Daily Archives: February 27, 2009

Lift Weights To Lose Fat

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Most people believe that if your goal is fat loss, you should start with aerobic workouts and lose the body fat first before adding weight training. That is a big mistake and here’s why: Obviously, weight training is the chief element in developing strength and muscle mass. What few people realize is that weight training can also increase fat loss dramatically, so by skipping the strength training in favor of aerobic-only training, you are not increasing your fat loss – you are slowing it down!”

Weight training is anaerobic and therefore burns primarily carbohydrates (sugar) during the workout. Cardiovascular exercises such as jogging, cycling, step classes, or stairclimbing are aerobic and therefore burn primarily fat during the workout. So it seems logical to focus on aerobic training for fat loss. What you’re missing if you skip the weight training is the benefits that accrue after the workouts.

Something interesting happens “beneath the surface” when you lift weights. Intense, progressive weight training increases your lean body mass – aerobic training does not. Excessive aerobics combined with low calorie dieting or aerobic training without weight lifting can even cause muscle loss. If you lose lean body mass, your metabolism slows down, and this makes it easier to gain fat and harder to lose it. If you increase your lean body mass, you increase your basal metabolic rate, and fat loss becomes easier. Best of all, you increase metabolism and fat burning even when you’re not working out…

Weight training provides an additional short term increase in metabolic rate after the workout, called “excess post exercise oxygen consuption” or EPOC for short. It’s a myth that “all exercise” keeps you burning calories for hours after the workout. Only high intensity exercise increases post workout energy expenditure substantially and weight training has the greatest effect of all. (High intensity cardio also has a high EPOC, but thats the subect of another article). This explains why bodybuilders, who train with weights religiously and have extremely high muscle to fat ratios, can stay lean year round without doing much aerobic work.

Losing body fat as quickly and efficiently as possible requires a three-pronged approach: (1) balanced nutrition from natural foods, (2) aerobic training, and (3) weight training. All three ingredients are essential. If you neglect any one of these components, it will compromise your results because you lose the “synergy” created from this combination.

In “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” Author Steven Covey wrote, “Synergy means that 1 + 1 may equal 8, 16, or even 1600. Synergy is everywhere in nature. If you plant two plants close together the roots commingle and improve the quality of the soil so that both plants will grow better than if they were separated. If you put two pieces of wood together they will hold much more than the total of the weight held by each separately. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

When you include weights, cardio and balanced nutrition in your fat loss regimen, the effects of the three parts brought together are not linear, they are exponential. Each part complements the others and multiplies your results. You develop an efficient metabolism and a lean, muscular body that could not be achieved with one or even two of the components in isolation.

The best you can hope for from diet and aerobics alone is to become a “skinny fat person.” You may lose weight from diet and aerobics, but much of it will be muscle, your fat to muscle ratio will plummet and you will take on a “soft” appearance. It’s not uncommon for a woman 5 feet 4 inches tall to weigh 125 pounds and yet have 25-30% body fat. According to the Metropolitan Life height and weight tables, 125 pounds is ideal for a medium-framed 5’ 4″ female, but 25-30% body fat is extremely poor for anyone! Without the weight training, you will never optimize your muscle to fat ratio and you will always struggle to keep fat off permanently.

If you have extremely limited time, and your main priority is to lose fat, then you can keep your weight training brief – maybe 30 minutes 3 days per week – and spend the rest of your time concentrating on cardio. But never neglect the weights completely – always do both, and if possible, devote an equal amount of attention to each.

Last, but not least, don’t forget that weight training, not cardiovascular training, is “shapes” and sculpts your muscles. Simply put, lifting weights makes you look better! If you want a lean, hard, fat-free body, then get out of the aerobics studio, get off that bike or treadmill, and pick up some barbells and dumbbells! Lifting weights isn’t just for “muscle-heads” anymore.

By Tom Venuto, GHF’s Fat Loss Expert

Physical Power of Positive Thinking

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The positive thinker has quite an advantage in
that he is able to achieve his goals much quicker, devote his energy to positive
feelings toward himself and others. He’s able to drain such time consuming
thoughts, as resentment, irritations, guilt reactions, and annoyances that have
collected throughout the day and refill his mind with refreshing and happy
thoughts.

Love and positive thinking is the internal force that gives you new hope, joy
and vitality. It’s for people who truly want a powerful new lease on life!!!
Remember that your brain is the central power
station of the body. A diet that consists of mainly junk foods and sugary
carbohydrates will cause physical illness to the brain when, on the other hand a
proper nutritional diet promotes positive thinking which frees you from mental
conflict and helps you to achieve success that much sooner.

The positive thinker is able to love someone besides himself, and with the world
so full of hate, only proves the fact that the diet of today is full of junk
food. Hate will only tear your mind apart further. That’s why you naturally feel
physically good when you’re happy — your entire body is well nourished and
working together — now, isn’t that what bodybuilding is all about!?

You CAN adapt your self to any change whether
it be in diet or physical exercise! Remember, the mind governs the body. Harmful
thoughts such as: fear, hatred, anxiety and over sensitivity originate when your
brain cells are starved. Positive thinking is impossible when the mind is
undernourished, and a mind that is constantly undernourished becomes touchy and
irritable.

Your mind along with your body must be kept in top physical condition, otherwise
it will dwell on destructive thoughts towards yourself and others. With the
correct diet you are able to think positive and encourage yourself through a
tough bodybuilding routine — and the results will appear much faster.

Health must be Earned and Learned

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The after 50 set back that occurs in many people is due to improper diet. Once you past the age of 50, you must begin to rebuild your body — if you wish to avoid senility and retain sound mentality and physical vigor. As long as you supply the body with the materials it needs to rebuilt and repair cells you will have good health.

Re-examine your dietary habits — make sure your daily intake of food is nutritional. Slowly eliminate processed food (which is white flour and their products, french fries, cake, cookies etc.) and sugar from your eating habits. Now, you might say what’s left? There are many natural foods that are super in nutritional value and will do wonders for your muscle size and overall shape. It’s time you began to build a knowledge and understanding for good nutrition while you build your body. Be aware of the vitamins, minerals in food and what fantastic things these foods can do for you and your body.

