Gravity Fx Fitness

A recent study at Truman State had participants doing as many kettlebell swings as possible in 12 minutes, resting when they wanted.

The average heart rate was 86% of maximum for this session.  The researchers concluded that “KB’s provide a useful tool with which coaches may improve the cardiorespiratory fitness of their athletes.”

Kettlebell swings use lots of muscles to complete the lift.  When done with little rest in between, they will get your HR up in a hurry and can definitely give you a cardiovascular training effect.

KB lifters like to promote the fat burning that occurs with their use.  They can be used to increase strength or increase muscle endurance, depending on how you use them.

I have played around with them a little bit but am far from an expert at using them or teaching others how to use them.  Like any other “hot trend” you have people looking to jump on board simply because something is popular.

The first time I used them was at a one day seminar in Atlanta, where I was living at the time.  The instructor was one of the graduates of the first Russian Kettlebell Certification program and there was about 16 or 17 of us out in a large urban park.

Many people were out walking, biking or running and we drew a lot of interested looks, as this was something “new” and different in 2003.  A homeless man in particular was dumbfounded as to what we were doing, lifting these strange looking objects in the park.

While they are much more common today than they were then, there are people that are promoting them without understanding their proper use – when you see an adult using a 4 pound KB, that’s a pretty good indication they don’t know what the objective is.  This is similar to someone lifting pink dumbbells and think that they are “toning” their muscles with high reps, when the amount of resistance is not adequate to challenge the muscles.

If you are looking to get optimal fat burning results in minimal time, then doing cardio resistance training is a great way to get the best of both worlds – building lean muscle tissue at the same time you challenge your cardiovascular system.

Using tools like sandbags, TRX, bands, ropes, and dumbbells with little rest in between exercises is a great way to burn fat and challenge your muscles.  You can get a good cardio effect without doing steady state work on a treadmill or elliptical machine and you might reduce some of the pounding on your joints.

KB’s are a great training tool but you can get great results with other tools, as well.  Using them with poor technique may put you at increased risk for injury, so if you decide to give them a try, make sure your instructor knows what they are doing.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Deandra has taken 4 inches off her waist without doing any crunches or sit-ups.

She has done planks, pushups, exercises with sandbags, bands and the TRX suspension trainer, but very little isolated exercises for the abs.  The best way to describe these workouts is cardio strength training.

In this photo she is doing a pushup with a rotation, where you come up from the bottom and then rotate to one side, do another pushup and rotate to the opposite side.  This isn’t easy for many women to do and it challenges both your upper body strength and stability, as well as your core.

Dee has been training with us since Feb. 20th and made great strides.  She works hard 3 days a week and trys to stay active the rest of the week.  This type of training takes hard work, builds lean muscle tissue and raises your metabolism.

This is a sandbag deadlift with one leg doing most of the work.  Besides the glutes and hamstrings, her obliques (side abs) are working hard as well.  We like to do exercises that work multiple muscles at one time – exercises that force your abs and low back to stay tight while you are moving other muscles and joints.

She knows that its not what the scale says, its how you look and how your clothes fit.  Four inches off your waist is huge, especially for someone who wasn’t that overweight to start with.

Diet is definitely important, there is no doubt about that.  Building lean muscle tissue is key to lasting changes in your metabolism, not to mention strengthening your bones and joints.  Just goes to show that you can shrink your waistline without doing endless crunches or sit-ups.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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The short and simple reason is that it can help you lose fat while spending less time exercising!

When you do various movements with the ropes for 20-30 seconds you elevate your heart rate significantly.  It is a very simple way to do interval training, which is great for fat loss.  Many of my clients are breathing heavy at the end of their set, often letting out a big “Whoo” because of the hard effort involved.

When you realize that intense effort and increased oxygen intake are vital to your results, there are many different ways to accomplish this.  I like to do cardio strength training because it is a time efficient method for increasing fitness and fat loss.

I have my clients do various resistance exercises to build lean muscle tissue and rope training accompanies these exercises quite nicely.  This way you can increase your metabolism and burn calories after you have stopped training.

Typically in an aerobics class or during a treadmill session you are working at 60-75% of your max HR, which is low to moderate intensity.  After you are done your metabolism returns to where it was previously, in as little as 10 or 15 minutes.

An elite endurance athlete who works at a higher intensity will have a greater “afterburn effect,” but the average healthclub member usually doesn’t work as intensely.  So when you understand that burning more calories is about intensity, you seek exercises that will really get your heart racing.

Obviously, this is assuming you are healthy, injury free and accustomed to exercise.  There are numerous patterns that can be done with the ropes and variety is important for keeping your body from getting stale, but also your MIND from getting stale.

Let’s face it.  There’s a reason that health clubs have all those TV’s in front of the treadmills and ellipticals – to keep your mind off of all the endless repetition going on.  Ropes on the other hand require you to focus on what you are doing and that is elevating your heart rate.

If you’re a busy person like most of us, than training with ropes and doing resistance training in the same session will allow you to lose weight without spending two hours at the gym.  Sounds like a winner for both me and my clients!

Ropes also allow you to get a cardiovascular effect without the pounding on your joints.

