Hey Ladies, Got Muscle????

Seem like many women have been asking me the same question this past week.  How do I get rid of the flab.  How do I tone up?  The picture above is me.  I'm lean and I do have muscle, however, I'm not as lean and muscular as some of my physique athlete competitors.  That's OK.  I'm no longer looking to do figure competition. At the age of 46, my goal is to be as healthy and physically fit as possible.


Getting back to the question that keeps popping up, in order to get rid of the flab and "tone up", you need to not spend as much time doing cardio/aerobics and spend more time in the weight room at the gym, and I'm not talking about the Nautalus or Cybex machines.  You need to hit the iron.  Dumbbells, Barbells and Cable. 

If you are using dumbbells, let's say for example you're doing bicep curls with 5 lb dumbells and you've been knocking out  15 - 20 reps of those, you're not building muscle.  Actually, you're not doing much of anything.  It's time to move on.  Don't be afraid to get aggressive with the weights.  Pick up a set of 10 lb dumbbells and if you're still able to do 15 reps easily with those, go for the 15 pounders.  You should be doing 10 -12 reps.  You should feel a burn and fatigue.  That's working the muscle.  To get muscle, you need to build it and to build it, you need to get aggressive with the weights.


Then the next comment I hear is, "but I'm afraid I'll get big and bulky".  No you won't.  That's the biggest myth out there.  We don't have testosterone.  We're not going to get big and bulky and I can assure you, you won't look like a female bodybuilder either.


Muscle is metabolic.  Muscle burns fat.  Strength training increases the metabolism 72 hours after exercise unlike cardio.


The other thing you need to remember to do is EAT.  Women tend to eat a diet high in carbohydrates and don't eat enough protein.  You should be having protein with every meal and never eat a carbohydrate without a protein. 


The easiest, most convenient way to get protein in your diet is with a protein shake.  You can supplement your diet with these by having one as a mid morning snack and be sure to have one after your workouts to help your body recover from the workout.  My protein supplement of choice is Eat Smart.



iSatori EatSmart, 30 Servings, Strawberry Cheesecake




Next time you're at the gym, remember to hit the iron to build a beautiful, sleek,body.

Avoid This Food For a Lean Body

Guest Blogger Jamin Thompson
Author - The 6 Pack Secret

If there's anyone who knows about 6 Pack Abs, it's my friend, Jamin Thompson and his picture surely proves it. 

The timing of this article couldn't have been more perfect.  One of my clients recently discovered rice cakes and he was eating several of them a day thinking that these made for a great healthy, low calorie snack.  Years ago, I too had the same misconception about these. 

My friend and colleague, Jamin, recently wrote an article about rice cakes and I am proud to share his article on FitTalkNews as a guest blogger.

Enjoy ~

I was sitting here today thinking to myself, what's the very worst food you can eat if you're trying to lose weight, burn fat, tone up, etc?

One food that is often eaten by dieters, but ironically works against them in losing weight is rice cakes. Yes rice cakes! You are probably eating one right now thinking that you are burning fat and toning right up! Yes, rice cakes are relatively low in calories, but the real downside is that they spike blood sugar and insulin levels.

This is not what you want if you are looking to lose weight, burn fat, or tone up! If you are on a weight loss diet, fat loss diet, etc, your main goal should be to slow the digestion and release of carbohydrate into the blood and to try and controlling blood sugar. This is a critical element of any nutrition program. Amazingly, rice cakes increase blood sugar levels by 50 percent more than eating an equal amount of table sugar!


Rice cakes and other foods that result in rapid digestion and release of sugar into the blood promote overeating, obesity, insulin resistance, and other metabolic disturbances contributing to disease. Have you noticed that with every rice cake you eat, you may feel hungrier and hungrier by the bite?


The glycemic index is a measure of how a given food affects blood-glucose levels, with each food being assigned a numbered rating. The lower the rating, the slower the absorption and digestion process, which provides a more gradual, healthier infusion of sugars into the bloodstream.


On the other hand, a high rating means that blood-glucose levels are increased quickly, which stimulates the pancreas to secrete insulin to drop blood-sugar levels. These rapid fluctuations of blood-sugar levels are not healthy because of the stress they place on the body.


One of sugar's major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system and shuts down the fat burning hormones. This is not something you want to take place if your goals are to become healthy, lose fat, and tone up.


An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body's blood-sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin, which the body uses to keep blood-sugar at a constant and safe level. Insulin also promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, or rice cakes for instance, you're making way for rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease and increased weight gain.


