Advantages of Strength Training During Pregnancy

We have worked with mothers throughout and after their pregnancies. They stated that their deliveries went easier, and they report getting back in shape quicker than they did in previous pregnancies.   As always, expectant mothers need to be cleared for exercise by their doctor. Our exercise program is similar to the program recommended in the book Power of Ten.  A quote from the book:

Is the Power of 10 safe if you're pregnant? Again, check first with your doctor. However, it is commonly accepted today that sensible exercise can be beneficial to the health of both pregnant mothers and their babies. Labor and delivery are extremely strenuous physical activities that women should get in shape for like any athlete, with proper muscular and metabolic conditioning. The irony is that most women let themselves become severely de-conditioned during pregnancy, resulting in a greater chance of difficulties doing labor – and afterword, a much longer recovery period.

A client who worked out with us during and after her pregnancy:

'I started training with Amy in May 2007 - 5 months after my first child was born. I saw a remarkable change in my body, building muscle and losing fat while becoming lean. Currently I am 12 weeks out from having our second child. It is amazing how quickly my body has lost the pregnancy weight and is quickly becoming lean and muscular again. Much quicker than after my first child and I feel certain it is due to the weight training I was doing before and while pregnant at Kelly Personal Training. My body built up muscle and did not lose much therefore I was able to bounce back to my pre-pregnancy weight and figure much faster."  ~ Marly

Another client said this:

I have quit every health club I have ever joined. I have stuck with this for three years now. I am in the best shape of my life even after having twins. ~ Kyle.

At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we use MedX strength and rehabilitative exercise equipment that can be finely adjusted to accommodate most pre- or post-pregnancy conditions.  Most new mothers have little time for exercise. Our high intensity workout is a workout that need not be performed often; most do it just once a week. This leaves more time for other priorities like family without sacrificing one's health. 

One of our clients is expecting her third child.  She has worked out during all three pregnancies. We have been fortunate to work with mothers before they were pregnant, while pregnant, and years afterward. We have seen some kids grow from babies to teenagers. It has been a pleasure to watch them grow and be a small part in their lives.

22 years after osteopenia diagnosis doctor informs her that she is osteopenia-free

Carol’s osteopenia was progressing, and she lived in pain every day due to her scoliosis. Past attempts at exercise resulted in more pain. She began exercising with us, her pain disappeared, and her muscles and bones became stronger. At Austin TX Personal Trainers and at New Orleans Personal Trainers we primarily use MedX rehabilitation exercise equipment and a protocol that is gentler on the joints.  Carol demonstrates and comments on her exercise results in this video. Her words: “Replaced, repaired, restored”.

Far and away the most important thing you can do to slow the aging process

“He’s just old”… that is what Jack told me after helping a classmate out of a car on to a walker. How old? They were both 75, but one stayed strong while the other became weak. In years to come that scenario will play out in our lives in a one form or another. At some point your role could switch from the one doing the helping to the one being helped. It is better to have a say in the matter rather than have the infirmities of aging prematurely dictate your role.

Generally we are not put in senior care facilities for being out of breath. It is when we are too weak to carry out daily activities on our own. Weakness leads to decreased energy and balance. This leads to an increased probability of a fall with serious injury. At that point somebody will have to help you out of the car.

Make changes now. Don’t wait until you are ready for a walker. Choose the one exercise that will far and away have the biggest impact on your quality of life and so many measures of good health - increase your energy, increase your bone density, forestall cognitive decline, become stronger, avoid aches and pains, lower your blood pressure, and lower your risk of injury and sickness.  A properly designed high intensity interval strength training program will do all that and much more.

Don’t know where to start?  At Austin Fitness Trainers and New Orleans Fitness Trainers we will be with you every step of the way.  We work with people of all ages. We use MedX equipment; with its special medical rehab features, we can safely accommodate those with limiting conditions that other facilities are not equipped to handle.

