CAN YOU TURN YOUR BODY INTO A FAT-BURNING FURNACE?
You absolutely can!
However, to take full advantage of this powerful technique you need to shift your focus from what happens DURING exercise to what occurs AFTERWARDS!
We are talking about EPOC. No, it’s not some strange animal, vegetable or mineral. And it is not a new rock group or a software application either. Simply put, it’s an acronym for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, which represents the number of additional calories the body will burn after your workout is finished.
Why should you care about EPOC? Because it will greatly enhance your workout results and help you achieve your fitness goals quicker and more effectively. If you are one of those people who exercise a lot but don’t lose much (or any) weight, you will definitely benefit from this amazing technique.
Ok, but how does it work?
You just finished a strenuous workout and this bout of exertion made you a bit breathless. Your respiration rate goes up as your body is replacing oxygen expanded during your session. In other words, you are taking in extra oxygen to “repay” the oxygen deficit -which, luckily, is a LOT easier than settling a financial debt!
(That, by the way, is why EPOC is sometimes also referred to as “oxygen debt” or “after-burn”).
As your body is recovering and restoring itself to its pre-exercise state, you are consuming oxygen AND expending energy at an increased rate. In the process, you are burning calories and fat – you are losing weight FAST!!!
And there is even more good news: some studies have shown that, with the right kind of exercise, EPOC can boost the metabolism for 24-36 hours after the workout is completed- that is HUGE if you are serious about weight loss.
Feel that “burn!
Oxygen is not the only substance that the body needs to replenish after intense training. Other physiological events are happening during the EPOC phase as well:
Your heart rate and breathing are normalized
The body temperature drops to normal levels
The blood is re-oxygenated
Homeostasis of circulatory hormones as well as muscle glycogen are restored
The body’s energy resources are replenished.
All this is awesome, right? But before you start your workout, be aware that…
…not all exercise is created equal!
There is some science behind EPOC, and we know that certain workouts are better than others in eliciting the beneficial “after-burn” responses, while some are, well, pretty useless.
Take jogging, for example. No matter what you believe about the benefits of running, truth is that it burns almost NO calories after the run is finished. In fact, many joggers actually report a spike in their appetites after the run. And if you give in to those post-run hunger pangs, how are you going to crank up your weight loss?
What about resistance training? If it involves heavy weights and enough repetitions, it could be effective. However, light dumbbells and a few reps are not going to be challenging enough to keep burning fat and calories for hours after your workout is over.
How about “regular” aerobic cardio? Studies show that a 20-minute session produces, on average, 20 minutes of fat burning and then the body returns to its normal state. That’s it.
However, there is one routine that’s vastly superior to all the others. Can you guess what it is?
And the EPOC prize goes to….
Interval training! When it comes to weight loss, those bursts of high-intensity activity followed by periods of recovery (also known as High Intensity Interval Training – HIIT) are super effective.
HIIT is wonderful. It boosts your metabolism and fat oxidation longer than traditional steady-state cardio, resulting in over 30 hours of post-exercise calorie and fat burn. You literally burn fat as you're sleeping!
Not only that, but a typical interval training session takes only about 20 minutes, which is far less time than your average cardio workout. More fat loss in much less time – what could be sweeter than that?
(And, there are further advantages to interval training as well: you will notice steady improvement in your cardiovascular fitness, speed, strength, endurance, energy level, and agility).
Isn’t the idea of burning calories and stripping off body fat even after your workout is finished pretty exciting?
Now that you know how that “after-burn” can help you achieve better weight loss results and other fitness goals much faster than other workouts, call or email me today to start your EPOC-boosting program!
