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The race goes not to the swift, but to those who keep running !

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Which Body is Better for Health and Performance? Answer Join me at Beachbody.com-

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See why power 90 was so successful at changing the in home fitness market.

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Check out the creator of the most Intense exercise videos in the world Insanity and Asylum ! Shaun T !!

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P 90 X The Extreme In Home Fitness program- Xmikew.com

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Week 6 bGood ride b4 work

Ok Up and on the Bike by 5:15 am, one hour later 16 miles done , Awesome!!!
What did you do before breakfast?
Time for Vi shake and some Vi cereal, all protein and fiber!
tire and sore at work after drive in should be fine.

Maybe CST done later tonight!

Mikey

Friday, November 1, 2013

Week 3

Did Everyone have a Happy Halloween?

Anyways Happy Friday

Weeks 3
okay took off yesterday, exhausted after being up til 1 am the night before celebrating our RED SOX!!!

Got up at 4:30 to ride this morning did about 16-17 miles in one hour
stats
time 60 minutes
power avg 110 watts
revolution avg 75
Calories (Real) 430
Heart rate avg 126

Not bad , want to get the power up to 125, mileage up to 18
revs up to 80+ and calories up to 500.

Interesting discussion on the ICO(indoor cycling)site I am on about calorie burns.
They say it is impossible to reach 800-1000 calories per hour unless you are really elite. if your BMR is 100-125 then you would need to burn 700 - 800 calories, it was hard to burn 430 on the bike this morning I was a sweaty mess!
The HR watches we use are somewhat misleading
Thoughts people?

tomorrow leaves outside and then Shoulders & arms , behind again this week.

be good

Mike

Monday, October 28, 2013

Week 3 P90X

End of Week 2
Okay update so I rode about 18 miles Friday night after work(on my Keiser M3 indoor Bike) , had a great Historia Video ( Def Leppard)playing , cranking to the old Def boys ( Love Mutt Langes role as producer at the end). Had my new Sennheiser 170 cordless headphones cranking OMG is that incredible.
Loving the Keiser Bike if you cant tell!@ working and listening to — listening to Bruce Hornsby.

Week 3 P90X C&B tonite rest week next week I will skip as I missed a few wo's

Mike

Monday, October 21, 2013

Week two P 90 X

End of week 1 ( Sunday)

61 minutes on the Keiser, 18 miles, it is nice to go through my old music videos VCR did not work, whats a vcr? lol, need to get some old rush and van halen on dvd I guess

Have a great day all!

Doobie Brothers were perfect for this ride although my batteries didn't last in the old cordless headset

ordered new Sennheisers ( digital headphones) from Amazon so that should be sweet!


Week two starts today

20 minutes on bike and then Chest and back tonite, what are you doing???

Mike

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Da2 /3

day 2 done nice 45 minute ride on the bike ouch rear is sore!
Shoulders and arms after dinner

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Day 1

Okay day one done 5 miles -22 minutes on Keiser M3 indoor bike and then Chest and back, man that felt Good!
Had a light dinner and passed out, wow was I tired!
Vi shake with protein and raspberries!

onword People!
 
Mike

Restart

RESTART!!!
okay gang as you may know I have been fighting a bad foot from PF and god know what else, so walking running and hiking are all painful, so I have become a fa from the stress of work and not being able to get a decent cardio exercise.

So I did some research and we bought a beautiful used Kieser M3 indoor bike, it is a thing of beauty, sleek, belt driven, simple and quiet , check it out, hope to get back in gear and in shape for cross country skiing! has a decent tracking computer monitor too,.
Even hooks up and works with my polar heart rate chest belt, the old one, watch is long gone.

Clip my shimano bike shoes into the toe clips and go.

The treadmill is for sale never used it much....

Restarting P90x tonight have the calendar done sb able to stay the course, finally caught up at work for the most part.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Running & Being


