If you are like me and many other people out there, it seems like the New Year is always a good time to start eating healthier, exercise more and take care of your body. Unfortunately, the good intentions seem to fall by the wayside about half the year through. I know that once I start seeing results, then that motivates me to want to exercise more and really take care of my body. After feeling sorry for myself, I made a decision to make quite a few changes in my life. Treating my body better was one of them.
To me, a gym can get boring and the workouts are just so….blegh! One day, I was driving down through Liberty Station in Point Loma and saw a sign for Bar Method. I went home, looked up the website and was really intrigued by their ‘method’ of exercise. It is basically Pilates, Yoga and Ballet all rolled into one. When I took a class for the first time, I could not believe how difficult, intense yet satisfying it was. Best of all, the class was not boring. I had the pleasure of meeting Allison McCurdy, owner of Bar Method in Liberty Station, and she has been a great part in helping me with my comeback figure. Yes, I call it a comeback figure because once you have seen what your body can look like on it’s best day, you want that back.
Since I have had the pleasure of knowing Allison, I realized how knowledgeable she was about exercise and her sensitivity towards people with injuries, etc. She really knows her stuff! So, I wanted to pick Allison’s brain to see if she could answer 9 questions about fitness to help those that want to lose weight or tone their bods in 2009!
1. What is the best way to jumpstart your metabolism?
In order to jumpstart your metabolism, you must challenge your muscles in new ways and apply that challenge to a variety of muscles or muscle groups. For instance, on any given day, choose from one or more large muscle groups capable of burning lots of calories such as quads (thigh), glutes (seat), biceps or core muscles (abdominals and back). Then challenge these muscle groups with cardio and interval training (aerobic) as well as stenghenging and conditioning (anaerobic exercise). Because it exhausts and utilizes your muscles in different ways, it then targets more muscle fibers and makes your muscles more efficient at utilizing energy (translation: burning calories and fat). Think of your muscles as a large surface area. The more area you work within and across muscles groups, the more calories and fat they can burn.
2. Why is it important to incorporate core exercises with cardio?
Core work focuses on large muscles in your body such as abdominals and back that work together to keep your body and spine strong and stable. When toned, your core is a highly efficient muscle group with large mass able to burn calories and fat at a resting metabolic rate (i.e. when you are sitting, sleeping, driving). Cardio burns calories when you move briskly. Combining core exercises with cardio makes your body more efficient at utilizing (burning) calories and fat at both resting and non-resting metabolic rates.
3. At bar method, a majority of the workout consists of small, isolated, strengthening movements. What is the benefit of that style of exercise as opposed to the typical gym circuit training?
The difference is less rest. the benefit is faster results and a reshaping of the body in a shorter amount of time. We work in spurts of muscle-sculpting (mostly without weights) by completely exhausting the muscle, then we take short stretching breaks which means we stay in the muscle longer and in a more intense way. This type of exercise works the body more than doing an hour of straight weights or circuit training where your muscle rests in between each repetition. the body reacts very well to short intervals. By building capillaries and muscle fibers it makes your body more efficient because there is more muscle mass to slash calories and burn fat. The “break” during our bar method workout is stretching which works to elongate the muscle fibers that naturally break down during exercise. They rebuild themselves in the following hours, but do so in a different shape – longer and leaner. Weight training on a circuit can achieve a similar end result but it may take longer. depending on your build, it may bulk a muscle more than elongate it.
4. What is one exercise that you can do daily that will help burn those calories?
Push-ups! push-ups create a plank out of your body that engage your legs, core, and of course arms which create the momentum. If you have 10 minutes a day to do something, do push-ups!
5. It is easy to get dehydrated and not know it. Does being hydrated affect your workout and how well your muscles respond to the exercise?
Absolutely. Fluids allow the body to perform properly by stabilizing body tempertature, helping circulate blood which carries oxygen and nutrients to the muscles so they can work longer, as well as lubricate joints.
6. Weights vs. isometric. Why do some trainers use one method of muscle building vs. the other?
Isometrics focus on using your own body resistance whereas weights are a facilitator. One is not necessarily better than the other. They are simply different. Heavy weights will tend to create a bulkier muscle than isometrics.
7. What is the easiest way to get results in an exercise program?
Combine cardio intervals (calorie burn), strength training (burns fat and builds muscle), a sensible diet (balanced nutrition so your body metabolizes food more efficiently), drink water (quenches body and helps digestion), and get plenty of sleep. Your body needs time to rest and rebuild muscle, so if it is starved of sleep and proper nutrition, your metabolism actually slows down in an attempt to insulate itself and “save” energy for later. stress reduction also plays a role in proper metbolism.
8. How many days a week is it necessary to exercise, if you want to lose weight? And can you break down the importance of nutrition, rest between workouts and stretching as a part of an exercise regimen?
We recommend a combination of cardio and strengthening and conditioning 4-5 days per week plus eating sensibly (lean meats, fruits, vegetables, fiber, carbs, low sugar). Portion control is a huge factor in weight loss as well. portions are often 50-100% larger than we need. Try eating out less and eating in more. Cook with whole foods and less processsed foods. processed foods often contain fillers/additives, preservatives, unnecessary sugar, sodium, and fats that our bodies have a difficult time breaking down and converting into energy.
9. There are various workout boutiques that seem popular and effective (i.e.: pilates, yoga, martial arts). Give me three reasons why you decided to open bar method.
reason #1:
The cardio buzz! I enjoy all types of exercise – in particular outdoor sports. I have been an avid athlete my entire life but injured my knees skiing while in undergrad (about 13 years ago). Since my injury, my body became more intolerant of hard cardio such as running and kickboxing. I had to “tone down” my workouts, but pilates and yoga (both of which i definitely enjoy) didn’t give me the feeling of exhaustion or intensity that cardio workouts do. when i found bar method, it gave me that cardio buzz without a sore knee. In fact i can run again because bar method has strengthened my knees.
reason #2:
It works. I have a very athletic build and the more I workout, the bulkier I tend to get. I am almost 35 and have been the same size for over 10 years. I have lost a few pounds since starting bar method, but my entire body has reshaped itself and leaned out such that i dropped an entire dress size and 2 jean sizes – I wear then same size i wore at age 21. The best part is that i haven’t changed anything else in my lifestyle other than adding bar method to my workout regiment. (no i haven’t given up chocolate or wine).
reason #3:
Simple. I make a difference in people’s lives everyday and believe in what I sell. Despite living a lifestyle dedicated to health and fitness, I worked in corporate for 12 years and never really cared much about the products I marketed. I also got tired of the constant pressure to sell more products in order to hit sales numbers, margins, maintain stock prices and appease wall street. Nothing I marketed changed lives, could impact an individual’s confidence, reduce stress levels, or challenge body and soul like the bar method. Now if I can do just one of those things on a daily basis, I feel successful and fulfilled. bar method Empowers me with that ability.
Check out bar method at www.barmethod.com.
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Interesting article Jen! I’ll have to check this place out….