Strength training decreases chance of liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is fast becoming the most common chronic liver condition in many parts of the world. Losing weight will reduce the likelihood of NAFLD, and according to this study Resistance exercise reduces liver fat and its mediators in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease independent of weight loss:  

"Resistance exercise specifically improves NAFLD independent of any change in body weight. "

You can avoid the jolting wake-up call of a blood test indicated an elevated number for your liver enzymes with weight loss and strength training. At Austin Strength Training and New Orleans Strength Training we can help you with that. 

The dire metabolic consequences of physical inactivity

If you become a little less active and gain five pounds a year, that is not aging graceful. After a couple decades of that you’ll have 100 extra pounds of fat that may lead to metabolic syndrome - hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. Your joints hurt, your feet hurt, and your breathing and walking become labored. Muscles weaken, and energy producing mitochondria go into an advanced state of disrepair. All this leads to more inactivity and eventually a heart attack or stroke.

From this study, Metabolic consequences of physical inactivity:

“Metabolic adaptation to muscle inactivity also involves development of resistance to the glucoregulatory action of diabetes medication, decreased energy requirements, and increased insulin and leptin secretion. These alterations may lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome that is defined as the association of hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. This cluster of metabolic abnormalities is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke.Evidence indicates that exercise training programs may counteract all of these abnormalities both in healthy sedentary subjects and in patients affected by a variety of chronic disease states.”

One person who counteracted many of these abnormalities is Leif. Eight years ago Leif was 48 and overweight. He had already had heart surgery, one kidney removed, and he was taking five diabetes medicationshots a day. Now Leif is down to one diabetes medication shot and is 60 pound lighter. He has been exercising with us once a week for 30 minutes for the last eight years. Each week he improved a little. Eventually those little changes add up to something big.

Instead of seeing how much exercise you can fit into your life see what is the least amount that will produce the highest marginal return, the biggest bang for your limited free time. If you do that, make modest dietary changes, and do an activity you enjoy you will find that a year from now you’ll still be doing it, and your quality of life will have profoundly changed. At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength Trainers we can help you achieve that change without endless hours in the gym.

Study finds maintaining aerobic capacity requires persistent training while maintaining muscle anaerobic potential does not

How long does it take to get back up to peak performance after a long break from exercise? According to one study, that depends on whether the exercise is primarily aerobic or anaerobic.

From the study Enzyme adaptations of human skeletal muscle during bicycle short-sprint training and detraining:

“A long interruption in training has negligible effects on short-sprint ability and muscle anaerobic potential. On the other hand, a persistent training stimulus is required to maintain high aerobic capacity and muscle oxidative potential. This may contribute to a rapid return to competitive fitness for sprinters and power athletes.”

In the study bike sprinters trained for nine weeks followed by seven weeks of detraining (no training). Researchers found that the sprinters’ aerobic enzyme levels fell, while their anaerobic enzyme levels remained high for the seven weeks of detraining.  There were negligible effects on muscle anaerobic potential means the subjects remained strong.

The body need not be constantly submitted to anaerobic exercise to maintain strength gains or improve upon them. Another study bears this out: weight lifters who took two three-week breaks from training over an 18 week period showed more improvement than those who trained the entire 18 weeks without a break.

Seeing how much strength training you can endure is at best a waste of time and at worst detrimental. It is prescription for injury, drudgery, and eventually quitting.  At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Fitness trainers  our approach is to find the least amount of strength training that will produce the most results. With such an approach you will improve each week without long hours in the gym. You’ll more likely stick with it, and over time, your quality of life will be profoundly changed.

The best exercise for aging muscles

As we age muscles weaken, cell damage accumulates, and mitochondria, which produce energy, decline in number and energy output. A study sought to determine what type of exercise might best repair that mitochondria damage. The study was composed of two groups, men and women under thirty and men and women over 64. Subjects were further divided into four sub-groups. Each group did one of the following exercise regimens for 12 weeks:

• Vigorous weight lifting

• Moderate bike riding plus light weight lifting

• Interval training on a bike

• Those who did nothing

As would be expected weight lifters experienced gains in muscle and strength, and the bike interval trainers increased endurance. Unexpectedly were the changes measured in the cells. From the NYT article reporting on the study, The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles - NYTimes.com, this quote:

“Among the younger subjects who went through interval training, the activity levels had changed in 274 genes, compared with 170 genes for those who exercised more moderately and 74 for the weight lifters. Among the older cohort, almost 400 genes were working differently now, compared with 33 for the weight lifters and only 19 for the moderate exercisers.”

