Ammonia Smell After Working Out

You are changing clothes at the gym or at home and you notice a distinctive smell of ammonia. What is that all about? Is it a problem? What does it mean?

During exercise your body will most naturally attempt to burn carbohydrates first. When carb stores are depleted, your body will go after protein (amino acids) and fat. This is a very general statement that is subject, at least partially to the kind of exercise you are doing; high intensity for long periods of time, lower intensity in what some call the aerobic zone or some combination.

If you smell ammonia, it is the result of your body generating ammonia (which is a waste product) from the burning of amino acids. The real question is whether or not this is a problem.

If you are on a low carb diet, then you are already experiencing the side effects (and not necessarily bad ones) of such a diet when working out. You may feel more fatigued when working out, possibly even experiencing headaches. This is your body telling you that it is depleted of carbs to burn and it needs to find other, and less efficient, energy sources. Protein is one of them, and then there is fat. 

(I will review in my next blog post more specifics of how the body moves between burning carb stores, protein and fat and under what conditions.)

Burning protein is generally not a great idea to have happening in the long term. Your muscles and an increase in musculature is what fires your metabolic engine. Too many people worry too much about the scale when attempting to exercise and sacrifice muscle growth in order to lose weight, at any cost. And it is a huge cost. Losing muscle will generally slow down your metabolism and work against what you area trying to, and this is get healthier.

If you have a really hard workout and smell ammonia, there is nothing to worry about, again, in the short term. Do the following: increase your water intake, Remember the minute you are thirsty, you are already into the beginnings of being dehydrated. Take an apple or complex carb rich snack before and even during long, hard workouts. Do NOT fear that those carbs are going to somehow hurt your workout or inhibit you achieving your fitness goals.

There is a body of thought that goes something like this: workout early in the morning WITHOUT eating any carbs. Your body will then begin to burn fat sooner in the workout. That might well be true, but you will also be burning protein. That is what you have to be concerned about. The added carbs you take in before a workout (as long as you are not eating a bowl of pasta!) will be burned off as fuel anyway. Remember that when working out early in the morning, you are already the minute you get out of bed in some level of dehydration. Hydrate always first thing in the morning.

Again, don't omit the water. Hard workouts are good. Remember we are not only addressing carb burning and weight loss when working out. More importantly we are interested in strengthening our hearts and increasing our resting metabolism.

If for no other reason, getting that ammonia thing under control will give you a better chance to talk with that guy or gal you have been noticing at the gym, without them running away from you!

Smith machine and upper body workouts

Many purists often deride the use of a Smith machine for squats and upper body workouts. The claims are usually of the nature that the Smith machine takes away working the stabilizer muscles and thus makes the workout "too easy".

While this is a correct assessment there is much more to the analysis before determining that the Smith machines does not add value and in many cases, overall, is better than free squats and a normal bench press bench used alone.

Safety .. A Smith machine is much safer for all exercises that use it. Yes, for example a regular squat machine can have safety bars for a dropped or out of control lift. However the act of "losing" a lift and then be caught by the safety bars can also cause injury.

The main point that I wanted to discuss though has to do with the ability to control minor changes to your lift with a Smith machine, when doing shoulder presses and flat, incline or decline bench presses.

The key here is that there are two degrees of variation that you can control easily with a Smith machine when it comes to upper body work; hand position and orientation of the bench. I will address the latter first.

Remember, we are always striving to incorporate muscle confusion into our workouts. In other words, change it up. Moving the bench forward or backwards, as little as a centimeter at a time WILL cause different muscle sets to get hit when doing chest work and especially shoulder presses. The Smith machine will lock you into that orientation. I guarantee you that you will immediately feel the difference in what is being worked and you will see the difference. Without the Smith machine you are going to be unable to keep that new orientation under stress. Your normal or easiest orientation is what you will immediately gravitate back to. I do caution that when trying slightly different orientations that you make the changes in very small increments on the position of the bench. Only move it a very small amount when you make those changes. Your muscles are NOT used to this new orientation and without proper graduated changes, you are risking injury.

I also want to talk about hand position. For as much as many people work out, most do not understand the implications of differing hand positions for chest and shoulder press work with the barbells. The closer you bring the hands in, the more you are going to begin to engage the triceps. This does not mean you have to have as wide of a grip as possible to work your chest. But it does mean that a wide grip and a narrower grip will work different parts of the chest .. and again do not forget the muscle confusion. A future post will address different orientations and the different parts of the chest that are worked.

