A Word from the Doc

Burn 45% more this year

Dr. Joseph T. Brannigan, DC

New resolutions provide the impetus for making a difference in your life this brand new year 2012.  We all need to fire up our calorie burning furnaces to enjoy a leaner, healthier best version of ourselves.  We can do the usual stuff that we think will help us regain our youthfulness or we can visit with the staff personal trainers to help us find what we can do on a regular basis that will engage us long into February.  I tell patients to find some activities that they like to do, that is the best exercise: you will do it if you like it.

My favorite aerobic exercises include those that are the best bang for the time involved: cross country ski machines, swimming, any exercise classes, walking the golf course and hiking.  The more muscles that you use, equals better calorie usage.  Alternate intervals of speeding up (15s) and slowing down (45s) (interval training) to allow the body to burn up to 45% of calories more than a flat pace throughout the workout, according to research.  It also helps to produce the “fountain of youth” hormone: growth hormone.

If you do 2# weights for 10 reps of resistance exercises for the past 2 years, you and your muscles are bored.  The muscles do not have to work very hard when you ask them to do the same jobs over and over without changing the workload in some way.  This is the reason why many people get frustrated with their workouts, nothing is changing!  Your body is telling you the same thing, nothing is changing and I am getting good at this- you burn less calories doing it therefore.

The training staff and I enjoy your questions as to how to reach your goals over a certain period of time.  My recommendation is to invest the time, money and energy into your health because the dividends feel and look better on you.  The Drs. and trainers will also set a safe resistance program that will help you to reach your goals in a much more timely manner

One goal that I set for patients is to gain more lean muscle % by reducing the number of calories by 100 per meal by leaving 2-3 bites at each meal (if you eat 3 big meals).  Then if you are able to do 30 minutes of aerobic activity for each day of the week, you burn approximately 200 calories.  The math is stacking up in your favor with about 500 calories per day outgoing, you will lose 1 pound of fat per week at this rate.  Many patients and seminar attendees that I have spoken to have felt like you and I have when we are told this wonderful math equation, we say, “it can’t be.”  The logic works however, 1 pound of fat equals 3500 cal.  If you were food diligent and worked as I have outlined above for seven days multiplied by 500 calories, you will lose a pound of fat per week.

I do not like the poundage scale all by itself, it measures the amount of force that you are pressing with, but it does not tell about the quality of the weight behind the force.  Are we measuring your buffet meal, 12 glasses of water or your fat weight loss or gain? We could never really tell, unless you see the Drs. and trainers with the measuring tape, fat loss monitor or dunk tanks.  If all of our clothing is one size fits all, then we need sized clothes and belts as monitors to help gauge how lean we are getting.

Dr. Brannigan is a local Orland Park Chiropractor who is dedicated to enriching the health of the community by helping you run longer.  Dr. Brannigan is accepting new patients and can be reached by phone at: (708) 966-4413 or email: BranniganChiropractic.com