The "Holiday 7," the title given for the average amount of weight gain experienced during the winter holidays, keeps popping up in articles. Is this statement true? Do people gain 7 pounds during the holiday season? Well, this isn't true for everyone, but the "Holiday 7" is very close to reality for many adults.
It's More Like The Holiday One
Most people gain less than one pound during the 6-week period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, report researchers. And this is much less than the suggested 7 pounds that's being tossed around in fitness magazines. However, the research does show that overweight individuals typically gain 5 pounds during the holidays, (Holiday weight gain: fact or fiction?" 2000, Roberts).
This study should be a real concern for those who are overweight. While it's not quite as bad as the "Holiday 7," gaining 5 pounds every year during the holidays means 50 additional pounds over the next ten years unless a fitness improvement action plan is implemented.
Metabolic Syndrome X, The Real Culprit In Holiday Weight Gain
Researchers report that 40 million US adults suffer with "Metabolic Syndrome X." This is the worst nightmare for someone overweight or obese, especially during the holiday season, (A major health hazard: the metabolic syndrome, 2003, Isomaa).
While the "Holiday 7" is not quite as bad for most people, small gains in body fat over time can contribute to the condition "Metabolic Syndrome."
Metabolic Syndrome has to do with how the body acts as it puts on extra body fat. After-the holidays starvation diets may temporarily pull off a few pounds; but these diets without exercise can make matters worse.
Symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome are extra body fat around the waist, higher cholesterol, and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance means that someone with a lot of body fat can eat bread for example, and their body processes it like pecan pie. This is why someone lean and in shape can eat some traditional holiday meals without too much concern, and someone overweight will gain 5 pounds during the holidays.
The Best part…There's A Free Cure For Metabolic Syndrome X
Extra body fat is at the center of Metabolic Syndrome X, and for most people, there's a simple cure. The cure is not going on the current fad starvation diet, which actually tricks the body into adding more body fat. The cure is to consume a consistent, balanced diet - in moderation, and most importantly, adopt a real commitment to exercise regularly.
Individuals should add exercise to build and tone muscle that will raise their
resting metabolic rate. This allows the muscle, in essence, to work away on the body fat while you're resting. This process works like an interest barring savings account.
Men and women clearly need to exercise to tone add build muscle. Walking and increasing activity levels is a great place to start. But lower intensity forms of exercise will not get the best results.
Stimulate Exercise Induced Growth Hormones
Strength training the large muscle groups at least once a week and adding an anaerobic exercise program (sprinting types of concentrated cardio exercise) to make the body produce exercise-induced growth hormone will get results. Researchers show that exercise-induced growth hormone will significantly increase body fat burning and enhance the muscle toning and building process. (Impact of acute exercise intensity on pulsatile growth hormone release in men, 1999, Pritzlaff).
"Muscular strength and cardiorespiratory fitness have independent and joint inverse associations with metabolic syndrome prevalence."
-- Associations of muscle strength and fitness with metabolic syndrome in men. Jurca R, Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Aug
"Ready, Set, Go Synergy Fitness"
Human Growth Hormone is also known as the "youth hormone" along with testosterone. Unfortunately, the body's natural production of it decreases sharply as we approach middle age. Increased HGH lessens that body fat around the middle which increases with age regardless of how many crunches one does.
Phil Campbell has done extensive research and written about exercise techniques, diet and supplementation that raises your body's natural levels of HGH.
Ready Set Go! Synergy Fitness is a book for all middle-aged adults that want to tap into their body's natural production of HGH to lose weight, gain muscle mass and feel great. Based on scientific research into HGH production naturally in the body.
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Anaerobic Exercise Is The Key
Anaerobic exercise is not in opposition to cardio. In fact, it can be performed on many types of cardio equipment. Anaerobic sprinting is simply fast, high-intensity cardio performed in very short bursts with an active recovery (equal to casual walking for 1½ minutes) between the sprints.
Look at the difference between Olympic sprinters verses Olympic long distance runners. Sprinters perform anaerobic sprinting and they end up with lots of muscle and low body fat. Olympic marathoners end up with low body fat and low muscle (which is desirable for long distance runners because they don't want to carry the additional weight for 26 miles). So it's important to examine your training goals. If you want the lean and mean sprinter's physique, well, it's pretty simple, do what sprinters do... ..anaerobic sprinting exercise.
Don't worry, this form of training will not make women look like men, but it will cut body fat and tone muscle in women like no other form of exercise.
The anaerobic training program recommended to increase exercise-induced growth hormone in my book, Ready Set Go Synergy Fitness, is the Sprint 8 Workout. It can be performed the in many different ways - running, swimming, cycling, cross-country skiing, even power walking (if it gets you really winded in 30 seconds or less).
One of my favorite ways to get in a 20-minute Sprint 8 workout is on a Vision Fitness piece of cardio equipment (www.visionfitness.com), which now has my "Sprint 8" program featured on their award winning cardio equipment. Just push the "Sprint 8" button, set the intensity level to 1-16 for a 20-minute workout that actually has 16 minutes of active recovery (casual easy exercise equal to slow pace walking) and 4 minutes of anaerobic training that are programmed in 8 30-second bursts.
Make the commitment today to add strength training and an anaerobic Sprint 8 program to your fitness plan and enjoy meals this holiday season…in moderation, of course.
About Phil Campbell:
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