===================================================
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi
===================================================
GRILLED BLUE MARLIN WITH
STRAWBERRY-NECTARINE SALSA
Recipe and photo from: www.EatCleanDiet.com
GRILLED BLUE MARLIN
The rich flavor of blue marlin is highlighted by a sweet strawberry-nectarine salsa in this healthy and delicious recipe that’s quick and easy to prepare:
Ingredients for four servings:
Salsa
• 1 cup / 240 ml fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 2 nectarines, pits removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 red chili pepper (red jalapeño), seeded and finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml finely chopped red onion
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped fresh mint
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped fresh cilantro
• Scant pinch sea salt
• Scant pinch black pepper
Marlin
• 4 x 5 oz / 140 g wild-caught Hawaiian blue marlin* steaks (can substitute swordfish or tuna)
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml fresh lime juice
• Eat-Clean Cooking Spray
• 1 tsp / 5 ml sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp / 2.5 ml freshly ground black pepper, divided
Preparation
In a medium bowl, combine salsa ingredients and place in refrigerator to allow flavors to combine while you prepare marlin.
2. Place marlin steaks in a shallow dish and squeeze lime juice over top, lifting up edges of steaks to allow juice to reach underside. Let marlin marinate in lime juice for 5 minutes.
3. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat and spray with Eat-Clean Cooking Spray. Spray top of marlin steaks and season with half of salt and half of pepper. Place on grill and cook for 2 minutes. Turn, spray with more Eat-Clean Cooking Spray and season with remaining salt and pepper. Cook until desired doneness, about 2 more minutes for medium rare. This fish is better undercooked than overcooked.
4. Remove marlin steaks to a serving plate and spoon salsa over top.
Nutritional Value Per Serving:
Calories: 262
Calories from Fat: 79
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Total Carbs: 13 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 33 g
Sodium: 328 mg
Cholesterol: 60 mg
*******
About Matt Scott, Fitness Expert:
Matt is a certified personal trainer through NASM, ACE and NESTA. In 2010 he made some huge changes in his own life, losing over 50 pounds. This process led him to become more involved in health and fitness and for him to discover his true passion for helping people change their lives. In 2010, Matt and wife Kristy founded the American Health and Fitness Institute, a nonprofit organization to raise awareness for childhood obesity and other fitness related issues facing kids in our community. Matt also has special training working with older adults and is the only AARP approved Certified Trainer in the Omaha and Lincoln area by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Matt can be reached at matt@lincolnimpact.com or 402-937-8FIT (8348) and is available for media interviews on topics related to health, wellness and fitness.
However, to take full advantage of this powerful technique you need to shift your focus from what happens DURING exercise to what occurs AFTERWARDS!
We are talking about EPOC. No, it’s not some strange animal, vegetable or mineral. And it is not a new rock group or a software application either. Simply put, it’s an acronym for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, which represents the number of additional calories the body will burn after your workout is finished.
Why should you care about EPOC? Because it will greatly enhance your workout results and help you achieve your fitness goals quicker and more effectively. If you are one of those people who exercise a lot but don’t lose much (or any) weight, you will definitely benefit from this amazing technique.
Ok, but how does it work?
You just finished a strenuous workout and this bout of exertion made you a bit breathless. Your respiration rate goes up as your body is replacing oxygen expanded during your session. In other words, you are taking in extra oxygen to “repay” the oxygen deficit -which, luckily, is a LOT easier than settling a financial debt!
(That, by the way, is why EPOC is sometimes also referred to as “oxygen debt” or “after-burn”).
As your body is recovering and restoring itself to its pre-exercise state, you are consuming oxygen AND expending energy at an increased rate. In the process, you are burning calories and fat – you are losing weight FAST!!!
And there is even more good news: some studies have shown that, with the right kind of exercise, EPOC can boost the metabolism for 24-36 hours after the workout is completed- that is HUGE if you are serious about weight loss.
Feel that “burn!
Oxygen is not the only substance that the body needs to replenish after intense training. Other physiological events are happening during the EPOC phase as well:
Your heart rate and breathing are normalized
The body temperature drops to normal levels
The blood is re-oxygenated
Homeostasis of circulatory hormones as well as muscle glycogen are restored
The body’s energy resources are replenished.
All this is awesome, right? But before you start your workout, be aware that…
…not all exercise is created equal!
There is some science behind EPOC, and we know that certain workouts are better than others in eliciting the beneficial “after-burn” responses, while some are, well, pretty useless.
Take jogging, for example. No matter what you believe about the benefits of running, truth is that it burns almost NO calories after the run is finished. In fact, many joggers actually report a spike in their appetites after the run. And if you give in to those post-run hunger pangs, how are you going to crank up your weight loss?
