Your Fitness Questions Answered - The Funny Ones

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Here are the answers to some of the funnier questions that Internet searchers have asked:

What's the best way to lose your grandma arms?

I'm assuming the dreaded "grandma arms" are the buildup of fat behind the arms. Again, you can't spot reduce fat from any part of your body. Situps and crunches won't give you six-pack abs and tricep exercises won't get rid of grandma arms. The best approach is to do a moderate strength training program with a variety of exercises for each major body part, do 4 or 5 days of cardio for at least 30 minutes per day, and watch the number of calories that you consume. There is no quick fix for fat loss, but the flip side is that EVERYONE can lose fat if they follow these recommendations.

How should grandmas strength train?

Apparently, my site is real popular with the grandma strength training crowd. The Fit Club...where grandma goes...TO GET RIPPED! The answer is simple; grandmas should strength train just like everyone else. Strength train with a program designed to exercise all major body parts with enough weight to make the last repetition difficult between rep 8 and 12 of each movement. Do at least 2 sets per movement and strength train at least 2 days per week. These are the same recommendations that I would give with one exception. I would recommend more compound movements like squats and deadlifts for younger people, but I would not initially recommend those exercise for older people. As older folks get more experience and a better sense of balance and coordination through a beginning strength training program, I would slowly transition them into more big compound movements.

When will lack of exercise kill you?

Well, there is nothing showing that a lack of exercise has directly caused someone's death, but in the context of an unhealthy lifestyle, is can be an indirect player. Exercise has been shown to positively effect your body in such a way as to minimize risk of dying from some major causes of premature death. That doesn't mean that the converse is true, that a lack of exercise will kill you. My recommendation is to get the minimum recommended amount of exercise weekly and don't worry about it.

How can Americans stop eating junk food and start going to the fitness center?

If I had that answer, I would be sitting off the coast of my own private island in my personal yacht right now. That isn't the case, but I'll do the best I can. We live in a culture where UPS can deliver anything to our front door. The only thing stopping us from getting anything we want is how much money we have. We collectively sit around and wait for someone to "figure it out" and produce a pill to do the job. The problem is that no amount of money can buy health and fitness...it takes hard work and as a culture we can't accept that. Oprah Winfrey, who's worth, what, billions of dollars now, has very publicly struggled with her weight for many years, and has access to every advantage that money brings, personal chefs, personal trainers, etc.

Several years ago, Oprah ran the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Even with the trainers and chefs, one fact remained, even for her, she still had to do the work. The sooner we stop thinking that it's our manifest destiny to consume what we want, when we want, and how much we want with no regard for the consequences, the better off that we will be. Rant over, for now.

Why don't the 12 steps work for weight loss?

It takes a lot more than 12 steps to lose weight. BA-DUM-DUM-CHHH! Thanks, I'll be in town 'til Thurday. Actually, I know nothing about 12 step programs, but weight loss involves more than "support for eating less". Exercise is an important component. Strength training is an important component. Eating healthy, quality food is important. Any program, 12-step or otherwise, that doesn't address these issues will likely not lead to long-term weight loss.

Can cardio exercise kill you?

There are some things that make intense cardio activity riskier, any of the risk factors for coronary heart disease (high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, smoking, family history of heart disease, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity) and a variety of serious cardiac or pulmonary issues. The irony is that people with risk factors for coronary heart disease have the most to gain from exercising more. If you fall into this category, the solution is simple, get checked out by your doctor before starting an exercise program. Let's face it...your more likely to die prematurely from not doing cardio than by doing cardio.

Related Posts:

• Your Fitness Questions Answered
• Fuel up before you head out
• Six Fitness, Health, and Nutrition Myths Exposed

Rest Up for Success

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Six Pack Abs...while you sleep!

Well, not exactly, but don't underestimate the importance of rest and recovery when training. Time spent in the gym or during exercise causes small muscle tears that your body must repair in order to improve. You don't improve in the gym or on the track, you improve while resting between bouts of exercise.

Another aspect of recovery that is often ignored is central nervous system recovery. You simply cannot continue to have hard workouts without some down time because your nervous system needs to recoup from the mental stress of a hard workout as much as your body needs rest from the physical stress of a hard workout. Your hard workouts will lose their intensity and you won't benefit as much as you should. Without adequate rest your body will continue to breakdown with no chance for recuperation.

Sleep is also very important for proper recovery. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. I understand that we all lead busy lives, but less than that will lessen the positive impact of exercise.

Related Posts:

• Fuel up before you head out
• Strength Training: What you need to know
• How many calories can you burn?

Carbs: Brain Food or the Devil in Disguise?

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Big Fat Disclaimer

I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. The purpose of this article, or any others on this site, is to condense and deliver information that is "out there" so that you can make your own decisions regarding your health. Consult your doctor before making any major changes to your diet.

The Debate Rages On

The great carb debate has been rekindled with a study released by researchers at Harvard Medical School suggesting that low carb diets may be more effective than a low fat approach to dieting for some people. Studies are published all the time that seem to contradict previous studies and this one was no exception. So what makes this study different from the rest? This study wasn't done at Po Dunk U., my alma mater, it was conducted at one of the most prestigious research universities in the world and it's causing quite a stir.

