Emotions, Exercise, and the Stress Response

A 1981 study demonstrates the effect that our mental-emotional state can have on the outcome of exercise. Previous studies found, for instance, that anger and fear both raise heart rate and blood pressure while at rest, but didn't show what happened during exercise.

The study itself involved college-level acting students, who would be relatively comfortable accessing different emotional states and displaying them in public. They accessed different states through visualization. The mind-body connection's power is clearly seen: in all cases the visualization produced physical changes. Before beginning their exercise, the subjects all had elevated heart rate and blood pressure levels while experiencing anger, fear, and happiness. Their heart rate and blood pressure were lower in both relaxed and sad states. All of the test subjects then did the same exercise sequence (stair-climbing) in each of the emotional states.

There are a few interesting observations corresponding with different emotions, and they are relevant to our ability to access sympathetic and parasympathetic states. (Quick review: sympathetic is the fight or flight response to stress that mobilizes our body for immediate action, and parasympathetic is the relaxation response in which our body recovers, repairs, and regenerates). Performing the exercise sequence in a relaxed state, the subjects saw an increase in heart rate and blood pressure that seemed relatively appropriate for exercise. We do need an increase in both of these markers, after all, to get blood to our working muscles. In fearful, angry, and happy states, heart rate and blood pressure rose much higher, indicating an exaggerated sympathetic state. In a sad state the subjects actually had too little increase in heart rate and blood pressure, indicating an overly parasympathetic state in which they could not mobilize their energy stores at all.

The takeaway here is that there is an optimal level of emotional-intellectual stimulation during exercise. If we want the long-term health benefits of exercise, then we should use our training as an opportunity to learn to handle more and more stimulation without having to dip into our sympathetic reserves. Under real stress, our bodies release adrenaline and other stress hormones to help us deal with the situation at hand. And when we have genuinely stressful situations, that is a good thing. The problem is that most people in our society are dipping into their adrenaline stores too often, which is the cause of chronic stress-related diseases. Proper training can actually help them learn to stay more relaxed and only go to their sympathetic reserves when absolutely necessary, which will have a dramatic effect on long-term health.

Looking at Two Popular Training Systems: P90X and CrossFit

In my last post, we discussed evidence from neuroscience and how it points to the importance of both consistency and specificity in training. Because of how important these principles are, you'd think they would be incorporated into all successful training regimens. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Let's look at two of today's popular training programs, CrossFit and P90X. CrossFit has become extremely popular in recent years. And with good reason -- it gets some results. People who do CrossFit put on muscle and burn fat in a relatively short period of time. As a training regimen, however, it lacks specificity in terms of training body position. Position is the foundation of human movement, and, almost without exception, CrossFit has people training out of position.

For example, CrossFit'ers routinely perform high repetition olympic lifting movements like the clean, which can be seen in this video. Observe how far forward of vertical the athlete's knees travel. This position trains the body to be very quad dominant at the expense of hamstring development, which leads the body to produce compensation patterns. And these compensation patterns are the reason most people who do CrossFit suffer some type of injury within the first few months.

A major issue with P90X can be seen in its tagline, "Muscle Confusion!" If you're confusing your muscles by constantly mixing up your training, then it's pretty clear you lack consistency. In effective training your nervous system receives one stimulus repeatedly, and your body lays down some myelin (a fat-based substance that insulates your nerve pathways) to improve the efficiency of the neurological pathways that are being used. That's how movement patterns form, and to prevent injury proper training must stimulate the body consistently to develop proper movement patterns.

Though I have my preference, I'll never argue that there is only one correct way to train. What is absolutely necessary is following underlying principles that must be present to make training effective. That means we must train to be strong enough to handle the forces of life. If we don't, our body responds with inflammation and our health, mobility, and quality of life are jeopardized.

Training technique itself must emphasize position and velocity. Position ensures we use the correct muscles to do their intended jobs, and velocity ensures we activate the appropriate reflex arcs in our nervous system that teach our muscles to stay long, absorb force, and keep us healthy and active. These principles are the foundation of our training program, so please get in touch through my web site if you'd like to learn more.

Consistency and Specificity in Training

I've been reading Dr. Joe Dispenza's book, Evolve Your Brain, and in this book he writes about a neuroscience experiment done by Alvaro Pascual-Leone. The experiment compares the effects on the brain of four different activities: practicing a consistent piano sequence every day for a week, playing the piano in random patterns every day for a week, visualizing (without actually touching a piano) playing a consistent piano sequence every day for a week, and doing nothing related to the piano whatsoever.

