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If you are afraid to exercise because you think that after you stop, your muscles turn to fat, you are out-of-shape for the wrong reason.

Quick Gym’s program burns fat and builds, not turns fat into muscle.

Muscles can’t possibly turn to fat. When you exercise, your muscles become larger and stronger because exercise causes extra protein building blocks, called amino acids, to deposit in muscles. All day long, amino acids pass from your muscles into your bloodstream and then back into muscles, with exercise as the major stimulus to force amino acids back into muscles. When you stop exercising, fewer amino acids go back into muscles and they become smaller. Amino acids that do not go back into muscles, are picked up by your liver. Since your body has no way to store extra protein, your liver uses them for energy or converts them into fat. So if you stop exercising, you have to eat less or you will become fat, but muscles never turn into fat.

Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Many body builders and weight lifters are overly concerned about what they eat and what food supplements they take. If you want to grow larger and stronger muscles, you should concentrate on lifting weights, but you can help muscles grow larger by understanding how what you eat affects how you recover from hard exercise. Just exercising will not make you strong and it will not help you to grow large muscles. If exercise made you strong, marathon runners would have the largest muscles. The only stimulus to make muscles larger and stronger is to stretch them while they contract. When you lift a heavy weight, your muscles start to stretch before they start to contract. This tears the muscle and causes soreness on the next day and beyond. If you rest and let the muscle heal, it will be stronger than before you stretched it lifting weights.

The training principle of stress-and-recover is so strong that you can enlarge a muscle by lifting weights even if you are fasting, losing weight and all your other muscles are getting smaller. In one study, obese, un-athletic women were instructed to restrict food and lift weights. They averaged a weight loss of more than 35 pounds in three months and gained a lot of muscle.

Training for sports is done by taking a hard workout and then having sore muscles on the next day. Then you take easy workouts or you take off until the muscle soreness disappears. You improve by taking hard workouts and your muscles grow and heal while you recover on your easy days. Of course, if you could recover faster from a hard workout, you could do more work and be a better athlete. Scientists have known for years that you recover faster by eating carbohydrates immediately after you finish your hard workout (2). Other studies show that eating extra protein on the day that you take hard workouts helps you recover even faster. Eating extra protein reduces muscle damage during hard exercise (3). Eating carbohydrates along with a protein building block called leucine helps you to recover even faster (4).

Chronic muscle fatigue in athletes can be associated with low blood levels of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins (1). The sooner you eat protein after you finish your hard workout, the quicker you will recover. The benefits of eating protein soon after you lift weights does not apply just to elite athletes. A study from the University of Arkansas showed that eating meat helps older people grow large muscles when they also lift weights(5). Muscles are made primarily from protein building blocks called amino acids. Muscles heal from a hard workout when amino acids and other nutrients travel from your bloodstream into the muscles. Eating food, particularly protein, immediately after you finish your workout helps muscles heal faster. This study showed that men between the ages of 51 and 69 recover faster and grow larger muscles when they include meat than when they eat only dairy, fruits, vegetable, whole grains, beans, seeds and nuts.

1) JE Donnelly, T Sharp, J Houmard, MG Carlson, JO Hill, JE Whatley, RG Israel American Journal of Clinical Nutrition OCT 1993;58(4) .

2) KJ Kingsbury, L Kay, M Hjelm. Contrasting plasma free amino acid patterns in elite athletes: association with fatigue and infection. British Journal of Sports Medicine 32: 1 (MAR 1998):25-32.

3) Nancy Rodriquez. The Journal of Nutrition July, 1999.

4) Hayward R et al. Effects of dietary protein on enzyme activity follwoiing exercise-induced muscle injury. Med Sci Sprts Exerc. March, 1999. 31(3):414-420.

5) WW Campbell, ML Barton, D CyrCampbell, SL Davey, JL Beard, G Parise, WJ Evans. Effects of an omnivorous diet compared with a lactoovovegetarian diet on resistance-training-induced changes in body composition and skeletal muscle in older men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1999, Vol 70, Iss 6, pp 1032-1039.

There are two distinct methods to increase calorie consumption through exercise. The one method that is known by most people is to engage in long duration repetitive motion work. The other method is to increase muscle metabolism. A pound of muscle can metabolize an average of about 55 calories per 24 hours but it will not do that unless stimulated to do so. The muscles can be stimulated to metabolize by stretching them under resistance. The larger the range of motion of the exercise, the larger the amount of muscle cells stimulated. That is exactly what happens during Yoga or Pilates exercise, stretching under resistance through long ranges of motion. People who practice yoga on a regular basis will always be lean. If you find a fat person who professes to do yoga on a regular basis, you found a liar who is talking yoga and who does not practice it. Most yoga practitioners are also vegetarians, but that is not the reason why they are lean. There are many fat vegetarians, but those fat vegetarians do not practice yoga. Practicing yoga or Pilates requires many hours per week and therefore it is as impractical for the average public as 30 to 90 minute exercise routines. The ROM is the 4 minute solution to stretch all your muscles through long ranges of motion and in addition it increases muscle strength and it yields significant cardio benefits. Below is a comparison of calories burned during and after exercise from a 60 minute treadmill workout and from a 4 minute ROM workout:

We know that regular exercise helps to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Researchers at Michigan State recently showed that high-intensity exercise may prevent these diseases more effectively than low intensity exercise (Thrombosis Research, August 2006).