A Sheehan Revival

The Runner's World reissue of George Sheehan's book, Running & Being, introduces a new generation of reader-runners to the man who identified the value of living an active, fulfilling, and authentic life.
Published April 03, 2013
One of the first things I did when I started this job in 2003 was put a framed photo of Dr. George Sheehan on the wall of my office. George, a cardiologist who wrote a column for Runner’s World for two decades starting in 1970, was the magazine’s most popular and beloved writer before his death from prostate cancer in 1993. He wrote about running not only as a sport but as a method for living a fuller life. He helped launch the first running boom, and one of his eight books, Running & Being, spent months on The New York Times Best Sellers list in 1978. Many of you may still consider him your favorite writer, although that word doesn’t fully capture what he was.
I found the photo in a stack of race posters from decades past, forgotten. In it, George is sitting in a wooden rocking chair on the deck of his house in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, overlooking the Atlantic. He’s dressed in running clothes, but it’s unclear whether he has just returned from a run or is about to set out. What is clear is that George is writing—or, more specifically, hunting and pecking away at what looks to be an old Royal typewriter perched on his deck’s wall, seemingly a few inches from falling into the drink. There isn’t a shred of artifice or self-consciousness anywhere. The photo is still on my wall, even though we moved into a new building years ago. Beneath it is my own Royal typewriter. The symbolism isn’t subtle: There are things from the past—even forgotten, old-school things—that still matter today.
As a longtime RW subscriber and the son of an RW reader in the 1970s and ’80s, I had read George’s column religiously. To me, he personified the idea that running and writing have something in common. Something approximating soul. Something I wanted to bring into these pages in a new way. In my first few months on the job, I immersed myself in George’s writing again, and developed a bit of an obsession to republish the work of the man Sports Illustrated called “perhaps our most important philosopher of sport.” Eventually I struck up a conversation with Andy Sheehan, the eighth of George’s 12 children, about how to do it.
This month, I’m immensely proud and excited to announce the reissue of Running & Being, the landmark best-seller that’s been out of print for decades, with a new introduction from Andy, a jacket design by George’s daughter Nora, and a new foreword from Kenny Moore, one of George’s equals in running-writing excellence. (One of my favorite excerpts is at runnersworld.com/sheehan.) We—the Sheehan siblings and Rodale, RW’s parent company—reissued the book for two reasons. First, to introduce George to a new generation of reader-runners, since the sport has continued to boom after his death and many of those fueling the growth (young women in particular) probably don’t know his work. Second, what George had to say about running—and about living an active, fulfilling, authentic life—is more timely than ever. Perhaps, in our overdigitized and underexercised culture, Running & Being is more urgently needed now than it was 35 years ago. As a country, we are fatter and less healthy than ever, and less connected to each other (Twitter and Facebook don’t count) and to the natural world.
But enough from me. George’s words have always stood on their own:
Running made me free. It rid me of concern for the opinion of others. Dispensed me from rules and regulations imposed from outside. Running let me start from scratch. It stripped off those layers of programmed activity and thinking. Developed new priorities about eating and sleeping and what to do with leisure time. Running changed my attitude about work and play. About whom I really liked and who really liked me. Running let me see my twenty-four-hour day in a new light and my lifestyle from a different point of view, from the inside instead of out.
Later this year we’ll also publish an anthology of  George’s RW columns, with excerpts from his books and new material about his running and writing life. After all, as Joe Henderson, a former editor and columnist at RW who collaborated with George for many years, put it: “As long as his work is read, a part of George Sheehan lives on.”
David Willey, Editor-in-Chief
To purchase a copy of Running and Being, visit Rodale's bookstore.
For more about Dr. George Sheehan, including a biography, essays, videos, and photos, visit www.georgesheehan.com.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Cross country skiing - The best!


Hey Gang
Day off from work phone rang or beeped constantly but Fuck it!
So Great brook is a cross country park in winter about 20 miles worth they say.
Can't cross country down south eh?

I have been skiing on trails off and on for 25 + years.

Great afternoon at Great Brook, conditions were pretty good a few bare spots,
I skiied 5 miles but was out of energy the last 1- 1/2, fell a couple times pretty funny, i never "used to" fall Lol. Btw 1000 calories!

Getting skis with metal edges so I can skate and telemark ( climb mountain with snow shoes and ski down), this old guy is NOT slowing down hehe!

Found the skis I plan to buy, Fishers 98's with a special boot and binding you can use the ski on flats, up trails , down hills and through the brush!

I won't need to buy new down hills I will be all set, fn awesome!!

BTW I am down 16 pounds !

Love yall

Mike

Friday, March 8, 2013

Serious stuff


More serious stuff:

I am on a very strict diet lost 7 pounds since Sat

You are all doing frickin great!!!

I love my job in Construction Management, but we do work a lot and the thanks are minimal.
This is from a young man who worked for me in the past,  the best I've  had BTW(ever)
He is newly married and they are expecting their  first son in a couple of months.

Paul:
{Bossman,
This might put a smile on your face in the meantime...I have been "talking" to my wife's belly, preparing my future son for the real world. My #1 piece of advice..."son, if you want to have a life outside of work, and not work weekends and extended hours, don't go into construction...become a banker..."}

I miss Paul btw, he moved to Virginia and is doing well, but we do stay in touch and I cherish that!

