Has this ever happened to you? You try out a diet or exercise plan for a week or so, and then you get frustrated when your body looks the same as before. So you just plain give up. Weight loss isn’t a speedy thing. It takes time to gain weight – many people put on weight for years and then expect to lose it in a few weeks or months. It just does not work that way.

So instead of pressuring yourself into losing 50 pounds in two months, how about sticking with a realistic, proven way for long term weight loss: small changes to your lifestyle over time will make the difference.

In practical terms, make it your goal to drop one pound per week. Now this may not seem like that much but if you did this consistently for one year it would result in 50 pounds lost. All it takes are small changes in your daily lifestyle. Let’s break the process down.

How to Shed One Pound Per Week

Burn 3500 extra calories.

Did you get that? Either burn 3500 extra calories, or eat 3500 calories less. That’s only 500 calories per day!

It really is that simple. Try the following three steps.

1) RECORD YOU NORMAL WEEKLY EXERCISE: Look at everything from walking to participating in sports to exercising in the gym. This is your starting point. You need to burn an additional 3500 calories on top of your normal weekly exercise. If you don’t currently exercise, then this step is really easy for you, a simple blank page will do just fine.

2) RECORD YOUR NORMAL WEEKLY FOOD INTAKE: This may be hard to do honestly, but remember that you are only cheating yourself by not recording everything. Calculate the total number of calories that you eat in an average day. In your quest for dropping inches you should not exceed your normal daily caloric intake – you should, rather, work at slowly decreasing that number. Remember we are going for a 3500 calorie deficit each week. This can be done by a combination of increased calorie exertion (exercise) as well as a decrease in calories consumed, (eating less)

3) CHART THE DIFFERENCE: Now that you know your starting point for both calorie exertion and calorie intake it is time to turn the tables in your favor. Take every opportunity to exert more calories by increasing your physical activity, and to decrease your calorie consumption by eating fewer calories and by making healthier selections. Record your progress in a notebook and refer back to it often. You will be surprised how encouraging it is to see your progress written down on paper. Remember. if you burn up to 500 calories a day you will drop a pound in a week. Weight loss does not have to be allusive. Make small changes each and every day toward a healthier, fitter you. Remember that small changes make a big difference. I can help you achieve this type of goal, and I am always here to help you. Call or reply to this email to set up your free consultation for a stronger, learner and healthier you.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Fat Cells
  A fat cell can store 2,000 times it’s own weight in fat.
• Vitamin D
  Low levels of Vitamin D increase risk of high blood pressure.
• Trans Fats
  Trans fats increase the risk of prostate cancer.
• Smoking
  Smoking knocks an average of eight years off your life.
• Obesity
  85 percent of recently surveyed obese people did not recognize that they were obese.
• Acupressure
  In a recent study, acupressure helped 90 percent of patients with low back pain and reduced disability by 89 percent.

“How Much Should I Weigh Doc?”

It’s a common question, and an important one. It’s important because about two thirds of all Americans weigh more than they should. It’s important because excess weight has serious consequences for health. Obesity is responsible for high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol and triglycerides. At the same time, it promotes HDL (good) cholesterol. It impairs the body’s responsiveness to insulin, raising blood sugar and insulin levels. and the consequences go far beyond an unflattering figure and a worrisome metabolic profile: obesity contributes to major causes of death and disability, including heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, fatty liver, and depression. All in all, obesity and lack of exercise are responsible for about 1,000 deaths in the U.S. each day. Faced with these risks, it’s no wonder that you want to know how much you should weigh. But this common and important question is actually the wrong question. For health, the issue is not how much you weigh, but how much abdominal fat you have.

Evaluating Obesity

Methods have changed over the years. For decades, doctors relied on simple height and weight charts. But when scientists recognized that what matters is not body weight but body fat, standards begin to change. The new technique is now called the body mass index (BMI) and it remains enshrined as the standard way to diagnose overweight and obesity.

Beyond the BMI

The BMI provides a good estimate of body fat, and it’s more acurate than skin fold measurements. As a result, patients in the know are now asking, What should my BMI be? Although the BMI is the official standard, it has several flaws. The BMI reflects total body fat without regard to how the fat is distributed. And although no excess fat is good, one type of excess fat is much more dangerous than the others. New research shows that abdominal fat is the worst of the worst.

Belly Up

In the past few years, a number of studies have called attention to the importance of abdominal obesity, and some of the new research shows that it is a better predictor of risk than BMI.

The Inside Story

What makes abdominal fat so harmful? Scientists don’t know for sure, but new research is providing strong clues. To understand these clues, you must first understand that abdominal fat comes in two different forms. Some of it is located in the fatty tissue just beneath the skin. The subcutaneous fat behaves like the fat elsewhere in the body: it’s no friend to health, but it’s no special threat either.

