The aorta is our healthy blood highway, effectively transporting our bloody supply to our peripheral tissues. When we are young, most of our large arteries are termed, elastic, but they stiffen as we age.

Aortic stiffness, when our blood vessels resisted changes in shape and the ability to adapt to the vagaries of blood pumping through our body at high pressure, is the result of many biochemical factors.

And, aortic stiffness is a part of aging. Changing lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity may help offset age-related increases in aortic stiffness.

Although aerobic exercise generally has favorable effects on aortic structure and function, the research in this area has been mostly about exercise alone may not be sufficient to improve aortic stiffness in older adults with obesity.

In a study to assess the effects of aerobic exercise training with and without reducing calories on aortic stiffness, which was measured via cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to obtain detailed images of the aorta, the researchers wanted to determine whether adding caloric restriction for weight loss would lead to greater improvements in vascular health compared to aerobic exercise alone in older adults with obesity.

In the subjects that performed the exercise plan and had a moderate calorie restriction, over a five-month period, the researchers found a weight loss of nearly 10% of total body weight or about 20 pounds with significant improvements in aortic stiffness.

However, one of the aortic stiffness numbers changed much in the exercice-only or exercise and intensive calorie restrictions groups, although both calorie-restricted groups lost more inches off of their waist, reduced total fat mass, and percent body fat compared to the exercise-only group.

And in a heartening result for some of us who like to eat, despite the intensive calorie-restricted group consuming twice as little calories, the weight loss was similar to the moderate calorie-restricted group. Everything in moderation, as my nana used to say.

It doesn’t read for sexy Instagram posts about keto diets, intermittent fasting for 23 hours a day, and doing CrossFit chippers into your 70s but staying healthy isn’t really meant to be something that everyone can achieve.

Maybe, we just overcomplicated and hype the whole thing to sell more personal training or gym memberships, and maybe that is not a great way to go.

Summary

Title: Effects of Exercise and Weight Loss on Proximal Aortic Stiffness in Older Adults With Obesity

Date: August, 2021

DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.051943

Abstract: This randomized controlled trial included 160 sedentary adults, ages 65-79 years with obesity (BMI=30-45 kg/m2). The average age of the participants was 69 years; 74% were female; and 73% were white. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups for 20 weeks: 1) exercise only with their regular diet; 2) exercise plus moderate calorie restriction (reduction of approximately 250 calories/day); or 3) exercise plus more intensive calorie restriction (reduction of approximately 600 calories/day). The results found that weight loss of nearly 10% of total body weight or about 20 pounds over the five-month study period was associated with significant improvements in aortic stiffness — only in the participants assigned to the exercise plus moderate calorie restriction group.

Main Purpose: Aortic stiffness is when the walls of the arteries lose their elasticity, particularly in aging indivduals, leading to greater cardiovascular risk. Measures aortic stiffness as a result of aerobic exercise with and without a reduction in calories through dieting. The aim was to determine whether calories restriction and exercise would have a greater benefit on vascular health in older adults with obestiy than aerobic exercise alone.

Research Type: Journal Article

Findings Indicate: In oder adults with obesity, combining aerobic exercise with moderate calorie reduction leads to greater improvements in proximal aortic stiffness than exercise alone.

Limitation: None

The post Lose 250 Calories Because Exercise Alone is Not Enough appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

University of Copenhagen scientists, however, have discovered it may in part result from changes to the structure of our DNA. These changes are referred as epigenetic.

Their study is called, Epigenetic Rewiring of Skeletal Muscle Enhancers After Exercise Training Supports a Role in Whole-Body Function and Human Health, and it’s worth a read.

Epigenetic Changes from Physical Activity

DNA is the molecular instruction manual found in all our cells. Some sections of our DNA are genes, which are instructions for building proteins – the body’s building blocks – while other sections are called enhancers that regulate which genes are switched on or off, when, and in which tissue.

Our Danish scientist friends found, for the first time, that exercise rewires the enhancers in regions of our DNA that are known to be associated with the risk to develop disease.

“Our findings provide a mechanism for the known beneficial effects of exercise. By connecting each enhancer with a gene, we further provide a list of direct targets that could mediate this effect,” says Professor Romain Barrès from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, the senior author of the research, which was published in Molecular Metabolism.

Exercise Improves the Brain

The scientists had a hypothesis: endurance training changes the activity of gene enhancers in skeletal muscle by remodelling the processes. They discovered that after completing an endurance training program, their training subjects’ enhancers in the skeletal muscle had been altered.

They were able to connect the many enhancers that exhibited this alteration to genetic databases to discover that many of them have been identified as hotspots of genetic variation between individuals – hotspots that have been associated with human disease.

In particular, they found that exercise remodels enhancer activity in skeletal muscle that are linked to cognitive abilities, which opens for the identification of exercise training-induced secreted muscle factors targeting the brain.

The post 6 Weeks of Exercise Leads to Genome Changes Linked to Disease appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Follow Lindsey Vonn’s Instagram page for some serious fitspiration—holy cow can that girl work! Think that the only way to improve your running is by running more? False! Add some weight training to your routine and feel the miles start to become faster and easier.

