The so called "Fat Burning Zone" - Revisited

Wear these to your big box gym and keep them on at all times!












I really thought that we had put this issue to rest. But based on some questions I received at a presentation on Saturday, there are still some big box gyms selling an expensive vo2 max test/heart rate monitor package based on this very flawed concept.

The suggestion that we burn a greater percentage of our calories from fat during slow activity (50% of maximum heart rate) is true, but we need to look at the big picture. Example: train at a lower intensity for 30 minutes and burn 220 calories- 50% of those from fat. Conversely, train hard (intervals) for 30 minutes and burn 400 calories- 35% of those from fat. I'm no math whiz, but I can look at these simple numbers and tell you that, even though the percentages look advantageous for low intensity training, you are still burning more calories from fat with the interval training.

This simple example is still shortsighted when it comes to fat loss. We are no longer looking at how many calories that we burn during our chosen activity, but how does that activity affect our overall fat loss environment. A more important factor in fat burning is how many calories we burn AFTER our chosen activity. This is know as EPOC and while I won't bore you with to much technical jargon, it is THE determining factor in how value exercises for fat loss. In Robert dos Remedios's new book, Cardio Strength Training, Robert offers this:

Probably the most significant, if not the most startling, study completed comparing steady-state training to interval training for fat loss was done by Tremblay et al in 1994.

They took two groups, having one complete 20 weeks of endurance (steady-state) training and the other complete 15 weeks of interval style training. When all was said and done, the endurance group burned 28,661 calories via exercise while the interval group burned 13,614. That's right: The interval group burned less than half as many total calories. The researchers then adjusted for the difference in the energy cost of training and found that the interval group lost 900 percent more subcutaneous fat than the endurance group- nine times the amount fat.

Why? EPOC or the energy burned as a result of an interval style training session over the next 20-40 hours.

Beyond these examples, let's put on our filters and apply a little common sense. So you want to lose some stubborn fat? Does it make sense that you are training too hard and need to lower your intensity? Exactly.

It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb of body fat. I don't know about you, but most folks would like to do that with the least possible investment of their valuable time. If you are one of these people, do yourself a favor and use interval style training to get the most bang for your buck out of your workouts.

Oh, and if your gym or trainer suggests training at a snails pace for fat loss, run. Slowly of course so that you burn tons of fat :)

What is Your Max-Max?

I borrowed this from strength coach Dan John. What Dan was referring to when he used the term max-max is the number we use when we are designing someones program. Example: do 4 sets of 8 with 80% of 1 rep max. Dan's argument against this type of programming is that very few of us know our true max or max-max weight on our lifts. Sure, we think we have a pretty good idea of what we can lift on an exercise for a certain number of reps, but do we really know? Most of us lift at what Dan calls a sub-max or a little less than we could probably do for a true 1 repetition maximum.

I like to think of max-max in terms of effort. If I had a gun to my head or pliers to my..., could I do 10 reps with a weight that I normally lift for 6? Probably with the gun, definitely with the pliers. Maybe even less motivation, like I mentioned in my previous post.

We are conducting a little experiment at NPPT this week. It looks like this:

Choose a maximal weight and level for each exercise that you would normally use for 6-8 reps. Now perform 1 set to failure. Pretend as if all of your friends and family are watching or that you will have to pose nude on the Internet, if you do not get more than 6-8 reps.

The 4 exercises:

Pull-ups- assisted, full or resisted
Push-ups- knees, toes, resisted
Single Leg Squats to a Box- low box, high box, weighted
Single Leg Dead Lifts- weighted

We chose these 4 exercises because they are self limiting (safe). If you can't complete the movement, you simply stop. This workout would not be safe for our clientele using an exercise like back squats, "Hello, is this Mr Jones? Yes, Hi, could you please swing by the gym and pick up your wife. We have managed break her in half with a maximal squat test. Oh, by the way, she won't be much help with the kids for at least a week".

Our goal with this workout is to reveal to our clients their own potential. An "ah,ha" moment, if you will. If someone does 15 full push ups with laser focus when they normally stop at 8, it can really go along way towards stretching boundaries and helping that person understand how much strength they posses. This new mindset then changes the landscape of their future workouts.

