Accelerate Your Fat-Burning With Rest

Here is an interesting study. Japanese and Danish researchers found that in a group of seven exercisers, fat-burning was accelerated when a 60 minute workout was split in half with a 20 minute rest period between halves.

Well, they may be right, and their explanation seems solid. However, would you say that a study that involved only seven people should be considered conclusive? I think more evidence should be gathered first. Still, it is interesting data for those of us who take our fitness seriously.

For the full story on their study go here.

Of Mice and Men

This is not commentary on the writing of John Steinbeck but, rather, a notation that scientists recently proved the obvious: If you want to stay young for as long as possible, eating less and exercising more is the key.

In short, here's what they did to prove it. With genetic engineering they created mutant mice that mimicked the effects of eating less and exercising. Their report is in the journal Science and concludes that the reasons for the mice staying young has to with insulin, the hormone that regulates glucose.

For the full story on their findings, go here. .

Should Heart Patients Pump Iron?

There was a time not that long ago when people with heart disease were told to rest, rest, rest. Then along came evidence that aerobic exercise was usually beneficial -- but stay away from weight training.

Now, in a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association we learn that some resistance training can be good for heart patients.

"Just like we once learned that people with heart disease benefited from aerobic exercise, we are now learning that guided, moderate weight training also has significant benefits," according to Mark Williams, professor of medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska.

Gray Iron wants to underscore two things: 1) Weight training is seen as a complement to aerobic exercise, not a replacement, according to Williams; and 2) any exercise program should be approved by a heart patient's physician.

Go here to learn more.

Exercise: Even a Little Bit Helps

As we age, we are told that getting regular exercise will increase longevity and quality of life. It's a fact that few people in the know bother to debate anymore. But how much exercise is actually necessary to derive some benefit?

Well, not as much as you may think. A recent Journal of the American Medical Association report and suggestions from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) explain that relatively short periods of movement done regularly have great benefit. This is good news for exercise-phobics. The amount of exercise necessary is so small that even confirmed couch potatoes may buy into it.

Ideally, I would suggest making a greater than minimal effort and being sure to include both resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. Still, the fact remains that almost any movement is a big plus, especially in a society such as ours that is more and more sedentary.

For the full report, go here.

Dangerous "Deep Belly" Fat

In a report from Health Day, scientists explain that a protein in blood points to rising amounts of a particularly lethal form of body fat around your organs. This reminds me of one of Jack LaLanne's favorites ("LaLanne-isms"?). He likes to say, "Your waistline is your lifeline." And more and more, we realize how right he has been. It's the blubber around one's waist and beneath that's deadly. What a tape measure tells you (even more so than the scale) may not make you happy, but it could save your life if it prods you into taking action.

"Fat tax" in England could save 3,200 lives each year

According to a study at Great Britain's Oxford University, a "fat tax" on certain unhealthy foods could save 3,200 lives per year. Interesting. But how far should the government go into people's private lives is a reasonable question asked by many Brits. In fact, England already levies a purchase tax on a small number of products such as potato crisps, ice cream, confectionery and chocolate biscuits, but most food is exempt.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has previously rejected the idea as an example of the "nanny state" that might push people away from healthy food. Read Reuters report here.

It's the calories, stupid!

Craig Ballantyne writes about fitness and training for Men’s Health magazine. Though MH for the most part aims at younger readers than I do, I find that a lot of their advice is valid across the board, and for both men and women.

Recently, Ballantyne wrote about dietary habits and weight loss. He explained something that is important for any overweight person to understand. He said that to take off weight your workouts can be imperfect, but your dietary practices must be sound. Conversely, your workouts can be executed to perfection, but if you eat too much you will fail.

Does this mean that a well thought out exercise program is unimportant? Of course not. What it means is that if you are training and the fat is not coming off, you are simply eating too much. And all the exercise in the world will not trim you down until you regularly take in fewer calories than you need to sustain your present weight.

"I don't have time to exercise."

There's a young, disabled man at our gym. He is barely able to walk, even with crutches, and his forward motion is painfully slow. Still, he manages to use the elliptical trainers, always works up a good sweat, and somehow gets around the room to use the weight machines.

He lives just a couple of blocks from the gym and it may take him half-an-hour to go the short distance on crutches. If it is raining, or very hot, sometimes we drive him home. He is always grateful for a ride. The circumstances surrounding his disability never come up, but sometimes he talks about having more surgery.

Last week, Patty and I were turning into the gym parking lot as he was crossing the street on his way home. As we passed him we both had the same thought: How many times have we heard someone say, "I know I should get in shape, but I just don't have the time right now"? And here is this young man who really struggles just to walk, but, by golly, he gets there.

