By Dr. Mercola
A recent study looked at the role of protein in modulating post-exercise overnight recovery.

The researchers assessed the impact of protein ingestion immediately prior to sleep on digestion, absorption kinetics, and protein metabolism on 16 healthy young males.

The participants were asked to perform resistance exercises at 8pm in the evening.

At 9pm, all participants ate a recovery meal consisting of 20 grams of protein and 60 grams of carbs.

Then, 30 minutes before they went to bed, half of them drank a high-protein beverage. According to the authorsⁱ:
“During sleep casein protein was effectively digested and absorbed resulting in a rapid rise in circulating amino acid levels which were sustained throughout the remainder of the night.

Protein ingestion prior to sleep increased whole-body protein synthesis rates and improved net protein balance…

This is the first study to show that protein ingested immediately prior to sleep is effectively digested and absorbed, thereby stimulating muscle protein synthesis and improving whole-body protein balance during post-exercise, overnight recovery.”

What and When You Eat After Your Workout Matters

Your post-workout meal can influence the overall health effects exercise has on your body, so what to eat after your workout is an important consideration.

For example, previous research has shown that eating fewer carbohydrates after exercise can enhance your insulin sensitivity, compared to simply reducing calorie intakeⁱⁱ. As I’ve explained on countless occasions, optimizing your insulin sensitivity is key for maintaining good health.

Generally speaking, after exercise your body is nitrogen-poor and your muscles have been broken down. Providing your body with the correct nutrients after your workout is therefore crucial to stop the catabolic process in your muscle and shift the recycling process toward repair and growth. If you fail to feed your muscle at the right time after exercise, the catabolic process will go too far and can potentially damage your muscle. Amino acids from high quality animal proteins, along with carbohydrates from vegetables (not grains) are essential for this process.

Good sources of animal protein include:

• Whey protein (minimally processed, and derived from organic, grass-fed, non-hormonally treated cows)
• Humanely raised, free-range chicken
• Organic eggs from pastured hens
• Grass-fed beef

Beneficial sources of carbohydrates include:

• Virtually any vegetable (limiting carrots and beets, which are high in sugar)
• Dark green, leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale or Swiss chard
• Low fructose fruits like lemon, limes, passion fruit, apricots, plums, cantaloupe, and raspberries. Avoid high fructose fruits like apples, watermelons and pears

It’s important to combine a quality protein with a veggie-type carb in every meal, no matter whether it’s a resistance training day, an interval cardio day, or a non-workout day. However, after strength training (as opposed to cardio training), your body tends to need more rapidly absorbed nutrients and a higher glycemic (fast released, starchy) carbohydrate. Another slight difference between interval cardio and strength training days is the timing of your meal.

• After cardio, you want to wait 45-60 minutes, and then consume a high-quality protein (whole food) and vegetable-type carbohydrate. (An example would be a spinach salad and some chicken, or high quality whey protein like Miracle Whey).
• After a resistance workout (muscle-building day), the ideal time to consume your post-workout meal is 15-30 minutes after finishing your session, in order to help repair your damaged muscles.

Whey Protein – The IDEAL Fitness Food

The high protein drink half of the participants received in the featured study was based on casein, a milk protein. But whey protein, which is also derived from milk, is considered the gold standard of protein by many, and is one of the best types of foods you can consume before and after exercise.

In a previous study, researchers set out to find which milk protein was the best for building up muscle protein. Three groups of older men were fed a meal-like amount of whey, casein, and casein hydrolysate proteins. Their protein ingestion was combined with an intravenous tracer, used to assess digestion and absorption kinetics, and to calculate their muscle synthesis rates.