Give it a try this week and see if you can find your max-max. You may be surprised!

Extras- Check out this study regarding kettlebell training. Pretty compelling evidence to support kettlebell workouts for fat loss.

An Impromptu Butt Kicking

Kate Beckinsale wasn't there, but we managed to kick butt without her.











This was a long, weird week at NPPT. Needless to say, when I wondered out on to the floor yesterday I had less than lofty aspirations for my workout. It just so happened that Joe, Joel (our PT) and two of our clients were all doing our dynamic warm-up at the same time. You know what happened next.

"Hey what are you guys doing today?" "Heavy dead lifts", "3 x 12" and "Just moving a little" were some of the responses (the latter was me of course). Then the machismo kicks in. "You guys want to do a circuit?" My first thought was to decline, but I needed a little motivation so what the heck.

I suggested a circuit I learned from by buddy Jon Hinds. He calls it the X-Games circuit because he designed it for a motocross rider who was training for the event.

It looks like this:

Perform 14,12,10,8,6,4,2 reps as fast as possible of:

Double KB Clean and Press
Rope Snaps
Renegade Rows
Hindu Push-ups
Box Jumps
Knees to Elbows

It is a little upper body intensive, but we are talking about 5 guys on a Friday afternoon. You guys remember your pre-weekend workouts when you were young and single? No. I'll bet there was a lot of arm pumping going on.

This workout was tough, but just what I needed. The motivation of the group was awesome and everyone worked hard. Jim and Drew (clients) killed it and lifted more and more with each round. That ain't supposed to happen, but they were stretching it a little with the added push of the group.

I can't tell you how much better I felt about the week after that workout. It just shows me again what the power of environment and the group dynamic can do for motivation.

Thanks Fellas

Success Story- Tanya Thomas

Tina Turner?













I've met with literally thousands of people to discuss their goals. NPPT has been open for 19 years and I think in that time I have become a pretty good judge of who will reach their goals and who will struggle. Now, I have been surprised on more than one occasion, but 9 times out of 10 I know immediately whether or not someone is truly committed to their stated goals. I can't tell you how exactly. Thousands of new client visits I suppose.

When I originally sat down with Tanya I knew she would ultimately be successful in her fat loss journey. She had just enough moxy and drive to make it happen. She had made the decision to change before she ever hit my door. Tanya will be the first to tell you that it was not easy, but that she had no doubt that she would succeed.

Accomplishments:

She began working out at NPPT in March 2009. In her fat loss journey, Tanya has lost over 40 lbs and 9 inches from her waistline by being diligent and consistent with her workouts and nutrition. Tanya also doubled her upper and lower body strength!


TANYA'S WORKOUT SCHEDULE

• Strength train at NPPT 2x per week

• Circuits at NPPT 3 to 4x per week

• Walks 20-25 miles per week


TANYA'S KEY TO MOTIVATION:

"Being fit, having an energized body and achieving a Tina Turner figure!"

HOW NPPT HAS HELPED WITH TANYA'S SUCCESS:

"The trainers' at NPPT make sure my form is correct and always keep me in line. It also helps that they are caring and fun!"

TANYA'S LONG-TERM GOALS:

Weight maintenance and being happy once she reaches her ideal weight.

TANYA'S TIPS & ADVICE:

"Failure is not an option, do it anyway, nothing tastes as good as fit feels and massages are a must for vitality! Be kind, gentle and patient with yourself. You must decide your life is important – enough to transform from FAT to FIT. It’s no joke for the faint-hearted!"


Great job Tanya!

Pull Ups Gone Wild

As our clients can attest, we love us some pull ups at NPPT. You simply can't beat the benefits of this upper body pulling exercise. While very few of our new clients can do full pull ups, we still include them in our programming at the appropriate levels.


Here is an example of some progressions.



Think pull ups are just for the boys? Check out this amazing video of 44 year old Crystal West doing 39 pull ups nonstop!



RM

Random Rick

Wow! That title is really lame. Sorta reminds me of Ranger Rick.



I won't do this to you again




As you can imagine, the gym is crankin at this time of year. You know you have a "good problem" when you run out of areas to meet with new clients because there are too many evaluations scheduled at one time. I know, terrible right?

