METABOLISM AND AEROBIC EXERCISE If you want to be a fat-storing machine; do aerobic
exercise to lose body fat. This sounds very controversial to what the mainstream want us to hear but you have to be aware that the business of exercise is BIG BUSINESS and just like any other business it must support what it propagates. The real unbiased and unpaid science will support the truth. This is what I want to bring to light: the truth, with no regard toward anything else then true, undebatable science. There are many reasons why aerobic exercise is ineffective for fat loss. I will point out a few which I believe are the most relevant.
EFFICIENCY Humans adapt quickly to any given stress. Whether it’s
stress from exercise or stress from not eating properly, we are masters of adaptation. On the other hand, the adaptation does not mean you have properly adjusted to achieve or maintain a state of health, it just means that your body has created adjustments to stay alive. For example your diet is poor and you consume too many foods that contain or convert quickly into sugar; this continues for many years. To prevent hyperglycemia, your brain tells your pancreas to secrete more insulin then is healthy for your body to keep up with until one day your pancreas has had enough and burns out; adapting for temporary survival until it can not take any- more and fails. This example goes for exercise too. When people start out on any program, especially aerobics, they are not consistent and lack coordination of muscles for respiration and movement; this makes their heart rate spike which is great for caloric expenditure. Over time (within a week or two usually) the body adapts and becomes fluid and confident; this creates more muscle efficiency in movement and respiration so the heart rate plateaus which greatly drops caloric outflow. This is the first reason why aerobics is a poor exercise selection for fat loss. We adapt quickly.
DEMAND FOR CALORIES We are constantly burning calories throughout the
day. Muscles create a high demand for the consumption and use of calories, so the more muscle a person has, the more calories will be needed to sustain the life of those muscles. When you are doing anything aerobically (sus- tained or with oxygen over periods of time greater then 15-20 seconds) you will be recruiting a predominance of slow twitch muscle fibers. These muscles are designed to take on less intensity and more density, meaning their caloric demand is less then bigger fast twitch muscles. When you create micro-traumas in muscle from exercise or repetitive movements, you are creating a response to either adapt and repair or break; healthy people will repair and adapt; this is why muscle tends to get bigger under imposed anaerobic stress like weight lifting or sprinting etc., the bodies response is to meet the new de- mand and adapt to it. Anaerobic exercises predominate fast twitch muscle fibers that require a lot more caloric
energy to mobilize, and repair. This demand raises the metabolism, which stimulates the need for more caloric energy to function and
adapt...meaning your metabo- lism will stay elevated to meet these demands. Studies done by Stanford University have shown that your metabolism can stay elevated from 48 to 72 hours after anaerobic exercise. Aerobic metabolism does not, and in fact, does the opposite and lowers your metabolism.
PRODUCTION OF LESS TESTOSTERONE AND HIGHER GLUCOCORTICOIDS There are many hormones produced by our bodies in
response to sustained stress (like aerobic or boot camp- style exercising) that do not allow for the stimulation of fat lose and muscle growth. One hormone that gets shut down is the follicle-stimulating hormone. Follicle- stimulating hormones signal to the testicles to produce sperm and create testosterone; testosterone creates muscle mass and stimulates fat loss. However, another hormone (glucocorticoid), is also stimulated through stress. An over production of this hormone will clog up follicle-stimulating hormone receptors and effectively blunt the production of both sperm and testosterone. In a study done by Boston University in 2006, aerobic or boot-camp-style exercise programs done two to three times a week was shown to lower the testosterone levels of participating males to that of adolescent girls! Yikes. Back to glucocorticoids; this is a very important hor- mone and has many good and bad qualities. Regardless, it is essential to human function and is really only bad when over produced. The explanation of this hormone can be very complex so I will keep it simple. Under stress of all kinds, whether physical, mental, emotional, nutri- tional, etc., the body will create the same physiological response. Meaning your nutritional stress created from eating the wrong foods or not eating enough is the same to your brain as running for your life from a hungry lion. Today people are under constant stress from life, work,
relationships, money, etc. This can create a repetitive stress pattern overload where you are secreting a con- stant flow of stress hormones like glucocorticoids, that sabotage your hard efforts. As I mentioned previously, glucocorticoids have many useful benefits for our bod- ies including keeping our immune systems sharp and sculpted. However, when over-produced, they are bad for our bodies and can turn our immune system on itself. In terms of fat loss, the over-production will inhibit our ability to make sufficient amounts of testosterone and confuse insulin so we cannot utilize nutrients effectively. Insulin mediates our fat, carbohydrates and protein uti- lization; think of it as the host guiding everyone to their assigned seating, this is one of insulin’s main functions. Too many stress hormones (glucocorticoids) means poor utilization of insulin, poor production of follicle stimulating hormone, less production of testoster- one which equals FAT GAINS, especially around the stomach. How many of us have seen guys with really muscular arms and legs with a six-pack-like Santa Claus! Reason Three: the overuse of aerobic exercises creates a sustained output of stress hormones which is directly antagonistic to fat loss.
Loosing fat and maintaining and gaining muscle is a challenge and every aspect explained would require a book, not a brief article. My advice is to only do aerobic conditioning if you have a sport that demands it (which is not many) or because you want to; but not for the intention to lose fat. It will not work. What you might lose is body weight which includes muscle mass. Keep training and if you are not seeing any results with all your hard efforts then it might be time to seek help from a professional that has an understanding of this subject like a CHEK Practitioner.
Martin Alonzo owns a private training studio called Performance Training Center on 4th Avenue in Hillcrest. He is a CHEK Institute-trained professional and can be contacted via the web at
performcenter.com or direct at 619.206.4577.
JULY 2010 | RAGE monthly 67
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