, Author at Hadley Allen Fitness

Tempo

The Ultimatum Your Body Craves!

First of all, welcome back from your (and my) holiday time off! I used the break to refresh and recharge…and bring you some more informative content on fitness. So here we go! We all know that most of us want to get the workout over with as soon as possible, and so the faster you push out those reps the better. Right? Hmmm no …I say if results are on the agenda don't do that anymore.

This week I’m tackling tempo. Physiologists have terminology to describe what is going on when you lift weights fast or slow. For example, physiologists use terms like “eccentric action,” “concentric action,” “total impulse,” and “total power.” You can research those, but for now, I want to try to simplify it and explain why tempo is important.

One term I do want to focus on is called “time under tension.” Time under tension is just what it sounds like: it refers to the amount of time you put your muscle fibers under tension. The more time under tension, the more muscle growth you have. It works something like this. When your muscles are under tension, they scream for help (metaphorically of course). This is why you get tired after a certain number of repetitions. When muscle fibers scream for help, other muscle fibers are recruited to come to the rescue. “Muscle fiber recruitment” is not something I made up. It’s another term that physiologists use to describe this phenomenon. The key to growing muscles is to engage as many muscle fibers as you can. Hence, the need for muscle fiber recruitment. Hence, the need for the best training stimulus for increasing the weight and creating tempo training.

Now another clarification. Doing a rep slowly doesn’t mean you do the whole movement slowly. This is where tempo comes in. It typically means you do the action to engage the weight explosively (this is the concentric movement), but you hold the weight there and return to the stability position (the eccentric movement) slowly. So, for example, if you do a pull-up, you explode into the pull-up and get your chin above the bar (the concentric movement), but now instead of releasing the tension and letting yourself drop, you hold for a count or two (or three or four depending on your level), then lower yourself—slowly—to full extension (the eccentric movement). Rest for one count (for example), then explode again into the next rep. You will do fewer reps this way, but you will increase the value of each rep by increasing time under tension and training your neural system to recruit additional muscle fibers for all that time under tension during the hold and descending movements.

Another simple exercise I see all the time that people lose out on by not considering tempo are step-ups. The concept of the step-up is simple. You simply step up onto a platform with one leg at a time. Properly done, this exercise works all the leg muscles. But most people explode up (often using their off leg to push off the ground instead of lifting with the stepped leg on the platform), then release the tension to let gravity just have them fall straight down, and quickly explode back up again.

But what if you try to use tempo? Once you explode up (using the elevated leg on the platform for lift), don’t just let gravity bring you down. Hold that other leg out and lower yourself—slowly—trying to keep from planting that off leg onto the ground. This will take practice—and balance!! But that slow descent will recruit additional muscle fibers in your stepping leg, which is key to building strength.

The great thing about using tempo to increase time under tension is that it applies to all kinds of resistance training, whether you are lifting weights, or lifting yourself. The effect is the same. Increased time under tension by using specific and articulated tempo recruits more muscle fibers, which is the key to muscle growth.

And of course, if you want to know what the ideal tempo is for different exercises, you can do it with trainer like me who will coach you through the perfect rep to get the most efficient workout from your time spent.

**** January, I’m offering special discounts. Call me at (312) 550-7033, e-mail me at hadleyallenfitness@gmail.com, or visit my web page at www.hadleyallenfitness.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hadleyallenfitness.

Please support Hadley Allen Fitness reach more people like you to bring more of these kinds of articles on line, with videos and streaming content, visit my GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/hadleyallenfitness.***

Three Components to Weight Management

All the diet fads, all the lose weight quick workout routines, all the magic pills, are simple…but unhelpful to most people in losing weight.

The real truth is also simple: If you take in more calories than you expend, your body will store it as fat and you will gain weight. If you expend more calories than you take in, your body will burn fat, and you will lose weight. This is so simple and true that it is a fundamental law of physics: the First Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Energy can never be created or destroyed—it just changes forms. Incidentally, a “calorie” on a food label is nothing more than a metric unit of energy.