The group of people who practiced the same piano sequence daily showed development in new areas of the brain; they literally added a new, functional neural network. The group who visualized themselves playing the same sequence every day demonstrated the same, positive neurological adaptations. The groups who played random piano sequences every day showed the same results as the group who played no piano at all: no new neurological development whatsoever.

So, what are the ramifications of this study? First, since visualization created the exact same neurological development as actually practicing the piano, we see that visualization techniques are tremendously valuable. Second, the concept of consistency (and specificity) becomes incredibly important in training.

The group that randomly practiced the piano put in the same amount of effort as the groups that practiced the same sequence over and over again (whether on a physical piano or in their minds), but achieved none of the results. Many athletes who lift chest one day, do cardio the second day, arms the third day, hot yoga the fourth day, and legs the fifth day see the same pattern: effort in the gym does not translate to results on the field, court, ice, etc. Consistency of stimulation, we see, is required to create adaptation in the nervous system. And since we know the nervous system controls all of our movement, consistency is an absolute necessity for effective training.

Let's look at training to sprint, for example. Effective training requires consistently activating the neurological patterns that create the powerful movements of a sprinting stride. One possible way of training is to simply go out on the track and sprint. If this sprinting is done correctly (position) and maximally (velocity), that can work. As every track athlete knows, however, it can be difficult to maintain maximal velocity longer than 2-3 runs of 100 meters. That means anywhere from 20-40 seconds of proper neurological programming.

What if, instead, there was a tool that allowed you to get 300 continuous seconds of that exact same neurological programming, consistently, in every workout? Fortunately this tool exists -- it's called the extreme isometric. And when done according to our specifications, this technique improves sprinting in exactly the same way as repeatedly practicing a piano sequence improves the ability to play the piano: it consistently programs the same pattern into the body so that the new pattern takes hold.

The other major takeaway from this experiment, visualization, also plays in to our system. When you participate in extreme isometrics with us, we instruct you to visualize your outcome for the duration of the exercise. When your brain sees the end, it can take you there. And the ability to see the end from the beginning is what empowers us to do great things.

How to Really Burn Fat

Everyone knows that to lose weight it is necessary to burn calories. And that's absolutely true. Simple Physics really: if you take in fewer calories than you burn, your body will be forced to tap into its fat stores to make up that deficit. As long as that deficit isn't so great that it causes other negative things to happen, the equation holds true.

So, to use up some of our fat we need to burn a lot of calories during our workout, right? Since it consumes a lot of calories, it sure sounds like cardio is a great way to do this. Well, let's find out:

For this example, you're a 200 pound man in really good shape, so you run 10 miles. Over that 10 miles, you'll burn 1300 calories (try your own calculation here) -- that's a lot! Then, over the next 2-3 hours, your metabolic rate will be elevated as you recover. This point is the key.

Assume your normal metabolic rate (what your body needs just to get through its day) is 100 calories per hour. For the next 3 hours after the run, this will increase to 300 calories per hour. So, after burning 1300 calories running, you've burned an additional 600 calories (200 extra for 3 hours), for a grand total of 1900. Good job!

Let's now check in with your friend, Ike. Ike doesn't really like to run, so he comes into the ARP clinic to do UltraFit. Most of his workout consists of holding some lunge and squat positions for several minutes, and occasionally moving some weights really fast. He claims he's working hard, but even though he somehow has a good physique, you don't buy it. In fact, during his time in the gym he may only burn 200 calories. Yikes!

But, when the body is stimulated correctly (high load and high velocity), the metabolic rate is altered more dramatically and for a longer period in recovery. So, instead of burning more calories for 3 hours after, Ike is going to burn more calories for 8 hours after. And instead of burning an extra 200 calories per hour, Ike is going to burn an extra 400 calories per hour.

And that is where the magic happens: In addition to the 200 calories during the workout, Ike is going to burn 400 extra calories per hour for 8 hours. That is 200 calories during the workout plus 3200 calories during recovery, for a grand total of 3400 calories.

In light of Ike's example, those 1900 calories you burned during the run and subsequent recovery don't sound quite as impressive. As I'm sure my wonderful readers have caught on by now, the point is to expand your focus. It matters not how many calories you burn during your workout, instead it matters how many calories your workout stimulates you to burn during an entire day.

Hopefully this example sheds some light on the riddle of why so many of the treadmill users have a little extra flab on their bodies, while a larger portion of the nice physiques are in other parts of the gym. To see a few examples of UltraFit training, check out our YouTube page.

