Tag Archive for: fitness

Sprint Interval Training

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Keeping with the theme of using interesting training techniques from the last Memos on HIIT training, this next study took it one step further. The objective was to see how fast subjects could get fitter using a sprint interval training program.

I think I need to define some terms here. When we talk about getting fit, there are different types of fitness. There can be tests of strength like lifting the most amount of weight in a bench press. There can be tests of stamina such as how many push-ups a person can do. But when exercise physiologists talk about fitness in the classic sense, they mean how much oxygen your body can use at maximal levels. It’s called max VO2.

To test whether or not someone could become fitter in as little as two weeks and continue to increase their fitness level through the six weeks of a training program, researchers recruited a group of 18 sedentary men with an average age of 23; five subjects dropped out over the course of the study. The reason the researchers chose this particular research topic was because prior research had shown that the initial gain in fitness was not increased further with continued training.

While prior research had used 30 seconds of sprinting with four minutes of easy moving, the researchers chose 15-second intervals on a bike with two minutes of easy pedaling and rest before the next interval. After a physical including an ECG, the subjects were allowed to practice the sprint/rest cycle twice before the actual program began. There were three cycles of workouts that went like this: they began with the max VO2 test to determine the resistance in the sprints. Then in succeeding workouts scheduled every two days, the number of intervals per session began at 10 sprints, then two sessions at 12 repetitions, a session of 14 sprints, and finishing with eight sprints. Then the cycle repeated.

What did they find? Were they fitter? You bet they were, but I’ll save the details for Saturday.

Insiders, I’ve changed the conference call date from June 12 to June 19. Being an Insider allows you to get details that would be too time consuming in Memos. For example, I’m researching omega-3 supplementation in light of all the recent studies questioning its use. I want to find out what’s going on, and I’ll talk about it a week from Wednesday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 56(5):876-884, May 2024.

Find Your Way

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How are you doing with your 2024 weight loss efforts? Or your fitness regimen? Eating more vegetables and fruits? Taking your supplements regularly? Is it going smoothly at about three weeks in, or not so much? I know I’ve slipped up. Based on Dr. Barabási’s research, that doesn’t mean you’re doomed to failure. Remember what he found: it isn’t your age that determines your productivity, it’s your creativity.

Not Your First Rodeo

If you’ve been successful at changing a health habit, losing weight or getting fit, particularly when you were younger, you found a way to do it. Over the years, especially with weight loss and fitness, life happens, and your body changes; you go back to old habits and gain back weight or lose fitness.

There’s a tendency to try to recreate that experience again. In other words, you’re going to try the same workout routine, the same way to lower calories, whatever helped you achieve that goal. But life isn’t static and maybe it doesn’t work the same way. You decide to try another type of diet, such as the ketogenic diet, and that worked great—for a while. But you slowly returned to your old habits and gained back the weight. Because you’re older and with the change in metabolism that seems inevitable, you lose the passion for trying.

You just get tired of trying. You may be saying something like, “You’re just not into it,” or you make up some other excuse. But whatever the reason, you quit trying.

Never Stop Trying

At the end of his TED talk, Dr. Barabási’s said: Creativity has no age; only productivity does. What that means applies as much to health as it does to being a successful scientist or attaining any goal. Keep trying to find that one thing, that one way that will work for you. It doesn’t matter what diet you use, what aerobic workout you try, or what method you use to gain strength. The only thing that limits you is not your age but your willingness to keep trying until you figure it out. No matter your age, no matter your limitations, that way exists. You just must find it and make sure it’s sustainable for life.

The Bottom Line

Near the end of the movie “City Slickers” the character played by Jack Palance tells Billy Crystal’s character he knows the secret to life. Billy says, “Well, what is it?” Jack tells him that’s what he must figure out. Find that one thing and nothing else matters.

Whether it’s changing your weight, getting fit, lowering your blood pressure, or any other health goal you want to attain and maintain, that’s what you must figure out. No gimmicks, hacks, or short cuts. Find your way. I remain committed to helping you find it.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Ted Radio Hour. Late Bloomers. 9-1-2023

Metabolically Healthy and Obese

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The researchers in Germany continued to determine which factors associated with being obese were the most predictive of mortality from any cause and from cardiovascular disease. While not explicitly stated, it seems to me that they attempted to use variables that were simple to assess. With that in mind, here are the variables which demonstrated whether someone was metabolically healthy or not, regardless if they were normal weight, overweight, or obese.

