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.
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.
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.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Meditation Lowers Blood Cortisol Levels
Stress triggers many physiological changes in the body through the “fight or flight” response. When stress levels are high, levels of the hormone cortisol released into the bloodstream are also high. Studies confirm that chronic stress is associated with increased fat in the abdominal area, higher concentrations of blood sugar and insulin, higher blood pressure and higher levels of cholesterol—conditions that are associated with metabolic syndrome and that increase the risk of heart disease.
A recent small study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2004; [1032], 211–15) suggests that older women who regularly practice meditation may have a reduced cortisol response to stress—and that the longer a woman has been practicing, the less likely she is to react to stress with high levels of blood cortisol.
Walton and colleagues studied 30 women, 16 who were long-term practitioners of TM and 14 controls, all between the ages of 65 and 92 years. The subjects ingested 75 grams of glucose in order to stress their systems metabolically. Cortisol levels were measured before and after administration of the stressor. The researchers found that cortisol levels rose much higher and with greater speed among the controls than among the meditators. Moreover, the longer a subject had practiced meditation, the lower her cortisol response was. The study authors theorized that this lower cortisol response may reflect improvement of the endocrine system regulation and recommended that more research be conducted.
A recent small study published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2004; [1032], 211–15) suggests that older women who regularly practice meditation may have a reduced cortisol response to stress—and that the longer a woman has been practicing, the less likely she is to react to stress with high levels of blood cortisol.
Walton and colleagues studied 30 women, 16 who were long-term practitioners of TM and 14 controls, all between the ages of 65 and 92 years. The subjects ingested 75 grams of glucose in order to stress their systems metabolically. Cortisol levels were measured before and after administration of the stressor. The researchers found that cortisol levels rose much higher and with greater speed among the controls than among the meditators. Moreover, the longer a subject had practiced meditation, the lower her cortisol response was. The study authors theorized that this lower cortisol response may reflect improvement of the endocrine system regulation and recommended that more research be conducted.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
No pain no gain?
People today are becoming fitness freaks and are ready to explore several options to keep healthy. It seems as if they are on a continuous search for new, more advanced and beneficial regimes.
Unfortunately, what you hear is not always true. Here is the most popular myths pertaining to fitness:
1. 'No pain, no gain'
Pain is a warning sign that indicates any potential harm to the body. You should not feel any type of pain during or after exercise. If you feel pain, it means you are on the wrong track. One must be able to differentiate between pain and discomfort. When you begin a new exercise, an initial mild discomfort is normal and it is due to muscle soreness (DOMS).
Don't force your body to continue with a workout if you perceive any kind of pain. Remember, if there is pain there will be no gain. With a proper and planned exercise regime and a maintained exercise log, one can gain without pain.
Unfortunately, what you hear is not always true. Here is the most popular myths pertaining to fitness:
1. 'No pain, no gain'
Pain is a warning sign that indicates any potential harm to the body. You should not feel any type of pain during or after exercise. If you feel pain, it means you are on the wrong track. One must be able to differentiate between pain and discomfort. When you begin a new exercise, an initial mild discomfort is normal and it is due to muscle soreness (DOMS).
Don't force your body to continue with a workout if you perceive any kind of pain. Remember, if there is pain there will be no gain. With a proper and planned exercise regime and a maintained exercise log, one can gain without pain.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fitness Training Packages!!!
Personal Training Packages
Signature Fitness Introductory Personal Training Packages
Cost: $125
3 personal training sessions (50 minutes)
1 customized nutritional programs ($50 value)
1 Body measurements and personal goal assessment
Upgraded Package #2 Personal Training
Cost: $300
6 personal training sessions (50 minutes)
1 custom nutritional menu ($50 value)
Body measurements and personal goal assessment
Upgraded Package #3 Personal Training
Cost: $400
8 personal training sessions (50 minutes)
1 custom nutritional menu ($50 value)
Body measurements and personal goal assessment
Custom Signature Fitness Programs
Packages of 10, 20 or 30 Personal Training Sessions
or Small Group Training Packages
How many Benefits are there in
A customized one on one personal training, small group training or boot camp that are including but not limited to Strength training , weight loss, Core training, Cardiovascular, and Flexibility. Pick up the phone, make the call or send an email and find out what its like to work with a Signature trained professional and learn what a total body conditioning program is that is designed for you individually and will challenge you to succeed and exceed with goals you seek out. A Signature Fitness Trainer will help the scope of practice for a personal trainer to enhance the components of fitness for healthy way of living, feel great and build confidence. The five classic components of fitness are muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, cardiovascular endurance, and flexibility, although there are other subsets like power, skill, and speed.
