Body Mass Index, or BMI, has usually been the Index upon which your health risks are assessed. However, this can be problematic for athletes or fit/muscled people since it puts them in the overweight to obese charts, since the BMI is calculated based on weight and height. A recent intriguing article I found on Livestrong.com issues info about research surrounding WtHR or Waist to Height Ratio as being more accurate.
Since stomach body fat can be more dangerous and cause the release of hormones which contribute to diabetes and many other maladies, this could be a better predictor of health.
“WHR
The WHtR is calculated by dividing waist size by height, and takes gender into account. As an example, a male with a 32 inch waist who is 5′10″ (70 inches) would divide 32 by 70, to get a WHtR of 45.7 percent. The WHtR is thought to give a more accurate assessment of health since the most dangerous place to carry weight is in the abdomen. Fat in the abdomen, which is associated with a larger waist, is metabolically active and produces various hormones that can cause harmful effects, such as diabetes, elevated blood pressure, and altered lipid (blood fat) levels.
Many athletes, both male and female, who often have a higher percentage of muscle and a lower percentage of body fat, have relatively high BMIs but their WHtRs are within a healthy range. This also holds true for women who have a “pear” rather than an “apple” shape.
The following chart helps you determine if your WHtR falls in a healthy range (these ratios are percentages):
WOMEN • Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight • Ratio 35 to 42: Extremely Slim • Ratio 42 to 46: Healthy • Ratio 46 to 49: Healthy • Ratio 49 to 54: Overweight • Ratio 54 to 58: Seriously Overweight • Ratio over 58: Highly Obese
MEN • Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight • Ratio 35 to 43: Extremely slim • Ratio 43 to 46: Healthy • Ratio 46 to 53: Healthy, Normal Weight • Ratio 53 to 58: Overweight • Ratio 58 to 63: Extremely Overweight/Obese • Ratio over 63: Highly Obese”
- Area in quotes excerpt from Livestrong.com
I highly recommend that you check your ratio!
When my clients come into the gym where I do some training in the evenings, they are always excited to be there and work with me. That is true of most of our trainers - their clients don’t generally regret purchasing personal training. It helps them to know what to do. It motivates them, and it holds them accountable.
Not everyone however has the budget for personal training. Here are two options, one inexpensive, one affordable, that might help:
There you have it! Two inexpensive options to help you know what to do and how to do it. Compare personal training at $50-$175/half hour per session, which gets very expensive.
What does it mean if your toes turn out when you squat, or if your knees knock in? What does it mean if you lift your heels when you squat, or you raise your head or your shoulders when you press? Even if these problems don’t plague you, do you really understand the value of core and stability training prior to cycling into a hypertrophy and strength or power program?
Chances are you don’t know the answers to these questions. I do, and any good personal trainer will as well. You may have arthro-kinetic imbalances which can be corrected by the proper stretching, myofascial release techniques, and training the proper balance and core muscles to correct and strengthen adductors, abductors, and other core areas which may be causing joint or other misalignment problems.
Did you know that if you’re training too much in cardio zone 3, you could actually be burning muscle instead of adding it? For the answers to these and other questions, I recommend a personal trainer!
First, it is helpful to understand your objectives. If you are training to add and preserve muscle, OR to burn fat, it is instructive to note that if you consistently perform your cardio at a high intensity level, you may be burning muscle! This is a little understood element of cardio training, weight loss and muscle gain. You don’t want to cannibalize your muscle, because 1 lb.. of muscle will burn 50 calories at rest. Further, if a woman, you don’t need to worry about getting “big and gross” unless you’re taking testosterone supplements! Muscle is good, so don’t burn it off.
There, that said, there are three cardio zones, from Zone 1, low intensity, to Zone 3 high intensity. Each zone is a percentage of your maximum heart rate. Zone 1 is in the 65% to 75% of your maximum heart rate. Zone 2 is 76% - 85%, and Zone three is 86% to 90% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is calculated by 220 minus your age.
If you’re an intense bodybuilder or powerlifter, a 20 minute walk in Zone 1 will burn fat and not muscle. For me, that’s 113 - 120 beats per minute, although as I get fitter the zones tend to slide up. Currently as of this writing, I’m really not breaking much of a sweat until I’m closer to 120 bpm but that isn’t a taxing zone. Every body, age, and capacity is different, so your Zones 1 - 3 will be different. However, using the Max heart Rate X % will give you the right zone.
Now a word on interval training. After lifting, you’ll burn maximum calories (and less muscle) if you never exceed one minute in your Zone 3, followed by a minute in your medium intensity zone or Zone 2. This is a good way to train and will be dealt with later.
In summary, if you’re trying to lose weight or add muscle, both of which are almost synonymous, you may be doing your cardio at a too high or too low rate. Many cardio machines now include electrode plates, so checking your pulse is easier than the finger on radial side of arm method. Check your heart rate frequently and determine if you are in the right zone!
Two things are true with your body: 1) Your abs become visible at 10% body fat or less for men, and around 18% or less for women; 2) Building quality muscle all-around and a good fitness constitution will raise your BMR.
