Be fit to run first, not run to become fit

In Mike Boyle's book "Advances in Functional Training" I came across a quote by physical therapist Diane Lee who stated “You can’t run to get fit. You need to be fit to run.” And yet, a lot of people begin running when they start their journey to improve their health and fitness.

Ideally running would be the perfect workout to launch yourself into improving your health, since it's less intimidating than going to the gym, however, the chance of getting a chronic injury is high. Especially for beginners, considering that they aren't conditioned enough for repetitive movements of running, and absorbing the forces from the impact of the ground.

Although, the best way to improve your fitness before getting started with running is to work on your fundamental movements such as: squats, hinges (deadlifts), lunges, push-ups, and planks for 3-4 weeks.

Once you prepare your physical fitness with a simple home workout plan, try running after week 3 of training, and I guarantee you it will feel easier to run compared to running without an initial preparation workout phase.

Here's a simple home workout preparation phase you can try for 4 weeks:

Week 1:
A1: Body weight squats 8 reps
A2: Plank 15-25s
A3: Hinge 8 reps
A4: Elevated hands push-up: 8 reps
A5: Lunges 8x2 reps
x2 sets, 2-3x workouts for the week

Week 2:
A1: Body weight squats 10 reps
A2: Plank 25-35s
A3: Hinge 10 reps
A4: Elevated hands push-up: 10 reps
A5: Lunges 10x2 reps
x3 sets, 2-3x workouts for the week

Week 3:
A1: Body weight squats 12 reps
A2: Plank 35-45s
A3: Hinge 12 reps
A4: Elevated hands push-up: 12 reps
A5: Lunges 12x2 reps
x3 sets, 2-3x workouts for the week

Week 4 (repeat of week 1 to compare progress):
A1: Body weight squats 8 reps
A2: Plank 15-25s
A3: Hinge 8 reps
A4: Elevated hands push-up: 8 reps
A5: Lunges 8x2 reps
x2 sets, 2-3x workouts for the week

Ideal Reps for your goals

Quick summary of ideal rep range for your goals:

Strength with minimal gains in muscle mass.

1-5

Maximal strength and hypertrophy gains.

6-8

Hypertrophy with some strength gains/ Ideal for sustaining muscle mass during a fat loss phase.

9-12

Strength endurance gains and lower muscle mass gains.

13-20 reps

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Beginning an exercise plan for the first time, the first variable we need to consider is how many repetitions are required for our specific goal.

If strength is our goal, because we are involved in sports that require us to gain strength, such as powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting then training the big lifts such as squats, Olympic lifts, overhead press, or deadlifts needs to be trained in the 1-5 rep range for maximal strength.

If our goal is to gain strength and muscle mass, because we are involved in contact sports that require the need of body armor to take a hit, then we need to aim for the 6-8 rep range.

When our goal is to pack on muscle mass, or we are starting a fat loss phase, ideally the 9-12 rep range is recommended. For a fat loss phase, when we are cutting back on calories, muscle mass is the first to go, therefore working in the 9-12 rep range forces our body to prioritize muscle over fat; which will burn fat to make up for the loss calories in our diet.

For strength endurance with lower muscle mass gain, targeting 13-20 reps is best.

Sticking to only 1 rep range for your specific goal will work for the first 6-8 weeks, however, in the long run alternating different rep ranges will be more effective. For example, programming lower reps into your hypertrophy phase will make you stronger to lift heavier weights in the 9-12 rep range—the heavier you lift, the more tension you apply to muscles over time will make them grow. For that reason, I recommend play with the rep ranges and find the one that works best for you and your goals.

Movement exercises first, Isolations second.

Do you include any or all of these movement exercises into your training:

Movement- Exercise example

1. Squat- Goblet squat

2. lunge- Reverse lunges

3. Pull- (vertical) Pull-up, (horizontal) bent over rows

4. Push- (vertical) over head press, (horizontal) push-up

5. Deadlift/ Hinge- romanian deadlift

6. Anti-extension or anti-rotation- plank, side plank

7. Carry- farmer, suitcase carry

If you are missing any of these fundamental movement patterns in your training, you will most likely develop muscle imbalances that leads to chronic pain, and limit developing strength and endurance.

Training full movement exercises are first priority over isolation exercises.

Simple Diet Rules to Get Lean

1. Add protein to every meal. Recommend amount of protein to maintain muscle is between 0.7g to 1g of protein per body weight in pounds. For example, if you weight 200 lbs, you should eat 140g to 200g of protein per day. If you eat 3 meals a day that is about 47g to 67g of protein per meal.

2. No snacking. Just eat full meals.

3. Eat your vegetables. Aim for half your plate of a variety vegetables.

4. Include 1 portion/ serving of carbohydrates. Just don’t eat 3 to 4 times your portion size. This may vary depending on your goal, but half a potato, or half cup of rice is a good start.

5. Don’t skip meals. Eating more increases your metabolism.

6. Drink water, and not juice or soda.

Check out Josh Hillis and Dan John’s book “Fat Loss Begins on Monday” for advice on fat loss.

Be Results Driven

Results drive our motivation for success.  Attaining results, big or small, will guarantee motivation to continue training towards getting lean, and grinding through a heavy deadlift session.

Yet there are a few people out there that enjoy going to the gym, doing the same routine without a change in results. But, if you’re like me, having no change in progress, my motivation will drop and it becomes harder to stay focused in the long run.

Results could be losing a pound of body fat, increasing 5lb in your over head press, or running a mile 10 seconds faster.  Set a goal with a time frame and do your best to achieve it.  If you don’t reach it ask yourself: Is my goal with the time frame realistic? Or what can I change to achieve it?

What ever the result you want to achieve, make sure they’re a combination of short term and long term. Because the former drives satisfaction, while the latter brings excitement to training.

5 Simple Tips for Weight Loss

5 simple tips from Jason Fung’s book Obesity Code:

1. Reduce consumption of added sugar.

2. Reduce consumption of refined grains.

3. Moderate your protein intake.

4. Increase your consumption of natural fats.

5. Increase your consumption of fiber and vinegar.