Justin G. Walls, Certified Personal Athletic Trainer

ACSM's Most Popular Fitness Trends For 2014 Which one are you going to try? One of the biggest problems with fitness is workout boredom. Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised that in the "vine" generation, we are seeing a resurgence of interval training, specifically high intensity interval training ( HIIT ). You can read the ACSM press release  for their top ten trends, which seem to follow a specific pattern: Get the workout done fast Get the best possible results for your investment Use as little or as simplistic (perhaps inexpensive) equipment as possible Have a certified professional guide your workout Workout in groups Put the "fun" in functional It shouldn't be a surprise that two of the most popular fitness trends are CrossFit and P90X, with their emphasis on basic exercises with minimal equipment. It should be noted that the "basic" exercises in CrossFit are actually quite challenging, including many Olympic style l...

Last week, there was yet another article  in the WaPo Health section about the benefits of going gluten-free. Sports Illustrated had an article about gluten-free athletes  a couple of years ago, touting the benefits of freeing up your body's metabolism from the breakdown of gluten in the intestine to more athletic performance work (reallocating scarce resources in the body makes sense right?). I shoulda eaten more carbs... To be fair, nobody is advocating carb-free diets for athletic performance. In "Endurance Sports Nutrition", Dr. Eberle points out that the science is pretty straight forward on this: you need carbs to perform and keep you going for the long haul until the body can access glycogen stores, but carbohydrates are the main thing that will keep you in the long races. You can read more about this  from the publisher's website What we are discussing is whether gluten, being a difficult protein to break down, can slow you down just a little. In...

New Five minute Workout! For a longer workout, do this multiple times! Warm- up with :20 Jumping Jacks, :20 High Knees, and :20 Jump Squats Find a couch and let's do tricep dips for :30 Drop to the floor, and do some mountain climbers for :30 Move those legs fast! Let's do some pause push-ups for 1:00 At the bottom of your push-up, keep your chest a few inches from the floor, arms bent, count to 5 SLOWLY, then press up We're half way there! Let's stand up and do some walking lunges, prisoner style for 1:00 Find a box somewhere in your house, or just stack a bunch of books and get ready to do deadlifts for :30 It is important to maintain proper form. Keep you back straight and push your hips back for full leverage.  Stand up straight to complete the movement.                                     ...

Parkour for the rest of us: a gym in Alexandria, VA challenges regular people to attempt some forms of the street gymnastics called parkour to help awaken parts of the body rarely used in daily life Is there such a thing as "the least amount of exercise"? ACSM struggles with the issue of how little exercise can people get away with if they won't meet their standards for regular exercise. "Really doc, how much exercise do I have to do?" Stay AWAY from DMAA:  The FDA has seized a large number of GNC products containing DMAA, as its side effects have caused serious illness and death in people found to have taken the dietary supplement Best tasting Fitness Shake  I have switched to this shake because it not only has great vitamin, mineral, fiber, and protein content- it also tastes FANTASTIC mixed just with water. Contact me to get the best pricing Some Very Earthy Extracts Some are claiming that certain extracts taken from rocks have some amazing positiv...

Simple, five minute workout when you can't get to the gym I actually use this workout as part of the warm up to my kickboxing class It hits pretty much every major muscle group, and gets your body loose for hours afterwards 5 Exercises, 5 minutes 1. 15 push-ups When  I say push-ups , I mean solid ones. Like the ones in this video. Body is straight. You go down straight. You come up straight. 2. 45 seconds Mountain Climbers Quick transition from push-ups, because it is in the same plank position Increase your speed for more intensity 3. Alternating Side Planks   Great Way to fire up your core for rotation. Engage, and then switch sides You can either time this for 30 seconds, or do ten on each side 4. 15 Squats   These need to be squats that bring your thighs parallel with the floor     5. 15 Lunges, left leg and right leg   Legs should be set at right angles, pelvis at a neutral position, moving fixed up and down in a strai...

