How well high intensity training actually works may in large part depend on your genetic makeup. Researchers have developed a genetic test to predict who will quickly improve their aerobic fitness, and who will not.

Recent research also shows that when healthy but inactive people exercise intensely, even if the exercise is brief, it produces an immediate change in their DNA. It appears this contraction-induced gene activation promotes genetic reprogramming of muscles for strength and other structural and metabolic benefits associated with exercise.

Ideally, you’ll want to do high intensity exercises two or three times a week for a total of four minutes of intense exertion with recovery periods in between. For optimal health, you’d also be wise to incorporate aerobic, strength training, core exercises and stretching, for a well-rounded fitness program.

The most recent research shows that relatively short bursts of intense exercise—even if done only a total of a few minutes each week—can deliver many of the health and fitness benefits you get from doing hours of conventional exercise.

By doing just three minutes of High Intensity Training (HIT) a week for four weeks, you could see significant changes in important health indices.

At some research centers, participants were able to improve their insulin sensitivity an average of 24 percent with as little as three minutes of HIT per week.

BBC News reportsi :
“So how does it work? … [P]art of the explanation is (probably) that HIT uses far more of your muscle tissue than classic aerobic exercise.

When you do HIT, you are using not just the leg muscles, but also the upper body including arms and shoulders, so that 80 percent of the body’s muscle cells are activated, compared to 20-40 percent for walking or moderate intensity jogging or cycling.”

But there’s an important caveat…

Just how well high intensity training actually works may in large part depend on your genetic makeup.

Your Genes May Determine How Little Exercise You Need
We often tend to believe that exercise will affect most people in similar ways. But that may be an oversimplification—at least when it comes to how little exercise you can get away with and still maintain good health. In the featured article, Michael Mosley offers the following explanation:
“The fact is that people respond to exercise in very different ways. In one international studyii 1,000 people were asked to exercise four hours a week for 20 weeks. Their aerobic fitness was measured before and after starting this regime and the results were striking. Although 15 percent of people made huge strides (so-called “super-responders”), 20 percent showed no real improvement at all (“non-responders”).

There is no suggestion that the non-responders weren’t exercising properly, it was simply that the exercise they were doing was not making them any aerobically fitter. Jamie [Timmons. Professor of ageing biology at Birmingham University] and his collaborators investigated the reasons for these variations and discovered that much of the difference could be traced to a small number of genesiii. On the basis of this finding they have developed a genetic test to predict who is likely to be a responder, and who is not.”

I thought that the recent report in the BBC News was an interesting confirmation of the Peak Fitness approach I have been advocating for some time now. It is important not to get caught up in the non-responder element of the report as it is was related to aerobic fitness, which we now realize is far less important than anaerobic fitness. It is safe to assume that everyone, including you, requires the metabolic challenge to stay healthy and avoid disease. While some people may actually get more aerobically fit than others, virtually everyone seems to benefit if the exercises are done properly.

So, I’m inviting you to participate in this year’s “What’s Up?” Annapolis Magazine’s ‘BEST OF’ Beauty & Fitness poll.

Please take 60 seconds to vote for Excellence In Fitness.  Voting closes March 31, 2012.

We are hoping to pull through with the most “BEST OF” votes for Excellence In Fitness for Best Personal Trainer at the Studio.

Simply follow the link below:

Cast Your Vote – Best of Annapolis 2012

Please feel free to vote for us in any other appropriate category.

Hurry, you only have until March 31, 2012.  And don’t forget to pass this email on to all of your friends!

Thanks in advance for all of your support!

Sincerely,
Joe Aben

Included with all our 1-on-1 Personal Training Programs is a complimentary nutritional consultation with Jennifer, who will create a customized nutrition plan based on your fitness and fat loss goals. Your individualized Body Of Excellence (BX) Nutrition Program works hand in hand with your BX Exercise Program and is a required element to maximize health and weight loss results.

Your nutrition program starts with Jennifer reviewing your 7-day diet inventory with you, while also explaining how making small changes as part of a well balanced diet, over time, has huge beneficial impacts on your overall lifestyle. She then creates a customized program based on a holistic approach to health, addressing not only the calories you consume but other factors, such as work schedule, family life and emotional stressors that influence your eating habits. Your team of EIF professional fitness coaches then holds you accountable to consistently following your program. Jennifer can also provide you with more in-depth, private, one-on-one nutritional sessions for an additional fee. She also offers sessions for couples and families.

Here’s how it works:
Just show up at EIF Annapolis (address above) dressed and ready to work out.  The class meets at 7:30am.  Here’s more info about the class: Wave Adventure Class

Come one, come all.

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Many still make the mistake of equating weight training with “bulking up.”

Please understand that strength training is not just about “looking good.”

It’s also an important part of maintaining a healthy weight, strengthening your bones, and improving your body’s posture, range of motion and functionality..

But that’s just the beginning … below are 10 more reasons why strength training should be a regular part of your workout routine.

By Kathy Smith

10 Reasons to Add Strength Training to Your Workouts

10. Last time you tried to open a jar of olives you gave up and settled for a box of crackers. Why?

You’re losing it, baby!

When it comes to muscle mass, we all experience a scary little process I call “The Great Decline.”

Every decade we lose muscle mass, and as we age the percentage of loss just keeps accelerating. By age 60, the average person will have lost one-third of his/her muscle mass.

The good news: you can reverse it with resistance training. There’s no age limit on your ability to add muscle and stop The Great Decline.

9. The phrase “Sitting AROUND the house” has more than one meaning — and you’d like to avoid one of them.

If you’re reading this article, chances are you’re interested in maintaining or losing weight. Too many people try to drop inches with diet alone, or by walking endlessly on the treadmill. My DVD 2-pack title says it all: Lift Weights to Lose Weight.