Criteria for Metabolic Health

  • Systolic blood pressure less than 130 and no use of blood pressure lowering medication
  • Waist-hip ratio less than 0.95 for women and less than 1.03 for men
  • No prevalent diabetes

These criteria are simple enough for most people to determine for themselves, no doctors necessary. People usually know whether they’re diabetic, and they also know whether they’re taking medication to lower their blood pressure. Most people have a home BP cuff to assess systolic blood pressure or have access to one in a store.

The waist should be measured at its widest point and hip should be measured at the bony process of the femur. Divide the second number into the first, and that gives you the waist hip ratio.

The Results

The subjects who were considered metabolically healthy and obese had no greater risk of mortality from all causes or from cardiovascular disease then did normal weight, metabolically healthy subjects. This study examined only the death rate, not the rate of disease. Still, I think that if someone is working towards becoming a healthier version of themselves, intermediate goals can be very motivating.

I like this study for two reasons. First, it confirms what I thought for many years: people who are overweight or obese can be metabolically healthy. Second, it means that instead of trying to lose all the weight a person needs to lose, there can be intermediate steps on the way to becoming the best version of yourself; in fact, you don’t even need to be trying to lose weight to start being healthier.

The study also found that some people who were metabolically unhealthy and normal weight or slightly overweight were at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and total mortality. Could it be that the reason for the reduced risk was exercise? It was not considered, but it would be interesting to see further analysis on the data to determine if fitness was a contributing factor in metabolic health.

The Bottom Line

This study provides a basis for assessing risk of mortality on more than just BMI. What it shows is that even though you may be carrying too much weight, that doesn’t mean that you’re automatically at risk for death due to cardiovascular disease or other causes. I believe regular exercise is critical to achieve metabolic health and thus reduce your mortality risk, so that’s your first step to becoming and staying metabolically healthy.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: JAMA Net Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.8505

Can You Be Obese and Healthy?

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The research question that was most interesting to me as a graduate student was this: could you be overweight, even obese, and still be healthy? That question still interests me today, and for good reason: 70% of the U.S. population is overweight or obese, and we’ve just passed 40% of the entire population falling into the obese category. And it’s not just the U.S.; we’ve exported our poor fitness and diet habits around the world.

Research done decades ago from by Cooper Institute, most often under the direction of Steven Blair, demonstrated that you could be fat and fit. Their research showed that people who were obese, meaning they had a BMI greater than or equal to 30.0, were no more at risk for death from cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality if they were in the high fitness category.

That’s not the same question as this: could you be metabolically healthy and at no more risk for death from cardiovascular disease or all-cause mortality than someone with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9 kg/m2)? Researchers from Germany decided to examine that question. They used data collected from the National Health and Nutrition Education Survey III, which included over 12,000 subjects, and the U.K. Biobank, which contained over 374,000 subjects. Then they examined the statistical relationship between many different variables such as triglycerides, total cholesterol, hemoglobin A1C, C-reactive protein, systolic blood pressure, and on and on. Once they had a series of statistical relationships between obesity and mortality, then they sought to derive as simple an algorithm as they could to develop a profile of someone who would be metabolically healthy and obese. I’ll tell you more about that in Saturday’s memo.

Meanwhile, have you examined that map that was part of the CDC atrial fibrillation primer? Here’s what I saw: I’ll call it the I-75 Corridor of A-fib. Starting in Flint, MI, if you follow the pattern of the deepest red, it follows I-75 through Detroit to Toledo, OH, then Cincinnati, OH, and all the way down through Georgia to Florida. That’s the I-75 Corridor of A-Fib. What does it mean? Nothing, as far as I know; it doesn’t correspond to race or income or temperature. It’s an observation, nothing more, but maybe some epidemiologist or statistician somewhere will look into in more deeply.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: JAMA Net Open. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.8505

Updates as 2020 Finally Ends!

