Top 10 Health & Fitness Articles Of 2011

In 2011 over a quarter of a million people read our blog articles as it has become more and more popular over the past several months. In this posting we take a look at the top ten most popular health and fitness articles posted in 2011. To determine popularity we looked not only at the number of ‘Likes’ and ‘Tweets’ but also factored in the number of readers and reader response. Hopefully some of your favorites made it into the final top ten list and I am sure that you will find a few other gems that you may have missed! Thanks again for the continued support!

Top 10 Health & Fitness Articles of 2011

10. The Anti-Aging Properties Of Weight Training & Resistance Exercise

A detailed look at how our body ages on a cellular  level and how weight training and resistance exercise can play a significant role in maintaining quality of life as you get older. You can read the article in its entirety here.

9. Sweating Has Nothing to Do With Losing Fat

Getting a good sweat is thought of as the key to a good fat burning workout, however sweating has nothing to do with fat loss and is a poor indicator of how much fat you are burning while training or doing any physical activity. Read the article in its entirety here.

8. Tongol Tuna- A Safe Real Food Choice

I started writing about the benefits of tongol tuna several years ago and in this article we go over the problem of mercury in fish and the role of tongol tuna as a lower mercury alternative to traditional albacore tuna. You can read the article in its entirety here.

7. Six Pack Abs- It’s Not What You Do- It’s What & How You Eat

The quest of six pack abdominals has become the Holy Grail for many as the ultimate goal of their diet and exercise program. Unfortunately a surge of exercise products and services have sprung up over the years offering consumers much in the way of false hope by promoting various exercises as the way to a chiseled midsection. As lucrative as these products may be they not only don’t work, but distract us from the reality that a six pack comes from what and how you eat more than what type of exercises you do. You can read the article in its entirety here.

6. Multi-Vitamins & Vitamin Supplements Do More Harm Than Good

Multi-vitamins have long been thought of as a must have for anyone serious about their health. However hundreds of studies show that not only are multi-vitamins unnecessary for a population that is not clinically deficient in any major nutrient, but that they may actually increase the likelihood of certain diseases. If you take multi-vitamins or any vitamin supplement this is an article that you owe it to yourself to read.  You can read the article in its entirety here.

5. The Economics Of Obesity- Why The Food Industry Needs Us to Overeat

One of the biggest problems we face in the fight against obesity and growing diet related problems is the fact that the government plays a key role in supporting and promoting the food industries that make the very foods that we ought to avoid. In this in depth two part article we take a look at how the industry makes us eat more and how important overeating has become for the sustainability of the American economy as we know it. A must read for anyone interested in the behind the scenes machinery that allows corporations to wreak havoc with public health. You can read the article in its entirety here.

4. Can Bread Make You Gain Weight?

There is a common belief that bread will make you gain weight but the truth is that if you eat anything more than you should you’ll put some extra pounds on. In this article we take a look at the history of one of our oldest foods and debunk some of the myths about bread while showing the major differences between what we eat today and the bread that sustained our forefathers. You can read the article in its entirety here.

3. How Do Muscles Get Bigger And Stronger?

While many slave away at the gym in the quest for bigger and stronger muscles, few take the time to understand the mechanisms by which our muscles grow. In this comprehensive piece we take a look at our body’s response to stress, how it translates into improvements in our physiques and our performance and why training less is best. You can read the article in its entirety here.

2. Rethinking The Need For Cardio- Why Aerobics Don’t Work Well For Fat Loss

Aerobic type exercise is without question the most popular fitness activity for those bent on losing weight- however numerous studies and an understanding of the physiology of how our cardiovascular and muscular systems interact show that it isn’t the most effect form of exercise if weight loss is your ultimate goal. You can read the article in its entirety here.

1. Are Protein Shakes Bad For You?

The most popular article of the 2011 is about the now ubiquitous protein shake. While a staple in the dietary regime of almost all gym goers there is yet no real evidence that protein shakes actually help increase muscle mass or improve performance. In fact, evidence suggests that they might not necessarily be a good choice for someone interested in getting into peak shape. You can read the article in its entirety here.

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Celebrity NYC personal trainer Kevin Richardson is the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training and one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City. Get a copy of his free weight loss e-book here. You can contact Kevin at 1-800-798-8420.