No matter what activities you enjoy doing outside of the gym, there are weight training exercises you can do to boost your potential. Golf? Google your favorite golfer’s name and there’s a good chance you can find a sample of their favorite gym workout. Skiing?

Follow Lindsey Vonn’s Instagram page for some serious fitspiration—holy cow can that girl work! Think that the only way to improve your running is by running more? False! Add some weight training to your routine and feel the miles start to become faster and easier.

Many people think that since I work as a personal trainer, I must enjoy spending my days in the gym and the weight room. While I love working with my clients and helping them to reach their goals, I am happiest when I’m outside hiking or skiing for example.

More recently I’ve even started mountain biking. I also know that to maintain and improve my performance in my favorite activities, I have to spend some time indoors with the weights and machines—and so should you!

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

2019 has been the year of trying new things and attempting activities outside of my normal comfort zone. I love being in the woods and exploring new locations and mountain biking takes my adventures to another level.

The first time I tried it out, it wasn’t my legs or my lungs that were the first to burn out, it was the muscles in my hands! I had to keep stopping to shake out and stretch out my hands; after I was finished, holding on to the steering wheel on the drive home was a challenge!

Improving my grip strength has become a new goal for me—single arm farmers carry, bar hangs, and pull-ups have become a bigger part of my workouts. I still have moments of sheer panic where I find myself gripping the handlebars for dear life and narrowly scraping by random trees when the trail gets a little too narrow, but I’m able to maintain my grip and ride it out.

Over the winter I added skinning to my list of outdoor activities along with downhill skiing and snowshoeing. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s like hiking uphill with your ski boots and skis attached to your feet.

The first time I went I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the trek up; I work out daily and downhill ski a few days a week, in my mind, there was no reason it should have felt so hard! Needless to say, I was hooked and was determined to become better at it and get to a point where I could hopefully carry on a conversation as I made my way up the mountain.

By adding more lower body training to my workouts and jumping on the treadmill a couple of times a week, it gradually started to become easier. I’ll continue to train over the summer in hope that it will be an easy transition into the winter by the time there’s enough snow coverage.

Dedicate the Time

I’ll take fresh air and some sunshine over being in the gym any day, but to keep up with my outdoor activities I know that I have to spend some time with the weights and machines. Doing exercises that are specific to the hobbies I do for fun and that work my total body is essential to keep myself fit and to also reduce the possibility of accidental injuries.

By building up the muscles that support my joints (particularly my knees) I’m able to stay active for longer periods of time and not feel as sore after the fact. Google is a great resource when it comes to looking for exercises that may help you, but reach out to a trainer in your area for an exercise program that is more specific to you and your needs.

The post Workout Inside to Improve Performance Outside appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

He wanted in and I told him to climb. I make him climb everything. Somehow he always seems to find a way. Now he’s sitting in this toy car seat backward, legs pushed straight up in the air, frustrated as he tries to manipulate his body around in a tight space.

I’m sure other parents are horrified as I ignore his grunts and groans encouraging him to figure it out. To be honest, he’s got himself in one hell of a pretzel and I’m starting to wonder if I need to step in. Still, I stay the course and within the next 30 seconds he has figured it out and is rocking furiously.

We come to this park a few days a week and it has been amazing to see his progress. The climbing wall went from impossible, to a journey of a couple minutes, to a 10-second fun path to get to the slide. He runs around trying everything, watching the older kids, falling, getting back up, and trying again.

I’m certainly an arm’s length away when he gets high enough to do real damage and I’m aware of the limitations inherent to a child under two. Still, crazy as it sounds, I want him to fall down. Not to some stupid, unsafe degree, but enough that he is pushing his limits and learning that he is alright. If he’s not falling, he’s falling behind.

Watch a kid play and they’ll inevitably fall, run into other kids or playground equipment, and pinch their finger in one of the many opening and closing toddler contraptions. They are rubber. What would snap your 40-year-old ankle hardly disrupts their run to the next slide. It’s almost as if they are well-adapted to handle the many bumps, bruises, and falls characteristic of their clumsy age.

“Children learn as they play. More importantly, in play children learn how to learn.”

O. Fred Donaldson

The Physicality of Learning

The reality is that at this age almost all learning is physical. Without a capacity for abstract thinking, the toddler reality is immediate and physical. They must use all their senses and learn through trial and error. Each experience informs their body with a better understanding of balanced movement. These are the primary needs that all future learning is built upon. Children don’t learn by sitting still. Play is their greatest feedback mechanism.

The formula for growth is consistent. Child learning is characterized by the same general adaptation syndrome at the heart of a strong immune system, successful training programs, a transformative college course, or any life skill.

We need a stress stimulus and a resistance effort to prompt adaptation. When we sanitize the environment and interrupt every challenge, people remain less capable. Every time you do something for your child that she could figure out herself, you are removing the stimulus for her to become capable of more.

