Step away from that desk and get back into shape

Steve liked his work, but it afforded him very little free time. He worked long hours, and he was at point in his life that he had invested so much in his education and his career that he really needed to follow through with this time commitment. Add to that the commitment to family, and he had little time or inclination to set aside time for exercise.  His situation was not all that uncommon. 

He had a desk job, and sitting in front of a computer for hours on end, he developed a curve in his upper back. He was rail thin, and he definitely looked like he could afford to put on a few pounds.

There are three different body-type classifications - the ectomorph (slender), the endomorph (fat), and the mesomorph (muscular). Most people are a combination of these three types; Steve was definitely an ectomorph.

Steve began strength training once a week for 30 minutes. Those with a slender build do not have the same capacity for muscle as a mesomorph, but their capacity for increasing strength is often very substantial. It can be seen as an evolutionary advantage - a large increase in strength without adding a lot of calorie-consuming muscle mass. Steve became much stronger, and he has a look of vitality that he never had before. His back is straighter, his posture has improved, and he looks like a completely different person.

With a high intensity workout the goal on each exercise is to try to safely push yourself beyond what your body is capable of handling. As a form of self-protection the body will make a positive adaptation and become stronger if given enough time to recover. If you stay within the body's comfort zone the body has no cause to make an improvement. At Austin personal training our trainers can safely guide you through a high intensity workout that is right for you with attention paid to your age, your condition, and any limitations you might have.

Can trying to get one extra rep result in the set being less safe and less intense at the same time?

You got nine repetitions the last workout session. You sure would like to get that tenth rep.  As a result of getting the extra rep, and as a form of self-protection, the body will make a positive adaptation (become stronger). This is a protocol that works if it's done correctly.
The trouble is, in the process, corners are often cut, and the exercise can become less safe and less intense. If the work is not of a sufficient intensity there is no reason for the body to become stronger.  High-intensity work places place demands on the system that require the system to adapt positively to survive.

When there is a bias toward more reps there will be a bias away from intensity. In order to get that tenth rep the subject will often make those preceding nine reps as easy as she can possibly make them. The only way to get the tenth rep is to save yourself on the first nine.
There are many ways of saving yourself. One way is to blast off at the beginning of the rep so you can ride momentum through the sticking point. Another way is to lock out at the completion of the rep and get a short reprieve.  Another way is to cut the range of the reps short to do less of the demanding work.  While the preceding reps may be easier that last rep will be a bear. That should be enough to stimulate a change. 
Another way of doing it is to have a bias towards intensity. Make every repetition as difficult as possible. Instead of blasting off at the beginning of the repetition such as the overhead press, lift the weight slowly with uniform speed. About halfway up on the overhead press you will experience serious difficulty. That is the sticking point. Instead of rushing through the sticking point move slowly - like walking through Hell wearing a gasoline suit.

If you do it that way you'll not likely get 10 reps. “Yeah, but I want to go fast”. Towards the end of the set much of your strength will have been dissipated and you cannot create the force necessary to cause injury, plus your muscles are very warmed up by this point. Try going fast then and you might get past that sticking point and just barely achieve another rep. The end result is a safe set and one of very high intensity through the entire set.  

Doing a set in such manner you won't be able to lift quite as much weight. What's a deeper state of fatigue, if you can't budge hundred pounds or if you can't budge 150 pounds? I contend it is the former. 
“Yeah, but I want to lift heavy weights”. There is another protocol called the rest pause. You might want to do a warm-up set before this. You lift a very heavy weight as intensely as you can and complete one repetition and rest and then repeat the sequence for as many reps as you can.  
There are many protocols, and all can produce results if performed correctly.  Whatever the protocol at Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you do it safely and productively.

What happens after an extended layoff - an observation

In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina our clients began trickling back into town, and there was a return to normalcy. They began scheduling appointments again. Most had not exercised in anywhere from 6 to 8 weeks.

I expected them to be weaker. I decided to conduct an experiment. I put them through their previous workout, and I did not lighten the weights. I did not offer them any added encouragement, I did not give them a target to reach, and I told them to stop at whatever point they wanted to.  It was a very interesting result.

Most all of the clients got all of their reps. Some were off a repetition, but that's about it. We were doing slow reps, so one repetition can take about 20 seconds. So in total they were off at most 20 seconds on a 90 to 120 second exercise. Within a workout or two they were totally back up to speed.

