The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth

NYC Public School Fitness Program

My eldest daughter received her NYC Fitness Gram the other day. The Fitness Gram details her BMI, muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and aerobic fitness levels. It is sanctioned by the NYC Dept. of Education.

I realize that these tests are designed and created to asses the general health and fitness of each child with the best of intentions. I also realize that these sorts of tests are not supposed to be highly accurate depictions of a child's actual fitness level (whatever that really means Truth be told they are pretty useless.

Here is a scan of my daughters test.

For example, all kids are asked to do push ups the same way. doesn't matter if you are really top heavy or not. A heavy kid might be a lot stronger than an thin kid but do less total push-ups (each push up for the heavy kid would be akin to placing 5 NYC phone books on the thin kids back). So the heavy kid gets a worse score even though he is a lot stronger than the thin kid.

When it came to the flexibility test my daughter scored really well. Of course, it helps to have long arms and a long torso in this sit and reach test. If your legs are long and your arms and torso are short you'll score poorly even though the child's level of flexibility is perfectly healthy - for them.

The really interesting this about this Fitness Gram are the sidebar notations.

For example, the sit and reach test which, allegedly, tests the flexibility of the child has a sidebar that reads:

"Maintain your fitness by stretching slowly 3 or 4 days each week..."

This is an interesting statement because my daughter never ever stretches. So her almost off the charts flexibility was not achieved by an iota of stretching. It is highly unlikely that she'll need to stretch then to maintain it.

If you look at the curl ups which are really crunches, my daughter was off the charts. 22 was considered very high and she did 50. On the sidebar it says:

"Your abdominal and trunk strength are both in the Healthy Fitness Zone. To maintain your fitness abdominal and trunk strength (what is the difference really?) should be done 3 to 5 days each week."

Where is the science to support this silly idea? And besides, how did she wind up doing nearly double the very high amount when she never does trunk curls?

At the top right hand side of the paper it says:

"To be healthy and fit, it is important to do some physical activity almost everyday..."

This is not a bad idea but I have yet to see a kid who does not do some form of physical activity everyday. I know that these kids do exist, but they are rare and more than likely need emotional help rather than forcing them to go outside and play.

"Aerobic exercise is good for your heart and body composition..."

There is little if any scientific evidence to support this common idea. Body composition is not affected when kids are placed into aerobic exercise programs unless diet is accounted for.

As for the heart, aerobic exercise does next to nothing especially in children. Aerobic exercise increases the amount of mitochondria (cellular powerhouses) within the muscle (as does weight lifting). The heart merely goes along for the ride.

"Strength and flexibility exercises are good for your muscles and joints."

While it is true that strength exercises are good for your muscles and joints, flexibility exercises are not. In other words, there is little if any scientific evidence to support the idea that stretching exercises are beneficial especially for children.

If we are going to create tests to help keep our children healthy and strong it would be helpful if we stuck to science rather than fitness lore. We owe our children at least this much don't you think?

Please cast your vote for truth!

Go here and take a look. Please cast your vote for truth in science about diabetes.

Many thanks!

A Slow-Burner asks a question part II

Jennifer wrote back to me the next day. Again, I hope this information can help some of you who read this blog:

Hey Fred,

I really appreciate you getting back to me. I must say that I was surprised and thrilled that you were the one that actually emailed me back.

I work for a lady who practices alternative nutritionally health through contact reflex analysis. I’m not sure if you have heard of that. She sells Standard Process whole food supplements of which I have been taking for about three years now. I used to take about 7 different prescription medications and have gotten off of all of them. Sandy, my boss, had the book Protein Power by the Eads in the office and I read their book and that’s how I found out about you and the Slow Burn technique. All of us in the office have read your book and recommend the Slow Burn method to all of

Sandy

’s clients. I knew that I should be following a low carb diet, but I was reluctant to give up all of my grains until recently.

The following is an example of my daily meals. Breakfast consists of a protein shake (protein powder that I get from Sandy), made with almond milk, two to three raw eggs, honey and a tablespoon of organic raw chocolate powder. I also have three pieces of bacon. On the days that I work, which is only two days a week, I usually take a salad with organic cheddar cheese, mushrooms, two boiled eggs, ham, and topped with sunflower seeds. The days that I don’t work, I usually have my protein shake later in the morning so I don’t always eat “lunch.” Sometimes I will just have a protein bar (Standard Process). For dinner, I have steak, chicken thighs, turkey kielbasa or some other type of meat with a side, such as a baked sweet potato, broccoli sautéed in butter, green beans, etc. I have given up rice, white potatoes, bread (even Ezekiel bread), and pasta.

