A.L.I. Bootcamp is Proud to Announce its

10th Anniversary Bootcamp Class on November 3rd, 2007
 9:00AM, Hollywood Beach & the Marriott Hotel

This class will be a part of the larger Special Event
The
Hollywood Fitness & Lifestyles Expo
www.fitnessandlifestylexpo.com

Do you remember the first time you fell in line and covered down? Do you remember hearing the protocol feeling a little anxiety in your chest about what was about to happen in this Bootcamp Class?  Thinking you don’t want to be one of those names on that pole D. O. R. (Dropped on Request). I promise there will be no yelling..(Maybe a little loud talking??), but there will be the laughter as I asks you to share your favorite Bootcamp Stories, you all have at least one.

I will share some of his too, the husbands that called begging him to give their wives their dog tags, the sleepless nights that people wrote to him about coming to class on Saturdays, the attempted bribes of people to get the next ranking T-shirt and more.

Thousands of people have taken the A.L.I. Bootcamp Class over the last 10 Years, that’s right it has been 10 Years and ALI is calling all recruits past and present, come help me celebrate this milestone event and enjoy the experience one more time.

A woman recently told me that she was too old to start working out that it would not do any good at her age of 66 years.

I want to relate a true life story, a woman saw me conducting my bootcamp class and searched me out as she had just moved here from Virginia, wanted to lose weight and improve her fitness level.

She finally found me and was concerned that at her age 61, she would not be able to do much as she put it. I asked her is she willing to commit 45 minutes twice a week for 6 weeks and that in that time we will see what she can do. She agreed and we started working out with her being diligent about her appointments and keeping a food diary of everything she eat and drank along with the time of day this occurred.

This woman of 61 years of age could not sit down on a bench and stand up (bench squats) without the help of something to hold onto or lean up against. She could not walk on the treadmill for more than 5 minutes without becoming winded. She could not perform one modified push up (where you are on your knees with your torso on a 45 degree slant and perform the push up).

Now 6 weeks later she can perform those bench squats without any assistance 15 times for 2 sets. She walks on the treadmill now for 20 minutes at a time. She does modified push-ups for 10 times for 2 sets. She now consumes 3 liters of water per day instead of 6 bottles of Diet Coke. This Grandmother of 61 years has made remarkable strides in her journey and has increased her workout to 3 times per week. So this is living proof you can make great strides in your personal health and fitness quest, you just have to commit to be fit.

I am always entertained when I hear people say things concerning muscle gain and body fat. I will often hear sportscasters talk about football players having 6, 7, and 8% body fat. I will hear people say after working out for a period of weeks they have gained 4, 5, pounds of muscle or even higher. OK. Let me say this happily and diplomatically, it just aint’ so.

I want all of you to understand these concepts so that you are not misinformed and have a solid understanding of both muscle gain and body fat. Let’s start with muscle gain shall we? When you start working out you awaken your dormant muscle content and now are asking your muscles to perform against resistance and in doing so the muscle responds and by your consistency the muscle changes its composition.

This will lead to weight gain but the weight gain is not an increase in lean muscle mass it is only an increase of water inside your muscle which is now being kept active on a regular basis.

An highly trained athlete given the task of trying to improve their lean muscle mass training rigorously and eating correctly might and I stress might gain 10lbs of muscle mass in ONE YEAR.

Now the average American Women has a body fat reading of 35%, the fattest in the known Universe, a recommended reading for women is 21-25%; female athletes like sprinters or basketball players come in around 17-21%, while the gymnast, ballet dancers and female fitness/bodybuilding competitors come in under 17%. By the way one big myth is that female fashion models are very low in body fat which is untrue. The models are skinny but their muscle tone is typically underdeveloped and their body fat is usually 25-30%.

The Average American Male is 26% again the fattest from here to “E.T”. A recommended reading for the guys is 14-18%, the sprinters, football and basketball players average 10-14%, the gymnast, bodybuilders, and Cirque du Soleil performers come in under 10%. To put this in perspective Professional Bodybuilders will typically compete between 5-7% body fat will only stay that low for about ONE WEEK.

So now you know and when you hear someone say they gained 7 pounds of muscle or speak of body fat that is abnormally low you can say “it just aint’ so”.

As promised I will continue where we left off from last month. I had just thrown the physiological curve ball that people cannot seem to fathom. Here is the refresher statement:

Your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) increases when you perform aerobic exercise and upon completion it goes back down within 10-30 minutes, this may be longer depending on the duration and intensity of exercise, but for this purpose that range is good. When you perform resistance training a.k.a. weight training your BMR goes up and upon completion stays up from 4-18 hours, again depending on duration and intensity it may be longer.

So let me give you an example of what this means, you perform an aerobic class for 60 minutes at medium intensity, your BMR goes up for 60 minutes, plus an additional 15 minutes after you finish. You do that three days a week, which gives you a total of 3 hours and 45 minutes of elevated BMR.

Now, you jog on the treadmill for 15 minutes and weight train for 45 minutes at medium intensity, your BMR goes up for 60 minutes, plus an additional 6 hours after you finish. You do this 3 times per week, which gives you a total of 21 hours of elevated BMR.

Remember, a higher BMR gives you more energy and is essential for body fat loss.
However, people believe that aerobic exercise is King to lose excess body fat when in fact it is resistance/ weight training.

The facts are clear but if there is one thing I have learned the hard way is to try to explain the facts where an emotional attachment has taken place, think taking away a blankie from a child that rationale says it is time but the child is intent on keeping it forever and they mean it.
I now just present the facts to people when asked the questions concerning this subject and sit back and wait for the response like Zig Ziglar has taught me and then comes the “Oh, ok.” “Well, thanks Ali, I’m going to my aerobic class now.”