What is Metabolism????

Everyone always talks about raising their metabolism. What exactly is your metabolism?By definition Metabolism is all the chemical reactions that take place in your body which include all reactions of your brain, liver, digestive tract, muscles, heart, lungs, and every other tissue and organ.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) The number of calories the body uses just to exist, sleeping and breathing. (Estimated to be around 800 calories)

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Assuming that you don’t sleep and breathe all day long, we could add an additional 100-200 calories for additional movements such as reading a book, fidget around, or thinking.

So this brings use to about 1000 calories a day without exercise.

Now lets add in:

Daily Activities, (100-200 calories) going to the store, cleaning the house, walking around the office

· Digestion (100 calories) As your liver, pancreas, stomach and intestines produce digestive enzymes, calories are being burned. Think about how you may feel hot or even sweat after eating a large meal. So if you think dieting will work, the less you eat, the less your digestive system will work, and the lower your metabolism will get.

· Exercise (approximately 300-500/ hour if done at the proper intensity)

· Post Exercise: Glycogen needs to be restored in the muscle, triglycerides needs to be replenished in fat cells. The harder and more prolonged the exercise, the greater demand for replenishment. If you work hard enough, your body could continue to burn calories for up too 36 hours post workout. (50-100, depending on exercise duration and intensity)

So this brings us to about 1500-1800 calories per day.

So as you could see your metabolism is made up of all these little processes. If you feel that your metabolism is slowing, analyze the list above and see what might be missing. Chances are if your relatively healthy, your BMR is the same as it always was. If you feel your lacking in a category(EXERCISE!), that could be the reason why your not losing the fat that you want to lose.

Implementing an exercise program can increase all of these metabolic processes!

Bailey, Covert. (1994) "Smart Exercise"

Runners Knee

By Jonathan Cluett, M.D., About.com Guide

Chondromalacia patella is a common cause of kneecap pain or anterior knee pain. Often called "Runner's Knee," this condition often affects young, otherwise healthy athletes.

Chondromalacia is due to an irritation of the undersurface of the kneecap. The undersurface of the kneecap, or patella, is covered with a layer of smooth cartilage. This cartilage normally glides effortlessly across the knee during bending of the joint. However, in some individuals, the kneecap tends to rub against one side of the knee joint, and the cartilage surface become irritated, and knee pain is the result.

What happens to the cartilage with chondromalacia?
Chondromalacia is due to changes of the deepest layers of cartilage, causing blistering of the surface cartilage. The pattern of cartilage damage seen with chondromalacia is distinct from the degeneration seen in arthritis, and the damage from chondromalacia is thought to be capable of repair, unlike that seen with arthritis.

Who gets chondromalacia?
Chondromalacia is interesting in that it often strikes young, otherwise healthy, athletic individuals. Women are more commonly affected with chondromalacia. Exactly why this is the case is unknown, but it is thought to have to do with anatomical differences between men and women, in which women experience increased lateral forces on the patella.

What is the treatment for chondromalacia?
The treatment of chondromalacia remains controversial, but most individuals can undergo effective treatment by resting the knee and adhering to a proper physical therapy program. Allowing the inflammation of chondromalacia to settle is the first step of treatment. Avoiding painful activities that irritate the knee for several weeks, followed by a gradual return to activity is important. In this time, cross-training activities, such as swimming, can allow an athlete to maintain their fitness while resting the knee. The next step in treatment is a physical therapy program that should emphasize strengthening and flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstring muscle groups. Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication is also helpful to minimize the pain associated with chondromalacia. Treatment with surgery is declining in popularity for two reasons: good outcomes without surgery, and the small number of patients who actually benefit from surgical treatment.

Does this sound like your situation?

You're a self-proclaimed athlete--certainly in shape, but not quite a professional runner/cyclist/etc. You decide to train for the local 10-mile race, or perhaps even a marathon, maybe you're a cyclist who is riding more than usual. Your knee starts to give you trouble, so you see your doctor and are diagnosed with chondromalacia.

You're given the treatment for chondromalacia: rest, medications, exercises. You participate, to some degree, with these treatments, but the knee pain persists.

Why is chondromalacia a persistent problem?

