[Lisa] You may not have noticed but Mike snuck in, “We will also look to address her activity level by adding 10-20 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise on 1-2 non-training days” on an earlier blog entry this month.  Here’s my conundrum, I have not found any aerobic activity that I sincerely like.  Hence, I stop doing it at some point.  Treadmill, bicycle, elliptical – BORING.  Yes, I have listened to music and watched TV.  Running, jogging – no good can come of that.  Mike even mentioned in this month’s newsletter that 72% of runners get injured.  I have made it to 50 with both knees intact and I would like to keep it that way.  Tennis, softball, sports in general, ummm no.  Nonetheless, I made a deal, I would follow Mike’s instructions.  So far this month I went to kickboxing and boot-camp, one time each.  In addition, I walked on the tread-climber a few times.  Not that I need more excuses, but hey I’ll throw one in, I do better with exercise earlier in the day and the classes are at night.  I posted this on Facebook last week, “How am I supposed to survive boot camp when my get up and go got up and went?”  Mike, the ever helpful personal trainer, commented, “You simply suck it up :)”  Other than that “motivating” advice, what else have you got Mr. Lipowski?

[Mike]  Aside from our political views and love for ice cream, another thing Lisa and I definitely have in common is our disdain for aerobic exercise.  Check out my blog post Lean without Aerobics.  I too find treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, swimming and stair climbers incredibly boring and it’s true that in the August issue of the PURE PHYSIQUE member’s newsletter I cited a statistic revealing that 72% of runners get injured.  About forty-percent of the injuries suffered by runners are knee injuries.  Not something you want to be dealing with at any age let alone fifty.

The fact remains fat loss is predominately a byproduct of diet, not exercise.  Calories in and calories out is the name of the fat loss game.  So why would I suggest Lisa add 10-20 minutes of aerobic exercise a couple of times a week?

Well first, I didn’t recommend low-intensity steady state aerobic exercise I recommended high-intensity aerobic exercise.  Like resistance training high-intensity aerobic exercise can give our metabolism a boost which enhances our ability to burn more calories at rest.  Lisa, like many people, works at a desk most of the day and being this sedentary can lull the metabolism to sleep.

By adding just 10-20 minutes of high-intensity aerobics on her non-training days she will be better able to keep her metabolic rate about the same each day.  There is a limit to how low she could feasibly bring her calories (without risking muscle loss) so adding this little bit of activity to keep her metabolic rate up will help ensure that she is burning nearly the same amount of calories each day and remain in a deficit.

I also did not suggest that this be a long-term strategy for fat loss.  Occasionally you need to shake things up to expedite the process and with fat loss beginning to slow this could potentially be the change that gets her back on track.  I also prescribed just a small amount of this activity which can be done first thing in the morning and not interfere with her work schedule.

Yes, we do offer kickboxing and Boot Camp classes at PURE PHYSIQUE on some evenings and yes they are longer than 10-20 minutes (45 minutes), but the only reason why we offer these types of classes is because they are intense and provide the same metabolic effect as our resistance training.  In effect they are an alternative means to the same end while providing variety and a cost effective substitute for those who can only train with us once or twice a week.

In part 2 of this entry I’ll provide Lisa (and you) with some suggestion for high-intensity aerobic exercise that won’t wreak havoc on the joints.