Fitness Suggestions

Lesson Learned

In the fall of 1982, I entered law school, and moved into an apartment in Brooklyn Heights, located right on the Promenade. It was a great place to run, and I started to run for exercise. Up to that point, when I was training for the various sports that I had played over the years, the longest I had ever run was 2 miles, and most of my running was sprints. When I started running in Brooklyn Heights, I was running around 1- 2 miles every few days, until a fateful Sunday in the fall. That day, I went out for a run in my Nike Waffle Trainers, full top and bottom sweats, no socks, a Walkman, and no money. I was feeling a bit more adventurous that day, so I deviated a bit from my normal route, and ended up intersecting with the NYC Marathon, at the 8 mile mark.

It was a beautiful day, so I thought why not run a bit with the Marathon runners, and then I will go back to my Brooklyn Heights apartment, but since I was not an official entrant, I ran on the sidewalk. Everything was going well, until I got lost, and had no idea how to get back to Brooklyn Heights, but I had a brilliant idea, I knew how to get back to my apartment from Central Park, so I figured I would run to Central Park, and then go back to my apartment from there. To make a long story short, I ended up running/walking the last 18.2 miles of the race, and crossed the finish line with the other runners — however, I did not accept official medal being handed out, but I did take a bottle of Perrier, and a space blanket, both of which I still have to this day. I could not find a cab around Central Park, so I walked to the Empire State Building (about a mile from Central Park), got in a cab, did not tell the cab driver I had no money, and when I got to my apartment, got him his money and gave him a good tip.

For the next week, I could not walk down any stairs, and that day, I thought my sneakers were going to be completely bludgeoned, but fortunately they were not, however, my feet were completely blistered. But from that experience came a dream — if I could run 18.2 miles with no training, and never having ever run more than 2 miles in my entire life, then if I trained, I should be able to run a full marathon of 26.2 miles. That is exactly what I did for the next year, and in 1983 I completed the NYC Marathon in around 4 hours.

So why mention that story with the title, “Lesson Learned”, and with a picture of a knee in distress. Well, after running the Marathon, I suffered an injury to my left knee, and it became painful to run, so I stopped. As any runner will tell you, particularly if you are running in an urban area, your body takes a pounding, and injuries are to be expected. Compounding the injury is the fact that when I was running, I was consuming a huge amount of food each day, which I burned off through running, but when I stopped, the pounds piled on. That, combined with the crazy hours of a first and second year law associate, caused my weight to balloon — eventually, many years later, in 2008, I reached my highest weight, which was in the 460’s.

Now let’s move the present day. When I started my weight loss campaign, I wanted to make sure that the cardiovascular exercise I chose could be done every day in good or bad weather, and was easy on my joints, hence, the recumbent bike, and I later added the elliptical. In the last few years, I also added a long (8 mile) walk/run on Sunday’s, which was primarily a walk, with a 1/4 mile run thrown in . In addition, I would run in the New Year’s Eve 4-mile run in Central Park, and the Gridiron Classic, on Superbowl Sunday. The past few months, I have been having issues with my left leg, including Achilles issues, and swelling of my left knee, so I have been cutting out the Sunday walk/run.

As it turns out, the swelling is due to arthritis in my left knee, and if that was still my primary exercise, I would again be stuck of not having a daily go to exercise. However, this time around, I learned my lesson, so I can continue to exercise on the bike and elliptical even with my arthritis issue, and in fact, that is a good treatment for that condition. Lesson learned, and I would suggest, for anyone wanting to incorporate exercise into their daily routine, for weight loss or maintenance, they stick with a low-impact exercise like a bike or an elliptical, and stay away from running outdoors, or being on a treadmill. If you still want to run, then I would suggest also doing a low-impact exercise, this way, if your physical condition makes it difficult to run, you might still be able to do the low-impact exercise.

VO2 max, Mortality Rates, and High Intensity Interval Training

In an article in European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, May 30, 2016, titled “Low aerobic capacity in middle-aged men associated with increased mortality rates during 45 years of of follow-up”, by Per Ladenvall, Carina U Persson, Zacharias Mandalenakis, Lars Wilhelmsen, Gunnar Grimby, Kurt Svardsudd, and Per-Olof Hansson, they report that in a population of middle-aged men (54 years of age), low aerobic capacity (measured in VO₂ max) is a significant predictor of early death, aside from traditional risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. So what is VO₂ max?

VO₂ max is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption, which can measured during exercise, typically on a treadmill or bicycle. VO₂ max is expressed either as an absolute rate in (for example) liters of oxygen per minute (L/min) or as a relative rate in (for example) milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute (e.g., ml/(kg·min)). What is considered an excellent, good, fair or poor VO₂ max is age and gender dependent, so for a male my age, and excellent value is greater than 41, and a very poor value is less than 22. When I first went to the Canyon Ranch in 2009 my VO₂ max was 16, and when I last had it measured 6 years later, it was 39.76, bordering on excellent. So by just that measure, I have added years to my life.

