Fast Weight Loss

It is intimidating to go into a bookstore and sort through the hundreds of diet books in the aisle trying to make sense of it all. As if being pummeled by diet books aren’t enough, you can rarely watch television without “miracle diet pill” propaganda. It’s no wonder people are more confused than ever about weight loss. First let me clear up some of this confusion.

Any diet program or pill that promises “fast and easy weight loss” should immediately throw up a red flag. Successful weight loss is a process and cannot be achieved overnight. The FDA recommends one to two pounds of weight loss per week. Now, before you get discouraged about the amount of time it may take to achieve your goal, just think of how wonderful you feel about the way you look. Isn’t that feeling worth the correct approach, if it will lead to lasting results?

You may ask why is it recommended to only lose one to two pounds per week. Any time the body loses more than two pounds per week it is more than just fat weight you’re losing. Water weight and muscle tissue are a part of that weight loss. The majority of your body is composed of water. Some popular diet programs cause a good deal of water loss. This water weight is easily regained and does little to nothing to change your appearance.

Water loss tricks a person into thinking the diet is successful. Losing muscle tissue will cause weight loss, however in the long term you are wreaking havoc on your body. Muscle is metabolically active tissue, in other words, the site on the body where fat is burned. Simply put, if you have less muscle on your body, you will weigh less, but you lower your metabolism and burn fewer calories. This ultimately leads to regaining the weight you have lost; since you have less muscle than you had, you end up gaining more weight than you originally lost.

If your goal is to lose weight, it should be fat tissue that you want to lose thus relying solely on a scale to measure your success is going to set you up for possible failure. Any product that does not incorporate nutritional changes and exercise as part of a weight loss plan is flawed from the beginning. Each is an integral part in attaining and maintaining your weight loss goals. Remember, fast and easy should not be included in promising weight loss. Successful weight loss can be achieved, but takes time; it is up to you to take the first step!

Cycle Training

Have you ever been exercising to the point of exhaustion, but not seen any results? One of the biggest reasons is the failure to consistently alter your training program. Too often I see people doing the same activities over and over again, and yet never achieve their fitness goals.

One of the main reasons to cycle your training routine is to continually provide a stimulus to your body that forces it to change. In other words, if you don’t change your routine at the very least every three to four weeks then your body will become accustomed to what is asked of it and results will begin to slow or come to a halt. Ever hear someone say they “hit a plateau”? No matter what they do or how much they exercise, they aren’t seeing any change. It’s a safe assumption that it’s because they’re doing the same routine as when they first started.

Now it’s not possible for us to continually progress in a linear fashion. We can only get so strong; we can only get so lean. If that weren’t the case then we’d all be lifting dump trucks.

If you do not cycle your exercise routine, not only will results slow or come to a stop, but continuing to perform the same routine all the time can also lead to injury. Repeatedly putting stress on the body (exercise is stress, although a good stress) will begin to put wear and tear on bodily tissues. Often in the gym I will have a patron come up to me complaining of shoulder pain, and upon further investigation, they are typically performing the same exercise which would be the ever-popular bench press. Thus not allowing their body time to recuperate.

Another reason to cycle your training is to prevent mental burnout. Ever do a routine so often that your motivation and enthusiasm to exercise starts to diminish? If you’re not finding exercise enjoyable you’re less likely to stick with the routine.

I’ve found that changing my clients’ routine every three to fourweeks seems to work best for progression. Remember, if you repeatedly do the same thing over and over and expect results, you’re fooling yourself.

Albert Einstein said it best, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, build muscle and you increase metabolism

2. Increase Muscle

By lifting weights, muscle tissue is broken down and must be repaired, typically building more muscle tissue and increasing caloric burn in the process

3. Decrease Body Fat

Muscle is the site on the body where fat is burned. Increase muscle and you increase your body’s ability to burn fat

4. Decrease Risk of Osteoporosis

Resistance training places good stress on our bones which causes them to become stronger

5. Decrease Risk of Injury

Musculature and ligaments are 2 components that affect joint stability, both of which are improved through resistance training.