Healthy alternatives to easter candy!!
Easter Bunny Loves His Carrots, :-) Another idea is to make cereal bars using whole grain cereals, nuts and seeds and make them into egg shapes. Then wrap them in plastic wrap, decorate them with Easter stickers and ribbon and let the kids find them at Easter. The traditional dyed eggs are also a healthy Fruits and cookies. You can bake natural cookies at home that taste yummy. Mini boxes of raisins and low fat candies. Stuffed bunny rabbits and jelly beans, which are low in calories. A basket of brightly colored plastic eggs; with coins inside each egg.Coloring books and crayons. Small toys, Peanut butter cookies and mini bran muffins.
WHAT THE HECK IS METABOLISM?
WHAT THE HECK IS METABOLISM? 
Picture Pulled from the Internet
Metabolism, whether the word or process, can be defined in two simple statements.
First, it is the chemical process occurring within your body for the maintenance of life, yielding energy and forming substances necessary to life, such as blood, bone, muscle, fat, and so on. Second, it is the processing of specific substances, such as fat metabolism, iodine metabolism, and many others.
While both of these views relate to what we are talking about, the first statement is the important one for you at this moment.
YOUR METABOLISM is how YOUR BODY goes about extracting energy from food, building and repairing tissue and organs, and how efficiently it performs this process. That last part about efficiency is a key point in weight loss and weight gain.
HOW IS METABOLISM RELATED TO WEIGHT LOSS...AND EVEN WEIGHT GAIN?
At various times in your life, your metabolism will work in different ways. Many of us can certainly remember the days when we could eat anything we wanted and never gain a pound...a large pizza, three sodas with sugar, and some cinnamon sticks, and absolutely no change!
In the younger years of life, your metabolism is in the higher gears, probably the highest gears it will ever be in. For most of us in these years, weight gain and weight loss are not really issues of major concern. Some people, however, do have slower metabolic rates than others at any age, and may have genetic tendencies or clinical conditions which cause them to have more of a weight gain than others of their age group.
No matter which group you find yourself in, changing your metabolic rate, revving up your metabolism, if you will, will increase the speed and efficiency with which your body turns food into energy and body "parts and pieces".
Unfortunately, as you may have long suspected, as you age, your metabolism slows down.
Part of this, the slowing down of metabolism, is simply something the body does with age. Part of it, also somewhat related to age, at least indirectly, is the affect of changes which take place in your way of life as you age. Fortunately, both are somewhat reversible, essentially through the same process. More on this in the last section. The part where your body just slows down has to do with "resting metabolism", and the other part...well, let's just call that "rusting metabolism".
Picture Pulled from the InternetMetabolism, whether the word or process, can be defined in two simple statements.
First, it is the chemical process occurring within your body for the maintenance of life, yielding energy and forming substances necessary to life, such as blood, bone, muscle, fat, and so on. Second, it is the processing of specific substances, such as fat metabolism, iodine metabolism, and many others.
While both of these views relate to what we are talking about, the first statement is the important one for you at this moment.
YOUR METABOLISM is how YOUR BODY goes about extracting energy from food, building and repairing tissue and organs, and how efficiently it performs this process. That last part about efficiency is a key point in weight loss and weight gain.
HOW IS METABOLISM RELATED TO WEIGHT LOSS...AND EVEN WEIGHT GAIN?
At various times in your life, your metabolism will work in different ways. Many of us can certainly remember the days when we could eat anything we wanted and never gain a pound...a large pizza, three sodas with sugar, and some cinnamon sticks, and absolutely no change!
In the younger years of life, your metabolism is in the higher gears, probably the highest gears it will ever be in. For most of us in these years, weight gain and weight loss are not really issues of major concern. Some people, however, do have slower metabolic rates than others at any age, and may have genetic tendencies or clinical conditions which cause them to have more of a weight gain than others of their age group.