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2020 was one heck of a year for health news. Someone sent me an email with the hope that when 2020 turns 21, it doesn’t start drinking! I don’t know if we would survive it. All kidding aside, we’ve all been impacted whether we caught the virus or not, and it’s time to plan for the path we want our health to take in 2021. Here are my plans for DrChet.com in 2021.

Memos will still be free. They’re going to be coming twice a week in 2021 on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I’ve been taking one topic and splitting it into three Memos; now I’ll be splitting it into two Memos, which I think will be better for you and for me. I intend to do more teaching via video and audio, and I want to carve out time to prepare for those. I’m also going to cull my email list: if people haven’t opened a Memo for six months or more, I’ll remove them from my master email list. It’s inefficient to keep sending emails to people who may not want them anymore. I’ll continue to promote the emails on Facebook, so if you’re reading them there, no point cluttering up your inbox. If you get cut and you want to resubscribe, it’s easy at DrChet.com.

Memberships will remain the same price for 2021, but I’m adding more features. You’ll get more content that’s applicable to your health and that of your clients. If you’re in the health business, you can deduct the cost of membership at DrChet.com as a business expense—just one more reason to become an Insider or Member today.

Health Goals should be top of mind right now; this is the time to decide how you want your health to change in 2021. Take the time to think what you really want your health to be besides the typical goal of losing weight. Do you need to improve your nutritional health? What do you want to be able to do that you can’t? Do you need more strength, more stamina, or better flexibility? And if you had to prioritize one, which would it be? The choices are endless, but there are two questions you have to ask yourself:

  • What do you really want?
  • What are you prepared to do to get it?

That’s why our tagline remains the same: What are you prepared to do today?

Have a safe New Year’s Eve, and I’ll see you back here on January 1!

        Dr. Chet

HIIT Will Get You Fit

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An Insider emailed me a link to a press release about high-intensity interval training, or HIIT for short. I’ve always used interval training, when I was a serious runner, and now as a way to increase my fitness level faster. That’s why I was a little surprised that a study suggested that you have to do intervals that are at least a minute long and shouldn’t rest more than two minutes. I checked out what I could find.

The research was presented at a conference and as much as I tried, I couldn’t get the abstract. Fortunately, the press release contained just enough information to figure out what was what. The researchers recruited 26 previously sedentary subjects and put them on a HIIT program. They either took part in 60-second intervals of high intensity with 60 seconds rest or intervals that lasted 30 seconds with 120 seconds rest. While both groups saw similar changes in body composition and arterial stiffness, the 60/60 groups saw bigger improvements in max VO2, a measure of aerobic fitness. In fact, the release included comments from the lead author that the subjects didn’t improve their fitness level at all.

That didn’t make any sense to me. If the intensity was high enough, 30 seconds of all-out effort would need two minutes to recover. I found the problem. One of the purposes of the study was to use exercises people could do at home, so they used calisthenics: push-ups, squats, sit-ups and exercises such as that. That’s admirable, but it made the headline and her comments misleading—extremely misleading.

Using sedentary subjects means they had to overcome localized muscle fatigue. The localized muscle pain may get the heart rate to increase but it’s limited by muscle stamina, especially in sedentary individuals, until they could actually do enough push-ups, etc., to challenge their cardiovascular system. A six-week study is not long enough for them to really master the movements and do them fast enough in order to get a good aerobic training effect.

The Bottom Line

HIIT can be effective if done properly; running and cycling are still the best options to do that. You can reach aerobic exhaustion in 30 seconds if the intensity is high enough, and if you do, you’ll need every one of those two minutes to recover before the next interval begins. You must make sure your cardiovascular system is ready for it, so get your doctor’s clearance before you attempt it.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Exercise Your Heart, Part 2

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Did you ever have to hurry to catch a connecting flight? Walk fast or maybe even jog? Were you able to do it?

How about carrying a child who weighs 45 pounds for a quarter mile because she’s hurt her foot? Could you do it?

That’s where your heart reserve comes in: facing challenges that put your heart to the test. Everyday training helps, but getting fitter is also important for those occasions when you need more. If your physician says you can do it, interval training is the solution to building a reserve.