God bless the little guy he will have as great life!

10 -12 inches of snow this morning,  so do I go snowshoeing or x crty skiing this we ?

Mike

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Healing the PF

HEALING THE PF( Plantar Fascittis)
I have been eating bad and healing well, 
Lets see I bought Kuru shoes, a foot stretcher and the night splint, couple of straps for stretching.

The foot stretcher is awesome you stand on it and it legs you rock the heel all the way to the floor. awesome calf stretch!
The Kurus are wild like a sneaker with special heel cups that go down instead of flattening out , feet feel great , need another pair for home.
Night splint is weird i put it on it pulls the foot up slightly, keeps it in tension, I can only take about 3 hours , maybe 3 1/2 last night. 

So i feel ready to go running and hiking, but i plan to keep it lite until the end of March, maybe some easy local hikes and a little more snowshoeing!

Working probably 70 hours per week right now , a drag , trying to get Mill work, kitchen cabinets, flooring and finish lighting to all gel right now the client changes things hourly LOL .

here is a picture !
91 units and first floor common area like a fancy hotel

Monday, February 25, 2013

More from my Crossfit Fanatic!

I have to do another post because I am sooooo freaking excited!!!

Even though I haven't seen any significant change on the scale in since probably October, I decided to try on some clothes that were way too tight for me in January, and they fit perfectly now!! I am slowly changing out my closet and replacing all my new clothes with all my old clothes. There are a couple more things that are still too tight, but once I can fit into them, it's shopping time! I must have lost at least a couple of inches in my hips and thighs for these pants to fit now. Weight training f'n ROCKS!!!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Heath update!

OK health update, 
Good:
Officially on a steroidal inhaler for my asthma feels good to be able to breath again, that's the good. 
The bad:
Plantar Fascittis  this has been bothering more and more need to start a rehab program, this is why I have not been running much.
Q:
What is a good workout to keep my aerobic capacity up or improve it while rehabbing?

Mike

Monday, February 11, 2013

How stress affect your weight Part 1


stress 300x278 Part I: How Stress Affects Your Weight
Part I: How Stress Affects Your Weight
By Hallie Freedman
It’s a known fact that stress is a big factor in packing on the pounds. After a recent conversation with a new friend on Facebook I realized that many people do not know why stress contributes to their weight gain, they just know it does. One reason is a result of a stress hormone, Cortisol. When our bodies undergo stress we experience a fight or flight response, which releases a variety of hormones.
Regardless of what is causing our stress, our body has a similar experience. For example, your body cannot differentiate between office-based work stress and actual danger. Our body reacts as if we are going to be harmed and we need to fight for our lives. When our body responds this way, we experience an energy burst, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, amongst other changes.
It is harmful to your health to remain in this state for long periods of time as that becomes known as chronic stress. In addition to many health issues, chronic stress (and cortisol) can lead to weight gain.
Specific areas affected by chronic stress and cortisol:
  • Metabolism: Do you put on more weight when you feel stressed, even if your eating habits haven’t changed? A body that provides too much cortisol slows down your metabolism, which causes more weight gain than what may be typical for your body. This can also increase frustration with dieting since it may hinder results even when eating a perfect balanced meal plan.
  • Cravings: Do your cravings appear when you’re stressed? Do you give in to them or do you stick to your healthy meal plan? I know I used to grab a jar of peanut butter, a diet coke and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. No wonder I was 30 pounds heavier than my friend who always kept salad on hand for those stressful eating sessions. My actions are pretty common amongst people who experience stress. When under stress we crave fatty, salty and sugary foods; typically, the processed stuff that’s not good for us and will lead to weight gain.
  • Blood Sugar: Chronic stress can change your blood sugar levels. I know when my blood sugar changes it causes mood swings, fatigue, and even hyperglycemia (AKA High Blood Sugar) which makes me bounce off the walls before the sugar spike drops and I crash (getting a good picture?). Chronic stress has also been linked to more serious health issues like heart attacks and diabetes, but let’s keep this a bit lighter, shall we?
  • Fat Storage: Another issues I’ve struggled with is FAT storage. Wouldn’t you know that chronic stress can also affect WHERE you store fat in your body. Excessive stress is linked to more fat in your abdominal area. Not only do we become self-conscious of a larger mid-section but it’s actually linked to greater health risks than fat stored in other parts of the body.
Stress and weight gain are connected in more ways, too. Let’s take a look…
  • Emotional Eating: We discussed how increased cortisol levels can make you create unhealthy food, but did you know all that nervous energy can cause you to eat more unhealthy foods than you would when not under stress? I know my issue was I used to find myself in the kitchen snacking on food when I was not even hungry. Sometimes, I caught myself and wondered, “why am I eating this? I’m not even hungry.” — Have you been there, too?
  • Fast Food: Now this is one that I personally stay away from when it comes to what I put in my body. I could go on for hours on this topic and why I believe the fast food industry is mainly responsible for the obesity epidemic that is sweeping our nation but we aren’t going to get in to all those details. The bottom line is that people are too stressed with their daily lives to have to think about what they are going to feed themselves and their families, come meal time. So, what used to be healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners made at home are now being replaced by faster, more convenient, but extremely unhealthy drive-thru meals. This one gets a big sad face from me. icon sad Part I: How Stress Affects Your Weight
  • No Time to Exercise: Many people set their new years resolutions or goals to keep up with their gym membership and workouts. However, the reason it is one of the top new years resolutions set every year is the simple fact that lives get busy and exercise gets dropped to the bottom of the priority list, when it should remain at the top. Sedentary lifestyles have become more of a norm than an anomoly as a result of the time spent sitting in a desk chair at work, in the car in traffic, in front of the TV, etc. Bottom line is a lack of exercise in a stressful environment, will lead to weight gain.
Now that we have covered some of the effects of chronic stress and cortisol on weight gain, just know there are ways you can control your stress and weight. We will go further into this as Part II of our series on Stress & Weight Gain. Be on the lookout for it this Thursday

