How to Finish a 5K

Personal trainers are in a unique position of being able to help people better themselves.  Personal trainers can actually make a difference in a person's life.  One of a personal trainer's first clients is usually a friend or family member.  Everyone wants to be healthier.  Everyone wants to be in better shape.  One of the easiest things to do is to get them to start a cardiovascular program.

Not everyone can start jogging right away.  You will want some of your friends and family members to start a walking program.  A walk for as little as 10 minutes can actually get someone started on their way to a 5K.  Slowly increase the exercise duration and exercise frequency.  Once they are in better shape, they will be able to perform intervals.  For example, they can start jogging for 30 seconds and walking for 2 minutes.  Again, as they increase their cardiovascular fitness, they will be able to jog for more time while walking for less time.

Hopefully, somewhere along the way they have signed up or a local 5K for some additional motivation.  Accomplishing a 5K goal (walking or running) will not only bring on physical benefits; but, your friends and family members will experience a huge emotional lift as well!  Have fun and good luck!!

Shoulder Press Does NOT Work Shoulders

Shoulder press does not always exercise your shoulders. In fact, most people in the gym keep the movement too high to stimulate your deltoids.  Most of the work will be done by your trapezius muscles, specifically your upper trapezius, if you keep the movement above parallel.

The primary action of the middle deltoid is shoulder abduction up to 90 degrees.  In other words, your deltoid is almost completely contracted when your humerus (upper arm) reaches 90 degrees which is about parallel to the floor.  In order for your upper arm to move any higher, the movement has to be completed by the trapezius muscle.

Therefore, lateral raises are a better exercise for stimulating your deltoid while shoulder press above parallel is better for your traps.  However, if you perform the shoulder press through a broader range of motion, one where your upper arm dips down below parallel and also well above parallel, you would have stimulated both the deltoid muscle and the trapezius muscle.  Happy lifting!!

Reading Food Labels

Our clients are sometimes confused with food labels.  Here is an example of a test question on our Sports Nutrition Exam.

If Jane ate the entire bag of 94% fat free popcorn, how many total calories would she eat?  How many of those calories come from fat?  How many from carbohydrates?  How many from protein?

One bag of microwave popcorn has about 2 servings.
Each serving has:
2g fat, 27g carbohydrates, 4g protein.

There are 9 calories in each gram of fat; there are 4 calories in each gram of carbohydrate and each gram of protein.

Fat calories = 2g x 9 calories x 2 servings = 36

Carb calories = 27 x 4 x 2 = 216

Protein calories = 4 x 4 x 2 = 32

Total calories = 36 + 216 + 32 = 284 calories.

In summary, make sure you look at the number of servings in each bag/box/can/container.  Multiply the number of servings with the amount of grams on the food label and the number of calories per gram of each macronutrient. 

Also, don't forget, this was 94% fat free popcorn.  Most popcorn has more fat grams thus more calories.  Time for a movie and some popcorn :)