Chapter 7: Exercise is Ineffective for Weight Management Flashcards
True or False
While prolonged sedentary periods aren’t necessarily “healthy”, they’re not really bad for you either.
False
Scientists report a strong connection between prolonged sedentary periods and assorted health problems and musculoskeletal imbalances.
What is the average amount of time the average white-collar workerspends sitting every day?
13 hours
What are some of the bodily effects of inactivity?
Inactivity leads to metabolic and hormone imbalances that inhibit glucose metabolism, elevate triglyceride levels, promote excess body fat storage, and elevate blood pressure1. In particular, leptin signaling is known to be disturbed by inactivity. Compromised leptin signaling causes an increase in appetite, an up-regulation of fat-storage genes, and a down-regulation of fat-burning genes.
True or False
It’s fair to say that at the metabolic and chemical level, “sitting begets sitting.”
True
People with lifestyle patterns featuring prolonged periods of sitting each day experience chemical changes in their brains that promote inactivity, while people in the habit of moving have brain wiring that encourages regular movement.
What is meant by the term Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis?
The measure of caloric expenditure outside of sleeping, eating, and exercising.
True or False
High rates of thermogenesis result in elevated basic energy levels and disposition.
True
True or False
Simply walking for a few minutes after every meal or standing at your desk instead of sitting is enough to rewire your brain and genes to become more naturally and spontaneously active.
True
Even minimal movement efforts can help protect against the hazards of prolonged sitting.
True or False
As long as you workout daily, you can overcome the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
False
Even fitness enthusiasts are not immune from the dangers of excessive stillness.
What is Active Couch Potato Syndrome?
A phenomenon in which even people devoted to daily workouts but with otherwise strong sedentary lifestyle patterns (long commutes, desk jobs, evening digital entertainment on the couch) suffer from a similar level of risks for obesity, cancer, and heart disease as those who don’t exercise at all.
How does prolonged sitting affect cognitive function?
Circulation to the brain is compromised by prolonged stillness.
True or False
The simple act of standing at your desk instead of sitting is enough to protect against the harms of prolonged sitting.
False
According to biochemist Katy Bowhman, “If you stand there all day in one position you’ll be no better off than you were before—except you’ll be more tired, stiff, and sore! This muscle and joint “stiffness” can lead to a stiffening of the arterial walls within these muscles.”
What is the key to overcoming the health hazards of sedentary modern life?
Strive for constant movement and variation in your daily routine. Be wary of the endless modern comforts and conveniences that allow you to move less, ease physical labor tasks, lift lighter loads, and generally be lulled into the allure of constant stimulation from a digital screen.
True or False
Resting heart rate is a good measure of how efficiently the heart is pumping blood.
True
What is a person’s ideal aerobic heart rate intensity level?
A workout conducted in the aerobic heart rate zone (heart rate of “180-age” or below) will optimize fat metabolism both during the workout and throughout the day. Even at this very comfortable intensity level, aerobic exercise stimulates the metabolic action of the body at a level more than twice that of normal resting rate.
What are the benefits of aerobic exercise?
Optimizing fat metabolism both during the workout and throughout the day; cardiovascular function is optimized as capillary profusion is increased; muscle mitochondria multiply, function more efficiently, and get better at burning fat; stroke volume of the heart increases (amount of blood pumped with each beat); and lung capacity improves as a function of receiving more oxygen from the cardiovascular system.
A strong base of low-level aerobic conditioning strengthens bones, joints, and connective tissues, thereby enhancing performance and recovery, minimizing injury risk, and making the body more resilient for the high intensity workouts that complement a complete fitness program. Aerobic exercise also boosts the immune system by optimizing the flow of anti-aging hormones and by building a more efficient circulatory system.
If aerobic exercise is so good for you, then why doesn’t it make sense that “more is better?”
