Showing posts with label Workout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workout. Show all posts
Monday, 27 January 2014
Saturday, 4 January 2014
Good and Bad, the Little Things Add Up in Fitness
Getty ImagesThe past year in fitness has been alternately inspiring, vexing and diverting, as my revisiting of all of the Phys Ed columns published in 2012 makes clear. Taken as a whole, the latest exercise-related science tells us that the right types and amounts of exercise will almost certainly lengthen your life, strengthen your brain, affect your waistline and even clear debris from inside your body’s cells. But too much exercise, other 2012 science intimates, might have undesirable effects on your heart, while popping painkillers, donning stilettos and sitting and reading this column likewise have their costs.
With New Year’s exercise resolutions still fresh and hopefully unbroken on this, day two of 2013, it now seems like the perfect time to review these and other lessons of the past year in fitness science.
First, since I am habitually both overscheduled and indolent, I was delighted to report, as I did in June, that the “sweet sport” for health benefits seems to come from jogging or moderately working out for only a brief period a few times a week.
Specifically, an encouraging 2012 study of 52,656 American adults found that those who ran 1 to 20 miles per week at an average pace of about 10 or 11 minutes per mile — my leisurely jogging speed, in fact — lived longer, on average, than sedentary adults. They also lived longer than the group (admittedly small) who ran more than 20 miles per week.
“These data certainly support the idea that more running is not needed to produce extra health and mortality benefits,” Dr. Carl J. Lavie, a cardiologist in New Orleans and co-author of the study told me. “If anything,” he said, “it appears that less running is associated with the best protection from mortality risk.”
Similarly, in a study from Denmark that I wrote about in September, a group of pudgy young men lost more weight after 13 weeks of exercising moderately for about 30 minutes several times a week than a separate group who worked out twice as much.
The men who exercised the most, the study authors discovered, also subsequently ate more than the moderate exercisers.
Even more striking, however, the vigorous exercisers subsequently sat around more each day than did the men who had exercised less, motion sensors worn by all of the volunteers showed.
“They were fatigued,” said Mads Rosenkilde, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Copenhagen and the study’s co-author.
Meanwhile, the men who had worked out for only about 30 minutes seemed to be energized by their new routines. They stood up, walked, stretched and even bounced in place more than they once had. “It looks like they were taking the stairs now, not the elevators, and just moving around more,” Mr. Rosenkilde said. “It was little things, but they add up.”
And that idea was, in fact, perhaps the most dominant exercise-science theme of 2012: that little things add up, with both positive and pernicious effects. Another of my favorite studies of 2012 found that a mere 10 minutes of daily physical activity increased life spans in adults by almost two years, even if the adults remained significantly overweight.
But the inverse of that finding proved to be equally true: not fitting periods of activity into a person’s daily life also affected life span. Perhaps the most chilling sentence that I wrote all year reported that, according to a large study of Western adults, “Every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces the viewer’s life expectancy by 21.8 minutes.”
I am watching much less television these days.
But not all of the new fitness science I covered this year was quite so sobering or, to be honest, consequential. Some of the more practical studies simply validated common sense, including reports that to succeed in ball sports, keep your eye on the ball; during hot-weather exercise, pour cold water over your head; and, finally, on the day before a marathon, eat a lot.
But when I think about the science that has most affected how I plan my life, I return again and again to those studies showing that physical activity alters how long and how well we live. My days of heedless youth are behind me. So I won’t soon forget the study I wrote about in September detailing how moderate, frequent physical activity in midlife can delay the onset of illness and frailty in old age. Exercise won’t prevent you from aging, of course. Only death does that. But this study and others from this year underscore that staying active, even in moderate doses, dramatically improves how your aging body feels and responds.
Aging also inspired my favorite reader comment of 2012, which was posted in response to a research scientist’s name. “‘Dr. Head,’” the reader wrote. “That shall be the name of my all-senior-citizen metal band,” which, if its members gyrate and vigorously bound about like Mick Jagger on his recent tour, should ensure themselves decades in which to robustly perform.
Thursday, 2 January 2014
5 myths and facts about holiday weight gain
It’s still prime indulging season, the time of year when you may feel tempted to give into lots of treats, and worry about the consequences in January. But are some of the things you believe about holiday weight gain actually old wives tales? Here are five falsehoods and truths about how the holidays really affect your weight.
