Register Now for May TRAC Sessions!

January 16, 2013 – 7:00 pm

 

 

 

TRAC (Training Resistance And Conditioning) is a twice weekly, structured and progressive group training program.  Each 60-minute training session is tailored to your individual needs.  TRAC sessions meet on a M/W or Tu/Th schedule at 6AM or 6:30PM.  Advance sign up for one time slot is required at the beginning of the month.  Because the program is progressive, mid-month sign ups are not permitted.

What to expect when you sign up for TRAC:

- participant assessments and functional movement screening at the beginning of each month

- functionally sound movement training integrated with strength training and conditioning twice per week

- individual workout charts provided for participants to track their progress each month

- 16 participant maximum, divided into 4-person sub groups

- accountability, motivation, and structure with two certified personal trainers leading every workout

 

PRICING:

1 month TRAC – $200

3 months TRAC – $560

SIGN UP NOW

 

 

 

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in Classes, News, Press, Promotion, Strength Training, Weight Loss | Comments (0)

Client Spotlight: Stephanie L.

October 30, 2012 – 2:38 pm
I asked one of my fave clients, Stephanie, to answer a few questions about her experience with weight loss, fitness, The TR, and most importantly, getting strong!  Before you dive into her funny, thoughtful, and inspiring answers, take a look at Steph- BEFORE I even knew her, then when she started training at the TR, and AFTER a lot of hard work!!  We are all so proud of you!
 