Protein is the bodybuilding substance needed to form new tissues and cells and rebuild and repair old one. Your blood, tissues, organs, skin, hair, and nails are about 95% protein, along with your bones and nerves. Meat, fish, eggs and poultry are known as complete proteins. Others include soybeans, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. 60% of protein consumed is changed into sugar (glucose), that’s why sugar is completely unnecessary in your bodybuilding diet.

2/3 of your diet should be protein — the other third should be made up of fresh raw fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Liver is the most effective source of complete protein. It’s the number on food that not only builds your body up, but greatly increases your energy. It relieves fatigue and neutralizes many dangerous drugs within your system.

Fat produces an energy reserve, slows down the rate at which food is digested and is a source of heat and energy, and a cushion for vital organs. Fish is practically a perfect food. It’s excellent source of high quality protein, vitamins and minerals. Eggs, are another superior protein food, 1-2 a day are recommended for everyone. They supply a full measure of minerals. True, they do contain cholesterol, but they are an excellent source of lecithin, inositol and many other effective cholesterol controlling agents. Powdered milk is outstanding because it consist of an abundance of fat free protein, vitamins and minerals. It’s known to rejuvenate the heart, brain, and verves and strengthens the failing body.

Natural carbohydrates invigorates the body and supplies is with warmth and vitality. The potato is not to be eliminated from your bodybuilding diet. It’s a vegetable and contains many nutritional elements and it’s very easily digestible. Honey is in the blood stream 20 minutes after eaten. It’s the best heart stimulant you can use. Honey has much greater advantage over sugar. It fills any void that may occur in the daily intake.

Here are the 4 fine qualities of honey:

a wholesome food

it’s a purifying cleanser

it has regenerative power

it’s a sweet that has natural laxative qualities

REMEMBER: It is not how much you eat — it’s what happens to the food after you have eaten it. Eating large quantities of food will not help your muscle building progress it it’s the wrong food!!

Real Muscle – Real Fast

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Adding muscle seems to be a mystery to most, yet if you pick up a copy of any fitness or bodybuilding magazine and you’ll almost always see a headline like this: “Gain 15 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks.”

If it were so easy you’d have millions of muscle-heads running around. Even though building muscle tissue can be a challenge, I’m going to outline some very specific principles that can pack on the muscle faster than you can throw away that copy of “Muscle and Fiction”!

Before we get started though I want to clarify a few points.

The ridiculous claims made by most fitness and bodybuilding magazines are only there to get you to buy that issue – nothing more!
If you are serious about strength training you need to be reading books and NOT cheesy fitness magazines
Ok… here we go.

In order to add muscle tissue you must force the body to add it. Your body won’t just add a pound of muscle just because you followed a 3-set workout that you read about in Muscle + Fitness. You need to give the body a reason to make improvements – in this case add muscle tissue.

You have to provide what I call a “stimulus”. This can be done in many ways and I’ll address a few in just a moment. Basically, you need to force the body to add muscle by subjecting it to levels of stress it is not used to. Some methods are more obvious than others but all can work. Here are a few examples of how this can be done effectively.

First, the basic and common methods:

Increase weight or resistance
Perform more repetitions
Perform more sets
Move the resistance slower
Rest less between sets and exercises
Now for the more advanced methods:

Pre-exhaust (perform an isolation exercise first and immediately continue with no rest on a compound movement. ex. chest flye and then chest press)
Static holds (hold the resistance in the hardest position of the range of motion. ex. the top position during a leg extension)
Partial reps in weak range (perform a portion of the rep where you are weakest. ex. the top half of a rep of leg extensions)
Strip-set (after a warm-up set, perform 3 sets back to back with no rest while starting with the heaviest weight possible and each time strip off some weight to allow you to continue)
1 ½ reps (perform one full rep and then on the second rep only perform half the normal range of motion and then return to starting position to begin the next rep. ex. one full rep of lat pulldowns, pull second rep all the way down, resist weight back up but only half way and then pull back down)
These are just a few examples of methods of increasing intensity to ensure progress. The key point to remember is that whatever you do it must be progressive in order for it to elicit a physical change. This is even more critical for those looking to add muscle size.

Although this article is geared towards individuals who are interested in gaining muscle size, the principles can also be used for individuals who want to build strength, increase metabolism, or tighten and tone muscles.

Here are some general recommendations for different goals…

If your goal is to tighten and tone muscles:

  • Focus on increasing reps, decreasing rest, and changing exercises frequently.
  • Train each muscle group twice per week.
  • Perform fewer sets of many different exercises (1-2 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase strength and power:

  • Focus on increasing weight
  • Train each muscle group once every 7-10 days
  • Perform multiple sets of each exercise (2-5 sets per exercise)

If your goal is to increase muscle size:

  • Focus on shocking muscles by changing variables frequently (exercises, set and rep schemes, rest time, etc)
  • Train each muscle group on a variable schedule (experiment by training a muscle group 3 times a week and then once every ten days)
  • Perform multiple sets for a while and the perform single sets for a week or two

Some final reminders:

The recommendations above are general and of course would need to be adapted and adjusted for your personal goals and experience. For those of you who are advanced and may be thinking there’s no way you can build strength by training once every 10 days I challenge you to try it for at least 4 weeks, or those of you who think that you need to stick to the same basic movements like bench to build size I challenge you to try shocking the muscles by changing the exercises you perform each week for 4 weeks, and those of you with little experience I hope that you’ll throw away the fitness magazines and learn what really works.

by Jesse Cannone

Four Keys to Successful Bodybuilding

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Mental Attitude

As long as you have the desire to physically develop your body — that’s half the battle! How you feel about yourself is extremely important. Ask yourself how much bigger you’d like to be, then go after that goal! DO NOT let anything get in your way. Gaining muscular weight is very personal. Only you can put out the effort — and only you will get the rewarding results!

