Weight Loss versus Fat Loss

In the above picture both men are six feet tall, weigh 250 lbs and have a body mass index (BMI) of 33.9.  The man on the right is clearly obese while the man on the left is very muscular and obviously has a very low body fat percentage.  Even though both men weigh the same on the scale, their body composition is vastly different.  Body composition is defined as the proportion of fat, muscle, and bone of an individual's body, usually expressed as percentage of body fat and percentage of lean body mass.

So if the man on the right were to go on a crash diet (no exercise, just diet) and lose 100 pounds, would he look like a skinnier version of the guy on the left.  No!  He would look more like the following individual, also known as "skinny fat".  The scale and his BMI may tell him that he is thin but he is far from being fit and healthy. 

All weight loss is not created equal.  Losing weight through diet alone, or through improper choice of exercise, will lead to muscle loss.  Losing weight with a balanced choice of proper diet and exercise leads to fat loss while maintaining lean muscle. Does it really matter if all you care about is the number on the scale?  It matters greatly to your overall health.  Weight loss through crash dieting and improper training results in decreased fitness and strength, poor performance in fitness endeavors and in activities of daily living, early ageing, and reduced immunity which puts you at risk for numerous diseases and health problems.  Compare that to fat loss with correct nutrition and training which leads to improved fitness, greater strength, peak performance, delayed ageing and reduced risk of diseases.  Why is this important to you?  Fat loss, and eventually weight loss, is what you are achieving through Metabolic Training when combined with proper nutrition!

Kiwi Strawberry Spinach Salad

Lemony chicken and a kiwi-strawberry dressing give this spinach salad a refreshing kick.

By Elizabeth Brown, MS, RD, CPT; Photography Peter Chou

KIWI STRAWBERRY SPINACH SALAD
Ready in 20 minutes • Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast
Juice of 2 lemons (½ cup)
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
1½ tsp olive oil, divided
1½ cups fresh strawberries, sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 cups fresh spinach
2 kiwis, peeled, cut into thin half-moons

Instructions:
1. Cut chicken crosswise into 1/8" thick slices. Combine lemon juice, chopped rosemary and ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl. Pour mixture over chicken slices to marinate, coating evenly. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, or marinate overnight for best results.
2. In a blender, combine ½ cup sliced strawberries, remaining oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Blend to incorporate flavors. Taste and adjust as needed.
3. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle water onto skillet. When water sizzles, place chicken, along with the marinade, on the skillet, and cook 3 minutes on one side. Flip and cook 2 more minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.
4. Divide spinach between 2 big plates. Top each plate with cooked sliced chicken, remaining strawberries and sliced kiwis. Drizzle with dressing. Serve.

Nutrients per serving:

Calories: 359, Total Fats: 11 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 65 mg, Sodium: 296 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 35 g, Dietary Fiber: 6 g, Sugars: 20 g, Protein: 30 g, Iron: 5 mg

Dynamic Warm-up

Our "drunken lunge" exercise has been the target of many jokes.  That's okay, we are Warriors and we can take it.  But what are we really trying to accomplish with the crossover lunge with a torso rotation, aka "the drunken lunge"?  As you know, the exercise is part of our dynamic warm-up and we want you to understand why the movements we do in that warm-up are important and how you can apply them outside of metabolic training. 

Perhaps in the past you participated in a fitness class or a sport where your warm-up consisted of static stretching, or holding a stretch for a prolonged period of time.  Current research is telling us that performing static stretching prior to an activity could be diminishing our performance and could possibly be increasing our risk of injury.  Studies have found that static stretching before participating in an activity or sport may make you slower and weaker by as much as 30%.  Static stretches have a neuromuscular effect on the muscle’s performance and may decrease strength in the stretched muscle group for up to one hour. It is also believed that this induced weakness could contribute to an increased risk of injury.

In contrast to static stretching, with a dynamic warm-up, we are firing up our muscles and simultaneously increasing circulation, heart rate, and mobility.  In other words, we are preparing our bodies to move.  In addition to properly preparing our bodies for our workout, there is research that indicates that doing a dynamic warm-up can help reduce post-workout muscle soreness. 

You can also benefit from performing a dynamic warm-up before your other activities or fitness endeavors.  So the next time you play golf or tennis, or head out for a run or a hike, start with a dynamic warm-up and your body will be better prepared for the activity and you may reduce your risk of injury. 

Metabolic Merenna Stays Fit in...

Merenna and family have a great reputation for staying active so we are happy to share this photo of her and family in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana! What a beautiful place to hike!

Vanilla Lemon Souffle

Light, refreshing, 4-ingredient treat

by Allison Frahn

Posted in Fitness RX

Ingredients:
1 cup egg whites
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 TB lemon juice
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
How to Prepare

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Coat 3 soufflé cups (you can use a muffin pan if you don’t have soufflé cups) with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Blend or whisk together egg whites, eggs, almond milk, and lemon juice until foamy.
4. Add in protein powder and blend well until fully mixed and frothy.
5. Fill each soufflé dish to the top, and smooth with a spatula.

Do you know squat?

Children do it all the time as well as adults in many other cultures.  So what happened?  We became "civilized" and began sitting for hours in chairs.  Our bodies were never designed to stay in one position for as long as we often spend seated in chairs.  Squatting opens up the hip and the groin area and maintains good hip flexion which in turn helps prevent injury. This is particularly useful for runners who often complain of tightness in the hip area. Squatting is also good for your back, decompressing and opening the lumbar spine and squatting maintains good range of motion in the knees, ankles and feet. The trouble is if we don’t use it, we lose it. Kids will instinctively, easily squat but as we get older (and have clocked up the hours in chairs) it can become increasingly difficult.

