Avoiding injuries while running on the treadmill

Over the years people have come up with many different ways to increase their cardio but one method that has stayed the same is the treadmill. I see it all the time people will be on their for hours at a time killing themselves only to find out the next day that they can’t even walk because their knees are bothering them. Trust me I’ve been there and done it but I want to help you. Below I will give you some ways to avoid injuries while using a treadmill.

One of the key essential things that people don’t realize when they are running on a treadmill is their posture. Having good posture is essential for proper muscle conditioning. It is important that your body is in a natural position and that your joints are not overextended which would make them under more stress than they should be.

Another key thing that will help you avoid injuries is to minimize your impact while running. It is ideal that people who run on the treadmill should rotate their pelvis with each stride. This way it allows your hip to be pulled back with your leg allowing rotation for the entire lower body. This method allows your body to absorb most of the shock when your feet hit the belt. Also it is important to make sure that your stride is quick and short.

Furthermore, you should listen to your body when running on a treadmill. People often think “if I run on a treadmill I will lose a bunch a of weight” so this thought will drive people to push their body farther than they should and can cause strained muscles or shin splints. It is important when first starting off that you start slow and moderately increase the speed to get your body used to working out. If your body doesn’t feel right that day do not force it it is okay so take a day off and rest.

Lastly I would suggest wearing proper shoes when running on the treadmill. Your shoes should fit properly on your feet and should be able to absorb shock. This will prevent less of an impact on your knees. Also if you can get you a pair that is designed for running specifically.

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Myths that stop women from strength training

The idea of lifting weights has always been an area of concern when it comes to some women. There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to women lifting weights. They are often misinformed on information that is told to them so when it comes to getting in the gym and actually strength training they are often very hesitant to start. If you’re a women reading this and you have questions or concerns about strength training, hopefully I will clear the air for you right now. Let’s get right into some of the myths out there..

Myth- Women who lift weights develop bulky will develop bulky muscles.

Fact- It’s physiologically impossible for most women to bulk up without taking some sort of drug enhancement. Women don’t have enough testosterone which is also known as the “Muscle building hormone”.

2. Myth- Weight training will Reduce flexibility.

Fact- Resistance training can actually increase your joint range and motion flexibility.

3. Myth- If you stop building muscle and then stop exercising your muscle will turn into fat.

Fact- Not possible! Fat and muscle are two different substances, you can’t turn one into the other.

4. Myth- The weight room is an intimidating place and full of men.

Fact- After an orientation to the gym the people in the gym and the gym equipment will be familiar and welcoming. If this still intimidates you though there is women only areas in some gyms that allows you to workout comfortably.

Some of the benefits women receive by strength training is for one, they increase their self confidence and body image. Once you realize that the gym is working for you, you will start to have more motivation in going and feel better about yourself. Secondly it helps you build bones to reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease in which the density and quality of bone are reduced. As bones become more fragile, the risk of fracture is greatly increased. And lastly it slows down the 8-10% loss of muscle mass that women experience once they hit the age of 40.

If you are reading this and want to jump into strength training right now, the following things I suggest are:

Learn good technique to get the maximum benefit to avoid injury.
Start Slowly with the number of reps, the amount of resistance and the amount of workouts that you do per week.
Use the proper weight where you can barley finish the last 12-15 reps.

I hope this article motivated you to get into the gym and get started. If you have any questions feel free to contact me! For training purposes visit my website qemfitness

Why dieting often leads to weight cycling

When people want to lose weight you often hear them say I need to go on a diet. Then they go on these complicated diet plans telling them that they cannot eat these “junk foods” and often times if they follow the plan correctly this works. But too many times I have seen people lose weight then a month later they put back on the weight the same amount that they lost and I began to ask myself why is this so common among people? And the answer is weight cycling. Weight cycling is a pattern of repeatedly losing and regaining weight. Some experts refer to this type of process at “yo-yo dieting”. When people go through this phase they often feel like giving up because they feel like the whole process was a waste of time. So they get depressed and will lose hope.