Fat inside the abdomen is another story. This visceral fat is located around the internal organs, and it’s the true villain. A very new explanation relies on the concept of lipotoxicity. Unlike subcutaneous fat, visceral fat cells release their metabolic products directly into the portal circulation, which carries blood straight to the liver. As a result, visceral fat cells that are enlarged and stuffed with excess triglycerides pour free fatty acids into the liver. Free fatty acids also accumulate in the pancreas, heart and other organs. In all these locations, the free fatty acids accumulate in cells that are not engineered to store fat. The result is organ dysfunction, which produces impaired regulation of insulin, blood sugar, and cholesterol, as well as abnormal heart function.

This one explanation is the better of the new three (only one was written in this article).

Evaluating Abdominal Obesity

The most accurate method is to use computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

A far simpler method is to determine the waist – to – hip ratio. Measure your waist and hips, your height and weight and give it to me, and I will advise you what the measurements mean in your individual case.

Now What Do You Do With That Information?

Measuring your waist to learn if you have abdominal obesity and excess visceral fat is easy-but doing something about it is much harder.

Forget abdominal crunches and sit-ups. The are good for increasing muscle tone, and mass, which will improve your profile, but they won’t selectively burn up abdominal fat. Gadgets that promise spot fat reduction are even worse: they’ll have you wasting time and money without reducing your waist.

Forget liposuction and apronectomy, (tummy tuck) Surgery can remove subcutaneous fat from your midsection but not visceral fat. Cosmetic surgery will improve your appearance and reduce your waiste circumference, but it won’t do a thing for you metabolism or health.

To lose weight, eat less. That means reducing your portion size and choosing your foods wisely. Avoid foods that are high in sugar. They are calorie dense.

Exercise more, walking two miles per day will substantially reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and premature death. It will also burn calories. Resistance training will increase your metabolic rate and burn more calories all day. Remember fat can only be metabolized through muscle. This means the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn.

BMI vs. Waist Circumference

New research suggests that waist size is a simple yet powerful way to predict the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses associated with excess body fat. Again, take your, waist, hips, height and weight and send them to me. I will advise based on you measurements your health risks.

AND I can help you stay healthy, and reduce you risk if you are not now healthy.

If you really want to lose weight, if you’re looking for long term health benefits then look no further that your sneakers. That’s right, lace them up and go for a jog. Then schedule a time to meet with me. Together we will turn you into a walking, talking, billboard for the benefits of exercise.

Best Tip:

To reach all of the above goals hire a Certified Fitness Trainer.

It’s kinda my style to explain in detail why and how I designed their particular routine. You start out with a consultation, which gives me a whole lot of information that I really need to know. Age, sex, workout experience, injuries or the lack of them, any prescriptions they may be taking, any past medical history, aches and pains, weight, size, current ability to exercise, The kind of shape the client is in at the moment, motive and desire, and one of the most important pieces of information……. the clients goals, needs and what they want to get out of an experience with a trainer.

Taking all of that into consideration, plus how long the client signed up for, the available equipment to work with where ever it is we end up working out, in the clients home, the gym complex where a client may live, or my semi private studio. I put all of that information together and more, into a plan. The plan should include (for most clients) Cardiovascular conditioning, progressive resistance weight training, diet and supplements, all are subject to change due to the needs and the expectations of the client. With all of this information in my arsenal, I design a original workout program for each client I have. It is the right program for that client and that client alone.

So here we are, back at the gym. The client is doing the routine I designed, working hard to do it right and make some progress. But the client can’t help but see what going on around them. So….without fail sooner or later my client will say something like, Hey Trainer….what’s up with that? This question is usually in reference to what the client sees another trainer doing with their clients, or someone who looks like they know what they are doing. They may be doing something that is very different from what we are doing, or maybe they are doing the same kind of exercise, but not the same way we are. They could be doing different exercises, working on different equipment and maybe doing it in a way I have instructed my client not to do it. You see a lot of things in a gym, just as you do anywhere else, some good some bad and some………in the middle.

So, it’s got to happen, “Hey Trainer…what’s up with that?”

That’s a very hard question to answer. To the client it seems pretty obvious, that someone does not know what they are doing, (and this may very well be the case), that being said, every question I get as a trainer deserves an answer. So here goes.

As a trainer, I feel I should never question what another trainer is doing, unless it is something that is dangerous, and without any doubt wrong and will only lead to an injury sooner or later. Since I don’t know what the client wants to accomplish or anything about their experience, background and history, and the same goes for the trainer, my answer is usually pretty simple. “I haven’t a clue? BUT…….we shouldn’t’t make a judgment about what we see unless we have a lot more information than we do. What we should do, is make sure we hire a trainer with experience, education, certification and the ability to design, implement and control a training protocol, safely, competently designed for the client’s ability, and goals.