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Understanding Eating Disorders, Binge Eating & Night Eating Syndrome

Eating disorders have existed in one form or another since the beginning of civilization; however it is without question that its presence has increased significantly over the past thirty years. It’s hard to pin point one central causative reason for the increase, but it goes without saying that the social and societal pressures to be thin and in great shape while living in a developed nation where over a third of the population is overweight has been consistently implicated as a cause for the growing number of mostly women with eating disorders. The unstoppable deluge of advertising and marketing cues for women to be supermodel slim and trim doesn’t only affect us here in the United States and Europe but creates an environment ripe for eating disorders even in third world countries where food supplies are scare. In India where it is estimated that almost 60% of the female population is malnourished and where a well rounded body has traditionally been upheld as a nationally accepted ideal, the influx of Western television has brought with it an explosion in the number of young girls with anorexia nervosa- often with fatal consequences.[1]

Here in the United States over eight million people suffer from an eating disorder of some kind with a huge gender bias of seven million women versus one million men.[2] One in 200 American women suffer from anorexia nervosa- the so called slimming disease that can cause suffers to starve themselves to death. A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders found that 5 – 10% of anorexics die within 10 years of contracting the disorder and that approximately one fifth of them will die within twenty years. Sadly the mortality rate for anorexia is 12 times higher than the death rates of all causes of death for young females within the ages of 15-24 years old[2], a sobering statistic, but one that does nothing to stop the presentation of being ultra thin to a fault as an ideal.

Bulimia  & Binge Eating- Signs & Symptoms

While one in every 200 American women suffers from anorexia, two to three in 100 women suffers from bulimia

Binge related eating disorders are even more widespread throughout the American female population- while one in every 200 American women suffers from anorexia, two to three in 100 women suffers from bulimia. Bulimia is an insidious and often silent illness in which a person binges on food or has regular episodes of overeating while feeling a very tangible loss of self control over their eating. The affected person then uses various methods such as vomiting, diet pills or laxative abuse to prevent weight gain.[3] Similar to but not exactly the same as bulimia, binge eating disorder is even more common as people with binge eating disorder often consume large amounts of food while feeling a real loss of control over their eating, but without the recourse to purging methods.[4]While almost everyone overeats at one point or another (usually over the holiday season), some overeat with a regularity that qualifies it as a disorder. While not categorized as a psychiatric condition per se, as with all eating disorders, binge eating comes with the classic cycle of compulsive urges followed by extreme feelings of guilt and powerlessness to stop a reoccurrence. As it is largely undiagnosed, millions are affected but no one can give a precise number as the practice is often shrouded in secrecy and the shame and embarrassment over having so little control over your actions isolate many from ever revealing that they have a problem and getting help.

While bulimia nervosa appears to be of relatively recent origin, binge eating has been a problem for humankind for centuries. Simply eating large amounts of food or being over one’s ideal weight does not mean that someone has a binge eating disorder. Research over the past three decades has conclusively shown that most obese individuals eat relatively normally, (read my post on calories to understand a bit more of how easy it is for us to gain weight) and that the subgroup of obese people with episodic periods of extreme food consumption is relatively small with some sufferers being of normal weight.[5] My experience over the years has been that most people regarded as ideals within the fitness industry do have serious problems with their attitudes towards food, sadly to the point where is can indeed be classed as a disorder.

The criteria for binge eating disorder are:

· Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.

· Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten.

Several or all of these behaviors or feelings:

• Eating much more rapidly than usual.
• Eating until uncomfortably full.
• Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry.
• Eating in isolation out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten.
• Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.[6]

Bulimia & Binge Eating In The Fitness Industry

The extreme dietary habits of many bodybuilders, fitness and figure competitors could be seriously categorized as an eating disorder.

Both binge eating and bulimia nervosa affects many bodybuilders and fitness models in numbers higher than most would expect. Persons with bulimia regularly purge, fast, or engage in an unhealthy pattern of prolonged strenuous exercise after episodes of binge eating which is a textbook description of the cycle for most competitive physique athletes. The purging process within bulima is usually understood as vomiting but it can also include the use of diuretics (water pills) or laxatives doses to avoid gaining weight after eating- practices that many in the health and fitness circles regularly engage in to maintain ‘the look’.

Fasting is defined as not eating for at least twenty-four hours and many use it as a way of making up for what they see as over the top food consumption (see my article on fasting as a form of weight loss here). Strenuous exercise, in this case, is defined as exercising for more than an hour, but not as a means to better health or self improvement, but as a reactive practice to avoid gaining weight after a period of binging. Purging, fasting, and prolonged strenuous exercise are dangerous ways to attempt weight control and the excessive shape and weight concerns of most competitors in the physique arena are also characteristics of bulimia and or eating disorder of some kind. Issues that may appear benign in someone with rippling abdominals and an ultra tight body, but one that is inevitability self destructive and unsustainable.