For 30 years, a low fat approach to dieting has been shouted from mountaintops by doctors, researchers, and dietitians. One can't walk into a grocery store without being lambasted by low fat versions of every food imaginable. And the result of 30 years of low fat gospel? Obesity rates have almost tripled from 13% to 32% of the population. Coincidence? Possibly, but researchers willing to buck the low fat doctrine, and risk being labeled quacks, are conducting studies that suggest there may be a relationship between a lack of exercise, consumption of large amounts of carbohydrates, and obesity.

Insulin - the Gatekeeper Hormone

Here is a quick, and I do mean quick, primer on how energy is stored in your body, as I understand it...and that isn't very well. When you eat a meal and digestion has occurred, the nutrients from the meal end up in your bloodstream to be distributed throughout your body. Carbohydrates end up as glucose molecules, proteins are broken down into amino acids and fats are turned into smaller, triglyceride molecules. The food is broken up into these smaller, base molecules that your body uses for fuel and to repair itself. This post deals with one class of nutrients, carbohydrates, and the base molecules, glucose, that end up in the blood as a result of consuming carbohydrates.

Upon eating carbohydrates, glucose floods into the bloodstream to be stored as a fuel. Your body does this by releasing insulin, a hormone, in response to consuming carbohydrates, and to a lesser extent proteins. The insulin then begins to do its job, signaling the cells in your body to "open up" and absorb the blood glucose as glycogen, but your body only has limited storage for glycogen in muscle tissue and in the liver. Once this amount is exceeded, insulin causes any excess carbohydrates to be stored as body fat.

Here's an analogy for the totally confused. Your muscles and liver are like a sponge that soak up carbohydrates, in the form of glycogen. Your muscles and liver can only store a certain amount of carbohydrates and once that limit is reached, excess carbohydrates are stored as body fat. People who exercise frequently and intensely, in effect, "squeeze the sponge" by using stored carbohydrates, and thus can consume more carbs without storing them as body fat. People who do not exercise, always have a "soaked sponge" and any excess carbs, which will be most carbs, are stored as fat.

The Difference Between Good and Bad Carbs

Another notable quirk of the insulin release system is that our bodies get "tricked" by highly processed carbohydrates, like sugar, white flour and white rice. These foods cause an enormous release of insulin that exceeds the supply of glucose. When the glucose has been processed, lots of insulin is still left in the bloodstream...it's all dressed up with no place to go. The result is the associated sugar crash and ravenous hunger. Our bodies just want to get back into hormonal equilibrium and this excess insulin signals the brain to eat more as a result.

While I think that the Atkins diet is far too carb restrictive, Dr. Atkins did acknowledge that some carbs were of a higher quality than others. The difference between high quality and low quality carbs is in the amount of fiber they contain. His concept of "net carbs" gives credit to carbs that contain a high quantity of fiber. Good carbs have lots of healthy fiber to slow digestion and mute the body's insulin response. Bad carbs like sugar, white flour, and white rice, contain no fiber and confuse the body's insulin release system.

So, how many carbs should I be consuming?

Well, you won't get a specific number from me, but I think that in time the recommendation will be to determine the amount of carbs that you consume based on your level of activity and level of body fat. Your activity level plays a big part in how many carbs you can consume by being the primary mechanism for burning many carbs in the body. Body fat is a very hormonally active substance and seems to have an effect on the body's insulin sensitivity, more body fat seems to be correlated with a higher level of insulin resistance. Another determining factor may be genetics. Approximately 30-40% of people seem to do much better on low carb diets than low fat diets, but the reason for this is yet unknown.

You should eat enough carbs, but the kicker is that you shouldn't eat too many and that amount is tough to determine. There doesn't appear to be an easy, cut-and-dried answer that applies to every person.

More active Less body fat		Less active More body fat
<-------------------	------------------------------------------------------------------------------	------------------->
More carbs are OK		Fewer carbs are OK

The spectrum of carb consumption will vary widely from someone who is morbidly obese and gets no daily activity to endurance athletes who burn through carbs with almost no regard to amount. The more active you are and the less excess body fat that you are storing, the more carbs you can consume without storing them as body fat. The less active you are and the more body fat that you are storing, the fewer carbs that you can consume without storing them as body fat. Wherever you fall on that continuum, most of your carbs should come from high fiber fruits and vegetables. Processed carbs not only cause the insulin surge, along with the associated crash, but they truly are the most nutritionally bankrupt class of foods that we consume. Eliminating them for that reason is reason enough.

As I said before, I'm not an advocate of Atkins-type diets that restrict carbs to incredibly low levels (less than 30g per day). I think that 100g of carbs a day is a low level that can be maintained long term and will provide substantial lower carb benefits. Also, I don't advocate the use of low carb products. Eat healthy, whole foods and you won't over consume carbohydrates and you'll save money by not buying all of those expensive, processed products that contain things no one can pronounce.

Exception to the rule

As always there is an exception to the rule of minimizing processed carbohydrates. Your body is especially primed to shuttle carbohydrates into your muscles and liver, as opposed to storing them as body fat, at two specific times of the day...10:27am and 4:38pm, mountain standard time. Just kidding.

Those times are first thing in the morning and after a workout. After sleep, your body is running low on glycogen because you haven't eaten in 8 hours or so, and glycogen is the fuel that keeps your body working while you sleep. Breakfast replenishes that supply and gets you to a good start each day. Never skip breakfast and it's an especially good time to consume carbohydrates. The other time that you should consume ample carbohydrates is post-workout. The first 30 minutes following a workout is a great time to consume carbs, as your body is primed to accept those carbs and get them into your muscles, instead of on your backside.

