There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
Move Your Fanny!
Ever felt like you're spinning your wheels during your workout, investing time but not seeing the gains? Strap in with me, Rob Maxwell, as I illuminate the path to supercharging your fitness regimen with speed and precision. In this high-energy exploration, we dissect the marriage of pace and rest, scrutinizing how a lively tempo can not only trim the fat but also amplify your heart's vitality and muscle prowess. Forget the overwhelming sea of specialized programs; we're going back to basics, tapping into the science that streamlines your sweat sessions for peak efficiency.
If you've ever lifted weights in solitude outside the gym's energized walls, you know the struggle to keep the fire burning bright. In our chat, we unveil the transformative power of a focused, swift workout, pushing past the familiar to optimize our time and thrust our cardiovascular and muscular fitness to new heights. As we dissect the subtleties of your body's response to diverse environments, prepare to revolutionize your approach to exercise, making every heartbeat count in this dynamic quest for a fitter, stronger you.
Welcome to there Is A Method To the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell, I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I'm the owner of Maxwell's fitness programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There is a method to the madness.
Speaker 1:So before I get into today's topic, which I think you're going to like, let me thank Jonathan and Lynn Gilden of the Gilden Group at Realty Pros. They are my go-to real estate agents for listings, for finding things, for giving me the real information whenever I'm inquiring about things. They simply know what's going on and in today's real estate market that's what you need, because things are not just selling themselves anymore. So if you want to strengthen your real estate muscles and you need some help, give them a shout 3-8-6-4-5-1-2-4-1-2. I personally vouch for them, alright. So let's talk a little bit today about moving your fanny Alright. Getting your fanny rolling Alright. Picking it up a little bit. Let's talk about why that's important.
Speaker 1:Most people that go to the gym say and they mean it they want to get in better shape. Right, I mean, it isn't not what you think of. When you think of physical fitness, you think I want to be in better shape. Now, that does mean different things to different people, but it also, generally speaking, means kind of the same thing, right? Everybody wants to look better, meaning that they lean out, lose body fat, increase their muscle mass or increase their tone. Really the same thing, just word it a little bit differently. Want to be able to move better, have more agility, not huff and puff when they go upstairs or if they're playing sports. Want to be able to repeat the actions time and time again without getting winded, which is really the heart of a good cardiovascular system. No pun intended, but that's what people want, right? I mean? Sure, there's things people will say. Well, most important for me is losing weight. That's getting in better shape. Though that's getting in better shape Like having excess body fat for anybody is not an indicator of being in better shape. Or some people say you know, I really just want to be stronger, I don't care so much about losing weight, that's getting in better shape. And if we put it all in one package, like if somebody is leaning out, if somebody is getting stronger, you can't get stronger without improving your tone, and vice versa, and if somebody is less winded, so you put those big three together and that's what we're talking about getting in better shape. So that's why we work out, that's why we go to gyms, that's why we train, that's why we do all those things. So when your goal is to be in general good condition, general fitness, that's what most people will call us about. They're going to say you know, I want to be in better shape, I want to be stronger, I want to be leaner, I don't want to huff and puff. So one of the best ways we can do that when we go to the gym is pick up the pace.
Speaker 1:So you know, there's there's all these fancy workout programs. I mean, people are always taking a little bit of science and then throwing it out and coming up with a system that they might name things. You know, their high intensity interval program. So H I I T or high intensity interval training, that's like big hit, but you got to make sure you do the hit. That's H I I T, because that replaced the H IT from maybe 20 years ago, and that was just high intensity training versus High intensity interval training. Well, what's the difference? Well, high intensity interval training is more about Intervals and cardio and getting your heart rate up and then bringing it down. And getting your heart rate up and bringing it down where High intensity training was just training harder. So you know they come up with that and then somebody Tabata like literally the person's name, supposedly a Japanese physician so they come up or he comes up with his own interval training program that is super brief in intensity or in time and super brief Rest. Now fine, I mean I use that sometimes because it's a neat little app on my watch that will count intervals for people. But I mean they're just taking science, some science, and coming up with a way to market it, a way to sell it. And you know you can just get a lot more simpler and if you understand it which is really what I try to do with this podcast gets you to understand what you're really trying to do and then you can just simply do it.