Kyle Maynard was born without arms or legs. Today he is an Espy award-winning competitive mixed martial artist, a motivational speaker, and the first quadruple amputee to climb Mount Kilimanjaro without the aid of prosthetics. He credits his tenacity and ability to overcome obstacles to his grandmother.

When he was young she would ask him to get her a sugar packet out of the jar every day. These would have been easy for her to grab, but Kyle could not fit both arms in the jar. He recounts the frustrating hours he spent trying to balance and manipulate the jar in order to get one out.

As torturous as this sounds, it taught him that he could find a way. He learned not to accept the limits other people had for him and to make his life a bold, impressive adventure. We should all practice a little more Maynard in our lives.

I’m shocked by the parenting norms I often encounter at the park or any childhood venue. There seems to be an illusion that children are a form of glass china with a frustrating tendency to move from their safe perches. Parents follow them around as they play, anticipating every desire, and doing the work for them:

• He wants up on that slide. Let me carry him up there and let him slide down.
• He wants to rock on that toy car. Let me put him in.
• Oh, dangit. He keeps wanting to climb those stairs. “Why don’t you sit here and turn this steering wheel instead. Oh, and see these drums you can bang.”
• And too many times to count I’ve watched the parent sitting on the park bench staring at his phone say, “just stay right here so I can see you.”

The predominant parenting approach today is, see a need and then fill that need. They see a kid pointing, rambling gibberish, or grunting as they try to do something themselves and the adults immediately swoop in to give the child whatever they want. Sure, there are times for this, but we need a different primary approach

My parenting mantra is simple: I won’t do for them what they can do or figure out for themselves. It isn’t always clear to me what those limits are. I watch closely, demonstrate, prompt trials, and if necessary, add more assistance until they can do it. My goal is always to reduce the training wheels until they’re completely free.

I intentionally set kids up for stress, resistance, and adaptation in everything. When my son is climbing on my lap, I don’t pick him up. He’ll climb (often pulling hairs out of my chest—love hurts). When we’re going on a walk and he needs into the BOB stroller, I throw the break down and let him climb up. The world is a kid’s laboratory and its rife with experiments they are eager to try.

Humans Are Made to Move

Modern humans have neglected the necessity of movement. Many were never given the opportunity to experience the joys of play and have lost an entire realm of their being. There is an important concept known as physical literacy. Basically, this is the accumulation of movements in your toolkit and the ability to apply them to more circumstances.

Greater movement literacy promotes a greater variety of activities that are easily accessible when you need them or at least more easily learned. For example, a gymnast might get to a park on the beach and run, do backflips, play on the pull-up bars, and then elect to learn how to surf. She perceives endless possibilities and she’s excited to explore.

This starts at a young age. Every time my son plays, I see a whole new world that has opened up to him. He has access to more activities and he’s excited to try new things. His experiences are enriched by a greater capacity to enjoy interacting in his environment. Because he finds joy and curiosity in movement today, I’m confident he’ll be more active and healthy in his future.

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

Socrates

We wouldn’t conclude that someone just can’t read, but over and over people conclude that a child who’s been strapped to chairs his whole childhood just isn’t an active child—they aren’t much of an athlete.

We are all athletes. Not in regards to sport, but in the amazing capabilities of a trained human body. These needs are just as pressing for our development as any other, and it starts with loosening the reigns and letting those toddlers fall.

The post Toddler Fitness Is the Best Fitness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

We all experience pain during exercise differently. It is subjective. The pain we experience is both the result of our own sense of discomfort, actual tissue injury (which can be non-critical), and just the result of the stimulation of nerve cells, distinct from any damage to muscle or tissues. Our ability to deal with this pain will depend on many factors – age, sex, and physical wellbeing will have some impact – but chiefly, it comes down to subjective perceptions.

Granted, pain can indicate danger to the body but not all pain is because something bad is happening. Intense workouts cause pain, not physical harm but that pain changes the experience and people’s responses and also changes their behavior. We all feel that to some extent.

Sometimes we push through it and some people, especially athletes and pros, can go further than the average person by a wide margin. In many cases, an average person will probably withdraw from the experience of a workout because of the pain and miss out on the benefits.

There’s a measure of our tolerance for pain, Private Body Consciousness (PBC), which is lower for people who can withstand greater discomfort and pain. It’s basically the awareness that you have of your own internal bodily sensations.

Researchers at the University of Kent¹ studied the use of VR headsets while exercising to reduce pain and increase how long someone can sustain an activity. The research, led by PhD candidate Maria Matsangidou, set out to determine how using VR while exercising could affect performance by measuring a raft of criteria: heart rate, including pain intensity, perceived exhaustion, time to exhaustion and private body consciousness.

To do this they monitored 80 individuals performing an isometric bicep curl set at 20% of the maximum weight they could lift, which they were then asked to hold for as long as possible. Half of the group acted as a control group who did the lift and held inside a room that had a chair, a table and yoga mat on the floor.

The VR group were placed in the same room with the same items. They then put on a VR headset and saw the same environment, including a visual representation of an arm and the weight. They then carried out the same lift and hold as the non-VR group.

