- The Authors
Jeff Thiboutot
Matt Schoeneberger
Exercise for Function, Not for Weight Loss
I’m a Corrective Exercise Specialist, and my graduate studies were focused in rehabilitative exercise. I have professional relationships with great physical therapists, chiropractors, and myopractors. Enough about me. What does this have to do with you?
I’ve seen what intelligent, focused exercise can do for people in pain, especially when it’s combined with help from a qualified and competent practitioner. Since we know exercise does not increase weight loss (if you don’t, you should read S.P.E.E.D. – The Only Weight Loss Book Worth Reading), we should focus our exercise on keeping us healthy and functioning on the highest level possible.
What we want to do is prevent injuries from occurring. If you’re in pain, it might be too late. So, get checked out even if you’re not experiencing any symptoms.
Recently, I had a consultation with a great chiropractor.* I knew I had some issues from my ACL tear last year and some other things that I couldn’t help with corrective exercise alone. I found out I had more issues than I thought, and now I can fix them before they become a serious problem.
This is where exercise comes in. Along with my adjustments, I’ll be doing specific stretching, strengthening, and integration work to make sure I get these issues resolved. I’ll be using self-massage, trigger-point, and self-myofascial release (SMR) techniques to help out too. You should be using these too!
The great part is that while you’ll be avoiding future injury, you’ll also be maintaining muscle and bone mass during caloric restriction. It’s the best of everything!
* If you’re in the Phoenix area, look-up Dr. Dominic Pisaro at Desert Springs Chiropractic for a consultation.
Filed under: Exercise — Tags: corrective exercise, weight loss — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 9:40 am
Recent article in Time about exercise and weight loss
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html
This article (see link above) does a good job of highlighting the fact that exercise, by itself, is not very good at promoting weight loss. Exercise is typically portrayed as a major promoter of weight loss. However, the weight of the evidence does not support this assertion. Without strict dietary control, exercise by itself, at amounts most people can do, does not produce much weight loss. This is what we present in our book (S.P.E.E.D.-The only weight loss book worth reading).
There are other benefits to exercise and the author, John Cloud, of the article does acknowledge this. He states: “Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reason: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases – those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer, diabetes and many other illnesses.” We agree.
There is one main problem with the article and that is the information on exercise and hunger. The author discusses the subject in a way that leaves you with the idea that exercise ALWAYS increases hunger. It does seem to do this with him, but this is just one person’s experience. This type of anecdotal evidence is relatively worthless. The majority of the published evidence supports the view that exercise typically does not stimulate appetite. But, for some it can increase appetite. Much of the debate is whether the calories burned from exercise will be compensated for by an increase in food consumption; can we maintain the deficit? You can if you can stick to your diet plan and if you have addressed the psychological and social aspects that affect hunger and overall food consumption. These latter variables are very important and that is why we included them in our book; S.P.E.E.D.- The Only Weight Loss Book Worth Reading.
Filed under: Exercise — Tags: Exercise, weight loss — Jeff Thiboutot M.S. @ 11:24 am
HIIT Protocol From Weight Loss Study
So, what is HIIT? Simply put, High-Intensity Interval Training involves short, intense bursts of exertion interspersed with periods of rest or low-intensity work. Even simpler, sprint work.
HIIT is fairly new to the scientific community when weight loss is being considered. It is, however, one of the modes of exercise we recommend in our weight loss book, “S.P.E.E.D. – The Only Weight Loss Book Worth Reading.” One protocol in a recent study caught my eye. I tried it. I had some of my clients try it. We like it.
The protocol includes a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute cool-down on either side of the work period. The sprint protocol provided (for use on a bike) is an 8 second sprint with a 12 seconds of pedaling slowly, repeated up to 60 times. At the maximum of 60 repeats, including warm-up and cool-down, you’ve got a 30 minute exercise session. Adjust resistance accordingly and err on the easy side when starting out.
Remember, HIIT has not been proven to increase weight loss in conjunction with a weight loss diet. But, it has been shown to alter body composition in a few studies without dietary changes. So, if you like HIIT-style training, this protocol might be worth checking out. Also, always remember that HIIT training is probably not for beginners and is better for trainees with a better-than-average level of fitness.
