We believe managing your fitness includes five disciplines.

1. A Strength-increase strategy
• Our muscle tissue is the material that causes the burning of calories. Even when we sleep, the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn.

• Beginning on our 25th birthday, we begin losing a half pound of muscle each year, and it continues until we reach obesity. Through our thirties, we’ll lose more than five pounds of muscle that we need to keep the fat away.

• Studies show that adults need an aggressive strength training regimen of three days per week in order to stave off this natural loss of muscle.

• Studies prove that even eighty-year-olds can increase muscle mass.

2. A Cardiovascular strategy
There are two important concerns in a good cardio strategy, and they both include the constant use of a good heart monitor:
• Burning fat. Every 3500 calories you burn reduces your body weight by one pound so it is important that you do everything you can to make sure this loss of body weight comes from your fat stores rather than your muscle stores. It’s a question of whether your work out is “aerobic” or “anaerobic”. These words mean “with oxygen” and “without oxygen” respectively. When you’re burning fat, you want to be aerobic, or with oxygen. That means you want to maintain a heart rate of between 65% and 75% of your maximum heart rate.

• Improving your heart-health and endurance. This is all about pushing the limits. We build endurance when we challenge our systems to work a little harder than is comfortable. The amount of time you spend there should be small “survivable” intervals of between 75% and 85% of your maximum heart rate that increase over time. This process makes the heart stronger and therefore more proficient at burning fat in less time. A person who has built up endurance will be able to keep a lower heart rate at faster paces which burns more calories and therefore produces fat-loss more quickly.


3. A Food strategy
This is where most of us have the hardest time. It is important to eat a healthy balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. All these foods are important for different reasons.

• Proteins are the building materials of all cellular functions. By producing hormones, they are the programming code our bodies use to act and react in our environment.

• Carbohydrates are the only material we eat that is actually fuel. Carbohydrate also has one protein-like signaling capability. Its presence in the gut releases a hormone that signals to the brain that there is no need to store fat. We liken it to the message, “There’s food in the village!” Knowing there is food in the village allows the villagers to eat heartily and not worry about hording what they have. When carbohydrate is present, our bodies freely give up fat. When there is no carbohydrate in the gut, our bodies close off access to our fat stores. The longer this continues, the more muscle tissue is lost and the more painful (difficult) cardio sessions become.

• Fat is carbohydrate in concentrated form. Imagine gasoline without water: sort of a petroleum jelly that becomes usable gasoline when you add water. That’s what fat is when you eat it. Your body will also transform carbohydrate into fat when you don’t immediately use all you’ve eaten. Fat is important for several reasons and your body will always work hard to maintain some. Fat is where your body stores and transports fat-soluble vitamins. Fat too, activates a signaling mechanism in our gut. Fat’s presence causes the release of a hormone that causes you to “feel” fed by providing that satisfied or full feeling.

We need to eat what our bodies burn each day. The question is how much are we burning. Under proper care, someone who wants to lose weight can even eat a little less than they burn, but that only increases the need to know exactly what we are burning.

• How many calories do you burn each day? Know your Metabolism. The popular shorthand trick of adding a zero to your body weight doesn’t work because it either improperly allows you to “feed” your fat because too much of your body 0weight is fat, or, as in my case, underfeeds the need. At 160 pounds, our founder has an active metabolism of about 1900 calories. If we added a zero to his body weight to find his caloric need, he would be under-eating by 300 calories every day! The only way to know how much food you need is to measure the amount of active vs. inactive tissue that comprises your body. We want to feed only the active tissue. Said another way, feed the muscle, organs, and skeleton, and ignore the fat. In order to know that, one must know his/her “body composition.” This is the percentage of body fat compared to lean body weight. For instance, our founder’s body composition is 12%. Since his body weight is 160, he has 19.2 pounds of fat weight and 140.8 pounds of lean weight. His lifestyle and strength-increase strategy determine the amount of food his 140.8 lbs. need to thrive. There are two acceptable ways to measure your fat percentage. The most accurate is the hydrostatic test. It requires a water tank and a scientist to implement the test and measure the results. Vanderbilt University has such a facility and tests can be conducted at a cost of a few hundred dollars. The alternative is the seven-site skin fold measurement test. This test takes the millimeter measurement of skin fold thicknesses at seven specific non-invasive sites around the body and inserts them into a formula developed by scientists. When measured properly, this test is +/- 3% of the hydrostatic test. It is available at Delta clubs. Remember, this test is subject to the accuracy of the measurer. The technician must be well trained and skillful in his/her execution.

