The Afterburn Effect

The Afterburn Effect is a little known but very useful way to burn calories.

Whenever you get your heart rate up to approx. 80% of its maximum (for your age category) it kickstarts a chemical process whereby your body starts consuming more fat in your body. [Note: A similar effect is caused when you take cold showers, which starts burning brown fat.] This bio-chemical process will burn roughly 500 calories (exact results vary on the person and the exercise you did to kickstart it) over the next 24 hours.

Once started the Afterburn Effect burns through lots of calories and for the next 24 hours you feel really energetic and alive - and you are burning calories without realizing it. Over the next day you will feel less hungry and more energetic. The loss of hunger will be due to burning fat stores in massive amounts.

WAYS TO KICKSTART THE AFTERBURN EFFECT

#1. Sprinting really hard for several minutes. Lets say you sprint / run as fast as you can for 6 minutes and then stop. You will be out of breath, but the Afterburn Effect will be triggered.

#2. Cycling really hard.

#3. Fast Jogging - Not exactly running, but not jogging either. It may take longer than sprinting, but it will eventually get your heart rate way up there. Jogging by itself is not a guarantee that you will get your heart rate high enough so you have to push yourself to go faster than normal.

#4. Swimming, the faster the better.

#5. High Intensity Interval Training - The more intense the exercise the better the Afterburn Effect will be.

Basically any kind of cardio exercise which gets your heart pumping really fast will cause you to kickstart the Afterburn Effect. Any kind of high intensity training, including interval training or adrenaline sport, can kickstart the extra fat burn.

If you do a cardio exercise, like boxing for example, and then reach a point whee you are out of breath and have to stop then you probably hit the point where you kickstarted the Afterburn Effect.

HOW TO GET MORE RESULTS USING THE AFTERBURN EFFECT

#1. Exercise FASTER at the beginning of your exercise routine.

#2. Use Interval Training to give yourself breathers in between intense exercises.

#3. Use a heart monitor so you can get a measurement of how well you are raising your heart rate.

#4. Exercise once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening around 7 PM. 5 to 10 minutes each time will do it, as long as the exercises you are doing are intense and getting your heart rate up.

Number 4 above is super important, because it can cause a Double or Triple Afterburn Effect, causing you to burn intense amounts of fat in an hurry. It won't burn 1000 or 1500 calories, but it can raise it above 500 to around 700 to 900 calories. Do that 4 or 5 days in a row and you've already lost a pound of fat. Every day for a month and that is about 6 or 7 pounds, all for doing 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon, and 10 minutes in the evening.

SO WHY ISN'T EVERYONE DOING THIS?

Honestly. It is the same excuses people usually give for not exercising. "Don't have the time." "My knees hurt." "I always forget to exercise." Things like that.

The solution therefore is to make a schedule, find the time in your schedule, and if your knees hurt or something like that then find a cardio exercise which doesn't hurt your knees (eg. boxing).

If you find the time you can burn the calories so fast you will be amazed by the results.

And what is better is that these high intensity exercises also work very well for people with thyroid conditions. So you've got no excuses people. Add some intensity to your daily workout and see better results!

You are never too old to start a new sport

I was going through old emails earlier today and found one I had failed to answer (it was in the wrong folder).

In the email a mother was talking about signing her son up for archery lessons and said "he is kind of too old to start new sports".

I read this with quiet bemusement.

I didn't laugh out loud or anything. I was just mildly amused and a tad indignant. How is SIXTEEN too old to start a new sport?

I mean com'on, many athletes don't start their preferred sport until they are 17, 18, 19 or well into their 20s.

And there is nothing stopping adults and even seniors from taking up a sport - including a competitive sport - well into their golden years.

An elderly (and even overweight person) can easily learn to do the splits (see photo below) or any number of other activities during their older years.

They might get really into bicycles - and even fixing bicycles in their old age.

They might take up archery as a recreational sport - or even compete in archery competitions.

They might even take up boxing, martial arts or yoga.

What it really comes down to is that there is nothing stopping you from starting a new sport - and even competing in a new sport.

Age, disability, sex/gender, being overweight - these are just excuses.

Willpower and taking the first steps towards a new goal, those are the deciding factors.

