Tackling Female Workout/Nutrition Misconceptions

10:15 Saturday Morning: Quaint Coffee Shop in Murray, KY

“I see your reading Men’s Health, so are like one those fitness nuts or something?” a tall dark headed girl in her early 20’s ask me.

A little offended to be referred to as a “nut” I wanted to respond part smart ass but the gentleman in me overpowered the smart ass and I replied with, “Well I am a personal trainer and fitness is a huge part of my life.”

I see she is drinking a large coffee drink and if I had to guess it was probably full or sugar and fat. After she takes a small sip she starts asking workout and nutrition questions. Now, this is no surprise at all because it happens all the time. So I sat back for the next 30 minutes or so answering questions, sipping my black coffee with a few splenda, waiting for the gym doors to open down the street.

After the conversation I felt I should write this article. Mainly to highlight a few of the misconceptions she mentioned that if I had to guess, most girls have about health and nutrition. Here are the 5 that stood out to me more than the rest.

1. “All the guys at the gym say I should lift the pink dumbbells for like 25 times, like 4 sets or something, whatever that’s called.”

My guess is these are the same guys that bench on Monday, curl on Wednesday, do crunches on Friday, and drink a case of beer a day at the local Frat house every Thursday thru Sunday. They may be able to teach you how to funnel 3 beer in 30 seconds, but when it comes to workout advice its like asking a member of the local high schools TSA club how to shoot a basketball. They just don’t know. Women should lift weights. I recommend for starters doing full body workouts. Using a weight that causes near muscular failure between 10 and 15 reps for around 3 sets. Starting with the largest muscle groups the working smaller groups thereafter. Start with multi join movements for the lower body (Squats, Deadlifts, Lunges, Leg Press, etc.), the upper body next with a push exercise (Incline Dumbbell Bench Press, Bench Press, Shoulder Press, etc.), followed by a upper body pull exercise (Lat Pull Down, Seated Row, Bent Over Row, etc.), then a posterior chain exercise (Stiff Leg Deadlift, Leg Curl, Hyperextension, etc.), followed by a abdominal exercise (crunches, leg raises, etc.). If you feel the need you can also add in single joint isolation exercise (Bicep Curls, Tricep Pressdowns, Dumbbell Later Raises, etc.) at the end.

2. “I run 3 miles a day like 6 days a week, is that enough?”

“Wow! How are your knees feeling?” That’s a bit overkill on the cardio. Now, unless you’re a figure competitor or competitive athlete I recommend you doing cardio you enjoy. (Figure competitors and athletes need to be precise on their cardio and it may not be enjoyable). Best bet is you work out because you want to look good in naked, as well as in clothes and on the beach. So, do what you enjoy for cardio. You shouldn’t dread it. If you like to run then run. If swimming is your thing, swim. If biking is your cup of tea then go right ahead and bike. 3-4 days a week of cardio at around 20 minutes a session should be plenty. Running 3 miles a day 6 days a week is way too much for general fitness and optimal body composition. You want to work at around 65-75% of your maximal heart rate. Below that you’re pretty much wasting time.

3. “I read somewhere I should be eating 1000 calories a day, so I try to eat less than that because if figured that would be even better.”

You probably need more than 1000 calories a day. Super low calories diets aren’t for you. They wreak havoc on your metabolism, make you moody, tired, foggy headed, and just plain mean at times. Most females should consume approx. 1500 calories a day. That is just a base to start with and if you’re not seeing the changes your wish after a couple weeks you should make the appropriate changes by increasing or decreasing your calorie intake.

4. “Coffee is healthy right? I mean you are drinking coffee right now.”

Coffee is ok in moderation and I would be lying if I said I didn’t start everyday with a cup or two. However, I am talking about drinking black coffee sweetened w/ splenda. “Not the sugar and fat laden mocha that I bet your drinking right now, correct?”

“Yes, actually it is a Mocha, but it’s made with skim milk.”, she replied.

Skim milk may cut back on the fat but it’s still full or sugar. Stick with regular coffee and splenda (or artificial sweetener of your choice) with an occasional sugar free skim milk coffee drink and you’ll cut back on empty calories a lot.

5. “So what is the best Alcohol to drink?”