MYTH: Most people gain a full size
A study from Texas Tech University followed 48 men and 100 women between the ages of 18 and 65 for the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. At the beginning and end of the study, researchers measured the subjects’ weights and body fat percentages. On average, the volunteers gained one and a half pounds (men about two pounds each, and about a pound for the women), far less than the 7 to 10 pounds often cited this time of year.
Health.com: 15 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain 
FACT: Bloating isn’t the same as fat weight
One of the reasons you may feel like you’ve packed on more weight than you have is because many holiday foods trigger bloating and water retention. For example, any time you eat more carbs than usual, you store the leftovers as glycogen, the “piggy bank” reserve of carbohydrate that gets socked away in your muscle tissue.
Holding onto more glycogen than you usually do can cause you to feel sluggish, and make your jeans tighter, but as soon as you go back to your usual eating pattern, you’ll shed the surplus. Also, high sodium foods, like breads and baked goods, which don’t seem “salty” but are sodium-rich, will cause your body to hang onto excess fluid. While neither of these body shifts are fat weight, they can create a bloated look, and make you feel heavy.
Health.com: Yoga Poses for Digestion
MYTH: Exercise staves off holiday pounds
In the Texas Tech study, half of the subjects were inactive and the other half worked out roughly five hours a week, yet both groups gained the same amount of weight. This isn’t the first study to show that avid exercise may not lead to weight control, but I’m not suggesting that you should ditch your workouts. There are numerous benefits to working out that have nothing to do with weight, including lowering stress and improving sleep, so keep on keeping on, just don’t count on it as a way to cancel out your indulgences.
Health.com: Best and Worst Ways to Cope with Stress
MYTH: I’ll lose it in January
Gaining just a pound or two of fat may seem miniscule, but to put just one pound in perspective, think about tacking 16 ounces of shortening or four sticks of butter onto your frame. Plus, other studies show that most of us never lose that holiday padding, possibly because after abandoning New Year’s resolutions, many people gain back all (or more) of the weight they lose. This “weight creep” is what leads to most Americans packing on about 10-20 pounds per decade.
Health.com: 13 Weight Loss Resolutions You Shouldn’t Make
FACT: It’s not too late to ward off some holiday poundage
If that last myth left you feeling discouraged, don’t give up! I’ve seen countless success stories that fly in the face of average statistics. To defy the odds starting today, commit to just two simple goals between now and January 1st – “budget” your carbs, and drink more water.
This time of year, carbs are easy to overdo, and while I don’t advocate cutting them out altogether, I do think it’s smart to corral them. For example, if you packed a slice of mom’s banana nut bread in your lunch, opt for a salad topped with lean protein instead of a carb-heavy sandwich or wrap, and if you’re having potatoes with dinner, ditch the other can-live-without starches, things you won’t feel deprived forgoing.
Strategy number two, reaching for more water, is not only important for staying hydrated (especially if you’ll be imbibing in some cocktails); it’s also a smart weight control strategy. One study found that adults who downed two cups of water before meals shed 40% more weight over a 12-week period, and another found that drinking water before meals naturally led to eating less. And drinking H2O will help you steer clear of both the sugary and artificially sweetened drinks, which may both interfere with controlling your weight.
Cynthia Sass is a registered dietitian with master’s degrees in both nutrition science and public health. Frequently seen on national TV, she’s Health’s contributing nutrition editor, and privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. Cynthia is currently the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Rangers NHL team and the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, and is board certified as a specialist in sports dietetics. Her latest New York Times best seller is S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches.
Sunday, 22 December 2013
Sunday, 15 December 2013
How to Build a Core of Steel
By Christian Finn
You’ve read a lot about how important it is to have a strong core.
But you’ve come across plenty of different opinions about the best way to get one.
Some say that squats and deadlifts build all the core strength you’ll ever need.
Others will tell you that the best way to strengthen your core is to spend time on a Swiss ball, BOSU ball or other “unstable” surface.
The term “core” causes a lot of confusion, mainly because everyone seems to have a different opinion about what it is.
For most people, the core is just another name for the abdominals. But the term actually refers to a much larger collection of muscles that stabilize the spine. These muscles work together to keep the spine as close to neutral – its naturally curved state – as possible.
Neutral spine isn’t a single position that your spine never moves from. Think of it as a neutral zone, or a range that your spine can move within while remaining relatively healthy. A lack of spinal stability can lead to movement outside of this zone, which in turn increases the risk of pain and/or tissue damage.