Wrap up

Don't think that carbs are evil and that by eliminating them from your diet, you will magically lose tons of weight. The calories in/calories out rule still applies. If you consume more calories than you burn each day, and you do this regularly, no magical nutrient ratios will keep you from gaining weight. You must still maintain a calorie deficit if you expect to lose weight. A lower carb diet may be helpful in reducing hunger and reducing the storage of body fat by controlling insulin.

Have you ever tried a low carb diet? How low carb did you go? What did you think of the results?

Links of interest:

• What if it's all been a big fat lie?

Related Posts:

• Post Workout Recovery: Don't Miss the "Window of Opportunity"
• Best Diet Ever: Minimize processed carbohydrates
• Fat, a necessary nutrient, Part I

7 Ways to Improve Your Odds of Living A Longer, Healthier Life

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My name is Scott H. and I'm a total dork. For fun (*I don't get out much*), I decided to take a look at the mortality statistics from 1900 and compare them to the most recent mortality data compiled by the CDC, which happened to be 2004. The charts are at the bottom of this post for those that are interested in the actual data. Can anything interesting be gleaned from the differences between the two charts?

What's interesting about these statistics is the difference in the types of diseases that we succumb to. In 1900, communicable diseases were responsible for most deaths, while today, heart disease, cancer, and strokes are the big killers. It is also interesting to note that there is a marked increase in deaths as a result of lifestyle choices. The major risk factors for heart disease are largely the result of choices that people make, with the exception of family history. Smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes are all risk factors that can be moderated by living a healthier lifestyle that includes regular exercise.

So that begs the question: what lifestyle choices can you make that will lead to a healthier, longer life? Here are my top 7 things that you can do to avoid being dispatched by something on the Top 10 list.

Stop using all forms of tobacco

Smoking is a high risk factor for cardiovascular disease and a major contributor to cancer deaths each year. Approximately 400,000 deaths in the United States each year can be directly connected to smoking. Any form of tobacco use substantially raises your risk of suffering from heart disease, stroke, cancer, and a variety of respiratory ailments. Tobacco use is a direct contributor to the top 4 killers in 2004.

• Recommendation: Don't use any form of tobacco products and if you do...stop. If you are a smoker, the most significant change that you can make to live a healthier, longer life is to quit smoking.

Maintain ideal body weight

Oh boy, I'm going to really catch H-E-double-hockey-sticks for this one. What exactly is ideal body weight? For years, body mass index has been the measure of whether a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. Find your BMI here. Recent articles have pointed out that BMI does not take into account body composition, so some people who fall into the normal range may be at risk for cardiovascular disease because they have a higher bodyfat percentage than their weight would indicate. Conversely, some people, namely athletes, may fall into the overweight, or obese category, but actually are healthy because they have a lower than average body fat percentage and more muscle mass than the average joe or jane.

BMI is not a perfect yardstick of health in all cases, but no test is. It is an easy technique to classify people and studies have shown that there is a high correlation between being outside of the normal range and a greater likelihood of disease. If you are above, or below, the normal BMI range, consider making the changes necessary to get into the normal range. Studies have shown that it is just as bad to be below the normal BMI range as it is to be above the normal range, so I'm not just picking on people who fall into the above normal range.

• Recommendation: In addition to getting regular exercise, modify your diet appropriately to get into the normal range. The range of what is considered normal is wide enough to accommodate all body types. If you are "big boned" that's not the problem. It's all of that big meat on those bones that have health consequences. For every person outside the normal BMI range who is healthy, there are 1000 who are not. Don't use the shortcomings of BMI to justify being unhealthy, it's just an excuse.
  

Exercise regularly

Regular exercise is essential to improving and maintaining your health. We are made to move, but modern conveniences have all but eliminated activity from our lives. Less than 50% of people meet the American Heart Association's basic guidelines for weekly exercise, and this was more lenient 1995 recommendation that included things like taking out the trash or grocery shopping. Interestingly, by 2015, it is estimated that 75% of Americans will be overweight or obese. Read that again. In 8 short years, 75% of Americans will be overweight or obese.

I just hate to bang the doom-and-gloom drum when talking about exercise. Routine exercise has so many benefits besides being healthier that you should be doing it to feel better, not to live longer. Regular exercise should be about quality of life, not quantity of life.

• Recommendation: This post concerns health, not weight loss, so I'm recommending that you follow the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association's new guidelines for physical activity. These guidelines expand upon, define, and refine what types and amounts of activity are a minimum to live a healthy lifestyle.
  
• All adults age 18 to 65 should accumulate 30 minutes of moderate physical activity (walking briskly) on at least 5 days per week or 20 minutes of vigorous physical activity (jogging) at least 3 days per week. Additionally, you should perform activities to increase muscular strength and endurance (strength training) at least 2 days per week.

Eat "whole" foods

By eating foods that are less processed, you are making a choice to eat healthier foods. Food that you prepare are significantly lower in sodium, fat, and calories than highly processed, prepackaged food. Additionally, whole foods are higher in fiber and nutrients than processed foods, so it is easier to maintain your weight.

