Why Do You Exercise?

Image courtesy of evbsportsshorts.com

Why do you exercise?

My n=1 Study

Image courtesy of diabetesinformationabout.com

This past Tuesday marked 17 years since I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  On this day I would add another layer of insight into how I can better-manage this diseased state.

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!

I knew that sound.

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!

Crap.  It was 7:30 AM and I was in the middle of working with a client.

Beep!  Beep!  Beep!

My pump was dying.  I was no longer going to be receiving insulin from it.  Crap.

Image courtesy of libertymedical.com

This wasn't the first time this had happened so I knew how to execute my backup plan.  I also knew that the last time this happened my blood glucose levels ran between 250 and 350 for the next 24+ hours until my new pumped arrived.  I knew I felt miserable that entire time, and I knew I didn't want to experience that again.  This time I'd call an audible on the backup plan.

I decided to run an n=1 study on myself.

Over the course of the next 24 hours I would only inject myself with insulin at very specific times, opting instead to manage my blood glucose levels as well as I could using mainly diet and exercise.

I would exercise vigorously multiple times throughout the day and limit my carbohydrate intake to as few as possible.  I decided I would continue this as long as my blood glucose levels stayed below 200.

Over the course of the day my blood glucose fluctuated between 70 and 130.  In fact, it wasn't until 6:30 PM that evening that it got up to 190, after which I injected myself with insulin to try to combat the rising glucose concentration.

Image courtesy of athleticrepublic-germainarena.com

Image courtesy of oaclubs.wordpress.com

I had three different exercise sessions that day, each lasting between 30 and 90 minutes and each combining aerobic endurance training with higher volume resistance training, after which I would administer an insulin injection.  I did the injections post-exercise to try to take advantage of the immediate increase in glucose transport post-exercise in hopes that doing so would keep my blood glucose levels lower.  Additionally, I limited my food intake to meat, vegetables, and a protein shake.

Image courtesy of goldendreemz.blogspot.com

Overall, this emergency strategy worked very well for managing my blood glucose levels.  The highest my levels got after bringing them down from the initial reading of 256 was after I woke up the next morning.  At that time I tested in at 211.

Additionally, I cut my average daily insulin intake in half.

While this strategy is by no means something I would want to try right now for a longer duration--I felt completely exhausted by the end of the first day--I believe it did prove effective as a form of short term emergency maintenance.

To me, this only further exemplifies the importance that a proper diet and regular exercise can plan in managing diabetes.

Your body.  Your training.

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform? You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the box below!

Intro to HbA1c

Image courtesy of prediabetescenters.com

Over the next couple of months I would like to walk through rough overviews of my final project for one of my graduate classes this term.  The project is to come up with a hypothesis that has not already been tested and use current research to explain the biological mechanism by which the null of my hypothesis would fail to be rejected.

The Aerobic Deception?

Image courtesy of crazyhealthyfit.com

Note:  This post is more of an update on what is running through my head (scary) than an actual factually-based post.

For the longest time I was under the deception that aerobic exercise was "bad".  From creating poor hormonal profiles for muscle building to being an inefficient means of calorie expenditure to the consequences of the almost certain mechanical stresses that were being inappropriately applied to a system, I was not very "pro-aero".

"Neuroligically Hardwired" Movements

Image courtesy of lesfemmesportive.wordpress.com

Last week I engaged in an awesome discussion on Twitter regarding my post "Lunges vs. Leg Press". It was essentially three solid days of tweets being sent back and forth between my account and another account discussing our particular view points. Near the end of the discussion, the owner of the other account brought up the idea that movements such as lunges and squats are (paraphrasing) movements that are hardwired into our brain and nervous system.

I have heard this argument before, that these two movements, in addition to others, are being considered "basic human movements". My understanding of statements like these is that squats, lunges, hip hinges, and the like are movements that all humans know how to perform and therefore should take precedence in training and exercise programs. I happen to fundamentally disagree with these thoughts.

The Other Half of the Rep

Image courtesy of jfit360.com

A challenge I've been presenting some of my clients with recently is for them to make the movement they are doing as challenging for themselves as they lower the weight as it is for them when they raise it.

Articulating The Goal

Image courtesy of fieldacademia.com

Building off of last week's post--"What's The Goal?"--I think the importance of being able to articulate that goal to your client (if you are a personal trainer) needs to be discussed.

What's The Goal?

Image courtesy of well-girl.com

What is the goal of the exercise you are doing?

It's Not About The Reps

Image courtesy of vivavitamins.com

"How many reps should I do?"
"I feel like I should be able to do more reps."
"I could do more reps if I didn't have to think about it."

6.3

Image courtesy of expressmedicalsupplies.com

As someone who has been diagnosed as having type-1 diabetes, having testing done on me has become commonplace over the past decade and a half plus.  This past Friday I went in to have my blood drawn to test (among other things) my A1C scores--an indicator of my average blood glucose levels over approximately the past three months.