Your mental attitude is the first thing you should deal with — you not only have to prepare your body but, your mind too. Believe in yourself! There will be many times when a strong mental attitude towards yourself is just what you need to get you through a difficult day of training or perhaps keep you on that diet. Nothing at all will stop you from being successful. You are at the wheel — think positive — and follow this program and you’ll be amazed at the muscular weight you will see in a matter of weeks.Diet

You might think that gaining weight is now problem — you simply overeat! Right? WRONG! To increase your body weight as a bodybuilder means to increase your muscular weight. This makes a special nutritional diet extremely necessary. A DIET THAT IS BOTH HIGH IN CALORIES AND HIGH IN PROTEIN IS THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN SOLID BODYWEIGHT!

Many people who have failed in building their bodies properly were just not eating enough of the right foods. You can exercise, train night and day, but, if you are not supplying your body with proper building materials (nutritional food), then you are wasting your time.

The number one rule for your diet is to completely avoid “JUNK FOOD”. What makes a certain type of food junk? The fact that the nutritional value of its contents is ZERO!! In other words, it’s like eating dead food. It does absolutely nothing to increase the quality of your blood, heart, lungs and mind. Modern technology has promoted such food by demineralising, devitaminising, and bleaching food to the extent that by the time it’s available to the consumer — it’s absolutely USELESS!! In fact it does us more harm than good. The ice cream, cakes, candy, soft drinks, tea and coffee filled with refined white sugar decays in your body and clogs your vital organs with slimy, sticky poisons until those parts of your body can no longer function. Now, is this any way to build muscular weight?

Start your day off to a super start with a good breakfast. It should consist of eggs, and bacon, plus a protein drink made with milk. Avoid dry cereals no matter what the advertising tell you. Confine you meals to wholesome foods that will benefit you health and help you build strong muscular weight. Supplements are also very helpful. Take vitamins in tablet form and include wheat germ in your meals whenever you can. When you plan and prepare a meal think of the nutritional value first. The most important basic food items are: milk, eggs, lean meats, fowl and fish. These foods should be consumed in large quantities. Other important foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts and soups. They will round out your diet along with your vitamin supplement. Rest & Relaxation

Rest and relaxation is also an essential part of your bodybuilding program. Studies have been conducted which have proven that a loss of sleep results in loss of accuracy in perception, memory and reasoning. A late evening on the town, or perhaps just a sleepless night usually results in a very disorganized day after. You find it difficult to perform many tasks that require physical and mental co-ordination, and your endurance is greatly weakened.

Relaxation is of utmost importance in the field of bodybuilding. When you train and exercise, your muscles get quite a workout. That is why it is extremely important to learn how to relax those muscles, so they can look forward to a night of complete rest, which is necessary for tissue repair and growth.

Just because you spend 8-10 hours in bed, does not mean that you have relaxed your muscles for that period of time. In fact, even when you are asleep you are not totally relaxed. Tensions have built up through-out the day, and remain in the muscular system and these tensions result in sleep that is not beneficial.

Perfect relaxation is vital to increase muscular growth, so, if your job causes you many tense moments through-out the day, then, you must try to relax as much as possible in the evening. A high protein meal after a heavy training program (described later), is the most effective way to achieve complete relaxation.

Eating too much food before you go to sleep will make it extremely difficult to sleep, however, going to bed on an empty stomach could be worse. Each individual is different What you have to remember is that YOU ARE IN CHARGE of your own body, so, it’s up to you to find out what works best for you.

Try to control those late nights and you’ll find that adequate rest is not only important, but tremendously rewarding. If you get to bed about the same time every night and get at least 8 hours of good sound sleep, then, your body will thank you by growing strong muscular weight. Complete 100% rest at night will prepare you for a successful and fruitful training session the next day.Exercise

EXERCISE FOR ADVANCED TRAINING YEARS — AND HELPFUL HINTS FOR EVERY BODYBUILDER!! In order to get the most out of your exercise routine, you must provide your body with complete muscle stimulation. For this, heavy weights are necessary. You will perform all the movements in 5 sets of 5 repetitions, using the most weight that you can handle. Begin with light weights the first two sets of each exercise, this will enable you to warm up. The remaining 3 sets should be done quite vigorously in order to attain the best results. Approach those weights as if you are going to destroy them. TAKE CHARGE!! You are in control!!

You have probably read about bodybuilders who spend numerous hors training 6-7 days a week. Experts now recommend shorter programs for only 3 times a week or more (if you are on a split schedule). If your muscles disappear when you shorten your program — then — they weren’t worth having to begin with. Muscles that are well nourished — will not disappear in a matter of days or because you’ve cut down on the training time. The gains you make from this system will be the most effective and will stay with you a long time!!

Quality, not quantity is important. many bodybuilders work out too long, instead of working out for shorter periods and making every short minute count. In other words give it all you’ve got!! total effort and a positive attitude is how you should approach every training session — and it’s with this enthusiastic disposition that your results will appear much faster.

Follow program 1 for 4 weeks (3 times a week), then go on to program number 2 for the next 4 weeks. REMEMBER: to add more strength and muscle to your body you must add more weight to your exercises, eat good nutritional foods, and get plenty of rest and relaxation and you’re on your way to a stronger and larger muscular shape.


PROGRAM NO. 1

PROGRAM NO. 2

SIT – UPS

As many as you can do

SIT – UPS

As many as you can do

LEG RAISES

As many as you can do

LEG RAISES

As many as you can do

STANDING DUMBBELL PRESSES

5×5

CHIN TO BACK OF NECK

6×5

SQUAT

5×5

SQUAT

6×5

DEAD LIFT

5×5

FRONT SQUAT

6×5

BENCH PRESS

5×5

DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS

6×5

BARBELL ROWING

5×5

SINGLE ARM

6×5

BARBELL CURL

5×5

DUMBBELL ROWING

6×5

SEATED DUMBBELL

6×5

CURL

6×5

Simple Proven Formula for Weight Gain

Get a physical check up before you begin a bodybuilding program. Make sure you have no internal problems or some type of physical flaw, that will prevent or delay you from satisfactory progress. It’s always wise to get advice fro a good medical doctor. If you are in good health, proceed to the next step.