The only difference between a physique competitor and someone diagnosed with an eating disorder per se is that the cycle of weight gain, weight loss, extreme dieting, nutrient deprivation and dehydration combined with thousands of hours of daily prolonged strenuous exercise has become almost socially acceptable. Unfortunately the extreme practices of those following this particular lifestyle are seen as ideals for many who aspire to have well muscled and toned bodies just like those of the individuals they see in the pages of the magazines. Unless there is a sense of balance where your overall health is prioritized over the attainment of a transient cosmetic ideal such as being big and muscular or having extremely low body fat levels, the practice falls squarely in the realm of an eating disorder and has no relation to health and fitness whatsoever even though it is portrayed as such in the media.

Night Eating Syndrome- The Other Eating Disorder

Almost uncontrollable eating at night is a serious problem for many.

There are other eating disorders that can also often go unrecognized as 1.1-1.5% of the U.S. population suffers from another as yet undiagnosed eating disorder called Night Eating Syndrome. Seen as a delay in the daily rhythm of food intake, Night Eating Syndrome is defined by two important points:

The first is hyperphagia- which is an ingestion of over 25% of daily calories after dinner and or waking up to eat at least three times a week.[7]

Usually triggered by feelings of stress, Night Eating Syndrome is a disorder that that many can relate to, albeit in a less extreme form. Characterized by a lack of appetite for breakfast and the consumption of considerable amounts of high calorie, and usually high-carbohydrate snacks and insomnia, the foods eaten during the night time binge are almost always unhealthy.[4,6] After the night binge, the person is usually not hungry in the morning, and breakfast, the most important meal of the day for both optimal performance and appetite regulation is skipped. (Read more about the importance of breakfast for weight loss and appetite regulation here)

The excessive food intake at night also creates a decrease in melatonin, a critical sleep related hormone. The decrease in melatonin contributes to the increased sleep disturbances and insomnia associated with night eating syndrome.[8] Evidence suggests that night eating may be a pathway to obesity as in three studies it preceded the onset of obesity and was a major factor in predicting continued weight gain in female night eaters who were already obese.[9] Not only is night eating a contributor to increased weight gain, but it is also a serious cause of distress for those who feel overpowered by food at night.

Again, it should be kept in mind that most may not have the characteristics of this particular syndrome to the extent that it becomes pathological, but the pattern of almost uncontrollable late night snacking on high carbohydrate and unhealthy foods is a very common issue for many individuals today. While the general population may not be diagnosed as having an eating disorder, most still find the task of controlling their eating habits to be a Sisyphean task. However there are practical and systematic approaches that make the likelihood of success much greater and none of them involve quick fixes. Nothing worth achieving comes quickly, and having control over your eating habits is no exception. It takes practice and patience as lasting achievements stem from a lifetime of dedication. Exercise can go a long way in helping relieve some of the symptoms of depression that eating disorders can bring about, but again balance is the key. That being said, if you have an eating disorder it is always recommended that you first seek professional help.

Related Articles:

Changing Your Diet Forever- Why Change Is So Hard

Exercise and Depression

Fasting Is Not An Effective Form of  Weight Loss

References:

1. McGivering J. Anorexia takes hold in India. BBC News- 2003

2. Eating Disorder Statistics- South Carolina Dept. of Mental Health

3. Bulimia nervosa; Binge-purge behavior; Eating disorder – bulimia. A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia.

4.Marcus MD. “Binge Eating in Obesity.” In: Fairburn CG, Wilson GT (eds). Binge eating: nature, assessment, and treatment

5. Gordon, Richard A. 2000. Eating Disorders: Anatomy of a Social Epidemic. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd.

6. Stunkard AJ. “Eating Patterns and Obesity.” Psychiatric Quarterly, 1959, Vol. 33, pp. 284-295.

7. Stunkard A, Allison K., Lundgren J. Issues for DSM-V: Night Eating Syndrome- Am J Psychiatry 165:424, April 2008

8. Lundgren JD, Newberg A, Allison KC, Wintering N, Ploessl K, Stunkard AJ: 123I-ADAM SPECT imaging of serotonin transporter binding in patients with night eating syndrome: a pilot study. Psychiatry Res

 9. Andersen GS, Stunkard AJ, Sørensen TI, Petersen L, Heitmann BL: Night eating and weight change in middle-aged men and women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2004; 28:1338–1343