The results showed a clear reduction in perception of pain and effort when using VR technology. The data showed that after a minute the VR group had reported a pain intensity that was 10% lower than the non-VR group.

Furthermore, the time to exhaustion for the VR group was around two minutes longer than those doing conventional exercise. The VR group also showed a lower heart rate of three beats per minute than the non-VR group.

Results from the study also showed no significant effect of PBC on the positive impact of VR.  Previous research has shown that individuals who have a high PBC tend to better understand their body and as a result, perceive higher pain when exercising. However, the study’s findings revealed that VR was effective in reducing perceived pain and that PBC did not lessen this effect.

As such, the improvements shown by the VR group suggest that it could be a possible way to encourage less active people to exercise by reducing the perceived pain that exercise can cause and improving performance, regardless of private body consciousness.

Lead researcher Maria Matsangidou said: ‘It is clear from the data gathered that the use of VR technology can improve performance during exercise on a number of criteria. This could have major implications for exercise regimes for everyone, from occasional gym users to professional athletes.’

Reference:

1. Maria Matsangidou, Chee Siang Ang, Alexis R. Mauger, Jittrapol Intarasirisawat, Boris Otkhmezuri, Marios N. Avraamides. “Is your virtual self as sensational as your real? Virtual Reality: The effect of body consciousness on the experience of exercise sensations.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 2018.

The post Virtual Reality: Technology to Push Past the Pain Barrier appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

An observational study¹ of nearly 18,000 participants found that those with high fitness at middle age were significantly less likely to die from heart disease in later life, even if they were diagnosed with depression.

In analyzing cardiovascular fitness in midlife and comparing the data with the incidence of lower cardiovascular mortality after depression past 65 years of age, the researchers found that higher fitness levels were associated with 16% lower risk of depression in subjects, and even when depression was diagnosed later in life, higher levels of fitness were associated with a 56% lower risk of cardiovascular mortality.

“Maintaining a healthy dose of exercise is difficult, but it can be done. It just requires more effort and addressing unique barriers to regular exercise,” says Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, co-author of the study and Director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, part of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern.

The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry utilized a Cooper Institute database of participants who had their cardiorespiratory fitness measured at an average age of 50 years. Researchers used Medicare administrative data to establish correlations between the participants’ fitness at midlife to rates of depression and heart disease in older age.

How to Stay Fit While Treating Depression

Previous research shows that depressed patients can often perform about three-fourths of the exercise they’re asked to do. However, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of success:

• Set aside a consistent time to exercise every day, but do not get discouraged by stretches of inactivity. Resume activities as soon as possible.
• Keep a log to track progress.
• Vary the exercises to avoid monotony. Keep the workout interesting and fun.
• Exercise with a friend.
• Task someone with holding you accountable for maintaining the exercise regimen.

Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, co-author of the study and Director of the Center for Depression Research and Clinical Care, part of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern, says the findings are just as relevant to younger age groups, in particular, college-age adults who are just entering the workforce.

“This is the age where we typically see physical activity drop off because they’re not involved in school activities and sports,” Dr. Trivedi says. “The earlier you maintain fitness, the better chance of preventing depression, which in the long run will help lower the risk of heart disease.”

For many people, the more appropriate treatment for depression may be exercise irrespective of anything else. This is because depression has been linked to several other chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease, all of which have been shown to have some effect on antidepressant use.

Dr. Trivedi says the reasons behind this may partly be connected to the general health effects of physical activity, including the fact that exercise decreases inflammation that may cause depression. By reducing inflammation, the risk for depression and heart disease are lowered.

“There is value to not starting a medication if it’s not needed,” says Dr. Trivedi, who’s leading a national effort to establish biological tests for choosing antidepressants. “Being active and getting psychotherapy are sometimes the best prescription, especially in younger patients who don’t have severe depression.”

“There is enough evidence to show that the effect of low fitness on depression and heart disease is real,” Dr. Trivedi says. “But further study is needed to establish the mechanism by which this effect happens.”

At the end of the day, the study advocates doctors prescribe fitness and physical activity in promoting healthy aging, and while that may seem obvious to people on these pages, it seems that we have a long way to go before we see meaningful change at a social and cultural level. In other words, it’s still a world of pharmacological solutions even when we have conclusive proof that there are healthier alternatives.

Reference:

1. Willis BL, Leonard D, Barlow CE, Martin SB, DeFina LF, and Trivedi MH. “Association of Midlife Cardiorespiratory Fitness with Incident Depression and Cardiovascular Death after Depression in Later Life.” JAMA Psychiatry, June 27, 2018.

The post Exercise as an Antidepressant appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the minds of many, putting exercise first is a selfish action. But you could say the same thing about putting work or other activities first. Let’s take a look at how to find balance between these elements.

Exercise Improves Everything

Exercise is undoubtedly good for us, just like work is an important aspect of life. Working out is a way to better yourself in the same way working hard is a good approach to furthering your career. It’s hard to argue with things that make us healthier, wealthier, or happier.

