But the fact remains that every individual who walks into a gym wants the very same thing – to change how he or she looks. Very few people join the gym because they feel they need to improve their stability.

End of an Era

Functional training is now apparently the only way to train, apparently leaving bodybuilding in the past. So are these functional advocates telling us that building muscle is bad for us? Surely building muscle is the body’s natural response to hard work, and we replicate hard work in the gym with resistance.

Bodybuilding programme design is based upon one principle: in order to increase the area of our muscles, we perform repeated resisted movements which, in turn, induce fatigue within a certain time. This can be performed for all of the “major” muscle groups in a variety of layouts.

Decreased Function

Most bodybuilders will have been told that using 8-12 repetitions will achieve the best results when wanting to increase size and they will very seldom, if ever, deviate from this repetition range.

Reaching maximum voluntary contraction within this time frame will ensure that the body is heavily dependent on the lactate (anaerobic) energy system for ATP production. However, when you exercise for these short periods you will not promote a proportionate increase in capillary density due to a decreased dependence on oxygen.

“A rapid increase in the volume of a muscle cell, without any increase in the capillary network that supplies the muscle, will lead to an ischaemic environment being created. This will result in diminished nutrient and oxygen supply, which slows down the metabolic processes within the muscle and the disposal of metabolic waste products from the muscle” – (Zalessky & Burkhanov, Legkaya Atlitika, 1981).

So, in short, many bodybuilders will have fewer capillaries per square inch of muscle than even sedentary individuals, let alone other exercisers.

“The decreased oxygen carrying and utilisation abilities of hypertrophied muscles will affect their ability to respond positively to exercise, leading to irreversible structural damage occurring within the muscle.”

Tendon & Ligament Damage

Another detrimental effect of bodybuilding on muscle function is the decreased ability of the connective tissue to repair and strengthen itself in proportion to the muscles. Due to the reduced nutrient and blood supply, ligaments and tendons can take up to seven times longer than muscle tissue to recover from a single bout of exercise.

“Increases in strength, brought about through muscle hypertrophy without proportionate increases in connective tissue strength, will inevitably lead to tendon and ligament damage” – (Zalessky & Burkhanov, Legkaya Atlitika, 1981).

With both of these situations in mind, surely it’s no coincidence that bodybuilders have the highest injury rate – the most common being muscular tears. Be sensible when it comes to weight training and seek professional advice on what suits you best when it comes to a programme.

If you listen to a lot of the stories in the media, you might believe that losing weight and keeping it off is virtually impossible. The common wisdom is pretty discouraging. Sure, you can lose weight, but what’s the point, since you’ll just put it on again sooner or later? And since your body type is determined by your genes, why bother trying anyway?

Well, here’s the encouraging news: Regardless of body type or genetics, all sorts of people are successfully losing weight and keeping it off. While it may take some hard work and dedication, you can as well.

The National Weight Control Registry

In 1993, we started the National Weight Control Registry as a way of studying the behaviors of people who successfully lost weight and kept it off. We wanted to see what methods these people had in common, since they could help us discover the best strategies for weight maintenance.

To enroll in the Registry, a person must have maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for at least a year. However, on average, members of the Registry have lost 67 pounds and kept it off for six years. Those are inspiring figures.

Looking at the data, we haven’t seen evidence to confirm the idea that our genes make our destiny when it comes to weight. If people really had a genetic “set point” weight as some argue, why would the average weight of Americans be getting heavier each year? While genes certainly play a role, they don’t predetermine what your weight will always be. Instead, they provide a range of weights that are possible depending on your diet and amount of exercise. So you have more control over your weight than you might think.

By looking at the behavior of the 4,200 people in the Registry, we’ve identified four common characteristics of those who’ve lost weight and are now keeping it off. These suggestions don’t make up a diet program. But if you’re looking for ways to keep weight off, adopting these behaviors isn’t a bad way to start.

Eat a Low-Fat, High-Carbohydrate Diet

Although a lot of people may think of only pasta and bread when they hear the word “carbohydrates,” complex carbohydrates are in many foods, not only grains but also in beans and many vegetables. People in the Registry say they get about 56% of their calories from such carbohydrates, and only about 19% of calories from protein. Fat makes up about 25% of their diet. People in the Registry also say they consume 1,300 to 1,400 calories a day on average, but that number is probably lower than what they actually eat.

Remember that a good diet probably isn’t one that makes you outlaw certain types of food. Being too strict can make it hard to stick to a healthy eating plan. The problem for most people is not so much that they’re eating the wrong things, but that they’re eating too much. Moderation is important.

