Does Fasted Cardio Provide Significant Benefits?

One recent trend that has received a significant amount of attention, both in the online blogosphere and in traditional fitness media, is the idea of performing exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The practice of exercising in a “fasted state” has been promoted as a way to burn more calories from fat than from carbohydrates, making it an effective way to boost the fat-burning effects of exercise. 

There are a couple of theories on why doing cardio in a fasted state first thing in the morning may be more effective for fat burning. For example, cortisol is a hormone that helps promote the metabolism of fat for energy. One theory suggests that, because cortisol levels are higher in the morning, exercising on an empty stomach will lead to greater amounts of fat burning. A second theory posits that, because the body’s resting metabolism continues to work overnight while the body sleeps, lower levels of carbohydrates will be available for fuel before breakfast. As a result, the body will have to rely on fats as the primary energy source for any physical activity. 

Research exists to support both theories. For example, studies have shown that fasted exercise can help endurance athletes burn higher levels of fat than carbohydrates. However, while there may be some benefit to exercising on an empty stomach, here are three specific reasons why fasted exercise may not a good choice over the long-term. 

1. Exercise in a fasted state could burn more calories from fat, but it also could cause the body to burn protein for fuel, which would reduce the amount that can be used to help repair and build muscle tissue. Gluconeogenesis is the process of converting proteins to glucose for energy. In short, if carbohydrates (glycogen in muscle and liver, glucose in the blood stream) are not immediately available for energy, the body can convert proteins for fuel, which leaves fewer proteins available to rebuild muscle post-exercise.
2.  
3. The body has plenty of free fatty acids (FFAs) available for exercise. The FFAs that are not immediately converted to energy to fuel muscle activity can be redeposited in adipose tissue in the abdominal region. In other words, they will end up as belly fat. Exercising when cortisol levels are higher could lead to more FFAs circulating in the blood than can be used. So, rather than depleting levels of fat, exercise first thing in the morning could actually shift body fat to the abdominal region.
4.  
5. If the goal is weight loss by metabolizing as much fat as possible, it is more important to consider energy expenditure over a 24-hour period and not just at one point during the day. Monitoring energy intake and expenditure throughout the day and identifying how to reduce excessive intake and increase opportunities to move can play a more significant role in long-term weight loss than trying to burn more fat by exercising first thing in the morning. 

While it doesn’t offer a viable long-term solution, exercising in a fasted state could be a SHORT-TERM technique for helping a client achieve a specific body-composition goal. Here are three things to consider about using fasted exercise: 

1. For years, bodybuilders and figure competitors have utilized fasted exercise to help reduce body fat prior to a competition. This is because low-intensity, steady-state (LISS) exercise below the first ventilatory threshold will rely on FFAs as the primary fuel source. To be most effective for fat burning, exercise in a fasted state should focus on LISS, where the intensity is low enough to allow the client to talk comfortably during exercise. Exercise at higher intensities will metabolize more carbohydrates and require more oxygen; therefore, the rate of breathing will increase to bring in more oxygen and exhale more carbon dioxide, which will make talking difficult.
2.  
3. The body is an extremely adaptable organism. If the same exercise is performed at the same intensity for an extended period of time, the body will become very efficient at producing energy to fuel the activity. Doing fasted exercise first thing in the morning could help a client move past a sticking point, but after a period of time the body will adjust to this condition. That’s the signal that it’s time to change the workout.
4.  
5. A client may like to exercise first thing in the morning and simply prefer doing so on an empty stomach. If this is the case, help them maximize energy metabolism by recommending LISS over higher-intensity exercise protocols. If a client wants to participate in high-intensity exercise first thing in the morning, it is important that he or she know how to properly fuel after the workout. 

It’s important to note that eating a meal or snack too soon before exercise can raise the levels of insulin, which helps metabolize and store fat. If insulin is elevated prior to exercise, the result could be fewer FFAs available for energy. A low-glycemic snack more than 30 minutes prior to exercise can provide energy for a workout and reduce the risk of elevating insulin levels. 

Finally, keep in mind that substrate utilization for producing the energy required to fuel workouts is regulated by a number of variables, including hormone levels, available nutrition substrates, enzyme activity and the intensity, duration and type of physical activity. Exercise in a fasted state could provide some short-term benefits, but the downside is that it could also limit the amount of protein available for muscle building. It’s more important to help clients identify ways to be more active throughout the day and guide them toward healthier nutrition choices than it is to recommend working out at a specific time of day. 

Source ACE :  Pete McCall Health and Fitness Expert

Five Ways to Make Your Indoor Cycling Workout Fun and Entertaining

   

 It's no secret that exercise is a critical element in a healthy lifestyle. It's also no secret that time devoted to working out at home can be tedious and easy to avoid. This article presents a few ideas for putting a little necessary spark into an indoor cycling routine. It will leave the reader looking forward to the next opportunity to take their indoor cycle for a spin.

