Hurray! The Government is Going to Fix the Obesity Problem.

So today (10/26/06) the federal government decided to show that they are right on top of this obesity issue. Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, announced that his department will "develop comprehensive guidelines, drawn from science, to help Americans fit physical activity into their lives." I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time to keep my feet from dancing. I really thought they outdid themselves and that nothing would be able to top that nifty new Food Pyramid, but I guess I was wrong.

Yes, for those of you who haven't figured it out, the sarcasm here is intended.

Where do I start? How about with the fact that these will be guidelines "to help Americans fit physical activity into their lives." How about reading "Time Management for Dummies"? Use Outlook to manage your schedule? Get a DayPlanner? Or maybe stop watching Oprah and reality tv for 45 minutes and exercise. Do we really need guidelines, drawn from science of course, to tell us how to fit exercise into our lives? No, we don't. People need to stop using the lame excuse of "I don't have time to exercise" and get off their butts. Hey Mike, put out a press release saying that and call it a day.

I have had plenty of people tell me that they do not have time to exercise, but I have never seen a case where that was actually ever true. People who say they do not have time to exercise are either 1) just too lazy to exercise, 2) are intimidated or scared to start because they do not know where to begin, or 3) are not confident enough to walk into a gym. Thus, they use lack of time as a convenient excuse. If you really think you do not have time to exercise, email me and we'll go over your schedule. I'm pretty sure we can squeeze 30 minutes out of your nose-to-the-grindstone day. But I digress...

Leavitt said he would begin meeting with the beverage and snack industry, as well as marketing and media groups, about how to create a "culture of wellness." Ah, a culture of wellness. Makes you feel fit just saying it, don't you think? Can't have a good press release without the latest buzzwords. And Mikey, I think it is a great idea to sit down with the guys who make soda and potato chips, as well as the people whose job it is to keep you glued to the tv. Who better to brainstorm with on ways to get America fit?

Now, I know you are probably on the edge of your seat in anticipation of these historic guidelines (did I mention that they will be drawn from science? wow.) But, of course, this is our federal government and tax dollars at work, so it will be late 2008 before these guidelines are released. No, I'm not making that up. According to Leavitt, it will take your federal government TWO YEARS to develop guidelines on how to fit physical activity into your life. Excuse me? Who hired this guy? Oh, right. Never mind.

I'll tell you what Mike, give me a call. I'm in the phone book. We'll set up a time to talk and we could probably come up with something better in two hours than your bloated agency will come up with in two years.

Want to Lose Fat? Get Off of the Treadmill...

I'll start this entry off with a disclaimer: Of course I realize there are a myriad of health benefits associated with consistent aerobic exercise. Lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol, better endurance, yada yada. That is fine, and I'm not taking anything away from that. As the title implies though, this is about trying to achieve fat loss and why long duration aerobic activity is not the best way to achieve THAT goal.

This entry is not intended to be an in-depth science lesson, but the notion that long duration aerobic exercise (endurance training) is not preferred for fat loss goes against what most people mistakenly believe. But, if you think about it logically, it begins to make sense. First, muscle is the tissue in the body where fat is burned for energy. Endurance training does not make your muscles bigger, and in fact it can make them smaller. Thus, less muscle mass will result in fewer calories burned throughout the day.

Next, endurance training makes your muscles more efficient at energy utilization. Sounds good, but what does that mean? Well, if today it takes 100 calories of energy for you to run a mile, and you stay consistent with your endurance training, you will eventually only need to use 70 calories to perform that same task. So, now not only are your muscles possibly smaller, they are burning fewer calories throughout the day because of the effects of the endurance training.

Don’t misunderstand the point here. Endurance training can make your muscles more efficient, and efficient muscles are good if that is your goal. But, when fat loss is the goal, endurance training will not get you there. Think about this: picture an Olympic 100 meter sprinter. Body like a Greek statue right? Guess what? They aren't spending their days doing long duration cardio. They sprint, they rest, then they sprint some more. Short duration, high intensity activity. Would you rather look like an Olympic sprinter, or a marathoner? Have you seen what marathon winners look like? I’m not implying that you can achieve the body of an Olympic sprinter, but that is certainly a better target than a marathoner.

