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Week 6 of the 35 42Day Fall Fitness Challenge (The last week…YAH!)

I should have stopped after Week 5 because I was a little bored with the program this week.  I still met my target, but I had to load up the last day with weight training circuits, interval training and a session of intermittent fasting to do it.  I didn’t get a long walk or hike in because my cranky knee decided to act up again.  It didn’t bother me during weight training circuits (except for the constant and off-putting grinding sound), but it almost made me cut short my interval training yesterday.  Looks like a return trip to the doc is in order.

Week 6 looked like this:

Overall, I’m pleased that I stuck to the program and far exceeded my goals on most weeks.  My average weekly point total was 25.8 or 86%.  My target was 80%.  The purpose of The 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge was to provide motivation during the late fall months when I have a tendency to start feeling very unmotivated to work out.  I really only had one bad week so I’d say it fulfilled its purpose.

An added benefit was that I kicked the Diet Coke habit.  I’ll have one or two per week now, but I’m not drinking them daily.  Prior to the 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge I’d have at least one every day.

I’m disappointed that I only lost a couple of pounds, but that’s offset by the fact that I’m stronger and the interval training has really increased my aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels.  Of course, the main point was just to work out consistently and I’ll give myself an A on that account.

This week will be a mixed bag of weights and interval training.  I’m just going to make it up as a go along.  Next week is a recovery week, but I need to come up with some plan for the weeks after that so I can keep this going and not fall into bad habits again.

Everyone is getting on the statin bandwagon after the results of the Jupiter study were recently released.  Dr. Michael Eades reveals why all the hype in the media is unwarranted.

If you believe the data from this study (we’ll get to that later), it indicates that men over 50 and women over 60 with normal LDL-cholesterol levels AND elevated C-reactive protein levels who took the very expensive ($3.50 per day) statin drug rosuvastatin (Crestor) minimally reduced their risk of developing heart disease or dying of any cause as compared to those who took placebo.

CRP (C-reactive Protein) is a marker that indicates an increased level of inflammation in the body.  Higher CRP levels are correlated with greater cardiovascular risk.  Want to reduce your CRP levels naturally?  Try a high fiber diet and supplement with magnesium, Vitamin C, and Omega 3 fatty acids.  There are also reports that digestive enzymes, such as Wobenzym, could be useful.

I wasn’t aware of the incestuous relationships rampant in the study, i.e. AztraZeneca, the maker of Crestor (the drug in the study) funded the study and the lead researcher just happens to have a patent on the test for CRP which would be used to determine who would most benefit from taking Crestor.  How conveeeenient!!

Somewhere on the list of the top ten weight loss tips is the standard “eat 5-6 meals a day to increase your metabolism”.  Mike at The IF Life explains why Eating More Meals Does NOT Speed Up Your Metabolism.

I can hear all the nutritionists and trainers around the world yelling at me at once “You’re wrong”…”You’re going to crash your metabolism”…and all the other things you hear so often. But honestly folks, where did this train of thought start? Could it be originally from the bodybuilding magazine and supplement industry (a billion dollar industry!!) that preys on the fear of going into a catabolic state and wasting away muscle….so you need to buy more protein powder, bars, etc. Or could it be from one of the many newer weight loss companies making billions selling prepared or portioned out foods/bars/shakes specifically for eating 5-6x a day? Could it be this is the greatest marketing sales pitch in the diet world today? I think so!

Goji berries, spirulina and coconut oil are included on a list of Ten Superfoods.  Lists such as this can be found all over the internet, but this looks like a good one.  It also includes cacao nibs and any list that contains chocolate, in any form, is ok with me.

What makes a healthy senior citizen? According to a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, it’s not just the usual factors of using alcohol in moderation or refraining from smoking.  Also important are a positive attitude and lower stress levels.  Although it pays to be smart when you’re younger by eating a healthy diet and getting exercise, it’s never too late to start taking steps to improve your health and fitness.

An article on the study can be found at Senior Spectrum.

Nifty After Fifty is a senior fitness program I mentioned in an earlier post.  They participated in a 12 week study that assessed the benefits of strength training in high-risk frail seniors.  The participants undertook two 30 minute strength training sessions per week utilizing resistance training machines for the following eight exercises.

