Love Notes by Jari Love

Posts in the healthy lifestyle category

Top Foods to Gain Muscle

People that workout in the gym want to build muscle tissue. Both men and women know that toned, firm muscles look great. You need to workout to achieve good growth, but to build large muscles, you need to eat right. Finding the top foods to gain muscle can help you build, while also reducing the amount of fat on your body. Even if you don’t want big guns or washboard abs, these foods help people shed fat, too. Not only do you need to build muscle tissue to get that sculpted look, you need to take off a layer of fat that might be hiding all your hard work.

 

Start with high quality protein.

Lean red meat is often what people think of when they consider protein, but there are many other types of food that fit that category. Eggs are one source of protein that offers not just high quality protein, but also healthy fat and other nutrients. Eggs have high amounts of leucine that boosts muscle growth. Salmon is another protein choice that provides high amounts of protein, but also high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B. Both play a role in building muscle when you’re exercising.

 

Which came first, the egg or the chicken breast?

While eggs are powerful in your diet for boosting muscle growth, so are chicken breasts. In fact, many trainers make it one of the most often used protein sources if their client is working to gain muscle mass. It has high amounts of B vitamins that are important for muscle gain, as well as aiding in losing fat, which is just as important for showing those muscles off to the world. While you’re at it, add some “chicken of the sea” and include tuna in your diet. Those omega-3 fatty acids slow muscle loss in older adults and increase muscle growth.

 

Dairy can help boost muscle growth.

If you want a snack that’s great for your after workout protein, try Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Both contain high quality protein. You can boost the amount of protein by adding some whey or casein protein in it. Stick with Greek yogurt over regular yogurt to get the most protein per serving. Choose low fat cottage cheese if you’re cutting calories. Cottage cheese has leucine, a beneficial protein that helps build muscle tissue.

 

  • Vegetarians can use beans to build muscles. Beans provide plant-based protein, fiber, B-vitamins, iron, magnesium and phosphorus. They also boost your immune system.
  • Almonds, peanuts and edamame—immature soybeans—are great snacks that provide more than just protein, they also provide folate, vitamin K and manganese.
  • Have you tried chickpeas? You may know them as garbanzo beans and maybe even don’t like them, but there are some dynamite hummus recipes made from chickpeas that can add to your list of muscle building snacks.
  • It’s not all about protein, you need carbohydrates and fats, too. Healthy carbs help you workout harder to build muscles. Consider adding brown rice to your diet for that.

 

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Exercises You Can Do on the Treadmill That Aren’t Running

by Jari Love

Here are some exercises provided by strength and conditioning specialist Mike Donavanik that offer an alternative to just running on the treadmill.  The moves will strengthen your entire body and get your heart rate up to burn crazy calories. Try performing these exercises—which Donavanik demos in the videos below—before, after, or even instead of your regular run. 

  1. Walking Lunges

Doing walking lunges across your gym floor is next to impossible. There’s never enough room, and that girl on her cell phone has zero clue she’s standing right in your way. Performing them on a treadmill removes the obstacles so that you can focus on the move and get the most from every leg-burning lunge.

To do: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and turn the treadmill’s speed up to 3 mph (you can tweak this as necessary). Keeping your hands clasped together at chest level, step forward with your right leg and lower your body until your right knee is bent at least 90 degrees. Then, rise up and bring your back foot forward so that you move forward, alternating legs with each step. To focus on your glutes and hamstrings, set the treadmill to an incline of five percent. 

  1. Side Shuffles

Side shuffles work both your inner and outer thighs, while also toning you calves and doubling as a cardio exercise.

To do: Stand sideways on the treadmill with your knees slightly bent, and bring the speed up to between 3 and 5.5 mph. Perform quick and rapid side shuffles, making sure to land softly on the balls of your feet. Switch sides.

 

  1. Low (Squat) Side Shuffles

This exercise works your hard-to-hit glute medius—basically, your side butt. Nice.

To do: Stand sideways on the treadmill, and get into a quarter-squat position, keeping your chest up and core braced. Bring the speed up to 1 to 2 mph. Staying in the quarter-squat position, step toward the front of the treadmill with your closest leg, and then follow with your opposite leg. Switch sides.