According to the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last yearⁱⁱⁱ:
“Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. This effect is attributed to a combination of whey’s faster digestion and absorption kinetics and higher leucine content.”
One of the reasons whey protein works so well is that it assimilates very quickly, so the protein will get to your muscles within 10-15 minutes of swallowing it, supplying them with the right food at the right time. Another study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise showed the amino acids found in high quality whey protein also activate certain cellular mechanisms, including a mechanism called mTORC-1, which in turn promote muscle protein synthesis, boost thyroid, and also protect against declining testosterone levels after exercise^iv.

Whey protein earns its title as the perfect “fitness food” as it contains not only high quality protein, but also extremely high amounts of leucine, which is particularly important for muscle growth and repair.

Leucine – A Powerful Muscle Builder

Leucine is part of branched-chain amino acid that serves multiple functions in your body, one of which is signaling the mTOR (Mammalian Target of Rapamycin) mechanism, to increase protein synthesis and builds your muscle. However, according to fitness expert Ori Hofmekler, you need VERY HIGH amounts of leucine to reap the optimal effect – definitely far more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) – because most of it gets used up as a building block rather than an anabolic agent.

The highest concentrations of leucine are found in dairy products; particularly whey protein.

Be aware that taking leucine as a free form amino acid supplement can be counterproductive and wrought with side effects. For example, intravenous administration of free form leucine has shown to cause severe hyperglycemic reactions and insulin resistance. Hence, to get the benefits without the side effects, make sure you get your leucine from food only.

The typical requirement for leucine is 1-3 grams daily. However, to optimize its anabolic pathway, you need as much as 8-16 grams of leucine daily. The following chart presents leucine content in common foods. As you will see, to obtain the minimum eight gram leucine requirement for anabolic purposes, you’d have to consume a pound and a half of chicken, for example, or about 16 eggs! Most would agree that’s just not feasible. However, you only need three ounces of high-quality whey to reach the eight gram requirement, making it an obvious choice.

Leucine Content in food / per 100g

Avoid Sugar Before, During and After Exercise!

Besides knowing which foods will help you optimize your exercise efforts, you also want to pay careful attention to what NOT to eat. To maximize the benefits of exercise, including weight loss benefits, you’ll want to carefully avoid:

• Fruit juices
• Energy drinks
• Sports drinks
• Most energy bars
• Many “healthy” drinks like Vitamin Water

These, and virtually all other processed foods and beverages, contain high amounts of sugar, including fructose, which will effectively sabotage your efforts and nullify many of the benefits of exercise. Remember, 80 percent of the benefits you reap from a healthy lifestyle comes from you diet, and the remaining 20 percent from exercise. Exercise cannot counteract the harmful effects of a high-fructose diet.

Fructose fools your metabolism and essentially tricks your body into gaining weight by turning off your body’s appetite-control system. It also rapidly leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity (“beer belly”), decreased HDL, increased LDL, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure — i.e., classic metabolic syndrome.

Additionally, consuming fructose, including that from fruit juices, within two hours of a high-intensity workout will decimate your natural human growth hormone (HGH) production – a MAJOR benefit of interval training.

You may be aware that one of my top recommended forms of exercise are high-intensity interval exercises, which are an integral part of my Peak Fitness program. Interval training effectively boosts your body’s natural production of HGH, which is a vital hormone that is key for physical strength, health and longevity. However, as previously reported by HGH Magazine^v and fitness expert Phil Campbell^vi, author of Ready, Set, Go!, avoiding fructose is vital for making this type of exercise work.

Consuming fructose will increase production of the hormone somatostatin, a primary purpose of which is to inhibit the production of HGH. Hence:
“A high sugar meal after working out, or even a recovery drink (containing high sugar) after working out, will stop the benefits of exercise induced HGH. You can work out for hours, then eat a high sugar candy bar or have a high sugar energy drink, and this will shut down the synergistic benefits of HGH,” HGH Magazine writes.
Granted, there is a small group of elite and highly competitive athletes for whom increasing growth hormone is not a primary goal. For these athletes, consuming some carbs, preferably dextrose-based, in the recovery period is probably a good idea to improve their recovery time and will help to maximize their athletic performance. Since they’re competing, they’re less likely to be concerned about long-term growth hormone levels. But for most others, increasing HGH through high intensity interval exercise is an important factor for optimizing health, so most of my readers will want to heed to the sugar and juice restriction.