Revise your diet so that it’s well-balanced — include 2 quarts of whole milk everyday as well as the necessary food supplements.

Get at least 8-9 hours of sleep per night.

Do not engage in any form of vigorous or competitive athletic activity.

Do everything to maintain a calm, pleasant mental outlook.

Train 3 times a week on alternate days, or use the ‘split routine’ — as suggested here.

Forget the fat burn zone

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“Fat burn is greater when exercise intensity is high.” Izumi Tabata

I believe in high-intensity aerobics. In Ripped 3, for bodybuilders, I recommended “a variety of relatively short and infrequent aerobic sessions interspersed with explosive muscular effort.” In Lean For Life, published six years later, I emphasized high-intensity aerobics even more; I reduced the frequency of aerobic sessions to two times a week (in Ripped 3 I recommended up to four) and substantially increased the intensity. But it wasn’t until recently, when my friend Richard Winett, Ph.D., publisher of Master Trainer, called my attention to new research findings, that I came to fully appreciate the superiority of high intensity aerobics compared to the usual prescription that heart rate be maintained between 60% and 80% of maximum.

As explained in the nearby FAQ (Low intensity aerobics?), high intensity aerobics burns the same amount of fat as low intensity, but the expenditure of calories is substantially greater; plus, intense aerobics produces a higher level of fitness. Importantly, the more fit you become, the more likely you are to use fat as fuel for any given activity. And now, research in Japan and in Canada shows that short, very intense aerobic sessions are amazingly effective for both fitness and fat loss.

Maximal oxygen uptake, or V02max, is generally regarded as the best single measure of aerobic fitness. As the rate of exercise increases, your body eventually reaches a limit for oxygen consumption. This limit is the peak of your aerobic capacity, or your V02max. As intensity increases beyond V02max, your body must shift to anaerobic (without oxygen) energy production. An oxygen debt begins to build at this point and blood lactate levels climb. In general terms, one’s ability to continue exercising in the face of rising oxygen deficit and lactate levels is called anaerobic capacity.

This is important because many high-intensity sports (including basketball, football, soccer and speed skating) require a high level of both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. Clearly, total fitness involves both high V02max and high anaerobic capacity. A training protocol that develops both would be a godsend.

Izumi Tabata and his colleagues at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan, compared the effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on V02max and anaerobic capacity. (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (1996) 28, 1327-1330). Interestingly, the high-intensity protocol had been used by major members of the Japanese Speed Skating team for several years; it’s a real-world training plan. As you will see, however, the protocol is unique among aerobic training programs for its intensity and brevity.

Many studies have been done on the effect of training on V02max, but little information has been available about the effect on anaerobic capacity. That’s because until recently methods for measuring anaerobic capacity have been inadequate. This study used accumulated oxygen deficit to measure anaerobic energy release, and is one of the first to measure the effect of training on both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.

Notice that the duration of the moderate-intensity and the high-intensity protocols are drastically different: (excluding warm-ups) one hour compared to only about 4 minutes per training schedule

Tabata’s moderate-intensity protocol will sound familiar; it’s the same steady-state aerobic training done by many (perhaps most) fitness enthusiasts.

Here are the details (stay with me on this): In the moderate-intensity group, seven active young male physical education majors exercised on stationary bicycles 5 days per week for 6 weeks at 70% of V02max, 60 minutes each session. V02max was measured before and after the training and every week during the 6 week period. As each subject’s V02max improved, exercise intensity was increased to keep them pedaling at 70% of their actual V02max. Maximal accumulated oxygen deficit was also measured, before, at 4 weeks and after the training.

A second group followed a high-intensity interval program. Seven students, also young and physically active, exercised five days per week using a training program similar to the Japanese speed skaters. After a 10-minute warm-up, the subjects did seven to eight sets of 20 seconds at 170% of V02max, with a 10 second rest between each bout. Pedaling speed was 90-rpm and sets were terminated when rpms dropped below 85. When subjects could complete more than 9 sets, exercise intensity was increased by 11 watts. The training protocol was altered one day per week. On that day, the students exercised for 30 minutes at 70% of V02max before doing 4 sets of 20 second intervals at 170% of V02max. This latter session was not continued to exhaustion. Again, V02max and anaerobic capacity was determined before, during and after the training.

In some respects the results were no surprise, but in others they may be ground breaking. The moderate-intensity endurance training program produced a significant increase in V02max (about 10%), but had no effect on anaerobic capacity. The high-intensity intermittent protocol improved V02max by about 14%; anaerobic capacity increased by a whopping 28%.

Dr. Tabata and his colleagues believe this is the first study to demonstrate an increase in both aerobic and anaerobic power. What’s more, in an e-mail response to Dick Winett, Dr. Tabata said, “The fact is that the rate of increase in V02max [14% for the high-intensity protocol – in only 6 weeks] is one of the highest ever reported in exercise science.” (Note, the students participating in this study were members of varsity table tennis, baseball, basketball, soccer and swimming teams and already had relatively high aerobic capacities.)

The results, of course, confirm the well-known fact that the results of training are specific. The intensity in the first protocol (70% of V02max) did not stress anaerobic components (lactate production and oxygen debt) and, therefore, it was predictable that anaerobic capacity would be unchanged. On the other hand, the subjects in the high-intensity group exercised to exhaustion ,and peak blood lactate levels indicated that anaerobic metabolism was being taxed to the max. So, it was probably also no big surprise that anaerobic capacity increased quite significantly.

What probably was a surprise, however, is that a 4 minute training program of very-hard 20 second repeats, in the words of the researchers, “may be optimal with respect to improving both the aerobic and the anaerobic energy release systems.” That’s something to write home about!

What About Fat Loss?