“When we talk about stability, what we really mean is that we want the lower back – the lumbar spine – to move as little as possible when it faces a challenge,” explains Lou Schuler in The New Rules of Lifting for Abs. “This small range of movement is called the neutral zone. The smaller and tighter it is, the more stability you have.”
When muscles contract, they create stiffness. Not only does muscular stiffness stabilize the spine and reduce the risk of tissue damage, it’s also a requirement as far as optimal athletic performance is concerned.
In the video below, Professor Stuart McGill, an expert in spine function at the University of Waterloo in Canada, explains why a “stiff” core is so important in sports that rely on strength, speed and power.
When the core is mentioned in this context (i.e. as a way of transmitting power) it usually refers to the muscles of the trunk and hips — basically, anything that isn’t the head, arms or legs.
It’s a lot more than just the abdominals and lower back, and extends from your shoulders all the way down to biceps femoris, which is the hamstring muscle that crosses the hip [2, 9].
Does exercise on an unstable surface lead to greater activation of the core muscles?
Performing an exercise on an unstable surface, such as sitting on a Swiss ball or standing on a BOSU ball, is supposed to place greater emphasis on some of the muscles in your core, helping to improve core stability, protect against back pain, improve athletic performance, and so on.
Such exercises often appear a lot harder than their more stable counterparts. That’s mainly because you’re working so hard to stay balanced. And because of their high novelty factor, they often create the impression that they’re superior to their more stable counterparts.
There is research out there to show that an exercise performed on an unstable surface leads to higher levels of core muscle activity than that same exercise performed on the ground [2].
Squatting with a light weight on a couple of inflatable discs, for example, leads to greater activation of muscles in the torso than squatting with that same weight on the floor [1].
The big limitation with many of these studies is that they involve the use of relatively light weights. Which is a problem, because most people can lift a much heavier weight when they’re standing on the floor than they can while wobbling about on an unstable surface.
What happens when you compare differences in muscle activity using loads that take into account the fact that you can lift more weight on a stable rather than an unstable surface?
That’s exactly what researchers from Eastern Illinois University wanted to find out [7]. They looked at muscle activation in a group of 12 trained men who performed four different exercises – the deadlift, squat, overhead press, and barbell curl – at two intensities (50% of 1-RM and 75% of 1-RM) while standing on both a stable and unstable surface (BOSU ball).
Muscle activity in the abdominals and lower back was not significantly different when subjects performed the deadlift, squat, overhead press, and barbell curl using a light weight while standing on a BOSU ball rather than on the floor.
What’s more, there was no significant difference in muscle activity between the stable 75% of 1-RM and unstable 50% of 1-RM conditions for the external obliques and lower back across all four lifts.
But when the overhead press was done on a stable surface using a heavier weight, rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) was worked a lot harder than it was during the same exercise on a BOSU ball using a lighter weight.
Performed on a stable surface, the overhead press and barbell curl also delivered a decent level of stimulation (40-50% of their maximal voluntary contraction, or MVC for short) to the deeper abdominal muscles.
There is a time and a place for instability. Some of the exercises in the video below, for example, use instability to place greater emphasis on the core musculature.
And physical therapists have been using unstable exercise devices (e.g. Wobble boards and Rocker boards) for years to help with the rehabilitation of knee and ankle injuries [10].
But with few exceptions, training with a light weight on an unstable surface isn’t going to work the core muscles any harder than the exact same exercise done with a heavier weight on a stable surface.
Are squats and deadlifts all you need to train your core?
Squats and deadlifts render all direct abdominal work completely redundant, as both exercises provide all the stimulation your abs will ever need.
That’s the theory, anyway. But the research paints a very different picture.
Squats and deadlifts do work many of the core muscles. But it’s mainly the ones in your back, especially the spinal erectors – those cable-like muscles that run up either side of your spine.
In fact, squats and deadlifts do a better job at working the spinal erectors than the quadruped, pelvic thrust, side bridge and back extension exercises performed on a Swiss ball [3, 6].
During the deadlift in particular, they work very hard to keep your spine in its naturally arched position. Powerlifters have such well-developed spinal erectors mainly because of all the work those muscles do to prevent the spine from bending.
Squats and deadlifts are just fine for developing the posterior aspects of the core. Quadratus lumborum, a small but important muscle in the lower back that helps to stabilize the spine, is also heavily involved during the deadlift [4].