If the trainer has the knowledge, training and experience, and knows how to accomplish that, They will do a great job for their client. My advise is simply this…Learn as much as you can about the personal trainer you choose to work with. When he is interviewing you, interview him. Have the confidence in your trainer to do the right job for you under any and all circumstances. If you follow that simple rule, I am gonna bet that you will not be the client stating, “Hey trainer. What’s up with that. You will know the answer.

High Intensity Interval Training Works

Short bouts of maximal intensity exercise (HIT) build high levels of fitness quickly. A remarkable study by Canadian researchers found that six sessions of high intensity interval training on a stationary bike, (it can be assumed the same results will be obtained from any aerobic activity, running, treadmill, etc.) increased muscle oxidative capacity by almost 50%, muscle glycogen by 20% and cycle endurance capacity by 100%

The subjects made these amazing improvements exercising a mere 15 minutes in two weeks 4 to 8 bouts of 30 seconds of exercise, maximum: 4 minutes rest in between bouts. The secrete here is to exercise a maximum effort. This test was duplicated by a follow up study in moderately active women using the same training increased whole body and skeletal muscle capacity for fat use during exercise.

High Intensity Interval Aerobic Training can gain better results in 1/3 the time. For a free consultation, and a one on one personal session just call or email me for more information. (Applied Physiology Nutrition Metabolism, 34: 428-432, 2009)

Multiple Sets Best for Beginning Weight Training

Most weight training studies on beginners or untrained people showed that multiple sets produce no more benefit than single set workouts. Critics say that these studies were poorly supervised and that multiple sets would be superior if people trained hard.

Brazilian researchers, using untrained college age men, found that multiple sets produced greater strength gains than single sets. Subjects performed 8 to 12 repetitions for 1 or 3 sets during a six week training period. Multiple set programs were best for beginning weight trainers. All my programs for beginners include full body work outs, with at least 2 sets per exercise. (Paper presented at American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, May 28, 2009)

Abdominal Crunches Activate Core Muscles Better Than Planks

Core muscle development is central to keeping fir, and serves as the foundation for peak performance in almost all sports. Many personal trainers reemphasize traditional abdominal exercises such as crunches in favor of Pilates exercises such as planks. Perhaps this is in haste….Anthony Caterisano and co investigators from Furman University in Greenville, SC found that crunches activated the rectus abdominis, (six pac muscles) and external obliques (side ab muscles) 20% greater than planks. They measured muscle activation using electromyography. Crunches build core muscles strength better than planks. Crunches, have always been and always will be a integral part of most of my routines. (Medicine Science Sports Exercise 41: 198-199, 2009

What Protein Boosts Muscle Protein Synthesis Best

Scientists, coaches and athletes argue endlessly about the best protein supplement for enhancing muscle protein synthesis. Whey and Soy Protein are digested faster than casein, so supplement makers often mix blends to maximize amino a cid availability for as long as possible. However, little research supports the use of one type of protein over the other.

Researchers from McMaster University in Canada found that a supplement containing why protein hydrolysate accelerated muscle protein synthesis at rest and after weight training better than soy or casein protein The researchers speculated that whey protein promoted muscle protein because it was digested faster and was better able to increase blood levels of leucine, which is critical signaling compound for promoting protein synthesis Call me to find out what protein I recommend for pre and post work outs. (Journal of Applied Physiology, in press: published online July 9, 2009.)

So If I want to get you motivated, so you start to think about and then engage in some serious, weight resistant training I have to convince you of the advantages . of doing this. The advantages are both physiological and psychological, and they include.

Improved Health

Aerobic exercise has many health benefits, but within the last few years research into weight training for woman, have documented many of the same health improvements for woman. Weight training is now associated with lower resting heart rate, reductions in blood pressure, improved cholesterol profiles, increased glucose tolerance, and reduced intra-abdominal fat.

Preservation Of Function

Aging is associated with an increase risk of disease and loss of function. Most of this functional loss is do to reductions in muscular strength, endurance and flexibility. After age 50 muscle strength is lost at the rate of 12% to 14% per decade. To combat this fact, strength training is vital, For some woman, strength gains of more than 30% and muscle mass increases of 12% have been gained within two months of a well thought out program. It kinda means, if you work at it, that 20 years of muscle loss can be re gained in only 8 weeks, an almost unbelievable fact. Further studies have shown that resistance trained older adults had cross sectional area of muscle identical to a 28 year old.

Preservation of Bone Mass

Osteoporosis is a concern for many post menopausal American Woman. there are many risk factors but, anywhere from 15% to 30% of bone mass can be lost during this period. Unfortunately research to date has shown that exercise and medications do not regress osteoporosis, they only slow down the loss of bone mass.