Anyone with an eye on maintaining their health and fitness knows the importance of regular exercise. This knowledge is the major motivation behind the robust sales of home exercise equipment over the past few decades. 

Everyone starts out with abundant enthusiasm about how they plan to get on that treadmill, rowing machine or indoor cycle every day and finally get into the best shape of their lives. After all, they reason, if the equipment is readily available right inside their home, what possible reason could there be for them to fail at meeting their goals?

Reality sets in when treading, rowing or cycling gets to be monotonous and tedious. One workout looks depressingly like every other workout and the scenery never changes. This could be a recipe for failure.

Before you turn on the 6:00 news while you pump out another grueling session on the indoor cycle, consider a few more interesting options to add a little more fun to your time.

1) Buy a DVD on location. There are literally hundreds of cycling videos available. Many are road trip excursions where you can ride through the streets of Paris or along the Pacific Coast Highway. You get to enjoy the sights and sounds of another venue while you take care of your health. You can either listen to the music on the DVD or turn down the sound and use your own playlist for inspiration.

2) Buy a classroom DVD. These DVDs are instructor-led classes where you are actually part of a cycling class in a gym. Other students are exerting themselves right alongside of you as the instructor prompts you to stand, sit or increase the tension on your bike while offering words of encouragement. Some of these instructors can be hypnotically inspirational.

 

3) Create a proprietary area in your home for your cycling. Skip the living room or family room where other people and distractions abound. Create a secluded area where you can shut the door, turn off the lights, light a candle, set up the DVD player and get into the mood for your activity. Make it a special time devoted to you alone.

4) Find an exercise app or website where you can log your progress. Accountability is a great way to add inspiration to any endeavor. Find like-minded people on social media and set up challenges for each other. A competitive spirit can push you further than any sense of obligation you may feel to your exercise program.

5) Dress for success. Avoid the faded old shorts and torn tee shirt. Proper biking shorts and jersey will make you feel like the athlete you are. If you were willing to put your money into buying your own indoor cycle, you should be willing to extend your commitment by investing in one or two sets of appropriate workout garb. Looking the part will inspire you to act the part.

Working to achieve a fit and healthy body begins with a fit and healthy mental attitude. Anything you can do to add interest and spark to your workout routine will pay off in huge benefits on your cycle.

Source

5 Myths about the Fitness Exercises

1. Sport is for professionals. This idea applies only in the case of performance sports. The native qualities required for professional sportsmen (speed, skills, specific height, etc.) can only be developed, they can't be formed by training. As long as the aim of a regular person is not performance, almost all sports can be practiced for keeping the body in a good shape. It's all about dosing the training you chose, so that the benefits are bigger than wear and tear. Even the sports considered tough can be practiced in a 'soft' way (tae-bo, mini-triathlon, jogging, etc.).

 2. Training is tiring. This idea is true as long as it refers to consuming all your energy (muscular and hepatic glycogen), but it doesn't mean that training gets you into that state of exhaustion which would slow down the process of recovery of the body. Even in performance sports, the purpose is to have rather effective than exhausting training, so that the body can get the stimulation necessary to qualitative progress from one training to the next.

Even more than in other sports, in fitness the sportsman is spared overexerting. However, the training must not become ineffective. People can come to the gym tired after a work day and leave relaxed (physically and psychologically) and not more tired. This is extremely useful for people with sedentary jobs, but also for those who make physical effort at work. They could use the training by choosing a type of effort meant to compensate the one involved in their job.

3. Training takes too long. Again, this idea is true if applied to performance, which can only be obtained by working a lot. But also in this case short and very intense training or training for relaxation and recovery are often performed. In fitness, you can get to 20-minute training, working only super-series of fast exercises, which could involve, directly or indirectly, all the muscles. Anyway, regular training shouldn't take longer than an hour and a half. Otherwise, the body will get into the catabolic faze, when the cortisone secretions 'cannibalize' the muscles.
  
4. Any type of exercise is good for solving your problems. What's true in this refers to some particular cases like excess of adipose tissue. This tissue can be 'melted' by any kind of aerobic exercise (running, cycling, swimming) if this is continued long enough. Even in these cases it was clear that some exercises are more effective than others. There are situations when only a combination of exercises with a certain amount of each, can provide you with the results you expect. More than that, repeating the same exercise all the time can have as a consequence not only losing balance in the antagonist muscles and in the joints involved in training, but also stopping progress or even regressing.

