Everything Works but Nothing Works Forever

There you go again, walking in a straight line for hours on that treadmill. Dancing around on and off that step in your “power” aerobics class? How about that person riding that bike while talking on your cell phone? I can’t leave out those people pumping away with endless amounts of repetitions with those ever so popular pink dumbbells… Why is it that you see the same people with the same bodies year after year? It’s because people have been doing the same old thing for far too long and nothing works forever! How many more crunches and aerobic classes do you have to do to finally get some results?
Let me ask you a question. Do you remember your first cup of coffee? Remember how it got you all wired? Over time that first cup just didn’t give you the same type of effect that the first one did, so what did you have to do? You needed to drink 2 cups, right? So in order for you to get the same affect that you used to, one of two things must occur, either you increase the total amount of coffee or you increase the strength. What about the first alcoholic beverage you had back in college? Remember how it didn’t take much to get you that “buzz” that you might have been seeking? Fast forward to your senior year or even right now and you’ll see that your tolerance for alcohol has some what improved… In order to get the same effect one of two things must occur, either you increase the total amount of alcohol or you pick a stronger drink.

The S.A.I.D Principle Exposed

You might be asking how the above examples have anything to do with your fitness program or fat loss endeavors? Allow me explain. The S.A.I.D Principle defined is Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. In a nut shell this means that your body will ALWAYS get better at exactly whatever ever it does no matter what it is. Let’s use the S.A.I.D Principle with an example toward fat loss… If you run 1 mile 3 days a week I can guarantee that by the next week that one mile will feel easier. Well according to S.A.I.D Principle it should. The next week or two you should be able to increase your mileage. You are now progressing nicely because now those 2 miles are feeling like your old one mile. Why not go for 4 miles the next week, how about 5 mi? You will eventually get to the point where 10mi or even 15 miles will not be a difficult accomplishment.

If you remember the two examples at the top I used with Alcohol and Coffee you will remember that your body will become desensitized to any stimulus that it’s exposed to too often… This even includes long-distance running. This means in order for you to burn the same amount of calories that you used to get at mile 5; you will now need to run 10 miles! You have effectively adapted to the implied demand of running at the same intensity. From a caloric expenditure stand-point this is catastrophic. So what is the solution? If we look at the above scenario’s using the Coffee and Alcohol there are only two choices… Run further, or increase the intensity of the run and shorten the distance. This actually proves that long-distance/low-intensity steady state cardio isn’t a smart modality for fat loss. Why? Because you must do more work to get the same effect!

Do you want a Cadillac or a Honda? Chunky Aerobic Teacher Syndrome Revealed

If I told you that my Honda got good gas mileage than that would mean that my car was fuel efficient. This would mean that my car can go long distances on very little gas. This is actually a good thing, for a car. What if I told you that running long distances or performing low intensity, long duration cardio made your body efficient at using fat for energy? This type of exercise not only wrecks your joints creating pain and dysfunction but it also makes your body extremely FUEL or FAT EFFICIENT! This is great for your car but extremely frustrating for someone engaging in a fat loss program. You want you’re body to mimic a Cadillac when engaging in a fat loss program… You want a car (body) with a big engine (a lot of muscle)! The goal should be to use as much fuel as possible but that fuel should be coming from Glycogen, not fat! Too much long distance long duration types of activities will make your engine (muscle) smaller thus creating less of a calorie burning machine at rest… By increasing the intensity and shortening the duration you will use glycogen as your primary fuel source and fat for energy while RECOVERING from you’re training session. By increasing the intensity you will also be able to maintain lean muscle (engine) which will increase your resting metabolic rate or the amount of calories you can use while doing nothing. Could this be the reason we see fat long distance runners? What about Fat spinning/aerobics instructors? Could this be the reason so many people hit plateaus and quit there exercise programs come February and March?

Don’t get me wrong – Are there people not of Kenyan descent that receive great benefit from long duration low intensity steady-state aerobics? Of course! What about that one guy who lost 50 pounds and the only thing he did was spinning 3 days a week? Oh, and there is that woman in step class that looks awesome! She swears by it, it must work. You’re exactly right, it did work. For them! This is exactly my point… Just because it works for one doesn’t mean it will work for everyone. This goes the same for the Adkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, The Fat Flush Diet, The Peanut Butter Diet, The Cookie Diet, Vegetarian Diets, Vegan Diets, Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. These diets all work for some and more often that not fail for others. We are all unique and each person’s diet, cardio regimen and weight training protocol are truly unique to each individual. It is a mistake to blindly follow in the foot steps of whatever is popular on TV, the magazine in your grocery check out line or what the body-builder at your local gym told you. You will most likely just be setting yourself up for failure.

What are you Insane?

Let me remind you of the definition of insanity; to continue to do the same things and expect different results. A great quote puts it all in perspective,” The best training routine you can be on is the one that you’re not on.”

Stay tuned for Part 3 of the Fat Loss Simplified series where I go in depth on how to stop the insanity… Learn what the best trainers in the world are using to achieve extreme fat loss in 20 min or less!