Angelo Tremblay, Ph.D., and his colleagues at the Physical Activities Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Quebec, Canada, challenged the common belief among health professionals that low-intensity, long-duration exercise is the best program for fat loss. They compared the impact of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and high-intensity aerobics on fat loss. (Metabolism (1994) Volume 43, pp.814-818)

The Canadian scientists divided 27 inactive, healthy, non-obese adults (13 men, 14 women, 18 to 32 years old) into two groups. They subjected one group to a 20-week endurance training (ET) program of uninterrupted cycling 4 or 5 times a week for 30 to 45 minutes; the intensity level began at 60% of heart rate reserve and progressed to 85%. (For a 30-year-old, this would mean starting at a heart rate of about 136 and progressing to roughly 170 bpm, which is more intense than usually prescribed for weight or fat loss.)

The other group did a 15-week program including mainly high-intensity-interval training (HIIT). Much like the ET group, they began with 30-minute sessions of continuous exercise at 70% of maximum heart rate reserve (remember, they were not accustomed to exercise), but soon progressed to 10 to 15 bouts of short (15 seconds progressing to 30 seconds) or 4 to 5 long (60 seconds progressing to 90 seconds) intervals separated by recovery periods allowing heart rate to return to 120-130 beats per minute. The intensity of the short intervals was initially fixed at 60% of the maximal work output in 10 seconds, and that of the long bouts corresponded to 70% of the individual maximum work output in 90 seconds. Intensity on both was increased 5% every three weeks.

As you might expect, the total energy cost of the ET program was substantially greater than the HIIT program. The researchers calculated that the ET group burned more than twice as many calories while exercising than the HIIT program. But (surprise, surprise) skinfold measurements showed that the HIIT group lost more subcutaneous fat. “Moreover,” reported the researchers, “when the difference in the total energy cost of the program was taken into account…, the subcutaneous fat loss was ninefold greater in the HIIT program than in the ET program.” In short, the HIIT group got 9 times more fat-loss benefit for every calorie burned exercising.

How can that be?

Cardiovascular Exercise Principles and Guidelines: Part two

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For maximum effectiveness and safety, cardiovascular exercise has specific instructions on the frequency, duration, and intensity. These are the three important components of cardiovascular exercise that you really need to understand and implement in your program. In addition, your cardiovascular program should include a warm-up, a cool-down, and stretching of the primary muscles used in the exercise. The last article, part one of this two part series, explained the proper methods of warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down and discussed the frequency and duration of a sound cardiovascular routine.

You learned that cardiovascular exercise should be done a minimum of three times a week, a minimum of 20 minutes per session and should be done after a 5-10 minute warm-up (at a low intensity of 50-60% of max HR) and a 5-10 minute cool-down (at a low intensity of 50-60% of max HR) should follow. Once your muscles are warm (after warm up) and after the cardiovascular exercise, you should stretch those muscles used in the exercise.

This article, part two, discusses how to monitor exercise intensity and heart zone training.

There are several ways to monitor the exercise intensity. The best way to test the intensity is to take your heart rate during the exercise, within the first 5 minutes of your cardiovascular exercise session and again just before the cool-down.

There are two ways in which you can check your heart rate during exercise. The most accurate one is to purchase a heart-rate monitor that you strap around your chest. It will give you feedback on a digital watch that tells you exactly what your heart rate is at a specific time in the exercise session. The other way to obtain your heart rate is by palpating (feeling) either the carotid artery, the temporal artery, or the radial artery. The easiest site is either the cartoid or the radial artery. The cartoid artery may be felt by gently placing your index finger on your neck, between the middle of your collar bone and jaw line. Palpating the radial artery is done by placing your index and middle finger on the underside and thumb-side of your wrist.

When you’re taking your heart rate you measure it in beats per minute (counting the number of beats for 60 seconds). For convenience, many people take their pulse for 6 seconds and multiply that number by 10, or simply add a 0 behind the number just obtained. So, if in 6 seconds you counted 12 beats, that would mean your heart rate was 120 beats per minute (bpm). Although counting for 6 seconds is most convenient, keep in mind that the longer the time interval used, the more accurate the results will be. For example, counting your heart rate for 30 seconds and then multiplying that number by 2 will give a slightly more accurate reading than counting your heart rate for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4, or 10 seconds and multiplying by 6. What ever time interval you use, be consistent.

Heart Zone Training

How do you know if you are training too intensely or not intensely enough for what you want to achieve? This is where Heart Zone Training comes in. Refer to the chart below. The top of the chart reads “Maximum Heart Rate,” which is 100% of your heart rate (the fastest your heart will beat). This is different for everyone. To use Heart Zone Training you must first determine your maximum heart rate (max HR).

You can determine your max HR one of two ways. One way is to use the age predicted max HR formula, whereby you subtract your age from 220. So, if you are 40 years old, your predicted max HR would be 180 bpm. The other method, which is much more accurate and more individualized, is actually having a medical or fitness professional administer a max HR test for you, which is usually done on a stationery bicycle or treadmill for several minutes and requires very hard work. Thus, only those cleared by a physician should do this test. We do not explain how to administer this test because only trained professionals should do so. Please refer to the Global Health and Fitness Personal Training Directory for professionals in your area (may or may not be trained in administering a max HR test).

Once you have determined your max HR, you will need to decide what zone you want to train at. There are five different training zones separated by 10% increments, each having different characteristics and benefits.

Healthy Heart Zone

The first zone is called the Healthy Heart Zone. This is 50-60% of your max HR. This is the easiest and most comfortable zone within which to train and is the one that is best for people who are just starting an exercise program or have low functional capacity. Those of you who are walkers most likely train at this zone. Although this zone has been criticized for not burning enough total calories, and for not being intense enough to get great cardiorespiratory benefits, it has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. In this zone, 10% of carbohydrates are “burned” (used as energy), 5% of protein is burned and a whopping 85% of fat is burned.

Fitness Zone

The next zone is the Fitness Zone, which is 60-70% of your max HR. Once again, 85% of your calories burned in this zone are fats, 5% are proteins and 10% are carbohydrates. Studies have shown that in this zone you can condition your fat mobilization (getting fat out of your cells) while conditioning your fat transportation (getting fat to muscles). Thus, in this zone, you are training your fat cells to increase the rate of fat release and training your muscles to burn fat. Therefore, the benefits of this zone are not only the same as the healthy heart zone training at 50-60% but you are now slightly increasing the total number of calories burned and provide a little more cardiorespiratory benefits. You burn more total calories at this zone simply because it is more intense.