5. You're older? No more exercises! This is true only if we refer to extremely demanding efforts (really heavy weights, fast running, jumping, etc.). There are lots of exercises adapted to different ages. Their purpose is to keep and improve health and also to improve physical shape. The development of movement parameters for older people refers especially to muscular and cardio-vascular resistance as well as mobility of the joints. Because the final purpose of training is not preparing for a competition, the exercises can be organized gradually according to their difficulty, eliminating the risk of accidents. Because it's based on perseverance, fitness can be adapted without problems for older people and even for people suffering from different affections specific to old age.

Damian@FitnHealthy

Bodyweight Calisthenics: Give Your "Cardio" A Kick In The Pants

If you are one of the people who believe steady-state aerobic exercise is the only way to improve cardiorespiratory endurance and burn fat, you're in for a treat. Bodyweight calisthenics are an excellent way to get a full body workout that includes the heart and lungs. I'll show you how to use bodyweight exercise in a second, but first let's talk a little about cardiorespiratory endurance.

Cardiorespiratory endurance is the level of ability your body has to gather, process, deliver and sustain oxygen to produce energy for use in physical activity. Basically, the respiratory system gathers and starts to process the oxygen. The cardiovascular system continues to process and distributes the oxygen. So, your cardiorespiratory endurance is the level of efficiency your heart and lungs have to sustain and deliver oxygen for energy.

So, when most people want to improve their endurance they do cardiorespiratory conditioning exercises (cardio) to improve endurance by "conditioning" the heart and lungs. Unfortunately, the form of cardiorespiratory conditioning usually takes the form of aerobic exercise. And bodyweight calisthenics are completely ignored! But the fact is, any activity can improve cardiorespiratory endurance if they are done properly, and bodyweight exercises and calisthenics are an excellent choice.

There is something important I should mention. The type of cardio conditioning you do improves over-all endurance. But, the increased endurance is most closely related to the activity used. This means if you ride an exercise bike, your cardiorespiratory endurance will primarily be improved for bike riding. This is fine if you ride a bike in your normal, everyday life. But this has limited application for most people who are involved in a wide variety of activities both in and out of the gym.

If, on the other hand, you use bodyweight calisthenics for your cardio conditioning, you are using a wide variety of movements and muscles. Bodyweight exercises and calisthenics more closely represent the movements of highly random movements encountered in sport, work and life. So, you could make a case that cardiorespiratory conditioning using bodyweight calisthenics is better for endurance improvement that can be used in and out of the gym.

Plus, bodyweight calisthenics use all the muscles in your body. Compare this to the predominately lower body exercises of jogging or riding a bike. So, using bodyweight exercises allow you to build a strong, lean physique while improving cardiorespiratory endurance and burning fat!

Just think about it. Let's say you do a fast paced bodyweight workout consisting of a circuit of bodyweight exercises and calisthenics. You'll simultaneously build strong muscles and burn fat while improving heart and lung function. You wouldn't even have to do a long, slow aerobic workout to supplement your training.

I hope this article has opened you eyes to the wide variety of possibilities available to improve cardiorespiratory endurance. You don't always have to do long-slow aerobic exercise. And the truth is, using other forms of training to simultaneously improve heart and lung power can prepare you better for the challenges of sport, work and life. Bodyweight calisthenics are an excellent choice for both building a strong, lean, athletic physique and building a strong heart and lungs.

Damian@FitnHealthy 

Cardio Training Habits for Success

If you're new to the world of fitness, first and foremost never over do it, and always get cleared by a medical doctor if you think you may have health considerations

 

Cardio short for cardiovascular training by design is different from resistance training. The main focal point of cardio training is to increase the fat burning process. This is accomplished by burning fat as the main fuel source. Weight resistance training builds bigger muscles and uses glucose (usable carbohydrates) as the main fuel source. Although if cardio training is intense (not able to talk and exercise simultaneously) glucose instead of fat will be used as the energy substrate. This is due to the fact that fat doesn't burn fast enough to keep up with rapid movements.

Like I mentioned before if you're a newbie to exercise take it slow by walking in your neighbor 3 days a week for 20 min, for the first 2 weeks and progress up to 4-5 days a week for 45-60 min, at the end of the 3rd and 4th week. After that, you can try more intense versions of cardio including: treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, jogging and cross trainers. 

 

Choose a level where talking with your exercise partner is still possible for 15 minutes, 3x week for 2 weeks. You can progress up to 45-60 min 3x week. A rudimentary way of determining intensity level for these cardio modalities is 55% to 65% of your maximum heart rate. You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220, then multiple that by either.55 or.65. 

This is a good range that will keep you in the fat burning mode and not burning glucose that you will need for your resistance training(glucose is the preferred fuel source during weight training).

Although the age predicted max heart rate is the most common method under use today it has one major flaw. Some 60 yr olds are in better shape that some 30 yr olds, but this method would fail to recognize such an important factor. I actually prefer using something called the Borg Scale to determine intensity which I outline a little later in this article. 

