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Turner Publishing Company - John Ivy , Robert Portman

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146 pages

English

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A simple way to achieve lasting overall fitness. The authors explain that because the body has an inherent tendency towards fitness, there is no good reason for anyone to be overweight or out of shape. The human body's fitness cicuitry is a remarkable, integrated piece of engineering that has the natural ability to burn fat more quickly than supplements, decrease food intake more effectively than appetite suppresants, amd synthesize protein faster than the leading protein powder. This book is based on more than 50 years of research and recent breakthroughs.

Sujets

Santé et bien-être

Diététique

diététique

Nutrition

Rob Portman

Fitness

Health

Diet

Kinesiology

Robert Portman

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	15 mai 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781591203315
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0948€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

H ARDWIRED
F OR F ITNESS
The evolutionary way to lose weight, have more energy, and improve body composition—naturally.
Robert Portman, Ph.D. and John Ivy, Ph.D.
The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the authors. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other healthcare provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a healthcare professional.
The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular healthcare protocol but believes the information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and authors are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the authors and the publisher strongly suggest consulting a professional healthcare advisor.
Basic Health Publications, Inc. 28812 Top of the World Drive Laguna Beach, CA 92651 949-715-7327 • www.basichealthpub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Portman, Robert
Hardwired for fitness / Robert Portman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59120-276-9
1. Physical fitness. 2. Weight loss. 3. Alternative lifestyles. I. Title.
RA781.P598      2010
613.7’1—dc23
                                                                                           2011015576
Copyright © 2011 by Robert Portman, Ph.D. and John Ivy, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.
Editor: Cheryl Hirsch Typesetting/Book design: Gary A. Rosenberg Cover design: Andrea Jennings
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
PART ONE   Born to Be Fit
1.    Survival of the Fittest, Not the Thinnest (with Apologies to C. Darwin),
2.    Circuits and Rhythms
3.    High-Speed Communication Network
4.    Disconnected and Overloaded Circuits
5.    Resynchronizing and Resetting the Circuits
6.    The Functional Day
7.    Resolutions for Success
PART TWO   The Hardwired Fitness Program
8.    P HASE O NE : Restore Your Natural Metabolic Rhythm
9.    P HASE T WO : Switch Your Body into Fitness Mode
10.   P HASE T HREE : Get into the Red Zone
11.   Hardwired Fitness Tool Kit
Conclusion
References
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
We would first like to acknowledge the many scientists whose brilliant studies and insights provided the underpinnings for this book. We are also grateful to the many people who provided valuable suggestions and comments. Special thanks to Nancy Marshello, who managed to keep the project on track in spite of multiple distractions. Special acknowledgement should also go to Brittany Crim, our knowledgeable registered dietitian, who created easy-to-follow healthy and delicious recipes based on unique calorie and macronutrient requirements.
We would like to acknowledge Norman Goldfind, publisher of Basic Health Publications, who has consistently been an enthusiastic supporter of each and every new book project. Special gratitude to Cheryl Hirsch, whose patience, insights, and criticisms created a far more readable book. We would like to also acknowledge Jon Portman for creating the special art that appears throughout the book and Andrea Jennings for her brilliant cover design.
Finally, we would like to thank our wives, Jennifer and Susan, whose enthusiasm for the project has never waned.
Preface
We have conducted research in the area of fitness and weight management for more than 50 years combined. Therefore, it’s surprising that the origins of this book did not evolve from studies with overweight and out-of-shape people. Rather, the origins emanated from research we, along with other colleagues, have conducted with elite athletes. These athletes had the body compositions most of us only dream about: 6 to 8 percent body fat for men and 12 to 16 percent for women. The average American has a considerably higher body fat composition. These athletes also had extraordinary endurance capacity and strength.