But what about protein diets? People using protein diets can and often do lose weight. The fact is that you can probably lose weight on any of the major diet plans, and Registry members slimmed down employing all sorts of different approaches.

However, what we’ve found is that people who are successful at maintaining their weight loss eat a low-fat and high-carbohydrate diet. So while a protein diet may be good for losing weight, it may not be the best for long-term weight maintenance.

Exercise Every Day

Exercise is key to maintaining your weight loss and it’s probably more important than diet. On average, people in the Registry exercise between an hour and an hour and a half a day. Yes, that’s a lot. But before you despair, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

First, many of the people break up their exercise throughout the day instead of doing a single, marathon work-out session. Second, one of the most common methods of exercise is walking, which is easy to incorporate into your day.

If you’re just starting out, it’s important to begin slowly. Starting too fast can cause pulled muscles and discouragement. Instead, gradually work up to a full hour. Alternatively, you can increase your number of steps. Get a pedometer, or step counter, and record the number of steps you take in an average day. Then slowly increase them.

An hour or an hour and a half every day is a lot of time. But look at it this way: if you could lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life with just an hour or so of exercise a day, would it be worth it? A lot of people say yes.

Eat Breakfast Every Day

Although some people try to lose weight by cutting down on the number of meals they eat, that really isn’t a good strategy. Skipping meals often just means that you’ll be starving later and wind up overeating. Starting the day with breakfast can help prevent that, and on average, members of the Registry eat breakfast every day. A daily breakfast may also be a sign of the discipline that Registry members bring to how they eat. Being careful about when you eat may also help make you conscious of what you eat.

Keep Track of Your Weight and Eating

This is a behavior shared by weight maintainers that runs against common wisdom. Many people have argued that weighing yourself regularly can put too much emphasis on weight rather than fitness.

We don’t know exactly why regular weighing is a common characteristic of people who’ve been successful at maintaining their weight, but we speculate that people use their scales as an early warning system. People who weigh themselves regularly will notice quickly if they have gained a few pounds and can then implement some strategies to prevent gaining more.

Checking your weight less often can mean that you might wake up one morning and discover that you gained 10 pounds. That can be pretty discouraging, and it might cause you to just give up.

The Myth of Painless Weight Loss

One thing that people in the Registry tell us again and again is that weight loss and weight maintenance is not easy: it’s hard work. Diet programs that advertise easy or painless weight loss and weight maintenance tend to fail in the long run. A lot of the people in the Registry tell us that they only lost their weight after they gave up on the “painless” methods.

The problem for many people is that they work hard at losing weight but then don’t have the skills to maintain that weight loss. We’ve found that the best way to do that is to exercise and eat carefully for the rest of your life.

That may sound tough, and it is. But when we ask people on the Registry, they say losing the weight was worth it, and that it actually got easier over time. Getting to a lower weight has made their lives better, and it can make yours better, too.

Three things in life are visceral religion, politics, and diet.  All are based on belief systems and are not subject to debate.  True believers say, “don’t confuse me with the facts, because in my heart I know I’m right”.  I can’t do much about religion or politics, but at least nutrition can be examined experimentally.  The question is not what is the best diet for weight loss, but what is the best diet for reversing silent inflammation?  Of course along the way a number of other important questions will be answered.  This is why in every carefully controlled research study in which the Zone Diet has been compared to other dietary programs, the Zone has been found to be superior in hormonal control, blood glucose control, blood lipid control, appetite suppression, fat loss, and most importantly the reduction of silent inflammation.

We often make medicine more complex than it really is.  That’s because the underlying cause of chronic disease is increased inflammation.  What we see as heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s are not different diseases, but simply different manifestations of long-term damage caused by a continued inflammatory attack on your organs.

There are two types of inflammation.  The first is classical inflammation that hurts because of organ damage.  This is what forces you go to a doctor.  The second type is far more insidious and far more dangerous. I call this silent inflammation. This type of inflammation causes no pain therefore you do nothing to stop it.  But after years, if not decades of constant inflammatory attack, there is enough organ damage that you call it chronic disease.

Silent inflammation is an indicator of the inflammatory potential at the cellular level.  It is not a disease, but high levels of silent inflammation are the first indication that you are no longer well.  There is no drug that can reverse silent inflammation, but the anti-inflammatory Zone Diet can.

