Exercising the cardiovascular system with minimal stress on the joints

According to Runner's World 80 percent of all runners will experience an injury in a given year.  That is counterproductive to what you set out to accomplish.  I was slow to learn this.  Years of running has taken its toll on my joints.  Fortunately I have found a piece of aerobic equipment that enables me to effectively work my cardiovascular system with minimal stress on my joints.  We have this piece of equipment at our New Orleans Personal Trainers and our Austin Personal Training locations.

Why they stay

It helps to have good trainers. In a recent blog post it was estimated that between our two Kelly Personal Training facilities, Austin Fitness Trainingand at New Orleans Personal Training, we had surpassed a quarter million training sessions. In another reoccurring blog post titled What Clients Are Saying we highlight the progress that our clients have made. Trainers made that happen.

The fitness business is a revolving door for trainers and clients as well. Only the good trainers manage keep a longstanding clientele and make a permanent go of it in the fitness industry.

We are fortunate to have so many exceptional trainers with many years of experience.  One of those trainers is Harmon Dash. He is dedicated, knowledgeable, and professional, and he is loved by his clients. He reflects positively on our entire enterprise, and we are grateful to have him. The job is fun and rewarding when you help people change their lives. Below are three testimonials of three of those people whose lives Harmon helped change:

"I’ve found the fountain of youth, and it’s at Kelly Personal Training! I’m 79 years old, and haven’t felt this good in decades. Most exciting is my new found ability to keep up with the physical demands of having fun with my grandson. Thanks to my trainer, Harmon Dash, for making me look and feel better, AND for improving my quality of life."

Stuart Phillips, retired orthopedic surgeon (Age 79)

"After working with Harmon for only five weeks, I improved my military reserve fitness scores by two levels, achieving one of my best scores ever at age 50. I knew then, this was an exercise routine I could commit to, long term. It's been 5 years now, and the workout I get at Kelly Personal Training still bests any other exercise program out there, both in terms of efficiency and results.

Plus, the mental discipline that comes with continued visits carries over to day to day life. Anyone who has not experienced the results they wanted from a gym membership or home training owes it to themselves to give Kelly Personal Training a try. You won’t regret it."

David Savoie, CPA (Age 55) CPO, U.S. Navy Reserve

 "I used to work out 3 times a week: it dominated my schedule, but wasn't giving me the results I desired. Since coming to see Harmon, once a week at Kelly Personal Training, I've seen dramatic improvements in strength and energy, but now I have time to be with my family. Plus, my workouts have triggered better eating habits, deeper sleep and an overall feeling of well-being."

 Dr. Shammander Gupta, MD (age 41)

 Previous blog entries in the series What Clients Are Saying:

1. Seems too good to be true, but it actually is that good
2. After each session, I always felt better on all levels.
3. This would not have happened to me if I had a personal trainer
4. I love this workout
6. I saw a remarkable change in my body
7. A Radical Transformation
8. I don’t think I would be alive today
9. Amazing and remarkable
10.My doctor said it would not be necessary to start taking drugs to preserve my bone density
11. I was in tears walking on the Great Wall of China
12. Under no circumstances stop exercising because that is what is keeping you going

Is exercise really worth it?

The answer to the question depends on the type of exercise. Would you like to do things you have not done in years?  Do you want to have a lower blood sugar level, lower blood pressure, increased cognitive function,higher testosterone level, increased human growth hormone, less body fat,improved posture, increased maximum oxygen uptake, increased bone density, a higher resting metabolism, more lean body mass, and increased resistance to disease and injury? 

Would you like to eliminate back pain and nagging injuries?  It would be nice to lessen arthritis pain, sleep better, and have an overall feeling of well being.  All of that is possible and will not require hours out of your week if you perform exercise that produces the highest marginal return for the effort and time spent – namely HIIT, high intensity interval training for strength. 

Add to that, a sensible eating plan you can stick to. Then do something you enjoy – running, ride, yoga, or walking the dog. If you are so inclined add sprint training.  In total, sprint and HIIT, it takes me about an hour and half of my week.  Your free time need not be spent in drugery.

Improvement on some of the above measures can make all the difference – avoid a herniated disc, a frozen shoulder, or type-2 diabetes or wall away from a fall unjured.  Even if you improve just a bit on all the measures, collectively that can be huge. 