Weight Control

Almost all American woman list, “Weight Control” as the primary reason for exercising, take a look at the cardio room in any gym, you have to wait for a treadmill. What you need to know is that performing weight training versus moderate aerobic exercise. Moderate aerobic exercise has a metabolic cost of 5-7 calories per minute for a woman of average fitness. Moderate to vigorous strength training has a metabolic cost of 5-8 calories per minute. This means woman will experience a similar caloric burn with either aerobic or weight training, but with a major difference: Moderate aerobic activity primarily recruits slow twitch muscle fibers, so when you stop exercising, your metabolic rate returns to normal very quickly. Weight training is performed at a higher intensity and recruits both slow twitch and fast twitch muscle fibers, so the metabolic rate stays elevated much longer, which means you burn more calories after weight training than aerobic training. You burn calories for up to 12 or more hours after you stop working out. But on top of that weight training increases lean body mass. Muscle mass accounts for about 22% of the metabolic rate, so the more muscle you have the more fat your burn.

President Obama’s Health Reform Bills now in the Congress

The new health reform bills should concentrate on preventative medicine, and the best preventative medicine in the world is simply exercise not only for woman, but for almost every one. A well thought out exercise protocol would reduce accidents, disease, ageing. We can only imagine the amount of money that could be saved via this path.

Psychological benefits:

The results of a study on college age woman who participated in strength training at least twice a week for 12 weeks found that:

• 97% indicated they felt healthier and more fit
• 51% indicated improvements in their body image
• 85% indicated an improved attitude toward themselves

All types of exercise have been shown to reduce depression, stress and anxiety. So what’s stopping you from some serious weight training? Maybe some myths you have heard of along the way. Now is the time to: Separate the facts from fiction.

“I don’t want to get big… or less feminine”

You need to understand most woman simply do not have the necessary quantities of the male hormone testosterone to build muscles like a man. (In very rare cases, some woman do have the potential for above average muscle gain.) So if you are one in a million….who knows you may like what you can become.

“My friend started lifting weights and she gained weight”

That can be a good thing, yes it can……muscle weighs more, by volume, that fat does. A pound of fat takes up 1.1 liters of space, a pound of muscle takes up only .9 liters of space. A pound of fat takes up 18% more space than a pound of muscle. BUT your overall body composition changes and your size changes, and you look and feel better, and then guess what…. You too will lose weight.

“Will my muscles turn to fat if I stop training?”

Muscle and fat are two entirely different types of tissue and one can never become or turn into the other. Muscle is muscle, and fat is fat. When you stop training, daily caloric expenditure decreases, and over a period of time your BMR will slow down. If you don’t eat less you will gain weight. The simple solution to this problem, is don’t stop…it’s good for you forever.

“In order to lose fat, don’t I need to burn fat?”

No you don’t. If you diet and restrict the calories you intake, you will lose weight, and some of that weight will be fat and some of it will be muscle. If you don’t do intensive strength weight training, and you do go on a calorie restrictive diet, you will lose about 5 lbs of muscle, for every 20 lbs of weight. If you do work at high intensity weight training, you will lose less muscle, get stronger, feel better, and look great.

“Since most woman can’t gain tons of muscle, can I gain strength?”

Strength and muscle size though related, are different concepts. Strength is neurological. Woman gain strength at the same rate as men. During the first 8 weeks of a strength training program the dramatic increases in strength are due to neurological improvement, not muscle hypertrophy or size increases. The amount of size a woman can gain, once again is limited to testosterone and genetics., but you can continue to gain strength.

In Conclusion

Team up with a certified fitness professional to work with you, and design a program for you as an individual. One that will increase you strength, cardio stamina, muscle, fat reduction, increase your resting metabolic rate, reduce the chance of many diseases, create balance and flexibility, and work core functions, so that every day physical activity becomes something you do without effort. The rewards are endless, and there is no time like right now to give me a call at 954 695 7178 to show you how you can do and be whatever it is you care to if you have the professional guidance, and the motivation and drive that it takes to build a more beautiful and healthy you…

In 1978 the, “Help Wanted” section of the Sun Sentinel Newspaper had more want ad pages, than the entire newspaper has pages today.

As I casually drive up and down Federal Highway, from Oakland Park Blvd. to Hillsboro Blvd. I see so many vacant stores on both sides of the street, one after the other. I assume this is the way it is in the entire continental United States.

The, “Going Out of Business” signs grab and compete for your attention.

The specials dangling from the store fronts are hawking anything from “two-for-one” specials to buy one get one free, or anything else the owners can think of to attract you attention and haggle for your patronage.