Matt Pack, NASM-CPT, Nutrition Lifestyle Coach
http://www.extremefatlosstraining.com
http://www.impackfitness.com

The Lost Art of Intensity…

I’ve been saying for years that fat people finish marathons all the time. What people need to realize is that it’s not about the distance covered it’s about how FAST or INTENSE the distance was covered. I wish people would get this through there heads when January comes and they embark on the magic “run for weight-loss” kick. People see the Kenyan crossing the Boston Marathon finish line and actually believe that running made him/her skinny… The fact of the matter is that the Kenyan’s body type had more to do with the selection of that runner’s mother and father than running 26.2 miles ever did. Some people are “built” for running long distances and some people are not… On average most people are not! You may ask why?

The large majority of our population is just too structurally unsound to run over long distances. Imbalances at the ankle and hip can cause havoc on the knees and low back… Just ask any local Physical Therapist who there number one patient is and more often than not they will say the long distance runner. Professional long distance runners are plagued with over-use injuries such as plantar fasciitis, shin splints, anterior knee pain, IT band/lateral knee pain and hip and low back dysfunctions. I won’t even get into the subject concerning Free Radical damage and the actual “oxidizing” that occurs in the body from not only Pollutants in the atmosphere but just from running for prolonged periods of time. The Free Radical damage mentioned has been shown to increase the likelihood of many types of cancers especially that of the brain.

Excessive running also increases a stress hormone called Cortisol. The hormone Cortisol is a necessity in a fight or flight situation like running from a tiger or getting out of a tight jam but elevated Cortisol levels for too long of period can flat out ruin health much less your fat loss program. Elevated Cortisol levels are no stranger to the average person… A typical stressful day usually starts with a “healthy” bowl of cereal, low fat milk and orange juice. This type of breakfast is notorious for stimulating or spiking insulin levels. The elevated insulin level over a long period of time becomes a stressor to the body as well which in turn increases one’s Cortisol levels. Were just getting started… From breakfast you head off to work and in to rush hour traffic, now you’re late for work! More stress, more Cortisol. You finally reach work and find out that you’ve missed your scheduled Monday morning meeting. More stress, more Cortisol. After a long day of work (stress) you feel like the only thing that will relieve your stressful day would be that 8pm spinning class. More stress, more Cortisol! Is there any wonder why heart attacks take place on Mondays more than any other day of the week? With a day such as this the last thing your body needs is spinning or any long duration aerobics at all for that matter. A better choice would be some sort of stress management, a massage or an even better idea would be to get to bed at an earlier time. You see, your body doesn’t know the difference between insulin stress, work stress or spinning stress. Your body only senses a fight or flight situation and when your body thinks it’s in danger the last thing on earth its concerned with is fitting into your size 2.

Wait There’s more!

Another problem with low-intensity/long duration running is that it flat right out doesn’t work for fat loss! Yeah, I said it, it stinks! Is it good for weight loss? Sure, but what good is the lost weight on the scale if you’re destined to gain it back plus 10 pounds extra. Forget the fact that it’s time consuming, places undue amounts of stress on your muscular-skeletal system and causes over-use injuries it’s just not a efficient strategy for LONG-TERM FATLOSS. The key word here is long-term. You see it’s not just Running that’s the problem… It’s Spinning Classes, Aerobic Classes, Cardio-Kickboxing Classes, Zumba Classes, Body-Bar Classes and every other class that they offer at your local big box gym. They all seem to work, but than something interesting happens… Your results start to slow or they magically come to a screeching halt. This usually happens around the beginning or Middle of February the same time you stop your New Years Resolution every year. Is this some sort of a Coincidence? I think not. Look, these classes are fun and boy do they make you sweat! Unfortunately, you can dance in the mirror and laugh and sweat all over that pretty little abdominal mat but until you realize that fun and sweat don’t  always equal fat loss you’ll continue to spin your wheels (pardon the pun). I know, I know, spinning is hard! But is it really? How hard can something be hard if you’re able make it through one of those famous 2 hour Thanksgiving Day rides? We keep getting caught up in this more is better scenario… Let’s explain why these timed based/distance training sessions fail to live up to there promises.

SURVIVAL COMES FIRST!

Let’s assume that you are eating enough calories to support those 2 hours of spinning, which you’re probably not, than you are more often than not going to be using your hard earned muscle for energy. You see, the last thing your body wants to do is use body-fat for energy, especially when it thinks your starving… I know you’re doctor informed you that you should eat less and move more but I respectively disagree. When your calories are too low and you engage in any type of physical activity you’re body has to get energy from somewhere. That energy is coming primarily from MUSCLE, the most metabolically active tissue that your body possesses. You know that same tissue that you worked so hard for in that “Body Pump” Class… This is really quite simple, muscle burns calories at rest but the crazy thing is that muscle also needs calories to maintain it self. So, if you’re not eating enough calories muscle becomes a threat to your existence and long-term survival. See, if you’re running for your life on very little food (calories) your bodies best bet is to dump muscle because it’s literally burning calories that you don’t have. Now comes the fun part! Because you’re body thinks you’re in a survival situation, when you do decide to eat that Jenny Craig or Lean Cuisine dinner your body conveniently converts the food to fat and stores it on your inner thigh. This becomes a downward spiral because the running was working. Frustrated you increase the amount of time running, riding the bike etc… Or you just lower your calories even more (this never works) and you end up in an even worse situation than before. This scenario plays out every year in every gym in America! It has successfully made billions of dollars for abdominal gadgets, diet pills, doctors, gym memberships and fad diets across the board. It sounds good, “all you have to do is move more and eat less”! If this concept worked than Americans wouldn’t be the fattest and unhealthiest people on the planet.

