Tag Archives: WHO

How Much Exercise Do I Need to Reach My Fitness Goals?

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How much exercise is too much?This is a hot fitness topic of late thanks to a recent study that suggests too much endurance exercise- from training for events such as marathons and triathlons – can actually have a negative effect on your heart.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization and Surgeon General, 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity exercise is what you need each week to stay healthy. They also recommend two strength training sessions.

Knowing that you need to exercise for your health, but given the recent news that it may be possible to exercise at a level that is unhealthy, you might be wondering “what types of exercise should I do and how much should I be doing it?”

This is the kind of competing health and fitness information that can become so confusing, it ends up sending people to their couch in defeat. This is why we created Koko. Getting fit and healthy doesn’t have to be confusing.

It ultimately depends on your fitness goals, but if you’re doing 2-3 strength and 3-4 cardio Smartraining sessions each week, you’re in the ballpark of what these health agencies recommend. If it’s a bit more? Fine. Just remember, your exercise routine should become part of your lifestyle, and something you maintain for a lifetime.

If you are training excessively – especially if it is excessive distance and endurance work – then you need to consider the possible risk to your heart. If you are not training to an extreme that risks your heart, but you are “over-the top” with the amount of exercise you are doing, consider that with any extreme you are undermining your long term success. The extreme road is impossible to travel forever.

With the obvious caveat that what you do outside the club – from the quality and amount of food you put into your body to how much you move in a day – is of critical importance, if you’re looking to build muscle, lose weight or prevent weight gain, the amount and type of exercise prescribed by Koko fits the bill. It is also designed to be a fitness routine you can stick with long term. As Koko Co-Founder, Mary Obana, likes to say, “Koko for Life!”

If you’d like to read more about the study I mentioned here, visit:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/moderation-as-the-sweet-spot-for-exercise/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21330616

http://eurheartj.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/12/05/eurheartj.ehr397.abstract

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

 

Koko FitClub vs Globesity

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Kokotorescue

Everyone at Koko FitClub has a shared goal: We are dedicated to changing the lives of people in our communities. For our future, we envision Koko FitClub fulfilling an important need in our communities. Not simply as a place to get a great workout, but as the way people get and stay healthy.

This need is dire, and it’s not confined to America. It’s global.

Last Friday, Koko FitClub Chief Fitness Officer, Michael Wood,  shared some frightening world-wide statistics on people who are obese and overweight. He found this data on the World Health Organization (WHO) website (2004) showing a significant rise in both over the past decade:

  • World-wide numbers (for 1999) included 1.3 billion *overweight and 300 million *obese
  • World-wide numbers (for 2004) have risen to 1.7 billion overweight and 400 million obese.
  • Prediction by WHO (for 2015) – 2.3 billion overweight and 700 million obese individuals worldwide.

*The WHO defines “overweight” as a BMI equal to or more than 25, and “obese” as a BMI equal to or more than 30.

Unfortunately, thanks to these staggering numbers, the World Health Organisation has found the need to coin a special term for this global epidemic: Globesity. “Globesity is fast becoming more of a problem than famine and under-nutrition, and has now reached a point where it is becoming a serious threat to the health of every nation striving for economic development.” (Independent, Feb. 2002)  Wow. Does that quote blow your mind as much as it does mine?

We live in a global community. By saying Koko is dedicated to changing the lives of people in our communities, it’s clear that mission goes far beyond North America; and Koko is full of determined people striving to fulfill this mission. Do I think Koko can help save the world by saving it from the Globesity crisis? Absolutely.

If you’d like to read more on the subject:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/091125/obesity-epidemic-fattest-countries

Mary Obana
President & Co-Founder
Koko FitClub