Getting Fit

[Backlighting]

Many people, looking to lose weight, make the mistake of doing cardio only in addition to calorie reduction. This will result in fat loss AND muscle loss as well.

Look at those who mainly run or just diet. Hardly any muscle mass.

Weight training, done properly and in conjunction with calorie cutting and proper nutrition, not only burns fat but adds muscle, which increases overall strength and well being. Time permitting, cardio excercises can be done after the weight training session or on off days.

As we age muscle loss (atrophy) occurs. If you want to slow the atrophy down, keeping lean and retaining strength in your later years, regular weight training is your best insurance.

[JanieJones]

very true. I run three times a week, not to lose weight but to get into shape. I couldn't imagine what dieting is like while doing something intense like jogging. I find I get intense cravings for really bad foods like poutine and hamburgers. I also eat a lot of steak too, when you run the fat literally just melts off you.

[BaalChatzaf]

very true. I run three times a week, not to lose weight but to get into shape. I couldn't imagine what dieting is like while doing something intense like jogging. I find I get intense cravings for really bad foods like poutine and hamburgers. I also eat a lot of steak too, when you run the fat literally just melts off you.

I will wager that you are under 40 years of age.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[BaalChatzaf]

Many people, looking to lose weight, make the mistake of doing cardio only in addition to calorie reduction. This will result in fat loss AND muscle loss as well.

Look at those who mainly run or just diet. Hardly any muscle mass.

Appearance can be deceiving. Runners and bicycle racers (like Lance Armstrong) generally do not have an ounce of excess fat on them. Their bodies are very well adapted to their sport. A runner does not need massive muscle. He needs muscles that produce speed and promote long distance endurance. That is why runners and most bicycle racers have a "stringy" build.

If they worked out as weight lifters they would look much different.

It is cardio first then weight and resistance training. Some resistance training is required to maintain muscle mass. If you run hard enough and long enough you will be doing -anaerobic- exercise on the major muscles of the abdomen and legs (they are the parts that get used). For upper body strength other exercises (like weights or friction devices) are required.

Vigorous calisthenics will do. For example lots of push ups, abdominal crunches, chin-ups and tossing a heaving a medicine ball from hither to yon. I bet you never saw a frail delicate hammer thrower, shotputer or caber thrower.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited May 18, 2007 by BaalChatzaf

[Chris Grieb]

Lance Armstrong's lack of fat may also be due to his having undergone intense chemotherapy.

[Backlighting]

Lance certainly trained with weights also. He didn't build those quads from bike riding alone. Any body going into their senior years with a history of mostly aerobic (runners) will be weaker than those who trained primarily with weights. "Stronger is alwasys better".

[BaalChatzaf]

Lance certainly trained with weights also. He didn't build those quads from bike riding alone. Any body going into their senior years with a history of mostly aerobic (runners) will be weaker than those who trained primarily with weights. "Stronger is alwasys better".

Who lives longer. Who is less likely to die of a heart attack? Fitter is better.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[JanieJones]

very true. I run three times a week, not to lose weight but to get into shape. I couldn't imagine what dieting is like while doing something intense like jogging. I find I get intense cravings for really bad foods like poutine and hamburgers. I also eat a lot of steak too, when you run the fat literally just melts off you.

I will wager that you are under 40 years of age.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I am well under 40 but I think it runs in my family. My uncle is pushing 60 and has very similar eating habits but he's a karate coach (martial arts are another great way to lose weight) and he looks great. I mean its not good for his heart but he doesn't seem to pile on the weight. But then again what a lot of people don't realize or admit is that it takes a lot of overeating to get fat.

[BaalChatzaf]

I am well under 40 but I think it runs in my family. My uncle is pushing 60 and has very similar eating habits but he's a karate coach (martial arts are another great way to lose weight) and he looks great. I mean its not good for his heart but he doesn't seem to pile on the weight. But then again what a lot of people don't realize or admit is that it takes a lot of overeating to get fat.

Three hundred excess calories (about two candy bars) a day will put on a pound in 12 days. That is 31 pounds a year. And the older one is the worse it is. Baseline Resting Metabolism Rates go down sharply after age 60. That means it is easy to put on weight and hard to take it off.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[JanieJones]

yeah but define 300 excess calories, two extra candy bars per day sounds like a lot of extra fat. And how does exercise fit into all this? I work in an industrial part of the city and sometimes if I want a Michigan hot dog and some fries once a week I'll take the 20 minute walk to Lafleur's. People I work with are like "OMIGOD you walked all the way there and back?" And these people eat like that everyday and take their cars and they wonder why they are so fat. well, duh.

And yeah I know the older you get the harder it is to keep the weight off, but when someone is obese as opposed to a little soft its cause they are eating way too much.