One of the ways being touted to improve VO₂ max is through High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which consists of short, intense workouts, which can vary from 4–30 minutes per day, and which are performed at your absolute physical capacity. While there is evidence to show that HIIT can improve cardiovascular development, which could help improve VO₂ max, my feeling is that it is not a sustainable regime.

From my own experience, to took me 2 years to take off all 230+ lbs., and it has been a challenge to maintain that weight loss the 4 years thereafter. I have been extremely disciplined about exercising at least 1 hour/day for just about every day over that time, and most days, at least 2 hours a day, at a fairly high intensity level, but during that time, I have suffered injuries, been sick, been tired, had travel issues, etc., so on a number of days it was hard enough getting an hour of exercise at a moderate level of exertion. Forget about trying to sustain a max intensity level just about every day, even if it was for a much shorter period of time. Also, you should expect, with HIIT, that you will get injured more at your peak level of performance, than would be the case with a more moderate exercise regime, which could then lead to setbacks.

So my suggestion to improving VO₂ max, is to utilize a bit more moderate exercise regime, over a longer period of time per day, than a HIIT regime. I think that works best over the long run as it is sustainable.

Travel Tips Two

My latest business trip took me to Germany last week, with the above picture being taken in the German Alps where the conference I was attending had dinner one night. Like my previous business trip to Seattle, I was able to lose another 1.5 lbs. during the week of my trip.

As before, I booked hotels that had a fitness room, and had my portable scale with me, along with my Sportea ice tea. I also went food shopping when I first arrived so that I would not be dependent on the food at the conference for my nutrition, and I could have my breakfast at a time of my choosing rather than during the prescribed times set by the conference/hotel. This way, I can better fit in my morning exercise without worrying that I have to be somewhere for breakfast.

Every morning I fit in an hour of exercise, and it has been my experience that from 6 am to 8 am is the busiest time in the morning at these hotel gyms, so if one gets there earlier or later, it is easier to immediately get on a piece of equipment rather than having to wait. Typically, I got to the gym at around 5 am, this way I could go immediately to my equipment of choice, and left myself enough time to check my e-mails as I was having breakfast in my hotel room after I exercised. Remember, that these gyms have limited pieces of equipment, so if you are unable to get on immediately, you may not be able to get on before your meetings start.

Another technique I use is to avoid desserts, and order fresh fruit instead if possible. During these conferences, particularly the ones in Germany, there are many desserts, and they pack a lot of sugar and calories. Avoid these desserts, and order fresh fruit instead, and you will less calories to burn off the next day during your workout. That also goes for alcohol, since that also has many calories, but few nutrients, so it is best to limit one’s consumption if you are trying to maintain or lose weight. Instead, get some sparking water as a cocktail, and if you have wine or beer, only drink a small amount.

These are just some further strategies that I use when I travel.

Danger Will Robinson — Treadmill Use May Cause Injury

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am not a fan of treadmills, and find them to be a dangerous piece of equipment. That was confirmed this week by a May 5, 2015 article in the New York Times, entitled “Treadmill May Be Riskiest Machine, but Injuries From It Still Rare”, by Sabrina Tavernise, following the death of David Goldberg on a treadmill. According to the article, although deaths are rare, 30 reported from 2012 to 2013, treadmills were the riskiest of all workout machines, accounting for 24,400 injuries associated with their use in 2014.

In putting together any workout routine, one needs to come up with some activity that can be done conveniently, and/or inside when the weather is not so accommodating. For runners or walkers, that would seem to be the treadmill. For me, it is the recumbent bike, or elliptical, neither of which easily cause an injury when one has a lapse of concentration, plus they lend themselves to multitasking (watch TV, listen to music, read, make phone calls, etc.), which can help pass the time when one is exercising.

One of the problems with a treadmill is that it forces a set gate on your walking or running, but when we walk or run outside, our gate does vary. Another problem with the treadmill is that to achieve an aerobic workout, one must run on it at high speeds, and/or have the machine steeply angled — both dangerous configurations. One really needs to have aerobic workouts if you want to achieve significant weight loss.

Every Sunday I take a 8 mile, 2 1/2 hour walk/run in New York’s Central Park. I walk most of the route, to preserve my knees from the pounding stepping on hard pavement can cause, but I briefly run in the middle of the route so as to keep my body in shape for running longer distances, like when I run the New Year’s Eve race in Central Park. I have taken this walk in both sizzling and freezing temperatures, and in rain or snow storms, and just adjusted my clothing to the conditions. In the extremely rare circumstances of extreme weather, like a hurricane, or blizzard, I stay inside and instead go on my bike or the elliptical for a longer period of time, or increase the intensity of my workout. So my advice is simple, unless the weather outside is dangerous, run or walk outside, and when then you do have to come indoors, choose a safer piece of equipment than the treadmill.

