Fitness Tips From A Personal Trainer
SPEAKERS
Jim du Bois, Brent Goodermont
Jim du Bois 00:00
Dialogue Minnesota. Conversations about the issues that matter to you. I'm Jim du Bois. The COVID 19 pandemic made it difficult for a lot of us to engage in fitness activities and sports. Many Americans also put on weight over the past 15 months. But now that the pandemic restrictions are lifting and summer weather is here, you might be thinking about getting back in shape and improving your overall health. This week on Dialogue Minnesota, a look at how we can get fit with just our own bodyweight or some very basic pieces of fitness equipment. Brent Goodermont is a personal trainer with 15 years of experience. He operates his own fitness company, Health 171. Brent, welcome to Dialogue Minnesota.
Brent Goodermont 00:45
Thank you, Jim.
Jim du Bois 00:47
Brent, your company is Health 171. What's the significance of your company's name?
Brent Goodermont 00:54
Jim, I started a career, a second career as a personal trainer in 2006 at Lifetime Fitness. And I was quite fortunate because I had some clients that I acquired right when I started, and many of them stayed with me until 2020 when Lifetime closed temporarily due to COVID-19. And during that shutdown, I made a decision to change companies. In fact, I started my own. And I wanted to come up with a name. I'm not particularly clever, but I am authentic enough to say, you know, I'm going to add up the combined tenure of my current clientele. It was 171 years. And I said, that's a good name, Health 171.
Jim du Bois 01:37
Well, Brent, as a second career, what drew you to the fitness profession?
Brent Goodermont 01:42
In my first career, I was in charge of compensation and benefits for a large high-tech company locally. And from time to time you would see an increase in medical claims. And then you, you try to find out why these claims took place. And a lot of times they took place because of obesity, and then the secondary diseases from obesity. And so, I thought, maybe if I do change careers, I could help people with this type of issue: overweight, obesity, high blood pressure. Secondly, my father died when I was in my 20s. And I just thought, you know, I do want to help people become healthier. I'm not a medical doctor, but I could maybe stop them or prevent them maybe from going to the doctor's as often as they did. Or maybe keep them out of the hospitals or maybe get them off of a pharmaceutical. So, in 2006, actually in 2005, I left my career, nice, long, lucrative, fun, career challenging career to become a personal trainer. Great decision.
Jim du Bois 02:48
Well, Brent, the past 15 months or so have been challenging on so many different levels. But it's been particularly tough for people who perhaps had a fitness routine and it got disrupted because of COVID. Perhaps they didn't feel comfortable going to a gym. What advice do you have for someone now who's looking at the beautiful weather, we have a nice day today when we're recording this, and they're saying, gee, I really want to get back on track. What's a good way to start?
Brent Goodermont 03:16
Start walking, start moving. You know, there's a famous, not famous but a saying by a gentleman by the name of Gray Cook. He said think movement, not muscles. And what better way to enjoy Minnesota spring, Minnesota summer, by moving a brisk walk, a gentle stroll beyond your bike, maybe go in the water and swim but move. And if you're deconditioned, walk around the block. If you can, walk around the block twice. Everything with fitness is usually about progressiveness, right? Can you go from one block to two blocks? Can you lift five pounds? Can you lift 10 pounds? These little minor progressions that you can measure. I would say get out and start walking.
Jim du Bois 04:05
Well, what should someone do if they perhaps were used to going to a gym or maybe just want to start working out, and they have access to little if any equipment? Can you do an effective workout with just your bodyweight?
Brent Goodermont 04:22
Absolutely. In fact, there are certifications by certain governing bodies in the fitness world to have a body weight certification. A push up is a good example of a bodyweight exercise. Squatting, lunging, walking, lying on the ground on your back. Can you roll out into your belly, then back onto your back? There are many ways in which one, you can walk backwards. You can walk sideways, you can walk up a hill, you can walk down a hill. Lots of things you could do. You can jump, you can skip. I have many clients about a year ago at this time who wanted just such a workout. They did not want to invest, at least then, in any equipment. They didn't want to spend money yet. Some people had some concerns about whether they would have a job or lose their job or, or unemployment or whatever the case may be. They weren't ready to invest in anything yet. And so bodyweight worked for them. And all you need is solid ground, and your body and a little bit of time.
