Comments for S.P.A.R.T.A. Fitness Blog

Comment on 5 Reasons You Won’t Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions by Dar

Dar — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:03:05 +0000

Resolutions . . . shoot for something you really want!

Comment on I’ve got the answer by Diet vs. Cardio – S.P.A.R.T.A. Fitness Blog

Diet vs. Cardio – S.P.A.R.T.A. Fitness Blog — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:11:42 +0000

[...] of what we want to do. You will also need to know what your unique metabolism is. This is where a metabolic test can come in handy. And for tracking your calories going forward, use our free tool here. I hope you [...]

Comment on Target Heart Rate Zones Arbitrarily Established by Chris Lutz

Chris Lutz — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:43:06 +0000

It is useless. My point in posting this is that it is also missing the larger point that the cardiorespiratory systems are the secondary systems. They are only acting in response and support of what the musculature is doing. The muscular system is the primary system. It is the window into the other systems. Look at this quote by Dr. Richard Lieber author of Skeletal Muscle Structure and Function “Since muscle represents about three-fourths of the body mass, a healthy muscular system is usually associated with healthy cardiovascular, pulmonary, and endocrine systems” The cardiovascular is the more diseased system, but still a secondary system when it comes to movement and certainly trainability. That’s why cardio activities are usually performed with the largest muscle groups. What’s wrong with doing circuit weight training to maximally stimulate the muscular system as well as maximally stimulate the cardiorespiratory systems as a result in a lower force and more orthopedically sound way?

Comment on Target Heart Rate Zones Arbitrarily Established by Amy

Amy — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:37:18 +0000

This is really interesting. Does anyone know who actually came up with the % zones? Using lactate data I have found the % zones to be useless in trained athletes, so I am keen to find out who came up with … zone 1 for aerobic base etc. And what is based on sound research.

Comment on Target Heart Rate Zones Arbitrarily Established by Randy Northrop

Randy Northrop — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:21:47 +0000

I agree with Terry, the formula is basically an average or starting point for beginners. Once you have somewhat of a fitness level established it would be best to do a max heart rate test (several options available) to establish an individuals true max heart rate.

Comment on Target Heart Rate Zones Arbitrarily Established by Terry Bachman

Terry Bachman — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:36:40 +0000

“The harder you breathe the more energy you expend; the more you sweat the more fat-calories you burn because you’re doing more work.” That said, I agree with David. The fact is, the formula was devised upon how much the heart decreases with age, without taking into account individuals; therefore, the formula is based on averages. In fact, 40% (or more) of us do not even fit the formula because our hearts either go faster or slower than the age-predicted formula. My feeling has always been that, if you are a beginner with no supervision, have certain medical conditions, or special circumstances, then I would suggest you use the formula. However, in all other cases, I believe common sense may be your best monitor. I have always encouraged people to use the personal “talk test ” (which of course I explain to them how that works) instead of relying on the heart charts on the wall that may indeed be someone else’s numbers.

Comment on NBC’s The Biggest Loser: Sending the right message? by Chris Lutz

Chris Lutz — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:03:38 +0000

Yes, Beth and I have talked fairly in depth about this before. I think on the show they see and recognize these mental issues, but I don’t think they are addressed thoroughly. Great response, Beth!

Comment on NBC’s The Biggest Loser: Sending the right message? by Beth Ratchford

Beth Ratchford — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:50:54 +0000

First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to say that I’ve never watched an entire episode of the Biggest Loser. I’ve only seen bits of it and know the premise of the show. From what I understand people lose weight very quickly (which I would think is a health risk) and under circumstances that aren’t realistic. Also, does the show deal with the bigger picture of dieting and weight/food issues? I’m a therapist and I see a lot of people in my practice that have issues with weight/food/body image/disordered eating. And what I’ve come to realize is that if someone is struggling with these issues, utlimately it’s not about food, dieting, etc. It’s about the reasons that they use food and dieting the way that they do. I’ve found this to be true of every client that I’ve worked with about these types of issues. Obsessing about food and weight is a coping strategy to avoid dealing with things that are going on in their life. And it’s almost always a coping strategy that has been with the person for most of their life so ulimately, what they’re trying to avoid is things from their past. It’s often a coping strategy that works well when we’re a child–it gives us a way to not deal with the reality of what’s happening. The problem is, we take those coping strategies into adulthood and they get in the way of us leading healthy lives. So usually what I find with my clients is that the way to deal with the eating issues is to deal with the things in their lives they’ve avoided or hidden from. And by doing that we’re taking care of the food issues because eventually they’ll no longer need that coping strategy. That’s not to say that a focus on food and weight, eating in healthy ways, etc. aren’t a part of the work, they are–but in my opinion they’re only part of the work not the focus of the work. So I suppose the ideal scenario would be to deal with the things from your story along with consulting with nutritionists and folks like Chris and his team. Does the process of the Biggest Loser lay the foundation for folks to deal with these deeper issues so that the truly can experience freedom in this area of their lives? A loss of pounds doesn’t necessarily lead to that freedom.

Comment on Don’t be this lady (video included) by Chris Lutz

Chris Lutz — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:17:16 +0000

Gary,

That’s very true and I have noticed that for several years and have actually consulted a therapist who is a business partner about it. It certainly has to be a multi-pronged approach. However, everyone please understand, we are sensitive to mental/emotional troubles, this was just purely for humor and laughs.

Comment on Don’t be this lady (video included) by Gary Westlund

Gary Westlund — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:56:48 +0000

While the video’s are oh-so sadly true, and apparently funny, I’m reluctant to pass these videos around to a \wider\ audience.

Here’s the reason: I’m increasingly aware that so many who battle obesity are actually emotionally troubled for a variety of reasons. Because I’m not qualified to even explore let alone treat those emotional reasons for overeating/under-exercising, I’m also reluctant to treat their obesity challenges lightly. I just don’t know enough about those individuals to treat them too lightly.

Beyond that, I’m delighted by the scores of \Big Losers\, really big winners, I’ve met through our Challenge Obesity 5k here in MN. Wow! There are a lot of people making a big change in their lives because they’ve learned to \Eat Less & Move More\.

Thanks for the laughs and together we’ll see more folks make big changes for the better.