• Leg Extensions
• Upper Back Row
• Biceps Curl
• Triceps Push Down
• Shoulder Press
• Chest Press
• Leg Press
• Leg Curl

Each patient had their baseline Maximum Usable Strength [MUS], (defined by the authors as the maximum amount of resistance weight the patient was capable of utilizing per apparatus), tested on eight assorted resistance-training machines at the start of the study and every four weeks thereafter {Table 4}. Patients were trained to perform two sets of eight repetitions with seventy five percent [75%] of their MUS. Each repetition was performed to a count of three or four for the concentric and the eccentric phase of muscle activity. The number of repetitions in each set was progressively increased from eight to twelve. When the larger number of repetitions became more easily managed and as improvement in strength permitted, the resistance was gradually increased…….No organized effort was made to improve aerobic exercise ability, balance, flexibility, or the nutritional habits of the patients.

At the end of the 12 week period, the patients had their MUS retested and there was significant improvement as the table below indicates.

Maximum Usable Strength

Average Percentage Improvement for Group over Baseline

An additional positive aspect of this pilot study was the paucity of falls occurring in the study group compared to national data. During the training phase and an 18-month follow-up period there were only 3 falls and no fractures among this frail high-risk senior group even though it is estimated that more than one-third of people over 65 have a fall each year.

That these results were achieved with only two sets of 12 repetitions twice per week is amazing to me.  Granted these were patients who were frail and untrained and some improvement in strength was to be expected, but four sets of 12 repetitions weekly is not all the much.  A patient whose original MUS was 10 pounds on the chest press would be pushing close to 20 pounds after 12 weeks.  That might not seem like much until you consider that the average age of the subjects was 77 years old and all had pronounced muscle weakness at the beginning of the program.

At eighteen months, most of the patients who completed the program have continued to engage in a higher level of physical activity than they did prior to starting the program.

A press release on the study was posted at Market Watch and the study abstract can be found at the Nifty After Fifty web site.

This week I put Week 4 behind me and moved on to Week 5.  I also decided to extend the challenge for another week mainly because I haven’t figured out what to replace it with.

To get right to the results:

I made a couple of changes for the sake of variety, such as dropping one of my intermittent fasts this week.  I had enough points to reach my target goal without doing a second fast and I think it’s a good idea to mix them up by varying their duration and frequency.  I also did a hike that included enough hills that I felt justified including it as an additional interval training session.

It was actually an easy week.  My energy levels and mood were good and, although I had to talk myself into starting a couple of sessions, once I got going I was fine.  I increased the weight on some of my lifts and could tell the difference.  I repeated Tabata dumbbell thrusters as one of my interval training sessions.

I’ll be visiting family for nine days starting November 24^th and intend to use that time as a break from weight training although I plan on walking or doing a couple of interval training sessions.  So I may very well extend the 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge to a total of 49 days.

I’m not sure what I’ll do when I return from vacation.  Maybe I’ll get some kettlebells or maybe I’ll do all bodyweight training.  There are a lot of options and I don’t have a clue at this point.

Something as simple as brisk walking can improve health and reduce body fat, according to a study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  USA Today has the summary of the findings.  Among them are:

• Women who increased their activity level by an additional 3,500 steps a day lost 5 pounds during the year.
• Men who added that many steps lost 8½ pounds in a year.
• The exercisers who did the most - 60 minutes, six days a week - decreased their belly fat by 10% to 20%.
• Those same exercisers trimmed 10% to 15% of their overall body fat without losing muscle mass.

The participants were between the ages of 40 to 75 and were not required to follow a diet plan nor given any other exercise advice.  I imagine the addition of weight training and/or interval training would have increased the weight loss.  The reduction of belly fat is encouraging given its nasty effects on the liver and contribution to blood sugar and cholesterol problems.

Here’s a good video that speaks to the limitations of the Body Mass Index (BMI) for determining obesity.  Brad Pilon is the author of Eat Stop Eat which is a great eBook on intermittent fasting (IF).  I have a copy and recommend his book for anyone looking for information on IF or who might be considering it as part of a weight loss or health improvement plan.

Beta-alanine supplementation in elderly men and women may provide physical fitness improvements comparable to changes resulting from moderate endurance training according to a report in MedPage Today.  Beta-alanine is an amino acid which can increase carnosine levels in muscle tissue.  This has implications for increasing exercise endurance, strength and capacity.