Is it worth your time and effort to avoid the infirmities mentioned above? The personal trainers at Austin Fitness Training and New Orleans Fitness Training are convinced it is. 

The right kind of exercise to lose weight

A NYT article concluded that To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More:

Reasons for that mentioned in the article:

  1. Exercise stimulates the appetite.
  2. Exercise over time makes us more efficient.  A more efficient body burns less calories.
  3. Exercise burns precious few calories.

You can eat three less Oreos or run an extra mile to have the same calorie deficit.  You can exercise strenuously for 30 minutes or drink two less 16 ounce cokes. That is an easy call for me.

The article states:

“When you lose weight, metabolism often slows. Many people believe that exercise can counter or even reverse that trend. Research, however, shows that the resting metabolic rate in all dieters slows significantly, regardless of whether they exercise. This is why weight loss, which might seem easy when you start, becomes harder over time.”

I think that depends on the type of exercise. For more on the right type of exercise go here.  The right kind of exercise can counter a diet-induced slowed metabolism. A stronger body will have a higher resting metabolism, and proper strength training will burn calories four ways.  When you restrict calories the body, as an act of self-preservation, will lower its metabolism by consuming lean body mass.  Strength training sends the opposite message -–you need to maintain that lean body mass to survive the demands placed on it.  

A stronger body will burn more calories even at rest. At New Orleans Fitness Trainers and at Austin Personal Training we can show you how to workout effectively and efficiently, get stronger, and even burn a few calories. 

High intensity sprint training you can stick to

With any exercise program if you set the bar too high you’ll likely quit. Set the bar lower and you are more likely stick to it and see more results in the long run.

One way to do sprint training that I have seen recommended and I have tried:  Warm up on an exercise bike or other aerobic equipment.  Then go as fast as you can for 30 seconds.  Recover at much slower RPMs for 90 seconds then repeat the cycle for a total of eight sprints. If you are truly going as fast as you can it will take a long time to acheive eight all-out sprints.  It is grueling. It took me months to build up to eight sprints. I had great results, but I absolutely hated it. I had a sense of dread whenever I would go into the gym to do it. I eventually quit. 

Trying to go as fast as you can is a euphemism for trying to withstand as much pain as you can. These sprints are difficult. Approaching spring training in this manner was, for me, a prescription for quitting.

After a three-month hiatus I finally had enough gumption to go back to this type of training, but I took a different approach. Instead of seeing how much I could withstand I set the bar lower. Instead of working up to a total of eight as-hard-as-you-can sprints I started at eight not-nearly-as-hard-as-you-can sprints. When I was done I said, “That's not so bad”. I kind of looked forward to the next session instead of dreading it.
Instead of going to 95% of my maximum heart rate I went between 85% to 90% of my max, and instead of taking 90 seconds to recover, I waited for my pulse to come down before doing another sprint. At first doing a total of eight sprints took me 29 minutes, as the recovery periods were longer. With each session I patiently waited for my pulse to come back down and over a series of weeks my pulse came down quicker. After a couple of months I was still doing sprints. But instead of taking 29 minutes it only took me 21 minutes. I was very happy with this quantifiable improvement, and I did not dread the next sprint session.

Sprint training is one form of high intensity training we do at Austin Personal Trainers. 

Isolating and exercising the lumbar muscles can make the pain go away

I first used the MedX lumbar exercise machine in a doctor’s office.  At the time I had been suffering for two years with constant back pain. I thought that I was destined to live that way the rest of my life.  Amazingly my pain went away.  Many of our clients have had similar results. Their stories and further explanation here and here.   

When attempting to exercise the lower back typically the more powerful muscles of the hips do much of the work while the lumbar muscles move through a limited range of motion and contribute little to the movement. The MedX Lumbar Machine safely addresses that problem by isolating and effectively working the lumbar muscles.  The video explain how that works.

At Austin Fitness Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we have the MedX lumbar machine plus full lines of MedX strength training equipment. 

Getting your life back

Chiseled rock-hard abs, a powerful svelte body, an easy athletic grace, and a head-turning physical presence - if you got it you got it if you don’t there are things you can do to work in that direction, but there is no guarantee you will get there.  The combination of uncompromising hard work, dietary discipline, and most importantly having the right parents (genetics) are essential.  As appealing as the above sounds I have come to the conclusion that there are far more important benefits that proper exercise brings.