Jim du Bois 05:28
If someone has had a very sedentary lifestyle, not only during the past 14,15 months or so, but even prior to that, is it a good idea to consult with a health care professional and essentially get a go ahead to start a fitness routine?
Brent Goodermont 05:45
Absolutely. Even if you think that you're in pretty good condition. If you haven't worked out in 14,15 months, I would still consult with your doctor just to make sure that your heart, your lungs, your joints, are ready to handle some of the rigors of walking longer than you've walked before or trying to do pushups or other type of activities. Yes.
Jim du Bois 06:06
Brent, you mentioned that a lot of good exercise can be done utilizing just your body weight. What if someone wants to invest in some very basic pieces of exercise gear? What kind of gear do you recommend, and what's the rough price point for some of these items?
Brent Goodermont 06:23
I'll name about three or four or five things that are all under $50. And that still could be a lot of money for people, I understand. Hand weights, five-pound hand weights, 10 pound hand weights. Something called a hip circle. It's a thick band of cloth that has a bunch of elasticity to it. And you put it around just below or above your knees, and you walk sideways. Tremendous exercise for your glutes. Something called a Pilates ring. It's round, it can be rubber could be made out of steel, all sorts of great exercises with a Pilates ring. You can get elastic tubing that has handles where you can pull apart the tube, do biceps, triceps, all sorts of different exercises with elastic tubing. All are available locally at Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, online as well. That's where I would start.
Jim du Bois 07:17
A couple of other items come to mind two that are pricier but are quite versatile. One would be a stability ball, and then a Bosu ball, which stands for both sides up.
Brent Goodermont 07:28
Very good!
Jim du Bois 07:29
Tell us about those pieces of equipment and why they might be a valuable part of your workout routine.
Brent Goodermont 07:36
I'm a big fan of the stability ball they can be had in several different diameters, 55 and 65 centimeters are the more common, and you can lie on your back, put your heels on that ball and elevate your hips and pull that ball with your heels. You can roll out on that ball; you can do pushups with that ball. So, I'm a big fan. Many of my clients own those. I'm not as big a fan as using it as an office chair for eight hours a day. Just imagine for a moment sitting on something like that. You are not going to be able to sit on that with any sense of stability in your pelvis, and imagine your pelvis going up and down when your spine is reacting to that over eight hours. So, I'm not a fan of it as an office chair. The Bosu offers an advantage of you can be on something that's somewhat unstable. And sometimes in life, whether it's ice, snow, grit, wet surfaces, that's an unstable surface, and we need to be able to handle that. I am as not a big fan of Bosu as many people are. I've seen too many turned ankles when people stand on the dome side up and try to go up and over that. So, I'm not a fan. Flipping it over and holding on to it and doing pushups? Big fan of that. But in rank order would be lower on the list than higher on the list as pieces of home equipment to purchase. brand.
Jim du Bois 09:05
How important is it to warm up and perhaps do some stretching before you start exercising?
Brent Goodermont 09:12
Very, it's a good way of preventing injury. It's a good way of preparing the mind that you're about to do some work. I'm a bigger fan of what's called dynamic stretching, moving like a lateral leg swing, jogging in place, doing some jumping jacks, doing some back bends as opposed to some of the old fashioned, you go to a Minnesota Timberwolves or Minnesota Gopher basketball men's or women's game, and you'll see them lying on the floor and somebody is cranking on their leg trying to stretch their hamstrings and holding it. I'm not a big fan of those static stretches before you work out. I'm a big fan of dynamic movement before you work out.
