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Nate Miyaki - Our Resident Fitness and Nutrition Guru
Don’t Diet
If you talked to ten different fitness “experts” on fat loss nutrition, you’d probably get ten different strategies. Here are some of the more popular approaches you’ve likely heard of: low fat diets, vegan/vegetarian, Atkin’s, Zone diet and on and on. I can understand why there’s so much confusion out there. But losing weight doesn’t have to mean suffering through depriving diets, counting calories or spending hours per day at the gym.
After years of experimenting with all these approaches, I’ve founded a simple set of nutritional strategies that have worked for all my clients (time-starved professionals who only workout ~20 minutes a day). They’ve worked equally well for me–a natural bodybuilder and busy fitness educator (who only works out about 45 minutes a day). These strategies have helped my clients and I lose fat, maintain lean muscle and carry more energy. If you’re willing to take these on, I’d recommend starting simple: pick one or two that peak your interest and apply them consistently for a week or so before taking on new ones.
1. Put down that package!
Eliminate as much refined, processed and packaged food as possible. This includes “health” foods—whole grain breads, energy bars, cereals, fruit juice, refined oils, sauces etc. These foods are usually filled with empty calories that cause insulin spikes, followed by low blood sugar. Instead, you need to eat lots of whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, lean proteins (chicken nuggets don’t count!). If all you do is make one change, make it this one.
2. Carb up post-workout.
A good strength workout burns through a ton of glycogen, and intense exercise changes the way your body processes nutrients for up to 48 hours. Within 60 minutes of every intense workout, eat a good protein/carb combo to refill glycogen and initiate muscle growth.
3. Choose the meal frequency that works for you.
Yes, you may spread food intake out over 5-6 meals a day, particularly if you have high caloric demands. But for most people, eating 2-3 meals a day is the most convenient, realistic, and sustainable approach. Research shows that if you control food choices, calories, macro-ratios, etc., meal frequency doesn’t matter much. So go ahead, skip that breakfast (unless you workout in the morning).
4. Eat a satisfying dinner.
The most functional and sustainable nutrition plans must include a satisfying dinner (of unprocessed foods, of course). This is our natural, evolutionary tendency. This also goes against most everything you hear in the fitness industry, but I find it’s most practical and it works.
5. Don’t drink your calories.
Eat your calories, don’t drink them. Drink water, green tea, black coffee etc. But avoid milks, syrups, artificial sweeteners and the like.
6. Be a cheater.
For sustainability and sanity, eat a cheat meal of whatever you want, once per week. Better yet, make your cheat meal post workout.
The post-workout “cooldown” is probably the most under appreciated (or completely ignored) component of workouts. And that’s a huge mistake. You may think going from that last rep to the showers is a great way to save time, but skipping cooldown–a series of static stretches and range-of-motion exercises post-workout–allows Father Time to catch you faster than it should.
Think this guy stretches? Yes. Yes he does.
“But wait” you say, “I get my stretches in before my workout.” GONG! That’s no good either. Static stretching when you’re cold is a bad idea from the 50′s and could lead to injuries and lowered performance. You’ll want to do a dynamic warm-up (but that’s a topic for a later day).
There’s a reason nearly every professional athlete stretches on a regular basis. It’s one of the best ways to avoid tweaking something and ending up on the sidelines. But stretching isn’t just for pros and yoga practitioners. Here’s five reasons that you, the time-starved exerciser, needs to make room for your cool down stretches (even if that means shortening your strength sessions).
1. Improved range of motion and better execution.
Tight muscles can inhibit proper biomechanics and restrict your natural range of motion. Performance-wise, this can be detrimental to functional mobility, power production and athletic performance. Physique-wise, it limits working a muscle through its full range of motion, which in turn limits complete muscular development.
2. Alleviating nagging injuries and chronic pain.
Nagging injuries and every day aches and pains aren’t necessarily caused by degenerative conditions to those specific tissues, but rather by alignment issues and strength/flexibility imbalances in the surrounding muscle groups.