Another aspect of processed foods that may contribute to health problems are food additives. Food additives that are generally regarded as safe by the FDA, such as preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, and other unpronounce-ables, were determined to be safe at much lower quantities than we now consume. As I've said before when talking about aspartame, an artificial sweetener, dosage is very important. Even though studies have concluded that these additives are safe, anecdotal, circumstantial, and hunch-based, quasi, not-even-close to evidence suggests that these chemicals that we consume daily could be an issue if you consume lots of processed foods.

Update: How appropriate! Here's an article about a guy who got "popcorn lung" from the butter flavoring used to flavor microwave popcorn. But, of course, it's perfectly safe to eat.

• Recommendation: Try cooking one additional meal at home each week and cook enough to eat for several meals. Most people eat 21 meals a week. Make 2 or 3 of those meals at home instead of going out to a restaurant, or eating from a box. I'll be posting some great healthy recipes that are in the rotation in my household. Some are quick, easy, meals that are great to put together at the last minute after work. Some are fancier affairs that take longer. I enjoy cooking, well, actually, I enjoy eating good and I'm willing to cook to eat good.
  

Wear your seat belt

Motor vehicle accidents constitute a large portion of the accidental deaths in this country. Even if you drive carefully, you may not be able to altogether avoid being involved in a car accident. Increase your chances of surviving it by wearing your seat belt.

• Recommendation: The tide has really turned since I was younger. Most people do wear seat belts, but there are still people who don't for dumb reasons, like "it messes up my clothes" (you know who you are). What do you think a trip through the windshield is going to do to that dress? Wear your seat belt every time you get in a vehicle.

Limit sun exposure and wear sunblock

Skin cancer is the most easily preventable of all cancers, and yet according to the American Cancer Society, each year over 1 million people are diagnosed with sun-related skin cancer. If something on this list is going to get ME, it's this.You got me on this one. I am THE WORST about putting on sunblock and I'm outside for many hours during the week. Do as I say, not as I do.

• Recommendation: Limit sun exposure when you can. When you can't wear lots of sunblock. You should apply about 2 tablespoons per application and put more on often. Also you should put on sunblock 30 minutes before you go into the sun to give it a chance to work.

Get regular medical check-ups

With advances in medical technology, your chances of living a long, healthy life increase dramatically if diseases are caught early.

• Recommendation: See your doctor annually for a checkup, more often if you have an ongoing illness. For customized, health screening guidelines, here is a great tool from the Mayo Clinic.
  

Cause of Death (1900) Death Rate/100,000
Pneumonia (all forms) and influenza. . . . . . . . 202.2
Tuberculosis (all forms) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194.4
Diarrhea, enteritis, and intestinal ulceration . . 142.7
Diseases of the heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137.4
Intracranial lesions of vascular origin². . . . . . 106.9
Nephritis (all forms)³. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88.6
All accidents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.3
Cancer and other malignant tumors. . . . . . . . . . 64.0
Senility⁴ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.2
Diptheria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40.3

(source)

Cause of Death (2004) Death Rate/100,000
Heart Disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272.1
Malignant Neoplasms¹. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231.0
Cerebrovascular². . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.5
Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease. . . . . . . . . . 50.9
Unintentional Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46.7
Diabetes Mellitus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.5
Alzheimer's Disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.5
Influenza & Pneumonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.9
Nephritis³. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.7
Septicemia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.9

(source )

¹Cancer-related deaths
²Stroke-related deaths
³Kidney disease
⁴Alzheimer's-related deaths


Do you do these seven things? Which ones could you do better?

Related Posts:

• Want to lose weight? Get off of the scale! Part 1
• Fitness/Health/Nutrition Myths, Part Deux
• Strength Training: What you need to know

The Cooking Spray Conundrum

photo by xgot_rice64x

Cooking spray, also know as Pam, is pure, marketing genius! It's promoted as a fat-free alternative to those darn oils that keep food from sticking to the pan and, well, are just plain tasty. Let's have a little closer look at what's in the can.

A quick look at the Nutrition Facts label shows that it has 0g of fat and 0 calories. It's perfect! What is this magical product made of? Let's see the ingredient label says the first ingredient is...that can't be right...CANOLA OIL?! I'm holding a full can of Pam in my hot little hands and it is mostly canola oil. Yet it is somehow fat-free and calorie-free. Unless Con Agra has magical elves removing calories and fat from canola oil, something is rotten in Denmark, or in this case, Omaha, Nebraska. By the way, if you believe the magical elf theory, STOP READING "THE SECRET"! I just love beating up on that book.

Obviously, magical elves are not involved in the process, but something is amiss. The "secret" to cooking spray's fat-free, calorie-free status is in its serving size. Why don't you grab a can and see what the serving size really is? Take your time. I'll wait.

It's all there if you just read the labels

The serving size is a 1/3 second spray. Is that even possible to only spray for 1/3 of a second? Why 1/3 of a second? Because the amount dispensed in that time comes in just under the guidelines for being fat-free and calorie-free. The FDA allows a product to contain less that 0.5g of something and still claim that it contains 0g of that something. In this case, that something is the fat from canola oil. So do you still think that soaking those pans with cooking spray is really giving you something for free?

