Is Your workout too intense?
Lack of results are a major reason people stop using a trainer and the fault may be because we our over-training them. We all know that a good workout plan should have a combination of aerobic and anaerobic (i.e. strength training). A good rule of thumb, for most people, is about a 50-50 split. But that depends on their goals, their level of conditioning and the specific type of training that is being targeted.
When we over-train, we hamper the body’s ability to release growth hormones, including testosterone, IGF-1 and DHEA. The over-production of the stress hormones, cortisol, adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine limit growth hormone production.
We often times think that exercise is stress reducing, but it really is a double-edged sword. Low intensity training (walking) is truly stress-reducing for almost everyone. A high intensity “jog, spin, aerobic or boxing class” may help you de-stress mentally, but the higher the intensity of the workout…the more stress hormones are produced.
Over-training is simply a result of continually producing too much of your stress hormones without enough time for rest and recovery. This often occurs because ‘aerobic’ workouts are not truly aerobic.
Aerobic exercise, which means ‘with oxygen,’ is stress reducing and triggers “Aerobic Metabolism.” As the intensity of the walk, jog, swim, cycle, etc…increases, the available oxygen decreases and suddenly causes the aerobic activity to trigger “Anaerobic Metabolism,” which is stress producing.
This is one of the biggest reasons clients hit a plateau. They unknowingly over-train! We think we have them on some type of balanced workout of aerobic and anaerobic workout routine throughout the week. But the facts could be we have them doing their aerobic workout at too high of an intensity level, which triggers “Anaerobic Metabolism.” This is counterproductive, because instead of it being a balanced routine, each workout is triggering “Anaerobic Metabolism” and stress producing. This leads to over-training and the over-production of our stress hormones and the eventually lack of progress.
Ego’s get in the way….
I believe anaerobic strength training should be intense, but aerobic training should be at a low to moderate intensity… so that “Aerobic Metabolism” is activated. I have clients and patients telling me they do their aerobic workout at 80-85% of their max heart rate, which would be fine if they were an upper level or elite runner. But most of them are not, which means they should be keeping their heart rate at 70% or lower of their maximum heart rate when they do their aerobic workout.
A difficult thing for some people to understand is that you don’t need to kill yourself when you are doing a good aerobic workout. The more difficult thing is to get them to slow down, or lower their intensity when they do aerobic exercise.
If your client has been stuck on a certain weight and is struggling with other nagging issues, such as fatigue, allergies, high blood pressure, joint pain, digestive difficulties, cravings, mood swings or PMS…it could be another sign that their body is over-stressed. Remember, exercise is a form of stress. Strength training and activities that trigger ‘anaerobic’ metabolism cause an increase of stress hormones, which can eventually lead to adrenal burnout and exhaustion.
A simple rule of thumb -- I ask my clients and patients this question; “after you finish your 20, 40 or 60 minutes of whatever, could you repeat the exact same workout at that moment?” If they say “no way….I’m spent!” That is an obvious sign that they are not staying aerobic, because they should be able to do true aerobic activity for an extended period of time. If they can easily say; “yes, I can repeat that workout, without a problem...They are probably staying aerobic and triggering aerobic metabolism.
The Fat Burning Zone…
The best thing you can have (besides a good pair of shoes) when doing aerobic exercise is a heart rate monitor. Only the most well conditioned elite athletes can perform aerobic activity at 80% or above their maximum heart rate. The average MaxVO2 of many of these elite athletes is about 80-85%, which means they can elevate their heart rate to 85% of their maximum heart rate and still maintain aerobic metabolism. This is critical because when you maintain aerobic metabolism your body can burn stored body fats for energy. This is important because the body produces two and a half times more energy when it breaks down fats for energy instead of carbohydrates and proteins (lean muscle). When you cross over that ‘aerobic threshold’ your body begins to burn lean muscle and carbohydrates for energy, which is counter-productive when trying to reduce body fat.
After we determine what heart rate range we want them stay within, typically around 70% (220 – age…multiplied by 70%). I recommend you tell them two things. First, walk, jog, swim, whatever….at their normal rate and see what their heart rate has normally been during that session. Now, tell them to run, jog, swim, whatever as fast as they want to -- but don’t let their heart rate exceed that predetermined number. Notice how much different their speed or level of exertion is. Ninety percent of the time they will open their eyes to the fact they have possibly been overtraining. They’re producing too much of their stress hormones. This explains why they haven’t been able to lose those extra pounds, etc…
Let’s not be guilty of ‘shooting ourselves in the foot,’ by causing our clients to over-train. Use a heart rate monitor to help gauge the intensity of workouts. Keep their aerobic workouts at a lower intensity and their anaerobic workouts intense. If on occasion they just want to do a more intense aerobic workout because they want to feel the wind blow through their hair, that’s fine. Just remember the name of the game is balance. I like to think of it like dieting, sometimes you are just going to splurge on your diet. So, let them splurge on their aerobic workout. You can also implement “interval” training, which is the best way to help increase the MaxVO2. One caution… be careful how intense you make it for some clients, because it could be more than their body can handle… and we don’t want to literally be killing them!
Dr. Len Lopez
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