Physics of Fat Loss (Should women run?)

Should Women Stop Running?

“I watch my friend Jessica running on the treadmill — day after day, year after year—like a madwoman, and going nowhere. Her body seems to get softer with every mile [...] actually, she’s gotten fatter,” proclaims fitness expert and Dangerously Hardcore blogger DH Kiefer in his recent article, Why Women Should Not Run.

The article, which pushes for the end of “solid-state cardio” — a fancy term for maintaining a consistent pace on a single machine, like a treadmill, for long periods of time — is causing quite a stir online, as well as with a few of my clients.  

 

In fact, I received this email just a few days ago:

"I’ve seen this article floating around (mostly on my crossfit friend’s fb pages) and I finally read it.  What are your thoughts on this?  I could see if all you did was 2+ hours of steady cardio a day, didn’t lift and didn’t eat right (starving yourself) that this could be bad but I can’t think that doing the occasional 3.5 hour bike ride once or twice a week is actually increasing fat storage.  Also, I do know some fit female runners and bikers but they are also very healthy eaters too.  What’s the deal, crossfit cult propaganda??"

Here's my response:

DH Kiefer is essentially correct, and it looks like he's done some great research, yet he fails to provide any real solutions to the problem.

I know a lot of people who are like Jessica, the article’s scapegoat, whose fitness program consists of medium pace, medium distance, medium heart rate cardio, periods of starvation, periods of gluttony, and no resistance training. And I agree: That’s a surefire recipe to slow down metabolism and increase body fat. As the article mentions, this type of training can also lead to hypothyroidism, a common condition among women especially.

To help explain my take on the subject, let’s do a quick break down fat and weight loss.

Let’s say one pound of fat contains an even 3500 calories worth of energy. If you want to lose one pound of fat in one week, you have to burn 500 calories more per day than you eat. Simple enough, right?

But the way you burn off that pound is crucial, especially over the long term. If you eat less and do solid-state cardio for extended periods of time, your body will actually reduce its Base Metabolic Rate (how much energy it takes for you to live while resting) in response to your decreased calorie intake and increased activity, or Active Metabolic Expenditure (AME).

This is a basic function of human survival. It’s essential for your body to conserve energy, or fat, when expenditure is high and resources are lacking.

Though Mr. Kiefer and I would agree on this issue, I disagree with his prescription to terminate all solid-state cardio. As my client mentioned, there are many avid runners and bikers who regularly incorporate solid-state cardio into their lifestyle, and many show no signs of hypothyroidism. It’s important to note that a person’s genes also play a role in how our bodies regulate metabolism, so it’s difficult to paint the issue with a broad stroke.

For these reasons, I believe these tactics make for a better course of action than simply ending your cardio:

1. Eat well and eat regularly.  Make sure to eat every 2-3 hours. This helps regulate your insulin levels and keeps your metabolism purring along like a well-oiled machine. But don’t just eat any food; eat the right food. Want to know what the right foods are? The Explore Fitness Summer Shape Up Challenge would be a great start. The competition includes 4 nutrition seminars and a trip to the grocery store: http://explorefitness.com/summer_shape_up.html

2. Pick up heavy things, then put them back down. Functional lifting produces an endocrine (hormonal) response that helps you to build muscle. This muscle-building process increases your metabolism and helps you burn fat throughout the day. Think of lifting as an investment that earns, even when you're not working.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR THE LADIES: You won't get huge from lifting weights. That’s a myth. People with massive muscles work out for hours and take all sorts of dangerous steroids and weird supplements to look like that. Yes you will notice growth in your muscles, but this won't make you look weird (it will make you look and feel hot). 

3. Do workouts that increase Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). EPOC is a process in your blood where oxygen is depleted during exercise, then replenished after your workout. This “afterburn” effect elevates your metabolism and improves your body's capacity to utilize oxygen and burn fat. Workouts that boost your EPOC include: Tabata, High Intensity Interval Training, CrossFit, and many other great workouts you can find, and join, here: http://explorefitness.com/programs.html.

4. Something > Nothing! Mr. Kiefer’s argument that traditional, solid-state "cardio" is less effective than HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is correct, but women shouldn’t feel like they have to jettison running and other activities altogether. If you’re trying to lose fat, try balancing your longs runs and rides with higher intensity cardiovascular workouts, and work in the weights (see #2 above). The fact that you’re doing some sort of physical activity is a benefit to your health, no matter what anybody says. Just be sensible and try to add more diversity to your workouts whenever you can.

Hope that helps clear things up a little. If it doesn’t, shoot me a message at nate@explorefitness.com.

In good health,

Nate Lawrence

CPT - CES - CSCS

explorefitness.com

Inexorable.

This word, defined as "unyielding, unalterable" became my mantra for 16 hours yesterday. One foot in front of the other. Don't stop moving. I will cross the finish line. I am an inexorable force of perpetual motion traveling by ski from Crested Butte to Aspen, Colorado.

The race is called the Elk Mountain Grand Traverse (elkmountainstraverse.com). It stretches 40 miles between the ski resorts over the Elk Mountains following an old route used by traders who (wisely) took multiple days to complete the journey. The race starts at midnight to allow racers to finish in the daylight the following day. Along the route racers gain about 9k vertical feet and spend about half of the race above treeline in the alpine.

Explore Fitness entered two teams. Team A consisted of two time Olympian Carl Van Loan and Land Monster Taylor Leary (Bubba). These guys finished in 13.5hrs and by their accounts were almost as miserable throughout as team 2, consisting of Brandon DeBenedet and myself, finishing in 15:57.