Actually, cooking spray isn't so bad because it allows you to control how much oil you use, but don't be fooled into thinking that you are getting a low calorie product if you spray 10 seconds worth of it into a pan. If you do that, why not save some money and just use regular oil? A better, less expensive alternative is to fill a pump aerosol sprayer with olive oil and use that to dispense a smaller amount of oil than you would normally use...same thing, but no chemical propellants and less expensive.

Do you use only the recommended amount of cooking spray? Or are you guilty of the infamous "10 second" spray?

Related Posts:

• Best Diet Ever!
• Strength Training: What you need to know.
• Starting a running program

Health and Fitness Sites

photo by johnny_w

Looking for a great place to find interesting, helpful information on the topics of health, wellness, exercise, and weight loss? The following sites have lots of great, well-written, easy to understand information. Check them out.

Health Sundae

• Health and Fitness Forum - Vol. III

FitBuff.com

• Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival #11

Want to lose weight? Get off of the scale! Part I

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It is estimated that 1 in 6 Americans are "on a diet" at any given time. Losing weight is a national obsession...to the tune of about 35 billion dollars annually (that's billion...with a "b"!) Whether it's losing five pounds or a hundred pounds or more, everyone has some magic number that they hope to one day see when they step on the scale.

I'll let you in on a secret...that's the wrong approach entirely. You see, your weight doesn't tell you anything about what you are made of. Bones, muscle, organs, and fat all look the same through the eyes of the scale. People diet strictly for a short period of time to get their weight down, but what exactly goes away for the weight to go down? Was most of the weight loss a result of fat loss, or was it mostly a loss of muscle? The scale can't give you that answer, but it is a key piece of information that can predict the likelihood of long term weight loss success. Losing muscle will reduce your metabolism and make it much more difficult to maintain any weight loss. Obviously, you need some sort of feedback to know if you are progressing. What is a better indicator of long-term, successful, weight loss?

Body fat percentage...its what matters!

Body fat percentage is a much better indicator of weight loss progress. While most people say that they want to lose weight, what they really want to lose is body fat. Losing weight at the expense of muscle mass is a recipe for disaster. If you use body fat percentage as your yardstick for improvement and you will be much more likely to keep the weight off for good.

How do you measure your body fat? There are several ways, some more practical than others. Whichever method you choose, stick with the same method. There is a degree of error involved with each method, and to be most useful you are interested, not is absolute accuracy of the measurement, but precision in order to show trends.

Autopsy

Yikes! The most accurate way to measure body fat with one obvious downside...you won't survive the procedure. Umm, definitely not recommended.

Underwater Hydrostatic Weighing

This is considered the "gold standard" in calculating body fat percentage. It consists of being dunked in a tank of water while exhaling all of the air in your lungs. The level of the water in the tank is measured before and after you get in the tank. The volume displacement of the water is run through an algorithm and your body fat percentage is calculated. It is considered the most accurate method of determining body fat but it is expensive and inconvenient.

DEXA

This technique uses X-Rays to scan your body and determine what is fat and what is not. Supposed to be very accurate, but very few labs have access to the equipment, so it's definitely inconvenient, and my guess is, quite expensive.

Bod Pod

A new technique that uses the volume displacement of air, as opposed to water in underwater hydrostatic weighing, to determine your body fat levels. Again, this requires specialized equipment, and honestly, I've never seen one of these devices but they are supposed to be quite accurate.

BIA (Bioelectric Impedance Analysis)

Sounds sci-fi, but this is the technique used by electronic body fat scales, or I've even seen hand-held devices that you grab hold of with both hands. I own a Tanita Body Fat Scale and have used an Omron Body Fat Testing Device. Both gave me approximately the same reading...but it was about 7.5% too high. I can hear the snickering, "Yeah, right, that's my excuse, too." Seriously, these devices are useful tools provided that you aren't picky about accuracy. An important point to remember is that your level of hydration is extremely important in getting a consistent reading. While these device may not be super accurate, they are precise, so if it says you've lost 2% body fat, chances are good that you have actually lost it, even though the actual reading may be incorrect. One of the disadvantages is that they tend to be expensive. If you are in the market for a new scale, then consider getting one with this feature. If you've got a scale and don't need another one, then I would get an inexpensive pair of calipers just for body fat testing.

Calipers

A reasonably accurate technique to measure your body fat is with the use of calipers. They range in price from about $10.00/pair to hundreds of dollars for a laboratory-accurate pair. Regardless of the cost of the calipers, the accuracy of this technique is very dependent upon, well, technique. To get consistent readings requires a bit of skill in determining the proper locations to pinch the skin/fat layer. If you have the test done by someone else, try to get the same person to take the measurement each time for the most consistency. Most gyms and health clubs have a good set of calipers and someone who is reasonably skilled in doing body fat readings.

You can use either the 3-site protocol or the 7-site protocol. The 7-site protocol is slightly more accurate, but I wouldn't bother...remember, none of the tests are really accurate. The 3-site protocol is a good option if you are having someone else do the readings, but the pinch locations are not conducive to a person taking their own readings.

So what is a person to do if they want to track body fat percentage, but they don't have access to another person to take the readings? The answer: Accu Measure Body Fat Calipers. These calipers have a "slider" mechanism that records and saves the pinch thickness without requiring you to be a gymnast to see the readings. You can use the 3 site protocol, if you want, or the Accu Measure calipers come with a chart that lets you take a single reading and look up your body fat from that one reading. I've found it to be +/- 1% from my 3 site reading, so I use the 1-site test exclusively for taking my own body fat measurements. It may not be accurate, but it tracks changes just fine.