Monday, February 4, 2013

Freakin killed it -Cross-fit is contagious!

Good friend of mine wrote this!

I'm pretty sure I just had the best workout of my life today. I worked out with these freakin elite athletes that were doing some crazy Navy Seals 2-hour workout. I hung in for about 2/3 of it! And when I was done w/ what I could do, I practiced rope climbing and freakin killed it!

The workout:
Warm-up: 3 Rounds of 20 kettlebell swings, 25 air squats, 15 push-ups (I was tired after this!)
Phase 1: run 800 m before and another 800 m at the end of the rounds, 3 Rounds of 50 mountain climbers (That's 1,2,3,1, 1,2,3,2, etc, so really like 200 mountain climbers--crazy), 25 burpies, and 3 rope climbs. Instead of 3 rope climbs I did 9 modified climbs which is starting lying flat on the floor and using your legs and arms to pull yourself up to standing. These crazy people finished all 3 rounds in the time it took me to finish 2 rounds. I stopped after 2.
Phase 2: This was strength. I skipped this phase--deadlifts for max weight.
Phase 3: 3 Rounds 25 m. crab crawls, 10 1-legged box jumps, 10 deadlifts. I only did 1 round of this and jumped into Phase 4.
Phase 4: 3 Rounds of 25 sit-ups, 45 second plank, 10 kettlebell swings, 10 Russian Deadlifts (straight legs). I did all 3 of these, then practiced my rope-climbing.

I'm getting tired just writing all this! Anyway, I am really impressed with what I've been accomplishing in just about a month of crossfitting.

It's soooo much fun and I highly recommend it! Oh by the way--I did this whole workout in a fasted state! Can you believe that?? I totally would have eaten breakfast had I known what I was in for!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Primal Diet - she loves it


Borrowed from a friend who just started cross fit and is enjoying the primal lifestyle!!

Not a big fan of veggies, and am working really hard at trying to incorporate them into my daily diet, but I don't always do a good job with it.

Sample Day 1
bf:  2 eggs fried in grassfed butter and 2 slices of bacon, coffee with cream
midmorning:  coffee
lunch:  wild smoked salmon from Costco wrapped in roasted seaweed (Costco) with avocado, and a granny smith apple
afternoon snack:  celery with almond butter and green tea
dinner: rib eye with broccoli sauteed in olive oil and  a sweet potato

Sample Day 2
bf:  2 eggs in butter, 2 sl. bacon, coffee with cream--this is pretty much every morning
midmorning coffee
lunch:  chicken breast with roasted red peppers with basil pesto wrapped in lettuce, clementine
snack:  Fage full fat greek yogurt with blueberries, cinnamon, and stevia
dinner:  pork chops and asparagus

These are pretty typical days for me.  I usually cook to feed a family of 4 at dinner.  My husband eats 2 servings, and I eat one and take one to work for lunch the next day.  When I go out to eat I like to order duck, something I wouldn't cook at home.  I will also order burgers or sandwiches protein style, in which most places serve it wrapped in lettuce or as a nice salad.  I'm a big fan of Chipotle.  I like to get a salad with chicken, guacamole, and hot sauce-yum.