The one type of exercise where the body kicks in to lose fat no matter what our genes want

Our genes have a say on whether we are predisposed to becoming fat and how resistant our bodies are to attempts to control that fat, but there is a way to control that fat regardless of what the genes want. A quote from the book The Secret Life of Fat:

"The pattern persisted across a variety of metrics. Bouchard found that our genes influence our resting metabolism, fat mass, percent of fat, and abdominal visceral fat, plasma triglyceride, and cholesterol levels. Bouchard and his colleague Angelo Tremblay discovered one important exception, though—a vital piece of information for those seeking to control their weight. They found that when subjects performed vigorous exercise, genetics didn’t matter as much. Bouchard’s definition of “vigorous” was any exercise that caused metabolism to increase by six times or more over resting metabolism (which can be achieved by running about 4 to 6 mph or cycling about 12 to 16 mph, or doing other activities that produce rapid breathing and sweat within a few minutes). The lesson is clear: once we enter a specific range of strenuous exercise, the body kicks in to lose fat no matter what our genes want."

At our Austin TX Strength Trainers facility we specialize in getting clients to a "specific range of strenuous exercise" that results in a long list of benefits. While losing fat is first and foremost an eating- less issue, strenuous exercise such as high intensity strength training can boost your metabolism by burning calories four ways. Stronger bodies burn more calories even at rest.

Our exercise sessions are not long. Anybody of any age or fitness level can do them. In fact, those who are the most out of shape will have the greatest upside. You'll build up slowly, you'll get stronger each week, and over time those changes will be transformative.

Tired of taking all that diabetes medication? There is another way.

What if there was a way for diabetics to control their sugar levels besides injections? There is. A quote from this study, High-Intensity Resistance Training Improves Glycemic Control in Older Patients With Type 2 Diabetes | Diabetes Care:

High-intensity progressive resistance training, in combination with moderate weight loss, was effective in improving glycemic control in older patients with type 2 diabetes. Additional benefits of improved muscular strength and LBM [lean body mass] identify high-intensity resistance training as a feasible and effective component in the management program for older patients with type 2 diabetes.”

High-intensity progressive resistance training is what we offer at Austin Strength Training and New Orleans Strength Training. One our diabetic clients, Leif, went from five shots a day down to one. When Leif first started he was overweight. He had already had a kidney removed and bypass heart surgery. He began high-intensity progressive resistance training once a week, he made modest changes in his eating habits, and he used a rowing machine at home. In the eight years he has been training with us his physical abilities have dramatically changed. Each week he did a little bit more than he was used to handling. Each week he improved, and over time, the change was transformative. Our state of health eight years from now will depend on the lifestyle choices we make now. Better to find time for exercise now or you might have to make time for sickness and injury later.

Kenyans versus cheetahs, who wins?

From the BBC, Kenyans chase down and catch goat-killing cheetahs:

“The men waited until the hottest part of the day before launching the chase over a distance of four miles (6.4km).

The cheetahs got so tired they could not run any more. The villagers captured them alive and handed them over to the Kenya Wildlife Service.”

Cheetahs are fast but cannot run long distances. A cheetah’s muscles produce speed, a goose’s muscles are more for endurance, and human muscles are made for both. We have slow-twitch muscle fiber for endurance and fast-twitch muscle fiber for power and speed. Most of us will have an average mix, but there will be outliers.

One marathon runner’s biopsies of his legs indicated that his legs were 90 percent slow-twitch muscle fiber. That runner will never excel in sprints no matter how hard he tries, and cheetahs will never be long distance runners.

As personal trainers we see differences in responses to exercise. Most people fall in the middle of the curve, but some outliers are able to produce surprising strength for their size. They tend to diminish in strength quickly. Others seem comparatively weak, but they can often sustain exercise for a much longer period of time. Good trainers will recognize those individual differences and adjust the training program accordingly.

At Austin Fitness Trainers and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we will develop the training program that is right for you; one that is safe, efficient, and effective for your condition and age.

Two guys walk into a gym once a week, guess what happens eleven years later?

Jim is 78 years old. His friends no longer exercise. One friend who couldn’t get out of squat position, asked him if he could still squat. He responded, “Hell, I can do it with weights”.