RELATED: How Success In Exercise Is Like Success In Investing

But having bodies that function optimally can help us beyond the gym. It can help us be more productive at our jobs, in our lives, and even in our relationships. Yet exercise is not a necessity and a toned body, while gratifying in the short term, won’t necessarily make you a better partner, parent, or worker. So, the question of whether exercise is selfish is one that has layers of complexity and more than one answer.

Your Health Is as Important as Your Career

By American cultural standards, working more hours is applauded, as is spending as much time with family as possible. But spending time at the gym, on a bike ride, or rock climbing does not seem to hold as high a value.

“Understanding the difference between an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivator is a good way to evaluate motive[.]” 

Many would say it’s a question of balance. But time is a finite property and achieving balance is no small task. Despite technological advances, time remains in short supply, as the hours in our days never change. For many people is little time left after handling family and work.

RELATED: How to Achieve Bite-Sized Bits of Balance In Life

This is where quality of time factors in. Just like in exercise, time spent doing exercise doesn’t necessarily equate to a certain level of fitness, health, or wellness. Too much exercise and the body breaks down. Too little and the body breaks down. Similarly, the amount of time spent at your job or even time spent as a parent does not necessarily make you a good worker or parent. The quality of the time spent does.

Creating quality time requires both personal and cultural buy-in. The fact is, selfish or not, exercise can enhance both your family life and your career. According to a recent study, employees who exercise at least thirty minutes, three times a week, were fifteen percent more likely to have higher job performance.

RELATED: How to Set Goals With Vision, Possibility, and Balance

Another comprehensive study showed that employees who exercise on workdays are more productive, suffer less stress, and are even happier. 72% of the study participants cited improvement in time management on exercise days and 74% said they managed their workload better when they exercised. Many companies are even helping their employees be proactive with their health by offering exercise facilities and corporate wellness programs on the job site.

Balancing Exercise and Family

But even if you can convince your boss that it’s good for you to exercise on your lunch break or to leave right at 5:00pm to hit the gym, the biggest hurdle you will likely face in creating time to exercise is the guilt of spending time away your family and loved ones.

“If health is our most valuable possession, then the desire to better your fitness is a noble pursuit.”

It’s here where the most important buy-in is needed. It isn’t a selfish act to spend time exercising and serving your health, wellness, and fitness. You could almost make the opposite conclusion when it comes to parents who don’t exercise – that parents who don’t exercise are actually hurting their families. In fact, a recent study concluded there is a direct correlation between the physical activities of mothers and their children. That is, the less physically active a mother is, the more likely her child will be sedentary early in life.

Exercise need not be a zero-sum equation and be seen as being at the expense of family and/or friends. I exercise with my girlfriend frequently. Families can exercise together and find group activities that enhance their relationships. Cultural norms don’t change overnight, though. Wellness in the workplace and fitness in the family, while growing movements, are movements that need the right motives behind them to prosper.

The Difference Between Vanity and Purpose

Understanding the difference between an intrinsic and an extrinsic motivator is a good way to evaluate motive when it comes to exercise. In short, exercising for simply extrinsic values such as the desire for toned arms or six-pack abs may indeed be selfish. When we exercise for our vanity we have no concern for others and we are chiefly concerned with our own profit and pleasure. That is the very definition of the word selfish.

“The fact is, selfish or not, exercise can enhance both your family life and your career.”

However, when we exercise based on an intrinsic motivation, with a greater sense of purpose, we serve as an inspiration, mentor, example, and exercise evangelist for others. Intrinsic motivators like finding purpose in wellness and the expression of grace in movement are perhaps self-serving in a way, but a purpose-driven motivator is one that also serves others.

As we see with artists, they may be driven by their own self-serving passion, but that passion inspires and deeply touches others. The same can be said about dedicating your life to fitness and wellness. You can inspire and touch others, whether they are your friends or your children.

RELATED: The Difference Between Love and Fear In Fitness

The bottom line answer is that exercise can be both a selfish and an unselfish act. The motive behind it is what matters. If health is our most valuable possession, then the desire to better your fitness is a noble pursuit. And one thing is for certain: whether exercise is selfish or not, with the growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes, collectively we need more of it.

References:

1. Brooks, Chad. “You Are What You Eat…Even At Work.” BusinessNewsDaily.

2. Firger, Jessica. “When Mom’s Exercise, So Do Kids.” CBS News.

3. “People who exercise on work days are happier, suffer less stress and are more productive.” Daily Mail. 

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit Empirical.

Photo 2 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 3 courtesy of Savannah Wishart.

Photo 4 courtesy of Michael Brian.

The post Prioritizing Your Fitness Isn’t Selfish – It’s Necessary appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On the surface that seems logical, but upon further review it begs the question, “Why not?” Can you not make some type of dent into poor eating habits via regular and productive exercise? The answer, of course, depends on how bad your diet is and how hard you work.

