ALL ABOUT FITNESS
Facts about Fat
1. Standard Weight for Men and Women
Height (cm) |
Weight (Kg)
Medium |
Height (cm) |
Weight (Kg)
Medium |
163 |
56-62 |
150 |
45-50 |
165 |
58-63 |
152 |
46-51 |
168 |
59-65 |
155 |
47-53 |
170 |
61-67 |
157 |
49-54 |
173 |
63-69 |
157 |
49-54 |
175 |
65-71 |
160 |
50-55 |
178 |
66-73 |
165 |
53-59 |
180 |
68-75 |
166 |
55-61 |
Small Frame- Subtract 2 to 3 Kg. Heavy Frame- Add 2 to 3 Kg. |
2. Fat
storing propensity
-
The reason for becoming overweight is either eating too much or
exercising too little or both, but the main cause is the internal body chemistry.
-
-
We are not merely
passive reservoirs or tanks where input is more calories and output is less
calories. We are in fact, active metabolizing machines, each different in
some way and each handling calories differently.
-
-
60 - 70% of the
energy that the muscles need when one is resting is supplied by fat.
Storage of fat is
a natural body function.
-
-
People who are
over-weight have a
greater propensity for storing fat and less than the normal propensity for
burning it.
-
3. What is the maximum
fat content for a fit person?
-
Your weight = fat
+ lean body mass.
-
-
The more fat you
have, the better you will be able to float in a swimming pool! But it is of
no good to your health.
-
In contrast to
fat, lean muscle and bone do not float.
If weighed
underwater, it is the lean people who weigh more.
-
-
>People with 25%
fat can float easily in a swimming pool.
-
>People with 20%
fat can float easily while breathing.
-
>People with 15%
fat will sink very slowly even with a chest-full of air.
-
>People with 13%
fat readily sink even in salt water.
-
Maximum fat
content allowable:
-
>For healthy
men 15% to 20%
-
>For healthy
women 22% to 25%
4.
How to ascertain obesity?
Testing your body weight
index (BWI)
Divide your
weight (W) in Kgs (Kilograms). by the square of your height in meters:
BWI
= W/H2
- Result
assessment:
-
BWI 20-25
- considered normal
- BWI 26-30
- considered excess weight
- BWI > 30
- considered obese
Testing your
abdominal obesity index (AOl)
-
1.
Measure the
waist and hip with a measuring tape.
-
2. Calculate the
waist to hip ratio.
-
3. For men an
index of < 0.9 is considered normal.
-
4. For women an
index of < 0.85 is considered normal.
Body Composition
There are several ways of having the Body Composition assessed - underwater
weighing, skin-fold measurements, ultrasound testing, electrical impedance, to
name a few.
But now there is a simple chart based on thousands of these tests that allows
you to get an accurate estimate of your body fat percentage. To use the chart,
locate your body weight on the Weight scale and draw a straight line from there
to your waist size (measured at your belly button) on the opposite scale. Your
estimated percentage of body fat is the point at which the line crosses the diagonal
scale in the middle of the chart.
Exercise for Fitness
1. Walking
-
The ultimate cure
for obesity is exercise.
Brisk walk for
30-40 minutes daily is the most efficient way of reducing fat for people.
-
-
-> One can take a glass or two of water early in the morning, but
certainly not tea or coffee before the walk.
-
-> The walk has to be
continuous and steady.
-
-> The heart beat per
minute should be increased to the “training rate”, which takes about eight
minutes of warm-up.
-
-> Then walk at that
rate for twelve minutes.
-
-> Finally cool down
the heart rate for next ten minutes.
-
-> Stretching
exercises in the beginning help to get warmed up before walking.
2. How hard should one
exercise?
-
As you work your
muscles, the oxygen demand goes up and the heart beats faster.
The older you are,
the slower your heart beats during maximum exercise.
For regular,
everyday, efficient exercise we should workout only enough to make our
hearts beat at a maximum of 80%, for our age.
-
-
Determine your
correct exercise “Training Heart Rate” from the table and continue the
steady exercise for twelve minutes. Don’t forget to warm-up and cool down.