Interestingly, it is virtually impossible to simultaneously optimize for longevity and fitness and/or fertility. If you are seeking to get pregnant or compete you will need slightly higher body fat stores to be in the optimal range. If you are not concerned about fertility or athletic performance, then lower carbs and lower percentage of body fat would be a more appropriate goal.

You also want to avoid sugar and grain carbs at least 90 minutes before going to bed in order to optimize night-time HGH production – a factor that the featured study does not address at all, but that is well worth taking into account. Part of the equation is that insulin and HGH are adversarial hormones – carbs will trigger insulin secretion, which basically nullifies HGH release.
References:

• ⁱ Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise February 9, 2012 [Epub ahead of print]
• ⁱⁱ Journal of Applied Physiology, 2010 Mar;108(3):554-60,
• ⁱⁱⁱ Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2011: 93(5); 997-1005,
• ^iv Timing Protein Intake Increases Energy Expenditure 24 h after Resistance Training, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, May 2010: 42(5); 998-1003
• ^v 2 Habits That Stop Your Natural HGH Production, HGH Magazine
• ^vi Limiting Refined Sugar After Workouts, Phil Campbell, Howtobefit.com,

By Dr. Mercola

The most recent research shows that relatively short bursts of intense exercise—even if done only a total of a few minutes each week—can deliver many of the health- and fitness benefits you get from doing hours of conventional exercise.

By doing just three minutes of High Intensity Training (HIT) a week for four weeks, you could see significant changes in important health indices.

At some research centers, participants were able to improve their insulin sensitivity an average of 24 percent with as little as three minutes of HIT per week.

BBC News reportsⁱ :

“So how does it work? …  [P]art of the explanation is (probably) that HIT uses far more of your muscle tissue than classic aerobic exercise. 

When you do HIT, you are using not just the leg muscles, but also the upper body including arms and shoulders, so that 80 percent of the body’s muscle cells are activated, compared to 20-40 percent for walking or moderate intensity jogging or cycling.”

But there’s an important caveat…

Just how well high intensity training actually works may in large part depend on your genetic makeup.

Your Genes May Determine How Little Exercise You Need

We often tend to believe that exercise will affect most people in similar ways. But that may be an oversimplification—at least when it comes to how little exercise you can get away with and still maintain good health. In the featured article, Michael Mosley offers the following explanation:

“The fact is that people respond to exercise in very different ways. In one international studyⁱⁱ 1,000 people were asked to exercise four hours a week for 20 weeks. Their aerobic fitness was measured before and after starting this regime and the results were striking. Although 15 percent of people made huge strides (so-called “super-responders”), 20 percent showed no real improvement at all (“non-responders”).

There is no suggestion that the non-responders weren’t exercising properly, it was simply that the exercise they were doing was not making them any aerobically fitter. Jamie [Timmons. Professor of ageing biology at Birmingham University] and his collaborators investigated the reasons for these variations and discovered that much of the difference could be traced to a small number of genesⁱⁱⁱ .  On the basis of this finding they have developed a genetic test to predict who is likely to be a responder, and who is not.”

I thought that the recent report in the BBC News was an interesting confirmation of the Peak Fitness approach I have been advocating for some time now. It is important not to get caught up in the non-responder element of the report as it is was related to aerobic fitness, which we now realize is far less important than anaerobic fitness. It is safe to assume that everyone, including you, requires the metabolic challenge to stay healthy and avoid disease. While some people may actually get more aerobically fit than others, virtually everyone seems to benefit if the exercises are done properly.