[BaalChatzaf]

yeah but define 300 excess calories, two extra candy bars per day sounds like a lot of extra fat. And how does exercise fit into all this? I work in an industrial part of the city and sometimes if I want a Michigan hot dog and

Excess calories are calories that are not burned off by either the baseline metabolism or by additional exercise. The body is an adding machine. Calories in - Calories burned = excess calories (if positive). The body duly stores the extra as fat. That was at one time a survival characteristic. Now it is a deadly nuisance. Unfortunately we tend to go upstream to spawn way before our bad eating habits kill us, so Natural Selection has not deleted the process of storing unused calories as fat. Evolution still thinks we are living 500,000 years ago when the next meal was far from certain.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Wrighty]

....... sometimes if I want a Michigan hot dog and some fries once a week I'll take the 20 minute walk to Lafleur's. People I work with are like "OMIGOD you walked all the way there and back?" And these people eat like that everyday and take their cars and they wonder why they are so fat. well, duh.

......

Good work, Janie.

I'm always amazed why car parks at Leisure Centres always fill up from the nearest to the entrance first. "Look at me - I work out!!"...."Yea but you spent 5-10 minutes driving around the car park to get as near as possible." The Centre authorities could charge the earth for those prized parking spots and make the far away ones free. Interesting thought?

IN dealing with folks who overeat or eat badly, I have a few routines I try to get them to sign up to ....

Listen to your body.....(no really listen). If it says I'm hungry then eat...if in doubt have a drink of water first. Still hungry 5 mins later, then eat. Take a mouthful, savour it, chew it and swallow before taking another. Put down your knife and fork (utensils) to help with this process. When you've had enough - stop eating. Give time for the "I'm full" messages to reach brain from stomach. If you don't then you will keep eating beyond the "enough" sign and get bloated.

Good food/bad food - we should ALL know abouth healthy choices, but all that fried stuff looks good and smells good!! However, try eating a fried meal wearing a blindfold - surprisingly it tastes pretty foul - but normally the visual and olfactory senses upstage taste.

So, while I'm not trying to put you off your weekly Michigan hot dog and fries.....!!!

[JanieJones]

....... sometimes if I want a Michigan hot dog and some fries once a week I'll take the 20 minute walk to Lafleur's. People I work with are like "OMIGOD you walked all the way there and back?" And these people eat like that everyday and take their cars and they wonder why they are so fat. well, duh.

......

Good work, Janie.

I'm always amazed why car parks at Leisure Centres always fill up from the nearest to the entrance first. "Look at me - I work out!!"...."Yea but you spent 5-10 minutes driving around the car park to get as near as possible." The Centre authorities could charge the earth for those prized parking spots and make the far away ones free. Interesting thought?

IN dealing with folks who overeat or eat badly, I have a few routines I try to get them to sign up to ....

Listen to your body.....(no really listen). If it says I'm hungry then eat...if in doubt have a drink of water first. Still hungry 5 mins later, then eat. Take a mouthful, savour it, chew it and swallow before taking another. Put down your knife and fork (utensils) to help with this process. When you've had enough - stop eating. Give time for the "I'm full" messages to reach brain from stomach. If you don't then you will keep eating beyond the "enough" sign and get bloated.

Good food/bad food - we should ALL know abouth healthy choices, but all that fried stuff looks good and smells good!! However, try eating a fried meal wearing a blindfold - surprisingly it tastes pretty foul - but normally the visual and olfactory senses upstage taste.

So, while I'm not trying to put you off your weekly Michigan hot dog and fries.....!!!

a lot of the problem has to do with boredom too. Its almost the same reason why people smoke. What would people do during their breaks if they couldn't go out and smoke? Sometimes on a Sunday afternoon if I'm bored I will find myself overindulging a little. Its mostly in the mind and not in the gut.

Another thing you could tell people would be to fill up on salad, but lay off covering it in salad.

[Jehni125]

This might be a little off topic...

But does anyone know what a healthy BMI is?

My sister keeps saying she is fat but she isn't! (She is 5 foot 5 inches and only 128 lbs).

Her BMI is about 21.3

That's not overweight is it?

[Brant Gaede]

This might be a little off topic...

But does anyone know what a healthy BMI is?

My sister keeps saying she is fat but she isn't! (She is 5 foot 5 inches and only 128 lbs).

Her BMI is about 21.3

That's not overweight is it?

BMI (body mass index) is garbage. There is too much natural human variability. Percentage of body fat is a much better reference. If I am 200# and diet to 150 a great deal of that loss is muscle, not fat. Then I go back to 200 most of which is fat the BMI is about the same, but now I'm weaker and body damaged.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

This might be a little off topic...

But does anyone know what a healthy BMI is?

My sister keeps saying she is fat but she isn't! (She is 5 foot 5 inches and only 128 lbs).

Her BMI is about 21.3

That's not overweight is it?

BMI (body mass index) is garbage. There is too much natural human variability. Percentage of body fat is a much better reference. If I am 200# and diet to 150 a great deal of that loss is muscle, not fat. Then I go back to 200 most of which is fat the BMI is about the same, but now I'm weaker and body damaged.

--Brant

Fitness is very dependent on getting enough physical exercise. Sumo wrestler's are very fit but they are hardly light weights. Exercise, stress reduction and keeping the LDL count down will go a long way to avoiding diabetes and heart disease. Also keeping the blood pressure reasonable will go a long way to reducing strokes.