Many people seem to forget that you can get cardio training from doing interval work, where you exercise for 20-30 seconds, rest and then repeat, keeping your HR up in the process.

For example, last Saturday I did my workout after the clients had left.  I decided to get my HR monitor out to see how many calories I would burn.  I used the sandbags, TRX suspension trainer and a barbell, going from an upper body exercise to a lower body movement or opposing upper body movement, keeping my rest periods very short.

I used the ropes a few times to finish off the workout and stopped the monitor at 40 minutes.  In forty minutes I burned 552 calories and had an average HR of 77%, which qualifies as cardio activity, with a peak heart rate of 95%, which is pretty intense!

Now, I obviously am used to this type of training and wouldn’t start someone with that much intensity, but I think you get the point – I definitely got my cardio and strength training done in a single session, leaving my metabolism elevated for several hours afterwards.

I spent the next 20 minutes stretching, cleaning and getting the studio ready for Monday’s clients, while re-starting the HR monitor to see what was going on.  I burned an additional 216 calories, with my heart rate at an average of 68%, still qualifying as cardio.

I think you get the point that intense training can create an “afterburn effect” that is due partly to the increased oxygen consumption.  Heavy breathing is definitely acceptable in your workouts.

Training with ropes is also a great stress reliever – after beating the floor intensely for 20 seconds or more, you tend to forget what you were stressed about.  The alternating upper-cut pattern is also a healthy way to “punch” your particular individual stressor, if you wish.

Besides, with about two thirds of adults being overweight, can it really hurt to take some different approaches?

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Is walking a good way to lose fat?

With the warmer weather I have seen many people out walking, enjoying being outdoors and probably trying to shed some Winter accumulation of pounds.

The question is, are these people getting any results or is there something else they should be doing.  Walking is healthy and a nice way to burn some extra calories, but depending on how fit you are, it may qualify more as activity than exercise.

If you are more than 30 pounds over weight or haven’t exercised in several months, walking is a good way to get moving again and you might lose a few pounds in the process.

Start out slowly and gradually build up the amount of time you spend walking.  GRADUALLY placing more demands on your body is one of the fundamentals of progressive exercise – do a little more each time as your body adapts to the stresses.

While walking is simple and easy to do, you have to do a LOT of walking to lose weight and most people can’t keep their weight under control just by walking.  So what you would have to do is gradually increase the intensity – walk faster.

Most people I see are just casually strolling and this doesn’t burn that many calories.  Plus, once you stop walking your metabolism goes right back to where it was in a matter of minutes.  If you want to burn more calories you need to walk fast or go up and down hills.

So once you understand that more intensity is required, it might be more efficient to do something like cardio strength training.  Work your muscles against some resistance while raising your heart rate at the same time – combine cardiovascular exercise and strength training into a single time-efficient workout.

Do this two or three times a week and then do some lighter work on the other days, like walking or bike riding.  These easier movements will help you recover from the more intense workouts, getting some blood flow to the muscles and keeping your joints well lubricated.

Now, you can obviously do some more intense cycling and get a great calorie burn.  I like to do an hour bike ride about once a week in the Summer months.  I pedal fast at times and then back off and pedal moderately, before going fast again, somewhat similar to an indoor spinning class.

Generally speaking, the riders that are pedaling more intensely are fairly lean, compared to some who pedal at a pretty moderate pace.  I frequently see an older guy riding an older style bike with his big belly hanging out.  He pedals pretty slowly and he is still getting some health benefits but he’s not burning a lot of calories.

In societies where walking or biking is the primary or only means of transportation, the overall volume of activity throughout the day or week adds up.  Its rare to see an overweight mail carrier for those who walk to deliver the mail.

Keep this in mind if you can’t or won’t exercise intensely.  It will take a lot of volume (time) to get the weight loss results and you will have to be very strict with your eating.

Several research studies have shown very minimal or moderate fat losses with moderate intensity aerobic exercise, compared to greater fat loss with interval training of a more intense nature.

A leisurely walk can be a great way to unwind or spend quality time with friends or family, but if fat loss is your primary goal, pick up the pace or better yet, do some resistance training to build lean muscle tissue and increase your metabolism, then add in some type of aerobic exercise on your “off” days.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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What does science have to say about training for fat loss?

Is aerobic exercise such as running the best way to burn fat?  What does the research have to say?

I think you might be surprised, unless you are a regular reader of my articles or one of my clients.  Here is an interesting article featured on Alwyn Cosgrove’s website on the science behind weight loss and the most efficient methods for achieving it.

The New Science of Fat Loss

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Yesterday my morning group finished off their leg and hip workout by dragging a tire through the alley.  Why might I torture my clients this way?

Because its a great way to challenge their muscles AND it can be fun to do some new exercises.  By “fun” I mean really difficult, so they get good results from their workouts and its fun to train outdoors sometimes.

I’ve pushed a weighted sled before but the tire is a little easier to use for my studio’s particular setting.  I’ve got a normal sized tire and then I add sandbags for extra resistance.  This way, people of different sizes can all do these exercises.

