Fitness

Questions and answers

Q: Do I need strength training?

A: Scientific studies show numerous benefits gained from strength training: stronger muscles and bones, increased function, balance, and work capacity, and improved metabolic regulation and body composition.

Modern lifestyle includes many conveniences that reduce the demand on our muscles, making strength training very important in keeping the body strong and functional.

Strength training also improves glucose metabolism, preventing insulin resistance or diabetes and other modern diseases. Insulin resistance is associated with energy dysregulation and weight gain. Strength training helps us maintain a healthy metabolism.

Strength training also decreases age-related loss of function, so that we can all continue to live independent lives well into our later years.

Although you don't have to be an Olympian, it's good to be strong - for many reasons.

Q: I already run and bike a lot, do I still need strength training?

A: Running is a great activity that improves cardiovascular and respiratory endurance. Beyond the initial period, however, running does little to strengthen muscle or maintain muscle metabolism.

Some studies how that chronic endurance training, without engaging in strength training, may decrease bone density. Strength training helps to offset this loss of bone density.

Chronic endurance training may also induce chronic stress hormones. Stress hormones - particularly cortisol - have been shown to promote inflammation, age-related diseases, and weight gain. Balancing endurance training with strength training may help decrease chronic stress hormones.

Q: I hesitate to do strength training because I don't want to get big and bulky.

A: Strength training does build muscle, but not as quickly or as much as commonly believed. If you're a female, the effect is even less. Pay no attention to the pictures of extremely muscular women in bodybuilding magazines, as their physiques are a result of steroid use.

The small amount of muscle mass you'll build through strength training helps you stay strong and healthy, and (re)shape the body.

However, there is a very small percentage of people (even female) who have the genetics to gain muscle easily; in this case, strength training can be used less frequently while other forms of exercise will still offer benefits. At The 3rd Door, we have plenty of options.

Q: The 3rd Door is big into rowing (Concept2 Ergometer Rowing). Why?

A: Rowing is a great activity that challenges nearly the entire muscular system, including the core, and vascular and respiratory systems. Rowing can be both aerobic and anaerobic.

Depending on how it is used, rowing can be very calorically expensive. It will also improve your body's use of oxygen, which is associated with increased work capacity, health, and longevity.

Rowing is also low-impact, so those recovering from various injuries may still achieve health, fitness, and body-composition benefits.

Although we encourage all forms of aerobic and anaerobic exercises, we want to emphasize the efficiency of a good rowing session.

And, it's oh-so fun!

Q: I want to burn fat and lose weight. Can I do this by just exercising?

A: All physical activities burn calories, as a result you'll also burn fat. The greater the caloric expenditure, the greater the fat burn. (Certain exercises produce greater caloric expenditure than others.) So, yes, you can burn fat through just exercising.

However, burning fat during exercise does not equate to losing weight or losing fat. Any fat you burn during exercise can easily be replaced during eating. Therefore, to burn fat, and then keeping it off, you must also focus on eating well. There's no way around it.

Exercise also helps keep the weight off.

Q: There are so many diets out there and they can be so complicated. How do I know which one is good for me?

A: You're right, there are many diets, and many seem overly complicated, some even teetering on the fringe.

We believe that eating well and eating for fat loss should never be complicated or have too many rules. We believe that a diet that helps you lose fat is one you can use for the rest of your life, without having to think too hard about it.

This diet should include mostly whole, real food - while minimizing processed and refined foods. We believe most people can easily tell which food is whole and real, and which is processed and refined. Eat mostly the former, less of the latter. This is 95% of all the dietary knowledge you'll ever need.

We believe you shouldn't have to understand macronutrients, micronutrients, or remember the exact calorie count of every food you eat.

And since food is central to our culture, we believe you don't have to sacrifice the joy of eating. But because decreased calorie intake is still the single, most irrefutable way to losing weight, we believe in a lifestyle in which you learn how to eat less through the elimination of needless snacking and mindless eating, while enjoying quality and delicious foods when it really counts: sitting down with family, with friends, and with celebration.

Q: I know breads are processed, but sometimes I see them labeled as "whole grains." Are they processed or whole foods?

A: Grains, even if "whole grains," are hulled or milled or otherwise processed in order to be edible. Their natural, beneficial nutrients are thus diminished as compared to their unnecessarily high calories. And excess calorie intake is still the king of overweight and diminishing health.