John is a psychologist. He is 75. One of his patients is the same age and lives in a senior care facility. John lives at home.

Both Jim and John have been coming to our Austin Personal Training location for once-a-week 30 minutes exercise sessions for the past eleven years. Had John or Jim not exercised the past 11 years it is likely they’d be in the same physical state as some of their contemporaries. 

One session a week has been shown to be optimal for strength gains for seniors.  It is not how much exercise you can withstand it is how little you need to produce positive change.  Do a little more each week, and over time, it will be transformative.

If you do nothing you’ll be weaker, have less energy, and more prone to sickness and injury. When injuries do occur the outlook for recovery will not be encouraging. With proper strength training you will:

• Increase your bone density

• Lower your blood pressure

•  Avoid aches and pains

•  Forestall cognitive decline become stronger

•  Revitalize impaired mitochondria which means you’ll have the energy you had years earlier.

  For Jim and John it is like having a fountain of youth.

You want more life? ‘Cause this is how you get more life…

If exercise is not demanding there is no reason for the body to change. According to a study you will live longer if the exercise you do is more demanding. From the study, A higher effort-based paradigm in physical activity and exercise for public health: making the case for a greater emphasis on resistance training:

“It appears that risk reductions [in morbidities and all-cause mortality] are greater when physical activity and/or exercise is performed at a higher intensity of effort.… A mode customarily performed to a relatively high intensity of effort that we believe has been overlooked is resistance training [strength training]. “

High intensity interval training (HIIT) for strength, the training we do at our Austin Fitness Training facility, will positively affect:

Body density

Energy levels

Muscular strength

Cardiovascular health

Capillarization

Cognitive function

Metabolism

Sugar levels

Breathing capacity

The cumulative improvements facilitate a longer life. HIIT workouts don’t take long, they are usually done once a week, and they are effective in addressing a wide range of health issues. Our workouts combine strength training and interval training; it’s a circuit of exercises working all the major muscle groups. We use MedX equipment.  The equipment’s special medical rehab features make it adaptable for people of any age or condition.

Those extremely out of shape need only do a little more than they are used to handling. Do a little more each week, and over time, the change will be transformative.  Be stronger, live longer.

Changing perceptions: From fit to fat in an instant

You are getting stronger and a bit heavier; surely most of that weight is muscle. Some refer to this phenomenon as bulking up. You might subconsciously have a bias when you look in the mirror, as you stand a little straighter, you suck your gut in a bit, and square your shoulders. You could be fooling yourself. 

Several years ago I used to weight myself at the health club where I worked. I was the heaviest I had ever been. No problem, I was the strongest I had ever been. Instead of asking if I once played basketball people would ask me if I had played football. 

Shortly after that I went to work at a different health club. They had no scale, but when they did get one I was told it was five pounds off. The scale indicated 250, so I subtracted five pounds to get 245 pounds. I had gained an additional five pounds. Still no problem, I was bulking up and getting stronger.

I was later informed that the scale registered a number that was five pounds too light. I was not 245 pounds as I had thought; I was really 255 pounds! Looking in the mirror I did not see the strong-bulking-up me; I was horrified to see the fat me. I was seeing myself without the bias. I did not have a pot belly; my fat was distributed over much of my body, mostly my back (See before picture), but still, I was fat.

A water immersion fat test determined that my fat percentage was 24.6%. That was my wake-up call to lose weight. I cut calories, did the right kind of exercise to lose weight, and got down to 8.8% body fat (see after picture).

When you cut 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 by strength training.

A stronger body will have a higher resting metabolism, and proper strength training will burn calories four ways. At New Orleans Fitness Training and Austin Fitness Training we can show you how to workout effectively and efficiently, get stronger, and burn more calories.

How to reverse age-related energy decline

Mitochondria, found in most cells, is where respiration and energy production takes place. As we age mitochondria become impaired and energy production declines. A study sought to determine if high-intensity interval training HIIT) could reverse that trend.

