Thoughts On Running 1

I don't have a problem with running, but I've always seen running as more of a hobby than as a highly effective weight loss tool.  My reasoning for this is because the body adapts well to running and the energy needed to run is reduced once you become "good" at running.  The metabolic demand on the body diminishes over time and running is no longer as effective a fuel burner as it used to be.  While this rings true for most activities, runners tend to be a sort who hold tightly to their trade and don't look kindly upon other forms of weight loss activity.

I came by this article the other day and decided it was definitely worth passing on to any women who run in hopes of decreasing body fat.

Exercise Selection for Weight Loss

When you see advertisements for exercise equipment, or even fitness training, this is probably what they show you:

They show you a picture or a video of a thin woman curling a little dumbbell and tell you about a weight loss program, product, or technique.  Other variations of this show a person on a leg extension machine or whatever the current "miracle" abs contraption is.  While direct arm work has it's place in fitness, this trainer doesn't see it as being a foundation of weight loss.

When was the last time you saw someone panting, sweating, and knocking you over to get a drink because of a set of dumbbell curls?  It doesn't happen because the muscles involved don't expend many calories in performing the exercise.  Weight loss is about healthy diet and calorie expenditure.  Now I've seen plenty of people sweating over squats, push ups, pull ups, and other activities which require multi-joint activity.  Compound, multi-joint exercises should be the bread and butter of a strength routine focused on weight loss.  Save the curls and the extensions for later.

On the Low-Fat Principle

Sometime way back when, someone came up with the idea that fats in food are what make people fat.  It may have been a child.  I remember thinking that horseradish was made of horses so why shouldn't fat make you fat?  In response, food makers everywhere offer "low-fat" versions of their products to society at large.  "LOW FAT!" is even plastered on the packages to attract you to them.  Now you can go all day eating low-fat foods and lose weight...right?
Considering that fats are important in vitamin absorption, cell structure integrity, hormone regulation, and other tasks, a diet low in fats can actually be harmful to overall health.

Foods marked as low-fat are often not low in sugar.  The sugar is added because removing the fat also removes the taste.  If a food originals has 10 grams of fat (90 calories) and 10 grams of sugar (40 calories), a low-fat version might look something like  3 grams of fat (18 calories) and 30 grams of sugar (120 calories).  The original choice comes to 130 calories (not counting other nutrients) and the low fat version comes to 138 calories.  Now this isn't always the case of course, but I can say that it's typical.

Insulin resistance, which can lead to type II diabetes, is often produced when the body is overloaded with sugars (broken down carbohydrates) over a period of time.  There's just too much to handle and the signal for insulin to do its job is weakened allowing sugar to run rampant in the blood stream.  Now there's much more science to this than a paragraph of abstract, but you get the idea. 

Fat isn't necessarily the enemy.  Like all other nutrients, it has its place and should remain the diet in moderation with other nutrients.

Meijer Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt

Meijer No-Fat Vanilla Yogurt

Not By Bread Alone

For many Americans, weight loss is a goal, and unfortunately has been a goal for five years or more.  According the Gallup-Healthways  Well-Being Index,  63.1% or adults in the United States are overweight or obese.  The FDA found that in 1992, Americans spent 30 billion dollars on diet programs and products.  Today, that number has doubled.   Most diet programs have been tried and found wanting.  If weight loss happens, it usually comes back in a few months and sometimes even brings more than was lost.  What is the missing ingredient to this seemingly elusive goal?  There are actually three ingredients: an effective exercise program, a health-focused diet, and consistent effort.  These are the three components you need to create a change in body composition.