These observations comport with a study that showed a similar result. Elite bicyclists were detrained (they stopped riding their bikes) for nine weeks. Their blood was drawn each week. Their aerobic enzyme level diminished each and every week. There anaerobic enzyme level did not diminish. The body still stood ready to do the demanding anaerobic work. This is the same result I saw in my clients.  It is also the same result you will get when comparing sprinters and long distance runners.  If a sprinter and a long distance runner have an extended layoff it will take the sprinter far less time to get back up top speed compared to the long-distance runner.

With aerobic conditioning there is primarily a biochemical change – the body up-regulates its ability to burn sugar over an extended time.  With anaerobic conditioning there is a biochemical change and there's restructuring – the muscles become stronger. Adding muscle is metabolically expensive, and the body does not undo those gains readily.

Taking off a week from strength training now and then can be a good thing.  You’ll come back refreshed mentally and physically and you will not take any steps backward.  It is hard to get a handle on recovery and how often to train.  At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers wecan help you with that.

The trainer said, "Just one more" six times

In 34 my years in the fitness industry, I have worked at lots of health clubs and have seen a lot of things. Some things are amazing, some bizarre, and some just stick in my mind as a teachable moment for me. This is one of those memories.

The trainer said to her “Just one more" six times. By the third extra rep the client’s form was shot, and she was almost standing up in the machine. By the fourth rep she was clearly panicked. By the fifth rep she looked over at me as if to say WFT! I just shrugged my shoulders. The trainer had no idea what the client was capable of or how fatigued she was on that particular set. If he did know he would not have had to say “Just one more” six times.

He wasn't aware. A trainers should do more that set the weights, count the reps, and say “Just one more’ redundantly until the client can't move anymore.

A knowledgeable trainer very quickly will come to know exactly what you're capable of, what your weaknesses are, and how to motivate you to get safely to the next level. In order to do that the trainer has to be in the same moment as a client. By that I mean he must understand where the client is fatigue-wise and how close she is to breaking form. He will anticipate those form brakes and talk her through it.

When we exercise we are focused on achieving our goal of completed the movement, but often times we are not aware of how we often cheat to obtain that goal. We reposition our bodies to get a leverage advantage. We cut the rep short. We do dangerously explosive moves in order to get past a sticking point. We instinctively look for the easy way out. Compromised form is not as productive and can be dangerous.

A good trainer will be aware of what is happening and what is going to happen, so he can talk you though the set safely to completion. At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we have knowledgable trainers who can help you gradually build up to a strength training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition.

Sprint training for fat loss

From this study, High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss comes this: 
Dosage: A thirty second all-out sprint of on a bike, recover at a reduced RPM, repeat four to six times. Do this three times a week for two to six weeks. 
Results: 1. Increase both aerobic and anaerobic fitness. 2. Significantly lowers insulin resistance 3. Skeletal muscle adaptations that result in enhanced skeletal muscle fat oxidation 4. Improved glucose tolerance. 
From other studies the reported results: 1. High Intensity Inteval Training Lowers Appetite 2. Health and Physical Function Improves with High Intensity Training 3. Blood Pressure Reduced with High Intensity Interval Training 4. High-Intensity Strength Training Beneficial to Parkinson's Patients 5. High intensity training better for coronary artery disease patients 6. Brief Bouts of High Intensity Training Improves Maximal Oxygen Uptake 7. Studys Shows That HIT Exercise Lowers Blood Pressure 8. Long distance running lowers testosterone; sprint training increases it 
I have been doing this for over a year now. I can report the following additional change. At age 60 I feel the best I have felt in well over a decade. At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainerswe can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

Can't move it, can't hold it, and can't slow it down

Muscles have to be exposed to more than they are used to handling if there is to be a positive change. Hopefully that is done in a safe manner. Confronted with a state of fatigue that is beyond what the body is used to, the body, as self-protection, will make a positive adaption by becoming stronger if given enough recovery time.

There are three stages of fatigue associated with resistance training. When you can no longer lift or move a weight you've reached concentric or positive failure. When you can no longer hold the weight you've reached static failure. This produces a deeper fatigue than positive failure. When you can no longer stop a weight from falling or lowering you've reached negative or eccentric failure.  This is the deepest fatigue.  Eccentric failure is best conducted with a trainer or spotter and on equipment where it can be safely performed.