Two groups did HIIT workouts for 12 weeks - men and women ages 18 to 30 and men and women ages 65 to 80. From this article about the study,High-Intensity Interval Training Helps Slow Down the Aging Process the results:

“Participants in the younger group saw a 49% increase to their mitochondrial capacity, which is what helps your body’s cells create energy. The older participants saw a 69% increase.”

HIIT workouts don’t take long, and they are effective in addressing a wide range of health issues. At New Orleans Fitness Training and Austin Fitness Training we specialize in HIIT for strength - one integrated workout combining strength training and interval training.   We also have clients do interval training on stationary bikes. Past blog posts on mitochondria and a post on bike interval training.

Essential exercise to combat arthritis

Arthritic pain leads to decreased activity, decreased range of motion, and accelerated loss of muscle (rheumatoid cachexia). This leads to lower energy levels and an increased likelihood of injury. Serious injuries from falling will lead to a life cut short with a greatly diminished quality of life. This decrease in activity also leads to an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease.

It doesn’t have to be that way. According to this Arthritis Foundation article,Strength Training is Essential for Arthritis, strength training will: reduce pain, increase range of motion, burn calories, and boost bone density. The catch is finding the type exercise that will strengthen muscles and not exacerbate pain.

At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength Trainers we work with those with compromised joints. We have several clients who have had hips, knee, and shoulder replacements. We use MedX equipment. The equipment has special medical-rehab features that make exercise easier on the joints. Anybody of any age can do it; each week you do a little bit more that you are used to handling. Muscles are worked safely to a deep fatigue, and it is cardiovascularly demanding. Each week you will get stronger. You will add years and quality to your life, arthritis notwithstanding.

Best to make changes while you still have that option

“When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can't make them change if they don't want to, just like when they do want to, you can't stop them.”  ― Andy Warhol

People intend to change, but often don’t follow through. It has been my observation that most people don’t change until they hit bottom. Heart surgery and kidney removal will usually do it. Having your doctor inform you that you might have had a silent heart attack will usually do it.

The silver lining of hitting bottom health-wise is that you have more upside from exercise; the improvements are more profound, and they serve as powerful motivation to stick to an exercise program.

Starting an exercise program can be daunting if you don’t know what you are doing - how often, how long, how hard, and what kind of exercise should you do? You don’t want to spin your wheels with long hours in the gym.

An exercise program that requires you to go to a gym two or three times a week for an hour or more is useless if you don’t stick to it. At Austin Strength Training and New Orleans Strength Training our goal is not to see how often we can get you to come it in. We start from the premise that instead of seeing how much exercise you can withstand, we determine what’s the least amount that will produce the most improvement. You’ll improve each week and get to where you need to be. This is an exercise program you can stick to.

Strength training decreases chance of liver disease

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is fast becoming the most common chronic liver condition in many parts of the world. Losing weight will reduce the likelihood of NAFLD, and according to this study Resistance exercise reduces liver fat and its mediators in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease independent of weight loss:  

"Resistance exercise specifically improves NAFLD independent of any change in body weight. "

You can avoid the jolting wake-up call of a blood test indicated an elevated number for your liver enzymes with weight loss and strength training. At Austin Strength Training and New Orleans Strength Training we can help you with that. 

The dire metabolic consequences of physical inactivity

If you become a little less active and gain five pounds a year, that is not aging graceful. After a couple decades of that you’ll have 100 extra pounds of fat that may lead to metabolic syndrome - hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. Your joints hurt, your feet hurt, and your breathing and walking become labored. Muscles weaken, and energy producing mitochondria go into an advanced state of disrepair. All this leads to more inactivity and eventually a heart attack or stroke.

From this study, Metabolic consequences of physical inactivity:

“Metabolic adaptation to muscle inactivity also involves development of resistance to the glucoregulatory action of diabetes medication, decreased energy requirements, and increased insulin and leptin secretion. These alterations may lead to the development of the metabolic syndrome that is defined as the association of hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and abdominal obesity. This cluster of metabolic abnormalities is a risk factor for coronary artery disease and stroke.Evidence indicates that exercise training programs may counteract all of these abnormalities both in healthy sedentary subjects and in patients affected by a variety of chronic disease states.”

