Question:
Hi
I am a 40 year old nonsmoking male, I have been working out
3 days / week for about a year. I run 2 7.5 - 8.0 minute miles
and lift weights for about an hour. I have improved my strength
quite a bit and definition to a degree. I seem to have hit
the wall on both definition and strength. I was wondering
what hints OR SERVICE would be best to help with these aspects.
I would like to focus on both BUT would like definition to
be a bit quicker in results.
Answer:
Dear
nonsmoker: You're off to a good start being a nonsmoker and
regular exerciser. Only about 15 - 20% of the North American
population is involved in regular physical exercise. Hitting
a wall trying to improve any aspect of fitness or human performance
is usually the result of not following a long-term plan that
progresses slowly, but consistently. Too often we are smitten
by the desire to make gains quickly and this desire quickly
becomes our Achilles heel as we become attracted to quick
fixes. "Definition" or leanness is effected
mostly by aerobic exercise and dietary intake
with the determining factors being how
many calories you eat compared to how many you burn off.
Initial strength gains are fast adapting through the brain
and central nervous system. After neural increases are maximized
an increase in muscle mass is required to increase strength.
Typically a well-planned training regimen will manipulate
both neural and mass properties of muscle to achieve greater
strength. Strength training must be "Periodized"
to prevent burnout and plateaus. In general stick with small
increments in sets, reps, or weight. In my practice I have
found that increments that are smaller than 10% every 14 to
21 days yield permanent long term gains. The Aerobic
Assessment Service is a good place to start with Rhino
Fitness so we can accurately prescribe your correct
heart rate for cardiovascular exercise by sampling your
heart rate and blood lactate during an easy aerobic test.
For weight training instruction and overcoming your strength
plateau, our 5 Hour Block of One On One Training will teach
you the correct technique, assess your biomechanics and teach
you how to avoid plateaus. -Cris LaBossiere
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