Smarter than a Caveman?

In all honesty human beings just were not built to run slow in a straight line for prolonged periods of time… On the contrary we as human beings are best suited for using our energy for short bursts of energy and than recovering like throwing a spear at an elk or deer, chasing it down and dragging it home to feast. Our body’s number one goal is Survival! Running for long stretches from a cave man perspective wouldn’t have been very smart… Think about it; would you want to fatigue yourself by running a 5k or 10k and than get chased by a potential predator? Could you actually manage to flee from danger with runner’s knee or a case of shin splints? How much sense would it make to go on a hunting marathon, SLOWEY running after dinner making all types of commotion, scaring off potential food while simultaneously making you more vulnerable to being eaten? If you really look at it more closely the only way to catch food is if you could actually sneak up on it. You know actually hunt for it. Don’t forget! Animals, yeah, they kind of sense things like danger, oh and they hear pretty well too. In order for you to catch dinner for your family you would have to be berry, berry QUIET like Elmer Fudd looking for that widdle wabbit… You would have to be cunning and keen, patiently (what do Americans know about patience) waiting for the right time to pounce… At the right moment you throw a rock or a sharpened stick, SPRINT and try to catch the prey before it darts off into the deep forest or open plain.

I know it sounds crazy because we no longer have to hunt for food; Burger King and your local supermarket actually do that for us. But before technology and processed food and refrigerators it really was SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST! No drive through windows, delivery options like Nutri-System, Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers. In fact the act of dieting from a survival standpoint makes no sense at all, ironic that the first 3 letters of the word diet are DIE! We Americans no all about dieting were the fattest people on the planet.

If not running Than What?

I’m going to tell you a little secret… Would you like to know why there are so many fat and unhealthy individuals in our country? Aside from the fact that people live off of box foods, skip breakfast, work too much, don’t sleep enough and obviously just don’t move enough. People want results and don’t want to work for them. It just doesn’t work that way! So what’s the SECRET? The secret is INTENSITY. We have to work harder, not longer. If longer worked than you wouldn’t see fat marathon runners, but you do. If easy worked than riding on that bike while talking to your girlfriend would work but it doesn’t. The fact of the matter is that simple and easy is not the same. Easy implies no effort. Simple means not complicated. Achieving total health and lower body fat levels is simple, but it’s far from easy.

Stay tuned for Part 2! I’ll discuss the phenomenon of Chunky Aerobic Teacher Syndrome and how to combat it…

Matt Pack, NASM CPT, Nutrition Lifestyle Coach
http://www.extremefatlosstraining.com

http://www.impackfitness.com

ARE PARENTS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD WHEN IT COMES TO FEEDING THERE CHILDREN?

Is a calorie a calorie?

Let me break the “Calorie” thing down a little further just so I don’t confuse the parents I’m trying to target… Is Brown Rice better than White Rice? Absolutely! Are Sweet Potatoes better than White Potatoes? Absolutely! Is Brown Rice and Sweet Potatoes better than Pizza or Mac and Cheese? Absolutely!

The main point I’m trying to make is that the type of Calorie is more important than the amount. I’m sure that statement won’t go over well with everyone but it’s the truth… Different Carbs cause different Insulin responses hence Brown Rice having a lower Glycemic Index vs. White Rice. A 300 calorie piece of Chicken will affect a child’s blood sugar differently than that 300 calorie Ice Cream Cone. A calorie is not a calorie is not a calorie! One thing should be noted is that adding Protein with ANY Carb will slow the child’s insulin response.

 This is the one thing that kills me when I see a young child eating Pasta with no Chicken or Pancakes with no Eggs… Kids shouldn’t eat much different than adults! They should eat often and the foods should be nutrient dense. The food should be free of Food Colorings, additives, Preservatives, artificial sweeteners, Trans-Fats and other High Fructose Corn products… This can easily be achieved by limiting foods eaten out of a box and shopping primarily from the perimeter of your super market. A child should limit foods that have expiration dates, long ingredient lists with a long shelf-life. Children should eat adequate amounts of “GOOD” fats such as Whole or Raw Milk, Raw Butter, WHOLE EGGS and natural fats found in animal products and fatty Fishes…A child should never be eating a LOW FAT Diet! A large majority (80%!) of the brain is comprised of fat and fat is what the brain needs to work optimally. Also, a child’s main beverage consumption should come from WATER, not DIET COKE! Are you kidding me!

 I just listened to more BIG FAT LIES on The Today Show spewing from a RD/Nutritionists mouth promoting Cereal, Skim Milk and Orange Juice as being a “Healthy” breakfast! She continued the typical advice by advising a Low Fat Turkey sandwich on Whole Wheat with yet again some more Low Fat (KEY WORD) Yogurt! Incredible! As you might see I’m not a big fan of RD’s or Nutritionists for that matter but the list below is something I feel like we can see eye to eye on.

