Grind Coast Fitness

Metabolism? Meta what? “You gone learn today!!” Let me take you back to our ancestral way of living to explain the function of your metabolism. See back when we humans were evolving as hunter-gatherers we had a much harder time finding a meal, so our bodies adapted accordingly to allow us to stay lean, mean, sabretooth tiger wrestling machines. However, hunting and gathering is a fickle business, and that means that sometimes we ate what we gathered because the hunt wasn't successful, sometimes we ate only what when hunting was successful because there was nothing to gather, and sometimes no one was missing any meals. We also ate fewer calories and lower amounts of both fat and sugar. These were scarce resources then, and our bodies coveted these sources of fuel which are now our two major fuel sources today. All of this combined with much longer times asleep and lots of walking and you can see why being metabolically flexible was a major survival advantage and a part of natural selection. Now before I go too Darwin on you, this is why our metabolism works the way it does, and therefore creating a conditioned flexible metabolism is a key to creating a finely tuned, lean, mean, sexy, grinding machine. In short, metabolic flexibility is the ability to switch from one fuel to the other quickly based on food availability and fuel demand. Now that fats, sugars, and carbs are so plentiful it’s difficult to avoid them, and this is where our genetic predispositions begin to mismatch, and obesity becomes rampant in society. Add in the toxin of alcohol, and you're bringing in a new fuel that is highly detrimental to proper absorption and your metabolic flexibility. Having a non-flexible metabolism not only changes the way we burn fuel, but also causes us to crave more and eat more. Fasting, eating small frequent meals lower in carbs and fat, going vegan, or going keto can all help restore metabolic flexibility. Changing up your diet, exercise, movement, temperature exposure, watching stress, and sleep are all also important in maintaining a healthy and high functioning metabolism. We can utilize all this fantastic knowledge in our venture for weight control.

The muscles that comprise of what we consider the “back muscles” can be arguably considered the most important for the sake of preventing pain and injury. Improving the strength of your back can cause ripples of health benefits, improving your lifts and workouts, as well as your entire quality of life.

Here at Grind Coast we believe in efficiency and practicality within a workout. There is no need to think you need to be in the gym for hours, and waste your time with inefficient workouts that leave you feeling like you’ve wasted your time. So, to provide you with the most efficient and effective workouts to target your back as efficiently as possible and save you the most amount of time in your busy day, we have listed the most effective workouts based on EMG measurements of the electrical activity of a specific muscle during a specific exercise. This electrical activity is indicative of the nervous system's attempt to produce more muscular force, so therefore a higher EMG result displays the most muscular force produced by a specific exercise. The best part is, you can do all of these exercises at home with minimal equipment.

The top results are as follows:

LATS
- Weighted Chin-up,
- Weighted Wide-Grip Pull-up
- Rack Pull

MID TRAP
- Dumbbell Bent-Over Row
- Dumbbell Elbows Out Chest-Supported Row
- Prone Trap Raise

LOWER TRAP
- Dumbbell Bent-Over Row
- Prone Trap Raise

Further reasons to strengthen your back:
* Strengthening the back prevents pain, working with your core to strengthen and support your spine and posterior chain
* If you’re working at a desk at home or in the office, strength training for the upper back is the best preventative treatment for back/shoulder/neck pain that is commonly felt after extended periods of desk work
* A strong back helps maintain your optimal posture which can prevent further injuries and can help you look and feel more confident
* Strengthening the mid back can prevent osteoporotic fractures that commonly occur within sports and accidents
* After the legs, the back muscles are the strongest and largest in the body, training them will help maintain body composition and blood glucose levels

Stop Making Excuses for Tomorrow - Start Today
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I write this today because the irony of things is sometimes too bittersweet, and the day after I finish writing about 4 ways to stay motivated for life I find myself in a blizzard during a pandemic and a semi truck up my ass on Interstate 290. Did this stop me from still getting to the gym and getting in a workout before I rush to work? Better believe it didn’t. (My face at work shows how I really feel about it all but hey, spilt milk right?) The point is that everyone can make an excuse, but if you really have a goal in mind, and want to achieve something, you just go and do it. It’s tough for many, and at first it might seem impossible, but with a shift in mindset there is nothing one cannot achieve without putting enough focus, time, and energy into it. Fitness doesn’t have to be painful and complicated, it doesn’t have to absorb all your free time, and here at Grind Coast that’s what we truly believe. Creating a successful balance is key for a lot of aspects in your life. Everyone has the willpower to achieve their dreams, it’s up to you to get up and achieve them. For that extra kickstart to achieving those goals, and to learn about efficient ways to improve your health and fitness, please don’t hesitate to reach out today. We can’t wait to help you accomplish what you set your mind to. So please stay safe out there everyone, and hope you all kill it this week!

1 – Over the years I’ve encountered countless people that tell me they want to get in shape, but the problem is these goals are almost just as bad as not having one at all. The problem is that having no goal, or too broad of a goal is that it’s easy to not see results because you have no target to actually hit or track progress towards. To stay motivated you should always have a target to hit, a defined and measurable goal to chase, whether that's an event, a weight goal, or just competing against your own previous PRs. You can keep that fire burning and create long-term motivation by tracking these goal and chase them till you accomplish them.

2 –
It’s seriously no joke that the health and fitness industry has a plethora of knowledge. When you get started in health and fitness though, you’ll quickly learn that you can fall in love with the need for continual learning and development to progress further. Whether it's learning a new exercise, studying form, learning what macros to use for your body type, or adopting an entirely new training program, upgrading your training can result in a positive response that will keep you fired up.

3 –
Stress has been sky high with record levels being recorded across the world lately. Work, family, bills, COVID, pregnancy scares, rising crime, and life in general are all stressors on the body. So why would I want train and stress my body more you ask? Well that’s because exercise can directly aid in alleviating stress and boost your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. So creating a balanced fitness lifestyle with your busy regular life can counter a lot of the negative feelings of stress, anxiety, and tensions of life.

4 –
A simple trick for boosting one’s motivation is to find a partner to work out with and help others with their motivation. Finding a partner that will keep you accountable is a great way to create a positive relationship for keeping motivated and get that initial drive that will help you establish habits for further progress. Having a partner can also push you to greater heights, and you can challenge each other to keep progressing more and more in your goals as a team.