7 Revolutionary Fat Loss Studies
June 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
Alwyn Cosgrove recently posted a list of the 7 Fat Loss studies that have most influenced how he trains clients for fat loss. Here is the list:
- A 2004 diet study that shows a simple change can increase dietary compliance and fat loss (by 96%) — (and it’s not “eat less”!)
- A 1998 study that showed that the addition of 45 minutes of hard aerobic training, 5 times a week for twelve weeks – had no effect on fat loss
- A 2007 study – that showed the addition of 50 minutes of aerobic training, 5 times per week for six months – also had no effect on fat loss
- A 2008 study showing 40 mins of aerobic exercise three times per week for 15 weeks actually resulted in the participants gaining fat!
- A study from 1994 showed a specific cardio training method that when adjusted for calories burned – actually reduced body fat (actual skinfold measurements) nine times more than traditional cardio training — despite taking less time, and actually burning less calories per session!
- Another study (1999) showed that the addition of a specific resistance training program increased fat loss by 35% over diet and aerobic training.
- That same study also showed that 3 aerobic sessions of up to 50 mins, for 12 weeks (36 sessions) only increased fat loss by one pound over dieting alone
- A 2002 study used an Afterburn-type approach to training – and showed an elevation of metabolism for 38 hours post workout.
- A 2008 study showing an increased loss of visceral abdominal fat with a high intensity program – and no change with a low intensity program.
Alwyn has taken the information these studies (+100 more), his 10+ years as a trainer, and compiled it into at 16 Week Fat Loss blitzkrieg called Afterburn. Alwyn has told me in the past that most people never acutally finish the entire Afterburn program because they lose all the weight they need somewhere between weeks 8 and 10. Afterburn is one of the best selling fat loss training programs online. If you don’t have a copy go here and pick it up.
Simple Ways to Cut Carbs for Fat Loss
June 4, 2009 | 4 Comments
Cutting your carbs – even if just by 10% of calories – is essential for optimal health and weight loss. One of the simplest ways to do this is to switch out starchy/high carb foods for fibrous vegetables. In this video I share with you 4 different ways to make this simple carb cutting switches.
I have also moved up the release of the Strong, Fit, and Healthy newsletter. With the release of Strong, Fit, and Healthy we will be giving away 100 copies of my new DVD – The Truth about Dietary Supplements.
3 Weight Loss Road Blocks
May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment
As we are in the midst of the “get lean for summer” fat loss season let’s take a quick look at the three reasons why fat loss plateaus occur.
1. Wrong protocol: Basically this means that the program didn’t work in the first place. Examples of this type of error include not performing resistance training, doing an excessive volume of low intensity aerobic work, and going on too low (or too high) of a caloric intake. The easiest way to avoid this plateau is to work from an established program with a proven track record of achieving fat loss results (Warp Speed Fat Loss if you want to be done in 4 weeks. Afterburn Training System if you want to take it a little easier and diet for 12 weeks).
2. Non compliance: Either consciously or subconsciously this is a big problem. It is so easy to slip down the dietary slide from salmon to a cheese steak. Let me illustrate:
They start to slip in little degrees and never notice it.
Lunch calls for salmon and brown rice.
Client thinks turkey and rice is ok. (which it is). So this becomes the new norm – the new reference point.
Now if that’s ok – then chicken and a sweet potato is also ok (true, especially when compared to the new reference point).
Then a lean piece of red meat and a small baked potato is ok (still only another small degree of difference right?)
Then lean ground beef, and a couple of small red potatoes or a wholewheat pita would be fine (guess so).
And if a pita is fine, a roll must be ok, and the ground beef put into a patty will be fine.
So a hamburger is now the diet lunch of choice. And if a hamburger is fine, a Philly cheesesteak on a hoagie roll is fine etc etc.
Now, none of those changes were all that significant, particularly when the change becomes the new “reference point”. But added up we can see that our recommended lunch of salmon and brown rice has become a Philly cheesesteak !! And the client thinks that they are still ON, as none of these changes (at each stage, from each new point of “the diet”) were all that big!
Remember – little degrees of change end up being complete 180 degree turn. Make sure you aren’t making these mistakes.
In regards to tracking compliane, I am a big fan of John Berardi’s compliance grid – which basically states that a 90% compliance to any plan is necessary to evaluate the plan. So regardless if you are following a high carb or low carb diet – based on 5 meals per day and 3 post workout shakes per week – that’s 38 meals. If you eat less than 35 meals according to the plan – you are not “on” the plan – you’re winging it. Don’t wing it!
3. Adaptation: This is not necessarily a problem per-se – it’s actually the goal of the fat loss plan. Increasing activity or reducing calories is a tool used in weight loss programs to get you to a new weight or body fat level. But the adaptation is exactly what we are looking for. In other words – the plan that we will use to lose 3lbs of fat per week will only work for about 4 weeks before we need to adjust. We are actually trying to create the adaptation – we only adjust when we are not at the final destination yet.
The plan used to get from 180lbs to 160lbs may not work to get from 160lbs to 140lbs.
So we must constantly evaluate the program at each stage and make adjustments. Typically the exercise program and nutrition program should be adjusted every 4 weeks or so to continue progress.
That’s it. With a properly designed fat loss program and a effective diet (that you stick to) anyone — anyone – can get six pack abs, lean arms etc. If you’ve been doing physique based training for a while and aren’t making fast visible progress – it’s likely because of one of the above.