Complex carbohydrates tend to be absorbed more slowly, lessening the impact on blood-sugar levels. An example of a complex carbohydrate with a slow digestion process is plain oatmeal. In contrast, keeping blood sugar in check is associated with improved weight and fat loss, decreased appetite, and reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer.

TIP: Only consume rice cakes post workout when your body is primed to absorb and use the sugar for growth and recovery.

Jamin Thompson
Author
6PackSecret


Click Here! to visit Jamin Thompson at his site

Another Reason to STOP drinking Soda

Although I am a Fitness Professional, I am also a Natural Health Advocate. Fitness and health go hand in hand. To have a fit body, you need to also have a healthy body. I can show you some great workouts, but if you’re consuming foods and beverages that prevent you from obtaining optimal health, you’re not going to have a fit, healthy body.

I have reported on several reports about why soda is so bad for you. If you or your children are still drinking soda, here’s another reason why you may want to think about flushing that can of soda down the toilet and never buy another can of soda again.

I recently came across an article by Dr. Joseph Mercola explaining what happens to your body within an hour of drinking a soda. This is just one good example of the old saying “You Are What You Eat”, however, it’s more about what our bodies do with what we eat.

Before I do that, I’d like to share with you a video that was put out a few months ago by the New York Department of Health that should get your attention.



It’s no secret that soda is bad for your health in many ways. Per Dr. Mercola, here’s what happens inside your body when you assault it with a soda.

Within the first 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. This is 100 percent of your recommended daily intake, and the only reason you don’t vomit as a result of the overwhelming sweetness is because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor.


Within 20 minutes, your blood sugar spikes, and your liver responds to the resulting insulin burst by turning massive amounts of sugar into fat.


Within 40 minutes, caffeine absorption is complete; your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, and your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream.


Around 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure centers of your brain – a physically identical response to that of heroin, by the way.


After 60 minutes, you’ll start to have a sugar crash.


More Soda Facts


One can of soda has about 10 teaspoons of sugar, 150 calories, 30 to 55 mg of caffeine, and is loaded with artificial food colors and sulphites. Not to mention the fact that it’s also your largest source of high-fructose modified corn syrup.


Here’s another sobering fact if you’re struggling with weight issues: Just one extra can of soda per day can add as much as 15 pounds to your weight over the course of a single year!


Other statistics on the health dangers of soft drinks include:

• One soda per day increases your risk of diabetes by 85 percent

• Soda drinkers have higher cancer risk. While the federal limit for benzene in drinking water is 5 parts per billion (ppb), researchers have found benzene levels as high as 79 ppb in some soft drinks, and of the 100 brands tested, most had at least some detectable level of benzene present

• Soda has been shown to cause DNA damage – courtesy of sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, which has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. This could eventually lead to diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson's


If you are still drinking soda, stopping the habit is an easy way to improve your health. Pure water is a much better choice, or if you must drink a carbonated beverage, try sparkling mineral water with a squirt of lime or lemon juice.


There is absolutely NO REASON your kids should ever drink soda. None, nada, zip, zero. No excuses. The elimination of soft drinks is one of the most crucial factors to deal with many of the health problems you or your children suffer.


If you are struggling with a soda addiction, I would recommend that you gradually cut back on your soda consumption. For example, if you are drinking 2 sodas per day, cut back to 1 ½ per day for a week, then the next week cut back to 1 soda per day, the following week cut back to ½ can of soda per day and then the following week stop.

Source:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/1/19/what-happens-to-your-body-within-an-hour-of-drinking-a-coke.aspx

New York City Dept of Health - Are You Pouring on the Pounds

Struggling With Weight Loss? You May Be Getting in Your Way

Just about everybody wants to lose weight, look better, feel better and be healthier.  The problem is, losing weight and getting healthier is a struggle for most people.  If it wasn’t, the weight loss industry wouldn’t be a multi-billion dollar industry, obesity related illnesses wouldn’t be in the news everyday, and health care wouldn’t be the hotly debated issue it is.

As a fitness professional and natural health advocate, I do my part every day to provide my clients and followers with the best information possible to help them lose weight and improve their health.

I can provide you with the best nutritional information to help you lose weight and feel great.  I can tell you about the best workout programs out there designed for your fitness goals. I have the top experts in the health and fitness industry on my FitTalk Show giving top notch advice and information to my listeners.  It’s not like the best information void of hype and myth on how to safely and effectively lose weight and be healthier isn’t available to the public.

