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Taken in part from: Harvard Men's Health Watch
It's a common question, and an important one. It's important because about two thirds of all Americans weigh more than they should. It's important because excess weight has serious consequences for health. Obesity is responsible for high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol and triglycerides. At the same time, it promotes HDL (good) cholesterol. It impairs the body's responsiveness to insulin, raising blood sugar and insulin levels. and the consequences go far beyond an unflattering figure and a worrisome metabolic profile: obesity contributes to major causes of death and disability, including heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, osteoarthritis, fatty liver, and depression. All in all, obesity and lack of exercise are responsible for about 1,000 deaths in the U.S. each day. Faced with these risks, it's no wonder that you want to know how much you should weigh. But this common and important question is actually the wrong question. For health, the issue is not how much you weigh, but how much abdominal fat you have.
Methods have changed over the years. For decades, doctors relied on simple height and weight charts. But when scientists recognized that what matters is not body weight but body fat, standards begin to change. The new technique is now called the body mass index (BMI) and it remains enshrined as the standard way to diagnose overweight and obesity.
The BMI provides a good estimate of body fat, and it's more acurate than skin fold measurements. As a result, patients in the know are now asking, What should my BMI be? Although the BMI is the official standard, it has several flaws. The BMI reflects total body fat without regard to how the fat is distributed. And although no excess fat is good, one type of excess fat is much more dangerous than the others. New research shows that abdominal fat is the worst of the worst.
In the past few years, a number of studies have called attention to the importance of abdominal obesity, and some of the new research shows that it is a better predictor of risk than BMI.
What makes abdominal fat so harmful? Scientists don't know for sure, but new research is providing strong clues. To understand these clues, you must first understand that abdominal fat comes in two different forms. Some of it is located in the fatty tissue just beneath the skin. The subcutaneous fat behaves like the fat elsewhere in the body: it's no friend to health, but it's no special threat either.
Fat inside the abdomen is another story. This visceral fat is located around the internal organs, and it's the true villain. A very new explanation relies on the concept of lipotoxicity. Unlike subcutaneous fat, visceral fat cells release their metabolic products directly into the portal circulation, which carries blood straight to the liver. As a result, visceral fat cells that are enlarged and stuffed with excess triglycerides pour free fatty acids into the liver. Free fatty acids also accumulate in the pancreas, heart and other organs. In all these locations, the free fatty acids accumulate in cells that are not engineered to store fat. The result is organ dysfunction, which produces impaired regulation of insulin, blood sugar, and cholesterol, as well as abnormal heart function.
This one explanation is the better of the new three (only one was written in this article)
The most accurate method is to use computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
A far simpler method is to determine the waist - to - hip ratio. Measure your waist and hips, your height and weight and give it to me, and I will advise you what the measurements mean in your individual case.
Measuring your waist to learn if you have abdominal obesity and excess visceral fat is easy-but doing something about it is much harder.
Forget abdominal crunches and sit-ups. The are good for increasing muscle tone, and mass, which will improve your profile, but they won't selectively burn up abdominal fat. Gadgets that promise spot fat reduction are even worse: they'll have you wasting time and money without reducing your waist.
Forget liposuction and apronectomy, (tummy tuck) Surgery can remove subcutaneous fat from your midsection but not visceral fat. Cosmetic surgery will improve your appearance and reduce your waiste circumference, but it won't do a thing for you metabolism or health.
To lose weight, eat less. That means reducing your portion size and choosing your foods wisely. Avoid foods that are high in sugar. They are calorie dense.
Exercise more, walking two miles per day will substantially reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, and premature death. It will also burn calories. Resistance training will increase your metabolic rate and burn more calories all day. Remember fat can only be metabolized through muscle. This means the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn.
New research suggests that waist size is a simple yet powerful way to predict the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses associated with excess body fat. Again, take your, waist, hips, height and weight and send them to me. I will advise based on you measurements your health risks.
AND I can help you stay healthy, and reduce you risk if you are not now healthy.
If you really want to lose weight, if you're looking for long term health benefits then look no further that your sneakers. That's right, lace them up and go for a jog. Then schedule a time to meet with me. Together we will turn you into a walking, talking, billboard for the benefits of exercise.