Now what?

You've decided to get on the body fat percentage bandwagon, where you belong, and you've acquired a testing device of some sort. Is that all you need to know? From the standpoint of feedback, you've now got a great tool to evaluate true progress. Part II in this series will discuss how to maximize fat loss and minimize loss of muscle while achieving your goal of long-term weight loss.

Do you regularly test body fat percentage? How do you know if you are moving in the right direction? Scale weight? How you look in the mirror? How your clothes are fitting?

Related Posts:

• The Skinny on Getting Thin
• Strength Training: What you need to know
• Five Fitness, Health, and Nutrition Myths Exposed

Post Workout Recovery: Don't Miss the "Window of Opportunity"

Photo by Nils Geylen

Congratulations, you've just finished a tough workout and now you're ready to kick back and have a nice, cool beverage. But wait, you're on a diet. Should you drink water to save the calories? What about Gatorade? Don't the commercials say that you need to replace electrolytes after a hard workout?

You should definitely drink enough water to stay hydrated throughout your workout and if you have been outdoors in the summer heat you may need to replace electrolytes with Gatorade. These are primarily hydration issues, though. It's important to realize that after a hard workout, there is a recovery "window of opportunity" that closes rapidly. If that window closes and you miss it, it may take days for you to fully recover instead of hours. The purpose of a good post workout recovery drink is to help prepare you for your next workout.

How soon should I have a recovery drink?

Intense, long-lasting exercise depletes your body's stores of glycogen, a stored form of carbohydrates. When you finish a hard workout, your body's enzymes are primed for replenishing those stores. After the first 30 minutes following exercise, this enzyme activity begins to drop off dramatically. Take advantage of these enzymes by consuming easily digestible liquids containing a 4:1 ration ofcarbohydrates to protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout. Studies have shown that this ratio is close to optimal, but any ratio from 2:1 to 7:1 of carbohydrates to protein will result in a higher glycogen uptake than consuming carbohydrates alone. Don't wait! Drink a recovery drink before you take a shower or drive home from the gym. It's that important.

For the mathematically challenged out there, how do you figure out if your post recovery drink is a good choice? Look at the Nutrition Facts panel. Multiply the grams of protein by 4. Is the result close to the grams of carbohydrates in the drink? If it is, it's a good choice.

But I thought sugar was "bad"?

Now, I've said before to minimize processed carbohydrates from your diet because they are absorbed so quickly and cause an enormous release of insulin. Insulin's job in the body is to "open the gate" of your cells so that glycogen can be stored and this is exactly what your body needs after a workout. If you feel you can't live without processed carbohydrates, the best time to consume them is immediately following a workout.

Before you line up outside of Krispy Kreme to "carb load", let me mention that fat dramatically slows this process down by slowing down the digestion process. A doughnut is not a good post recovery item because of its high fat content. Sorry.

Good post workout recovery drinks:

• Chocolate Milk - better than regular milk because of its higher sugar content. Make it with skim milk and you've go the perfect post-workout drink.
• Yogurt smoothie - good ratios with enough sugar to replenish glycogen stores.
• Accelerade - a commercial recovery drink with the right protein to carb ratio, but come on, better than chocolate milk? I don't think so.

Do you routinely drink a recovery drink after your workout?

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Eat more to lose weight

"Ok, time to get Scott a prescription for some crazy pills. Now I know, I didn't just read that I need to eat more to lose weight!"

Actually that is not a typo. You could be eating too little food to lose weight. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone but there are some people who will read this who, believe it or not, are not eating enough to lose weight. You see our bodies are very good at keeping us alive. In fact, looking good in a swimsuit for the summer doesn't even come into play from a biological standpoint. Survival is paramount. Most people who go on a diet severely restrict the amount of food that they eat so that they can lose weight as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that only works for a very short period of time. Within a couple of weeks your body starts to react to keep you alive (remember, survival trumps swimsuit season) by reducing your metabolism to closer match your food intake. Once this begins to happen you are no longer consuming a calorie deficit and you stop losing weight. Now what? Typically people get discouraged at this point and either stop the diet or blame themselves for not "wanting it bad enough" and reduce calories even more, eating even less, reducing metabolism even more. Eventually survival wins out and the diet goes out the door and normal eating habits return, usually with a vengeance. Now people consume even more calories than before, essentially kicking the horse when its down. The new, lower metabolism has them eating an enormous caloric surplus. The pounds come back...and thanks to your body's survival mechanisms...they bring friends. Don't fight your body...you won't win.

How do you know if you need to eat more?

If you aren't watching what you eat and how much, more than likely you are not eating too little. This isn't the magic bullet you've been waiting for that allows you to eat whatever you want and lose weight. You should click on the link at the bottom of the page and fill out the form to determine your maintenance level of calories. If you log your food for a day and find that you are eating far below that number of calories, then you simply need to eat more. You should never eat less than your maintenance level of calories minus 500 to maintain long-term fat loss. For women, 1200 calories is the lowest you should go. Men should not go lower than 1500 calories. If your maintenance level of calories minus 500 dips below these levels, the answer is not eating less, but exercising more to offset your sedentary lifestyle.

