Formosa Fitness

One of the ideas in yesterday's New York Times piece that really bugs the hell out of me is this idea that exercise alone won't help you lose weight. It will, if done correctly. The overall idea to keep in mind is calories in, calories out.

In the documentary "I Want to Look like that Guy" the would-be bodybuilder McDonald lost 6% bodyfat with no change to diet whatsoever. This was a brillant move by his trainer Jeff Willet. Willet started McDonald with exercise alone and got him used to working out with good form. As the form got better, the weights increased and the cardio got more intense. But Willet told McDonald to not change the diet, meaning McDonald didn't suffer any food withdrawal problems or cravings. But here's the key: his caloric expenditure went UP over time. More calories burned with no diet changes = negative energy state. McDonald WAS burning fat. Again, he lost 6% bodyfat. A noticeable difference.

But this process is NOT what was talked about in the article. The article made is seem like you have to cut back on calories through dieting or you're doomed. That's not true. What you have to do is get into a negative energy state by: a. buring more calories through exercise, b. cutting calories, or both. That range of options wasn't explored.

I've seen this in my own clients. I just have them work out hard at first and get used to it. The trick is to have them NOT increase the amount of food they consume.They will lose fat if they stick to that idea.

Now again, the criticism that could be made is that diet is still important in this equation because it's important that you not consume more calories for the exercise to burn fat. That's true and it may look like I'm splitting hairs. But it's an important hair and not clear at all from the NYT article. People reading that article will be greatly discouraged.

Additionally, let me interject that this will only get you so far. Eventually diet must be addressed for additional fat loss to take place.

And to stick my foot in it even more, I would highly advise people get their training advice from trainers, not scientists (or reporters). People are NOT mice. That should be obvious. Scientists have no idea how to train people. That isn't their job. Science is nice and all but it isn't the end of the story. Trainers are the people that take the theory and put it into practice. If you want to get into shape, you want a trainer not a guy in a white lab coat.

If you want proof of the process, get "I Want to Look Like That Guy" and watch. You will be surprised.

Here we go again. Read the mass media and be even more misinformed than if you didn't.

So here we have another New York Times article that gets almost everything wrong. As usual. You couldn't stack this one with more nonsense if you tried. It's all here: exercise doesn't help weight loss, the fat burning zone exists, etc., etc. The research talked about in the piece looks set up purposely not to burn fat and then....surprise, surprise.....the participants didn't lose much weight. Therefore extra post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), otherwise known as afterburn, supposedly doesn't exist. Brilliant. The researchers quoted even said they deliberately made the exercise easy -- cycling at 55% capacity. Yes, 55%!!! No wonder the exercisers didn't lose weight. How could they?

If any friends or relatives read this garbage then you'e going to have to spend a lot of your time showing them the fallacies of the piece. Every time this happens we get taken back a notch in fighting obesity. As if it wasn't hard enough already.

Sorry for the negativity. Hopefully the next post will be more positive.

We've got a good thread going over at the IKFF forum on kettlebell training and internal martial arts. Look for lots more of this stuff from the IKFF. Afterall, there's the offical IKFF qigong set -- a sure sign that this isn't your grandpa's physical culture. As I keep saying, things have changed. Surf that wave, baby. :)

Anyway, join us there for some great discussion.

There's a swing challenge going on for November. The challenge is 200 swings of your choice a day for the entire month of November. I'm late to the party on this but I started yesterday. I did 8x25 with the 24kg and a ladder 1-10-1 today with the 12kg. You can do any combo of one hand or two hand and using any weight or workout method you want. Using a lite kettlebell to do 200 swings as a warmup is permitted. 

Granted it's a lot of hamstring and lower back work but with some deloading this could be quite a learning experience.

And if you don't know what the kettlebell swing is, come by my studio and I'll show you!

Maybe, maybe not but it's the best protein shake I've ever had. I thought EAS was good but this is soooo much better. Mocha cappucino is great. It blends very well, no after taste, no powdery taste, and best of all no digestion problems. I can't wait to try out some of the other flavors.

If you're looking for a solid all-around protein, this one should be very high on your list.

Get your hand out of the kid's candy pumpkin. And how do I know it's in there? Um....er..... :)

But seriously, Halloween candy shows one good thing that can help people control cravings and move towards a better diet: small serving sizes.

