Stacey Greenberg, a freelance writer here in Memphis, decided to join Memphis Adventure Boot Camp. She lived to tell about it and has written an article in the January ‘10 issue of Memphis Parent Magazine. Check out her experiences here: http://www.memphisparent.com/2010/01/workout-warriors/. Also, check out her amazing, award-winning blogs at http://diningwithmonkeys.com/.

Memphis Adventure Boot Camp is the premier fitness offering for the women of Memphis. Get the complete package of fitness while doing it with other likeminded women. Memphis ABC meets for 4-weeks at a time all year long. You have nothing to lose but fat and you have your new body to gain!

First, let’s look at the issue from a perspective of natural history. (Dexter: Let’s take evolution with a grain of salt. There’s always evolution occurring in the world and we don’t have to view it as a religion vs. science thing.) Our evolution into the human species from our ape ancestors is thought to have occurred some 2.8 million years ago. Spanning the duration of this vast period, it should strike you as interesting that the first reported heart attack in the U.S. occurred in 1920, only 12 years after the grain industry began hydrogenating plant and grain oils. Now, I personally find it interesting that there is such hype over cardiovascular exercise as necessary prevention for heart attack or even heart disease, when such diseases were relatively nonexistent less than 100 years ago. That’s but a flash in the pan of human evolution.

Our next logical question should be, did our ancestors regularly participate in cardiovascular exercise? Not likely. First of all, it would not be energy efficient to run around gathering berries, firewood and nuts in your target zone. Nor would it have been wise to run through the bush trying to get a workout while hunting, since any animal would hear you coming from hundreds of yards away and be long gone by the time you got there. If there was a cardiovascular stressor in our native environment, it was most likely when we had to send a messenger to a neighboring village or during times of battle, when you were either running or fighting for your life.

When you look at most sports played today, recreational activities, and work related tasks, the great majority of them place anaerobic demands on the body. Now, surely some of you grew up on a farm or have done hard labor before. When performing any intense work, you begin breathing faster and faster…in fact, you will go aerobic within a few minutes if the work efforts demand so much of your anaerobic energy systems that the demand for energy can’t be replaced by intermediate and anaerobic energy systems (fast glycolytic and aerobic).

I have many memories of bucking hay; the bails weigh 75-120 lb., yet you’ve got to keep up with the tractor as it moves through the field (no, my dad didn’t let me stop for a minute every 12 bails).

When you have thousands of bails to haul in, and will be in the field for hours at a time, you will soon find that your anaerobic stimulus (the bails) produces a demand that the purely anaerobic phosphagen system can’t maintain on it’s own (it only lasts about 8-12 seconds), resulting in ATP production by anaerobic glycolysis and aerobic metabolism respectively. By this very mechanism, our anaerobic capacity is recharged during sports such as tennis, soccer, hockey, basketball, etc., that require explosive movement for prolonged periods of time.

I use hay-bucking because it is a real-world example of how we have maintained aerobic fitness from the beginning of human evolution. If you can follow my logic here, you should be wondering why we are so encouraged to offer aerobic exercise to our patients and clients by most every medical, physical therapy, chiropractic and personal training education program that exists. It’s simple actually. It’s the very same reason we are being told that we must eat a high carbohydrate diet for energy…why doctors tell people they must take this or that drug…BIG INDUSTRY INFLUENCE.

Quite simply, there’s not much money in the manufacture and sales of dumbbells, weight plates and Olympic bars, but there are huge amounts of money to be made if you can convince the masses that aerobic exercise is necessary for disease prevention. After all, have you priced a treadmill, step mill, spin bike, rowing machine, elliptical machine or any such equipment lately? They cost anywhere from several hundred, to several thousand dollars per unit! They often have hundreds of moving parts, which wear out, break and need to be replaced. How many Olympic bars or dumbbells have you replaced lately? It is not at all unusual for a gym or rehab clinic to spend $75,000-$100,000 on cardio equipment alone, and, they will need to be replaced every few years; the same facilities often don’t spend more than $15,000-$20,000 on free weight training equipment and it can last the life of the gym. Yes, I know they spend large sums of money on fixed axis resistance training machines, but that is but another sign of industry influence and professional passivity!