Marketers that offer these different diet plans often promise quick weight loss with no hunger and very little effort. These are the diets that usually backfire. One reason that these diets often times do not work is because they are rigid. Rigid diets specify rules like ” eat only cabbage and bananas” or “never eat after 6pm”. Some of you that are reading this right now are probably on this type of diet or have tried it at some point in your life. And because these diets are unpleasant and restrictive people don’t stick with them. People that are on rigid diets tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than people on more flexible plans. People on rigid diets tend to be more depressed, have anxiety, and binge eating as well.

On the other hand flexible diets are based off on energy balancing of calories eaten and burned. They focus on portion size make exceptions for people based on their daily routines, appetites and food availability. If you go out with your friends and over eat with a flexible diet, it allows you to cut extra calories tomorrow and increase your exercise regimen to compensate. As a result of this people tend to stay on flexible diets longer.

Everyone who diets will experience some degree of lowered metabolism during a period a period of calorie restriction as the body defends its fat stores. That’s why weight loss tends to slow down after an initial quick drop and why the long-held rule that you must cut 3,500 calories to lose a pound of fat is not strictly correct. It’s also part of the reason successful weight maintenance requires permanent changes to your old eating habits.

If you have any questions or want to talk to me about training or dieting, feel free to comment below and I will get in touch with you as soon as I can. Visit my website at https://qemfitness.bandzoogle.com/home

Misconception of small waist big booty

The question that I get asked the most is, “how do I lose weight, get a skinny waist and get a big butt?” I am sure a lot of you reading this are wondering the same thing. Especially in today’s society that specific look is considered “hot.” Every girl wants the Kardashian body & booty. These women are perceived to be “goals” of what the human female body should look like. But in reality, it’s called money. Every day women are going to the gym and running on the treadmill and doing squats until they die because this is how they think they will create the perfect body. Yes, they are losing weight but they are losing it in the wrong places. Excessive cardio can break down muscle tissue causing you to lose whatever gains you are getting.

Let me break this down. I am going to explain to you the 3 different body types that we have. They are Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph.

Ectomorph is somebody that is small and skinny, they have a hard time putting on weight, have a very fast metabolism and have a lean muscle mass.
Mesomorph is somebody that has very defined muscles, they are athletic and strong, and are able to gain muscle easily – they gain fat more easily than ectomorphs.
Endomorph is somebody that has a round physique, stocky build, gains muscle and fat very easily, soft and round body and has a slow metabolism.

Now with this being said, I am not saying that somebody who is an Endomorph can’t bust their ass at the gym for a couple of years and turn into a Mesomorph or vice versa. I am simply putting this here to give you a better understanding of what kind of body types are out there and how they work.

The Solution

The key factors to making your butt grow are very simple. There are 3 main butt muscle groups:

Gluteus Maximus: The largest muscle that makes up the majority of your butt

Gluteus Medius: The second largest muscle that lies near the outside of the pelvis

Gluteus Minimus: The smallest of the 3 main butt muscles, which lies underneath the gluteus medius

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me.

Coach Q

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How I dealt with depression as an athlete

Being an athlete I know for myself over my college career was tough at times. What a lot of people may find out if they don’t already know when they read this is what we go through mentally and the road blocks that we stumble across every day. Playing college basketball for me was a blessing in it’s self because not a lot of people where I’m from even had the opportunity to do that. But what some people may not know or realize is the amount of work we put in during the off season. And it’s not one of those ordinary gym sessions at the gym that people go through, WE DO THAT AND MORE.

Some people that are reading this may not be able to relate to what I’m about to say because during their careers or in life they were always content with being average. But the people I am writing this for know that when you want to be the best at your craft the amount you put into is endless. You literally work until your body is incapable of pushing any farther and your mind is telling you enough is enough but even then you still find some way to get one more rep in. No offense to any of the coaches that I ever played for but besides some of the assistant coaches that put in the work to get to where I wanted to be they could never relate to the amount of work I put in nor could they understand why I was the way I was.