A new client walked up to me this week and said, “I want to thank you for saving my husband's life”. Her husband trains with John, one of our trainers. She told me that her husband had cancer twice in the last year, and unfortunately both times the doctors overmedicated him with chemo and radiation. He almost died. In her words, “He looked like a concentration camp survivor”. He has recovered, and he is much stronger.  He has his life back. Carol used to live with pain every day.  She reports that she hasadded years to her working life.  Debra increased her bone density by a standard deviation. Mark lived with constant neck pain  - no more.  Leif was once a physical mess - heart surgery and five insulin shots a day.  He has since lost 50 pounds, is down to one insulin shot a day, and does things physically eight years later that were out of the question before. Steve worked long hours, and it was physically taking its toll.  He now has thevitality he never had before.

These are just some of the stories, there are many more here. We work with people every day who have dramatically improved the quality of their lives.  Yes, they look better and that is a plus; better yet is to be alive and do things you thought you would not be able to able at your age, do it well, and without pain.  You can’t put a price on that.  

These changes do not require endless hours if exercise. Our fitness trainers at Austin TX Personal Training and at New Orleans Personal Trainers can guide you through an effective high intensity strength training program that will take less than an hour a week.  We can help you transform your life.

Increasing bone density at age 60

Recently one of our clients brought in a cookie cake in gratitude for John Shafer, one of our trainers, and a card shown here that says it all.  It is results like these that really make our work rewarding. Debra was more than two standard deviations of away from the ideal bone density of a 25 year old.  In the time she began training her bone density went from being more than two standard deviations away from ideal to slightly more than one standard deviation away from ideal. While she still slightly in osteopenia, she is going against the trend of decreasing bone density that is common for people her age.  

Debra will be 60 soon.  Her regimen: she takes calcium supplements and vitamin D3, strength trains one a week for 30 minutes, and walks daily. She has lost 20 pounds. 

Our bones adapt to physical stress and are constantly remodeling themselves. If you expose the body and the bones to weight-bearing exercise the body and bones will adapt and become stronger.

A little strength training, an active lifestyle, and better eating choices can have profound effects on one's fitness and health. These changes do not require endless hours in the weight room. Our fitness trainers at New Orleans Personal Trainers and at Austin TX Personal Training can guide you through an effective strength training program that will take less than an hour a week and achieve life-changing results.

Past entries of our clients who have made similar progress:

Bone tissue replaced, repaired, and restored

"My doctor said it would not be necessary to start taking drugs to preserve my bone density”

A Quarter Million Training Sessions

Some years back I was having a conversation with a fellow gym owner from another city. He wanted to know how many clients came through our doors. I told him we conduct a bit more than 500 personal training sessions a week. He responded, "You mean 500 clients a month". I said, "No, we do 500 clients a week". We had one location at the time. We have two locations now and a loyal clientele. Doing a rough estimate of just about how many clients have worked out over the years, it comes out that by a conservative estimate we've done over a quarter of million training sessions since we first opened our doors. The reason people patronize any business is because of the value that is offered. That quarter million is a vote of confidence and a validation of what we are doing. The average stay with a personal trainer is less than six months. The average stay at our facilities is measured in years - another validation. We love the work we do and the clients we work with. We truly appreciate the loyalty of our clients and understand that without our client's support and patronage we would've closed our doors at  Austin Fitness Training and at New Orleans Personal Training. a long time ago.

Is exercising to lose weight a losing proposition?

Sorry about the pun. According to Wikipedia: A human being traveling on a bicycle at 16–24 km/h (10–15 mph), using only the power required to walk, is the most energy-efficient means of human transport generally available.  Just how energy efficient is the bicycle?

The LiveStrong web site has an article, Calories Burned Biking One Miledetailing how many calories one burns riding a bike. Looking at the numbers from that source and others sources as well, you can get a rough estimate of number of calories burned riding a bike. Depending how much you weigh and how fast you ride you are going to expend anywhere from @ 30 to 60 calories per mile riding a bike. For ease of computation let’s use an average of 45 calories per mile of bike riding.

Add two other factoids:  There are 31,500 food calories in a gallon of gas, and there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat.