Speaker 1:But if you went to the gym and you're looking for general fitness, all right, and again Probably are tired of hearing me say this because I said it like three times in the introduction but general fitness getting leaner, improving your cardio, getting stronger, with more tonicity, general Fitness then pick it up. Move your Fanny when you're doing your workout, after you warm up and you start getting into your strength training routine, don't drag ass. If you really want to get the most out of it, keep up the tempo. Again I'm talking about if you're looking for general fitness now there are times to slow down and rest more in between sets. When you're looking for only maximal strength meaning You're that young kid and I've been there and you want to get your bench press up as strong as humanly possible for you Well, taking a brief 20, 30 second break in between sets isn't going to get you there. But but again, everything comes back to science. That's because, to be at your maximal strength, you want your ATP, your adenosine triphosphate, to be completely recovered, restored, which it is in two to three minutes, but you don't need your ATP completely resynthesized. If you're simply trying to work at a certain strength level meaning not maximal you're simply recruiting your muscle fibers, moving to the next muscle group or moving to the next set and doing it again, you still have enough to work to get stronger. You're just not working on maximal strength. Now, like everything in life, yes, there's a balance, of course, so we don't want to be so gassed that you can't do anything. But the point is, if you're trying to work on general fitness, one of the best things you can do is be more efficient.
Speaker 1:It's funny we have a client we work with and they probably listen to this and don't care that I'm, you know, talking about it. But like, they do the workout with us and they're doing their strength training and it takes them around 30 minutes to do their full body routine. And one week they went to a gym where they lived because they weren't coming into town they don't live in Port Orange and they were training at a I think it was a planet fitness or someplace like that. But they took their workout. They do and they did it and they're reported back. And you know, he jokingly said he said well, you know, I didn't exactly do it in 30 minutes, it took more like an hour 20. So basically, the exact same workout that they do here took an hour 20 when they did it on their own because they took their time.
Speaker 1:I'm not saying that's all wrong. I actually was very proud of the person for going, because they do seem to struggle with getting to the gym unless they have an appointment, which most people do. So I was happy they went. I mean, it gave them a lot of props, you know, but it just shows you that, like, the same workout routine you're doing can be stretched out or it can be sped up. And, of course, like the way we time things out here, we make sure that it's like the most efficient workout you can do, based on the level of conditioning that you have for the time that you're working out, and it's going to make sure that there are all the muscle groups trained going to be the right rep ranges, the right loads and all those types of things. So you know, yes, number one, you want to make sure that you're getting your full workout in, so you don't want to make sure you're zipping through so quick. And there's a big difference. By the way, I got to stop myself there. There's a big difference between zipping through mindlessly and zipping through mindfully Huge difference.
Speaker 1:You should always pay attention and keep your mind to the muscles Very, very, very important. You can work quickly between sets and still be extremely focused. As a matter of fact, I'm far more focused when I do that, when I start kind of like sloughing off and talking a little bit or going back to my phone. If I'm trying to by myself and changing my Spotify playlist or whatever I'm doing, I start to lose that fire a little bit. I start to lose that intensity. I don't like that. I mean I work, I work quick. I mean this morning we did, let's see, three, six, nine, 15, I don't know it's like 21 sets and 25 minutes. That was moving pretty quick and I was doing some pretty high reps. So that gasses you a lot, as you who listen to this probably know.
Speaker 1:But getting back to that example, that same workout then took this person well over an hour to do the same workout because they simply were not working in between sets, they weren't working as quick, they weren't getting to the next exercise as quickly or they weren't getting to the next set as they were doing as quickly. So why is it better? Because not only are you training your muscular system and trying to improve your strength. Most people say they want to be in better shape. Let's say they play tennis. Let's say they play pickleball. Let's say they play racquetball. Let's say they play softball. Let's say you don't do any of those things, but you like to hang out and play with your grandchildren or your children or whatever it might be. Well, if you're not working on your cardio vascular system which of course you can do by doing cardio then you're not going to be improving your fitness. But if you, when you're doing your strength training, if you're moving pretty quickly, you're also working your cardio vascular system.
