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5 Insights from Holistic Health for FAT LOSS

Want to burn more fat?

The goal seems simple yet our bodies respond in curious ways. Lets look at body composition.

Runners, explosiveness/strength vs endurance/distance

Differences in body comp, maybe its okay to be heavier than runway model standard or ultra endurance runner (r)

Think about body composition for a moment. You may notice an individual who is exceptionally lean no matter what they are wearing. Their body composition would indicate low levels of body fat.

How do we burn more body fat?

Focus on the gut

I think fat gets way too much attention, probably because you can see it. We can’t kill the fat cells, but we can make them smaller. The fat cells must receive hormonal signals in order to begin the burn of energy from fat cells. In other words, it’s the fat cells themselves that burn the fat, yet it’s the internal system that must first produce the signal.

Once you have a certain amount of fat cells, they can only shrink in size -- never disappear.

Once you have a certain amount of fat cells, they can only shrink in size — never disappear.

To signal fat cells to burn fat, the most common way is to workout. High intensity exercise can be short and still burn a ton of fat. The HIIT workout (example: Orangetheory) will burn fat mostly due to the hormonal release post-workout. These are the signalers that tell the fat cells to use energy and therefore get smaller.

The gut is complicated

Take a moment to think about all of the organs in your torso. There is much life within my human digestive system, it’s like totally ecological. There are so many billions of non-human life inside my body, it’s a biotic fiesta in my stomach. I like to celebrate with my gut and with my friends.

TBT may'n, back at LP Athletics trying to have healthy gut micro-flora

TBT may’n, back at LP Athletics focusing on strength and having healthy gut micro-flora

Aside from the fact that the digestive system is the biggest key to human immunity, the gut is ground zero for so many metabolic processes. The nutrients we consume from food contain catalysts for physiological, biological, and hormonal elements that life would be impossible without it. Therefore pure fat loss is impossible without nutrients.

Nutrients are the most valuable

Don’t leave it to scientists to discover everything, but it’s pretty amazing the advances in nutrient science with the last few decades. It’s unlikely we’ll understand everything about nutrition, but we can go on these ideas:

  • Nutrients come in many forms, for example: 
    • vitamins, minerals, water
    • dietary fats, carbohydrates, proteins
    • antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber
  • Doing it right

    Doing it right

    • enzymes, pre-biotics, pro-biotics
    • curcumin, gingerols, dietary nitrates
    • etc
  • The goal is to improve symbiosis within the gut and surrounding organ systems between human cells and colonies of bacteria
    • Lactobacillus acidophilus is a commonly mentioned pro-biotic in our guts
  • A calorie is probably still a calorie, but most of us don’t really appreciate the depth at which food impacts our metabolic lives  24/7 including how fast the cells age!
    • Anti-aging strategies always involve exercise and nutrition
  • You can’t beat real food and herbal sources
    • Fresh, green food provides many catalysts for fat loss, and also for systemic health
    • High quality herbal extracts have benefited human health for thousands of years
  • It’s less about what you don’t eat, than what you do eat
    • Even if you restrict calories, you may be restricting nutrients as well
    • A low calorie poor diet is still a poor diet — dieters may become nutrient deficient if their food is not nutrient-dense.
    • The nutrients contain catalysts — cellular processes – sending signals to fat cells
    • Give your body a reason to burn fat, for example: antioxidants

You always knew it was about the gut anyway

If you’ve ever had a gut feeling, you may have experienced a range of feelings, emotions, and experiences from within the gut; Some pleasant, some anxious, others perhaps made you feel compelled to action.

Listen to the gut. Focus on nutrients. Simplify your life by consuming fresh vegetables.

And if you have a sweet tooth like me, you could be eating berries almost every day of the year. Blueberries are loaded in antioxidants. Give your body a reason to burn fat. Nutrients. Antioxidants. A reason.

You'll be excited about this when your eating window is only 8 hours long

YEEEE!!

Good luck my readership. May you eat mindfully and enjoy your existence inside and out.

and Digestion Immunity Nutrition Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Orangetheory Seattle
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How to leverage Orangetheory’s instant bio-feedback technology for Rapid Fat Loss

Heart rate technology

Hello fitness minded fellow. Let me say that advancements in cardiovascular research have led to a surge in demand for tech in fitness. Just look at how many people come to Orangetheory Fitness in Capitol Hill Seattle to workout.

Behind the scenes heart rate training at first ever Master Class in Seattle

Behind the scenes heart rate training at first ever Master Class in Seattle

Sprint towards fat loss

You should progress towards higher intensity throughout a healthy period in your exercise regimen. In general, exercise specialists measure intensity by heart rate thanks to the cardiovascular and muscular demands of high intensity training.

Go heavier with resistance

When you are aiming for fat loss, increasing the intensity of your workout by using heavier dumbbells will accelerate fat loss. As you progress in strength, even if it is five pounds at a time, the excess energy will be eliminated from your body and lean replaces fat.

Orangetheory is enjoyable for me, I workout here often in addition to teaching classes

Orangetheory is enjoyable for me, I workout here often in addition to teaching classes

If you are in Seattle,

Whether you have been coming to OTF Seattle for a while or are thinking about trying out the hottest workout in Seattle, come talk to me about your fitness plan. For fat loss, health, conditioning & well-being you can’t beat this.

We’re all looking forward to the opening of Orangetheory Fitness in Lower Queen Anne as well. So are our members.

Orangetheory Fitness Seattle Orangetheory Seattle Physical Fitness by Dre
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What do you Eat before and After the Workout?

Brandon, Orangetheory group fitness coach, was sitting next to me

And then we asked. . .

Nutrition strategies revealed!

Nutrition strategies revealed!

Is it best to eat before or after the workout?

Lets just go over the perspectives for a moment.

