Weight Loss and Strength Training

If you think weight loss is as easy as picking the right diet or aerobics class, think again. Fewer than 10% of all dieters maintain any of their weight loss for more than a year. Diets that focus solely on calorie restriction don’t account for the muscle lost (up to 25%) This loss of muscle will lower your RMR (resting metabolic rate) and will then decrease the amount of calories burned daily. RMR accounts for up to 75% of your daily energy needs; a moderate increase or decrease can affect your chances for long term success in weight loss. Every pound of muscle will burn about 35 extra calories per day. This may not seem like much, but this translates into an extra 4 pounds of fat lost every year! A healthy diet is important for everyone’s long term health goals, but it is not the only component.

Aerobic exercise is important for everyone’s health, and to their waistline. An hour of moderate aerobic activity will burn 300-400 calories. However, aerobic exercise does not increase muscle tissue. Excessive aerobic activity can actually result in the loss of muscle tissue. This can lead to a smaller, but less toned waistline. This is not to say that aerobic exercise is not a vital tool towards weight loss, but aerobic exercise alone is not enough.

Most adults lose about ½ pound of muscle each year from disuse. This loss over time means a slowing of the body’s RMR. Because this is a fairly slow (and unnoticeable) process, most people continue to eat the same amounts of food. Since calories will not be burned as efficiently as muscle mass is lost, one’s body weight may remain steady, but the waistline will grow as these calories are stored as fat. Research shows that strength training offers greater long-term calorie burning effects than aerobic exercise and/or diet alone. A consistent 2 hours per week of strength training should be introduced to everyone’s routine to maximize one’s weight loss efforts. Note that this should complement rather than replace a healthy diet and aerobic exercise.

Other positives of strength training:

• Helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels; heightens your insulin sensitivity to keep blood sugar levels normal, improves circulation.
• Improves bone mass. One out of every two women will develop osteoporosis by the age of 55. Studies prove that strength training can actually improve bone density, not just slow down the effects of aging.
• Improve recovery from illness. Strength training has proven to significantly reduce the effects of depression, fatigue, and stress, as well as common illnesses.
• Improve your everyday lifestyle. Strength training helps keep the body strong and young, allowing for a more active lifestyle even at advanced ages.

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
  First of all, it is important to know what your overall fitness and health goal is before designing a strength program for any body part, especially the mid-section.  For overall fitness, it is smartest to treat your abdominal muscles as you would any other muscle group.  The tried and true guidelines for most exercise programs is to work specific muscles to fatigue within a 30-60 second set time limit (intensity and duration,) while giving the worked muscle group at least 24-48 hours of rest (frequency) before working it again.  The amount of sets you do in a given workout (frequency again) can vary from as little as 4 sets to up to 12 for the average workout.  The science behind these theories is sound.  While exercising, pushing your body significantly past the 60 second mark without fatigue generally incorporates aerobic energy, thereby not stressing the muscles most efficiently.  And rest is necessary so that your body can properly rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down.  Additionally, you want to be at 100% energy levels for your next workout!

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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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