Always remember: weight loss will not happen without attention to diet.
-Matt
References:
Trapp EG, Chisholm DJ, Freund J, Boutcher SH. The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting insulin levels of young women. Int J Obese. 2008;32(4):1-8
Filed under: Exercise — Tags: HIIT, weight loss — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 2:47 pm
Multi-joint Exercises for Weight Loss
Matt discusses why multi-joint exercises are great for quick, efficient workouts
Filed under: Exercise — Tags: Exercise, fat loss, resistance training, weight loss — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 3:38 pm
As you all know, we’re getting closer and closer to being finished with this weight loss ebook. It’s getting more exciting each day. We apologize for our infrequent posting lately, we’ve just been pouring our energy into the book itself rather than this blog and our L.E.A.N. Wellness Letter. We thank you for your patience and we hope you find the posts we have been making useful and intriguing.
Now to the point. We’ve nailed down most of the original myths we came up with for the book, and we’ve thought of some more issues we’d like to tackle. Two of them are the hCG diet (Simeons Protocol) and the whole B12 shot fad. We’re digging into the science and evidence for these right now. But, we wanted to ask you…
What controversial weight loss topics do you want us to investigate? Are there any diet or exercise programs for which you would like to see the evidence (or lack thereof)?
Reply with a comment and let us know.
Filed under: Exercise, Research, body composition, diet, fat loss, nutrition, weight loss — Tags: diet, Exercise, nutrition, S.P.E.E.D. Weight Loss — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 2:44 pm
Exercise Tip – Pick Multi-Joint Movements for Effecient Workouts
When exercising, pick movements that require the use of more than one joint.
For example, consider the bicep curl. Only the elbow is moving so only the muscles around the elbow are working through a range of motion. Now consider the row. The elbow is performing the same movement as in the bicep curl, called flexion (the wrist is getting closer to the shoulder) but at the same time the shoulder is moving as well. This exercise uses the muscles around the elbow as well as the muscles around the shoulder.
Multi-joint exercises: more work, less time.
Filed under: Exercise, Quick Thoughts, Uncategorized, health — Tags: Exercise, resistance training, weight loss, weight training — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 12:36 pm
Diet+Resistance Training+Protein=X
Let’s talk research.
One of the studies we reviewed for S.P.E.E.D.’s exercise chapter compared the effects on body composition and strength gain of a calorie-restricted diet with or without resistance training, differing levels of protein intake and different types of protein supplementation over 12 weeks. Participants were randomized into three groups:
-Diet alone
-Resistance exercise +whey protein
-Resistance exercise + casein protein
The results of the study showed support for the benefits of protein intake (25% of total calorie intake vs. 16% in diet alone group) and resistance training on body composition, since both groups showed increased fat loss and increased muscle gain compared to the diet only group. Additionally, the casein group showed significant increases in both measure when compared to the whey group. The same goes for strength gain – the casein group comes out on top.
There are some issues with the design of the study we’d like to discuss. This will give you a window into what we are doing as authors when writing the book, so you can understand what goes into well-supported advice.
First, when discussing the grouping of participants, the authors mention that the diet only group was assured they could follow the full program after the 12 week research period. Well, isn’t that a bit de-motivating, knowing that you’re not getting the full program? This is where blinding of research comes into play. The diet group shouldn’t have known that there was even an alternative to their treatment, that there were two other groups who got to perform resistance training programs. This could greatly affect the diet-only group’s ability or willingness to comply with the program.
Second, speaking of resistance training programs, the authors of this study do not specify the resistance training programs that were followed by the two protein+exercise groups. We find out that they performed 4 exercise sessions per week, working one of four large muscle group each session, and the session took 30-35 minutes. There is no mention of whether or not the exercise sessions were the same for each group outside of these parameters. What if one group performed 1 set of 10 reps while the other group performed 4 sets of 10 reps? Would we not expect a difference between groups? A researcher cannot be too specific.