Speaker 1:Your heart is a muscle just like your skeletal muscles. In fact, your cardiac muscle is very similar to your skeletal muscle in the sense that it goes through hypertrophy, because the heart muscle is what we call striated muscle fibers, just like your skeletal muscles. So because of that, your heart muscle actually goes through hypertrophy. Now, if the left ventricle hypertrophy is a little bit and I'm not talking about the kind that comes from high blood pressure when your doctor tells you that you have an enlarged heart, no, I don't mean that. I mean when the heart muscle healthfully increases a little bit in size and strength and we call that left ventricular hypertrophy, then you're in better shape. Well, guess what? Just like your muscles, you have to raise your heart rate up for that to happen. So if you keep your heart rate slightly elevated or moderately elevated or even highly elevated for periods during your strength workout, you're improving your cardiovascular system too.
Speaker 1:Alright. So that's one reason to keep it moving. Well, that's two. I already told you the first reason, and that is it keeps you more laser focused. You actually focus better when the intensity stays high. I mean, I know that from working with clients. If I'm working with a client and they start talking about something that I find interesting and you know I'm human like everybody else and I start listening and you know, and ask a question about it, you know who the heck knows what. It could be music or something I like, whatever. Next thing, you know, the intensity is coming out of the workout a little bit and I gotta be like, oh, you know what, let's get back to work. You know, hold on. We lose intensity when we start losing that focus.
Speaker 1:So number one is keeping it. Keeping the pace up helps you keep that intensity. Number two, because you're elevating your heart rate. You're actually training your heart to be in better cardiorespiratory fitness. It doesn't happen by accident. I mean, if you don't elevate that heart rate, it's not going to get in better shape. And then, finally, three, you burn more calories If you use a Apple watch or a Garmin or whatever, and if you put it on and you really make an effort to keep the tempo and pace up in between your exercises or in between your sets. Watch how many more calories you burn during that workout, versus not doing that.
Speaker 1:I don't want you to completely get focused on burning calories during your strength workout. I'm not saying that the most important thing is to keep your strength levels up, for sure, to improve strength. But again, if you're working on general fitness, I'm a big believer in how do I teach efficient workouts? People are paying for their workouts, no matter what. You're paying for it somewhere. You're paying for your trainer, you're paying for the gym or you're just simply paying it with your time, so you're paying for it. So how do you get the most out of your time? I believe in efficient workouts. So, no, we don't chase calories per se in a strength training session. But if you're already getting everything else done, good focused strength sets, keeping the tempo up is only going to help you improve it by burning a few more calories, which, as we all know, hopefully by now, at the end of the day, that's how we maintain our weight or lose our weight.
Speaker 1:Alright, it's not easy. It's harder to keep moving, but I just have a feeling if Everybody really kept the focus on that and again have to continue to say with good form and good focus on the muscles, you're going to feel that you got a much better workout. And everybody's different. Some people are super aerobically fit and can go at a tempo that you can't. You're gonna be too gassed to effectively do your strength sets, so you don't compare yourself to other people. You just simply remind yourself you know, I don't need to go over there and get the water break right now. I'm good, let me go to my next set. So you do the best you can do. If you can keep the focus on moving as quickly as you can keyword as you can you are going to get an overall better condition, which is really what this is all about. Right, that's why we train. So with that in mind.
Speaker 1:Now let me thank our second great sponsors, overhead Door of Daytona Beach. Zach and Jeff Hawk are the owners and they are simply great people, great clients. They are the best in the area with garage door products and garage door service. If you need help with anything in that area, check them out at overheaddoordatonacom. And, please, everybody, I want to remind you to subscribe to my show, whether it be on Spotify or Apple podcasts, and please hit the download button, because it really helps me get noticed with that and I would appreciate it. Until next time, be Max Fit and be Max Well.
