by IcennaEmach | Oct 31, 2009 | Uncategorized
High intensity interval training, also called HITT, is a specific type of interval training that in the past was practiced mainly by athletes at the highest level of sports. Today, it is implemented commonly by athletes and non athletes alike who desire obtaining the most, lean, athletic, and sinewy physiques that are “possible for them.”
Emphasis on, “possible for them”, is placed because it’s important to understand that we have innate body shapes that make becoming lean more easy, or more difficult,depending on genetic factors. There are three body types:
Ectomorph
Body types are naturally lean and thin skinned. They will see quicker looking body fat results than the two other body types, mesomorphs and endomorphs.
Mesomorph
Body types are characterized by dense musculature. They will see results less quickly than ectomorphs, but have greatest lean muscle looking potential.
Endomorph
Body types are characterized by softness and fatty areas throughout body. These individuals respond to high intensity interval training less quickly than ectomorphs and mesomorphs, but results of fat loss percentages are more pronounced than the former two groups.
The Truth of the Matter
Think you are an Endomorph? Think again! Go back to your childhood, and recall what body type you were at age 10. This is what you are today, even if you feel a little soft.
EPOC to Super Charge Metabolism
When you exercise using the high intensity interval system, your body consumes considerably more oxygen. And the more oxygen you expend, the more calories you burn. However this increased oxygen during exercise is not really what fuels what we all desire- a higher metabolic rate, it’s the after-burn, or what is called EPOC, and more descriptively, excess post exercise oxygen consumption that fuels our metabolism. It works like this. The more energy your body uses during training, the higher EPOC. EPOC works in increasing metabolism by telling our body to get back to balance or what is referred to as homeostasis.
Getting back to homeostasis takes energy though, and this energy burns calories for several hours if not days afterward. That’s why hard working athletes who consume thousands of calories still find it difficult to sustain their weights. Their bodies are calorie burning machines even when they are at rest. How would you like to have even a fraction of their speedy metabolisms? You can. Next week we’ll go over specific high intensity interval training techniques to get you started on EPOC. In the meantime, think about this:
1. Training without good nutrition is nothing.
2. Over eating is not good.
3. You can do what you want to do.
4. Now is the time.
5. Control your destiny by managing your health.
by IcennaEmach | May 24, 2009 | Perspectives in Aging Well, Uncategorized
“Most people would agree that our body would rebel if we asked it to go from an eight-minute mile run one day to a six-minute mile run the next. Yet in our fervor to diet down to the perfect weight, we ask our brains to do the same by drastically changing our lifestyle habits in one day. Consider that our brains, like our body, will break down under similar demands.” Kim Miller
I only ask that you think about this. It takes more than willpower to change our habits. It takes thoughtful consideration for who we are, patience, and strategic planning for us to make lasting lifestyle changes. Consideration for small incremental lifestyle changes is an absolute must for long lasting behavior changes. Let the old way of dieting be out and the smart way to a healthier life be in! You can do it. There’s no hurry.
by IcennaEmach | May 17, 2009 | Burn Baby Burn, Uncategorized
What happened to her?
She wants me to walk 14 miles a day to lose weight.
I’m worried about her!
I better tell her she’s taking this weight gain thing far too seriously!
Such is the feedback to my last two weight loss issues. Now I know how the playwright felt when a review read “There was only one thing that weakened the play. They opened the curtain.” But, there was an objective to the direness I wanted one to feel in reading the past two issues.
The objective was to point out that it is easy to gain weight, but hard to lose weight, and because of this, we would be wise to utilize preventative weight gain measures such as weekly weighing and logging of caloric intake. The illustrations were intended to expand awareness of what occurs when one gains weight quickly yet expects to lose the added weight just as swiftly. It appears I accomplished this! I even have death threat e-mails to prove my astuteness in bringing full awareness to my Fit Through the Ages readers.
In part, our problem with weight loss has to do with our expectations. It is easy for all of us to consume additional calories. Eating a delicious pie ala mode may take only 5 minutes, and is pure enjoyment, but burning the calories will take two hours of what some term exercise misery! If we gain a pound of body fat in a short period of time by consuming too many calories, should we expect to lose the pound in the same amount of time it takes us to gain it?
