Second Day Soreness

This came up as a great question in the comment section and I wanted to re-post about it in case you missed it.  Feeling stiff and/or sore after a workout is quite common, especially when you are just starting out.  You mostly notice this soreness the next day or even worse, two days later.  There is usually one of two reactions that occurs when this soreness kicks in:

1. "I love this feeling!!  Feels like I've been hit by a bus but I love it!  Man, I know I had a great workout!"
OR
2. "What the heck happened?!?  I injured something!  I am never going to workout again!! What's wrong with my body??"

Why this soreness occurs
The scientific term for the soreness is DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).  The intensity of the soreness increases in intensity over 24 hours post workout, peaking at 24-72 hours post workout (why you often feel the worst two days later) and then gradually subsides over 5 to 7 days.  During this time your muscles may feel sore to move and possibly even to touch.  You will feel as though you have a significantly reduced range of motion through the joint.  As for why it occurs, there are a few suggested reasons:

1. 
   
   minute tears in the muscle tissue,
   
   
   
2. 
   
   fluid buildup in surrounding tissues,
   
   
   
3. 
   
   muscle spasm, and/or
   
   
   
4. 
   
   overstretching and possible tearing of connective tissue.
   
   
   

The first possible cause seems to be the most widely accepted.  As we work out or participate in new activities that our body has not done for a while, we create tiny tears in the muscle which cause an inflammatory response.  It is this response that causes the stiffness and discomfort.

Reducing the pain and/or stiffness
While you may not be able to completely avoid the soreness there are some steps you can take after your next workout to hopefully reduce your discomfort.

1. Avoid heat or hot tubs immediately after your workout. The heat actually brings more inflammation to the area. You'll feel much better if when having your post-workout shower turn the water as cold as you can stand it and let it run over your legs (or body parts that you worked that day). The cold will actually reduce inflammation and hopefully decrease the soreness.
2. Stretch! While the research is torn on whether or not this actually helps with soreness, you may as well try it and see. It certainly won't hurt you :)
3. Force yourself to do the cardio the following day and the next too! As sore as you feel when you first start moving the best thing you can do is move and get the blood following to clean up the inflammation. I promise you that as much as the first 5 to 10 minutes may be uncomfortable, it will get better and you will feel much less stiff after. The more you sit, the stiffer and stiffer you will become.

I'm not feeling sore anymore...
If you are one of those people who LOVES the soreness post-workout, you will be disappointed to learn that every workout will not and should not make you sore the next few days.  DOMS is not an indication of how good of a workout you had.  I cannot stress this enough... DOMS is NOT and indication of your workout intensity!  As your body becomes use to working out and participating in the activities, the soreness will diminish or completely go away. 

You need to gauge your workout intensity DURING your workout.  If you are not giving 100% or you leave feeling like you could have done a lot more, chances are you need to increase your intensity.  But if you left feeling like you gave what you could to the workout or activity, you intensity was perfect.  It is certainly not our goal to make you feel like you've been hit by a bus for a week after seeing us!

Questions or comments, we would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan Zapata

What You CAN Do - Part V

This is it, the final two steps for putting your weight loss plan all together.  You have had almost a month now to implement the previous 8 steps, how are you doing?  What do you find easy?  What do you struggle with?  Not everyone's struggles will be the same but just know that you can do it, one step at a time.  The last two steps bring everything it all together.

9. Creating A Plan
The old saying is true... "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail"!  You can have every intention to do the right thing but without making an actual plan it's easy to fall off the wagon.  Your plan needs to include prepping your food for the week or at least a few days and your workouts.  Whether it's signing up for classes, going to a training session, meeting a friend for a workout, etc.  Plan out your entire week and schedule when you are going to fit in your workouts and when you are going to fuel your body. 

Plan out what your meals are going to look like for the week.  What you are going to have for dinner each night and as well breakfast, lunches and snacks.  Grocery shop for the week and prep food by cutting up veggies and fruit, cooking lean meat and making a large pot of rice.