In this video you will see a woman who competes in fitness pageants pulling a large tire.  Notice the nice leg development that she has.  Instead of a harness I have a rope with 10 foot handles attached to the tire.  She is getting really low to the ground, which really gives you a nice leg workout.

I had Deandra, Jenni, and Pete a little higher up and pushing through the heel to hit their glutes, which they all told me they were feeling!  A week ago, I pulled the tire for 20 minutes, working for 30 seconds, resting a minute and repeating.

I definitely felt it in my backside the next day, which was the idea.  The rest of my legs were feeling it, too.  I then finished with 10 minutes of tire rows for a short but highly efficient 30 minute workout.

Also wanted to congratulate Pete and Kim on getting married Saturday.  Pete will be headed to Afghanistan in the near future and I’ve enjoyed having such a hard worker in the studio.  Pete’s had some good results with this type of training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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If you’re not training for competition, you don’t need to train like a competitive athlete….

you don’t need to follow the training program of an endurance athlete or bodybuilder, if that’s not your goal.  Instead of spending more time walking on the treadmill,  kick it up a notch or two with the intensity.

Cardio strength training is a great way to lose more fat in the least amount of time.  Swinging ropes, lifting sandbags or doing bodyweight exercises on the TRX suspension trainer uses multiple muscles.

When you challenge your large muscles against some type of resistance and keep your heart rate elevated, you burn lots of calories – during the exercise session and AFTER (afterburn effect).

Here are Vicki and Julie pulling a weighted tire, elevating their metabolisms in the process.  Get more work done in a shorter amount of time.

If you are training for an endurance event, this type of training is a great way to supplement your other training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Did you know that bodybuilders use coconut oil to get lean before a competition?

Apparently, coconut oil has a unique fat called medium chain triglycerides that can be easily burned as fuel, similar to carbohydrates.

While many tout the health benefits of coconut oil, such as an improved immune system, this article I just read talks about how bodybuilders have been using medium chain triglycerides before competition, for years.

Here is the link to that article http://marty.dragondoor.com/2010/02/mcts-coconut-oil-and-the-lipid.html

Healthy fats should be an important part of your normal diet.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Do you want to lose weight and keep it off long-term? Than going on a diet and not exercising is a BAD idea.

Today at my studio is “cardio Monday,” with total body exercises designed to keep your HR up and elevate your metabolism.  I was talking to my client Deandra after the session and she wasn’t fully aware of the connection between muscle and metabolism.

When you go on a diet and lose 15 pounds without exercising, some of that lost weight will be fat, some will be water weight and some will be lean muscle tissue.

This is not a good idea because you will likely put that weight back on over the course of a year, BUT….. you won’t put back the lean muscle tissue.

notice how lean and muscle tissue goes together?

Say you do this yo-yo dieting for 10 years or more, as some people do, and you may have lost 10-15 pounds of lean muscle tissue.

This has two effects:

1 – the loss of muscle tissue means a slower metabolism.

2 – you lost muscle tissue and replaced it with fat, so now you have a less appealing shape than you used to.

Muscle is more dense than fat, taking up less space. So instead of losing weight you should be concentrating on losing fat – there is a difference!

Meaning, don’t worry so much about the scale and instead, try to lose inches and see if your clothes start to fit a little looser.  This is what most people should be worried about.  Having lean muscle tissue is healthy, while having too much fat is not.

Trying to keep weight off long term without exercise is a losing battle for most everyone.  So you should be exercising but also make sure to do some resistance training to keep your metabolism elevated after you are done exercising.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Women, are your arms ready for wearing tank tops or swimsuits? Summer is right around the corner and my female clients have earned the right to “bare arms!”

These sisters-in-law have worked hard since the first of the year and it shows.  What’s even better than looking great during the Summer months?  Only taking two hours per week to do it.

Vicki and Julie exercise at my fitness studio three days a week for approximately 45 minutes, including warm up and cool down.  Vicki’s husband Ted is Julie’s brother and these three are in their early to mid 50’s.

The workouts can be best described as cardio strength training – going from one  exercise to the next with minimal rest in between.  Some of the exercises are cardiovascular in nature, while others are more focused on resistance,

but they all keep the heart rate elevated and burn lots of oxygen, and thus plenty of calories – during the workout and afterwards (the afterburn effect).

These are not bodybuilding workouts, instead, they involve multiple muscles and create a lean athletic physique.  Using multi-joint exercises are the way to go if you are looking for a time-efficient workout and want sculpted arms.

The only isolation exercises for the biceps are the TRX biceps curls, but this requires you to maintain your body in a straight line, working your core and enhancing your posture.

Various rows with the TRX and dumbbells work the arms and back at the same time.  Pushups on and off the Power Plate help to sculpt the triceps, along with dumbbell bench presses on a stability ball.

Various sandbag and rope exercises further raise the metabolism.  Sprinting on a mini-stepper also creates an oxygen debt without any pounding on the joints.

These ladies are fairly active when not working in the studio, preferring to spend their spare time doing recreational activities, instead of walking on a treadmill or elliptical machine in a typical gym setting.

Bottom line, their routine gets more work done in less time, so they can spend more time with friends and family, often times fishing at the lake, trying to catch the big ones.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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