To reach all of the above goals, is to hire a Certified Fitness Trainer.
It’s sort of a lazy day, hot and humid, normal for Florida weather. I am in the gym with a client and we are about halfway done with the routine I had designed for this client. This was not my gym, and I was’t the only trainer in the gym at the time. As a matter a fact, there were a lot of us, “trainers” all working with there clients.
As a trainer, I feel I should never question what another trainer is doing, unless it is something that is dangerous, and without any doubt wrong and will only lead to an injury sooner or later. Since I don’t know what the client wants to accomplish or anything about their experience, background and history, and the same goes for the trainer, my answer is usually pretty simple. “I haven’t a clue? BUT…….we shouldn't’t make a judgment about what we see unless we have a lot more information than we do. What we should do, is make sure we hire a trainer with experience, education, certification and the ability to design, implement and control a training protocol, safely, competently designed for the client’s ability, and goals.
If the trainer has the knowledge, training and experience, and knows how to accomplish that, They will do a great job for their client. My advise is simply this…Learn as much as you can about the personal trainer you choose to work with. When he is interviewing you, interview him. Have the confidence in your trainer to do the right job for you under any and all circumstances. If you follow that simple rule, I am gonna bet that you will not be the client stating, “Hey trainer. What’s up with that. You will know the answer.
Short bouts of maximal intensity exercise (HIT) build high levels of fitness quickly. A remarkable study by Canadian researchers found that six sessions of high intensity interval training on a stationary bike, (it can be assumed the same results will be obtained from any aerobic activity, running, treadmill, etc.) increased muscle oxidative capacity by almost 50%, muscle glycogen by 20% and cycle endurance capacity by 100%
The subjects made these amazing improvements exercising a mere 15 minutes in two weeks 4 to 8 bouts of 30 seconds of exercise, maximum: 4 minutes rest in between bouts. The secrete here is to exercise a maximum effort. This test was duplicated by a follow up study in moderately active women using the same training increased whole body and skeletal muscle capacity for fat use during exercise.
High Intensity Interval Aerobic Training can gain better results in 1/3 the time. For a free consultation, and a one on one personal session just call or email me for more information. (Applied Physiology Nutrition Metabolism, 34: 428-432, 2009)
Most weight training studies on beginners or untrained people showed that multiple sets produce no more benefit than single set workouts. Critics say that these studies were poorly supervised and that multiple sets would be superior if people trained hard.
Brazilian researchers, using untrained college age men, found that multiple sets produced greater strength gains than single sets. Subjects performed 8 to 12 repetitions for 1 or 3 sets during a six week training period. Multiple set programs were best for beginning weight trainers. All my programs for beginners include full body work outs, with at least 2 sets per exercise. (Paper presented at American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, May 28, 2009)
Core muscle development is central to keeping fir, and serves as the foundation for peak performance in almost all sports. Many personal trainers reemphasize traditional abdominal exercises such as crunches in favor of Pilates exercises such as planks. Perhaps this is in haste….Anthony Caterisano and co investigators from Furman University in Greenville, SC found that crunches activated the rectus abdominis, (six pac muscles) and external obliques (side ab muscles) 20% greater than planks. They measured muscle activation using electromyography. Crunches build core muscles strength better than planks. Crunches, have always been and always will be a integral part of most of my routines. (Medicine Science Sports Exercise 41: 198-199, 2009
Scientists, coaches and athletes argue endlessly about the best protein supplement for enhancing muscle protein synthesis. Whey and Soy Protein are digested faster than casein, so supplement makers often mix blends to maximize amino a cid availability for as long as possible. However, little research supports the use of one type of protein over the other.
Researchers from McMaster University in Canada found that a supplement containing why protein hydrolysate accelerated muscle protein synthesis at rest and after weight training better than soy or casein protein The researchers speculated that whey protein promoted muscle protein because it was digested faster and was better able to increase blood levels of leucine, which is critical signaling compound for promoting protein synthesis Call me to find out what protein I recommend for pre and post work outs. (Journal of Applied Physiology, in press: published online July 9, 2009.)
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