Monthly Archives: April 2011

I got this from yahoo…. here is the direct link: click here

Warm Up With Cardio, Then Go To Weights. Right? Wrong.

Wednesday, April 20 2011 8:25 AM

Written by: Kaitlin Sandeno

Having been an athlete for most of my life, I figured I knew my way around the gym. On a typical day, I’d hit the treadmill or elliptical machine for 30 minutes, then move to the weight machines. And that’s what I started to do when I recently joined a gym. Then I got my assessment — you know, the review of your habits a lot of gyms do. And the review told me I was doing something wrong.

Hit the weights hard, the assessment said. Then go to cardio.

What?

“The body needs to burn through its sugar source first before it taps into the fat,” says Iman Nikzad, who runs the fitness program at my LA Fitness near Irvine, Ca. “You burn the sugar while doing the weights then burn the fat while doing the cardio.”

I did some more research and, turns out, he’s right and I was wrong. The optimal workout is a 10-minute warm-up on a low-impact cardio machine followed by 30 minutes of weights and then 30 minutes of intense cardio.

Yes, really.

“Efficiency is the key when structuring any workout, so long-duration cardio should not be done in the beginning of the session,” says certified strength and conditioning specialist Jim Smith. “The most intensive training should be done first in the workout, when you are at your best.”

By starting with weights, you alert your muscles to trigger the proteins that churn through calories while you train. So even though you’re probably spent after 30 minutes of weights, your body is ready to eat fat faster than it would if you started by “telling” the body to attack sugar.

A lot of people get this wrong, thinking weight training diminishes the effect of the cardio work. It’s the opposite. Just remember the phrase: “Muscle eats the fat.” If you want to lose the flab — and who doesn’t? — you want your muscles as active as possible. That means starting with weights.

And if you only have 30 minutes total, go for weights instead of cardio. That sounds counterintuitive, since we feel sweating is “proof” we’re losing fat. But you will lose a lot more fat by pushing and pulling weights and then going on a brisk walk in your neighborhood (or even at the mall). The guy or gal who is dripping buckets on the Stairmaster is getting a good workout, but you’re likely getting a better one by getting sore and not getting soaked.

Nick Bromberg contributed to this story.

I love it!!  I love it when men bitch and moan!!  Then they run home and pound on the keyboard, getting their panties in a wad, venting their problems.

Click here to read such an article… The Soft Shutdown (whatever that means)

I skimmed the article, but don’t have too much interest in the controversy of a woman’s place in the gym.  I will show you my place … then you may reevaluate YOUR place.

Listen, really.  Training and tolerance for the environment around you IS a personal… creation… almost a fantasy world we build for intensity.

I do know a good friend, Shannon Hartnett, who was sued for owning a women’s gym in San Francisco.  For shame, it was a good business.  And hell yes, open your men’s only gyms.  Do it all!!  Do what ever is in demand.

I am taking action.  MMA is great and fun, I love the people!  However, I stalled out.  Remember, I said I was going to lose 30 lbs?  Well, I lost 20 lbs.  Then, gained back 5 lbs.  My training dynamic changed via personalities and personal decisions.  I still trained, but I wasn’t losing weight.  Time for punishment.

Until I lose that other ten pounds, I am not allowing myself to return to MMA practice.  My vision is that I will return and my coaches will be like “damn you look leaner”… but is it really about them? I need to prove to them…. er umm, MYSELF, that I am in control of my body.  I need them (me) to see I know how to melt it off when I choose.

Plus, it is time to look the part again.  I know I look big and strong.  But, as one gets leaner, they look bigger and stronger.

HEY, the Paleo Solution eating program is working like a charm, by the way.  I have buckled down for full 8 days and I am already 3 lbs lighter than I had been before starting Paleo.

Progress report:  I have 8.8 more pounds to lose before I am allowed to return to MMA.

You have choices… You can eat a whole lot of carbohydrates and feel hungry and lethargic.  Or, you can eat keep your carbohydrates to a minimum and ingest higher amounts of protein and fat to feel satisfied and energetic.  Is it that simple…. ah YES!  Here are some things I have learned:

From Protein Power by Michael and Mary Eades:  Eating protein and fat will lower your blood sugar.  The body wants to push that blood sugar back to normal, so it releases Glucagon which allows us to burn fat for energy.  On the contrary, eating carbohydrates will increase your blood sugar.  The body, again, wants a normal level, so it releases Insulin which puts us in a fat storing state.

From The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf:  A hormone is released when you eat, peptide YY (PYY).  It tells you “I’m satisfied” and it also helps us improve our ability to sense how much fuel we have stored.  When you eat protein, you release the highest amount of PPY.  When you eat fat, you release a lot of PPY, also, but not as much as protein.  Eating carbohydrates releases a significantly lower amount of PPY.

The gist!!

Eat Protein and Fat = burn fat = feel satisfied
Eat Carbohydrates = store fat = feel hungry

I am not going to make a bunch of excuses as to why I did not post for a while. But I will tell you, I traveled across the country, from Connecticut to California via car. And I took my own sweet time… three weeks. No computer and barely touched my phone. Jealous?

That brings me to now. After sitting in a car and most of the time eating fast food, I am super motivated to eat clean! Especially, because I stopped at my sister’s in Colorado and she looks amazing!! She does the Paleo eating program, which I have tried before and liked. My sister is wife/mom/engineer with a vein popping out in her lower ab. I will be seeing her at a wedding in June and I can not have her looking better than me!! So, I am on the bad wagon, but she showed me a much more fun and tasty way to do Paleo right.

I am reading The Paleo Solution, see the link below. It is super techinical, but very informative. I think it is a great eating program. So, it is important to read and reread until I am able to regurgitate the information correctly to my gym clients.

Fair warning, I will be regurgitating all over YOU!!! I’ll share the highlights of my learning process. I have already read some information to support some beliefs I have learned and preached over the last 15 years. Next blog I will answer the question, “Is eating 2,000 calories the same as eating 2,000 calories of protein/fat?”