Here are some random thoughts and links for your weekend reading

1. One of our core values is, "Integrity- Lead by Example", which simply means do the damn workouts that you are asking your clients to perform. Renown strength coach Dan John hits the nail on the head on his blog:

There is an insight here. So many things look easy on the web or on paper, but the doing makes it difficult. Clarity in a workout often comes, not by discussion, but by doing

2. Here is an article form the NY Times discussing the merit of flexibility, mainly in distance runners. While I don't agree with all of the information presented, I do agree with the fact that tight hamstrings can be a good thing for distance runners. This concurs with Dr Stuart McGill's findings, as well. I have been presenting this very concept in a Modern Mobility series at Fleet Feet, a local running shoe store.

3. I have had several questions regarding our online training. If you don't live close enough to train at NPPT and want us to design an effective program for you, this is a fantastic option. Click here for more details. Also, we are in the process of developing an online coaching option for nutrition. Natalie, our RD, will be running the progam and the early indicators are awesome!

4. An awesome finisher or workout that Ross and I completed a few weeks back:

I Go/U Go Burpees 1-10-1

Find a training partner and simply perform burpees from 1 through 10 and then back to 1. BTW- that's 100 reps! The rest for each is just long enough for your partner to complete their target reps. Ouch!

This one is from Laurie, our office manager.



Have a great weekend!

Exercises You Should Be Doing- Swings

Benefits- a terrific explosive movement for the posterior chain (glutes and hamstrings). As a society, we spend waaay too much time sitting on our back sides and not enough time working them. The swing is a very dynamic exercise that really challenges your posterior muscles.

Execution- the form on swings is a bit tricky, but here are some coaching cues that work.

There is no level change on swings. Meaning, your hips should travel front to back and not up and down like a squat. The bell should nearly hit you in the butt with each swing. Deep swinging is a sure fire way to an unhappy spine!

You must keep your glutes active by "squeezing" your way to the top position. Pretend there is a wall in front of your hips so that you cannot pass the neutral hip position and into lumbar extension. Slam your hips into the imaginary wall and tighten your glutes to create the momentum of the swing.

One sure way to know if you are not swinging with enough "pop"- a sagging bell. This happens when you lift the bell with your arms instead of the momentum from your hips. The bell becomes lifeless and hangs down at the top position. The bottom of the bell faces the floor and not away from you. Limp is bad- stiff is good, but we know that already!

Progressions- If you cannot dead lift correctly, do not swing!!! The swing is a dynamic exercise and you must master the lower levels of this movement before you start swinging stuff around. Once you have a good grasp on the basic swing, you can add single arm swings (great core exercise), hand 2 hand swings, double swings or simply increase the load. In the video, Santa Nikki is swinging the 32kg (70 lbs for the math challenged) like it is a baby rattle!

Especially good for- Sir Mix A Lot. Do I really need to explain why? Oh, and anyone looking for an explosive dead lift variation.



RM

New Years Day Workout Challenge

I like to celebrate milestones (birthdays and New Years) with some type of physical test. I know it sounds a little stereotypical for a trainer, but I like to know where I stand physically in relation to last year at this time.

I stole this little gem of a workout a while ago from Steve Maxwell. This test works for me personally because I value overall conditioning and strength. If you are a runner, power lifter or involved in a sport, you will want to create a test that reflects what physical traits you value (IE: a 1 mile run for time, a max lift or total points on Guitar Hero).

The workout goes a little something like this:

1. Jump Rope 100 reps with a weighted rope- use a non weighted rope if necessary or simply perform jumping jacks

2. Burpees x 10- there are 3 levels of burpees to choose from (see videos)

Level 1 Burpees



Level 2 Burpees



Level 3 Burpees



3. Pull Ups x 5- choose one of the levels below. If you don't already own a TRX, then you need to buy one here ASAP.

Assisted pull ups



Full pull ups




Complete 12 rounds (1 for each month of the year) for time. Record your time and try to match it next New Years day!

If you break 30 minutes, you are either a mutant or you are still drunk and don't realize how painful this workout is.

Have fun and Happy New Year!