SKINNY FAT

Skinny Fat, a term I found in the urban dictionary means a physique, while not overweight (and possibly underweight), lacks any visible lean, striated tissue. Everything seems cool until you're naked. You look slim with your clothes on, even after a lifetime of eating whatever you want.  I use that term in the least demonstrative way possible. A friend of mine, ex-trainee and inspiration recently asked me for tips on getting lean and my opinion on Herbalife.

First, I have not personally taken Herbalife, so I am not an expert on the product. I have reviewed the product and spoke to several people about there personal results and the overall consensus is that if used correctly Herbalife provideS results.

Now back to Skinny Fat and toning up.  The common wisdom is that if you are overweight you are unhealthy, and if you are thin, you are healthy. But new research points to just how dangerous being skinny can be -- if you are a "skinny fat" person, that is. The medical term for this is "MONW," or metabolically obese normal weight.

I read a story about a guy names Jim recently. Jim went in for a "wellness check up" and felt happy about his weight. His BMI (or body mass index) was 22 (normal is 18 to 24.) He never seemed to gain weight and felt he could "tolerate" a diet that included lots of bread, pasta, and sugar. He liked his two sodas a day and a few glasses of wine at night. He walked but didn't do much vigorous exercise or weight training. It turned out that Jim’s blood pressure and insulin levels were very high. Insulin was the issue. It is the fat storage hormone. It stores belly fat and leads to hormonal and metabolic changes that cause muscle loss and inflammation.

Here are some tips to cure the skinny fat syndrome.

Stop focusing on your weight and start looking at your body-fat percentage. The goal for men is dropping to between 9%-12% and 12%-15% for women. That's where you can actually see abs, plural.

Lift weights. When you weight train, especially if you lift heavier loads of 6, 8 or 10 repetitions, your body adapts by growing new muscle fibers that tone and support body parts that can tend to sag, especially in naturally skinny people. To avoid a skinny-fat look, you should do a full body weight training session two to three times per week, using multi-joint moves. If you are a avid running, stop running so damn much

! Start flexing some iron. Skinny-fat people typically avoid the weight room, fearing they'll get huge. Lifting is the fast track to replacing fat with muscle, which is what skinny-fat people need. And don't bother with isolation workouts. Dead lifts, burpees, and other hybrid moves will help you look cut all over. Once you're strength training, put your workouts on shuffle. Every week, change the exercises you're doing. And when lifting gets easy, bump up the weight or reps. Even minor tweaks (like swapping a barbell for individual dumbbells) make a difference. Expect to be sore.

Adjust your diet. All those carbohydrates that naturally skinny and lean people are able to get away with can catch up with them later in life as metabolism slows and the liver begins to convert sugars into storage fats. You will find that higher amounts of healthy fats and proteins not only satiate your appetite better than pasta, bread, scones, bagels, and biscotti, but will also help you to eat less and control your appetite better.

1. Start the day with protein and at each meal. This makes your metabolism run hotter and cuts hunger. Incorporate eggs, protein shakes, nuts, seeds, chicken, or fish.
2. No sodas, juices, sweetened drinks and no more than 3-4 glasses of wine or alcohol a week with meals.
3. Avoid the white powder or flour, including gluten-free flour products. Even whole grain flour acts like sugar in your body.
4. Factory-made foods are often science projects with fake ingredients including MSG (which causes ravenous hunger and is hidden as "natural flavoring"), high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, preservatives, and chemicals.
5. Eat omega-3 fat-rich foods including sardines and wild salmon and avoid refined and processed vegetable oils except olive oil.
6. Sleep deprivation alters metabolism and increases cravings for carbs and sugar. Sleep is sacred. Make your bedroom a sleeping temple and stay there for 7 to 8 hours a night.

I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any questions.

RESISTANCE OR CARDIO: WHAT SHOULD YOU DO 1ST?

A great friend of mine recently asked me if it is more productive to do cardio before or after resistance training. I immediately thought back to my playing days as an amateur and collegiate athlete. We always did cardio post-resistance training or post-practice. I tried lifting after cardio in the past and I noticed that I didn’t have the energy to push myself as hard as I normally would. So my conclusion was cardio after. After I answered the question I realized that I didn’t know exactly why cardio after lifting was the right answer, so I did some research and this is what I found.  

It makes sense to do Cardio after resistance training for several reasons. Lifting before cardio is much better for fat loss and workout energy efficiency. It takes a lot of energy to move heavy weights, so don’t drain yourself with cardio.