Well, stop ordering your frozen margaritas and LITs right now. You’re easily drinking 500-1000 calories a drink. Mostly from sugar and or course, alcohol. Same thing goes with your flavored vodka, rums, etc. Rum has 0 grams of sugar a shot, flavored rum has around 12 grams of sugar (depending on the flavor). To make those flavors they add sugar, and lots of it. Your best bet is to limit how often drink, the less the better. Also, limit how many drinks you drink when you go out. Yet again, the less the better. Here are some the best drink choices in no particular order:

Miller Lite – 96 Calories
Michelob Ultra – 95 Calories
Diet Coke and Rum – 87 Calories
Skinny Bitch (Vodka, Diet Tonic Water (Or Water), Lime) – 97 Calories
Glass Red Wine – 130 Calories

Hopefully this article cleared up some misconceptions for you. I have conversations with people almost daily, all being similar to the one above. Make these changes to your daily routine and see the changes for yourself.

-Chase Karnes, NSCA-CPT

Merry Christmas, Bob
by Chris Shugart



The following Article was first featured in Testosterone Nation three years ago. It's often regarded as one of our more inspirational, get-off-your-sorry-ass articles and, given that it has a Christmas theme, I thought it appropriate to run it again this Christmas.


"So, what are you doing for a living these days?" Bob asked me. We're sitting on the couch at one of those tedious holiday get-togethers, you know, the ones where you're supposed to be nice to family members you never see except during major holidays and funerals. I think Bob is my wife's brother-in-law's second cousin or something.

"I'm the assistant editor and a writer for Testosterone magazine," I say. Bob looks at me with a blank expression on his face, as if I'd just told him I sell handmade testicle warmers beside the freeway and was looking to open franchises across the nation.

"It's a bodybuilding magazine," I say.

Blank expression. Deer caught in the headlights. Ronnie Coleman doing trigonometry.

"Oh," Bob finally says, "I heard you were, like, one of those bodybuilder guys or something. So, what's that like, you know, working out every day and stuff? I just don't have time to lift weights all day, but I have been meaning to get rid of this beer belly." He takes another sip of beer. "What do you suggest?" Sip.

At first I was a little offended. I wanted to grab him up and say, "You can't tell I'm a bodybuilder?! Look at my ass! Now, if that's not a nice round squat-built piece of sirloin, I don't know what is! You think that comes naturally? I can crack walnuts with this puppy! Wanna see? Huh, punk? Do ya? Do ya?"

Then I realize this just might cause a scene and could cost me several Christmas presents. I was planning on returning any presents I got and using the money to buy a power rack, so I didn't want to jeopardize this gift getting opportunity. I also realized that old Bob probably had a certain preconceived image of a bodybuilder and I just didn't fit that image. I'm not gorilla huge; I weigh about 205 at 5'11" right now. (When I first started lifting I was a pudgy 159, so that's not too shabby.) Also, I wasn't wearing clown pants, a fluorescent string tank top, a hanky on my head and one of those little fanny packs. And isn't that what real bodybuilders are supposed to wear?

Bob continued to sit there drinking his Natural Light, smoking a cigarette and waiting for an answer, oblivious to the fact that he'd come this close to seeing some serious walnut- crunching ass power. I tried to figure out how I could explain to the average guy what the typical T-Man does and why he does it. How could I get him to understand what it is we do, how we feel, how we live? So I took a deep breath and told him something like this:

"Well, Bob, I guess you could use the term bodybuilder if you really need a label for what it is we do. Most of us actually don't stand on stage and compete, though. We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we'll look good naked. Sure, it's healthy too, and we'll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it's about the naked thing. Truthfully, it goes beyond even that.

"Let's be honest here. We do it because of people like you, Bob. We look at you sitting there with your gut hanging over your belt and we watch you grunt and groan just getting out of a chair. Guys like you are our inspiration, Bob. You're better than Anthony Robbins, Bill Phillips, Deepak Chopra, and Zig fucking Ziglar all wrapped up into one. We love it when guys like you talk about not having time to exercise. Every time we see you munching on a bag of potato chips, you inspire us. You're my shot in the arm, Bob, my living and breathing wake-up call, my own personal success coach.

"You want to know what it is we do? We overcome. We're too busy to train, too, but we overcome. We're too busy to prepare healthy meals and eat them five or six times a day, but we overcome. We can't always afford supplements, our genetics aren't perfect, and we don't always feel like going to the gym. Some of us used to be just like you, Bob, but guess what? We've overcome.

