Exclusive Interview: Rev Your Metabolism By Doug Jackson

Exclusive Interview: Rev Your Metabolism

By Doug Jackson

I hope you have the time to check out this newsletter because I believe this issue is the most important that I've released to date. It's also one that will be different than most that I write. This issue contains an interview that I had the privilege of conducting with Dr. Wayne Westcott and Kelli Calabrese, two of the most respected fitness professionals in the United States.

Instead of skimming this, I'd suggest you print it out and sit down and read it carefully. I truly believe that the information provided is packed with golden advice from the two experts that I've interviewed. This is information that can make a difference in your quality of life if you act upon it.

At times, the questions and answers in this newsletter may be filled with more scientific jargon that I normally use. I'd ask you to stick it out, read it thoroughly, and let the information sink in.

After all is said and done, I believe you will find their message to be very similar to what I've been promoting. Number one, we need to move more to remain healthy. Number two, strength training is an absolute necessity to maintain our metabolic rate as we age.

I will say upfront that I believe most of the message and recommendations throughout this interview are geared towards people who have only a minimal fitness and strength training background. I personally believe that people who are more advanced in fitness need more in-depth exercise programs, rather than "basic and brief" routines, to continue taking their fitness to the next level.

I want to thank Kelli for arranging the interview with Wayne, and thank each of them for taking the time to conduct this three-way phone interview with me. I was honored to have both of them on the phone. These are people whose work I've followed and read about for years. Having the capability to be aligned with them is quite a professional
stepping stone for me. To top it off, I've found out that each of them are quite generous and friendly on a personal level. Their impressive professional bios are included above the interview transcript.

Sincerely,

Doug Jackson
doug@personalfitnessadvantage.com

BIO's
Wayne L. Westcott, Ph.D., C.S.C.S, is Fitness Research Director at the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, MA. He is strength training consultant for numerous national organizations, such as the American Council on Exercise, the American Senior Fitness Association, and the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, and editorial advisor for many publications, including Prevention, Shape, and Club Industry magazines. He is also author of several fitness books including the new releases, Building Strength and Stamina, Strength Training Past 50, Strength Training for Seniors, Complete Conditioning for Golf, and Strength and Power for Young Athletes. Dr. Westcott was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Fitness Professionals, the Healthy American Fitness Leader Award from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the Roberts-Gulick Award from the YMCA Association of Professional Directors, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Governor's Committee
on Physical Fitness and Sports, and the NOVA 7 Exercise Program Award from Fitness Management Magazine.

Kelli Calabrese, MS, CSCS, ACE, holds 3 fitness related degrees and 19 fitness and nutrition related certifications. As an Exercise Physiologist she owned and operated fitness centers in NJ for 15 years, was the Lead Fitness Expert for eDiets.com for 3 years and has spoken internationally on Health and Fitness topics. She has published over 100 times throughout professional magazines and e-zines. She is the author of Feminine, Firm and Fit- a 12 week woman's transformation program and she specializes in woman's fitness and post pregnancy makeovers. Kelli is certified to work with special populations and enjoys training a variety of clients with special needs. Visit her website at: www.kellicalabrese.com.

Jackson: Welcome to each of you today. I wanted to get started on some general comments regarding the health and fitness of our culture. What are each of your thoughts on the rise of obesity in our culture? Would you call it an epidemic?

Calabrese: I would certainly call it an epidemic. When looking back over the last century, we have certainly increased in weight which is ultimately fat. It has to do with our lifestyles, which are dramatically different today. We're moving less due to modern conveniences and eating a whole lot more. One study I saw showed that since the early 70's we are expending almost 800 calories less a week simply due to technology. No one opens up a garage door or gets up to change the channel on the television anymore. Our food is so processed and on top of that it's supersized. People are working longer hours, commuting more and everyone is time urgent. I think it's a combination of not having good role models, not having daily physical education in the schools, and having unsafe neighborhoods.

Westcott: I absolutely agree. In a study done at Ohio University several years ago, their research showed that a full 75% of Americans were overweight. The American College of Sports Medicine has also released a study that predicted that 75% of today's children would be overweight. You will see some discrepancy in the research due to the differences in how researchers quantify being overweight. For example, using body mass index verses a body composition measurement. I would prefer that research used body composition to get a clearer picture. We need to understand that as men and women age, they lose 5-7 pounds of lean body mass per decade. A person that is 50 and weighs the same as when he was twenty most likely has 21 pounds more fat and 21 pounds less muscle, unless he is doing some type of strength training. Obesity is definitely an epidemic. A few years ago, researchers who used that term were criticized, now the term is common place. The percentage of Americans that are overweight and obese is increasing very rapidly and is a very serious problem.

