Something you might not know about fat loss….Steady State versus Anaerobic State

Hello everyone.  I wish all of you well in your quest to become better individuals by healthy mind, body and soul.

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted.  You see, I don’t just blog all the time to be blogging.  I want my blog posts to have some meaning.  So when I am inspired to blog for any specific reason, then and only then do I get the word out to the masses.

Now to the good stuff.  So many of you out there feel that you HAVE to do cardio training to lose fat.  In all actuality this is not always necessarily true.  Many of you are missing out on the anaerobic and metabolic effects of resistance training and high intensity training.  I feel that part of this may be due to the fact that we (meaning Americans) LOVE to see the “calories burned” at the end of our workout.  Hence the love of getting on the treadmill or hooking ourselves up to a heart rate monitor.  BUT you are only taking in the “aerobic” measures towards caloric expenditure.  You are missing on a few other more important variables when determining what exercise means give you the most bang for your buck when working into a fat loss exercise program.

I want to thank Alwyn Cosgrove for bringing this study to my attention.  Alwyn is a fat loss EXPERT and has been doing it for quite some time now.  He has kept EVERY workout he has had his members perform and is up to date on ALL the research on fat loss.  So lets just say when Alwyn speaks, we (Nikki and I) listen.

A study in 2005 titled: “Misconceptions about aerobic and anaerobic energy expenditure” by Scott, CB and was published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.  Here they performed a study which compared 3.5 minutes of aerobic exercise versus 3 x 15 second wind sprints.

When you look at the first set of data which only recorded the calories burned using the aerobic measure they came out to:

Aerobic exercise = 36 calories burned

Sprints = 4 calories burned

This is where most people stop the argument.  “SEE!”  “Steady state aerobic is better than sprinting or high intensity cause it burns more calories!”  Just a second my friend.

The next measurement they took was EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumpton).  Wikipedia defines EPOC as:

(EPOC, informally called afterburn) is a measurably increased rate of oxygen intake following strenuous activity intended to erase the body’s “oxygen debt.” In historical context the term “oxygen debt” was popularized to explain or perhaps attempt to quantify anaerobic energy expenditure, particularly as regards lactic acid/lactate metabolism; in fact, the term “oxygen debt” is still widely used to this day. Direct and indirect calorimeter experiments have, however, definitively disproven any association of lactate metabolism as causal to an elevated oxygen uptake.^[1]

In recovery, oxygen (EPOC) is used in the processes that restore the body to a resting state and adapt it to the exercise just performed. These include: hormone balancing, replenishment of fuel stores, cellular repair, innervation and anabolism.

EPOC is accompanied by an elevated consumption of fuel. In response to exercise, fat stores are broken down and free fatty acids (FFA) are released into the blood. In recovery, the direct oxidation of free fatty acids as fuel and the energy consuming re-conversion of FFA’s back into fat stores both take place.^[2][3][4]
When they now measured the total calories burned including EPOC and Aerobic it came to the following total:

Steady State Aerobic exercise = 36 calories burned

Sprints (mostly anaerobic) = 39 calories burned

That is a pretty big jump by the 15 second sprints in just the EPOC alone and by checking out the above definition, its pretty nice to see that the fat stores are broken down during EPOC.

Lastly they decided to check calories burned using an Anaerobic Measure.  When all was said and done with aerobic, EPOC, and anaerobic measures were calculated.  Here is the final score:

Steady State Aerobic exercise = 39 calories burned

Sprints (mostly anaerobic) = 65 calories burned

Now do you see why we push so much for high intensity cardio and anaerobic works like kettlebell swings and strength training?  Its the WHOLE affect that creates the type of response that you want when trying to lose fat.

I would love to see a study that promotes strength training,  circuit training, kettlebell swings and other types of anaerobic exercise to put up against the treadmill, stair stepper and elliptical steady state exercise.

Are you making Excuses or Solutions?

Hope everyone is doing well out there and training hard and more importantly training smart.

After the past two weeks of speaking to individuals about their health and fitness goals for changing their lives I am inspired to write a blog on the subject.

First I need to provide a warning for you that this blog post will not be pretty.  You are going to see a little bit of my dark side.  Yes I have an alter ego (some of my clients have named him “Mac”) and it is about time that my alter ego come out and provide some knowledge.  I am not going to be an A$$hole, I am just going to be very blunt and provide all of you a little reality check.  Its not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings but to get you to achieving your goals.

Being a fitness/sports medicine professional since 1996 I have met a lot of individuals.  Some are inspiring with their story about how they have overcome adversity and made a positive change in their life.  But, the majority of the people I have met only have excuses.  Excuses for why they live the life they live, for their troubles, for their issues, blaming others for the problems they are faced with today, or baggage that is keeping them from living a happy life.

Listen, I am not better than anyone else.  I used to be Captain Excuse, I would blame my past for my issues with being able to deal with people.  I still catch myself today making excuses for many things, but I am aware of it and trying to stop it.