225lbs. in 2003
153lbs. in February 2011
145lbs. in September 2012
Stephanie has decreased her body fat percentage from 29.6% on 7/26/11, to 25.0% on 10/9/12 – her 47th birthday!
Here’s what Steph has to say:
When did you begin working out at the TR and what prompted you to start personal training?
August 1, 2011!  I started a process of trying to get healthier years ago after my son was born.  I struggled with my weight since adolescence, but it had gotten pretty bad.  I took control of my diet and lost around 80 pounds, which I’ve maintained for 8 years now.  But – that was pretty much all through diet.  And while I was no longer at an unhealthy weight, I was still not fit or strong – and never had been, ever in my life.  As a kid I was a bookworm, sucked at all sports and therefore avoided them.  I joked with Heidi early in my training that I was still traumatized by the President’s Physical Fitness Test.  I planned to spend my entire life avoiding exertion whenever possible :) , but I guess something snapped when I hit 45.  I was sitting at a desk all day, and I was really starting to feel weak and tired and schlumpy, and I couldn’t pretend any more – if I didn’t do something about it, I would be jeopardizing my future quality of life.  I felt like, if not now, when?
But, I had never managed to stick to an exercise program on my own.  I was the classic “pay for the gym membership then never use it” type.  I’d work out every once in a while, never see results, get frustrated and give up.  I knew that didn’t work for me.  I needed structure and accountability.  I also knew I didn’t know what the hell I was doing on my own, and that the internet probably wasn’t the safest place to look for guidance.  I wanted an expert to help me, so that the time I spent working out would be productive and effective, and I would see results that would keep me motivated.  Like most people, it’s hard for me to fit workouts into my schedule, and I definitely didn’t want to waste time doing ineffective stuff, or even worse, hurt myself doing stuff wrong.  Personal training seemed like it might be the right path.  I was nervous, because I felt so out of shape – unlike at the gym, where I figured no one was paying attention, I was going to have to really show a trainer how out of shape I was, haha.  It was a little scary at first, but due to TR awesomeness I got over that quickly.
What do you enjoy most about training?  What do you find the most challenging?
Well, the most challenging is probably just the schedule.  Fitting sessions and at-home workouts in before or after work, and around my parenting responsibilities.  It can be a tricky juggling act, and it really requires making it a top priority – and sometimes saying no to other things.  But the good thing is that if you do prioritize it and you’re getting the guidance you need, the results you see make it way easier to make it a priority.
It’s hard to say what I enjoy most, but it’s probably the fact that with Heidi’s guidance, the progress I’ve made has let me see myself differently that I ever have before. Heidi helps me to push myself in ways I wouldn’t have known how to on my own, and so I can do things now that I’ve never been able to do, and never thought I’d be able to do.  It’s pretty cool to think of yourself as strong for the first time ever in your mid-forties. :)  And to be excited to see how much stronger you can get.
How many times per week do you train and what does your home routine consist of?
1x per week with Heidi at TR, 2x per week strength training at home.  An occasional Tabata/interval training session when I can fit it in. I also try to do a lot of walking.
What training accomplishments have you made that you are most proud of?
Well, when I first started, I told Heidi I wanted to be able to do “real” pushups, which I’d never, ever been able to do.  It was very rewarding to finally get those.  (It took a long time!)  I’m also very excited about the progress I’ve made on my deadlift (best set as of this writing was 175×5) – I’ve learned that I  LOVE lifting big heavy things, and watching them get bigger and heavier!  But maybe even more than specific accomplishments, I feel proud that after decades of couch-potato-hood, I’ve finally found the discipline and made the commitment to invest in my health and future wellness, and set an example for my son that fitness is important and women can be strong.  I feel proud when I do my scheduled workouts on days when I’m tired and mopey and just want to watch Netflix. Or when I have lousy workouts but struggle through and get it done, because that’s a lot harder mentally than when you have a great workout.  I mean, I’m proud of those the next day.  Maybe not when I’m actually in the middle of them, swearing or crying. :)
What goals are you currently working on?
I want to see how high I can get that deadlift!  I’d definitely like 200 on that, but why stop there once I get it? :)  After that I could aim for 1.5x body weight, and then maybe the max that I used to weigh back in the day.  And I’m excited to work on my bench press and squat, and see where I can get those.  And I really, really, REALLY want an unassisted dead-hang pullup.  Really bad.  Some day!!
What has been your overall experience at the TR?  How have you progressed, and what impact has this had on you?
Walking through the door at the TR has seriously been one of the best choices I’ve ever made for myself.  Heidi could attest (although she’d probably be too kind to) that I really was starting from nothing a year ago.  At that time a single push up was entirely out of the question!  And it was all my core could manage to hold me vaguely upright. I knew I could improve, but I also figured, hey, I’m not a kid, I don’t really know how much is possible but any improvement will be a good thing.  It wasn’t even on my radar that a year later I’d be able to lift considerably more than I weigh.  Heidi strikes that all important balance of always being supportive, but still pushing me to do as much as I can – and that often ends up being a lot more than I thought I could.  I know I wouldn’t have gotten nearly this far on my own, because I would have assumed it wasn’t possible.
So, there are all the awesome impacts of being in way better shape – I feel better, I look better, I’ve lost pounds and inches, I have more energy, I’m less stressed, and I have a great sense of accomplishment and peace in knowing that I’m taking care of myself and doing my best to make sure I have a healthy active future.  But the ultimate impact is that I now believe things about myself that I didn’t before, not even when I was much younger — that I can be strong if I work hard, and if I keep working hard, I can get stronger!  I’m not thinking, ugh, next year I’ll be another year older, I’m thinking, yay, by this time next year, if I work hard, maybe I’ll get that pull up!  It’s a great sense of possibility and excitement.
What changes, if any, you have made to your diet?
Probably the biggest change has been being way more careful to make sure I’m getting enough protein, and being diligent about getting a good dose of protein in within 20 minutes of working out.  Having already lost around 80 pounds several years ago, I feel like I know what kinds of foods my body needs to maintain a healthy weight, but training spurred me to do a bit of tightening up and making sure I wasn’t “drifting” on certain key foods that I know I should avoid.  So, while I don’t ban any foods entirely from my diet, I’ve made an effort to keep sugar and starchy carbs, especially grains, to a reasonable minimum, and get lots of protein and vegetables in there. Maybe a few less cocktails as well – workouts are actually a lot more effective for de-stressing. :)
By thetrainingroom | Also posted in clients, Strength Training, Uncategorized, Weight Loss | Comments (1)

Women’s Pull-up Contest

January 25, 2012 – 1:23 pm

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in Events | Comments (0)

Client Spotlight: Allison B.