                Here are a few facts that you should know when attempting to improve your body composition:

·         Fad diet systems would have you believe their product or service will have you losing weight in a jiffy and without the need for exercise.  Granted, some of these systems do create a weight-loss effect, but the results are only temporary.  The reason is that the weight lost in these programs comes across the board.  Fat is lost but so is muscle.  The muscles are the most metabolic tissues in the body, meaning they solicit the most energy.  With the loss of muscle tissue, the ability to burn up calories is reduced as the metabolism drops.  Most people understand that a low metabolism creates an excess of stored energy.  This is only a good thing if you are a bear heading to hibernation.  For the rest of us it means that the more weight lost on these diets means the less capacity to keep the weight off, if you lose weight at all.

·         Without an exercise program, up to a third of all weight lost can come from muscle tissue, and this is especially true for women.  Since muscles demand the most energy, we want to hold onto as much of it as possible.  The way to go about doing this is to let the body know that the muscles are still needed.  The human body is a wondrous, dynamic machine designed to run as efficiently as possible.  If muscles are not being used, they gradually atrophy (get smaller) to reduce resource consumption.  You do not want this to happen in your weight loss program.  A well designed program provides stimuli to the muscles to such a degree that the body wants to keep them the way they are, or even improve them.

·         Consistent working of the body increases the metabolism by creating an energy deficit as the muscles require more and more resources to operate during exercise, post exercise, and even at rest.  The key word here is consistent.  Results require effort over time.  Think of how long it takes a person to become a certain unwanted weight.  The answer is most likely months and years.  A person should expect at least months of consistent effort in the kitchen and in the gym to achieve his or her weight loss goal.  This of course is dependent on how much weight is needed to be lost but the principle remains the same.

·         Working with a professional can increase the results that you see.  Accountability is a big step to achieving weight loss goals.  The use of a nutritionist and personal trainer provides not only wisdom and a solid plan, but also accountability.  Many people start off with big dreams and a great attitude but at two weeks in, the idea doesn't seem worth the trouble anymore.  A coach creating the avenue for you to reach your goal goes a long way to staving off the monotony of meal planning and what to do in the gym.  A tangible result demands a game plan and a professional  is there to create that game plan for your success so the burden is no longer on you to figure out how to do it.  The professional keeps your head in the game and makes sure you are staying on the right path.

                With the world at large getting even larger, it makes sense to drop the fad diets and pick up healthy eating behaviors and to increase and maintain activity.  The aid of a fitness coach is an invaluable resource in achieving your goal and setting new goals to keep your body functioning properly and for a long time.          

A New Way To Look At Food

I'm sure many you have seen or at least head of the move Super Size Me created by documentary maker Morgan Spurlock.  I've seen it many times myself and was very pleased with the message it presented.  Well, that is until I saw this documentary last year.  If you have the time I recommend watching this documentary which exposes not only holes in Spurlock's movie but also turns on its head many things we've been taught about food and nutrition all our lives.

I believe nutrition is a life skill that must be researched and enriched, much like any other skill you need.  Please take time to watch this movie and post any comments you might have below! I will also add the link to this movie to my interesting sites list.

Watch Fat Head on Hulu

Welcome to Bobby's Fitness Blog

Hello, my name is Robert "Bobby" Drodofsky.  I am a certified personal trainer with the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  I am co-owner of Personal Training for the Next Level which is located in Pickerington, Ohio.  I have been training for nearly 4 years now and have been co-owner-operator at the studio for almost a year.  My beautiful wife, Marybeth, and I were married in August and moved to Pickerington so I not only have a job that I love, but one that I am close to!

I am making this blog so that my clients and future clients can have better access to fitness knowledge, nutrition tools, and my general musings.  I often times get asked to write a few workouts that can be done while a client is on vacation so I'd also like to put of listing and even videos of those workouts for convenience.

If you are interesting in training, please contact me at the number listed on the side bar.  Our studio is not a traditional gym with memberships.  We are a private studio and deal only in personal training.  When you are working out, you will be under the direct guidence of me, or another trainer so there is no need to worry about what to do or how to do it.  Whatever your fitness goal is, it can be reached with proper coaching, work, nutrition, and resolve.