“Exercise and balance are imperative to a healthy, productive and happy lifestyle,” says Brandon Reed, who knows all about the hectic pace of modern living. From the starting gate, Brandon, co-owner and manager of Fitness Together in Northampton, has been physically active and an outdoors enthusiast. He grew up hiking, biking and skiing in the Pioneer Valley. Now an avid runner, Brandon participates in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s 10K Road Race, Talking Turkey 6-Mile Cross Country Race, 7 Sisters Trail Race and many other races and charity events across western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. And he’s just warming up: he’ll run in his first marathon this fall with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon next year.
Recently Brandon took his enthusiasm for health and fitness to a new level, becoming an NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine)-certified personal trainer and teaming up with his father, Bob Reed, a physical therapist with 32 years of experience, to open a personal training studio, Fitness Together, at 18 Strong Avenue in Northampton. Brandon talked to Valley Advocate editor Tom Vannah last week about what a weekend warrior can do to get in shape and avoid injury.
With any luck, we’ll be hitting the slopes in a few months. Got any pre-season conditioning tips?
Yes, a program that incorporates all aspects of conditioning is important: aerobics to help build endurance and prevent fatigue; strength training to promote better control and power; stretching to promote flexibility; and reactive and balance activities to help you adapt to quick changes in position and stay upright!
Instead of hitting the gym, can someone stay fit by doing a bunch of things that are fun to do—maybe play tennis a few days a week and ski or hike on weekends?
Absolutely, but remember, intensity is the key. In order to get stronger, increase your endurance and, in general, get more fit, you must work harder than you usually work or you will not improve. Some activities, however, can promote muscle imbalances and/or other problems. So variety is very important, too.
Is a cross-training program the same thing as a fitness program?
Actually, cross-training is an integral part of any comprehensive fitness program. For example, if you goal is to improve your time for a 10k running race, then you will spend the majority of your time running to get in shape. But you could also swim or bike (examples of cross-training activities) a couple of times per week hard enough to help get to the fitness level you need to drop your race time. Some strength training can help as well. Cross-training can also help to prevent overuse injuries and training burnout.
Is working out with weights an essential part of a fitness program? What are the alternatives?
Building muscle strength and developing some lean muscle mass are generally the result of almost any fitness program, depending, again, on the intensity and volume of the exercises performed and other key factors such as exercise selection, sequencing, tempo. Weight training, either with free weights or machine weights, is a very effective and efficient way of improving performance. Alternatives could include body-weight exercises (where the individual is working against part or all of his or her body weight), which can be used to help build strength. To promote increases beyond what can be accomplished with body weight exercise, however, additional resistance must be applied. This can be done with resistance bands, medicine balls, various exercise machines or devices. In addition, the bands and medicine balls can be combined with body weight exercise. In short, there are many alternatives to lifting weights that can be incorporated into a fitness program.
Isn’t running the best, most effective form of cardio exercise? How does riding a bike stack up?
Sure, running is a great way to improve your cardio fitness but so are cross-country skiing, biking, rollerblading and swimming. But intensity factors in again. Efficient activities such as walking and riding require less energy to accomplish. Spice it up a bit, pour some hot sauce on your activity, try trail running, running backwards, or running from point A to point B through the city. The increased balance and reaction requirements coupled with terrain adjustments can really make a difference in the intensity. For example, a 160-pound man burns 360 calories running for 30 minutes at a 10-minute mile. Conversely, he only burns 260 calories on a bike when riding for 12 miles in the same amount of time. For individuals of other weights and women the calorie per activity ratio is similar.
You must get into your target heart rate zone to promote cardio fitness. This is driven by your exercise goals, such as heart health or exercise performance or increased aerobic capacity. Your goals help determine which type of cardio training can be best for you. And not everyone is a runner! So being active in what you enjoy, safely and with good technique, can be most effective at getting people to stay active.
Does an injury-free cross-country skier need to do any other kind of cardio in season?
Probably, particularly if they want to improve their performance. Cross-training could be a nice change and could promote an increased level of fitness and performance. A spinning class, circuit weight training or lap swimming would give an added benefit to the skiing.
Are any of the machines they sell on the infomercials worth buying?
Perhaps, depending on the quality, design, fit, and performance, but if any one of those machines was the best device to use for overall fitness, then every training room for professional and Olympic athletes would have rows and rows of only those machines. That is not the case. If it sounds too good to be true, it is! No-sweat, effortless exercise will generally get no result.
“Working for the weekend” is a full-time job. Got any shortcuts for someone without a ton of time?
Right back to the concept of effort and intensity. If you want to get more fit, committing to the time is the first hurdle. Sure, it is possible to put together a brief, intense exercise program that can be done in as little as 15 or 20 minutes, but this carries multiple risks with it. Among these are the risk of overuse or acute injury, the risk of overtraining (yes, you can do too much), the risk of training incorrectly, the risk of overestimating your level of fitness to meet the demands of a particular sport, and, most importantly, the risk of not reaching your overall fitness goals and giving up. All that said, if you have limited time and are familiar with exercising safely, then choose to perform exercises that use large muscle groups working together to get as much muscle stimulus as possible in a short period of time. Do the bench press or pushups for your chest, do dead lifts or pullups for your back, and try squats or squat jumps for your legs.