Negative reps should be used sparingly. Negatives put a much bigger hit on the system. You're basically pulling the muscles out of a contraction. Micro-trauma to the muscles occurs. If not done safely you can have serious injury. One way to do this is to complete a regular set and then have the trainer immediately lift the weight for the client and have the client lower the weight slowly.

If one performs chin-ups to the point where she just barely gets the last one up that's positive failure. If she continues to hold at the top position until she can no longer hold it that is static failure. After that if she fights the lowering of her body weight with every fiber of her being she will achieve negative failure.

Achieving negative failure? That is far from a negative thing. You have successfully stressed the body to the point where the body as an act self-protection must make a positive adaption to survive.

Conducted correctly negatives can be very safe. I am currently conducting physical therapist prescribed negative reps with a client with two knee replacements through a limited range. There are a lot of factors to consider.  The type of exercise, the range of motion, pre-existing conditions are just a few of those considerations.  At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we have MedX rehabilitative exercise equipment that is specially suited for concentric, static and eccentric reps. 

What to do when chronic running injuries occur

Ted was a gifted runner. In his late forties his knees began to aggravate him, and they got worse each year.  At age 54 his doctor advised him to stop running. He started strength training with the aim of getting back to running.

We worked around his condition for a while and slowly incorporated leg exercises into the routine - leg curl, calf raises, leg press, adduction, abduction, squats, and occasionally partial leg extensions.

Ted wanted to start running again.  He did and the next day his was limping again. I told him, “You are able to lift 450 pounds on the leg press to a very deep fatigue to the point where your legs are unable to move, and the next day you have not a hint of pain.”  For Ted with adequate rest after strength training he came back stronger each week.  With running there was no recovery or improvement, only injury.

We were following a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine – one to three different exercises per body part with very little rest between sets.  We were not doing endless sets exposing the knees to unnecessary stress. With this protocol there is less chance of repetitive-use injuries.

Ted saw that it was working, but he was concerned about weight gain. I told him, “I could run a mile and be in pain for days, or I could eat three less Oreos and stick to a strength training program that will increase my resting metabolism. Besides, you will burn calories after the workout as well”.

Ted had a choice.  Run, get injured,and gain weight from inactivity, or strength train, get added protection against injury, and make some dietary changes. It is either the latter or face the possibility of knee replacement well before it might have have been otherwise. For those who overdo it or have a predisposition to injuries that result from running, injuries will occur. It might take years before they become ruinous. I don’t rule out running, but don’t run to the point of injury and take steps to enhance your strength so you can better support your joints. 

No amount of running will add strength to your legs, - endurance yes, but strength no. A ten year study comparing non-runners to runners showed that both groups had lost the same amount of lean body weight over the decade. Loss of muscle mass it part of the aging process. The best you can do is to take steps to keep or add the strength and muscle that inexorably diminishes each year without strength training.

There cardiovascular effects from HIIT as well. Start with leg press or squats and work the muscles to a deep fatigue. You will reach your target heart rate very quickly. Just seconds after completion of the first exercise begin the next exercise. You will continue breathing hard, and your pulse will remain elevated. Work all the major muscle groups with minimal rest between each exercise. You will breath hard from start to finish. This type of training produces a high E.P.O.C. response – a large after-workout calorie burn.

You build up to this workout slowly. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we can show you how.

The Role of a Personal Trainer

I once asked a trainer what he was trying to accomplish with his clients. He said, “I'm there to get them stronger and to improve their health.” I told him I didn't need him for that. I can buy running shoes and head out the door. I can go to gym and pick up weights. He countered that he was there to teach clients how to exercise correctly. I came back with the fact that anyone can go to the bookstore and buy any number of books on how to do it correctly.

I don't know what the role of a trainer is in other systems or gyms. There are several ways of approaching it. My thoughts on the subject have been shaped by my interactions with clients. A client once told me I come here to get a workout I could not get on my own. She said, “If I can do it on my own I don't need you anymore”. That really stuck with me.

I had another client whom I told, “You know you could figure this out on your own”. She replied, “I have two businesses and three kids. I pay you to figure it out for me”.

I think both are correct.

We have about hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment at each of ourAustin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training locations. It is mostly medical rehab equipment. You're unlikely to find it in most gyms. It is difficult to set up properly compared to others types of equipment.

Our new trainers intern as long as six months on this equipment and practice on their friends and family. When they are ready hopefully they offer something that is valuable to the client.