A year ago my A1C came back at a level of 7.3.  This time it was down to 6.3--an entire percentage point lower than it was this time last year.

Image courtesy of prediabetescenters.com

Comparing my lifestyle choices between this year and last, it was initially difficult for me to see any major differences.  In fact, this time last year was when I was in my early stages of sleeping 3 hours a night--a phase that would last until mid March of this year--so I would not have been surprised if  things were the same or worse than before after running on such little sleep for that long.  However, the more I thought about it, the more some little choices I have made began to surface.

While I have been getting more sleep over the last four months, a few other things really stood out to me when I was thinking about lifestyle changes I've made.

The first two I have already written about in previous posts--intermittent fasting and the effects that has had on my blood glucose levels as well as the effects receiving regular MAT™ sessions have had on my blood glucose levels.  But the third thing that I've really changed over the past year is not yet something that I've written about exclusively.

One factor I have decreased over the past 12 months is the frequency, duration, and relative intensity of my exercise.  I used to exercise six to seven days a week, most of which was done at extremely high intensities.  These exercise bouts used to force me to elevate my blood glucose levels into the 200's beforehand and then by the end I was either down in the 120's or I continued to elevate into the 250's and beyond.

I'd be exercising for anywhere from one to three hours at a time, all of which from time to time would lead to massive drops in my blood glucose levels either later in the day or that night.

By decreasing the frequency, duration, and relative intensity of my exercise, I have experienced fewer swings in my blood glucose levels.  I can begin my exercise session at lower levels (closer to 140) and usually end up between 80 and 100 with there rarely ever being a delayed hypoglycemic reaction.

Just as exercising more appropriately for my body has relieved me of many of the joint aches and pains I used to experience on a daily basis, exercising appropriately with the understanding of the stress that exercise can potentially create and adjusting thing accordingly may have helped relieve me of the massive blood glucose swings I used to experience.

While a year ago I loved everything about what I did while I exercised, taking a step back and coming to the realization that it just wasn't working for my body in multiple ways has allowed me to see just how powerful of a tool exercise is.

Realizing this can't help but beg the question, "Is your exercise right for your body?".

Your body.  Your training.

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article on your blog, in your newsletter, or on any other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the yellow box below!

Exercise Is A Stressor

Image courtesy of navstress.files.wordpress.com

A perspective that I have have been developing for a while and have been communicating to others more recently is the idea that understanding and appreciating that exercise is a stressor is of the utmost importance for an exercise professional.


I believe that this is in part what the RTS™ idea of "exercise is invasive" is trying to convey--having the perspective that what we do on the outside profoundly affects the inside and understanding and accepting the responsibility that comes with that.

My application of this idea as of recent has been beyond simply the mechanical stresses that are imposed upon the system when strategically challenging motions and positions.  I think to fully be able to appreciate this idea you have to have some notion of what else in a client's life is creating stress, whether it is them eating foods that don't agree with their system, poor relationships with those they interact with, or a highly-demanding work environment, as well as a lifestyle structure that does not allow for adequate recovery from these other stressors.

Stress, as I am defining it in this context, is "the body's reaction to change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or response" (About.com).

Because of this viewpoint that exercise in its most basic form is a stressor, I am of the belief that a huge part of my job as an exercise professional is to manage this stressor for the time a client is with me relative to the other stressors they are currently having to deal with.

Image courtesy of healthonabudget.com

This means that if a client comes in and says they had a really stressful day at work and they need a hard workout to get their mind off it, I stand there and tell them that it would be a breach of my ethical and professional guidelines to do that.

This means that if a client comes in and says they were at holiday parties all weekend so they need an intense workout to get all of the alcohol out of their system and burn of the 40,000 calories in hotdogs, potato salad, and pies they ate, I stand there and tell them that it would be irresponsible of me as a professional to add to the stress that their diet put on their system by challenging them at the intensity they are requesting.

This means that by attempting to take an inside (the body) view of exercise, I cannot see losing weight, improving health, fighting disease, or feeling better as (superficially speaking) eat less move more issues.  Instead, I have to see them as internal environment issues.  Which means I have to know how my tool of choice (force) may potentially affect the internal environment such that I can effectively manage my tool to the best of my ability in order to allow for an internal environment to be created within my clients that allows them to lose weight, improve their health, fight disease, and feel better.

Exercise is a stressor, and with that perspective comes the responsibility of understanding that what you as an exercise professional are doing may be furthering someone's issues, not relieving them.

Your body.  Your training.

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the yellow box below!

"Supertraining" and Machines: Part 3

Image courtesy of heroturko.me

There is a lot that could be said about the remaining six paragraphs of section 4.2.7.2 in Supertraining regarding "Non-Functional Resistance (NFR) Machines", but in an attempt to do more than debate every sentence, I want to pick out one concept that is brought up in these paragraphs.  Also, if you haven't already checked out Part 1 and Part 2, now could be a good time to do so.