Advantages of cardio training: When your muscles need oxygen and nutrients it's your heart-lung complex (cardiovascular) that does the job. When your body has waste products that need to be expelled like carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes, your cardio system better be in tip top shape, or illness and disease might soon follow. The better shape you're in the more proficient your heart will be to pump blood to all the various organs. This translates into more energy for you throughout the day and a more rewarding and productive life. 

 

An out of shape person has his or her heart working overtime just to accomplish the minimal about of work required to maintain life. Now take that person and try to make them do something active beyond sitting on the couch. The heart will have a stressful time keeping up because it's all ready working hard. Shortness of breath, rapid heart beat, wheezing, loss of balance and fatigue are signs of a weak cardio system. 

The more cardio trained you are, the less your heart has to work. Who do you think has more energy a person with a resting heart rate of 80(how many times the heart beats in one minute) or a person with resting heart rate of 110 beats per minute? The person with the resting heart rate of 80 is more proficient in pumping blood throughout the body compared to the person who needs an extra 30 beats per minute to get the same amount of blood pumped throughout the body. 

A good method of determining of how hard you're working is something called the Borg Scale and my own preference of intensity feedback:

6, 7, 8 = very, very light
9, 10 = very light
11, 12 = fairly light
13, 14 = somewhat hard (correlates 55-65% age predicted max HR)
15, 16 = hard
17, 18 = very hard
19, 20 = very, very hard

You're your own master here, which is why I like using this scale. Begin with light sessions according to how you perceive your own exertion and work your way up until you can maintain 2 somewhat hard workouts for about 45-60 min, 2 x week along with another 2 light workout sessions alternating between the 2 for a total of 4 sessions a week. 

 

 Again, cardio training along with resistance training is essential to good health. It is also the cheapest and easiest way to exercise, just grab some running shoes and you're all set!

Damian@FitnHealthy

Water And Exercise

The human body is made up of over 75% of water, and as we all know, we cannot live without water.  The fact is, we can only survive for a total of 3 days without water. Water has however, been replaced in most diets by soft drinks and other sugar sweetened refreshments. 

 

 Keep in mind that water is a healthier and necessary for leading yourself towards a better health and longevity.

Your own personal need for water can vary greatly due to exercise, weight, and temperature.  Research has proven that over 2/3 of adults don't get the water they need on a daily basis.  By drinking water on a regular basis you can replenish your body and keep it well hydrated and functioning as it should be.

A majority of us wait until we are thirsty before we drink water.  Keep in mind, this way isn't a
reliable gauge of the water needs for the body.  By the time you are thirsty you have already lost two
of more cups of the body's water supply.  Therefore, drinking water regularly is much better than simply waiting until you are thirsty.

It is very important that you don't substitute beverages with alcohol and caffeine for water.  The
reason behind this is that those types of beverages act as a diuretic and can cause you to lose more
weight through increased urination.  You may think and feel as if you are getting more water through
these beverages, although the fact is that you are letting it go almost as fast as you consume it.

Anytime you exercise, you need more water. Due to perspiration, your body will lose quite a bit of
water.  For each pound lost due to exercise, you need to drink 2 cups of water.  Even when you lay down to sleep, your body loses water.  By drinking a glass or more of water before you go to sleep, you can wake up with your body functioning as it should be.

 

 

It should become more obvious that when you are sick you'll need more water than any other tine.  When you get a cold or the flu, your body can become dehydrated quite quickly.  You can help to prevent this by drinking more water at times when you become sick.

There are several mixed opinions as to whether purified water will actually provide benefit.  This
is a subject you should explore yourself as you determine the best type of water for yourself. 

Always make it a habit to drink water on a daily basis.  You should keep a bottle of water with you
at all times and drink it throughout the day.  You should also teach yourself to drink water instead
of other beverages that don't replenish the nutrients your body needs.

Damian@FitnHealthy

How to do Crossfit style Workouts at Home

The bottom line is these are all workouts that (when done properly) provide unbelievable results in a short period of time. And results are what I care about.. 

Step 1: List All The Equipment and Exercises You Have Access To.

Let's start with the most obvious and fundamental piece of equipment your bodyweight. Exercises like push ups, air squats, burpees, sit ups, lunges, planks, sprints, and longer runs are all incredibly simple and effective. 

You can even add more complex movements like push up variations, one-legged squats, or Ab variations like russian twists.

Next, look at other equipment that you may have around the house. My personal favorite, and the only real piece of workout equipment that I own, is a kettlebell. The versatility of a kettlebell allows me to do kettlebell swings, cleans, snatches, presses, sumo deadlift high pulls, turkish get ups, goblet squats, and much more. I also have a jump rope which allows me to add single jumps and double unders into the mix. 