Chronic exercise at heart rates above aerobic maximum train the body to prefer glucose as fuel, both during exercise and throughout the day. A chronic cardio pattern also has been shown to obstruct immune system function, destroy white blood cells, elevate cortisol levels, suppress testosterone levels, and trigger chronic/systemic inflammation.
Is there a role for high intensity workouts?
They are critical for peak performance and longevity, but the key is to make them brief, interspersed with extensive recovery, and conducted only in the presence of a strong aerobic conditioning base.
What is “chronic cardio?”
Chronic exercise at heart rates above aerobic maximum
What are the dangers of chronic cardio?
Chronic cardio increases one’s risk of injury and trauma to the joints and connective tissues, and jumpstarts an undesirable metabolic chain reaction.
What is the surest way to ensure that your body remains accustomed to burning glucose instead of fat?
Engaging in chronic cardio that keeps the body in a state of preferring glucose for fuel, thereby leads to sugar cravings after the workout, which leads to spikes in insulin production, which leads to more fat storage.
How does chronic exercise prevent fat loss even if you are careful to limit calories?
According to Dr. Phil Maffetone, the up-regulation of glucose burning during intense exercise can last for up to 24 hours after the session.
What is the relationship between testosterone and cortisol?
These two hormones antagonize each other, so chronically elevated cortisol will suppress testosterone.
What effects does testosterone have?
Testosterone is a major adaptive, muscle building, mood elevating, cognitive performance enhancing, anti-aging hormone for both males and females.
What effect does cortisol have?
Cortisol is the primary catabolic stress hormone
True or False
Engaging in chronic cardio in a group setting such as Crossfit, spinning or dance is an effective way to mitigate its harmful effects.
False
Any workout regimen that fervently pursues fitness or lofty performance goals without respecting a proper balance of stress and rest can compromise health and disturb delicate hormone balances.
True or False
Engaging in brief intense workouts followed by extensive rest can prevent systemic inflammation.
True
Inflammation is a desirable response due to any workout, but chronic workout patterns promote chronic, or systemic, inflammation.
How does aerobic exercise affect fat metabolism?
The stimulation of aerobic exercise trains your body to efficiently utilize free fatty acids for fuel. This is a benefit that is realized 24 hours a day as your body learns from the exercise sessions to prefer fat to glucose for fuel. This benefit is maximized with adherence to a low insulin-producing eating pattern.
What is “mitochondrial biogenesis?”
Building more mitochondria in your muscles
True or False
Mitochondria need more oxygen to produce energy when glucose is the primary fuel source.
False
Glucose doesn’t require oxygen to metabolize. When you exercise aerobically, with plenty of oxygen available to make fat the preferred fuel source, mitochondria produce energy more efficiently than when glucose is the primary fuel source.
What is the net result of sensible aerobic exercise?
You burn energy more efficiently, minimize free radical damage, and consequently delay the aging process. You also increases your capillary network (blood vessels that supply the muscle cells with fuel and oxygen), raise the stroke volume of your heart (more blood pumped with each beat) and improve oxygen utilization by your lungs.
What effect does aerobic exercise have on your bones?
Aerobic exercise strengthens your bones, joints, and connective tissue so you can absorb increasing stress loads without breaking down.
What is meant by the term “caloric compensation?”
Recent scientific research suggests that calories burned through exercise are more than offset by increased caloric intake. While exercise burns stored energy, it stimulates a corresponding increase in appetite, along with hormonal changes that promote fat storage after the workout is over.
What are the behavioral effects that can follow from working out?
We respond both consciously and subconsciously to a workout by being less active and eating more calories in the aftermath.
True or False
Scientific research suggests that we are less likely to take the elevator after a tough workout.
False
We are more likely to take the elevator instead of the stairs.
Why is exercise not a good way to achieve and sustain weight loss?
The desired weight management benefits of calorie-burning exercise is negated by increases in caloric intake and altered hormone function.
True or False
Being lazy after a workout is a genetically programmed mechanism to promote survival and avoid exhaustion.
