LV LifeHealth & Fitness

No shortcuts to fitness

illustration by Christian A. Lopez
illustration by Christian A. Lopez

by Jaclyn Roco
Editor in Chief

In the land of plenty, neon signs advertising forever open fast food chains are found on almost every street corner. Bad health is a common. So too is the sight of American men and women who lack proper exercising habits. This fact should be of little wonder, experts claim, because the United States seems to encourage laziness and poor dieting habits.

These unhealthy habits, coupled with a college student’s hectic schedule, should be cause for concern in the future, said Alex Lopez, an athletic trainer for Bally’s Fitness in Hollywood.

Lopez said college-aged students should start practicing healthy habits to be able to stay healthy in the future.

Although he notices a sprinkling of college students working out in gyms, Lopez said most still do not practice the right way to exercise.

“I see a lot of guys, especially, come to the gym, thinking that they’re going to get big or cut up,” he said. “But then they’re not serious about what they’re doing. They goof off, talk to girls and forget why they’re there.

“You have to be serious to be able to exercise right,” he said.

One of the ways to maintain healthy habits is to start watching out for what you eat.

People do not realize that the right way to exercise involves more than just sweat, Lopez said. You need to have a good diet and get the proper amount of rest too, he said.

According to a report by BodyTrends, an online retailer of health and fitness products, people should not associate “diet” with restricting certain types of food.

Instead, the report suggests making your own choices that you can enjoy within the guidelines of a normal, healthy diet.

“Eating fewer high fat foods and more fruits, grains and vegetables is not only the best diet to lose fat, but also for your lifetime,” the report said. “To lose body fat, you need to control the number of calories you eat from a balanced diet and increase the amount of calories you burn through exercise.”

To form a balanced diet, the website also suggested to follow these steps: eating some foods from each food group and reducing the amount of calories or giving up favorite foods of your choice.

James May, University of La Verne head athletic trainer, explained that a proper diet means eating right, not starving yourself.

Because the body stores fat, not eating enough means accumulating more fat since the body dips into the storage supply if it is hungry.

“I’m speaking to the girls,” May said. “If you’re working out and not eating, then you don’t eat enough to support that reversed effect. So eat.”

May also suggested eating more meals throughout the day instead of the traditional three meals.

Eating five to six smaller meals every three to four hours would result in the same amount of calories as three meals a day, he said.

However, more meals a day would also mean that the body is not achieving a “roller coaster” effect, he said.

Lopez said that 50 percent of your workout depends on your diet.

Whether you decide to eat before or after your workout, Lopez’ advice is to not workout at all if you are hungry.

“You need to eat, so that you won’t feel weak,” he said. “I usually eat a little half an hour before I work out. You can also choose to drink a shake or something. That’s why they have those juice bars at some of the gyms.

“It’s like your car. The car is like a person,” Lopez continued. “You need to refuel. You need to take care of it inside and out.”

While dieting properly, the next step in exercising correctly is making sure you are actually achieving something, Lopez said.

“By exercising right, you feel more energized. You wake up the next morning, and you feel sore,” he said.

People work out to achieve their selfish aesthetic goals, May said. They want to bulk up, firm up or lose weight. But they do not understand what they need to do to get there, he said.

“Guys think they can do six weeks of lifting weights to gain muscles,” May said. “(You) get stronger, but this is only neurological adaptation to the stress you are putting on your muscles. Your body adapts to the stress you put on it, and you need to put proper stress to get the muscle mass you want.”

The problem is, however, that most students do not realize the hard work involved in gaining these muscles and keeping it.

Muscles involve high maintenance, while fat is the opposite, he said.

“In order to accomplish your goals, you have to eat right,” May said. “It takes consistency and hard work. It’s consistency over time. If it was easy (to exercise right), then everyone would look perfect. And perfect is too hard to maintain; it’s impossible. The media gives a false image.”

According to BodyTrends’ report, a pound of muscle, which only has 600 calories, can be lost much quicker than fat. Fat, which has 3,500 calories, is therefore much harder to lose, and you should not expect to lose no more than 1-2 pounds of fat per week, or to 1 percent of body fat per month.

“You don’t gain fat overnight, and you don’t lose it that way either, but the losses you do get will be permanent. And with the accompanying changes that exercise will make to your body, the results can be remarkable,” the report said.

“You can’t expect (results) to be overnight,” Lopez said. “You have to feel like you’re working something.”

“People don’t exercise smart,” said Paul Alvarez, clinical supervisor for ULV’s Athletic Training Education Program. “Young ladies who are overweight say they are going to diet or, ‘I’m going to starve.’ They become anorexic. Guys who say they don’t want to go to the weight room, but they want to get buff, take steroids.

“The right way to exercise is to know that there are no shortcuts,” Alvarez continued. “A classic shortcut is the diet or the steroid. The right way is not taking these shortcuts.”

Exercises that involves the most muscle groups for 20-30 minutes per day, and improving your intensity three times per week are listed as steps to exercise correctly, according to BodyTrends’ report.

“One of the general standards for maintaining baseline fitness is exercising for 30 minutes and three times per week,” Alvarez said.

This is not enough, however, to be able to achieve a high level of fitness, he said. From there it is really a matter of individual goals and objectives.

Lopez suggested to work out three times a week for an hour in a gym setting. He also said to work out every other day.

To achieve results, Lopez said to target certain muscle groups each hour that you work out to allow the muscles to rest.

“Working out is like pushing your own limits ­ not really far, but pushing enough to progress,” said Dave Engle, ULV men’s volleyball player.

“You put fat on, and the reverse is to put it off,” May said. “The baseline minimum is unacceptable,” May said. “It takes years and years to get to your goal.”

“You need to find something you enjoy doing,” he continued.

“Eat well, be consistent and be active. Exercise is happiness,” he said.

Jaclyn Roco, LV Life Editor
Jaclyn Roco
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Christian A. Lopez, Staff Writer
Christian A. Lopez
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