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(And how to avoid falling into the trap that it doesn't!)

Welcome to the Gym in January. I'm sure those of you who've been going might be a little horrified by how busy it seems to be, I know I am. I had to sign up thirty minutes in advance for the tread mill last week. We all know why there's a huge push in January to go to the gym. And sadly, most of us know if we continue our weekly gym visit through February and March that rather quickly, your chosen gym will develope more free machines, and more space to breathe in. This is in part due to the bettering of the weather as people go into the wild outdoors, but it is tragically also in part due to people losing track of their New Year's resolutions.

If you hate the crush of people in the gym, you can wait and come back in February, and I'd like to make the case that its important that you do. (Though finding exercise outside the gym is allowed, encouraged, and celebrated!)

Fitness is an integral part of weight loss, there are other ways to cut it, you can lose weight without exercising, but universally exercise helps with losing weight and a host of other potential issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, stress, and general longevity. Exercise can decrease the fat that might be waiting in your liver like a shark under the surface of the water, even if you're not overweight.

There was a Time Magazine article in 2009 (August) that was titled “Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin.” Look it up if you must, but also pay attention to Tom Venuto's “Why Time Magazine Owes the Fitness Industry a Big Fat Apology.”

The crux of the Time article was that exercising causes increased appetites for food and decreased appetites for further exercise. We know it as compensation. Our bodies don't always want to do what we want them to and I know that my body complains when I add onto my fitness regimen as yours must too.

We all know that if we have french fries after going to the pool and swimming for an hour that we're doing our body a disservice in two ways. One. We're undoing the calorie deficit benefit that we've given ourselves. And two, we aren't actually feeding our body the way we should to make up after a work out. If we find ourselves ravenous after a trip to the pool or gym (the pool especially for me) it's pertinent to pack a small snack for after. Trail mix provides protein and that little extra bit of salt that your body will be craving without giving it the oil, starches and excess of salt that your typical cafeteria/canteen/quickest-food-source-possible will give. And the best part is that if you pack it yourself ahead of time, you're in the rational before-gym head space and portioning out that ¼ cup serving will be easier.

After-gym soreness/lethargy can put a cramp in future exercise plans, but it is often easily overcome. There are things you can do to help yourself before you start feeling sore at all.

The first is key to avoiding injury as well, so it's very important. Warm up first. Hop on a treadmill, elliptical, bike or even free standing (running in place, jumping jacks, jump rope) and slowly start a 5-10 minute session. And then stretch. You could also park far away from the gym if you drive, get off a stop earlier if you bus, or walk/bike the whole way to the gym if you don't drive or bus. Treat that as your warm up and stretch first thing when you get to the gym. You might not get the deepest stretches out of it, but that's not quite the point of this stretching session. A list of great stretches for your warm up. http://www.netfit.co.uk/stretching.htm

Edit: Stars pointed out that static stretches are not the only stretches out there and indeed are a bit better suited to your cool down. Hip circles, ankle rotations and dynamic stretches can be important to add, here are some good dynamic stretches, http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/dynamic-stretches.html don't ever go any further than your body feels like it can go with these because you can hurt your body if you overextend yourself.

As the stretching handbook says: Stretching is a critical part of the warm up, but stretching is NOT the warm up. They go past these first two steps, but for regular gym visits, you can get away with just the first two. I regard the third and fourth steps of 'warm up' to be for training athletes more than your regular gym goer.

The second thing you can do to keep your soreness at bay is to keep hydrated throughout your gym visit. This doesn't mean large gulps of water whenever you can get it, but it does mean taking some sips when you feel you might need them. Usually this comes naturally, the main point is not to go through a gym visit without drinking.

The third thing is stretching after your exercise. Ending your gym visit with a stretch session is a nice end to your cool down session (which is like your warm up session : ) I usually do my stretches twice, running through my set, and then doing them again. You'll be amazed at how much deeper your stretch goes after you've done it once. You can incorporate your warm up stretches, yoga poses or specified 'cool down stretches' here are some from the same site as the warm up stretches: http://www.netfit.co.uk/stretching_cool_down.htm

Fourth: Stay hydrated throughout the day. Keeping hydrated helps your body process what you've been doing it. It also helps you rehydrate after you've been sweating. Your body can't process much more than ½ cup water at a time for the purposes of hydration. Any excess just moves through your body and helps flush things out.

Fifth: ... can you guess? It's stretches. Run through some stretches before bed. It can be anything you want, but it keeps your muscles from settling into one spot after strenuous exercise and it helps clear out lactic acid build up.

If you find yourself sore the next day after exercise anyway, often the best thing is to get some light activity. Going for a nice walk can get your muscles moving and a light stretch after will help more than Advil and sleep. But, our bodies can use rest after strenuous work too, so taking a day between your gym visits or exercise sessions is not unwise.