If you want more specific guidance then check out Warp Speed Fat Loss or Afterburn combined with Your Naked Nutrition Guide.
Leptin, Dieting, and Cheating
May 5, 2009 | 2 Comments
After posting the article on leptin and weight loss and Joel Marion’s Cheat Your Way Thin Diet which included my comment “I’m not convinced that the ‘Leptin Story’ is a simple as Joel makes it out to be..” several readers posted comments and sent emails asking about my view on cheating, leptin, etc.
One thing that I have come to realize over the course of my nutrition studies and dealings with clients is that it is really hard (and usually it doesn’t work) to trick your body. It is better to work with the body’s biochemistry and use your diet to manipulation your system to do what you want (lose weight, build muscle, etc).
Now on to cheating and leptin. The concept of a ‘cheat day’ has been around forever. It was a cornerstone of the Body For Life program, cyclic ketogenic diets are based around carb ‘refeeds’ or ‘cheats’. I have previously written an article about this very topic. Here’s an excerpt:
Like with most things, there are several rumors, misuses, and down right false statements that have been floating around the fitness world about refeeds. Let’s look at two of my favorites.
1. Refeeds will improve thyroid function and return your metabolic rate to where it was prior to your dieting — This one’s been around forever. I was guilty of saying it to people also at one time. But honestly, if you take a little time and think about it, the above statement doesn’t make any sense.
The human body is incredibly smart. It’s spent thousands of years developing a set of genes that will allow for maximum conservation of fuel to aid in survival. One huge bolus of calories/carbohydrates isn’t going to convince your body that you aren’t starving anymore and it’s okay to signal the thyroid gland to crank up your metabolism again. While refeeds have benefits most of the time they won’t do anything for your thyroid function. (For the potential exception to this rule keep reading.)
2. You can severely restrict your calories for a period of 1-2 weeks, then stuff your face for an equal period of time, and end up with the same amount of fat mass but more lean mass — Many of you may be familiar with the situation I just described or its official name “Anabolic Burst Cycling of Diet and Exercise (ABCDE)”…. One of the problems with this approach is that people have a much greater ability to over consume than under consume. They’ll eat their faces off and stuff their adipocytes so full of triglycerides that they can’t possibly burn it all off in the following two week period.
I think the leptin angle fits under category one in that using 24 hour calorie bursts are not enough to trick your system into thinking that there is an abundance of food – especially because it is followed repeatedly by 6 days of calorie restriction.
“But what about the before and after pictures?”
If you go to the page where Joel’s system is available you’ll see a bunch of very convincing before and after photos. So I must be wrong and the stuff your face to re-boost leptin angle does work.
No.
If you look at Joel’s program it is a solid diet that is sold on the fact that it is okay to eat pizza and carbs once a week. The dieting guidlines for the remaining 6 days require to you restrict your calories and cycle your carbs using
- Low Carb
- Low Glycemic Load Carb
- High Glycemic Load Carb days
on the cheat days you are not supposed to save all your meals up for one massive gorge fest nor are you supposed to “stuff yourself or eat until the point of discomfort”. You can monitor your calories by counting them or monitoring portions (you know I prefer monitoring portions). Joel offers a deluxe package that has 3 months of meal plans laid out for you (which I know a lot of people like).
So the bottom line is – The Cheat Your Way Thin Diet does not miraculously manipulate leptin using methods unknown to 1,000 of scientist. But it is a solid carb cycling based diet that has built in the freedom to eat what ever you choose (preferable carbs) one day a week.
You can learn more about it here -> Carb Cycling and Cheating Diet and if you like done for you programs make sure to check out the deluxe package.
The Problem with Fat Loss
February 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Homeostasis is the property of a living organism, that regulates its internal environment so as to maintain a stable, constant condition.
When you don’t drink enough water in the short term — often the body retains water. It attempts to maintain homeostasis by counteracting the stresses we put on it.
When you drink a lot of extra water – your body excretes more water to maintain balance.
When we weight train — we actually break down muscle tissue. And the body responds by building new muscle. It attempts to maintain homeostasis by doing the reverse of the stimulus we placed on it.
When a male takes supplemental testosterone — the body shuts down its own production in a bid to maintain homeostasis.
When we immunize children against disease — we actually inject them with a small dose of that disease. The immune system recognizes the vaccine as foreign, destroys it, and ‘remembers’ it. When the virulent version of an agent comes along, the immune system is thus prepared to respond. In order to prepare the body to defend against a disease – we expose it to the disease – and it responds by doing the opposite – it destroys the disease.
In almost every situation I can think of, the body tries to maintain homeostasis by “doing the opposite” of the stimulus.
How does this apply to weight loss?
Now we know that while you are doing it — low intensity exercise burns primarily fat.
Higher intensity exercise actually burns more carb stores than fat.
But in every head to head comparison, high intensity exercise results in more fat loss than low intensity exercise – even though the more intense work may burn a lesser percentage of fat during the exercise session.
Burning glycogen results in a larger amount of fat lost than burning fat directly.
The body responds by “doing the opposite”…
Break down muscle to grow more muscle. Burn glycogen to lose more fat.
I designed Warp Speed Fat Loss training program to specifically take advantage of this “law” of nature so that when your body “does the opposite” you’ll end up with faster and greater fat loss.
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