Jim du Bois 09:52
Can stretches be dangerous if they're not done correctly?
Brent Goodermont 09:56
Absolutely. Just about anything we've talked about can dangerous if done incorrectly. The muscle is pretty incredible that it has a couple of things inside which will give a warning sign that if you're stretching it too far, it will literally try to snap back. But if you go too fast and and too hard and too quickly, you could strain your muscle. And you're also teaching that muscle when you're stretching it for that long period of time to relax. I don't want my muscles all relaxed before I get ready to do some activity. Ergo, I will do that, I'll do that type of stretching after a workout.
Jim du Bois 10:40
How important is it to address parts of your body that may be feeling pain or tension or stiffness with a foam roller or something of that nature? Is that an effective device?
Brent Goodermont 10:56
Yes, first thing you need to do is make sure that that foam roller or any technique that you use does not put you in additional pain. Anything. Whether you're exercising, if you have, if you feel pain, you never want to put yourself into pain. So, a foam roller can get rid of some of those, sometimes they're knots and little collagen buildups in the in your the fascia system of your body, the fascia covers your muscles. But sometimes we can have some slight trauma to that fascia. And a foam roller can roll some of that out. It's almost like auto massage, self-massage. That will work. But if you find yourself being put in pain, you should stop. Oftentimes, the best remedy for pain is rest. Sometimes ice, sometimes heat can help. But I'm a big fan of resting something for a day or two. No one's gonna immediately become deconditioned in 48 hours. But oftentimes 48 hours can give you a clue whether that issue is certainly more painful or more serious, or was just some slight tissue damage, slight muscle fatigue that simply needed 48 hours of rest.
Jim du Bois 12:09
The COVID pandemic has changed the way many of us work. About I think 28% of workers now are still working remotely. Some are slowly going back to their offices. But a lot of companies are now saying that the work model going forward will be a hybrid of remote working and office working. For people, say an office worker who is used to going out to get lunch and walk through the Skyway system, say in downtown Minneapolis or they found themselves moving around a lot more within their corporate headquarters, and now they're basically stuck at a desk at their house for eight or nine or 10 hours a day. What should people do to perhaps move about a bit, maybe do some exercises to break up the routine and maybe make up for some of that activity that they had before they were forced to work remotely?
Brent Goodermont 13:05
I think some of it comes with can you play in time in your day? There's all sorts of electronic devices that will set timers to say you've been sitting too long, you've been sitting for 10 minutes or 20 minutes or 30 minutes. Some people will leverage that technology. And when the timer tells them to get up, they'll get up and climb the stairs, walk around the block, do 10 jumping jacks or something. Certain people are wired that way to have that discipline to set the timer, not ignore the timer, and do something. Others going to your lunch analogy, if someone does have time to be away from their workspace, and their phone or laptop for an hour, who says you can't walk 20 minutes to go get lunch, weather permitting, bring it home and eat it outside and then go back to your workplace? That's an example. Other people have invested in home equipment. There might be some of your listeners who have a treadmill, a rower, a Peloton and will maybe over their lunch hour or before or after their shift, get on there and move assuming the weather is not nice to be outside.
Jim du Bois 14:23
Brent, you have the opportunity to train clients both in person and remotely. What do you see is perhaps some of the advantages of training remotely?
Brent Goodermont 14:36
It's an interesting question and I've thought about this lately as to why my clients have stuck with me during the pandemic and have chosen not to return to a health club and work with me on a laptop or iPad. And some of the reasons would be they find themselves being able to have deeper conversations with me because they're in the privacy of their own home, instead of being surrounded by 40, or 60 or 70 people. They miss some of that energy of the club, but they like the remoteness and the privacy that we have one on one. They also like the fact that they're not spending a lot of time commuting to the club, and dealing with parking, locker room, space availability, loud music. Sometimes loud music is energetic, for some that loud music might just be that…loud music. And I think my clients have enjoyed that extra free time. And they've leveraged that in spending more of their time to train with me. Many of my clients are training more with me this way, digitally, versus when they met with me one on one at the health club before I left.