Their goal is to safely put the client through a workout that produces positive results. How is that done? To produce change one must exercise beyond the point of what one is used to handling. A skillful trainer will get the client to go beyond where they would normally stop, get them there safely, and get them there without any undo panic.

That is easier said than done. A trainer must be in the same moment as a client. The trainer must know what the client is going through in order to get them to go to the next level, and again let me stress, without panic. To do that the client must totally trust the trainer not to make excessive unreasonable demands but sufficient demands that will produce positive change. Once the trainer and the trainee have that connection the client looks forward to coming in even for a difficult workout. If one is expected torun the gauntlet there will be panic even before the session starts.

Giving them a workout they could not get on their own is one part of it, but what about the ongoing week-to-week proposition? A good trainer will have an intimate understanding of the client’s recovery ability, what their physical limitations are, and what their pain thresholds are, and how to work them through it. They will adjust the workout each week to produce ongoing improvement that will go on for at least couple of years. Doing this on one's own would likely take years of trial and error, injury, and most of all inconsistency. Very few consistently stick with an exercise program.

A note on panic: I am often pressed for time and workout when I have the time. When I do exercise by myself I pre-set all the machines, write up the workout even recording the times and amount of reps I will get before I begin. I place the bar high. I also put tremendous pressure on myself not to cut corners. Man, I hate my solo workouts.

With a trainer I totally trust I don’t worry about what is coming next. I have no concern for times, weights, reps number of exercises, or the order of those exercises. I close my eyes, and execute every instruction. He makes me aware of proper breathing and breaks in form. He throws me curves to get a little more out of me; I don’t know what to expect next. He guides me to a difficult finish without all the panic.

Am I getting a better workout? I have an objective measure that shows that I am. After a good HIIT workout your blood pressure will remain lower for several hours. I take my blood pressure a few hours after each workout, and as a rule it is lower. After a workout with a knowledgable trainer my blood pressure will be much lower. I know systemically my body took a bigger hit. I am definitely getting a much better workout and without the panic – that is the thing that makes me look forward to the next session.

Reversing the Biomarkers of Aging

Wearing glasses, hearing aids and dying one’s hair are effective methods of reversing the effects of aging, but the most effective thing we can do to reverse the aging process is to do regular strength training exercise. It is the most effective exercise in addressing the biomarkers that effect not only how young we look, but more importantly, how we young we feel. Our bodies undergo many changes that can be reversed by proper strength training:

1. Muscle mass decreases. As adults we lose about five pounds of lean muscle each decade. Stronger muscles are more toned, and this requires more calories. Stronger toned muscles present a younger look.
2. Metabolism decreases. More muscle requires more calories. Those who are stronger can have the metabolism they had when they were twenty years younger.
3. Fat increases as a percentage of body weight. By increasing muscle mass, fat as a percentage is automatically less, and this extra muscle requires more fat burning calories. A stronger leaner person will be more active and the increased activity will further enhance one’s health and burn additional calories.
4. Loss of strength, energy, and speed. Proper exercise will make you stronger, and day to day activities will be less strenuous and be less taxing energy-wise.
5. Loss of aerobic capacity. Choose a strength training program that involves circuit training to get the aerobic benefits. Non-stop circuit training method has a very significant cardiovascular effect and increases both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.
6. Body cells become resistant to insulin. Added muscles will lower your blood sugar level and lessen the need for insulin.
7. Bone mineral density decreases. Increase the demands on the muscular-skeletal system, and as self-protection, the body responds by maintaining stronger muscles and bones.
8. Loss of flexibility. More muscle contributes to flexibility. Muscles have the plasticity that tendons and ligaments do not.
9. Increased susceptibility to sickness and injury. A stronger body is less like to get injured and will have a stronger immune system. This might be the most important benefit. People wait until injuries occur and then exercise becomes problematic. To help avoid surgery the best thing you can do for your joints is to make the muscles supporting those joints stronger. Take the steps now to avoid herniated discs and hip and knee replacements.
10. Unsatisfactory cholesterol/HDL Ratio. Circuit strength training will improve your HDL or High Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol.
11. Blood Pressure increases. Elevated blood pressure or hypertension is known as "the silent killer" can be alleviated by strength training.