Another quote:

“It seems as if the decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was 'corrected' with exercise, especially if it was intense.”

At our Austin Personal Trainers facility we specialize in high intensity interval training (HIIT) for strength - one integrated workout combining strength training and interval training. The workout increases strength and endurance, and reverses mitochondria impairments to a level consistent with a younger stage in life. It is like having a fountain of youth. People of any age can benefit from this workout. We also have clients do interval training on stationary bikes. Past blog posts on mitochondria and a post on bike interval training.

Study shows how people waste time exercising

In a study, one group lifted weights for nine weeks (Continuous resistance training – CRT), while another group lifted for six weeks followed by a three weeks rest (Periodic resistance training - PTR). After the first nine week cycle the groups’ results were similar. The cycle was repeated for nine more weeks, and PTR group’s results were significantly higher.

A quote from the study, Comparison of muscle hypertrophy following 6-month of continuous and periodic strength training: “Increase in muscle cross-sectional area [of muscle] and strength during the second 3-week detraining/6-week retraining cycle were significantly higher in the PTR group than in the CTR group.” Consider that CTR group trained six weeks more and achieved inferior results - wasted time and effort.  

At the end of 27 weeks, both groups’ results were similar, but continuous training group trained six extra weeks to get that same result. If you start from the premise of finding out how little exercise you actually require your marginal return for your time in the gym will be higher and you will be less likely to over-train. When rest is inadequate over-training results and improvement stops. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we take great care in measuring exercise performance to be sure that the client is fully recovered. With full recovery you will continue to improve.

For women to decrease mortality risk: lift weights like your life depends on it

A study followed 750 women aged 50-94 years for a decade.  Researchers wanted to see the effect of changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and appendicular lean mass (ALM) on mortality. The study found that deaths increased as BMD and ALM diminished irrespective of age.

A quote from the study, Musculoskeletal decline and mortality: prospective data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study:

“Poor musculoskeletal health increased the risk for mortality independent of age. This appears to be driven mainly by a decline in bone mass. Low lean mass independently exacerbated mortality risk, and this appeared to operate through poor health exposures.”

Another study had a similar result. The takeaway: Lift weights like your life depends on it. At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Fitness Trainers we have had success with clients who have increased their bone density and lean muscle mass.

There is a catch: how to stress the musculoskelatal system sufficiently to stimulate improvements in muscle mass and bone density, and at the same time, avoid injuries.  We use MedX equipment. The equipment has special medical-rehab features that make exercise easier on the joints. It allows us the work the body sufficiently to stimulate improvments while sparing the joints.

Daisy Mettlach-Holderfield 1982 - 2017

On Friday, August 12 Daisy came to work as usual. Out of nowhere she collapsed and lost consciousness. We learned later that she had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke brought on by several tumors in her brain. She was rushed to the hospital for life-saving brain surgery.

Against the odds she returned to work, first in a wheelchair and then with the aid of a walker. Her husband Scott drove her to and from work every day. Eventually she drove herself. She appeared to be getting stronger every day, but we couldn't see what was going on inside her body. We saw the outward manifestation of her fight against disease.

She fought bravely. Words are inadequate to describe that bravery. Daisy was a sweet and kind often docile person who also possessed a fierce determination which surprised us all. She was well liked, respected, and very good at her job. She had a positive impact on the lives of her many clients. She was a part of our lives for ten years, and she will be in our hearts forever.

A long list of cardiorespiratory fitness benefits from high intensity interval training

From the American Heart Association Scientific Statement, Importance of Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association | Circulation, an excerpt:

“Cardiorespiratory fitness is a potentially stronger predictor of mortality than established risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.”

It is important to note that muscles stimulate the cardiovascular system to make positive changes, not the other way around. When the muscles are too weak to push the cardiovascular system, cardiorespiratory fitness declines. High intensity interval training (HIIT) increases strength and promotes cardiorespiratory fitness. The benefits:

o Unlike many other strength training regimens this workout is cardiovascularly demanding

o  Added muscle, the engine for cardiovascular health

o Increase forced expiratory volume

o Increases capillarization

o Protects joints for doing other cardio-activities like running

o Has lower rates of cardiovascular problems than aerobic exercise for those with heart conditions.

o Better for coronary artery disease patients

o Increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure

o Improves glycemic control

As a result of doing HIIT your aches and pains will fade away, and you will be able to do the activities you enjoy – walk, run, ride your bike, gardening - better, longer and for many more years to come with less chance of injury. 