(If you are looking to outfit your home gym, these are the two things I recommend buying first.)

I know a lot of people usually have an old set of dumbbells lying around that can be used for presses, thrusters, rows, or for adding weight to traditional body weight movements like squats and lunges.
Even without a gym membership you should have no problem doing exercises like pull ups and dips. If you don't have access to a pull up bar or dip station, then you just aren't trying hard enough. A playground, tree branch, or concrete ledge can be used in place of a traditional pull up bar and a set of chairs can be used for dips. Don't be afraid to think outside the box when you don't have access to a gym full of equipment. 

The ledge in my condo's stairwell makes for a perfect place for pull ups.

Just keep in mind that CrossFit (and all good training) should be built around functional movements so you want to avoid things like crunches, bicep curls, or calf raises. 

Stick to compound exercises that place a higher demand on your entire body.

Step 2: Get Creative and List Even More Exercises.
You thought doing pull ups in a stairwell or chair dips was creative?
Not even close. Now it's time to really think outside the box.
A nearby bench or wall can be used for box jumps and step ups.
A hill or bridge can be used for incline sprints. Buckets can be filled with water for farmers' walks.
Water jugs can be used in place of dumbbells. A wall can be used for handstand push ups or wall climbs. Sand bags can be used for cleans or taken along on runs.
 

Nothing is off-limits.

The equipment that you use will most likely be things that you would find in a Home Depot rather than a Sports Authority.
If there is an object in your house that's heavy and awkward, chances are you could add it to your workouts. Just stay away from expensive electronics. 

Step 3: Fill the Bingo Hopper.
It is time to take the lists of exercises that you created in 

Steps 1 and 2 and load them into the bingo hopper.
 

What is the bingo hopper?
It's a model CrossFit uses for creating workouts with as much variety and intensity as possible. Just as your traditional bingo hopper selects bingo numbers at random, you should select and combine exercises at random when designing your workouts.

It is this variety that CrossFit says will provide your body with a unique and powerful stimulus at every workout. A stimulus that forces your body to adapt and get stronger consistently over long periods of time.

CrossFit is built around the preparation for the unknown and unknowable and the bingo hopper is the perfect representation of this viewpoint. Now that the hopper is loaded and ready to go, let's see how this equates to actual workouts.

Step 4: Create Benchmark Workouts.
There's no reason to reinvent the wheel if you don't have to, so I would start by browsing the list of CrossFit benchmark workouts, and seeing which ones you can do with the equipment you already have. Benchmark Girls like €Angie€ and €Cindy€ come to mind right away, since they require little more than your own body weight to perform.

From there, you can take other benchmark workouts and alter them to include the exercises that you can execute at home. Here are a few examples:

Fran

 Pick two high-power exercises and perform 21 reps of each, 15 reps of each, and 9 reps of each as fast as you possibly can. Record total time.
Example: 21-15-9 dumbbell thrusters and chair dips

Fight Gone Bad

Perform 5 exercises for 1 minute each. That's 1 round. Complete 3-5 rounds with a minute rest between each round. Count total reps.
Example: 1 minute each of sumo deadlift high pulls, kettlebell cleans, dumbbell push presses, goblet squats, sit ups. 

Rest 1 minute then repeat 2 more times.

The Chipper

 Pick 5-10 exercises and do 50-100 reps of each exercise. Complete all reps of one exercise before moving on to the next exercise.
Example: 50 lunges, 50 double unders, 50 kettlebell swings, 50 one-legged squats, 50 push ups, 50 box jumps, 50 hanging knees-to-elbows.

Helen

 Do 2-3 exercises for 10-25 reps each and separate each round with a 400 meter run. Record total time.
Example: 3 rounds for time of 21 jumping air squats, 12 handstand push ups, 400 meter run.

Karen

Perform 150-200 reps of the same exercise as fast as you can.
Example: 150 burpees for Time

Tabata Intervals
Pick an exercise and do 4-8 straight rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Do this for 4-5 exercises with no additional rest in between. Record total reps.
Example: Tabata Abs. 6 sets each of sit ups, Russian twists, knee tucks, and leg raises.

Step 5: Vary your Workouts, Record your Results, and Test Benchmark Workouts on a Regular Basis.
Just as the bingo hopper model suggests, rarely should you repeat the same workout within a few weeks or even months of each other. Continue to create and execute new workouts, and use the benchmark workouts that you created in Step 4 to test your progress a few times a month.
The secret sauce of CrossFit is measuring the variables of a workout so you can compete with yourself in every training session. 

Record every workout that you do, along with the weight that you used and the time it took you to finish. This evidence-based approach to fitness will show you how you are improving over time so you won't have to rely on faulty measuring tools like a scale or your memory to tell you if you are becoming more fit.

