The Red and Black

April 28th, 2008

Final Pre-Summer Advice

Since this is my last post before the summer, I wanted to give you some last-minute advice:

1. Portion Size vs. Calories: I know counting calories is a fantastic way to lose weight or gain mass, particularly when you’re very strict about it. But the truth is, many people (because of school or work or extenuating factors) just don’t have the time to be so strict with their diets. While a thousand dietitians may scream at me for this, I don’t care; just keep it simple with your diets. Try to eat clean (avoiding fried foods, butter, sweets, etc.) and keep your portion size at a reasonable level (a cup of brown rice and a grilled chicken breast, with a side of veggies, for example). You don’t have to count calories to see gains.

2. Keep a Log: I know I say this all the time, but try to keep a journal to log your progress this summer. Whether it’s how far you ran (and how tired you felt) or what exercise / set / weight / # repetitions, actually seeing progress on the page can be a huge motivational factor.

3. Free-Weights are King: I know some folks may disagree with me about this, but I really believe that free-weights (dumbbells and barbells) should really be the core of any workout, whatever your fitness goals. Free-weights force you to balance the weight, don’t lock you into a set path, and oftentimes are just harder. If you don’t believe me, try benching on the smith machine (the thing with a barbell that moves on ball-bearings) versus the free-weight bench. Odds are, you’ll lift about 20 pounds more on the machine.

4. Take a week off: Training’s great, but you can oftentimes burn out. So don’t feel terrible about taking a week off every three months or so, or really (and this might be a little more relieving) incorporating a light week every 3 or 4 weeks if you’re training heavy (less than 8 repetitions per set).

5. Join a Gym: I know the money thing can be a problem, but joining a gym will do wonders for your fitness goals. You simply can’t get the same workout or atmosphere at home. So try to shop around for a relatively cheap local gym if you can, and go for it. Oftentimes, summer passes aren’t too expensive, even at the big gyms.

Well, that’s it. Thanks for reading this semester. August, same time, same place–I’ll be here. So, until then–have a great summer.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 8:52 am and is filed under Fitness Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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