How do I stop the downward spiral?

The short answer is to eat more. My suggestion is to go for 3 weeks eating at your maintenance calorie level. Click on the link at the bottom of the page to find out how many calories per day you require to maintain your weight. The bad news is that you will gain weight...maybe a couple of pounds, but that is what it takes to repair and increase your metabolism. In the long run, you will easily lose the gained weight and more. After the 3 weeks is over, then drop your calories down to no lower than maintenance minus 500, but no lower than 1200 calories for women and no lower than 1500 calories for men. If you aren't doing any strength training, start doing it. Its primary benefit to someone trying to lose weight is to maintain muscle mass and metabolism and make sure that the weight being lost is really fat.

How many calories do you need each day to maintain your weight?

Click here to find out: http://www.yeraze.com/scripts/calories.php

Simply fill out the form and click the 'Calculate' button. On the result page, use the chart at the bottom of the page to determine your activity level and calories needed per day. Don't kid yourself, most people fall into the 'Sedentary' category.

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Fitness/Health/Nutrition Myths, Part Deux

Of the tips sent out so far, the fitness myth tip got the most positive response, so I've decided to do another one. Besides these are very easy to put together due to an enormous amount of misinformation out there in the areas of health and fitness.

Weight gain with age is inevitable

As we age, certain physiological changes do take place, but weight gain doesn't need to be one of them. Weight gain with age is common, but it's a result of a decrease in activity, not an increase in age. This decrease in activity leads to a decrease in muscle mass and a resulting decrease in metabolism. What can you do to avoid this? The best thing to do is to strength train. By doing resistance exercise, you can maintain or build muscle mass and keep your metabolism from slowly decreasing. If you do 30 minutes of cardio at least 4 days per week, you can offset the metabolic decrease by burning more "activity" calories. If exercise just isn't your bag, then to keep the scale from creeping upwards, you must eat less food. I hope you are beginning to see a pattern in each of these tips as far as what behaviors will aid you in maintaining your weight.

Eating at night will make you fat

Occasionally a "diet" will come out that touts some variation of meal timing as a main component. Not eating after some arbitrary time at night is a very popular anecdotal weight loss strategy. Pure bunk. If you consume more calories than you burn, you'll get fat...it doesn't matter when you consume those calories. I've said this a few times...but there is one exception that I haven't mentioned. Post-workout calories. Carbohydrates consumed within about 2-4 hours of performing moderate to intense repetitious exercise (i.e. cardio or very intense strength training) are more likely to be stored as glycogen in muscles and the liver, than as fat. If you are a competitive athlete at any level, you should use this "window of opportunity" to reload your glycogen stores so that you can be optimally recovered for your next workout. If you've got to be seen with the latest, greatest, coolest recovery drink, Endurox works great. If you value price over coolness, chocolate milk has been shown to have the right protein-to-carbohydrate ratio to be optimally effective and doesn't taste like crap.

No pain, no gain

Pain is never a good thing. This myth does acknowledge that improving is not easy, but pain is never a requirement of success. If you are just beginning an exercise program of any type, then discomfort is a part of the process. If you push your body a little bit beyond its current abilities, you will create small muscle tears that we perceive as soreness. The aching typically peaks 48 hours after the activity that caused the micro tears. After this time period your body begins the process of healing, but it doesn't heal back to its original state...it overcompensates by becoming stronger to better prepare in the event that you need to perform the task again. This "overcompensation" is the key to improvement. On the other hand, if you push yourself too hard you can become injured by causing acute and/or long-lasting injuries to muscles, tendons, or even bones. How do you know the difference? Most injuries cause sharp, acute pain. If the pain causes you to yelp, then you need to cut back or stop the activity until you can resume the activity with no pain, or if the injury is severe you may need to see your doctor. If you have a localized, dull, aching more than likely its delayed onset muscle soreness and a normal part of progressing.

Exercise burns lots of calories

Unfortunately, it doesn't. It is much easier to consume lots of calories than burn them. I always talk about calories this and that, but what exactly is a calorie. It is simply a unit of measurement of energy. Here are a few foods whose calorie content is restated in terms of the amount of exercise required to burn them off:

• Subway 6" Turkey Breast Sandwich (280) calories = 2.35 miles of running

• White Chocolate Frappuccino (610 calories) = 5.12 miles of running

• P.F. Changs Mongolian Beef (no rice) (1180 calories) = 9.92 miles of running

• McDonalds Big Mac Value Meal w/soft drink (1420 calories) = 11.93 miles of running

• P.F. Changs Great Wall of Chocolate (2240 calories OH ... MY ... GOD) = 18.82 miles of running

By the way, the above calculations assume a 150 pound person. Lighter people would require more running, heavier people would require less running, but only about +/- 10%.

Bonus Factoid

OK, just a little trivia for you. Assuming that we could consume gasoline for fuel, how many miles could a 150 pound person run on a gallon of gasoline? Well, a gallon of gasoline contains about 31,000 calories of energy, approximately the same as is contained in about 8.85 pounds of fat. Someone who weighs 150 pounds requires 119 calories per mile. A 150 pound person could run 260.5 miles on a gallon of gasoline. What does that prove? Well, gasoline is an extremely cheap source of energy even at $4.00/gallon. It also demonstrates that humans are VERY efficient at storing and utilizing energy. We are engineered to aggressively store energy to survive when food sources run low, but for better or worse, in our society, the lean times never come.

