In a recent Time magazine cover story, the author points to reasons that while physical activity is crucial for good health, it doesn't exactly melt away those excess pounds.  Here's our response at Genesis and why it really comes down to the "type" of exercise you do.

In the article, a professor from Louisiana State University says, "... for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless."

If you're a regular reader here at GenesisPersonalFitness.com, and are a client at Genesis, you may already recognize the ignorance of this professor's statement.

What Is He Missing?

Well, it depends on what type of exercise you do.

Conventional exercise as most people know it, like aerobics, jogging, marathon running, are not necessarily the best exercises for weight loss. That type of physical exertion can actually train your body to make and store more fat.

When you do cardio-aerobic exercise for long periods at a time (more than 30 minutes at a time), like most people do when they go to a typical gym, you eventually push your body into its "fat burning zone." That's good isn't it?  In fact most fitness gurus will tell you to get into your fat burning zone AND stay there for as long as you can take it... but that's a problem.

Trying to burn fat during a cardio-aerobic exercise session that extends beyond 30 minutes tells your body it needed the fat. This trains or "programs" your body to make more fat for the next time you exercise.

But that doesn't mean you can't use exercise to lose fat. In fact, it's one of the most effective tools you can use to hit and maintain your ideal weight.  However, if you want to burn fat and keep it off, you MUST exercise in short bursts of high intensity. This is the basis of our unique, proven exercise approach here at Genesis Personal Fitness.

How Does It Work?

It has to do with what your body uses for fuel during exercise. For the first 20-25 minutes, you start and continue burning carbs (sugar) that are stored in both your liver and your muscles. After about 25 minutes, you switch to fat.

This means that if you start any exercise session with low-to-moderately intense cardio-aerobic exercise with the intent of doing more than 30 minutes, you'll have to wait at least 25 minutes into it before you're body starts to tap into your stored body fat.

This is why when you become a Genesis client, we ALWAYS match the type of exercise being performed to the type of fuel being used.  So rather than "waste" the carbs you'd be using if you started your exercise session doing cardio-aerobic exercise on a bike or elliptical first, we put that carb fuel source to good work by using it as a power fuel for strength-training.  This is why we never ever have our Genesis clients perform cardio-aerobic exercise FIRST if they want to lose weight.    

In addition, when you match the type of exercise to the fuel that is optimum for that exercise and exercise for relatively short periods (30 minutes of strength training followed by 30 minutes of cardio), then you not only burn fat when your body makes the "switch-over", but you also continue to burn stored fat at an accelerated rate LONG AFTER your exercise session - while your body is temporarily "carb-starved" and waiting for you to replenish the carbs.

This is known as your "after burn."  If you harness the power of this concept, you'll soon discover that you'll lose excess weight and fat faster if you work to a point of "peak intensity" both in your strength training and your cardio-aerobic exercise here at Genesis.

But I Always Thought More Is Better

You might think that if a little exercise burns fat, then a lot more exercise in terms of time should burn even more fat, right?  Wrong.

Your body will adapt to any physical activity or exercise routine you give it. This is particularly true when you perform cardio-aerobic exercise like jogging, running, spinning, and alike.  And if you eventually reach the point of burning fat during a workout (remember after about 25-30 minutes) and you do that workout consistently, your body will make sure you have new fat to burn each time you go to the gym.

After a while of doing just cardio-aerobic exercise as sole exercise regimen, your body becomes efficient at building and preserving fat necessary for long aerobic sessions (more than 30 minutes) in preparation for the next endurance workout. And doing so, it ultimately sacrifices muscle and preserves fat.  Your body starts to fight against you in your efforts to lose weight through doing exercise. 

Then, if you stop doing your cardio routine, you'll put on even more fat very rapidly. This is common as your body gets into the routine of making the extra fat.

It's an endless cycle. And eventually, everyone stops doing cardio exercise when it's the only type of exercise they do. Many people just get bored. But many find they have to stop cardio exercise because this unnatural activity starts to cause degeneration of their joints.  Just ask any runner who's been running for a number of years and are now feeling the adverse effects as they head into their 40's and 50's. 

And even if you persist through middle age and beyond, doing cardio exercise alone accelerates some very negative effects of aging. It lowers testosterone and growth hormone, boosts destructive cortisol levels and robs you of muscle, bone and internal organ mass and strength.

How Genesis Does It "Right"

The "right combination" of both strength with cardio-aerobic exercise in relatively short-duration doses like we design for our Genesis clients brings about the most important benefit to the person looking to lose weight: That the most important weight loss changes from exercise occur AFTER, not during, the exercise session. The way you exercise at Genesis Personal Fitness positively affects your metabolism for several days. The important changes begin after you stop exercising.

This is good news. It means all you have to do during your exercise session at Genesis is stimulate the adaptive response you need - like reducing your need for fat AND re-building your muscle's capacity to use it at rest. Your body will continue making the important changes afterwards - while you rest.

In a future article, we will explain how you even apply what we do at Genesis Personal Fitness to fitness walking, particularly as a supplemental activity to bring about even faster and consistent weight loss.

Stay tuned...