When you get several large equipment manufacturers with multi-million dollar investments in the production of aerobic exercise equipment, you can rest assured there will be a comparatively large commitment to creating an aerobic exercise consciousness. The proof is all around you, in your exercise and bodybuilding magazines, trade journals, on TV infomercials, in your training manuals from most educational institutions. Who do you think sponsors the educational institutions and pays for the supportive research?

So Who Needs It?

The issue is not one of prevention of cardiovascular disease by aerobic exercise, it is an issue of getting the right kind of exercise to benefit both your physiology and meet the demands of your work and sports environment. For example, aerobic conditioning is not general. If it were, any world-class marathon runner could jump on a bike and win the Tour De France, or even the Hawaii Iron Man! Strength training is also not general; there is a very finite amount of carryover from one lift or movement pattern to the other. Otherwise, the best squatter would be the best dead lifter too.

Everyone needs to build fitness, yet for fitness (aerobic or anaerobic) to last, it must be built upon foundation health principles. Proof of this premise can be seen when world-class marathon runners (Jim Fix) and champion bodybuilders (Lou Barry, a former Mr. Australia) die of a heart attack at an early age. When we eat correctly for our metabolic type, eat high quality organic foods, eat regularly to maintain our blood sugar levels in an optimal range, get to bed at a reasonable hour and learn to manage our stressors, the addition of an exercise program of any type becomes truly therapeutic and offers disease prevention. Aerobic fitness atop the standard American diet (SAD!) of Carbohydrates, Refined sugar, Additives and Preservatives (CRAP!) will not offer resistance to disease. In fact, it may well bring it on! Why? That’s simple…because exercise is a stress and if you add more stress to an already stressed system, it will crash.

You may think this is simple, logical, straightforward stuff, but it isn’t, because again, there is BIG money involved here. I will site one of hundreds, even thousands of examples; Scripps Hospital here in San Diego recently partnered with McDonalds. So now McDonalds feeds all those sick and dying people in the hospital their SAD CRAP, while they pedal away on bikes, pump pedals on stair masters, and about every other expensive aerobic machine you can imagine!

Functional Aerobic Fitness

While you are in the process of vitalizing your body from the inside out, I recommend that you choose movement patterns that offer injury prevention and improved performance in the environment where you work and play.

While exercising, all you need do is wear a heart rate monitor and determine your target heart rate zone. If you want a greater aerobic stimulus than your work or training environment is currently providing, simply shorten your rest periods. In short order, you will progressively get a greater aerobic response to the stress impinging upon the system via the activity you have chosen. If your heart rate begins to rise too high, simply take a little longer rest period or decrease the number of repetitions you are performing or the amount of time under load.

If you follow this simple guideline, you will learn to “eat, move and be healthy!” and, you will have the greatest form of prevention of heart disease you could ever have, HEALTH!

http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm

I don’t have time. My Memphis Adventure Boot Camp for Women meets at 5:30 a.m. I consider it the “no excuse” time.

Working with Dexter is too expensive. Answer #1: Maybe it is, but my new assistant Anna Langston has learned the same synergistic approach of the Power of 5 to be an extremely effective and lower cost option for you. Schedule the sessions in a way you can afford. Answer #2: My Memphis Adventure Boot Camp for Women is only $14.95 a session so you can’t tell me that I am too expensive to work with.

I don’t exercise during the times you don’t meet with me. OK, Memphis Adventure Boot Camp for Women meets 5X a week so you don’t have to think about any of that anymore!

The eating part is where I have the most trouble. We all do! I am in the final stages of working with a person who will offer a 5-meal or 3-meal option that is supportive of the Power of 5 fitness approach. Definitely be looking for that in the very near future.