However, neither exercise does much for the anterior core, which is currently the trendy way to refer to the abs.
The figure below comes from Dr. Jeffrey McBride, a Professor in Biomechanics at Appalachian State University. He measured muscle activation in the abdominal muscles of trained lifters performing a number of different exercises.
As you can see, squats and deadlifts – even when you’re using a heavy weight that’s 80-90% of your 1-RM – don’t hit rectus abdominis particularly hard.
In fact, the overhead press triggers greater rectus abdominis activity than both the deadlift and squat [7]. But it’s still relatively low (around 10% of its MVC) compared to exercises like the rollout or even the curl-up.
Someone who can perform a standing overhead press with their bodyweight and deadlift twice their bodyweight will have developed a very high level of core strength simply by focusing on getting stronger in both exercises.
But for complete core development, squats, deadlifts and presses aren’t enough, and you’ll need exercises that work the abs directly. I’ve listed some of my favorite ones here.
While I’m on the subject of core training, I want to briefly mention the issue of spinal rotation.
Probably the most popular “spinal rotation” exercise is the broom handle twist, which is without doubt one of the most pointless exercises ever invented.
That’s not to say there’s no need to train the muscles that twist the torso. But there are far better ways to do it than twisting from side to side with a broom handle on your back.
Rather than rotation, think resisted rotation. And by resisted rotation, I’m talking about exercises that require you to resist forces trying to pull your torso around to the left or the right.
You’re still training the muscles involved in spinal rotation, but you’re doing so in a way that poses less risk to the spine.
Let’s take the Single Arm Dumbbell Row as an example. Although this is primarily an exercise to work the muscles in your back, the external obliques (the muscles on the side of your waist) are also involved. That’s because they’re actively preventing your torso from twisting.
Remember, many of the muscles in the torso can be trained very effectively bypreventing movement rather than producing it. An exercise doesn’t have to involve an actual twist to work the twisting muscles.
The Long Lever Plank Shoulder Tap, demonstrated in the video below by Ben Bruno, is another good example of what I mean.
In the starting position, you’re resisting spinal extension (arching your back), which makes this a particularly effective exercise for working rectus abdominis. Removing one of the contact points (your hand) from the floor introduces an element of instability, which then requires your body to resist rotation.
If you find this exercise too difficult, keep your hands under your shoulders in a push-up position rather than out in front of your body.
Exercises that involve resisted rotation are a far better choice than those involving actual rotation, such as the Russian Twist or Windshield Wiper, both of which make me cringe every time I see someone doing them.
If you have a history of back injury, or even if you have a healthy, pain-free back and want it to stay that way, I’d highly recommend that you steer clear of any exercise that involves this type of movement.
That doesn’t mean you should avoid rotation altogether. But make sure the movement comes from the hip, and allow the hip and back to move together at the same time, almost as if they were fused together. Watch the video below to see exactly what I mean.
Building a core of steel doesn’t need to be complicated, time consuming or boring. Nor does it require exercising on a Swiss ball, BOSU ball or any other surface that isn’t the floor.
In fact, many of the muscles in your core work very hard to prevent spinal movement during exercises like squats, deadlifts, single-arm rows, rollouts/walkouts, and standing presses. These movements build not just core strength but whole-body strength as well.
SHAMELESS PLUG: Muscle Evo wraps up all my best ideas and advice into a complete science-based training program that you can use to build muscle, burn fat and get strong. Click here for more.
About Christian Finn
Christian Finn holds a master's degree in exercise science, is a certified personal trainer and has been featured on BBC TV and radio, as well as in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Fit Pro, Zest, and Perfect Body magazine. Connect with Christian onFacebook, Twitter or Google+.