-
Training Heart Rate Table |
Age (Yrs) |
Maximum Heart Rate per
Minute |
Recommended Training Rate
(80% of Max.) |
20 |
200 |
160 |
30 |
190 |
152 |
32 |
189 |
151 |
34 |
187 |
150 |
36 |
186 |
149 |
38 |
184 |
147 |
40 |
182 |
146 |
45 |
179 |
143 |
50 |
175 |
140 |
55 |
171 |
137 |
3. How
to determine your correct Heart Rate?
Resting Head
Rate (HR)
- An average
heart beats seventy two times per minute. Take your pulse as soon as you
wake up.
- If your
morning heart rate is above 85 or erratic, see the doctor before starting
any exercise.
Maximum Heart Rate (HM)
- Maximum
Heart Rate = 220 minus your age
- This is
the fastest your heart can beat for your age.
Warning: Do not exercise
beyond the Maximum Heart Rate!
Training Heart Rate (HT)
Training Heart
Rate = Resting Heart Rate plus 65% multiple by (Max. Heart Rate minus Resting Heart Rate)
Example: A
forty-year-old has a resting heart rate of 70. His training heart rate is 70 + 65% x
(180-70) = 142.0. When this person exercises, he should maintain a heart rate of
142-144 beats per minute.
When you
exercise, check your pulse immediately at the end of the exercise. Count it for
6 seconds and multiply by 10. If the beats are slower than 10 compared to your
calculated training rate, your exercise is not effect enough. If the beats are
over 10
or more,
slow down your speed. Remember, we are
working with time not racing against it.
4.
Heart Recovery Rate and Health Indication
-
A valuable
criterion of physical fitness is heart recovery rate after exercise which is
an important health indicator.
-
-
After a workout
the heart rate slows
down in two stages.
First, there is a
sharp drop from 140 to 100 BPM (Beats Per Minute) within a minute. It stays
there for few minutes (say 2 to 3 minutes) and then gradually drops to
original resting heart rate.
-
-
The first drop in
heart rate, immediately after the exercise is most significant in judging the
health condition.
-
-
Recovery rate can
be calculated by taking the pulse for 6 seconds immediately at the end of an
exercise and then again for 6 seconds exactly one minute later.
Recovery Rate = (Exercise pulse - 1 minute pulse)/10
Recovery Rate |
Health Indication |
Less than 2 |
Poor |
2-3 |
Fair |
3-4 |
Good |
4-6 |
Excellent |
More than 6 |
Super |
Exercise FAQ's
1. Is
Intense Exercise better than Moderate Exercise?
-
Intense exercise
will overheat the muscles, doing more damage than good if the body isn’t
ready for that.
-
In intense
exercise one is also likely to lose muscle, if not combined with a proper
diet.
Exercising
moderately for a longer period of time is more effective than an intense
exercise for shorter period.
-
-
After the age of
forty, it is recommended that exercise be changed on alternate days to
involve all the muscles in the system and to avoid exercising the same
muscles often.
Give time for the
muscles to repair between exercises.
Warning: If one is in a hurry to get
in shape
“Exercise longer not harder”
and Never
exceed your "Training heart rate"!
2. How to take an
exercise pulse?
-
Your pulse is
a much more accurate measurement of your health than your weight.
Men’s average
resting pulse is about 72 and for women it is about 80.
-
-
You can find
your pulse on the thumb side of the wrist or on the side of the neck.
Once you have
found the pulse, count it for exactly 6 seconds and multiply by ten.
-
-
One can take
the pulse several times during the day to get the average resting pulse.
-
-
If you
exercise correctly and long enough, the heart muscles will get stronger
and it will soon pump slower, while pumping more blood at each stroke.
-
-
If you want to
take your training pulse, stop and do a quick 6 second
count.
When you first
start any exercise, stop as many times to check the exercise pulse till you
reach the right intensity of exercise, to get the correct pulse rate.
3. Which exercise to
choose?
- Many
people begin an exercise programme, only to give up after a few weeks.
One of reasons being
the selection of an exercise is not suited for themselves that results in
burn out.
- Walking is
an excellent exercise for all ages.
It is not
strenuous on the knees and joints.
Just be
sure the walk is brisk enough to maintain your training
heart rate. If you
feel brisk walking is not enough to drive your pulse to the training heart
rate, try to carry some weight like a back-pack.
