Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Burning Fat: Myths and Facts from May IDEA Fitness Journal
A popular myth is that there is a specific range of heart rates in which you must exercise to burn fat. Even many cardio machines display a “fat-burning zone” on their panels, encouraging people to exercise in a specific heart rate range. Have you ever wondered if you really have to exercise in a specific heart rate zone to lose fat? And what happens if you venture out of that zone? Jason R. Karp, PhD, a nationally recognized speaker, writer and exercise physiologist who coaches recreational runners to Olympic hopefuls through his company, RunCoachJason.com, sheds light on this issue.
The Bottom Line: For fat and weight loss, what matters most is the difference between the number of calories you expend and the number of calories you consume. Fat and weight loss is about burning lots of calories and cutting back on the number of calories consumed. For the purpose of losing weight, it matters little whether the calories burned during exercise come from fat or carbohydrates.
SIDEBAR: Workouts for Fat Loss
To maximize your fat loss, try these workouts. For assistance in designing effective, safe workouts, consult with a certified personal trainer.
Go Hard: A great way to perform high-intensity exercise and decrease your body fat percentage is through interval training, which breaks up the work with periods of rest. Not only does interval training allow you to improve your fitness quickly; it is also more effective than continuous exercise for burning lots of calories during exercise and increasing your postworkout metabolic rate. Try one or two of these workouts each week:
Go Very Long: Long runs or bike rides (≥ 1.5–2 hours at 65%–70% max HR) that stimulate mitochondrial synthesis and promote the depletion of glycogen threaten the muscles’ survival, since carbohydrates are muscles’ preferred fuel. In response to this threat, muscles “learn” how to use fat more effectively and over time become better fat-burning machines.
This handout is a service of IDEA, the leading international membership association in the health and fitness industry, http://www.ideafit.com/. IDEA Fitness Journal, Volume 7, Number 5, May 2010
Fuel Use During Exercise: You use both fat and carbohydrates for energy during exercise, with these two fuels providing that energy on a sliding scale. During exercise at a very low intensity (e.g., walking), fat accounts for most of the energy expenditure. As exercise intensity increases up to the lactate threshold (the exercise intensity that marks the transition between exercise that is almost purely aerobic and exercise that includes a significant anaerobic contribution; also considered the highest sustainable aerobic intensity), the contribution from fat decreases while the contribution from carbohydrates increases. When exercising just below the lactate threshold, you are using mostly carbohydrates. Once the intensity of exercise has risen above the lactate threshold, carbohydrates become the only fuel source.
If you exercise long enough (1.5–2 hours), your muscle carbohydrate (glycogen) content and blood glucose concentration become low. This metabolic state presents a threat to the muscles’ survival, since carbohydrates are muscles’ preferred fuel. When carbohydrates are not available, the muscles are forced to rely on fat as fuel.
Since more fat is used at low exercise intensities, people often assume that low-intensity exercise is best for burning fat, an idea that has given birth to the “fat-burning zone.” However, while only a small amount of fat is used when exercising just below the lactate threshold, the rate of caloric expenditure and the total number of calories expended are much greater than they are when exercising at a lower intensity, so the total amount of fat used is also greater.
Since more fat is used at low exercise intensities, people often assume that low-intensity exercise is best for burning fat, an idea that has given birth to the “fat-burning zone.” However, while only a small amount of fat is used when exercising just below the lactate threshold, the rate of caloric expenditure and the total number of calories expended are much greater than they are when exercising at a lower intensity, so the total amount of fat used is also greater.
The Bottom Line: For fat and weight loss, what matters most is the difference between the number of calories you expend and the number of calories you consume. Fat and weight loss is about burning lots of calories and cutting back on the number of calories consumed. For the purpose of losing weight, it matters little whether the calories burned during exercise come from fat or carbohydrates.
SIDEBAR: Workouts for Fat Loss
To maximize your fat loss, try these workouts. For assistance in designing effective, safe workouts, consult with a certified personal trainer.
Go Hard: A great way to perform high-intensity exercise and decrease your body fat percentage is through interval training, which breaks up the work with periods of rest. Not only does interval training allow you to improve your fitness quickly; it is also more effective than continuous exercise for burning lots of calories during exercise and increasing your postworkout metabolic rate. Try one or two of these workouts each week:
- 5–6 x 3 minutes at 95%–100% maximum (max) heart rate (HR) with 2-minute active recovery periods
- 4 x 4 minutes at 95%–100% max HR with 3-minute active recovery periods
- 8–12 x 30 seconds fast with 1-minute active recovery periods
Go Very Long: Long runs or bike rides (≥ 1.5–2 hours at 65%–70% max HR) that stimulate mitochondrial synthesis and promote the depletion of glycogen threaten the muscles’ survival, since carbohydrates are muscles’ preferred fuel. In response to this threat, muscles “learn” how to use fat more effectively and over time become better fat-burning machines.
This handout is a service of IDEA, the leading international membership association in the health and fitness industry, http://www.ideafit.com/. IDEA Fitness Journal, Volume 7, Number 5, May 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Inspiring!
One of my clients sent this to me. Very inspiring and shows that anything is possible if you really want it!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
I am glad to see this headline BUT I am surprised this is newsworthy!
Health Tip: Eat Your Fruits and Veggies
(HealthDay News) -- Since childhood, lots of people have heard the parental plea to eat their fruits and vegetables.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this insight on why eating fruits and veggies is so important:
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables can help prevent chronic diseases, including cancer, research indicates.
Most fruits and vegetables offer great nutritional benefit while contributing little to your daily fat and calorie intake.
At the same time, they help you stay full, helping you to maintain a healthy body weight and prevent excessive weight gain.
Fruits and vegetables are rich in the minerals, vitamins and fiber your body needs.
Hmmmmm, I assume people know that fruits and veggies are good for them! Eat your fruits and veggies!!
(HealthDay News) -- Since childhood, lots of people have heard the parental plea to eat their fruits and vegetables.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers this insight on why eating fruits and veggies is so important:
Eating lots of fruits and vegetables can help prevent chronic diseases, including cancer, research indicates.
Most fruits and vegetables offer great nutritional benefit while contributing little to your daily fat and calorie intake.
At the same time, they help you stay full, helping you to maintain a healthy body weight and prevent excessive weight gain.
Fruits and vegetables are rich in the minerals, vitamins and fiber your body needs.
Hmmmmm, I assume people know that fruits and veggies are good for them! Eat your fruits and veggies!!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Yogurt, a healthy snack, seriously?
"All Natural" labeling does not mean that it is a good choice. First, always, always, always, read the ingredient list before you fall for what the label says!
Example: "All Natural" vanilla yogurt, a six ounce serving.
Ingredients: Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, natural flavor, pectin. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
Guess what kind of "all natural" snack this is? It is 150 calories that contains 25 grams of sugar, which happens to equal 100 calories, which is equal to 6 teaspoons of sugar!!! YIKES! Add insult to injury, there is ZERO, yes ZERO, grams of fiber! WHHHHAAATTT???
Instead, have a banana and 10-15 raw almonds for a more nutritious healthy snack!
Example: "All Natural" vanilla yogurt, a six ounce serving.
Ingredients: Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, sugar, natural flavor, pectin. Contains active yogurt cultures including L. acidophilus.
Guess what kind of "all natural" snack this is? It is 150 calories that contains 25 grams of sugar, which happens to equal 100 calories, which is equal to 6 teaspoons of sugar!!! YIKES! Add insult to injury, there is ZERO, yes ZERO, grams of fiber! WHHHHAAATTT???
Instead, have a banana and 10-15 raw almonds for a more nutritious healthy snack!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)