Here is the big problem.  If we are so busy making excuses, we are never working on SOLUTIONS to our adversity. Here is some of the excuses that I have heard recently and here is what they are really saying.

• “The reason why my knee buckles when I exercise is because the flooring is bad or I have crappy shoes, or its just the way I move.”
• I have knee issues but I don’t want to take time away from my workout to correct it.  So I am risking ruining my knees even more just so I can workout harder
• “I used to workout ALL the time and was so happy with my body, until I had someone close to me pass away.  Ever since then I haven’t had the energy to workout and eat right.”
• I was on track and then off track and now I just don’t have the energy to go through what I went through before to achieve the results I need.
• This is a tough one.  I am not saying that you cannot mourn.  All I am saying is that you should mourn, but there has to be a time where you pick yourself up off of the floor and put the pieces back together.
• “The reason I eat crap and don’t workout is because I don’t have the money.”
• I am too lazy to think of a SOLUTION on how to budget properly to afford a proper fitness program and nutrition strategy.  I would much rather use my money (that I state that I don’t have) eating out and going to the bar.
• “I would love to join a fitness facility or a fitness program, but I need to get in better shape to handle the intensity of the program.”
• I am scared out of my mind about showing up to a fitness class and looking like a fool.  I don’t want others to see me make mistakes and fail.  I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of others.
• This is another tough one.  But understand that everyone is in your shoes and has the same doubts and worries as you.  Ask any of our members, they were in the same situation as you during the first week of their program.  I was as well when I started my first kettlebell class!  But you make mistakes and learn from them, you struggle and sweat and accomplish and you do it with others who are there to help you along and you can help them too.  The difference between our members and you is that they decided they were tired of living the life that they were and took the first step.
  

So as painful as this blog may have been for you to read.  Take a few days and think about it.  Are you making Excuses?  Or are you now going to start thinking of SOLUTIONS to your problems.  I know that it has made my life much better when I stopped looking for an excuse and began thinking of solutions.

If you ever need help finding a solution, there are thousands of well trained individuals out there to help you find those solutions.  Never give up, always be thinking of a solution and your mind will find the answer.

When it comes to Exercise…. Quality before Quantity?

Now is the time of year that everyone has BIG goals in mind.  And rightfully so, you should!  A new year is among us and we make resolutions and goals.  Many have the goal of obtaining and health and fitness goal(s) such as fat loss, improving strength or setting new heights within their sports or activities.

Many of these individuals set out to set a new standard of the way they train.  They set a goal and a date to reach that goal (which is very important by the way), they get a plan of action (secondly important) and they have the passion to complete the goal.

Only one thing may be missing from you achieving that ever so important goal.  How WELL do you move?  Establishing a baseline for movement is very important and is becoming the new standard for training.  You see, over time our bodies can and will develop imbalances by the way we live our lives.  That could be due to working at a desk 8 hours per day, playing a particular sport or even from a previous injury.

The problem is that alot of people feel that you need to move more to achieve your health and fitness goals.  But as a matter of fact, this may create more of a problem.  Think of it this way.  You buy a brand new BMW roadster the only problem is that you purchased the car from another person and the frame is out of alignment.  What should you do first?  Drive that car all out with the pedal to the metal?  No, because you know that would do more harm than good.  You take it to a licensed mechanic who can get the car back into proper alignment.  THEN you can take it out and drive it the way you want to.

The same should be said for our bodies.  Imbalances and asymmetries can prevent us from getting the workout that we want.  Better movement, better workout, more productivity towards your fitness goal.

This is why all our clients get a Functional Movement Screen included in their free trial.  This helps us to understand how to train them better.  If you are interested in getting a FREE functional movement screen at no charge contact us here at sghumanperformance@gmail.com.  To find out more about the Functional Movement Screen you can check out their website and you can also find information about it on our website.

In the following weeks we will be posting exercises and videos that helps us get a terrific workout and maintain or achieve all our movement quality.

Vaccinating yourself against body fat

This week I’ve shared with you two blog posts in which Dr
John Berardi talks about losing body weight (and body fat).

The first one talks about how important incentives are for
changing your body. And it goes on to incentivize you with
a whopping $40,000 in prize money.

Could The Chance To Win $10,000 Help You Get In Shape?
http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=1035856&u=win-40k

The second one shows you how to coerce yourself into
sticking to the plan, even when the motivation wanes.

Enter “the best kept secret in weight loss.”
http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=1035856&u=blackmail-yourself-lean

Finally, today, I have one last post to share.

In this one, Dr Berardi talks about how you can actually
vaccinate yourself against body fat. Hint: it doesn’t
involve needles!

Learn how to vaccinate yourself against body fat
http://precisionnutrition.com/cmd.php?pageid=1035856&u=the-body-fat-vaccine