True
Subconsciously, the body compensates for the stress of exercise by seeking ways to conserve energy—by slowing metabolic rate and generally moving slower and being a tiny bit lazier in the aftermath of a workout.
True or False
Consistent workout patterns are at the core of the Primal approach.
False
To avoid the risk of exhaustion and burnout and meet our genetic expectations, the Primal Health Coach approach recommends a sporadic blend of frequent low-level activity and brief, intense strength and sprint sessions.
True or False
Caloric compensation becomes a non-factor in those who adopt a low insulin-producing eating pattern and avoid chronic exercise.
True
True or False
According to Mark Sisson, calories burned vs calories stored is a more apt maxim to describe body composition than calories in-calories out.
True
Hormonal influences override any simple equation involving the measurement of calories burned during any given workout.
True or False
Extreme exercise and disciplined portion control can achieve impressive results for anyone willing to go the distance.
False
Only a small percentage of the population possesses the genetic factors to maintain the low body fat and exceptional muscle tone displayed by fitness personalities, especially when combined with a high-carb diet.
True or False
No matter how much of a gym rat you may be, maintaining a grain-based diet will make it all-but-impossible to achieve body composition goals
True
What’s the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise?
The term aerobic means “with oxygen” and anaerobic means “without oxygen.”
What is the primary fuel consumed during an anaerobic workout?
An anaerobic workout burns primarily glucose, stimulates the release of stress hormones into the bloodstream, and causes lactic acid production in the muscles—a by-product of performing work efforts without adequate oxygen.
What is the primary fuel consumed during an aerobic exercise?
An aerobic workout burns primarily fat, and is minimally stressful to the body.
True or False
Any exercise that is brief and intense is anaerobic in nature and will burn primarily fat for fuel.
False
Any exercise effort that is brief and intense is anaerobic in nature and will burn primarily GLUCOSE for fuel.
True or False
Brief, high-intensity exercise, enough to trigger the fight-or-flight response, balanced with the right amount of rest promotes optimal gene expression.
True
What is meant by the term “aerobic maximum?”
The maximum number of heart beats per minute that will limit your workout intensity to the aerobic range is 180 minus your age.
True or False
Relying on your own sense of exertion is generally regarded as sufficient to maintain the aerobic maximum “speed limit.”
False
Unfortunately, when we default to perceived exertion, we are inclined to exercise in a slightly uncomfortable zone, beyond aerobic maximum, because this is where we feel we are accomplishing something–“getting a workout.” To avoid this, a heart rate monitor is strongly recommended.
What is meant by the term “ventalitory threshold?”
A maximum aerobic heart rate at which increased effort would cause a non-linear spike in ventilation, glucose metabolism, lactate accumulation, fight-or-flight hormone release, and the recruitment of oxidative fast-twitch (type IIa) muscle fibers.
How can you tell if your effort level during aerobic exercise is optimal?
For any exerciser, an aerobic session is one in which the effort level is comfortable and a conversation can easily be conducted without becoming winded.
True or False
Even getting up from your desk and going to the bathroom can be an beneficial aerobic activity.
True
Any form of low-level movement contributes to your aerobic development.
True or False
The feeling of fatigue is the most reliable way to gauge whether or not an aerobic workout has been effective.
False
Regardless of fitness level, the key element of aerobic workouts is that they feel easy, plenty of oxygen is available, the stress response is muted, and the net result is a refreshed and energized feeling rather than one of fatigue.
True or False
The endorphin rush you get at the end of a hard workout is validation of the idea of “no pain, no gain.”
False
The vaunted “endorphin rush” experienced at the end of a sustained medium-to-difficult intensity workout is an indication that the stress response has been activated.
True or False
Maintaining fat metabolism during an aerobic workout can be completely thrown off if you don’t monitor your heart rate really carefully.
True
Once a bit of lactic acid enters the bloodstream and glucose burning is up-regulated in response to the increasing workout intensity, it’s difficult to transition back into a predominantly fat-burning state, even if the pace slows back down into the aerobic range.