I would recommend adding 2-3 days of CrossFit/metabolic conditioning to the 2-3 days of compound strength training that you are (hopefully) already doing. This should give you the fastest results in the least amount of time and we like results.

 

 Damian@FitnHealthy

How You Can Get Your Body In Its Best Shape Ever With HIIT Fitness

HIIT Fitness is a growing fitness trend in the US. Hit Fitness, or High Intensity Training Fitness, is a fitness system built around a unique combination of science and sport.

HIIT Fitness in the Spokane Valley, WA area is a growing trend

Hit Fitness , or High Intensity Training, is a fitness system built around a unique combination of science and sport.

Hit Fitness is definably an "alternative" way to personal fitness, but it is a method that is worthy of a look.

What Will I Really Be Doing In HIIT Fitness?

Hit Fitness combines a unique combination of typical fitness along with sporting elements, such as the practice of Fencing or Kenpo.

Some of the activities that are included in HIIT Fitness include:

*Circuts

*GRIT

*Personal Fitness

*Other Sporting Activities

The types of activities that you participate in depends on the type of HIIT Fitness Spokane program that you join.

Different instructors of the HIIT Fitness way have different methods. Regardless of the methods that your fitness coach uses to teach you Hit Fitness, you will experience a unique exercise technique that will benefit your body more than a traditional fitness plan can accomplish.

HIIT Fitness Sporting Events

Participating in sporting events in the Hit Fitness program is a big part of your training. Not only will these sporting events help you to achieve your fitness goals at a faster pace, but several of the sports can be used later in life, even after you complete your fitness goals.

Sounds Fun. What Does Hit Fitness Spokane Concentrate On? Well, the HIIT Fitness program is quite the unusual exercise system. The HIIT Fitness program focuses on the following aspects of the fitness world:

Anaerobic Threshold Balance Body Composition Strength VO2 Max (maximal oxygen consumption)

Hit Fitness Anaerobic Threshold

A basic definition of the Hit Fitness Anaerobic Threshold is that it occurs when muscles "burn" glucose without the use of Oxygen. Anaerobic Threshold is ideal for those who need that short extra burst in their life. On the flip side, Anaerobic Threshold would not be ideal for a distance runner.

Hit Fitness Balance

Another important part of the Hit Fitness way is the aspect of balance. A majority of people who participate in the Hit Fitness exercise plan are athletes. These people require a great amount of agility and balance to succeed at what they do best. By having great balance, you can even increase the efficiency of your Spokane workout.

Hit Fitness Body Composition

Hit Fitness Body Composition is a way of describing the percentage of bone, fat, and muscle in your body. The Hit Fitness Spokane system puts a lot of attention on the aspect of body composition, as it is vital to balance the mass percentages of bone, fat, and muscle in ones body.

Hit Fitness Strength

Hit Fitness works with your overall body strength. Since the Spokane Hit Fitness way of exercise revolves around sporting activities, it is important to have strength as it will give you the opportunity to push your body to the next level.

Hit Fitness VO2 Max

What is VO2 Max? Basically, VO2 Max is another meaning for the maximal amount of oxygen consumption. It plays a very important role in Hit Fitness as your VO2 Max directly determines how physically fit you are. Each person has a different VO2 Max.

Damian@FitnHealthy

The Exercise Afterburn Effect

The Afterburn Effect; Burn Calories While Doing Nothing!

What Is The Afterburn Effect?

- Exercise after-burn, also know as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), is when the body continues to burn calories after the exercise session is over. For example, let's say you go for early morning jog for 30 minutes. After you have finished the 30 minute jog, your body will continue to burn calories for the next 15 minutes to 48 hours! EPOC represents the amount of oxygen consumption needed to bring the body back to a pre-exercise state. The amount of calories burned from EPOC is directly related to exercise intensity and duration. The harder and longer you exercise, the more calories your burn via the exercise after-burn!

Exercise Intensity!

- Exercise intensity, according to all the studies conducted to date, is the most important determinant of the effect of EPOC. The harder and more intense you exercise, the greater the effect of EPOC is.

In a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, the effect of exercise intensity on EPOC was studied in 8 trained men and 8 trained women. The subjects were examined after completing 3 separate exercise bouts of different intensities. The intensities were 40%, 50%, and 70% of their VO2 maxes. Your VO2 max is the greatest amount of oxygen your body can take in and use for exercise. Your VO2 max is a good measure of your fitness level. The more oxygen you are able to use, the more energy you will be able to create, so the higher your VO2 max, the higher your fitness level is. 

 

So let us get back to the study. The study showed that the intensity levels had a great effect on the duration of EPOC. In both men and women, the effect of EPOC was greater as intensity increased. 

