86Thousand400: Fitness, Health and Training in a nutshell

If you don't have time for exercise, sooner or later you will need to find time for ill health.

Recent obesity levels in the UK over the past 20 years would suggest that the lifestyles we are leading are simply not right.

The ‘less conditioned’ we are i.e Carrying excess energy/weight the less mitochondria and aerobic enzymes we have in the body. (These are found in muscles).

Mitochondria/aerobic enzymes are the powerhouses of the muscle cells. They assist in breaking down fats and carbohydrates to produce energy. This in turn helps speed up our metabolism.

The idea with our training programs is to increase muscles mass within the body by working at specific training intensities. Simply: Lactate threshold – Muscle to fatigue – Sweat on.

It’s all good going to the gym 10 or 15 times, however if you’re working at the incorrect intensity then essentially that’s a waste of time...and no-one wants that!

In the early stages nutrition is key! Do not decrease calorie in-take and if anything – increase. You wouldn't fill a car with half a tank of petrol and expect to drive to Manchester and back. Eat more and burn more. Your weight may not change, necessarily, however, dress size/physique will.

We do not want to remove fats from the diet as these are a great source of energy for the body (especially the nervous system) and the body needs fats to survive.

In a nutshell:

More muscle = More mitochondria/Aerobic enzymes which = Faster metabolism (break down of food).

More muscle also = greater ability to work aerobically.

If we work aerobically for longer periods of time this reduces the overall stress on our heart. It also allows for less fatigue at lower intensities and better recovery which again gives us more energy in general day to day life.

With improved fitness comes more efficient transport of nutrients to the body = healthier/happier (and less stressed) individual.

The key is to increase muscle mass first in order for the other systems to kick in.

Other systems that then kick in further down the line include the Heart & Circulatory, Musculoskeletal, Nervous and Endocrine systems. (All the things that, in some ways, are beyond our control). We will look into this in further detail in future weeks.

Quite simply, the ongoing goal with 86Thousand400 training programs quite simply is to increase energy levels and improve overall feel.