Everyone knows they need to exercise in order to lose weight and improve their overall health.  Despite this knowledge, the majority of the population makes excuses as to why they can’t exercise.  If you do “force” yourself to exercise, you’re hating every second of it, or probably not working out as intensely as you should, or avoid getting sweaty simply because “I don’t like to sweat”.

Everyone knows that eating junk food, drinking soda, consuming sugary snacks, etc., isn’t going to help them lose weight and improve their health, yet continue to consume these foods anyway.  Many of us give into the temptations of certain food aromas.  The smell of fresh baked goods, the smell of pizza, nacho’s etc.; it just calls out your name.

In the gym with my clients, I do everything I can to motivate them through their workouts and do my best to give them the best advice to overcome nutritional pitfalls.  I’ve had the experience that despite my best efforts, some people plain and simply hate to exercise regardless of what you do to try to make it fun and challenging; or, they enjoy their sessions with me, are working hard, but really struggle with their diets and overcoming temptations.

I know how frustrating weight loss can be and how frustrating it can be for a fitness or health professional to do all you can to help someone.  So why aren’t you reaching your goals, simply because – when it comes to your weight loss efforts, YOU are getting in your own way.  Well, actually, it’s your subconscious mind that’s getting in your way.

A conversation with a friend

I’m fortunate to have the friends and colleagues I have, and sometimes forget the role some of them play in the field of health, and leading Clinical Hypnotherapist, Steve G. Jones is one of them.

I recently had a conversation with Steve about this topic when he stops me mid-sentence and says to me, “Shari, sometimes to succeed, you need to get out of your own way, and in most cases, it’s the subconscious mind that gets in people’s way.”  Ah yes, the subconscious mind.  It’s what drives our behavior.  Well, if anyone would know about that, Steve is certainly an expert in this area.

In some cases, weight loss failure can stem from a fear of success that you’re not even aware of.  For those who come up with every excuse under the sun as to why you can’t or won’t exercise, according to Steve, it’s the subconscious mind that’s stopping you.  It’s what’s steering the ship so to speak.

Although there are many issues which contribute to struggles with diet, many dieting struggles are due to the subconscious mind which cause people to give in and eat foods they consciously know are bad for them, and end up feeling guilty, frustrated and angry with themselves for having given in and thus repeat the cycle.

Getting out your way with self hypnosis

Steve has been a guest on my FitTalk show, and explained to me how hypnosis works.  Hypnosis talks to the subconscious mind.  It is the subconscious mind that creates all kinds of resistance, self sabotage and negative inner conversations that prevent you from attracting what you want or achieving your goals.

We can hypnotize ourselves all day, every day.   When we talk to ourselves in a certain way, we hypnotize our selves.  Affirmations are vital.  If you have people around you saying “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation.  If you tell yourself “you can do it”, that’s an affirmation and that’s hypnosis.

A lot of hypnosis that happens to us, whether you believe in it or not, happens from ourselves, and our good friends believing in us or doubting our possibilities.  We need to be very aware of what programs us, even though we’re wide awake.

According to Steve, being under our own control can be a lot worse than being under the control of a hypnotherapist’s control.  We have thoughts in our minds that tell us we can’t do this or we don’t deserve this.

Hypnosis is a very easy state to achieve.  All you have to do is relax yourself.  Close your eyes and relax yourself and tell yourself positive affirmations.

Formal hypnotherapy can be more elaborate with induction, a deepening, a script – the affirmations/positive programming – however, with a hypnotherapy session, you’re dealing with the subconscious mind, and the affirmations take effect within a shorter period of time.  Then there is the “amnesia technique” which is designed for you to forget everything that’s in your mind.  The reason for the amnesia technique is that people will second guess themselves.  For example, their mind will tell them, “I know the hypnotherapist told me I’m great, but so and so said I wasn’t so I think the hypnotherapist may be wrong”.  The amnesia technique bypasses that critical factor that undoes everything.

The end of the hypnotherapy session is called Transtermination where the hypnotherapist brings you out of hypnosis.