The study also showed that even low levels of exercise intensity still have a positive effect on EPOC. The results of the study were as follows:

- For the men

40% VO2 max - EPOC was 31.2 min;

50% VO2 max - EPOC was 42.1 min;

70% VO2 max - EPOC was 47.6 min

- For the Women

40% VO2 max - EPOC was 26.9 min;

50% VO2 max - EPOC was 35.6 min

70% VO2 max - EPOC was 39.1 min

In another study published in the Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition, the effects of low and high intensity exercise on calories burned during exercise and after exercise were studied in 8 active women, ages 22 to 31. Although both groups burned 500 calories, the effect of the exercise after-burn was much greater for the high intensity group (45 extra calories) versus the low intensity group (24 extra calories).

Effect Of Duration On EPOC!

Duration also has been shown to play a big role in the energy after-burn effect. In one study conducted in 1988 published in the Canadian Journal of Sports Science, subjects were divided into 3 groups.

Although all three groups exercised at 70% of their VO2 max, the duration was different for each group. One group exercised for 3o minutes, another group for 45 minutes, and the final group exercised for an hour. The results of the EPOC values of the studies were 33 calories lasting 128 minutes, 74.5 calories lasting 204 minutes, and 165 calories over 455 minutes for the durations of 30, 45 and 60 minutes, respectively. This study showed that increasing exercise duration has a great effect on EPOC.

 

In another similar study (1), 6 healthy male subjects exercises at 70% of their VO2 max for 80 minutes, 40 minutes, and 20 minutes. The results of EPOC were 55.5 calories, 73.5 calories, and 159.5 calories for 20 minutes, 40 minutes, and 80 minutes respectively.

There have also been studies that have combined high intensity exercise with longer durations.

There are more studies such as these that show similar effects of duration's effects on EPOC. In a study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology, 8 trained males performed 164 minutes of treadmill running at 70% of their VO2 max. The average EPOC effect was 162 calories, which is a significant contributor to overall energy expenditure.

So it's pretty simple then, right? Just exercise harder and longer and you'll burn more calories from the exercise after-burn! Unfortunately, that may not be entirely correct. There have been studies that show different exercise after-burn effects from exercise. Some studies showed a low EPOC effect after exercise of long and short duration even with high intensities. From all the research done, the effect of EPOC varies from person and person. It seems that many factors such as gender, age, fitness level, etc. may be playing a role in the effect of EPOC.

Interval Training!

If you really want to maximize your calories burned from the exercise after-burn, the I would highly recommend performing intermittent training, which is a form of interval training. Intermittent training consists of shorts bouts of all out exercise followed by a rest period. You would repeat this over and over throughout the course of the workout. The Fields Sprints workout video is an example of an interval training workout.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology consisted of 8 males performing 20 1-minute intervals at 105% VO2 max with corresponding 2 minute rest periods between intervals. The same 8 males also performed 30 minutes of continuous exercise at 70% VO2 max to allow for comparisons. The results showed a significant increase in the EPOC effect for the interval training (75 calories) versus the continuous running (34.5 calories).

Resistance Training!

So we have pretty much covered everything about the exercise after-burn effect on cardiovascular exercise, but what about strength training?!

Although it is difficult to compare cardio to resistance training because of just the sheer difference of the type of workout and exercise intensity, there have been studies trying to compare them.

In a study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Science Research, the subjects were broken down into 3 groups. One group performed 40 minutes of cycling at 80% of their maximal heart rate. Another group performed 40 minutes of circuit training (50 percent of individuals' maximum lift [1 RM] x 15 repetitions x 4 sets) and the final group performed 40 minutes of heavy resistance lifting (80 to 90 percent of 1 RM x 3-8 repetitions x 3 sets). Heavy resistance training produced the greatest EPOC ( 53 calories) compared with circuit training (51 calories) and cycling (33.5 calories).

So what did we learn from all this? 

To exercise! More important than any of the details of the exercise afterburn is the exercise! Find something you enjoy doing and do it! Above all else, just make sure to exercise and be active. If you really want to maximize your training program and burn the most calories from the exercise after-burn response then I would recommend doing the following:

Tempo Training:Continuous aerobic exercise at a high intensity for half an hour to an hour.

Long, Slow Distance Training:Continuous aerobic exercise at a moderate intensity for an hour.

Split Training:2-4 high-intensity exercise bouts for a period of 15-25 minutes with a 5 minute rest in-between.

Continuous Interval Training:Alternating 3-minute bouts of low-intensity and high-intensity exercise for a period of 30-60 minutes. An example of this would be to walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 3 minutes, then walk for 3 minutes, etc. Or if you are in very good shape, you would jog for 3 minutes, sprint for 3 minutes, jog for 3 minutes, etc.