Most heart attacks and strokes occur when plaques lining the arteries break off and pass down the artery to form a clot that completely blocks the flow of blood to the heart or brain. Intense exercise helped prevent clotting by increasing tissue plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 far more than low-intensity exercise did. Other studies show that vigorous exercise also more effective in helping people lose weight. However, vigorous exercise can precipitate heart attacks and strokes, so it’s a good idea to get a stress electrocardiogram before you start a new exercise program or increase the intensity of your current regimen. If your doctor agrees, gradually work up to the point where you can increase the intensity of your workouts once or twice a week.

January 15, 2007

The key is blood flow.

Short bursts of exertion ramp up blood flow far beyond anything you could get from aerobic exercise.

Here’s how:

The University of Rochester reports that vigorous exercise causes an increase in blood flow, boosting the supply of nitric oxide in your body.1

Nitric oxide is critical for a marriage relationship*. It causes your arteries to relax and decreases inflammation.

When you become aroused your body boosts its levels of nitric oxide. It relaxes the delicate lining of your blood vessels, allowing blood to flow where it’s needed.

For men, releasing enough nitric oxide is important. That’s exactly how many of today’s most popular prescription drugs work. By boosting the amount of nitric oxide that flows to the right places and fighting back the enzymes in your body that try and limit the amount of nitric oxide that’s produced.

But many men suffer from a lack of this key chemical, because it declines as you age, causing problems in the certain areas.

As you age, you may just need a boost of nitric oxide.

A single good workout can prime your body, says Jim Pfaus, PhD, a professor at Concordia University in Montreal, who studies the biology of desires. “When you increase your blood flow, you have a much easier time getting excited.”

One of the best ways to get more nitric oxide is with a short, high-intensity workout.

But c’mon, who wants to do aerobics for 45 minutes a day? It’s not pleasant, and it’s not safe. It causes more harm than good. If pounding on the pavement or in an aerobics class for hours at a time sweating and gasping for air doesn’t have you thrilled about exercise, you’re not alone. Most of my patients aren’t going to put themselves through that type of high-intensity torture.

The good news is you don’t have to.

You can get the benefits of a high-intensity workout with my PACE (Progressive Accelerated Cardiovascular Exertion) program, without having to strain yourself. Over time you will accomplish the same benefits without stressing yourself unnecessarily.

PACE helps you by boosting the amount of exercise incrementally through time. You control your progression and can even alter the type of workouts you do to keep it fun and interesting.

During my research I came across a study showing that an incrementally intensive workout program like PACE increased blood flow levels by more than 400 percent.2

Nitric oxide can help improve your marriage life. But before you turn to drugs, I recommend you try to boost your flow naturally with a regular, high-intensity workout program.

Here’s an easy PACE outdoor running workout you can start right now.

You can even try it as a walking program if you haven’t exercised in awhile. It only takes a few minutes a day, and you can try it out around your own neighborhood.

(Note From Quick Gym. The workout below is only for cardio, no strength training or flexibility involved. Having some light hand weights or doing strength training separately is recommended for upper and lower body)

1. Warm up. Warm up for about one or two minutes.

2. Start. Once you’re warmed up, start at low to moderate intensity, and increase the level of intensity after each set. Start first by running for two minutes.

3. Recovery. Now relax. Notice your heartbeat, and keep track of how long it takes to get back to normal.

4. Repeat. Then run for 90 seconds, followed by rest. Repeat this and decrease the exertion period each time from 90 seconds, to 45 seconds, 30 seconds, then 20 seconds for a total of six sets. This shouldn’t take you more than 8-10 minutes.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1 Zheng-Gen Jin; “Ligand-Independent Activation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 by Fluid Shear Stress Regulates Activation of Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase” Circulation Research. 2003;93:354-363.
2 Adapted from: von Ardenne M. “Oxygen Multistep Therapy,” Thieme, 1990, p144.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine
April 4, 2010

Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training.

http://bloghealthwolrd.blogspot.com/2010/04/drmirkins-ezine-intense-intervals.html