For snacks, I also eat lots of almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds, walnuts.  Occasionally I'll have a Lara Bar, but I don't recommend that or dried fruit until you've detoxed.

On weekends I like to make myself an omelette with spinach, cheddar cheese, onions, and mushrooms.

Another go-to of mine is coconut curry.  I cook in coconut oil quite often, and love coconut milk.  (full-fat versions of everything to satiate and prevent overeating--plus they taste better).

I also tend to cook my dinner in the bacon fat left over from breakfast, or in lard I've rendered.  (don't judge)

I eat mostly organic produce, but I'm still eating grain-fed animals because grass-fed is so expensive.  One day when we're rich I'll convert.

Marks Daily Apple is my addiction.  I think I've read every blog he's written--great stuff in there, and great links too.

So, in summary--I eat wild caught fish, chicken breast, chicken thighs-skin on--yum, steak, pork chops, pork loin, bacon, roast--anything piggy, turkey, duck, hamburgers, tuna, LOTS of eggs, all types of veggies--I'm experimenting, all types of fruits but in moderation, yogurt, good cheese, wine, 70% or higher dark chocolate, honey in moderation, stevia, all nuts and seeds.  I just started eating kimchi--not bad.  Apparently fermented foods are really good for you.  I make pesto sauce, tomato sauce, avocado salsa, things you might put on pastas I put on my protein, and it's been delicious!  I have not had a hard time at all passing up the bread basket at restaurants.  If we're somewhere that's known for some non-primal food, I will try it.  My goal is to eat 80% paleo 100% of the time, but usually I'm more like 95% because I feel soooo good eating this way.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Sunday, January 27, 2013

New day

Friend of mine wrote this , the root of the Primal/Paleo movement

Tomorrow's a new day for both of us, ! I'm going to do a strict sugar detox for the next few days.
Yes, that means NOTHING processed. You can make your own dressings and sauces with natural ingredients. No ketchup, nothing with sugar--not even natural sources like honey or dried fruits. 1 small serving of fruit of day, and lots of veggies. No starchy veggies like potatoes, and absolutely no grains or anything that raises your insulin level drastically. Did you know that 2 slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar more than a candy bar? Crazy! If you cut out corn, you'll pretty much automatically cut out everything processed. It's pretty amazing how some corn product is in EVERYTHING. Our fast food fat nation runs on government subsidized corn, and it's one of the reasons our health as a nation has deteriorated in the past few decades. Am I get annoying? Tell me to shut up. I feel like I could go on forever.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Check this out

http://XMikeWetzel.mysponsoringsecrets.com/

Friday, January 18, 2013

Intermittent Fasting and Stubborn Body Fat

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Intermittent Fasting and Stubborn Body Fat

I have previously hinted that intermittent fasting sidesteps the issues associated with stubborn body fat. Indeed I rarely find any need for advanced strategies to rid my clients of stubborn body fat. I will soon tell you why, but first let me give you some background information to what I'm talking about here.


What is stubborn body fat?

Stubborn body fat refers to areas of the body that hold on to fat the longest. Generally speaking, these areas include the lower abs and lower back in men, and the lower body in women. These areas are damn hard to get lean.

How come these areas are stubborn in the first place? To understand this, let's look at how fat is mobilized (the very short version).

After you eat, insulin and fatty acids are elevated. You are in the fed state and there's zero fat burning going on. Your body is relying completely on glucose oxidation during the hours following the meal.

One way of measuring this is via the respiratory quotient (RQ). An RQ of 1.0 denotes pure carbohydrate metabolism ("storage mode"), while 0.7 denotes pure fat metabolism. To put this into perspective, consider that RQ is 0.95-1.0 for about 1.5-2 hours after a meal, 0.82-0.85 after overnight fasting and 0.72-0.8 after 16 hours of fasting.

As the hours go by and the nutrients from the meal are done being absorbed, RQ drops in conjunction with insulin. There's a shift towards fat burning and mobilization of stored fat. This process is mediated by insulin and blood-borne fatty acids; when levels drop, an energy deficit is "sensed" and catecholamines (adrenaline and nordrenaline) increase.

The catecholamines travel through the blood and bind to receptors on fat cells. A receptor can be thought of as a "lock." Hormones and neurotransmitters are keys that fit into that lock and make something happen. In this case catecholamines trigger fat mobilization by activating hormone sensitive lipase (HSL), which then shuttles the fat out of the cell to be burned off.