One person who counteracted many of these abnormalities is Leif. Eight years ago Leif was 48 and overweight. He had already had heart surgery, one kidney removed, and he was taking five diabetes medicationshots a day. Now Leif is down to one diabetes medication shot and is 60 pound lighter. He has been exercising with us once a week for 30 minutes for the last eight years. Each week he improved a little. Eventually those little changes add up to something big.

Instead of seeing how much exercise you can fit into your life see what is the least amount that will produce the highest marginal return, the biggest bang for your limited free time. If you do that, make modest dietary changes, and do an activity you enjoy you will find that a year from now you’ll still be doing it, and your quality of life will have profoundly changed. At Austin Strength Trainers and New Orleans Strength Trainers we can help you achieve that change without endless hours in the gym.

Study finds maintaining aerobic capacity requires persistent training while maintaining muscle anaerobic potential does not

How long does it take to get back up to peak performance after a long break from exercise? According to one study, that depends on whether the exercise is primarily aerobic or anaerobic.

From the study Enzyme adaptations of human skeletal muscle during bicycle short-sprint training and detraining:

“A long interruption in training has negligible effects on short-sprint ability and muscle anaerobic potential. On the other hand, a persistent training stimulus is required to maintain high aerobic capacity and muscle oxidative potential. This may contribute to a rapid return to competitive fitness for sprinters and power athletes.”

In the study bike sprinters trained for nine weeks followed by seven weeks of detraining (no training). Researchers found that the sprinters’ aerobic enzyme levels fell, while their anaerobic enzyme levels remained high for the seven weeks of detraining.  There were negligible effects on muscle anaerobic potential means the subjects remained strong.

The body need not be constantly submitted to anaerobic exercise to maintain strength gains or improve upon them. Another study bears this out: weight lifters who took two three-week breaks from training over an 18 week period showed more improvement than those who trained the entire 18 weeks without a break.

Seeing how much strength training you can endure is at best a waste of time and at worst detrimental. It is prescription for injury, drudgery, and eventually quitting.  At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Fitness trainers  our approach is to find the least amount of strength training that will produce the most results. With such an approach you will improve each week without long hours in the gym. You’ll more likely stick with it, and over time, your quality of life will be profoundly changed.

The best exercise for aging muscles

As we age muscles weaken, cell damage accumulates, and mitochondria, which produce energy, decline in number and energy output. A study sought to determine what type of exercise might best repair that mitochondria damage. The study was composed of two groups, men and women under thirty and men and women over 64. Subjects were further divided into four sub-groups. Each group did one of the following exercise regimens for 12 weeks:

• Vigorous weight lifting

• Moderate bike riding plus light weight lifting

• Interval training on a bike

• Those who did nothing

As would be expected weight lifters experienced gains in muscle and strength, and the bike interval trainers increased endurance. Unexpectedly were the changes measured in the cells. From the NYT article reporting on the study, The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles - NYTimes.com, this quote:

“Among the younger subjects who went through interval training, the activity levels had changed in 274 genes, compared with 170 genes for those who exercised more moderately and 74 for the weight lifters. Among the older cohort, almost 400 genes were working differently now, compared with 33 for the weight lifters and only 19 for the moderate exercisers.”

Another quote:

“It seems as if the decline in the cellular health of muscles associated with aging was 'corrected' with exercise, especially if it was intense.”

At our Austin Personal Trainers facility we specialize in high intensity interval training (HIIT) for strength - one integrated workout combining strength training and interval training. The workout increases strength and endurance, and reverses mitochondria impairments to a level consistent with a younger stage in life. It is like having a fountain of youth. People of any age can benefit from this workout. We also have clients do interval training on stationary bikes. Past blog posts on mitochondria and a post on bike interval training.

Study shows how people waste time exercising

In a study, one group lifted weights for nine weeks (Continuous resistance training – CRT), while another group lifted for six weeks followed by a three weeks rest (Periodic resistance training - PTR). After the first nine week cycle the groups’ results were similar. The cycle was repeated for nine more weeks, and PTR group’s results were significantly higher.