RELATED: The Right Way to Lose Fat: How to Exercise

So, let’s hear it for the sub-par eater and average exerciser seeking to get ripped. There may be some hope for you. I’m about to explain how you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Calories In Versus Calories Out

Scratch your noodle and think about this. Isn’t most of the battle in fat burning a calories-in-versus-calories-out endeavor? Yes, I know it can be further dissected into the type of calories consumed – good carbs versus bad carbs, different types of fats and proteins – and your energy expenditure regarding the length of an exercise activity and the effort of intensity put forth.

Those are all fine topics of discussion, but do not over-look the rudimentary concept of simple calories in versus calories out. The majority of the time that equation applies to the average Sally or Jim.

“If you consume fewer calories than used to sustain basal metabolism and daily activity level, you’ll lose weight.”

This is pretty much a proven fact: if you consume a greater number of calories than used to sustain basal metabolism and daily activity level, you’ll gain weight. Unless you’re doing hard strength training, this results in the extra calories stored in the body as body fat, all other factors being equal.

If you consume fewer calories than used to sustain basal metabolism and daily activity level, you’ll lose weight. A calorie deficit such as this can tell your body to tap into stored adipose fat, all other factors being equal. Again, proper strength training factors in. If an individual is attempting to grow or at least preserve muscle mass via strength training, there is a better chance of losing fat as opposed to muscle.

RELATED: It’s Not Your Metabolism, It’s Your “NEAT” That’s Stopping Your Fat Loss

I know it sounds too simple and other factors do enter the equation, but for the most part this is all true. 

Calorie Intake Versus Energy and Exercise Outputs

So, take a look at some simple facts as they apply to calorie consumption, exercise, and scale weight:

Female

• 27 years old
• 5’4″ (163 cm) and 135 pounds (61 kg)
• Basal metabolism: 1,416 calories per day

Male

• 35 years old
• 6’0” (183 cm) and 205 pounds (93 kg)
• Basal metabolism: 2,020 calories per day

Click on the links below to see these four examples and compare various calories intakes versus energy and exercise outputs.

1. Female: Decent diet, calorie surplus
2. Female: Poor diet, calorie deficit
3. Male: Decent diet, calorie surplus
4. Male: Poor diet, calorie deficit

Example: Female decent diet, calorie surplus

Conclusions

• Male or female, if you consume too many calories and don’t expend a greater number of calories (all other factors remaining equal), you’ll gain scale weight.
• Male or female, if you consume fewer calories than expended (again, all other factors remaining equal), you’ll lose scale weight.

RELATED: The 3 Pillars of Fat Loss 

Yes, you can eat like crap and lose weight or eat like a champion and gain weight.

To lose body fat, it is more prudent to consume calories of a healthier nature (better food choices) combined with an overall calorie deficit (demanding exercise) to lose appropriate body weight.

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post You Can Out-Exercise a Bad Diet and Lose Fat appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Born Again Exercisers

The thing about Born Agains is that they become rabid, vocal, and opinionated, while missing the point of the whole thing. Exercise isn’t about anything other than you trying to be a better person than you were yesterday. While competition can be a great way to reflect improvements made in training, the reality is you’ll spend far more time training and out of the gym, than you will in competition, no mater how fervent you are.

There’s a real trend in fitness circles now to push everyone to train for something. You know, as if training to have a healthy life is somehow not a worthy goal. So we’re all busy training for a race, a competition, a tournament, a meet – something. But is it more important to have a bigger squat in six weeks or will it be more important to walk properly in twenty years?

As the world grows more obese and out of shape, the fitness industry needs to come to grips with where we should actually fit in. While there will always be a market for fringe things like weightlifting meets, endurance racing, and bootcamps that make people vomit, more and more the focus needs to be on reaching the masses and on making people healthier for life.

If you ever watch a professional athlete live his or her life a few things will become very obvious very quickly. The following are lessons we should all keep in mind to help us make our lives healthier:

1. Exercise Must Be an Everyday Occurrence

Pro athletes don’t train because they have to. They grew up wanting nothing more than to play their sport for the rest of their lives. But to do so they had to learn to fit it in around the rest of their lives first. There was school and homework. There were dates and maybe marriage and kids. There was work (before they signed a pro contract) and all the responsibilities that brought with it. And still they found the time.

The pro athletes I’ve met browbeat everyone who talks incessantly about how fantastic their training is going, how they crushed a WOD, or whatever their latest injury problem is. The reason is because that is part of a pro athlete’s work life. In the same way that if you asked a programmer what went on during their day, you’d likely get a short answer about how routine it was. Well, barring injury that’s how most days are for an athlete, too – wake up, eat, train, sleep, eat, train, eat, and then go to bed for the night (probably at about 9:00pm, too). If the athlete in question is an endurance athlete, then this is compounded, as there’s little chance he or she did anything thrilling on his or her solo six-hour ride.

Lesson: Making exercise part of everyday life means that even when bikini season is done or there is no competition on the horizon, a person will continue to stay in shape. This means you get in the habit of doing something every day. It doesn’t matter if you run, lift, or go for a walk – just be in the habit of daily exercise. It being another part of your day as much as brushing your teeth or going to work will ensure long-term health and fitness.