How do you know if you have silent inflammation?  The ideal way is taking a blood test just as you would to determine your cholesterol levels.  But if you are like me, you probably hate giving blood.  Fortunately there are some questions you can ask yourself to give you an indication that you may have high levels of silent inflammation.  No one question is sufficient, but if you can answer yes to more than three of these questions, you probably have elevated levels of silent inflammation.  Here are the questions, simply ask yourself:

 Are you overweight?

Are you taking a cholesterol-lowering drug?

Are you taking hypertensive drugs like beta-blockers or diuretics?

Are you constantly craving carbohydrates?

Are you continually fatigued?

Are you groggy upon waking?

Do you have brittle fingernails?

You are probably thinking that the vast majority of Americans may have silent inflammation.  After doing thousands of blood tests on “healthy” Americans I have come to the same conclusion.  They are not sick enough to have a chronic disease, but they are definitely no longer well.

This explains why we spend so much on health care and have so little to show for it.  Americans are not only the fattest people on the planet, but the most inflamed.  But fortunately, it is possible to reverse silent inflammation in 30 days using an anti-inflammatory diet.

The more you understand genetics, the more impressed you become by the power of nutrients to alter the expression of genes, especially those that control inflammation.  At one point in our evolution, hundreds of millions of years ago, immunological response and nutrient storage and metabolism were all shared functions.  Today there is still extensive cross communication between these systems.  The central communication point is through the innate immune system, which has long been ignored as an integral part of the immune response.  Primitive as it may be, it is still the front line of defense against microbial invasions and initiates the generation of inflammatory responses against such invaders.  Unfortunately, many components of our current diet are activating those same inflammatory response mechanisms just as a microbial invader would.  Likewise other components of our diet that would normally inhibit these inflammatory responses are now sadly lacking.  Recently discovered components of the innate immune system such as toll-like receptors and nuclear transcription factors occupy the central focus of genetic technology yet they are significantly impacted by dietary components such as the balance of protein-to-carbohydrate, polyphenols, and omega-3 fatty acids that are key to the practice of anti-inflammatory medicine.

Currently we hear a lot of good news about omega-3 fatty acids.  They are useful for heart disease, depression, arthritis, and even weight loss.  How can these fats do so many things?  The answer is they reduce silent inflammation.

The good news about Omega 3 fatty acids is that they reduce inflammation caused by chronic disease and the diet.  The bad news is they also reduce the body’s innate anti-inflammatory ability to promote cell rejuvenation, repair and healing.  It’s like taking two steps forward and one step back.  You are still ahead of the game, but not as far along as you could be.

If wellness is your ultimate goal, then you must simultaneously control both phases of the inflammatory response in each of your 100 trillion cells.  If you can, that is the true molecular definition of anti-aging medicine.

For 25 years, I have worked on this problem, and now have the solution with a new generation of super fish oils that accomplish the desired goals of reducing pro-inflammatory responses caused by diet or chronic disese, and at the same time increase cellular rejuvenation, repair and healing.  The key lies in the isolation of new natural inhibitors of the enzyme that converts the essential fatty acid building blocks of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids into the building blocks for pro-inflammatory eicosanoids.  With the right combination of essential fatty acids and the appropriate enzyme inhibitors, it is possible to fine-tune the most appropriate EPA/DHA concentrate for individual genetics to maximize control of silent inflammation for a lifetime.

What Should I Eat?
In plain language, base your diet on garden vegetables, especially greens, lean meats, nuts and seeds, little starch, and no sugar. That’s about as simple as we can get. Many have observed that keeping your grocery cart to the perimeter of the grocery store while avoiding the aisles is a great way to protect your health. Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect. If you follow these simple guidelines you will benefit from nearly all that can be achieved through nutrition.

The Caveman or Paleolithic Model for Nutrition
Modern diets are ill suited for our genetic composition. Evolution has not kept pace with advances in agriculture and food processing resulting in a plague of health problems for modern man. Coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, obesity and psychological dysfunction have all been scientifically linked to a diet too high in refined or processed carbohydrate. Search “Google” for Paleolithic nutrition, or diet. The return is extensive, compelling, and fascinating. The Caveman model is perfectly consistent with the CrossFit prescription.

What Foods Should I Avoid?
Excessive consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates is the primary culprit in nutritionally caused health problems. High glycemic carbohydrates are those that raise blood sugar too rapidly. They include rice, bread, candy, potato, sweets, sodas, and most processed carbohydrates. Processing can include bleaching, baking, grinding, and refining. Processing of carbohydrates greatly increases their glycemic index, a measure of their propensity to elevate blood sugar.