A quote from the study, Comparison of muscle hypertrophy following 6-month of continuous and periodic strength training: “Increase in muscle cross-sectional area [of muscle] and strength during the second 3-week detraining/6-week retraining cycle were significantly higher in the PTR group than in the CTR group.” Consider that CTR group trained six weeks more and achieved inferior results - wasted time and effort.  

At the end of 27 weeks, both groups’ results were similar, but continuous training group trained six extra weeks to get that same result. If you start from the premise of finding out how little exercise you actually require your marginal return for your time in the gym will be higher and you will be less likely to over-train. When rest is inadequate over-training results and improvement stops. At Austin Personal Trainers and New Orleans Personal Trainers we take great care in measuring exercise performance to be sure that the client is fully recovered. With full recovery you will continue to improve.

For women to decrease mortality risk: lift weights like your life depends on it

A study followed 750 women aged 50-94 years for a decade.  Researchers wanted to see the effect of changes in bone mineral density (BMD) and appendicular lean mass (ALM) on mortality. The study found that deaths increased as BMD and ALM diminished irrespective of age.

A quote from the study, Musculoskeletal decline and mortality: prospective data from the Geelong Osteoporosis Study:

“Poor musculoskeletal health increased the risk for mortality independent of age. This appears to be driven mainly by a decline in bone mass. Low lean mass independently exacerbated mortality risk, and this appeared to operate through poor health exposures.”

Another study had a similar result. The takeaway: Lift weights like your life depends on it. At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Fitness Trainers we have had success with clients who have increased their bone density and lean muscle mass.

There is a catch: how to stress the musculoskelatal system sufficiently to stimulate improvements in muscle mass and bone density, and at the same time, avoid injuries.  We use MedX equipment. The equipment has special medical-rehab features that make exercise easier on the joints. It allows us the work the body sufficiently to stimulate improvments while sparing the joints.

Daisy Mettlach-Holderfield 1982 - 2017

On Friday, August 12 Daisy came to work as usual. Out of nowhere she collapsed and lost consciousness. We learned later that she had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke brought on by several tumors in her brain. She was rushed to the hospital for life-saving brain surgery.

Against the odds she returned to work, first in a wheelchair and then with the aid of a walker. Her husband Scott drove her to and from work every day. Eventually she drove herself. She appeared to be getting stronger every day, but we couldn't see what was going on inside her body. We saw the outward manifestation of her fight against disease.

She fought bravely. Words are inadequate to describe that bravery. Daisy was a sweet and kind often docile person who also possessed a fierce determination which surprised us all. She was well liked, respected, and very good at her job. She had a positive impact on the lives of her many clients. She was a part of our lives for ten years, and she will be in our hearts forever.

A long list of cardiorespiratory fitness benefits from high intensity interval training

From the American Heart Association Scientific Statement, Importance of Assessing Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association | Circulation, an excerpt:

“Cardiorespiratory fitness is a potentially stronger predictor of mortality than established risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.”

It is important to note that muscles stimulate the cardiovascular system to make positive changes, not the other way around. When the muscles are too weak to push the cardiovascular system, cardiorespiratory fitness declines. High intensity interval training (HIIT) increases strength and promotes cardiorespiratory fitness. The benefits:

o Unlike many other strength training regimens this workout is cardiovascularly demanding

o  Added muscle, the engine for cardiovascular health

o Increase forced expiratory volume

o Increases capillarization

o Protects joints for doing other cardio-activities like running

o Has lower rates of cardiovascular problems than aerobic exercise for those with heart conditions.

o Better for coronary artery disease patients

o Increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure

o Improves glycemic control

As a result of doing HIIT your aches and pains will fade away, and you will be able to do the activities you enjoy – walk, run, ride your bike, gardening - better, longer and for many more years to come with less chance of injury. 

At Austin Personal Training and at New Orleans Fitness Trainers we offer HIIT. It is a 30 minute full-body workout done once or twice a week. This is a workout that you slowly build up to; anybody can do it. You’ll enhance your cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life for decades to come.