Training With a Purpose

An ARPwave colleague in Chicago, Tommy John, recently made some comments that struck me. I'd like to share them:

"Over the past 5 years of ARP'ing injuries in anyone from 8 years old to 91 years old, the top 3 most common forms of training the 'injured' partook in were: 1. Long slow distance running or biking or stepping or eliptical, 2. Yoga 3. Pilates."

His statement may seem a bit harsh, but it's an observation that I've made in our facility too. Of course, these activities can have other benefits in terms of stress relief, balancing out your mind, or just being fun. And that's great, as long as we also realize the necessity to incorporate real strength training. Tommy continues:

"The stronger you are the less chance you have of becoming injured. The stronger you are the better chance you have to fight off illness if God forbid you acquire an illness. The stronger you are the less of a chance your joints or spine have to taking the load of force into the body which will lessen the chance of inflammation building up which will give your immune system a break to fight real disease and not symptoms bc of a lack of strength. Must be strong. Must train to become very very very strong. You cannot be too strong."

He's absolutely right. I'd like to place special emphasis on one of the last things he said. When you're strong, your muscles do the job they're supposed to. Less force will transfer to the joints and spinal column. This is so important, because most of the damage that we do to our bodies is so easily preventable. What is wear and tear? It's made up. Doesn't exist. It's really more like misuse and abuse. When we use our bodies the way they're meant to be used, they are built up rather than torn down.

I challenge you to take the time you already spend working out, in fact you can even take far less than that, and do a few extreme isometrics. Minimal space and equipment, and you'll really accomplish something. Your muscles will work to stabilize your body. The little aches and pains will vanish. You'll have more energy. And guess what? Even your mind will work better.

More on that later.

Oh, and you can check out my friend Tommy John here.

New Clinic Video!

Everyone has heard stories about us working with athletes. Don't let that fool you, though; we work with everyone. In fact, some of our best results have come with people from ages 50-88 whom we have worked with to prevent surgeries!

In addition to giving a little bit about the clinic and our philosophy, this video highlights one of our non-athletes. See if you can figure out which one I'm talking about...

ARPwave Loosening

So, how does ARPwave loosening work? Well, it's quite simple: we know that a muscle needs to lengthen so that it can absorb more force, which is why people stretch. What we don't necessarily know is that traditional stretching actually ends up stretching tendons and ligaments, setting people up for injury.

In order for a muscle to lengthen, it needs to RELAX. Think about it; the reason you hit a wall in any range of motion is because of a muscle tightening. If the muscle can relax, you can move farther. And what controls a muscle's ability to relax? The nervous system.

The nervous system sends all of our muscles a signal to either turn on or turn off, to contract or to lengthen. Trying to stretch a muscle, you are fighting this underlying neurological signal that is turning the muscle on to protect itself. Instead of fighting the underlying signal, ARP loosening allows us to work with it.

The ARP can actually be set to send a signal to relax muscles, so that they can go through a greater range of motion. Altering that neurological message actually creates change at the foundation, allowing real adaptation to occur. Check out this video to see how PGA tour pros use the ARP to lengthen their muscles to prepare for workouts, both on the course and off.

Remember from our previous discussions that injuries come from problems with force absorption: if force entering the body is not absorbed by the muscles, it gets diverted to other areas that are not designed to handle it. Well, in order to be able to absorb force, a muscle needs to be able to eccentrically elongate. And that is exactly what we train with ARP loosening. With a two minute process, you can be prepared to perform with dramatically less risk of injury. No warm-up required.

As great as the ARPwave system is for rehabilitation of injury when it does happen, I always maintain that the greatest gift we can give is injury prevention. ARPwave loosening is the way to make an athlete more resistant to injury. Come try it out to see how this is possible.

Injury Prevention, A Case Study

Between 2000 and 2004, Augsburg College's Division-III football team had the following number of hamstring injuries:

2000: 11
2001: 14
2002: 9
2003: 10
2004: 12

The following two seasons, they incorporated ARPwave loosening in place of a traditional dynamic warm-up before all of their workouts, practices, and games. The number of hamstring injuries became

2005: 0
2006: 0

ARPwave loosening took the team from an average of 11 hamstring injuries per year to zero, and it did so while decreasing the amount of time necessary for preparation (a whole body loosening takes just 2-3 minutes, and the athlete is ready to perform immediately after without further warm-up).