The airlines and hotels don’t know what else to do to attract your attention and get your business. “Stay two nights get two nights free“, “enjoy our buffet free when you stay for two nights“. “Come to our hotel, and we will pay half of your airfare“. This is the time to buy, fly, vacation go on trips, and yeah get that huge flat screen TV you always wanted. It just won’t get any cheaper than this.

I made reservations for dinner for a Saturday night at 8:30 pm at one of my favorite restaurants only to find, much to my surprise and delight no one was waiting outside and believe it or not no one was waiting inside to be seated either.

Tables were plentiful and the service was fantastic, due to the fact that the waiters had very few customers to wait on.

The stock market goes up and it does down, but in the last couple of weeks it has averaged out to be about the same, all of us who took a bath, are still waiting for some return on our investments. We don’t even want to look any more, it is just too painful.

The President’s stimulus plan, as aggressive as it might have been, just does not seem to have helped the average person, feel better, get a job, keep a job, see a small profit in downward investments, ease unemployment, “especially if you lost your job” secure your mortgage, or even let you purchase a house if you are in the market for one.

I know exactly how you think about spending money, because I am in the same place you are and I make the same decisions about how I spend my money as you do.

BUT, a recent issue of Time” magazine with its headline, “The Health Issue” and dated June 22, 2009, arrived in my mail box. Of course being in the health industry, I started to read the various articles offered. On page 85 I found an article called, “A User’s Guide to Good Health at Every Age” this caught my attention. I would like to share with you the contents of the article as it pertains to Physical Fitness.

Before I start quoting from the article, the introduction states, “The road to wellness begins in childhood and twists and turns over time. We asked five experts in prevention to give their best advice for staying healthy throughout life. (I have not re written the entire article, but I have condensed it to give you their opinion on exercise and ageing. Included in this article was a section on diet for each age group. (I have not included the advice on diet in this small article.)

Childhood from age 0 to 12

For children ages 6 and older and adolescents, the US Dept of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends at least one hour of physical activity every day, including vigorous exercise at least three times per week Kids should get a mix of aerobic and muscle building and bone strengthening.
Adolescence 13 to 18

Minimum recommended one hour of physical activity per day.

Young Adulthood 19-35

No time to work out? They don’t buy that excuse. Exercise shouldn’t be something that we’re making time for, it should be a daily given, like sleeping or eating. If you want a lifetime of robust heath, you have to be religious about your physical activities. As per HHS you need 2 ½ to 5 hours cardio activity each week. Plus weight training at least two times a week.

Middle Adulthood 36-59

A daily routine of physical activity gets more and more important as you age, not only to prevent weight gain and chronic illness but also to keep the brain sharp. In addition to cardiovascular exercise and strength training, doctors advise working on balance and flexibility.

Seniors 60+

Exercise, exercise, exercise, it’s the only wonder drug we have. Adults who are physically active not only have a lower risk of disease, depression and chronic pain from conditions like arthritis and back pain. The HHS exercise recommendations for older adults are identical to those for younger ones.

So what does all this mean to you?

I think each and every one of us who receives an income for what we do, has to decide the best way to budget and spend the hard earned money we earn. College fund for our children, the rent or mortgage, food, car payments, utilities, medical insurance, home insurance and he list goes on. We all have the same or similar expenses. We all try and find a few dollars for recreation and enjoyment, like dinner out, a small vacation.

BUT, the most cherished blessing we have is our health. Without our health everything else in life fades into the realm of, just not important. Our health allows us to enjoy our children’s graduation ceremony from college. The dinner out, the small mini vacation, or the family road trip together. Our health also insures that we are able to perform the way we have to at our employment, or our income comes to a very fast halt.

The single most important thing you can do to insure your future is to preserve your health. The ABSOLUE, INDISPUTABLE, ABUNDANCE OF CREDIBLE EVIDENCE IS: IN ORDER TO GROW OLDER AND BE HEALTHY YOU MUST EXERCISE, BOTH CARDIOVASCULAR AND WEIGHT TRAINING, WHILE MAINTAINING A DIET THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU.

The only question left is, “How do I exercise and diet, to gain the maximum results in the minimum amount of time?”

The only answer is “Get professional help from a qualified Personal Trainer.”

Whatever the cost, it is NOT a luxury…. It is a necessity.

It’s pretty cute. They just run and run. They don’t have a magazine to read, or a TV to watch. It really doesn’t matter, not to the hamster. They just run and run, and really have no idea what they are doing or why they are running.

Sound familiar? Is that you? Running on a treadmill, with at best an idea of why your are doing it. You want to lose weight. You want to tone up. You want to live longer. You want to improve your cardio respiratory system. Are you sure? Do you really know what happens when you run on a treadmill, I mean really know. If you did, you could make better choices. You could pick a routine that is right for you. Not something you think you should be doing. See you are already getting past the hamster stage.