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we offer HIIT. It is a 30 minute full-body workout done once or twice a week. This is a workout that you slowly build up to; anybody can do it. You’ll enhance your cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life for decades to come.

How to increase human growth hormone naturally

Human growth hormone (hGH) is necessary for:

• Growth when we are young
• Maintenance and repair and of our body after stresses such as exercise 
• Combating the adverse effects of aging

You can increase hGH without a prescription.  From this article The Exercise-Induced Growth Hormone Response in Athletes: 

"Resistance training results in a significant exercise-induced growth hormone (EIGR) .…An exercise intensity above lactate threshold and for a minimum of 10 minutes appears to elicit the greatest stimulus to the secretion of hGH."

And this:

"A growing body of evidence suggests that higher intensity exercise is effective in eliciting beneficial health, well-being and training outcomes. In a great many cases, the impact of some of the deleterious effects of ageing could be reduced if exercise focused on promoting the EIGR."

High intensity training will naturally increase hGH and slow the aging process. It’s the type of training we do at Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers. People of any age and any level of fitness can do this. We conduct HIT workouts on MedX equipment.  The equipment’s special medical rehab features make it safer and more accommodating to those with limiting conditions.  Aging is inevitable, however with our program it wiil not happen as quickly.

Endorphins the body's natural high

Imagine being pleasantly euphoric with a lower stress level and having less aches and pains, lower blood pressure, and sounder sleep. You can get there without a pill.

Endorphins, endogenous opiates, produce a natural high. They are produced by the central nervous system and the pituitary gland as a response to stimuli such as pain, fear, or stress. Endorphins alleviate the discomfort associated with the exertion of exercise, and can remain elevated for hours and even into the next day.

For exercise to stimulate the release of endorphins the exercise has to be sufficiently demanding. A walk in the park won’t cut it. Exercise with lots of rest between sets might produce a few endorphins. A high intensity training (HIT) workout will produce a lot. A properly designed HIT workout is a series of strength training exercises taken to deep fatigue with very little rest and a lot of attention to safety.

At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength trainers  we conduct HIT workouts on MedX equipment.  The equipment’s special medical rehab features make it safer and more accommodating to those with limiting conditions. The trainers insure proper form and breathing, and upon completion of an exercise, they make sure you are immediately on to the next one.

People of any age and any level of fitness can do this.  You build up to it slowly, doing at little more than you are used to handling each workout.  Over time you’ll be at a higher difficulty level and have that endorphin rush.  

Best place live, Austin ranked # 1

According to this US news article, 100 Best Places to Live in the USA 2017, Austin is the number one place in the country to live.

Also, from this Forbes article, America's Fastest-Growing Cities 2016:

“Austin regains the No. 1 spot after being toppled by Houston last year. Thanks to its booming technology, pharmaceutical and biotech industries, low cost of living, and cachet, the Austin economy remains on fire...The city has topped our list of Fastest-Growing Cities for five of the past six years." 

We scouted out a lot of cities before deciding on our Austin Personal Trainer location.  Good fortune has smiled on us.  We are grateful that it has worked out so well along with our New Orleans Personal Trainer location. 

Thank you to our clients

Do a good job; hopefully your business grows. If no one is aware of your good work you’ll labor in obscurity.

Do a good job, let people know about it, clients tell people about it, and your business grows even more. We adhere to the latter. Thanks to our clients we have been able to grow.

We are thankful for their referrals, their longstanding patronage, theirtestimonials, the doctors’ endorsements, and the Yelp Reviews (Austin /New Orleans). There are now 25 trainers at our New Orleans Fitness Training and Austin Fitness Training locations, and we have conducted over 250,000 training sessions. We understand that without our clients’ support we would've closed our doors a long time ago.

Quotes from the links above:

“I was in tears walking on the Great Wall of China.”

“Seems too good to be true, but it actually is that good”

“I have officially lost 50 pounds”

“I am stronger now than I have ever been”

“It is like discovering the fountain of youth. It really does work.”

Those with poor musculoskeletal health die sooner

From this study, Musculoskeletal decline and mortality: prospective data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study, the conclusion:

“Poor musculoskeletal health increased the risk for mortality independent of age. This appears to be driven mainly by a decline in bone mass. Low lean mass independently exacerbated mortality risk, and this appeared to operate through poor health exposures.” The takeaway: Stay as strong as you can as long as you can.

