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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.

A regular exercise program helps to lower high blood levels of homocysteine, according to a recent study from multiple medical centers (European Journal of Applied Physiology, November 2006). Everyone agrees that high blood levels of homocysteine increase your risk for heart attacks, but at this time, nobody knows why. More than 200 papers show high blood levels of homocysteine are associated with increased risk for heart attacks, strokes and dementia. However, three recent studies show that lowering blood levels of homocysteine does not prevent these conditions. This has disturbed many researchers because they cannot explain how lowering a risk factor for a disease does not help to prevent that disease.

It may be that homocysteine does not cause heart attacks, strokes or dementia, but is just a marker associated with them. For example, homocysteine comes from methionine, an essential amino acid found primarily in meat. Meat is also a rich source of saturated fats which are known to increase risk for heart attacks and strokes in people who ingest too many calories. So, lowering homocysteine does not prevent heart attacks, strokes and dementia because homocysteine does not cause these conditions. However, lowering saturated fats does help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Saturated fats are harmful to a person when he gets too many calories. Dietary saturated fats go to the liver where they are broken down to 2-carbon units. If the body has enough calories, the liver uses these 2-carbon units to make cholesterol. On the other hand, if the liver does not get enough calories, the 2-carbon units are burned for energy to carbon dioxide and water and never form cholesterol. Exercise helps to burn calories. So exercise uses up calories that would other wise have been used to manufacture cholesterol. Stay tuned; the issue is not settled.

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

Injuries often occur when you start a new sport or a new piece of exercise equipment, or when you return to exercise after a long break. In your enthusiasm to get started, it’s easy to overstress muscles that have not been used before. That’s why “background before peaking” is one of the most important principles of training. It takes several weeks or even months to build up strength and endurance.

Start your new exercise program at low intensity and low volume. Gradually increase your workload for several months before you try to run fast, lift heavy or exercise intensely. If you are just beginning a new exercise program, start out at a relaxed pace until your muscles feel heavy and then stop. For the first several days or weeks you may be able to exercise only for a few minutes. If your muscles feel sore the next day, take the day off. Increase the amount of time gradually until you can exercise 30 minutes a day at a relaxed pace and not feel sore. You may progress rapidly to the 30-minute goal, or it may take you two, four, six weeks or more. No matter how long it takes, don’t get discouraged. Exercising too much or too hard, too soon will set you up for injuries.

Athletes in all sports use this principle. First they spend many months in background training, working out for long hours, mostly at low intensity, followed by a shorter period of peaking training in which they do far less work, but at a much greater intensity. A few months before an important race, they reduce the workload but go as fast and hard as possible two or three times a week.

(Any comments for this article please respond to the social media that led you here, I don’t allow them because of all the spam. Thanks)

Dear Health Conscious Reader,

Here’s the most important thing about exercise for your heart…

Endurance training, like cardiovascular endurance (“cardio” for short), is not the only thing your heart and lungs need. It won’t keep your heart and lungs from shrinking with age. And it won’t make your heart less prone to disease.

Here’s proof…

A 30-year study shows endurance exercise leads to a common heart problem.

Norwegian cross-country marathon skiers took part in a study that began in 1976. Researchers wanted to know if the elite athletes would develop heart disease.

They discovered endurance athletes are at unusually high risk for atrial fibrillation (AF), which leads to stroke.

AF is when the two upper chambers of the heart quiver instead of beating properly. Blood isn’t pumped completely out, so it pools and clots. If a clot breaks loose, it can travel to the brain and cause a stroke.₁

In general, only 0.5% of the population has AF. But in the marathon skiers, it rose to 12.8%. What’s surprising, the youngest age group was most at risk. In the 26- to 33-year-old age group, 18.2% developed AF.₂

You can have AF and not even know it. Some of the symptoms include:

• Heart palpitations
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain
• Weakness
• Fatigue

Research is finally catching up with common sense. Short bursts of intense exercise are what nature intended. It’s better for your heart – and your health.

Your body is designed to adapt to the environment. Forcing yourself to exercise for long periods without rest is not what nature intended. When you do the same repetitive movement over and over like you’re a machine, you cause too much stress on your organs. Stress causes inflammation, and inflammation leads to chronic disease.

In this case, heart disease.

A Harvard study came to the same conclusion. Short bursts of intense exertion lowers the risk of heart disease – and death._3,4

There is an easy way to guard against AF and strengthen your heart. I designed PACE to take minutes – rather than hours – a day. Plus, it gives you a lean and toned body. You can start right now, wherever you are, even if you’ve never exercised a day in your life.

1. Choose a challenge. Choose an activity that challenges you. For one person it might be walking for one minute. For someone else, it might be sprinting full blast. Or use weights. Or a bicycle.

2. Warm up. Start your activity in a slow and controlled manner to get the blood flowing in your body. Become aware of how your body responds. Warm up for about two minutes.

3. Challenge your body. Once you’re warmed up and ready, turn up the intensity. Whatever form of exercise you choose, start at a level you’re comfortable with and put effort into what you do. Start with only a minute or two.