What can aerobic exericse do for you?

Increase your life span. (some research suggests, for each hour you spend aerobically, can increase your life span by two hours. Not a bad return on your investment.

Aids in relieving depression. Aids in preventing certain types of cancer. Relieves stress and anxiety. Reduces the risk of heart disease. Can slow the aging process. Increases the good HDL cholesterol. Improves the quality of sleep. Improves mental sharpness. Improves endurance levels, Increases your VO2 max.

What is aerobic fitness?

The capacity to take in transport, and utilize oxygen. Aerobic means in the presence of oxygen. The typical goal is to improve peak oxygen consumption, and associated cardiovascular functions to support endurance performance.

How should I train?

That really depends on your training goals.

Here is where we really start to separate ourselves from our hamster friends.

We now can make informed choices about how we exercise. Training for aerobic fitness, suggests that you should train at a certain percent of your maximum heartbeat. Here is how this works. Subtract your age from 220. The results is your maximum heartbeat. The average, “healthy” individual can train between 60 and 90% of their maximum heartbeat. You should train between three and five days per week. From 20 to 60 minutes per session. You can start on the low end and build up to the high end. Training in this range will improve your aerobic fitness. But…there is a catch to the above. Once your body has improved to a certain level, it tends to stay at that level. That means like any form of exercise, once you have accomplished a training goal, your body does not adapt to a higher level. It stays where it is. In order to continue to improve You have to increase one or more of the following: your frequency of training, the volume (number of sessions per week) of training and or the intensity of training. (How fast you exercise) As long as one of the three variables are increased, you aerobic fitness level increases. When you reach a level that satisfies your needs, you can continue with that level, until your needs change.Training for fat loss…..again, the guide lines are, train at a low intensity, “fat burning level” from 45 to 60 minutes per session. 3 to 5 sessions per week.

Is believed to be the proper intensity to lose weight. Lower intensity aerobics are believed to burn calories, by first depleting the glycogen which supplies the energy. This should take about 20 minutes of exercise. When this form of energy is depleted, the theory suggests, that the body will convert fat for fuel, and you will lin turn burn fat. Hence the theory, that you have to exercise at least 20 minutes at low intensity to burn fat.

Despite what you may have been told or read, this type of program has only a minor effect on weight loss. I probably should repeat this, in caps…..DESPITE WHAT YOU MAY HAVE BEEN TOLD OR READ, THIS TYPE OF PROGRAM ONLY HAS A MINOR EFFECT ON WEIGHT LOSS. Now our overweight hamster is starting to get confused, why am I doing this if it does not take the pounds off? Good question. Keep reading.

The most fundamental aspect of any fat loss program is to create a calorie deficit-to burn more calories than you eat. Unfortunately, you just don’t burn that many calories with a typical aerobic exercise program.

In a review of several hundred weight loss studies, Dr Wayne Miller and Colleagues of the George Washington University Medical Center looked at 493 studies between 1969 and 1994. (A meta analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research. International Journal of Obesity. 21. 941-947) Miller and associates wanted to determine whether adding aerobic exercise to a low calorie diet accelerated weight loss.

The average weight loss after a 15 week program of regular aerobic exercise was seven pounds. Over the same period, dieting cut weight by roughly 17 pounds. When exercise and diet were combined, average weight loss was 20 pounds – just three pounds more than diet alone. All that time on a treadmill for just 3 pounds.

Hey hamster, pay attention….what I am now about to tell you may go against almost everything you’ve learned about fat burning. (The study above is only one of many studies that support the new idea that aerobic training, is not very effective for weight loss) The truth is…that there is a better way to aerobic exercise. It does not involve hours of grueling time on a treadmill or miles and miles of distance on the road.

The type of exercise is called, “Interval Training”. It is a high intensity way to aerobic train and it has many benefits. First as a fat burner, remember it takes 3500 calories to support one pound. You have to decrease your food intake in calories, and increase you aerobic exercise to expend 3500 calories to lose one pound of weight. As a fat burner, interval training is hard to beat. That’s because raising the intensity of your exercise results in your body burning huge amounts of calories in less time. For instance: if you walk at 3 MPH it will take you 20 minutes

To complete a mile burning approximately 4 calories per minute or 80 calories overall (at an average weight of 150 pounds) At the same weight, if you trained at a higher intensity at 8MPH you would complete the mile in 7.5 minutes, burning approximately 16 calories per minute or 120 calories. Less than half the time, with 40 excess calories burned.

SO here’s the kicker. During 20 minutes of walking at 3 MPH where you would burn only 80 calories if you ran for the same 20 minutes at 8 MPH you would burn 320 calories, during the exact same 20 minutes.