We Tried This: Strong vs. Skinny | TIME.com According a recent edition of the ACSM Health and Fitness Journal , the fitness industry has made some strides into what is considered a healthy body image. No longer is the muscular look taboo, but the 'lean' look is still the appropriate trend- and the fitness trends are changing too: Lean isn't always healthy. Body fat percentage and muscle tone, like rings on a tree, tell the true story of how well the body has been kept. Blood tests also tell the tale that lean isn't always healthy. Trendy fitness fads like Zumba and other dance classes aren't getting the job done. Neither are the spin classes. Classic, good-ole fashioned boot camp and weight lifting are getting the results. The attitude is different. People (especially women) demand to be pushed and challenged. And they aren't afraid of 'getting too big' anymore. Just of climbing the next hurdle. Check out the latest trends as we head to the end of...

Robert Irvine, Master Chef on Food Network Robert Irvine, famous Food Network chef of shows like "Restaurant:Impossible", is no stranger to having to get way too many things done in a short amount of time. His show focuses on him getting tough jobs done in very short amounts of time. He was recently interviewed about his workout routine because this master chef is buff! Irvine, age 47, says that he has switched to lighter weights but regular workout routines at 5:00 am every morning. The important thing to note is that this guy is always looking for a gym everywhere he goes during his 330 days on the road, and takes some of his crew with him. In his shows, he generally gets to his destination at 7:00 am, and before you know it, he's hard at work getting the impossible job done. Lesson learned: you can get it done. He has also shared details about his workout and his commitment. From IdeatFit,com: I do between 45 minutes to 1 hour of very light weights, but ...

I haven't put a new workout up in a while. This is really just a vanity muscle workout for tone and muscle development, but done quickly can break out a major sweat. That means- don't stop to chat between sets, but just crush this workout! 15 minute arm work out- crush 'em!!! Super fast tricep and bicep workout: First round: Preacher curls and triceps dips 10 tricep dips- works long head of tricep You can also use an assistance machine or bench like this picture 10 preacher curls - this will work long head of the bicep   Repeat these two exercises as a superset (dips then curls) for three sets Second Round: Standing bicep curls and posterior tricep extenstions 10 standing bicep curls Try to keep your elbows down at your side for this exercise. It will work the short head of the bicep 10 tricep extensions- works short head of the tricep Keep your back straight and extend both arms back on this exercise. Squeeze your arm at full exte...

It requires some thought in to why we do and don't do things. Exercise was not really much expected of the average person when there was so much labor to do around the home and job. Our evolution from labor based to service based industries has created a need for us to generate time for activity. Hence- our need for motivation. Exercise in ancient Greece, for example, was an ingrained part of the religion and culture. The Gymnasium was dedicated to physical perfection, but also developed into a meeting place of philosophers and educators. In some ways, exercise is a motivator today for people to look attractive, impress their friends, potential friends, or just to make people notice them. Vanity can motivate. Sometimes, it's just about pride. The thought of having to buy new clothes to make room for more of you is just not pleasant (especially when you see the selection available). In fact, some studies have demonstrated that monetary incentives have helped people lose...

New Fifteen Minute Workout!!! Warm up: give yourself about two minutes worth of jumping jacks, but try to hop in different planes of movement. Try standard jumping jacks, then try to switch the timing of arms and legs, and then try scissors jacks switching arms and legs back and forth. Add some twists: make the warm up different. Workout: This workout is all about unilateral movements- we are using one limb at a time. Left leg lunges- step the left leg forward, bend both knees to 90 degrees, and finally return to a standing position. Repeat for one minute Right leg lunges- same as above, repeat for one minute. For more of a balance challenge, hold your arms up above your head Left arm clean and press- using a dumbbell or any weight you have around the house (a gallon bottle of water, for example), squat down low with the goal of touching the weight to the floor, followed by standing up and pressing your weight overhead. Repeat for one minute. Right arm clean and press- same...

People always ask, "How much exercise do I need to get?" There are actually different answers to that question: Average healthy adult under 65: The ACSM recommended  minimum exercise is 30 minutes of cumulative activity, five days every week. That's either 30 minutes on a treadmill, walking, jogging, or whatever activity that is a) cardiovascular and b) moderate intensity. This recommendation of ACSM is approved by many national health organizations, including the American Heart Assoc. (AHA) Strength training: Strength training makes a body look strong, lean, and upright with good posture. Strength training also has the important benefit of averting lean muscle loss. Lean tissue atrophies after age 25 in both men and woman, but takes a precipitous loss in men after 35 years of age. Weight lifting and axial loading stimulates bone growth, which is important as the rates of occurance in osteoporosis have become more common and prevelent in both genders at very young ages...