For someone who make excuses as to why they can’t exercise, i.e., I don’t have enough time, I can’t afford to, or forces him/her self to exercise, hating every second of it, or probably not working out as intensely as they should, or avoid getting sweaty simply because “I don’t like to sweat”, Steve suggests his self hypnosis recording, “I love to exercise Self Hypnosis”.  Basically, what this recording does is tell your subconscious mind that you like to exercise.  By doing this, you’ll want to make time to exercise rather than keep telling yourself that you don’t have the time.  If you truly hate to exercise, you will be programming your self conscious mind that you do love to exercise and eventually, you will stop dreading your workouts, they won’t seem like a chore, you’ll enjoy them and really put yourself into your workouts achieving all the benefits exercise can do to keep you healthy, fit and slim.

How can hypnosis help you with weight loss?  A lot of the struggles people have with weight loss is mental.  There are addictions, cravings, emotional eating, self-sabotage and peer pressure sabotage associated with weight loss.  There is also the mental aspect of feeling like you’re depriving yourself of foods and dieting is like punishment for having been “bad” for allowing yourself to become overweight.  There are many negative thoughts and emotions that weight loss can bring which is within the subconscious mind. Although consciously you do want to lose weight, the subconscious mind will be telling you that you’ll never be thin, you don’t deserve this, why even bother with this, you’ll fail anyway.  Hypnosis can help you if you want a healthy relationship with food, with an end to constant dieting, overeating, and binge eating. Hypnosis can help you reach your natural weight without feeling deprived or hungry and suggests his Lose Weight Hypnosis recording to reprogram the subconscious mind so that you can lose weight safely, effectively and naturally.

Getting out of your own way by being mindful

You can start reprogramming yourself by being more mindful of your actions. If you struggle with weight loss whether your struggles are food or exercise related, the first step is to become more aware of your struggles.  If you gave into a temptation, write down the temptation, what triggered it, where you were or if you were with anyone.  Think about what you could’ve eaten instead of the choice you made, write it down and then next time you find yourself in that situation, you’ll be more aware of it and will make a better choice.  If you’ve been telling yourself that you should exercise, you’ll do it tomorrow and don’t, write down why you put it off.  You’ll become more aware of the excuses you make and how you can best manage your time to fit exercise into your life. 

To learn more about Steve G. Jones and how his self-hypnosis recordings can benefit you, visit his site http://budurl.com/BetterLivingHypnosis

(note: the links posted on this page are sponsored links, however, I do stand by my recommendations.)

Testosterone - The "T" Factor

The male hormone, Testosterone, is a key contributor to men’s health.  As Rick Collins, co-author of The Alpha Male Challenge said, “it’s what makes men, men”.  When you think about men and testosterone, the images that pop up in your mind are not very positive ones.  Hollywood and the media has portrayed men overloaded with testosterone as muscle heads, barbaric, abusive, hostile and psychotic.  It has wrongly been blamed for all negative behaviors among men.

“Testosterone, for all the good and bad publicity about it, is the hormone that makes males what they are.  It not only changes us physically, but affects us psychologically as well and, contrary to much publicity, those changes are pretty much all for the better when it comes to men; they relate to better cognitive function as we age as well as our dominant (not aggressive) attitude.  It is the “take charge and get things done” hormone” – Jack Darkes, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of South Florida

Most people know that testosterone (T) is responsible for sexual development in men and is important for libido and sexual function. However hormones, by definition, have effects throughout the body. There are testosterone receptors in nearly all tissues in the body, so this primary male hormone impacts nearly every organ system.

Testosterone influences psychological factors such as mood, memory, libido, assertiveness and confidence. It also affects physiological factors such as cholesterol levels, blood sugar which means equates to body fat and obesity.

The decline of testosterone

Studies have shown that over the past decade, men’s testosterone levels have been on the decline.  There was a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metaboliosm in January 2007 which provided evidence of a new physiological de-masculinization of the modern man. The study compared testosterone levels of three generations of men in the 80’s, 90’s and new decade and the news was quite troubling. Their study found that of the age-matched subjects, the men in the 80’s had higher average testosterone levels than the men of the 90’s, and the men of the new century have on average the LEAST testosterone of all. Simply put, testosterone levels are going down. 

Symptoms of Low Testosterone

Low libido
Decreased morning erections
Low energy or fatigue
Depressed mood
Irritability
Osteoporosis
Shrinking testicles
Loss of muscle mass or failure to gain muscle despite working out

What causes low testosterone?

