CoachingStaff

1. Alpha Exercise

Exercise by Definition

Copyright 2002, Terry Duschinski.

Fat-to-Muscle Makeover

Ocala Family Physicians'

Medical Exercise Center

Cal 804-5241

Big arms. Broad shoulders. A chiseled chest. Tight waistline and thoroughbred thighs.

High energy. Vibrant health.

What male wouldn’t want such a commanding physical prowess. Switch the adjectives to firm and shapely – and throw in something about buns that has nothing to do with a bakery – and any woman can envision the body shape worthy of a magazine cover.

Perhaps a dream of long ago has been pulverized through the daily grind. We’ve become accustomed to buying clothes in increasingly larger sizes; and in styles that cover and camouflage rolls around our midsection or expansive hips.

Perhaps you are among the estimated 17 t 30 percent of Americans who exercise regularly, or among the 33 percent who are at least moderately obese --- or both. It’s for certain, however, that you would welcome credible information on how to derive bang for your buck, and treasure for your time, with regard to your eating and exercising endeavors.

We’re focused here on exercise.

If I asked you to define physical exercise, a boundless array of activities would likely be mentioned. Is mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage, or cleaning the house physical exercise?

For the purposes of this program, there are many matters of exertion, but the mention of exercise should resonate a very specific image. Just as a military team embarking on a mission will synchronize its watches, our effectiveness is enhanced by precision in terminology.

Exercise is the execution of a strategy designed to bring about measurable physiological improvement. That statement is a mouthful, so let’s dissect it.

Exercise = Strategy

Exercise starts with a strategy, and that strategy contains methods for achieving improvement in at least

one or more of the basic elements of physiology. In being so purposeful on this issue, I am attempting to garner respect for the parameters of an exercise regimen I will soon prescribe. You may be tempted to ditch my advice in favor of some activity with which you are more comfortable, figuring that fatigue and perspiration are the same no matter what the source.

Please allow me to draw distinctions between exercise and recreation, and between exercise and work or activity.

Recreation, such as tennis, is important. Work or activity the likes of building a room addition onto your house, is necessary and rewarding. Any of these may have some exercise benefit but it will be difficult to measure and it stands the chance of being counterproductive. I can illustrate.

Recreation = Fun

When I was 38 years old I played on my church’s basketball team. My return to the hardwood came after an even lengthier retirement than that of Michael Jordan. It had been at least a dozen years since I had played organized hoops. My regular exercise program enabled me to get up and down the court, but I developed problems with my iliotibial bands from all the lateral shifting basketball requires, and incredible plantar facsitis from the pounding on my feet.

The cardiovascular benefits of basketball were offset by a sore knee and flaming feet that restricted my workouts. Playing in the league was tremendously fun, but it was a recreational endeavor, not exercise. It was not a good strategy for physiological improvement, since I could barely tolerate having my feet touch the floor.

Furthermore, if I had played so often during the week that the exertion drained energy from my workouts, that too would have been counterproductive.

Don’t get me wrong – I encourage you to play sports. In fact, sports participation is a great impetus for getting into shape. I hope you will write this down as a fitness commandment: You don’t play sports to get into shape. You get into shape to play sports.

Perhaps you thought we were going to walk, swim, or spin to achieve the exercise component in this program? Not that there isn’t value in cardiovascular conditioning, but through the first six weeks I want you to master circuit weight training, preferably on commercial-grade strength-training machines in a health club.

I learned this strategy in 1985 from Dr. Ellington Darden, who was then director of research at Nautilus. I have been privileged to assist Dr. Darden with several of his books, all of which demonstrate building muscle to burn fat.

Research shows that if you diet alone and do not exercise, about half the weight you lose will be from lean body tissue. If you diet and perform only cardiovascular exercises, approximately 36 percent will be lean tissue cannibalization. That was the finding, at least, in one study.

	With no EX	With Cardio Ex	With Strength Training
% weight loss from fat	50	36	100

But even on an 800-calorie-per-day eating plan, which is lower than I would ever advise without physician supervision, strength training can actually even build muscle tissue while fat stores are shed for energy.

This is why I de-emphasize scale weight. You can descend in body weight faster by diet alone or diet and aerobic training, but our system

more dramatically improves your figure or physique. It also forms the foundation of a longer lasting positive effect.

Muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in the body. I’ve seen estimates of the calorie requirements of muscle between 35 and 75 per day, just for sustenance. So if you add 5 pounds of muscle, that’s at least 180 more calories per day burned at rest – or what is termed basal metabolic rate, sometimes called resting metabolic rate.

One final point. Don’t expect exercise to be fun; insist it be rewarding. There are supplemental activities you can enjoy for fun, but I believe in a time-efficient core program that is a discipline. As I said in a previous segment, I approach regular exercise as a hygiene habit.

If you have never exercised regular on a consistent, long-term basis, forming the discipline of this hygiene habit will be challenging. But we’ll take you through it, step by step.

Workout intensity has to be significant.

You’ll reach the point where the only thing worse than working out is not working out. It will forever remain a discipline, but it will become one in which you delight.

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