Burn the Fat Away Fast! Run and Lift to Stay Lean and Healthy

Written by Shoshana Pritzker Monday, 17 May 2010 18:12

By Thomas Fahey, EdD

Lose 20 pounds in three weeks without exercise! Headlines like these appear every month in tabloids and magazines. Most of the time, the articles promise everything but deliver nothing. They prey on your desire to get thin and fit the easy way and know that your secret desire is to have the body of an athlete, movie star or supermodel. They push the idea that they know get-thin-quick secrets no one else knows.

I’ve got news for you; the only way you’re going to lose that much weight in a short time is to go on a starvation diet and not drink any water. But the results won’t be pretty. If you survive the diet, you’ll look like you’ve just been released from a SARS or tuberculosis clinic— drawn, pale, tired and saggy. You certainly won’t look lean, fit and sexy.

You are sophisticated enough about diet and exercise not to fall for any nonsense. The problem is that you’ve been lied to for so long about fat and fitness that you don’t know what to believe. Many women have tried the easy fixes— low-carb and high-carb dieting, doing more exercise during the day and taking diet pills— but nothing seems to work very well.

Not So Simple

On the surface, losing and gaining weight is simple: Take in more food than the calories you use through metabolism and exercise and you gain weight. Take in fewer calories than that and you lose weight. If it’s so simple, why aren’t we a nation of supermodels? Everyone wants to look fit, yet we are a nation overflowing with obesity.

Losing fat is difficult because your body fights hard to keep you at a constant weight. Lose weight rapidly and the body releases hormones that make you hungry and slow your metabolism. Fortunately, you can override your weight set point and turn your body into a fat loser instead of a fat gainer.

You can lose weight and look fit and healthy if you are willing to pay the price. Losing 10, 20, 30 pounds or more is no problem if you follow a few basic principles and stick with the program. More importantly, you can maintain your new weight. If you start today, one year from now there will be a new you. You will be thinner, more vibrant, healthier, and you’ll look terrific. The ball is in your court— promise to make fitness and diet a priority in your life and you will achieve the kind of body you want.

This program works. I have seen severely overweight women change their bodies so much that their own families don’t recognize them. I have worked with women track and field athletes— mainly throwers— my entire professional career. These women are naturally big and have trouble losing body fat. Yet, when they do the right program, the fat “melts” from their bodies.

Their “secret” is sustained effort and intelligent, scientific training programs. They combine sensible diets with aerobics, intense interval training and weight training. There is nothing magical about the program, but it works. I’m convinced it can work for you. Follow the principles of the lean, hard-body workout and there will be a new you!

Fat is Not Inevitable

Obesity has a strong genetic component, but being overweight is not inevitable. Genes increase the risk of obesity, but individual response to the environment determines whether you are fat or thin. For example, an obese-prone person put in a jail cell with limited food will not get fat. That same person put on a fast food restaurant diet and restricted physical activity will gain weight quickly. Scientists know of more than 200 factors contributing to overweight and obesity. Exercise and diet habits are the most important factors determining whether you are fat or thin.

Americans are fat because we eat too much and don’t get enough exercise. Our portion sizes at meals are much larger than in other countries. A report by the U.S. Surgeon General on exercise in 1996 showed that only 12 percent of women do vigorous exercise programs and 50 percent of women do not exercise at even moderate intensities for 30 minutes a day. Decreases in the amount of physical activity required for daily living account for at least some of the American obesity epidemic. Lack of exercise triggers insulin resistance, which makes it easier to gain fat and harder to lose it.

In skeletal muscle, lipoprotein lipase (an enzyme that promotes fat deposition) decreases when there is insulin resistance in the cells. In fat cells, on the other hand, high insulin levels stimulate lipoprotein lipase and inhibit hormone-sensitive lipase (an enzyme that breaks down fat). These changes in muscle and fat may cause a decrease in fat metabolism in muscle and an increased storage of fat in fat cells.

Exercise is the best thing you can do to fight insulin resistance and put your body on the path to losing weight instead of gaining it. Exercise improves insulin sensitivity by increasing glucose transporters (chemicals that move sugar into cells), oxidative enzymes and muscle blood flow and by reducing abdominal fat. Adding weight training to an endurance training program will increase insulin sensitivity in people with high blood insulin greater than endurance training alone.

Therein lies the “secret” to rapid weight loss— increase your metabolism so you become a fat burner instead of a fat storer. You do this by improving your body’s ability to process fat. How do you accomplish this? By doing a lot of exercise and increasing muscle mass. The result: a higher metabolic rate.

Principles of the Lean, Hard-Body Workout

This program is designed to make you lean and fit. If you are not willing to work hard, try one of those “get something for nothing programs” and see where it gets you. If you really want to achieve a fit, hard body, this program is for you. The program is divided into three levels— the lean, hard-body prep program, the beginning lean, hard-body workout and the advanced lean, hard-body workout. Start at the beginning and build up.

Do 60-90 minutes of aerobics per session, five days per week. This will burn about 700-1,000 calories a day, which is enough to get rid of about a pound of fat per week. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but you will lose fat and not muscle. What’s more, you will lose the weight and it will stay off. Add a sensible diet to the equation and you will rid your body of excess fat before you know it.

Include interval training in your workout. Interval training includes intense running (sprinting) interrupted by periods of rest or light exercise. This program begins with intervals of 100 meters (the straight part of a running track) and progresses to 400-meter intervals— one lap around a standard track. You will be in incredible shape when you can do six to eight 400-meter intervals. The procedure is simple: Run the interval (100, 200 or 400 meters) then rest for five minutes by either walking or jogging easily in between sprints. Interval training will increase your metabolism so you will continue to burn calories at a higher level 24-48 hours after the workout is over. Long-term weight control studies show that people who train intensely tend to lose more weight than those who exercise slowly.