With this being said there comes a point in time in your life as an athlete where you buckle down and just know you are about to have a breakout year. To me every year was like this because the amount of time and effort I put in the court and the weight room was ridiculous. I was never partying and if I was talking to some chick she had to understand my grind and she was more than likely in the gym rebounding for me. So when you put in time like this and train like this once the season comes mentally and physically you have a mindset of ” Nobody can fuck with me” and it shows by the way you walk and talk. And it is not being cocky or arrogant but it is having supreme confidence in yourself and your in another zone mentally. This is why people would often try to tear you down or say subliminal messages to try and get you on their level but often times it never works because your in another world of your own.

But then it comes to a point where politics get involved and you have to listen to someone tell you what you can and cannot do. This was my biggest issue because coaches can see when your on another level and putting in more work than anyone else and yeah they will commend you for it but if your not being a “Teachers pet” or talking with them everyday and sucking up to them then they will keep lowering and lowering your ego until you feel worthless. This is what happened to me and it got to a point of me saying “Was it worth me coming here” or “Do I even want to play anymore”. And once you start to question yourself and lose confidence in you, your like a dead fish in a shark tank. You are a target and people will see you differently.

Then things will happen like you’ll sit a whole game for no apparent reason or you will have somebody that you destroy in practice start over you in games and you start to think what is really happening. Then you fall into a pit and I was in a dark place where after games I would turn my phone off and ignore everyone and just sit in my room alone and not eat and have tears coming down my face because I didn’t understand. When you love a sport so much and you know your the best at what you do but you are unable to show that talent and ability when it matters it hurts. But not all coaches but some coaches don’t care and you will go through your entire season miserable.

Some ways that I got through times like this is for one you have to mentally detox from everything and everyone and remember all the work you put in. When you do this you will gradually gain confidence back because of the sweat and tears you put into your craft. Next thing I would say is too stay true to who you are. I never forget I had a conversation with my roommate my junior season and I only played 12 minuted in rival game and I felt as though I was not getting my fair shot and I honestly debated quitting the team and going home. Long story short I stayed in the gym and shot everyday and the next week something happened at practice and my senior point guard got suspended. So that weekend I started I had 15 points and the game after that I exploded for 35 points and I was never looked at the same. Moral of the story is that I could have lived on my emotions and quit and said forget this but I stayed deep in prayer and continued to trust the process and eventually I got the respect that I deserved.

I wanted to share this piece with you all so you have a better understanding of what us as athletes go through. And if your an athlete or someone who deals with depression whether it comes to work or something else feel free to contact my Instagram page @Quinnmitchellii so we can talk. I know this is something that we go through alone because I for one went through it and this is the first time anyone will ever know about it but I don’t want that to be the same for you.

Stay blessed

Coach Q

The benefits of deadlifts

The deadlift it is an exercise that has many benefits too it that people over look. I know when I first started out weight lifting dead lifts is something that I hated doing. I would see it on my college lifting workouts and automatically skip over them because I never saw the benefit from them. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I started to taking deadlifts serious. Below are some benefits that I’ve discovered during the process.

#1. Better Posture

Deadlifting increases your core strength and also adds to core stability. While performing this exercise it targets all of the muscles responsible for your posture and enables you to keep your back straight during your daily activities.

#2 More Muscles are being worked

The deadlift works more muscles than any other exercise believe it or not and that is also including the squat. While doing this exercise the lift engages all of the major muscle groups. When you are performing this exercise you may notice that your upper and lower body parts are being worked which is contributed to this workout.

#3 Increases Hormones

When doing at least 8-10 reps of deadlifts with a significant weight you can increase the amount of testosterone and growth hormone that is produced in your body. Testosterone increases muscle growth and improves muscle. So if your doing deadlifts and after a couple sets seems like your what I like to call “in the zone” it is because your body is producing testosterone at a high level.

#4 Prevents Injury

The deadlift can help prevent injuries by increasing the strength of your muscles around certain tendons and ligaments. After pulling my hamstrings and even partially tearing one during my basketball career when I found this out deadlifts became my best friend, They have helped me a lot during my career and I think it is something that is very vital to having strong hamstrings.

Overall I know deadlifts are one of the most important exercises that can benefit you when done correctly. Some people tend to put a lot of weight on and their form ends up being horrible and they end up hurting themselves. The best advice I can give is to do what is comfortable for you and more importantly make sure your form is correct.