The Training Cycle

Jason Shea: Keep your metabolism up with circuit training

With the summer in full swing, many beachgoers are revealing the results of countless hours of hard work in the gym and their strict dedication to a healthy diet.

Whether it's six-pack abs, defined shoulders and arms or toned legs and glutes, many of these trainees may have had one goal in common back in the winter months: improving body composition.

At many times in our lives, we battle through the cycle of losing and regaining fat, when permanent fat loss is what we truly desire. The same approach may not work twice.

With each passing year, we are forced to try something different or more unconventional just to maintain our weight, never mind regain our youthful appearance. Frustrated, our inability to positively alter our body composition is blamed on the slowing of our metabolism with age.

This brings up an excellent question: Does the human metabolism automatically slow with age? Studies have shown this may not be the case. For example, a lack of physical activity, specifically weight-bearing exercise, can lead to a decrease in lean muscle tissue.

This can result in a decrease in both working and resting metabolism. Other factors, including altered hormonal profiles, dehydration, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and environmental toxins, may also play a role in slowing metabolism.

An interesting study by University of Glasgow researchers looked at the basal metabolic rates and fat-free mass of 22 physically active subjects all around the age of 62. The researchers then re-measured those same biomarkers six years later and found minimal or insignificant changes in metabolic rate and fat-free mass. The reason for little to no fat gain: The subjects remained physically active.

Two factors that play a critical role in achieving our best healthy self are nutrition and exercise. The solution may not be as simple as calories in and calories out. If you're looking to upgrade your body composition, at the very least, revisiting what you eat and when you eat needs to take priority.

Education on body fat measurement and body composition-specific training are important as well. Try these simple tips to kick-start your fat loss goals:

Earn your carbohydrates. Try to eat your carbohydrates when your insulin sensitivity and GLUT-4 protein expression is optimal. Studies have shown insulin sensitivity and glucose transporter protein expression (particularly GLUT-4) to be elevated after strength training and high-intensity workouts, but not after long, slow endurance training.

Timebomb « Joe Still Runs For Dom

As I prepared for the Pittsburgh Marathon in 2009, my second ever – it was the first time that I had really trained seriously to achieve a time goal.  I was looking to improve my first marathon time of 3:58:08 down to 3:19:59 and qualify for Boston.

Sometimes it is good to not know what you don’t know.

When I look at those two times right now after running and training somewhat seriously for the last 3 or 4 years I think to myself, “what in the world was I thinking?”.  Talk about a huge jump all at once.  I would need to drop my pace per mile from 9:05 down to 7:37 to qualify for Boston.