Where to buy Whey Protein and Protein Bars

Whey protein is a must for weightlifters and anyone looking to build more muscle - including athletes. I would even argue that even ballet dancers should be consuming whey protein regularly, as the extra muscles will help prevent dance injuries.

However figuring out where to regularly buy your whey protein is a bit of mystery.

My advice is to shop around a bit and compare prices - and remember what percentage of protein the mix you are buying is, and the flavour.

I myself prefer chocolate whey protein, with a high protein content of 90% or so.

Below are two photos of prices from different locations. The first is from Bulk Barn, where the chocolate whey protein (90%) was being sold for $4.87 per 100 g.

And the second below is a sale at Shopper's Drug Mart. A 600 g container of 90% whey protein (chocolate again) for $19.99. Which math wise is $3.33 per 100 g. Even without the sale price, the Shoppers Drug Mart prices for whey protein are still better than Bulk Barn.

So the lesson here is try to shop around and compare prices. And better yet, buy it on sale.

And this also applies to protein bars.

A 20 g protein bar from Shoppers Drug Mart is $2.99.

But in contrast if you go to the grocery store - just a regular grocery store! - you can get Vector Protein Bars for a box of 5 for $2.49. Which is roughly 50 cents each.

Now the Vector bars only have 11 grams of protein per bar (and they taste better), but price wise the PowerBars with their 20 grams of protein are a complete rip off. You just eat 2 Vector bars and you get 22 grams of protein (10% more!) and you save yourself a bundle price wise because it works out to $1 for the two Vector bars to $2.99 for the 1 PowerBar.

So you save money and you get more protein.

I prefer the peanut ones, but the Vector bars come in a variety of nutty flavours. Whenever they are on sale I buy a bunch of them. As healthy snacks go after exercising they are my go to snack these days. That and carrot sticks.

Sleeping Positions and how they Effect your Health

A good night's sleep effects your health in many ways, and likewise different sleeping positions also effect your health - sometimes in adverse ways you didn't know about.

Below we will explore 9 sleeping positions and how they effect your health.

1. On Your Back, Arms at Sides

Good for the back and neck.
Back sleepers tend to snore more and sleep apnea is more common.

2. On Your Back, Arms Up (the Starfish Position)

Good for the back and neck.
Prevents facial wrinkles and skin breakouts.
May result in snoring and problems with acid reflux.
May put pressure on nerves in your shoulders, leading to pain.

3. Face Down

Good for digestion.
Difficulty breathing through your pillow.
May cause neck pain and back pain.

4. Fetal Position

May cause problems for your back and neck.
Restricts deep breathing in the chest.
Good position for problem snorers or pregnant women.

5. On Side, Arms at Sides

Okay for back and neck, also reduces sleep apnea.
May cause facial wrinkles and sagging breasts.

6. On Side, Arms Out

Okay for back and neck, also reduces sleep apnea.
Shoulder and arm pain due to restricted blood flow and pressure on the nerves.

7. On the Right Side

May cause heartburn while you are sleeping.
Better for pregnant women, improves circulation to the fetus.

8. On the Left Side

Puts more strain on your liver, lungs, and stomach (while minimizing acid reflux). This in turn will make you hungrier in the morning.

9. Pillow-Supplemented

Regardless of which sleeping position you prefer, you will get a better night’s rest with less pain in the morning by supplementing your body with a pillow.

Back sleepers can put a small pillow under the arch of their spine, side sleepers can place a pillow between their knees, and stomach sleepers can place a pillow under their hips to support the joints and allow for full, pain-free relaxation.

And remember to stretch every morning after sleeping! It will improve your flexibility after staying in the same position(s) all night.

Scheduling a Personal Trainer

Honestly.

I am so busy sometimes I don't know how I manage to fit in personal training clients half the time. It makes me tempted to raise my rates again.

Case in point. Most of my evenings and weekends are booked pretty solid. If someone wants a training sessions they need to book in advance, sometimes weeks in advance if they want a specific time slot.

The times I am most available are weekday mornings and afternoons - and even those are filling up on specific days.

So if a client asks me for a session on an evening or weekend, I look at my schedule, I look at their location, and I go "Hmm. Yes I can make it." or "Hmm. Nope, can't fit it in." And there is a lot more nopes lately.

But I am not planning to raise my rates any time soon. Maybe in the Spring I will raise my personal training rate to $40 per hour. But for now I will leave it as is.