What is the Problem with High-Glycemic Carbohydrates?
The problem with high-glycemic carbohydrates is that they give an inordinate insulin response. Insulin is an essential hormone for life, yet acute, chronic elevation of insulin leads to hyperinsulinism, which has been positively linked to obesity, elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure, mood dysfunction and a Pandora’s box of disease and disability. Research “hyperinsulinism” on the Internet. There’s a gold mine of information pertinent to your health available there. The CrossFit prescription is a low-glycemic diet and consequently severely blunts the insulin response.

Caloric Restriction and Longevity
Current research strongly supports the link between caloric restriction and an increased life expectancy. The incidence of cancers and heart disease sharply decline with a diet that is carefully limited in controlling caloric intake. “Caloric Restriction” is another fruitful area for Internet search. The CrossFit prescription is consistent with this research.
The CrossFit prescription allows a reduced caloric intake and yet still provides ample nutrition for rigorous activity.

]]> http://kortraining.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/kor-kids/feed/ 0 CrossFit Newton p1010160 http://kortraining.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/boot-camp/ http://kortraining.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/boot-camp/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:01:12 +0000 Gilaad cohen http://kortraining.wordpress.com/?p=42 ]]>

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Lose weight, sculpt, tone, feel great in your own skin.Change your body, change your mind. Experience invaluable training with our motivational Personal Trainers and Boot Camp Trainers.

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You have 3 different choices for bootcamp:

Right now classes are on Mon and Wed from 9:15-10 and Fri from 10-10:45

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1. once a week for 7 weeks $120.00

2. Twice a week for 7 weeks $240.00

3. Three times a week for 7 weeks $360.00

 This article will describe the physiological factors that contribute to EPOC, discuss its relation to weight management and review a recent article on EPOC and resistance training.

  During EPOC the body is restoring itself to its pre-exercise state, and thus is consuming oxygen at an elevated rate. This means that energy is also being expended at an elevated rate. The following occurs during EPOC:

  1) Replenishment of Energy Resources: Replenishment occurs for the immediate source of energy, known as the phosphagen system, which is comprised of creatine phosphate and ATP (adenosine triphosphate). In addition, lactate, a molecule that is produced during more intense exercise, is being converted to pyruvate for fuel utilization. The body is also restoring the muscle glycogen (a stored form of glucose) that has been used during the exercise bout.
2) Re-oxygenation of Blood and Restoration of Circulatory Hormones: During exercise metabolism, large amounts of oxygen are used to break down food substrates for energy. Therefore, the body continues to expend energy after exercise to re-oxygenate the blood. In addition, in the post-exercise period, the body restores the levels of circulatory hormones, which increased during exercise, to normal.
3) Decrease in Body Temperature: As energy is liberated from the exercising muscle tissues of the body, heat is produced. Thus, during EPOC, the body must expend energy to return to the normal core body temperature.
4) Return to Normal Ventilation and Heart Rate: Energy expenditure is greatly elevated as the body rapidly returns to a normal breathing rate. Heart rate is also returning to a pre-exercise rate.

EPOC and Weight Management and anabolic hormones.

Because the body continues to expend energy after exercise, EPOC plays a supplemental role to an exercise program in weight management. Currently, researchers are interested in the effect different forms of exercise have on EPOC.

The evidence suggests that a high-intensity, intermittent-type of training (interval training) has a more pronounced effect on EPOC (Haltom et al. 1999). Also, it appears that resistance training produces greater EPOC responses than aerobic exercise (Burleson et al. 1998). The research suggests that high-intensity resistance exercise disturbs the body’s homeostasis to a greater degree than aerobic exercise. The result is a larger energy requirement after exercise to restore the body’s systems to normal (Burleson et al. 1998), and thus an explanation for the higher EPOC. The underlying mechanisms that cause the higher EPOC observed in resistance exercise include elevated blood lactate, and an increase in circulating catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine)

  Inspecting the data from several investigations, it appears that EPOC accounts for post-exercise expenditure of 51 (Haltom et al. 1999) to 127 (Burleson et al. 1998) kilocalories. Since a pound of fat is equal to 3,500 kilocalories, the effect of EPOC on weight control must be regarded in terms of a cumulative effect over time. 