 

  1. Walking Plank

And you thought the traditional plank was rough. This variation works the front of your shoulders like no other, while forcing your stabilizers to work harder than ever.

To do: Set the treadmill to 1 to 2 mph, then walk behind the treadmill and get into a plank position, with your hands on the side of the treadmill base. Keeping your body in a straight line from head to heels, place your hands on the treadmill band and walk your hands forward for the duration of the exercise. 

  1. Reverse Mountain Climbers

While a traditional mountain climber will work your entire body, this variation places more emphasis on kicking your legs back, as opposed to driving your knees in. That’s good news if you’re trying to sculpt your backside.

To do: Set the treadmill to 1 to 2 mph, then walk behind the treadmill and get into a plank position, facing away from the machine. Your feet should be on the sides of the treadmill base and your hands on the floor. When you’re ready, bring your feet onto the treadmill, and drive one knee into your chest as the other leg extends back. Switch legs for the duration of the exercise.

 

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Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Coffee Lovers Rejoice!

by Jari Love

Ask the Diet Doctor: The Workout Benefits of Coffee

Q: Is it best to drink coffee before or after a morning workout?

A: I recommend drinking your java before a.m. exercise so you can take advantage of the shot of caffeine to optimize your workout.

Caffeine has powerful nootropic effects, meaning it manipulates neurotransmitters to alter how the brain functions. While we all think of caffeine as a stimulant, it doesn’t directly stimulate as much as it prevents or blocks the action of neurotransmitters that promote sedation and relaxation.

Your pre-workout caffeine-packed cup of coffee isn’t just going to give you the mental edge, though—it will also help you burn more fat. The exact mechanism in which caffeine works to enhance fat-burning has yet to be conclusively nailed down (as it probably works via several different mechanisms), but it primarily seems to work by increasing the breakdown and release of fat.

Now let’s get to the nitty-gritty.

What kind of coffee should I drink?

An easy way to adjust how much caffeine you consume is to change the type of coffee that you are drinking. Dark roasted coffee has less caffeine, and light roasted coffee has more. After a short night of sleep, you might want to opt for the New England or Half City roast (light roast), but most days you’ll do fine with the French roast (dark roast).

How much caffeine is enough? How much is too much?

While research shows that caffeine is extremely safe to use—you’d need to drink 130 cans of Red Bull to get a fatal dose of caffeine—caffeine tolerance is very individualized. Just because I’ve seen studies safely use upwards of 600 milligrams (mg) of caffeine to test its effects on pain perception doesn’t mean that you could pop two NoDoz with your venti Pike’s Place before you work out. Too much caffeine prior to exercise may actually decrease performance, as it can make you feel nauseous and lightheaded. I’ve personally tested multiple different dosages of caffeine before workouts and found that 300mg is the most my body can tolerate before I start to feel nauseous.

So how much coffee should I drink?

When it comes to stimulants like caffeine, less is always better, and know your body. Those new to caffeine should start with around 100mg (a shot of Starbucks espresso has 75mg).

If you’re drinking coffee for the fat-burning effects of caffeine, studies show this seems to start around 200mg. Sticking with Starbucks coffee as our delivery mechanism for caffeine, this would equal a grande Americano (225mg caffeine) or slightly less than a tall regular brewed coffee (260mg caffeine).

One downside to caffeine is that your body adapts to it overtime. Any serious coffee drinker or energy drink fiend will tell you that it progressively takes more and more caffeine for them to reap the benefits of alertness compared to what they used to need to get the same effect.

And a final piece to consider with caffeine levels in coffee is that it can be very variable. In a test of six different samples of Starbucks Breakfast Blend, the caffeine levels ranged from 259 to 564mg. This is a huge range.

But doesn’t caffeine dehydrate you?

No; this is a very common myth about caffeine. While caffeine is a diuretic (e.g. it causes increases in urination), studies looking at caffeine use in high-temperature exercise situations show that it does not lead to dehydration or subsequent decreases in performance.

By Dr. Mike Roussell

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Reasons You Should Not Work Out Alone

by Jari Love

No matter how much you’ve made working out a part of your daily routine there are going to be days where it’s 5 a.m. and hitting the ground running is the last thing you want to do. Rest assured, even among the physically fit, you’re not alone. Having a partner to hold you accountable will make it considerably easier to overcome those groggy hurdles. But that’s not all. There’s a reason there’s burgeoning crop of apps designed with the sole purpose of helping you seek out a compatible workout partner. To find out more about the benefits of training with someone else The Cheat Sheet spoke with Ruben Belliard, co-founder of Warrior Fitness Boot Camp. 