Halloween candy comes in those convenient bite sizes allowing you to better control your intake of these morsels. Having to un-wrap each one means you have a second or two to actually think about what you're doing. That pause gives you time to consider if you're satiated or not. The idea is to get re-sensitized to where one or two will satiate you instead of a whole bag.

Second, many of us grew up with the idea of finishing your meal or something you opened. Bigger candy bars or bags of M&Ms work against you greatly when you have that mindset.

Third, buying bite size candies are more expensive and we need to start making these junk food purchases more expensive, not less. We need to see these things as indulgences, not staples. Luxuries must be expensive.

Finally, the volume of a container of bite size candy will always be lower than non-bite size due to the extra packaging. Unless of course the bag/box is even bigger to make up for that fact (think Costco). So you'll be keeping less junk food in the house, period. That's a good thing.

So if you're weening yourself off chocolate or just looking for a way to enjoy yourself without totally wrecking your diet, learn from Halloween and buy bite size candies if you must. A half measure is better than no measure.

Now that I've said I won't post much more about IMA, let me post a few recent push hands clip. Hypocrite!! Yep. :)

This is from the INBI guys that translated Chen Xin's book. Hope you made your investment and got a copy. I'm going to be funding my son's tuition with mine. :)

Anyway, this clip is very nice and look at the blend of judo/sambo in the clip. Hmmm.....where have I heard that idea before? :)

Lots of good movement and glad to see I'm not the only one who's doing this.

This is a really, really good example of taiji in usage. Granted it's a student and a teacher. Granted the student doesn't throw punches but he does kick a lot. Granted everything else people will say. But the power and sensitivity are there in spades. And through boxing gloves even. I didn't think this could be done through boxing gloves. I tried and it really screwed up my sensitivity big time. This teacher has some seriously good skill. That comes through loud and clear. Love how everyone stops and looks. They were obviously impressed. He does Yang style, too. Good to see someone from that side of the fence instead of only the Chen guys having a clue.

Speaking of Chen guys having a clue, here are two that do and they're competing against each other: Chen Bing and Chen Er-hu. Now most everyone knows Chen Bing by this point. He's the cool kid in the Chen clan these days for those great clips of him throwing a student in an MMA cage during a seminar in Miami. But Chen Er-hu is also very skilled and has a lot of Chen style usage VCDs and DVDs, all worth getting.

This clip is good because it shows Chen Bing is a bit more realistic light than the ultra popular clip of him throwing the student. Er-hu isn't a light-weight so we have a very skilled interaction here. And by all means, please check out 8:30 in the clip.

BTW, anyone looking to get good at what's in the clip could do a lot worse than Karo Parisyan's excellent Judo for MMA DVD series. Enjoy.

Got a bad, bad case of 'em. Some have commented that they're happy seeing me write more IMA-related posts and I appreciate the feedback. Unfortunately, that isn't likely to last -- the posts, that is. I haven't been very happy with my IMA practice for some time and that doesn't look to change much. A small wave of nostalgia hit a few weeks ago but I was surprised at how quickly it disappeared. I'm just past that point in my life.

My personal evolution towards martial fitness is, however, progressing without a hitch. I'm starting to see more and more that I can teach in this new framework and be a much happier teacher than I was with trying to teach IMA. Teaching IMA was ....umm...."less than fair" shall we say. I'm SOOOOO much happier using martial fitness to get people in shape and fix their bodies. And you have to do what makes you happy.

Truth be told, most of the IMA crowd still wants to "party like it's 1899" and that's how it will always be. Nothing will ever change for them. On the other hand, people who want fitness are very happy to learn an approach that values their joints and teaches an Asian, balanced way to health and harmony. Of the two communities, there's no room at all in one and a vast, open space in the other. Hmmm....Go West, young man. :)

I'm about to order powerclubs for the school and this will likely accelerate these tendencies even further. I see practically endless possibilities for using the clubs from a martial fitness perspective. Circular and spiral strength add a lot of comlexity to the usual strength training paradigm. And IMA people are always looking for heavy weapons that they can never find, when this similar tool is readily available. Finally, shoulder rehab should be a real possibility with the clubs -- something I'm very interested in.

Hmmm....strength building, finesse adding, rehabing capability, no traditional baggage -- starting to see the benefits of this approach?

The new IKFF forum is up and running and that was perfect timing. I've been looking for a place to talk about kettlebell training for a long time. Let's hope there're some good mods in place so the info quality will be high. Sign up and join us for what will hopefully be some great discussion. And while you're there, check out the new website. Very nice.

Lots of good movement here. Enjoy.