To determine daily calorie needs (DCN), add your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and calories required for daily physical activity. 

DCN = BMR + daily activity calories

The basal metabolic rate or BMR is the amount of energy required, in the form of calories, to sustain a one’s daily involuntary bodily functions such as circulation, respiration, temperature maintenance, hormone secretion, nerve activity, and new tissue synthesis. Basal metabolism consumes the majority of calories per day for functioning. There are numerous equations to determine basal metabolism.  A quick and easy estimate of BMR is

Men: kg body weight x 24 = cal/day
Women: kg body weight x 22 = cal/day
(lbs/2.2 = kg)

When determining your daily caloric needs, it is important to determine an activity level.  When you move and exercise, the body requires additional calories to fuel the activity.  Even if you are mostly sedentary, the body still needs calories beyond that which is required for BMR.  The category of activity level will be broken down into sedentary (20-35%), light activity (35-50%), moderate activity (50-65%), and heavy activity (65-100%). 

Sedentary: You sit down or stand still most of the day.
Light: You move around some of the time.  For example -  a school teacher, who does no additional exercise, falls into this category. 
Moderate:  Your occupation is in the light category and you add regular exercise weekly, or your occupation requires moderate physical work such as a golf or yoga instructor.  Moderate activity includes hoeing and weeding, gardening, recreational bicyling, skiing, and tennis.
Heavy: Your occupation is physically demanding such as a roofer or carpenter or you get 10+ hours of high intensity exercise per week. This includes fast jogging, basketball, soccer,  advanced ballet, and body-building.

Now let’s try some examples.  Jill weighs 130lbs and is in the light activity category.  Jack weighs 200lbs and is in the heavy activity category. 
First, we must change pounds to kg.
Jill - 130lbs/2.2 = 59kg        Jack - 200lbs/2.2 = 91kg

Next, find BMR using the quick and easy equation above.
Jill (female):  59kg x 22 = 1,298 cal/day      Jack (male): 91kg x 24 = 2,184 cal/day

Then, calculate activity energy expenditure.
Jill (light activity 35-50%): 1,298 cal/day x 0.35 = 454 cal      1,298 cal/day x 0.50 = 649 cal
Jack (heavy activity 65-100%): 2,184 cal/day x 0.65 = 1,420 cal   2,184 cal/day x 1.00 = 2,184 cal

Finally, plug numbers into DCN = BMR + daily activity calories

Jill, female, 130lbs, light activity
DCN = 1,298 BMR + 454 cal = 1,752 cal/day     1,298 BMR + 649 cal = 1,947 cal/day
DCN = 1,752 - 1,947 cal/day

Jack, male, 200lb, heavy activity
DCN = 2,184 BMR + 1,420 cal = 3,604 cal/day    2,184 BMR + 2,184 cal = 4,369 cal/day
DCN = 3,604 - 4,369 cal/day

When determining your daily calorie needs, it is important to remember that this is an estimate.  There are additional factors which can alter both energy expenditure and energy needs such as the ratio of lean body mass to fat mass.  Certain prescription medications can speed up or slow down basal metabolism. Pregnancy and illness can also change basal metabolism. 

Determining your daily calorie or energy needs is a great first step to losing weight or gaining weight. If you want to lose weight, consume enough calories for your basal metabolism, and either take in less calories for activities or increase your activity level.  If you want to gain weight, consume enough calories for your basal metabolism, and either consume more calories for activities or decrease activity level.   Remember to adjust your BMR periodically while you are losing or gaining weight.  Please consult your physician before changing your diet or starting an exercise program.   

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Information in this blog was taken from Jillian Michaels’ article, “Making the Cut.”

Split Routines: Focusing on different muscle groups during workouts, rather than hitting all muscle groups in a single workout.

Super-Sets:  Performing two different exercises, one after another, with no rest period. 
There are two categories of super-sets:
1) Same muscle group
2)  Antagonist (or opposing muscle groups)

Combo-Lifting: Combining two or more lifts into one exercise.
There are three different methods of combo-lifting:
1) Straight Combo-lift:  two lifts performed one after another (example: squat then shoulder press)
2) Complexes:  Three or more lifts performed in one exercise.
3) Hybrid-lifts:  Two or more exercises in one movement such as a lunge while doing biceps curl, or a squate while doing a shoulder press at the same time.

Pyramids:  Using a calculated and steady increase of weight based on a person’s one rep max. 
For example,
The first week a person may lift 55% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 60% of 1Rm (8-10 reps) and 65% of 1Rm (6-8 reps). 
The second week, 60% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 65% of 1RM  (8-10 reps) and 70% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
The third week, 65% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 70% of 1RM (8-10 reps) and 75% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
The fourth week, 70% of 1RM (12-15 reps), 75% of 1RM (8-10 reps) and 80% of 1RM (6-8 reps). 
After about four weeks of this progression, they would then find a new one rep max and start over with the same %1RM and reps format.

Reverse Pyramid: It is the same concept as the pyramid technique, but in reverse.  This would mean the person would lift heavier to lighter instead of lighter to heavier per week.

