Exercise – what is the best method?

Vertical stripes are more slimming.

Exercise! This is an area of current ‘weakness’ in my life. Excuse the pun! LOL.

Regular readers will know that I am on the Strip That Fat Diet System. More of my articles about weight loss can be found here. One aspect of the is Strip That Fat Diet System balanced exercise.

Readers of my articles on weight loss will know that my exercise options are limited to walking, a bit of cycling and dancing. Due to the excessive heat here during summer on the Gold Coast, in Queensland, Australia (a sub tropical region) and a skin allergy brought on by medication I have not done much in recent months. This situation is unacceptable and my wife has been researching exercise programs with a focus on finding a method which is very balanced and achieves excellent results.

My wife received the information below in subscription newsletters from Dr. Al Sears and has collated some of his material for your reference. You can check out his website here for even more detail about his PACE program.

His theory is logical and makes perfect sense as his, and other studies, have clearly shown. I will be starting the PACE program soon and will keep you updated with my progress. A key aspect is that I can do it inside, in air conditioned comfort. The PACE program is time efficient* (*progress is significant for lower time invested compared to other exercise methods) and unlike other cardiovascular exercise programs; the PACE program strengthens the heart and lungs, which therefore increases their capacity to work more efficiently. For some reason I especially like the ‘time efficient’ aspect! Smile.

I am very impressed with what I have read so far; whilst not being a perfectionist, I do like to use leading methods, products and services in order to achieve a goal.

Beyond Aerobics – Your Native Fat Burner

Back in the late 1960s, Dr. Kenneth Cooper published Aerobics as the “perfect” way to “train” your heart. He thought that medium intensity aerobic exercise practiced three or four times a week was all you needed for heart health.

Today, we know the reality is different. A recent study by Harvard researchers shows that those who do short-duration, high-intensity workouts reduce their risk of heart disease by 100 percent more than those who practice aerobic exercise.^[1]

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that men and women who exercised at a higher intensity had lower blood pressure, lower triglycerides (blood fat), higher HDL (good cholesterol) and less body fat.^[2]

What’s more, medium intensity does not train your “high-energy output system” – your ability to get extra power fast. And that’s exactly what we’re missing in our modern world.

Forget Aerobics – Discover Your REAL Fat-Burning Zone

A few years ago, a patient of mine – BP – came to me saying that his cardiologist told him to never exceed his “aerobic threshold” when he exercised. But that’s exactly what you need to do. By exceeding your aerobic capacity, you generate real heart and lung strength.

To better understand what your aerobic threshold is, we need to take a closer look at metabolism…

Aerobic means “with oxygen.” So your aerobic metabolism combines oxygen with carbs, fats and proteins to make energy. Because walking is not a strenuous activity, you have plenty of oxygen available to make more and more energy. Using this model, you could walk for hours and not get too tired.

Jogging is a typical aerobic exercise because it can be sustained with oxygen metabolism (aerobic metabolism). But what happens when your body can’t get enough oxygen from aerobic metabolism alone?

To answer that, let’s say you start sprinting. You can’t sustain that high output with oxygen alone. That’s the point at which the anaerobic system starts. This is also known as crossing your aerobic threshold.

Anaerobic means “without oxygen.” This system converts carbs – and some fats – into energy without using any oxygen at all. This will sustain you as you sprint. But obviously, you can’t run at your peak output for very long.

When you pant after the exercise you’ve created an oxygen debt. This occurs when you ask your lungs for more oxygen than they can supply at that moment – like when you’re sprinting.

Understanding when the anaerobic system kicks in is critical. When you’re using your anaerobic system, you are training your high-energy output system.

When this happens, you are successfully building up reserve capacity in your heart, expanding your lung volume, triggering the production of growth hormone and melting away fat.

And all these years, doctors, trainers and fitness “gurus” have been telling you to never cross that aerobic threshold!

But let’s take this a step further…And this is the big misunderstanding that I want to set straight: Aerobic and anaerobic can only be used to describe metabolism. Aerobic and anaerobic shouldn’t be applied to exercise. This is where modern exercise science has steered us in the wrong direction. It’s possible for your cells to make energy without oxygen – but it’s impossible for you to exercise without oxygen.

In essence, there’s no such thing as anaerobic exercise. When you’re sprinting, your body will start its anaerobic metabolism, but you are still breathing – still using oxygen. In fact, when your anaerobic system kicks in, your aerobic system is still functioning.One does not replace the other.

You either go at a rate you can sustain with oxygen or you exceed that rate in which case you use both energy systems.

It’s more appropriate to say that you’ve crossed over into your supra-aerobic zone.