I don’t have enough time to eat five to six meals a day. See above. Also, I have found a super-excellent option from Dr. Fred Hatfield. His meal replacement squares taste SOOO EXCELLENT! I have an account set up through the website, so you will need to use my trainer code when checking out. It’s 114330.  Here is the direct link to these awesome bars. http://drsquat.com/propower/supplements/meal-replacement-squares He has other products I will review in the upcoming months.

Exercise isn’t fun. Memphis Adventure Boot Camp, myself, and Anna all specialize in making sure you get what you need in exercise. You never know what you are going to get in a one-on-one session or Memphis Adventure Boot Camp!

I don’t have support at home. OK, then look elsewhere. There’s nothing like having 49 other women and me   giving you the support you need to get through the week! On a one-on-one level, we get to the root of your issues and work to find the best way to help you to be inspired and encouraged throughout the week!

I think that almost wraps all the excuses up. You now know I am here to help Memphis become fit, healthy, and reverse disease.

Be Better,

Dexter

Structured People

My fiancé is very structured. She needs to know every aspect of exercise and plan accordingly. She attempts to plan for the exact time of day to exercise. She needs to know that her environment is stable with a constant cool temperature. She needs to know what equipment is available to her and she needs to know the exact exercise routine she will be doing. She finally needs to know where she is heading in her progressive routine. Anything other than this is chaos and there doesn’t seem to be a point to it. She gets anxious and doesn’t want to do it if it doesn’t follow her needs.

Does this sound like you too? Cool. Don’t think there is anything wrong with you. Embrace what you need in order to exercise. Plan out your routine and training situation. Make sure you have it the way you like it. Also, put your routine time into your calendar and STICK TO IT! Not sticking to it will create a sense of hopelessness and if you find yourself doing that, then tweek areas until you find the right mix. Once you find the correct ingredients, follow a progressive exercise plan that challenges you and your body to respond in a positive way. You still don’t feel in control? Find a truly qualified personal trainer or group class that follows the rules of proper body transformation to help you along the way.

Unstructured People

If you are an unstructured person, you need to have variety in your workouts. You need to not be confined to a certain way of doing things and you are constantly looking for ways to make your exercise routines more fun and exciting. OK, this is good! However, let’s give you a few guidelines in order to keep your free-spirit mind from going over the deep-end (literally) while still getting that creative need out of you.

A good exercise program allows you to vary your workouts. You like this of course! Just remember to make your exercise progressive. Go for a hike. Do your entire resistance training outside with nothing but your bodyweight and the environment as equipment. Try a new sport. Explore new ways to do the same old exercises. Just keep it safe and progressive and that’s all you need! Progression refers to intensity of exercise, focus of exercise, and duration of exercise. Progress in duration of exercise until you need to increase its intensity. Also, if you did a lot of lower body exercise one day, make sure you incorporate some upper body movements the next time. For example, if you played basketball for cardio, which is great of the lower body, try canoeing later in the week for some upper bodywork too. Not sure how to do this and need new and better ideas? Find a truly qualified personal trainer or group class that follows the rules of proper body transformation to help you along the way!

Of course you could be a hybrid of the two people, which is sort of like me. I need unstructured structure if that makes sense. Pick and choose the elements for your particular needs. Have fun! Be safe! Get results!

Be Better!

Dexter

]]> http://dextertenisonfitness.com/blog/2009/06/sandi-rogers-testimonial/feed/ 0 http://dextertenisonfitness.com/blog/2009/03/why-i-can%e2%80%99t-support-nbc%e2%80%99s-the-biggest-loser/ http://dextertenisonfitness.com/blog/2009/03/why-i-can%e2%80%99t-support-nbc%e2%80%99s-the-biggest-loser/#comments Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:46:26 +0000 Dexter Tenison, MSS http://dextertenisonfitness.com/blog/?p=194

I help people become more lean, more fit, and more healthy. I emphasize with my clients to lose 1-2 pounds of fat a week in order to keep their metabolism high while still getting fat loss results. However, the contestants of the biggest loser seem to defy my advice by losing a whole lot of weight in a short amount of time while looking great. Here are some of my top key things I see as flaws of the show:

• The severe exercise program and calorie restriction weight loss is not from fat, it is actually mostly water, not fat loss. This has little value towards improving health and fitness.
• Losing more than this a week will slow down metabolism due to muscle loss. Muscle is the metabolic tissue that burns calories. It is true that the body will use some of the body’s fat for energy during this time, but it relies much more on amino acids. Where does the body get amino acids? That would be stored in muscles, which have to be broken down to be used. Your body actually catabolizes itself if you were to go on an extreme program like the ones you see on the show! Gross!