-
Stationary
cycling and swimming is also considered a good exercise for reducing fat.
4. Precautions
for exercising
- Muscle and
muscle enzymes can increase when a person exercises properly on a day-to-day
basis. If one
exercises too long and strenuously, the body will not be able to
re-synthesize the protein lost.
Problem |
Solution |
Muscle loss
will occur, if the exercise is too intense. |
Exercise at
the proper heart rate. |
Muscle loss
will occur, if there is insufficient time allowed for recovery. |
Wait 24 hours before next exercise period and switch exercise
day-to-day. |
Muscle loss
will occur, if illness or disease is present (including emotional
problems) |
Do not
exercise when systemically ill; the body needs protein to repair sick
tissues. |
Muscle loss
will occur if dietary protein is inadequate or imbalanced. |
Eat
at least 60 grams
of protein in a day. Have a balanced diet. When carbohydrate is
low, protein will be used for making glucose instead of tissue
repair. |
5. Is it possible to
reduce fat from particular spots?
-
Most people
believe that
fat concentrates in specific areas and it can disappear with
exercise. But this is not true.
-
In women, the fat
concentrates on the hips and thighs and in men, around the belly.
-
-
Passive spot
reducers include belly-belts and rollers in health clubs and in some cases heated belts, sweat-suits etc.
-
Heat and pressure
drive the water out of the muscle tissue and they lose inches but within a
few hours the tissue gets back to their original shape.Most of the time
the weight loss will actually be water loss from the body.People who
do sit-ups, leg-rises and donkey-kicks beyond their capacity, with the aim
of spot reduction, work their poor muscles to death.
-
-
When large sets of
muscles of the body are exercised, fat will be drawn from all parts of the
body to meet the energy requirement.
6. Work and Exercise - do
they produce same results?
-
Sustained exercise
at 80% of maximum heart rate is very efficient at bringing about the
changes.
Physical work is a
form of exercise but it is not sufficient to make the required changes in our body.
-
-
The work one does
may cause the heart to beat faster, but work rarely sustains long enough to
get any benefits.
-
Work is
non-aerobic like weight-lifting or sprinting. It is too low or too high in
intensity or too short in duration.
-
Work usually makes
demands on only one set of muscles but aerobic walking summons all the
muscles of the body, including the heart muscles.
Metabolically,
even the arms get conditioned during aerobic walking.Aerobic walking
will get you in condition for work, but work will not get you in condition
for exercise.
-
-
Diet for Fitness
1. Understanding fat,
carbohydrate and protein interaction
- Fat,
carbohydrate and protein are the only sources of calories in any diet.
The
various weight-loss diets consist of an endless list of manipulations of
these three components of foods. Fat cannot convert into protein or carbohydrate, whereas protein and
carbohydrate can be converted to fat.The only
thing the body can do with fat is burn it up in the muscle.Protein
can be converted into glucose which is used by muscles. The brain mainly
uses two-thirds of the glucose in the blood.
- If one
endangers the supply of blood glucose in any way, for example by over exercising, the powerful
body function will convert protein into glucose.High
protein diet to reduce fat has the danger of overburdening the kidney. Similarly,
over exercising instead of building muscles will break the muscles into
glucose for blood sugar.
2. What happens when one
eats too much protein?
-
One cannot repair
any more tissue than that which needs repair.
When amino acids
are not needed, they are sent to the liver where they are 'de-aminated' and
then converted into fat. The process of de-amination
is stressful to the body.
During de-amination
the nitrogen that is released from amino acids is quickly converted into
ammonia. Ammonia is very
toxic to the body and in turn is changed to urea.
Urea is also toxic
and to eliminate it from the body, it must be diluted into urine.
-
-
If the protein
content is about 12-13 percent of the total calorie intake, the body can very
easily get rid of the urea.
-
But if it is more,
then one needs enormous amounts of water to dilute it. If adequate water is
not available the body will take
from its own tissue and in the process the kidneys have to work overtime to get rid of the urea.
In high protein
diet the weight loss is only water loss. There is no reduction of fat.
3. Balanced
diet
-
One can get enough
protein in the diet along with a good balance of carbohydrates and vitamins.