November 16, 2011 – 11:03 pm

Allison came to the Training Room in July of 2011.  Her goals were to get back into healthy shape, lose fat and gain muscle.  At the time she weighed in at 170lb and 30% body fat.

Allison had a couple obstacles that were preventing her from being in the kind of shape she wanted to be in – her knees.

At a younger age, she had arthroscopic surgery on both knees and has had chronic knee pain her whole life.  Unable to participate in any sports involving impact to her legs, Allison took up swimming and continued competing through college.  However, once her competitive swimming days were behind her, she had a hard time finding activities to stay in shape that didn’t hurt her knees.

As a teacher for Teach for America, Allison had the summer off to be able to really focus on her health and fitness, so she decided to give strength training a shot.  Given her specific circumstances, she was hesitant about what she would be able to accomplish, but she figured she could at least do some upper body and core exercises and see what would happen.  She started meeting with me at the Training Room twice a week and doing one strength workout a week on her own.  Because of her summer off, she was able to easily fit in the three workouts a week, but wasn’t sure what would happen when the school year started back up.

During Allison’s initial assessment, I found that the muscles around her hips were very stiff.  When a joint in the body is overly stiff, the adjacent joints take on the opposite role of being overly mobile.  This usually results in some sort of pain/injury.  In Allison’s case, her knees were compensating for her stiff hips and were becoming mobile when they are meant to be a stable joint.

Based on this assessment, I had Allison begin every workout with 5-10 minutes of soft tissue work (foam rolling) as well as 10-15 minutes of mobility and activation work (with a heavy focus on the hip joint and surrounding muscles.)

Foam Rollers do the body good!

Foam Rollers do the body good!

The rest of the workout was then dedicated to heavy strength training.  As the weeks went on, Allison found herself not only getting really strong, but also losing weight and body fat, and most shockingly – working out with her LEGS.  As her hip mobility improved, we were able to include more and more lower body exercises without any pain.  Allison can now perform heavy deadlifts, hip lifts, glute-ham raises, kettlebell swings and most recently, completely pain-free squats.  While her ability to lift with her legs is impressive enough, Allison has also become one of my strongest female clients.  She has a bench press that makes me jealous and can bang out pushups like nobody’s business.  She has really become passionate about getting stronger and strives to lift more every single workout.

The body composition results Allison has seen from heavy strength training is something that I hope inspires other women to drop their fear of lifting weights.  Instead of “bulking up” as most women are afraid will happen as a result of strength training, Allison has lost more than 10lbs and has dropped her body fat percentage by more than 5%.  She now feels better, looks better, and moves better than when she walked in the door back in June.

To me, however, the most impressive thing about Allison is that her commitment over the summer has carried over to her extremely busy schedule in the fall.  Once the school year began, Allison was back to balancing a long commute to work, long teaching days, taking classes at BU, planning curriculum for the next day, and now the GYM on top of it all!  None of this has stopped Allison from continuing her progress and setting new goals.  She has changed her eating habits for the better and stuck to them even with things got busy.  She still fits in all three strength training workouts and continues to get stronger every week.

But don’t just take my word for it – here is a video compilation that covers just the surface of what Allison can do in the gym:

Congrats to Allison for all of her hard work and accomplishments over the past few months!!

-Lauren P.

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in clients, Strength Training, Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Baby it’s cold outside…so move your long ride indoors at The Training Room

November 7, 2011 – 9:00 am

Suzanne Schwartz, local cycling instructor and avid triathlete, is back  teaching her 5-week cycling intensives at The Training Room in Somerville!  The classes, 105 minutes each (90 minutes on the bike), are geared toward outside riders and triathletes. Participants work on cycling fitness, progressing though workouts each week to improve strength, endurance and power on the bike.Week one focuses on form and technique on the bike, with an eye toward understanding different tempos/cadences. Participants also establish a base level of fitness by the end of the first class, checking perceived or actual exertion with both a set of intervals and an endurance climb.  (So, if you’re a returning participant, you can compare your new base level of fitness to your previous one.)  All classes have a combination of endurance, speed and interval training.  As the classes progress, the strength exercises increase in intensity and Suzanne lengthens endurance efforts.  The classes build toward longer intervals at higher exertion with less recovery.  The final class returns to the same set of baseline intervals and endurance drills as the first class in order to evaluate the improvement in perceived exertion and fitness.  Heart rate monitors are highly recommended.