The differences between the two protein+exercise groups in body composition changes and strength changes is remarkable. The casein group took their bodyfat % from about 26 to about 18. The whey group changed theirs from 27 to 23. The casein group increased total strength by 59% while the whey group increased by 28%. These are staggering differences over a 12-week period!
One thing we noticed while looking over the study was the mention of the sources of protein supplements. The whey supplement by one manufacturer and the casein supplement by another. There is no mention of any conflicts of interest of the authors or any mention of sponsorship by any corporation. We can only hope that the researchers did not skew the results of the study, knowingly or unknowingly, toward one product being used. This could be a case of conformation bias – what happens when a researcher has an ideal conclusion in mind and so steers the research toward that conclusion or outcome.
Blinding a study, which refers to the act of making sure the researchers and/or participants are completely unaware to which group they belong, can greatly reduce this phenomenon, but is not mentioned in this study. For example, if the researcher who takes the body composition measurements does not know which participants belong to which group, the researcher has no reason to skew results. However, if this information is known by the researcher performing the measurements, skewing the results, both consciously or unconsciously, is a possibility and cannot be ruled out.
In conclusion, since a practitioner should never base their methods of practice off of one single source of research, this study needs to be combined with many others to decide whether or not resistance training, caloric restriction, and protein supplementation are beneficial when making body composition changes. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone was working on compiling all that information right now and putting it in an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow plan? Hmmm…. what a good idea 
Check out our weight loss ebook as soon as it’s available!
Demling RH, DeSanti L. Effect of a hypocaloric diet, increased protein intake and resistance training on lean mass gains and fat mass loss in overweight police officers. Ann Nutr Metab. 2000;44(1):21-29.
Filed under: Exercise, Research, body composition, diet, fat loss, nutrition, weight loss — Tags: body composition, fat loss, Research, strength gain — Matt Schoeneberger M.S. @ 11:03 am
Here’s a little something I wrote a while back. More musing than anything….
Exercise is boring. Exercise is a waste of time. Exercise is dying. Exercise is dead.
Living a healthy lifestyle requires motivation. It’s easy to slip into a cycle of laziness and gluttony, to let your health take a back seat to any number of other things. With schedules full of responsibilities, full of chores and tasks, it can become daunting to add exercise to the list. After all, we know we feel better when we exercise, but that fact alone is rarely enough to get us in the gym after a stressful, tiresome day.
The Common Cure for Motivation
What if there was a cure for this motivation problem? What if we could simultaneously add joy, fitness and long-term health to our lives all while making it easier to find the motivation for gym-going? Well the truth is we can, it just takes an adjustment in the way we approach exercise.
Exercise is a replacement for levels of activity our distant ancestors achieved through survival activities. We used to need to hunt and gather, to build shelter, protect our families, and to travel long distances by foot. Modern life has made these activities largely unnecessary, so we have invented ‘exercise’. Our distant ancestors, however, partook in one form of activity that exists today, and has existed in many different species for many years; play. We adapted play to our modern lifestyle and sport was born. Sport, or play, is the key to our new motivation.
Sport
We all need heroes or role models to look up to. As children, we often look to athletes as role models, as someone to model ourselves after, to make us work harder and excel in sports as well as other areas of our lives. When we grow into adulthood, we often continue to admire sports figures. We devote chunks of our time and energy into our fanaticism, all while letting our own athleticism slip away. This is our mistake, our wrong turn on the path to health and happiness. We stop playing.
The excitement we feel when watching one of our favorite sports teams or athletes compete is little compared to the feeling of our own involvement in competition. The ‘butterflies’ prior to competition, the level of unparalleled focus during competition and the feeling of satisfaction after playing your hardest and knowing you performed to the best of your ability are rarely felt by many of us after childhood. These feelings of accomplishment and involvement are important for health and happiness. The athlete inside of us demands increased performance each time we compete and this is our new motivation, our source of drive.
Exercise is Dead
Exercise is an activity for regular people. Exercise is regular people’s modern day replacement for survival activities of the past. Exercise is their means to an end they know they need, but have no real desire to achieve. Health alone is rarely a motivator. We, as athletes, do not exercise. Athletes train.