Travel Tips

Last week I was on a business trip to Seattle, yet ended up losing 1.5 lbs. when I weighed myself on Saturday, the day each week when I record my weight for the week. So how is that possible? Planning, and hard work.

First off, before I leave for a trip, I look for hotels that have a fitness room with the exercise equipment I want to use (recumbent bike and elliptical trainer), and only book a room in hotels so outfitted. That is not always possible, so under those circumstances, I search for fitness centers near where I will be staying, and make arrangements to use same when on my trip. And if all else fails, I try and find a place where I can run/walk outside the hotel, or swim, e.g., on a business trip to Germany last year, I brought swimming trunks, and swam in a nearby lake.

Also part of my planning is to bring with me a portable scale, and a quart container for brewing unsweetened Sportea ice tea (both pictured above). With the scale I weigh myself each morning, so I can adjust my food intake (and the amount of exercise) depending on how I did the previous day. As for the ice tea, Sportea has electrolytes, no calories, and a citrus taste, and is a good alternative to water (in that it has some taste, plus it has electrolytes), and does not have the calories, or artificial sweeteners, of sports drinks. While packing for my trip, I put one tea bag in the container (and bring extra tea bags for my trip), and once I clear airport security, I purchase bottled water, and fill up the quart container, while keeping the empty water bottles to be filled up once I reach my destination. This way, the tea brews while I am traveling, and so when I get to my hotel, it is all ready to be poured in the empty water bottles, which I end up storing in hotel room’s mini-fridge.

Another part of my planning is to bring lightweight exercise clothing, that wick water well, and plastic bags for storing wet clothing during the trip. It is important to bring clothing that are lightweight, and wick water well, since otherwise, the weight of your wet exercise clothing will cause your suitcase to weigh more as you return from your trip. For example, in 2012 I took a two week trip to Europe, primarily to watch the Monaco F1 Grand Prix and the French Open, and when I arrived at the airport for my return to the US, my suitcase was way over the 50 kg limit, and I was looking at playing around $300 for the extra weight of my suitcase, which was due to my wet exercise clothing. Luckily, I had a carry-on bag with sufficient space to lessen the weight of my main suitcase, thereby reducing my overweight baggage charge. If I had brought clothing with more technical fabrics, instead of cotton, I would not have such a problem with my suitcase’s weight, and since that trip, I have packed more t-shirts and shorts made of technical fibers. Another suggestion is to bring a small spray bottle of Febreze air freshener to lessen the smell of wet clothing.

Also before I leave for the airport, I pack various fruits (including dry fruits like dry mangoes, figs), vegetables (like carrots, small cucumbers, celery), Wasa crackers, low-fat string cheese, and homemade popcorn that I can snack on during my flight. With most airlines now charging for food, it makes financial sense to bring your own food, and this way, you can better control the total calories you eat, plus have better food quality than what is served on the plane.

Once I reach my hotel, one of the first things I do is go to the fitness room and work out, particularly after a trans-Atlantic flight to Europe. Typically, flights to Europe arrive early in the morning, and one of the best ways I have found to push through jet lag, and get on a local time schedule, is to exercise when I first arrive at my hotel. During my stay, I will continue to work out first thing every morning, and if possible, in the afternoon/evening. The latter being more difficult since the evenings of a business trips usually involve late night social activities. It is hard work, but you will feel much better about yourself, and it helps to offset all the eating that typically takes place on business trips. I also look to find a local market around my hotel, at the start of my stay, so that I can stock up on fruits and vegetables, that are not always present in large quantities during meals. This way, I can eat less during the meals, yet get the nutrition I need from the food stashed in my hotel room.

These are just some of the strategies I use when I travel, and I expect to discuss other strategies in upcoming posts.

Exercise In The Morning Before Breakfast

Every morning, 7 days a week, I get on my recumbent stationary bike, and exercise for 1 hour. As I go forward with this website, I will pass along more of my tips, suggestions, and philosophy about fitness and exercise.

At this point, I like the recumbent bike in the morning for a number of reasons:

You can do it in any weather (as it is inside),
You can multitask while exercising which helps to make the hour pass (watch TV, listen to music, read, make phone calls, etc.),
It is a safe piece of exercise equipment (for example, if you have a lapse in concentration on a treadmill, you can fall, which is not that case with a stationary bike),
The recumbent seat is easier on one’s back and buttocks than a regular stationary bike,

While a regular stationary bike, or an elliptical machine, would also be suitable, I really appreciate the benefits of a recumbent bike in providing a piece of equipment that one can use on an consistent basis, and which can safely allow for multitasking and distractions which help you get through a long workout.

Also, I believe it is key to start your exercise first thing in the morning before you eat. This way, you are able to start up your body’s metabolism, which will help you through the day in burning up calories.

Drive From Within