Marcel lost 26lbs in a short time at One-to-1 Fitness

In order to achieve long-term, permanent weight loss, the caloric burning effects of cardiovascular exercise are king! This is not entirely true.  While cardiovascular exercise has a wide range of health benefits, it has much less effect on permanent weight control than weight-bearing or resistance exercise.  Cardiovascular exercise burns calories while it is being performed as well as for a limited amount of time upon completion of the activity.  Resistance training has a much more pronounced effect on the burning of calories and raising the metabolism for extended periods of time.  Research has shown that load-bearing exercise can increase metabolic function for as much as 12 to 24 hours.

One of the most well understood benefits of resistance training is the fact that it can increase lean muscle mass as well as strength.  As the body is put under the stress of resistance training, it adapts to this strain by increasing its capacity to do work.  This can be accomplished by increasing its energy storage capacity (storing more energy inside the cells) or by increasing the amount of lean body mass or muscle tissue present.  Either of these methods of compensation allows the body to be better suited to handle greater levels of physical stress.  These adaptations increase the level of activity at the cellular level, burning more calories and in turn, increasing the metabolism.  Simplified, the more living tissue is present in the body, the more calories the body burns in a 24 hour period.

Another significant benefit of resistance training comes in the form of increasing bone density.  The human body is constantly in a state of breaking itself down and re-building itself.  Our cells are always dying off as the body creates new cells and tissue.  However, as we age, the hormones responsible for the growth of new tissue decline and our bodies become less prone to building new cells.  As a result, bone mineral deposits decrease and bone density starts to drop, making bones weaker, more brittle and prone to breaks and fractures.  It has been proven that the stress placed on the skeletal system during resistance or strength training helps stimulate the body to increase bone concentration and bone mass.

An area of resistance training which we focus on greatly with our clients is Functional Training.  We tend not to focus greatly on making our clients “stronger” for the 60 minutes that we are working with them.  Rather, our focus is to make our clients more functional for everyday life.  We train our clients so that their bodies are more apt to facilitate every day functions like lifting, climbing, squatting, throwing, running, yard work, shoveling the walk, bending over without strain etc.  This is accomplished by training our clients in a state of “un-balance” in the gym.  Remember that it is impossible to train for balance unless the body is OFF-balance.  Performing exercises incorporating exercise balls, stability balls, balance boards, gymnastics rings and other pieces of functional training equipment, we are able to train our clients’ bodies to be more responsive to the ever-changing stimulus of everyday life.

Strength training has also shown to be beneficial for the heart as it decreases blood pressure and lowers resting heart rate, reducing the risk for heart disease.  Regular resistance training will actually help stimulate the liver to produce more HDL (good) cholesterol.  It helps decrease stress levels and can help promote regular sleeping patterns.

When it comes to exercise I can say with a great deal of certainty we all need to do it. Our bodies are designed to move and increasing our fitness level will ensure we look younger, live longer and feel better through the duration of life. The second thing that is certain is that life is full of many commitments that usually prevent us from allotting time and energy to some of the things we need to do. This is a common excuse I hear for a lack of regular exercise. I believe that we are all creatures seeking instant gratification and with that lies some of the frustration of an exercise program. As a consumer we are faced with a lot of options. These options usually come with promises and guarantees, and yet sometimes they still don’t deliver. If you’ve experienced this maybe it’s because there wasn’t a good fit between you and the program. Or maybe it’s that most programs lack the ability to address individuals concerns rather than a group concern.

When it comes to living a long healthy life that includes regular activity we all go through three different stages:

Activity – Regular movement is just becoming part of your life, it’s painful and un-enjoyable at best but you know it needs to be done. This is the activity stage, where any activity will do, a walk around the block, a slight jog, a few push ups or pretty much any form of movement. Generally in this stage the individual just needs to have control of the time and intensity of the activity as you may or may not be capable of a lot.

Fitness – In this stage it’s about more than regular activity, it’s about an increased challenge or output that produces a greater feeling of well being. Upon entering the fitness stage you will feel physical improvement regularly from exercise.

Training – Very closely related to the fitness stage this is where it becomes confusing. Once people start feeling reasonably well they expect to be able to participate in a regular exercise program and attain a specific outcome and this is what I call the training stage.

It’s between the fitness and training stage where I see a lot of individuals are stuck. It’s in this stage that we are often attracted to consumer exercise programs, gadgets and ultimately fads. Maybe you find yourself in this situation now where you are looking for the exercise program to take you to that specific result. (ie. Weight loss, cardio fitness, less aches and pains, more flexibility, etc) There is certainly lot’s to choose from ranging from things like: pilates, yoga, aerobics, boot camps, spin classes, cardio kickboxing to new fads like cross fit and kettle bells. You name it and it’s out there and it may or may not produce the results you are looking for. This column is for all the people that fall into the “these fad programs have not produced the result I was looking for” category.

In order to provide specific results an exercise program must be tailored to an individual by addressing the different aspects of our lifestyle. For instance aches, pains, and inflexibility are largely related to repetitive activity and the wonders of modern life such as chairs, computers, keyboards, mice and other things that put us in similar stationary body positions for long periods of time. Body fat is a result of too much processed foods, too little water, poor sleeping habits and a misunderstanding of the importance of macronutrient balance. But all of these things vary greatly from individual to individual. So much so that using the same exercise program that provided excellent results for your best friend might wind up creating more problems for you. When looking at an exercise program consider not the difficulty or frequency of the program but how much time and attention is given to assess you as an individual. We all need to stretch, we don’t all need to stretch the same things, we should all perform resistance exercise to improve posture and bone density but you will need different exercises than I do. Your nutritional needs are likely different than your neighbours. Considering these options will ensure far less disappointment and time wasted on an exercise program that doesn’t produce the result you are looking for. It may also cross a number of options off the list.