Metabolism Q'n'A

Hopefully you understand how important your daily metabolism is to your fat loss goals. While it's one thing to burn some calories in the gym, if you don't have a "rev'd up" metabolism for the other 23 hours of the day, you might be struggling with your fat loss.

Q: The info from Alwyn's interview was great but I am not sure if I am the only dummy out there or not but what does EPOC stand for?

Answer:
Excess post oxygen consumption - what Alwyn calls "afterburn", that is, the extra calories you burn after exercise.

The more intense the training, the greater the EPOC. That is why we focus on strength training and interval training - to boost post-exercise energy expenditure in the 23 hours during which you are not training.

Like Alwyn, I believe this is a key, yet often forgotten component of your fat loss strategy.

Learn more about Alwyn's methods in this exclusive interview.


Q: What is the best way to determine if weight loss is actually fat loss? I have a scale that gives my fat % along with my weight but I have heard that those are not very accurate. Do I need to purchase those fat calipers?

Answer:
That will work. Technically, you don't need them to be accurate, you just need the scale to be reliable.

The scale that you have will help you track the trend overtime, provided you measure yourself under the same conditions each time. Therefore, it is reliable. If you measure yourself under the same conditions, it will tell you if you are losing body fat or not.

However, it is not accurate. I.e. It might say 16%, but it might not really be 16%. So it might over- or under-estimate your actual body fat percentage.Ignore the absolute number, and just worry about the change over time. That seems to be a practical way to monitor your progress.

*****
That's it for the questions...but I came across the following info from an old http://www.cbathletics.com/ newsletter.

These equations are from my University Exercise Physiology notes and allows you to estimate both your VO2Max and the number of calories you burn during a running session.

You don't really need to know either bit of info, but it's neat to have.

AEROBIC FITNESS TESTING & CALORIC EXPENDITURE ESTIMATIONS

Aerobic fitness is measured as VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake) and this attribute can be estimated from your performance in a 12- to 15-minute run. You must know the exact time and distance of the run (converted to meters).

Determine the average velocity of the run (for example a 15-min run):

Step A) Calculate your average velocityAverage velocity = 15 min run distance (meters)/15 min
Average Velocity = meters per minute

Step B) Use the average velocity in the following equation to estimate the VO2:
VO2max (ml/kg/min) = 33.3 + (average velocity - 150) x 0.178 ml/kg/min
ml = milliliters kg = kilograms min = minutes

You now have an estimation of your aerobic fitness in relation to your bodyweight. The average VO2 of an active college male is ~ 40-50 ml/kg/min and is slightly lower for active females.

Second equation:
To determine the number of calories you burned in an exercise session you must first convert your aerobic fitness estimation to L/kg/min (so divide your score by 1000).
For example: 50 ml/kg/min --> 0.050 L/kg/min

Then insert the appropriate values (body weight and exercise duration) in the following equation. For VO2, you need to estimate a percent intensity at which you were working. For example, on a hard run you might say you were exercising at 80% VO2max whereas after a brisk walk you would likely be exercising at only 50% VO2max.

Calories burned = VO2 (L/kg/min) x wt (kg) x time (minutes) x 5 (kcal/min/LO2)
5 (kcal/min/LO2) = the number of calories used per liter of oxygen consumed.

So for example, a 70 kg subject with a 50 ml/kg/min VO2max exercising at 75% VO2max for 30 minutes:

Calories Burned = (0.050 x .75) x 70 x 30 x 5

Calories Burned = 0.0375 x 70 x 30 x 5

Calories Burned = 394 kcal

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing. Again, you don't need to know it, but you might be interested in at least knowing your estimated aerobic fitness.

Intervals increase fitness and fat loss,
CB

P.S. Here's how to boost your metabolism...

Drop the Western Lifestyle, and use the Turbulence Training program to lose fat and get more results in less workout time.

I have been using the TT method now for about 10 weeks intermittently. I am 61. I have been working out my whole life, also intermittently. The w/o's I am doing now are by far the most effective in a very short time period. Instead of spending 2-21/2 hrs in the gym, I am in and out in 1 hour and know I have had the a better beneficial result than I did working out twice as long. The TT is really very good. And your explanation of how to do it is better than the programs on the bike or treadmill that are interval training.
Ira Kaufman

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Denise Brown

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