Last week's "squat with a bicep curl at the bottom" exercise generated numerous questions.  Actually, I have to admit that Katie was the target of most of the questions because she can out-squat me any day.  Many of you asked, "Doesn't it hurt your knees to go that low?"  We also heard comments such as, "I thought you weren't supposed to let your knees go past your toes", or "I thought you weren't supposed to bend beyond 90 degrees".  We love that you are asking questions, and we have addressed those questions in training, but we know that a few of you missed a training this week and that sometimes when you are giving 100 percent it is hard to take in all the information. 

This week's blog will address your questions and we will try to debunk one of those fitness myths that has been perpetuated for years.  Most Personal Trainers and Fitness Instructors were taught that the knees should never flex beyond 90 degrees in a squat.  This myth can be traced back to a single study published in 1961 by Dr. Karl Klein at the University of Texas. Dr. Klein showed that a group of competitive weightlifters displayed greater laxity at the knee-joint than a group of non-lifters, and this prompted the entire argument for never squatting below parallel. The study itself was not particularly sound, as Dr. Klein was seeking to validate his own personal bias against squatting below parallel.  Furthermore, more recent studies have shown that those who squat double their body weight to depths of 130 degrees of knee flexion actually have more stable knee joints than individuals who do not squat. Other studies have shown that the knees of those who regularly squat deep are more stable than distance runners and basketball players as well.

So, just how low can you go?  The answer, as always, is as low as is safe for YOU.  We recognize that some of you have limitations in the knee, hip, and/or back due to surgeries, injuries, etc.  If that is the case for you, we will continue to keep you in a range of motion that is SAFE and will continue to give you modifications or alternate exercises.  But for the rest of you the challenge is on to squat low. 

Squatting low is not as simple as just going lower.  As with all exercises, proper form must be maintained.  If you experience pain at any point or you begin rounding your back, you have reached your stopping point.  Developing a deeper squat takes time and involves building strength and gradually increasing flexibility in the hip, knee, and ankle joints.  With continued practice and effort your squats will improve and you will realize greater benefits.

If you are doing partial squats you are getting partial benefits.  Squatting below parallel has the additional benefit of significantly increased activation of the gluteal muscles. The deeper you squat, the greater the glute activation. The gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in our bodies and the more we challenge and strengthen it, the more calories and fat we burn during our workouts and the more functional we become. 

Clean Apple Pie with Gluten-Free Crust

Nothing says “all-American comfort food” like homemade apple pie. Enjoy this iconic dessert a little more often with this healthier version.

By Tosca Reno; Photography Maya Visnyei

CLEAN APPLE PIE WITH GLUTEN-FREE CRUST
Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes • Makes 8 servings

Gluten-Free Pie Crust
Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour (try: Bob’s Red Mill brand)
½ tsp unrefined sea salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 whole egg
Zest of 1 lemon

Apple Pie Filling
Ingredients:
3 lb tart, crisp baking apples
3 tbsp almond flour
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice
2 tbsp light, unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
½ cup honey

Instructions:
1.    Preheat oven to 350°F. Place almond flour and sea salt into a food processor, pulse to combine, then add wet ingredients and zest, and blend until a ball of dough is formed.
2.    Press into a 9" pie plate, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside.
3.    Fill a large bowl with cold water and add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
4.    Peel, core and slice apples one at a time, and drop them into the lemon water to keep them from turning brown.
5.    Once apples are soaking, drain water from the bowl and pat apples dry with a clean cloth.
6.    Add remaining ingredients to apples, including remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, and toss well to combine.
7.    Pour mixture into pie crust and bake 45 to 55 minutes, until the crust is golden and the mixture is bubbling on top.
8.    Remove and let cool for 1 hour before serving.

Nutrients per serving:

Calories: 360, Total Fats: 21 g, Saturated Fat: 5 g, Trans Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 30 mg, Sodium: 130 mg, Total Carbohydrates: 39 g, Dietary Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 30 g, Protein: 8 g, Iron: 3 mg

Metabolic Warriors... Test your push up strength

As a Metabolic Warrior, you know that we don't encourage comparing yourself to your workout buddy or the person doing push ups next to you.  You are all unique individuals who have come into the training with different fitness backgrounds and we want you to see the strength and fitness that YOU have gained and see how far YOU have come since you started training.  Even so, we often get questions such as, "How do I compare to the typical 30, or 50, or 70 year old person?"

We know that our Warriors rock and can keep pace with the best of the best.  We see your progress and your strength each time you come to the trainings but we wanted to share something that should make you feel good about yourselves.  There are standards for testing different types of fitness so that you can see where you stand in comparison to others of the same gender and age.  One of those tests is a maximum push up test.  The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is one of the most widely recognized and accepted standards in the fitness industry so we will use their norms for comparison.

To perform the test you will do the maximum number of push ups you can do to fatigue.  The push ups must be performed in a continuous manner without resting.  When you need to stop, the test is over.  Men will perform standard push ups on hands and toes while women may opt for a modified push up on hands and knees.  Yes, WE KNOW that many of our women Warriors can do numerous standard push ups so please do a full push up if you prefer.  We are simply stating the test as designed for comparisons to the norms. 

The tables below show the percentiles and ratings for men and women in 10-year age brackets.  The last bracket is 60+ and I think we should petition ACSM to come visit a SMART Fitness training and acknowledge that we not only have 60-somethings that can do push ups off their scale but we have Warriors in their 70s who can pile up the push ups.

The rankings are coded S, E, G, F, and P for Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor. Have some twisted Warrior fun and see where you fall on the chart.