Getting Fit: A Balancing Act
Countless people bust their tails in the gym every day, sometimes burning thousands of calories over the course of the week. Sometimes they work a resistance training program with such intensity that they are in an almost constant state of muscle soreness. But some just aren’t seeing the results they want and become frustrated. In cases like this, the lack of results can be from a lack of balance in other areas, usually in nutrition and rest. In actuality, three components – exercise, nutrition and rest – should work together in perfect balance.
If nutrition isn’t in line, it can sabotage everything done in the gym. Even if we burn insane amounts of calories, we may not lose much fat because we still didn’t burn enough in comparison to the calories that where consumed. And if enough time wasn’t given to recover in between resistance training sessions, the muscles many not have been given enough time to rebuild before being broken down again. And sometimes eating at the wrong time (large late night snacks) can negatively affect sleep, robbing us of energy during the next training session.
Let’s take a closer look at the three components of this “fitness balance”:
Balancing Exercise
An effective exercise program should include both resistance/strength training and cardiovascular work. In general terms, people with a goal to reduce fat in their body composition should strength train at least 3 times a week (with a day of rest in between sessions) in order to build muscle density and raise metabolism (which burns more calories while at rest). They should also incorporate a cardiovascular training component 5-6 days a week in order to burn big calories per session and help their caloric balance. Of course, variation in both strength and cardio training is important so the muscles will be forced to continuously adapt to new stimuli. This will encourage consistent progress.
Balancing Nutrition
After taking a big step forward with exercise, this is where most people take two steps back in their progress. Look at food as fuel – fuel for our engine that runs hot when we work out at the gym. The better quality fuel we put into our tank the more efficiently we’ll burn that fuel and the more it will help our muscles. But the fuel tank is only so big and the amount of fuel that is taken in should be kept under control. This doesn’t mean some unsustainable calorie restriction; it means to find a responsible window of calorie intake that we should aim to hit every day. Once we have an idea of that caloric window, we need to account for macronutrients such as protein, fats and carbohydrates, and the different types of each. (Some are better than others). Logging your food intake on websites such as www.livestrong.com goes a long way toward understanding how much fuel you’ve put into your tank.
Balancing Rest
Rest is the most under-rated aspect of this balancing act. This is because it runs opposite of what most people think is important – they believe that quantity trumps quality, and if they aren’t working it hard every single day then they are slacking off and won’t get results. In fact, recovery time is just as important as the work. If you don’t give the muscle fibers enough time to mend and rebuild after being broken down from the overload of a workout, then they will continue to be broken down and won’t rebuild and reshape. This also begins to present a higher risk of injury. And “rest” isn’t just referring to days off; it also means sleep. Quality sleep plays a huge role in our energy systems and wellness in general.
Work on keeping your “fitness balance” and you’ll go a long way toward achieving your goals and avoiding frustrating plateaus.
About this LFF Blogger – Brian LaFrazia is a Certified Personal Trainer and Les Mills RPM Instructor at the Tampa Palms LFF. Brian’s RPM classes run Monday and Wednesday nights at 6:30 p.m. and he can be reached for any questions regarding Personal Training at blafrazia@lff.com.
Topics: Fit Lifestyle | 2 Comments »
July 29th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Great article. I know rest is the piece of the puzzle that I have been missing most. It truly is a balancing act.
September 21st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
You can’t stress the benefits of low fat high protein enough.