But…at the lower intensity (3 MPH) you would burn about 80% fat. 20% carbohydrates, or about 64 calories from fat and 16 calories from carbohydrates at 3MPH for 20 minutes.

At the higher intensity (8 MPH) you would burn 80% from carbohydrates. 20% from fat or 256 calories from carbohydrates and 64 calories from fat.

You will burn an equal amount of calories from fat given the same 20 minutes period, but many more calories.

Another interesting fact

A calorie is a calorie. The body doesn’t care if it is a fat calorie or a carbohydrate calories. You burn 3500 calories, and you lose a pound.

Your body will continue to burn calories long after your workout is over. Which does not happen in regular aerobic exercise. At least one study showed that high energy exercises every other day could lead to an extra 2 pounds per month, (or more) of fat loss, just from the rise in metabolism and extra calories burned.

Low intensity, high volume cardio will not give you the same results.

High intensity exercise does not just burn fat. It aids in building lean, powerful muscle as well.

It’s pretty simple. You can do it in any number of different ways.

A six minute workout…

• Warm up 2 minutes
• Sprint 30 seconds (sprint means to run as fast as you can, yet stay in control)
• Rest 30 seconds
• Sprint 30 seconds
• Rest 30 Seconds
• Continue for six minutes
• Advance to the next level
• Continue to do the above for 10 minutes

Don’t kid yourself, this is taxing, and hard, but it will build aerobic fitness fast, and it will help tone, and build muscle at the same time that it will burn more calories, than the long, “fat burring” aerobics will.

Remember, once the body has done the same exercise, for a period of time, it no longer creates a challenge, to continue to improve, you must increase the intensity, volume and or frequency. But 10 minutes at the proper lever of intensity, will accomplish more of a result in aerobic fitness and weight loss and muscle tone and development than 30 minutes to an hour, 3 to five times per week. Try it. It’s not easy, but it is by far the best kind of aerobic fitness exercise you can do.

Hey hamster, are you still running around in circles or would you like some help. If you would like help in creating an aerobic fitness routine for you coupled with a progressive weight resistance program, and diet modification that is designed just for you and makes sense, and fits into your life style, contact me now. Martin C. Mark, Certified Fitness Trainer. Over 20 years experience. 954 695 7178 – MCM.Fitness@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

What is high intensity exercise or, “Interval Training” Our hamster is about to book a cruise for the Caribbean, but you are about to enter into a higher level of aerobic training….

There are many reasons to strength train or do resistance training. One advantage resistance training offers is a leaner body. Maintaining or increasing muscle mass preserves your ability to burn greater numbers of calories. Your body is operating at a higher metabolic rate and it’s easier to maintain or lose weight.

Strength training may be the most important exercise you can do for losing fat and maintaining weight, because it can increase your metabolism. Don’t throw away your running and walking shoes just yet. Even though biking, running and dance aerobics do not develop muscle to any great extent, aerobic training is still important for cardiorespiratory health and weight control. But one of the biggest reasons people gain weight is because they lose muscle mass as they get older.

Metabolism refers to the number of calories you’re burning whether sleeping, watching TV or exercising vigorously. Metabolism slows with age, but the bulk of the decrease has nothing to do with getting older. It seems to be caused mostly by physical inactivity. You can lose 1% of your muscle annully if you don’t exercise, which means from the age of 30-75 you can loose 45% of your muscle! If you only do cardiovascuar workouts like running, walking and biking, you will still lose the same amount of muscle over a given period of time. The key to avoiding muscle loss is to strength train! Key point: Increase muscle and you’ll burn more calories naturally-24 hours per day-even at rest! This will help you lose fat and maintain weight loss.

You burn calories during and after lifing. Strength training increases your metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories) at rest because it causes an increase in lean muscle tissue. Muscle tissue is very “metabolically active” Muscle is like Pac Man, it gobbles up lots of the calories to maintain itself, unlike fat, which requires almost no calories to exist. Muscle make you a calorie “waster,” which mean you burn more calories that won’t be stored as fat. Bottom line: increasing or maintaining your muscle mass will help you burn more calories and keep the fat off!

Improve Your Personal Appearance

We all like to be pleased with what we see in the mirror. Regardless of how you think you look, self-acceptance is important.

Strength training does some good things for your image that cardiovascular training can’t. It shapes, strengthens, builds and develops muscle. This has a direct impact on how you look. For example your padded shoulders are not the result of muscles being developed, a caved in chest now looks strong, full and expanded, and your sleeveless dress shirt shows off tone where, “flappies of fat” used to hang from the back of your arms. Though you can’t spot-reduce (selectively cause fat to disappear from a particular body part, you can spot build. Key point: strong muscles help to maintain an erect posture and could eliminate many orthopedic problems assoiated with the back, hip and kness. Resistance training can do more to reshape your body than any other type of training.