Less than One Hour a Month Can Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity by Nearly 25 Percent

Mosley tested HIT for himself, and reveals the results in the featured article. He performed the exercises on a stationary bike. After warming up, he cycled “all-out” for 20 seconds, rested for a couple of minutes, and then gave it his all for another 20 seconds. Total time; just a few minutes!  After four weeks—which amounted to a grand total of 12 minutes of intense exercise and 36 minutes of relaxed pedaling—Mosley’s insulin sensitivity had improved a respectable 24 percent. His aerobic fitness, however, remained unchanged.

He writes:

“It turns out that the genetic test they had done on me had suggested I was a non-responder and however much exercise I had done, and of whatever form, my aerobic fitness would not have improved. My dreams of winning Olympic gold ended there and then. I will continue doing HIT because I can see the benefits. It won’t suit everyone, because although it is short, it is extremely intense.”

This truly is amazing, and while aerobic fitness is indeed important, improving and maintaining good insulin sensitivity is perhaps one of the most important aspects of optimal health. Previous research has demonstrated that 20 minutes of high intensity training, two to three times a week, can yield greater results than slow and steady conventional aerobics done five times a week. But the fact that you can improve your insulin sensitivity by nearly 25 percent with a time investment of less than ONE HOUR A MONTH really should send people straight to the gym en masse…

How to Maximize the Health Benefits of  Peak Fitness Training

However, you don’t need a gym to perform high intensity interval exercises. It can be performed with virtually any type of exercise; with or without equipment. You can just as easily perform interval training by walking or running outdoors as you can using a recumbent bike or an elliptical machine.

While it’s theoretically possible to reap valuable results with as little as three minutes once a week, it might be more beneficial doing them two or three times a week for a total of four minutes of intense exertion, especially if you are not doing strength training.. You do not need to do them more often than that however. In fact, doing it more frequently than two or three times a week can be counterproductive, as your body needs to recover between sessions.

I personally do Peak Fitness on an elliptical once a week (see below) but currently, twice a week, I am doing a fairly intense strength training workout.  If I feel that I have plenty of energy and can complete the workout, then I continue in that frequency, but if I get tired and poop out during the session, I know it is time for me to increase my recovery time. In that case, I decrease strength training to once a week and put more time in on the Power Plate.

If you want to do more, focus on making sure you’re really pushing yourself as hard as you can during those two or three weekly sessions, rather than increasing the frequency. Intensity is KEY for reaping all the benefits interval training can offer. To perform it correctly, you’ll want to raise your heart rate to your anaerobic threshold, and to do that, you have to give it your all for those 20 to 30 second intervals.  Here’s a summary of what a typical interval routine might look like using an elliptical:

• Warm up for three minutes
• Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should be gasping for breath and feel like you couldn’t possibly go on another few seconds. It is better to use lower resistance and higher repetitions to increase your heart rate
• Recover for 90 seconds, still moving, but at slower pace and decreased resistance
• Repeat the high intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times

When you’re first starting out, depending on your level of fitness, you may only be able to do two or three repetitions of the high intensity intervals. As you get fitter, just keep adding repetitions until you’re doing eight during your 20 minute session. You will notice that the Peak Fitness has 30 seconds rather than 20 and goes for 8 sessions so it is a harder workout. But, as the article states, if you do less, you will still get benefits. They just may not be as dramatic as with the Peak Fitness approach.

Even Brief Exercise Produces Genetic Changes

The featured findings also support recent research published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which shows that when healthy but inactive people exercise intensely, even if the exercise is brief, it produces an immediate change in their DNA^iv . While the underlying genetic code in the muscle remains unchanged, exercise causes important structural and chemical changes to the DNA molecules within the muscles, and this contraction-induced gene activation appears to be early events leading to the genetic reprogramming of muscle for strength, and to the structural and metabolic benefits of exercise.

