Coffee affects everyone differently. Some can drinks pots of it and feel great long after the caffeine has worn off. Others drink a half cup and immediately get jittery, nervous, and have a hard time keeping focus. If you are one of those that have a strong negative reaction to caffeine, I would recommend staying away from it. Most people can handle moderate amounts of coffee and for those it does have benefits.
Studies have shown that people who drink coffee live longer than those who don’t. In fact, the amount of coffee consumed was shown to have an inverse relationship with mortality rates. Meaning the more people drank (up to a certain amount) the less death occurred within the studied group. The reason why coffee drinkers tend to live longer is likely due to the increased antioxidants consumed. The average American takes in far too few antioxidants and many times coffee is the only major source. The same effect could theoretically occur by eating more vegetables. Drink Organic Many people make a considerable effort to eat organic, but it is also important to drink organic. Coffee can be a heavily sprayed crop. Being an international crop, cultivation techniques can vary and so can the amount of pesticides. Some inorganic coffee beans may be quite clean while others are heavily sprayed. I would advise to go organic and not risk the chance of taking in a large dose of chemicals. Sometimes negative side effects of coffee are from the pesticides on the coffee beans. If you don’t drink organic, make the switch and look to see if you feel less jittery, wired, or nervous. I’m someone who typically doesn’t handle caffeine well, but after making the switch to organic I noticed a major drop in these side effects. How you drink your coffee can also make a difference in how you feel. Best Way ti Drink Coffee Of course you can drink coffee any way you like, but it is always best to stay away from sugar. Natural sweeteners like Stevia or Truvia are your best substitute for sugar. For those who are sensitive to caffeine, add full-fat cream to your coffee. It will not only make your coffee taste rich, but also will significantly slow down the absorption of the caffeine. Like alcohol, caffeine is absorbed through the stomach, so any food, especially fat, will make a big difference on the magnitude of effects. For those who are sensitive to dairy, Full-fat cream is contains no lactose and is free of any milk proteins so nearly all people can handle it. It is best to drink coffee after having breakfast, not before. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach will intensify the effects and will usually include the negative ones. I know many people like to drink coffee right when they wake up, but sure to have something in your stomach before taking that first sip. References: 1)Sugiyama K, Kuriyama S, Akhter M, Kakizaki M, Nakaya N, Ohmori-Matsuda K, Shimazu T, Nagai M, Sugawara Y, Hozawa A, Fukao A, Tsuji I. Coffee consumption and mortality due to all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in Japanese women. 2010 May;140(5):1007-13. 2)Lindsted KD, Kuzma JW, Anderson JL. Coffee consumption and cause-specific mortality. Association with age at death and compression of mortality. 1992 Jul;45(7):733-42.
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 Is it really necessary for women to lift weights? Yes. Weight training is necessary for all populations. This includes women and men, adolescents and elderly, and limited or disabled populations. Each demographic may have their trends in fitness goals, but all people should lift weights to improve health and fitness. Women’s fitness goals may be slightly different than men’s, but often they will share the same goals of losing weight and getting stronger. Will you bulk up? No. Lifting weights 2-3 times a week will not bulk a woman up to where she looks less feminine. I’ve heard this concern countless times when establishing goals for a new female clients. If you take a look at your local gym, how many women do you see that look bulky or over muscular? One, maybe two? Out of all the women doing weight training there might only be a couple of women who look very muscular. Typically these women want to look muscular and train very intensely for the sole purpose of building muscle. Women will not bulk up easily because their hormonal makeup will not allow them to. The hormone testosterone is a major contributor to building muscle and women produce much less of it than men. If you had a group of men and women do the same weight training program for a given time, the women would build about half as much muscle as the men(4). The muscle gained, say 3 lbs. in 3 months, is a great thing and almost all women will be happy with the increase in strength as well as a more fit appearance.  Why all women should weight train Increase Strength – Most women are not looking to bench press 150 lbs., but they are interested in being able to perform daily activities with ease. Increasing strength will make you feel more athletic and functional doing anything from lifting a heavy object to picking up a pen off the ground. Improved strength will make every day easier. Increase metabolism – Is it really true the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism? Yes. There is much debate regarding this concept, but scientifically it is true. Many people have tried to nail down how much one pound of muscle burns in a day. At rest it has been shown to burn about 5 calories, which may sound insignificant, but it will burn much more during and after exercise(4). So although a 5 lbs. increase in muscle mass may result in only 25 more calories burned in a day, during exercise this number can be greatly increased. It is nearly impossible to predict how many more calories that extra 5 lbs. of muscle burns because it all depends on the activity performed and how adapted the person is to the exercise. From my professional and personal experience I have seen client’s metabolism increase anywhere from 50 more calories burned on average per day up to 500 calories more per day.  