WEEK 4
Exercise
EXERCISE AND BODY COMPOSITION
"it's not about pounds, it is about inches.
You have to build muscle to burn fat,"
Exercise is a key factor in achieving and maintaining weight loss. Choosing
the right type of exercise is very important. The most effective exercise
programs contain a combination of cardiovascular; strength and flexibility
training.TLS® Weight Loss Solution helps you discover how to begin a bal-
anced exercise program, and the importance of fitting in these three types
of training each week. When you exercise, you are burning stored fat to
build and preserve lean body mass. Lean body mass fuels your metabolism.
PLEASE NOTE: You should always check with your physician before start-
ing any exercise program.
CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISE
One of the most effective ways to burn stored body fat is to engage in
cardiovascular exercise. It changes body composition and lowers body fat
and overtime it improves your ability to utilize carbohydrates. Cardiovas-
cular exercise boosts metabolism, burns calories, reduces body fat and is a
cornerstone of good health. It is also marvelous for stress reduction.There
is no replacement for cardiovascular exercise!
Cardiovascular exercise is also commonly referred to as aerobic exercise.
They're interchangeable terms.
Cardiovascular exercise involves continuous movement without stopping,
such as:
• Bicycling or stationary biking
• Walking or jogging
• Using a treadmill, cross-trainer, stair-stepper or elliptical machine
• Swimming
• Engaging in low-impact aerobics
• Dancing
If you haven't been exercising, you should build up slowly:
• Start with five minutes, three to five times each week
• Each week add one to two minutes to your routine until you reach
the goal of 30 minutes of continuous cardiovascular exercise
• Keep the intensity moderate and don't overdo it
• Rotate the cardiovascular exercise you do — walk briskly one
day, try a low-impact exercise video another day, and give a
stair-stepper a try on another
Cardiovascular activity three days a week will produce results. However
you may experience more dramatic results if you are able to allot 30-60
minutes per day, five days a week.
TLS Weight Loss Solution follows the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's basic recommendations for physical activity. For more infor-
mation, visit CDC.gov.
STRENGTH TRAINING
For the purpose of reducing body fat, strength training is every bit as im-
portant as cardiovascular exercise. It is also an important part of achieving
and maintaining overall health and fitness. Losing weight quickly without
engaging in strength training often means that much of the weight loss
experienced comes from healthy, lean muscle instead of body fat. If you
have lost and regained weight through yo-yo dieting, calorie restriction or
other trend diets, you've most likely lost quite a bit of muscle and gained
it back as body fat.
With a regular strength-training program, you can reduce body fat, increase
lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently. As you gain muscle,
your body increases its energy demands and burns more calories at a much
higher rate.The more you exercise your muscles, the easier it becomes to
manage your weight.This is known as the "Recomposition Effect."
In the absence of strength training, muscle mass naturally diminishes with
age. Overtime, this decrease in muscle tissue will also result in a higher rel-
ative amount of body fat. Strength training, however, can help you preserve,
regenerate and enhance your muscles, no matter your age.
Strength training will also help you:
• Develop strong bones. Strength training increases bone density
and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• Reduce your risk of injury. Exercising your muscles regular-
ly helps to protect your joints from injury and helps prevent
muscle pulls.
• Boost your stamina. As you get stronger; you won't become
fatigued as easily when engaging in other forms of exercise,
in or out of the gym.
• Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can help reduce
the risks and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including ar-
thritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.
• Sharpen your focus. Some research suggests that regular strength
training helps improve mental clarity and attention span.
For all these reasons, strength training should be a part of your exercise
program. Best of all, though, strength training is fun. A productive session
will tone, tighten and trim in as little as 20 or 30 minutes. Unlike cardiovas-
cular exercise, you do not need to do strength training daily.Two to four
strength training workouts a week, performed on nonconsecutive days, are
enough to make great progress.
HEALTH TIP
Remember: When you have more muscle mass than body fat your
body is in fat burning mode. When body fat is greater than muscle
mass, your metabolism slows down and fat is stored.
There are many ways to strength train, and all of ttiem are effective:
• Perform three to five movements that exercise all the major
muscles, and combine them into a 20- to 30-minute workout
routine, and perform this routine three times weekly
• Over time, add more exercises to this fundamental routine. As
you become more accustomed to strength training, alternate the
movements used for each session. Eventually build up to five or six
of these routines that you can rotate between for fun and variety
• As with cardiovascular workouts, try to make each strength
training workout just a little bit better than the one before, either
by working a little longer; working a little harder, using a lit-
tle more weight, or resting a little bit less. Doing any of these
means improvement.
• If possible, go to a gym and utilize trainers from time to time.
They can provide additional instruction, opinions and advice.
• For a little more variety, try training for strength in a group
setting, like with a boot-camp style exercise class
•Try exercising during commercial breaks while watching TV.
During each commercial break, try a 20/20/20 set (20 sit-ups,
20 pushups, 20 squats) or any other exercise combination you
enjoy (front kicks, overhead press, high knees, etc.). All exercises
can be modified to meet your fitness level.