Supramaximal Interval Training:15-20 of really high intensity exercise (the hardest you can exercise) for a period of 1 minute, with 2- to 5-minute rest periods in-between.

Heavy Resistance Training:2-4 sets, 8-10 exercises, 3-8 reps of 80%-90% of your 1-rep max with 2- to 3-minute rest periods

 Source : Danny Maman

Things I Know About Double-Unders

Skills
double-under practice
WOD: “The Double Russian” (aerobic training)
5 rounds:
20 Russian swings, 16K
20 double-unders
20 Russian step-ups
20 double-unders
My time: 20:13
Cashout Fun
:40 handstand hold

When I ‘graduated’ to double-unders a few months ago, I made a commitment to myself that no matter how tired I was, how uncooperative the rope, how vigorously my ego worried about the clock, I would do every double-under in a workout. There would be no compromise, no “I’ll just do singles on this round, then I’ll go back to double-unders.” See: stubborn, relentless, determined, bull-headed.

I’m ridiculously pleased to announce that on the last round of the WOD, I did all 20 double-unders unbroken, smooth as (very sweaty) silk. But prior to that, my unbroken reps ranged from 2 to 13, depending on when I tripped on, or was viciously whipped by, the rope. This could have been a pretty fast workout: 16kg is a ‘light’ weight for me on swings, and I was a very committed step aerobics aficianado back in the day, so step-ups feel like a sort of homecoming. But double-unders can be a time suck. Unbroken, they swing by fast, but f*cked up double-unders? They’ll slow a girl down. It goes something like this:

• single, single, single –> big breath and…
• whip the rope into double-unders
• trip on the rope / get whipped by the rope
• [pant] X 3 while trying to achieve optimal blend of relaxation and aggression
• single, single, single –> big breath and…
• double-unders
• REPEAT

After completing about 250 double-unders this morning (50 during our skills and 200 during the WOD), I have some observations to share about this particular CrossFit rite-of-passage.

1. Get your hands on the right rope.

I thought the need for a speed rope was just a case of Hothouse Flower Syndrome ([sigh] “I’m delicate and need things just so to succeed.”) But I was wrong. Getting a speed rope – at the right length – changed double-unders from the wistful “I can get them once in a while.” to the cocky “I have double-unders.” We really like this .Speed Rope

 If you invest in your own speed rope, play around with the length;

2. Find that magical place where you’re both aggressive and relaxed.

The day I got my first double-unders was the day I got angry. I was pissed at the rope, at my feet, at my arms, at the rising welts on my shins, at the evil mastermind that decided we should even be attempting to do double-unders in the first place. The angrier I got, the more aggressively I flung that rope and suddenly, vroop!, it had circled under my feet twice.

On my next attempt, when I was happy about that, I tripped. But when I got angry again, I succeeded.

Now I’ve learned how to whip the rope without going to a grouchy place. It’s a far more aggressive movement than I imagined. With singles you can sort of la-la-la the rope around. It’s very chill, like Muhammad Ali slamming his poetry and shuffling his feet. With double-unders, there has to be a lot of force behind the movement, BUT… you also want to keep your shoulders and jumping mechanism relaxed. It’s tricky, but once you get it, you get it.

3. Remember it’s all in the wrist.

Somewhat related to #2, the movement of the rope needs to initiate from your wrist. With your shoulders relaxed in a neutral position and your core tight, you form a solid base from which your wrists can flick the rope. Again, it’s that hinky relationship between relaxed and fired up.

4. Keep your hands slightly in front of your shoulders.

Nick, champion-level double-under-er, shouted out this tip this morning (Thanks, Nick!), and it considerably improved my unbroken-to-broken reps ratio. When you’ve got the “from the wrists” thing working, try to bring your hands slightly forward of your shoulders. With elbows tucked into your sides and palms angled so they’re almost facing each other (instead of directly forward), you have a ballast against which to spin the rope.

5. Get bouncy.

Another tip from Nick: bounce! Most of the time, I have a little hitch in the rhythm of my double-unders. But if I think “bounce!” while I’m doing them, I reach a lightness and steadiness in my jumps that matches the rhythm of the rope… perfect sync.

6. Do not let frustration get the better of you.

This may be the hardest aspect of all. DUs are nasty little f*ckers and sometimes, that rope just refuses to cooperate. THAT is the true challenge of the DU. It’s not whether you can move the rope fast enough, but whether you you can put aside your frustration to learn to move the rope fast enough.

7. Channel the fighting spirit of Muhammad Ali.

I’m of the opinion that there is never a bad time to rely on Ali’s athletic model. He was charming, classy, worked hard, enjoyed his accomplishments, and did a whole lot of jump rope.

Source Melissa "Melicious" Joulwan