Question 1: I am a female athlete who likes to strength train and work out 5x a week. My goal is to put on more muscle cut my fat down and have more energy throughout the day. i know I need to take supplements to lead a healthy lifestyle and help my muscles recover after hard workouts. The market is saturated with supplements, so I have no idea where to start, what do you recommend?
Answer: I always say that if you are eating healthy and mostly organic that you don’t need a shopping cart full of supplements. If you are like most of us and can’t always find healthy organic foods then supplements are a must. Unfortunately when we shop at our local supermarket the food isn’t always fresh, and its high in sodium and preservatives to help keep the product on the shelf. All athletes need to have plenty of Amino Acids for muscle recovery, I recommend the Branch Chain Amino acids since they are essential to have everyday and help to repair skeletal muscle and decrease muscle soreness from heavy workouts. I also believe in taking Fish oils, Magnesium, Vitamin B6 B12, flaxseed oil and Vitamin D in your diet.
Question #2- I have heard that functional training is better than machine based training can you explain why?
Answer: Machines isolate those muscles directly involved with that particular movement, so other muscles are not being trained to stabilize the body. Functional training like squats, lunges, cable push and pull movements etc… make you integrate the entire body to become strong and stable. Look at it this way; humans were designed to move and be functional, just like when the caveman used to hunt for food, build shelters and protect their families from dangerous animals…..you didn’t hear about them complaining of back pain! A large percentage of us have desk jobs where we sit for a living, drink coffee and snack all day. Oxygen and blood flow is significantly decreased as energy the will to get up and exercise is affected. So its imperative for those folks to get up and move and be functional. Also when you are working out on a machine, you typically work one joint at a time, and because the movement is already programmed into the machine the brain and nervous system are somewhat sedated, compared to kneeling on an exercise ball pressing weights above your head, where you must not only focus on what your doing but every muscle in your body and nervous system are turned on. You will also find that functional training is fun and challenging compared to machine based training.
Question#3- At what age should children start to lift weights? I heard if you start too young you can stunt their growth!
Answer: That’s a myth that your growth will be stunted, bones actually become stronger when put under stress, you just have to watch form and gradually introduce more load to the muscles.
There is no predetermined age when a child can start weight training, it really depends on their maturity and ability to focus. I have had nine year olds that could squat under load and became strong athletes, while on the other hand I had to send 15 year olds away because they were very immature and unable to focus. Again choosing the appropriate exercises and resistance to match their physical ability is the key. When an experienced strength coach/trainer can supervise the program success will usually follow.