FLEXIBILITY TRAINING
Flexibility has been defined as the range of motion of a joint and its sur-
rounding muscles. Flexibility training will help to improve circulation, range
of motion, posture, balance and endurance, and decrease stress and ten-
sion. Flexibility training can be done anytime and anywhere. Flexibility train-
ing can dramatically improve your sense of well-being, helping you focus by
clearing your mind and reducing stress.
THE BENEFITS OF FLEXIBILITYTRAINING
An examination of the reported research and empirical evidence supports
the following benefits of stretching:
1. Increases functional range of motion
2. Reduces lower back pain and injury
3. Improves posture
4. Increases blood flow and nutrients to soft tissues
5. Promotes mental relaxation
A very effective way to incorporate flexibility training into your overall fit-
ness routine is to use it as part of your coos-down after your cardiovascular
and strength training sessions.This helps increase blood flow and limbers
you up to help prevent injury.
Stretching after a good workout also helps to start the recovery process and
slowly relaxes the body after the higher intensity state experienced during
exercise.tlsSlim.com has an excellent dynamic warm-up routine, and a. vari-
ety of slow, basic stretches that are best for a post-workout cooldown.
It is important to remember the following when engaging in flexibility "training;
• Evenly stretch the muscles on both sides of our body. Do not
stretch one side more than the other
- Never stretch to the point of feeling pain or discomfort
• Always stretch slowly and evenly.
•Never bounce or jerk while stretching (this can cause injury
to the muscle)
• Flexibility exercises should be relaxing. Consistent breathing is the
key to feeling relaxed. Do not hold your breath while you stretch.
Having a baseline physical fitness assessment will help you make realistic,
achievable goals. Once those goals are reached, you can re-assess your
physical condition and make new ones. Here are some of the important
things to keep in mind when conducting your physical fitness assessment;
BLOOD PRESSURE
It is important to determine your blood pressure before starting a physical
fitness program. Blood pressure is the force of blood against the arteries.
It is created by the heart as it pumps blood though the circulatory system,
Like all muscles, the heart cycles between contracting and relaxing; blood
pressure varies accordingly. Systolic blood pressure refers to the pressure
when the heart contracts. Diastolic pressure refers to the pressure when
the heart relaxes.
Blood pressure is expressed by these two figures, with the systolic reading
listed over the diastolic figure.
Many pharmacies are equipped with machines that allow customers
to measure their own blood pressure. This can serve as a quick way to
generally measure baseline blood pressure, but a trained professional
can give you the most reliable reading. Make sure that you write down your
blood pressure.
BODY COMPOSITION
The body functions best when it consists of the proper proportion of mus-
cle, fat, organs and bone.Your body composition is determined by the ratio
of these elements against the body's mass. While bone and organ weight
remain relatively constant, everyone's fat and muscle weight va.ries.The per-
cent of body weight that is made up of fat and muscle is an important indi-
cator of body composition and overall health. Fat is essential to many body
functions, but a ratio of high body fat to low muscle mass puts you at higher
risk for cardiovascular disease, strokes, diabetes and other health problems.
If you have excess fat, your body will fail to work at the optimal level.
Focusing on your body fat percentage is much more important than focusing
on your weight. Weight can be deceiving because muscle is very dense and
takes up less space than fat, Remember thai muscle weighs more than fat.
Your weight should not be your health and fitness indicator Instead, use
your muscle-to-fat ratio to determine your health and fitness level, Simply
put — don't be fooled! There is such a thing as "skinny fat" — a person
who appears thin may still have a high body fat percentage, and therefore
be unhealthy, Remember, skinny people suffer from heart attacks every day.
If you have tried to lose weight by cutting calories or a diet that does
not involve exercising, your lean muscle may have decreased, resulting in
an increased body fat percentage. Low-glycemic-impact eating along with
exercise will prevent that from happening, and you will be able to improve
your health and reverse the damage that has been done because of dieting.
Your body composition can be determined in numerous ways:
• Hydrostatic weighing is the most accurate form of measure-
ment. However it is not practical due to the equipment need-
ed and the complexity of the procedure.
• Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis is a computerized examination
that is noninvasive.This measurement may also be called BIA. It
is conducted by your health professional.This examination will
determine your fat-to-muscle ratio, and will detect disease, nu-
trient and water deficiency, oxidative damage and more.
• ALERT: Don't confuse this with the Bioelectrical Impedance
Scale that can be purchased online and in stores. Bioelectrical
impedance scales can measure body fat. body weight, hydration
levels, metabolic age and more,They vary in cost and accuracy.
This type of scale can be used at home to track your health and
fitness improvements, A recommended bioelectrical scale is the
Tanita Inner Scan, which costs about $ 130.00. Another option of
bioelectricial impedance method measuring istheOmron Body
Fat Loss Monitor This monitor will provide you with your body
fat percentage and body mass index and costs about $50.00.
• Caliper test is a relatively accurate method for measuring body
fat It is also known as the skin fold test, Using an instrument
called a caliper; the person conducting the test pinches folds
of the skin on various locations throughout the body Most
personal trainers are able to conduct this.
• Body Mass Index (BMI) test uses a person's height and weight
to determine an approximate fat percentage. It doesn't take
into account an individual's muscle mass with their weight, so
it's not as accurate as measuring true body fat.
For the most accurate reading: Measure yourself every day for a week at
the same time of the day,Then take those numbers and average them out.