Jim du Bois 15:53
Brent, you mentioned some pricier pieces of exercise equipment, for example, a Peloton, a cycle, and a rower. Talk about each of those pieces of equipment and what kind of benefits do they give you as a workout device?
Brent Goodermont 16:10
First and foremost, you should select the piece of equipment that you think you're going to use. Most runners like to run, but some runners need some cross training because of the overuse of muscles. And they might need to do some cross-training and sit on a bike or get in a pool to save save their joints, if you will. The advantage of a rower would be the fact that you use more muscle groups than you would on a bike or running. A rower uses about 86% of your muscles. It's low impact so so individuals who have some knee, hip and ankle issues, they're not going to aggravate those injuries by running on a treadmill. So, I'm a big fan of that. It puts a tremendous amount of challenge to your core to keep your spine and upper body in a proper position while trying to push away from the rowing pads. So, I'm a big fan. I'm a bit biased because I do a lot of indoor rowing. It is my favorite piece of indoor exercise equipment. Most of my clients have been lucky enough and blessed enough to invest in their own and have their own home rower. A bike, especially Peloton, Peloton has done a really nice job of offering some great digital experiences with a ride leader, a ride coach. High energy high encouragement. They do a wonderful job of tracking your progress and giving you these little gold stars, or whatever system they use, every 50 rides, every 100 rides. They do a lot of good what's called cardiovascular zone training and give you different ways of an endurance ride, a power ride, a speed ride, etc. Peloton is great. It's a super leg workout. Your core gets a little bit of a break because you're seated. You're not getting a lot of upper body workout, but I guarantee you're expending a lot of energy and a lot of sweat doing one of these Peloton classes, and they've just done a really awesome job of bringing people into that community. That's a good thing. Treadmills, I think they're still popular. I don't think they're as popular as they were 20 years ago, but I, that's anecdotal. Treadmills are nice because a lot of people know how to do it. They walk. We, most of us know how to walk. It allows, certain treadmills allow you to maybe get an incline. You have some good measurement tools in terms of can I walk four miles an hour, can I walk five miles an hour? Can I do that for 10 minutes or 20 minutes? So, the treadmill offers that. Treadmill can be a little hard, even with a softer deck. A lot of treadmill can be some ankle issues, maybe some knee issues. But runners and walkers like to run, and they like to walk, and some people don't like to do that in the wintertime, or in the rain or in the cold. So, a treadmill is a fine piece of equipment to have at home. They're just a little bit bigger. They take up a little bit more space. They're hard to move around.
Jim du Bois 19:22
We should make a disclaimer that you are not a nutritionist, but I'm going to ask some questions that might be related to diet. A lot of folks have put on weight over the course of the pandemic. As a matter of fact, I saw one survey that said the average American has gained nearly 20 pounds. They called it the COVID-19, much like the freshman 15 that we've read about that college freshmen sometimes gain. How should you approach the whole process of weight loss? For example, is it a combination of both being more active and perhaps beginning to invest your time and effort in a healthier diet? Are both those elements important?
