I hear lots about using weight training to even out imbalances (of which I have a lot – my right side is a ton stronger than my left). Sooo … how exactly do you do this? It sounds like you would just work out the weaker side, but it feels weird not to do both.

Before I had a chance to answer, Asithi stepped in offered her opinion which was right on the money:

I have the same problem. My left arm is stronger since I bowl regularly with my left arm, but my left leg is weaker from an injury in a car accident. Talk about imbalances! I do not workout only one side of my body. When I do bicep curls, I use the same weight for both side. When I do squats, I hold the same weight. The only difference is that I let my weaker side be my guide. When it reaches fatigue, that is when I stop even though my stronger side can keep going.

You never want to lift different weights on different sides or else you’ll never catch up and just become more imbalanced.  Most imbalances aren’t so pronounced that you can’t lift the same weight on both sides- most of the time they manifest themselves through injury when other muscles are sick of overcompensating for the weaker ones, and when range of motion is limited.  Lift the same weight you normally would, but listen to your weaker side.  Your stronger side is still getting a workout, its just giving your weaker side time to catch up.

Don’t forget to enter this week’s giveaway! It ends Friday!

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog,

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Unbalanced

The main difference? Its going to be all Kelly, all the time.

Try and keep the tears to a minimum.

I’m still post the same way I have been, and I will also be going a little more personal with my day to day stuff, and most exciting for me, and hopefully you, too, I am going to make a big jump to video.  But I’ll need your help. The focus of the blog is going to shift more towards ME being YOUR personal trainer.  A huge part of training is visual- so when you come to me with questions about form or pain or anything else, its hard for me to make help without seeing what you are actually doing.

So! I call for your videos: your questions, your exercises asking for form critiques,  videos of your favorite exercises you would like to share, or just anything you think other Grounded Fitness readers would enjoy.

Other changes:

• I will be posting multiple times a day so keep checking back often
• I will be holding more contests in addition to the weekly giveaways
• Expect a lot more guest posts. If you want to guest post or would like me to guest post on your blog, email me

Most importantly, I want to include you guys a lot more. I want this to be a community, so anything you want to send my way and have me post (recipes, exercises, workouts schedules, questions, etc) please do so. No need to be shy.  You all can email me anytime at kelly.turner@b5media.com.

If there is anything you guys would like from me, feel free to ask.  If there is something you feel the blog is missing, you want more of, or would like to see, drop me a line.

I also want to thank everyone for all your support and faithful reading. I’ve been sort of MIA the past few days, with work being nuts, me being sick and the holidays, but I really appreciate all the comments everytime I check in. I will get back to my regular commenting soon, so don’t feel like I forgot about ya :)

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, video, changes,

Post from: EveryJoe

A New Beginning for Grounded Fitness

I am curious about the protein thing. I am a vegetarian, and I have read over and over again (and completely believe!) that most people eat too much protein. However, I have also read and heard from my trainer that if you are in a period of trying to intensely gain muscle you should supplement with protein during the hour after your strength workout for optimal results. My trainer pointed out that I shouldn’t be ADDING protein to my daily diet at this time; just making sure I HAVE some of the protein from my daily eating plan at this time. In your opinion, is this a more correct way of looking at it, or is her advice still off? Is there anything else I can do to make sure that my weight training efforts are paying off to the full extent (considering it is my least favorite workout element and I only do it for my appearance and osteoporosis prevention?) I love cardio and I really enjoy yoga, but my trainer said that yoga is not sufficient weight bearing exercise for osteoporosis prevention and will not give me the defined muscle appearance that I want. I like my current weight plan and have seen results with it. What is your take on this?

To quickly answer your question- this is fine advice.  I don’t think its entirely necessary, but as long as you aren’t adding protein you are fine.  Think about it: all protein does is repair your muscles. Calcium makes your bones strong, but you don’t eat more of it after you break a bone to heal it faster, do you? You have a certain amoutn fo calcium you should get every day, and as long as you get that, your bones will heal fine on their own. Your body is smart- it knows to use protein when it needs it- it doesn’t expedite protein through the digestive tract because you just worked out. I also agree with her stance on yoga and strength training, so it looks like you found yourself a good trainer ;)

To add my stance on protein as a whole to the mix, I’m going to plagiarize myself and repost an old post I did on protein on my old blog:

 Orginally posted on www.everygymsnightmare.com

Chandra asked a question that was kind of fitting for yesterday.

I have a question (sorry if you’ve answered this before, but I don’t remember it if you have) – I know you’re not a supplement pusher by any means, but what do you think about protein drinks/shakes? I have this one, which isn’t a meal replacement and not high cal, which I like – I was just wondering what your input was on the subject. Thanks in advance, get well soon!