Jackson: What is the fundamental message we need to send to people regarding how to counteract this rise in obesity?

Calabrese: People need to be aware of how much they are consuming and how little they are moving. People get into bad habits regarding activity and diet and before they know it, they're out of control. People will always underestimate how much they are eating and overestimate how much they are exercising They need to get moving most days of the week in addition to replacing refined foods with more wholesome foods. Calorie deprivation is the worst thing they can do for fat loss and ultimately for their metabolism.

Westcott: I agree with Kelli. I'm not an expert on nutrition. I focus on metabolic rate when counseling on weight management. I like to explain to people that because they are losing muscle at a rate of about 5 (female)-7 (male) pounds per decade, that will decrease their metabolic rate by about 5%. Even more dramatic is that as females reach menopause, they will begin losing about 10 lbs of muscle per decade. It's really scary.

Calabrese: I saw one study that stated that by age 65, the average woman carried less than 20 pounds of muscle.

Westcott: That's right. The famous Framingham Heart Study found that by the age of 65, the average woman couldn't lift a 10-lb. weight. That's unbelievable. They need to understand the importance of replacing muscle and increasing their metabolism as at least one part of the process of maintaining and reaching a healthy body weight. In addition to endurance exercise and proper nutrition, I promote strength training due to its metabolic benefit. Research from Tufts University indicates that if your replace about three pounds of muscle, you will increase your metabolic rate by about 7%, which reverses about 14 years of the aging process.

Jackson: Dr. Westcott, I know you've done quite a bit of research into strength training and metabolism. Can you review some of that for me?

Westcott: Going back to the Tufts study that I mentioned before, we know that if we replace lost muscle, we will increase our metabolism. Specifically, older adult subjects gained an average of three pounds of muscle (through strength training) and increase their resting metabolic rate by about 7% per day. Their overall metabolic rate, once adding in the exercise, the post-exercise calorie burn, and the new muscle was 15%
greater over a 12-week strength training program. This equated with 370 calories increased energy needs per day. I should mention that these subjects also lost four pounds of fat during that period. If we look at that in a different way, if we only wanted to maintain our bodyfat, that means that with the increased metabolic rate we could eat 370 more calories per day. A similar study done in the same year (1994) done at the University of Maryland actually found similar results. In that study, subjects gained just over three pounds of muscle and the resting metabolic rate increased by 7.7%!

Jackson: Good points. I heard a scary statistic the other day. I heard that it is predicted that today's children will be the first generation of Americans to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. What are each of your thoughts on this? Do we have a realistic chance to prove this prediction wrong?

Calabrese: The reason we are living longer is because of technology, civilization, and medicine. I don't think we are necessarily living a better quality of life. People are prolonging life with steroids, antibiotics, machines, etc. I don't think we are living longer because we are taking care of ourselves. I'm not surprised about the direction that we are heading. The large amount of disease today wasn't even around a century ago. You didn't see nearly as many things like fibromyalgia, manic depression and attention deficit disorder-not that those things are killing people. But cancer certainly. If you research human history, you won't find things like cancer until recent history. There's something that's going on in our lifestyles that is dramatically wrong. We are just junking our bodies up with chemicals and not moving nearly enough. However, if we can change the direction we're going in, I do think we can continue to lead longer lives.

Westcott: I can't improve on that. I'm going to share a trite phrase, however I believe appropriate, "We are living shorter and dying longer". We may be existing longer because of because of technology, but not really "living". A few years ago, diabetes was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Then it was number nine, and then number eight. I believe now that it is now the fifth or sixth leading cause of death. What's scary about that is that Type-II diabetes, which makes up about 95% of all diabetic cases is entirely preventable. We used to call Type-II adult onset diabetes. We had to change the name because children began getting it due to the increasing obesity. This is all because of lifestyle choices.

Jackson: Some people like to point the finger at genetics. How do each of you respond to that?

Calabrese: Well, genetics does play some role, but it can be overcome. I know that personally within my family. You can overcome genetics to a very large degree with lifestyle choices.

Westcott: That's exactly right. We're not dying from viruses and bacteria as much anymore. We're dying from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and other diseases of lifestyle.

Jackson: While we all encourage people to generally "get moving", I know both of you have gotten more scientific with structured exercise programs. What do each of you consider to be the fundamentals to a scientific approach to long term fitness and weight management?