2. You Get the Results You Deserve

Rule one at my gym is “turn up.” It’s pretty difficult to make exercise a part of daily life if you don’t turn up. I know it’s difficult to get up early when it’s cold and dark, like it is now in Australia as we go through winter. But we have lights and you’ll warm up quickly, I promise.

The funny thing about turning up is that after a while what was once a struggle and so foreign becomes more habitual as the new activity starts to weave its way into your daily life. That’s exactly what we’re after.

But just physically turning up is no good. You have to be mentally present, too. No matter how much I might push you to try harder, only you can actually lift the weight or complete the effort. If you slack off, give up mentally just because you were uncomfortable, or otherwise underperform, then you won’t reap as much reward as the person who does push past that discomfort.

Lesson: The people who seem to push the hardest in a class are usually the ones who come the most. Just like it takes some time for getting up early to become part of who you are, it can take a while to become someone who will fight on despite discomfort. But to learn that skill you need to continually apply more pressure to yourself.

3. There Is as Much Mental Change Required as Physical

The modern world focuses on only two components relating to fitness. All you see are diet and exercise. But the mental aspect of training required to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle cannot be ignored.

When you go food shopping, you need willpower and discipline to not buy the all the junk food at the supermarket, just the same as you need discipline to get out of bed when it’s cold and dark. A good workout will offer you opportunities to develop a healthy mindset during each session. As mentioned above, if you take the opportunity to push a bit more each session, to learn to accept being uncomfortable, then some strange things happen.

First, that big pile of work you’ve been putting off forever won’t seem so intimidating right now. And that fear you have of wearing a two-piece swimsuit after two kids? Gone. The confidence, determination to succeed, discipline, and work ethic gained in the gym will absolutely become apparent in other areas of your life.

Lesson: Like wanting to get in better shape at the gym so you can run around with your kids outside the gym, the only way to develop any type of fitness is to work on it. If you want to develop greater mental strength inside the gym so you’ll have it outside the gym, then you need to work as diligently as you work on the physical side of things.

4. Whatever You Do in Training, You’ll Do in Games

When I used to race motorbikes, we would say that if you can’t do it slowly, you would never do it fast. The same goes for practices and gym time. If you can’t do it without the pressure of competition, how do you expect to be able to do it when crunch time comes? The thing to remember, though, is that crunch time in this case is daily life.

If you can’t get up to go to the gym, what chance do you have of resisting that doughnut offered during the meeting? You may think it’s two separate things, but it’s not. Both display a lack of discipline, and discipline is the cornerstone of good habits.

Lesson: I’m not saying you don’t get to sleep in ever again (or eat a doughnut), but if you want good results in the gym, then you need to work for them, and that rests on the amount of discipline you have.

A friend of mine, Rob McDonald of Gym Jones, said on Twitter recently, “The program is a learning tool and meant to inform. Remember the programming isn’t magic and it was hard work and dedication that mattered.” Professional athletes have long known that the only “secrets” to success are to bust your ass daily and do it for years. Apply yourself wholly to the task and watch the results come, but don’t dab your toe in and wonder why you’re not getting a great result.

Photos courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post 4 Lessons Everyday Athletes Can Learn From Professional Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

There may not be a best method for everyone, but being armed with more information is important to success. That’s what one of the latest studies in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research was about.

Study Design

The participants in the study were divided up first by size. This was done to ensure prior experience or existing mass difference couldn’t explain the results. Then the subjects were randomly assigned either to one of four different twelve-week experimental protocols that were focused on the quads or to a control group. The protocols were:

• CICE (Constant Intensity Constant Exercise): This protocol included only one level of intensity, in this case the eight-rep-max. Notice here that this intensity was relative to strength, so the actual weights used might change in time. Only the back squat exercise was used. This is similar to some simple powerlifting plans.

• CIVE (Constant Intensity Varied Exercise): The same intensity was used from the CICE protocol, but the deadlift, lunge, and leg press were added to the mix. The total sets for each week were the same as CICE (and all protocols) but divided between the exercises. This is similar to many bodybuilding routines.

• VICE (Varied Intensity Constant Exercise): Only the squat was used on this one, but the intensity ranged from six-rep-max to ten-rep-max. This is similar to many powerlifting programs like the Bulgarian protocol, although the intensities would be different.

• VIVE (Varied Intensity Varied Exercise): You guessed it, this one included squats, deadlifts, lunges, and leg presses from six-rep-max to ten-rep-max.

Results

At the end of the twelve weeks, every group got bigger. So all the methods are effective, which is something many people forget. However, the question here was which works the best, at least under these conditions. Although there were no significant differences, size was most pronounced in the constant intensity groups, which might indicate a trend toward better results in the long term.

The subjects who only performed squats didn’t develop the rectus femoris, and with constant intensity added (CICE) the vastus medialis didn’t grow significantly either. The vastus medialis did grow by about ten percent, but it didn’t reach statistical significance. This result lends support to traditional bodybuilding methods. Variety is needed to develop all the muscles evenly, and this is big proof of that.