It’s the amount of energy it takes to raise one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. Because it’s a measure of energy, therefore, calories don’t go away. They get converted to energy when you move, or get stored in fat to be used later. (This is why fat has 9 calories per gram, as opposed to proteins and carbohydrates which have 4 calories per gram.

Fats are much more efficient energy stores. That’s why the body creates fat to store its extra calories).

So why does it seem so complicated? Well, for a number of reasons. We all manage our caloric intake differently, and we all have different activity levels. So let’s look at some basics.

You might have heard that someone has a “fast” metabolism, or that your metabolism “slows down” as you age. Metabolism refers to the efficiency with which your body uses energy. Someone with a “fast” metabolism burns more energy (or uses up more calories) than someone with a slower metabolism.

Their body runs “fast” (think of it like an engine on a car that’s always idling). Those people continue to burn calories even in their resting state. Because they are burning more calories, they don’t gain weight as quickly, even with the same caloric intake as someone whose metabolism runs more slowly.

So, obviously, if you can burn calories—even when you aren’t “doing” anything—you’re going to drastically improve your weight management.

There are a few proven ways to do it. First, exercise increases your metabolic rate. Here’s something you probably didn’t realize though—exercise increases your metabolism for a period even AFTER you finish exercising. And more, weight training to the hard, burning limit you can tolerate (also known as the “lactate threshold,” a topic I’ve written on before), will extend that ramped up metabolism for DAYS after your session! Even long cardio work will only keep your metabolism ramped up for a few hours.

I have worked with diabetics who have to monitor their blood glucose levels for days after a session to avoid having their blood glucose levels drop too low—their metabolism is still working overtime long after our session has ended. (If you are a diabetic working with a trainer who doesn’t know the metabolic effects of weight training versus other types of exercise, you might be putting yourself at risk).

Weight training to build muscle also increases your metabolism in permanent ways because muscle is a heavy tissue (heavier than fat), and it takes your body more energy to sustain muscle than to sustain fat.

Just building muscle will increase your metabolism (although, it’s important to note, it may not cause you to lose weight because, as noted above, muscle weighs more than fat).

Beyond the right exercise, eating properly kick-starts your metabolism. It’s a topic for another article, but just know that starving yourself to lose weight is not a long term, or healthy, solution. The less you eat, the slower your metabolism acts. It goes into survival mode and burns fewer calories so as not to use up the nourishment that you are depriving your body of.

Steady small meals, not skipped meals, help boost your metabolism. Eating a smarter, balanced diet, without added calories and without starving yourself, is history’s most reliable diet “fad.”

Finally, working out creates a rush of hormones and chemicals (such as insulin and HGH) that cause fat to break down or that cause muscle to build up. These hormones are part of the complicated equilibrium that makes up your metabolism.

So remember, weight management has three components:

1) Calories (energy) in – this is the diet component

2) Calories (energy) used – this is the exercise component

3) How efficiently the calories in are used – this is the metabolism component

The good thing is, you can affect all three.

I bring awareness of all three components to my clients.

To learn more about making positive changes in your life with a personal trainer who will boost your metabolism, boost your activity levels, and work with you on proper nutrition, contact Hadley Allen:

Up, Up and Away! The Best Upper Body Exercise You Can Do

Hadley Allen Weight Loss Personal Trainer Evanston Illinois Anti-aging

I may sound like a broken record, but I can’t emphasize enough how important a healthy back is to your overall health. Besides the constant discomfort, a bad back can lead to a cascade of pain and injuries in your hips, knees, feet and limbs as a result of compensation. That’s why I cringe when I walk into a gym and see people compromising their form when they’re lifting. The desire to build that strong chest, broad shoulders and bulging biceps often leads people to attempt too much weight, or break down their form as they try to lift that one last rep. The next time I see someone doing a standing biceps curl with a barbell and arch his back way back to finish off a rep will be one time too many.

The fact is, there is an exercise you can, and should, be doing that will work out that entire upper body: chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps—and back! It’s the good old fashioned chin-up, and its cousin, the pull-up. Properly done, the chin-up and pull-up exercise more muscle groups than isolated presses, curls or lifts. And, importantly, the chin-up and pull-up are the best exercises you can do to strengthen your upper back.