Aerobic Zone

The third zone, the Aerobic Zone, requires that you train at 70-80% of your max HR. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. In this zone, your functional capacity will greatly improve and you can expect to increase the number and size of blood vessels, increase vital capacity and respiratory rate and achieve increases in pulmonary ventilation, as well as increases in arterial venous oxygen. Moreover, stroke volume (amount of blood pumped per heart beat) will increase, and your resting heart rate will decrease. What does all this mean? It means that your cardiovascular and respiratory system will improve and you will increase the size and strength of your heart. In this zone, 50% of calories burned are from carbohydrates, 50% are from fat and less than 1% is from protein. And, because there is an increase in intensity, there is also an increase in the total number of calories burned.

Anaerobic Zone

The next training zone is called the Threshold or Anaerobic zone, which is 80-90% of your max HR. Benefits include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you’ll be able to fight fatigue better. Since the intensity is high, more calories will be burned than within the other three zones. Although more calories are burned in this zone, 85% of the calories burned are from carbohydrates, 15% from fat and less than 1% are from protein.

Red-line Zone

The last training zone is called the Redline Zone, which is 90-100% of your max HR. Remember, training at 100% is your maximum heart rate (maximum HR), your heart rate will not get any higher. This zone burns the highest total number of calories and the lowest percentage of fat calories. Ninety percent of the calories burned here are carbohydrates, only 10% are fats and again less than one percent is protein. This zone is so intense that very few people can actually stay in this zone for the minimum 20 minutes, or even five minutes (you should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so). Usually, people use this zone for interval training. For example, one might do three minutes in the Aerobic Zone and then one minute in this Redline Zone and then back to the Aerobic Zone (this is called interval training and will be discussed further in a future article).

I hope you have found the information in this article helpful. You now have the knowledge to achieve the results you desire and the benefits your body deserves.

Your greatest challenge, however, is not learning new cardiovascular exercises or the proper technique; it’s not learning the heart rate zone to train at for your goals and interests or how to monitor the intensity. Nor is it deciding when to try new cardiovascular exercises. The greatest challenge facing you at this moment is deciding whether you are willing to take action and make time for yourself and make cardiovascular exercise a priority.

When you begin achieving great results, the excitement and fun you experience will make the change well worth the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of an effective cardiovascular exercise program.

Cardiovascular Exercise Principles and Guidelines: Part One

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For maximum effectiveness and safety, cardiovascular exercise has specific instructions on the frequency, duration, and intensity. These are the three important components of cardiovascular exercise that you really need to understand and implement in your program. In addition, your cardiovascular program should include a warm-up, a cool-down, and stretching of the primary muscles used in the exercise. This article is part one of a two part series discussing the very important principles and guidelines of a safe and effective cardiovascular exercise program. Part one will explain the proper methods of warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down and discuss the frequency and duration of a sound cardiovascular routine. Part two will discuss how to monitor exercise intensity and heart zone training.

Warming Up and Stretching
One very common mistake is stretching before muscles are warmed-up. It is important to stretch after your muscles are warm (after blood has circulated through them). Never stretch a cold muscle. First warm up. A warm-up should be done for at least 5-10 minutes at a low intensity. Usually, the warm-up is done by doing the same activity as the cardiovascular workout but at an intensity of 50-60% of maximum heart rate (max HR). After you’ve warmed-up for 5-10 minutes at a relatively low intensity, your muscles should be warm. To prevent injury and to improve your performance, you should stretch the primary muscles used in the warm up before proceeding to the cardiovascular exercise.

Cooling Down

The cool down is similar to the warm-up in that it should last 5-10 minutes and be done at a low intensity (50-60% of max HR). After you have completed your cardiovascular exercise and cooled-down properly, it is now important that you stretch the primary muscles being used. Warming-up, stretching, and cooling-down are very important to every exercise session. They not only help your performance levels and produce better results, they also drastically decrease your risk of injury.

Frequency of Exercise
The first component of cardiovascular exercise is frequency of the exercise, which refers to the number of exercise sessions per week. To improve both cardiovascular fitness and to decrease body fat or maintain body fat at optimum levels, you should exercise (cardiovascularly) at least three days a week. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends three to five days a week for most cardiovascular programs. Those of you who are very out of shape and/or who are overweight and doing weight-bearing cardiovascular exercise such as an aerobics class or jogging, might want to have at least 36 to 48 hours of rest between workouts to prevent an injury and to promote adequate bone and joint stress recovery.

Duration of Exercise
The second component of cardiovascular exercise is the duration, which refers to the time you’ve spent exercising. The cardiovascular session, not including the warm-up and cool-down, should vary from 20-60 minutes to gain significant cardiorespiratory and fat burning-benefits. Each time you do your cardiovascular exercise, try to do at least 20 minutes or more. Of course, the longer you go, the more calories and fat you’ll “burn” and the better you’ll condition your cardiovascular system. All beginners, especially those who are out of shape, should take a very conservative approach and train at relatively low intensities (50-70% max HR) for 10-25 minutes. As you get in better shape, you can gradually increase the duration of time you exercise.

It is important that you gradually increase the duration before you increase the intensity. That is, when beginning a walking program for example, be more concerned with increasing the number of minutes of the exercise session before you increase the intensity, by increasing your speed or by walking hilly terrain.

Please check back for Part Two, where I’ll discuss how to monitor your training intensity and how to use heart zone training to achieve the specific results you desire. Until then, remember that cardiovascular exercise should be done a minimum of three times a week and a minimum of 20 minutes per session. Once your muscles are warm (after warm up) and after the cardiovascular exercise, you should stretch those muscles used in the exercise. For example, after bicycling, stretch your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, hips, and low back. After doing the rowing machine, stretch your legs, back, biceps, and shoulders. Good luck and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of cardiovascular exercise.

