Strickland Fitness

Today’s prep tool for the Strictly Fit October Challenge is a bit of some fitness education. We have challengers from all over the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, the United States and beyond. However, for the purpose of this challenge, I will be using pounds and inches (and it’s what I know best). If you need help with the conversions, here is a good place http://www.lenntech.com/calculators/mass-weight/mass-weight.htm.

Ok, so the fact for today is that you have to burn 3500 calories in order to burn 1 pound of fat. If your goal is to lose weight, you will have to burn 3500 calories more than your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) in order to lose 1 pound. Your BMR is the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day. What does this mean exactly? If your BMR is 2000 calories (kcal), you burn 2000 kcal just doing nothing. So if you ate 2000 kcal and your BMR is 2000 and you did nothing all day, your weight would stay the same. If your BMR is 2000 kcal and you consume 2500 kcal and do nothing all day, you would slowly gain weight. If you did this everyday for 1 week, you would gain 1 pound. That’s 500 kcal over your BMR for 7 days. 500 x 7 =3500. So far so good? Great! If your goal is to lose weight, you want to make sure you burn more calories than your BMR. You can do this by lowering your daily caloric intake, exercise, and cardio. If your goal is to gain weight and/or muscle, then you have to burn less than your BMR.

How do you find out what your BMR is? There are a couple things that have to be factored into the equation. Your height, age, weight, activity level, and gender are the major factors. You can go this website and it will compute it for you automatically. http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php. Just click the BMR and RMR calculator button. It’s not a perfect science, but it’s pretty accurate. Once it’s calculated, write it down. I also want you to email it to me so I can send you specific instructions throughout the challenge based on your BMR. Now that you have it, you have a great starting point towards your goal.

Now is the time to go to your food journal that you have been keeping. Remember Prep Tool #1. Have you counted the calories that you take in every day? Compare your daily caloric intake with your BMR. How do they compare? I will go over with you what to do with this information just before the challenge starts.

Once you have calculated your BMI, compared it to how many calories you have been taking in, and emailed it to me, put a check in the box for Sept. 23^rd. GREAT JOB!!!!

 The next thing you will need to do for the October challenge is know how to monitor your heart rate during exercise, both resistance and cardio. If you have a heart rate monitor in the closet, dig it up. If you don’t have one, don’t despair. Most cardio machines at the gym have sensors on them for you to check your heart rate. Make sure you know how to use it. The third way is to take your pulse manually. Place the tips of your first two fingers lightly over one of the blood vessels on your neck, just to the left or right of your Adam’s apple. Or try the pulse spot inside your wrist just below the base of your thumb. Count the pulse for 10 seconds and then multiply by 6. So you should at all times be able to, using one of these methods, check your heart rate. Next time you are working out, try stopping and seeing if you can get it. Once you have this down, put a big check mark in the box for Sept. 17^th. Great Job!!!

Use of any knowledge from this website is voluntary. By reading this post, you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in the disclaimer in the about section of this website. Thanks for participating!

Starting October 1^st is the Strickland Fitness Strictly Fit Challenge. This is a one month program to help you kick start your fall and help you take steps toward your fitness goal. If your goal is to lose weight, burn fat, gain muscle, or kick your workout into the next gear, this program will definitely help.  I will teach you about nutrition, resistance training, cardio, fitness level assessment and much much more.  All you have to do is read each day’s blog entry for the day’s exercise suggestion.  I will prepare you for the gym or your house if you don’t belong to a gym. You will learn new exercises and how creativity can boost your workout, change your daily routine, and elevate you from a plateau.

There will be a 2 week prep period starting Wednesday Sept. 16^th.  This prep period will be designed to prepare you with all the tools you will need to participate in the challenge. Visit the blog daily for new information.

So the next step is to make the commitment. All it takes is an email to me stating your goal and your commitment to your goal for the next 30 days.

You can comment on the blog about your experience with each day’s suggestion and how you are doing in the challenge. There might be some days that are hard and others that are easy. Whatever the case, share it with the community. If you have any questions regarding a post, put it in the comment section and I will be sure to answer it with the next day’s entry and suggestion.

There will be variations in the workouts to help tailor them towards different goals.

You have until Sept. 30^th to enter yourself into the challenge.

The next day’s blog post will be up by 9:00 pm P.S.T.

Some workouts will be emailed to you directly so be sure to email me your entrance.

If you happen to miss a post, you can go to the October Challenge Tag on the right to get all back posts. Good Luck!!!!

This 30 day program is not intended to treat or diagnose. If you have any concerns, you should consult a physician immediately.

Disclaimer: Chad Strickland, Strickland fitness, and any other associated business, entity, or person is not liable for any damages from the use of any information available on this site. Any use of the information provided by this site is voluntary. By use of any knowledge from this website, you voluntarily release, forever discharge, and agree to indemnify and hold harmless Chad Strickland, Strickland Fitness, and any other associated business, entity, or person from any and all claims, demands, or causes of action, which are in any way connected with my participation.  You should consult a physician before starting any exercise program.

When is the best time to weigh myself?

The best time is in the morning. More importantly, try weighing yourself at the same time of day.

I am trying to put on weight. How do I do that without adding more fat?

Putting on muscle weight can take time and commitment. You have to up your calorie intake with low-fat, high protein foods and raise the intensity of your resistance workouts. Adding more weight and fewer repetitions to your sets helps to build muscle. Don’t forget to rest a little longer between sets to help the muscles get ready for the next hard set.

My knees hurt when I run. Why is that?

Running creates a lot of impact on your joints. Pain can be caused from tissue or bone damage, instability of the joint, or muscle weakness and tightness. If you don’t have the muscle strength to support this impact, the joint takes the hit. If your leg muscles are tight, they can pull on the knee joint causing instability and pain. First, make sure you don’t have an injury to the knee. Next, focus on flexibility and strengthening of the muscles that support the knee. These muscles are the adductors, abductors, gluts, quads, hamstrings, calves, hip flexors, and peroneals. Also, try running on surfaces that offer the least amount of impact.

What is the biggest factor in weight loss?

Nutrition!!!!

80% of all people will suffer from lower back pain in their life. A lot of times this pain is not caused from injury, but from overcompensation from weak abdominals. Strong abdominals help to make a strong core which stabilizes the spine. When you are working for that ripped mid-section, you are also working to alleviate lower back pain.

The majority of back pain sufferers are in a career where they are in a seated position for most of the day. Sitting at a computer or desk is basically being in a crunch position the whole time. This isolated crunch position elongates the back muscles which weakens them over time. When Sean Renninger from Integrity Sport and Fitness (www.integritysportandfitness.com) trains his clients with lower back pain, he puts emphasis on lengthening the abdominal muscles besides shortening them. “Doing crunches”, Sean says, “is a fundamental movement that everybody knows, but does not serve the true function of the abs which is to protect and support the spine and lower back.”

If working the abdominals has become a major part of your workout routine, be sure to concentrate on the lengthening of the muscle as much as the shortening or contracting of the muscle. This will help to strengthen your abs, strengthen your back, strengthen your core, and stabilize your spine. A stabilized spine is a great prevention to lower back pain and injury.