  1. It’s more fun 

Exercising with a workout buddy is a social experience — allowing you to kill two proverbial birds with one stone. Instead of dreading going to the gym, working out will become a way of spending quality time with your significant other, a family member, a good friend, or a new career connection. Heard of #Sweatworking? It’s a thing. Studies also show that dates in which individuals join in a common activity versus exchange resumes over wine are more often successful. The extra endorphins and pheromones don’t hurt, either. 

As a whole, your workout buddy will most likely introduce you to new routines or encourage you to try a class you had never tried before, which will not only bring variety to your fitness regimen, but create a new inimitable bond between you. 

  1. It keeps you accountable

No matter how exhausted you are from the ups and downs of everyday life, you’ll show up, because someone is relying on you. Knowing that canceling will not only impact your own wellness, but that of your scheduled partner’s, will ensure you make an added effort to follow through. There will be days that you really do not want to work out. That’s inevitable. Yet, having a partner to motivate you and get you into the gym will keep you going. Make sure to choose someone who has similar fitness goals so that your commitment levels are equal. It’s been proven that having friends who are healthy makes you healthier as well. So keep your friends close, and your active friends closer! 

Prefer group classes? Sign yourself up in advance, commit to a payment plan and force yourself into a situation in which you have little to no room to back out. 

  1. You’ll have support to try new things 

Having a buddy will help provide encouragement to try different things. Attempting a new exercise is tough, but having a sidekick alongside will help nudge you to try the more adventurous, potentially intimidating, but often remarkably effective workouts — like cardio dance classes, jumping exercises, or my specialty, obstacle courses. Like they say: There’s power in numbers, and the added confidence of having a co-conspirator of sorts by your side can provide that much needed kick to try something new. 

  1. You’ll get that extra push 

Your workout buddy will inevitably keep you competitive. Friendly competition, of course — nonetheless, it will add fuel to the fire of your workout regimen. Healthy competition between two buddies can motivate you to achieve a goal you’ve never reached for before, and intensity is the fire that drives progress. It’s been found that choosing a workout partner who is fitter than you are has positive effects on your ability to improve. Whether you’re trying to edge them out, beat their previous time, lap them around the course, or get in just one more rep, competition with a worthy opponent is unquestionably a compelling motivator and a sensation that can’t be replicated while remaining solo. Just make certain that you are not pushing too far outside of your limits and staying safe. Competition can be healthy, until it’s not! 

  1. You’ll be safer 

Having someone watching your movements and correcting mistakes isn’t only necessary for progress, but it’s also important for making sure that you are progressing safely. While pushing yourself to accomplish the next rep, it’s often difficult to keep an eye on your form, but a spotter will ensure that this crucial component does not fall to the wayside. You’ll also be able to safely attempt to push yourself into that extra (and important) rep — and to the point of exhaustion — without worrying that your muscles will give out and that you’ll risk injury. Your buddy will be there for you if something goes wrong and you need assistance. At the risk of being cliché, as in most things, when working out, it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

via cheatsheet.com

 

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

When to Eat When Trying to Lose Weight

by Jari Love

Group fitness class members ask me all the time when the best time to eat is to lose weight. Can I eat after 8? Oprah says I shouldn’t, but what does research say. Should I eat a big breakfast and little dinner? Should I eat 5-6 meals a day, or 1? So many questions out there on when the best time to eat to lose weight. This article does a pretty good job at answering those questions. 

We have all heard the age-old advice to eat less and exercise more to lose weight. But a number of recent studies suggest that the key to dieting success is not just in how many calories you eat, or don’t, but in when you eat them. 

“There has been so much energy on what we eat and on carbohydrates and it’s only very recently that there have been studies to say that we have been ignoring timing and timing might be as important,” said Ruth Patterson, professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. 

However, the study was done in mice, and it is unclear whether people could benefit from limiting their hours of eating. “The really strong evidence is in rodent studies mostly where [timing calories] is a huge powerful predictor of overall metabolic health and chronic disease prevention,” Patterson said. 

