valshealthblog.com

Hi,

Last post we talked about how to increase your metabolism with the foods you eat. 

This post will talk about increasing it with exercise.

But, exercise is what?   If someone tells you that they are going to go exercise, what are they actually doing.

Are they running, biking, weight lifting, doing yoga or what?  It could be all of those things.

Any exercise program you go on should incorporate two things.  One is enhancing your strength and the other your cardio fitness. 

If you do one over the other you are not being as efficient as you can be in raising your metabolism.

Muscle uses more calories than anything else in your body.  Now we all have the same number of muscles, so to use more calories you need bigger and stronger muscles.

They don’t have to be much bigger, but the more you move and use your muscles the more calories you will burn every day.

Estimates of the extra number of calories you will burn in a day range from 40 to 100 calories.  While that might not seem like a whole lot, these calories will be burning 24/7/365. 

Even if it is only 40 extra calories a day, that equals just over 4 pounds a year.  And those pounds will be almost all from body fat. 

And that is by doing nothing extra.  Just having stonger muscles does it. 

The second part of your exercise should be some kind of cardio training.  But, not your normal cardio.

If you really want to up your metabolism then try some high intensity cardio.  This involves high intensity cardio mixed with lower intensity cardio.

For example you could run, walk, bike or swim as fast as you can for a period of time.  Then slow down to a leisurely pace for a period of time.

When first starting you might want to try 10 seconds of fast and 30 seconds of slow.  This depends upon your current fitness levels.

As you get better try to get to more time spent in the fast phase and less time spent in the slower phase. 

Doing cardio this way will do one thing that normal cardio (30-60 minutes at the same intensity levels) can’t do.

And that is to burn calories after the exercise session is done.  Regular cardio – if done long enough – will burn calories and fat while the cardio session is being done. 

But, once the session ends, then the burning stops. 

The alternating intensity – if you reach a high enough intensity – will also burn calories during the session.  And it will also burn extra calories and fat after the session is done.  

Part of this is because the regular cardio does not affect your fat burning hormones.  That way they never get stimulated for the after burn effect. 

The higher intenstity training does affect your fat burning hormones.  They go into action and your fat burning after effect is ignited. 

The same holds true with your strength training.  If you do an exercise and then rest for 2-3 or more minutes, you will not get an after burn effect.  Especially if the exercise did not tax you. 

An intense bout of strength training with minimal rest will definitely get your fat burning hormones lined up.

This after burn effect can last up to 48 hours after the exercise session is over.

So, it increase your metabolism, use strength training and higher intensity cardio sessions.   Then your body will be a fat burning machine.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

Do high protein diets work?  Yes and no. 

In the lab and under very strict condtions, yes they do help burn more body fat than a lower protein diet.  And it doesn’t have to be much of a difference in the amount of protein to get the fat burning effect.

A study reported in the Journal of Nutrition in 2008 showed that just 1/2 gram of protein per pound of body weight at two meals a day burned almost 3 times as much body fat. 

The actual weight loss in both groups was between 8 and 9 pounds.  But, the higher protein group’s weight loss came more from burning body fat than the lower protein group  (3.6 pounds vs 1.3 pounds over 12 weeks).

Part of this comes from the fact that it takes more energy to use protein than it does carbs or fats.  Also eating more protein has been shown to suppress one’s appetite. 

Okay, so if protein does all of this, then why did I say yes and no.

Here is the problem.  It is easy to lose weight when you are in a controlled environment.  Studies that show positive weight loss or fat loss  usually are closely monitored. 

That means calories are counted.  Micro nutrients are controlled.  Exercise sessions are monitored.  These kinds of studies are very expensive and hard to do.  That is why there aren’t many of them.

In the real world, where the results aren’t monitored as closely, a subject of the study could say that yes, they ate more protein.  However, without being able to monitor that, there is no way of knowing if they did eat more protein.  There is no way of knowing how much protein they did eat.  There is no way of knowing what kind of protein they ate. 

Someone in the study could eat a whey protein shake twice a day.  Another one could eat a double bacon cheeseburger twice a day.  They might both be getting the same amount of protein, but who do you think has a better chance of losing body fat or even body weight?