1. Eating too many fibrous vegetables is not the cause of childhood obesity.
2. Non-Fibrous Carbohydrates (breads, pasta’s, sugar, flour, anything ending in -ose) have a negative affect on insulin levels and blood sugar
3.One of the job’s that insulin is responsible for is the storage of Fat
4.Protein and Fat have no negative affect on insulin levels or blood sugar
5. Debatable but Carbohydrates are considered by most to be the bodies “primary” source of energy 
6. Playing video games, spending countless hours on the computer (Facebook;) and communicating with the world through text messaging doesn’t burn much energy

I’m glad we got that out of the way. Can we agree once more that RICE; white, brown, wild, sprouted, fried, stir-fried, baked, fricasseed, tossed etc…is a Non-Fibrous Carbohydrate…? Were on a roll now! If in fact Rice is a Non-fibrous Carbohydrate, which it is, it would also mean that it would have an affect on one’s insulin levels. Ok, forget the damn Rice! I don’t care what Starchy Non-Fibrous Carb it is… It could be Organic, Ezekiel, frozen, fresh, sprouted, gluten free, hormone free, whole wheat and approved by Weston Price and Francis Pottenger themselves! If you or your child consistently sits on there butts playing video games, surfing Facebook or texting all while consuming any STARCHY NON-FIBROUS CARBOHYDRATE you eventually will have to deal with over-fatness or ill health. This is a non-issue! Adults and children alike take in too much energy (carbs) and do absolutely nothing with it. These types of Carbohydrates should be exercise dependent PERIOD.

 We as parents are responsible for creating our child’s future nutritional habits… Good or bad these habits will follow your children through out there lives. These habits can either increase health and vitality or decrease health and vitality. It’s all up to you! Like I said, your child doesn’t know what’s best for him/her, you do, and well at least now you do. Your child doesn’t buy the groceries, you do!

If you’re child is over-eating like the kids on the Dr. Phil Show it’s because his/her body is malnourished. A child’s body will look to get what ever it can get out of crap food! If there is no nutrients in that food the body will crave more food until it receives adequate nutrition… If there choices are empty calories coming from dead foods it can be a vicious cycle! So if your child is consistently sick (it’s not a anti-biotic deficiency!), tired/lazy, is over-weight, over-eating, has ADD, can’t sit still and is running around out of control you must take a closer look at what TYPES of FUELS (Proteins, Carbs and Fats) you are putting in his/her gas tank…Your car won’t run optimally on Diesel (Standard American Diet) if it’s supposed to take Supreme (Organic Meats, veggies/fruits and nuts). What exactly makes you think you or your child’s body will run optimally on Sugar Smacks and Orange Juice?

Matt Pack, NASM CPT, Nutrition Lifestyle Coach http://www.extremefatlosstraining.com

http://www.impackfitness.com

Why do we have the highest rates of degenerative disease than any industrialized country? If we have the best Health Care System in the world, than why are we so damn UN-healthy? Could it be that “healthy eating” is making us sick? There are many reasons why we as Americans, the most industrialized nation in the world are so un-healthy but the main reason could simply be that we are well, INDUSTRIALIZED? This isn’t necessarily a bad thing right? I mean, I don’t think you would enjoy performing hard labor everyday as people did in 18th and early 19th century. Americans have always taken the path of least resistance… By becoming more industrialized we have become more technological. By becoming more technological we have been able to get more work done in a shorter amount of time with out expending too much energy. Try working for 8-12 hours a day standing up? It’s not a coincidence that we are almost always sitting down to work…

So, technology in short has enabled us to invent, produce and sell “things” pretty much 24 hrs a day.

 That’s quite a demand to keep up! This is part of my point. The “demand” to keep up with the economy and keeping your job forces people to work longer, sometimes to the affect of taking up a second job. This “demand” forces many parents to work outside of the house which leaves children at home to feed and parent themselves. This is another problem… Back to my point! With both parents working long hours and sometimes two and three jobs, what kind of time does that leave for cooking quality food for themselves and there kids? Parents get home exhausted from keeping up the high production and the “demand” from there employers to make more (services and money). This not only leaves a “demand” for the parents to find cheaper and faster ways to eat but also the children.

In comes the processed food industry to save the day! TECHNOLOGY has allowed us to produce foods that have a long shelf-life (you don’t have to cook them), these foods happen to be cheap, taste good and they can be eaten quickly.

 The fact that these cheap/highly processed foods are dead empty calories that have almost no nutritional quality is a major problem but the point I’m trying to make is that these products are in “high demand” because we don’t have time to cook. You must understand that if there is a “demand” for ANYTHING, someone is going to capitalize on it. We can argue that McDonald’s and General Mills add things to there foods in order for you to get addicted (they do!) but neither of these company’s forces anyone to eat it. There is a need for this crap!

From a health stand point this is a vicious cycle that leads to:

1. Stress- As if you didn’t have enough from the traffic on the way to work! This is a killer in of itself and I will delve into this subject thoroughly very soon.

2. Lethargy- You’re tired to exercise and if you do have the energy you do something stupid like a spinning or aerobic class (more on that later).

 3. Low Blood Sugar- Brain Fog and irritability occur and you make more poor food choices plus raise insulin levels and store body fat.

