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top position of a weighted push-up

• Posted 02/23/2010
• Tags:
  strength training, fat loss, weight loss, diet, nutrition, and supplements
• 5 comments

Today I want to share Part 1 with you from and article I originally wrote for Fit Girl Central.

Every now and again I just get down-right aggravated with the crap I see in the gym or the ridiculous advice I hear personal trainers give their clients.

The information in this article is a product of the misinformation and stupidity seen in everyday gyms.

Enjoy.

Protein Shakes and Bars are NOT Weight Loss Miracles

(We’ve gone over this one a few times before, but it deserves repeating).

So many women that go to gyms are constantly sucking down protein shakes and eating protein bars because some brilliant personal trainer told them they will lose more fat by doing so. A few weeks later those same women end up asking me why they haven’t lost any weight. I mean, they’re drinking the shakes and eating the protein bars, so what’s wrong?

The first question I ask is “Why are you drinking protein shakes and eating protein bars?”

Most of the time I get one of two answers:

“Because my personal trainer told me to” or “Because I was told it will help me lose body fat”.

Ugh. Both answers suck, and these poor women have been horribly mislead.

Look, I have explained this so many times to women, but they still don’t get it. There is absolutely nothing magical about protein shakes and bars. They will not help you lose fat, build lean muscle, get stronger, or allow you to fly.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with the occasional protein shake, or maybe even protein bar, IF you use it for the right reason, which is one of the following:

• Meal replacement because you don’t have whole, natural, unprocessed food available
• Pre/post workout nutrition

Honestly, those are the only two good reasons I think warrant the use of protein supplements.

One more note: most women who use powders and bars add them to their current eating habits; this increases their caloric intake because they don’t remove anything to make up for the extra calories. That is a sure fire way to gain weight if you are adding several hundred calories to your daily intake.

Remember: there is no magic to losing weight, being lean, and being healthy. You want the best results possible? Eat high quality, natural, unprocessed food and train hard and smart. It’s not sexy or earth shattering information, but it works every single time.

Do Push-ups Properly

I’ll give credit to women who actually try to do a push-up, but the fact is that most women (and men) still don’t do them correctly. First, if you can’t do a standard push-up on your toes, don’t drop to your knees. Instead, put your hands on a bench, use the Smith machine (it does have a purpose, after all), or put a bar in a power rack.

By having your body elevated instead of having your knees on the ground, you will be able to engage your core to a greater degree and advance faster to a traditional push-up.

Now this is the important training tip to keep in mind when you perform push-ups: make sure you squeeze your butt and stomach very tight throughout the entire movement.

This will help keep your core stable and tight and will help prevent any sagging or arching of the back. In addition, make sure your head is in line with your spine; there should be a straight line from the top of your head to your ankles.

Once you can perform a good set of push-ups at an incline, gradually lower the bar of the Smith machine (or aerobic steps, or the bar in the power rack, or whatever you use) until finally you are on the ground. Works every time.

Stop Doing Crunches and Side Bends

These are two of my absolute most disliked exercises because people think these two exercises are the ultimate way to trim and tone their midsections.

Crunches have been shown time and time again to put tremendous pressure and stress on the spine and discs. I don’t think they are completely evil if incorporated every once in a great while for variety, but the problem with crunches is that people can’t just do a set or two – they have to do several sets for very high reps. This just isn’t effective.

Side bends are just as bad, if not worse for your spine. If you don’t mind risking injury (and increasing the size of your waist, then by all means keep doing side bends).

If you truly want to work your core, then do some planks, side planks, three point planks, inch worms, ab wheel/stability ball rollouts, and other stabilization exercises.

Your core is meant to stabilize your spine and mid-section, and that is how those exercises will train it. Want better results? Train your core the way it is meant to function.

But don't expect those exercises alone to trim and tone your core. Having a slim mid-section is the result of losing body fat. The best way to accomplish that is to eat smart and train with big, compound exercises with free weights and your bodyweight.

Next time I'll post Part 2 of this article.

Feel free to share your comments and gym experiences below. What crazy stuff do you see in the gym?