While other forms of exercise might improve a certain biomarker more effectively - running to improve aerobic capacity or yoga to improve flexibility - none address so many as effectively circuit weight training. You need not spend hours in the gym to make a profound difference. The body changes as a form of self-protection in response to increased demands of the body. Instead of trying to find out how much exercise you can handle but find out how little exercise is actually needed to produce a change.

Studies have shown that significant strength increases result from strength training as little as once a week. Not exercising can lead to injuries which will result in more inactivity. You have to do something. Do just enough to cause a change then come back and do it again in a week. As you become stronger you will find you are willing to engage in more activities and this will further enhance your health. It all starts with strength. Just improve a little each week and over time your life will be transformed. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we have the program to make that transformation.

More articles on ageing here

Sensible Weight Loss

There is confusion of about just how many calories are burned as a result of exercise and also about how much added muscle increases metabolism. The short answer is not much. Fat loss is primarily accomplished by eating less - not diet per se but by following a sensible eating plan you can stick tofor the long haul, in other words for the rest of your life. Diets, as a rule, seldom work in the long run.

The type for training we do, High Intensity Interval Training, produces the most Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), and as such you will burn more calories than other forms of exercises. Also high intensity interval training has been shown to lower one’s appetite.

One study examining the effect of high intensity strength training on metabolism showed a nine-fold improvement in fat burning. Why more than other forms of exercise? Because HIIT burns calories four ways .

The best way by far to lose weight is to follow an eating plan you can stick to and couple that with weight training. With caloric restriction (dieting) the body receives a message that it is not getting enough calories to sustain itself. The body responds by catabolizing lean body tissue which is metabolically expensive to maintain. The result is a lower resting metabolism. When you strength train the body receives the opposite message. The muscles will make a positive adaptation to the demands placed on the muscles. The muscles become bigger and stronger and will require more calories not less.

One of our clients lost 50 pounds slowly, very slowing. When you lose weight slowly the body has time to adapt to the new homo stasis, a new set point. When you lose weight quickly the body is desperately trying to get back to its original set point. That is why weight is re-gained so quickly.

At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Training we offer high intensity training (HIT). It is a full body workout. It takes about 30 minutes, and you do it once or twice a week. This is a workout that you slowly build up to, but it is doable at 30 minutes once or twice a week. All you have to do is to keep improving, make modest changes in eating habits, and you will get to where you need to be. The other days of the week you are free to engage in activities you enjoy; there are not hours of drudgery in the gym. This is a workout plan most people can stick to for the long haul

Pregnancy and Exercise

One of our clients recently gave birth, and we look forward to her return to exercise.  It got me to thinking about all the pregnant mothers we have worked with over the years. In all instances we follow the doctor’s recommendations to the letter.  If you are pregnant we recommend that you always consult a doctor to be cleared for exercise. We have found that there is a great disparity in what the different doctors will allow. Often times we will make adjustments to the range of motion or eliminate a certain exercise entirely. Most mothers have stopped exercising the last couple of weeks of the pregnancy, but one woman worked right up to the last week – exercised on a Thursday and delivered the following Monday.

This article Steps Prior to Pregnancy Can Protect Baby lists several useful tips for pregnant mothers. One of the tips:

“Exercise helps you maintain or lose weight and helps you manage stress. If you do get pregnant, talk to your doctor about the kinds of exercise that are safe to do during pregnancy.”

Mothers we have worked with report that they had less trouble returning to their pre-pregnancy weight and fitness as a result of the personal training sessions and state that their deliveries went smoother.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness training the personal training sessions are short and less frequent to allow more time for recovery. This is important for pregnant mothers who are devoting significant amounts of their body’s resources to the unborn child.  The time saving aspect of this personal training system is also important to the new mother who would rather spend more time with her child and less time devoted to exercise sessions.

We are also a child and baby friendly personal training facility. Mothers bring their kids to the personal training facility while the personal trainers work with the mothers. Accommodating those with babies has been good for the parents, and we enjoy it as well.  We have been fortunate to be around long enough to see the children grow to adulthood.

Memories of a Broken Vertebra

I was watching Brazil versus Columbia when Brazilian Soccer player Neymar went down. At first I thought, “Oh boy, more flopping”. When they were carrying him off the field I saw the pain he was in, and it did not surprise me to learn that Neymar broke a vertebra. I broke a vertebra in my back over 30 years ago.