A human would have burn off nine pounds of fat to equal to the calories in a gallon of gas, and burning calories at 45 calories per mile, could travel 700 miles. Biking is very efficient miles-per-calorie-wise biking, and exercise in general, do not burn that many calories.  You’d better of concentrating on eating less to lose that fat.

This NYT article, To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important Than Exercising More discusses the subject in more detail.

High Intensity Strength training on the other hand effectively burns calories four ways  High intensity strength training is the type of personal training we do at Austin Fitness Training and at New Orleans Personal Training.

Strength training seniors live longer and better lives

Our clients at  Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers cover a wide spectrum of ages not least of which are those who are older.  Our oldest client was 95, and one of our trainers has four clients over eighty.  People in this cohort of the population have the most to gain in quality and length of life.

Increased strength will result in increased gait speed, and that will result in better balance. Strength training will result in stronger muscles yes, but bones become stronger as well.  Elderly that are stronger are less likely to fall, and if they do they are more likely to walk away unscathed.

People are not usually placed in nursing homes because they are out of breath; it is usually because they are too weak to carry out daily activities on their own. Strength is key not cardiovascular ability.  The muscles push the heart, not the other way around. If your muscles are so weak that you cannot stress the cardiovascular system the cardiovascular downgrades its ability to handle cardiovascular stress. When a body is able to perform work of a demanding nature (strength training) the cardiovascular system is positively stressed and upgrades its ability to do demanding work.  Win, Win, Win - stronger muscles, bones and heart.

For years the conventional wisdom stressed aerobic activity at the expense of anaerobic activities (strength training), but that has shifted in recent years.  This Forbes article gives further incite: Why Strength Training May Help You Live Longer. A whole slew of blog entries dealing with aging can be found here.

One study says exercise targets visceral fat

Belly fat is visceral deep fat, while subcutaneous fat settles just beneath your skin.  Visceral fat potentially increases the risk for many diseases; it produces biochemical signals that promote inflammation in the body. 

According to a NYT article, Ask Well: Reducing Belly Fat  sit-ups are useless for losing belly fat, and you would be better off taking a walk. That I knew.  What didn’t know was that exercise might actually target visceral fat more than subcutaneous fat.

One study showed that exercise disproportionately targets visceral fat,and a meta study concluded:

“A comprehensive 2013 review concluded that programs combining aerobic exercise and occasional sessions of weight training were superior to either type of exercise alone at reducing belly fat.”

At Austin Personal Trainer and New Orleans Personal Trainer we can get rid of the visceral fat with just the plan out-lined above.

Avoiding hyper-extending the knees on the leg press

Most leg press machines provide movement in a straight line. With straight line movement there is more shearing force at the end point of the movement, and if one locks out at the end point there is greater potential for hyper-extending the knee. As an example see here (warning graphic).  At Austin Fitness Trainers and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers  we use MedX equipment. The MedX leg press provides an arcing range of motion similar to the rotation of the knee, and it can be set so that there is no locking out at the end point.

The link between diabetes and Alzheimer's

From this article, Researchers find stronger links between diabetes and Alzheimer's comes this quote:

“Their study, using mice, found that elevated glucose in the blood – a primary consequence of diabetes -- can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, which shows up in brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients. The buildup of these plaques is believed to be what brings on the memory loss that Alzheimer’s causes in the brain.”

And this:

“If the mice did not have the amyloid plaques in the brains, doubling their blood glucose levels increased amyloid beta levels in the brain by 20%. When the scientists repeated the experiment in older mice that already had developed brain plaques, amyloid beta levels rose by 40%”

Now is the time to cut back on sugar and engage in exercise that lowers blood sugar effectively.  This New Your times article, Why Your Workout Should Be High-Intensity, makes the case that High Intensity Training is effective:

A quote:

“They are showing that high-intensity exercise may be even better than regular aerobic activities for many patients with conditions like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, pulmonary disease, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease.”

And this:

“Researchers have found that repeatedly pushing the body close to its exercise limits for very brief periods, interspersed with periods of rest, is more effective than continuous moderate activity at improving cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic and mechanical functions.”

This is precisely what we do at Austin Fitness Training and at New Orleans Fitness Training and we can help you with that.

