Take It Easy

By Jamie Valentine

The best part about making the decision to live a healthy lifestyle, is that there are often small and easy steps than can be taken to do so. With so many things to regulate, count, and watch when it comes to balanced nutrition, the more easy tricks and tips we can implement, the better. The American Heart Association's recent urge to the public to cut back on sugar intake is one of those quick tips that is not only easy to follow, but has lasting health benefits. The AHA recommends that adult women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (100kcal) and men no more than 9 teaspoons (150kcal) of sugar daily. Yet the average American consumes about 22 teaspoons of added sugars on a daily basis (naturally found sugars don't count...this stat talks about those sugars above and beyond those found naturally in foods). One of the most common forms of added sugar is through soft drinks or fruit juices (like lemonade, etc). It is easy to forget about the added sugar when it comes in liquid form, but the amount that we are actually consuming can be extremely high. Kicking soda or juice habits is a quick way to decrease added sugar intake--Drink water instead! Sugar plays a major role in the obesity epidemic and taking small steps to cut it out our diet can have multiple positive repercussions.

If You Want to Increase Your REE, You’re at the Right Place

by Johnathan Davis

One recent study was conducted to determine the effect of full-body resistance training utilizing an eccentric protocol. This study was done to establish how long this type of training can elevate our body’s metabolism compared to other methods of resistance training. Sixty to seventy-five percent of the total energy used by our bodies every day is due to our resting energy expenditure (REE). If we are able to elevate how much energy our bodies are requiring for our baseline REE, then we can increase our chances at burning fat and loosing weight. The cool thing about all of this is that the X Gym utilizes eccentric protocols a ton and has been doing so long before this study was even conducted!

The main finding of the study was that a person can significantly increase his or her REE up to 72 hours post exercise using an eccentric protocol method (Hackney, Kyle J; Engels, Hermann-J; Gretebeck, Randall J., 2008). Participants performed eight exercises, eight sets, and six repetitions using a 1-second concentric and 3-second eccentric muscle action duration. Additional information about the controls and methods used in this study can be found in the article listed below.

Previously, other similar studies were conducted using other lifting methods but either did not emphasize the eccentric protocol or did not include a full-body body workout (for instance one study was conducted using a single, lower-body leg exercise). Prior to this study, an elevated REE had not been observed for such a long duration post workout. This information is important because it demonstrates the increase in REE after the type of workouts we do at the X Gym may help members lose weight if they maintain a negative energy balance.

Yes, Resistance Training IS For Everyone!!

By Steve Wakefield

Many people have this misguided notion that exercise, primarily with weights, is strictly for the realm of the young. But the fact of the matter is that the elderly stand to benefit tremendously from resistance training. In fact, they stand to gain even more dramatic benefits from strength training than the younger age groups!

One of the primary causes for detrimental effects associated with aging, comes not from the weakening of the heart and lungs as many people may believe, but from muscle atrophy. When you think about it, it makes sense. If a young strong person were to go out and chop a bunch of wood, or push a lawn mower around, or climb a flight of stairs, they could do it all with no problem. Then take someone who is 75 years old and severely deconditioned and have them do the same tasks, they will be much more tired and winded than the young person.

Again, there is probably nothing wrong with the older person’s heart and lungs. They have been keeping him or her going for the past 75 years after all. The reason they are more tired is because they have less muscle to accomplish the task. As we get older, beginning about the age of 45 or so (depending on who’s literature you read) we start to lose muscle mass. Bone loss is often close to follow as well.


Now for the good news. In 2007, a study out of McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario, http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1866181 found evidence that strength training can actually reverse the effects of aging in muscle tissue in elderly people. In this study, muscle biopsies were taken from a group of older individuals and a group of younger individuals. The biopsies indicated over 500 genes that where expressed differently in the older individuals compared to the younger. The group of older people then underwent a resistance training program for 6months. In that time, the subjects improved their strength levels by over 50 percent. But what was even more amazing is that the muscle biopsies taken after the six months of strength training showed a reversal in the expression of 179 of those 500 genes that where associated with aging! In other words, the muscle tissue from the older population resembled more closely the tissue from the younger population after 6 months of strength training. This change occurred at the molecular/genetic level. These genes, the paper said, are mostly associated with mitochondrial function. Mitochondria to put it simply, are the “energy power plants” in the muscles cell, and many of the detrimental effects of aging are associated with decline in mitochondria function.