3. Preventing injury.
Muscle imbalances can also leave you predisposed to injury. Have you ever heard of a super fit, athletic person blowing out their back just bending over to pick something up? You can almost guarantee this was caused by a muscle imbalance that finally caught up with them. Tight hips can leave you more susceptible to back and hamstring strains. Internally rotated shoulders can predispose you to pec and shoulder tears.
4. Offsetting/correcting computer posture.
We’ve talked about the postural and pain problems associated with computer posture. Part of correcting that starts with strengthening the lengthened and weak muscles. The other, equally important part is stretching the chronically tightened muscles.
5. Reducing stress.
No matter who you are, we all lead busy, hectic lives. And stress is a real killer. So any type of activity that can reduce stress, curb cortisol, and simply make you feel better is not only good, but also necessary in today’s world. A targeted stretch routine is a small investment that could pay huge dividends, including tension relief, muscle and mind relaxation.
How to Stretch Properly
Now that you get the importance of stretching, here are my suggestions to get the most out of your five minute cooldown.
Focus on stretches that target known problem areas: the hip flexors, the chest, the internal rotators, and any other body part specific to your individual situation.
After your main strength training program you’ll be nice and warm. That’s the right time to safely focus on lengthening tight muscles.Hold your stretches for a solid 20-30 seconds. Start small, but challenge yourself just like any other aspect of your fitness regimen, and gradually work to increase your range of motion.
Want to see what a high quality cooldown stretching routine looks like? Let the free GAIN Fitness workout app guide you.
Have some of your own thoughts on stretching? Let us know in the comments section.
Want to get the most out of your chest training? Check out this video by GAIN Fitness expert, Nate Miyaki.
Not the best way to lose weight
INVEST IN STRENGTH TRAINING
Traditional cardio is like putting $600 into a low interest savings account, whereas strength training is like putting $300 into a high yield investment. So with strength training, you’re getting more bang for your exercise buck.
Bottom line: if you have limited time and want to burn-fat and keep it off, replace a few of those cardio sessions with a balanced, full body, strength-based workout and start earning a higher return on your fat loss investment.
Need help creating a customized strength workout? Check out GAIN Fitness’ web and mobile apps.
GAIN Fitness 3.0 is about to launch. So what’s up with the “3.0”? Let’s just say it’s more than an “update”. It’s too major to be called a facelift, and more along the lines of a major remodeling. Is there a world record for most dynamic app update? Because I think we’re about to shatter it.
Most app updates are boring. They’re minor bug fixes and single feature installments. But GAIN 3.0 is for real. For starters, we’ve got an entire new look. We’re talking serious cosmetic work here—much more sleek. Just check out the pics below; you’ll see what we mean:
Not bad, huh? But anyway, there’s more to an app than looks, right? Which is why we packed GAIN 3.0 full of exciting new features. We’d love to tell you all about them right now. But that’d kind of be like laying it all out there on the first date.
Consider the tease officially started: GAIN Fitness 3.0 launches in two weeks.
As for the blog? Consider this post the opening whistle. We plan on packing the GAIN Blog full of rich and exciting content in the coming weeks. Expect app previews, workout demonstrations, and fitness tips from certified personal trainer Nate Miyaki.
Oh, and there’s one more thing we forgot to mention. Starting today, we’re on the prowl for Beta testers—AKA a few lucky folks who get to play with the app before the general public. Think you’ve got what it takes to test GAIN 3.0 for loves & hates? Just shoot us an email @ feedback@gainfitness.com
A guest blog post
During the many IM conversations we’ve been having with users recently, and one resounding question keeps popping up — “how do I get rid of my belly fat?!” The question comes in various forms, and is usually couched with “I’m not fat anywhere else, I just have a gut.”
Many people are genetically predisposed to store excess body fat in their midsection. And there’s no single magic bullet solution (despite the claims of some fitness and diet gimmicks), or way to spot target fat reduction.
