Ask Gilad

Outdoor Walking Program for Beginners

Question: I really enjoy your workout DVDs. I have been doing them for about 2 years now and I think I am ready to take my workout program to the streets. Do you have any tips about walking or running?   

Answer: If you are past the beginning exerciser stage but you have never run before, I recommend you start with a mixed program of running and walking. Find a fairly flat path to follow. Hill running will come later. Walk first to warm up. Start slowly and then increase your pace after about 5 minutes. Then, when you feel warm and ready, jog a few blocks. When you start to feel winded, slow your pace to a brisk walk again. Keep this run/walk pattern going for twenty minutes, and then slow to a walk for a 5 minute cool down.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

Cause & Symptoms of Plateau

Question: I am getting ready to run my first triathlon so I am training like crazy. I train every day for at least 4 hours, often more. My problem is, I seem to have reached a plateau. Not only have I stopped improving...I actually think I am losing ground. Is there such a thing as over-training?  

Answer: Yes there is such a thing as over-training. It is not something that most people ever have to worry about but it sounds like it just might be your problem. When you over-train your athletic ability actually suffers because of it.

Here are some of the symptoms:

• Trouble sleeping
• Chronic fatigue
• Loss of motivation
• Low energy
• Stressed immune system
• Muscle soreness and weakness
• Elevated heart-rate of 10% or more

Your muscles need some time to rest to improve. If you ever find yourself over-training decrease the frequency, intensity and duration of your workouts. You might even want to take a break altogether from exercise for a week or so. If you have only been doing one type of exercise this might be a good time to try something different or switch to cross-training.

Be sure to give your muscles enough rest to recover and grow.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

How To Improve Muscular Strength & Definition

Question: I do your aerobic workouts along with my wife but I would like to take it to the next level. I would like to work on my muscular strength and definition. How should I proceed? My wife doesn't want to bulk up like a body builder.

Answer: Muscular strength can be improved by the use of free weights, weight machines, special bands and other resistance devices. In addition, many of my workouts work on muscle definition. Workouts such as 'Cuts & Curves' or any that have the words 'Sculpt' or 'Tone' in the title or description will work as well.

Improving your muscular strength will generally improve your muscular endurance too. Muscular strength can be improved by progressively overloading the muscles, or continually challenging your muscles with greater amounts of weight or resistance.

Many people, women especially, shy away from weightlifting because they think it will give them large, bulky muscles like the ones you see in bodybuilding magazines. It is important to remember that you can shape your muscles any way you want. If you would prefer toned, tight smaller muscles, they can be attained by tailoring your weight training program.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

THIS WEEK’S “ASK GILAD” BLOG

Question:

I monitor my heart rate when I exercise but I am not sure why. What should I be measuring?

Answer:
First, you have to measure your resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate can be used as an index of your general level of aerobic fitness. It is a good idea to know what your resting heart rate is now, because as you become more fit, your resting heart rate is going to drop. Keep a record of it.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

THIS WEEK’S “ASK GILAD” BLOG

Question:

How important is muscular strength to total body fitness?

Answer: 

People are starting to realize that aerobic exercise, while great for the heart and lungs and terrific for overall general health, is not an all-inclusive recipe for fitness. Possessing muscular strength is equally as important, and actually provides us with many of the same benefits as cardiovascular fitness such as lower blood pressure, lower resting heart rate, improvements in cholesterol levels and lower body fat.

Muscular strength exercises are the quickest way to reshape, build, strengthen and tighten all the major muscle groups of the body. These exercises are very effective in improving your overall appearance and posture as well as increasing bone mass, which means a lower risk of conditions such as osteoporosis. Having muscular strength also increases the strength of the joints decreasing the risk of injury.

If you are not including strength conditioning in your workout...you should consider starting.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

THIS WEEK’S “ASK GILAD” BLOG

Question:  I have a very stressful job. When I get home all I want to do is turn on the news and fall asleep in my recliner. I can't even imagine exercising during the work week. How do people do it? They must not be under as much stress as I am.