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Six Fitness, Health, and Nutrition Myths Exposed

OK, it's time to separate fitness fact from fiction. Here are 6 common health and fitness-related misconceptions and the reasons that they are wrong.

Spot reduction

Myth: 1000 crunches/sit-ups a day will result in a flat stomach.
Reality Check: If you do 1000 crunches a day you will have a ripped set of abs underneath the same layer of fat that you've always had. The only way to reduce fat is to create a calorie deficit (see Energy Balance post) and crunches/sit-ups are a very poor way to burn calories. Unfortunately, you can't choose which fat is going to be burned...your genetics control that. If you want that six pack, you need to strength train your abs, as well as all other muscles, do cardio to burn calories, and watch your caloric intake. To begin to see definition in your abs, men require a body fat level of 8-10%, women require a body fat level of 12-14%. Wondering about your body fat %? Your friendly, neighborhood fitness coordinator can figure it out for you.

Fattening foods

Myth: Some foods are particularly fattening and turn directly into fat when eaten, i.e. cheese, butter, carbs, etc.
Reality Check: Excess calories are fattening. Bodyfat is your body's way of storing excess energy that it can't use upon consumption. If you stop eating excess calories, you'll stop storing fat. Furthermore, if you use more calories than you consume and your body will use up existing fat stores. So why the myth? High fat foods get a bad rap because foods high in fat tend to be high in calories. It's the calories that make you fat, not the fat itself. Thanks to Dr. Atkins, carbs are the new evil macronutrient. They have gotten a bad rap because so many of the foods that we eat are filled with highly processed, low nutritional value carbs, mostly made with white flour and sugar. These simple carbohydrates contain no nutrients so they satisfy our hunger for only a short time before we are hungry again. There is nothing wrong with bread or pasta, but whole wheat bread and pasta are definitely better, more nutritious choices.

Fat free foods

Myth: Fat-free, or reduced-fat foods are always best.
Reality Check: Ah, yes, the Snackwell Syndrome.
If the cookies are fat-free, then I can inhale an entire box of them, guilt-free. Again, it's the calories, not the fat. One Snackwell Fat Free Devils Food Cookie has 49 calories compared to an Oreo cookie which has 53 calories. It's a very small difference between the two...which would you rather have, the Snackwell or the Oreo? Always compare the calories on the Nutrition Label. If the fat-free or reduced-fat product contains at least 10% fewer calories, I'll consider it. I'll also look at the ingredients and check if the fat was replaced by loads of things I can't pronounce. If it contains all sorts of things I can't pronounce, I'll go with the regular product. If the ingredient list doesn't baffle me, I'll get the low fat product. A good example is low fat or nonfat dairy products. They are almost always a better choice than regular dairy. Since the fat in dairy comes from the cream and it is easy separable, nothing else is typically added back in its place.

Toned muscles

Myth: You need to exercise a certain way to get "toned" muscles, i.e. light weights with a high number of repetitions.
Reality Check: Muscles can contract, expand, grow or shrink. That's it. You can't do anything to specifically "shape" or "tone" a particular muscle, only make it bigger. Whatever the shape of the muscle you were born with, you're stuck with it. What people consider "toned" is actually a combination of larger muscles which are more visible due to a lower body fat level. If you want to get "toned", train in a way that maximizes muscle growth and lower your body fat level by doing moderately intense cardio while watching caloric intake. That means strength training with a load that you can complete 8-12 repetitions of any particular exercise with good form, but no more. Perform 3-5 sets of the exercise and when you can do 3-5 sets of 12, increase the load. Repeat forever.

Women and strength training

Myth: Strength training will make women incredibly muscular.
Reality Check: Mention strength training and women immediately visualize pictures of enormous female bodybuilders. Women do not naturally have the hormones necessary to grow enormous muscles. Besides, saying that you don't want to strength train because you might get that big is like saying you don't want to run because you might qualify for the Olympics in the 100 meter dash...as if it were that easy to get those muscles. Strength training provides many benefits for women of all ages including increasing metabolism and increasing bone density, among other things. Try it...I think you'll like the results.

Fat burning zone

Myth: You will burn more fat if you do lower intensity exercise...in the "fat burning zone".
Reality Check: Your body has several "fuels" to choose from as you go about your daily activities. The two main fuels are glycogen, a stored form of carbohydrates and the other is fat. Depending on the intensity of the activity, your body utilizes a "mix" of both fat and glycogen. Lower intensity activities burn a higher percentage of fat, while higher intensity activities favor the use of glycogen as fuel, thus the low intensity "fat-burning zone". The problem is that low intensity activities burn a much lower number of total calories than high intensity activities. Let’s say you go for a 30 minute walk. You might burn 100 calories, 75% or which would be fat for a total "fat" calorie expenditure of 75. Now let’s say you went for a 30 minute run. You would burn about 300 calories, 50% of which would be fat for a total "fat" calorie expenditure of 150...twice as much. So, is low intensity exercise bad? Of course not, but by incorporating bouts of higher intensity, you can burn even more calories and increase your fitness at a higher rate. Besides, exercising in any "zone" is better than sitting in front of the TV while two-fisting Cheez-Its. I like to call that level of intensity the Big Butt Creation Zone.

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