The explanation in the last two blogs on weight loss frankly illuminates how much one needs to exercise, or reduce calories by, to lose a pound in 3 short days was certainly preposterous. However, consider the irony of this with our own weight loss goals. That is, that many of us expect to lose weight as rapidly as we gain weight. Who is going to walk 14 miles daily for three days in addition to working out in the gym for an hour daily, and all the while consuming only 1,100 calories on each of three days? Unfortunately, this is the reality when the goal is quick fat weight loss.
Viewing typical information in different ways helps to put things into proper perspective. Weight loss is about putting things into this proper perspective.
Think about this:
It is easier to gain weight than it is to lose weight.
It is easier to maintain weight than it is to lose weight.
And, it is easier on the body, mind, and spirit to maintain weight loss when done slowly, deliberately, and smartly than it is to lose weight quickly only to gain it back. The days of quick weight loss with no sense of sustaining lifestyle changes will soon be a perspective of the past. Our challenge is to act smartly, and with a sense of continual progressive lifestyle changes that deepen our convictions to do more for ourselves than just lose weight.
by IcennaEmach | May 14, 2009 | Burn Baby Burn, Uncategorized
How can we burn a maximum amount of calories in a minimum amount of time?
Last week’s article answered this question for the “newbie” calorie burner and this week we’ll look at what the intermediate level fitness calorie burner can do to more rapidly enhance his fat burning capacity.
First, a comment from a reader who writes, “You should check the latest research on fat burning. You suggest that LSD is the way to go for newbies. But that’s not what the new information says.” Well, the reader is correct, but….. read on.
Why Not Skip LSD Training and Get Right to the Best Calorie Burns?
If you are new to fitness, or have not been doing cardiovascular exercises such as walking, swimming, jogging, elliptical training, biking etc., then the suggested long slow distance training with minimal emphasis on heart rate intensity is used to build a base of endurance for furthering harder intensity calorie burning zones. Think of this slow long training as a necessary “evil” for furthering fat burning ability. A long slow distance base of training aids in the formation of new life changing habits, primes the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, as well as the cardiovascular system for a lifetime of increased fat burning ability and a speedier anti aging higher metabolism by reducing the occurrence of injuries, as well as the occurrence of premature overzealous training which often leads to failure.
Fat Burning Zone Explained in Brief
In order for a muscle to function it needs energy. There are three options that a muscle has to use fuel:
1 Carbohydrates
2. Fat
3. Protein- only used by muscles under depleted circumstances. Consider carbohydrates and fats as the two main sources.
When using energy our muscles use a mix of carbohydrates and fats, this is based on a number of factors, one of them being intensity and duration of activity. Fats require more oxygen than carbohydrates to burn. As a result, as exercise intensity increases and less oxygen is available, the body shifts form a fat burning zone to using carbohydrates for energy in order to maintain the activity. This doesn’t however mean that less fat is burned. In low intensity exercise the fat being used is coming from the blood stream and this was traditionally called the fat burning zone. In order to understand the whole picture though, we must look at where the source of the fat being used is coming from.
Energy Source Paramount in Increasing Fat Burn Ability
With increased intensity and duration of an activity, the muscles need more oxygen and energy, so our hearts beat faster to get blood to the muscles quicker. In medium intensity long duration activities the blood stream gets overloaded with work, including the job of providing an energy source to the working muscles. When looking to increase our fat metabolism, it’s necessary to get to this point of overloading our bloodstream’s energy sources. By doing this, the overloaded blood stream must turn to its own body’s muscle fat – namely the primary muscle mover’s fat (triglycerides) and glycogen (sugar) stores- which provide energy to the working body. Obtaining a state of moderate intensity training, where the body is working harder and the heart rate is being taxed at a perceived exertion of 6 out of a 10 point scale is when fat burning is amplified beyond just a simple calorie burn. To translate this into a target heart rate, achieve a heart rate of approximately 80% of your maximum heart rate and continue for duration of 20 minutes and preferably 30 – 60 minutes continuously.
