tend to get dizzy or lightheaded when working out intensely, eat a small meal 1-2 hours prior to exercise.  If you must eat, what is the ideal combination?  Carbohydrates alone will increase insulin production, an anabolic hormone which will help increase blood sugar to the detriment of fat burning; insulin shuts off lipolysis (fat burning) completely.  If insulin is present in the blood stream, fat cannot be burned for energy. Eating amino acids (protein) will provide an energy source for exercise and certain amino acids—branched chain (BCAAs)—help prevent muscle break-down during exercise.  BCAAs are metabolized in the muscle for energy and their breakdown aids in the carbohydrate production process to maintain energy and optimal brain function during exercise.  Thus, the ideal combination for a pre-workout snack to aid in fat loss consists of a variety of amino acids mostly, with minimal carbohydrate input.  Whey protein powder mixed with a cup of water is a perfect choice.

The final word: if you can exercise effectively on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, do it.  Research shows that the recruitment of fat for energy is substantial.  However, be smart.  If you are dragging and can barely make it through, there is an obvious energy problem—consider a high-quality protein source prior to exercise.  If energy remains low, slowly add in quality carbohydrates until you find the optimal ratio.

Performance Outcomes on an Empty Stomach

Many who advocate eating before morning exercise cite detriment in performance outcomes on an empty stomach.  For race or triathlon preparation, the research hints that indeed this is the case.  Trainees who eat before high-intensity exercise can potentially train longer and report a lower rate of perceived exertion.  For race prep, eat a small amount of both carbohydrate and protein.  This combination improves energy and prevents the potential for an insulin spike and corresponding energy nose-dive.  Try a ½ cup (dry) old fashioned oats made with water, and then mixed with 1 scoop whey protein 1-2 hours before exercise.  The timing will depend on the individual as many cite not being able to stomach a meal before intense training, while others simply wake up too early to fit it in.  Remember, morning cardio junkies will get up as early as 4am to get their cardio fix, which means a pre-workout wake-up call at 3am?  No thanks!  The bottom line: it depends on your unique fitness level, preferences and quality of energy.

The hormonal responses to weight training, however, are much different than that of cardiovascular activity. When performing long duration cardio activity, the body burns both fat and sugar calories during, however there is minimal after-burn associated with this type of exercise.  Weight training, on the other hand has been shown to increase fat-burning and muscle-building hormones HGH and testosterone significantly, as well as impact post-workout caloric and fat burning.  This phenomenon is called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) and it has been shown nearly conclusively that weight training increases EPOC over steady-state cardio.  The more intense the weight training, the higher relative proportion of carbohydrates is used for energy during.  This situation is favorable in terms of fat burning post-workout, because when sugar stores are depleted duringexercise, fat stores are utilized to replenish them!  This effect can last up to 2 days following a tough weight training workout.

So what does this mean for pre-workout intake?  Remember in the beginning when we grouped weight training in the “Performance” category?  It’s because the above scenario calls for intensity and sugar burning duringexercise.  Therefore, increase intensity and give the body the fuel it wants by eating a small amount of carbs before a weight-training workout to maximize the fat-burning after-effect (and shut down cortisol production which will pull from muscle).  However, to avoid an energy crash, remember to pair it with protein.

Another neat finding….  It looked at nutrient timing and its effects on muscle hypertrophy, strength gains and body composition.  The 10-week study used a protein/carbohydrate dietary supplement. Participants were split into two groups, and were assigned to either a) drink the supplement immediately before and after an intense weight training bout or b) drink the supplement in the morning and late evening.  Upon completion, all participants’ strength, hypertrophy and body composition were measured.  Participants who consumed the beverage before and after the weight training work outs demonstrated a significant increase in lean body mass (hypertrophy) and strength, as well as an improved body composition as determined by a significant increase in muscle mass.

The bottom line?  For performance, whether aerobic or muscle gain, give yourself the opportunity to get the best, most intense workout possible by providing energy in the form of healthy carbs along with enough amino acids to prevent a large insulin spike and prevent muscle break-down.  But remember, exercise for performance and exercise for fat-loss are very different and each individual should decide to eat or not to eat based on their specific goals.

The Caloric Perspective

Many fitness experts will cite calories as an explanation for why it does not matter if one eats before or after morning exercise.  The idea is that a calorie is a calorie, and when exercising, you burn the same amount of calories whether you eat beforehand or not.  And since, many argue, weight loss is the culmination of calories “in” versus calories “out,” it should not matter when you eat them.  However, as we have shown here, it is in fact notcalories that matter, but instead the hormonal situation and available substrates in a “fasting” versus a “fed” state.  Doing cardio in the absence of carbs will increase fat burning, even if the caloric expenditure is the same.    As for weight training, eating some carbs (along with protein) will powerfully impact intensity and thus EPOC potential.

Thus, the final message: it’s up to you!  Take a look at the science, but more importantly take a look at your individual tendencies and preferences.  If you can do it effectively, morning cardio on an empty stomach will increase fat burning, period.  Eat a small amount of healthy carbs and lean protein before weight-training and long-duration, performance-oriented exercise.

Overcoming complacency boils down to two things:  Staying determined and ambitious. The second you lose either one it’s like throwing in the towel. I’ve written the top 5 things that have helped me overcome complacency. Please feel free to share your list in the comment section.

• Take ownership- Own your situation and dominate it. You can do this by thinking of things that have helped you in the past and new creative ways to overcome your current obstacles. This also applies to taking ownership of your thoughts. Keep it positive and surround yourself with people that make you feel good about yourself.