I sort of have answered this before, but not really. I have talked about protein and how people often eat too much, even before they use their protein powders and eat their protein bars. rarely does anyone need to make an extra effort to get more protein in their diets, but it does happen.

Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue, it does not provide energy. (unless it has to, if carbs are lacking)

First, find out how much protein you need in a day. It is recommended that adults get 0.8-1 gram of protien per kilogram of body weight. To find out your body weight in kilograms, take your weight in pounds and divide that by 2.2.

Just as a reference, there are:
- 8 grams of protein in 1 cup of milk
- 7 grams in 1 egg
- 32 grams in 2 slices of pizza
- 24 grams in about 1/2 a can of tuna
- 30 grams in 1 chicken breast

So you can see how easy it is to go over your requirements.

So whats the big deal if you go over? Its not really a huge deal, but just like anything you eat in excess, that extra will be stored as fat. An extremely high protein diet, like atkins, can dangerous.

Too much protein, aside from the extra turning to fat, can lead to dehydration loss of calcium and puts unnecessary stress on the kidneys and liver. High protein diets, from natural sources, also mean you are consuming a lot of fat, usually saturated, if it consumed through meat.

I believe it is always better to get your nutrients from natural sources. That way, you will recieve other vitamins and minerals as well.

Some people do have trouble getting that protein though. vegetarians or vegans that are very stringent with their eating can be missing out on protein, and people that just plain aren’t meat eaters.

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, protein, strength, food

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Protein After Workouts

One more question. Im SO annoying. So my favorite instructor at my gym was recently let go. It was personal problems with the other trainers. Anyways. Its hard because she was the person I would take flex (strength training) classes with. and all the instructors do not come up to par with her. the classes are boring. so i was thinking about my options. Do i hire a personal trainer (spend a lot of money) or I have been thinking about doing work outs from magazines but are they efficient?    Daisy Melo

Welp, what I’m about to say may shock some of you, but here goes:

I don’t know.

Ha! Kidding. Obviously, I can’t make the decision for you but let’s examine your options.

The perks of a personal trainer are that you get focused attention, expert guidence, and effective routines.  Down side? Lotsa money.  Depending on what kind of trainer you get, it could be a good investment but you’ll need to do your homework. Ask what certification they have- if they don’t have a national certification, I’d move on to someone else.  Obviously, personality is a big factor for you, so make sure its a good fit: you enjoy their company and trust them, but you aren’t spo buddy-buddy you end up gabbing the whole time (which, trust me, happens more that you think.) They should allow you to have a session for free so you guys can get a feel for eachother.

The perks of magazine workouts are they are cheap, spelled out for you, and easy to switch up. Down side? They aren’t tailored for your needs. They are written to be one size fits all, which doesn’t always work. Also, they are made of paper, so they can’t correct your form, or answer your wuestions. But, of course, that’s what I’m here for, right?

You can always do a combo of both- see a trainer once a week, or even everyother week to check in, ask questions, get a new routines, etc and then supplement with magazine workouts. 

The only thing I can say is make sure you enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t stick with it and that’s the most important part.

Enter the giveaway! It ends tomorrow!!

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, magazines, routine, workout

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Trainer or Magazines?

I was curious on your opinion on that article that was on Kaths website yesterday. you being a personal trainer and all

http://healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=620471    Daisy Melo

For those of you too lazy busy to click, its an article that states having a snack after a workout is only necessary for athletes, and may hinder any weightloss efferts for the average exerciser.

And I completely agree.

It is so much easier to eat 300 calories than it is to burn 300 calories (and more yummy.) If you bust your butt in the gym and eat those calories right back, you negated the whole calorie deficit portion of your workout (the health benefits remain so don’t use me as a rationalization to skip your workout!) and in terms of weightloss, you are right back to where you started.

I can hear it now……”But what about protein!!?”

Chances are, you aren’t shredding your muscles to the point you need extra protein. In fact, I’d be willing to bet money that most of you are eating more protein than you need.

“But my metabolism is revved!!?”

It’s revved, it’s not freakin’ David Copperfield.  Those calories don’t just magically disappear.  While its true you burn a bit more calories than normal after a tough workout, its not anything that’s going to make a massive difference.  And wouldn’t you want to take advantage of your body burning more calories at rest anyway? Let it eat a little bit more fat that usual.

Athletes need to refuel after a workout- they need to reload all those carb stores they depleted (not to be confused with the shoe stores I usually wipe out) and make sure their muscle rebuilds properly.  Totals are what matter. If that snack just happens to fall after your workout, then fine, go ahead and eat it, but if that post workout snack is an extra one you feel you earned because you worked out- I’d think twice.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! It ends tomorrow!