Kevin Richardson is an award winning fitness writer, one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training^TM. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here. If you live in the New York City metropolitan area and need help losing weight or getting into cover model shape, give Kevin and his team a call at 1-800-798-8420.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Nominate Kevin Richardson for a social media award in the Shorty Awards

Should Women Train & Lift Weights Like Men? Only If They Want Results

It’s one of the most common misconceptions in fitness- the idea that women shouldn’t lift weights or train like men for fear of building man sized muscles and losing their femininity. It’s a misconception that is strongly supported by the media and fitness industry as it helps sell gender targeted activities and gym memberships- even though it prevents women from realizing most of their fitness goals. In a quest to maximize class attendances and boost enrollment, women have been bombarded for the past several decades with the idea that they can indeed get the strong, sculpted and toned body of their dreams from doing aerobics, Pilates or yoga, with a small amount of weight lifting thrown in for good measure- but using weights of a ridiculously inconsequential magnitude. The marketing gender bias is strong, and for good reasons. Gyms sell memberships to women based on classes that appeal to them and the quality, quantity (and even color) of the cup holding treadmills, Stairmasters and elliptical machines. Selectorized weight machines are designed to be as stylish and as attractive as possible to women, and with good reason. Women make up the majority of gym goers across the board here in the United States, with statistics showing them making up an impressive 66 percent of the total gym member population.[1] The problem is, however that while classes and  equipment are designed to attract a heavily female patronage- they do little to address their actual goals. Emphasis is, and always has been on sales- not results, so it isn’t surprising that most fitness related programs for women have little in the way of serious weight training as a selling point- regardless of how effective it might be.

While few women would look at the quality and quantity of barbells and dumbbells to determine whether a gym was right for them- it’s indeed the weights that they need to realize their goals of a tighter and more toned body. What works for men to build lean and sculpted physiques works for women as well- but sadly only a few eschew the scientifically absurd notions that women need to train differently or that weight training has a negative impact on femininity. The millions of women who remain frustrated by their lack of progress are a telling testimony to the fact that the light weight/aerobics approach doesn’t really work. In stark contrast however, the sculpted and undeniably feminine fitness models and in shape celebrities whose bodies most women consider as their ultimate goal all incorporate serious weight training to look the way they do.

Social Barriers In the Media To Women Lifting Weights

The gender gap here in developed countries may be closing in terms of employment and equal rights (to a degree) but in the physical world, women are still expected to do less. Consider for a moment a photo spread of a female fitness model or celebrity training in a magazine. Everyone is always smiling for the camera, while posing with uselessly light weights or taking a class or smiling on an aerobic machine. It is very rare that you will see a woman training with weights and grimacing with effort. It might not sound like much of  a big deal, and one might argue that it caters to the female aesthetic- but  think about what other ideas such images convey. Contrast those images with photos of Arnold in his prime working out, or any major male star who gets into ripped and muscular shape for a film. You’d be hard pressed to find a photo of them smiling at the camera in tights with light weights in their hand and if you saw it you would think that they were in some way belittling the hard work that went into their transformation and that they weren’t being taken seriously. Instead you see them training hard- which sends a very powerful message that inspires other men to do the same and thus they get the same results. Women don’t have that privilege in the media. Like it or not, body language is an important part of how we are influenced and women today, don’t have that message that it’s okay to work hard and sweat as most of the cues from the media are focused on training being fun and light activities. This works really well to sell but it lacks authenticity and I personally find it alarmingly hypocritical. Especially when the buffed women in the photos actually train as hard, if not harder than the men with weights to look the way they look but are not depicted as such.

The Impact Of Drug Use In Female Bodybuilding & Physique Sports As a Barrier To Women Lifting Weights

Back in the islands, weight training is considered a serious undertaking, by both men and women alike. In climates where you walk around half naked 365 days a year, coupled with festivals requiring little in the way of dress but lots in the way of sculpted abs and tight bodies, weight training is embraced as the defacto method to get that lean and hard body, regardless of gender. Growing up, the piece of advice I would hear given over and over to young women bent on getting their stomachs flat and their behinds tight was to go train with the boys. A visit to a hardcore gym back home will reveal not just men toiling away doing squats and deadlifts, but women as well. And make no mistake that those women- as hard as they train they aren’t masculine by any stretch of the imagination, but rather they sport the sleek and toned bodies that are the elusive Holy Grail for most. As effective as serious weight lifting may be for women interested in doing everything from firming up the back of their arms, to tightening their midsection and shaping up the back of their legs, it doesn’t sell. A fact compounded by the negative impact of modern female bodybuilding where drug use creates a rather daunting image of women with muscles popping out of muscles in an obviously unnatural way. Images like these go a long way in cementing the unfounded idea that if women train like men that they will eventually look like men, but nothing could be further from the truth. One of the first obstacles that must be overcome for women to understand the folly of such an idea is the truth about drug use in physique sports.