True, this may sound like a lot of work.  But truth be told, it should take less than a couple hours and it will make the rest of your week run much more smoothly!  We understand that sometimes life happens but if you have a plan in place you are much less likely to derail from it.  Try it out and see what happens...

10. Don't Beat Yourself Up!
As we just stated, life happens!  Sometimes even the best laid plans just don't happen that day.  The most important thing to remember is this does not mean to abandon everything!  Indulged too much on beverages and snacks one night?  Get right back on track the next morning.  Miss your workout, try and sneak in some activity that day (even if it's ten minutes, it's better than nothing).  Stressed out?  Do something for YOU (a hot bath, meditation, workout, etc). 

The point is, breaking one of the steps, even all the steps doesn't mean that all is lost.  We are our own worst critic and more often than not our own biggest obstacle!  It's time to push all those negative thoughts aside.  If you are honesty doing the best that you can at that moment, then give yourself a break.  Find happiness in your life and everything else will fall into place.  Go to sleep every night knowing that you did your best that day, maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was something.  And something is always better than nothing...

Time to put it all together now and start seeing the changes you are looking for.

Questions or comments, we would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan Zapata

What You CAN Do - Part IV

Considering this blog has taken me a lot longer to write than I anticipated, you should have had a lot of time to put the first 6 steps into action.  How have you been doing?  Remember nothing worth doing is easy but the payoff is BIG.  Take small steps and see huge changes.

Now it's time to talk about how you should be monitoring these changes and why keeping a log could make a big difference!

7. Weigh Yourself Regularly
You've probably heard a lot of conflicting information on this one, everything from "Throw the scale away" to "Weigh yourself daily".  So which is it?  Recent research out of the University of Minnesota compared those who weighed themself daily to those whoe weighted themself weekly to those that didn't weight themself at all.  Daily weighers lost an average of 12 pounds, while weekly weighers lost an average of 6 pounds and non-weighers lost an average of 4 pounds.  Those that weighed themself daily lost double the weight of weekly weighers and triple the weight of non-weighers!!  The results speak for themself.

Why is this?  It appears to be easier for most people to make small corrections in their lifestyle and behaviours when their weight is not going in the direction they had hoped.  It gives us immediate feedback and gratification. 

Is daily weighing for everyone?  Absolutely NOT!  Daily weighing can be encouraging when seeing success but can be discouraging for those reaching a plateau or not getting the results they were hoping for.  Weekly/regular weigh-ins should be sufficient for most people.  Excessive weight gain is virtually impossible within a one week period, therefore if you weigh yourself on a weekly basis you should still be able to make changes if needed. 

8. Log Your Actions
Another thing that research has shown is that keeping a food and activity log helps with weight loss.  It really works on one simple premise... your awareness for what you are eating and doing becomes heightened.  A lot of our snacking is done on the go or while we are preoccupied with other things.  When you have to actually account for what you are putting in your mouth, you may choose to not actually eat it.  Or have a much smaller portion. 

Even better, let someone see the log.  Your trainer, a friend, your spouse, someone who knows what your goals are and is willing to be supportive. 

Your food log should contain the time of day you are eating, where you are and who you are with (ie. driving in your car by yourself; at home at the table with family, etc.), your mood (happy, tired, stressed, bored, etc.), what you are eating and how it is cooked and the amount (actual or guesstimate).  It should also contain everything you put in your mouth, including liquids. 

After a couple days start to look for trends and make changes.  Maybe you notice that you aren't eating enough vegetables, start adding them in.  Or maybe you notice that you always eat when bored after the kids are in bed or while studying for an exam.  The point is by logging you are able to tweak your diet and start to really see some weight loss changes.

Next up the importance of planning ahead and tips for stopping the negative self talk!

Questions or comments, we would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan Zapata

What You CAN Do - Part III

Three of the first four tips were about what you needed to do more of - move more, sleep more and eat more often!  Now it's time to talk about what you need to do less of to be successful in transforming your body shape.

