In This Week's Issue:

• Motivation (Point of view)
• Healthy Recipe (Apple-Cinnamon Bread Pudding)
• Featured ISSA Trainer (Who said you can't be in YOUR best shape after kids?)
• Featured Fitness Article (Staying Power: A New Method of Training Endurance Athletes!)

Motivation

The first minute

Are you way too busy to get something done? Then go ahead and do it as soon as you can.

Waiting until the last minute never makes the task any easier, and it always makes the work more stressful. Going ahead and doing it at the first minute, as soon as you know it must be done, can save you an enormous amount of time and energy.

Because when you go ahead and do what must be done, you don't have to waste a lot of time worrying about it and wondering how you will ever find the time. Putting something off in order to save time really ends up costing much more time.

So the next time you're tempted to wait until the last minute because of time pressures, think of what you would be doing. You would, in fact, be making things worse.

Instead of putting something off until the last minute, put it on your schedule the very first minute possible. Then go ahead and get it done.

The time you save will enable you to get much more done. The peace of mind you gain will be priceless.

Fitness and Health Magazines Keeping inspirational and informational magazines around is a great way to keep motivated to improved health and fitness.  We carry hundreds of quality health and fitness publications at up to 70% off newsstand prices.   Men's Health   Woman's Health   Weight Watchers   Shape   Muscle and Fitness   Herbs for Health And 100's More! Click Here to View More.

Healthy Recipe

Apple-Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups nonfat milk
• 3/4 cup sugar-free maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup fat-free egg substitute or 8 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 4 cups whole wheat bread, diced
• 2 cups apples, diced
• 1 cup raisins

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
• Add the egg substitute or egg whites to the mixture and stir thoroughly. Add the bread, apples and raisins, stir well. Set aside to soak for 25-30 minutes.
• Coat a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray (nonfat) and pour batter in. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm.

Nutritional Information:

• Serving size: 1/2 cup
• Calories: 180
• Fat: 0.5 g
• Cholesterol: 1 mg
• Protein: 10 g
• Carbs: 33 g
• Fiber: 4 g
• Sodium: 60 mg

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Spotlight Trainer of the Month: Julia LaTorre, CFT

Who said you can't be in YOUR best shape after kids?  You can!  It's just like anything.  You have to want it bad enough.

Once you learn that, nothing is impossible.  You're all set.  My philosophy is, "If they can do it, so can I!"  That's just how I live this very day.  I believe we are all the same.  What one can do, so can someone else.  But, in order to be successful at anything, you must take the steps of someone that is successful.  Stop being jealous of people that are where you want to be, and start getting inspired, that's where the power lies.  Once you have that frame of mind, you're ready to go.

I was inspired with fitness at the age of 15.  I learned at that age I loved the way a fit body looked.  My girlfriend at that time introduced me to a dance school.  I had always wanted a dancer's body.  I was hooked instantly.  I ended up studying ballet for 7 years.  It's amazing how certain people enter your life for a reason.  Who knows if this would have happened had I not met this friend?  Many doors opened through my dance career.  I was asked to meet a photographer for some possible modeling jobs.  I was thrilled!  So that was the beginning of a new passion of mine.  I did very well and to this day, I am still getting work.  I owe it all to having a fit lifestyle.  Most of my work has been geared towards the fitness industry.  And I did it all myself.  What a feeling!

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As time went on, I was introduced to weight training at our local gym.  I was ready for a new challenge.  How perfect!  With the help of the trainers, I was educated in the proper form in weight lifting, and shown many different way's of training.  It was at that moment I was hooked.  I couldn't wait to see what all my hard work was going to look like.  Once I saw results, I just couldn't stop.  Why would you want to anyway?