Female bodybuilders who don't use drugs don't look masculine at all.

The majority of the world is unaware that there are two vastly incongruent worlds of bodybuilding. One, is where the use of anabolic steroids, growth hormone, insulin, thyroid medication and other drugs are not only used by competitors but encouraged. These are the women (and men) you see prominently displayed in the magazines- and quite frankly, the ones who most members of the general public find highly unattractive. It’s hard not to be affected by the image of a female bodybuilder, (and in some cases figure competitors) who look very much like guys wearing bikinis. My philosophy is and always will be to each his or her own, but the problem with such displays is that there is little done to educate the public- women in particular- that no matter how hard you train and how much you lift, you’ll never look like the women you see onstage at untested shows because it simply isn’t possible without an extensive array of drugs. The other travesty is that natural bodybuilding is virtually unknown to the public at large. Completely overshadowed by the freakish and out of this world physiques of untested competitions is the world of drug tested bodybuilding, where the women look not at all like guys in drag, but very much like the models you see adorning the covers of popular fitness magazines.

It would surprise most women to learn that the tight bodies of their dreams are attained regularly by those who train with weights as hard as the guys do. Female bodybuilding in its infancy, went a along way to inspire a whole generation of women hitting the weights to change their bodies during the 1980’s, but the specter of drug use brought such inspiration to a grinding halt, and the fitness industry, eager to not lose consumers, simply switched the emphasis from promoting weight training to more aerobic type and class oriented activities for women as a result. It makes sense, but it also raises some very important social questions about our society and the underlying trend of a submissive role for women in today’s world, but before delving into the social aspects, let’s look first at the physiology of the matter. Are women in any way different from men in terms of their body structure and is there any basis for a need for different approaches to exercise for them to get optimal results? These are valid questions and fortunately also ones that have been extensively researched over the years.

Men and Women- Hormonal & Structural  Differences

It shouldn’t surprise anyone over the age of four that there are indeed major differences between men and women in terms of their body structure. In terms of metabolism, men are on average bigger and have more muscle mass than women, which accounts for them having an average metabolic rate of about 1.0 kilocalories per hour per kilogram of body weight. Women have slightly slower metabolisms than men, which among other things accounts for it being so much easier for them to gain weight when compared to their male counterparts. The difference isn’t that huge though, with the median metabolic rate for a woman being usually about 0.9 kilocalories per hour per kilogram of body weight. Women also have higher levels of estrogen than men do- a hormone responsible for not only female secondary sex characteristics, but structural functions such as increasing sex specific fat stores.[2] Men have higher levels of testosterone, which among other things  plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues as well as promoting increased muscle and bone mass.[3] Both men and women have some level of circulating estrogen and testosterone, but the concentrations of estrogen are higher in women, while testosterone levels in men are far higher. Testosterone’s anabolic, or muscles building effects can make men more muscular and give them more potential to increase the size and strength of their muscles, while the lower levels and the differences in the way the female body responds to testosterone make it impossible for women to naturally build muscle mass or strength at levels comparable to men without the use of anabolic steroids- which are for the most part synthetic derivatives of testosterone.

Hormones aside, there are also important structural differences between men and women in terms of muscles. Studies of elite male and female bodybuilders show a clear difference in the maximum size of muscle fibers in men when compared to women. Men not only have muscle fibers that are twice as large, but also even among world class strength athletes, contractile muscle takes up less than 30 % of their total body mass in females than in males. Such research is invaluable as it puts to rest the idea that women who weight trained extensively would somehow sprout man sized muscles.  In fact, studies continue to suggest that while females can significantly increase their strength through weight training, they are not able to increase their muscle size and density to the degree that men can. [5,6]

Do Women Respond Differently To Weight Training

While we have demonstrated that women do not and cannot under ordinary circumstances get muscles that are as big or as strong as men, the question thus remains whether there is a difference in the way women would respond to such exercise. Today’s party line states that women have more body fat than men(which is on average quite correct) and thus have to do more fat burning exercises like aerobics to lose weight along with high repetition weight training of low intensity. The problem with this popular ideology is that it has no foundation in the way our bodies work, nor does it take into consideration the mechanical stresses required for the toned and taut bodies that most women seek. Firstly, it has been proven that brief high intensity weight training burns more calories and contributes to a greater reduction in overall body fat than aerobic type exercises. [7,8]