Now here's the critical difference between regular fat and stubborn fat: regular fat have a lot of beta-2 receptors in proportion to alpha-2 receptors.

In The Stubborn Fat Solution Lyle McDonald used the analogy of b2-receptors being "accelerators" for fat loss and a2-receptors acting as "breaks" for fat loss. That's the easiest way to think of them without getting too deep into the physiology.

The ratio between b2-receptors and a2-receptors determines how easy it is to facilitate fat loss from one region of the body. "Easy" fat has a high ratio of b2-receptors to a2-receptors, while stubborn fat has a high ratio of a2-receptors to b2-receptors.

One notorious example that Lyle brings up in his book is that women have up to nine times (!) as many a2-receptors as b2-receptors in their hip and thigh fat. Though I can't recall if similar numbers are available for lower ab and lower back fat for men, you can be sure that the a2-receptors outnumber the b2-receptors in these areas as well.



I rarely use fancy strategies for ridding my clients of stubborn body fat. They never need it. It's more or less a linear process all the way down to the shredded state.


Intermittent fasting and stubborn fat loss

How can intermittent fasting then selectively target stubborn body fat more effectively than other diets? Well, to target stubborn body fat we need to activate b2-receptors while deactivating a2-receptors. Intermittent fasting achieves this by the following mechanisms.

1. Fasting increases catecholamine levels.

2. Fasting increases abdominal subcutaneous blood flow, which means that catecholamines will have an easier time reaching those hard-to-get areas.

3. The low insulin level reached during the fast inhibits a2-receptors. A greater time spent in the low insulin state equals a greater time spent in a state where fat can be mobilized from stubborn areas. Now you're probably thinking "why not just go on a low carb diet" to keep insulin low, but keep in mind that triglycerides inhibit HSL in a similar manner as insulin.

4. My research has indicated that the ideal state of fat burning is reached after 12-18 hours of fasting. Coupled with high levels of catecholamines, increased blood flow to stubborn regions, and low insulin for a2-receptor inhibition, this time interval is the "golden age" of stubborn fat mobilization.

Let me just explain real quick what I mean by the ideal state of fat burning. Studies have examined free fatty acid (FFA) oxidation from anywhere between the overnight fasted state to three days of fasting. While FFA oxidation increases the longer time you spend in the fasted state, the contribution of fatty acids to whole body fat oxidation changes.

In short-term fasting there's a significant increase in subcutaneous FFA oxidation. That's just a fancy way of saying that you're mainly burning body fat and nothing else. For up to 14-20 hours* after a 600-calorie meal in normal-weight subjects, fat is only mobilized from body fat stores in resting individuals.

* 14-20 hours in a completely sedentary state should easily equal 12-18 hours in real life.


Past this time point, fat burning increases further. That goes without saying. But it's not necessarily the type of fat you're after that you'll be burning. Somewhere in between the 10- and 30-hour time point, the oxidation of intramuscular fat increases greatly, but no increase is seen in subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat simply can't keep up with demand, so you're playing a game of diminishing returns if you push the fast too long. Coupled with the escalating rate of de novo gluconeogenesis, and subsequent risk of muscle catabolism, fasting for too long may not be very conducive for a lean individual seeking optimal lean mass retention while targeting stubborn body fat.



Men usually need to hit single-digit body fat percentage to have good abs, while women have good abdominal definition at around 15% body fat. Above is a picture of natural body fitness champ and intermittent fasting afficionadoKristine Weber.


Science vs real life

One obvious question critically inclined readers should ask themselves is whether special strategies to mobilize stubborn fat is even needed in the first place. After all, people have gotten ripped without intermittent fasting or the strategies laid out in The Stubborn Fat Solution by Lyle McDonald. Is it not just a question of dropping low enough in body fat percentage?

If we compare a traditional calorie deficit of 3500 kcal per week on a conservative diet vs 3500 kcal on an intermittent fasting setup (or with The Stubborn Fat Solution), would there be any difference in regional fat loss assuming all other factors were kept constant? I don't think we'll ever know, so this boils down to relying on theory and practical experience.

My personal experience is that intermittent fasting helps with stubborn fat loss compared to a conservative diet. This little anecdote is obviously riddled with confounders, and maybe even wishful thinking, but if you take a look at some pictures from my younger days (and here), you'll see that I was quite lean during the modelling days. However, I still had some fat covering the lower ab region and never really seemed to lean out well no matter how hard I tried. Sure, I would lose weight when I cut calories, but not from the right areas. I always ended up getting extremely lean legs, arms and shoulders. I also lost a lot of muscle in my desperate attempts to get good abs, but that might just boil down to me dieting like a retard. As you can see in some more recent pics, I don't have those types of problems any more.