Several of the genes affected by an acute bout of exercise are genes involved in fat metabolism. Specifically, the study suggests that when you exercise, your body almost immediately experiences genetic activation that increases the production of fat-busting proteins. Previous studies have identified and measured a wide variety of biochemical changes that occur during exercise. More than 20 different metabolites^v are affected by exercise, including compounds that help you burn calories and fat, and compounds that help stabilize your blood sugar. These biochemical changes create a positive feedback loop.

As mentioned earlier, one of the key health benefits of exercise is that it helps normalize your glucose and insulin levels by optimizing insulin receptor sensitivity. This is perhaps the most important factor for optimizing your overall health and preventing chronic disease.

Aim for a Well-Rounded Fitness Program

While high intensity interval exercises accomplish greater benefits in a fraction of the time compared to slow, endurance-type exercises like jogging, I do not recommend limiting yourself to a few minutes of exercise per week. If that’s all you have for now, then by all means, do what you can. But ideally, to truly optimize your health, you’ll want to strive for a varied and well-rounded fitness program that incorporates other types of exercise as well. Without variety, your body will quickly adapt. As a general rule, as soon as an exercise becomes easy to complete, you need to increase the intensity and/or try another exercise to keep challenging your body.

I recommend incorporating the following types of exercise into your program:

1. Interval (Anaerobic) Training: This is when you alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods.
2. Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you’re really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program. You can also “up” the intensity by slowing it down. For more information about using super slow weight training as a form of high intensity interval exercise, please see my interview with Dr. Doug McGuff.
3. Core Exercises: Your body has 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles provides the foundation for movement throughout your entire body, and strengthening them can help protect and support your back, make your spine and body less prone to injury and help you gain greater balance and stability. You need enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough that this can be done in fewer than 12 repetitions, yet light enough to do a minimum of four repetitions. It is also important NOT to exercise the same muscle groups every day. They need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild. Exercise programs like Pilates and yoga are also great for strengthening your core muscles, as are specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.
4. Stretching: My favorite type of stretching is active isolated stretches developed by Aaron Mattes. With Active Isolated Stretching, you hold each stretch for only two seconds, which works with your body’s natural physiological makeup to improve circulation and increase the elasticity of muscle joints. This technique also allows your body to repair itself and prepare for daily activity. You can also use devices like the Power Plate to help you stretch.

References:

• ⁱ BBC News February 28, 2012
• ⁱⁱ The HERITAGE Family study
• ⁱⁱⁱ Journal of Applied Physiology June 2010 vol. 108 no. 6 1487-1496
• ^iv Cell Metabolism March 7, 2012: 15(3);405-411
• ^v Science Translational Medicine May 26, 2010; 2(33):33ra37

Did you know that working out just 20 minutes using interval exercise may provide many of the same benefits of much longer workouts done in conventional “long-duration” style?

A growing body of research shows you may not need to spend as much time exercising as you think — provided that you are willing to truly put in some effort when you do.

Most recently, a Canadian research team recently gathered several groups of volunteers, including sedentary but generally healthy middle-aged men and women, and patients of a similar age who had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.¹

The participants were asked to undertake a program of cycling intervals — repeated short bursts of strenuous activity, divided by rest periods.

According to the New York Times²:
“Most of us have heard of intervals, or repeated, short, sharp bursts of strenuous activity, interspersed with rest periods.

Almost all competitive athletes strategically employ a session or two of interval training every week to improve their speed and endurance.

But the Canadian researchers were not asking their volunteers to sprinkle a few interval sessions into exercise routines.

Instead, the researchers wanted the groups to exercise exclusively with intervals.”
After several weeks on the program, both the unfit volunteers and the cardiac patients showed significant improvements in their health and fitness. Most remarkably, the cardiac patients showed “significant improvements” in both heart and blood vessel functioning. And, contrary to what popular belief might dictate, the intense exercises did not cause any heart problems for any of the cardiac patients. The belief is that the brevity of the exercise helps insulate your heart from the intensity.

How Intense is “High Intensity” Training?

