Lessons for the USA, training in the hottest gym.....in the world and weight training for weight loss

Lessons for the USA

Since I’ve been in America, I’ve had to repeat myself a few times. Not just because I sound funny to the Americans, but because some of the English language is used differently in America and people have no idea what I mean.

Here’s a few, widely used English words that have either no meaning or a different meaning over here.

Cheers = Thank you

Fit = Good looking
Lorry = Big truck

Roundabout = Traffic circle

Surname* = Last name

To be in a queue = To wait in line

*This one surprised me as they have never heard of a ‘surname’ and the guy I was speaking to thought it was a special type of nickname.

And here’s a couple of things I’ve come across….

If you have a 20 minute walk to the other side of town, add an extra 10 mins to account for having to cross the road. Regularly stopping and waiting for the lights to change in order to prevent getting arrested for jaywalking soon becomes a long, drawn-out affair.

Watching rugby with Americans and hearing them support England is strange and bizarre experience. They say things that sound odd and that I wasn’t expecting like “GREAT DEE-FENCE!”, “WIGGLESWORTH?! Great English name! GO WIGGLESWORTH!!!”, “Go JON-NEEEEE!” and “Doesn’t the field look great???” Then they will loudly applaud Wales when they score and exclaim how brilliant their try was and superb they are at all things related to rugby. I'm not complaining though, we still won. 



Training in the hottest gym…..in the world

A couple of days ago I took the opportunity to have a boxing lesson at Ground Control gym in Baltimore. This was the same gym that I visited last week and watched Nick Tumminello train ‘Big Gary’ (although I think ‘Gigantic Gary’ is probably more appropriate).

Nick introduced me to Henry Smith, who was to be my instructor for the next hour. Henry is an ex-professional Thai boxer (can’t remember his record, but it was good) and ex-amateur boxer with a record of something like 48-6. This, plus his tattoos, makes him harder than a coffin nail . 

I get there (15 minutes late – buses here are slow), begin an easy warm-up - 3 minutes of the skipping rope and 3 minutes shadow boxing. I say easy, but the truth is that afterwards I’m completely gassed. The gym was something like 40°C and the humidity was unbearable. For every 5 deep breaths taken, it felt like I had only had 1 small breath of air. Apparently, the air conditioning in the gym consists of ‘switching the lights off.’ It is actually hotter than the sun.

According to Henry, after the summer, a number of his fighters go to Thailand to compete in tournaments. By training in his gym, his guys are acclimatised to the conditions they will experience in Thailand. And I’m experiencing it now and it is brutal, like training in a sauna whilst wearing a snorkel. 

I have to do a number of bag drills to begin with, which I attempt with maximum effort, but then need about 5 minutes to recover from. This is then followed by some mitt work, which can only happen in bursts of 30-60 seconds before my vision becomes blurry, I start to sway and I’m not really sure of where I am. The training ends with a single 3 minute round of pad work, which is generally what I would be used to doing for a full session.

However, once it’s over, I know I’ve given it everything and feel pretty good about doing it. In addition to that, training in the heat isn’t actually a bad thing as I just found a study that suggests it may elevate growth hormone levels (1).  

Maybe I'll be going back…..

Weight training for weight loss

To conclude this post, I thought I'd throw in something a bit more training related.

Most people know what a good diet is. They know that broccoli and wild salmon are good and that pizza and doughnuts are bad, and everyone knows that calories in must not exceed calories out. However, I still believe that the topic of training is still a misunderstood and confusing topic for most people embarking on a fat loss regime.

When your training objectives are solely to incinerate body fat, start with this one goal; to preserve, and possibly increase, muscle mass. This is possible by incorporating weight training and utilising short (<90 seconds) rest periods. 

By adhering to this rule (and, of course, sound dietary principles), you’ll effectively maximise caloric expenditure and fat loss will follow. 