Get Stronger And Reduce Your Risk Of Injury

Strong muscles will make you less likely to get hurt. With strong muscles come strong ligaments, (they support your joints) and strong tendons (they support muscles to bone).

What this means is that you have margin for error. For example, if you stumble or lose your balance there’s a good chance you can right yourself without falling or hurting yourself, or straining a muscle. Key point: Resistance training provides a good “armor” for the body during cardiovascular workouts. Strong and resilient musles, bones, tendons, ligaments and cartilage protect the joints fro potential injury in all kinds of daily and recreational activity.

Keep Strong, Healthy Bones

Millions of the world’s population have osteoporosis, which is a disease that cripples by weakening bones. Bone loss can lead to fractures in the hip, back and wrist. Fracture complications can result in complete inactivity and an astonishing decrease in personal well-being. Don’t think you have to fall to break a weak bone. A quick turn of the head can break a vertebrae or catching your balance after a slip can fracture a hip that is weakened by osteoporosis. Stong bones are solid and dense, like a strong slab or oak. diseased bones look like porous sponge and easily break when stressed.

Strong muscles mean strong bones. When you contract your muscles by lifting weights, the point at which the muscle attach to the bone are positively stressed. These attachment points atually pull on the bone when the muscle contracts. This is what keeps your bones strong, along with adequate nutrition. Complete inactivity is a “killer” that contributes to weak and unhealthy bones. Key Point: Bones and muscle deteriorate with age and especially inactivity. The best way to strengthen the bones is to stimulate the muscles that pull on them, eat a healthy diet and to participate in weight-bearing and a low impact activity.

Stay Healthy

Strength training can lower your blood pressure if it’s high and reduce your risk for diabetes and some types of cancer. It can also lower your risk for heart disease by increasing, “good cholesterol’ and decreasing “bad cholesterol”

Best Tip:

The best way to reach all of the above goals is to hire a Certified Fitness Trainer.

Diet pill are everywhere, they tempt you from store shelves from infomercials and from glossy magazine pages, TV adds. You probably know someone who is dabbling with diet pills or maybe you have tried them yourself. Have you ever wondered how they work?

Weight loss pills can be broken down into three basic categories:

Appetite Supressants: These work just like it sounds. The appetite-regulating region of your brain (the hypothalamus) is tricked by blockage of the re-uptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. As a result you feel like you’ve just eaten a big meal, so you’re less likely to overate.

Stimulants: These types of weight loss pills used to contain a combination of ephedra and caffeine to raise energy expendiure (thermogenesis) while also reducing appetite. You’re probably aware that these pills were proven in some cases to be dangerous, so ephedra was taken off the market. (Some research suggests that this may not be true, but that is the subject article) Stimulant pills now contain other ephedra-like substances, vitamins and caffeine. The idea is to increase energy and boost metabolism.

Fat Blockers: These pills inhibit the action of the enzyme lipase, which is responsible for breaking down fat during the digestion process. The goal is to prevent a perentage of the fat you’ve eaten from being absorbed into your system.

So we now return to our burning question? Do the pills work? Here is what the diet pill companies say.

• “You’ll lose 30 lbs in 30 days”
• “Achieve rapid weight loss results”
• “Burn alories and fat 24 hours a day”
• “Fights fat and delivers rapid weight loss”

The claims are amazing…too bad they are just that-claims. It’s so tempting to imagine that those benefits could be gained just by swallowing a pill. Tempting enough to make diet pills a mutibillion dollar a year industry. Hmmm, makes you kinda wonder that if that many diet pills have been taken then why don’t we look like swim suite models yet?

While diet pills showcase a few star subjects, none of whom live on your block, the world if full of real people who have lost weight and improved their lives with exercise and modified eating habits. Check out the proven benefits of exercise:

• Increased Weight Loss
• Raised Self Esteem
• Strengthens heart and lungs
• Feel good endorphins
• Improved sleep paterns
• Feel younger than ever
• Improved coordination
• Improve blood flow
• Improved mood

A pill may slightly increase your metbolic rate for a time or may suppress your appetite, and you may lose a few pounds, however, a pill alone cannot produce serious or permanent weight loss. A pill cannot deliver the same results as healthy nutrition and regular exercise.

And weight loss pills have been known to give the following side effects:

• Raised blood pressure
• Increased risk of heart attack
• Cramping, gas and diarrhea
• Constipation
• Headaches
• Dry mouth
• Insomnia

The bottom line is that true weight lose can’t be achieved by a pill.

If you really want to lose weight, if you’re looking for long term health benefits then look no farther that your sneakers. That’s right, lace them up and go for a jog. Then schedule a time to meet with me.