Cardiovascular benefits of strength training

After a high intensity strength training workout you will be breathing hard.  This video was taken three minutes after a workout, so that I could get some of my wind back and have my pulse come down a bit.  EPOC, Essessive Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption is high after aerobic exercise, higher still after a strength training workout, and highest after a high intensity strength training workout.  A higher level of EPOC means more calories burned.  With a high intensity strength training workout, besides getting stronger, you will  positively affect your cardiovascular system, lower your sugar, and and burn calories long after the workout is over.

Charmed substances that contain life preserving properties. Saccharine?

From the Woody Allen movie, Sleeper, describing health foods, “Those charmed substances that some years ago that were felt to contain life preserving properties”.

There have been changes in the conventional wisdom regarding a number of charmed and not so charning substances – margarine versus butter,eggs, salt intake, dark chocolate, cholesterol, coffee, high carb diets versus diets with more meat and fat, and now saccharine. From this Medical News Today article, Could saccharin be used to treat aggressive cancers? comes this quote:

 ‘Saccharin is utilized as a sweetener in many sugar-free products, and now researchers are proposing that it could be used as a key ingredient in new drugs for treating aggressive cancers with fewer side effects.

 "It never ceases to amaze me how a simple molecule, such as saccharin - something many people put in their coffee every day - may have untapped uses, including as a possible lead compound to target aggressive cancers," says study author Robert McKenna, PhD, from the University of Florida.’

 Another area where the things have changed is strength training. We have been saying this long before the conventional wisdom gave it the imprimatur.  At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we have been getting people stronger and healthier for years.

The therapeutic effect of the mutual dog gaze

From this Scientific American article, Is the Gaze from Those Big Puppy Eyes the Look of Your Doggie's Love?  come this quote:

 “Many studies find that positive interactions between people and dogs can be beneficial for both species. Increases in β-endorphin (beta-endorphin), oxytocin and dopamine—neurochemicals associated with positive feelings and bonding—have been observed in both dogs and people after enjoyable interactions like petting, play and talking. “

They found that oxytocin increased measurably for both dog and human when they spent time looking into each other’s eyes – a mutual gaze.  Mydogs spend a good part of their day sleeping and another part of their day with their eyes glued to me. I often return the gaze and for me the novelty never wears off.  They are also a relentless force for inducing smiles. Every day, several times a day, they make me and others smile. They make frequent visits to  Austin Personal Training and the  occasional guest appearance at New Orleans Personal Training. Feel free to stop by and be mesmerized by their gaze.

 

BMI Versus Eyeballing

It used to be that to determine how fat a person was one took calipers and took anywhere from three to seven measurements of the body, came up with a total, and looked at a chart that took age into account to come up with a number for body fat percentage.  That might take a few minutes or a little longer if you did as recommended and checked it twice to make sure. 

Now BMI is the preferred measurement.  Take weight and height and look at a chart – you’re done, let’s golf. 

In his prime fighting weight Mike Tyson was 5’10’ and 220 pounds.  According to BMI charts Mike's BMI of 31.6 would classify Mike as clinically obese. BMI is wildly inaccurate.  Why is it used?  It is easy, that is why.  It takes few seconds instead of a few minutes.  What is worse, researchers base studies on the BMI. 

In the interest of science and saving time I propose another measurement for determining fat percentage.   I call it eyeballing.  Just look at the subject and say you are fat, skinny, or just right.  It would be at least as accurate as BMI. Mike Tyson (pictured here) would be obese according to the BMI method.  According to my eyeballing method I would say he is just right. Now which method would you say is more accurate?

In one study Can You Tell If Your Child Is Overweight? Most Parents Can't, Study Finds the parents are apparently using the eyeball method and it differs from the BMI result.  What to do to break the tie?  Perhaps use the magic eight ball to supply an answer. IMO it iwould be every bit as scientific as the BMI.

At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we can get you stronger so you can be fat just like Mike. 

The MedX Rotary Torso Machine

The MedX Rotary Torso is one of the five pieces of the MedX Core Spinal Equipment line.  This equipment is often used for rehab. This equipment increases strength, flexibility, stability, and endurance. – all vital factors necessary for a healthy back.  At Austin Fitness Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we have all the MedX Core equipment plus full lines of MedX strength training equipment.  The equipment and the protocol we use has contributed to our success working with those who have back problems