Unworthy Gym Exercises, the injuries they can cause and what to do instead! When to eat carbs and why. The importance of a written plan. 

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Training 

Unworthy Exercise #1: Seated Leg Extension 

  • shear force on the connective tissues of the knee
  • contracts quadriceps with no co-contraction of the hamstrings
  • Do instead: Squats, but ...if you only have access to the leg ext. then do ¼ ROM reps

Unworthy Exercise #2: Upright Barbell Row

  • bad for shoulder joint 
  • shoulders at maximum internal rotation plus under load! 
  • pinching of the bicep tendon 
  • compressing the shoulder bursa makes bad posture worse! 
  • candidate for tendinitis & bursitis 
  • Do instead: Shrugs, row to neck (face pulls), Rotator cuff exercises
 
 Unworthy Exercise #3 & 4 Behind the neck exercises-Barbell Press and Lat Pulldowns
  • No real world function or use
  • stress on neck and cervical discs and nerves 
  • Can injure the rotator cuff 
  • If you've ever done a pullup then you know its not the same as a pulldown. 
  • Most people not strong enough to do a pullup so we work on them activating the back muscles with the FRONT pull down. 
  • Do instead: pullups, hangs with scap contraction
 

 Nutrition

When your goal is fat loss:

  • eat foods that are nutrient dense
  • Foods that make you feel full
  • avoid cravings
  • Foods to provide energy
  • Foods with high nutritional benefit, ie not empty calories. 
  • First priority is good nutrition habits
  • Other first priority: Plan your meals! Meals should be a little higher protein diet with real, whole foods (vs packaged) such as meat, fish, eggs, plan yogurt, nuts, beans, vegetables, and fruit.  
    •  
    Preworkout carbs - 
    A tip and a myth: There is no carb loading for a workout! Most likely, You don’t need to eat carbs for pre-workout energy. As long as you have consistent eating pattern you should be fine. 
    Muscle glycogen provides more than enough fuel for an hour workout. And your workouts shouldn't be much longer than that, possible a tad more if you do a slow warmup and cooldown.
     
    Post workout carbs- Another tip and a myth: Bulking with carbs after a workout is not necessary. Sure, after training is a good time to have carbs to help with recovery, but it not the end of the world if you delay those carbs to your next meal. However, Post-workout can be one of the optimal times to eat higher carb foods (which means those carbs that are not green vegetables and low- glycemic fruits).
    Here's why:
  • After a workout, your metabolism is increases so you’ll be burn calories quicker.
  • For recovery, the body uses carbs to replenish muscle glycogen instead of storing them as fat. 
  • Carbs release insulin, but foods high in protein can also elevate insulin. 
  • Insulin is the storage hormone produced by the pancreas in response to food, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. 
  • Insulin warehouses the stored form of glucose, known as glycogen, in muscles and the liver. 
  • Insulin helps in recovery several ways: 
    • It enables amino acids to repair damaged tissues and build muscle mass. These effects are considered anabolic or muscle building. workouts invokes a variety of stress responses in the body. 
    • Inflammatory response. This occurs when you push your muscle and metabolic limits. if no inflammation is initiated, then strength and related performance adaptations would be impossible. You need it to get better! So your body produces inflammatory products and insulin increases recovery by way of suppressing them. 
  • Keep in mind that Insulin production is largely influenced by exercise and diet, especially the consumption of carbohydrates and protein. Which is why meal planning is so crucial. 
 
Motivation 
 
Make a written plan: 
  • organize by sequence, ie chronological
  • set priorities on these items
  • Review your plans regularly
  • revise plan if needed
  • every minute spent in planning saves ten minutes in execution.

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