The Functional Training Craze

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By Jesse Cannone CPRS, CFT, SPN

In the past few years I’ve seen a huge
transition in the fitness industry. More and more people are using functional
training, and some argue it’s the only way to train. The purpose of this
article is to give people an understanding of what functional training is, and
what it does and does not do.First, lets look at what functional actually means.

Functional 1. capable of operating or functioning, 2. capable of serving the
purpose for which it was intended (Webster’s Encyclopedia 2nd Edition, 1996)

Based on that definition, you can draw many
conclusions as to what is functional. Depending upon who you ask, you will most
likely get a diverse variety of responses as to what is functional. All human
movement is a combination of various functions. Human movement cannot take place
without muscular function. According to the functional training “experts”,
functional training use s b ands, balls, free-weights, and plyometric exercises
in an attempt to condition the body in an un-stable environment. Many of the
experts feel that performing exercises that mimic activities or specific skills
is the most effective way to train, regardless of ones goal.

What is the safest, most efficient and effective way to optimize human
performance?

Factors Affecting Human Performance

In order to maximize human performance, you must have a good understanding of
what affects performance. The factors that play the greatest role in performance
are: Power (Strength and Speed), Agility (Flexibility/Mobility/Stability),
Cardiovascular and Respiratory Conditioning, Sport Skill (Neuromuscular
Coordination and Efficiency), and Genetic Potential.

Let’s take a look at each factor and determine which training methods are
going to deliver optimal results. By optimal results, I mean the greatest amount
of improvement, with the least amount of risk, and in the shortest amount of
time.

Power

Power = Force x Distance

Time

Power can be increased three ways.

1. Increase Force (Strength)

What is the most effective method of increasing strength and/or muscle tissue?
In my opinion, High Intensity Strength Training is the most productive, safe,
and time efficient approach available. I am not stating that one set of each
exercise is the best choice. My definition of High Intensity Training is:
training to momentary muscular failure, with brief and infrequent workouts in
which all variables are prescribed based on the individuals: goals, age, current
fitness level, fiber types, personal preference, and past experience.

The purpose of strength training is to increase strength and lean body mass, NOT
for training a specific skill or movement—that’s called practice! People
strength train for many reasons and there are many methods that work. For years,
many trainers and coaches have had their clients and athletes perform Olympic
lift s b ecause they feel it will transfer over into the performance of their
skill. Numerous studies have shown that the neurological transfer of skills is
not optimal unless the skill is practiced EXACTLY as it is performed in
competition. Therefore, performing power clean s b ecause you play football is
NOT optimal. Performing power-cleans will only get you better at performing
power-cleans! Focus on increasing strength and lean body mass, and practice your
skill exactly as it is performed during competition.

2. Increase Speed

Increasing the speed at which a skill is performed is another great way to
improve power. Speed is primarily predetermined by the individual’s genetic
make up. However, that does not mean that you cannot improve speed by practicing
the skill EXACTLY as it is performed in competition. A great deal of focus
should be placed on perfecting the technique. By practicing the skill in this
manner, you will improve neuromuscular efficiency, which will result in faster
and more accurate performance.

3. Increase Distance (flexibility/range of motion)

Increasing flexibility is another way to improve power. By increasing
flexibility, you increase the distance that force is applied which results in an
increase in power.

The safest and most effective method to increase flexibility i s b y performing
full range of motion exercises and incorporating a sound stretching routine.

Agility

Improving ones agility is another way of optimizing performance. Agility drills
should be SPECIFIC to the activity or event. For example, having someone do
Plyometric jumps off of boxes is NOT specific to someone who plays basketball!
Yes, a basketball player jumps, but not off of boxes. Having the athlete
practice jumping from the floor would be much more specific to their sport.
Always ask yourself, “What is the goal?” “Is what I’m doing going to
give me the outcome I desire?” “Is it optimal?”

Cardiovascular and Respiratory Conditioning

Increasing cardio/respiratory output and endurance is another factor that has a
major impact on performance. This topic is one of such importance that it is
beyond the scope of this article. In general, if you increase the individual’s
cardiovascular and respiratory output and endurance, there will be a
corresponding increase in performance. Cardiovascular training should also be
specifically geared towards improving the individuals conditioning in the
metabolic pathway in which they compete or perform. For example, someone who
plays tennis should primarily train at a slow to moderate pace and incorporate
bursts of high intensity effort. Interval training would be a good choice for
this individual. Keep the training specific to the individual.

Sport Skill

This is an area in which there is a lot of confusion among many athletes,
coaches, and trainers. Skill acquisition and strength levels are two completely
different things. Therefore, they should be trained separately, and with
different methods. In order to optimize the performance of a specific skill or
movement, it needs to be practiced EXACTLY as it is performed in competition. It
ha s b een shown that each activity or movement has it’s own neuromuscular
pathway, and that just because a movement is similar does NOT mean there will be
a positive transfer or carryover of skill. In order to maximize performance the
individual should attempt to perfect their movement or skill with endless hours
of practice. The goal of practice should be to improve the technique, accuracy,
and increase the speed at which the skill can be performed. This topic was
addressed earlier in the section titled “Increase Force.”

Genetic Potential

This is the factor that I have found to have the greatest impact on human
performance. Genetic potential is something many people overlook. Regardless of
what methods of training I use, I will never be a world-class marathoner. I can
train twice a week or I can train 5 hours a day, it still won’t change the
fact that my body wasn’t designed to excel at endurance activities. I hear of
too many coaches and trainers having people follow dangerous training programs
in an attempt to drastically improve their performance. This is not to say that
you cannot improve performance. When training yourself or a competitive athlete,
always set realistic goals. As stated earlier, the best thing to do is utilize
the most effective methods available and work hard!

Difference s between Functional Training and Machine Based Training

Most, if not all of the so-called functional exercises, fail to supply constant
and variable resistance. Most quality machines supply constant tension and
variable resistance based on the strength curve of the particular muscle, and
track proper joint function.