It was first thought that aerobic exercise contributed to weight loss by burning calories during exercise and afterwards as well. However, subsequent studies have conclusively shown that the so called ‘afterburn effect’ is far more pronounced after a high intensity weight training type workout.[9,10,11] (Read my article on High Intensity Workouts and Fat Loss here). Thus. weight training of sufficient intensity not only helps you burn calories (and potential body fat) while training, but also stimulates an increase in overall metabolism during the recovery period after training at a rate significantly higher than aerobic exercise can. Weight training also increases muscle mass- which not only gives you the much coveted look of a chiseled and sculpted body- but also helps you burn more calories as a result of the consequent increase in muscle mass.  (Read my article on Aerobics here.)

Women & Weight Training- Aerobics & Light Weight Lifting Won’t Give You That Tight & Toned Physique

Aerobic type exercises do not stimulate significant increases in muscle mass- with muscle adaptations occurring only at the beginning of a period of relative inactivity and even then, only in a very limited form. In terms of creating a tight and toned body, low intensity weight training is equally worthless as muscle can only be stimulated if there is an overload that it is not accustomed to dealing with. You can do 100 bicep curls with a user friendly looking purple 5 lb weight from now until the cows come home, but it won’t do a thing to make your arms any tighter. You can use female friendly leg abductor/abductor machines with light weights for hours on end- but you won’t get tighter legs. Without an intensity that signals to your body that it has to adapt to an activity by becoming stronger and bigger, basically nothing happens as you have to train with relatively heavy weights (within reason) and at an intensity adequate enough to spur your body to respond (kind of like how the guys train.) Read my article on How Muscles Get Bigger And Stronger for a more in-depth presentation of how our body responds to exercise.

Building muscle, thus, is indeed the Holy Grail and gender-wise, there is absolutely no evidence for women training with different exercises or different ways to build it. In fact, when looked at as relative changes, the percentage increases in cross sectional muscle area between men and women as a response to weight training is very much the same.[12,13] So if you want to really make significant changes in your body, you need to make weight training the central part of your routine- not an afterthought done at the end. In terms of exercises, forget about the light weight with high reps idea as it won’t get you anywhere, and instead focus on compound movements like squats, deadlifts, rows, presses and even power exercises like clean and jerks. You’ll be surprised not only how much your body will change, but that as your muscles grow and your body fat diminishes you’ll get smaller. That’s right, high intensity weight training makes women smaller- not bigger. Your muscles mass will increase some- just enough to enhance your curves, tighten everything up and create that svelte look, but the loss of body fat will indeed make you go down several sizes. Every woman I know who ever met a natural female bodybuilder or figure competitor was always amazed at just how small they were in person. Without drugs, it just doesn’t happen, but of course, you have to pay attention to your diet as well. It doesn’t happen overnight- but if you stick with it, I guarantee you’ll be more than pleased with the results.

Related Articles:

Does Weight Training Reduce Breast Size In Women

Why Women Choose Aerobics Over Weight Training

Rethinking The Need For Cardio

What Do Female Bodybuilders Look Like Without Drugs

References:

1. 2008 IDEA Programs & Equipment Survey Results

2. Nelson LR, Bulun SE. “Estrogen production and action”. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. Sept 2001

3.Mooradian AD, Morley JE, Korenman SG. “Biological actions of androgens”. Endocr. Rev. Feb. 1987

4. Alway SE, Grumbt WH, Gonyea WJ, Stray-Gundersen J.Contrasts in muscle and myofibers of elite male and female bodybuilders.  Department of Cell Biology,

5. Brown CH, and JH Wilmore. The effects of maximal resistance trainng on the strength and body composition of women. Med. Sci. Sports Exercise 1974

6. Wilmore JH. Alterations in strength, body composition and anthropometric measures consequent to a ten week weight training program.Med. Sci. Sports Exercise 1974

7. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Tremblay, A. et al., Physical Activities Sciences Laboratory, Laval University, Quebec, Canada Metabolism.1994; 43(7): 814-818.

8. High-intensity Interval Training: A Time-efficient Strategy for Health Promotion. Martin J. Gibala, PhD, Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada Current Sports Medicine Reports 2007, 6:211-213

9. Bahr R (1992). “Excess postexercise oxygen consumption–magnitude, mechanisms and practical implications”. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica. Supplementum 605: 1–70. PMID 1605041.