No matter which group you find yourself in, changing your metabolic rate, revving up your metabolism, if you will, will increase the speed and efficiency with which your body turns food into energy and body "parts and pieces".
Unfortunately, as you may have long suspected, as you age, your metabolism slows down.
Part of this, the slowing down of metabolism, is simply something the body does with age. Part of it, also somewhat related to age, at least indirectly, is the affect of changes which take place in your way of life as you age. Fortunately, both are somewhat reversible, essentially through the same process. More on this in the last section. The part where your body just slows down has to do with "resting metabolism", and the other part...well, let's just call that "rusting metabolism".
Sunday, March 27, 2011
If you have limited time to work out!!
Come see me if you are short on time and need a good work out, I will be able to train you in as short as 30 min.... The other day, I was asked the following question: If only have about 20-30 minutes a day to exercise. What can I do in that amount of time? Well that's not much time but i have trained others and myself and have gotten a great work out, Well I did not want to limit answering him with just a few pushups and situps - I set out to prove how much you could do in such a little amount of time. I set a goal for myself to several hours to maintain a fitness program in just minutes a day.
So here is a list of 20-30 minute workouts you can do in your home, office, lunch time, or local gym:
I have to admit superset is a great way to workout if you have limited time. Each cycle should only take you approximately two minutes. If you can do ten cycles of this you will total 300 pushups and 400 crunches, not to bad for 20 minute work out if i say so myself! O and ya one more thing NO RESTING BETWEEN SETS!!! You kinda get a rest by doing crunches, see me smerking. The two supersets you see below are great to alternate every other day.
So here is a list of 20-30 minute workouts you can do in your home, office, lunch time, or local gym:
I have to admit superset is a great way to workout if you have limited time. Each cycle should only take you approximately two minutes. If you can do ten cycles of this you will total 300 pushups and 400 crunches, not to bad for 20 minute work out if i say so myself! O and ya one more thing NO RESTING BETWEEN SETS!!! You kinda get a rest by doing crunches, see me smerking. The two supersets you see below are great to alternate every other day.
Pushup/Crunch superset: Repeat 10 cycles of:
regular pushup 10
crunches 10
wide pushup 10
crunches 10
tricep pushup 10
Left/Right crunches 10 / 10
Leg / ab superset:
Repeat 5 cycles of:
Squats 20
crunches - 20
Lunges 10 / leg
crunches - 20
Calf raise 20
crunches 20
Running or walking! How much running or walking can you do in 20-30 minutes? Some people can run 3-6 miles or walk 2-3 miles in that time period. Try this one if you want to run.
Running
4 Mile Track Work
Jog - 1 mile in 7:00
Three sets of:
Sprint-1/4 mile in
Jog - 1/4 mile
Six sets of:
Sprint-1/8 mile
Jog - 1/8 mile
Or you can mix the two types of exercise together and do what I call a Spartan Run.
Spartan run
run 1 mile
100 pushups
100 crunches
run 1 mile
75 pushups
75 crunches
run 1 mile
50 pushups
50 crunches
Swimming? how much swimming can I do in 20-30 minutes? Some people can swim a mile in that time. Here is a great workout though if you want to mix a little PT with swimming.
Swim PT
Repeat 5-10 times
swim 100-200 yards
pushups 10-20
abs - 20-30
Or you can swim with fins. This is great for the legs and heart.
Swim with fins - 500 yards
500 yards without fins using the swim stroke of choice
As you can see, you can do quite a bit in as little as 20-30 minutes. These workouts are a little advanced and you should ALWAYS consult your doctor before starting an exercise program.
Spartan run
run 1 mile
100 pushups
100 crunches
run 1 mile
75 pushups
75 crunches
run 1 mile
50 pushups
50 crunches
Swimming? how much swimming can I do in 20-30 minutes? Some people can swim a mile in that time. Here is a great workout though if you want to mix a little PT with swimming.
Swim PT
Repeat 5-10 times
swim 100-200 yards
pushups 10-20
abs - 20-30
Or you can swim with fins. This is great for the legs and heart.
Swim with fins - 500 yards
500 yards without fins using the swim stroke of choice
As you can see, you can do quite a bit in as little as 20-30 minutes. These workouts are a little advanced and you should ALWAYS consult your doctor before starting an exercise program.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)