Preparation for a race this long is intensive. We were required to carry emergency shelters, avalanche rescue gear, food and water for 24hours and other sundry equipment that added up to a 25lb pack in my case.

Physical preparation called for long backcountry tours, cross training and lower body strength conditioning. The biggest challenge for us as soft city-dwellers in training was finding opportunities to get out and train in race conditions. As preparation we signed up for the Vail Mountaineering Challenge in February, which was a grueling, brutal, race in itself that taught us a lot about our equipment, what kind of food was easiest to digest etc. In addition we pt treadmill miles in whenever possible and performed three interval training sessions per week for twelve weeks approaching the race.

The race started at midnight on Friday the 29th. The timing is arranged so that racers are over the steep alpine sections of Star Pass before the sun has a chance to warm the snow and increase the likelihood of avalanches.

 Taylor Nate and Carl Prepare to start

Beforehand at the pre-race meeting I noticed that people were noticing me, and specifically noticing my  Liberty Helix skis with Hammerhead telemark bindings (20lb approximate weight), and snickering at the relatively massive load I was preparing to cart 40miles through the backcountry. The average person involved in the race was 40-50lbs lighter than I and ratty facial hair abounded. Skis were skinny, light and had expensive backcountry bindings with their weight measured in ounces not pounds. It was evident to me that this was a real mountain man race and worried I was in over my head.

The race started at midnight with the town Crested Butte out in full party mode as they celebrated the end of the ski season with fireworks and crazy costumes. Combined with a full moon and 300 headlamps the noise and the energy made it hard not to start with a bang. We tried to remind ourselves not to get too caught up in the excitement and keep a "twelve hour" pace. 

The first five hours of the race seem e a blur. We climbed two thousand feet to exit the resort and skied into the Brush Creek Drainage where we found long flats and breakable snow crust that kept us in a single file jam for some time. Those who dared to try to pass out of turn were rewarded by being dumped into several feet of snow on the perimeter of the track set by  the course officials.

Several downhills and stream crossings later we began the gradual climb to Star Pass, where we would need to pass a checkpoint by 7am to avoid being disqualified, turned around and sent back to Crested Butte in ignominy and defeat.

I called a break at about four in the morning hoping to intake some calories and rest my legs. Five minutes later Brandon and I were shivering and our hands and feet had grown completely numb. Realizing that we needed to start moving again, we set off at a furious pace and remained in danger of frostbite and hypothermia for forty-five minutes after. We realized that extended breaks were dangerous until the sun rose and had a chance to warm the air.

ROUTE MAP FROM CRESTED BUTTE TO ASPEN

Uncertain of how far we were from the cut-off at Star Pass, we pushed harder to gain the high ridge line by dawn. To my surprise and relief, we made the12,500ft  pass an hour before the cutoff.

Nate Lawrence on top of Star Pass

Our relief at crossing the high barrier was short lived as we began the next ascent towards Taylor Pass. We would end up traveling for over fifteen miles at an altitude over 11,000ft, and the altitude and distance would make the journey a true test of determination and focus.

Brandon's feet started to cramp and seize, my breathing became ragged and it was all I could do not to collapse into coughing fits and the ridges we knew we would cross seemed to get farther away even as we worked.

Regardless, we pressed on. Having passed the turnaround point and an aid station, we were now committed. Rescue at this point would have taken hours and potentially have cost thousands. We chose not to consider whether rescue by snowmobile was possible. Pressing on was mandatory.

Carl Van Loan feeling confident at dawn

I wanted to see the distant finish line so bad it brought tears to my eyes. Surprisingly, I found that this desperate yearning brought much needed energy. I decided to embrace what I normally consider negative emotion and channel it. These are the lessons that physical struggle can help to teach.

After some hours we reached the final backcountry checkpoint at Barnard Hut, a mere eight miles from the Aspen Sundeck from which we would descend to the finish line at Aspen Mountain. At Barnard we were asked some cursory questions about our health, fed hot soup and "Aclimate" the dubious tasting but undoubtedly nutrient filled supplement sponsor of the race.

We felt we were nearly home at Barnard, but the last eight miles stretched in distance. Fatigue set in and it took us three and a half hours to cover the distance, a pace significantly slower than our previous. I fought heat exhaustion, dehydration and nausea. 

Regardless we were confident in our ability to finish.  What's eight miles when one has covered thirty-two?

We finished the trek with enough energy to plan a descent to the base in style. We cut tight figure-eight turns and embraced a purple haired volunteer at the finish.

Carl and Taylor had finished two and half hours previously and were fast asleep at the hotel before we arrived but I did not begrudge them their rest. They later told us that they were tracking us online and that they felt happy that we would finish and sympathetic as they relived the challenges of the terrain we were covering.

Brandon and Nate hold their medals for display.

Carl and Taylor enjoy their victory

We made it. 

Some stats along the way:

40+ miles

7800 veritcal feet

14,500 calories burned/person

Average Heart Rate of 135bpm (Nate)

Pace 2.3mph

Moving Time: 14:50

Stopped Time: 1:20

240oz of fluids consumed

Five open blisters created (Nate)

Two toenails lost (Brandon)

Thanks to the Crested Butte Nordic Counsel and all of the volunteers it took to pull this thing off, Jeff Koether for letting us crash at his place pre-race, Ali Lind, Paula Van Loan, Stephanie Pobrislo and Jackie Dauw for meeting us at the finish and resisting making comments about the stench and to all of you who followed our progress and sent your thoughts and prayers in our direction.

Nate Lawrence