4. Symptoms- Yep, you got it! From headaches (migraines), stomach aches, rashes, colds/congestion, sleep disorders, sexual dysfunction, high blood pressure, blood sugar issues, abnormal cholesterol levels etc… I could go on for hours! But guess what? You’ve got a symptom than “they’ve” got a remedy! Where there’s a demand there’s money and the Pharm companies are laughing all the way to the bank. These drugs do more harm than good, trust me! The problem will still exist if not dealt with because what all drugs do is simply take care of the SYMPTOMS that your poor lifestyle is causing! They never address the underlying PROBLEM.

5. Disease- Breast Cancer, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, Diabetes etc… Etc… Contrary to what your Health Care, I mean Sick Care provider told you these are all degenerative diseases caused by trashing your body with the foods that you demand.

 I know, I know, it runs in the family… It’s your genetics… Repeat after me, “Genetics loads the gun and LIFESTYLE pulls the trigger”. It’s easier said than done but our health all starts with what goes in your mouth. If you put the right fuel (food) in your engine (body) your car (body) will run (feel) better. Thy food is thy medicine!

Where’s The Beef?

Archaeological and climate records show us clearly what prehistoric Man ate: a diet of meat and fat, supplemented at certain times of the year, when available, with berries, nuts and leaves. It could not have been other wise for, over at least the last two and a half million years, our ancestors lived, evolved and adapted during a long series of Ice Ages. The last Ice Age began to end a mere 9,000 years ago. But it didn’t end everywhere at the same time.

As the Earth warmed up, the ice cleared from the equatorial regions towards the poles over a period of 5,000 or 6,000 years ago. It was only after this that agriculture started to be practiced. In evolutionary terms, that was literally yesterday.

 The significance of this is that, if you are like me- a blond-haired, blue eyed individual- whose evolutionary ancestry is in Northern Europe, your genes, which are essentially the same as those of your early ancestors and control every function of your body, were developed during a long period of weather patterns that aren’t unlike those of present day Greenland.

Even if your ancestry is in southern Europe, south-east Asia or Africa, your genes will be very much the same. And therein lays the problem, for your genes are concerned only with the foods that they have been programmed over millions of years to recognize as “food”. They care nothing for what we place in our mouths today; they simply won’t recognize many of them as “food”. If they are fed properly these genes will do their job of keeping us healthy, but give these genes nutrients that are unfamiliar or in the wrong ratios, and they malfunction.

 According to Dr S. Boyd Eaton, one of the foremost authorities on Paleolithic (pre-agriculture) diets, the foods we eat today are quite unlike anything our genetic makeup has prepared us for. Eaton makes the point that 99% of our genes were formed before the development of agriculture. The less we eat like are ancestors, the more susceptible we will be to coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and many other “diseases of civilization.” This just seems like common sense to me…

I have found that American consumers in the 1920’s had only a few hundred products to choose from in there local grocery store. By 1965 about 800 new products were being introduced each year, and in 1995 alone there were over 16,000 new products on the market shelves! Are those 16,000 HIGH FAT animal products? NOPE. What are these 16,000 new products made of? GRAINS. Are Grain prices dictated by the ups and downs of our beloved stock market? ABSOLUTLY! Are the prices of MEAT products dictated by our beloved stock market? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!

 How’s That Working For You?

It really baffles me how people can actually believe that MEAT is the reason for Americans state of health… How many isles are found in the typical grocery store? On average around 20. How many isles are filled with meat products? ONE. How many isles are filled with boxed, processed foods filled with food colorings, food additives, NATURAL Flavorings, preservatives and EMPTY Calories? On average around 15. Ever look in people’s grocery carts? What is it filled with? Well, it’s not filled with meat, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts and berries! It’s filled to the rim with LOW FAT, processed, high carbohydrate, dead foods. I guess now you see why RD’s and Gov. Officials push 9-11 servings of grain products a day? All you have to do is follow the money!

I think there are a couple of things we can all agree on… Can we agree that FAT does not raise insulin levels? Can we agree that one of insulin’s main jobs is to store sugar? When there is too much sugar, then there is insulin to store that sugar as FAT (energy).

 Can we agree that sugar, grains/bread, cereal, fruit juices and basically anything processed and found in a box will raise insulin levels? We would than agree that high amounts of insulin in the body isn’t a good thing? So, if you a agree than you would also agree that eating in this manner for long periods of time would have detrimental effect on the total health and well being of Americans?

I’m not advocating that we go to McDonald’s and eat poor quality meat products! I am advocating that we get back to eating REAL FOOD! Nutrient dense, whole food! Food that we have been consuming for the last 2.4 million years! Are bodies don’t recognize low fat or boxed anything. You’ll find superior health in area’s around the world where they eat similar to that of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They are free from the diseases that we encounter until they adopt a diet that includes white flour, sugar, denatured low fat milk, table salt and processed foods. This is the S.A.D (Standard American Diet) diet of our Western culture. I don’t need science to see that the LOW FAT, high Grain paradigm isn’t working…

  It just takes a little common sense to see that the REAL science is the millions of years of the one diet that got us to 20th Century, Organic Grass-fed MEAT, wild fish if near a body of water, seasonal vegetables, seeds and berries. The further we get away from what got us here the further we will get away from OPTIMAL HEALTH.