The reason for this success is simple: the ARP can be used to instantaneously relax and elongate muscles. The end result of the ARPwave loosening process is a longer muscle, and a longer muscle can absorb more force and dramatically reduce the risk of injury. A longer muscle can also create more force, which is going to allow athletes to run faster, hit farther, and throw harder.

In the next post, we'll talk in detail about how the ARPwave loosening process works.

Functional Training: is it really the way to go?

Part of the fitness world for several years, functional training has become a mainstay in many training systems. It certainly has some big name proponents too, including guys like Mike Boyle and Mark Verstegen. But just because the methods become so widely accepted, that doesn't mean we should just accept them and use these methods in our workouts without some closer evaluation.

In this article I want to look at one of the sacred tenants of the functional paradigm, instability training. The idea behind things like Bosu balls, wobble boards, TRX, etc. is that training on an unstable surface causes the "stabilizer" muscles to fire, which allows the primary muscles to work more efficiently.

The problem with using an unstable surface to train the stabilizer muscles is that there are so many stabilizers that most of them will be resting at any given time. Unfortunately, such a large amount of rest means these muscles will not be stressed enough to create adaptation and build strength.

So the next question becomes, what is actually happening during instability training? The body is simply learning. It is learning the skill of coordinating muscles to work on an unstable surface, which does not necessarily transfer to better coordination on the court, ice, or field.

Training the stabilizer muscles is still important, however, and fortunately there are some excellent ways to do it. One is extreme isometrics. While aggressively pulling into position for a period of several minutes, the agonist and antagonist muscles (muscles on both sides of the joint) will alternate firing. The communication reflexes between these muscles will get very efficient. Balance in the real world is simply the ability to maintain our center of gravity over our base, and an agonist/antagonist pair that can work together more efficiently can make fine adjustments necessary to achieve such balance.

Also, the motor units (and muscles) being used will fatigue. As fatigue occurs, the body will keep calling on additional motor units to help perform the task of keeping the body in position. This continuous firing of additional motor units gives the prime movers and the stabilizers the activation that they need to adapt, and this type of adaptation will actually translate to better performance in real world activities.

There are other great ways to stress the stabilizer muscles enough so that they are forced to adapt. Some more examples that we use in our program include lifting high loads at high velocity and catching falling loads. As these workouts train all the muscles to absorb force and stabilize the body, they are also creating adaptations towards greater power, speed, and endurance. Since the body needs to use these traits together in real world activities, doesn't it make sense to use them together in training?

If you want to try out these methods, please take advantage of our offer to come in for a free training session so that you can experience for yourself the most advanced system of training in sports today.

ARPwave at the Super Bowl

One of the biggest news stories leading up to the Super Bowl was the focus on whether Dwight Freeney, star defensive end of the Indianapolis Colts, would play in the game. And it was a legitimate question. After all, he had torn a ligament in his ankle while playing in the AFC Championship Game just two weeks before. The protocol for his injury using standard therapy called for an 8-10 week recovery, and his doctors told him (and the media) that he would not play.

Well, that was not good enough for Dwight. With the same determination that made him one of the most feared pass rushers in the game of football, he set out to heal his ankle in time to play in the Super Bowl. He had seen success with ARPwave in the past, and decided to use it in his attempt to pull off a dramatic recovery.

Here is the story of Dwight's recovery process:

On Monday the 25th, the ankle had swollen to almost double its size. It was more than 22 inches in diameter, while the opposite ankle measured 11 and ¾ inches. An MRI was done on the ankle, and it confirmed a grade 3 ankle sprain. That means torn ligaments, and the prognosis that he would not play.

Following the diagnosis, Dwight and the Colts brought in a member of the ARPwave team to begin administering treatments. On Wednesday the 27th, ARP treatments brought the ankle swelling down to 18 inches; on Thursday it was down to 14 inches.

On Friday the 29th, Dwight traveled to Miami to continue the ARP Rehabilitation/Strength treatment program. All major sports stations were reporting that it was very doubtful Dwight Freeney would play in the Super Bowl. Dwight also continued to sleep with the ARP machine on at night, and kept doing several treatments per day.

On Tuesday the 2nd, Dwight's "team" worked on his ankle for another half day, using three ARP machines for some treatments. Dwight was then taken to the beach where he walked without demonstrating any compensation pattern(s) and he was able to hop on the beach without pain. Meanwhile, Dwight was still the top story on the news channels and most believed he would not play. Dwight was still sleeping with the ARP machine.

