This is a question I received from a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu teammate of mine.

He will be wrestling for school this winter and would like to drop weight for competition.

Topic: High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Q: I never did these before but am thinking about starting. I did my first session today and it really kicked my ass. I just ran the long way of the track and walked on the turning curves. Are there any dangers to these? Should I do them only 3 times a week? I want to burn a lot of calories, and I read they are supposed to burn calories even when you do nothing. I feel my chest burning even later. Any risk of heart attacks or such things?

A: Hey, HIIT is probably one of the fastest ways to burn fat. You just have to be careful because you don’t want to burn too much too fast, which is common among people using an isocaloric diet. It’s also very anaerobically demanding so you might not want to do it on a day you do weights. The best way to do it is if you have a heart rate monitor, if you do let me know and I can show you how to design a program that’s best for you. If not I usually recommend people use a 1:2 work to rest ratio. 30 second sprint and 1 minute rest. You can also do this with other exercises like sprawling or breakfalls. Do as many sprawls or breakfalls as you can within :30 and then rest for 1:00 minute. You could even alternate the two exercises if you wanted.

HIIT causes EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) for up to 48 hours. So you’ll be burning fat even while you sleep. Just make sure you’re not over training.

As long as you’ve had an up to date physical and your doctor thinks regular exercise is ok I see no problems.

Something to consider.

Sleeping isn’t just for cerebral restoration. Sleeping effects several hormones that fitness minded people should be very aware of. Primarily, Cortisol, and Growth Hormone.

A lack of sleep can contribute to adrenal fatigue and the release of excess Cortisol. Cortisol can have a very negative effect on individuals whom are looking to obtain their specific fitness goals. It’s known that building lean muscle and losing body fat in the presence of excessive Cortisol production is a very hard thing to do, if possible at all.

Here are some negative effects that Cortisol has on the body:

Weakened immune system

Breakdown of proteins

Lowered bone formation

Incresed blood pressure

Association with visceral (abdominal) fat storage

A lack of sleep will also contribute to a lowered production of Growth Hormone. Going even further, studies have shown that people receiving more than “enough” sleep were able to produce even more GH than they had with their normal sleeping patterns. Why do us fitness geeks like Growth Hormone so much?

Here are some of the benefits GH has to offer:

Incresed calcium retention

Increased lean muscle mass

Lipolysis and the reduction of body fat

Stimulation of the immune system

When designing a fitness program for clients one of the primary things I like to figure out is if they are getting enough sleep. Aside from diet I believe it to be among the top variables in a weight loss or muscle gaining program. Before you work your butt off in the gym you need to have a solid foundation built on a healthy diet and quality sleep.

(The Journal of the American Medical Association August 16, 2000;284:861-868, 880-881.)

I don’t like shoes.

I think they look silly and I think our society gives them too much power. Their main purpose is to provide protection for our soles when we are walking outside on rough terrain but why can’t it end there?

Why do business men and women feel the need to have to wear these silly things all day long? They’re not comfortable.

I spent most of my life as a child not wearing shoes and it’s continued that way into my adulthood. Sure sometimes I get strange looks in the gym but it’s actually been a pretty fun conversation starter. It also allows me the opportunity to teach people a thing or two about their own body.

Why I don’t wear shoes when I workout.

Shoes are designed with the best intentions, protecting our ankles and feet. Unfortunately they put a lot of limitations on our ankle mobility. When our bodies move we create force from the ground up. Our body movements rely on a delicate chain of actions from our ankles, to our knees, to our hips and so on. If you throw restrictions into the bottom link of that chain, that ground force energy then travels a different path then the rest of the body intended for. Of course you won’t notice this. It happens on a microscopic level. But over time that small energy leak in the system will eventually show itself. It could be in the form of sore knees, tight hips, back pain etc. The average gym goer will pass this off as being from old age, or just some regular wear and tear that we have to deal with when it comes to working out hard.