Low testosterone may be caused by diseases of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland or testicles. Usually, however, low levels are the result of a natural decline with age (after the age of 40 or so) and/or lifestyle factors such as stress, physical inactivity, chronic illness, poor sleep or substance abuse (including tobacco and alcohol). To some degree this decrease in testosterone due to stress is evolutionary. The body's production of sex hormones is exquisitely sensitive to stress - be it physical or emotional. Testosterone in men drops in the face of chronic stress or anxiety, partly because the primal role of the sex hormone system is to drive reproduction. If the body senses an inability to care for itself, the last thing it wants is to produce a child needing to be taken care of in the face of such external stress. This system can't differentiate attack triggers from the daily grind in an unhappy job - it is all translated chemically in the body and ends in low testosterone production.

What are the health risks associated with low testosterone?

Low T is associated with serious diseases like osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, depression, diabetes and heart disease. Therefore it is unhealthy to leave low T untreated.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in men in the United States. Men with subnormal T levels have higher cholesterol and an increased risk of diabetes, both of which are significant risk factors for heart disease.


Need a good reason to start pumpin’ iron and eating healthier foods?
Obesity also increases the risk for diabetes and heart disease, and men with low T have more body fat. In fact, the obesity-low T link manifests as a vicious cycle. Body fat causes an increase in the conversion of testosterone into estrogen - yes, men have estrogen. In fact, a 50-year-old man has, on average, more estrogen than a post-menopausal 50-year-old woman. The more T that gets converted, the lower is the ratio of testosterone to estrogen and the more muscle mass is lost and fat is gained. This gets to be self-perpetuating.


What to do if you have Low Testosterone?
Men over 40 should have their levels of testosterone checked regularly, especially if they are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above. That level may be as important to overall health as cholesterol number or blood pressure. There are many proven ways to treat low T, under a doctor's supervision. 


Making lifestyle changes can help naturally elevated testosterone levels.  Building lean muscle can help elevate testosterone and strength training is a great place to start.  Stress plays a major role in your testosterone levels and studies have shown that regular exercise can help reduce stress and depression. 


Eating unhealthy, processed foods, fast foods, sugary snacks and beverages can cause testosterone levels to drop.  Rick Collins and James Villepigue, authors of the Alpha Male Challenge suggest eating a Paleolithic Diet which basically means you would be eating as if it were 1,000 years ago, before agriculture.

Testosterone and The Alpha Male

We established that testosterone does affect men psychologically.  It’s what separates an Alpha Male, from a Beta Male.  So, what is a True Alpha Male?  According to Rick Collins and James Villepigue, a True Alpha Male is a man who has respect, who is a leader among leaders, who doesn’t need to abuse or take advantage of other to get ahead.  A man who is healthy, strong , and confident. 

Now is the time to take a good look at your self physically and mentally.  If you are over weight, sedentary and don’t have the healthiest habits, you may be at risk of having low testosterone.  Do you think of yourself as a leader among leaders, a man who has respect, who is looked up to by others, who is healthy, strong and confident?

By making simple changes to your lifestyle, you can put yourself on the road to improved health that can bring your testosterone levels back up and not only will you look better, you will feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.

  

Sources and related articles:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/myles-spar-md/testosterone-friend-or-fo_b_479224.html

http://sharifitness.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-alpha-male-extinct_22.html

http://sharifitness.blogspot.com/2009/03/your-sexual-health-and-fitness.html

http://fittalknews.blogspot.com/2010/03/get-in-best-shape-of-your-life-with.html

Recommended Reading:

Strong Kids Healthy Kids with Fredrick Hahn

 Listen to my Blog Talk Radio Interview with Fred Hahn on FitTalk




Fredrick Hahn
Strong Kids, Healthy Kids 
Serious Strength.com
During the past four decades, obesity rates have soared among all age groups, increasing more than four-fold among children ages 6 to 11. Today, nearly a third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. That’s more than 23 million kids and teenagers. 

If we don’t act to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, we’re in danger of raising the first generation of children who may live sicker and die younger than the generation before them. Preventing obesity during childhood is critical, because habits that last into adulthood frequently are formed during youth. Research shows that an obese older teenager has up to an 80 percent chance of becoming an obese adult.

This is a topic I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while, and I had the pleasure of having Fredrick Hahn, author of the best selling book, Strong Kids, Healthy Kids on my FitTalk show. 