Train with weights at least two days per week. Weight training increases muscle mass that will give you a higher metabolic rate. More muscle mass means you burn more calories during the day. Also, you will look more fit if you have more muscle. You will not build large bulky muscles on this program, so train hard when lifting weights.

Always warm up and cool down. Warm up by doing gentle range of motion exercises for about five minutes before beginning the workout. The cool-down should consist of five to 10 minutes of gentle exercise, tapering down to rest at the end of the period.

Stretch after you workout, when your muscles are warm. Maintaining flexibility will help you prevent injury and sustain normal range of motion in the joints. Stretch after exercise during the cool-down period rather than before your workout. Pre-exercise stretching decreases muscle strength and may predispose muscles to injury.

Eat a well-balanced diet. The Mediterranean diet— one high in fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, monounsaturated oils, nuts, red wine and fish— is best for women who want to be lean and exercise intensely. Avoid simple sugars and saturated and trans fats. The Atkins type diet— high in protein and fats and low in carbohydrates— is probably not a good idea because you need carbs to train intensely. The Atkins diet works well for people who want to lose weight, but are only moderately active.

Drink plenty of fluids. It’s easy to get dehydrated when you exercise this hard. Replace fluids as you lose them. Measuring your body weight before and after exercise is a good way to see if you are replacing the fluids you lose. It’s best to use a commercial fluid replacement beverage so that you replenish water, energy and electrolytes. Drink about eight ounces of fluid for every 15 minutes you exercise. Drink extra fluid before starting your workout.

Listen to “coach pain.” Pain that lasts more than a few days usually means you did something wrong in your program. This workout plan is difficult and will lead to injury if you are not careful. Proceed slowly and back off if you feel aches and pains. Don’t be afraid to scale down the program if you can’t tolerate it. Likewise, substitute exercises that don’t hurt you if you start having problems. For example, do intervals on an elliptical trainer instead of on the track if your knees or hips hurt. On the other hand, don’t be a wimp. For the best results, do the program as it is presented. You will be amazed at the progress you make.

Go Get ‘Em Tiger!

You wanted a program that gets results. Well, here it is. There is nothing magic about it. The success depends on consistency, hard work and sensible eating habits. In other words, it depends on you. It’s difficult, but it works.

References

Brooks G, Fahey T, White T, and Baldwin K. Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and its Applications. New York: McGraw Hill, 2000.

Brooks GA, and Mercier J. The balance of carbohydrate and lipid utilization during exercise: the crossover concept (brief review). J Appl Physiol, 80: 2253-2261, 1994.

Horowitz JF, and Klein S. Lipid metabolism during endurance exercise. Am J Clin Nutr, 72(suppl): 558S–5563S, 2000.

Kang H. S., B. Gutin, P. Barbeau, S. Owens, C. R. Lemmon, J. Allison, M. S. Litaker and N. A. Le. Physical training improves insulin resistance syndrome markers in obese adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 34: 1920-1927, 2002.

McCaffree J. Physical activity: how much is enough? J Am Diet Assoc, 103: 153-154, 2003

Quinn T, Vroman N, and Kertzer R. Postexercise oxygen consumption in trained females: effect of exercise duration. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 26: 908-913, 1994.

Romijn JA, Coyle EF, Sidossis LS, Rosenblatt J, and Wolfe RR. Substrate metabolism during different exercise intensities in endurance-trained women. J Appl Physiol, 88: 1707–1714, 2000.

Tremblay A, Despres JP, and Bouchard C. Adipose tissue characteristics of ex-obese long-distance runners. Int J Obes, 8: 641-648, 1984.

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, and Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism, 43: 814-818., 1994.

Yoshioka M, Doucet E, St-Pierre S, Almeras N, Richard D, Labrie A, Despres JP, Bouchard C, and Tremblay A. Impact of high-intensity exercise on energy expenditure, lipid oxidation and body fatness. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord, 25: 332-339., 2001.

The Hard-Body Prep Program

Instructions: Do this program if you have been sedentary. Check with your physician if you have any health problem that might make exercising dangerous for you.

Week 1

• Walking: 5-6 days per week. Walk until you get tired; shoot for 10-30 minutes.

• Weight Training: Monday and Thursday: Do one set of 10 repetitions of the following exercises: Bench press, upright rowing, lat pulls, bent-over rowing, arm curls, crunches or sit-ups, squats or leg press, leg curls.

• Stretching (5-10 exercises; 1 set, hold stretch for 15-30 seconds).

Week 2

• Walking: 5-6 days per week. Walk 20-40 minutes, as tolerated.

• Weight Training: Monday and Thursday: Same as week one; increase weight used as tolerated.

• Stretching (5-10 exercises; 1 set, hold stretch for 15-30 seconds).

Week 3

• Walking: 5-6 days per week. Walk 30-60 minutes, as tolerated.

• Weight Training: Monday and Thursday: Same as week one; increase weight used as tolerated.

• Stretching (5-10 exercises; 1 set, hold stretch for 15-30 seconds).

Week 4

Repeat week 3 until you can walk for 60 minutes without stopping.

• Walk-run: 5-6 days per week. Walk for 60 minutes; every 5 minutes, jog for 30-60 seconds.

• Weight Training: Monday and Thursday: Same as week one; increase weight used as tolerated.

• Stretching (5-10 exercises; 1 set, hold stretch for 15-30 seconds).

Week 5

Repeat week 4 until you can run for one minute during each 5-minute interval of your 1-hour walk.

• Walk-run: 5-6 days per week. Walk for 60 minutes; every 5-minutes, jog for 2 minutes.

• Weight Training: Monday and Thursday: Same as week one, except do 2 sets of each exercise and increase weight used as tolerated.