WHAT'S THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS?
DOES IT REALLY SPEED UP YOUR BASIC METABOLIC RATE (BMR)?

Some people love to exercise-I'm not one of them. So not only was I gaining weight, I was becoming so weak that I couldn't get up from a squatting position when examining children's books on a bottom shelf at Border's. How embarrassing? I had to do something.

I used to play tennis, golf, and go skiing, but that was before I met my present husband sixteen years ago. He was a sea captain and oddly enough never learned any of those activities, since tennis courts, golf courses and ski slopes were sadly lacking on the high seas. Besides, he didn't need to do those things to keep in shape. He worked out every morning-he was one of those-he enjoyed exercise.

So once I stopped getting my exercise by playing, I started to get into trouble. How was I going to fix it? Between my medical practice, my family and my writing, it was hard to find the time for the kind of playing exercise I recommend as the best solution. What could I do?

I knew myself well enough, that any home exercise was not going to work. I always found excuses to avoid it, in spite of the constant teasing from my husband. I finally found the perfect solution, which opened my eyes to how an efficient workout can be reduced to twenty-five minutes two times a week and still be effective.

At least if I was going to actually workout, it would only take me twenty-five minutes-that I could tolerate. But would I do it on my own? Probably not! I had to have an appointment with a trainer. If I didn't have the appointment, I wouldn't do it. I know me.

So what's so special about this work out, and how can I get away with such a short time doing it? Let me explain.

In my book, I emphasize the importance of building muscle to increase your metabolism. Our basic metabolic rate or BMR is based on our lean body mass. The more muscle we have, the more calories we burn while doing nothing. Most people understand this, but somehow it seems to remain an intellectual understanding not a gut understanding. More recently, I have come up with an explanation that seems to hit home with most people.

I weigh 140 pounds. My body fat content is now approximately 20%. That means I have a lean body mass of 112 pounds (140 X .20 = 28 pounds, 140 - 28 = 112). Let's just suppose for arguments sake that you weigh 220 pounds and your fat content is 50%. Then your lean body mass is 110 pounds (220 X .5 = 110 pounds of fat and therefore 110 pounds of muscle). That means for all intents and purposes, if you and I get approximately the same amount of exercise, we can eat the same amount of calories each day, and I will maintain my 140 pounds, and you will maintain your 220 pounds. Boggles the mind doesn't it? A 220-pound person can eat just as few calories as a 140-pound person and still not lose weight. That's why building muscle is so important.

So why is this workout I'm touting, so much more efficient in obtaining the goal of decreased body fat than other workouts? When increasing muscle mass, it's not about increasing the mass of one or two muscles-many just do abdominal exercises in a quest of a six-pack-no, it's about increasing all of the muscles in your body little by little. A big increase in the mass of one muscle doesn't begin to compare to the total mass of a small increase in all your muscles. So, needless to say, an exercise routine that works out many muscles at once is more efficient than one that only exercises a few at a time.

Now, you might be questioning why your walking, running or stepper exercises aren't accomplishing that task. Here's the crucial answer. Unless you work particular muscles to fatigue (not pain), where you just can't do another one, than you're not really building muscle. You're building cardiac endurance, but the muscles in your legs are simply maintaining their mass and building endurance. And you're really only exercising your leg muscles. What about the rest of the muscles in your body?

So what does this routine deliver that others don't? Let me give you some examples. One of the exercises I do is called the walk out. You squat down like a frog, putting your hands flat on the floor with most of your weight on your hands. Then you walk out stretching your body as you go to full extension, holding your trunk in a stable position, forming a bridge. Then you walk back to the starting position, never shifting your weight back to your feet and then repeat the walk out.

It will not be shortness of breath that determines how many you can do, but the strength of your arms, shoulders, abdomen, back, and legs. Even though you may think that this exercise is only exercising your arms and shoulders, you will find upon doing it that at various times, you have to stop, because of muscle fatigue in your legs or trunk, depending on your own individual strengths. It takes more work than you realize. So although this exercise only takes a few minutes to do, it's working many muscles simultaneously, unlike weight machines.

Another exercise involves holding a weight (in my case an 18-pounder) in my hands at chest level. I then have to squat down, then sit down (on a mat about 4 or 5 inches off the floor), then lie back, keeping knees bent and feet flat on the floor, then extend the weight over my head to touch the mat and as I do that, lift up in a pelvic tilt and then reverse the entire exercise to a standing position. I do this at the present time 10 or 12 times. As you can see I am again exercising many muscles at once.

Once I can repeat an exercise as many as fifteen times the trainer finds a way to make it more difficult, so that the time for the exercise doesn't keep increasing, and I don't end up exercising more than the twenty-five minutes. You don't need a gym or a great deal of equipment to do these types of exercises. And as you can see, it doesn't have to take that long to do.

Perhaps, you too, don't like to exercise, but hopefully I have convinced you that you can make it manageable enough to do it. Maybe you can't afford a trainer, but have enough discipline to do it on your own, then use a trainer, only as a consultant, to teach you the exercises to do at home.

Hopefully, if you've been having trouble losing weight and really don't eat that much, you now understand why it's been a problem. Building muscle, not aerobics, is the key when weight loss is the goal. Now you just have to set up an efficient strength-building program to increase your basic metabolic rate (BMR).

Good luck in your future endeavors.

(If you would like to see a downloadable exercise video explaining the above and would be willing to pay a nominal sum ($19.95), please email me. If there is adequate demand, I will make one-see link in the left hand side of the page at DrNikkiLang.)