Your upper torso involves many muscle groups. Chin-ups and Pull-ups recruit just about all of them. And, the more muscle groups you can recruit, the more balanced and more effective your particular exercise will be. That major muscle system recruitment is one of the reasons why chin-ups and pull-ups give so much bang for your buck.

So, let’s dig in a little deeper. First, terminology: the chin-up is done with palms facing you, and a pull-up is done with palms facing out. Both are excellent upper body workouts, but each will stress slightly different muscle groups a little more. Chin-ups work the chest a little more, while pull-ups recruit more heavily in the lower trapezius and shoulder muscles. Second, let’s not fool ourselves. Both chin-ups and pull-ups are HARD! For most of us, especially beginners, we don’t have enough upper body strength to lift ourselves over the bar from a dead hang. That’s ok though. The chin-up and pull-up can be effective exercises by working our muscles on the way DOWN, rather than focusing on the way up.

If you have access to a machine that can take some of the weight off to help you, you may be able to do the traditional chin-ups and pull-ups from a dead hang because the machine can be set to take off some of your body weight. If you are going to use this method, you are going to still want to use the right tempo. From a dead hang, explode up until your chin is over the bar, the hold for a count while you squeeze your shoulders together, then lower yourself SLOWLY back to a dead hang. Remember to lower yourself slowly. When you hit the dead hang, explode up again and repeat. Try to do three sets of ten. The dead hang is critical. That explosion up from the dead hang and slow descent to full extension is what will recruit those upper back muscles.

If you don’t have a machine and are just using a traditional bar, no worries. Instead of lifting from a dead hang, position yourself under the bar, perhaps with a step or stool beneath you. While holding the bar, jump up to a starting position with your chin over the bar. Hold for a count, then lower yourself to a dead hang as SLOWLY as you can. You may want to bend your knees so you can get all the way to a complete extension without landing on the floor. Take a LONG time to go down. Try to take at least eight seconds going down. As you progress, slow it down even further. Do three sets of five reps. If you are able to master the slow descent, you will build enough strength to eventually do a traditional chin-up or pull-up from a dead hang. But it will take time!

You can alternate the chin-up or pull-up in different workouts since both provide slightly different benefits. But both will do what those isolated curls and presses will do—strengthen the arms, shoulders, and chest—while at the same time providing needed strengthening of critical back muscles. If you can only do one upper body exercise, these are the ones you should be doing.

For more information and to schedule a training session with a personal trainer who will bring out your best and promises to alleviate your back pain PERMANENTLY, call me at (312) 550-7033 or e-mail me at hadleyallenfitness@gmail.com. Check out my web site at www.hadleyallenfitness.com for special offers, and keep liking and especially SHARING my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/hadleyallenfitness. And if you think this kind of content is valuable enough to share more broadly, go to my GoFundMe page, www.gofundme.com/hadleyallenfitness and help me grow the Hadley Allen Fitness brand and reach more people like you!

29 Minute Workout

Straight Leg Pushups*

15 straight leg pushups, or spider man pushups with tummy tight and touché squeezed, head in neutral-4 sets of 15 * (spider is alternating knees up to armpit as you lower to the ground)

Lunges*

20 repetitions of lunges going into knee ups; lunge with pushing through front heel! Finish with knee driving up into chest. 4 sets of 20 *

Front Plank*

Front plank on elbows head in neutral, shoulders press down towards your hips, elbows squeeze your lats (back muscles together) tighten tummy as hard as possible. Hold 30 seconds to 1 minute for 4 sets *

Side Plank*

Side Plank with hips pushing up high, tummy tight, head in neutral and hips pressed forward. Hold 30 to 1 minute for 4 sets *

Hadley’s Burpies*

Burpies the Booming with Hadley way. Jump up with 15 lbs. weight and reach weight in hands to ceiling, then squat down, put weight down and explode legs into straight arm plank position. Repeat 15 times for 4 sets * (this is tough after 5^th one, one leg at a time can be substituted for exploding of legs, as can adding the 15lbs weight.)