On Wednesday the 3rd, Dwight's ankle measured a normal 11 and ¾ inches and he was able to hold his bodyweight on the injured ankle for seven minutes without pain. His "bad" ankle was now stronger than his good ankle. At this point, Dwight wanted to test his ankle using cleats. Dwight went to the Miami Dolphin's training field to test the injured ankle.

Dwight ran five 10 yard sprints at half-speed exhibiting no compensation pattern(s). Then, he ran faster and he still exhibited no compensation pattern(s) or pain. This testing was performed on artificial turf. Next we wanted to test the "Freeney Spin" and his quickness. Once he successfully completed is famous spin move without pain, he knew he would be ready to go on Sunday.

ESPN, FOX, NBC, and the NFL channels were ALL reporting he was doubtful and/or if he did play, he would need an injection and only be available for third down situations. After Dwight's testing, we all knew differently.

On Thursday the 4th, he wanted to test his ankle out on grass. This test was filmed by the Colts to prove to the team doctor and the head coach what our team already knew: Dwight Freeney was ready to play in the Super Bowl!

The next test was to see how well Dwight could run. Dwight was "loosened" using an ARP machine to prepare to run. He did the "Bag Drill" and landed on the injured ankle with full force. Dwight chose "Bull Rushing" as his final test, and he felt no pain nor did he demonstrate any compensation pattern(s). Thus, the rehabilitation/strength program was a huge success, and he was ready!

On Saturday the 6th, the rehabilitation/strength team had limited time to work with him due to practice and other commitments but the team knew he was ready to play in the Super Bowl.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY… the 7th. The Colts prepared a special treatment room for the ARP Rehabilitation/Strength team. Dwight was taped and went out onto the field for his final test. He passed, and went out to play in the game. He had a sack of the quarterback in the first quarter and his Bull Rush had never looked faster or stronger. As an aside, Dwight did not need an injection to play!

Joint Replacement Surgery: Is it necessary?

Imagine for a moment that you have terrible joint pain. Let's say it's in the knee, though feel free to choose another location. The agony has gotten so bad and so constant that you are forced to see your orthopedic surgeon. He tells you that you need a knee replacement; he says your knee has degenerated so much that the cartilage is gone, you are bone on bone, and your only path to relief is getting a new knee.

Is there another option? Another perspective? Let's take a step back and start from the beginning:

Every time we do anything, from running and playing sports to walking and lifting up our children, force enters our bodies. It is the job of the muscles to absorb that force, and when they do that job correctly we can keep doing our activities over and over again without pain. Problems occur when the muscles don't absorb all of that force, so it is then diverted to areas like tendons, ligaments, and discs. When even small amounts of force get into these areas continuously over long periods of time, these areas begin to degenerate and we have joint pain.

In this sense, the muscles are like the shock absorbers on a car. If they don't absorb the force of the car going over bumps, the body of the car will get damaged just like the joint. When the car is damaged for this reason, are you going to buy a new car? Or are you simply going to replace the shock absorbers?

Assuming you like the car to begin with, replacing the shocks is the clear choice. Following this analogy back to the body, the doctor has presented the option of buying a new car instead of fixing the problem with the shock absorbers. This option does not fix the problem. Now, instead of force being transmitted to the original knee, it is going to be transmitted to the artificial one. The artificial one will wear down just as the original one did, and it too will have to be replaced. So even if you do get the new knee, don't think for a moment that the problem is fixed. The underlying issue of force absorption still needs to be addressed.

What if there were another way entirely? A way to dramatically alter the way that the body functions, a way to ensure that the muscles absorb all of the force and keep it out of the injured joint? What if, at the same time the muscles were keeping force from re-aggravating the joint, we could draw large amounts of blood to the joint and allow the body's own healing and repair mechanisms to take over? That sounds like a recipe for reversing the real problem.

That recipe is, in fact, a very effective way to fix the problem. It has enabled many, many grateful people to get out of pain and avoid joint replacement surgery when their doctors had said it is the only way.

What exactly is this recipe? In-Balance followed by ARPwave Therapy.

Cardio Training, continued...

Having just spoken about many of the effects that long, slow distance (LSD) cardio has on the body, I wanted to take one more post to elaborate upon those points and touch on a few more. We know that whenever we do any activity, force enters the body. If the muscles absorb that force, then it does not get into the joints and we do not have pain. If, however, the muscles do not absorb that force, it then gets into the tendons and ligaments. This force causes damage, and leads to inflammation within the body.