"We like to watch 'normal' people like you tell us about how they can't get in shape. We smile and nod sympathetically like we feel your pain, but actually, we're thinking that you're a pathetic piece of shit that needs to grow a spine and join a gym. You smile sheepishly and say that you just can't stay motivated and just can't stand that feeling of being sore. (For some reason you think that admitting your weaknesses somehow justifies them.) We listen to you bitch and moan. We watch you look for the easy way out. Because of people like you, Bob, we never miss a workout.

"You ask us for advice about diet and training and usually we politely offer some guidance, but deep inside we know you won't take our advice. You know that too. We smile and say, 'Hope that helps. Good luck,' but actually we're thinking, 'Boy, it would suck to be you.' We know that 99% of people won't listen to us. Once they hear that it takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline, they stop listening and tune us out.

"We know they wanted us to say that building a great body is easy, but it just isn't. This did not take five minutes a day on a TorsoTrack. We did not get this way in 12 short weeks using a Bowflex and the Suzanne Somers' 'Get Skinny' diet. A good body does not cost five easy payments of $39.95.

"We like it that while you're eating a candy bar and drinking Mountain Dew, we're sucking down a protein shake. You see, that makes it taste even better to us. While
you're asleep we're either getting up early or staying up late, hitting the iron, pushing ourselves, learning, succeeding and failing and rising above the norm with every rep. Can you feel that, Bob? Can you relate? No? Good. This wouldn't be half as fun if you could.

"We do it because we absolutely and totally get off on it. We do it because people like you, Bob, either can't or won't. We do it because what we do in the gym transfers over into the rest of our lives and changes us, physically, mentally, maybe even spiritually. We do it because it beats watching fishing and golf on TV. By the way, do you know what it's like to turn the head of a beautiful woman because of the way you're built? It feels good, Bob. Damned good.

"When we're in the gym, we're in this indescribable euphoria zone. It's a feeling of being on, of being completely alive and aware. If you haven't been there, then it's like trying to describe color to a person who's been blind since birth. Within this haze of pleasure and pain, there's knowledge and power, self-discipline and self-reliance. If you do it long enough, Bob, there's even enlightenment. Sometimes, the answers to questions you didn't even know you had are sitting there on those rubber mats, wrapped up in a neat package of iron plates and bars.

"Want to lose that beer belly, Bob? I have a nutty idea. Put down the fucking beer. I'll tell you what, Bob. Christmas morning I'm getting up real early and hitting the iron. I want to watch my daughter open her presents and spend the whole day with her, so this is the only time I have to train. The gym will be closed, so I'm going out in my garage to workout. You be at my house at six in the morning, okay? I'll be glad to help you get started on a weight training program. It'll be colder than Hillary Clinton's coochie in there, so dress warm.

"But let me tell you something, Bob. If you don't show up, don't bother asking me again. And don't you ever sit there and let me hear you bitch about your beer belly again. This is your chance, your big opportunity to break out of that rut. If you don't show up, Bob, you've learned a very important lesson about yourself, haven't you? You won't like that lesson.

"You won't like that feeling in the pit of your stomach either or that taste in your mouth. It will taste worse than defeat, Bob. Defeat tastes pretty goddamned nasty, but what you'll be experiencing will be much worse. It will be the knowledge that you're weak, mentally and physically. What's worse is that you'll have accepted that feeling. The feeling will always be with you. In the happiest moments of your life, it'll be there, lying under the surface like a malignant tumor. Ignore it at your own peril, Bob.

"Don't look at me like that either. This just may be the best Christmas present you'll get this year. Next Christmas, Bob, when I see you again, I'm going to be a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little leaner. What will you be? Will you still be making excuses? This is a gift, Bob, from me to you. I'm giving you the chance to look fate in those pretty eyes of hers and say, 'Step off, bitch. This is my party and you're not invited.' What do you say, Bob? Monday, Christmas morning, 6am, my house. The ball's in your court."

Okay, so maybe that's not the exact words I used with Bob, but you get the picture. Will Bob show up Monday? I don't know, but I kind of doubt it. In fact, Bob will probably take me off his Christmas card list. He probably thinks I've got "too much Testosterone," like that's a bad thing. I think Bob is just stuck in a rut, and as the saying goes, the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth.