References
1. Anderson K, Behm DG. (2005). Trunk muscle activity increases with unstable squat movements. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 30, 33-45
2. Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). The use of instability to train the core musculature. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism, 35, 91-108
3. Hamlyn N, Behm DG, Young WB. (2007). Trunk muscle activation during dynamic weight-training exercises and isometric instability activities. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 21, 1108-1112
4. McGill SM. (1997). Distribution of tissue loads in the low back during a variety of daily and rehabilitation tasks. Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 34, 448-458
5. McGill S, Juker D, Kropf P. (1996). Quantitative intramuscular myoelectric activity of quadratus lumborum during a wide variety of tasks. Clinical Biomechanics, 11, 170-172
6. Nuzzo JL, McCaulley GO, Cormie P, Cavill MJ, McBride JM. (2008). Trunk muscle activity during stability ball and free weight exercises. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22, 95-102
7. Willardson JM, Fontana FE, Bressel E. (2009). Effect of surface stability on core muscle activity for dynamic resistance exercises. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 4, 97-109
8. McGill SM, McDermott A, Fenwick CM. (2009). Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23, 1148-1161
9. Behm DG, Drinkwater EJ, Willardson JM, Cowley PM. (2010). Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position stand: The use of instability to train the core in athletic and nonathletic conditioning. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35, 109-112
10. Behm D, Colado JC. (2012). The effectiveness of resistance training using unstable surfaces and devices for rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 7, 226-241
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Why a Brisk Walk Is Better
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
Walking, fast or slow, is wonderful exercise. But now a first-of-its-kind study shows that to get the most health benefits from walking, many of us need to pick up the pace.
The findings stem from a new analysis of the National Walkers’ Health Study, a large database of information maintained at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory about thousands of middle-age men and women who walk regularly for exercise. Recruited beginning in 1998 at walking events and from lists of subscribers to walking-related publications, these volunteers filled out a lengthy survey about their typical walking distance and pace, as well as their health history and habits.
As most of us would likely guess, walking is the most popular physical activity in America. But people who walk for exercise do so at wildly varying speeds and intensities. Some stroll at a leisurely 2 miles per hour, which is low-intensity exercise. Others zip along at twice that pace or better, resulting in a sweatier workout.
Exercise guidelines generally suggest that for health purposes, people should engage in 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week. For walkers, a moderately intense pace would probably be about 15 or 16 minutes per mile.
It has generally been assumed that if people walk more slowly but expend the same total energy as brisk walkers — meaning that they spend more time walking — they should gain the same health benefits. But few large-scale studies have directly compared the impact of moderate- and light-intensity walking, especially in terms of longevity.
To do so, Paul T. Williams, a statistician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, gathered data about 7,374 male and 31,607 female participants from the walkers’ health study, who represented almost every speed of fitness walker, from sluggish to swift. His findings were published online this month in PLoS One.
Dr. Williams divided participants into four numerically equal categories, based on their normal pace. Those in Category 1, the fleetest, averaged less than 13.5 minutes per mile, putting them on the cusp of jogging, while those in Category 4, the slowest, strolled at a relatively dilatory 17 minutes or more per mile. The majority of the walkers in this group in fact required at least 20 minutes to complete a mile, and many had a pace of 25 minutes or more per mile. (Interestingly, on average, female walkers were faster than men in all of the categories.)
Next, Dr. Williams cross-referenced his data against that in the essential if somewhat ghoulish National Death Index to determine which of the almost 39,000 walkers had died in the decade or so since they had joined the survey and from what.
It turned out that nearly 2,000 of the walkers had died. More telling, these deaths disproportionately were clustered among the slowest walkers. Those in Category 4 were about 18 percent more likely to have died from any cause than those in the other three categories and were particularly vulnerable to deaths from heart disease and dementia.
Unexpectedly, the death rate remained high among the slowest walkers, even if they met or exceeded the standard exercise guidelines and expended as much energy per day as someone walking briskly for 30 minutes. This effect was most pronounced among the slowest of the slow walkers, whose pace was 24 minutes per mile or higher. They were 44 percent more likely to have died than walkers who moved faster, even if they met the exercise guidelines.
One important inference of these statistics is that intensity matters, if you are walking for health. “Our results do suggest that there is a significant health benefit to pursuing a faster pace,” Dr. Williams said. Pushing your body, he said, appears to cause favorable physiological changes that milder exercise doesn’t replicate.
But there are nuances and caveats to that conclusion. The slowest walkers may have harbored underlying health conditions that predisposed them to both a tentative walking pace and early death. But that possibility underscores a subtle takeaway of the new study, Dr. Williams said. Measuring your walking speed, he pointed out, could provide a barometer of your health status.
So check yours, your spouse’s or perhaps your parents’ pace. The process is easy. Simply find a 400-meter track and, using a stopwatch, have everyone walk at his or her normal speed. If a circuit of the track takes someone 6 minutes or more, that person’s pace is 24 minutes per mile or slower, and he or she might consider consulting a doctor about possible health issues, Dr. Williams said.
Then, with medical clearance, the slow walkers probably should try ramping up their speed, gradually.