To be competitive, all athletes must train very intensely
some of the time. New research from McMaster University in Canada
shows that short term, high-intensity interval training on a bike
can also provide you with all the health and fitness benefits of
exercising less intensely for a much longer period of time (The
Journal of Physiology, March 2010). Subjects used a standard
stationary bicycle and performed a workout of ten 1-minute sprints
with a 1-minute rest between each at 95 percent of their maximal
heart rate, three times a week. This takes less effort than an
all-out sprint at close to 100 percent of maximal heart rate.
The study supports other research that shows that high-intensity
training improves speed and endurance far more than long slow
distance and is necessary for training for athletic competition.
The same authors showed that a similar short workout of
all-out sprinting at maximal heart rate took about 90 minutes per
week (three workouts of 30 minutes each) and was as effective in
achieving fitness and health benefits as many hours of exercising
at a much more leisurely pace (The Journal of Physiology,
September 2006). High intensity, short-interval training improves
fuel and oxygen delivery to muscles, helps the removal of waste
products, and increases the number and efficiency of mitochondria
that help muscles use oxygen to burn food for energy. These
changes have been shown to reduce risk for heart attacks, strokes,
diabetes, weight gain and even some cancers.
The authors make no mention of alternating intense stress
and low-intensity recovery workouts, in which you spend more than
80 percent of your exercise time going at a very low intensity.
Training intensely without recovery workouts markedly increases
your chances of injuring yourself.
High-intensity training can cause heart attacks in people
with blocked arteries and muscle injuries in anyone. Before
starting, a) check with your doctor to make sure your coronary
arteries are open and b) you should be able to pedal on a
stationary bicycle slowly for at least an hour a day for several
weeks. A program of high-intensity intervals:
* will improve speed and endurance much more than slow long-
distance workouts
* should not be done when muscles feel sore or you feel sick
because it increases your chances of injuring yourself
* should be part of a “stress and recover” program in which you go
intensely never more often than three times a week and spend far
more time exercising less intensely.
High-intensity interval training causes muscle burning and
severe shortness of breath, so don’t do it unless you enjoy the
thrill of competition.

High Intensity Interval Training
Take Your Fitness and Fat Loss to the Next Level
– By Dean Anderson, Fitness & Behavior Expert
SparkPeople Sponsors help keep the site free!
If I told you that there was a way to burn more calories, lose more fat, and improve your cardiovascular fitness level while spending less time doing cardio, you’d probably reach for your phone to report me to the consumer fraud hotline, right?

Well, this is one of those rare times when your natural it’s-too-good-to-be-true reaction could be mistaken. If you want to take your fitness and fat loss to the next level—without spending more time in the gym—then high intensity interval training (also known as HIIT) could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Before getting into the details, notice that I didn’t say HIIT would be easier, just that it would take less of your time. In fact, the HIIT approach to cardio exercise is very physically demanding and isn’t for everyone. If you have any cardiovascular problems or other health concerns that limit your ability to exercise at very intense levels, or if you are relatively new to aerobic exercise or not already in good shape, HIIT is not for you—at least for now. If you have any doubts or concerns about whether it might be safe for you, check in with your medical professional before trying HIIT.

What It Is and How It Works
HIIT is a specialized form of interval training that involves short intervals of maximum intensity exercise separated by longer intervals of low to moderate intensity exercise. Because it involves briefly pushing yourself beyond the upper end of your aerobic exercise zone, it offers you several advantages that traditional steady-state exercise (where you keep your heart rate within your aerobic zone) can’t provide:

* HIIT trains and conditions both your anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. You train your anaerobic system with brief, all-out efforts, like when you have to push to make it up a hill, sprint the last few hundred yards of a distance race, or run and hide from your spouse after saying the wrong thing.
* HIIT increases the amount of calories you burn during your exercise session and afterward because it increases the length of time it takes your body to recover from each exercise session.
* HIIT causes metabolic adaptations that enable you to use more fat as fuel under a variety of conditions. This will improve your athletic endurance as well as your fat-burning potential.
* HIIT appears to limit muscle loss that can occur with weight loss, in comparison to traditional steady-state cardio exercise of longer duration.
* To get the benefits HIIT, you need to push yourself past the upper end of your aerobic zone and allow your body to replenish your anaerobic energy system during the recovery intervals.

The key element of HIIT that makes it different from other forms of interval training is that the high intensity intervals involve maximum effort, not simply a higher heart rate. There are many different approaches to HIIT, each involving different numbers of high and low intensity intervals, different levels of intensity during the low intensity intervals, different lengths of time for each interval, and different numbers of training sessions per week. If you want to use HIIT to improve performance for a particular sport or activity, you’ll need to tailor your training program to the specific needs and demands of your activity.