If you have experimented with different hand positions, then you know that you can lift more the more perpendicular your arms are to the floor, relatively speaking. However, for full chest development you must do wide grips.

If you have not done wide grip chest work, take it slow and easy at first. You will notice, as always with new workouts, that you will be sore. But it will be a good sore, hopefully. And make sure you work in flat, incline and decline bench press work.

Keep in mind that I am NOT saying to not use non-guided equipment at all. Just realize that you might not be able to specifically work a given orientation as well. It is good to work that kind of workout in periodically to give the stabilizer muscles some work.

Using the Smith machine has been most helpful for shoulder presses for me. I am able to do much more work than I can in any other orientation. This is especially true for wide grip shoulder press work. Without the control of the Smith machine, I simply don't have that control to push myself to failure without risking losing the lift entirely.

One other point, along the lines of stabilizer muscles. I will normally use an upright bench for back support for shoulder presses. But again, there is value in changing that up once in a while and giving your back stabilizers some work when doing shoulder presses. However if you are just starting this kind of workout and especially if you are going heavy, beware that your back is especially vulnerable to injury. Just work up to it.

Remember be safe out there.

Don't go this low on the press. Keep it to the bottom of the chin thus keeping the muscles under stress for the full range of the motion.

Always try to engage your core.

Behind the neck shoulder presses are very good to work into the workout. The Smith machine, again, allows you to achieve DEPTH in the move while maintaining safety.

I am too stupid to live .. almost literally

The Daisy Mountain hiking trail is a 6.4 mile, moderately difficult trail adjacent to the community of Anthem, Arizona.  It enjoys a surprising level of solitude, given that the trail and some of the surrounding ridges afford a view of the Anthem outlet stores along I-17. Little did I know that as I embarked on this hiking trail at about 9 am on October 2, 2013 that about 4 hours later, thoughts were passing through my head that those outlet stores might be the last vestige of civilization that I would see.   

I do not consider myself any kind of elite athlete at any level. However, I have ridden a bicycle from 150 to 220 miles on a weekend, fundraising for various events.  I have climbed Mt. Humphries in Flagstaff and can hold my own at the gym.  I know what it is like to “fight through the wall.” However, at approximately 1 p.m. on that day, after having been without water for about an hour, and having departed from the trail at least an hour earlier, I was unable to stand much less continue and finish the hike. No amount of “willing” myself mattered at that point. While the temperature was “only” in the mid-80s that day, Arizona residents know (or should know) that dehydration even in those temperatures can occur and be dangerous or even fatal. I came precariously close to learning that lesson.

I went off trail about halfway through the hike, due to time constraints and attempted a “straight line” return. Going off trail resulted in traversing much more difficult terrain than I had planned for. There were elevation changes climbing up and down ridges. The footing was less stable and precarious than on the trail.  I had to avoid obstacles such as a “jumping cholla” cactus field (which I was unsuccessful doing) , rock formations and also wondering if packs of javelina might be lurking in the brush.

Imagine going after an errant drive in a cholla field!

As noted, I depleted my water supply much sooner than planned. The heat of the day betrayed the seemingly moderate temperature. Perhaps most dangerous was the consideration that I was lost. When in the valleys between ridges, it is very easy to lose one’s bearings. I was outside of cell phone coverage also.

I physically “hit the wall”. Having been out of water now for an hour, I became increasingly fatigued. I had stopped sweating and was near to vomiting. I knew I needed to call 911 but I had to get to cell coverage first. Thankfully, I was able to climb a ridge to a point where I could get cell contact and for the first time ever, called 911 for help, for myself. I could barely speak. For the next hour, I was on the phone with emergency personnel, then attempting to wave down the emergency helicopter sent to find me (barely able to wave my arms to get the attention of the chopper pilot) and then guiding in the rescue personnel to my location; partially assisted by the GPS on my phone.

When help was able to arrive (on foot because my location was not accessible by vehicle) from the Daisy Mountain Fire Department, I received 4  litres of intravenous fluid “in the field” and was eventually helped out and back to civilization; albeit only 2 miles away.

