Getting In Shape

[Richard Hall]

First of all, it is generally very beneficial for everyone to engage into regular weight training independent from how old one is or how busy one’s schedule appears to be. With progressing age the importance is even increasing to compensate for the otherwise unavoidable naturally occuring loss in muscle mass.

Well, since with age the metabolism is slowing down and amount of muscles is decreasing people tend to get that belly that they never had although nothing has really changed in their eating habits. Some people may ask what do I need muscles for because I am not planning to ridiculously dispose myself on a bodybuilding stage but on the other hand do not realize that the better the ratio between lean and fat tissue is the more calories are used even if the body is in a resting stage. It’s pretty much like the higher fuel consumption of a highly tuned vehicle in comparison to a standard family car.

Unfortunately, however, the body has the very unpleasant characteristic of favoring fat over lean muscle mass and therefore tends to sacrifice lean tissue first when the need for energy arises. This is why very strict diets do not work. When drastically cutting down on the calorie intake the body functions get put on red alert because surviving seems to be on the edge. If the ingested amount of calories does not suffice to provide the energy to keep the body functioning an additional source needs to be located. Actually, there are two resources available to turn into that urgently needed glycogen:

Fat and muscle tissue. While the master of the body has actually initiated the entire shortage to get rid of that undesirable ring made of pure fat around the waist nature sees the subject differently. Fat is considered to be the last resource basically that hidden last 1,000 Baht note under the pillow for the worst case of the cases. Heck, who knows whether things get even worse and there will be no food at all tomorrow. Okay, we still have those muscles, which haven’t been really used for decades. Let’s keep the fat and burn this useless stuff instead. Simultaneously, the little bit of food coming in is used more smartly and efficiently by slowing the metabolism down. No need for the toilet anymore because everything reaching the digestion system is absolutely precious for the energy producing process.

The result is obvious. Although shedding some pounds (unfortunately valuable muscle tissue) with time progressing the weight decrease comes to a hold although the food intake is only half of what it used before. By possibly getting more drastic and further reducing the amount of food one may manage do get rid of additional weight, eventually reaches the targeted goal and happily gets back to normal with the result that the original body weight is back to normal quickly. Okay, basically nothing much has been gained but at least a slimmer appearance was featured for some time. It appears to be like that but actually the situation has worsened because lean muscle mass was used up during the weight dropping process and than later replaced with fat tissue when regaining the previous bodyweight. Now, less lean but more fat tissue is carried around.

What to do:

1. Never get on a crash diet but rather just eat reasonable means eating the amount of calories necessary to maintain the present body weight.

2. Start with aerobic exercise (fast walking, jogging, bike riding etc.) at a moderate rate. Minimum time is 30 minutes per session at a heart rate of about 120 – 140. Going below 120 is not enough to have an aerobic effect and going above 140 does not allow the body to turn body fat into energy because fuel is needed too quickly. If you do not have a pulse meter available use as a rule of thumb: As long as you can inhale through the nose your heart rate is most likely below 140. If it gets rough forcing you to catch breath through your mouth to get enough oxygen it is time to cut down a notch.

3. Besides the adjusted eating habits and the aerobic exercising there will be the need for weight lifting training to avoid that muscle tissue will be used to compensate for the additional demand of energy generated by the aerobic exercise regime.

4. Stretching to prevent shortening of the muscles through resistance training

Now this provides a first basic idea about the future fitness training and why only a combination of all 4 aspects mentioned gets us to our goal of getting rid of excessive fat and simultaneously build lean tissue and strength. The most surprising aspect might be that the key actually lies in moderation rather than engaging into extremes of any kind (actually that what Buddhism is teaching as well).

Last but not least it should not remain unmentioned that people generally have different basics but nevertheless everyone can benefit from that program although it may be necessary to slightly adjust and set the priorities a little differently to better accommodate the personal requirements.

There are basically three kinds of body structures found in humans, which certainly can also overlap:

1. Ectomorph – Usually tall and very slim appearance with a very small body structure. The classical hardgainer in terms of building muscles.

2. Endomorph – The exact opposite of the ectomorph. Large boned, usually kind of bulky appearance. Naturally already quite strong and muscular but with a tendency to also gain fat quickly.

3. Mesomorph – The type in between of the two before mentioned extremes.

Hence, they ability of developing a muscular physique strongly depends on individual genetics. Also the longer the muscles someone possesses are the better the ability to develop them further.

People interested to know where they presently stand in terms of ideal body proportions may want to visit the following link: http://www.sandowmuseum.com/ideal.html. There you find a body calculator putting your wrist size into relation to the rest of your body. It is not an ideal tool but at least provides you with an approximate idea of what to strive for and/or how far you are off the general understanding of making a pleasing appearance when the clothes come off at the beach.

[PvtDick]

Thanks, Richard. Very interesting (and useful). Please keep it coming!