Fred Hahn shatters the current ideas behind the child obesity epidemic and offers a simple and powerful solution to make your child strong, more athletic, healthy, lean and powerful. Fred has been a professional trainer for over two decades and is certified by the American Council on Exercise. He is the founder and head of the renowned personal training studio Serious Strength, Inc. and has been working with kids in his Mighty Tykes and Teens Program for the past seven years. He has been interviewed by Dr. Mehmet OZ and Bob Greene on Oprah and Friends, The Today Show, CNN, WABC-TV, and featured in Allure, Family Circle, Woman’s World and Time Out New York just to name a scant few. He blogs for the Huffington Post and is a featured contributor to the Nutrition and Metabolism Society.

Inactivity isn't the cluprit

The information being given about child obesity isn't scientifically sound.  The common idea that adolescent obesity is caused by eating too much fat and being sedentary is false.  Fred explained that it's not a lack of activity.  Often, TV, video games and such are blamed for the problem, but we don't blame reading books, practicing musical instruments, and building toy models.  We've latched on to a concept that is faulty because it sounds as if its true, when science and research tell us it's not.

"Overfat" children aren't overfat because they are inactive.  Research shows that overfat children are just as active as their leaner counterparts.

Fred uses the term "overfat" rather than "obese" when talking about overweight children.  This means that the child has too much body fat for his/her body size.

So what's really causing obesity?
One of the biggest contributors to child obesity is diet.  The biggest problem is that children, as well as adults, are consuming more sugar than ever and aren’t aware of the amount of hidden sugars they are getting in their diet.  

What really matters is not necessarily how many calories a child eats, (although to some degree it does matter), but the TYPES of calories your child is eating.  According to Fred, children are eating too many carbohydrates which increases the total blood sugar in your body.  If you have too much blood sugar in your body, then the body has to secrete a large amount of insulin in order to deal with that blood sugar.

Insulin and body fat

Fred explained that some people's bodies in response to what is a glucose challenge - meaning - having a lot of sugar roaming the body that has to be put into the cells - are insulin insensitive.  Here's the problem.  While insulin's main role is to regulate blood sugar, one of it's other main roles is to store body fat.  When you put a lot of carbohydrates into a child's body, and that child happens to be less insulin sensitive another, that child's body will store more of the calories taken in as body fat rather than be use as energy.

More carbs convert to more insulin you secrete – over time more insulin insensitive you become because there’s so much insulin being secreted, little be little in some children, as well as adults, they become obese because the body doesn’t know what to do with all the insulin, which in turn, causes the body to store calories as body fat rather than use it as fuel.  That’s why children who have a propensity to this, an hour later, say they’re hungry again.

Strength Training for Children

One thing I have always been an advocate of is strength training which Fred is.   You’re never too young or too old to strength train, however, I think when it comes to children, there’s a lot of misinformation out there about it.

Strength training is one of the most potent and powerful modalities of exercise for a child.  You can improve a child’s strength, bone density, muscle mass and athletic performance.  Strength training also improves your child’s resistance to injury when engaging in sports.

In his book, Strong Kids, Healthy Kids, Fred dispels the myth that strength training stunts a child’s growth.  This is absolutely false.  Impact forces can impair growth plates by breaking or damaging a bone.  You can’t play sports gently in a low force manner, however, you can lift weights in a low force manner while at the same time, build strength, bone density and muscle mass.  Strength training for children is recommended by several prominent organizations provided it is supervised and performed in a slow and controlled fashion - 5 seconds to lift the weight and 5 seconds to lower the weight.

How much time should a child strength train?

If you are a non athlete (not participating in sports), a minimum of two 20 minute strength training sessions per week is recommended.  For athletic kids, you’re better off having them strength train once a week for 20-30 minutes.  The reason for this is that the benefits of strength training comes when you’re resting.  Recovery is really when you’re gaining the benefits of lifting so that when your child is ready for the next session, he will be stronger and will be able to lift more weight.  Progressive strength training over time is what makes a child stronger and stronger.

Is your child ready to strength train?

The appropriate age for a child to strength train is more psychological than it is physiological.  For example, if a child is old enough to take instruction and pay attention to what you are explaining to them, than they’re good to go.

Fred used his daughters as an example.  He has two daughters.  One of them took to strength training at the age of 6, while the other daughter, at the age of 8 thinks the whole thing is silly.  Psychologically, she’s not ready.  She may be at the age of 10.

Making strength training a fun, positive experience

Fred suggests that you engage in the activity with your child.  Let your child see you doing push ups or sit ups and let them see you enjoy it.  With younger children, rather than count to five, you can say whatever their favorite characters are, so you can say, “Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Iron Man”.