Proper strength training will add to your lean muscle mass, even those who are considerably older, and it can forestall the progression of osteopenia. While strength training is not a cure for decreasing bone density, it is an effective treatment. A treatment can slow, reverse, or stop the progression of a condition. 

A 60 year old client of ours increased her bone density one standard deviation over the course of two years – one 30 minute workout a week and no meds. Significant results do not require hours in the gym. Those who are older required more recovery, and for most, strength training one time a week is optimal.

At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we work with people of all ages. We use MedX equipment; with its special medical rehab features, we can accommodate those with limiting conditions.

Do not go gentle into that good night...

...Old age should burn and rave at close of day. 

The gentle way is not so gentle:

Gentle inactivity leads to > weakness leads to > slower gait speed > decreased balance > decreased energy levels > decreased resistance to injury and illness > increased probability of a fall and serious injury with a grave outcome as a result - a life cut short with a greatly diminished quality of life.

To burn and rave at the close of day:

Increasing strength leads to > increased gait speed > increased balance > stronger muscles and bones > increased endurance and energy levels > increased resistance to illness and injury > decreased likelihood of falling and a greater probability of surviving a fall unscathed - a significantly higher quality of life for far longer in later years.

Generally people are not placed in senior care for being out of breath; it is usually because they are too weak to carry out daily activities safely.

One strength training session a week has been shown to be optimal for strength gains for seniors. With proper strength training you will:

• Become stronger

• Increase your bone density 

• Forestall cognitive decline

• Lower your blood pressure

• Avoid aches and pains.

• You’ll revitalize impaired mitochondria which means you’ll have the energy you had years earlier.

Add all these improvements up; it is like having a fountain of youth. At our Austin Senior Fitness facility we work with people of all ages. We use MedX equipment; with its special medical rehab features, we can accommodate those with limiting conditions.

One of our trainers has four clients in their 80s. One of our senior clients went from playing nine of holes of golf every two days to 36 holes of golf over two days. It is never too late to start a strength training program.

Extending your running life for years

According to one study a force of up to three times body weight can be exerted on the human foot while running, and it can be much higher at times. Multiply that by each foot fall in a mile, and you have tons of weight absorbed through the joints and connective tissues. While some people are uniquely suited to do this high impact/high intensity jogging for decades of their adult life, many are not.

For those who want to extend their running life there is a solution; keep running and substitute one running day with one session of high intensity interval training (HIIT) for strength. One less day a week of pounding and you'll have stronger muscles protecting those joints. Add up all those daysover the course of years of giving your joints a break. Your joints will thank you for it.   

At Austin Strength Trainers and at New Orleans Strength Trainers our HIIT full-body workout takes about 25 minutes, and it's non-stop. We use MedX equipment. The special medical-rehab features make it easier on the joints. Anybody of any age can do it; each week you do a little bit more that you are used to handling. Muscles are worked to a deep fatigue, and it is cardiovascularly demanding – just like running. It will add years to your running life and to your life in general.

60 years of trials: Most common dieting outcome is weight regain or trivial loss

From this article, Oprah’s Investment in Weight Watchers Was Smart Because the Program Doesn’t Work, a quote:

“My lab reviewed 60 years of clinical trials of diets, and we found that people lose an average of 10 percent of their starting weight on most diets but within two to five years have gained back all but about two pounds.  So, in reality, despite the short-term effectiveness of certain diet regimes, themost common outcome of dieting itself, by a landslide, is either weight regain or trivial weight loss".

A diet is not a permanent fix. Three life style changes that are sustainable:

1. Make modest permanent changes in eating habits. For me that was no alcohol, no soda, and minimal grains and sweets.
2. Strength train for the highest marginal return – don’t waste time exercising. A full body HIT workout once a week to deep fatigue with no rest between exercises takes about 25 minutes.  A stronger body will have a higher metabolism and more energy. Mitochondria, found in most cells, is where respiration and energy production takes place. Six months of strength training partially reverses mitochondria impairments to a level consistent with a younger stage in life. It is like having a fountain of youth.
3. Do an activity you enjoy. Because of one and two you’ll be able to do activities longer with less chance of injury and more enjoyment.

Your life will profoundly change, and it does not required hours in the gym.   At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength Trainers we have a program you can finally stick to.