Studies are starting to trickle in suggesting that fasting, as well as other strategies such as eating the bulk of your daily calories early in the day, could pay off in terms of weight loss. 

“If you are interested in modest weight loss over time or better metabolic health, then this could be the way to go, [but] if you really want to lose a lot of weight fast then you’re still going to have to cut way back on what you eat overall,” Patterson said. 

Cut out Midnight Snacks 

Patterson and her colleagues are carrying out some of the first work to see whether the benefit of fasting that was reported in rodent studies holds true in people. So far, they have found in a large cohort study that women who reported going more hours at night without eating have better control of blood sugar levels. 

Although it is only a guess at this point, Patterson believes that it would improve weight loss if we did away with eating between about 8 at night to about 8 in the morning. She and her colleagues are doing a pilot study to test this schedule in a small group of older women. It is too soon to say how it affects weight loss and overall daily calorie intake, but Patterson said that the women report that the schedule is simpler to follow than the usual dieting strategy of counting calories. 

“We think that nighttime fasting is a feasible lifestyle [while] something like diet is not,” Patterson said. Other fasting methods, such as severely cutting calories two days a week to only a few hundred, known as 5-2 fasting, may be less feasible, she said. 

Early to Dine 

A couple of recent studies suggest that eating the bulk of calories in the first part of the day could lead to greater weight loss. One study of a weight loss intervention in Spain found that adults who ate their largest meal of the day before 3 p.m. lost more weight over a 20-week period than those who ate their largest meal after 3 p.m. 

The benefit of frontloading calories seems to stem from the fact that we are programed to burn more energy at the beginning of the day. A region of our brain acts like our body’s internal clock and sets our circadian rhythms; it controls the activity level of the tissues in our body and also seems to make us metabolize meals in the first part of the day better than meals later in the day, said Frank Scheer, director of the medical chronobiology program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and one of the authors of the study in Spain. 

“We need more research, but to me, you can try [frontloading calories] if you don’t have any medical issues,” said Joan Salge Blake, clinical associate professor of nutrition at Boston University. People who have diabetes or hypoglycemia and need a more steady supply of glucose might not be good candidates for this strategy.+ 

Nibbling or Pigging Out? 

A study of just seven men way back in 1989 propped up the long-held belief that many smaller meals throughout the day trump three big ones. It found that men who ate 17 snacks a day had lower levels of cholesterol than those who ate the same diet concentrated into three meals. 

The jury is still out on the effect of noshing instead of gorging on weight loss, and one recent study found that two large meals a day were better for weight loss than six smaller ones, at least in diabetics. There have not been many studies on the topic because there is so much focus instead on the types of calories you eat, Blake said. A new study is underway that will compare the effects of three and six meals a day on appetite as well as markers of heart disease risk. 

“I think there could be a benefit to weight loss if you break up the meals, as long as the calories are controlled, [because] you are less likely to be starving and eat everything in front of you,” Blake said. 

Breakfast, Not Most Important Meal of Day 

Despite what your mom told you, breakfast might not be the most important meal of the day. A study of college students found that skipping a meal, whether breakfast or lunch, did not lead the students to eat more later in the day compared with the students who did not go hungry. As a result, the meal skippers ate fewer calories overall. 

“I’m a strong believer, our data and others’ suggest it, that humans do not accurately compensate for calories, which means that if you skip a meal or eat less, you’re not going to eat more on subsequent occasions. That’s a good sign,” said David Levitsky, a professor of nutritional sciences and psychology at Cornell University and co-author of the study. 

If you are thinking of skipping breakfast, make sure that you still get enough nutrients from the other meals, Levitsky said. Most Americans get the bulk of their fiber from cereal, which could be problematic for those banishing breakfast, he added. 

However, Patterson warned, it might not be worth skipping breakfast, even if it does help keep your total calorie intake down. 

“In kids, we know breakfast really affects academic performance, and you would think perhaps the same thing would apply to adults,” she said. 

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Get Motivated, Get Moving

by Jari Love

Get Motivated, Get Moving 

Do you have a hard time getting to the gym, sticking to your healthy eating habits, or pushing yourself as hard as you can at the gym? 