Matt Pack, NASM CPT, Nutrition Lifestyle Coach
http://www.extremefatlosstraining.com
http://www.impackfitness.com

1. Crunches are a waste of time (abs are made in the kitchen!).
2. There is no muscle stimulator you can place on your stomach that gives you a six pack.
3. Milk (comercial)won’t make you skinny or make your bones stronger for that matter…
4. Cereal for breakfast is NOT the breakfast of champions
5. Those Brazilian weight loss pills are going to kill someone.
6. Infomercials are scams but damn that Tony Little guy is a rich man…
7. Aerobics doesn’t work but cardio sure does?
8. If you only have time for cardio or weights always choose WEIGHTS!
9. WHOLE Eggs are excellent for you! The yolk is where the nutrients are found.
10. Sweat and exhaustion doesn’t equate to fat loss (I hate SPINNING!)
11. Soy makes you fat!
12. Get off the elliptical machine! Unless you’ve recently had knee surgery. It’s too darn easy!
13. No ladies, for the 100th time, heavy weights won’t make you bulky.
14. No training program in the world can make up for a crappy diet…
15. Vegetarians
16. People doing the same thing and expecting different results
17. Un-educated personal trainers
18. Marathons! Why would you want to: run in a straight line for 26.2 miles? Eat your own muscle? Supress your immune system? Get Feet, knee, hip and low back pathologie(s)?
19. Aerobics Classes
20. People who eat Carbs without a Protein! How can you eat spaghetti by itself?
*Bonus* 21. People doing the same thing and expecting different results ( for god sakes stop reading about Brittney Spears on the Elliptical maching!!!)

Click the YOUTUBE tab above to see what we do here LIVE!

Written by: Matt Pack
Impack Fitness

Let’s look at the human race…
We’re fat…
We’re sick…
We’re tired…

And

We’ve become slaves to processed foods and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Why?

It all starts with what we put in our mouths!

If you consistently put diesel fuel (boxed cereal) in your car (body) that is supposed to take regular unleaded (meats, fruits, and vegetables), what will eventually happen? Your car (body) will have to go into the mechanic (doctor) right? The mechanic (doctor) then advises you that if you keep this up you’re going to need a new engine (heart).

We have to come to the realization that Food really is Thy Medicine. If you fill your tank (stomach) with quality fuel( foods found primarily on the perimeter of the grocery store or even better your local farmers market), move your car(body) often, get optimal sleep, practice stress management and recovery methods while drinking adequate amounts of water you will be less likely to be fat, sick or tired. This will allow your body to actually have the energy to workout, play with your kids, and do all the things that you like to do.

Just in case you’ve forgotten let me remind you just how intricate and complex your human body is. I think we’ve taken our bodies for granted and if we don’t start making some serious changes, well let’s just say we’ll keep getting what we’ve already been getting, SICKER and FATTER. At this particular time I think a good piece of advice would be that if something’s not working for you than just do the opposite.

Top 5 Things Were Not Designed to Do:

1. Sit down and stair at a computer screen for 8-12 hours a day and then go to the gym and sit down
2. Performing hours of aerobics with the aspirations of “toning up”
3. Eat things out of box or anything with a shelf life or expiration date
4. Doing bicep curls with purple dumbbells trying get that “shredded look”
5. Do endless amount of sit-ups and crunches expecting to melt the fat off your stomach

1. Were Designed to Move, Rest and Repeat!

Being seated at a desk all day forces you into poor posture. Work place environment creates forward head posture, rolled shoulders and tight hips and let’s not forget to mention elevated cortisol levels and pancake butt syndrome. So, you go from a seated position in traffic to a seated position at work to a seated position in some machine at the gym? Let’s add your seated position in with your stress and we have a perfect environment for getting FAT

You see, stress is actually good. We need stress and those fight or flight hormones (CORTISOL) to get us out of a dangerous situations. The problem is our society is stressed to often. You have to understand that stress from our jobs, family or working out is the same stress that our body has when were being chased by a saber tooth tiger. You’re body doesn’t know the difference. Your body doesn’t know you’re stuck in traffic; it only knows you’re agitated and frustrated. What happens? Your cortisol elevates. Your body doesn’t know that you’re late for a major deadline at work; it only knows that you are anxious and frustrated. So what happens? Your cortisol elevates even more. Now to relieve some stress you go to the gym to get a run in on the treadmill. Your body doesn’t know that you’re running to blow off some steam; it only thinks you’re running from that saber tooth tiger. So what happens? I think you get the point…

Cortisol overload!

I assume your next question might be,” what the hell does cortisol do?” It actually makes you fat and will stall and stagnate the majority of body re-composition programs. I don’t care how well the diet, exercise regimen or how good of shape you’re in. If you are high strung, a worry wart and not getting adequate amounts of sleep than you will almost always be spinning your wheels if trying to achieve optimal health and lower body fat percentages.

The Remedy- DO THE OPPOSITE

1. Perform breathing exercises
2. Participate in some form of a Yoga, Tai Chi or Chi-Gong class
3. Try to get to bed by 10pm
4. Find someone to help design an exercise regimen individualized to your lifestyle
5. Quit your job! No joke. Life is too short.