The key to make interval training work is intensity. The cycling program developed for the out of shape and ill patients in the featured study³ was a gentler version of the interval training typically used, when you really go all out to reach your maximum heart rate. In this modified routine, the participants did one minute of strenuous effort, raising their heart rate to about 90 percent of their maximum, followed by one minute of recovery.

These intervals were repeated 10 times for a 20 minute long workout.

Your maximum heart rate can be roughly calculated as 220 minus your age. However, to measure the intensity of your effort, you really need a heart rate monitor. It’s nearly impossible to accurately measure your heart rate manually when it is above 150. And accuracy is important. There’s a big difference between a heart rate of 170 and 174 (or 160 and 164 if you are over 50). Once you reach your maximum heart rate you may feel a bit light headed and, of course, VERY short of breath. But your body catches up quite rapidly and in about 30-60 seconds you will start to feel much better. Most people feel tired but great once they’re done.

For the past couple of years, I’ve heavily promoted high intensity interval training as a key strategy for improving your health, boosting weight loss, promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production, and improving strength and stamina. I’ve been doing it myself since April 2010, after meeting fitness expert Phil Campbell (author of Ready Set Go), so I can also vouch for its effectiveness from personal experience.

Summary of my Interval Training Program

The interval program created by Phil Campbell also takes about 20 minutes, but here you’ll want to push your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold during the exertion portion. The silver lining is that the actual sprinting totals a mere 4 minutes instead of 10! Here’s a summary of what a typical interval routine might look like (for a full demonstration, see the video below):

1. Warm up for three minutes
2. Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should be gasping for breath and feel like you couldn’t possibly go on another few seconds
3. Recover for 90 seconds, still moving, but at slower pace and decreased resistance
4. Repeat the high intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times, for a total of 8 repetitions

By the end of your 30 second period you will want to reach these markers:

• It will be relatively hard to breathe and talk because you are in oxygen debt
• You will start to sweat. Typically this occurs in the second or third repetition unless you have a thyroid issue and don’t sweat much normally.
• Your body temperature will rise
• Lactic acid increases and you will feel a muscle “burn”

While you may need to slowly work your way up to this point, ultimately you want to exercise vigorously enough to reach your anaerobic threshold as this is where the “magic” happens that will trigger your growth hormone (HGH) release. HGH, also known as “the fitness hormone,” accounts for many of the health benefits of interval training.

But be mindful of your current fitness level and don’t overdo it when you first start out. Also keep in mind that there’s no “magical” speed here. It’s entirely individual, based on your current level of fitness. Some may reach their anabolic threshold by walking at a quick pace, while others may need to perform a mad-dash to get the same effect.

The Many Health Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training

Once you engage in these high-int ensity exercises two to three times a week, most people notice the following benefits:

The remarkable effectiveness of interval training makes logical sense when you consider that this type of exertion mimics how our ancestors lived. This is also how animals and young children behave naturally (long-duration exercise really isn’t “natural”). By exercising in short bursts, followed by periods of recovery, you recreate exactly what your body needs for optimum health, and that includes the production of growth hormones, the burning of excess body fat, and improved cardiovascular health and stamina.

More Supporting Evidence

In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Physiology, Canadian researchers compared the effects of steady versus interval cycling. Active but untrained young men and women were divided into two groups:

• The interval training group performed four to six repeats of 30-second all-out effort, with 4 ½ minutes of recovery between repeats, three days a week
• The conventional cardio group cycled continuously for 40-60 minutes, five days a week

After six weeks, the leg muscles of those in the interval training group exhibited similar physiological changes as seen in those who performed multiple, hour-long sessions each week of steady cycling⁴. The main difference? Those performing interval training spent just 1.5 hours per week in the gym, compared to about 4.5-5 hours for the conventional group.