Increase bone density – Weight training is one of the best activities for increasing bone density due to the moderate, but also beneficial stress it puts on your bones. Countless studies have shown that weight training 2-3 times a week with moderate loads increased bone mineral density in all ages of women from the adolescent to the elderly(1,2,3). Running is also great at increasing bone density. Fortunately we run and lift weights in Breakthrough Fitness Bootcamp! Prevent Injuries – If done correctly, weight training will help tremendously with injury prevention. It will help stabilize joints and protect them from the forces of daily activities. Strengthening the right muscles will help improve static and functional posture. A few simplified concepts on injury prevention: Stronger “core” = less back problems. Stronger glutes = less back, knee, and ankle problems. Stronger upper back muscles = less shoulder problems. Lifting weights is for everyone and everyone should be lifting weights. References: 1)Petranik, K., Kris Berg. The effect of weight training on bone density of premenopausal, postmenopausal, and elderly women: A review. J. Strength and Cond. Res. 11(3):200-208. 1997 2) Martyn-St James M, Carroll S., Progressive high-intensity resistance training and bone mineral density changes among premenopausal women: evidence of discordant site-specific skeletal effects. Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. Sports Med. 2006;36(8):683-704. 3)Karlsson MK, Johnell O, Obrant KJ. Bone mineral density in weight lifters. Calcif Tissue Int. 1993 Mar;52(3):212-5. 4) Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., CSCS. Role in Body Composition and Health Enhancement. ACSM Strength Training Guildlines. 2009; 13(4) Downtown San Jose Fitness Bootcamp. Serving The Naglee Park and downtown San Jose neighborhoods. Women's weight training, bone density, increase metabolism, weight loss, interval training, body fat loss.
If you have a busy schedule, do a 30 minute intense workout to get better results than longer sessions. All about the hormones Hormones are powerful messengers that regulate your body. In my nearly 10 years of experience training all types of folks, I’ve found that people in their 20s and 30s can simply workout, eat less, and lose weight. Those over 40 may need to take in consideration hormonal effects and whether or not they are balanced. Whatever your age, you will get better results if you exercise to achieve a hormonal response conducive to fat loss.  So how do you exercise to get the best hormonal response? Shorter workouts with intense intervals have a much better hormonal response than long steady-state workouts. For cardio type workouts, the ideal time is 20-30 minutes. For weight training workouts 30-45 minutes is ideal with 60 minutes being the maximum duration. More growth hormone, less exposure to cortisol. These shorter, more intense workouts will increase growth hormone which is beneficial for body fat loss. They will also produce less cortisol which is often referred to as the stress hormone. Most of us could use less stress and exposure to cortisol. Overexposure to cortisol leads to increased abdominal fat as well as making it more difficult to lose body fat in general. Growth hormone will do the opposite, allowing you to burn fat and gain muscle easier. Now before I write myself out of clients, I must add that our 1 hour Bootcamp class is divided up into segments that make a 1 hour class effective. We start with a 5 minute warm-up, then 10 minutes of flexibility work, 35 minutes of cardio and strength exercises, ending with 10 minutes of static stretching. The 35 minutes of roughly half cardio and half weight training makes for an ideal workout time. References: 1) Marcus C.C.W. Elliott, Phillip P. Wagner, and Loren Chiu, Power Athletes and Distance Training, Physiological and Biomechanical Rationale for Change. USC Sports Med 2007, vol 37, issue 1. Retrieved from: http://www.spartascience.com/publishedresearch_assets/Power%20athletes%20and%20distance%20training%20physiological%20and%20biomechanical%20rationale%20for%20change.pdf 2) Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism 1994; 43 (7): 814-8 Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0026049594902593 3)Shawn Talbot, PH.D., FACSM (2007) The Cortisol Connection - Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your Health - And What You Can Do About It. 4) Skoluda N, Dettenborn L, Stalder T, Kirschbaum C., Elevated hair cortisol concentrations in endurance athletes. Department of Psychology, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany. 2012 May;37(5):611-7. Epub 2011 Sep 25. PMID: 21944954 Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21944954 Downtown San Jose Fitness Bootcamp. Women's fitness bootcamp class serving the Naglee Park neighborhood and downtown San Jose Area. Women's fitness, bootcamp class, interval training, intense workouts, mom's fitness, cardio class, weight training.