Option 1: Exercise on mostly empty stomach before workout, with carb feeding within zero to sixty minutes of high intensity exercise

The idea is that you will burn significant body fat during the workout since, “there is nothing else in the system, so the fat burns off!”

Post-workout nutrition strategies such as this can support the preservation of lean muscle mass by feeding on dense carbohydrate sources immediately and within the hours of a workout. Thus burning more fat in a shorter time.

Option 2: Fuel the workout! Consume from a variety of food sources including carbohydrates before the workout

With the second option, the exerciser purposely consumes carbs 1-2 hours pre-workout with the goal of making fitness progression. By Powerrring through an intense training session (which itself can be addictive), the post-workout release of testosterone and many natural healthy hormones for both sexes activate Fat Burning potential.

A sandwich I once ate ate Marlene's in Tacoma before my workout at the nearby athletic club which I worked at

A sandwich I once ate at Marlene’s in Tacoma before my workout at the nearby athletic club which I worked at

Regular cycles of intense workouts will naturally promote healthy glucose management and is key in the activation of the hormone adiponectin — a powerful fat burning catalyst which fat cells themselves release!  This effect occurs more frequently and with better results by having the habit of eating nutrient dense foods and exercising vigorously for sixty minutes up to four times per week.

Eat post-workout in addition to pre-workout so that you may achieve full recovery sooner. Perhaps give somebody a massage or even yourself.

Everybody is different

It seems that Option 1 will burn fat more rapidly, but may hinder performance… so then it comes down to goals at this time in your training history.

Personally I do what I can to enjoy the workout and that means eating a rich energy source before my workout. Fresh vegetable juice (including some root) is my all-time favorite pre-workout. I also go for smoothies if I need something easy to digest.

Do something good for you

By reading this and considering nutrition choices you are on the right track. I hope this has made you think more about the benefits of timing nutrition. Every moment you take to be mind-ful about nutrition will take you greater places in health, longevity and of course fat loss.

Eat on people!

Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion
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How does Group/Community help people Lose Weight and Burn Fat Faster?

Making a living with (other) people’s bodies.

Philosophers will continue to ask questions about the ways in which human minds and souls intertwine whether through thought or faith. What is clear to me is that all people share a fundamental foundation of the state of health and fitness. For most people, it isn’t until you get sick that you realize how much you value health.

Maslows needs

In order to produce as a higher being than before, one must support the physiological aspect.

To truly value health is to commit to a better tomorrow

In my five year career in health / fitness around the Puget Sound, I’ve become acquaintance with many people who have struggled with health. Actually, there are a lot of people on the front lines of natural health who themselves have experienced pain or tragedy. They re-learned how to treat their bodies and re-emerged from their struggle to share meaningful stories and information with people going through something similar.

Health must have a preventative focus

At the same time, health must also require urgency. The most important act of health are those which nourish or empower the entire person. Holistic health has a focus on preventing disease of modern society. Every day is extremely important in the function of all human systems including the heart and mind.

Communities with shared health values succeed more often

You’ve heard the saying, “you are what you eat.”

Perhaps you should adopt a new one…, “you are who you spend your time around.”

The quickest way to reach your goals is to surround yourself with people who are experiencing the journey already. Health and fitness, they say is also like success, as in it is more about the journey than the destination.

I see these things as… A healthy constitution, a vessel which is rewarded by ongoing detoxification, a real human person with the thoughts and feelings of empowering their most important asset.

Burning fat is best done in the company of others burning fat

If your goal is to burn fat, aligning yourself with other people who share these values will have a profound positive effect on daily behavior. Yes we are influenced by others, so use it to your advantage.

Maybe you already are on the journey. Then, reader, I solute you. Continue to inspire the people in your life to make choices that benefit the foundation of their needs as a human. Yet, help those who want to be helped.

Finally, the benefits of group fitness summarized

  • Accountability
  • Fun
  • Motivating
  • Effective
  • Positive social outlook
  • Team aspect,
  • Yet individually competitive
  • What humans have known forever:

WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER

Weightloss Now
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Technique for Novice Deadlifters

Deadlifts provide valuable training stimulus

They also go to show how strong you REALLY are.

That is because true strength requires muscles throughout the entire body to work at the most efficient joint angles. Technique is incredibly important for injury prevention and performance.

Deadlifts are for strength

Deadlifts are for strength

Like any exercise, deadlift is a skill which requires the lifter to learn the deadlift movement pattern.

Deadlift Fundamentals

For the deadlift, you should take note of these

1. Full body tension

2. Legs and hip drive

3. Squeeze the butt aggressively

4. Bar is as close to the body as possible during the entire lift

Deadlift Critique

Setup
Need to correct – Leaning forward
1. Chest Up
2. Hips back
3. Drive through the heels
Sit back into the rep, focus on using glutes as the power player.
Mid-Range
Need to correct – Hips rise too fast
1.Focus on Leg Drive
2. Push heels into the ground
3. Spread the floor with your feet
Lockout
Need to correct- Stopping short
1. Pull the bar towards the body
2. Squeeze glutes forcefully
Lowering
Need to correct – Too much lower back on way down
1. Keep the chest up
2. Let the hips drop as soon as bar passes the knees

How to Improve your Deadlift

Main ways to improve the Deadlift

  • Practice the deadlift (train the deadlift)
  • Get stronger in all key areas (upper back, lower back, core, glutes, hamstrings, quads)
  • Practice the deadlift!!!

More reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LhYspMFUmY

More reference 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qRntuXBSc

Keep at it y’all. Cuz you realize that when you’re deadlift technique is good, you WILL have a strong, strong, strong back and legs. Your spine will be protected by slabs of muscle and you will feel the strength in all the other areas of your life!!

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Physical Fitness by Dre