The way out of the rut is to make major changes in your life, most of which won't be too pleasant in the beginning. The opportunity to make those changes seldom comes as bluntly as I put it to Bob. Most of the time, that opportunity knocks very softly. What I did was basically give Bob a verbal slap in the face. You can react two ways to a slap. You can get angry at the person doing the slapping, or you can realize that he was just trying to get you to wake up and focus on what you really want and, more importantly, what it'll take to get it.

If you're a regular T-mag reader, I doubt you need to be called out like Bob. But maybe you've caught yourself slacking a little here lately. Maybe you've missed a few workouts or maybe you started a little too early on the usual holiday feasting, like, say, back in September. Just remember that the time to start working on that summer body is now. The time to get rid of those bad habits that hold you back in the gym is now. You want to look totally different by next Christmas? Start now. This isn't because of the holidays or any corny New Year's resolutions either. The best time is always now.

Christmas day I want you to enjoy being with your family and friends. I want you to open presents, sip a little eggnog and have a good meal. But if your regularily scheduled workout happens to fall on December 25th, what will you be doing at six o'clock that morning?

That's what separates us from guys like Bob.

9 Random Thoughts to Help You

1. Your success on a weight loss program should NOT be measured by the scale. It however should be measured by how your clothes fit. I have clients who stress over what the number on the scale says. They can drop 2 pant sizes but if the scale isn’t changing they stress. Well its time to forget that number and look more into body composition, or body fat percentage that is. If your weight is staying the same, your clothing is getting loser and your body fat is dropping then you ARE on the RIGHT track.

2. If your complaining because your gym is too hot then stop. You are supposed to sweat when you work out. You are training.

3. People need to stop thinking that fitness is a temporary fix. It is a life long pursuit, a lifestyle. It has no end. Adopt it as your lifestyle, stop looking for a finish line and make it what you do, not what you have to do.

4. Its time to get more activity outside of the gym. There are 168 hours in a week. Spending 2 or 3 in the gym and the rest on your ass isn’t helping you achieve your fitness and body composition goals. Take a walk, play with your kids, go for a hike, go mountain biking, play some ball, do SOMETHING. The more, the better.

5. Guys who only bench and curl this is to you. Here is an idea: Work your lower body. Your chicken legs. Try doing some squats. Sure you can bench 300 pounds, but you can’t squat the bar. You will be surprised how much your legs are part of your fitness and overall health. Along with the other muscle building benefits of working legs.

6. People tell me all the time they can’t lose body fat but their diet is really good, so it can’t be their diet! Guess what? It’s their diet. They think their diet is great but in reality it probably sucks. Eating Lean Pockets and Lean Cuisines for every meal will leave you looking not so…”Lean”. I could come up with a candy bar and call it “The Skinny Candy Bar”. Even if it was still full of fat and sugar. Companies can get away with naming things almost anything they want. People think their doing all the right things when actually they are doing all the wrong things. Get help.

7. Women along with some men honestly think that 10 sessions with a trainer is going to get them 30 pounds learner and fix all their problems. Well its not. 10 sessions you will see tremendous changes beginning in your body and feel the effects. But true weight loss and body composition change takes a long time. 10 sessions will get you started and is a great start, but you need much more work to see serious results.

8. Athletes need to stop training like bodybuilders. You’re not a bodybuilder. Stop splitting the body into “parts”. Train your whole body, the way it works on the court or in the field. It is the total training approach that will make you a better athlete.

9. People need to fine-tune their macronutrient intake. That would be your carbs, proteins and fats. Diet is a HUGE part of your training success. Even when your diet is comprised of healthy foods and the correct calorie totals the breakdown of the macronutrients could be way out of whack causing slowed or no results. For example nuts are good for you, but if you diet consist of ½ cup of nuts at each meal your fat intake is WAY too high.

Chase Karnes, NSCA-CPT

12 Tips to a Lean, Sexy, Hard Body

12 Tips to a Lean, Sexy, Hard Body

With winter right around the corner I decided to put together 12 tips to help achieve that lean, sexy, hard body. That way when you shed the close this spring there is a new you in the mirror and on the beach.

1. Eat 5-6 smaller meals and snacks a day instead of the traditional 3 meals a day. By doing so you are keeping your metabolism sped up all day long. You should be eating every 2-3 hours.