 People always ask me, “What’s the best thing to eat for breakfast?” They ask about breakfast more often than dinner, lunch, or snacks. Most of us have been raised with “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” mantra. Well, it’s true! We are all looking for a breakfast that gives us both immediate and long lasting energy. On top of this, it should ideally be tasty, satiating, nutritious, and convenient. Does this ideal breakfast even exist? Yes, and there are many of them. First, I want to tell you what types of foods we are looking for in order to optimize your breakfast.  Low-glycemic fruit or NO carbohydrates High glycemic carbs or a carb-centric meal will start with a shot of energy, but will result in a crash soon after. Eating low-glycemic fruit will give you a solid boost of energy without the sugar crash.  Moderate amounts of fat A solid dose of fat will allow a nice steady and consistent rise in blood sugar. This will give you long lasting energy as opposed to the spike and crash of eating a carb-centric meal, i.e. Bowl of Cheerios.  High Protein Protein is needed for tissue repair. If this alone is not enough for you to add lean meat to your breakfast, then consider that protein can be used for energy as well. It will give you a slow steady supply of energy and is more satiating than carbs. Solid food Solid food is digested much slower than in the typical smoothie. The ingredients in a typical health smoothie (milk, protein powder, and fruit) are all quickly digested and will leave you hungry 1-2 hours after consuming it.
Most of these meals have three foods in common: lean meat, nuts, and berries. The lean meat will provide protein for cell repair as keeping you satiated. Nuts will provide a gradual and consistent rise in blood sugar/energy. Berries are a great low-glycemic fruit, meaning it will raise your blood sugar moderately slowly (much faster than nuts) with less crash. Other low glycemic fruits are okay to substitute for berries. Eat these foods for breakfast and it will help you lose body fat. 1) Group Health Cooperative, 2011. Retrieved from: https://provider.ghc.org/open/caringForOurMembers/patientHealthEducation/conditionsDiseases/diabetes/foodBloodSugar.pdf Downtown San Jose Fitness Bootcamp. Women's fitness bootcamp serving the Naglee Park Neighborhood and Downtown San Jose area. Women's fitness, mom's fitness, injury prevention, weight loss, nutrition, healthy breakfast.