The participants received 800mg of beta-alanine three times per day for three months.  At the end of the study they were re-tested for physical working capacity improvement on an exercise bike.  Over two thirds of those supplemented demonstrated significant improvement.

Do I think supplementing with beta-alanine is a substitute for exercise?  No, I don’t.  We know that exercise has additional benefits such as enhancing insulin sensitivity, improving body composition and reducing stress.  But here’s the important point.  Seniors and elderly people who exercise are less prone to falls and more able to live independently.  If supplementing with beta-alanine is able to mimic some of the benefits of exercise for this age group, it could very well be useful for that reason alone.

Pick the Brain has a great article on the power of limiting beliefs (How to Beat the Plague of Limiting Beliefs).  Too often we use self-limiting beliefs that have no basis in fact or are remnants of childhood to prevent us from trying new things or improving our lives.  And, yes, these self-limiting beliefs can even have an impact on our health and fitness.

Have you ever heard someone say they’re too old, too overweight, too out of shape, too tired, too busy to exercise?  How about too addicted to nicotine or sugar to make lifestyle changes that would positively affect them?

Physical limitations are not usually the culprit in making positive changes in our lives.  The limiting factor is that tape that’s playing in your head.  The one that says “I can’t” or “maybe” or “someday”.  There is no someday.  There is only today.

I mentioned in my last post that I had received the results of my latest blood test.  If you’ve read Time to Get Serious, Part 1, you’ll know that back in the summer a routine blood test revealed that my triglycerides, cholesterol and blood glucose were extremely out of whack.  That’s indicative of metabolic syndrome and not a good thing.

My doctor decided to raise my Lipitor from 10mg/day to 20mg and added another medication for my high triglycerides.  My fasting blood sugar was in the low 150’s and, since my blood glucose results had been in the pre-diabetic or impaired range for a couple of years, this was a concern to her.

These results forced me to re-evaluate my diet and exercise and I’ve adhered really well to the revisions I made to both.  I’ve had a couple of slip ups.  Halloween candy for one.  One week where I didn’t meet my exercise goals for another.  Overall, however, I’m pleased with my progress and my ability to stick with the program.

Those efforts have paid off as the results of my October blood test demonstrate.  There was a wholesale improvement across the board.  My cholesterol and triglycerides are now within the normal range even though I never took that additional medication for the triglycerides that the doctor prescribed.  My blood glucose is much better although it’s still registering slightly into the impaired range.

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Week 4 officially sucked.  There’s no other way to put it.  I was grumpy, depressed and cranky most of the week and I still don’t know why.  Work was stressful.  I’m sure that had something to do with it.  I worked very late Friday and missed my interval training because of it.

In addition to the Friday interval training session, I skipped a weight training session on Saturday.  I had the time to do it, I just didn’t have the inclination.

I drank a Diet Coke on four straight days.  I felt hungrier than normal on my intermittent fasting days.  With the mood I was in, I didn’t have much mental reserve to deal with the hunger.  I managed a 21 and an 18 hour fast, but was very tempted to throw in the towel on both of them.

After doing really well with my eating choices for weeks, I fell prey to the temptation of Halloween candy.  Of course, to make matters worse, I beat myself up over it.

Here are the results for the week.  I didn’t meet my goal of 24 points and by the end of the week I didn’t really care if I did.

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We start off today with an interesting post about fat oxidation from Sam at the KC Kettlebell Club .  He reports on several studies that indicate that high intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective for improving VO2max, fat oxidation and body composition than lower intensity endurance training.  This held true even when the endurance training group burned more calories overall.

“A keystone study in the debate of endurance training (ET) versus high intensity interval training (HIIT) where two groups, one endurance training [ET] group (men and women alike) trained for 20 weeks at 78% heart rate max, the other, a HIIT group (men and women) trained for 15 weeks. It was noted that the ET group burned around twice as many calories as the HIIT group overall. However, the HIIT group had a 9 TIMES greater reduction in adipose tissue (fat) than the ET group.”

I wish he had provided a link to the studies so I could read them directly.  There’s always something interesting and geeky about reading the results straight from the researchers’ report. He has a picture of those cool colored kettlebells on his home page so I’ll forgive him for not including the links.

Speaking of kettlebells, I found a nice site run by personal trainer Lauren Brooks. The self described Kettlebell Queen has demonstration videos you can view at YouTube. Like this one:

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