After I was married at the age of 25, I was ready for motherhood.  I never worried much about gaining weight with my pregnancies, I knew I had enough knowledge to fix anything I didn't like when I was done.  I didn't do much during my 9 months, but walk.  After I had my daughter, I bounced right back.  I had no idea that being in shape before pregnancy could do such magical things to you, after 9 months of stretching and gaining 30 pounds.  Life was good!  After my daughter was 3 months I went back to the gym.  It was very hard, because I had to go at night by myself to workout.  That got old fast.  I then created my own little gym in my basement, adding equipment little by little, and stayed home to train.  It's been 12 years since I've worked out in a gym.  I only do it at home now, and I Love it!  You have to be self motivated, which I know I can teach others to become just that.  I like the privacy of being home, and the fact I don't have to get in my car to drive anywhere.  For me, it was easier. I also liked not needing a sitter.  I was free to workout at anytime, not only when everyone was in bed.  My basement is not even finished; I don't have fancy equipment, just what I need to work every part of the body.  Also, if you teach your children to respect the time your in your gym, they will.  

At the age of 30 I had my second daughter.  I knew after I had her, I wanted to become a Personal Trainer.  I felt I was on to something great.  I learned I could teach other woman to have what I gave myself.  After having two girls, I started thinking about another child.  I was a little nervous at first, about what a third pregnancy would be like, but I went for it.  And it all worked out great.  I had my little boy!

While raising a family as a stay at home mom.  I was preparing myself for when they were all in school.  So I started the Personal Training program through ISSA.  I took my time, being I had little time for peace and quite and still accomplished it.  And now my youngest is going into the 1st grade and I can begin my career as a trainer.  I've waited long and worked hard for this moment, and I know I can be a great example of what can happen, if you work hard and stick to it.

Some great advice I can give is to be independent.  If you wait for people to go to the gym with you, you may be disappointed when they can't make it.  So, take charge of your own destiny.  If you need help in a gym, ask for it.  Learn as much as you can, and become your own best teacher.  You can also get a trainer if you want the one-on-one training. That's the way to get the most out of everything you're working towards.

As lastly, Have a great vision of yourself looking your best, and see yourself no other way!

This article was provided with the consent of ISSA - The world's best and most trusted personal training certification organization. To learn more about ISSA programs and work with other great trainers like Julie.

Staying Power: A New Method of Training Endurance Athletes!
Nathan Mosher, CFT, YFT

One of the biggest problems with strength training for endurance athletes is the following: should I train like a strength athlete, like an aerobics instructor, or do I just skip the weights altogether? Most of the time, you'll see runners training with weights one of two ways:

•  like a bodybuilder

•  like a wimp, meaning they will lift the 5 pound dumbbells ad nauseum thinking that this is creating endurance.

Let me state for the record that both methods are completely wrong. Big surprise there, right? Let me make another statement that I'm sure you'll love. There is much research regarding strength training for endurance athletes out there, but you must be selective in where you look. Some of the top sports scientists in the former Soviet Union and East Germany looked into the proper methods of endurance. And while your local Road Runner club president might think that he knows the “right way to train for runners”, I'm willing to bet that he doesn't.

So just what have these scientists and coaches found? We'll get to that in short order. Let me first give some definitions of strength endurance. Yuri Verkhoshansky, a top athlete and strength researcher from the Soviet era, describes strength endurance as, “involving muscular tension without a decrease in working effectiveness over a long period of time” (Verkhoshansky, 1986). Thomas Kurz takes a similar approach when he talks about “the ability to continue work for a required time without lowering the quality of work” (Kurz, 2001). Notice here the common theme of resisting fatigue , which is the primary goal of endurance training. After all, if you are pooped out after 15 minutes, you're not much of a runner, are you?

Endurance Performance Factors

The physiological factors most often affecting the endurance athlete are categorized into local endurance factors and general endurance factors (Kurz, 2001). Local factors affecting endurance include the strength of a particular muscle group, the energy stores in a particular muscle group (i.e. muscle glycogen, fatty acids, phosphate compounds), and the density of capillaries in a particular muscle.

General muscle endurance factors include the strength of all muscles involved with the activity, the energy stores in the muscles involved, cardiorespiratory factors (i.e. stroke volume, blood vessel integrity, Max Vo2, etc.), and homeostatic factors that play an essential role in any anaerobic activity (i.e. buffer capacity of blood, ability to tolerate high acidity in the blood).