 It is crucial to drink a post-workout shake after any workout and especially after resistance training. Simply put, you breakdown your muscles during a workout in order for them to build back stronger and bigger. You also expend energy which you need to replace soon after. On top of this your body is in a metabolically stressed state and needs to be pulled back into a “rest and digest” state. A simple shake containing adequate amounts of protein, carbs, and glutamine will make a big difference in recovery in all three of these areas. Drink it ASAP Drink your post-workout shake as soon as you can after your workout. There is about a 30 minute window after a workout where you will get the maximum benefits of your drink. During this time glycogen (stored sugar within muscles) is restored and amino acids (building blocks of proteins) are deposited into cells much faster. With the help of carbs and an insulin spike, nutrients can theoretically be driven into the cells faster.. Also, you want to pull your body out of this stressed state (catabolic state) and into a relaxed state (anabolic state) as soon as possible. Minimizing stress is crucial to getting great results. Post-workout shake for the average female: 25g Protein powder, Preferably whey protein 25g of carbs from fruit or fruit juice* 3-5g Glutamine Mix or blend in water and/or ice. This will be about a 200-220 calorie shake. The amount of carbs in this shake is more suited for a weight loss goal. If weight loss/control is of no concern more carbs are suggested. *It is also suggested to use dextrose or a specialized carb powder for your source of carbs to achieve better results. Be mindful of how much carb powder is used as more carbs also means more calories. 1) S M Arenta, P Davitta, D L Golema, C A Williamsa, K H McKeevera and C Jaouharia (2009). The effects of a post-workout nutraceutical drink on body composition, performance and hormonal and biochemical responses in Division I college football players. Comparative Exercise Physiology, 6 , pp 73-80 doi:10.1017/S1755254009990134 2) A H Manninen (2006). Hyperinsulinaemia, hyperaminoacidaemia and post-exercise muscle anabolism: the search for the optimal recovery drink. Br J Sports Med 2006;40:900-905 doi:10.1136/bjsm.2006.030031 3) Amanda Carlson, MS, RD, CSSD ().Ten Simple Things to Remember for Optimal Nutrition. nsca’s performance training journal, volume 7 issue 5. Breakthrough Fitness Bootcamp. Downtown San Jose Bootcamp serving the Naglee Park Neighborhood and Downtown San Jose Area. Women's fitness, fitness bootcamp, mom's fitness, and injury prevention.
 Here is a uniquely useful nutrition book unlike thousands of others that promise you a perfect body in 6 weeks with “just this one easy step”. I’ve seen so many nutrition books that are completely worthless. There are those generic books telling you to eat more vegetables, cut calories, etc. Duh! Worse yet are the overpromising, “get thin instantly!”, books that are just plain false and will tell you no more than the generic nutrition books. Then there are ones that just plain don’t work or are so restrictive it will never become practical in real life. Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous: A nutritionist's Guide to Living Well While Living it Up, actually takes into account real life situations and addresses the psychology of losing weight. This book is written for women, but it applies to everyone looking to get leaner and be healthier. It does cover the basics and has recipes like many other nutrition books, but it also takes into account situations like what to eat on a date, emotional eating, and drinking alcohol. It also thoroughly covers nutrition regarding women’s health, supplements, and sex (yes, I did read these chapters). These are all real life obstacles that arise throughout a weight-loss program and are well addressed in this book. Esther writes about techniques to weight loss that I have used for my clients and my own personal nutrition. Techniques like allowing yourself chocolate (if that’s what you crave) and actually allowing yourself to have as much as you want. The trick is, with what amount would you be satisfied with? This should be the amount eaten, but you are allowed more if you feel you need it. This is a great psychological technique and it does work. (For me it’s beer though. A guy’s version of chocolate.) She also devotes an entire chapter to emotional eating which will always be the biggest hurdle to weight loss. This is a great book that doesn’t just tell you what to eat or what not to eat. It combines nutrition with real life situations and truly makes it personal nutrition. Downtown San Jose Bootcamp. Women's Fitness Bootcamp Serving the Naglee Park Neighborhood and Surrounding Downtown Area. Fitness Bootcamp, Women's Fitness, Mom's Fitness, and Injury Prevention.