Our research focused on improving the athlete’s capacity to recover after a strenuous high-intensity workout. Following a hard workout, muscle energy stores are depleted and muscle protein is damaged. An athlete’s ability to perform at an optimum level in the next workout depends on how quickly his or her muscles recover. We designed our studies to determine if different nutrient-rich beverages could improve the quality and speed of the recovery process. To our initial surprise, we observed that when a beverage was consumed played a critical role in whether it had an effect. If the beverage was consumed immediately after exercise, there were significant benefits in terms of replenishing energy stores, and repairing and rebuilding muscle protein.
When a recovery beverage was consumed two hours after exercise, it had almost no effect. It was as if a switch that activated the muscle’s metabolic machinery was turned on after exercise, and two hours later the switch was turned off. Further studies revealed that this was exactly what was happening. After exercise, the pathways that rebuild the muscles and their vital energy stores were activated. Providing a nutritionally rich beverage at this time produced extraordinary benefits. We refer to this interval after exercise as the “metabolic window of opportunity.”
The Metabolic Window of Opportunity
The athletes who participated in these studies were already adhering to a training regimen that optimized performance. They consumed a healthy diet that contained sufficient protein plus an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and followed the latest training techniques. We expected that any benefits resulting from taking advantage of the metabolic window through postexercise nutrition would be small, but they were not: the benefits were huge.
We discovered that postexercise nutrition reduced residual muscle damage by up to 90 percent and improved endurance performance as much as 36 percent in a second exercise bout conducted 18 hours later. Other research studies also confirmed that postexercise nutrition consumed when the metabolic window was open stimulated the breakdown of fat and increased the manufacture of lean body mass. Obviously, powerful mechanisms were at work. It was also logical to conclude that only super-fit individuals had the capacity for this unique metabolic adaptation.
However, in 2001, a group of Danish researchers published a fascinating study in which the participants were as far from elite athletes as possible. The study investigated the timing of after-exercise beverages on muscle recovery in 74-year-old men. The exercise consisted of a modest 12-week program of resistance training three times a week. One group consumed the beverage immediately after exercise, while the second group drank the beverage two hours later.
Taken in context, the results achieved with these senior “athletes” were equally as impressive as those seen with our elite endurance athletes. The Danish researchers reported a significant increase in muscle growth and strength in the group who consumed the recovery drink immediately after exercise compared with the group who drank it two hours after exercise. We could only conclude that the metabolic window of opportunity was clearly not a phenomenon limited to athletes; rather, the programming that controlled this interval was hardwired into our DNA.
Metabolic Pathways Became Ultra-Efficient
It was apparent from the studies with the elite athletes and seniors that in order for the metabolic benefits to occur, three essential conditions had to be present: physical activity, timing of nutrition, and a specific combination of nutrients. In the presence of all three, the metabolic machinery went into an ultra-efficient mode that impacted both the speed and the quality of the muscle recovery process.
These findings ultimately became the basis of our book Nutrient Timing (Basic Health Publications, 2004). Since that time, hundreds of research papers have confirmed that the timing of nutrient consumption is a critical component in improving athletic performance. Postexercise recovery nutrition has become an essential part of the training regimen for athletes at all levels, from high school to college, from professionals to Olympians, as well as for ordinary people who regularly exercise.
We Are Not Born to Exercise
The results of our research on nutrient timing raised intriguing philosophical, scientific, and practical questions. The fact that our DNA contains the programming that switches on this metabolic machinery after exercise is somewhat puzzling. Adaptations that are incorporated into human DNA occur over hundreds of thousands, and possibly millions, of years.
Archaeologists who sift through the soil in an attempt to define the lifestyles of our Paleolithic ancestors do not find treadmills or exercise bikes among the primitive hunting tools and cooking implements, and for good reason. Exercise is a relatively recent activity in human history and is not a natural part of our makeup. Paleolithic man did not exercise. He was a hunter-gatherer who was on the move most of the day, but his activities were not pre-designed to develop fitness. While the Greeks certainly admired exercise and fitness, and built games around them, it was more for the sake of competition and entertainment rather than for “staying in shape.”

Exercise, as we know it today, is still not a part of the lifestyle of the majority of people in the