5. Reduce / Eliminate Alcohol Consumption
Sorry... I know you didn't want to hear it, but it's true!  If you are really truly serious about transforming your body and changing your shape the alcohol has to go.  I know you are already thinking... "Wait just one minute, alcohol in moderation is good for me! It's all over the news, it's full of antioxidents, heart healthy and brain healthy compounds!"  Ok, yes, there has been some research stating that as much as one to two drinks daily can be beneficial for your health.  However, none of these studies have been saying that alcohol, even in moderation, is good for you waistline.  And truth be told, it's not!

Why? Not only are most alcoholic drinks filled with empty calories and full of sugar but if alcohol is in your system, your body has no choice but to breakdown the alcohol first and foremost for energy and store all the rest.  What does that mean exactly?  If you drink a Jack and coke, the calories coming from alcohol (7 kcal per 1 g of alcohol), must be converted to useable energy and used before any of the calories coming from carbohydrates also found in that drink can be used.  Our body then stores the unused calories until later, and if we don't use them later, you guessed it, they go right into our fat stores!

When you decide that losing weight or reshaping your body is your number one focus, alcohol, for the most part, has to go!

6. Watch Your Portions
Venti, Supersize, Large, Grande... whatever you want to call it, our portions have gotten dramatically larger.  Restaurants are giving us larger servings, beverage containers have grown and even cookbook recipies claim to make less servings than the same recipie 20 years ago!  Even our plate sizes have increased dramatically (and not wanting to have an empty plate, we fill 'er up).  As you can imagine as we increase our potion sizes, we increase our caloric intake.  Just that alone can lead to weight gain but combine that with a sedentary lifestyle and the effect can be catastrophic!

Watching your portion size is something that you have to be very conscious of as the new supersized environment is all around us.  When going to a restaurant, ask for only a half order or have the waiter only bring half of it out and the remaining packed up in a doggy bag to go.  When given a choice of sizes order the smallest, chances are it will satisfy you, if not, you can always order more.  Repackage food when you get home from the grocery store. Buy small ziploc bags and place proper portions of snacks in them.  This not only makes it easy to grab and go but also limits the overindulging that can occur with the entire package.  Buy smaller plates to eat off of.  Your plates will look just as full and research shows this will trick your mind into thinking it has eaten enough. 

Be aware of not only what is going into your mouth but how much of it is.  You would be shocked by how big of an impact watching your portion size will have.  Just by making this change alone, you will lose weight guaranteed!

Coming up next, tips on monitoring your progress and the importance of keeping a log.

Questions or comments, we would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan

What You CAN Do - Part II

You've had 24 hours to get moving and get sleeping.  How'd you do?  Don't beat yourself up if nothing changed, just remember the definition of Insanity - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result!  In my opinion, it's easier for you to start adding in some of these steps as you go along.  Master 1 or 2 and then master a few more.  You'll fell less overwhelmed and you're much more likely to stick with it.  Regardless, let's talk about number 3 and 4.

3. Space Your Meals Every 3-4 Hours Apart
I am almost 100% certain that this is nothing new to you.  Fitness and nutrition professionals around North America have been preaching this for year now.  But why is it so important?  Your energy level isn't the only thing that your diet and nutrition directly affect.  Food and nutrient timing also affects hormones in your body responsible for fat storage and fat mobilization.  In other words, if your meals are too far apart, your body will go into fat storage mode in order to ensure that there is energy for activities that may be coming later.  However, if you can keep your hormones balanced, your body will continue to release fat as an energy source, confident that your energy demands are not going to exceed energy intake. 

In a typical day, where you are awake for 16 hours (ensuring you are getting 8 hours of sleep per night), you should eat 4-5 meals a day.  An average male should aim for 400-500 kcal per meal and an average female should aim for 350-450 kcal per meal.  These can be space out as breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner.  Notice there is not after dinner snack, I have chosen to advise against it, only because late night eating is often done on the couch, in front of the tv and is mindless.  This can lead to over indulging in unnecessary calories and junk.  If this is a habit you currently have, replace it with drinking a large glass of ice water with lemon or herbal tea post dinner.

