How much water should I be drinking a day?

            —Gary, Silver Lake

I suggest drinking no less than two liters of water per day. For the active, I suggest drinking a gallon of water per day.

The body is made up of 80 percent water, so it is vital that we don’t neglect hydrating it. By keeping your body hydrated, you keep your internal organs in working order, create a healthy complexion to your skin and keep your metabolism up and running. You should never feel thirsty, as that is your body telling you that you’re already in dehydration mode.

Why after my workout do I feel like I didn’t do anything? No muscle pump.

            —Darren, Malibu

We have all heard the phrase “going through the motions,” which simply means performing an exercise without really putting any thought into what you are doing.

Let’s try something. I want you to hold up your arm in the position of showing off your biceps. I want you to now squeeze and contract that bicep as big and as tight as you can. That squeeze—that contraction—is what you should be doing on every rep in every set of each muscle group being worked. It is that contraction that now tells the muscle what to do and ultimately how to look.

Why after a period of working out do I feel like my fitness results are coming to a standstill?

            —Max, Hollywood

When you first start an exercise routine, your body is unfamiliar with the motions and exercise you are having it perform. The body takes to the training and therefore establishes change. Whether the change is a decrease in body fat or an increase in muscle mass, the body is in sync with its exercise regimen. We love the change, and we love the exercises we have selected. We love it so much that we have now created a groove and have now nestled with what has worked for us thus far.

As time goes on, you notice that it is now taking longer for you to get the additional results you are looking for as opposed to when you first started. The body will adapt to what it is given. The more the body performs the same exercise, the more comfortable and relaxed it becomes. The more relaxed it becomes, the harder it is to see change.

I have found that it is best to start up a new exercise routine every three to four weeks. This will give the body time to react and take in what you are trying to teach it. If you change up your routine too frequently, you are not giving the body enough time to react or make the proper changes it needs.