Student Fitness

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By: Joe Norton

Here’s a shocker: Fat People Order Fat Food

I often stand in line at the Student Center for long periods… waiting for the disgruntled, minimum wage, sodexo employees to find some time for ‘customer service’ (don’t even get me started with Sodexo)… and during these arduous waits I decide to kill two-birds with one stone and so I people watch. Yes, that’s right, I people watch… all the time. And it just so happens that one of my favorite places to do so is at the student center watching students order food.

You can learn a lot about a person by what they order. Their are a number of inferences you could make about someone based on what they order, but for today’s article I’m going to focus specifically on what you can tell about someones general overall health and body composition.

I could listen to somebody order, without looking at them, and I can tell you roughly what kind of shape that person is in. Sure, their is the unlikely chance that someone is unhealthy/fat and is just starting a diet and thus is ordering healthy but their body is not necessarily representative of that fact. This actually doesn’t happen too often. Usually, when someone orders something dripping with mayonaise and fatty meats - they aren’t doing too good. Usually, when someone orders something fried and grabs a few cookies on their way out - they aren’t doing too good.

I’ll hear someone order grilled chicken with greens and whaddya you know it’s someone in great shape. I’ll hear someone being very picky about what goes on their wrap, specifically asking for no mayonaise and for lots of veggies - no shocker that this person will nearly always be one of the thinner people.

I’ll hear someone order the quarter pounder at BK (yes, we have burger king in our Cafeteria) and ask for a mountain of fries => and I have yet to see that coming from someone with one chin. Now, I do have to disclose this one fact. I do often see some of the athletes (basketball, and football players) come in and grab some BK. This does go against my theory => BUT, it really dosen’t. This person WOULD be fat if they didn’t do so much exercise. This is how you can order poorly and still be healthy/fit. By balancing the equation that is 1 part Diet, and 1 part Physical Activity

You are what you eat. Eat fatty food, be a fatty person. Eat healthy and balanced, and you will be healthy and balanced.

By: Joe Norton

Want washboard abs? Want bulging biceps or toned legs?

Well, I can’t give you any of those today.

What I can give you is 3 things you can begin implementing TODAY into your life to begin the process (journey… if you will) of losing weight and getting to whatever your ideal state is:
Be that super thin, super muscular, or something along that continuum.

These aren’t intended to be just huge “cut this out” blanket statements that are impossible for the common person to follow, these are intended to be mini ‘life hacks’ or positive habits that you can begin to build into who you are in order to make you a more healthy person.

1) When given a chance to be active, take it. Convenience is your enemy when you want to be more active.

Take the stairs, not elevator. Ride a bike, don’t take a taxi. Walk a few blocks as opposed to getting a friend to give you a ride. Don’t settle for the closest pizza shop, if you must eat pizza then burn some calories and walk to your favorite place. If you have downtime in between classes => walk to your dorm and do what you will, and then walk back across campus when your class comes around. This is as opposed to sitting around waiting, or sitting in the library (though useful for studying, I’d rather lose out on 20 minutes because I was getting some light exercise and just study in the comfort of my room).

2) When given a choice to between meats; go with Chicken, Turkey or Fish.

Lean Beef => 59% Fat, Reduced Fat Pork => 69% Fat, Skinless Chicken Breast => 26% Fat, White Fish => ~10%
These calculations are based off of nutrition facts of products offered in stores, based on the calculation of % calories from fat. For example: X Grams of Fat * 9 Calories = Net Fat Calories/Total Calories = % Calories from Fat.

3) Don’t Starve yourself. Always have something to Nibble on.

Ask ANY bodybuilder, athlete, or health enthusiast and they will always tell you this. You must eat every 3-4 hours to keep your metabolism going. If you go longer than that without eating then your body gets worried about your
food sources so it slows down your internal calorie furnaces and then starts converting calories into fat just in case you
have to go for a long time without eating. Let your body know you don’t have to be in starvation mode - by not starving it.

These are 3 keys to getting healthy, sure - they are common sense, but sometimes it’s the most common things that we
overlook. Now that you are armed with these 3 tools you will be much better equipped to get through college in healthy shape.

By: Veljko Petranovic

A lot of people I know have trouble when it comes to developing their legs to match their upper bodies. I am also one of those people. You see, legs aren?t ?show? muscles. So, if you happen to be lifting weights just for the sake of looking good, chances are that you?ve been neglecting your legs. No wonder. The first thing someone notices about your build is the shoulders. Arms are also a huge favorite. Hitting the beach? Don?t forget the abs. Just about everyone does the bench press often to get that impressive chest.

Meanwhile, the legs remain forgotten, ignored if you will, like a red-headed stepchild. In the long run, the result is a huge muscular imbalance, which not only looks funny, but can and will ultimately limit your overall growth. So, my first advice would be to start exercising your legs at least as much as you exercise the upper body. Your look will be complete, not half-assed.

That being said, legs are notoriously hard to train. Squats just might be the hardest movement you?ll ever try. They are not fun like it is to pump up your biceps on the Scott bench, named after the great Larry Scott, a bodybuilding champion from the past. Legs are also always in motion, as they propel you about on your daily business. This means that they are used to low intensity, high endurance work, and logic thus dictates that hey should not be trained in a similar fashion if your goal is muscular hypertrophy.

Using full range of motion and precise form is a must. Injury is not fun at all, take it from someone who has torn his vastus medialis muscle twice and has had numerous tendon pulls and countless joint inflammations. Going heavy is an option, but if you?re using a limited range of motion for the sake of hoisting more iron, you?re just stroking your ego and risking injury, time off of training, depression, fat gain, you name it. Not good. Besides, a quarter of a squat does very little in the way of growth.

High reps or low reps? My answer would be to do both, and switch often. A good leg workout will produce nausea and massive fatigue, so if you?re feeling like a million bucks after a workout, you?re doing it wrong, dummy. A reasonable set range for legs would be 15 to 20 total sets, divided over 3 to 8 different movements, hopefully including both the thighs and the calves.

Lots of trainers have trouble bringing their legs up to par due to ?genetic disadvantages?. While it?s true that those disadvantages do exist, they should not be used as an excuse to cop out on your training. Myself, I?ve had a lot of problems when it came to lower leg development. High insertions, few muscle fibers, whatever. The missing ingredient for me was frequency. I?ve found that I should work the calves three times a week, instead of just once or twice.

This brings us to the point of recovery. It?s necessary, yes, but seeing how the legs are used to constant stress, you will need much less than, say, a week or even 72 hours. 24 to 48 hours is what works for me, and you can only find out your what your own ?recovery zone? is by experimentation. I?ll outline a solid program which presumes you?ll be hitting the gym 4 times per week, one hour per training session. Remember though, this is just one way to skin a rabbit.

Monday:
Squats, 6 sets of 3 reps
Stiff legged deadlifts, 3 sets of 12 reps
Leg curls, 4 sets of 6 reps
Toe raises on the leg press, 6 sets of 20 reps
Abdominal work
Rest 3 minutes between sets

Tuesday: Upper body

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday:
Lunges, 2 sets of 15 reps for each leg
Dumbbell deadlifts, stiff legged, 4 sets of 20 reps
Leg press, 3 sets of 25 reps
Calf machine, 6 sets of 10 reps
Abdominal work
Rest 1 minute between sets

Friday: Upper body

Saturday, Sunday: Rest

Include sprints in your off days, to the effect of ten to fifteen 30-second full-out sprints, with a one minute pause between the sets.Train hard and be safe!