Calabrese: I'm a very strong proponent of strength training. I just wrote a new program called "Feminine, Firm, and Fit" and it's based on developing a lean, strong body through strength training. I absolutely recommend strength training three days per week. Two days is almost as good. I recommend a total-body routine that would be completed every other day for thirty to forty-five minutes - and it could be even less for beginners. I'm not a proponent of doing multiple sets. I think Wayne also agrees with that. I like to use variety for my programs. For example, instead of picking one exercise for my back and doing three sets, I'd rather do three different exercises once. I like to mix all of the components of fitness including strength training and cardiovascular. However, I do believe in the long-term that strength training weighs in the heaviest. I believe it does have aerobic and flexibility benefits. For cardiovascular exercise, I recommend a minimum of 20 minutes and no longer than sixty minutes. Flexibility conditioning is wonderful. I think the best time to stretch is either between or after your strength exercises, or even after a hot shower.

Westcott: First off, your book title is great. Secondly, everything you said is almost exactly what I believe. In the members we have, we've found that three days per week of strength training is best for adding muscle and losing fat. However, with two days per week, we can expect around 85% of what would be gain in three days. So people need to know that even if they can only strength train twice per week, they will still find benefit. If they want to do something else...not that that this is the best thing, but just the way our society is, buy a pedometer and measure your steps through the day. So just focusing on that increased activity a little bit at a time throughout the day, although
not being highly scientific, can help burn those calories. So just get Kelli's new book and a pedometer and you should be off to a good start.

Jackson: Well, her product, Feminine, Firm, and Fit, would be great for females, but would you like to recommend one of your own books for others who may want another option?

Westcott: My personal favorite is called Building Strength and Stamina (2ed.). It includes strength, cardio, and flexibility. It's the book that the United States Navy uses and requires their fitness staff to read.

Doug's note to readers:
For more info on Wayne's book, click here: Building Strength and Stamina

For more info on Kelli's book package, click here: Feminine, Firm, and Fit.

Jackson: In addition to a physiologically correct program, I'm also interested in the behavioral strategies that will increase exercise adherence and program success. What behavioral strategies have you found to be most effective in increasing exercise adherence?

Calabrese: Well first, the person really needs to be ready. They need to be at the action stage. People will go back and forth before fitness becomes a lifelong habit. I saw one study that said that the average person will try at least thirteen times before it may become a habit for them. One of the things that I find most effective is journaling. I have
almost all of my clients journal. It really makes them become more honest with themselves. I also believe in goal setting. I have clients write goals in the front of their journal. That helps people formulate a plan. They also need someone to be accountable to, whether myself or Weight Watchers, or someone else that they can be accountable to. I also know that Dr. Phil came out with a new diet book. While most people won't get much out of the exercise and eating plan because they were pretty simplistic, his behavioral strategies were very good. He asks some good questions that force people to get honest with themselves.

Westcott: Wow, that's a hard act to follow. I'll give you four words and an explanation. Basic. Brief. Sensible. Safe. The research I've done has really supported that this is what most people are looking for. I've compared a basic and brief program to a more conventional program with prospective health club members. Interestingly, two out or three prospective members preferred that basic and brief program. When they actually began the different programs, three out of four of the members in the basic and brief program stuck with it. Only one out of two stuck with the more conventional, longer model. Even more interestingly, both groups lost the same amount of fat and the group that completed the basic and brief program actually gained about twice as much muscle as the people who did more sets of more exercises. This may be because beginning exercisers may have actually worked harder on the shorter routine, whereas they may not have worked as hard on the longer routine. I believe in basic and brief workouts that you can fit into your daily schedule.

Jackson: Right. Those brief workouts would be beneficial for those who perceive that they don't have the time to exercise. As I discussed in the chapter I wrote for (name deleted: the soon to be released book that Wayne, Kelli, and I contributed to), in an informal poll of my fitness newsletter, 90% of respondents cited lack of time as their greatest barrier to a successful exercise program. Disregarding issues of time management and making fitness a priority, what do you believe are the keys to being fit while on a time crunch? What's the current research say and what do you think we may see in the future?