The most encouraging news embedded in the new study is that longevity rises with small improvements in pace. The walkers in Category 3, for instance, moved at a speed only a minute or so faster per mile than some of those in the slowest group, but they enjoyed a significant reduction in their risk of dying prematurely.
Monday, 2 December 2013
On Alcohol, Exercise, and the Big T - and an Introduction to Muscle Evo
Will drinking alcohol after lifting weights help you build muscle faster?
That’s the question sent in by one Muscle Evo reader, who wants my opinion about a recent study showing that a post-exercise alcoholic drink led to a large rise in testosterone.
Given that alcohol is thought to lower testosterone, that’s pretty much the exact opposite of what you’d expect to happen.
What’s going on? Will drinking a few pints of beer after a workout really raise your testosterone levels? And if so, will doing so help you build muscle faster?
For the study, a group of eight resistance-trained men completed two bouts of resistance exercise (six sets of 10 repetitions of Smith machine squats) separated by one week [4].
Ten minutes after completing their last set, the men were given either a placebo or an alcoholic drink. The amount of alcohol in the drink was based on the men’s bodyweight, and averaged just over 80 grams. That’s roughly what you’ll get from a bottle of wine (13.5% alcohol) or 3-5 pints (depending on the strength) of beer.
The figure below shows you what happened to free testosterone levels before (PRE), immediately after (IP), as well as 20–40, 60–120 and 140–300 minutes after exercise.
As you can see, free testosterone levels shot up when the men were given alcohol (white bars) rather than a placebo (grey bars) after training.
It’s easy to get excited when you come across research showing that something, be it a particular type of exercise, change in diet or exotic herbal extract, leads to a rise in testosterone.
Most assume that higher levels of testosterone in the blood are a “good thing” because it means that more of the hormone is being produced, which in turn will mean faster gains in size and strength.
But it’s an assumption that’s wrong on a couple of counts.
Firstly, there are actually two reasons that testosterone levels in the blood can rise – an increase in the rate of production or a decrease in the rate at which it leaves the blood pool.
A change in testosterone levels after exercise, be it up or down, doesn’t tell you that more or less of the hormone is being produced. All it tells you is that the difference between the rate of production and the rate of clearance has changed.
Although your liver is responsible for clearing much of the testosterone from your system, your muscles also have an important role to play. In fact, there’s a direct link between the amount of muscle you have and the rate at which the metabolic clearance of testosterone takes place [1].
For testosterone to do all the things we know and love as far as muscle growth is concerned, it needs to be “taken up” by muscle tissue.
The fact that drinking alcohol after exercise raises testosterone levels isn’t necessarily a good thing, as it could indicate some kind of reduction in muscle uptake. Animal research shows that six weeks of alcohol consumption reduces the ability of muscle tissue to take up testosterone [5].
“Thus, the primary finding of this study, that total and bioavailable testosterone concentrations were elevated write after postresistance exercise ethanol ingestion, should be interpreted with care,” write the researchers.
“If testosterone release is increased, this could be beneficial; however, if muscle uptake is reduced, this could be detrimental to the desired adaptations.”
You also need to ask yourself just how important a short-term change in testosterone levels after exercise really is.
For example, some people are surprised to learn that a protein supplement taken before and after a workout can actually lower testosterone [2].
If this post-exercise hormonal dip had any kind of negative impact on muscular gains, you’d expect such a finding to have shown up in the research by now. But it hasn’t.
While the data on pre- and post-exercise supplements is a bit of a mixed bag(some studies show they help while others show they make no difference), there’s no convincing evidence to suggest that they actually put the brakes on muscle growth.
There’s also surprisingly little research to show that the short-term change in blood testosterone levels after exercise has any great consequence as far as muscle growth is concerned.
In one of the most recent studies on the subject, researchers found no link between the post-exercise change in free testosterone levels and the amount of muscle growth following 16 weeks of resistance training [3].
Testosterone does have an impact on the speed at which your muscles grow. But it does so only when it’s taken above or below its normal physiological range for an extended period of time.
Finally, this study measured hormone levels for up to 300 minutes after a workout. For all we know, the post-exercise rise in testosterone could have been offset by a much greater drop over the subsequent 24 hours.
In fact, one study found that a very large intake of alcohol (around 120 grams) after exercise led to a significant drop in testosterone that was still apparent the following day [8].