• The contestants have excessive skin due to the extreme weight loss in a short amount of time. Skin does not reshape as fast as the rest of the body when extreme measures are taken and the end result is having extras flaps when waving goodbye to people.

• The show tells viewers that in order to get extraordinary results, they must enroll into a fat camp that has a controlled environment that has a sole purpose that revolves around exercise and dieting. The average person may be able to train 1 hour a day, most days of the week. On the show, the contestants train 6 to 8 hours most days of the week. This is an insane and impossible task for most people that would result in injuries and people not being able to pay their bills!
• Finally, if you follow the contestants after the show you will notice that most of them will gain the weight back (sometimes more) after the show. If the point was to keep the weight off instead of gain it all back, was this successful? Here are just a few examples:

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/oprahshow/20090112_tows_followup

http://www.celebritydietdoctor.com/ryan-benson-biggest-loser-follow-up/

I’m not a fan of the show because they do not do things the best possible way for a successful fat loss program. This show has the prime opportunity to send people the right and accurate message on how to lose weight and keep it off forever. This show and others like it are simply other “diet” programs that fitness professionals have to fight against because most people keep searching for the “miracle pill” for fat loss that does not exist. They must begin to implement the concept of continual progress, consistency, nutritious eating, and the other components of the Power of 5 Fitness Program. If watching the show gives you inspiration to exercise and eat better, who am I to say it is bad? Remember, the key is to learn how to effectively take what is learned about behavior modification and apply that to the daily rigors of real life, then participation in the show is worthwhile.

Be Better,

Dexter

This is the New Year and many people have decided they are going to stop their inactive ways and begin exercising. You can tell by the packed gyms across the city. It seems everyone has the bug to shed those extra pounds and become more healthy.

It is a funny thing that in January, there is always a huge increase in sales for the fitness industry. However, in March, the gyms seem to be pretty empty and that “boom” they received in January is now a thing of the past.

Why is it that this occurs? There are numerous reasons, but one big reason is due to time. Today, it seems that being a human requires so much time and there just isn’t enough hours in the day to “fit fitness in.” I like that term because a fellow personal trainer friend, Holly Kouvo, uses that as her business name. Visit her site at http://www.fittingfitnessin.com/. She has helped many people lose over 100 pounds of fat with her services. I am glad to be a friend of hers.

If you want to “fit fitness in” you have to ask yourself a question. This question is “Does my current body, fitness performance, and/or health status cause me pleasure or pain?” Honestly sit down and think about that question. Answer it truthfully. Your answer will probably surprise you. If your answer is “pain,” you now need to ask yourself a new question. This question is, “If I could find a very efficient way to exercise and eat better, can I fit fitness into my life?” Initially, your mind will try to go to the negative and say “no.” If this is the case, I want you to refrain from this thought process. Answer the question with a “yes.” Now, begin to think about your entire day. Think of the possible gaps in your schedule you have. Maybe you work 12 hour days, but as soon as you get home, you watch TV for an hour. Maybe you have some time in the morning you spend with yourself before you go to work. Maybe you goof around in 20 minute time spaces a couple of times a day (You know what I am talking about corporate world =). I have yet to find anyone who doesn’t have some time that isn’t efficient.

Now you have done the pre-requisite questions, you now know you want to improve your body and mind, and you have found time in your day. The final step is to sit down at a calender and block out time with yourself. This time is a scheduled appointment most days of the week for you and you alone. No one nor anything can break it. You sat down and thought about this time as exercise time and now it’s yours! The work has to wait (Where is it going, by the way?). The children have to either play on their own or exercise with you! The husband or wife has to understand and support. The dog has to wait until it’s cardio time. This is your time and no one can take it away from you.