Motivation and determination can get you almost anywhere. Here are some tips to help you stay motivated and meet your health goals. 

Identify your Motivation 

Having a goal=having motivation. What is your goal? Once you find your goal you will find that motivation to achieve that goal quickly follows. Take a minute to identify what your goal is—be specific, vague goals like “losing weight” or “being more attractive” are not specific enough to motivate most of us. Here are some specific motivation inducing goals: 

  • I want to have the energy to play with and keep up to my kids
  • I want to improve my cardio-vascular health and reduce my cholesterol to extend and improve my life.
  • I want to lose 15 pounds before my class reunion so Football star Bobby will be sorry he broke up with me
  • I want to run 5 km in under 30 mins 

Once you have that specific goal in your mind it is easy to find the motivation to make choices that will help you achieve that goal. 

Document your Goal 

Write down your goal. Once it is written down it feels more official and you are more likely to stick to your plan. Write down your goal and stick it where you will see it often—by the fridge, in the car, on your bathroom mirror. By frequently reminding yourself of your goal you can keep your motivation for achieving it high. 

To take it one step further, write down steps you need to take towards that goal and give yourself a mental boost each time you achieve that step for the day. It doesn’t have to be a huge step, but everytime you take the stairs rather than the elevator, for example, feel proud of yourself. Each time you see your written goal, or steps it takes to get there, take a moment to visualize yourself accomplishing your goal this will help maintain your focus. 

Make a Plan 

Once you know what you want then it is time to map out how you will get there. Make a plan you know you can stick with rather than just putting down grandiose aims. 

Figure out what you need to get done to achieve your goal and how you will fit these steps into your schedule. Write it down. Once you know why and how you are going to achieve your goals the motivation will come naturally. Also choose an exercise program that you enjoy—don’t force yourself to jog everyday if you hate jogging. 

Call a Friend 

Tell everyone about your goal. Once you tell people you’ve made it real. Enlist the support of your friends, family and co-workers. If you make yourself accountable to people other than yourself you are more likely to follow through on your plan. Calling a friend to workout with you, or swap healthy recipes with when you are feeling less than motivated can also pull you out of your funk and re-light that motivational fire.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Foam Roller Exercises for Your Lower Body

by Jari Love

Foam rolling helps to massage the body, loosening up tight and stiff muscles, which is a must for preventing injury. Here are 7 foam rolling exercises to try after your workout. 

IT Band 

– Lying on your side, similar to a side plank position, place the roller on the outside of your thigh just below your hip.

– Place your top arm on your hip, and using your top leg for stability, roll the length of your thigh, stopping just above the knee. Go slowly, and do not roll over the knee joint. Keep your bottom leg lifted, or lower it down to the floor if you can. Chances are high that this move will be painful, which is a sign that you really need to do this.

– If you find an especially tender point, try rolling forward and back to release this spot.

– Roll for 30 to 60 seconds, then switch sides. 

Tip: the IT band is a thick strand of fascia that runs the length of the thigh; when it gets tight, it can pull the knee out of alignment, causing pain and inflammation in the joint. 

Calves 

– Sit on the floor with your left ankle crossed over your right, and place the roller under your right calf.

– Lift your pelvis off the ground so your weight is supported by your hands and the roller.

– Roll the length of your calf, from the back of your knee to the Achilles tendon. Do roll the inside and the outside of the muscle as well.

– Repeat for 30 to 60 seconds, then switch legs. 

Tip: pay special attention to tight spots, allowing the tension to sink into the roller.

 Glutes 

– Lying on the floor, lift your legs, and place the roller at the back of your pelvis (aka sacrum).

– Gripping the end of the roller for stability, slowly twist your lower body to the left, then to the right, to massage your glutes. Continue for 30 to 60 seconds.

– Adjust your body’s position until you find the “sweet spot” or tight spot. Direct pressure will help to release knots. 

Tip: tight glutes can pull on the IT band and adversely affect the alignment of the hips and knees. 

Shins

 – Starting on all fours, place the roller directly on your shins.

– Keeping your hands grounded, roll your knees toward your hands, stopping the roller right above the ankles. A slight twist will allow you to reach the entire muscle.

– Roll for 30 to 60 seconds.