Brent Goodermont 20:07
They're both important. I've always made this claim, and I've had many my co-workers say the same. We feel that in our health and in weight loss, 80 to 90% of it's what you eat. Bad nutrition overrides good training. And so, for me, I think, again, thanks for the disclaimer, my approach has always been treating food as fuel. Not as a comfort event. It can certainly be a social event, but I think it needs to be considered as fuel. Fuel to allow us to get through our day with the proper minerals and macronutrients. Macronutrients being defined as fat, protein, carbohydrates, and maybe fiber. And that's where the registered dietitians come in to help people allocate those macronutrients. Maybe 20, 30 years ago, I was following the no fat fad. Everything seemed to be no fat in my refrigerator, from mayonnaise to whatever. But not all fats are bad. That's not true. So that's why the rise of avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, etc. Fish oil have been a bigger part of people's diet for good reasons. I'm not here to tell people what percentages, obviously. We've seen more and more individuals strive towards better quality of protein. No offense to McDonald's or Burger King, but maybe not as good as source of protein as pure organic grass-fed beef, and other sources of poultry, and vegetarian options from lentils to beans. Some people like eggs, some people like fish, salmon. Great, high quality sources of protein. We found, at least in my department, many people were not getting enough grams of protein in their diet. Finally, carbohydrates. Not all carbs are bad. But oftentimes people invest in bad carbs, almost like an empty calorie because many people enjoy chips, candy bars, ice cream. I'm not here to ding those foods. And even alcohol. Alcohol is considered a nutrient. But it's pretty much empty calories, but they are calories. And so, I think thinking of food as fuel, understanding and having some education of what good fat, carbohydrate, protein is all about. What is your minimum fiber requirement? What is your minimum protein needs for the day? Are you drinking enough water? A lot of this isn't really hard science, and you don't have to worry about should I be on a Keto diet, a Miami Beach diet, a Mediterranean diet? Maybe take that off your thought process and educate yourself on what are good macronutrients. And some of the science isn't that hard. What's hard is having the discipline to follow that. And when you think about it, especially my age, COVID-era aside, many of my social events that I attended were joyous events such as retirement parties, graduation ceremonies, birthday parties and weddings, but also sad events such as funerals. And as we age, we probably attend more of those. All those events that I just mentioned usually have a lot of food involved. And I haven't been to too many of these events where lentils and kale were the featured food items to celebrate a birthday party or a wedding. So we have to develop a plan as to how to handle that. My unsolicited advice is what I personally do before I go to some of these events. I eat a very, very healthy meal, almost as I'm walking out the door. So I'm not tempted. I still, I still want to enjoy life. I still want to celebrate with the celebrants. I still want to have a small piece of wedding cake. I still want to dance with the bride. I still want to have fun, but I do not want to fill up on a lot of bad food. And so, I tried to have that as part of my, my plan that works for me.
Jim du Bois 24:38
If folks plan on participating in aerobic activities, how important is it to pay attention to heart rate, and is a heart rate monitor a good investment?
Brent Goodermont 24:48
It can be, and there's some basic, basic pieces of information we should understand. And that is what is your maximum heart rate. Some people do that with an old arithmetic formula. And they would take the number 220. and subtract their age and say, well, that's my maximum. It can be a starting point. But it's not a very statistically valid number. You take 100 people who are 50 years old, I guarantee you, you're going to have a variety of conditions of those 100 50-year-olds. And so, I don't think every one of them would have a maximum heart rate of 170. And so, there's different ways one can calculate a little bit more accurately what their maximum heart rate is. And from there, you can tailor some of your programming. At issue is, once your joints are conditioned enough, and you can walk around the block 10 times or you can walk two or three miles, and you're ready to put a cardiovascular element into your weekly plan and try to achieve 120, 140, 160 minutes of cardiovascular activity, you should do it at some intensity to have a cardiovascular effect, or a cardiovascular improvement. If you just walk very slowly, that's better than nothing, that's better than sitting on a couch. But we want to force our heart, especially the left ventricle of our heart, to adapt. And when we go at a minimum amount of intensity, the heart will start to adapt. And that's called cardiovascular training. And it's science. It's part of the morphology of the heart. And I'm a big fan of finding that sweet spot and then training there. And then from time to time, going higher and try to do what's called more aerobic or high intensity intervals. They're nice as well. A nice combination of those two things can break up our weekly cardiovascular routine, with the majority of it being moderate intensity, longer duration.
Jim du Bois 26:53
Brent Goodermont is a personal trainer. His company is Health 171. Brent, thanks so much for joining us on Dialogue, Minnesota.
Brent Goodermont 27:01
A pleasure, Jim. Thank you for having me.