The Myth of Steady State

I received so many responses to last month’s
letter—–ah—chocolate…….such a sweet topic for discussion!
Thanks to you all who took the time to send me your ideas, recipes,
favorite chocolates and confessions of your chocoholic status.

This month we will discuss the myth of “steady
state” (sustained, lower intensity) aerobic exercise. I get many
questions about fat loss strategies and find it begins an interesting
dialogue. Many women (and even some men) believe that in order to lose
fat the best exercise to turn to is steady state aerobics. This is not
the case.

Here is the typical question I get asked. “Shelli, I
just don’t get it.  I watch what I eat, and run and bike 5 days a week.
I’ve been working out like this for years and I  can’t seem to lose a
pound. Why is this?”  Another example is, “Shelli, I am shocked that
with all the training I have done to get ready for my marathon I haven’t
lost any weight.”

Now I am not going to get too technical here so
after you read this if you want more specific information you can always
contact me. And I am not going to discuss the nutritional component of
fat loss—that’s for another e-letter. I do want to send you in the
right direction though, in terms of your understanding what kind of
exercise to use to reach your fat loss goals. I know that we are all
striving to live a healthy life and get fitter every day, and often that
includes fat loss.  Let’s call that a desire to change our body
composition—-gain muscle and lose fat.  What I see people turning to
in their exercise plan is steady state cardio—-whether that’s running,
walking, biking, or swimming. I am suggesting a much more EFFECTIVE
approach would be to use strength training and cardio done as intervals
(verses steady state).

Some facts:

1. We have a
survival instinct in our bodies that holds onto fat for energy if we
exercise consistently for long periods of time (steady state). Short
intense exercise sessions do NOT trigger this fat storage mechanism, so
your body feels safe using fat stores for energy after these short
intense sessions.

2.  Increasing the amount of resistance/strength
training you do builds more lean muscle.  Muscle is metabolically active
and burns more calories than other body tissues even when you are not
moving. And muscle burns more calories than fat. The ONLY tissue in the
body that burns fat is muscle. I generally find when you get someone
stronger, other things improve as well.

3.  Particularly if you are creating a caloric
deficit through your diet, regular resistance training will preserve the
lean muscle tissue that would otherwise be lost along with the fat.
This is a key point.

4.  The idea is to rev up your metabolism.
Metabolism is largely a function of how much muscle you carry. Raising
your metabolism is the real key in long term fat loss and changing your
body composition. In order to lose body fat you must burn more calories
than you consume—this remains rule number one. Aerobic training burns
them while you are exercising, however anaerobic training (strength
training and interval training) burns them during AND increases the
calories burned for hours afterwards. This is referred to as EPOC–the
excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

5.  The steady state aerobic dilemma is that you
will get efficient at whatever exercise you are doing. The work required
to go the same distance at the same speed will become less and less as
you get fitter. You will either need to go further or faster. This
creates a whole bunch of concerns—spending more time to get the same
calorie deficit you once got, going faster if your technique is not
solid could lead to injury, and eventually the new distance or speed
will become too easy for you and at some point you will go into your
ANaerobic zone so you are no longer doing aerobics.

In terms of fat loss, calories burned is the most
important factor. Aerobic training burns less calories than anaerobic
training and strength training overall. There is of course a place for
steady state aerobics in your toolbox.  If you enjoy endurance-based
cardio exercise, by all means go out there and have fun.  Our topic here
has been the most effective and efficient way to exercise to maximize
fat loss.  Strength training and interval workouts are the better tools
to use for that goal. Of course, we need to pay attention to nutrition
as well.

I wanted to share this with you because I feel I owe
my great health and fitness to Yoga, better nutrition, smarter
workouts, getting as strong as I can and living better with a simpler
lifestyle. And as always, I take you with me on my journey, where my
greatest joy comes from being of service and participating in your
health and fitness quest as well.

Finally, do you know what your Q angle is? We all
have one. Let me give you a hint. It greatly influences how you run and
walk. If you RUN or WALK for fitness, consider coming to our Yoga and
Running/Walking Retreat in June. Make friends with your Q angle!

Have a healthy joyinmovement month and may the
Easter bunny bring you eggs with extra Omega 3 in them!

Shelli