General HIIT Guidelines

* HIIT is designed for people whose primary concerns are boosting overall cardiovascular fitness, endurance, and fat loss, without losing the muscle mass they already have.
* Before starting any HIIT program, you should be able to exercise for at least 20-30 minutes at 70-85% of your estimated maximum heart rate, without exhausting yourself or having problems.
* Because HIIT is physically demanding, it’s important to gradually build up your training program so that you don’t overdo it. (The sample training schedule below will safely introduce you to HIIT over a period of eight weeks.)
* Always warm up and cool down for at least five minutes before and after each HIIT session.
* Work as hard as you can during the high intensity intervals, until you feel the burning sensation in your muscles indicating that you have entered your anaerobic zone. Elite athletes can usually sustain maximum intensity exercise for three to five minutes before they have to slow down and recover, so don’t expect to work longer than that.
* Full recovery takes about four minutes for everyone, but you can shorten the recovery intervals if your high intensity intervals are also shorter and don’t completely exhaust your anaerobic energy system.
* If you experience any chest pain or breathing difficulties during your HIIT workout, cool down immediately. (Don’t just stop or else blood can pool in your extremities and lightheadedness or faintness can occur.)
* If your heart rate does not drop back down to about 70% of your max during recovery intervals, you may need to shorten your work intervals and/or lengthen your recovery intervals.
* HIIT (including the sample program below) is not for beginner exercisers or people with cardiovascular problems or risk factors. If you have cardiovascular problems or risk factors should NOT attempt HIIT unless your doctor has specifically cleared you for this kind of exercise.

A Sample Progressive HIIT Program
Please adhere to the general HIIT guidelines above for this program. To maximize fat loss, maintain an intensity level of 60-70% of your maximum heart rate (RPE of 5-6 on the 10-point scale) during warm up, cool down and recovery intervals.

(visit: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=621, for this example)
After completing this eight-week program, you can continue working to increase the number of work intervals per session, the duration of work intervals, or both.

You can adjust this training plan to accommodate your particular needs and goals. If you find that this schedule is either too difficult or too easy for your current fitness level, you can make adjustments to the duration and/or number of high intensity intervals as necessary. For example, if you want to train yourself for very short, frequent bursts of maximum intensity activity, your program could involve sprinting for 20 seconds and jogging/walking for 60 seconds, and repeating that 15-20 times per session.

You don’t need to swap all of your aerobic exercise for HIIT to gain the benefits. A good balance, for example, might be two sessions of HIIT per week, along with 1-2 sessions of steady-state aerobic exercise. As usual, moderation is the key to long-term success, so challenge yourself—but don’t drive yourself into the ground. Get ready to see major changes in your body and your fitness level!

It’s a statistical fact that 93% of people quit going to the gym or quit using their home equipment in the first 90 days because of time and results is a very close follower.

At Quick Gym 90.4% rate Quick Gym’s no wait exercise as important/very important. What’s also important is 90% are Satisfied or Very Satisfied with their results. Especially when compared to the primitive gym (all other gyms) programs.

What does that mean. While 93% quit using other gyms and home equipment because of time over 90% are not throwing money away on a membership they are not using.

So while other gyms may be charging as little as $10 a month or $50 a year, if your membership is not being used regularly, it’s not making you any healthier tithing to the “fitness gods”

After exercise, you need whey proteins to build muscle, but you also need carbs for energy…..Here is a great way to get them both in one delicious shake!

TROPICAL BLAST
Ready in 5 mins. Makes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 frozen banana, cut into chunks
1/2 cup pineapple, cubed
1 cup low-fat milk (or low-fat soy milk)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
**(RECOMMENDED OPTIMUM HEALTH NUTRITION WHEY PROTEIN POWDERS)**

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION PER SERVING:
Calories 165, Total Fat 1g, Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 7mg, Sodium 50 mg, Total Carbs 27g, Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 20g, Protein 25g, Iron 2g

BENEFITS:
SORENESS BUSTER- Pineapple is loaded with Bromelain and Papin, enzymes that help minimize post workout inflammation.

PROTEIN PUSHERS- A ripe banana and blueberries will cause an insulin spike, which quickly shuttles amino acids to your depleted muscle cells.

LEAN POWDER- Whey protein contains leucine, an amino acid that research shows can help your body preserve lean muscle tissues.

It totally blows my mind the research that has been out for years on High
Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s noted as early as the 30’s two
german trainers use HIIT to lean out their athletes and started
breaking record after record. Roger Bannister used HIIT and was the
first man to break the 4 minute mile. While it’s new to most, HIIT is old hat to top performers. Quick Gym only uses HIIT Programs because HIIT provides 100% better results than long duration cardio when it comes to heart health.

Read More at…

Exercise for Your Heart and Lungs

Source: www.thestretchinghandbook.com

An Introduction to Anti-Aging for Your Heart and Lungs.