Short effective training sessions, lots of things to consider

For the body to change it must either exercise longer or at a higher intensity than it is used to handling.  Higher intensity workouts by necessity will be shorter, but they are very effective.  Just some of the things to considerwhen making a high intensity training (HIT) routine that is safe and effective:

· Frequency of workouts · How often should the exercise routine be varied · Time under load · Sequence of exercises · Rate of increase of resistance between sessions · Selection of specific exercises· Range of motion · Pre-exhaustion sets · Amount of rest after completing exercises on one muscle group before starting exercise on another muscle group. · Amount of rest between each repetition · Number of repetitions of an exercise for a particular muscle group. · Alternating pushing movement followed by a pulling movement · Alternating upper followed by lower body exercises · Speed during concentric movement · Speed during eccentric movement · Compound movements versus rotary movements · How heavy the weights should be · Amount of rest between each set · Number of sets of each exercise for each muscle group
· Alternating aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise in one workout · Unilateral versus bilateral movements · Negative accentuated sets · Active recovery between workouts · Concentric only exercise · Negative only sets · Negative only workouts · Static holds · Form · Type of equipment · Level of fatigue · Length of time of the workouts · Whether to go to momentary muscular failure

An experienced HIT trainer will know all of the above and more and will adapt the workout to address the specific concerns of the client and eliminate much of the trial and error.

The advantage of HIT is that it does not require hours each week engaged in monotonous exercise, and it works for all ages. Significant strength increases will result exercising as little as once or twice a week if it is done correctly.  It helps to have equipment best suited for that purpose.  At Austin Strength Training and at New Orleans Strength Training we have conducted more than 250,000 training sessions; we have a good understanding of how to manipulate the variables so you can safely produce ongoing results and avoid injuries.

Senior golfer ready to hang up clubs, now plays 18 holes a day

After nine holes of golf Marcel was too tired to play the back nine. The next day he was too tired to go out on the course again. At 72 years of age he was nearing the age to hang up his clubs. He began strength training once a week for 30 minutes. A year later he could play 18 holes one day, and the very next day he could play 18 more. He was stronger, less prone to injury, and he had more energy. No, not just a feeling like he had more energy, he actually had more strength and energy - the science to back it up.  

Armed with those results he could play 27 more holes of golf. Those additional 27 holes contributed positively to his health as well. Marcel loved to play golf; he was doing it more, enjoying it more, and he was hitting the ball farther. It's not how much exercise you can withstand; it's how much you need to produce change. Do that exercise each week; the benefits will accumulate to the point where there is significant improvement.

Train too much, you'll get sick, injured or quit.  At our Austin Senior Personal Training facility we work with people of all ages and can help you find the right dose of the right exercise that will  produce ongoing results. We use MedX equipment; with its special medical-rehab features we can accommodate those with limiting conditions.

Exercise shown to increase fat burning hormone Irisin

“High Intensity Training (HIT) enacts a hormonal cascade that is the antithesis of the metabolic syndrome.” - From the web site, Body By Science. 

Part of that cascade is Irisin, a hormone associated with fat burning that correlates positively with muscle mass. From this article, Exercise releases hormone that helps shed, prevent fat:

"Irisin has a positive effect by turning white fat into brown fat and that it increases the body's fat-burning ability." 

And from this article, Effects of Obesity, Diabetes and Exercise on Fndc5 Gene Expression and Irisin Release in Human Skeletal Muscle and Adipose Tissue: “Irisin was positively linked to muscle mass, strength and metabolism.”

While losing fat is primarily an eating-less proposition you can help it along by increasing irisin production. To produce more irisin it helps to do exercises that will increase strength and muscle. The high intensity training (HIT) we do at New Orleans Strength Trainers and at Austin Strength Trainers will do that.

Study finds lack of exercise is more deadly than obesity

“Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life” ~ Dean Wormer. He should amend that statement to include the lack of exercise. According to this study, the lack of exercise is more deadly than obesity.

A quote from the study:

“Using the most recent data on deaths in Europe, Ekelund's team estimated that 337,000 of the 9.2 million deaths of European men and women were linked to obesity. However, twice that number of deaths could be connected to lack of exercise.”

For many, exercise can be drudgery and few stick with it. The renewal rate at health clubs is 30 percent. With monthly bank drafts health clubs can end up being collection agencies disguised as health clubs.

Here is a prescription for exercise that you can stick to: Don’t see how much exercise you can withstand; find out what is the least amount that will produce the most change in all aspects of fitness, and do that each week. Make modest changes in your eating, and engage in activities you enjoy. A year from now you will be profoundly changed.

At  Austin Strength Training  and  New Orleans Strength Training our program is designed to improve all six commonly recognized aspects of fitness. It doesn't involve hours in the gym. Exercise should free you up to engage in those activities you enjoy and not be a source of drudgery.