I used to be a very active, athletic girl and have taken weight training classes in college. I had to retrain myself on how to eat after years of dieting that taught me to eat margarine and lowfat foods. I am now having to retrain myself on how I approach exercise. I felt guilty last week for only working out two days instead of the three that I usually work out. I know what you said in your book about aerobic exercise, like the elliptical, but I am still struggling with that one. I almost went and tried out for the Biggest Loser show a few weeks ago, and I realized that I would never be able to conform to their methods of eating and exercising. I found it interesting that you said that I should do the elliptical machine after I do the Slow Burn on the weight machines because I know that I would not be able to go 30 minutes. My legs are usually shaking after I finish doing the Slow Burn. I will make sure that if I continue to do the elliptical machine that I will do it last.

Once again, I appreciate you answering my email. It was very encouraging. I decided to take my measurements so that I may be able to track my progress in a better way. I know that my body is changing. Even my boss told me that she can tell my shape is changing, and I can actually see my triceps a little bit. I will keep you updated on my progress, and who knows, I may be the first person to lose 200 lbs only exercising two days a week.

 Jennifer

And my reply:

Morning Jennifer –

I’m more than happy to personally help anyone interested in getting themselves back to, well, themselves. My pleasure.

The fact that you have finally gotten off the grains whole or processed is a HUGE benefit to your fat loss goals. If you really stay off them, you’ll see much faster fat loss results. But still, you must be patient. I am convinced that this is why you only lost 7 pounds in 3 months. You could have lost more like 12-20 in that same time on a very low carb diet. Still, 7 is not that bad! :) ‘Nothing to shake a stick at’ as they say! And don’t forget (or I’ll get sore) that you are on a fat loss program not a weight loss program. The scale records both fat loss AND muscle gains. Don’t forget now!

As far as your meals go, the only things that I saw that you might want to avoid (for now at least) are the sweet potatoes. And check to see how many carbs there are in the almond milk – it might be a lot. I’m just not sure. If so, use water and a couple of table spoons of organic whole cream instead in your shake. It’ll still be tasty and have zero carbs.  You want ample fat in your protein shakes and ZERO carbs.

Don’t feel guilty about exercising less. Remember – exercise should stimulate a positive response as in doing your strength workout. Your body needs time to respond to the stimulus and provide you with more muscle fibers, bone, etc. Too much exercise gets in the way of that process. Burning calories via exercise is a total and complete myth. It is a bogus concept and does not work. You are better off taking a nap or doing something better with that time like learning a foreign language or a stress relieving exercise.

Funny about the biggest loser – they have rejected me numerous times even though one of my clients has serious influence over the casting. And why was I rejected? My take is they know that I will destroy the other trainer’s results-wise with a low carb diet and 2X a week of 20 minutes of strength training. The reason why so few people reach their goals on TBL is because what Jillian Michaels and the other trainer are doing is FAR too much exercise and incorrect eating. I feel SOOOOO sorry for those people whenever I hesitatingly watch the show. Really sad. PLEASE do not go on that show.

You will indeed lose the 200 pounds with only 1 hour of exercise per week. Please don’t forget – fat loss is all about eating in a way that allows fat stores to be released and not stored. The best way to do this is to keep the hormone insulin low. The best way by far to do this is to eat a low carb diet. This oversimplifies it a bit, but it is essentially correct.

Exercise must be about positive tissue adaptation. The very best way to achieve this is by weight lifting (strength training) and allowing for adequate recovery.

Please keep me posted Jennifer as to your progress and I’ll help you every step of the way.

To you,

Fred

There are tens of thousands of folks like Jennifer all over this fine country who are tortured by shows like The Biggest Loser and led astray by well-meaning but horribly misinformed registered dietitians and doctors. I and many other folks aim to change this.

Fat loss is not a numbers game (calories in vs. calories out). It is a hormonal game that is best won by low carb and strength training.

Let's cheer Jennifer on!

