Title: |
The real story about exercise and fitness. | ||
Author: |
Warren Shoeppe | Section: |
General Wellness |
Submitted: |
October 2006 | Expertise base on: |
Experience |
One of the most misstated declarations in the fitness world is why we need to exercise. After all, the images that we are bombarded with constantly are of extremely fit people who use a particular product or system and who then claim how easy it is to look like them. Mind you, please do not forget the little disclaimer at the bottom off the ad Results not typical. Huh?
Does that make any sense to you? If I tell you that with no time or effort you can look like an individual who is a professional fitness model where all they do is work on their body and watch there diet. I used to be in the business. Trust me! I know the professional fitness model looks good in that ad but you wouldn't want them doing your taxes. My accountant does not look anything like those professional fitness models (sorry Bob) but he is, for his lifestyle, fit and healthy.
What works is knowledge. Knowledge of why you exercise and why you choose a low carbohydrate diet. With this knowledge you can make the informed decisions that are correct for you. My last article stated that the first thing that you need to do to create a healthy balanced lifestyle is accepting who you are.
Due to genetic diversification there are three body zones that I relate to three types of automobile. You are in the Endomorph Zone if you carry more muscle mass and fat (SUV). You are in the Mesomorph Zone if you carry moderate amounts of muscle and fat (4 Door car). The Ectomorph Zone is the smallest percentage of the population, that is made up of individuals who carry minimum amounts of muscle and fat (2 Door Car). Every vehicle is perfect. There is no advantage to being one type over the other. But it is interesting that the majority of the population is between the Endomorph and Mesomorph Zones but the majority of the advertisements use the Ectomorph Zone.
No matter which vehicle you own you want to tune it up and have it run at its peak performance. Once a car is built you spend the rest of its life maintaining it. Once a human machine is built you need to maintain it too. Show me a car that you can drive for 70 years and not do a tune up on.
Tuning up the human body is based on how we as a species adapt to physical stress. Once you are built, which is approximately at 18-20 years for females and at 20-22 years for males, you will maintain only the skeletal muscle that you use consistently. In other words, if you exercise you will build and maintain more muscle as you adapt to the activity. When you sleep you are the most efficient at rebuilding the hundreds of millions cells that are required by the body to handle the physical stress that it went through when you were awake.
The best fat reduction exercise is weight resistant exercising because a pound of muscle takes up to ten times the amount of calories to build and maintain it as does to maintain a pound of fat. Cardiovascular exercise is very good to burn off fat and extra sugar (carbohydrates) but it does not make your muscles stronger, it does make them more aerobically efficient though. Doing free standing squats will add a pound or two to your legs but you will require hundreds of calories a day to maintain those extra muscles that you have developed. Plus, when you do aerobic activity such as walking, you will burn more calories with your new muscles by being able to go faster and longer.
But the real secret is that free standing squats and limiting the amount of carbohydrates you consume daily are integral in maintaining your own fountain of youth.
With proper supervision try this for a 2 week period. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Stretch and do 4 sets of 10 repetitions of squats. Squatting properly is the same motion as sitting on the toilet. If you cannot do this without pain do not try this and go see your health care practitioner. If you can, see how you feel after the second week you will find that you will have adapted to the activity and now the exercise is easier to do and you feel that you have a little more energy. Adaptation, Baby. See, in just 2 weeks you will be burning more calories each day that you stay consistent.
Now combine this with decreasing the amount of carbohydrates that you consume. Do you see what we are doing here? We are limiting the amount of fuel consumed daily (carbohydrates) and by exercising starting to burn of the excess stored fuel (human fat) that we have.
Next article I will go in to more detail with regards to what food really is, hint fuel or building supplies.