Answer: It sounds like you have gotten into a vicious cycle. And, believe it or not, exercise just might be your way out of it.

You can actually fight off stress with exercise. Don't let a hard day at work keep you from heading to the gym or the track. You have a perfect opportunity to use the time you would have been sleeping in front of the news. Fifteen minutes into your workout you will feel a lot better.

And there is an added benefit. If you substitute exercise for sleeping in your recliner you will probably feel like going to bed earlier... and you will probably sleep more soundly. Who knows? With a little extra quality rest...your job may not seem as stressful.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

Protein Shakes: Yay or Nay?

Question: Are protein shakes good for you?

Answer: A Protein shake can be a good supplement as it helps supply the muscles with protein. I would take the shake immediately after or even during a strong strength training workout. Keep in mind that a protein shake is a supplement not a meal replacement!

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

What Does Being Fit Really Mean? (Part 2)

Two weeks ago Gilad responded to this same question by outlining the 5 components of fitness. (Read it HERE!) Today he explains how the body reacts to weight loss by diet only.

Question: I recently reached my goal of losing 35 pounds by altering my eating habits and counting calories. I didn't even have to exercise and I feel pretty good. Does this qualify as being fit?

Answer: Another important point to understand about dieting for weight loss is that if you lose weight that way once, and then, at a later date, try the same technique again, it will be much harder to do the 2^nd time.  Why? Simply because you've trained your body to react to what it perceives as 'starvation,' a decrease in the number of calories it gets each day. Our very clever bodies don't like that. They respond by activating their 'starvation response'.  Your metabolic rate goes down and consequently requires less food.  In this mode, your body will store anything it can as fat. So by repeatedly following low calorie diets you are teaching your body how to better store food as fat.

What you want to do instead is alter your fat to muscle ratio so you get more active muscle tissue busily burning calories.  Muscle tissue, unlike fat, actually burns calories while at rest. This means that increased muscle mass raises your metabolic rate so you can become a lean, mean fat-burning machine instead of a fat-storing body that is expecting to be starved.

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

Is It Too Late For Me To Start Working Out?

Gilad:

I am 63 years old and I have never really been on an exercise program. Now I am overweight and starting to have health problems. My doctor wants me to start taking pills for high blood pressure and cholesterol but they don't agree with me. Am I a lost cause?

Answer:
I can see that a person in your situation could be nervous about trying to start a regular exercise program. It must seem like an overwhelming task to you. But let me assure you, the people that achieve the greatest and most noticeable benefits from exercise are those that have never exercised before! Many studies have proven that even people in their eighty's and beyond can achieve significant physiological improvements, in muscle strength, bone mass, lowered body fat and cardiovascular health, by beginning an exercise program and watching what they eat. Exercise does not discriminate. It is good for everyone! 

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.

What Am I Doing Wrong?

Gilad: I exercise and eat well off and on. I set goals for myself and when I reach them I 'reward' myself letting go and eating whatever I want. It doesn't take long to gain the weight back. Each time I start the process over it seems to get harder and harder to stay motivated. What am I doing wrong?

Answer: Fitness is a journey, not a destination. Too often people look at fitness as a purely goal-oriented activity - a way to lose weight and look better. That's a start. Your real goal, however, should be to make fitness a part of your life. The benefits of fitness, both physically and mentally, are enormous and ongoing. But there is no end point to fitness. It is a life-long pursuit. But that doesn't mean it's a jail sentence. In fact, as any life-long exerciser will tell you, quite the opposite is true. I hear it time and time again from people who exercise on a regular basis. They believe that the physical and psychological benefits are so enormously rewarding that they wouldn't give up exercising for anything.

The next time you reach your goal, reward yourself by setting another!

Have a question for Gilad? Click HERE and send it in! Gilad will choose one question each week to answer.

Find out more information about Gilad and his Fitness DVD's HERE.