Calabrese: I've been working with a company called LifeWaves. It's premises are all built off of the last seventeen years of research by a renowned vascular surgeon, Dr. Irving Dardik. A friend of his, Dr. Jack Kelly, died after a run. This really posed a question for Dardik who had started the Olympic Sport Medicine Committee in the 1970's. Based on his background, he developed his own research in cyclic exercise which is based on acceleration and recovery. Dardik's program takes people up to 90-95% of maximum heart rate for up to 60 seconds and then the recovery is similar to meditation that may take several minutes. People on his program exercise only 11 times per month. During that month, they only do around one hour of total exercise using bursts of acceleration.
Research is going on at Columbia, Yale, and Harvard looking into his theories. This research is finding that after two to three months on this protocol, subjects health are improving dramatically. During this protocol, you exercise for three weeks, and then take a week of rest. I think this may work for people on a time crunch. This workout protocol
is very ahead of its time. I believe this is the going to turn the medical community upside down and elevate the respect for fitness in the medical community.

Doug's note to readers: To learn more about this program and the research behind it, go to: www.lifewaves.com

Dr. Westcott: That sounds fascinating. I'm going to share research on some more conventional protocols. We've worked with the Navy and researched brief exercise programs that could be done on ships. In this research we did three workouts per week that lasted only twenty minutes in duration. This twenty minutes included fifteen minutes of cardiovascular exercise and five minutes of strength training. For the strength training we only performed three major exercises such as the leg press, bench press, and lat pulldown. We found that in two months of training, these subjects gained about two pounds of muscle and lost four pounds of fat. That's pretty close to what we get with full programs!

Jackson: That definitely sounds like some interesting research. Especially for those on a time crunch. Okay...now, fitness seems broken up into different realms. We have people that do the conventional strength training, cardiovascular, and stretching exercises. Then we have group exercise classes, spinning, pilates, and yoga. What are your feelings on how these different forms of conditioning compete against or compliment one another? Is one better than another?

Calabrese: I think they are complimentary. I'm certified in several area's including pilates and spinning. I think yoga has wonderful benefits that you don't get from strength training or cardiovascular conditioning. I think a combination is great. It provides the variety that the body needs. It's all about being functional in life. We don't do this so we can bench press more weight or ride faster on a bike. We do it so we can live longer, more vibrant years.

Westcott: I think your answer is great. Everyone may have different perspective and something different may work for everyone.

Jackson: Okay, I'm going to switch gears a little bit. The metabolic benefits associated with strength training have been an area of interest to me. I recently made the statement that effective strength training is an absolute key to maintaining lean body mass and metabolism during diet and exercise programs that emphasize weight loss. What have been each of your experiences regarding this idea?

Westcott: The latest research, which has just been published this last week, indicated that running might help delay decreases in leg strength. However, I've seen a 10-year study by Dr. Pollock of the University of Florida Medical School which looked at Masters runners between the ages of 45-55 found that running maintained their aerobic capacity, but only three runners, the one's who strength trained, maintained their muscle mass. The runners who ran the least, lost the least amount of muscle mass, about four pounds over that decade. Thos who trained the most lost almost six pounds of muscle during that time. Based on what I know at this point, the only exercise that would maintain or increase muscle mass is resistance training. Cardiovascular training does not seem to increase or maintain muscle mass. This is similar with dieting. Those that only diet lose the most lean muscle. Those that diet and do cardiovascular may maintain or slow the reduction of lean muscle. Only those that diet and do strength training increase lean muscle mass, which is a major concern in our society.

Calabrese: Strength training is most important component for maintaining the metabolism for the long-term. 90% of the people that diet alone gain back the weight they lose, and then some. I've seen research that indicates that 28% of the weight loss with diet alone is lean body mass.

Jackson: Since all of us contributed to the (name deleted: upcoming fitness book), I'd like for us to share a little with newsletter readers on what you discussed in your part of the book. I already mentioned that I focused on time-efficient workouts.

Westcott: My part of the book deals with the myth that strength training is bad for a person's blood pressure. Almost every study I've ever seen or conducted shows that properly done strength training actually improves blood pressure. We're actually finding that systolic blood pressure is lower than normal after strength training. Of course, always follow what your physician says, but in most cases, unless a person has some sort of specific condition, strength training should be included.

Calabrese: My chapter is on fat-burning secrets for women. It discusses some of the fitness challenges that are unique to women. Our hormonal changes, pregnancy, menopause, etc. In addition, I give them ten secrets that will make a difference in fat burning. I've been working primarily with women recently and having gone through two pregnancies myself, I can certainly relate. Plus I believe that women are pressured with all of these marketing scams and that there is more pressure on women to look great so I want them to have the correct information.

Jackson: I can't wait to read your parts of the book. Thanks again for your time today. I hope each you enjoyed the interview as much as I did.