Sure I still have a lot of my clients train in shoes. Usually they’re more comfortable that way. A lot of them are also athletes and the wearing of shoes can’t be avoided. If they’re going to play the sport in their shoes then I’m definitely going to train them in their shoes. It all really comes down to what your goals are in the gym. Sports aside, for general health purposes and definitely for rehabilitation I suggest people start working out in their socks and ditch the Nike high tops.

I’ve been known to toss around a conspiracy theory or two. But here is one that gets to me the most. Did you know that there is a sweetener out there that the major corporations don’t want you to know about?

A sweetener 300 times sweeter than table sugar.

A sweetener containing zero calories.

A sweetener that is 100% natural.

In 1991 Stevia received the label as being an “unsafe food additive” and was restricted as an import. This was a result of the FDA receiving an anonymous complaint. When questioned, the FDA claimed the negative label was due to “the toxicological information on stevia is inadequate to demonstrate its safety.” This comes as a shock because the FDAs own guidelines even state that “any natural substance used prior to 1958 with no reported adverse effects should be generally recognized as safe” (GRAS).

So in short, the FDA doesn’t know if Stevia is safe. But at the same time they have nothing to show that it is unsafe.

Then why the ban? Where is this anonymous complaint coming from?

Well, since Stevia is a naturally occurring substance, it requires no patent to produce it. Several large companies rely on their patented non caloric artificial sweeteners to make large amounts of money. Something like Stevia surely would not look good to them in a competing market.

Was the FDA under pressure from these big companies? They still have not revealed the source of the initial complaint made about Stevias safety.

Because of pressure from the DSHEA the FDA was forced to revise its stance on the Stevia banning in 1994. Stevia can now be sold and imported to the US but the FDA will still not allow it to be used as a “food additive”.

THE TRUTH:

For centuries tribes in Paraguay and Brazil have used Stevia as a sweetener in their medicinal teas. Since the early 1970s Japan has used Stevia as a sugar substitute and it has steadily become one of the most popular sweeteners taking up 40% of the sweetener market. There have never been any reported instances of negative side effects from long term use. More and more studies are being done showing not only the safety of Stevia but that it has some tremendous health benefits as well.

It has been shown to reduce hyper tension.

(A double-blind placebo-controlled study of the effectiveness and tolerability of oral stevioside in human hypertension,. Chan et al 2000)

(Efficacy and Tolerability of Oral Stevioside in Patients with Mild Essential Hypertension:

A Two-Year, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study, Hsieh et al 2003)

(The effect of stevioside on blood pressure and plasma catecholamines in spontaneously hypertensive rats, Chan et al 1998)

(Antihyperglycemic and Blood Pressure-Reducing Effects of Stevioside in the

Diabetic Goto-Kakizaki Rat, Jappesen et al 2003)

It has been shown to have positive effects on Insulin Sensativity.

(Rebaudioside A Potently Stimulates Insulin Secretion From Isolated Mouse

Islets: Studies on the Dose-, Glucose-, and Calcium-Dependency, Abudula et al 2004)

(Antihyperglycemic Effects of Stevioside in Type 2 Diabetic Subjects, Gergersen et al 2004)

(Antihyperglycemic and Blood Pressure-Reducing Effects of Stevioside in the

Diabetic Goto-Kakizaki Rat, Jappesen et al 2003)

It may even play a role in slowing down the growth of cancer.

(Inhibitory Effect of Stevioside on Tumor Promotion by

12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in Two-Stage Carcinogenesis

in Mouse Skin, Yasukawa et al 2002)

There are plenty more studies than these with similar outcomes as well as over 200 showing the safety of Stevia. I have been using it for my tea and oatmeal this past month and I have to say its been great. I only use 1 packet a day because this stuff is so sweet. I put a couple granules here and there and I’m good to go. I suggest Stevia for anyone looking to cut out those refined sugars from their diet. You can find it in most grocery stores in the natural foods section.

Until next week, I’ll be wearing my tin foil hat and keeping my eyes open for more injustices pushed upon us by our “guardian angels of food and drug” the FDA.

For more info I suggest checking out the website Stevia Info.