A Slow-Burner asks a question

An online Slow Burn advocate sent this letter to me today. I though that her issues might be similar to many of yours so, I figured sharing it might be of help to some of you.

Her email:

Dear Mr. Hahn,

I am a 44-year-old white female. I started the Slow Burn workout about a month and a half ago. I have just in the past week cut all grains out of my diet. Prior to that, I was only eating whole organic grains.

Back in January when I started working out, I weighed 380 lbs. I have only lost 7 pounds since January. I am extremely frustrated because I workout three days a week. I do the elliptical machine for 30 minutes and then do the Slow Burn technique on the weight machines. I was just wondering when I will start seeing some results with the weight loss. My clothes are definitely looser, and I am starting to see muscle tone in my arms again. However, at some point because of how much I weigh, I would think that I would see drastic results on the scales. Do you have any suggestions or comments?? Thanks.

Jennifer P

Here's my reply:

Hi Jennifer –

Great that you started the workout. Let me get right to the point and say that exercise is not the answer to fat loss. Not even close. While I commend you for the effort you are putting in, what you eat is the answer, not exercise. Since you just cut out all grains last week, you will soon see dramatic changes pretty quickly so long as you don’t go crazy with fruit as fruit, like all grains, are carbohydrate. Give me a sample of your daily food intake so I can see if you are on the right track.

 Also, you are exercising a bit too much. Just do the SB workout twice a week (you don’t need the elliptical either but if you want to do it do it AFTER the SB workout) and follow my book as closely as you can.

Make sure to eat a protein rich, low to no carb meal (or better a shake) immediately after your workouts. Don’t skip breakfast on your training days (or ever for that matter).

Drink a gallon of cool water a day and get at least 8 hours of sound sleep.

And remember, you are building muscle too. If you weigh 370 pounds and after a month lose 5 pounds of fat but gain five pounds of muscle, you’ll weigh the same – right? Right. But your in much better shape.

Stay the low carb course and you’ll see much faster results real soon. Just remember that what you eat is 99% of the fat loss equation. Strength training adds muscle which contributes.

 All the best,

Fred

 

Glyconutrients

I have become interested and mildly fascinated by glyconutruents.

Here's a video describing what they are and how they work.

I am not a scientist so I don't know if this video is perfectly accurate or just physiological propaganda. To find out, I have asked the experts at the Metabolism Society if indeed it is or not. I'll send the answer to you when I receive it. Still it's worth the looksee. As far as I am aware, the sugars they talk about are made by the human body so you don't need to ingest them to create them per se.

But if it is accurate, this is an important message to eat real food. It's such a simple switcheroo to pick up an apple instead of a bag of Soy Crisps or a banana in favor of a Ring Ding.

It also has led me to think about the role of antinutrients found in most grains and beans and how these proteins called lectins disturb and trick our bodies into attacking the good proteins as well as the bad.

Leaky gut syndrome, the process by which foreign proteins seep into our blood stream via microscopic lesions in our intestinal walls, allows our immune system to get baffled and results in our bodies attacking what it shouldn't.

To learn more on this click here.

Putting the two concepts together, I realized that both increasing glyconutrients and decreasing the ingestion of lectin proteins could serve as a power packed method of improving and perhaps curing autoimmune disorders.

In sum, eat real foods and not processed foods and remove grains and beans form the diet. If you suffer form anything that your doctor calls 'autoimmune' first try this route before taking the drugs they suggest.

Hey, ya never know!

Heart cancer - a thought

Have you ever heard of malignant heart cancer? Neither have I. And you probably never will.

Hypothesis - lack of sugar.

While the heart muscle can use sugar as fuel, many experts claim that the hearts preferred source of fuel is saturated fat and ketone bodies.

In fact, Richard Veech MD has shown that the heart works 28 percent more efficiently using ketones as a fuel than it does using glucose. Therefore, more than likely the experts are right that fat is the 'gas' of the heart.

Cancer needs sugar to survive. No sugar, no cancer. Your liver is the creator of glucose (sugar) and liver cancer is one of the worst forms of cancer you can get. You pretty much don't get better once you have liver cancer.

I tried to help my mother who died of lung cancer a few months ago to adopt a no sugar diet. She didn't or wouldn't. Same for my father who died of liver cancer.