What I want to discuss is this idea of "stabilizers".  I had an epiphany about this a few weeks back.  See, I used to be very anti-machine and pro-dumbbell and barbell.  And by "used to" I think I really started switching how I view things around February or March of 2012.  There are a number of ironies with this, not the least of which is that I would gladly use knee flexion machines (leg curls) but would stay away from chest presses, leg presses, and every other kind of machine like the plague.

Image courtesy of juranring.co.uk

Looking back, this selective bias towards knee flexion machines and away from everything else was completely void of reasonable logic, but regardless I thought I was sound in my reasoning.  Although until a few weeks ago, I couldn't recall exactly what that reasoning was.

I had multiple discussions with people where they were telling me the exact same thing that I tell people now and where they would use the exact same logic that I use now, but it wasn't clicking in my head at the time.  In fact, I was very against what they were saying.

Finally, after spending over a year trying to remember why I disliked machines so much, it finally hit me one day:  I was under the belief that if you exercised using machines you wouldn't work your "stabilizers".  In fact, for years before I got my first exposure to studying anatomy via the Muscle Activation Techniques™ internship, I thought there were muscles whose sole purpose was to "stabilize" and they would be neglected if I exercised on machines.

Here's the thing:  labeling a muscle a "stabilizer" or "prime mover" or whatever else you want to call it is essentially denoting a muscle's ability to produce or prevent motion around an axis.  Think of it as a continuum where a "stabilizer" has less of an ability and a "primer mover" has a greater ability, but each has an ability.  It's just that one is less than the other.

Image courtesy of iarfonline.com

And because each has an ability, each should have the mechanical opportunity to prevent or produce motion around the axis in question.  This means that when you sit down in a chest press machine, your shoulder "stabilizers" don't automatically shut off as I once firmly believed would happen.

Image courtesy of au.lifestyle.yahoo.com

So what is a possible difference that you may be feeling when doing, for example, a dumbbell chest press on a flat bench compared to a chest press on a machine?  Because of the restraint imposed by the architecture of the machine the amount of skill needed to successfully perform the desired motion is dropped way, way down to almost, if not right at, zero.

With increased passive restraint and decreased skill requirements comes the ability to challenge tissue to a greater degree.  Greater mechanical challenge to the tissue provides the opportunity to develop stronger muscles, which brings us to the question:

**Are you performing chest presses to improve the skill of pressing or to increase the ability of the muscles performing the presses to produce tension (force)?**

Your body.  Your training.

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the yellow box below!

Making "Stupid" Smarter

Image courtesy of chess.edu.rs

One thing I try work through in my head are ways to go about taking exercises that may be completely inappropriate for a client and manipulating the variables of the exercise in order to make it appropriate for their abilities and goals.  As a professional, I think this is an important skill to develop.

Precision and Quality

 

Image courtesy of medxpf.com

"The outcome of an exercise will only be as good as the precision with which the motion/position is performed and the exact way it is challenged.  It all boils down to the quality of each individual rep!"  (Purvis, Tom.  Resistance Training Specialist™ RTSm Science 1 Manual.  4:7.  2012.)

Above is one of my favorite excerpts found in the RTS™ course manuals.  These two sentences, for me, involve a huge portion of the process of exercise.

When I read this excerpt so many concepts come to mind--structure, progression, immediate/short-term/long-term goals, exercise mechanics, the exercise equation, satellite vs. zoom, communication, cuing, current status, current abilities, fatigue, length-tension, equipment selection--all things that should be taken into consideration when designing exercises and applying forces to the body.

How precise are you with your force application?

How precise are you with what you are moving and what you are holding still?

If you had to justify how you went about doing things with mechanics, physics, or physiological principles when you exercised or trained somebody, could you?

Image courtesy of ibbl.lu

If you had somebody watching over you taking notes and then questioning you afterwards, could you justify the earlier choices  you made?

What are the effects of your choice of exercise equipment on your ability to maintain the chosen position while performing the chosen motion?  Did those effects play into your choices?

If the concepts mentioned above do in fact determine the outcome of an exercise, what kind of outcome are you creating by either not considering all of the details or, if you are, not having the discipline to see to it that the details are maintained for the duration of the exercise?

If the positions, motions, or presented challenge are randomly chosen, can you expect the outcome of the exercise performed to be anything but?

I am by no means perfect at any of this, but I think it is something good to think about and remind myself of and question myself on on a frequent basis to try to ensure that I am providing the best exercise experience and process for my client and myself that I can.

What level of precision and quality do you expect and require of yourself?

Want to learn more?  Take RTS™.

Looking for a place to study some of these concepts in greater detail?  Join the Precision Human Performance study groups!

Your body.  Your training.

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You may, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yellow box below!