10. Bahr R, Høstmark AT, Newsholme EA, Grønnerød O, Sejersted OM (September 1991). “Effect of exercise on recovery changes in plasma levels of FFA, glycerol, glucose and catecholamines”. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 143

11. Bielinski R, Schutz Y, Jéquier E (July 1985). “Energy metabolism during the postexercise recovery in man”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42

12. Alway SE, Grumbt WH, Gonyea WJ, Stray-Gundersen J. Effects of resistance training on elbow flexors of highly competitive bodybuilders. J. Appl. Physiol

13. Deschenes MR, Kraemer WJ. Performance and physiologic adaptations to resistance training. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2002

Kevin Richardson is an award winning fitness writer, one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training^TM. Get a copy of his free weight loss ebook here. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and need help losing weight, building muscle or taking your body to the next level give Kevin and his team a call at 1-800-798-8420 or click here to get started.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

Nominate Kevin Richardson for a social media award in the Shorty Awards

How Important Is Physical Appearance?

Our screens and pages are dominated by images of extraordinarily built men and women who look nothing like most members of the human race. While our media appears to be enthralled by the images of sculpted and toned men and women, does having a great physique really make that much of a difference to how attractive you are to the opposite sex or how successful you will be? It’s an interesting question and this blog article takes a rather scientific look at what makes us attractive. The answers may surprise you.

Read the full article here: Do Muscles Make Men More Attractive?

Personal trainer NYC Kevin Richardson is one of the most sought after trainers in New York City and the creator of Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™

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Author, Kevin Richardson

The only way to truly understand a path is to follow it yourself. To me the principles of healthy eating that are the cornerstone of my personal training program Naturally Intense isn’t mere rhetoric but a way of life that I do my best to follow. Throughout my career as a personal trainer, bodybuilder and martial arts teacher, I have done my utmost to adhere to the same basic eating and training rules that I advocate. Interestingly enough, I receive a number of emails and questions about how I maintain such a low body fat percentage all year round. Many ask what the secret is- is it genetics or some special supplement while the truth of the matter is far less complex and has nothing to do with my parents, pills or my age. It’s just a matter of consistency.

I find it somewhat disheartening to see that so few have faith in their own ability to get into great shape and stay that way. The idea that you need something in a bottle or package to realize your fitness goals is worrisome at best as it takes away the focus from what can be done with good old fashioned hard work and dedication. Nelson Mandela captured it best in his inaugural speech as president of the newly liberated republic of South Africa when he said that our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate but that we are powerful beyond measure. This applies not only to our potential in the field of academic, financial and social success, but equally towards our ability to transform our bodies and our lives if we sincerely put our minds to it and never give up. We are so distracted by pressures put upon us to become consumers, always in need of help from the outside to do things we can easily do on our own, that we forget our inherent potential.

The Secret To Being In Shape Is That There Aren’t Any Secrets

So how exactly do I stay in such great shape and am able to look better today at 36 (if we don’t take the hair loss into consideration) than I did when I was competing regularly as a drug free bodybuilder in my twenties? As I said before the answer is consistency- I never go off of my diet. Ever. Not for Thanksgiving, not for Christmas, not for Valentines’s Day, not for New Years’, not for my birthday, my kids’ birthdays not for World Earth Day or any other time of celebration. To me festivity isn’t about inflicting harm on my body, but quite the opposite- experiencing the joy of being alive in the company of friends and family. Don’t get me wrong, as my the journey to where I am today was incredibly arduous and there were many times when I thought that I would never reach a place where I could shed the burden of wanting to eat junk foods. As a teenager growing up in Trinidad, where partying is pretty much a way of life, I had to learn how to go to a party with my friends, but not drink what they did, not indulge in foods that I shouldn’t and still find a way to have a good time. Did my friends always support my choices? Of course not and I wouldn’t have expected them to do so. This was and always will be my choice and it would be unfair for me to expect others to change their lives just to suit me. Mine is just a different path. One where you really learn to enjoy every moment in life simply by virtue of being. In my eyes it isn’t a bad place to be.

