Tag Archives: Fat Burning

Does your workout take advantage of the best learning about exercise?

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Best learning about exercise built into Koko FitClub workoutsI’m an exercise physiologist by training with a keen interest in keeping up with the very best research. I use it to design your Smartraining workouts! There’s solid science behind the Koko FitClub workouts planned for you each and every visit – so you don’t have to think about it. That’s why you’re here, right?

So, while I generally keep this stuff “behind the curtain,” I spotted a couple studies recently that not only reinforce the Koko Smartraining methodology BUT they have awesome motivational value. (You know my ultimate goal – successfully convince you to keep up with your workout prescription of 3 strength and 4 cardio a week!)

The first study, from the Journal of Obesity1 looked at the effect of high intensity cardiovascular exercise on male body composition. These men did interval training workouts that looked like this: 8 seconds of hard work followed by 12 seconds of light work. This workout was done for 20 minutes, three times a week for 12 weeks. The men in the study showed excellent improvements in aerobic capacity (15% increase,) a reduction in visceral fat (17% decrease) and significant increases in lean muscle level.

Once again, proof that it’s not the quantity of  exercise you do when you’re at Koko FitClub, but the quality of exercise that matters.  And, there’s no reason you won’t see the same type of results by just sticking to your Koko Smartraining exercise prescription.

The second study appeared Archives of Internal Medicine2 using research from the renowned Cooper Clinic and the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. The research involved men and women who were tested for fitness at age 50 and then again surveyed about general health a decade later.

What did they learn? “Physical fitness at midlife made healthy aging — long considered a contradiction in terms –a distinct possibility.” The fittest 1/5th in their 50′s had far fewer chronic conditions in their 60′s, ( by more than half,) than the folks in the lowest fitness category.

What does that mean for you? When your Q-score and lean muscle level goes up, or your eBMI goes down, the immediate payout is that you look and feel better right now. Turns out, you are also banking that fitness so you look and feel great for years to come. It’s an investment in healthy aging so you can enjoy your entire life!

All this by meeting your Smartraining exercise prescription of 3 strength and 4 cardio a week. Could it be any easier to take advantage of the best learning about exercise? No way. Now go hit the club!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

1Journal of Obesity link – http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jobes/2012/480467/

2 Archives of Internal Medicine link – http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1352789

The Diet you Choose After Weight Loss Affects your Metabolism

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The food you eat after weight loss affects the likelihood of putting weight back onAs Chief Fitness Officer at Koko FitClub, part of my role is pouring through the mass of diet and exercise research out there to discover for you the best information from the most credible sources to help you succeed at your health and fitness goals.

This week, a very intriguing study was published in one of the most credible sources: The Journal of the American Medical Association. The title may be a mouthful ( “Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance”) but this research is big news, so I am going to boil it down for you.

The basic premise of the study was this: Reduced energy expenditure (a slowing of  metabolism) following weight loss is thought to contribute to the tendency to gain weight back. However, no one had yet studied how the type of food people eat when they are trying to maintain weight loss affects their energy expenditure. That is what the researchers set out to do here.

The study looked at the effects of three, very common weight -loss maintenance diets on energy expenditure among a group of overweight men/women aged 18-40 years old. Researchers also looked to see what affect these diets had on certain hormone levels and components of metabolic syndrome.

The diets were as follows:

  • Low fat (60/20/20)
  • Low glycemic index (40/40/20)
  • Very low carbohydrate (10/60/30)

(  )  =  % CARBOHYDRATES/FAT/PROTEIN in diet

The study demonstrated that of the three, the low fat diet fared worst. Producing changes in metabolism and hormone levels that would predict weight gain as well as worsening many components of metabolic syndrome.

The low carbohydrate diet fared best in terms of  metabolism and the beneficial effects it had on many of the metabolic syndrome components. However,  increases in the stress hormone cortisol and CRP were seen. (CRP or C-reactive protein, is found in your blood stream and at certain levels can indicate inflammation and a risk of developing coronary artery disease.)

The low glycemic index diet showed similar benefits as the very low carb diet, but to a lesser degree. But, those benefits came without  the negative effects of the very low carb diet – the increase in cortisol and CRP – making it, in the minds of the researchers, the most “advantageous for weight-loss maintenance and cardiovascular disease prevention.”

So what should you do with this information?

First, keep on strength training! The lean muscle you are building and maintaining with Koko Smartraining boosts your metabolism. Second, be conscious about the food you are eating and focus on eating foods that are low on the glycemic index while staying away from fast food, refined carbs, and “white” foods that are high on the glycemic index.

It is one more simple strategy to help you on the road to success – improving your health  and vitality!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Body Weight: Why the Scale Wont Ever Tell You the Whole Truth

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Body weight cannot provide a full, accurate picture of your health and fitness

When a Koko FitClub franchisee in California shared these compelling photographs on facebook last week, (thanks Aman,) I knew I had to blog about body weight this week .

We have all weighed ourselves. Some of us make it more of a habit that others and multi-billion dollar companies have built successful business models on having members weigh themselves each week. But body weight and your scale alone cannot tell the whole story about your health and fitness.

For all of the people over the years who have told me they don’t need to exercise because they “weigh the same as they did in college,” a picture is worth a thousand words. And this one speaks volumes. Five women, all with different body mass indexes, different percent body fat levels, different dress sizes (UK size) and even different amounts of muscle, but all with one thing in common…anyone? They all weight the same! They all weight 150 pounds. 150 pounds can mean something completely different for every body…even your own after a couple of decades.