As one fatigues during LSD, the muscles shorten. A shorter muscle absorbs less force, allowing more to get into the tendons and ligaments; this is why we emphasize training eccentrically. But even more fundamental is the question of training velocity. From discussions with one of our mentors, Dr. John Pietila (Dr. J), we have come to believe that muscles absorb force best when working at or near maximal velocity. Therefore, even before fatigue sets in during LSD, the muscles will only absorb a fraction of the force that enters the body. Some of it will then be diverted to the joints with each stride. The result of this process is a continual low-level inflammatory response, which is the physical reason for "overtraining." Inflammation actually causes further damage to these tissues, decreasing their health over the long term.

Turning on sub-maximally during LSD also causes the body to forget how to turn the muscles on maximally, in the right order, and for the right amount of time. The resulting abnormal movement pattern then causes more low grade inflammation, more abnormal change in the nervous system, more inflammation, more change of the nervous system.

In addition, LSD will not create a sufficient amount of correct feedback into the nervous system to stimulate a change toward health. The nervous system is an intricately-connected web, and its function depends on the feedback that it receives from other areas of the body. This lack of feedback is the major reason that paralysis often shortens the lives of those with spinal cord injuries.

As Dr. J is fond of telling us, insufficient input leads to insufficient output. Proper stimulation is required for all of the body's organs to work properly. This is the reason that people doing the Ultrafit program often find they have more frequent bowel movements: the correct stimulation heightens the function of their organs, so that the organs process metabolic waste more efficiently. On the continuum of life, one can only move towards death or towards health. Since these LSD processes are not creating a more healthy individual, they must be accelerating the processes of aging and death.

Cardio Training

Today it seems everyone believes cardio training is necessary for health. I'd like to examine the proposed benefits of cardio in-depth. Let's start with the most important reason: heart health. From there, we'll move on more generally to training, fitness, burning fat, and overall health.

In terms of heart health, let's back up a moment and look at the human body from the perspective of evolution. For survival, the hearts of early human beings needed to be able to power them to do a few things. These early humans needed to walk long distances to find food, carry water from the stream, or build homes, and they also need to be able to escape the immediate danger of predators. Therefore, two speeds are required: moderate and full. The first can be taken care of by walking, dancing, playing catch, working around the house, etc. Anything active. The second is where we'll focus, and that is going from standing still to a max-effort sprint in order to avoid a predator.

Based on the above reasoning, the heart should have evolved to be like a sportscar: capable of humming along at normal speed with a large reserve capacity available when a burst is required. This discussion is also relevant to heart attacks, which occur when the demand on the heart is suddenly increased and the heart cannot meet that demand. In order to give the heart the reserve capacity that it needs to power a human for these bursts, it is necessary to train at or near maximum effort. This can be done in interval training of any type. We happen to prefer extreme isometrics, as well as rebounds and altitude drops, but interval running or bicycle sprints will create these same cardiovascular adaptations. As a side note, the interval running is best done on real ground rather than a treadmill or elliptical; more on that in a later post.

Let's now examine what happens during LSD, or long, slow distance training. During LSD, there is a constant stress on the heart. This constant stress will cause the body to adapt, but not in the way we hope. The body will actually respond to continued LSD training by making the heart, lungs, and blood vessels smaller, so that you can go longer distances more efficiently. During LSD, the dangerous oxidation of LDL is increased. The constant stress also causes cortisol (stress hormone levels) to be chronically high. Men, this means less testosterone! Women, high cortisol levels are equally as bad for you too because they can cause you to retain fat and lose bone and muscle mass.

What about burning fat? It is true that LSD burns fat as fuel during exercise. More important however, is the overall effect over an entire day or week -- most people do spend more time away from exercise (including work and sleep). Interval training will raise the body's metabolic rate, so that more calories will be burned during the whole process of recovering from exercise and the overall number of calories burned will be greater. Burning fat during LSD also signals the body to store fat for future bouts of exercise, and that combined with elevated cortisol levels will make it difficult to lose those extra few pounds.

In closing, I must re-iterate that we are not against all running. Interval sprinting is fine, even encouraged, but LSD running is not. Interval training and Ultrafit training will improve maximal cardiac output (that very important reserve capacity), promote the loss of body fat, and prevent cortisol levels from rising too high, which benefits mental and sexual function, the ability to sustain energy throughout the day, as well as maintaining bone and muscle mass.

There is one other important factor in this discussion, and that is inflammation. For now, let it be known that inflammation increases during LSD. Much more on this in the next post. Thanks for reading, and I welcome any comments, questions, or feedback. Feel free to contact me directly at garrett@arpwaveaustin.com, or leave a comment on the blog.