Here’s the bottom line: a pound of muscle burns 35 to 50 calories a day, just by sitting there on your body. A pound of fat? It burns about 3 to 5 calories a day.

8. Your idea of “getting dairy in your diet for calcium” is a pint of Ben & Jerry’s … so it’s time to bone up.

In your 30′s, bone mass generally reaches its maximum level of growth. Then, in your 40′s, it’s another decline: your bone mass starts gradually decreasing. Once again, dumbbells save the day, as strength training maintains or even increases bone mass as you age.

7. Last time you slipped in the shower, you almost reenacted the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercial.

Poor balance and lack of muscular strength can result in falls, leading to fractures, broken bones, and worse. When performed properly, strengthening exercises increase flexibility and balance — so you can stay on your toes.

6. Heart disease is sooooo 2007.

Heart disease risk is lower when your body is lean. The American Heart Association recommends strength training as a way to reduce risk of heart disease — it helps you lose visceral fat, the most dangerous type of fat when it comes to cardiovascular health.

5. For you, the idea of offering a piggy-back ride to a child is as horrifying as the latest Saw sequel.

Got back pain or posture issues? The best non-surgical alternative for remedying back problems is strength training. A strong core supports your lower back and protects you from injury, and strong back muscles contribute to good posture.

The bonus: good posture naturally makes your abdomen look flatter.

4. Bladder-control issues bring back painful schoolyard memories.

Muscular agility is proven to help prevent incontinence. Moving on.

3. Psssst … There are wild rumors going around that better sex can be ENJOYABLE. But you didn’t hear it from me. Shhhh …

Resistance training is a must when it comes to reshaping your body, targeting “trouble spots,” and transforming your figure into a younger, fitter, and, yes, sexier you. Not only does it help you improve your state of mind and ensure that you look terrific in a bathing suit … but building muscle actually improves sexual function. (Before you run away from the computer to pick up your dumbbells, hang tight. We’re almost finished here.)

2. Lifting a bag of groceries doesn’t have to be the greatest achievement of your day. Let’s aim a little higher with our goals, shall we?

Nothing trains your body to perform functional movement for everyday living (bending, twisting, lifting, and reaching) like strength training. My Lift Weights to Lose Weight 2-pack gives you the best of both worlds: a fat-burning, muscle-toning workout for beginners and seasoned pros, with an added “twist” of core-strengthening exercises that improve your body’s balance and functional abilities.

1. I said so!

OK, all jokes aside … Don’t start your resistance training routine just because I told you to. Do it because you need to start building muscle now — for all the reasons I just mentioned. Do it because muscle is about better coordination, agility and balance. Do it because muscle is about staying active and empowering yourself to enjoy life on a fuller level, from the boardroom to the bedroom.

Do it because muscle revolutionizes your metabolism, transforms your body from the inside out, and is your best bet for reversing the aging process. In short, do it because muscle is about all the things you associate with youth — and the clock is ticking for each and every one of us.

We deliver guaranteed results by instilling our trademark Body of Excellence program that features a holistic and progressive approach to each client’s individual goals, needs, limitations and current fitness level.

We take a very “hands-on” approach where one of our certified professional fitness coaches expertly teaches, motivates and guides you to maximize every movement of every repetition of every exercise of every workout.

Before getting into our intensive Body of Excellence exercise program, we perform an evaluation for every client – which includes a baseline intake of full body circumference measurements, current bodyweight and body fat…as well as a nutritional assessment.

The nutritional component of our BX program is just as important if not more important than the exercise component. That’s why we make it a requirement for all our clients participating in the 1-on-1 program to follow a customized meal plan AND we hold them accountable to eating properly on a consistent basis to maximize the fitness results.

I developed the Body of Excellence program after years of extensive research, practical application and personal experience with fitness experts, coaches and colleagues.

I developed the 1-on-1 component of the BX program to answer the growing need for integrating a safe, productive and most importantly individualized fitness and lifestyle plan for each person….something I discovered and felt was severely lacking after working in a massive commercial health club for 2 years.

I saw so many people in this meat market environment getting lost in the shuffle…people needing, in fact, craving personal and professional attention. I thought “why do you need to be intimidated or embarrassed to exercise?” EVERY ONE desiring to improve one’s health, fitness or lifestyle deserves better.

There is NO unsupervised exercise at Excellence In Fitness. Every client has a scheduled appointment time with one of our certified fitness professionals every visit to one of my studios. We meet with clients anywhere from 2 to 5 times a week with our 1-on-1 program.

We are so confident in the success each one of our clients will get following the Body of Excellence program that we back our 1-on-1 program with a 100 percent money-back guarantee.

High-Intensity Strength Training (HIT) Camp is a 10-week exercise camp for all young athletes (6th through 12th grade) looking to prepare and excel in his or her particular sport.  
 
The comprehensive camp will motivate and educate each athlete using the most productive, efficient and safest form of exercise – High Intensity Training.

HIT Camp is designed to provide each athlete with the competitive edge to minimize the risk of injury and maximize performance on the playing field.
 
We’re offering 3 different Fall HIT Camps that will take place at the Arnold studio (address above) and begin next week:
 
1.) High School Boys: Meet twice a week on Mondays & Wednesdays from 3-4pm (starting this Monday, September 12th).
Price: $300
 
2.) High School Girls: Meet once a week on Wednesdays from 4-5pm (starting Wednesday, September 14th).  Price: $150
 
3.) Middle School Boys & Girls: Meet once a week on Mondays from 4-5pm (starting this Monday, September 12th).  Price: $150
 
There is a limit of 6 athletes per group, please call immediately to register: 410.544.5780.