In this photo, for a few of the taller women, that body weight suits them well, while for others – it is too much weight. But stepping on that scale tells you none of the particulars. It tells you nothing more than the fact that you weight 150 lbs.

At Koko FitClub we take a different approach. We don’t want you to focus on “losing weight” as your primary goal. We want to encourage you to focus on getting fit and healthy from the inside out. To focus on building and preserving muscle first.

Why? Because you start to lose it after about age 35. (To the tune of 8-10 pounds a decade!) If you weight he same as you did in college and you aren’t working to maintain your lean muscle, your percent body fat has increased. Your body is not the same.

Building and preserving muscle has huge benefits:

  •  Research has demonstrated that for every three pounds of muscle I can add, I rev up my metabolism by 7%.
  • Muscle tissue burns three times more calories (pound for pound) than fat tissue.
  • More muscle changes the way you look – as you can see with our group of women –  not to mention the way you feel!
  • More muscle  means more independence as you age into your golden years.

The work I’m putting in at Koko now – in my 50’s – is already paying big dividends. And, I’m counting on it to continue into my 60′s, 70’s, 80’s and maybe even beyond.

All it takes for you to reap the same benefits is a little Koko Smartraining – 3 strength and 3 to 4 cardio sessions a week. Are you in?

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

In the News: Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing

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I read with interest the recent Newsweek cover story, Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing, by Gary Taubes. Taubes shines a light on the importance of eating the right types of calories to beat obesity and I want to share it with Koko Nation along with my own insights into some of the questions he raises.

As a professional in the business of helping clients get and stay in better shape long term, I applaud Mr. Taubes for questioning the status quo. My experience at Tufts Center for Nutrition taught me how sugars and white flour products can wreak havoc on the metabolism and lead directly to chronic weight gain. However, I believe Taubes’ assessment of the role of exercise in weight management is overly simplistic and may mislead readers to think exercise (especially high-intensity type training) is ineffective and possibly even a contributing factor in our nation’s struggle with weight.

One of the most powerful benefits of exercise is not how many calories are burned during exercise. Exercise, particularly strength training, is absolutely essential for maintaining our body’s lean muscle mass as we age. This, in turn, helps maintain or elevate our metabolism. By boosting our metabolic rate, our bodies naturally burn calories at a higher rate 24/7.  Unfortunately, too many dieters today instead focus on low calorie diets that result in an overall loss of precious lean muscle mass, (research shows as much as 10-50%,) which ultimately slows their metabolic rate. And unknown to many, excessive cardio exercise (“chronic cardio”) can exacerbate this muscle loss.

Bottom line, the real key to long term weight control is both the right type of calories, as Mr. Taube states, and the right type of exercise. It’s that simple.

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising

Simple Smartraining Tips for Fitness Success

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Fitness. Figured out.

1. Complete three strength and four Koko Cardio sessions per week.

When your monthly Koko progress report arrives in your inbox next Tuesday morning, check to see if you have a minimum of 12 strength and 16 cardio sessions for the month of April. If you do, you are getting the CDC/WHO/Surgeon General recommended 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise to decrease your risk of developing several nasty, chronic diseases.

2. Get active and have fun outside of Koko FitClub.

Why get in shape if you don’t enjoy that improved fitness? You’d be amazed how quickly riding bikes with your kids, walking the dog or digging in your garden logs a ton of extra “active” time to your week. This weekend I plan to be working in my yard for a few hours and going for a two hour hike on Sunday. All of a sudden my 150 minutes of Smartraining turns into seven hours of activity! Seven hours of activity a week is a magic number that not only off-sets a sedentary day job, but also cuts my risk of dying prematurely by 40% compared to folks who exercise only thirty minutes a week.

3. The Smartraining “Three Rep Rule.”

If a weight feels too light or too heavy during your next Koko strength workout, (not a strength test,) you can perform three fewer or three additional reps than what the Smartrainer suggests for you and it will trigger an automatic weight adjustment for the next set. If the weight is too heavy, three fewer reps will trigger a lighter suggested weight next set. If it’s too light, three extra reps will trigger a higher weight next set.

4. Mix up your cardio routine.

No matter how much you LOVE the “Mt. Diablo” treadmill hike, don’t do it every time. Think variety and progression with your cardio. If you are comfortably working at the same intensity level every session, try the next level up and see how you do. (You can always make adjustments if it feels too difficult.) Do you have a favorite piece of equipment?  Forsake it every other session. You will get much more benefit by alternating between treadmill and elliptical. Bottom line, it’s best to mix it up – different intensities, different programs and different equipment.

5. Improve your pace score to improve your Q-Score.

Has improvement in your Koko Q-Score stalled even though you are working out consistently? Remember – Q-Score is a pace adjusted strength to weight ratio. Next strength test, really focus on getting the best pace score you can on the last, heaviest set for each of the four exercises in your strength test. Can’t get a decent pace score on that last set? Do fewer reps, recognizing that it is ok to stop as soon as your pace score starts to slip.

6. Reduce the amount of added sugar in your diet.

Over the next two to three weeks, work on cutting down your consumption of added sugar and you will lose body fat around your abdominal area. Your total added sugar intake should stay under 25 grams/day for women and 38 grams/day for men.  Of course, foods have natural sugar, that’s not what I’m asking you to avoid. Read food labels to watch for “added sugar.” It can come in the form of high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, brown rice syrup, etc. If you are consistent with your Koko workouts and follow this added sugar rule, you’ll really notice the change in your waistline. (I have over the last three weeks!)

These simple changes can have a big impact if you keep at them consistently. Let me know how it goes!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Koko FitClub Franchising