I think you already know the answer to that one. 

Why do I bring this up?  Because you read about “studies” all the time that “prove” that this product is the best. 

That this product, like protein, reduces body fat more than another product.  But, you are never given the parameters of the study.

Sure, eating a protein powder over a double bacon cheeseburger will “prove” that the protein powder is better.  But, if you don’t know that the protein powder was compared to the burger, then you will be more likely to rush out and buy the protein powder.

Which is exactly what the makers of the protein powder – who did the study – want. 

The bottom line is if you want to burn some extra fat, then yes, eat a little more protein.  But, eat healthy protein, not protein laden with fat. 

That way your high protein diet will work. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

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Hi,

I saw a headline in Health World a while back that caught my eye.  It said you could double the calories you burn when you exercise. 

As with most claims in the exercise and fitness worlds it doesn’t give you the whole truth. 

The article went on to mention that it was possible to double the amount of calories you burn when you exercise by adding aerobic exercise to your routine. 

It claimed that regular aerobic exercise will burn calories after you stop exercising by up to 8 hours afterwards. 

Somehow they interpreted that “fact” to mean that if you do aerobic exercise and burn 100 calories you will then burn an additional 100 calories after you stop doing the exercise. 

Unfortunately, they gave no proof of this.  Nor did they cite any research proving this. 

And there is a reason for this.  It just isn’t true. 

Pretty much the research shows that regular aerobic exercise does burn calories while you are doing it. 

And you will actually get into a fat burning stage after approximately 20 minutes. 

But, as soon as you stop the aerobic exercise that is pretty much it.  You get no or very little EPOC or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.   And certainly not 8 hours worth. 

You might have heard it called oxygen debt.   This is the debt that has to be repaid after intense exercise.  Note the term intense. 

That is the key.  Most people do not do intense aerobics. 

Go to any gym in the country and watch the people doing aerobics on all the different kinds of aerobic machines.  Watch people walking or jogging along the street.

That is what aerobics are for most.  A slow to medium paced workout. 

Very seldom to you see anyone doing sprints or running as hard as they can up 10 flights of stairs. 

I see people looking at me when I am on an exercise bike.  I pedal like a madman for 20, 30, 45 or even up to 75 seconds.  Then I relax and pedal slowly for 10 to 20 seconds. 

I keep doing that for 7 to 20 minutes depending on whether I have done a weight training workout prior to the “aerobics”.

But, you should see the looks I get.  It is almost funny.  I can just see their minds going, what in the hell is that guy doing. 

Well, I am burning fat. 

So in this case  adding high intensity exercise does indeed increase the after burn effect for up to 48 hours afterwards. 

Why is this?  Because low intensity to medium intensity exercise influences your hormones to burn sugars. 

High intensity exercise – even if you burn much less calories during the exercise time – influences your hormones to burn body fat. 

Big, big difference in your appearance.

So yes you can actually more than double the calories you burn over the long term.  But, you won’t be able to do it with low to moderate intensity aerobics.

We’ll talk more about hormones and how they influence your physique in coming posts.  Stay tuned. 

Thanks,

Mike Val

http://www.valshealthsite.com

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Hi,

Dietary supplements are a multi-billion dollar industry.  So if you are spending money on your supplements it might be important to know how much you should be taking. 

(Image is of a trans fatty acid.)

I am going to talk about the dietary supplement CLA or conjugated linoleic acid.  But, what I will share with you could hold for any supplement you take. 

CLA has been shown to help people lose weight.  CLA is a trans fatty acid.  Whoa!!  Wait a minute, everyone knows all trans fatty acids are bad for you. 

Oh, if only it were that simple.  This is why you can’t always believe what the “news” tells you. 

CLA is also a cis fat.  The difference refers to the structure of the atoms as they line up.  Cis means on the same side and trans means across or on the opposite side. 

This might not seem like much, but for CLA it lowers its melting point and basically makes this trans fatty acid beneficial. 

CLA has other benefits beside aiding in weight loss, such as reducing the growth of cancerous tumors. 