And any marathoners reading this, don’t start sending me nasty emails. I have no problem with people who want to run 26.2 miles in an afternoon. I truly admire someone with not only the physical ability, but more importantly the mental toughness, to accomplish that. If that is your goal, fine by me. You're reading the wrong blog, but I'm guessing you already knew that.

The point here is that the other 99.9% of the population would rather look good on the beach than be able to run 26.2 miles to get to the beach. If you are in that 99.9%, you would make better progress towards your fat loss goals by following a program of regularly scheduled resistance training sessions mixed with high intensity interval training. My Fitness Bootcamp, Body Transformation Course, or Sandbag training programs all fit that bill.

Suicide by Burger King

Okay, I know picking on fast food joints is easy, but I couldn't let this one slip by. And, I'm not even actually picking on the fast food joint here, as you'll see. Have you seen the Burger King ads for those BK Stackers? Basically, they have a bunch of little people (is dwarf politically incorrect now, or not?) construction workers stacking meat and cheese on a bun. The head guy even yells at a worker when he 'only' puts one meat patty on a bun. (Okay, I admit the commercials are pretty good and made me chuckle. The head little guy is very humorous.) The premise is basically "We stack meat and cheese. Meat and cheese. No veggies."

I guess they do set some limits and the most meat and cheese they will let you have is the Quad Stacker. This ridiculous death trap is 4 hamburg patties, 4 slices of processed american cheese, 8 pieces of bacon, some sort of mystery sauce, and a bun. That equals 1000 calories, 68 grams of fat, 30 grams of saturated fat, 3 grams of trans fat, 240 mg of cholesterol, and 1800 mg of sodium. Of course, this is before you toss in the order of fries and wash it down with a coke.

Just to clarify, that is about 1/2 of a day's worth of calories, a full day's worth of fat, 1.5 days worth of saturated fat, 80% of your recommended daily intake of cholesterol, and 75% of your daily recommended sodium limit. Are you kidding me?

Now, like I said, I'm not really trying to point a finger at Burger King here. In fact, I'm almost defending them. If a retailer legally sells a handgun to someone, and that person then kills themself with that gun, I believe neither the retailer nor gun manufacturer are to blame. The person made their own decision to pull the trigger. Same thing here. Burger King does not make people fat. People make people fat. If someone is stupid enough to go buy a Quad Stacker, that is their decision. Hey, Burger King puts this nutritional info right on their web site, so they aren't hiding anything here.

People need to take responsibility for their own actions. If you eat BK Stackers and are fat, then fine, you are the one pulling the trigger. Don't blame anyone else for your problem. Burger King didn't force you to shove that burger into your mouth. In your case, obesity is clearly a lifestyle decision. And that is a decision you chose, and one that you have complete control over, whether you want to admit it or not.

The Caveman's Guide to Fitness

I am close to completing my latest book, “The Caveman’s Guide to Fitness”. This downloadable e-book will be based around the sandbag exercise routines that many of my clients perform in my studio. As they will tell you, these sandbag routines are very challenging, hitting virtually every major muscle group in the body in ways you just cannot do with a regular free weight workout.

The new book will not only provide pictures and descriptions of the exercises, but will contain a variety of different workout routines that will challenge the body in a variety of ways. The results you will see from these workouts are almost unparalleled as you will burn fat, gain muscle, and challenge your cardiorespiratory system all at once.

Also included in the e-book will be instructions on how you can construct your own sandbags at home. For less than $75 and a trip to Home Depot, you can have everything you need to get the best workout of your life. And the best thing is these workouts can be done in 30 minutes or less. You’ll never want to go back to long boring free weight and machine workouts again.

Go to www.cavemanfitnessguide.com now and sign up to receive advance notification when the book is available.

Sandbag Exercise Workout 2 - The Caveman's Guide to Fitness

An example of the type of exercises included in "The Caveman's Guide to Fitness", an intense, old-school exercise and fitness program that will burn fat and build muscle like no other program. Created by elite Fitness Coach and Personal Trainer Dave Soucy of Manchester, NH. Check out www.cavemanfitnessguide.com for more.

Sandbag Exercise Workouts - The Caveman's Guide to Fitness

An example of the type of exercises included in "The Caveman's Guide to Fitness", an intense, old-school exercise and fitness program that will burn fat and build muscle like no other program. Created by elite Fitness Coach and Personal Trainer Dave Soucy of Manchester, NH. Check out www.cavemanfitnessguide.com for more.