 

 

Cycling Intensive Details:

Location: The Training Room 691a Somerville Ave.
Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Dates: 12/4, 12/11, 12/18, (2-week skip)  1/8, 1/15

Time: 9:00AM – 10:45AM

Cost: $105

sign-up now

**Follow the link to our MINDBODY Online scheduling site, click on the ONLINE STORE tab at the top right of your screen.  You will be taken to the current list of Series & Memberships offered at The Training Room.  From the drop down menu, choose Workshops & One Day Events and add the 5-week cycling intensive to your check-out cart.
email with questions: info@thetrainingroomboston.com

 

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in Classes, Workshops/Intensives | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Client Spotlight: Amy W.

June 7, 2011 – 2:34 pm

 

Amy Before
Amy Now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy W’s transformation at the Training Room has gone beyond the physical.  Amy has not only changed her body, she has also completely shifted her mentality about food and her attitude toward working out.  She has learned the ins and outs of fitness and nutrition and has really taken the time to understand the changes she was making, rather than just going through the motions.  Oh, and along the way she also managed to lose 35lb and 10% body fat through a LOT of hard work and determination- not too shabby huh?  Here’s her story:

I first started working with Amy in September, 2010.  At the time she had come into the Training Room a few times to take classes, and decided to ramp up her workout regimen with some personal training sessions.  In our initial assessment I learned a few things about her.  She weighed 165lb, and was holding onto 30% body fat.  She had a great, bubbly personality and her goal was to lose some weight and do something worthy of making the TR blog!  But most glaringly, her diet was TERRIBLE.

The most amazing thing about Amy was that she truly had no idea how bad her diet was.  According to Amy, she was trying to eat “healthy” in the first food log that she brought in for me – meaning that it had been even worse before!  Here are a couple sample entries from her original food logs:

Disclaimer: Since these entries were from a few weeks after we had started working together, Amy had already started to make changes to her original diet.  She switched her breakfasts from bagels and cereal to eggs and she was working on getting a lean protein portion in with each meal.  (We couldn’t find the original entries because she probably threw them away!)

10/25/2010:

  • Raspberries
  • Eggs
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Coffee
  • Luna Bar
  • 1/2 Peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat
  • Chocolate Milk
  • Chunky tomato bisque
  • Bread and butter
  • 2 glasses white wine

10/26/2010:

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 slice whole wheat toast
  • peach
  • milk
  • coffee
  • grapes
  • string cheese
  • navy bean soup with saltines
  • grapes and pineapple
  • Reeses peanut butter cup
  • green beans and hummus
  • milk
  • peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat
  • 2 bites of dessert
  • 1 glass white wine

*Other common foods included (lots of) pizza, mozzarella sticks, cookies and various desserts throughout the day.

I’m not going to lie, after seeing her first food logs, I was a little worried that changing her eating habits was going to be a huge challenge.  Amy’s attempts at eating healthy (as shown above) were based on eating less of the same unhealthy foods she had been eating before.  Her diet still consisted of mostly carbohydrates and a lot of sugary foods.  All I can say is that I’ve never had anyone transform their diet so drastically and stick to it so wholeheartedly.  Every week I would give Amy a new behavior goal – one lifestyle change she needed to make that would help her to get one step closer to her outcome goal of weight loss.  Without fail, Amy would come in the next week with a food log that reflected her compliance, and a weigh-in that showed another pound lost on the scale.  As her weight went down, the goals had to get more strict in order to avoid a plateau.  Amy never blinked an eye when I suggested she eat protein with every meal, or when I asked her to try to eat grain-based carbohydrates only after workouts, or when I told her to cut her “cheat meals” down from 4 per week to 2-3.  When she got stuck at the same weight for a couple weeks in a row, she agreed to take the sugar out of her coffee and switch half of her fruit servings to vegetables.  There was never any resistance – only eagerness to see what could happen with the new changes she was making.