By pushing yourself into your supra-aerobic zone, you’re going to increase your ability to get high energy fast. This strengthens your heart, lungs and muscles.

Melt Away Extra Fat in Just 12 Minutes a Day

Remember…aerobic exercise is low to medium output held for an extended period. Supra-aerobic exercise is high output, but short in duration. Why is this important? For one thing, it restores an element of your native environment.

Our ancestors lived in a world where their food fought back. Predators attacked without notice. They had to run or fight – fast and hard. These short bursts of high-output activity fine tuned our ancient ancestors and kept them fit. We still have the same physiology yet have lost that kind of challenge.

To move your workout into the anaerobic range, the key feature is this: Create an “oxygen debt” as I described earlier. Simply exercise at a pace you can’t sustain for more than a short period. Ask your lungs for more oxygen than they can provide.

The difference between the oxygen you need and the oxygen you get is your oxygen debt. This will cause you to pant and continue to breathe hard even after you’ve stopped the exertion until you replace the oxygen you’re lacking.

Here’s another example: Let’s say you pedal as fast as you can on a bike for 15 seconds. When you stop, you continue to pant. This is the kind of high-output challenge you can’t sustain for very long. You have reached a supra-aerobic zone. This is very different from doing an aerobic workout for 45 minutes.

Let me tell you about a simple study I did on a couple of young women. They are identical twins. One twin followed my PACE program. It’s based on alternating periods of exertion and recovery for about 10 minutes a day. The other followed a traditional aerobic exercise program. I tracked their progress over sixteen weeks.

At the end of the study, the twin doing interval training lost 18 pounds of fat and increased her muscle mass by 8 pounds. The twin doing long bouts of aerobic exercise lost only 7 pounds of fat and actually lost 2 pounds of muscle mass. By the end of the study, the twin using my PACE program had much better muscle tone, and an overall healthier look. The amount of time she spent working out was about one fifth that as the other twin.

My study isn’t the only one that shows aerobic exercise is a dismal failure when it comes to weight loss. Researchers at George Washing University looked closely at how well diet, aerobic exercise, and dieting combined with aerobics work to help you lose weight.

These researchers analyzed 25 years worth of study results to see what is most effective for weight loss. I bet you’ll be surprised at what they found.

People using diet alone to lose weight lost an average of 10.7 pounds. People using both together lost an average of 11 pounds.^[3]That’s right-adding aerobic exercise to a weight loss diet makes hardly any difference at all. It’s no wonder aerobics leave you feeling disappointed and frustrated. It’s just a poor weight loss tool.

Now contrast this to the results of my PACE program from my twin study.

Over 4 months, the “PACE” twin lost over 18 pounds of fat. The “aerobics” twin lost just 7 pounds. And the “aerobics” twin also lost 2 pounds of critical muscle mass. What’s more, the PACE twin’s workouts lasted less than 15 minutes. Her “aerobic” sister sweated for hours.

A Better Way to Lose Weight…Fast!

What works when it comes to weight loss is a different kind of activity.

Researchers from Laval University in Quebec compared long duration cardio exercise with short duration high intensity workouts. For 20 weeks, half the participants did five 45-minute workouts a week at moderate intensity. The other half did 19 high intensity interval workouts (like my PACE program) over the course of 15 weeks.

Although the second group spent less time exercising, and only did half the work as the first group, they increased their aerobic capacity by 30 percent. What’s more, the second group lost nine times as much body fat as the first group.^[4] That’s right…they lost nine times more fat.

So what is PACE? Well first of all, it’s simple, fun, and it’s easy to stick with. PACE stands for Progressively AcceleratedCardiopulmonary Exertion. It’s a way to workout that uses short duration bursts that slowly get stronger as you get more fit.

This is the basis of my PACE® program. I began using most of this program 25 years ago. More recently, I added progressivity to increase the benefits.

By making small changes in the same direction, your workouts can produce remarkable results. And you only need 12 minutes to achieve the desired effect.

In a matter of weeks, you can:

• Lose pounds of belly fat
• Build functional new muscle
• Reverse heart disease
• Build energy reserves available on demand
• Strengthen your immune system
• Reverse many of the changes of aging.

———————————————————————–

1. Lee I., et al. Circulation 2003 Mar 4; 1087 (8): 2220-6.
   
2. Williams P. Relationships of heart disease risk factors to exercise quantity and intensity. Arch Intern Med. 1998; 158:237-245.
   
3. Miller WC, et al. “A meta-analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research using diet, exercise, and diet plus exercise intervention,” Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1997; 21(10): 941-7
4. “Impact of Exercise Intensity on Body Fatness and Skeletal Muscle Metabolism,” Metabolism 1994; 43(7): 814-18