4. Control Your Stress Level
There are two types of people in this world, those that eat when stressed and those that can't!  However, regardless of which type you may be, a high stress level could still be affecting your waist size.  Increased stress increases your cortisol level.  Yes, the same hormone that was increased when we didn't get enough sleep in a night.  Leading to an increased appetite and/or increased fat storage in your abdominal region. 

Even if we don't tend to "overeat" when we are stressed, chances are that the food we are choosing aren't the best.  Our mind is often distracted and busy thinking about our stressors that we don't pay attention to what we are putting into our mouth.  It may lead to increased habits of grabbing food on the go (rarely a healthy choice to be found), snacking on high sugar, high fat or empty calorie snacks and/or taking in too many calories through liquids (such as alcohol). 

In order to decrease your stress, you must first become aware of what is causing it.  Sources of stress can come from anywhere, pay attention to when you are feeling the most stress and if there is a way to remove yourself from the situation.  A lot of stress comes from temporary situations such as deaths, divorces, moving, new job, etc... Discover what stress busting strategies work best for you and begin to implement them immediately.  Some strategies include meditation, journaling, participating in team sports or individual physical activity, etc.

Add these 2 tips to your weight loss/body shaping strategies to start to see some real results!  Tomorrow we will discuss alcohol and portion control.

Questions or Comments, I would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan

What You CAN Do - Part I

Body shaping, weight loss and weight management isn't easy... but you knew that, right? All too often we hear about diets, fads and programs that are designed to make us lose a lot of weight in a short period of time. 9 times out of 10, they don't work! You can't help but feel hopeless... "How could I not have lost 20 pounds in 4 weeks?? Everyone else in this book has!!" You then decide that you are destined to be this way forever... it doesn't matter what you do, nothing changes anyways. You don't have the time, the willpower, the money - whatever it is that you feel is holding you back (besides yourself of course, it's never actually your fault).

It's time to realize that yes, weight loss and body shaping isn't easy BUT it isn't rocket science either. Over the next five days, I'm going to reaffirm the top 10 things you need to do to make changes in your health, fitness and of course, your body shape!

Let's get started!

1. Move (and it's probably more than you think)

Alright, I know everyone is looking for the bare minimum you need to do to see results, but let's be honest; you need to move to see results. So how much do you need to dedicate to cardiovascular activity? 200-300 minutes a week. That works out to five, 40 to 60 minute cardiovascular (heart pumping, pore opening) workouts every week! I already know what you're thinking... I don't have that much time, are you crazy?! That's the truth though...and there are 10,080 minutes in every week to get those workouts in. That means that just under 3% of your time each and every week needs to be dedicated to cardiovascular workouts. When I put it that way, it really doesn't seem so bad does it?

What about intensity? How hard should these workouts be? The research shows us that a combination of activities and intensities are actually best. Most of those workouts should be at a moderate intensity (able to easily recite a nursery rhyme/or hold a conversation during activity), some of these workouts should be slightly harder (able to recite a nursery rhyme but with difficulty) and some should be considered hard (unable to recite a nursery rhyme). They can't all be too hard or you will never recover and they can't all be too easy or you won't see the results you were hoping for.  To ensure you are working in the right zone, ensure that your Personal Trainer has prescribed heart rate zones for you to monitor.

And strength training? Absolutely necessary! You should complete 2 to 3 full body resistance training programs every week and lift enough weight that you fatigue the muscles used. In other words, you need to make sure you train each body part twice per week and that you are unable to complete many more reps than your chosen rep range. Your body needs to be pushed in order to compensate and come back stronger than before. These workouts also need to be done on non-consecutive days in order to give your muscles the rest and recovery they need to grow and change.

Even though this may seem like a lot, remember every single one of us has the same 10,080 minutes every week. Prioritize your health, fitness and weight loss goals to see results. You can make it happen!