What about resistance training? If it involves heavy weights and enough repetitions, it could be effective. However, light dumbbells and a few reps are not going to be challenging enough to keep burning fat and calories for hours after your workout is over.
How about “regular” aerobic cardio? Studies show that a 20-minute session produces, on average, 20 minutes of fat burning and then the body returns to its normal state. That’s it.
However, there is one routine that’s vastly superior to all the others. Can you guess what it is?
And the EPOC prize goes to….
Interval training! When it comes to weight loss, those bursts of high-intensity activity followed by periods of recovery (also known as High Intensity Interval Training – HIIT) are super effective.
HIIT is wonderful. It boosts your metabolism and fat oxidation longer than traditional steady-state cardio, resulting in over 30 hours of post-exercise calorie and fat burn. You literally burn fat as you're sleeping!
Not only that, but a typical interval training session takes only about 20 minutes, which is far less time than your average cardio workout. More fat loss in much less time – what could be sweeter than that?
(And, there are further advantages to interval training as well: you will notice steady improvement in your cardiovascular fitness, speed, strength, endurance, energy level, and agility).
Isn’t the idea of burning calories and stripping off body fat even after your workout is finished pretty exciting?
Now that you know how that “after-burn” can help you achieve better weight loss results and other fitness goals much faster than other workouts, call or email me today to start your EPOC-boosting program!
===================================================
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi
===================================================
GRILLED BLUE MARLIN WITH
STRAWBERRY-NECTARINE SALSA
Recipe and photo from: www.EatCleanDiet.com
GRILLED BLUE MARLIN
The rich flavor of blue marlin is highlighted by a sweet strawberry-nectarine salsa in this healthy and delicious recipe that’s quick and easy to prepare:
Ingredients for four servings:
Salsa
• 1 cup / 240 ml fresh strawberries, stemmed and quartered
• 2 nectarines, pits removed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 red chili pepper (red jalapeño), seeded and finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml finely chopped red onion
• 2 Tbsp / 30 ml fresh lime juice
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped fresh mint
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml chopped fresh cilantro
• Scant pinch sea salt
• Scant pinch black pepper
Marlin
• 4 x 5 oz / 140 g wild-caught Hawaiian blue marlin* steaks (can substitute swordfish or tuna)
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml fresh lime juice
• Eat-Clean Cooking Spray
• 1 tsp / 5 ml sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp / 2.5 ml freshly ground black pepper, divided
Preparation
In a medium bowl, combine salsa ingredients and place in refrigerator to allow flavors to combine while you prepare marlin.
2. Place marlin steaks in a shallow dish and squeeze lime juice over top, lifting up edges of steaks to allow juice to reach underside. Let marlin marinate in lime juice for 5 minutes.
3. Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat and spray with Eat-Clean Cooking Spray. Spray top of marlin steaks and season with half of salt and half of pepper. Place on grill and cook for 2 minutes. Turn, spray with more Eat-Clean Cooking Spray and season with remaining salt and pepper. Cook until desired doneness, about 2 more minutes for medium rare. This fish is better undercooked than overcooked.
4. Remove marlin steaks to a serving plate and spoon salsa over top.
Nutritional Value Per Serving:
Calories: 262
Calories from Fat: 79
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Total Carbs: 13 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 33 g
Sodium: 328 mg
Cholesterol: 60 mg
*******
About Matt Scott, Fitness Expert:
Matt is a certified personal trainer through NASM, ACE and NESTA. In 2010 he made some huge changes in his own life, losing over 50 pounds. This process led him to become more involved in health and fitness and for him to discover his true passion for helping people change their lives. In 2010, Matt and wife Kristy founded the American Health and Fitness Institute, a nonprofit organization to raise awareness for childhood obesity and other fitness related issues facing kids in our community. Matt also has special training working with older adults and is the only AARP approved Certified Trainer in the Omaha and Lincoln area by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Matt can be reached at matt@lincolnimpact.com or 402-937-8FIT (8348) and is available for media interviews on topics related to health, wellness and fitness.
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