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Chunky Syndrome

By Chek, M.S.S., H.H.P., N.M.T

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Have you ever gone to the gym and noticed that the same people seem

to be exercising on the same machines, week after week? Have you

noticed that these same people's physique never seems to change

despite their dedication? The million-dollar question is WHY? Quite

simply, the body is a very conservative machine. During human

evolution, food supplies were unreliable and to survive in a feast or

famine environment our physiology learned to become very efficient.

This efficiency carries over to modern life particularly whenever you

participate in an exercise regime based upon cyclical motions

(rowing, swimming, cycling, running, or using a step machine). The

body quickly becomes calorie conscious, progressively accomplishing

the same amount of work with less energy expenditure.

Poliquin and colleagues have identified The Chunky Aerobic

Instructor Syndrome. Poliquin found that aerobics instructors quickly

adapted to the workload of teaching classes, often performing three

hours of exercise a day. Despite the fact that this is the equivalent

training level of a professional athlete, the instructors still

maintained disproportionately high body fat levels. You can verify

Poliquin's findings by simply observing the bodies of people who

perform a lot of cyclical cardiovascular activity; there is no

question many of them are pudgier than you would expect!

Resistance training is the key to breaking away from the Chunky

Aerobics Instructor Syndrome. First of all, lifting weights in the

intensity zone of 8-12 reps coupled with short rest periods has been

shown beneficial for releasing the androgenic hormone testosterone

and growth hormone. These important hormones encourage development of

lean muscle mass, which is a metabolically active tissue consuming

calories 24 hours a day. Fat, on the other hand is just along for the

ride! Aerobic exercise has been linked with the release of the

catabolic hormone cortisol, which is antagonistic to the development

of lean muscle mass. Cortisol also promotes conservation of glucose

and encourages the use of fat. This might sound good on the surface,

but you also become as efficient as a Honda Civic running for 80

kilometers on one gallon of gas. Then you are just like those people

going for hours at a time on machines, only to utilize miniscule

amounts of fat!

The Formula for Changes

Alternate between cardiovascular exercise and resistance training.

Use resistance exercises requiring multiple muscles; squats, lunges,

rows, lat pull downs, and Swiss Ball weight lifting exercises. Swiss

Ball weight lifting exercises consume large amounts of calories

because staying on top of the ball requires activation of hundreds of

muscles as stabilizers, plus the prime movers of the exercise you

have chosen. My video program Strong or Stable gives you about 60

exercise options. Keep loads between 8-12 reps per set and perform

five exercises in a row without rest (mini circuit).

Keep your rest periods between circuits under 1:30 minute, reducing

to 1 minute as your body adapts to the development of lactic acid.

Just two days of resistance training and two days of cardiovascular

exercise a week will do a lot more for your shape than camping out on

the stepper. After all, the leanest bodies in the world belong to

sprinters, who despise the thought of aerobic exercise!

Chek, MSS, HHP, NMT has over 14 years experience in the fields

of corrective and high performance exercise. Author of 12

correspondence courses, two books and over 40 videos, is sought

after as a consultant and lecturer around the world. He has developed

the Corrective and High-performance Exercise Kinesiology

Certification Program for elite level exercise and health care-

professionals and is the founder of the C.H.E.K Institute in San

Diego, CA. For more information on any of 's courses, videos,

seminars, books go to: http://www.paulchekseminars.com