At the same time, Amy was working incredibly hard in the gym.  I knew I would get 100% effort out of her every single workout.  Here are a few videos of her showing off some pretty impressive strength:

Amy Assisted Chin Ups

Amy Decline Pushups

Amy Trap Bar Deadlift

These lifts are even more impressive when you realize that less than a year ago Amy couldn’t even do one pushup – never mind ten with her feet elevated!  She is a perfect representation of the fact that girls NEED to lift heavy weights.  Not only does heavy weight training burn fat like crazy, it also increases metabolism, strength and bone density.  Amy also proves that contrary to popular belief, lifting heavy weights will NOT make a girl “bulky.”  As you can see from her before and after pictures, Amy has not only lost weight, but her muscle tone has improved.  Girls who spend their days on eliptical machines and treadmills may eventually lose some weight, but they will be burning off muscle instead of fat and will end up looking “skinny fat” (not a good look!)  Amy is proud of her strength and even embraces the calluses that go along with it!

Did I say she "embraces" her calluses? Sorry, I meant to say LOVES

Amy has completely gone beyond my expectations and I am so proud of her for the work she has put in and the accomplishments she has made.  When asked about her thoughts on the process she said,

“I have had more success than I ever imagined from training and taking classes at the Training Room.  Lauren is excellent to work with – by always staying consistent and supportive at the same time.  The best part is that I really love working out there and always feel great afterwards.”

She also noted that she could go on for days about it, but I asked her to keep it  brief. :)  I hope that everyone reading this is inspired and motivated by Amy’s commitment to her health.  The TR is very proud to have another success story in the books!  Way to go Amy!!

 

Amy Before at 165lb and 30% Body Fat

Amy Before

 

Amy Now at 133lb and 20% Body Fat

A quick photo shoot between sets of deadlifts and pullups! Love you Amy!

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in clients, Strength Training, Weight Loss | Comments (0)

BAREFOOT RUNNING w/ Irene Davis

March 31, 2011 – 1:15 pm

Humans have engaged in endurance running for millions of years1, but the modern running shoe was not invented until the 1970s. For most of human evolutionary history, runners were either barefoot or wore minimal footwear such as sandals or moccasins with smaller heels and little cushioning relative to modern running shoes. We wondered how runners coped with the impact caused by the foot colliding with the ground before the invention of the modern shoe.

Here we show that habitually barefoot endurance runners often land on the fore-foot (fore-foot strike) before bringing down the heel, but they sometimes land with a flat foot (mid-foot strike) or, less often, on the heel (rear-foot strike). In contrast, habitually shod runners mostly rear-foot strike, facilitated by the elevated and cushioned heel of the modern running shoe. Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that even on hard surfaces, barefoot runners who fore-foot strike generate smaller collision forces than shod rear-foot strikers. This difference results primarily from a more plantarflexed foot at landing and more ankle compliance during impact, decreasing the effective mass of the body that collides with the ground. Fore-foot- and mid-foot-strike gaits were probably more common when humans ran barefoot or in minimal shoes, and may protect the feet and lower limbs from some of the impact-related injuries now experienced by a high percentage of runners.  (Abstract from:  Nature http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v463/n7280/abs/nature08723.html)

Irene Davis’ work on barefoot running has recently brought her to Cambridge, and we are excited to hear her present at The Training Room on April 20, 2011 at 6:00pm. This  event is free and open to the public, and we encourage Training Room clients and runners of any kind to come hear her talk.  The presentation will consist of lecture, followed by a Q&A and a practical running demonstration.  Space is limited, so you must sign up for this free event here.

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in Events, News | Comments (0)

Cycle for Life at The Training Room – Save the date!

March 28, 2011 – 10:51 pm

Cycle for Life – Spinathon to support American Cancer Society’s Bicycles Battling Cancer

Please join TEAM G as they host a charity Spinathon at THE TRAINING ROOM to raise money for the 3rd Annual Bicycles Battling Cancer Ride.  http://community.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=34536&pg=entry.

Unite with fellow cyclists and the American Cancer Society in our effort to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.   With this event, we’re hoping to help people stay well and get well, raise awareness and funds, and contribute to finding cures and fighting back against cancer.  Team G was formed in honor of a cycling enthusiast who recently lost her battle with cancer.