Notice, however, that out of the four muscles of the quadriceps, only two grew significantly with the CICE group. That group used constant intensity and also experienced the greatest total size gains.

For strength, varied exercise won the day for these moderately trained participants. Keeping the intensity the same provided an even bigger boost, making CIVE the best group for improving maximal strength.

For size, do what’s the most fun for you because it all works, but vary up the exercises if you want more well-rounded musculature. Sticking with one rep range and using several big multijoint exercises appears to be the best for strength, and probably also in the long term.

References:

1. Fonseca, R.M., et. al., “Changes in exercises are more effective than in loading schemes to improve muscle strength,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000539

Photo courtesy of Strength Education.

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Since there is so much important information out there about the physical effects of exercise and its importance in reducing disease, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services produces guidelines for the public. While most serious athletes will exceed the standard guidelines for good physical health, we don’t know if the same could be said for optimal mental health.

When determining what guidelines to recommend for good physical health, the Department of Health and Human Services depends on the relationships found in science. When it comes to mental health, however, there simply isn’t enough information out there to be able to make the same recommendations. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services noted in their 2008 guidelines that “insufficient evidence precludes conclusions about the minimal or optimal types or amounts of physical activity for mental health.”

In the latest study, the researchers were looking to compile the existing information on how physical activity affects mental health. They determined that a meta-analysis, or a study that examines other studies, was necessary. Reviews like this one are often used to recommend future research as well as provide answers.

The first thing the research team did was address the suspicion laid out in the official guidelines. They identified 3,668 studies as candidates for their review, but only eleven studies met their criteria. The researchers were interested specifically in team sports to emphasize the social aspect of human psychological heath. While this factor eliminated many of the studies that only examined individual exercise, that’s still a scant few considering they looked at over 22 years worth of studies.

Despite the small number of studies, they all agreed that there are both psychological and social benefits from exercise. The most common benefits found were feelings of wellbeing and less stress. Unsurprisingly, team sports were better at creating social health, as well as psychological health in general. Interestingly, the differences between solo and team sports in health outcomes weren’t because teamwork resulted in more vigorous or more frequent exercise, but were purely a result of increased socialization.

While the results of this study aren’t shocking, they reinforce our beliefs and may even motivate some readers to go out and take up a sport. The researchers advise picking a sport that you find to be the most fun, which actually yields the greatest health benefits, even if you choose a solo sport. In other words, having the most fun will make you the healthiest.

References:

1. Rochelle Eime, et. al., “A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for adults: informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport,” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10:135, 2013.

2. Physical activity guidelines advisory committee: Physical activity guidelines advisory committee report, 2008. Washington DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2008:G8–39

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Lipid profile typically refers to the levels of various lipids in the blood. While most people think of fat when they hear the word lipids, the term actually refers to a whole class of substances that have a major role in human health and performance. The list of lipids includes fats and oils, as well as phospholipids (what your cell walls are made out of), sterols (like cholesterol), glycerides (like triglycerides), and fat-soluble vitamins (like vitamin D).

Often included in lipid profiles is a hybrid molecule called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins are exactly what they sound like, a mixture of both lipids and proteins. Lipids themselves are largely hydrophobic, which means they don’t play well with water. Since your blood has a lot of water in it, lipids have a tough time getting around on their own. Thus we have lipoproteins, hybrid molecules that carry lipids around and help move them in and out of cells. Lipoproteins are even shaped like little fat-carrying fortresses.

We’ve all heard the terms HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein) in reference to cholesterol, but this is a bit of a mistake. Cholesterol is a separate type of lipid, not a lipoprotein, but the high density and low density varieties of lipoprotein tend to function as cholesterol carriers, for reasons mentioned above. One of the many functions of cholesterol is to increase the viscosity (the thickness of the fluidity) of your cell membranes. The low density variety of lipoprotein trucks the cholesterol to your cells, and thus is considered “bad.” The high density kind takes cholesterol away from your cells, so we call it “good.”

High HDL, especially relative to LDL, has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. It was one of the most important features of the lipid profile in today’s study. The researchers studied female volleyball players who were about to begin a season. They took a blood sample of the players before their eleven-week preseason, and then again afterward. During the preseason, the players trained or played six days per week, often twice per day, a rigorous schedule.

The researchers also analyzed the diets of the players, which they found to be high in saturated fats and cholesterol. The athletes didn’t achieve the recommended ratio of unsaturated fats to saturated fats. But despite the poor lipid content of their food, the players’ lipid profiles improved after the eleven week preseason. The LDL levels dropped, as did the ratios of bad lipoproteins to good, and the HDL levels increased, indicating they were healthier.

While you can’t overcome a bad diet, according to this study it seems that hard training can reduce your risk factors of heart disease.  This is even better news for people who eat a healthy diet and exercise.

References:

1. Juan Mielgo-Ayuso, et. al., “Changes induced by diet and nutritional intake in the lipid profile of female professional volleyball players after 11 weeks of training,” Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2013, 10:55.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post You Can’t Out-Train a Bad Diet, But Exercise Sure Does Help appeared first on Breaking Muscle.