You can bet he would gladly exchange the hindrances he endures daily with someone who is just "too busy" or "too tired" to make the effort.

If you are honest with yourself, you know that there are really no excuses for a lack of effort or commitment. Not legitimate ones, anyway.

Like the Nike slogan says, "Just do it!"

Walking Lunges

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There are many varieties of lunges (all of them good), but I like walking lunges best. They are great for building muscular quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. Walking lunges look simple to do; nevertheless, there are some things to know to get full benefits.

In the beginning, get comfortable doing them by traveling short distances with bodyweight only. Then, gradually, increase the difficulty by traveling farther and/or carrying a weight. If you carry a weight, you can hold two dumbbells, arms down and vertical, or carry a barbell across your back and shoulders; or in front above your chest, with elbows high, as you would doing a front squat.

Form (Patty, aka Mrs. Gray Iron, demonstrates):

1) Take a fairly big step forward so that your ankle and knee are in a vertical plane, and the knee of your trailing leg almost touches the ground. Keep your chest high and look ahead. In other words, maintain an erect posture. Don’t bend over;

2) Drive off the heel of your forward foot as you take the next step;

3) Keep moving forward. Don’t stop after each step.

It's Never Too Late

Suppose that you have punished your body for years by eating too much and all of the wrong things. Is it too late at middle age or more to undo the harm you may have done to yourself? Many mature adults think it is and continue harming themselves, figuring, why bother to change habits now? The damage has already been done.

But that's not true, according to a study at Medical University of South Carolina. Older people who adopted a healthy lifestyle basically caught up within four years, and their mortality rate and rate of heart attacks matched the people who had been practicing healthier habits all along.

Read more here.

U.S. Issues New Standards for Dietary Supplements

In a recent report from Reuters, we learn that the makers of vitamins, herbs and other dietary supplements must meet new government standards to show the products are free of contamination and contain exactly what the label says.

The Reuters story is worth reading. Do you have any thoughts on the subject? Click on "comments" below.

Summertime Smarts: Sunscreens

It's summertime in the Northern Hemisphere. I'm not anti-sun, and from what I can gather, a certain amount of sunshine is very healthy. But how much is enough? And when does it become unhealthy? Generally, I think a little goes a long way. Here are a few guidelines:

1) Fair skinned types can tolerate less sunlight than darker skinned people, but you can get too much no matter what your complexion is;

2) Getting sunburned is bad for anyone at any age;

3) Basking for long periods with unprotected skin to get a tan is very bad;

4) Stay away from tanning salons;

5) If you're going to be in the sun during the peak hours between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., use a serious sunscreen.

In selecting a sunscreen, take note of the following:

The SPF number is an indication of protection against UVB rays only. Sunscreen products labeled "broad-spectrum" protect against UVA and UVB radiation; however, there is no standard system for measuring UVA protection. So look at the ingredients. Products with an SPF of 15 or higher that contain avobenzone (Parsol 1789), zinc oxide, or titanium dioxide are likely to be effective against the entire spectrum of UVA rays. Also, check the expiration date. Most sunscreens expire within two to three years.

A Training Tip from Doctors

At first glance, this may seem almost too basic to mention. Yet after years of training and watching others train, I can say without question, the following is worth remembering: Go here.

Dumbbell Curl & Arnold Press

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Here is a neat upper-body combination movement that works biceps, triceps, and shoulders.

The dumbbell press portion was a favorite of Arnold (you know the one). He liked to start the press with his palms facing him, and as the weights are pressed overhead they rotate to face forward. Retrace the movement in the reverse coming down. Try it. It has a nice flow.

Now, what I've added is to first simply curl the weights to shoulder level, and then begin Arnold's overhead press. Curl, press, return. Curl, press, return. The entire compound movement can be done either sitting or standing. I like to stand because it forces me to keep my abs tight, as they should be when doing overhead presses of any kind.

As always, don't hold your breath. Get a nice inhale-exhale rhythm going.

Get This Guys!

An expanding waistline in older men is associated with worsening lower urinary tract symptoms and poorer sexual function (bet that gets your attention), according to research reported at the American Urological Association meeting in Anaheim. Check it out here.

The Deadlift

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[Daughter Jennifer, who lives and trains in Austria, demonstrates the Exercise of the Month, the Deadlift.]

Can there be a more basic power lift than the deadlift? You bend, grasp a weight and stand up with it, a simple, direct power move requiring overall body strength. Yes, there are some things to know about proper form, but let’s not get overly analytical, either.