For example, compare dumbbell bicep curls on a Swis s b all to a bicep curl on a
quality machine (such as Hammer Strength.) While performing the dumbbell curl,
there is no tension on the biceps in the bottom or top positions. The resistance
is greatest when the dumbbell is perpendicular to the floor. The amount of
stimulus is also decreased due to the fact that the individual must balance
his/her self on the ball. While using a machine, there is constant tension on
the biceps and the amount of tension varies during the exercise based on the
strength curve of the biceps muscle. Which is going to make the individual
stronger? Which is going to stimulate more muscle fibers in the biceps?

In my opinion, machine based training is by far superior if the goal is to
increase strength, and/or muscle tissue. Keep in mind that more muscle equates
to a faster, stronger, and better athlete, providing they practice their
specific skill or movement.

This is not to say that functional exercises serve no purpose. There are
benefits to functional exercise; just not as many as some people are lead to
believe. Exercise selection and the training methods used should be based on the
individual’s goals. Instances where functional training may be effective would
be in individuals who need to improve balance, stability, and neuromuscular
coordination.

Below is a chart that shows the differences between Functional Training and Machine Based Training.


Machine-Based Training Functional Training
Provides constant and variable
resistance
Movement tracks proper joint function
Effectively overloads musculature (if
used properly)
Safer to perform
Many machines available to work every
muscle in the body		 Very effective at improving
balance, stability, and coordination
Does NOT effectively overload target
musculature
Does NOT provide optimal transfer of
skill performance
Very difficult to measure and monitor
progress
Higher chance of injury


Conclusion

Functional training obviously has some benefit, and can be a great addition to a
well-designed strength program. However, I personally feel it should never take
the place of a structured strength training routine. I recommend using a
combination approach, which utilizes machines, free-weights, bodyweight, balls,
bands, and anything that is going to deliver the desired results. Always
remember that training for strength and/or increases in muscle tissue and
training for skill are two completely different things. When designing or
assessing a training program the following questions should be asked. What is
the goal? Is it time efficient? Is it safe? Is it delivering the desired
results? Is it optimal?

References

1. Schmidt, R. A : Motor Learning and Performance – From Principles to
Practice. Human Kinetics Books; Champaign , IL 1991

2. Bryzcki, Matt : A Practical Approach to Strength Training, Masters Press;
Indianapolis , IN 1995

3. Magil, R : Motor Learning – Concepts and Application, 4th Edition, C. Brown
Publishing, Madison , Wisconsin 1993

4. Chek, Paul : What is Functional Exercise? (Article), C.H.E.K Institute

5. Calais-Germaine, Blandine : Anatomy of Movement, Easterland Press, Seattle ,
WA 1993

6. Tortora, Gerard, J : Principles of Human Anatomy, 5th Edition, Harper Collins
Publishers, New York , NY 1989

7. Stein, Alan : Improving Athletic Power (Article), Hard Training Newsletter

8. Manny, Ken : Skill Development : An Open and Closed Case (Article)
www.naturalstrength.com

9. Kielbaso, Jim : Plyos – My Story (Article) www.cyberpump.com

Accept Your Body and Learn to Have a Positive Self Image

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Because thin females and muscular males are seen as the ideal in our society and because we have come to believe that body size and shape are totally under a person’s control, most people enter diet and exercise programs with unrealistic goals and expectations. If you continually strive to achieve a socially imposed ideal, you will never be free of your insecurities or your self-consciousness. You must truly realize and then learn to accept that we are not all meant to be fashion-model size.

Our body size and structure reflects not only our eating and exercise habits but also our genetics. The role this latter factor plays in determining weight seems to vary greatly between individuals. We are all born with a certain body type inherited from our parents. Although hardly anyone is a pure body type, there are three different applicable categories: ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs.

Characteristically, ectomorphs have a light build with slight muscular development. They are usually tall and thin with small frames and narrow hips and shoulders.

Mesomorphs have a husky, muscular build. They often have broad shoulders, and their weight is concentrated in the upper body, making them look compact or stocky.

Endomorphs are characterized by a heavy, rounded build with shoulders usually narrower than their hips. They have a round, soft appearance and are more often overweight or obese.

When we understand and appreciate our bodies, we are able to work with them, not against them. Although many of us are a combination of two body types, we cannot become what we are not. However, everyone can improve their appearance and their health and performance levels by implementing the principles of a safe and effective eating and exercise program.

Even if you have a genetic predisposition to being overweight, the way you live is what ultimately determines whether you become fat. Genes clearly play a role, but they certainly don’t determine what you’re going to have for dinner or how often you exercise. Chances are if you’re living an unhealthy lifestyle, you’ll become fat and unhealthy.

All of us can’t be thin. But every single one of us can be healthy. By focusing on what you’re eating and how much you’re exercising, you’ll be able to achieve optimum health and fitness, even though you may not achieve society’s ideal of thinness. Accepting yourself does not mean that you’re hopeless and that it’s okay to do nothing. It means that you feel good and care about yourself, and that you want to be the very best you can be, regardless of your genetics, regardless of society’s standards.

To achieve this level of optimum wellness, you must have a positive self image. This means that your feelings about your body are not influenced by events in your daily life. For many people, life’s problems are projected onto their body. “If only I were thinner–or more muscular, I would have made the team, gotten the job, been chosen. . . . If only I were thinner–or more muscular, I could meet more people, find the right guy/girl, be happy.” This self-defeating habit is reinforced by the images we see in advertising; your body becomes an easy target for everything wrong in your life.

When you have a positive self-image, you value and respect your body; you are also more likely to feel good about living a healthy lifestyle.

No matter how much genetics predetermines how you store and lose fat, the body you’ve been given will still respond positively to being appreciated and treated well. Focusing on fun physical activity and eating healthy foods will help you feel good whatever your size. Developing a healthy, positive image of yourself is the first critical factor in your fitness success. Having a strong sense of self-worth provides the basis for making rational and affirming decisions about your health. Good luck, stay positive, and enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle!

By Chad Tackett