And the last thing on soreness, is that it is terribly temporary. Your body is a well functioning machine and as long as you're treating it right you can make it do some rather extreme things. When your body adjusts to your new regimen, and that can be as fast as a week if your regimen is daily (this is usually in the case of things you can't procrastinate on, like an extremely strenuously active job), you won't be sore, and you'll feel fantastic.

Nutrition when you're going to the gym is important and there are a few things to mention in regards to going to the gym.

This is from Familydoctor.org

“A pound of fat is about 3,500 calories. To lose 1 pound of fat in a week, you have to eat 3,500 fewer calories (that is 500 fewer calories a day), or you have to "burn off" an extra 3,500 calories. You can burn off calories by exercising or just by being more active. (Talk to your family doctor before you begin any type of exercise program. Your doctor can help you determine what kind of exercise program is right for you.)

The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to eat fewer calories and be active. If you cut 250 calories from your diet each day and exercise enough to burn off 250 calories, that adds up to 500 fewer calories in one day. If you do this for 7 days, you can lose 1 pound of fat in a week.

Many experts believe you should not try to lose more than 2 pounds per week. Losing more than 2 pounds in a week usually means that you are losing water weight and lean muscle mass instead of losing excess fat. If you do this, you will have less energy, and you will most likely gain the weight back.”

If your goal is not to be on a 'diet' diet, but a life diet, meaning a rough guide for how many calories you will eat each day for the rest of your life. This ought to be based on your BMR. (Basal Metabolic Rate) you can compensate for the exercise you've done by eating a little bit of a larger meal if you like, however that does not mean fries and or ice cream.

Exercise doesn't excuse you for an extra brownie, sessions in the gym rarely burn more than 200 calories, and an extra brownie can blow that out of the water. The reduced fat chocolate chip banana cake from starbucks has 290 calories, one chocolate caramel pretzel has 260 calories. Once in a while they're great treats, however eating one every time you go to the gym can add up. An extra 60 calories, three times a week is around two pounds gained in a year.

HOWEVER.

That calculation, it looks wonderfully frightening doesn't it. I know it puts the fear of Scale into my heart. It's not really taking into account that when you go to the gym, you're running along the steps to gaining muscle. Muscle burns three times as many calories as fat does. (Fat burns calories! 2 a day per pound. Muscle burns 6 calories a day per pound.) Building muscle doesn't come immediately, and it does take time (especially for the ladies, when weight training don't be afraid of getting bulky, unless that's your express goal, it's very unlikely to happen).

So having just given an argument, detracted from it, and being very confused myself, the main point is equilibrium. We want balance in our lives. Denying ourselves forever the treats that we enjoy (which need not be starbucks) is not balanced, but neither is compensating for exercise every time we do it with something extra or more.

Aside from burning calories though, exercise has many benefits that will put you in the place where you can lose weight or minimize harm even if you're not. For example:

Exercise helps with stress. As long as exercising is not what stresses you out, the endorphins brought about by exercise can cheer you up and calm you down. Being at the gym can help psychologically because you know you're doing something good for yourself, but the gym doesn't work for everyone. For some of us being at the gym is what is stressful and depressing. If this is the case for you, there are other avenues available for you. Swimming is a great no impact, whole body exercise. Walking (especially on varied terrain) is excellent too and can bring you to lovely scenery. And there are lots of super fun fitness DVDs like Zumba Fitness and Turbo Jam.

Exercise strengthens your muscles and helps you become more flexible which can help you deal with physical injuries (those not caused by attacking your exercise regime too fast too soon).

Again exercise helps us build muscle which helps us continue to burn fat.

And at the very least, when we are more fit, when we do need to burst into action, running for the bus, running to class or work, or running away from something trying to get us, becomes a lot easier.

Before I started going to the gym, I used to say “If I'm running you had better run too, because something terrible is chasing me.” The sad fact was that before I started going to the gym, I couldn't run for a minute straight.

And so there are many benefits to going to the gym or becoming more fit, and weight loss is only one, so don't give up if you made a resolution to get to the gym or get out to exercise more often. You've got all the reasons in the world to keep it up.

Sites mentioned:
Why Time Magazine Owes The Fitness Industry A Big Fat Apology: http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2009/08/why_time_magazine_owes_the_fit.php

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-2,00.html

Warm ups from The Stretching Handbook.
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/warm-up.php

Warm up and cool down stretches:
http://www.netfit.co.uk/stretching.htm
http://www.netfit.co.uk/stretching_cool_down.htm

Family Doctor.org
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/food/improve/795.html

BMR Calculator
http://www.tlbc.ca/blog/index.php/bmr-calculator/

It's an article I wrote for another community, however I'll add in the fluid stretches. Thanks,: )

You can find ways to exercise at home. 3nodding

I agree with the home exercise. Especially since I smell like guy's locker room when I work out. gonk


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