Exercise 30 min to an hour a day, eat reasonably and things will work out.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[BaalChatzaf]

Lance certainly trained with weights also. He didn't build those quads from bike riding alone. Any body going into their senior years with a history of mostly aerobic (runners) will be weaker than those who trained primarily with weights. "Stronger is alwasys better".

Yes he did. I do only 20 miles a day on a bike and I have thunder quads. I do weight and resistance training on my arms, chest, shoulders and neck because bike riding does not exercise. Riding a bike hard with some hill work will exercise the legs and abdomen anerobically.

Exercising to near failure is the most effective muscle work, but lots of reps with a buildup of lactic acid will also work. It just takes longer.

Ba'al Chatazaf

[mvir9]

This might be a little off topic...

But does anyone know what a healthy BMI is?

My sister keeps saying she is fat but she isn't! (She is 5 foot 5 inches and only 128 lbs).

Her BMI is about 21.3

That's not overweight is it?

BMI (body mass index) is garbage. There is too much natural human variability. Percentage of body fat is a much better reference. If I am 200# and diet to 150 a great deal of that loss is muscle, not fat. Then I go back to 200 most of which is fat the BMI is about the same, but now I'm weaker and body damaged.

--Brant

Fitness is very dependent on getting enough physical exercise. Sumo wrestler's are very fit but they are hardly light weights. Exercise, stress reduction and keeping the LDL count down will go a long way to avoiding diabetes and heart disease. Also keeping the blood pressure reasonable will go a long way to reducing strokes.

Exercise 30 min to an hour a day, eat reasonably and things will work out.

Ba'al Chatzaf

For the most part, I agree with you. I would warn, however, that some people should not work out for up to an hour without medical advice -- this is particularly true for older individuals, and individuals with medical problems, such as a heart condition. One of my black belts is a 63 year old woman who does 15 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of weight training twice a week, and she attends class twice a week (yes, her training is somewhat modified according to her physical abilities). This lady has better abs than most twenty year olds I know, and biceps as well

It is also important to note that the nutritional value of food is just as important to the human body as caloric intake. For example, protein bars are very high in calories, and can have as much fat as a candy bar. However, the fat is mostly unsaturated, non-trans-fatty, and the vitamins and minerals included in the protein bar would be more nutrition than most people get in one day. As with most things, though, even protein bars should be eaten in moderation -- the calories will add up, regardless of the nutritional value.

I disagree that Sumo wrestlers are "fit." While training in Japan, I met several sumo wrestlers and was a witness to one of their "training" sessions. These men are very strong (mostly due to mass) and pretty flexible, given their sizes. However, they are exceedingly UNhealthy and, therefore, not "fit." Fitness requires overall physical health. Regretfully, these men abuse their bodies during training (pushing their overweight bodies to do things that they shouldn't be doing, thereby causing numerous injuries), and they eat an unhealthy amount of unhealthy foods in order to either maintain their obesity or to increase it.

You mention stress reduction -- interestingly, exercise is a beautiful (and healthy) way to reduce stress. For me, I prefer knocking the crap out of a punching bag

I am nearing my mid-thirties and I have two children -- I maintain my weight and health by not focusing on caloric intake, but by working out several times a week, teaching and taking karate (as mentioned by a previous poster, it is a great physical activity), and focusing on nutrition.

[BaalChatzaf]

I am nearing my mid-thirties and I have two children -- I maintain my weight and health by not focusing on caloric intake, but by working out several times a week, teaching and taking karate (as mentioned by a previous poster, it is a great physical activity), and focusing on nutrition.

I am seventy one and I do 20 miles a day on my bike (about 1.5 hours) weather permitting or five thousand steps in place, weather not permitting or 90 minutes on a treadmill at a four percent incline. In addition I park my car twice as far from where I need to go, just to force some walking. Since I have been exercising for the last 45 years, I do not need a medical check up just for this. HOWEVER, for people who have not been exercising regularly and wish to start up two pieces of advice:

1. Get a thorough medical checkup to see if there is any "stealth" cardiovascular condition lurking.

2. Start slow and work up to a reasonable level. Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can get a "Charley horse" in thirty seconds.

Steady does it and most important do it regularly.

And eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Roughage means regularity and regularity is a necessary condition for joy.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[mvir9]

I am nearing my mid-thirties and I have two children -- I maintain my weight and health by not focusing on caloric intake, but by working out several times a week, teaching and taking karate (as mentioned by a previous poster, it is a great physical activity), and focusing on nutrition.

I am seventy one and I do 20 miles a day on my bike (about 1.5 hours) weather permitting or five thousand steps in place, weather not permitting or 90 minutes on a treadmill at a four percent incline. In addition I park my car twice as far from where I need to go, just to force some walking. Since I have been exercising for the last 45 years, I do not need a medical check up just for this. HOWEVER, for people who have not been exercising regularly and wish to start up two pieces of advice:

1. Get a thorough medical checkup to see if there is any "stealth" cardiovascular condition lurking.

2. Start slow and work up to a reasonable level. Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can get a "Charley horse" in thirty seconds.

Steady does it and most important do it regularly.

And eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Roughage means regularity and regularity is a necessary condition for joy.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I am duly impressed! And, your points were excellent.