• Change your routine- If you’re in a vicious cycle of waking up, going to work and going to bed then it’s time to  switch it up! Wake up and hit the gym, go to church, go for a hike, go to happy hour with close friends that can relate and try to learn something new to stimulate your mind.

• Don’t over commit- The exact definition of over committing is to commit more than is feasible, desirable, or necessary. Does any of that sound fun or exciting? Absolutely not, so don’t do it.  Stay focused and finish strong!

• Take baby steps daily- Persepolis wasn’t built in a day and even God took 6 days to build the earth. If you want to accomplish your goals then you need to work at it daily. It’s not a entrepreneurial crash diet, it’s a lifestyle change. Work at bettering yourself daily even if it’s only in 20 minute increments.

• Make time for R&R- I’m going out on a limb here, but if the all powerful, all knowing, King of Kings took the seventh day off …then I think you should too (hey I can listen to my own advice!).  Don’t forget to schedule “me time”.  This is critical to prevent burn outs that can set you back for months at a time.

Stay Hungry.  Stay Humble.

Honestly- I am nothing but grateful for my last place finish. I have always been a firm believer in gratitude when it comes to competing. I feel so many people get wrapped up in how well they placed or if they got screwed or if politics came into play and they tend to miss the beauty of the entire process, the journey, and they cease to enjoy what the stage is all about- a celebration of the hard work and dedication it took to get you there.  I’d never do it if I didn’t love it, enjoy it, or gain sometimg deeper from it. For me, it’s about much more then how well I placed.

Of course, I wanted to win my class and have a run at the overall, who wouldn’t. But leaving that aside, I decided to step on stage after being off for two years with only 10 weeks to prep. The upside to being at the bottom of the barrel is that the only place to go is UP!  I knew when I got on stage that I did the best that I could with the time I had given myself.  I did an interview with HD Physiques and they asked me “after two years, why now?  why here?”  I told them I felt called and inspired to do it, following an instinct.  I came into the show with no expectations and no limitations.  It’s times like this, that my faith really steps in. When you’re at peace with yourself, when you’re content, when you’re confident, placings are secondary. I knew, going into the show that no matter what the outcome I had worked hard. I had stuck to the diet. I trained each day with passion- I held NOTHING back. I set a goal to get on the very same stage that first inspired me to compete.  And the real kicker that made it all worth it was all the messages, notes and facebook posts about the simple gift that I have been given inspires and encourages so many more than I ever imagined.

The beat goes on!

Have fun and train hard y’all!  4 days!

Here are the top 5 recovery methods that I recommend to my athletes.  You MUST train hard, and recovery hard! Here are some healthy ways to recover your body and restore your muscles!

1. Food. Its simple, when they are done working out, they have to eat a protein source.  Muscles are made out of proteins, without consuming any quickly (in the first 45 min after a workout, the earlier the better) muscles won’t grow.  Its like trying to build a log cabin without wood, just doesn’t make any sense.  The body needs protein to build muscles.  On top of that, eating quality meals with a protein source, carbohydrate, and additional vegetable will help your body feel better after training.  Ever eat fast food after a hard lifting session?  Your muscles will be feeling it the next day.   I’ve done it with pizza, not pleasant.  You’ve already done the hard wok in the gym, don’t sabotage yourself in the kitchen.
2. Self-Myofascial Release, Massage and Active Release Techniques (ART). This includes foam rolling which I have posted about extensively (Foam Rolling), using a lax ball, theracane, the stick, or any other massage tool.  When a muscle stretches, near the point of injury, the Golgi tendon organ (GTO) tells the muscle spindles to relax.  Foam rolling stimulates both the muscle and works the GTO so the athlete can work in a more complete range of motion without the muscles shutting down.  Also, ART techniques have are helpful in fixing soft tissue adhesion and dissipate scar tissue buildup.  Foam rollers cost around $10-20.  Go to www.tabmassage.com
3. Contrasting. The first few times a person uses contrast showers it may be uncomfortable, but still invigorating!  There are different time sequences used, but I prefer 1 minute as cold as I can stand, followed by 2 minutes of as warm as possible.  Also, you can isolate the contrasting to a body part, such as the hands.  Use two buckets, one with hot water, and one with icy cold water.  Perform the same contrasting and you will feel great!  Contrasting relaxes AND excites the muscles, moves blood through, and shortens the restoration time.
4. Warm-Up, Stretch, and Relax. Stretching has been a hot topic in the training world lately.  Stretching post workout and on rest days will help recovery.  First, during a workout, muscles contract and shorten.  Stretching them after the workout insures the muscles range of motion and length.  Pre Workout you should be using (with a couple exceptions) a dynamic routine.   For recovery, I recommend increasing the body’s core temperature with some light exercises such as jogging or jumping jacks, then performing a static stretching routine.   I also snuck relaxing in here.  I have some kids that want to stay up on their video games until 1 in the morning, then wake up at 6:30 to go to school.  That’s not how it works!  You must relax and get your sleep.
5. Hydrate. Drinking water is crucial, but I don’t use strict guidelines such as “drink 8 oz every 13 1/6 minutes.”  I just tell the athletes to drink, bring water with them when they train, and keep a water bottle during the day.    There are many recovery drinks out there, but to keep my demographic in mind, water is the most practical.  Drinking on your rest days will help push toxins out and keep the muscles loose.

If you implement these recovery and restoration methods, you will feel better, and most importantly, you can train HARDER.  We like to “train hard and recover hard.”

Jim and Holly Duthie with Livingston Muscle Products

http://www.livingston-muscle.com

Ron Marcum and Heather Spitler at Total Fitness Center

http://totalfitnessmi.com

and of course

www.tabmassage.com