In short, the finding that a post-exercise alcoholic drink raises testosterone levels has very little practical application for you. It’s one to file in the “interesting but largely irrelevant” drawer.
SHAMELESS PLUG: Muscle Evo wraps up all my best ideas and advice into a complete science-based training program that you can use to build muscle, burn fat and get strong. Click here for more.
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Exercise and Weight Loss
Regular exercise is an important part of effective weight loss. It helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat as well as boosting your metabolism and lowering insulin levels. Physical activity also helps prevent many diseases and improve your overall health.
Your weight is determined by the number of calories you eat each day minus what your body uses. Everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food. Any physical activity in addition to what you normally do will burn those extra calories.
Balancing the number of calories you expend through exercise and physical activity with the calories you eat will help you achieve your desired weight. The key to successful weight loss and improved overall health is making physical activity a part of your daily routine.
The Health Benefits of Exercise
Research consistently shows that regular exercise, combined with healthy eating, is the most efficient and healthful way to control your weight.
Research also shows that , in addition to helping to control weight, regular physical activity can reduce your risk for several diseases and conditions and improve your overall quality of life. Regular exercise can help prevent:
- Heart disease and stroke. Daily physical activity can help prevent heart disease and stroke by strengthening your heart muscle, lowering your blood pressure, raising your HDL ("good" cholesterol), and lowering LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol), improving blood flow, and increasing your heart's working capacity.
- High blood pressure. Regular exercise reduces blood pressure in people with high blood pressure (hypertension).
- Diabetes. By reducing body fat, physical activity can help to prevent and control type 2 diabetes.
- Back pain. By increasing muscle strength and endurance and improving flexibility and posture, regular exercise can prevent back pain.
- Osteoporosis. Regular weight-bearing exercise promotes bone formation and may prevent many forms of bone loss associated with aging.
Regular physical activity can also improve mood and the way you feel about yourself. Exercise is likely to reduce depression and anxiety and help you to better manage stress. It is a natural and inexpensive antidepressant.
Types of Exercise
It does not matter what type of physical activity you perform -- sports, planned exercise, household chores, yard work, or work-related tasks -- all are beneficial.
Over the past few years, exercise advertisements have targeted simplified exercise routines for weight loss and maintenance. Some exercise advertisements sell the belief that one machine will work your entire body and give you the results you need. However, many of these machines may only be good for one type of conditioning, such as cardiovascular; these machines also have limitations to the type of exercise you can do and they are not good for everyone. To determine the best type of exercise program for you, talk to your doctor and a certified athletic trainer.
How Much Exercise Should I Do?
Studies show that even the most inactive people can gain significant health benefits if they accumulate just 30 minutes or more of exercise or other physical activity per day.
For the greatest overall health benefits, experts suggest 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (see below) most days of the week plus some form of anaerobic exercise (see below) such as muscle strengthening activity and stretching at least two to three times a week.
If you have been inactive for a while, you may want to start with less strenuous activities such as walking or swimming at a comfortable pace. Beginning at a slow pace will allow you to become physically fit without straining your body. Once you are in better shape, you can gradually do more strenuous activity.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is any activity involving large muscles, done for an extended period of time, that makes the heart and lungs work harder. Aerobic exercise can be done for weight loss, but it also provides cardiovascular benefits. Examples of aerobic exercise include walking, biking, jogging, swimming, aerobic classes, and cross-country skiing.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercise usually refers to resistance training, such as lifting weights. Anaerobic exercise is done primarily to prevent muscle loss and to increase muscle mass. Weight training is a form of anaerobic exercise.
Moderate-Intensity Activities
Moderate-intensity activities include some of the things you may already be doing during a day or week, such as gardening and housework. These activities can be done in short spurts -- 10 minutes here, 8 minutes there. Alone, each action does not have a great effect on your health, but regularly accumulating 30 minutes of activity over the course of the day can result in substantial health benefits.
To become more active throughout your day, take advantage of any chance to get up and move around. Here are some examples:
- Take a short walk around the block.
- Rake leaves.
- Play actively with the kids.
- Walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
- Mow the lawn.
- Take an activity break -- get up and stretch or walk around.
- Park your car a little farther away from your destination and walk the extra distance.
- Dance to the radio or other music.
The point is not to make physical activity an unwelcome chore, but to make the most of the opportunities you have to be active.
Before You Start Exercising
Before starting any exercise program, be sure to talk with your doctor. He or she can offer suggestions about which type of program would be best for you.
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