6. Increased Strength for Daily Activities

Becoming stronger helps in all aspects in life from; lifting trash, carrying groceries or holding a kid

7. Increased Sports Performance

Becoming stronger and decreasing risk of injury is important for everyone, including athletes. You can’t play if you’re injured, and you’ll get pushed around if you’re not strong.

These are just a few of the many reasons why resistance training is important.

Mark Shields has a B.S in Exercise Science, authored 2 books and 3 DVDs. He is passionate about helping YOU achieve your goals.

Body Composition

By: Mark Shields

Before covering various methods of testing body composition, let’s talk about the scale. Many people track their progress by pounds lost or gained. Imagine this scenario: you weigh yourself and it shows 130 lbs. Now wait a minute! We’re going on a field trip to the moon. We hop in our rocket ship with our scale in hand. Once on the moon you jump on the scale. I think it’s safe to say you weigh less. Did your appearance change? Do your clothes fit better? What is the reason for this, if the scale reads less? The fact is a scale measures your body under the control of gravity. It can’t distinguish if you’re losing water, muscle (which diets do quite effectively), or fat. So why judge your progress on something that can’t possibly tell you how much fat you’ve lost?

It seems the right thing to do is to have your body composition measured (body fat %). Hold on, not so fast. The problem with body composition tests is they’re not 100% accurate. Don’t get me wrong, skinfold measurements, can be extremely valuable in helping you track how much fat you’ve lost and muscle gained.

That is why it’s important not to get focused on the exact percentage you get. This will give you a baseline measurement to compare to later on. Let’s take a young man, we’ll call him Tim, for example. He weighs 185 lbs. Oh no; didn’t I say earlier scales aren’t that smart? Bear with me for a moment. Then he has a skinfold measurement and is estimated at 23% body fat. Six weeks later Tim comes back and is measured again (by the same tester, to insure consistency) and has come down to 182 pounds with 20% body fat. At first glance Tim has only lost three pounds in six weeks. However, after doing some calculations from his first visit (bodyweight x body fat percent) this means Tim was carrying 42.5 pounds of fat on him. After calculating his new measurements Tim has 36 lbs of fat tissue. So, while he has only lost three pounds on the scale, Tim has lost six and half pounds of fat while gaining three and half pounds of muscle. Why is this important? Muscle is the site on the body where fat is burned thus aiding him in long-term successful fat loss.

There are various methods of body fat testing. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. The one most valued by qualified trainers is the skinfold caliper. This is just a handheld device that acts like a pincher to measure the thickness of the skinfold. When done by the same tester it has a high level of consistency. That’s what we’re really going for is a consistent way to track progress.

Another popular method is a handheld device or scale that sends electric pulses through the body (electrical impedance). Electricity travels faster through water than fat and since muscle is predominantly water, the faster the signal returns the lower the reading. However, consistency and accuracy are definitely a concern since hydration levels, sodium intake, and fat distribution can alter readings from one given time to another. However, this method can be useful for those who do not have access to skin-calipers.

Hydrostatic weighing is considered the gold standard for body fat testing. However, this is often an impractical approach. Basically, you’re dunked under water and asked to expel all of the air from your lungs. This can be a frightening experience for most people.  Error lies in the fact that not all of the air is expelled plus you can still have air in the digestive tract. Also, not everyone has access to such a facility and equipment.

The important thing to remember is to never rely solely on the scale to judge progress. It can’t possibly distinguish between water, muscle, or fat. Have a qualified trainer perform skinfold measurements, preferably from several sites on the body. Once you have your baseline measurement you will have an excellent way to see if you’re making positive progress. Some of the best ways to track progress are going to be; how your clothes fit, how you look in the mirror, how others see the changes in you, and your increased energy levels.