Researchers have also concluded that interval training has a significantly beneficial impact on insulin sensitivity. In a study published last year, unfit but otherwise healthy middle-aged adults were able to improve their insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation after just two weeks of interval training (three sessions per week)⁵. A follow-up study of the featured study also found that interval training positively impacted insulin sensitivity. In fact, the study involved people with full-blown type 2 diabetes, and just ONE interval training session was able to improve blood sugar regulation for the next 24 hours⁶.

Interval Training is Part of a Balanced Exercise Routine

Exercise is one of the most important tools that you can implement to gain optimal health, but as great as it is, it’s still important to include a variety of activities. Otherwise, your body will quickly adapt to your program, and whenever exercise becomes easy to complete, it’s a sign you need to work a little harder and give your body a new challenge. So when you’re planning your exercise routine, make sure to incorporates the following types of exercise:

• Aerobic: Jogging, using an elliptical machine, and walking fast are all examples of aerobic exercise. As you get your heart pumping, the amount of oxygen in your blood improves, and endorphins, which act as natural painkillers, increase. Meanwhile, aerobic exercise activates your immune system, helps your heart pump blood more efficiently, and increases your stamina over time.
• Interval (Anaerobic) Training: Again, this is when you alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods.
• Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you’re really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program.

Here you also have the option of including Super Slow Weight Training, which will give you many of the same health benefits as interval training on a recumbent bike, for example. The only difference is you’re doing it with weights. For more information about this, please see my interview with Dr. Doug McGuff. Another benefit of super-slow weight training that makes it ideal for virtually everyone, regardless of age or fitness level, is its safety, as it actively prevents you from accidentally harming your joints or suffering repetitive use injury.

• Core Exercises: Your body has 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles provides the foundation for movement throughout your entire body, and strengthening them can help protect and support your back, make your spine and body less prone to injury and help you gain greater balance and stability.

You need enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough that this can be done in fewer than 12 repetitions, yet light enough to do a minimum of four repetitions. It is also important NOT to exercise the same muscle groups every day. They need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild.

Exercise programs like Pilates and yoga are great for strengthening your core muscles, as are specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.

• Stretching: My favorite type of stretching is Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) developed by Aaron Mattes. With AIS, you hold each stretch for only two seconds, which works with your body’s natural physiological makeup to improve circulation and increase the elasticity of muscle joints. This technique also allows your body to repair itself and prepare for daily activity.

References:

• ¹ Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high-intensity interval training in health and disease, The Journal of Physiology, 2012 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print]
• ² New York Times February 29, 2012
• ³ Physiological adaptations to low-volume, high-intensity interval training in health and disease, The Journal of Physiology, 2012 Jan 30. [Epub ahead of print]
• ⁴ Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans, Journal of Physiology, 2008 Jan 1;586(1):151-60
• ⁵ Low-volume interval training improves muscle oxidative capacity in sedentary adults, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2011 Oct;43(10):1849-56
• ⁶ Acute high-intensity interval exercise reduces the postprandial glucose response and prevalence of hyperglycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes, Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 2012 Jan 23 [Epub ahead of print]

This question comes up a lot from my female clients. And the answer is, no, most likely you will not.

In fact, gaining more muscle through resistance exercises is an integral part of any well rounded fitness / fat loss program.

Having more muscle on your frame is the best “fat burning friend” that you will ever have.

Below are some advantages to incorporating resistance training (lifting weights) into your fitness / fat loss routine, along with a sound nutrition program, a strong positive mindset, and a social support plan.

Muscle is Five Times More Dense Than Fat

I can understand why many women may be reluctant to start lifting weights.

You may have visions of steroid-bloated female bodybuilders with veins running through their biceps and chests.

Of course, there is that extreme, but keep in mind those women are out of balance.

That kind of build is NOT the typical result of weight lifting, and 99 percent of women simply do not have the level of natural testosterone to gain muscle like men.

It is a common misconception that muscle weighs more than fat. In reality, it’s simply a matter of density.

They take up different amounts of space.