Circuit Training: Helps to build lean muscle while simultaneously improve aerobic fitness.  It is a series of exercises, one after another, with no rest period. The circuit is carefully designed, so that a muscle group is resting while another is working. Circuit training can be performed doing all resistance training, all cardio training or a combo of resistance and cardio.

Interval Training: Time periods of high-intensity followed by low-intensity cardiorespiratory exercises. This works both the anaerobic and aerobic systems. 

Plyometrics: Explosive and power training such as jumping, hopping and bounding exercises. It is also known as jump training. Plymetrics is high-intensity, advance and sport-specific training.

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Positive Affirmations
You are what you think.

Positive affirmations are statements that help alter the way we think and feel.  They change negative thought patterns into positive and beneficial thought patterns, and assist in creating an inner world that is confident, content and accepting.  Positive Affirmations can be expressed in thoughts, words written or words spoken.

Positive affirmations are meant to help you live a more productive and enriching life.  They reprogram the way you think by replacing poisonous and negative self-talk into nourishing and positive self-talk.  According to Deanna Reiter, author of Dancing with Divinity: Positive Affirmations for Any Situation, it is necessary to examine our thoughts and take note of the dominant, reoccurring negative ones.   When we repeatedly have the same negative thoughts, they turn into core negative beliefs.  Core negative beliefs need to be destroyed because they not only hold us back from reaching our true potential, they can sabotage success in all areas of life.           

After we become conscious of our core negative beliefs, we must then change the statements into positive affirmations.  For example, the negative thought “I am out-of-shape. I am so fat!” can change to the positive affirmation “I love and approve of myself. I choose to exercise and eat foods that are healthy and nutritious.”  Another example is “This city is terrible for dating.  Everyone I date is horrible!” can be transformed to “There are many, single men/women in this city who are ideal for me.  I am ready to meet Mr./Mrs. Right.”   Positive affirmations are stated in the present tense, as if what you want or need already exists or is happening.  One should avoid starting statements with “I will” which suggests something will or may happen in the future.  Instead, positive affirmations should start with phrases such as “I am” or “I have” which declares that something is occurring right now.  

Many of us do not realize the true effects of our thoughts.  There are people who live day to day thinking the same sabotaging thoughts and wonder why things are not changing or moving in the right direction.   Using positive affirmations is a great method to change how we think by clearing out the harmful negative thought patterns and replacing them with new positive thoughts and words.  In doing so we change our behavior, and we make better life choices.  We learn to think and act in ways that serve our greatest potential.  Relationships improve because we are pleasant to be around and because we have high-quality words to express.  With a positive outlook life doesn’t seem like such a battle, but more like a playground in which our thoughts create the idyllic world around us.

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We workout to improve our health, but we need to be aware of risks and preventable accidents that lurk at the gym.

Get a Yearly Check-Up: Most gyms and exercise programs will request or require that you get a check-up to ensure you don’t have a health problem that could be made worse by certain types of exercise. But medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease can sneak up even for active people, so don’t skip your yearly check-up. Discuss your fitness plans with your doctor, especially if you have a pre-existing condition or are on medications. Most often your doctor will applaud your decision to get more active, but may have some restrictions or cautions if you have certain health problems or risks.

Don’t Skip the Warm-up and Cool-Down: Research on warm-ups and stretching has shown the warm-up to be the most important factor in preventing injury. As part of your cardio exercise session, start out at an easy pace and light exertion for 3 to 5 minutes before increasing your exertion to your target level. Take another couple of minutes to cool down at a lower exertion level after your main session. For strength training and other exercise activities, 3 to 5 minutes of walking on a treadmill or walking in place will help get the blood flowing to your muscles so you will be able to perform better.
Warm-ups vs. Stretching Research

Make Gradual Increases: Your body will experience a great training effect if you increase your time or intensity or reps of an exercise gradually. For strength training, start with lighter weights and increase the reps and sets before you increase the weights. For cardio exercise, increase the time and work on your form before increasing your speed and exertion level.

Use Good Technique: How you do the exercise is critically important both for getting good results and preventing injury. If you are lifting weights in a way that strains your lower back, eventually you will feel the strain. If you use bad posture and overstride on the treadmill, you will get aches and pains and overuse injuries. Working on core stability, positioning, and posture will help prevent injuries and sore muscles. Use a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to ensure you are doing the moves correctly.

Keep it Clean and Neat: One of the biggest risks of a gym accident is tripping over something left lying around. Clear the area of objects you may stumble over during your moves. Clean the equipment after you use it to prevent sharing colds and flu. Most gyms have disinfectant available for wiping down equipment.

Machine Safety: Treadmills, exercise bikes, and weight machines all have moving parts and the risk of pinching and crushing your fingers and toes if you aren’t paying attention. This is why most gyms do not allow children (no matter how well-supervised) in the workout area. Make sure pins and collars are used properly on weight machines and barbells. Be aware of who is working out around you, what motions they are using, and stay out of their way.

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