All too often, when training clients (in particular, female clients), they were sceptical about weight training, for fear of looking Bulgarian at the end of a one hour session (or in one case, half an hour).

Obviously this is extremely unlikely to happen, and after repeatedly justifying myself (and quite magnificently, I might add), I have decided to list a few key points about weight training, specifically for the individual who is fixated on aerobic training (long runs, extended use of the bike/cross trainer etc.), for fat loss. 

Weight training	Aerobic training
Preserves muscle mass; therefore, resting metabolic rate is increased (number of calories burnt at rest increases) (2).	May decrease muscle mass, thus lowering resting metabolic rate (number of calories burnt at rest decreases) (2).
Can raise metabolism post-exercise (for up to 48 hours) (3, 4, 5).	Does not raise metabolism for as long following cessation of exercise (6)
Induces positive hormonal changes in the body that support muscle growth and fat loss (7)	Hormonal outputs are weaker or non-existent (8, 9, 10).
Easier to apply the overload principle, thus increasing work done every session (increased weight, repetitions etc.)*	Easier to just do the same thing every session, without ever increasing the challenge*

*Based on observation.

Skeletal muscle's preferred choice of fuel at rest is fat, therefore, assuming that diet is in order, an increased metabolism following weight training will increase the amount of body fat burnt at rest. Not bad eh?!

I would also like to emphasise the fact that weight training for fat loss involves any sort of resistance that is costly in terms of calories. For example, squats, press-ups and medicine ball throws are all ‘yes’ exercises, whereas wrist flexions, the inner thigh machine and leg extensions are all largely a waste of time for fat loss endeavours.

Furthermore, the repetitions should be challenging and as a general rule of thumb, should be around 8-12 per set. If you do 12 repetitions, but feel like you could have done 50, the weight was too light. If it feels like it’s doing nothing, then it probably is doing nothing.

Of course, as soon as you're ready for it (which may be a few weeks for beginners) I highly recommend more challenging activities, including metabolic resistance training, which can be performed as either ‘finishers’ or as the main session….

Although I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to losing body fat, I feel that most people willbenefit greatly if they switch their training methods and accept the fact that in order to achieve excellent results in body composition, one must devote time to hard work in the gym.

Work hard, rest little, repeat and get better.

References

1.Wheldon A, Savine RL, Sönksen PH, Holt RI. Exercising in the cold inhibits growth hormone secretion by reducing the rise in core body temperature. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2006 Apr;16(2):125-31.
 
2.Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R. Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
 
3.Thornton MK, Potteiger JA. Effects of resistance exercise bouts of different intensities but equal work on EPOC. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Apr;34(4):715-22.

4.Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM. Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7.
 
5.Melby C, Scholl C, Edwards G, Bullough R. Effect of acute resistance exercise on postexercise energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate. J Appl Physiol. 1993 Oct;75(4):1847-53.
 
6.Sedlock DA, Fissinger JA, Melby CL. Effect of exercise intensity and duration on postexercise energy expenditure. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1989 Dec;21(6):662-6.
 
7.Kraemer WJ, Staron RS, Hagerman FC, Hikida RS, Fry AC, Gordon SE, Nindl BC, Gothshalk LA, Volek JS, Marx JO, Newton RU, Häkkinen K. The effects of short-term resistance training on endocrine function in men and women. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1998 Jun;78(1):69-76.
 
8.Felsing NE, Brasel JA, Cooper DM. Effect of low and high intensity exercise on circulating growth hormone in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992 Jul;75(1):157-62. 
 
9.Hackney AC, Premo MC, McMurray RG. Influence of aerobic versus anaerobic exercise on the relationship between reproductive hormones in men. J Sports Sci. 1995 Aug;13(4):305-11.
 
10.Wahl P, Zinner C, Achtzehn S, Bloch W, Mester J. Effect of high- and low-intensity exercise and metabolic acidosis on levels of GH, IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and cortisol. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2010 Oct;20(5):380-5.