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, protein, snack, food, metabolism

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Snacks After a Workout?

This might be a totally dumb question, but I always kind of thought you did “opposite” exercises on the same day (like I would do biceps and triceps/quads and hams), but Jillian Michael’s book said not to…..can I still do them on the same day? I think it’s kinda fun. :-)

Here’s my caveat: I have never read Jillian Michael’s book, so I’m sure some of this may be out of context. Maybe just for her plan, thats the way she prefers to have people work out, maybe she said it as a rule- that something bad will happen if you work out antagonist muscles on the same day. Whichever she meant, I stand by what I am about to say.

UGH. Give me a break.

I am a firm believer that you cannot know something you have never been taught.  Up until 6th grade, I said “hippoMApotomus” because my parents never corrected me since they thought it was cute. It wasn’t so cute when, by some twist of fate, I had to do a report on them in front of the class.

I am also a firm believer that you can’t blame someone who has been taught wrong. If they have no frame of reference- how will they know?

So, no Holly, no dumb questions- just opportunities to learn and for me to start fights. So thank you.

Specifically in this situation, not working antagonist muscles on the same day is crap. If anything, its a BETTER idea, because you can ensure you are working them the same amount and building muscle balance to cut risk of injury, and for asthetic reasons.  Either way- it doesn’t matter. I can’t even really argue with this point, because I can’t possibly imagine the rationale behind it (if anyone knows, please feel free to share.)

Professionals in the fitness field are trying to sell a product.  They make up rules to make consumers feel like they don’t know enough about fitness and NEED their product in order to succeed.  The audience for these products primarily does not know very much about fitness to begin with (otherwise they could do it on their own, right?) so taking that lack of basic knowledge and throwing do’s and don’ts on top of it confuses consumers into buying into it.

When my docotr tells me something- I believe him. He’s known me since I was little and has my best interests at heart. But, beyond that, he is the professional, he went to school for many years, so he’s proven himself.  I don’t need to know everything he knows. I couldn’t point to my pancrease if he asked- and as a responsible professional he knows that.  He’s not going to heap a ton of medical jargon and possible diseases and risks on top of me to confuse and scare the crap out of me: because I don’t need to know it. All I need to know is basically what is going on, and how to fix it.

Fitness is the same way. I know all of you are in different stages of your fitness goals, but, like I said, most fitness products are geared towards beginners because they are easily sold. All a beginner needs to know is eat less, eat better, move more.  They don’t need to know about glycemic index and fat burning heart rate zones and  aerbic and anaerobic thresholds. But that doesn’t make me money, and doesn’t get you to spend yours. A confused consumer is a consumer that spends money.

If something makes fitness sound confusing- its probably unneccessary information. You don’t even have to believe me (gasp!) if you don’t want to. I encourage you to disagree, or go find a second opinion, because I would rather you learn and become informed than blindly follow anything anyone has to say.

I can assure you, however, the only rules I can think of for fitness have been around for years and years: stretch after warming up, get atleast 30 mintues of cardio most days of the week, never strength train the same muscles on consective days (they need time to rest and rebuild) and when strength training make sure hit every major muscle group. It doesn’t matter how you mix these up, combine them, what order you do it. That’s the fun part: its up to you. Do whatever you want and don’t get sucked into the games.

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, Jillian Michaels, antagonist muscles, guru

Post from: EveryJoe

Enough Already “Fitness Gurus”

Q: What is the difference between “partially hydrogenated oil” and just plain “hydrogenated oil” on an ingredients list?† Do they both mean trans fat?

A: The hydrogenation process is when you take polyunsaturated fats, harden them, making them more saturated, and this gives rise to trans-fatty acids. So yes, if a food label has hydrogenated (just that word or with partially in front of it) the product contains trans-fat. Trans-fatty acids have similar adverse health effects as saturated fats, which is why people are encouraged to avoid these fats as much as they can. The difference between partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated is only seen chemically, but both share the harmful effects in our body (cancer, heart disease, etc).

Thanks Kinsey! Head to DietsinReview.com to read more Kinsey and their other health professionals!

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, DietsinReview.com, nutritionist, guest post

Post from: EveryJoe

Guest Post: Nutritionist Kinsey from DietsinReview.com Anwers Your Questions

Alright, now I need some advice from you guys.

I think you’ll agree you guys owe me.

I was walking Porkchop the other day and saw that an Anytime Fitness is opening right at the top of my hill.  Literally, a 4 minute walk from my house.  The actual place isn’t open yet, but there were two guys (one of which looked EXACTLY like Ashley from O-Town. Does anyone remember that show/band? Anyone? Well, incase you need a refresher, see here) out front with a little table and sign doing pre-opening day specials. I stopped to talk with them, explained how I currently go to 24 hour fitness, which is a commute and my membership is almost up, am a personal trainer so I don’t need to be sold on any of the fancy stuff and just really want to know what it costs, and how the place is set up.