Conversely, a pound of fat takes up five times more space on your body than muscle, which means you can gain a pound of muscle and lose a pound of fat, and while your weight stays the same, you will actually shrink in size, and get that toned look you are looking for.

Muscle is five times more dense than fat, meaning it takes up five times less space on your frame, pound for pound.

Burn More Calories 24 hours a Day / 7 Days Per Week

Another great advantage to gaining muscle through resistance training is that you burn more calories.

Why?

Because muscle is anabolic and demands energy just to sit on your frame – even when you sleep!. For every pound of muscle that you gain in the future, your body will burn 50-70 calories more per day. That means, if you add 10 lbs. of muscle through a sensible fitness program (which is very possible), you will burn 500 – 700 calories more per day. And burning more calories leads to shedding excess fat.

How Weight Lifting Can Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes and Heart Disease

Remember, shedding excess fat is about more than just looks. Your body has two types of fat: visceral and subcutaneous. Subcutaneous fat is found just under your skin, and is the type that causes dimpling and cellulite. Visceral fat, on the other hand, shows up in your abdomen and surrounds your vital organs including your liver, heart and muscles.

Visceral fat has been linked to serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke, among many other chronic diseases.

If you want to reduce your risk of heart disease (and a host of other chronic diseases), the key is to keep your inflammation levels low, and avoid gaining visceral fat in your body.

Exercise is a critical component for this, as it both lowers inflammation in your body, and is one of the best weapons to fight visceral fat. For example, one study found that volunteers who did not exercise had an 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat after eight months, while those who exercised the most LOST over 8 percent of their visceral fat during that time. So, since increasing muscle-mass puts your calorie burning into overdrive, which reduces fat stores, weight lifting is an essential part of a healthy fitness routine.

One of the Best Ways to Fight Osteoporosis

Your bones are actually very porous and soft, and as you get older, your bones can easily become brittle and less dense. Especially if you are inactive. When you engage in resistance training you put more tension on your muscles, which in turn puts more pressure on your bones. In addition, as you build more muscle, and make the muscle that you already have stronger, you also put more constant pressure on your bones.

Weight-bearing exercise is one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis. The last thing you want to consider is to take a drug to improve your bone density, as without question, that is more likely to cause long-term harm than benefit.

I have had many clients who have amazed their doctors by reversing osteoporosis and osteopenia by lifting weights a couple times per week. So when it comes to fighting osteoporosis, stay off the meds and incorporate weight-bearing exercises instead. For example, a walking lunge exercise is a great way to build bone density in your hips, even without any additional weights.

You Have the Ability to Sculpt Your Physique

It’s important to realize the difference between simple weight loss and the body sculpting so many are trying to achieve. Body sculpting is not possible with cardio exercise only. For example, if you start out with a pear shaped figure and lose weight by calorie restriction and/or cardio work alone, you will simply end up with a smaller pear shape. For many, this is not enough.

However, by including weight training in you program, you have the ability to literally reshape your shoulders, buns, arms, back, and chest. You are the sculptor and can create virtually any changes you so desire.

But don’t think that the benefits of resistance training are limited to mere cosmetic adjustments — although most will agree it does feel great to look good in your birthday suit. You see, the intensity of your resistance training will achieve a number of beneficial changes on the molecular, enzymatic, hormonal, and chemical level, which will help slow down (and many cases stop) many of the diseases caused by a sedentary lifestyle, including:

1. Metabolic syndrome
2. Insulin sensitivity and resistance
3. Diabetes
4. Auto immune diseases

Optimal health is dependent on an active lifestyle; eating fresh, whole foods, avoiding as many processed foods as possible, and addressing the stress in your life. Ignoring any of these basic tenets of health will eventually lead to a decline in health and any number of diseases. So start moving, and do remember to include strength training in your fitness / fat loss program. It is the number one way for you to remain strong, young, and independent well into old age.