Intervals have been around for decades, and they became a fad with something called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). They’re the same thing except that HIIT is supposed to replace all other aerobic exercise to save time. I’m sorry, but it’s just not enough. Doing well on a fitness test isn’t the same as living.

The idea is to exercise as fast as you’re able for 30 to 60 seconds, then rest for one or two minutes, sometimes even more. Repeat the cycle eight to twelve times and you’re done. For some people, walking faster for 30 seconds is enough; for others turning up the intensity on a bike to the highest level for 60 seconds would be the intensity. It doesn’t matter your level when you begin; it will help you build a reserve for challenges. That’s something we all need. Again, you have to check with your physician before exercising to build a baseline or a reserve. It’s one of the keys to living every day.

Think we’re done with exercise? Nope. We’ll turn to those other muscles next week.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Exercise Your Heart, Part 1

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In my opinion, the single most important thing you can do to be able to live life at your best is to exercise your heart. Every day. You don’t have to run marathons; you don’t ever need to run at all. You just need to train your heart every day. I’ve broken it down into two components that I’ll call baseline and reserve.

The aerobic baseline for your heart is just that: the level of fitness you need to accomplish every day tasks. The baseline will be different based on your age, your initial fitness level, and what your everyday activities are. That’s as simple as walking across a room and as challenging as being a laborer on a construction site or moving furniture up five flights of stairs.

If there are no orthopedic issues, the simplest exercise is walking or it could be long-distance running or bike riding. The goal is to get your heart rate elevated enough to cause the heart to beat faster than it does when resting. That trains the heart in more ways than I can explain.

The simplest way to describe how to do it’s this way. Walk fast enough so that you have to take a deep breath once in a while but you can carry on a conversation. If you can’t talk, slow it down. But if you can sing, that’s too slow. You can use that across every aerobic type of exercise from aerobics to Zumba. The goal is at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

You also need a reserve and I’ll talk about that on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Fitness Trackers: Number One Fitness Trend

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The American College of Sports Medicine just released the list of top fitness trends for 2019. Top of the list is fitness trackers; second and third are group exercise and high intensity interval training. Fitness trackers taking the top spot surprised me because they’re not an exercise, they’re a tool to track exercise. But if they can help people keep exercising, I’m all for it.

What I think is really beneficial is the tracking itself. Some trackers are very sophisticated; they will include heart rate and even blood pressure. You can sync some with a scale or enter your body weight. Some track distance with GPS if you have an outdoor activity. Many will also track calories if you enter the food data. You can get readouts that are printable if you sync the device with your computer. That’s a great way to track patterns—if you take a look at the data. If you have one and use it, it’s a great tool to keep you on track.

When it comes to having energy when you need it, a fitness tracker can provide valuable information. I’ll cover how you can use any type of tracker to help you have energy exactly when you need it in this Sunday’s 9th Annual Super Bowl Webinar.

        Dr. Chet

Reference: ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal: doi: 10.1249/FIT.0000000000000438

Do Fit People Live Longer?

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Will being fit help you live longer? Does the improvement to the respiratory, cardiovascular, and muscular systems result in an increase in longevity? Researchers in Austria did a thorough review of the science of fitness to find out.

They approached it in the same manner I would: review the systems involved and how aging affected them. Then find out how each system responds to exercise training. Finally, look at the diseases related to aging to see if fitness made a difference.

It would be great to say that they concluded that fitness impacts how long we will live, but at this point, there’s no conclusive evidence that it does. But what being fit can do is give you more life in each day. The systems’ response to exercise may not stop the Grim Reaper, but at least he will have to chase you to catch you.

The researchers focused on those systems directly related to fitness, but there are so many more benefits to your hormonal system, nervous system, digestive system, and more. You may not live a single second longer, but I believe you will live better every second you have—less time in the nursing home or hospital, and more time out doing what you want. And that’s definitely worth the time and the effort.

The countdown to the Super Bowl Webinar is at eight days. Whether you’re already very fit, restricted in the intensity you can exercise, or haven’t worked out in years, I’ll teach you how to lose more fat than any other program. Sign up today.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: Front Biosci. 2018. Mar 1;23:1505-1516.