• How many meals should you eat each day? This will likely be a surprise. Frequency of meals should be determined by a) your goal, b) your composition, and c) your body type. If you are trying to lose weight (your goal), and you have a higher fat percentage of say, 30% (your composition), and your body type is pear-shaped, you will be most successful by dividing your food into six small meals and snacks each day. On the other hand, if your composition is that of a mesomorph (evenly distributed fat with some muscles showing), and desire to go from 30% to 20% fat, your meals should be distributed into no more than five meals and snacks, with the larger meals in the early part of the day.


4. A Hydration strategy
With each passing year (now twelve and counting) we are only more convinced of the importance of water in the diet. Large amounts of water. In fact, an active woman needs 2 ounces of water per kilogram of body weight every day. For a 150 lb. woman, that’s 136 ounces! Men need 1.5 ounces per kilogram of body weight. Beyond some of the more obvious reasons like increased viscosity (slickness) of tendons and ligaments, or a better complexion, there are several critical reasons to make sure you drink enough water.

• First, there is the need for electrical stasis. Our diets are rich in sodium. Added salt creates several cascading problems, among them water retention. Don’t be confused by this. I know it sounds like I said there is already enough water, so why drink more? But sodium’s presence creates an electrical disturbance. When the sodium from food enters the cell, it creates an electrical charge forcing water to the outside of the cell wall. This water distributes itself everywhere like a thin sheet. Because if is so thinly distributed, it lacks the electrical power to overcome sodium’s intracellular concentration. That is, until mass quantities of water can be added. Then, like a water fall breaking a balloon, the water concentration equalizes the charge on both sides of the cell wall, and the cell wall opens. All the water is metabolized and excess water is dumped. Once electrical stasis is achieved, we’ve seen women lose as much as 12 pounds of body weight in a single week. Obviously, one cannot lose that much fat weight in a single week, but dress size is dress size. Many women have been carrying around two or more extra dress sizes for years!

• Next, a lack of water forces organic cross-tasking. That’s a fancy way of say that because we are dehydrated, our kidneys lack efficiency and need the help of our livers to do their work. One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolize (use) fatty acids. Fatty acids come from our fat stores. If our livers are busy doing the kidney’s job, then less fat is being used, meaning we stay fatter. By drinking water, we enable our kidneys to be more productive, which is turn allows our liver to burn more fat. So just remember, more water; less fat!

• Water strengthens muscles. Not only does water reduce dress size, but once it has accomplished electrical stasis, it increases muscle strength.

5. A Mental Attitude strategy
This is huge. As coaches, we are constantly trying to anticipate what obstacles are lurking out there that might affect our clients’ outcome. Who are they listening to? How much “gravity” do their comments have? How do I make them feel successful? How important is feeling successful to this person today? What truth do they need to hear? Are they worried about something that can wait? Can I favorably alter the perspective so that is doesn’t look so insurmountable? When a person is attempting to renovate their lives, they are particularly vulnerable to feelings of defeat. Without someone carefully speaking the truth to them, they are not likely to succeed. It’s not enough to say you will be tough. If Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods need a coach, then you probably do too. You need leadership. If you cannot find or afford a coach, you need to talk to some close friends that will stand by you through this phase of your life. They have to tell you the truth, and they have to agree to try to help keep obstacles from getting you down. It’s that simple and it’s that hard. Even the best intentioned friends will fail you. After all, they have struggles of their own. Be as patient with them as you hope they’ll be with you.