Yes, your child will adapt to strength training.  Kids love their bodies and they love the concept that they are stronger, better, can run faster, etc.  You’re only doing this for 20/30 min twice a week so it’s not like it’s lasting long and you’re boring them.

The book will help you become your child’s personal trainer that will instill a good, healthy, habit for life.  Strong Kids, Healthy Kids, provides parents with all the  information they need on how to set up an exercise program for their child from “Choosing the Right Weight”, “upping the ante”, a list of basic exercises, and photos of children performing the exercise. 

Nutrition for you and your children

Fred recommends a a nutrient rich diet consisting of “real foods”.  What are “real foods”?  Anything that has ever walked, crawled, flew or swam, such as beef, chicken, fish, etc., or has grown in the ground naturally that you can pick and eat.

You can’t walk onto a wheat field, grab a few stalks of wheat and eat it.  If you have to refine or process it, then it’s a food you should avoid or eat very little of if at all.  On the other hand, you don’t need to do anything to an orange, apple, green bean, etc.

This type of eating is Paleolithic meaning that if you went back 1,000 years ago, foods were eaten in their natural state.

Today’s current food pyramid promotes carbohydrates as the main staple of food.  This is wrong.  The main staple of what we should be eating are real food choices such as meats, fish, poultry being your staple and seasonal fruits and vegetables.

High Fructose Corn Syrup – A Neurological Nightmare on Health Street

High Fructose Corn Syrup is something I have written about in my blogs.  It’s in everything and it’s making us fat.  Fred refers to it as a “Neurological Nightmare on Health Street.”  In just about anything and everything we eat, from condiments, salad dressing, sodas, fruit juice, breakfast bars; you name it, if it comes in a wrapper, can or box, it contains high fructose corn syrup.  It makes everything sweeter.  Your child is so exposed to High Fructose Corn Syrup that when he/she eats a piece of fruit, it won’t be taste as sweet and makes everything else taste like cardboard.  What is happening is that you lose your taste for what is sweet enough.  Your body becomes addicted to sugar – the quick fuel source.  It also wreaks habit on what we spoke of earlier, insulin sensitivity or the lack of. 

You really need to get in the habit of reading the ingredient labels.  If a product contains high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup or fructose, put it back on the shelf. 

Your children will want to know what happened to their favorite snacks and beverages when you start to replace them with healthier choices.  Fred says, rather than telling your children they can’t have it anymore, you want to educate your children.  Explain to them that you found out that it makes “your blood sad” and that this will make it better.  Kids are like sponges when it comes to learning things, particularly when it comes to their bodies. 

By the way, when you eat real foods, they don’t contain high fructose corn syrup.

Water, Water, Water

Strong Kids Healthy Kids goes into extensive detail about the importance of water.  For most children, their intake of liquids comes from sugary drinks like juices and sodas and barely any water.  The body needs a certain amount of hydration in order to function optimally.

Your child’s blood is 90% water, brain is 85% water, muscle is 75% water, skin is 71% water, bone is 30% water and body fat is 15% water. 

Fred and I recommend that you give your child water with some lemon, lime or orange in it for flavoring or you can get flavored sparkling water. 

The book also contains kid-ready recipes that are quick, easy and simple to make helping to take out some of the guess work about what type of food to prepare for your family.

Fred’s take away message:

I asked Fred what is the one message you really want to get through to people.  Here is his answer.  “Take the time to do your best to feed your child real food.  That is above and beyond exercise, although exercise is an important component, it isn’t any where nearly as important as feeding your children real food.  If you can do a kitchen/pantry makeover, get rid of the breakfast cereals, the grains and sugar.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner should be meats (beef, fish, chicken, etc.).  Proteins and healthy fats.  Give your child a healthy breakfast rather than feed them a box of cereal.

100,000 years ago we were eating real foods and that’s what we need to be putting on our children’s plates today.  Health problems are from feeding kids un-real foods.

We are what our bodies do with what we eat.

If you wish to contact Fred, he can be reached via e-mail at fhan@seriousstrength.com

Disclaimer: Please note, Fredrick Hahn is not a doctor.  This information is intended for children who are considered healthy by their physicians.  It is not intended to treat children who suffer from metabolic abnormalities or diseases that are known to cause or contribute to weakness or obesity.  Although the information in this interview  will help any child, always consult with the appropriate physician for advice and guidance.  Always consult an appropriate and qualified physician prior to beginning any exercise or diet program for your child.