My recovery was pretty straight forward – rest, pain meds, and a brace. The most difficult for me was sleeping. Sleeping on the floor was my only relief from the pain. I slept on the floor for years after that.

Years later I developed back pain that stayed with me for the better part of two years. Nothing gave me relief. I did everything I could to relieve the pain – new bed, swimming, getting rid of my chair at work, no long trips in the car, and standing instead of sitting during the night school classes I was attending. Exercise seemed to make it worse.

I stopped all exercise. Still it did not get better; it got even worse. I gained weight. I went to all kinds of specialists. One gave me some pain meds and told me if it got worse they could operate. I did not want a road map for what to do if it got worse; I wanted my back to improve.

I finally saw a doctor of physiatry. Physiatry is the study and treatment of disease and injury using mechanical and other physical methods. The doctor had me exercise on a MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine. At the time it was the only one in the city. My back improved. I began exercising again – a few exercises at first and gently then I progressed. I lost weight. I often walked to work. After about six months the pain that I learned to live with and thought would always be a part of my life was gone – my back pain had totally disappeared.

I learned that exercise can help a situation or aggravate it. It depends where you are in your recovery cycle. It also depends on what type of exercise you perform, what type of equipment, and the protocol you use to perform the exercise. The MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine at the time cost $34,000. It was computerized. The company was mulling over producing a non-computerized version for the gym but hesitated because they were afraid the gym version would take away sales from there $34,000 machine. In the end they did produce gym version of the machine – still very expensive but not $34k.

At our Austin Personal Training location we have: 

• MedX low back rehabilitative exercise machine

• Other MedX core exercise equipment

• The expertise in how to use the equipment safely

• Plus long list of testimonials of those who have benefited from using it.

Study shows that fasting boosts the immune system

From this article in Medical News Today, Prolonged fasting re-boots immune system, come these quotes:

“Results of a new study on mice and a phase 1 trial of humans suggest that prolonged cycles of fasting - for 2-4 days at a time - not only protect against toxic effects of chemotherapy, but also trigger stem cell regeneration of new immune cells and clearing out of old, damaged cells.”

“The scientists say prolonged fasting appears to shift stem cells of the immune system from a dormant state to an active state of self-renewal.”

“When you stop eating, the body uses up stored glucose, fat and ketones, and also recycles worn out and damaged immune cells.”

This study was conducted on mice.  This result is preliminary and more studies are needed with humans. The article cautions that this fasting should be done under medical supervision.

 Austin Personal Training 

New Orleans Fitness Trainers 

High Intensity Inteval Training Lowers Appetite

From this article in the International Journal of Obesity, High-intensity intermittent exercise attenuates ad-libitum energy intake comes this conclusion: “High-intensity intermittent exercise suppresses subsequent ad-libitum energy intake in overweight inactive men. This format of exercise was found to be well tolerated in an overweight population.” The study compared a group of over-weight men who did moderate exercise to another over-weight group who did high intensity interval exercise (HIIT).  Seventy minutes after they exercised the HIT group consumed fewer calories and also consumed fewer calories the next day. That has been my experience as well – at least directly after a workout.  On the days I had planned to do a sprint session it is not usual that I am trying to get the session in before I eat.  I don’t want to do this type of high intensity training on a full stomach.  So it often turns out that just when I was feeling hungry I do my sprint training.  It often happens that I don’t feel like eating after exercise, but it is more pronounced after any form of HIIT either sprint training or HIIT strength training.  For me that lack appetite lasts hours. At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

From this article, Short workouts: Will exercising for 15 minutes once a week get you fit? are some quotes and responses after the quotes.

“It sounds too good to be true”

If something is too be good to be true then it follows that it really is too good to be true. The truth is the workouts are very demanding, but they won’t take a lot of your week. Anyone with proper instruction can do it though: you build up to it slowly. Our oldest client was 95 years old.

“Over the past decade, many trainers have begun advocating for shorter, less-frequent workout regimens – claiming that they are much more efficient for weight loss and muscle building.”

The truth is these workouts have been around for decades. Forty years ago body builder Mike Mentzer did as little as four exercises a week.

“The key to the short workout’s success revolves around a concept known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). HIIT is a heightened form of interval training that involves alternating between periods of short, intense physical activity and fixed periods of low activity or rest."

“With more traditional workouts, there was a tendency to pace yourself – so holding back for the first 20 to 30 minutes. But when you design them shorter with very few breaks in between…you’re moving multiple body parts over the course of one movement, the heart rate is higher, and it just becomes more efficient.”