Before we begin, note that in the video Jennifer is working with well over 200 pounds (she has been training all her life). If you are a beginner, and especially if you are woman beginner, or if you are unfamiliar with the lift — start with a much more moderate weight. Then train for awhile to get used to the lift before putting yourself to any sort of power lifting test.

Here’s how to do it

Stand behind the barbell at your shins; feet at shoulder about width apart, or slightly wider; hands just outside your legs. Now, looking straight ahead, bend equally at the waist and knees, a bit like sitting down and back into a chair; grasp the bar with an alternate over/under grip.

Keep your back flat (not hunched over), abs tight. Take a breath and then exhale as you straighten your knees and push your hips forward to stand, always keeping the bar close to your shins. Hold for a second in the full standing position; then, with control, bend at the knees and waist to return to the beginning of the lift. Breathe throughout the movement — but stay tight.

To start, use a weight that allows you to complete 8 to 10 reps. Eventually, you may want to test yourself, to see how much you can lift for one rep. Let that come later. For now, practice your form so that it becomes second nature. In the process, enjoy the strength increases in your back, hips, legs, and grip.

Top of The Class

What is the one food or nutritional supplement that seems to have zero detractors?

Answer: Cold water fatty fish or fish oil supplements.

If you aren't getting your omega-3s, you ought to start now. Looking for another reason why? Go here.

A Dangerous Trend

People who are 100 pounds or more overweight are the fastest-growing group of overweight people in the United States, researchers reported this week. The proportion of the severely obese was 50 percent higher in 2005 than it had been in 2000 -- a startling rate of growth.

"The proportion of people at the high end of the weight scale continues to increase at a brisk rate despite increased public attention on the risks of obesity and the increased use of drastic weight loss strategies such as bariatric surgery," said Roland Sturm, an economist at Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research institute.

For the full story go here.

Hanging Knee Raise & Hanging Leg Raise

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[The video was shot outdoors. The background noise is the sound of wind blowing.]

Muscles worked: Primarily abdominals and hip flexors; also elongates and decompresses the spine; strengthens your grip.

Grip a horizontal bar that is high enough so that your feet do not touch the floor.

Knee Raise: With control, bring your knees up toward your chest. Then lower them. Do not let your body swing to gain momentum. Be smooth. Inhale and exhale with control. Do not hold your breath. Work towards 10 to 20 reps.

Leg Raise (more difficult): With almost straight legs, bring your feet up to the bar, and with control lower them. Do not allow your body to swing for momentum. Work up to 10 to 15 reps.

Note: Most gyms have dual arm harnesses hanging from the chinning bar. If your grip is not strong enough to hold your bodyweight for an entire set, slip your arms through the harnesses and do the exercises without having to use a hand grip.

Home Gyms

Newsletter subscriber David Helms writes that 20 years ago he cancelled his gym membership for a simpler approach. The time it took him to make a round trip to the gym and wait for machines was roughly 40 minutes. So he devised a home-based program that could give him the same workout in that amount of time.

“I wanted to purchase equipment that was affordable, easy to use and took up little in terms of storage space,” he says. He settled on dumbbells and an exercise bench that he says would, in today’s dollars, cost about $250.

“I did some research,” he says, “and discovered that the dumbbell is very efficient in terms of providing a complete range of motion for any traditional weight training exercise. In addition, dumbbells give the user the ability to focus the intensity resulting in the greatest opportunity to build muscle while using the lowest possible weight.”

Helms is not alone in his conclusions about dumbbells. Bill Phillips [Body-for-Life] said that trainees looking for a minimalist approach should consider dumbbells and an exercise bench. He is also not alone in recognizing the convenience of a home gym. The great Bill Pearl started training as kid in a home gym, and as an adult he owned commercial gyms. In his book, Getting Stronger, he wrote that he would probably end his career where it began, training in a home gym. And that's where he trains now.

I certainly have nothing against commercial gyms and health clubs. That’s where I workout. The commute time from my home is 20 minutes each way. There are days when I would like to spend that 40 minutes doing something other than driving. For now, I’ll stick with the gym. Yet I know there’s a time when I’ll stop and train at home.

The main thing is, you really have to know yourself. As I wrote in my beginner’s book, training at home is like working at home. There are distractions and “to do” lists that may sabotage your workouts. But once you have gone to a gym, you are likely to follow through and workout. There are many places to exercise and many ways to exercise. Be sure you select a place that is convenient and a time when there are few interruptions.

By the way, here is the home gym equipment David Helms uses:

1) Simple adjustable bench designed for use with dumbbells
(my first bench was recently replaced)

2) 16 York 10 lb. plates

3) 4 York 5 lb. plates

4) 4 York 2.5 lb. plates

5) 2 “Star lock” bars