-
-
The thumb rule is
to eat two servings (3 ounces) of protein-rich split peas, dried beans,
lentils etc.
-
For
non-vegetarians, low fat meats such as chicken and fish may be recommended.
In addition, have
two servings (one cup each) of non-fat or low fat milk or a milk substitute
such as yogurt or cheese.
-
-
Balance these high
protein foods with carbohydrates by eating four servings of fruits or
vegetables each day and four servings of rice and cereals.
(One serving
of fruit is 3/4 cup filled with small size pieces).
-
-
It is almost
impossible not to find fat in the foods we eat.The essence of the
whole exercise is to have a well balanced diet.
4. Do muscles burn fat or glucose?
-
The muscles
use mainly fat for energy.
Nearly 70 percent
of the energy needed by muscles is obtained by fat and only 30 percent by glucose.Glucose is
like a twig, it burns easily but fat is like a log; it is hard to get
started but once started it burns for a long time, giving off lots of heat.
Continuous walk for thirty minutes plays an important role here. Glucose is
good for quick energy which is required during a sprint or short distance
running.
5. Fat storage and its
advantage
-
All living things,
including plants, have to store a certain amount of food for the days when
they cannot find or make food.
Carbohydrates are
stored by plants and fat is stored by animals and humans. Fat contains twice as many calories per gram as
carbohydrates. Fat can be packed
into a small space and the fat cell can contain up to 85 percent fat and the
remaining 15 percent is
used by water-based life function of the fat cell.
6. Is it advisable to
reduce weight by fasting?
-
If the body is
stressed by fasting, it will try to hoard extra fat when it is made
available.
Fasting to reduce
weight will actually encourage the body to store more fat. Fasting once a
week or once a fortnight or once a month will certainly help the body to cleanse the
toxins and rest the digestive system.
-
-
A diet of one meal a day (23 hour fast)
is not advisable. The intake of calories
should be spread over the day in five to six meals.
Otherwise when you
go off the diet, the body is set to gain weight.
7. Know about
carbohydrates
-
Recommended
percentage of daily calories for good health is Carbohydrates 65%, Fat 23%
and Protein 12%.
-
Starch in rice,
wheat is only the beginning of the complex carbohydrates.
But there is
cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin which are only partly digested. These
form the roughage.
Eating more
roughage means absorbing more carbohydrates.
-
-
All carbohydrates
after intestine digestion become simple carbohydrate called glucose. Some
carbohydrates break down very quickly, some very slowly and some (like
cellulose) do not break down at all.
Complex
carbohydrates will become blood glucose very slowly while the simple sugars
such as maltose, lactose in milk and table sugar will become blood glucose
almost immediately.
-
-
Avoid simple
carbohydrates because it causes our blood glucose levels to fluctuate too
quickly.
Adding bran to the
food to increase the roughage should be avoided.
8. Benefits of eating
whole grain without polishing (cooked properly, of course).
a. Calorific value is
decreased by the roughage.
b. Roughage is hard to chew, thus decreasing the tendency to
overeat.
c. Roughage acts as protection to the digestive tract.
d. One can eat the vitamins with their food as nature intended.
e. The simple sugars
are tasteful but are delayed in their entrance
into the blood stream.
9. How is energy produced
inside a muscle?
-
Glucose from
carbohydrates, fatty acids from fats, and amino-acids from proteins are
burned inside muscle cells to get energy.
Cellular burning
is more like taking a building apart! It is a careful procedure requiring
special tools and detonators at every step. In our body, those tools are
called enzymes.
Literally,
hundreds of enzymes are needed in each cell and each one is quite different
from the other. Each enzyme is
made of protein.
They are large,
complex molecules that cannot pass through the wall of a cell.
So, the only way
enzymes increase in a muscle is when the DNA makes more enzymes inside a
cell.
This is called
enzyme biosynthesis and takes place only if you eat adequately, if your
cells aren’t sick and if you exercise to stimulate the DNA to go to work.
-
-
DNA (de-oxyribonucleic
acid) can be
compared to an architect. It
contains the blue print of our body and dictates the
behaviour of cells. It also decides what to manufacture, what to seek, and what to avoid. RNA (ribo
nucleic acid) can be compared to the builder who constructs the house.
-
E-mail: info@acupressureclub.org
|