To some, my eating habits may seem somewhat Draconian. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t drink juices or anything else except for water, but far from feeling in any way that I am missing out, instead I am quite content with things being as they are. I may have some tea from time to time, but that is more of an exception rather than the rule. I don’t eat refined foods or anything that exists only thanks to the machines in a factory, and that includes everything from protein shakes to refined flour products, breads and everything in between. The more manmade it is the further away from my mouth it stays. A simple rule, really, but it does make me something of an anomaly as it excludes the majority of foods that people eat today. It’s ironic in the sense that eating the way humans have been eating for thousands of years is now looked upon as odd, but that’s just how things are. Growing up in the West Indies did have its benefits as most of the innumerable junk foods that are available here in the United States were unknown to us back home. By the time I migrated some sixteen years ago, I was already accustomed to a lifestyle of avoiding processed foods as much as possible and so there are a lot of foods that I never tasted before and I’ve had no inclination to ever try.

You Won’t Die If You Never Had A Snickers Bar

I have never had a Snickers bar, don’t know what an ice-cream cake tastes like, never had lasagna, and I couldn’t tell you what the difference is between a green M&M and a red one. I never ate at a Burger King, nor do I know who or what General Tso’s is or was and what is so special about his chicken. I don’t know what Parmesan cheese on pasta tastes like and I have a hard time keeping up with conversations about things like cheese fries. Some foods I ate so long ago that I can’t remember what they taste like. The taste of Coca Cola is fading from my memory although I loved it when I was a kid and had it just about twice a year. I think I preferred at one point Pepsi but I can’t really be sure as my last soda was over a decade and a half ago. Don’t think for a moment that I am somehow different or special in any way as I spent years working on improving my own eating habits to be where I am today. I started martial arts when I was 9 and bodybuilding when I was 14 and for all that time I have been doing my best to eat better. It didn’t happen overnight and like everyone else, I have had my share of slips. During my bodybuilding days, protein shakes and bars were the norm. As were donuts, pound cake, pizza and KFC- especially after contests- the very thought of it makes me a bit nauseous now but I couldn’t conceive of never eating those foods ever again back then. Many West Indian dishes were hard to give up as well, but over time the desire to eat things that really weren’t that great for me became less and less, until about 8 years ago or so I just stopped.

Willpower Has Little To Do With Eating Well, When the Body Is Healthy It Will Want Healthy Foods

There were no proclamations, trumpet blowing or anything of the sort, I just stopped eating processed foods because my body didn’t want it anymore. I don’t get cravings for any foods that would not be beneficial to my body as a whole as over time my system evolved in such a way that I like what I eat. Some just can’t seem to accept this and if I had a quarter for every time someone said, “You don’t know what you are missing” I would be on a beach in Tahiti right now trying to figure out which island I should buy next! The irony is that I do know what I am missing- the headaches, the stomach aches, the indigestion, the fatigue, the bloating, the blood sugar swings, the mood swings, not being able to concentrate, the joint aches, being out of breath, having a hard time waking up in the morning- I know all of it and I know it well. I simply choose to follow another path. Some studies estimate that by 2015 the number of overweight or obese American adults will go from its current rate of about 33% to 75%. That said, being in the minority and not following the crowd doesn’t appeal to me as the crowd seems to be heading along a path that I don’t wish to travel. More importantly, reducing my risk of succumbing to the slew of diet related disease brought on by eating the very foods that some might say I am missing out on makes it even harder to understand exactly where I am missing out. You might think that having a six pack is the be all and end all, but to be honest I don’t really spend that much time with my shirt off to think about it very much. I don’t have a full length mirror at home and the only time I get to see what I really look like is when I am at the gym. (Where my training partner will attest that I do my best to make up for lost time!) A neighbor of mine happened to be in the audience of a bodybuilding show where I was guest posing and he was shocked. He never had a clue that I looked the way that I do even though he knew me for the better part of 15 years. I have heard the same from co-workers who worked alongside me for years and that’s actually the way I like things to be. Outside of my business as a personal trainer I usually dress to downplay my physique. I don’t and never did define myself by the way I look and I don’t think it is ever healthy to do so in the first place. It’s nice when people recognize me in the street from my videos or from the Internet, but that’s just how I look. It isn’t who I am. A time will come when I won’t look the way I do now, but it won’t change much of anything. I will still eat the way, exercise as much as I do, but most importantly, I won’t miss a thing!

NYC Personal Trainer Kevin Richardson is one of the most sought after personal trainers in New York City, a lifetime drug free bodybuilding champion and the founder of the Naturally Intense High Intensity Training™. Get a copy of his free weight loss e-book here! If you live in the New York metropolitan area and need help losing weight or taking your body to the next level give Kevin and his team a call at 1-800-798-8420 or click here to get started with 50% off your trial personal training session.

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