 Tip: this move is a key to preventing shin splints.

 Piriformis 

– Sitting on the floor, place the roller in the middle of your glutes.

– Using a short and steady roll, move the roller back and forth for 30 to 60 seconds.

– To reach the entire muscle, adjust your position from side to side. Apply active release on specific tight spots by holding still for five seconds. 

Tip: the piriformis muscle, found under the glute max, runs laterally from the sacrum (back of the pelvis) to the outside of the upper thigh. It is small but can get really tight. 

Lower Back

 – Sitting on the ground, lift your pelvis off the floor to place the foam roller directly in the small of your lower back.

– Using your right hand for stability, roll up and down the length of your lower back for 30 to 60 seconds. Do be mindful of your spine.

– Slightly tilt from side to side to reach the entire area. 

Tip: keeping your lower back loose and limber directly affects the flexibility of your glutes and the efficiency of your training. 

Quads 

– Resting on your stomach, place the roller under the front of your thighs, lifting yourself into a basic plank position on your elbows.

– Pull with your arms to roll up and down the length of the quad. Do not roll over your knee joint.

– Continue this movement for 30 to 60 seconds. 

For images on these foam rolling exercises, visit popsugar.com.

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Running vs. Walking for Weight Loss

by Jari Love

The whole question of what kind of exercise is best for weight loss or weight control is a tangled and complicated one. Does the exercise burn mostly fat or carbs? Does it stimulate “afterburn” after the workout is done? Does it leave you feeling extra-hungry so that you overcompensate by eating too much? All these factors are very hard to control in the lab over long periods of time, so there’s something to be said for “free-living” experiments, where you simply observe a very large number of people over many years and try to figure out which behaviors led to which outcomes. (This approach has problems too, of course, like distinguishing cause from correlation — no single approach is perfect.)

Anyway, that’s a long-winded intro to a new study from Paul Williams at Berkeley National Lab. He’s the man behind the National Runners’ Health Study, which has been following more than 120,000 runners going back to 1991. His latest study, just published online in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, compares a cohort of 32,000 runners from that study with 15,000 walkers from the related National Walkers’ Health Study, with an average follow-up time of just over six years. The goal: look at how much the subjects increased or decreased the amount of walking or running they did during that time, and see how it affected their weight.

Running v Walking

Of course, you can’t directly compare running and walking through time spent or even distance covered, because they’re at different intensities. Walking is typically classified as “moderate” exercise, at 3-6 METs (1 MET is the amount of energy you burn while lying around on the sofa); running is typically classified as “vigorous,” at more than 6 METs. In theory, though, you’d expect that if you compare a similar change in METs burned, the weight loss should be similar regardless of whether you’re walking or running.

That’s not what Williams found. An increase or decrease in METs burned through running produced a significantly greater loss or gain, respectively, of weight compared to the same increase or decrease in walking METs. In particular, for the heaviest 25% of subjects in the study, calories burned through running led to 90% more weight loss than calories burned through walking.

Why is this? This study can’t answer that question, but Williams suggests a few possibilities — it’s well established that vigorous exercise stimulates more “afterburn” than moderate exercise, for example. He also notes studies that have found that post-exercise appetite suppression is greater after vigorous exercise, though my impression is that some other studies have found precisely the opposite. The data certainly isn’t perfect, and I wouldn’t take this study as the “last word” on weight loss and exercise intensity. That being said, I have to admit that it makes sense to me!

Via runnersworld.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Reap the Benefits of Running

by Jari Love

If you’ve ever felt embarrassed about your morning mile as you scroll through friends’ marathon medals and Ironman training on Instagram, take heart—you may actually be doing the best thing for your body. Running just six miles a week delivers more health benefits and minimizes the risks that come with longer sessions, according to a new meta-analysis in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

 Research done by some of the world’s most foremost cardiologists, exercise physiologists, and epidemiologists looked at dozens of exercise studies spanning the past 30 years. Combing through data from hundreds of thousands of all types of runners, researchers discovered that jogging or running a few miles a couple of times a week helped manage weight, lower blood pressure, improve blood sugar, and lower the risk of some cancers, respiratory disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. Even better, it lowered the runners’ risk of dying from any cause and extended their lives an estimated three to six years—all while lessening their risk for overuse injuries as they aged.