2. Low Intensity/Long Duration Aerobics

Performing countless hours of aerobics while staying in your “fat burning zone” still boggles my mind! First of all there is no Fat burning Zone. If there were a Fat burning zone than there would be nothing but Kate Moss look a likes in your aerobics class. If it hasn’t worked yet, when do you expect it’s going to? Aerobics classes truely are Insanity!

Fuel Efficient?

You know what insanity means right? Insanity means to do the same thing day in and day out and expect different results. Each day I see the same people doing the same exercises routine as they did yesterday. They go to the same piece of cardio equip and use the same level and go at that same slow pace. And the next day I see the same old physique on that same person. The same workout, same body for months and months if not years. I apologize if I’m talking about your progress, but it’s all too common. The more aerobics you do, the more efficient your body will be at storing fat. Now If you think of this from your car being fuel efficient than maybe you’ll see where I’m coming from. You see if I said that my truck is fuel efficient it means that it uses less fuel for energy. This is good–For my truck. Now from a human perspective if I told you that excessive aerobics makes your body efficient at using stored fat for energy that would be bad. This means that the more aerobics you perform the less your body uses fat for energy. In other words you have adapted to your workouts and in all honesty you are completely minimizing your chances of losing any amounts of body fat.

Oh, and one more thing, aerobics will do nothing to increase your metabolism either. You’ll burn off muscle, decreasing your lean muscle mass and actually slow down your metabolism. So, stop worrying about exercising in a certain heart rate zone for fat loss. Forget about how many calories the machines said you’ve burned. For gods sake sprint out of the body sculpting class and get off of the Elliptical machine, grab some weights and please STOP THE INSANITY!

The Remedy: DO THE OPPOSITE!

1. If you’re not injured, than pick up the intensity! A good rule of thumb is if it’s too easy you’re not going to get much out of it. Make the cardio you perform short and hard, if the session lasts longer than 20 min it’s not hard enough.
2. Perform intervals: Perform short bouts of work in conjuction with in-complete rest periods. I know you’ve heard you should be able to talk in complete sentences but If you can talk than you’re just wasting time. I want oxygen debt. This means I want you to push yourself hard enough where you are forced to rest. Example: Treadmill run for 45 sec and then walk for 1:30. Just get to work! I know you want easy but easy just doesn’t get results.
3. Try something different. The key to continued progression is to show your body something it hasn’t seen before. You have to keep the body guessing. Try swimming some laps, go to the track to run, go on hike, run some hills. Get creative, you’ll be very surprised of how just throwing some variety in the mix can prevent plateaus and stagnation. No matter what you choose to do try increasing the intensity.

3. Eat like the Food Pyramid than look like the Food Pyramid

If it doesn’t run, swim, fly or grow green then it should not be eaten. Well at least it should only be eaten in moderation. Grocery shopping should be easy. If you focus the majority of your shopping on the perimeter of the grocery store then you have won half the battle. The problem with our society is that we don’t have time to cook anymore. We seem to only shop for convenience foods and as you well know convenience foods are usually the foods most often found in the snack machine down hall in your office.

Breakfast of Champions?

These foods are what I call “dead foods” because they really don’t hold much of any nutritional content at all. I like to say anything with a shelf life will shorten your life. These foods are usually the cheapest foods full of food colorings, food additives, food preservatives, hydrogenated oils (trans-fats) and as you can see from the long list of ingredients they are highly processed. Basically if the food is in a box, limit it! If the food has a shelf life, limit it! If the food has an expiration date, limit it! Lastly if the food is coming out of a window from someone wearing a funny hat, limit it!

I suggest that the majority of one’s food intake should be consumed from the “Green face Diet”. This means that if it isn’t Green and doesn’t have a face than it should only be eaten on a limited basis.

THE REMEDY: DO THE OPPOSITE!

1. Never skip breakfast! Oh and cereal is crap, forget what the box says.
2. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what
3. Eat a complete protein (especially breakfast!) at every meal opportunity
4. Eat a vegetable and or a low glycemic fruit at every meal
5. Save Complex (bread/pastas) carbohydrates for either before or after your workouts. Complex Carbs should be exercise dependent, if you haven’t exercised than you don’t deserve them. So, if you did eat them than they should be counted as a cheat meal.
6. Use the 90/10 rule. This means that 90% of your meals a week should be compliant with the above rules and the remaining 10% are to be used as cheat meals.

An example of tip #6: if you’re eating 5 meals a day, which would be 35 meals a week. So 10% of those 35 meals would be 3.5. This means that you are rewarded by having 3.5 cheat meals a week. This of course meaning that you’re actually having 35 meals and that 90% of those 35 meals are compliant.