 I used to hate eating fruit. Vegetables I liked. In fact, I have loved eating vegetables for most of my adult life. Fruit on the other hand, never did anything for me. Party because I don’t like sweets, but mainly because I had an allergic reaction to almost all fruits. Apples, oranges, pears, peaches, bananas, and almost all fruits gave me an adverse reaction. Eating an apple would make my throat swell and itch, eyes water, and trigger sneezing. For a while I thought it was just apples, but I noticed almost all fruits did this to some degree. Apples were the worst, and guess what? They are most chemically contaminated out of all the fruits and vegetables! Now most people never notice the difference between eating organic or conventional produce, but I can tell right away with fruits. Apparently I am very sensitive to the pesticides used on produce. For whatever reason vegetables, even eaten raw, usually don’t trigger an allergic reaction for me. Peeling and washing fruits doesn’t necessarily remove all the pesticides from produce. Also, the thicker the skin, the less pesticides reach the edible portion of the produce. This is another fact that I experienced first-hand. Apples, pears, peaches, and nectarines almost always triggered an adverse reaction even when peeled. Oranges and bananas only sometimes bothered me. Even with a thicker skin, these two fruits were unpleasant to eat half the time. Anything with a very thick skin like pineapples or melons rarely triggered an allergic reaction. My sensitivity to pesticides pretty much fell in line with the most contaminated fruits and vegetables list. Apples being number one, was a fruit I could never eat without getting a very unpleasant allergic reaction. List of most and least contaminated fruits and vegetables: http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ So I started eating only organic fruits and guess what happened? I have no allergic reaction to them. Surprise! I now enjoy eating fruits for the first time in my life. Most people will never experience this, but believe me, those pesticides are in there. Downtown San Jose Fitness Bootcamp. Women's fitness bootcamp serving the Naglee Park Neighborhood and Downtown San Jose. Women's fitness, fitness bootcamp, mom's fitness, and injury prevention.
Many people will look at their butt in the mirror and think, “I just want to lose this extra fat off my butt” or simply “I want a smaller butt”. Although this may be a personal goal of yours, this blog is not about how to get you butt smaller or leaner. It is about getting your butt turned on or specifically, activating your gluteus maximus. For a number of reasons, many people end up with deactivated glutei maximi. It is part of the lower cross syndrome in excessive anterior pelvic tilt. We see this very often and is much more common than a posterior pelvic tilt.(1) The biggest contributor being our sitting lifestyle which puts us in a position where our hip flexor muscles are shortened and hip extensors (gluteus maximus) are lengthened. This causes the hip flexors to be overactive and hip extensors to be underactive in our daily life. We sit many hours in the day especially if we have a desk job. So essentially, because you are sitting for prolonged periods, you are constantly working your butt off. Whichever reason caused you to have excessive anterior tilt, sitting or not, you need to fire those glutes back up again. Most of us need glute work regardless of having excessive anterior pelvic tilt. In our Bootcamp class we make it a point to work your glutes! From beginning to end you are either stretching, activating, or fully exercising to get your butt turned on and working properly. Our warm-up and static stretching is general, but you will find that we stretch those tight areas before and after the workout. Following our pre-workout static stretches, we hit dynamic stretches and specific movement patterns to prep the body for tough leg exercises to come. This sequence of exercises will get your butt in gear. Instead on throwing you into 50 yards of lunges, Breakthrough Bootcamp takes you through the steps in preparation for those intense step ups, bleachers, or squat jumps. This will insure your butt is working instead of compensating with other nearby muscles. In fact, a compensation pattern will eventually result in injury. Working your butt correctly (gluteus maximus) may even make for a shapelier one. References: 1. Thomas R. Hetzl, PT, ATP (2006) Understand and Caring for The Anterior and Posterior Pelvic Tilt: Retrieved from http://www.ridedesigns.com/Web%20Documents/Proceedings-paper-ISS-06.pdf Downtown San Jose Fitness Bootcamp. Women's fitness bootcamp serving the Naglee Park Neighborhood and Downtown San Jose. Women's fitness, fitness bootcamp, mom's fitness, and injury prevention.
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AuthorJerry Yuhara CPT,PES, has 13 years of personal training and fitness experience. Throughout which, he has learned practical solutions to common fitness concerns. Read about fitness information related to Downtown San Jose Group Fitness Archives
July 2013
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