ISSUE #49
INSIDE
THIS ISSUE…
-“Diabetes:
A Preventable Disease of Lifestyle”
-“Guest column: “A View on ‘Cutting’
Exercises”
DIABETES: LIFESTYLE
CHANGES FOR PREVENTION OF DISEASE
Diabetes is an issue that will affect everyone
at one point in life, whether directly or indirectly. This
newsletter will provide you with more information on diabetes
and perhaps will lead to lifestyle changes that can help
you, your friends, and family, avoid this terrible and mostly
preventable disease.
A person with "adult-onset" diabetes (Type
II) has high blood sugar levels because the cells of the
body do not respond to insulin (they are "insulin-resistant").
Insulin is a hormone released from the pancreas and stimulates
blood sugar uptake by cells of the body.
The cells then use this sugar for energy,
however chronically elevated blood sugar levels can be unhealthy.
In 1996, it was reported that the number of diabetes cases
is going to double to 250 million worldwide by 2025. Type
II diabetes is referred to as a lifestyle disease.
By lifestyle disease, this means that factors
under our control are the primary factors behind the development
of diabetes. The biggest risk factors are obesity, lack
of exercise, and poor nutrition. These factors are promoted
in Western society by the convenience and hectic schedule
that seem to plague everyone.
The North American diet is full of processed
foods with poor nutritive value. According to American Society
of Bariatric Physicians, obesity has increased due to increased
sugar consumption. Processed foods (i.e. white bread) quickly
increase blood sugar and are referred to as high-glycemic
index (GI) foods. The Nurses Health Study from Harvard examined
75000 nurses and found women eating more high-GI foods had
twice the risk of heart disease. As well, high blood sugar
levels may damage blood vessels and induce insulin resistance
over time.
In addition, this sedentary lifestyle has
led many to abandon daily exercise. Two hours in a car and
9 hours behind a desk (at least) are quite a contrast to
the daily activities most people had as students. Again
and again, authors state that changes in diet, exercise,
and weight loss are the keys to treating and preventing
diabetes. Authors recommend reducing processed food and
sugar intake.
Avoid a "Mega-sized burger, fries, and pop"
habit. Weight loss is a big help in avoiding diabetes as
well. Losing 10% of excess fat can improve health. Researchers
believe that diabetes is also a "skeletal muscle" disease
and that people should go to the gym and resistance train.
Lose fat. Add muscle.
On a disease-related exercise note, research
has also shown that intense aerobic exercise prevents heart
disease. The key was intensity and not duration. They found
that people that performed 15 min of hard aerobic exercise
a couple of times a week had less heart disease (Harvard
Alumni Health Study, Circulation 102: 975-986, 2000). So
lift, work hard, eat proper and in moderation, and you will
increase your odds of long-lasting good health.
Okay, that is enough preaching. There will
always be people that can smoke, drink, eat poorly, and
not exercise and still live to 90 years of age. However,
statistics suggest that more people will be getting ill
due to their lifestyle choices. Fortunately, the stats show
that this can be avoided and even treated with lifestyle
changes. Make the necessary changes and read more on how
lifestyle interacts with diabetes.
ANOTHER VIEW ON "CUTTING
EXERCISES"
McMaster Kinesiology graduate and registered
massage therapist Mike Zappetelli had a few words to add
to the "cutting exercise" article in Issue #48. Mike is
a personal trainer, massage therapist, and nutrition and
wellness specialist (R.M.T. C.P.T., N.W.S.). He has been
a guest author before (back in Issue #7) and brings excellent
practical and academic knowledge to apply to his client's
training programs.
Here is what Mike had to say:
Finally, an article that dispelled the awful
myth of "cutting up". As a bodybuilder, I know what it takes
to get "ripped" and show muscle definition. As a personal
trainer, I have to teach this to my clients, day in and
day out. It is really quite simple.
Diet has to do with 70-80% of training and
what you look like. The actual training and stimuli that
you place on your body will make up the remaining 20-30%.
The only thing that happens in the gym is energy expenditure
and muscle damage. Rest and proper nutrition will help to
replenish this lost energy and at the same time repair those
damaged muscle tissues. If you rest and are fed properly,
you are more likely bound for greater repair, hence muscle
adaptation and growth. If this occurs, the recently attained
muscle mass will burn more calories at rest. Greater lean
mass will result in greater energy expenditure.
It's important to realize that although proper
rest and nutrition is essential for muscle growth, this
change will not happen overnight, nor will someone getting
cut up. This is how supplement companies market their products,
by telling the public that they can achieve these results
sooner than they think. Changing reps and sets and amounts
of weight lifted does not necessarily get you ripped. It's
the amount of intensity that you lift with that may determine
and help you to achieve your desired results.
Bodybuilders writing programs in magazines
have found something that they use to cut down. It's different
for everybody. Theoretically, the more energy you can expend
per workout is the key. So CB is correct, high reps and
low resistance is not necessarily better nor is it vice-versa,
it is the intensity that is key.
As I already mentioned, I am a natural, drug-free
competitive bodybuilder. When it comes time to diet for
a show, I do not do any cardio. I step up my training schedule
a little and really watch what I eat. I do this year-round
anywise to prevent dropping too much weight. The key to
dieting is to cut out any refined foods. The final product
is a change from 5-6% body-fat off-season, to a ~2% ripped
physique on contest day...with no cardio.
The best analogy that I like to use is the
Parka and the Armani suit. The parka is the fat and the
Armani is the muscle. No matter what suit you have underneath
that Parka, you'll never see it until you take off the Parka.
So those who think that specific exercises will rid certain
areas of fat and get ripped, must think again. Sit-ups will
not get you that 'six-pack' to show off at the beach. They
will develop the abdominal muscles, but without proper nutrition
and constant exercise, you'll never remove that 'Parka'
to show off that suit.
Moderate and heavy weight training is effective
for most goals. Muscle is the result and muscle will help
burn more calories. Starving yourself, doing excessive aerobic
activity, and using too low of an intensity in your resistance
training will not bring anyone the body they desire! You
will get better results within significantly shorter and
less frequent workouts, provided they are intense!
CB ATHLETIC CONSULTING
www.cbathletics.com
www.grrlathlete.com
www.workoutmanuals.com
cb@cbathletics.com