Adding to this anecdotal evidence of mine, I have heard similar feedback from clients and blog readers. Intermittent fasting seems very conducive for targeting stubborn body fat. Got a similar experience to report? Let me know.

Content update, June 20th
When is stubborn body fat a problem?


There were a few things that I forgot to cover when I first finished this article. First of all, at what level does stubborn body fat become an issue? Generally speaking, people don't have a good sense of what is "just too fat" and what is a legit body fat percentage for stubborn fat to even start becoming an issue. I've had tons of clients approach me with their "issues with stubborn body fat" when they we're 15% body fat or more.

Stubborn fat is the fat you need to lose for a good four-and-a-half-pack to turn into a six-pack. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say 10% is the maximum body fat percentage you need to have reached before this is something you can start concerning yourself with.

Below are a few examples of the level of leanness required to even start thinking about stubborn body fat.








Both of these clients were approximately 10% and the marked areas denote those typically stubborn fat deposits. Note that both of them were quite lean and had good abdominal definition from the navel up. The stubborn fat is located at around the navel and below.





With females the whole lower body is "stubborn." Above is a good example of the different fat pattern seen in men and women. Note the lean midsection and lower back. At the same time the lower body appears quite smooth. If she would have dropped a few more percentage points of body fat, she would have had very visible abs - but her lower body would likely not have gotten much leaner. Even female body fitness competitors rarely come in to stage with "ripped" legs.


Stubborn Fat Strategies

Here are a few strategies that you should consider implementing to target stubborn fat. Keep in mind that your diet needs to be in order first and foremost. You can't throw this into the mix and expect results if your diet is sub par.

1. Intermittent fasting. For the reasons I mentioned earlier.

2. Increase your activity level in the fasted state. Add cardio or whatever else to get your energy expenditure up. A personal favorite of mine is lower intensity and longer duration activities like walking in the 12-16 hour time interval of the fast. Not only is this the "golden age" of subcutaneous fat oxidation, but lower intensity activities selectively use fatty acids to fuel the activity. There are other reasons I favor low intensity over high intensity activities (such as HIIT). They interfere minimally with your performance in the gym and can be done on a daily basis, which is not the case with HIIT.

3. Supplementation. While I have gotten lean without thermogenics and alpha-2 receptor antagonists, such as yohimbine, they can speed up the process.

For starters: Caffeine is a dirt cheap thermogenic that will ramp up catecholamine levels. During the fast add caffeine pills and dose depending on tolerance. If you're not a regular coffee-drinker, you can get pretty wired off 200 mg. If you're a habitual coffee-drinker (like me), it might take up to 600 mg to even get an effect. L-Tyrosine may work synergistically with caffeine so you may consider experimenting with that as well. Personally though, I have never gotten much out of it - though many people swear by it.

For more ambitious supplementation
, add the alpha-2 antagonist yohimbine or a supplement containing yohimbine in addition to caffeine pills. Take the equivalent of 0.2 mg/kg body weight shortly before fasted cardio or during the fast. This works out to 16 mg yohimbine for an 80 kg/175 lbs male if you have pure yohimbine hcl.
Other commercial thermogenics, such as Meltdown, contain 3 mg yohimbine per capsule; so you'd have to take up to 5 capsules to reach similar levels. But proceed with caution:the product says, "Never exceed more than three total capsules daily or in a single dose." Personally, I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary with such dosing (>3 capsules), but I need to throw in a disclaimer here lest someone screws himself over. It would be best to start low to assess tolerance. Meltdown contains quite a few other ingredients that might make the effects stronger and more unpredictable versus straight yohimbine hcl (i.e., 5 capsules of Meltdown might be more potent than 15 mg of Y-HCL in terms of stimulatory effect and perhaps side effects).

Important: Keep in mind that insulin negates the effects of yohimbine on alpha 2-receptor inhibition. Always take it in the fasted state and never between meals. Considering the half-life of yohimbine is very short (30 min), you can also experiment with more frequent dosing during the fast. For example, three dosages taken every second hour until your first meal. In that case I would probably not recommend starting with 0.2 mg/kg, since there will be a gradual buildup of the active compound. 0.15 mg/kg is a better starting point for multiple dosages in a relatively short time frame (every second hour).

An 80 kg male could use the following schedule.