The difference may be undetectable to some, but training is worlds apart from exercising. Training involves a focus, a drive, a desire that is fueled by the need for performance, for victory. Training allows you to achieve feats you never thought possible and acquire confidence that carries over to all other aspects of your life. Our natural competitiveness makes getting to the gym after a stressful, tiresome day a no-brainer, a non-decision. We’re already there. We’re athletes. We train.
Becoming an Athlete
We, as adults, sit and remember the games we played as children and file these memories away, not realizing we could capture that excitement all over again. There are recreational leagues for many sports and many age groups. If we feel we’re not in shape to begin playing in a local league, our time in the gym should be focused on regaining the athleticism needed to compete at the most basic level, while adding sport-specific practice (i.e. shooting baskets for basketball) as part of our routine. Once able to join the games, our training focus shifts to increasing performance for our sport and position. Training continues as long as we improve, and for as long as we continue to play at any level.
Remember, we’re athletes. We train. Get to it.
New recreational sports league:
For more about training:
As a personal trainer, I have to find solutions to a lot of problems. One obstacle that appears for many of my clients is work-related travel.
“My hotel didn’t have a gym.”
“My hotel had a gym, but I didn’t know how to use any of the equipment.”
“My hotel had a great gym, but it was a hassle to get there from my room.”
Travel and the lack of hotel gym equipment are no excuse to miss workouts. Many of the exercises I do with my clients in my gym are bodyweight only exercises, or can be modified to be so. After covering the material in this article, we’ll never have a good excuse to miss a workout in any city.
Bodyweight exercises are some of the most challenging and also the most modifiable exercise choices available. Some coaches even recommend that a certain level of performance be achieved on bodyweight exercises before weights are used in any situation. If we plan correctly, we can easily develop enough total body workouts to get you into shape without a single dumbbell.
Before we get to the workout, a few notes about modifying bodyweight exercises and knowing how many reps of each exercise to do. The first rule of bodyweight exercises is that we want to be able to perform repetitions with good form, as with any exercise. If the exercise is so hard that our form is atrocious, we modify. The second rule is that when we modify an exercise, depending on the situation, the modification may make it almost too easy. This is better than too hard, since we can always do more repetitions and sets to make up for the level of difficulty. The third rule is, no matter what exercise we’re using or what set and repetition parameters we decide on, each set should nearly fatigue the muscles we’re working. In other words, we don’t want to take each set to complete failure, but maybe just one or two reps shy of complete failure. For timed exercises, stop when you feel yourself start to lose form or feel pain in an area that is unexpected.
Bodyweight Workout:
Bodyweight Squats – stand with feet between hip and shoulder width apart. Push hips back and down like you were going to sit in a chair. Once you reach average chair height, return to standing. Feel free to raise your arms out in front of you for balance as you complete the movement.
Modified Push-ups – to modify a push-up, lean on a raised surface so that your shoulders are above your hips, but your body is still in a straight line. The higher the surface, the easier the push-ups will be. Look for tables, chairs, countertops, etc. for modifications.
Planks – Lie face down to start. Then lift your body up so that your weight is supported on your forearms and your toes, with your body as straight as possible. Brace your abdominals (hold them tight like if someone was going to hit you in the stomach) and squeeze your glutes (butt muscles). Do not let your lower back arch excessively. This should look like upper push-up position only with your arms bent and your forearms on the floor. Hold for time.
Squat Thrusts – stand with feet hips width apart. Squat down and reach your hands to the floor in front of you. Let your weight rest on your hands and kick your legs back so you end up in a push-up position. Jump your legs back to your hands and stand up.
Leg Lift Holds – Lie on your back and lift your legs up to a 90 degree angle at the hip. Lower your legs, keeping your abdominal muscles tight, until you start to feel your lower back come off the floor. Stop here, press your back onto the floor, and hold for time.
That’s it. Now we never have a reason to miss a workout while traveling. This is a great workout and it can be completed anywhere. Now get to work!