I've noticed that people with cancer eat a lot of sugar -or drink it.

And when you are in the hospital taking chemo to treat your cancer, you tend to lose your appetite. And what does the hospital give you to eat since you do need to eat? They give you a drink called Nutrament. The primary ingredients in Nutrament are carbohydrate and sugar to the tune of 52 grams and 49 grams respectively.

Seems to me the thing to do to help combat cancer is to remove sugar (carbs) from the diet. Eskimo's never got cancer. And they never ate sugar. A coincidence? Maybe, maybe...

Who's right and who's wrong

A thought...

You go and get your yearly physical.

After reviewing your blood report, the well-meaning, Harvard graduate doctor tells you that your cholesterol level is too high. She tells you you need to be on statin medications to lower your cholesterol level and to eat less eggs and cheese. This bothers you.

You really don't want to takes any medications nor do you want to give up your soft boiled eggs and brie. You've read and heard about the controversy surrounding cholesterol lowering medications so you go to another doctor to get a second opinion.

The second doctor, a well-meaning, Yale graduate says your cholesterol levels are high by current guidelines, but that research reveals that it doesn't really matter that much if at all what your cholesterol levels are. That statin drugs damage your liver and nervous system and that eating eggs and cheese do not raise blood cholesterol levels.

One of them is wrong.

But who?

Outliers

Riding in the car to Michigan over the holidays, I listened to Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers. It's a fascinating treatise on how the very successful got that way. According to Gladwell, it's more than just being born with a giant brain or a perfect pitch. It has more to do with your particular set of life circumstances - where and when you were born, what your parents did for a living, what month you were born in, etc.

In other words, just because your IQ is 19 billion it does not necessarily follow you will become a Nobel Laureate or a virtuoso violinist. In fact, you may wind up being nothing more than a bouncer in a bar. Check out Chris Langon.

From a fitness perspective this is an important concept to understand. If fully understood, it would save millions of people from despair and regression in their fitness endeavors. Allow me to explain.

This impossibly 'perfect' man (Frank Zane)

is an Outlier. He inherited or, rather, was born with several rare and unalterable (or attainable) genetic factors like the shape of his skeleton (wide shoulders and narrow ribs), more total muscle fibers, longer than average muscle length and width, low amount of total fat cells, and several other hormonal markers which allowed him to have the body he has. Lifting weights simply amplified these effects.

The same is true for this gal:

Now, I am NOT suggesting in any way that these people are to be envied; nor am I suggesting that these people are perfect or beautiful. I am just pointing out that if these types of bodies are something you are aspiring towards, the chances that you will achieve your goal - or even come remotely close - are slim to none.

These people and those like them are true genetic outliers. They are one in a million. It is not because they eat right, or exercise more, or sleep better, or anything else. If you don't already posses a body like this or close to it you can never have it.

Think of it this way - since there are over 9 billion humans on the earth, if only one half of one percent of all humans inherited the rare set of genetics necessary to have bodies like these people (or even close), this means that there are millions of people with such genetics.

All, and I mean ALL of the 'perfect' people you see in the magazines, on TV, movies, etc. are one of these outliers. It is no different than having extremely blue eyes, full, thick hair, or if you are very tall. It also pertains to the opposite - being bald, short, stocky or freckled. None of these are good or bad mind you - all have their advantages.

So remember, if you are exercising properly (strength training) and eating healthfully (low carb/paleo) you should be able to reach YOUR complete genetic potential in 1-2 years time. What you will see in the mirror at that time will be about as close to YOUR ideal self as possible. Rejoice in this whatever it turns out to be.

ABC Eyewitness News

Just as a heads up, my daughter and I will be on ABC's Eyewitness News this Sunday morning at 7:45 AM live to promote my new book Strong Kids Healthy Kids.

I am interested...

...in the results and benefits that Slow Burn training and low carb chowing has done for you and your family.

The first 5 people who write me their story get a complimentary autographed copy of my new book Strong Kids Healthy Kids.

Please be specific about your experiences. What I'm looking for is the amount of fat you have lost, if you got off your diabetes meds, etc. Not just "Hey Fred I feel awesome!" Thanks!

Send all stories to FHahn@seriousstrength.com. I will publish the stories (edited and anonymous) in a new blog once all stories are in.