We have said all along that an increase in lean mass can lead to an elevated fat burning metabolism, which will help prevent heart disease. Also as I alluded to in my earlier article, about EPOC, resistance training will utilize your body’s glycogen stores, preventing the build up of sugars in the bloodstream, which leads to decrease in insulin sensitivity, which is the primary cause of Type 2 diabetes. I find this study to be very fascinating. Now there is scientific evidence to support the notion that resistance training can not just slow down, but reverse some of the fundamental processes associated with aging. It’s the closest thing we have to a time machine for your cells, and it’s as close as your nearest X Gym!

Saturation Nation

by Mike Gavareski

Red meat, eggs, and high-fat dairy products are all part of a disastrous health recipe, right? Well, yes, but only if you’re worried about the Y2K bug as well. The year is 2010, and the fear of saturated fat and cholesterol should no longer keep us awake at night. What once were thought to add pounds to a mid-section, the aforementioned nutrients do nothing of the sort, so says an array of more recent evidence.

The triple threat – cancer, heart disease, and diabetes – are all linked to weight and waist size. Both a higher weight as well as a larger girth of their waist correlates with a greater risk of the so-called triple threat. But don’t decrease your saturated fat intake! Well, you can if you want, but it won’t do any good. Two recent studies have shown that red meat, eggs, and high-fat dairy products do not increase the risk of these three factors. One study (tracking breast cancer in more than 319,000 women) showed that there was no link between breast cancer and foods with high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol. The second study (examining both men and women) showed that waist circumference was inversely related to a diet rich in red meat, high-fat dairy products, vegetables, and even butter. The same study also showed a positive correlation between waist circumference and diets consisting of processed meat, potatoes, and snack foods.

So what should you do? Don’t worry about saturated fat and cholesterol, as long as it’s coming from the right sources. Eat meat. Eat red meat. Eat chicken. Eat eggs. But make sure it’s organic and grass-fed red beef, or free-range poultry. The dairy products you eat should come from the same, healthy, well-fed cattle. As long as your sources of these saturated fats and cholesterol are pure sources, the pounds will stay off, and you’ll benefit from an influx of high-quality protein, minerals, and antioxidants.

Telomeres and Exercise

By Evan Bylsma

A new study has shown, through molecular science, proof that exercise keeps you young. Exercise helping you live longer hasn't exactly been a secret and the millions of people worldwide that pour sweat at gyms weekly testify to that help. But now, scientific evidence for the age fighting power of exercise has been found at a molecular level.

Investigators have been measuring the length of "telomeres", which are the DNA on either end of thread like chromosomes. As it was described in the article, these telomeres act in a similar way as the plastic tips on the end of your shoelaces. Just as those little plastic wraps prevent the shoe lace from unraveling, telomeres protect the chromosomes that carry genes during cell division.

Every time your cells divide during replication telomeres inevitably get shorter. When a telomere is too short, the cell can no longer replicate and then dies. Scientists believe that telomere length, and specifically health, is directly linked to aging. Having shorter telomeres puts an individual at a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

There was very interesting data however, when scientists studied telomere length between groups of exercising animals and humans versus sedentary populations. Specifically, a population of middle aged adults who ran 50 miles a week or more hand longer telomeres then a healthy population of similar age that didn't exercise.

Many scientists now believe that exercise, rather then a persons inherited gene background, could be the most important factor that keeps an individual healthy and young. Through the study it was observed that those individuals that exercised the most had a similar telomere length to people that were 10 years younger and didn't exercise. Other studies showed that as little as 2 hours of exercise a week showed a significant difference in telomere length between twins.