They told me that it is a locked facility but every member gets a little key card that gives them access 24 hours a day.  They said there are employees 8-10 (I can’t remember if it was 8am to 10pm or if he just said they are there 8-10 hours a day.) The rest of the time its just you and whoever happen to chose that time to work out as well.

At this point my stranger danger senses are tingling. I think he sensed that as well, and informed me that there are little 911 necklaces you can wear, and if anything were to happen, you can press the button and the cops would be there in a second. But what if I got hurt? What if I dropped a massive weight on my head and it burst open like my jack-o-lantern that gets stollen EVERY HALLOWEEN by the punk kids down the street who smash it all over the sidewalk? What if for some reason I decide to steal an elliptical and drag out of the gym and the whole 4 minutes home? I bet there’s cameras, but I’d be smart enough to spray them black with spray paint. Didn’t they think of that?

I have no intention of working out at 2:00 in the morning or anything, so it doesn’t effect me much, but its still a concern.  The price isn’t much cheaper than 24 hour fitness, but the convenience is a huge factor. I’m still debating.

Has anyone ever worked out at an Anytime Fitness? (I keep linking to the one I’m talking about in hopes they’ll find it and offer me free membership. PLEASE?) What was your experience? Was the elliptical cumbersome to get home? Should I go with a recumbent bike instead?

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, 24 Hour Fitness, Anytime Fitness, gym memberships, O-Town

Post from: EveryJoe

Anytime Fitness: Now Serving Assault and Lost Limbs After 10 pm

First off, I have never met this trainer. He could be the greatest trainer in the world, I don’t know. Secondly, I have never met Miss Brittany so I am in no position to make any recommendations whatsoever. So, let’s look at this from a common sense standpoint: something I think is seriously lacking in most of the fitness advice I hear.

Let’s start with the shake: as you stated, its a snack. A snack after breakfast and before lunch.  The trainer stated you need to eat carbs with it in order for it to hold you over until lunch, but obviously you have been eating this way for a while. Are you hungry before its lunch time after having this snack? If yes, perhaps you need some carbs. If no, then you’re fine. You are going to know your body better than anyone else. If its working for you, obviously, you don’t have to mess with it.

As for the no eating carbs past 2:00pm: oh, please. I’ll state this again: let’s use some common sense.  Your body has absolutely no idea what time of day it is. Man made time. It’s made up. Your body doesn’t know if its 2:00 in the afternoon or 5:00 in the evening.  A carb is a carb is a carb. And a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, no matter what time of day it is. Where did 2:00pm come from? What a random time.  Carbs are your body’s number 1 source of energy. They are neccessary to burn fat properly.  They are essential for weightloss.  If you stop eating carbs at 2:00pm and don’t have any again until the morning, your energy levels are going to be very low, probably leaving you feeling tired and lethargic, and impeding any workouts you may do in the evening, as you have no energy stores to power you through them. You need to feed your body a steady stream of fuel for it work properly.

Is any of this advice the trainer gave dangerous? No. Is it unneccessary? In my opinion, yes.  Is it confusing? Obviously, or you wouldn’t have asked me.  Its advice like this that frustrates me, and I think is a huge reason why people are so hesistant to start living a healthy lifestyle, and why a lot of people don’t stick with it: because it sounds hard. Living a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be hard. You shouldn’t have to carry around a kitchen scale, and perfectly calibrated clock and list of do’s and don’t’s everywhere you go. Move more. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein and whole grains. That’s it.

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog,

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Second Opinion of Trainer Advice

There could be two possibilities here: you are expecting spot reduction, which we all know doesn’t work (cardio! cardio! cardio!) or you aren’t doing the right things: either in form or the actual exercises you are doing.  Or you are stronger than you think. Ok, that’s three. But the last two can be fixed by the same advice: do some new moves.

There is a possibility that your quads are weaker than your butt, so even though you are working your butt, you feel the burn more in your quads.  Even though you claim your booty is flabby, it could still very strong, just have fat over top, which again- cardio! cardio! cardio!

So! lets try some new exercises shall we?

dumbbell side step up on bench
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

alternating kettlebell swing
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

barbell deadlift with overhand grip
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

glute kickback on all 4s with ankle weight
(Click on image to view this exercise…)

Give those a shot. They isolate the butt a little bit more, making sure it gets the brunt of the load. Load probably wasn’t the most appropriate word to use there but you get the idea ;)

grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, glutes

Post from: EveryJoe

Q and A: Not Hitting the Spot