2. Sleep

Now that you are moving more, I also want you to sleep more! You should aim to get 8 hours of sleep each and every night. Why? Not getting enough sleep can actually lead to weight gain! Not getting enough sleep can make you feel irritable, depressed, angry and cranky - think about what most people do when they are emotional. That's right, we often turn to food (and usually it's not all that healthy). On top of this, research has shown that when we haven't had enough sleep, our cortisol levels increase. Cortisol increases your appetite (and may make you feel hungry when you're not) and can lead to increased weight gain in the abdominal region (the most dangerous region for your health).

The other downside of not sleeping enough? The less you sleep, the less you may actually move! So in order to be truly successful at moving more, you need to sleep more. Great news for those of you looking to hit snooze on the alarm clock just one more time!

There's no reason to wait until you have all 10 tips to get started. Make these two changes immediately and add the other points as we go.

Comments or Questions, we would love to hear them!

In Health,
Jessica & Tristan

Because You Were Looking For Another Excuse...

As your lying in bed, driving home, sitting on the couch or whatever it is you do before you normally go workout - maybe your debating whether or not you should skip today's workout or just get it over with... TIME magazine has now given you the ultimate excuse to just skip it!!

"Exercise Won't Make You Thin"

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin is the title of a recent article written by John Cloud for Time Magazine (http://bit.ly/nNK4m). To sum up the article Cloud basically sites studies claiming that exercise doesn't do anything in terms of weight management and has even found a few experts backing this up. He claims that the more we move, the hungrier we get and therefore the more we eat. He even goes as far to say that not only do we eat, we overeat. The ultimate conclusion, exercise is making us fat!

What?!?!

Some of the points he makes are valid and yes, he has found research to back them up. However, we need to remember that research studies are usually conducted in very controlled environments and situations. For example; the study published in PLoS ONE had 4 different groups of women working with Personal Trainers for varying times a week. The women in the study were specifically told NOT to change their dietary habits during this time. Which means that the trainer was most likely not able to advise or counsel on any nutritional aspects and most likely was not able to suggest any other lifestyle modifications to promote weight loss. In other words, these women didn't really get the full effect of personal training. They had someone design an exercise program for that allotted time slot (perhaps even the same program for everyone versus individually designed) and take them through the motions. As any of you reading this who have worked with a Personal Trainer before know, that's just not what Personal Training is.

A Personal Trainer is not just someone who is there to count your reps and check your technique. Yes, these are aspects of their job however education and individualized program prescription for the client is their first and foremost responsibility. I have yet to hear a fitness professional congratulate their client on a great session and then tell them to celebrate by eating a pizza. Sure, maybe the client has noticed that they are feeling a bit hungrier but that doesn't mean that they should indulge in whatever they feel like. In this day and age, with all the health, fitness and nutrition information out there, I have a hard time believing that anyone actually believes this as well. Honestly, who thinks working out for 60 minutes a few times a week grants you a license to eat whatever you want!

In my opinion, Cloud is obviously looking for publicity and a way to increase readership in Time magazine and I guarantee this will work. Funny that he talks about the conspiracy of play places in fast food restaurants, but what about his underlying motivation to write this article.


With over 10 years in the fitness industry, client and personal experience shows me that when a person is exercising, they actually have an increased energy level, making it easier to enjoy other activities such as playing with their kids, walking up stairs and going for an evening stroll. People engaged in a fitness program overseen by a professional also tend to make better food choices as they have the education, accountability and support to do so, PLUS they quickly realize how much better they feel when fueling their body correctly.

All in all this article had me pretty fired up. I have dedicated my career and it is my passion to get people moving and buy into the value of exercise. The last thing the North American population needed was another reason not to get moving and to not include exercise in their weight loss goals. Trust me on this one, we do not have an overweight and obesity problem because we are doing too much exercise!!

Questions or comments, I would love to hear them!

In Health,

Jessica & Tristan Zapata