Your body needs to use your stored fat as fuel for exercise. In order to do this, you must burn off your glycogen stores first. When you weight-train, you typically use glycogen as fuel. By doing weight-training first, you can burn the majority of your glycogen stores. Knocking out your cardio after your resistance training will burn more fat.  

My conclusion is if you do steady-state cardio before you lift, you won't have the energy to work as hard as you can.

Challenge: Complete 30 minutes on the stair master, then attempt an intense resistance session. Let me know how it goes

CELLULITE: HOW DO I GET RID OF IT?

If you’re carrying around extra pounds or are as skinny as a model, cellulite could still be a problem. Cellulite is genetic, so if your mom has it, chances are you do too. The lumpy skin is caused when fat presses up against the vertical connective tissue that surrounds fat cells.. This creates a bulging of the cells, resulting in a dimpled effect (picture your skin pushing through fishnet stockings).

Fact: up to 98% of adult women have some degree of cellulite, according to a recent paper from Cornell University (as a Brown University Graduate, I don’t know how much I can trust Cornell research J )

For lots of women, fat tends to first accumulate on their butts and the backs of their thighs. But that’s just one part of the problem. The other; the area where fat is stored under the skin seems to have a different structure than elsewhere on the body. And as those fat cells increase in size, this structural abnormality begins to become visible on the surface of the skin, leaving indentations. That’s cellulite. The more those fat cells inflate, the more evident the cellulite becomes.

Lose the fat; say goodbye to cellulite or minimize its appearance...

A healthy diet plays an important role in keeping the signs of cellulite at bay. Eat plenty of fiber and whole grain foods (such as bran and oat cereals), since they help to remove waste and toxins from the intestinal tract, as well as fruits and vegetables. Also, drink plenty of water. If you increase your daily intake of water, your body will begin to shed its excess fat, including the fat stored as cellulite. The water will also help strengthen the collagen in your skin, helping to reduce the lumpy look. For those who want to zap cellulite fastest, should eliminate processed foods altogether. That includes foods that contain added sugar—soda, baked goods, and candy—as well as those products that have been highly refined, such as white bread, white pasta, and French fries. You should also limit alcohol consumption to two drinks a week. You should eat a whole foods diet, with an emphasis on lean meats and fresh produce. That doesn’t mean grilled chicken and steamed broccoli forever, but six weeks of being super-dedicated can speed your results and give you the momentum to keep at it.

Since cellulite is fat, excess weight can contribute to it. That's why it's important to engage in physical exercise like walking, jogging, swimming, yoga, etc., several times a week. Fast-paced circuit-training that burns tons of fat, improves cardiovascular fitness, and strengthens every muscle in the body, especially targeting the glutes and hamstrings is the preferred form of training.

Trouble is, just as the butt is often the first place fat starts to appear, it’s frequently the last place it disappears. Which may explain why it seems like you can’t shake the cellulite. It can take up to a year for cellulite to completely disappear, but you may start seeing results in weeks. Consistency and patience are your friends.

Some research suggest massaging cellulite, stimulating circulation and breaking up fluids beneath your skin, leaving a more even appearance or springing for a caffeine-filled body scrub and pay special attention to your area of concern. Personally I suggest sticking to a healthy diet and intense workout routine.

FAT BURNING W/ CARDIOVASCULAR TRAINING

If you've been doing cardiovascular training to burn fat, you may have heard various theories regarding the best fat-burning techniques, such as doing cardio at low intensity instead of at high intensity or doing cardio on an empty stomach. If your goal is to burn fat, keep in mind that you only start burning fat cells after approximately 20 minutes of a cardio workout.

Interval training, where you sprint for one minute and then walk for two are best for burning fat. Simply put, a higher heart rate burns more calories. A proper diet is equally as important as cardio training when it comes to fat burning.

You don't have to starve yourself, but it's wise to avoid eating 45 minutes to an hour before exercising. Even carbohydrates take at least an hour to digest. Fats take even longer: two to four hours. When your body diverts energy to digestion, it's robbing muscles of power and making your workout less effective

By having an energy bar or drink before a cardio workout you end up burning the calories you just had before hitting your existing fat cells, which is counterproductive. Instead, have a low-calorie snack about an hour before the workout (allowing enough time for digestion), such as an apple and a half-cup of low-fat yogurt.

Eating junk food, binge eating and not getting enough sleep are only a few of the bad habits some overlook when performing cardio training. All in all, a shorter, high-intensity cardio workout, proper nutrition, sufficient hydration, and enough sleep are all ingredients of an optimal cardio workout.