But, getting back to weight loss.  It was found that taking 3.4 gms of CLA per day resulted in an average 6 pound weight loss while preserving muscle tissue.  From that we can assume that most of the weight loss came from body fat. 

This is a good thing.  It basically does this by keeping smaller fat cells from getting bigger. 

All this is great.  Here is the problem though.  If you didn’t read about the above mentioned study using 3.4 gms of CLA, then you probably don’t realize that you aren’t getting enough. 

A sample of the CLA supplements on the marketplace show that most of them come in 500, 750 and 1000mg softgels or capsules.  That would be 1/2 to 1 gm. 

Yet, the instructions on the bottles of the CLA recommend 1 to 3gms capsules a day.  Three grams was the highest recommended dose I found. 

Most recommended 1 to 2 grams per day.  If you had read about CLA and wanted to use it to help you lose weight, then you probably would not be taking enough. 

That means you would be wasting your time and money.  Taking 1-2 grams a day is from less than 30% to less than 60% of what you would need to get the full benefits.

So here is the problem.  Are you going to take the time to find the studies and figure out what you really need to take and how much? 

I would guess not.  But, no worries.  I love to do this stuff.  So all you have to do to know what dietary supplements to take, why to take or not take them and how much to take is to keep reading this blog. 

Pretty simple, huh?

Thanks for reading this one.

Mike Val

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Hi,

I just read an article on Yahoo TV by someone quoting Jillian.  I had to ask myself, did Jillian really say this.

Because if she did, she really needs to update her research.  You can read the article here: http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/losing-it-with-jillian-5-tips-to-greater-abs–1335

Let me just say this first.  Jillian is doing a great service.  She is helping people get in better shape and in effect getting much healthier. 

However, assuming she did say these things, she is also propogating a lot of the myths about losing body fat and getting a six pack out there.

If even she is doing this, then is it any wonder you might be frustrated hearing all this conflicting information from the supposed experts?

All right, so what did she say and what is the problem. 

1. She said a big part of ab definition is managing water weight. 

While this is true for professional body builders competing before a show, it isn’t true for the average person.

Before you can even worry about ab definition, you have to lose the fat around your middle.  And you have to build up the muscle, just like any other muscle. 

2. She had various ways to reduce bloat. 

Bloat is a temporary thing and it is the same problem as above.  Lose fat, build ab muscles first, then you might have to worry about bloat.

3. She said you can spot reduce belly fat. 

I can’t believe she said this. This myth of spot reduction has been scientifically disproved so many times that no one believes this any more. 

Yes, if you lose weight and do abdominal exercises you will see a reduction in your waist size.  But, you will not see a reduction in waist size and no reduction anywhere else.  You lose body fat over all your body, not one part.

4. She said when you hit the gym go hard – 85% of max heart rate. 

Okay, this is not inaccurate, but here is the problem.

My goal is for everyone to lose weight and fat in a program that they can continue for life.  Most of you do not have a personal trainer or are in an isolated setting (like the TV show) that will watch and push you for the rest of your life.

So you need a program you can stick with for the rest of your life.  Pushing yourself at 85% max heart rate is not that program.  And most people, even trained athletes, can not do that for more than a few minutes at a time. 

5. She said avoid processed foods, etc.  This is true, but then she adds that it is because of the hormone cortisol being a fat storing hormone. 

Body fat and hormone research is really in its infancy.  And yes, cortisol can help with fat storing and muscle breakdown.  But, that is only under certain circumstances.

Cortisol can actually help you build muscle and burn fat if your body is primed for this. 

So, 5 statements and each one has problems.  Look, I don’t know what her credentials are except that she is a famous personal trainer and is good at marketing. 

So did Jillian really say those things?  I don’t know.

I do know that the above remarks are at best superficial and in some cases downright wrong. 

In order to lose body fat and finally see your abs is a whole lot harder than eating more watermelon. 

I am working on a program designed around your hormones that will guarantee you lose body fat, get in the best shape of your life and it will be something you can easily do for life. 

If you would like more information on this, then keep reading this blog, or you can sign up to get on my email list at: valshealthsite.

Thanks,

Mike Val

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