With longer volume-type workouts the goal is to do more – more reps or more sets. The only way to do that is to try to conserve your efforts. There is a bias away from intensity. With HIIT the goal is to make the reps so intense that you cannot do additional reps. Exercising with a bias toward intensity results in a much more productive session.

“Furthermore, some studies suggest that these periods of high intensity exercise produce a unique metabolic response in the body, causing it to continue to burn fat for up to 24 to 48 hours post-workout.”

This is called Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), and there is no other form of exercise that produces more EPOC than HIIT for strength.

The article goes on to talk about frequency of exercise. You will be able to do sprint training more often than strength training. If you are doing sprint interval training there is less restructuring of tissue taking place after the exercise, while HIIT strength training involves extensive restructuring of damaged tissue after a bout of exercise. It will take longer to totally recover. It will vary by individual as to the necessary recover time.

Our experience after conducting literally tens of thousands of exercise sessions over the years is that less is more. We start from the premise of seeing how little exercise is needed to produce significant results rather than from the premise of seeing how much exercise one can withstand. The former is a prescription for progress, and the later is a prescription for over-training.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

Health and Physical Function Improves with High Intensity Training

This study, High Intensity Training Improves Health and Physical Function in Middle Aged Adults, seeks to determine whether HIT (high Intensity training) will improve physical function and metabolic health in untrained middle aged subjects.

Subject performed sprint training (10 × 6-second sprints with a one minute recovery between each sprint) twice a week.

The results: “Following eight weeks of HIT there was a significant improvement in aerobic capacity (8% increase in VO2 peak; p < 0.001), physical function (11%–27% respectively; p < 0.05) and a reduction in blood glucose area under the curve (6% reduction; p < 0.05). This study demonstrates for the first time the potential of HIT as a training intervention to improve skeletal muscle function and glucose clearance as we age.”

I prefer to do fewer sprints (5 or 6) for a longer duration (30 seconds) with a longer rest between sprints (90 seconds). Whatever protocol you use it has to be demanding to be effective. The body must be presented with a stimulus that is more than it is equipped to handle. The body as a form of self-protection will then make a positive adaptation if given the proper nutrients and enough time to recover. If the stimulus is not demanding there is no reason for the body to make a change.

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we can help you gradually build up to a high intensity strength training or an aerobic high intensity training program that is safe, effective, and efficient for your age and condition. You need not spend hours in the gym to feel better, look better, and perform better.

The highest marginal return on exercise

It is not how much exercise you can withstand that matters; it is how little exercise you can get away with doing that produces optimum results. Any additional exercise beyond that point is at best a waste of time and at worst detrimental as the body cannot adequately recover from the dose of exercise. That ought to be the starting point in deciding on the structure of an exercise program. Certainly you don’t want to waste time or go backwards. That was the philosophy of Arthur Jones when he first developed Nautilus equipment.

Who has time to spend hours in the gym for months and years on end? What good is a program that requires you to go to the gym three or more times a week for more than an hour if you are only going to stick to it for a best a couple of months. After a couple of months burnout, lack of progress, or injuries will occur, but you will still be paying monthly dues on a year’s gym membership.

Instead seeing how much you exercise you can withstand find the least amount that produces the largest marginal return. To be maximally effective that high marginal return will involve all six factors of fitness. Increases should occur in:

1. Strength and muscle
2. Bone density
3. Flexibility
4. Body leanness
5. Cardio-vascular function
6. Resistance to injury and sickness

You could run one day, do yoga another, and do resistance training on the third day. If you do too much your body will not adequately recover; injuries and a compromised immune system can result. An alternative is HIIT, high intensity interval training for strength. No single exercise program addresses all six facotrs of fitness as effectively as a properly designed and executed HIIT program.

Thirty minutes of HIIT once a week is all it takes. On the other days do something you enjoy -ride your bike, walk your dog, run, read a book, whatever it is that you enjoy. Come back the next week and do it again. Keep at and you will add to your function and not decline. You will feel the best you have in years. The cliché will ring true: you will have not only added years to your life you will have added life to your years.

Another cliche applies: there is no free lunch. The workout will not be easy, but anyone can do it. Our oldest client was 95. You buildup to it slowly. At New Orleans Personal Trainers and atAustin TX Personal Training we can guide you through an effective HIIT program that will achieve life-changing results.

