After Burn

There is a new buzz word out there, after burn.  OK, maybe it is only new-ish to me.

The clinical term for after burn is excess post exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC.  The EPOC level is represented by the oxygen consumption or the energy expenditure that is above the pre-exercise level after an exercise bout.  In English, after burn is the additional energy that is required by your body to restore itself to pre-exercise levels.  Your body has to restore its oxygen stores, remove lactate and return ventilation, circulation and body temperature all back to pre-exercise levels.  In the last article, we learned that energy is burned in the form of calories.  So, another way of describing after burn is the increased level of your metabolism (calorie burn) following exercise.  That's what exercise is all about, right?

Studies have shown the the magnitude and duration of after burn depends on the intensity and the duration of the exercise session.  Fitness level and gender will also influence the magnitude and duration of the after burn.  Generally it takes 15 minutes to 48 hours for the body to recover to it's resting state. This explains where the recommendation to allow 48 hours of rest between strength training a particular muscle group was derived.

According to this article by Dr. Len Kravitz, aerobic or cardiovascular exercise has the greatest impact on EPOC.  Multiple studies have shown that the higher intensity of your cardio workout, the greater the after burn or the greater the caloric expenditure after exercise.  Additionally, research has also shown a direct relationship between duration of exercise and EPOC.  The longer the duration of your cardiovascular session, the higher the after burn.  Studies have also show that cardiovascular intervals elicit a greater EPOC response when compared to continuous exercise.  After burn is directly influenced by resistance or strength training.  It has been difficult to say if resistance or cardiovascular exercise is more influential on EPOC because of the challenge to equalize resistance training and aerobic exercise.

The take home applications for all this new information is as follows:

• Make your focus to develop your cardiovascular exercise so that you can perform higher intensity exercise for 30 minutes or more. 
• Regularly incorporate interval training into your workouts.  This is a fantastic way to increase your capacity for higher intensity exercise. 
• Perform strength training at least 2-3 times per week. 

I typically do really well with the cardiovascular exercise.  The strength training part, I am incredibly inconsistent with.  My goal is to get those 2 days per week completed! 

Milli

How much do you have to move for weight loss?

Losing weight has always been basic math to me.  The calories out have to be more than the calories in.  For years, we have heard, to burn fat you must use cardiovascular exercise and for durations longer than 30 minutes.  Strength training is helpful because it will raise the level at which your body burns calories while at rest.  That is what I was taught anyway.  That is the mentality I used all summer to lose weight.  In fact, I  park my booty on the elliptical with my nook reader for 45-50 minutes and I actually enjoy it.  And then I read this article: Lower Caloric Expenditure = Better Weight Loss Results? in the IDEA Fitness Journal, January 2012, page 15.  (I tried to link to it, but it is a professional journal and unless you buy a membership you can't view the article online.)

The article discusses a study that took place at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.  The scientists tested the differences in workout length and caloric expenditure and how it affected weight loss.  Sixty-one moderately overweight young men were separated into 3 groups for thirteen weeks.  The three groups included: non exercisers, moderate exercisers (about 30 minutes or 300 calories burned) and high exercisers (about 60 minutes and 600 calories burned).  The participants were instructed to maintain their current dietary intake.  At the end of the study, the moderate exercisers had shed and average of  8 pounds of body weight and 8.8 pounds of fat.  The high exercisers lost an average of 6 pounds of body weight and 8.4 pounds of fat. 

So basically, the high exercisers worked twice as hard, but had the same results as the moderate exercisers.  Hmmm...makes me wonder why I am spending 45-50 minutes on the elliptical, if I could get the same results in 30 minutes.  Time for me to look a little closer at the current recommendations.

In February of 2009, ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), aka the gold standard in the fitness industry, released a Position Stand regarding "Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults".  The recommendations issued by the ACSM are as follows:

For Weight loss: 150-250 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity provides only modest weight loss. Greater amounts (ie. >250) provide clinically significant weight loss. 

What does that say to me?  250 minutes divided by 5 days a week = 50 minutes of moderate intensity exercise.  So the 45 minutes, 5 days a week that I have been putting in do follow the current recommendations.

All that being said, weight loss still goes back to basic math.  To lose weight, your body must burn (or metabolize) more calories than what you are eating.  A calorie is a unit of energy. Specifically, a calorie is actually a kilocalorie and it is the amount of energy, or heat, it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius. (I feel like Charlie Brown's teacher here.)  You increase the number of calories you burn through exercise. Higher intensity exercise will certainly burn more calories than lower intensity, but higher intensity exercise cannot typically be maintained for long durations of time. 

I think that this study proves how important diet is in the weight loss equation. There was no change in the dietary intake, the weight loss recorded was with exercise alone.  Six to eight pounds in 13 weeks, is about 1/2 pound a week.  For most people, I am not sure this would be enough of a loss to stay motivated. 

At this point, I am not ready to give up my long duration exercise just yet. I am reading a ton of good books.  I will continue to follow the ACSM recommendations, though I will begin to interval some higher and lower intensities into my workout.

Back 2 Being Fit

That's me!  I have been inspired.  After being on the fringe of the fitness field for the past 7 years, I am making a real effort at getting Back 2 Being Fit.

First of all, where have the past 7 years gone?  After my second daughter was born, I mistakenly let my personal trainer certification lapse.  Boy was that a mistake!  Two years ago, I re-certified with the American Council on Exercise as a Personal Trainer.  That was a toughie!  Things that once came so easily to me, were suddenly really challenging.

As stated, I am a certified personal trainer. But I am on the fringe. In addition to letting my personal trainer certification lapse 7 years ago and having 2 children under the age of two, I let myself go.  I lost the focus on myself, and focused completely on helping and caring for everyone around me.  These are the same habits that I told others for years to lose.  I would preach, "you have to take care of yourself first".  I would tell this to the folks who had aging parents and were dealing with their health issues.  I would tell this to new moms that were caring for several young children in their household.  I would tell this to full-time employed adults.  Anyone who had the excuse "I don't have time".  Wow, did I have a lot to learn. 

Last summer, I joined a weight loss competition with some friends.  I kicked myself in to booty and made myself have time!  I lost 30 pounds and gained a new perspective on my life.  I never had to work at maintaining my weight previously.  I was 30 years old, had no children and my occupation was fitness.  Now, I found myself a stay at home mom, turning 40, with two young children and 30 pounds to lose.  Those words that I once preached to people still haunt me today.  I was so naive!  I feel like now I have a much better perspective on my health and fitness. 

So where does the blog come in?  I am ultra motivated to learn all that I have missed in the fitness industry over the past few years.  Exercise is a science, and with that comes change and evolution.  I am teaching myself where fitness has evolved and where it is currently evolving.  In doing so, I would love to share what I learn. 

My goal is to research, read and study about current fitness trends and write at least three posts a week.  I want to get off the fringe and Back 2 Being Fit.

Milli