 Recent Investigation

Current research of resistance weight training and EPOC has noted a relationship between exercise intensity and elevated metabolic rate. As weight lifting intensity increases, the EPOC duration also increases. Most research up to now has been on EPOC and resistance training in males. This recent study attempts to clarify the effects of EPOC on resting metabolic rate (RMR) on healthy, weight-trained females.

Osterberg, K. L. & Melby, C. L., 2000. Effect of acute resistance exercise on post-exercise oxygen consumption and resting metabolic rate in young women. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, 10 (1), 71-81.

Seven females, with an average age of 27 years, height of 66 inches, weight of 141.5 pounds and body fat of 18.3 percent, participated in this research study. Subjects were required to maintain body-weight stability, which the authors defined as no gain or loss of weight greater than 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) in the last six months. All subjects’ meals were standardized prior to and during the exercise intervention.

The exercise program consisted of five sets of 10 different exercises. The exercises were performed in agonist/antagonist pairs (push/pull sequence), with 10 to 15 repetitions per set. Opposing muscle groups were paired together to avoid premature failure due to muscular fatigue, and the last two sets of each exercise were performed to failure. The exercise groupings consisted of bench press and bent-over row; leg extension and leg curl; military press and sit-ups; biceps curl and triceps extension; and lunges and lateral raises. The subjects were given a four-minute time period to perform the exercise pairs and could rest for the remainder of the time if they finished before the four minutes expired.

EPOC remained elevated throughout the three-hour post-exercise measurement phase and was measured every 30 minutes. It was 13 percent higher than pre-exercise baseline oxygen consumption (VO2) in the final  measurement stage. The subjects’ average RMR was 4.2 percent higher 16 hours following exercise, when compared to the pre-workout RMR. The authors concluded that intense resistance training produces modest, but prolonged elevation of post-exercise metabolic rate in women.

Practical Application:

Intermittent, high-intensity weight training appears to have the greatest effect on EPOC (Melby et al. 1993; Laforgia et al 1997) and individuals who perform high volume (2- Color 5 sets of 10 to 15 reps at 60- 70% of 1-RM) resistance exercise will see minimal weight management benefits from EPOC (Burleson et al. 1997; Osterberg However, it should be emphasized that the overall weight-control benefits of EPOC, for men and women, from participation in resistance exercise occur over a significant time period, since kilocalories are expended at a low rate in the individual post-exercise sessions.

Rich Ruffing, CSCS

Having worked in the strength and conditioning field for years, Rich has established himself as an expert in  performance enhancement and physique transformation.  It is his “in the trenches” experience and  in-depth knowledge that has allowed Rich to be successful with a large number of his clients.

Rich has his Bachelors Degree in Sports Biology and is certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association. After college Rich interned with the Maine Maritime academy football team as the assistant coach.

Rich has been training since 2000, working in health clubs and studios and working with a variety of clients. He is a writer for allexperts.com and also writes a column for the Cambridge Chronicle.

David Gleason, CSCS

David received his Bachelor’s of Science in Sports Medicine/Health and Fitness from Keene State College in 1993. His athletic career peaked as a division 2 All-New England candidate and All-Conference soccer captain for Keene State.

Dave is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (National Strength and Conditioning Association). David’s training history spans from New Hampshire to New York, Arizona and back home again to Massachusetts, logging thousands of hours helping people of all abilities and populations reach their full physical potential. He has successfully worked as a strength coach for state, regional, national and world ranked athletes in variety of different sports. Having trained clients in ages ranging from 6 – 90 years of age, Dave has created programming for individuals, small groups, and teams maximizing performance in work, play…and in life!
Dave is the co-inventor of the Omni Resistance Ball, a new fitness product that exploded onto the commercial fitness market in September of 2002 (www.performbetter.com). With management experience in small and large fitness facilities as well as owning his own in-home personal training business and his exercise equipment manufacturing business, Dave has developed many different skill sets pertaining to fitness business success.
David has presented locally, regionally and nationally on variety of fitness topics to fitness professionals including training methodologies and how to be profitable in the fitness industry through personal training. For the public and private sector Dave has lectured on reducing back injuries in the workplace, stress management, supplementation and working out less with more results. Dave has also conducted teleseminars on topics such as “10 ways to burn more calories without exercise”, “The couch potato workout”, “Vacation workouts” and “Your ‘why’ – the link between fitness success and failure”.
“The underestimated power of potential lies in the fact that potential is unused effort”
“One of God’s gifts to us is potential; our gift back is the effort to reach it!”
Dave currently resides in Pembroke, Massachusetts with his wife Andrea and two sons, Trevor and Andrew.