We enlisted the help of fitness and nutrition expert Nate Miyaki to break it down as simply as possible (but not any simpler). In our first ever guest blog post, Nate highlights the 5 most common factors that lead to the dreaded “Skinny-Fat Syndrome,” and suggests some ways to overcome it.
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By: Nate Miyaki
If you’re overweight, chances are you already know the main problems. You eat too many calories, you choose too many refined and processed foods, and you don’t exercise enough. The solution is simple — cut back on the junk, choose more natural foods, and exercise more.
But for some of us, our body composition problems are a little more complex. Some of us remain soft, flabby, and hold stubborn fat in certain areas despite a regular exercise routine and a relatively “healthy” diet. This is the dreaded Skinny-Fat Syndrome.
The problems and solutions lie within the details of your training and diet programs.
THE SKINNY-FAT FIVE
1. Suboptimal Food Choices. Beyond calories, the metabolic and hormonal impacts of specific food compounds matter. Certain foods directly and indirectly lead to body fat storage:
2. Too much emphasis on low-intensity aerobic work. When most people think of fat loss, they think only of burning calories through cardio. While some aerobic activity will improve health and fitness levels and contribute to an energy deficit, too much cardio can lead to over-production of the catabolic hormone cortisol, which in turn leads to muscle loss and a soft, flabby appearance despite high levels of activity.
3. Not enough high-intensity exercise, specifically strength training. Body composition transformation is not just about reducing weight or body fat. The importance of maintaining or gaining lean muscle mass is equally important for attaining that lean, sculpted look. It is muscle that provides our body with its shape, tone, and definition. Low body fat with no muscle = skinny-fat. Low body fat with muscle retention = six-pack. Use some of the GAIN Fitness workouts to incorporate strength training into your overall fitness plan.
4. Inadequate recovery. Strength training is a catabolic activity. It should be offset with an anabolic recovery period. Too much stimulus with no recovery = no adaptation. Those who over-train or who cut too many calories and/or carbohydrates from their diet end up losing muscle and spinning their wheels. GAIN’s interactive tools automatically design a proper protocol that balances overload with recovery. Low-carb diets are great for sedentary or obese populations, but carbs help the anaerobic athlete fuel, recover from, and respond to anaerobic training. Make sure to have a post-workout recovery meal and don’t go too low in carbohydrates.
5. Too much stress. Our lives and careers are hectic. Stress, poor food choices, and too much caffeine can all cause the body to release cortisol. Chronically elevated cortisol levels can result in muscle loss and body fat gain, particularly belly fat. You need to chill out. Check out some of GAIN’s yoga or stretching routines to help you unwind.
As discussed previously, the idea of muscle confusion is popular in the press these days. The first post in this series, outlined the relationship between exercise variety and progress, introducing the concept “progressive variety.” This post addresses how to effectively train multiple fitness qualities simultaneously.
Just in time for your post-holiday recovery
We’re excited to unveil our public preview release of Quick Workout: a single day’s workout optimized to an individual’s body, goal, resources and schedule, custom-tailored from over 400 different exercises. This web app automates exercise science — it produces the kind of workout a personal trainer would handcraft for a paying client. We’re currently offering our service free of charge at gainfitness.com/quick_workout.
Quick Workout is the first piece of a much bigger plan to build an interactive fitness platform and personalized digital training service. While it looks relatively simple on the surface, there’s a lot going on underneath the hood to build smart, targeted and efficient workouts, customized to your unique combination of user inputs and real-time constraints. We wanted to make it as easy as possible to quickly get the info you need for an effective and timely workout so that you can get off the computer and get physically active…no matter where you are or how much time you have.
We encourage you to build and try some of your own Quick Workouts, and we’d love to hear your feedback. We’re still at the very early stages of this, and are working on things like adding images and videos, building mobile apps, and integrating social features. There’s a good chance feedback will directly impact what we build next! To get in touch with us, you can message us on any of our social media channels (comment here or facebook, twitter, youtube), or email us atfeedback@gainfitness.com.
Thanks, and Stay Fit!