In retrospect, while “working” with the professional 911 operator to get the rescue personnel to my location, and as I felt I was in danger of passing out, the full weight of the precarious situation in which I was in bore down on me, as I felt myself emotionally breaking down after having reached my physical limitations. I began to understand and feel that it was possible that I would never see those closest to me again. The clarity of that realization was able to cut through the fog of my degrading physical awareness. It is that clarity that I will not soon forget.

This situation did not have to happen. I made just about every mistake that a hiker could make, in terms of hydration, choice of clothing and other safety considerations. It is my sincere hope that this experience may help save a life.

When hiking even in apparently cool desert temperatures, dehydration can occur and is often unnoticeable. Low levels of humidity, common in the valley, can mask the stress one’s body is experiencing due to the quick evaporation of body sweat.

Adhere to the following guidelines when considering a desert hike:

  

     Research the hike online; noting the relative difficulty of the hike, whether or not there are markers and just the general terrain.

     Do not ever hike alone. Also, always let someone know you are out on the hike.

     

     If at all possible, use a “camelback”-like hydration system in order to take as much water as possible.

     Minimize your exposure to the highest temperatures of the day by hiking early in the morning or after mid-day.

If starting the hike in the morning, REMEMBER that overnight your body dehydrates. You
MUST re-hydrate BEFORE you start the hike, otherwise you will be starting the hike in a fluid deficient state. Note: Sodas are NOT hydration. They do just the opposite, they pull fluids out of your body.

         Pack light high-calorie snacks.

         Wear light colored clothes. It does make a difference.

     Wear loose fitting long pants. If you are forced off trail for whatever reason, you will minimize cuts and scrapes and possible insect and snake bites with long pants. This is especially important if   you are hiking near the occurrence of “jumping cholla” cacti. Even the slightest brush against this cactus will result in a “spine” of the cactus disengaging, and attaching itself to whatever brushes against it. The needles are extraordinarily painful and difficult to remove.  I highly recommend wearing workout gloves of some kind.

Life is meant to be lived and experienced. Living and loving are meant to be action verbs. Live and love as if today was your last chance. This experience is not going to slow me down in that regard, but perhaps instill a bit of smarts in my “living”.

A true life-saving shout out to the 911 operator and the Daisy Mountain Fire Department and Rescue squad and other support staff that were involved. Your efforts, skills and professionalism won’t be forgotten.

Change it up - Cross Trainer

Habits are good right? Hmmm ... maybe. We all have our favorite routines, machines and workouts.  Doing the same workout allows us to measure progress in terms of calories spent and other metrics.

The problem is our bodies are so danged adaptable. To stay on top of the "muscle confusion" confusion concept, our cardio workouts need to be changed up often.

How to do that ... Here are some cross trainer workout variations

a. Gradual increase in resistance throughout the workout. Start at a low intensity. Every 3 minutes increase the intensity till failure. DO NOT STOP. Drop the intensity back to the starting level and repeat the step up.

b. Do the a.) workout but this time, make it an interval workout. Go for 1 minute at or near full effort. Then 2 minutes at 50% effort ... all while gradually increasing intensity. Attempt to reach same max intensity and then roll back to initial starting intensity.

c. Do the same again as a.) but this time only go 1 minute between step ups in intensity. When you reach the max intensity, go back to one level higher than your initial starting intensity and then progress to the max again. Roll back to the beginning, adding another level to the starting point in the cycle.

d. For any of the workouts, rotate between forward stepping and backward stepping; for example, go 2 minutes forward and then 1 minute backwards.

e. If the cross trainer has an upper body component, structure a workout where you are going for example 2 minutes with hands NOT on the upper body bars (working only legs) and 1 minute on. Progress over the workouts by increasing the time in "legs only" mode compared to normal hands-on mode. If you haven't done "legs only" you may well be surprised at the amount of "help" your upper body is lending to the workout.

If you are on this piece of equipment at least several times a week, use of these workouts as your baseline workout attempting to increase time at higher levels or increasing the maximum level achieved. Calories expended are notoriously inaccurate HOWEVER, if you are using the same machine and I mean literally the same machine, not just the same model of machine, you can measure relative progress by the increase in what the machine says calories expended are.

Also, use a heart rate monitor to ensure that you are spending an adequate amount of time in fat-burning mode.

Lastly, as if there isn't enough to keep track of, over time, monitor the time it takes to drop heart rate after high rates of exertion. This is the real measure of cardio vascular fitness. In order to effectuate this improvement you need to incorporate interval training as described above (other forms of interval training exist also.)