Blood Pressure Reduced with High Intensity Interval Training

High intensity of aerobic exercise lowers blood pressure more that low intensity aerobic exercise. That has definitely been my experience. From this study,

Aerobic interval training reduces blood pressure and improves myocardial function in hypertensive patients, comes this conclusion:

“This study indicates that the blood pressure reducing effect of exercise in essential hypertension is intensity dependent. Aerobic interval training is an effective method to lower blood pressure and improve other cardiovascular risk factors.”

One group trained at > 90% of their maximum heart rate. This type of training does not take a lot of time, but it is difficult. You have to build up to it. Once you build up to it, it is not as onerous. It will never be easy, but it is definitely worth it. At New Orleans Personal Trainers and at Austin TX Personal Training we can guide you through an effective aerobic interval training program and an interval training strength training program that will achieve life-changing results

The Big Fat Lie

Ms. Teicholz’s book, "The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet," will be soon published. Her WSJ article The Questionable Link Between Saturated Fat and Heart Disease offers some convincing history of why we came to accept as conventional wisdom that a saturated fat diet causes heart disease.  It seems that Dr. Ancel Benjamin Keys, a scientist at the University of Minnesota and the leading advocate of the low fat diet used some very faulty methods to put forth his case in the early 1950s.  Those faulty methods were not scrutinized until 2002 –  too late to put that horse back in the barn - and the data was inaccurate.

The ball started rolling, Dr. Keys made the cover of Time when people used to read it and he landed position in the fledgling American Heart Association. They adopted his position and eventually so did the US government.  It was based on flawed data!

What were the unintended consequences?  From the article above:

“One consequence is that in cutting back on fats, we are now eating a lot more carbohydrates—at least 25% more since the early 1970s. Consumption of saturated fat, meanwhile, has dropped by 11%, according to the best available government data. Translation: Instead of meat, eggs and cheese, we're eating more pasta, grains, fruit and starchy vegetables such as potatoes. Even seemingly healthy low-fat foods, such as yogurt, are stealth carb-delivery systems, since removing the fat often requires the addition of fillers to make up for lost texture—and these are usually carbohydrate-based.

The problem is that carbohydrates break down into glucose, which causes the body to release insulin - hormone that is fantastically efficient at storing fat. Meanwhile, fructose, the main sugar in fruit, causes the liver to generate triglycerides and other lipids in the blood that are altogether bad news. Excessive carbohydrates lead not only to obesity but also, over time, to Type 2 diabetes and, very likely, heart disease.”

The conclusion: “Our half-century effort to cut back on the consumption of meat, eggs and whole-fat dairy has a tragic quality. More than a billion dollars have been spent trying to prove Ancel Keys's hypothesis, but evidence of its benefits has never been produced. It is time to put the saturated-fat hypothesis to bed and to move on to test other possible culprits for our nation's health woes.”

New Orleans Personal Trainer  and Austin TX Personal Trainer

The benefit of exercise that cannot be measured

When we are younger we exercise to look better and perhaps to perform better at a sport or activity, and of course, to be healthy. When we are older we still want to perform well and look good, but there's other benefits that move to the forefront. At we get older our old injuries begin to haunt us. As we get older we are not as resiliant, and we need an added measure of protection against injuries. At my age I just want to feel good and not get hurt or sick. I am at a point that I have to exercise to avoid the pains that old injuries bring.

You can't measure the decreased likelihood of injury that strength affords. You can't measure the decreased likelihood of sickness, or conditions such as diabetes that exercise allows. You can't measure the diminishment of pain around compromise joints. You can't measure the ability to put in a strenuous day and the next day not be crippled with pain. You can't measure the ability to do things at your age that other people would not even attempt to do. We have an 88 year old client who was still lifting 50 blocks while working in his garden. We have a 67 year old woman who can lift her ailing 60 pound dog into a car without her back be in spasms the next day or the next week or month.

It's great to look good or run fast, but it's some point it is just wonderful not to live in pain. You can't measure improvement in quaility of life, but it is a profoundly real for those who experience it.

A little strength training, an active lifestyle, and better eating choices can have profound effects on one's fitness and health. These changes do not require endless hours in the weight room. Our fitness trainers at New Orleans Personal Trainers and at Austin TX Personal Training can guide you through an effective strength training program that will achieve life-changing results.