How to Figure Target Heart Rate at 80 Percent
-Take 220 minus your age.
-Multiply this number by .80.
-Your number is your THR for an increased and more efficient fat burning zone
-Maintain heart rate range for 20 – 60 minutes in an activity that uses the muscles of the legs such as biking, jogging, skating etc.
Next week, you’ll be surprised at how fat burning can be optimized further. It has to do with high intensity interval training and it’s what all the fitness magazines are writing about. You’ll learn how to use it correctly, as the secret lies in what is called the after-burn. It breaks all the rules applied here, but you’ll see why it’s absolutely necessary in obtaining a lean more muscular look that includes the difficult to diminish waistline. You can do it! Stayed tuned and I’ll help you out. It’s what I love to do!
by IcennaEmach | May 14, 2009 | Burn Baby Burn, Uncategorized
A reader writes, “How can I make the most of a cardiovascular workout?” Because of our busy lives, this is a common, yet important question. And depending on who asks it, can have several meanings. I know from talking with this reader that his question had two major intents:
1. How can he burn the maximum amount of calories in the time available?
2. How can he make the most use of his limited exercise time, while improving his current physical conditioning, and increasing his chance for a high quality lifestyle in years to come?
This is the first of a five part article series. Like all Fitness Through the Ages articles, the broader goal is to bring full awareness that we can be healthy and fit as we age. Fitness Through the Ages,” reflects our desire and innate capacity to live a more energetic, disease free, and continuously independent lifestyle.
Today’s article answers question number one for the “newbie” fitness person. “How can we burn a maximum amount of calories in a given amount of time?” If you are not a newbie, read on anyways, as even the most experienced calorie burners will benefit from this long slow distance training also called LSD. You’ll see in upcoming articles how LSD training has a very useful purpose to even the most conditioned athletes.
Burn Baby Burn
No doubt, burning calories is what is on everyone’s minds. It takes 3500 burned calories or a caloric deficit of 3500 calories, or a combination of both to equal one fat pound loss. Follow these guidelines for increasing your calorie burn:
1. Engage in an activity that is continuous.
2. Engage in an activity that uses muscles of the legs.
3. Engage in an activity that keeps your heart rate elevated.
These three key ingredients add up to what is called a cardiovascular activity, great for the heart indeed, but prime time ingredients for shedding layers of fat as well! Examples include: walking, biking, elliptical training, cross country skiing, hiking, swimming, rollerblading, running, and stair-climbing.
Newbie LSD Plan
Keep moving in one of these activities and don’t worry about anything but time. Aim for 15- 60 minutes, 5-7 days a week, at a continuous long slow distance pace ( LSD) in your chosen activity. Panting and breathing heavy is not the intent in these first few weeks. Rather, the goal is forming new life changing habits, priming muscles, ligaments, tendons, and the cardiovascular system for a lifetime of increased fat burning ability and a speedier anti aging high metabolism.
Advice for the Wise from the Wise
Your primary goal may be to burn calories, but injury occurrences during these opening weeks is common and setting the stage for the ultimate calorie burn takes patience, so go easy on yourself, listen to your body’s aches and pains, and adjust accordingly. Aim for consistency and stay on this plan for 4 to 12 weeks depending on your previous physical conditioning. This is basic training but there’s nothing basic about it. You’ll burn 70 – 100 calories per mile!
And Yet More Advice
Get on a consistent stretching program to stretch these muscles commonly used in endurance activities: Lower lumbar back, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, adductors, abductors, groin, and calves. Now may be the time to get the expertise of a personal trainer. And no, not to watch you walk, run swim or whatever you choose, but to structure a plan – keep a smart eye out for the wrong kind of pain – stretch your aching body – and or assist with accountability, more traditionally known by trainers as “make you do the work that you said you would do!” New exercisers stop for one of two reasons, lack of motivation/support, and two, unnecessary injuries due to lack of knowledge. Don’t let this be you! If it is so easy to get motivated and stay injury free then everyone would be lean mean disease free calorie burning machines. Well maybe not mean! You can do it though. Stay tuned and I’ll help you out.