Options- to participate, or just come by and donate.

When: Saturday, May 7th, 2011 from 1pm to 5pm
Where: THE TRAINING ROOM691a Somerville Ave.
Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Spinathon participants can ride any length of time – from 1/2 hour to 4 hours.

Suggested donations: $15 for each 1/2 hour slot, $25 for each hour.Checks are to be made directly to the American Cancer Society.

Bikes are limited so register early!  Event day registration welcome if slots remain open.

To pre-register: Go to www.thetrainingroomboston.com, click RESERVATIONS, scroll down the class calendar for the May 7th event, and then pick any 30 minute segment  (you’re welcome to sign up for as many time slots as you’d like).  If you have registered for a class at The Training Room before, just sign in with your username / password and if you haven’t, create an account (just follow instructions listed).

Together, we can contribute toward a world where cancer doesn’t steal another year from anyone’s life.

If you have any questions or if you are interested in joining TEAM G please contact:
Suzanne Schwartz timsuz@rcn.com
Cindy Ditullio caditullio@comcast.net

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in Events, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

OUTDOOR BOOTCAMP – Starts May 1st!

March 12, 2011 – 3:58 pm

2013 marks the fourth year of The Training Room’s Outdoor Bootcamp program! 

 

The TR’s summer outdoor bootcamp program is a great way to have fun and vary your workout routine.  Are you in need of some structure, accountability, and motivation to push yourself to that next level?  When you sign up for outdoor bootcamp, held three days per week, you gain access to the knowledge and motivational techniques of a certified personal trainer at an affordable price. At our bootcamp, you’ll learn how to effectively use bands, medicine balls, agility ladders, hurdles, kettlebells, heavy ropes, body-weight resistance exercises, and even playground equipment to give you a total body workout every session!  If you’ve ever thought about joining a bootcamp program, or just need a reason to get yourself moving, then join us at Conway Park on Somerville Avenue every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6 AM.  Suitable for all fitness levels.

 

This year, OUTDOOR BOOTCAMP is included in our regular class packages.  Sign up for a single class, 6-pack, or 12-pack of regular studio classes and use the class credits for Outdoor Bootcamp too!

Unlimited class passes can be purchased and reserved online for $140.

*Outdoor Bootcamp sessions are limited to 20 participants, so online registration is required.

All Outdoor Bootcamp classes will be held rain or shine.  In the event of severe weather conditions or thunderstorms that may threaten the safety of the participants, class will be cancelled and credited back to the participant for future use.  All participants who have opted-in to receive TR emails and who are registered for class will be notified of any cancellation via email at least 30-minutes prior to class start time.

SIGN UP NOW

By thetrainingroom | Also posted in bootcamp | Comments (1)

New York Times Article Analysis

January 21, 2011 – 1:29 pm

A few weeks ago I had a few friends and family members ask me for my opinion on this article that appeared in the New York Times:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/phys-ed-the-benefits-of-exercising-before-breakfast/?emc=eta1

Since the article seemed to bring up a lot of questions, I wanted to take a minute to analyze the study and explain my thoughts on the topic.  Please note that I am a little “behind the times” (no pun intended) on this post, as the article was written during the holiday season, but I feel that it is a topic that should be considered all year round.If you don’t want to take the time to read through the article in full, here is a synopsis:

  • A new study published in the Journal of Physiology suggested that exercising before breakfast (i.e. in a fasted state) will significantly lower your chances of gaining weight and becoming insulin resistant.
  • THE STUDY: In the study there were three different groups of 7-10 healthy, active young men: Group 1 would not work out and they would eat a diet composed of 50% more fat and 30% more calories overall.  Group 2 would complete a rigorous workout 4 times per week.  Before their workout they would eat a hefty, carbohydrate-rich breakfast and drink a carbohydrate rich sports drink during their workout.  Group 3 would complete the same rigorous workout 4 times per week.  They would not eat anything before their workout, and then would eat the same hefty, carbohydrate-rich breakfast after the workout was complete.
  • THE RESULTS: Group 1 gained weight and became insulin resistant.  Group 2 gained less weight than group 1, but still gained and also became slightly insulin resistant.  Group 3 gained close to no weight and did not become insulin resistant.
  • THE CONCLUSION: Working out before breakfast (in a fasted state) means you are less likely to gain weight and become insulin resistant.