2. Do not eat any carbohydrates after 4-5 pm (except for fibrous carbohydrates such as vegetables). Carbohydrates aren’t evil, they just need to be eaten earlier in the day so they can be used for energy, not late at night and stored as bodyfat.

3. Eat protein with each meal. Your body burns more calories digesting 1 gram of protein than it does 1 gram of fat or carbohydrate. This is known as the Thermic Effect of food. Your body actually burns calories while digesting food. Protein also slows down your insulin response to carbohydrates which lessens their chances of being stored as fat even more.

4. Avoid Fried foods. Just because it’s a Chicken Salad doesn’t mean its healthy if the chicken is fried. Opt for grilled chicken in its place. While you’re at it choose lower fat dressings and place them in a small dish on the side. Then dip your fork in the dressing then into the salad. That will save a ton of calories.

5. Eat breakfast each day. If you skip breakfast you may not be hungry till later that afternoon and most people think, “If I skip breakfast and I am not hungry I will lose weight.” Well I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but by skipping breakfast your doing way more harm than good. Your body has been without food for the past 6-8 hours and that causes your metabolism to slow to a stop. You then skip breakfast causing it to slow even more. Then the next meal you eat your body stores as extra body fat because it doesn’t know when your going to get to eat again. By eating breakfast you actually spike your metabolism and increase how many calories you burn that day. It also works wonders for your body and brains energy needs.

6. Lift weights. Most men don’t have a problem with this but women tend to object. They are afraid they will get “too bulky” or “too big”. Well I am telling you from my own experience with clients as well as scientific evidence, that just doesn’t happen. Women who get big and bulky take the synthetic male hormone testosterone or other steroids. It doesn’t just happen from lifting weights. In fact, most men, men with loads more testosterone and manly muscle building potential, have real difficulty putting on muscle mass. If this is true for men, it’s convincingly true for women, the vessels of estrogen. Now women, you name a female actress, singer, athlete, etc. who has a physique you wouldn’t mine having. Chances are she lifts weights. Just today I read an article about Eva Mendes weight training program and nutrition. By lifting weights you increase your lean body mass. In return your body burns more calories even when you are not working out. You also get the lean, sexy, hard body you want. 2-4 Days is sufficent.

7. Eliminate Calorie Containing Beverages. You should eat your calories, not drink them. Green Tea and Water should be your first choices but other drinks such as diet coke and crystal light are fine. (Eliminate juices, Gatorade, milk, coke, etc.)

8. Perform Cardio. Lifting weights may help you achieve the body you want alone believe it or not. But cardio will definitely speed up the process. 3-5 Days at 20-45 minutes is plenty. Be sure to always progress. If you do 20 minutes this week @ 3.5 mph on a 1% incline then next week increase 1 of the 3 parameters (duration, speed, or incline). So do 25 minutes next week, or 3.8 mph, or 4% incline. By continually increasing your body doesn't have the ability to adapt and keeps changing.

9. Take Fish Oil. 2-3 grams of fish oil a day has scientifically shown to increase body fat loss. Diets rich in Omega 3 fatty acids can increase the production of a number of important mitochondrial enzymes that play a part in fat oxidation, in other words you get leaner.

10. Follow your healthy eating plan 10% of the time. The difference, in results,
between 90% adherence to your nutrition program and 100% adherence is
negligible. So allow yourself the extra 10% wiggle room. Do you like Pasta from The Pasta House? That Mexican dish I can’t even pronounce from Los Whatever its called? If so, have some during your 10% allotment. My favorite 10% food is pizza and mountain dew. Once or twice a week I allow myself to have some. This 10% wiggle room will allow you the freedom to eat a few extra things not on your menu without the guilt and subsequent psychological crash that usually accompanies such perceived transgressions.

11. Unfortunately the worst foods usually are the most convenient and the most processed foods. Avoid eating for convenience alone. Convenience stores always have healthy options. Just look around. Beef jerky, peanuts, and almonds just to name a few.

12. Avoid any easy-to-prepare breakfast foods (waffles, french toast, cold cereals, etc) as they're loaded with fattening trans-fatty acids. Avoid products containing the ingredients or words "partially hydrogenated," "high fructose corn syrup," etc.

Now with these 12 tips fresh on your mind put them to use over the winter to discover a whole new you when spring rolls around.

-Chase Karnes, NSCA-CPT