4. Rest and recover. Now relax. Notice your heartbeat. Keep track of how long it takes to get back to normal. Take as long as you need, but when you catch your breath, it’s time to challenge your body again.

5. Repeat. Repeat the challenge followed by rest four to six times. This shouldn’t take you more than 10-12 minutes.

If you want to know more about PACE, click here now.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Wolf PA, Dawber TR, Thomas HE, Kannel WB (1978). “Epidemiologic assessment of chronic atrial fibrillation and risk of stroke: the Framingham study.” Neurology 28 (10): 973-7.
2. Grimsmo et al. “High prevalence of atrial fibrillation in long-term endurance cross-country skiers: echocardiographic findings and possible predictors – a 28–30 years follow-up study.” European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, 2010; 17 (1): 1.
3. Lee IM, Sesso, HD, et al. “Relative intensity of physical activity and risk of coronary heart disease.” Circulation. 2003;107(8):1110-11166.
4. Lee IM, Hsieh CC, et al. “Exercise intensity and longevity in men: The Harvard Alumni Health Study.” JAMA. 1995;273(15):1179-1184.

This is an article from a Jacksonville paper. Even when the experts say it can’t work, it works

Four Minute Workout

Created: 11/14/2007 7:16:38 AM Updated: 11/14/2007 2:36:36 PM

JACKSONVILLE, FL — A four minute workout sounds too good to be true. But the makers of the ROM (Range of Motion) machine say it is possible.

The machine is made up of two parts. The upper body workout resembles a rowing machine but with resistance in both directions. The lower body workout looks like a stair stepper but you stretch much more than on a typical machine.

The big question is how can you get a good workout in 4 minutes? The company’s web site says the time required for an effective cardio-vascular exercise depends on the degree of oxygen consumption during the workout.

Fitness experts at Jacksonville’s Hit Center say there is some science behind that statement.

“Every liter of oxygen you use for exercise is five calories burned,” says Aaron Marston, Executive Director of Jacksonville’s Hit Center. “So regardless of what exercise, it all comes down to the amount of oxygen you use.”

The makers of the ROM claim users work so hard that they use as much oxygen in four minutes that people use working out in a normal 30 to 45 minute workout.

But Marston says that isn’t likely. “Even an elite athlete with a high amount of lean muscle weight is only going to be able to burn 80 to 100 calories in that time.”

(Insert from Quick Gym. True. It’s the results after the workout not during the workout that makes this possible).

However, the ROM does appeal to people who are extremely busy. Galen Bauer often works 80 hours a week as a lawyer. And his busy day doesn’t stop there.

“I have a wife and a baby at home and a house to take care of, so when you get home there’s lots of other stuff to do,” says Bauer. “That doesn’t leave time for working out.”

So Bauer decided to try a friend’s ROM and do the four minute exercise everyday for two weeks.

After trying the machine he says the workout is ten times harder than any exercise he had done before.

“There’s resistance in both directions,” says Bauer. That resistance really starts to wear a person down in the four minutes on the machine. “You really have to push down hard on the pedals to get them to move,” says Bauer.

He felt the impact immediately after getting off the machine. “It feels right now like I got more than a normal workout because it’s hard to breathe,” said Bauer. “My legs hurt already and I’m sweating in only 4 minutes.”

But Galen says he had some concerns about the workout too. “For the next hour after the workout you feel your body is trying to catch up,” says Bauer. “And I wonder if that is healthy.”

By Julia Crowley First Coast News

He also says you can not go right back to work after the exercise. “If you’ve done the workout with an honest effort then you are sweating,” says Bauer. “Then it takes time to cool down and catch your breathe. You can’t just answer the phone four minutes later.”

(Insert from Quick Gym. Our fitness club is cool enough that no matter how hard you work, once you get accustomed to the workout, a week or two, 98% of our members do go right to work. Try that after being on a tread mill lolly gaging as most people do).

BUT HE DID GET RESULTS WITH THE ROM. In two weeks he worked a total of 56 minutes in all. And he lost 8 pounds in that time.

(Insert from Quick Gym. In 3 weeks we have members take up their belts as much as 6 inches).

The machine does come with a hefty price tag. New 14,615.00. People who have used the machine told First Coast News that it is worth the money.

(Insert here from Quick Gym. Just consider the money you will save on medical bills because of the health benefits of exercise and the price is cheap. At Quick Gym we get used one and are able to save purchasers as much as 6k sometimes.)

But Bauer says it’s a big commitment. “That is a big investment and I don’t know if I would stay committed to the workout long enough to pay off the investment.,” says Bauer.

(Insert here from Quick Gym. Commitment is required. You have to use it to get results but with only 4 minutes a day statistics show that 95% of people stay committed to exercising, while 93% of people stop going to the primitive gyms or stop using the premitive home equipment in the first 90 days).

According to Prevention Magazine, a workout before you head to the office or during your lunch break can improve your job performance say researchers at England’s University of Bristol. 79% of respondents in the study reported improved mental performance and better relationships with colleagues; 74% said they managed their workloads better; 21% reported higher concentration and productivity levels and 25% made it through the day without unscheduled breaks. Quick Gym of Colorado Springs provides just the venue!