I can't tell you how common this story is in an orthopedic surgeon's office. One of the most common problems we see is chondromalacia, and patients often take a long time to recover. Here is why the recovery from chondromalacia can be so difficult:

• You are doing activities your body is not ready for.
  Running 10 miles or a marathon is not a normal activity. You are asking your body to take on a terrific burden by participating in these activities. Often patients complain that "this doesn't seem to happen to others." Absolutely wrong! Nagging injuries in part-time athletes, even in professional athletes, are probably the most common reason for a visit to a sports medicine specialist. On top of asking your body to do some un-natural activities (running 20 miles is NOT natural), many patients spend the rest of their day at a desk. Then they set aside an hour or two to cram all their physical activity into the late afternoon.
  Don't get me wrong...distance running and other activities that cause chondromalacia are great for the body. The benefits to the heart, lungs, etc. far outweigh the knee pain of chondromalacia. But be understanding of the limits of your body. It is not abnormal for your body to develop symptoms of chondromalacia if you are a distance runner!
  
• You don't really participate in the treatment.
  This is certainly not true for everyone, but it is true for the majority of patients. If you want to rid yourself of chondromalacia, you MUST rest. Any activity that causes chondromalacia knee pain, be it a run, walking up steps, or anything else, is causing further irritation to the cartilage under the kneecap. You need to give your body a chance to heal. Many patients are given a knee strengthening program or sent to a physical therapist. The reason for this is not so much to make you stronger (the average patient with chondromalacia is quite strong), but to better balance the muscles around the knee. Without specific exercises to balance these muscles, and a proper stretching routine, the problem of chondromalacia will likely not be solved. Doing the exercises every day is an important part of treatment.
  
• You haven't set aside enough time to recover.
  Many patients have a race in two months, have the onset of chondromalacia, and expect a few days of backing off their training schedule should cure the problem. Sorry. You need several weeks, at a minimum, to allow the irritated cartilage to settle down. You'll then need several more weeks to slowly build up your activities in order to resume your training schedule.

Steady State Cardio or Intervals for Fat Loss???

Steady State Cardio or Intervals?

Many people stay away from interval training simply because it is HARD! Running at a slow pace for 30-40 minutes eventually becomes easy and you feel no need to increase the intensity because you still did a good amount of “cardio”.

The myth of the “fat burning zone” states that working at a lower intensity for a prolonged period of time will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat. This is true but your body adapts to these workouts quickly and you may burn more “fat calories” but in the end you burn LESS TOTAL calories. Another problem with steady state cardio is that as your body becomes more efficient, it begins to store more fat. Less calories are needed as your body adapts therefore fat is not being burned during exercise. You must vary intensities.

Interval workouts have the potential to burn the most amount of calories if they are done at a high enough intensity. A steady state cardio workout and a high intensity interval workout both done for 30 minutes may burn the same amount of calories during that 30 minutes. The benefit of intervals is that they raise your EPOC(excess post exercise oxygen consumption). EPOC is defined as the “recovery of metabolic rate back to pre exercise levels.” We all know that a higher metabolism = more calories burned. This can take several minutes for light exercise or several hours for higher intensity workouts. Essentially you will be burning more calories after your workout! This is why whether your doing cardio or lifting weights, you must get out of your comfort zone.When you are uncomfortable you’re working at a higher intensity that will allow for a raised metabolism post workout for a longer period of time. Also, because of this afterburn effect, your sprint workouts can generally be much shorter than your steady state cardio workouts. So if your strapped for time, which most of us are, then intervals are your answer!

How long should your intervals be?

Generally the shorter the sprint time, the longer the rest. For example, if you are running a 15 second sprint, your rest should be anywhere from 60 seconds to 120 seconds.(1:4-1:8 work:rest) This is assuming that your 15 second sprint is extremely difficult(70 to 90 %). The longer your sprint intervals are, the shorter your rest should be.

15 second sprint (1:4-1:8)

30 second sprint (1:1 - 1:3)

45-60 second sprint(1:1-1:2)

Sprint intervals may not be a good starting point for an individual who is untrained and is beginning a workout program. In this case, some steady state cardio would probably be best to build a aerobic base along with some resistance training.

If you like to go for long slow runs, you don’t have to stop, just don’t replace a weight training workout or a sprint workout with a slow run. If you have the extra time, then go for it!

Steady state cardio is the least effective workout prescription compared to resistance training and interval training. So next time you go to the gym, walk past the elliptical, pick up some heavy weights and do some sprints!

“Interval training is like putting your savings in a high interest savings account. Low intensity aerobics is like hiding your money under your mattress. Both will work but the return you get is radically different” -Rachel Cosgrove

Importance of Foam Rolling

The foam roller not only stretches muscles and tendons but it also breaks down soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue. By using your own body weight and a cylindrical foam roller you can perform a self-massage or myofascial release, break up trigger points, and soothe tight fascia while increasing blood flow and circulation to the soft tissues.

