Fitness 101 with Adrian

[FitbitCommunity]

Hi everyone, we would like to introduce Fitbit's fitness expert, @AdrianFitbit! 

Adrian Richardson is a veteran of the US Army and Senior Activity and Exercise Designer at Fitbit. At Fitbit he works primarily on exercise, sleep, and mindfulness programs. You might also recognize him as your coach on the Fitbit Coach App. Adrian holds a bachelors degree in economics from UC Irvine, as well as multiple exercise and physical training certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, National Personal Training Institute, and the American Council on Exercise.  His work both at Fitbit and with private clients focuses on helping people build mental and physical strength, durability and resilience, and creating lasting change with their relationship to physical activity, nutrition, and recovery. Adrian’s work in recovery and restoration led to him being asked to give a TEDx Talk in 2018 on the impact of sleep on a healthy lifestyle.

Please post your questions about activity and exercise here. Don't forget to vote on the questions you most want answered and Adrian will respond to the top questions throughout the month.

We're excited about this new initiative and getting fitter together one step at a time 🙂

[Maria527]

This is great. I LOVE Adrian's Total Body Progressive Walking routine!!!  I need to check out some other routines.

[emili]

Let's talk stretching. I know flexibility is important for our overall well being.  I know lots of suggestions and conversations for stretching during cardio. But I'm wondering if there are a few basic techniques that a middle aged adult can do every day to help things first thing in the morning.  Something quick but effective 

[Heather-S]

Is fasted cardio really more beneficial than regular cardio?  In other words, should I do my cardio in the morning before food and while I'm totally fasted?  Or is there little difference between fasted cardio and doing my cardio after work when I've had food in my system for the day?

[JohnnyRow]

I have always read that for muscle strengthening, you should not work the same muscles 2 days in a row, giving them at least one day of rest. 

But whenever I have been to physical therapy for a muscle or joint problem, I am told I have to strengthen some muscle group and should do the strengthening exercises twice a day every day.  I don't understand how that can strengthen muscles.

[Baltoscott]

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@JohnnyRow wrote:

I have always read that for muscle strengthening, you should not work the same muscles 2 days in a row, giving them at least one day of rest. 

But whenever I have been to physical therapy for a muscle or joint problem, I am told I have to strengthen some muscle group and should do the strengthening exercises twice a day every day.  I don't understand how that can strengthen muscles.

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Having just finished some PT for a shoulder and neck issue, I'm interested in what @AdrianFitbit has to say on this issue too.  After about six weeks of around an hour a day of PT I pretty much eliminated the pain in my shoulder so I think worked, but that is a lot more targeted exercise than I would have tried on my own.  Of course, with PT, it was targeted low weight isolation exercises, in the 15 reps/set range (and limited rest), so maybe that doesn't require the same kind of recovery as full body exercises with heavier weights...

[AdrianFitbit]

Great question! Before I dive into the answer we need to define what type of stretching we’re talking about, because static, dynamic, and ballistic stretching all differ from one another. Static stretching is when you stretch the targeted muscles to their maximal point, holding the stretch for at least 15 seconds (for example; bending over, touching your toes, and holding it). Dynamic stretching is when you do active movements that take your limbs or body through a full range of motion (for example, swinging your leg forward and back). Ballistic stretching involves trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion by bouncing into and out of a stretched position (think bouncing up and down to touch your toes). Be careful not to confuse dynamic and ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching involves controlled movements that take your muscles (gently!) to their range of motion limits. While ballistic stretching forces your muscles to stretch to, and beyond, their range of motion limits.

Generally speaking, dynamic stretching is going to be the best for increasing range of motion and enhancing mobility, and static stretching is best for improving generally flexibility and injury prevention. I’d use caution with ballistic stretching since if you are not highly in tune with your body, it can do more harm than good. 

Stretching is not only useful as preparation for cardio training, but is also beneficial when preparing for strength and endurance exercise, improved posture, improved daily living activities (bending, reaching, squatting etc), improved mood by releasing muscle tension, helping unwind after a long day, or helping wake up the body after sleep (you’ve probably experienced this when you wake up, yawn, and stretch your arms overhead). As you pointed out in your question, your morning stretching routine doesn’t need to be overly complex or take up much of your time to be effective. What you end up doing every morning will depend on where you feel the most stiffness or tightness in your joints and muscles. A good rule of thumb is to ensure your morning routine moves through the entire body, and that you take your time to fully stretch and move as you work your way through each area of the body. Below are a few examples of a morning stretching routine you could try:

Example 1:

• Overhead stretch (center)
• Overhead stretch (left)
• Overhead stretch (right)
• Neck rolls (left)
• Neck rolls (right)
• Chest and shoulder stretch (arms together behind your back)
• Ankle rolls (left)
• Ankle rolls (right)
• Alternating lateral lunge
• Cat and Cow w/ hip rotations (left/right)
• Childs pose
• high plank to down dog (alternating)

Example 2:

• Fitbit Coach “5-Minute Mobility” exercise session

Example 3:

• Overhead stretch
• Back slaps
• Forward fold
• Lunge and rotate (left leg forward)
• Kneeling hip stretch (L)
• Standing IT band stretch (L/R)
• Forward fold
• Lunge and rotate (right leg forward)
• Kneeling hip stretch (R)
• Reclined figure-4 (L/R)

To get the most out of your stretching routine (dynamic or static) observe the following tips:

• Avoid holding your breath by focusing on smooth and steady breathing while you stretch.
• “No pain, no gain” is not the goal here. Your stretching routine should not hurt. Mild discomfort is normal, but if you’re feeling sharp pain stop.
• Take your time. Try holding or performing each stretch for 15-30 seconds.
• Static stretching works best on warm muscles, so try doing these stretches after a hot bath or shower, or after a brief warm-up (jumping jacks or jogging in place).

[AdrianFitbit]

Fasted cardio is one of those topics that’s always a bit mysterious. Is it good? Is it bad? Will it make you burn fat faster? The truth to these questions might surprise you. It is true that exercising while in a fasted state can cause your body to use fat as a fuel source (because your glycogen stores are low), however, your body could also end up using protein for fuel, which would reduce the protein available for muscle building and repair. Fasted cardio is not necessarily a bad idea, but the intensity and quality of your workout may suffer. That’s because exercising in the “fat-burning” zone is done at a lower intensity than your typical high-intensity interval training workout session, and while this will allow you to possibly burn fat while exercising, you will not continue to do so post-exercise (EPOC effect) as you would had you of trained at a higher intensity.  It requires less oxygen to metabolize carbohydrates, so by having some food in your system before you exercise you give your body the fuel source it desires. This will allow you to train at a greater intensity than when “fasted” and help increase your EPOC or “after-burn effect”.  

This means you will continue to burn calories (and fat) long after the exercise session has ended. Meaning your body will be burning fat anyway and you will be able to push a bit harder during the workout, so you are likely gaining very little by doing fasted cardio.

[AdrianFitbit]

@JohnnyRow @Baltoscott 

There’s a lot of misinformation or misinterpreted research around strength training and strength programming (frequency, intensity, time, and type). Much of this misinformation is based on bodybuilding and “bro-science”. Before we get into it, something to keep in mind is that training for rehabilitative strength and improved mobility of a specific joint or muscle group is very different than general training for maximal strength. 

Maximal strength training is more influenced by training frequency and training volume. Training frequency is affected by the following variables: exercise selection, training age and fitness level, and the intensity of the workout. Training volume is defined as the number of total reps in a given set/rep scheme of a workout. When it comes to training the same muscle group consecutive days in a row, there is volume/frequency trade-off. Meaning that with increased volume (more sets and/or reps) on a single day the quality of work (the force and amount of contraction in the muscle) will degrade preventing you from training that muscle group with more frequency. This degradation is often thought of as “muscle failure”, but you do not always have to work a muscle to failure to experience this volume/frequency trade-off effect.

Research shows that when you take that same volume and spread it over more frequent training days you will generally have less fatigue per session, superior neuromuscular adaptations, strength improvements, and gains in lean muscle mass. For example, 3 sets of 25 reps once a week versus 1 set of 15 reps 5 days a week (3x 25= 75 total reps, 15x 5= 75 total reps). Volume is the primary driver of muscular growth, so as long as you are able to avoid overtraining you can safely train the same muscle group on consecutive days. When creating your training program keep in mind exercise selection, the intensity of the exercise, and total volume. Then figure out a frequency of training that works best for you. 

[writergal28]

I'm beginning to think I am.  I've been averaging close to 30K steps a day IN ADDITION to working out 6 days a week (sometimes more strenuous than others.  It ranges from a tennis lesson to training to Pilates and Essentrics.  No more than 90 minutes and no less than 40) .  I just don't "feel right" if I don't.  Is there a way to psychologically tell myself to do slightly less?  I don't think I sleep well because of this.

[WendyB]

I would post this in this forum that is above. You will get a good answer

Fitness 101 with Adrian