7 AM: 12 mg yohimbine.

9 AM: 12 mg yohimbine.

9 AM-10 AM: 45 to 60 min walk.

11 AM: 12 mg yohimbine.

1 PM: Meal one.

Another option: AlphaBurn. Pure yohimbine may lead to feelings of anxiety and even panic attacks in predisposed individuals. A better alternative can be found in Alpha Burn, and other supplements containing rauwolscine, which is a stereoisomer of yohimbine. Reg from Predator Nutrition recently sent me a box of these and I can vouch for it's psychoactive effects not being as rough as pure yohimbine. While it won't make you as jumpy and jittery as yohimbine, it seems to have a pretty potent appetite suppressive effect. If you consider buying this, see mysupplement guide to obtain a code, exclusive to Leangains readers, that gets you 5% off any order from Predator Nutrition.

4. Fasted Weight Training. Heavy weight training jacks up catecholamines very high and heavy training in the fasted state creates the most powerful response. Heavy training and fasting are both stressors to which the body responds with increased catecholamine output; in combination it seems the effect is synergistic. How can we combine everything mentioned up to this point and heavy weight training to facilitate stubborn fat loss? Like I've said in the past, I'm not a fan of using weight training as a means to create a calorie deficit. I also do not recommend training completely fasted, since that would be highly counterproductive to the anabolic response. But I've found a way around all this.

Protocol needed: Fasted Training (see the Leangains Guide for details).

We're going to assume that you're at the gym at 10 AM and break your fast at 12-1 PM.

10 AM: Training is initiated on an empty stomach and after ingestion of 10 g BCAA or similar amino acid mixture. This "pre-workout" meal is not counted towards the feeding phase.

10-11 AM: Weight Training: I suggest using a setup similar to reverse pyramid training, which is my favored approach. This is a high intensity, low volume setup. Keeping intensity high is key in order to reap the catecholamine-related benefits. Do 2-3 sets of 4-8 reps for compound movements and 1-2 sets of 8-10 reps for assistance movements (curls, triceps work, etc). Do no more than 5 movements per session.

11-12 AM: When you're done, which should be in no more than an hour, insulin (which was temporarily elevated by the pre-workout BCAAs) will be back to fasted baseline again. Immediately take 0.2 mg yohimbine and do 30-45 min of steady state cardio; cycling, treadmill walking at 3-3.5 mph (slight incline optional), brisk walking outside, etc. The yohimbine will rapidly take effect.

12-1 PM: Eat.

5. Carb refeeds. Refeeding on high carb meals, with a low fat content, will boost leptin and kick up hormonal output and metabolic rate a notch. It may sound counter intuitive for those not familiar with this concept, but it may in fact be just what you need to get past a fat loss plateau, or to see fat loss in stubborn areas. Much can be written about this, but Mark Sisson recently wrote an easy layman's guide to carb refeeds that you might want to check out if you need a quick summary of the benefits.

For a more thorough explanation of refeeds and leptin, I urge you to check out Lyle McDonald's excellent series onbody weight regulation. There's plenty more on this topic on Lyle's site; just do a search for "refeeds", or "refeeding", and you'll be busy for hours.

If you follow my approach, as I've laid out in the Leangains Guide, you will refeed after every weight training-session.


Keep it simple

As a final note, keep in mind that none of the above mentioned strategies are essential in order to get to your desired level of leanness, assuming that entails a ripped six-pack. I've gotten myself and several clients very lean without supplementation, cardio, and with fed state training.

In the end, getting rid of stubborn fat comes down to patience. There's no "quick fix" solution. Only various strategies that may present some hard-to-define benefits in theory.

When determining what strategies you can use (and this goes for any diet), first look at what you can implement into your daily routine with a minimum of added effort. Don't go out of your way to find advanced strategies that increase the perceived challenge of your diet. That's always a recipe for failure in the long term.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Weeek 2 P90X done

Week 2 P90X done good week, went skiing and snow showing yesterday, did about 5 miles combined so it was good cardio.
Place is called Weston Ski track not far from job site they make snow on about 2 km of course so it is awesome all winter!

What did you do this week?
are you eating clean?

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Day 1 Round 7- P90X


Its a New Year 2013
1/2/13
Day one round seven P 90x let myself go, back in it it to win it!
Did awesome although i had to take a lot of breaks! still fighting a cold too
Also did hibernating heinies, need to engage those more for running hiking etc.
Too many years at the desk
Diet was awesome
Strict Paleo,no sugars, no grains, no legumes
Chop the tree down and stoke the fire lets do this folks!

XMike

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