4. Light Resistance Training “Tones” your muscles.

First of all never ever use the word “toned”, at least not in my presence. This is a made up word by you’re aerobic instructor to describe how visible your muscle can be. Unfortunately in order for one to see that “Toned” (Oh!) look it solely depends on how low your body fat levels are. The high Rep, low weight gets you cut myth is one of the most common misconceptions about fat loss in the industry. Spot reducing doesn’t work, it won’t work for abs and it won’t work for your chest or butt either. But…

Lifting moderately heavier weights for lower amount of repetitions causes more muscle breakdown. Because of the breakdown in muscle tissue your body has to work harder to repair the damage. In order for the repair to take place your metabolism elevates causing higher caloric expenditure. This increase in metabolism is directly linked to a fancy acronym called EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption). Basically the more intense (heavy) the movement or exercise the more of Post exercise caloric expenditure that will take place. In other words you’re burning calories while you sleep, work or sit in traffic. Understand that muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in the human body. The more muscle your body has and maintains the more calories it expends without movement. So if you want a slow under active metabolism be sure and attend aerobic classes and do high rep purple dumbbell weight training routines. If you’re looking for that “toned” (OH!) appearance for gods sakes pick up some challenging weight that you can’t lift for endless repetitions.

The Remedy: DO THE OPPOSITE!

1. My comments I made earlier on aerobics still stands. If it’s too easy your body has no reason to change. Heavy is relative, there is nothing wrong with starting out with purple dumbbells as long as you progressively continue to challenge yourself using a heavier load.
2. Focus on using compound or multi-jointed movements such as squats, deadlifts, push-ups and pull-ups. These movements not only work a lot muscles at the same time they even increase your caloric expenditure during and after your training session.
3. Find a training partner. This tactic will allow you to challenge yourself more because you’ll have someone there to support you. You’ll also benefit from the motivational factor and meeting someone always helps with accountability.

5. Isolated Abdominal Training, Feel the Burn!!!

This one may be one of the biggest wastes of time ever! I don’t care about the infomercials, the Britney Spears 1000 rep crunch routine or the bodybuilder with the fanny pack. High rep crunches on your back will do nothing to help you achieve a 6 pack. Let me repeat myself those ab classes at your favorite gym do more damage than good. Nutrition will and always will be the #1 factor in you seeing defined ripped abdominals. As a matter of fact everyone already has a 6 pack but unfortunately it’s just covered in a thin layer of fat.

The Remedy: DO THE OPPOSITE!

1. Just how disciplined are you? In order for a man to see his abdominals he will have to be below 10% body fat. A woman will have to get even lower and will most likely lose her menstrual cycle. So you still want that 6 pack?
2. Unless you have sick genetics you’re diet is going to have to be almost perfect. Remember that discipline part? Oh, and that 10% cheat rule we talked about it’s out the door. So you still want that 6 pack?
3. Forget isolation exercises such as bicep curls, tricep kick backs and leg extensions. These movements don’t use enough muscles to create that metabolic shift or that EPOC effect we spoke about earlier. You want to use Bang for your Buck types of exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, pushes and pulls. Full body routines are the most time efficient manner to go. Forget those Muscle and Fiction Magazine Split body workouts. You want to make the most of your time and training the whole body every workout is the best method I’ve seen.
4. You must use cardio and I don’t mean aerobics. You see aerobics is cardio but cardio isn’t necessarily aerobic. I like anaerobic meaning interval training, circuit training and sprint work. These HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts not only burn allot of calories during the workout but more importantly after the workout. Don’t forget how important EPOC in your quest for fat loss.
5. Let’s not forget that you have to be in a caloric deficit to shed body fat. I don’t necessarily mean you have to dramatically cut your calories. I would rather the caloric deficit come from your cardio and weight training than to come from your food intake. Simply put if you cut your calories too much and perform the same amount of weight training and cardio you will be in such a caloric deprivation that you will actually slow your metabolism down. Slowing your metabolism down is the last you want to occur when trying to get down to lower body fat percentages.

I want everyone to notice that I never once mentioned hitting the abdominals from every angle known to man. I didn’t once explain the science or the correct teqnique of a floor crunch. The reason I didn’t talk about abdominal training is because it’s not even close to being important enough to put on the list. It’s the icing on the cake. If you want to see your 6 pack you have to get leaner! Period. Look lets get real! Like aerobics, low fat diets, and high rep crunches, if they actually worked there wouldn’t be any overweight people with type II diabetes and bulging stomachs. Why, you may ask? Because everyone does high rep crunches, high sugar diets and toys around with purple dumbbells and it hasn’t worked yet. What are you insane?

In conclusion, we are human beings but we really are just cave men and women living in a teqnilogically advanced age. Genetically we have changed very little. Whether you believe in evolution or not there is enough research out there that shows 10,000 years ago there were no Mcdonalds, Burger King, Subways or Publix. It’s proven that 10,000 yrs ago we moved often and rarely if ever sat behind a computer. We also sprinted after our food. I doubt we ever ran in a straight direction in our “fat burning zone” trying to increase our VO2 max. We also ate what we killed or cultivated; nothing was processed or genetically engineered. We ate foods that were closest to our natural environment. We also used The 7 Primal Movement Patterns. We didn’t isolate muscles. We squatted, lunged, twisted, pushed, pulled, threw spears, and dragged food back to the cave. These movements were essential for survival! Everything that I’ve mentioned above is essential for survival.

I believe in order for us to truly achieve optimal health and wellness we must look ourselves in the mirror and be honest with ourselves. Is what you’re doing working towards your goals or going against them? Are you’re actions matching your goals? If not then DO THE OPPOSITE of what you’re doing now and you will no doubt get a different result? We only get one body, stop treating it like garbage can.