When completing your workout, put a check my your calender to let yourself know you did it. Having a lot of check marks on a calender really has the feeling that getting a lot of stickers from the teacher for getting good grades feels. Plus, it gets you consistent with exercise, which is one of the real tricks to it all. 

Scheduling time to “fit fitness in” with a calender is such a great tool to use. You can even use it with just about everything in your life. I kid with my clients, “If it ain’t in my calender, it ain’t happening.” I have to live by my calender due to meeting clients and I do the same with exercise. Get that calender and begin to succeed!

Be Better,

Dexter

Best for Fitness?

I was recently taken aback by a client’s statement. While discussing the option of reopening a permanent location, she informed me that when people go into a fitness studio, they have a minimum expectation of exercise equipment. However, as fitness knowledge has advanced we have learned that stationary equipment is not only unnecessary but can be a hindrance.

In the 1970s, Nautilus came out with their first exercise line of machinery. The intention was to use each piece of equipment for a specific type of training called HIT (High Intensity Training). The cams on the machine allowed bodybuilders to hold the static position safely. So, an example of HIT training using Nautilus equipment is the leg extension. You can extend the leg while sitting and hold that position statically for a period of time. Also, Nautilus figured out that they could make a profit by selling a whole line of equipment to gyms. This would, theoretically, allow clients who go to the gym exercise “safely” without the fear of dropping weights or getting injured.

The pinnacle of success for exercise machines occurred from the 1980s thru the 1990s. Every gym had to have at least one line of equipment in order to be considered a proper gym. However, around 2000, fitness experts began to come out and criticize the sole use of exercise machines. They had three main concerns: active injury, passive injury, and limited ability.

Since the machines are “stuck” using the same exact motion every time there is an increased chance for overuse injuries. Imagine a biceps curl machine moving up and down only. This could create an injury similar to tennis elbow since the tennis player must perfect the same exact stroke every time.

Because the person must sit in order to use the machine, the core muscles of the body are not activated (at least not very much!). The best example is the upright, seated chest press machine. The person pushes the weight in front of their chest while having a fairly relaxed core. The sitting position deactivates the hip flexors (the muscles in the front of the hips) and abdominal muscles. If the person is rounding their back, this can increase the chance for injury as well.

Life is full of movement and muscle isolation alone is not functional. Functional training is simply exercising in a way the body was meant to move, not force your body into unnatural positions. Machines can only work a few body parts at a time. When a person uses more functional equipment like dumbbells, bands, kettle-bells, etc. they are able to imitate real life movements and work on the kinetic chain of movement.

You can visualize the kinetic chain this way: imagine you want to lift a box and put it on a shelf above you. This requires you to reach above your head. You pick up the item from the floor and your legs and core are activated in order for you to lift. As you move to stand upright, muscle activation changes from your legs and core to your upper body and arms. When you begin to place the item over your head, the shoulder, arm, and core muscles are activated in order to allow you to complete your lift. This movement simply cannot be replicated with traditional resistance machines.

The observation of the obvious limitations in resistance machines has created a paradigm shift in the way we think of health and fitness. A return to “old school” techniques arose and post-modern functional training emerged. The beautiful thing about functional training is that you need very little equipment in order to achieve outstanding results. This equipment can be considered “low technology” because they are simple pieces of equipment, very similar to what the Greeks and Spartans might have used when preparing for battle or the Olympic games. Dumbbells, tires, jump ropes, stability balls, rubber tubing or ropes are really all a person needs to get into the best shape of their life! Plus, they are all easily stored or transported.

The paradigm shift takes the emphasis away from the machines and puts it towards the knowledge of functional movement. However, returning to my concerned client, since the masses have been exposed to the “machine era” of fitness they have been conditioned to think that only the machine will give them the desired result. I am here to tell you it is not the machine that will give you the desired result. All you need is simply the correct knowledge to transform your body and health! If you only have some free weights that challenge your body, you have the ability to do great things.

Be Better,

Dexter