How It Works

The superficial fascia is a soft connective tissue located just below the skin. It wraps and connects the muscles, bones, nerves and blood vessels of the body. Together, muscle and fascia make up what is called the myofascia system. For various reasons including disuse, not enough stretching, or injuries, the fascia and the underlying muscle tissue can become stuck together. This is called an adhesion and it results in restricted muscle movement. It also causes pain, soreness and reduced flexibility and range of motion.

Myofascial release is a body work technique in which a practitioner uses gentle, sustained pressure on the soft tissues while applying traction to the fascia. This technique results in softening and lengthening (release) of the fascia and breaking down scar tissue or adhesions between skin, muscles and bones.

Myofascial release has also been shown to relieve various muscle and joint pains such as IT Band Syndrome and Shin Splints as well as improving flexibility and range of motion.

Foam rollers are inexpensive and with a bit of experimentation you can target just about any muscle group. (Quinn, About.com Guide) April 2010

Top 10 Reasons Heavy Weights Don't Bulk Up the Female Athlete As seen on Elitefts.com

by Tim Kontos

Dave Adamson and I were driving to the IPA Nationals this past weekend talking training (yeah we're pretty passionate about what we do) when the subject of training women with heavy weights came up. I am in my ninth year at VCU as the head strength and conditioning coach and David has been in strength and conditioning for 3 years and this is a subject we deal with every year regardless of how much training information is available to the public.

The best way to get information is to go to the source. So, we asked Sarah Walls. Sarah is another strength and conditioning coach at VCU, a writer for Muscle and Fitness Hers, a former figure competitor, and a Women's Tri-Fitness competitor…..not to mention she is a strong female athlete that is not bulked up. Therefore, she has a great perspective on the subject. So we, being a good team, put our heads together to find a way to combat this never-ending dilemma.

Our way of combating this is through education. And, only one answer to a question is never enough. If you know your job well, then you know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. So we came up with following list:

1. Women do not have nearly as much testosterone as men. In fact, according to Bill Kreamer, in Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, women have about 15 to 20 times less testosterone than men. Testosterone is the reason men are men and women are women. After men hit puberty they grow facial hair, their voice deepens, and they develop muscle mass. Because men have more testosterone they are much more equipped to gain muscle. Because women do not have very much testosterone in their bodies they will never be able to get as big as men.

2. The perception that women will bulk up when they begin a strength training program comes from the chemically altered women on the front of bodybuilding magazines. These "grocery stand models" are most likely pumped full of some extra juice. This is why they look like men. If you take the missing link that separates men from women and add it back in, what do you have? A man!

3. For women, toning is what happens when the muscle is developed through training. This is essentially bodybuilding without testosterone. Since the testosterone is not present in sufficient amounts, the muscle will develop, but will not gain a large amount of mass. The "toned" appearance comes from removing the fat that is covering a well-developed muscle.

4. Muscle bulk comes from a high volume of work. The repetition range that most women would prefer to do (8-20) promotes hypertrophy (muscle growth). For example, a bodybuilding program will have 3 exercises per body part -- for the chest they will do flat bench for 3 sets of 12, incline for 3 sets of 12, and decline bench for 3 sets of 12. This adds up to 108 total repetitions. A program geared towards strength will have one exercise for the chest, flat bench for 6 sets of 3 with progressively heavier weight. This is 18 total repetitions. A high volume (108 reps) causes considerable muscle damage, which in turn, results in hypertrophy. The considerably lower volume (18 reps) will build more strength and cause minimal bulking.

5. Heavy weights will promote strength not size. This has been proven time and time again. When lifting weights over 85%, the primary stress imposed upon the body is placed on the nervous system, not on the muscles. Therefore, strength will improve by a neurological effect while not increasing the size of the muscles.

And, according to Zatsiorsky and Kreamer, in Science and Practice of Strength Training, women need to train with heavy weights not only to strengthen the muscles, but also to cause positive adaptations in the bones and connective tissues.

6. Bulking up is not an overnight process. Many women think they will start lifting weights and wake up one morning and say "Holy Sh__! I'm huge!" This doesn't happen. The men that you see who have more muscle than the average person, have worked hard for a long time (years) to get that way. If you bulk up overnight contact us because we want to do what you are doing.

7. What the personal trainer is prescribing is not working. Many female athletes come into a new program and say they want to do bodyweight step-ups, bodyweight lunges, and leg extensions because it is what their personal trainer back home had them do. However, many of these girls need to look in a mirror and have a reality check, because their trainer's so-called magical toning exercises are not working. Trainers will hand out easy workouts and tell people they work because they know that if they make the program too hard the client will complain. And, if the client is complaining there is a good chance the trainer might lose that client (a client to a trainer is a.k.a. money).