With me so far? This stuff makes sense, right? You have to develop endurance in the proper muscles needed for your activity, and you need to make sure that all of these muscles can perform for the entire duration of your event, otherwise you will still be limited by your weakest link. Remember, our chain is only that strong.

Hitting the Weights!

So, for the average long-distance runner, just what should that person be doing in the gym? German scientists have utilized two basic strength training program with their athletes for years with great success. These two basic methods of strength training are known as the intensive interval method and the extensive interval method (Hartmann and Tunnemann, 1995). Each method has a slightly different focus, and endurance athletes looking for an edge to their performance should utilize both.

The extensive interval method is used primarily for athletes needing to acquire high endurance capacities within a given unit of time. This method increases the athlete's ability to resist fatigue during lengthy activities (e.g. marathons). To train with this method, there are a few guidelines that you need to be aware of.

First, all weight training sessions should be performed in a “circuit” format, whereby you train on one exercise, rest, the move to exercise #2, rest, exercise #3, etc. until you have completed all of the exercises for that day. You then repeat the circuit 3-6 more times. This is critical to perform since “station” training will not be as effective. Station training refers to training one exercise completely before moving to the next exercise, similar to how most bodybuilders train. Remember your goals…you are not training for a bodybuilding contest, therefore your training should not resemble theirs.

You will also be training the entire body each session. This promotes a greater release of growth hormone, and increased levels of lactic acid production, which will enhance the body's ability to remove this waste product when competition arrives.

Extensive Interval Method Guidelines

The intensive interval method is most effective with helping improve resistance to fatigue during short-term muscular endurance training of medium to high intensity (Hartmann & Tunnemann, 1995). This format will help endurance athletes to generate high-endurance performance by exploiting both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems (Hartmann & Tunnemann, 1995). Theory points to the fact that the arteries are blocked during the contraction phase of the exercise and the relatively short breaks involved. The volume for this format is slightly lower than with the extensive interval method, owing to the increased intensity levels.

Another important aspect of the intensive interval method is the regulation of repetitions. For this method we will not be concerned with numbers, but time . You will perform reps for 20-45 seconds, with 30-second sets being the average. You need to time yourself somehow, and a digital timer on your watch with a countdown function works best in this regard. Don't worry about the number or reps you complete , just keep repping until the time limit is up.

Intensive Interval Method Guidelines

To periodise these methods, you should focus on the extensive interval method during most of your pre-competitive phase, adding in the intensive interval phase just before your competitive season. Even long-distance runners need to do this, as the intensive interval method will help the athlete with the “burst” needed at the end of a race. Be careful with your planning with each method, since overtraining is a distinct possibility when dealing with strength training and long-endurance training.

If you have any questions about how to structure your workouts with these methods, please feel free to contact me at ndmosher@hotmail.com or through my website at http://www.pinnacleperformancesport.com I will help you arrange your workouts and get you to the finish line fresh!

Breaking Away From Tradition…Thankfully!

These routines may seem “different” when compared to what's out there currently, but in many cases, different is what is needed! Ask yourself if your current weight routine has been making any difference in your runs, and then take the chance to try out these methods.

References:

Hartmann, J & Tunnemann, H. (1995). Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports: Theory, Methods, Programs . Sport Books Publisher: Toronto.

Kurz, T. (2001). Science of Sports Training . Island Pond, VT: Stadion.

Verkhoshansky, Y. (1986). Fundamentals of Special Strength Training in Sport . Livonia, MI: Sportivny Press.

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Nathan has a BS degree in Health Science and is currently completing his Doctorate degree in physical therapy.  He is the owner or Pinnacle Performance, a sports enhancement and personal training company in Albany, NY.  Nate is certified through the NSCA, NASM, and ISSA (CFT, YFT).  You may visit his site by going to: www.pinnacleperformancesport.com

This article was provided with the consent of ISSA - The world's best and most trusted personal training certification organization. To learn more about ISSA programs certification programs .

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