OK, so what does that have to do with not working your abs to see them? I’ll tell you! First, most people believe that by doing hundreds of crunches and dozens of different ab exercises, their abs will become “ripped” and visible. While it’s true that such fitness behavior will cause hypertrophy of the abdominal muscles, such people forget that their ab visibility is affected by all around fitness and body fat percentage. Hence, most of them will never see their abs! I know, it’s a sad state of affairs in the fitness world - all that time in the gym and nothing to show for it.
Here are two tips which will lead you more closely to your goals, including ab flatness and even ab visibility:
Regarding the latter, think about this. If you’ve doing a squat, not only are your quads, glutes, hamstrings and back muscles coming into play, but you are using your abs to stabilize. If you’re doing tricep pushdowns, your abs are keeping your spine from bending backwards. Even on a flat bench press, your abs have some involvement.
Go ahead and do those crunches, but reduce them dramatically and focus on all of the other muscle-building exercises which contribute to greater musculariy, hence a better BMR, and ultimately, more visible abs due to less body fat. Remember that for every pound of muscle you gain, your body can burn an extra 50 calories!
If I were to ask 10 people what the biggest factor in weight loss is, and in raising their metabolism (BMR), at least 5 would correctly identify diet. However, given the task of identifying the next biggest factor between weight or resistance training and cardio, what percentage of importance would you rate them? If you said cardio is the next 30 to 40%, you are not alone…but you are wrong!
Weight training is by far the most critical factor after diet - weighing in at 40%! Cardio is only a 10% factor. Why? It’s very simple - for every pound of muscle you gain, you will burn an additional 50 calories a day. Gain ten pounds of muscle, and imagine being able to burn an additional 500 calories a day! That’s called raising your basal metabolic rate or BMR, and you do this by adding muscle.
Women need not fear - you won’t get “big and bulky.” It would take a lot of testosterone pills for most women to do this, and most women could easily use an extra ten pounds of muscle, which will help us in their every day lives lifting, bending, twisting, balancing, jumping, enduring!
If you’re reading this and aren’t lifting weights at least three times per week, please get going on a program! I’ll help you. Here are some options - 1) Come and let me train you at Gold’s Gym on 800 North in Orem; 2) Download my FitTransition.com program; or 3) email me about the KeyChain trainer! (professionaladvantage@yahoo.com)
Final thought: Don’t abandon cardio, but unless you’re training for distance running or triathlon or other endurance training, be more prudent with the hours per week so you don’t cannibalize your muscle. Add an extra day or two (or three if you’re not doing it) of a planned resistance training program to your regimen.
We’re all asking the same question - how can I quickly lose all of the weight I gained over the Holidays and then some? Then answer is easy.
It’s that simple. That’s your plan. Get it . Follow it. Enjoy the results!
Click here for more info about the KeyChain Trainer, and to view a video by the famous Kathy Smith.
If a simple supplement existed which, if taken daily, would do the following, would you take it?
If the pill could cut:
Would you take such a pill? I have such good news! The pill exists, those numbers are real, and the pill is easy to take. It’s called daily exercise!
One can also say the pill strengthens your heart, and (men listen to this) makes your muscles bigger! Women - it tightens and firms your trouble spots and even reduces them while beefing up the areas you would like beefed up.
Here is a new technology which will help you to take your daily “pill.” It’s called the KeyChain Trainer. Combined with the FitTransition nutritional program, you will reap the benefits of daily exercise and more!
Only two more days until Christmas Eve and a week of food, fun and festivities. My point is that you have two days to maximize your calorie burn before indulging. So here’s some food for thought.
If you run at least a 6 minute mile for 30 minutes, plus a 4 minute warm-up and a 4 minute cool-down, you will burn somewhere in the neighborhood of 520 calories. If you listen to your favorite tunes and push yourself to a more vigorous pace, you will burn over 600! These are widely variable numbers depending on your body type, gender, current fitness level, and many other factors, but the point is that two days of good cardio workouts will prepare you going into Christmas.
Plan you workout and make it happen!
At the end of my first week back from the Holiday, I’m feeling great going into the weekend. I’ve followed the FitTransition 10 Commandments, eating protein shakes, whole wheat tortillas with cottage cheese and salsa, oatmeal, apples, 6″ Subway sandwiches, and not eating sugary junk.
Today I began my new program, having finished FitTransition, with my Keychain trainer (http://nextfit.myvoffice.com/gregorytjohnson) and the lower body workout kicked my deriere. I chose the program designed by former Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman’s training partner. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s upper body routine will be.
The best part is, in addition to motivating music, the trainer is telling me what to do, coaching me in techniques, counting the reps, and even the rest minutes. It’s wonderful. Had I done this with Ronnie Coleman’s partner in person, I would have paid at least $100 just for one session. $29.99 to get him for 20 or more sessions for an entire month is superb!
When I’m finished with his program, I’ll choose former Olympia competitor, Gunter Shlierkamp’s program. Can’t wait!