8. Bulking up is calorie dependant. This means if you eat more than you are burning you will gain weight. If you eat less than you are burning you will lose weight. Unfortunately, most female athletes perceive any weight gain as "bulking up," and do not give attention to the fact that they are simply getting fatter. As Todd Hamer, a strength and conditioning coach at George Mason said: "squats don't bulk you up it's the 10 beers a night that bulk you up." This cannot be emphasized enough.

If you are a female athlete and training with heavy weights (or not) you need to watch what you eat. Let's be real, the main concern that female athletes have when coming to their coach about gaining weight is not their performance, but aesthetics. If you choose to ignore this fact, as a coach, you will lose your athletes!

9. The freshman 15 is not caused by strength training. It is physiologically impossible to gain 15 lbs of muscle in only a few weeks unless you are on performance enhancing drugs. Yes the freshman 15 can come on in only a few weeks. This becomes more complex when an athlete comes to a new school, starts a new training program, and also has a considerable change in their diet (i.e. only eating one or two times per day in addition to adding 6-8 beers per evening for 2-4 evenings per week). They gain fat weight, get slower and then blame the strength program. Of course, strength training being the underlying cause is the only reasonable answer for weight gain. The fact that two meals per day has slowed the athlete's metabolism down to almost zero and then the multiple beers added on top of that couldn't have anything to do with weight gain…..it must be the lifting.

10. Most of the so-called experts are only experts on how to sound like they know what they are talking about. The people who "educate" female athletes on training and nutrition have no idea of what they are talking about. Let's face it, how many people do you know that claim to "know a thing or two about lifting and nutrition?" Now how many people do you know that actually know what they are talking about, have lived the life, dieted down to make a weight class requirement, or got on stage at single digit body fat? Invariably these so-called experts are also the people that blame their gut on poor genetics.

These so-called experts are the reason you see so many women doing sets of 10 with a weight they could do 20 or 30 times. They are being told by the experts that this is what it takes to "tone" the muscles. Instead, they are only wasting their time doing an exercise with a weight that is making no contribution to the fitness levels or the development of the muscle.

In case you haven't figured it out by this point in the article, what is currently being done in fitness clubs to help female athletes tone their bodies is not working. It is not helping these women get toned, and it is definitely not helping improve athletic performance. Maybe it's time for a change. Contrary to the non-effective light weights currently being used, heavy weights offer many benefits for women, including: improved body composition, stronger muscles, decreased injury rate, and stronger bones (which helps prevent osteoporosis). Let's try lifting some heavy weights and controlling our diet and watch this logical, science-based solution make the difference we've been looking for.

Light Weight, High Reps???? Not Always the Best Case

Most women believe that lifting light weights for a high rep range will prevent them from "bulking". Theses guidelines are said to create "long, lean muscles". How is it possible to alter the length of your muscle????? Could you change the length of your bones too??? Not possible. Everybody is genetically predisposed to the shape and length of your muscles and bones. Changing your fat free body mass will give you a different appearance, but the actual length will not change.

The way to get that defined look that you are looking for is to constantly change the sets and rep ranges of your workouts. You must put your muscles under enough stress in order for them to strengthen and grow. If you continue to lift your little pink dumbbells for 15 to 25 effortless reps, you will potentially increase your muscular endurance, but you wont increase your muscle mass, which, in turn gives you that lean look your working for.

My suggestion is to cycle your lifting days in three different levels. Theses levels will be a heavy, medium and light day. Heavy days should include rep ranges from 5-8 reps. Medium days will include rep ranges from 8-12 reps. Light days will be anywhere from 12-20 reps. Take note that on each of these days, whether it be a 15 rep day or 6 rep day, the last few reps should be difficult! This is also beneficial because this type of training will not allow your muscles to adapt to your programs. Muscles adapt to volume (reps x sets) before the actual exercise.

Why Do my Knees Snap, Crackle and Pop????

These sounds you hear typically occur when your squatting or walking up and down stairs. The general rule is that if no pain is accompanied with theses sounds, then don't be too concerned. If there is any pain involved then you should seek medical attention to prevent the condition from worsening by taking appropriate actions.

There are a few factors that can contribute to these unpleasant sounds. The first being that tendons could rub against the bony ridges in your knee. These tendons snapping back into place may potentially produce some noise.

Another reason could be the release of gases from the synovial fluid (lubricant for the knee) in your knee joint. This is similar to cracking your knuckles.

To help prevent these sounds, be sure to perform a good warmup before exercising. Low impact aerobic activity for 5 -10 minutes, followed by thorough stretching of the quads and hamstrings are ideal. This will help reduce pressure in the knee and prepare the joint for more intense activities.