I have a few problems with the study itself, before I get into my concerns with the actual analysis of the study.  First of all, a 28-person sample size is far too small to draw such generalized conclusions.  Not to mention the group was all male, and the article is written for both male and female readers.  The study was also only 6 weeks long which is really not enough time to track any sort of long term effects of the methods they were using.  Also, the general diet of the group members seemed very arbitrary.  They increased the amount of calories that they had already been consuming by 30 percent, rather than having everybody in the group take in the same amount of calories each day.  This left each member’s diet (besides the specific breakfasts) to be very ambiguous.   A person eating donuts and pasta all day would see different results than a person eating grilled chicken and vegetables – whether they exercised before breakfast or after!  The article said there was a 50% increase in fat, but there are very big differences between types of fats (ex. trans fats are known to be very bad for you, whereas mono- and poly-unsaturated fats are very good for you.)  Not specifying which types of fats the men were consuming more of was also a mistake in my opinion.

With all that said, my main concern with the analysis of this study is that they seemed to jump to the main conclusion, that you should exercise before eating, without looking further into the real reasons that group 2 gained weight and group 3 didn’t.  At first glance, after seeing the results, it seems perfectly logical to conclude that workouts on an empty stomach are more beneficial than workouts after eating.  However, food choice was not taken into consideration and this is where I feel the analysis of the study went wrong.

There is a big difference between the way your body processes carbohydrates and proteins.

 

carbs and proteins are not created (or metabolized) equally!

In the study, groups 2 and 3 were both eating high-carbohydrate meals for breakfast.  Carbohydrates are a very good source of energy, and therefore when you eat a high-carb meal and then workout, your body will use the readily-available energy from the ingested carbohydrates for fuel.  This means that during your workout, you will only be burning off the carbohydrates that you just ate, and not using any stored energy (fat) to fuel the workout.  Group 3 went into their workout without any carbohydrate “fuel” and therefore used stored energy during their workout.  This made their workout more effective because they were burning off stored fat, rather than ingested carbohydrates.  Another reason they did not gain weight from the high-carbohydrate meal after their workout is because your metabolism is in an elevated state after an intense workout.  This means that the carbohydrates after a workout are metabolized more efficiently than they would be before a workout, and therefore do not get stored as fat in the body.

Now, I realize that all of this information is still suggesting that it would be best to workout before eating.  However, the one BIG thing that was left out of this study was any inclusion of protein in the groups’ diets!  Like I said before, not all food groups are alike.  Ingested proteins (such as eggs, lean meats, Greek yogurt, etc.) are not a good source of immediate energy, and if eaten before a workout, will not likely be able to provide the fuel or energy that the body needs.  Therefore, if you eat a protein source before a workout, your body will still need to go after previously stored energy (*fat*) for fuel.  If you then eat carbohydrates after your workout, your metabolism will be in an elevated state and will burn those calories faster.

People have different preferences as to whether they like to eat before a workout or not because of how it makes them feel.  Some people don’t like to eat beforehand because it makes them sick to their stomachs and they don’t feel that they work out as effectively.  However, others feel that they need something in their stomach before embarking on an intense workout and this is just fine!  In that case, it is my suggestion that you do not skip out on breakfast or work out on an empty stomach, but rather choose your food source wisely.  Pick a protein-rich breakfast such as eggs or protein shakes/smoothies.  Since eggs are pretty self-explanatory, here is a quick and easy smoothie recipe that I like to use for a pre-workout meal:

Strawberry Vanilla Smoothie:

YUM!

  • One scoop vanilla whey protein powder
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 1/2 cup low-fat or fat-free milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp ground flax seed (high in omega-3 fatty acids)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  It’s delicious, nutritious, and a perfect option for a pre-workout morning meal!  Enjoy!

Lauren

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