 That’s a lot of return for a pretty small investment, said lead author Chip Lavie, M.D., said in a video released with the study. And all of those health benefits of running come with few of the costs that people often associate with the sport. Contrary to popular belief, running did not seem to damage bones or joints and actually lowered the risk of osteoarthritis and hip replacement surgery, Lavie added.

 Plus those who ran less than six miles per week—only running one to two times per week—and less than 52 minutes per week—well less than the federal activity guidelines for exercise—got the maximal benefits, says Lavie. Any time spent pounding the pavement more than this didn’t result in any increased health benefits. And for the group that ran the most, their health actually declined. Runners who ran more than 20 miles a week did show better cardiovascular fitness but paradoxically had a slightly increased risk of injury, heart dysfunction, and death—a condition the study authors termed “cardiotoxicity.”

 “This certainly suggests that more is not better,” Lavie said, adding that they’re not trying to scare people who run longer distances or compete in events like a marathon as the risk of serious consequences is small, but rather that these potential risks may be something they want to discuss with their doctors. “Clearly, if one is exercising at a high level it isn’t for health because the maximum health benefits occur at very low doses,” he said.

 But for the majority of runners, the study is very encouraging. The takeaway message is clear: Don’t be discouraged if you can “only” run a mile or if you’re “just” a jogger; you’re doing great things for your body with every step you take.

 via shape.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

Halloween Candies Ranked by Calories!

by Jari Love

You purposely enter the grocery store through the closed checkout lines to avoid them. You run into the store right before you have to pick up the kids at school, so you won’t have the leisure time to stumble upon them. And you choose a tiny basket, instead of a cart, so you can’t fit anything else in if you walk by them — those darn Halloween candy shelves.

Let me begin by saying that I only allow myself to buy candy corn after Oct. 1. That way, I will only eat it for one month straight, instead of two. I am a candy-holic. Always have been, always will be.

This makes it particularly hard for all the sweet tooths out there to survive the holidays — Halloween being the very first in a string of many. But sometimes, knowledge is power. And just having an idea of portion size or calorie counts may help you the next time M&M’s are melting in your hand (if they’re already in your mouth, forget it).

So, we hit the Halloween shelves at the grocery store (no, I did not leave empty-handed) and built this beautiful infographic to show you what 100-calorie portions of your favorite Halloween candy looks like. And don’t worry, after researching, I was a bit surprised too. One fun size Butterfinger bar is 85 calories!

The highs and Lows

The award winners for roughly 100-calorie portions: 

Lowest sugar content: Twix fun size at 4 grams

Lowest fat content: Tootsie Pop, Nerds mini boxes, Gobstopper, SweeTarts and Brach’s, all at 0 grams 

And, the not-so-award winners: 

Highest sugar content: Gobstopper and SweeTarts, both at 24 grams

Highest fat content: Hershey’s assorted chocolate bars miniatures at 7 grams

How to Stay on Track

So, how do you stay on the healthy track when you’re tempted everywhere to indulge? Consider these three ideas:

◦Be picky. Only eat what you love. If you aren’t a huge fan of Almond Joys, but the break room at work has a whole jar full — don’t eat them. Mindless eating is bad. Save those precious calories for when your son brings home your favorite mini Kit Kats from school. 

◦Don’t skip meals. If you skip lunch, and then head home, and then beeline to your roommate’s bag of Halloween candy before she gets home, you will most definitely overeat your fair share. Tsk, tsk, if you had a full lunch to begin with, you wouldn’t have been so tempted.

◦Don’t buy it. If I buy soda, I drink soda. If I buy candy, I eat candy at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here’s the trick: Buy a bag of candy and take it to work, or take it to a party, and leave it. That way, you can get that taste for Snickers out of your system, but aren’t enticed to eat the whole bag.

 via sheknows.com

Jari Love – original creator of Get RIPPED! DVD series and group exercise classes. The hot-selling and critically acclaimed Get RIPPED! series enables individuals of any fitness level to burn up to three times more calories than the traditional weight-training program, and has received rave reviews from fitness critics throughout North America since the first title debuted in late 2005.

By Collage Video | | health, Healthy, healthy lifestyle, Jari Love, Weekly Blog | 0 comments | Read more
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