ASF Quick Tip: Gain Height, Lose Weight

Austin Simply Fit trainer Lance Olian is back this week with two new tips that can help make the most of your work outs in order to achieve your personal fitness goals.

1. Strength Training Can Make You Taller
“If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.” This adage holds especially true when it comes to our postural muscles. As humans, we often ‘shrink’ as we age due to increasing postural rounding – the flexing forward of our spine due to atrophied muscles in our back. This is especially true for those of us who work jobs seated at a desk, spending hours on end hunched over in front of our computer screens. The solution to this rounding is strength training your posterior chain ( the backside of your body – from your heels to the back of your head). By strengthening muscles such as your lats, spinal erectors, and hamstrings, you will begin sitting and standing taller, often adding a full inch or more to your height! Some great exercises to start with are seated lat pulls and standing face pulls. From there, the goal should be to progress to the sovereign of all postural exercises: the deadlift.

2. Drink More Water to Lose More Weight
Chances are you’re dehydrated. If you consistently work out at high intensities, I can almost guarantee you are. The problem with this is that a dehydrated body does not perform optimally. Brain activity and muscle power can be slowed as a result of low hydration levels. In terms of weight loss, if your body is dehydrated, it will compensate by holding on to water. By increasing your water intake your body can more appropriately supply proper function to your brain and body, and have enough excess to flush out unwanted toxins. The result of more water in is more water out, meaning pounds lost on the scale due to water weight

To figure out how many ounces of water you should be drinking every day, multiply your weight by 67%, then add 20 ounces for every 30 minutes per day you work out. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you work out for 30 minutes every day: 200 x .67 = 134 + 20 = 154 oz. per day! Therefore, if you have a 20oz. refillable container, you would need to refill and finish it 8 times each day. So grab those gallon jugs and start chugging!

About Lance: Lance is a strength coach at Austin Simply Fit. Having himself been previously weak, fat, and injured, he is motivated to help you reach your optimal health. Lance currently trains as a competitive powerlifter. Click here to read more about Lance