Welcome everyone to Show Up Fitness' first Question and Answers (Q&A) for our devoted fans. Apparently, I only have three readers but I'll take what I can get! All of the questions come from readers in the San Francisco Bay Area and the last one is from a personal trainer.

Tina – Burlingame, CA, “What is the best exercise I can do to get rid of my leg fat?”
Love the honesty here Tina! There are a lot of great exercises to train your legs, but most importantly let me stress to you that you can't spot reduce. Females generally store more fat in their lower body. So let's try and reduce your body composition (fat) by implementing squats into your daily routine – Yes daily! Depending on how conditioned you are, perform 3-5 sets of 15-10 reps; start with 15 reps, increase the weights and lower the reps for the remaining sets. Go down as far as your body allows, ideally try and get your butt close to the ground! As I just said, NO SPOT REDUCTION, so I better not see you on the abductor/ adductor machines or I will sick Bigfoot on you!! Anytime you have the urge to do either of those machines, drop and give me 10 push-ups and then do as many body squats as you can!!

Jason – Campbell, CA, “I have a 6 pack, but my buddies tease me and say it's just because I am skinny (6'1 155 lbs). I do over 300 crunches a day. How can I add more muscle to my abs?”
Jason is coming straight outa Campbell, isn't that a rap song? First off, who cares what others think, you have to be happy with yourself first. With that being said, no more philosophical Chris! This is your lucky day because I am pretty good at transforming and molding bodies. Try some of the following& Just like I suggested to Tina, you have to do more legs Jay Dawg! Do you ever see humongous redwood trees or any tree in nature with huge branches and a tiny trunk? Nope! Training your legs will release powerful hormones and give your frame an amazing foundation! As for your abs, start lifting heavier. No more sets of 20 reps for your abs. They are meant to do a lot of work/repetition so training them with heavier weights will force them to adapt more efficiently. Try doing weighted abdominal curls on the machine or with a rope for 5 sets of 8-12 reps. If you can do more than 12 reps, add more weight. Be careful and avoid twisting because this is how you can hurt yourself. Give it some time; then you and your buddies will be astonished!!

Taylor, Fremont, CA, “I am an independent trainer in Fremont and I have a client who has an impingement in her shoulder. Can you give me some pointers on what I should or shouldn't be doing with her?”
Miss T (as you can see, I love nicknames), let me begin by stating that I am neither a Physical Therapist nor doctor, so for specifics on this client, I would recommend networking with either one to learn more and potentially build your training business. However, I was a bubble boy growing up and was always in therapy for injuries. During and after college, I was a technician at a PT clinic (fancy word for saying a PT Aide) and learned quite a lot. An impingement is caused from abducting the arm (rising to the side) past 90 degrees. The greater tuberosity of the humerus compresses the supraspinatus (a rotator cuff muscle) against part of the scapula (acromion) causing pain. This action produces an overuse injury eventually creating inflammation in the bursa sacks. If your client does not treat this injury via rest and ice, bone spurs may grow and cut into the supraspinatus ultimately resulting in surgery. This is a serious injury so use caution – medical clearance and/or advice may be needed. With that being said, I would AVOID any exercise above your clients head, in the transverse plane of motion and anything else that activates any sort of discomfort. Exercises such as the military press should specifically be avoided. Some corrective and strengthen exercises that you might suggest are internal/external rotation as well as scaption (see pictures). Have your client do 2 sets of 15-20 reps at the end of the session and remember, no pain no gain does NOT work with injuries. To reduce her pain, ice it 4-5 times a day for 10-15 minutes. If the icing engenders any numbness, stop immediately. Injuries are tricky, but if you use caution and have a great line of communication with your client, you can safely help them reach their desires goals!

Well boys and girls, thank you for all the questions. Knowledge is power so keep on sending in the questions. As Show Up Fitness gets more recognition, bigger and more promising things will come your way!! Thank for the support and remember to like us on Facebook and leave us some feedback on yelp!! Keep in mind that this weekend, Sunday in the am, we spring forward! We may loose an hour at the bars (I don't drink promise), but we are entering the wonderful spring / summer months!!! Keep smiling, pushing through those reps to get the best results ever and Shake and Bake!!!