Finish

Hug knees into chest for 30 to 60 seconds

*exercises to be done 2 through 6 then repeat that cycle 4 times, do not do consecutive one single exercise 4 times in a row. Exercises to be done alternating.

Awesome Beginners Workout

Stretch Calves

Each side 30 seconds- 1 minute.

Walk Across Room 3 Times

Lifting each leg up as high as you can go with legs bent, knees reaching up to chest.

Walk Across Room 3 Times*

Lifting legs straight out like a tin soldier, this exercise requires.*

Swiss Ball Squats*

3 sets of 15 repetitions of squats with Swiss ball behind the back, connected to the wall.*

Overhead Shoulder Press*

3 sets of 12 reps. 5 lbs weights lifted overhead for shoulder presses. Stand tall with shoulders lifted back.*

Single Leg Side Lifts*

3 sets of 12 single leg side lifts. Stand on one leg, lift leg to the side while keeping posture and balance steady.*

Side Lying Hip Workout*

Lie in fetal position with knees tucked into body, lift entire leg up while keeping the leg bent, foot should be at height of knee and hip should be pressed forward instead leaning on toward the floor. Complete 3 sets of 10 each leg*

Finish

Gently reaching for your toes and holding for 10 counts.

*alternate the sets so one after another not consecutive order.

Save-Your-Knees Friendly Workout

Day One

Romanian Deadlifts
- 3 sets of 8 repetitions
Single Leg Hip Bridge Straight Knee

Calves
- 3 sets of 20 repetitions

Day Two

Single Leg Hip Bridge (Bent Leg)
Single Leg ½ Depth Squat
- 3 sets of 15 repetitions
Calves
- 3 sets of 20 repetitions

Perform exercises one after another, rotating

For example:

Romanian Deadlifts
Single Leg Hip Bridge
Calves

Repeat 3 times

Rehabilitation of back, hips, and trunk stabilization

My specialty is motivating and teaching individuals how to regain and maintain their athleticism, agility and strength. My techniques and experience have relevance and value to anyone looking to improve their current physical fitness to include:

Proper hip, flute, and core strength.
Rehabilitation of back, hips, and trunk stabilization.
Agility, Flexibility, Balance training.
Nutrition Assessment.

Defying Age with Exercise

“Age is an Agreement” a coach once said to me. Hundreds of studies show that certain types of exercises will slow down the effects of aging. I have clients who have less body fat, more balance, more strength and consistent energy at 65 versus when they were younger.

As we get older, we lose muscle mass. Luckily, there are exercises we can do to help slow down the process. Here are two easy ones to consider:

Resistance training helps slow down the loss of muscle mass which prevent injury and enhances physical rehabilitation. Besides that, resistance training stimulates the release of growth hormones. These hormones are responsible for mobilizing fat which helps change body composition. This mean that resistance training helps you gain muscle where you have fat in places like your stomach, hips, butt or even the back of your arms.
Functional fitness training uses the concept of exercising multiple muscle groups at the same time versus isolating and working on a single muscle. This type of exercise has shown good results in increasing strength, endurance, agility and balance as indicated from a study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). For a complete copy of the study, check out acefitness.org.

Classical Approach to Personal Training

Hadley Allen Personal Trainer Evanston Illinois

The classical approach to personal training incorporates weight-bearing resistance training with aerobic exercise in order to develop and maintain life-long functional strength. As my client, together we will create a plan in order to meet your objective by achieving measurable goal to include:

Raw muscular force .
Maximize power.
Target underdeveloped areas.
Utilize proper form to reduce risk from injury.

By following a strict protocol, you will becomes stronger muscularly, improve your cardiovascular efficiency, and increase your bone density.

Protein Pancakes with Yogurt

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 scoops of vanilla protein powder
2 cups of favorite flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder (I use Bisquick sometimes and skip the baking powder.)
1 cup of unsweetened or vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pinch of salt
Water

Preparation

Mix ingredients together. Add water to for consistency. Pours readily.
Serve with cinnamon.

**Can substitute this as a breakfast item or evening snack**