Cathe...please respond to the NYT article RE: Strength ...

L

littlek

Member
Hi Cathe,

Congratulations on your tremendous roadtrip (I wish I could have participated :( and your new DVD's for Target look fantastic. I wish you all of the success you deserve!

That being said, I just posted a message regarding the fact that I have Osteopenia and in today's New York Times (Thursday's Styles Section:pg E8 )there is a deceiving article about Strength training. It is very disappointing to see such a prominent article without the correct balance. I have converted 4 of my friends to your MuscleMax and Muscle Endurance DVD's and they have called me this morning with concerns.

Please respond (whenever you get a free moment) regarding how to strength train including your fantastic motivational messages (in all of your tapes) to increase weights when you plateau.

Thank you for giving all of us a lifetime of fitness & fun with your outstanding workout routines!

One of your biggest fans,
Karen: :*
 
Let me try to copy the article in 2 parts:
BARBARA WOODWORTH, 35, a social worker in Seattle, wanted to drop 40 pounds. Alisa Rivera, 39, a college adviser at the University of California, Los Angeles, also wanted to lose weight. She also wanted to build long, lean muscle. So the two women routinely began to lift weights. But like many of the other 36 million women nationwide who each year pick up dumbbells hoping to lose pounds or develop a sculptured body, both Ms. Woodworth and Ms. Rivera ended up disappointed because the strategy is not as simple - or as effective - as it sounds.
Skip to next paragraph
Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times

A strict regimen of light weights will build endurance but not muscle.
Related
Building a Workout to Meet Your Goals (July 21, 2005)

Personal trainers, fitness instructors, magazines and books have sold a double-barreled promise that any strength training builds muscle and that having more muscle dramatically speeds metabolism, increasing the calories a person burns while at rest. With all that extra calorie burning, the story goes, excess weight comes off effortlessly.

The story is wrong in two ways, researchers say. First, muscle is not such an amazing calorie burner. "Even if weight training increases muscle and metabolism, there is little evidence showing that it is enough to cause weight loss," said Joseph Donnelly, the director of the Energy Balance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, who has extensively reviewed studies on the link between resistance training and weight loss.

And second, many who try weight training - especially women - fail to do what it actually takes to build more muscle. They lift too light a weight, or they neglect to progress to heavier weights as they grow stronger. And often, women who take up weight lifting also diet. In fact, it is nearly impossible to increase muscle while cutting calories.

Regular resistance training, done correctly, has many benefits. It can prevent some of the muscle loss that occurs with weight loss. It can also lower body fat levels and even help preserve bone mass. But the idea that it can magically increase calorie-burning is "a very big stretch," said Edward Melanson, an assistant professor in the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Claims that resistance training can send metabolism skyrocketing are easy to find. A Google search using the terms "metabolism" and "weights" produces thousands of Web sites, many of which say that anyone can lose weight and build muscle through strength training, even doing routines that aren't particularly strenuous.

Books like Kathy Smith's "Lift Weights to Lose Weight" also perpetuate the myth that building muscle supercharges metabolism and quickly leads to weight loss. In "Smart Girls Do Dumbbells," Judith Sherman-Wolin claims that resistance-training can "melt away those stubborn pounds you've been trying to lose all your life." And Jorge Cruise's best seller, "8 Minutes in the Morning," advises readers to forget aerobics or grueling workouts because doing his two strength-building exercises a day "will help you firm up five pounds of lean muscle within the first few weeks, allowing your body to burn an extra 250 calories per day." Ms. Woodworth of Seattle said, "Practically every fitness book and magazine I ever read said strength training boosts metabolism so you lose weight easier and faster."

Before taking up weight lifting, she had already lost 15 pounds in about three months by cutting calories and walking and running for an hour three times a week. With 40 pounds still to shed, she turned to what she had heard was the magic bullet.

Her trainer advised her to lift four times a week, cut her cardiovascular exercise to less than 30 minutes but still keep dieting. After six weeks, she was frustrated to find she had gained two pounds. That added weight probably wasn't muscle. Decreasing her high-calorie-burning walks and runs was the more likely culprit. Lifting weights burns few calories - "at least the way the average nonathlete does it and certainly the way most women tend to do it, using relatively low weights and few sets," Dr. Donnelly said. The same time spent an aerobic workout could double the calorie burn.

Once Ms. Woodworth increased her time on cardio, she lost the added weight.
 
Proponents of the theory that weight lifting leads to weight loss argue that it is the long-term effect of gaining more muscle, which burns more calories at rest, that causes weight loss. Still, that has never been proven in studies.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Building a Workout to Meet Your Goals (July 21, 2005)

Studies show that even women who do what it takes to get stronger develop only two to four pounds of muscle after six months of progressive lifting. Given that one pound of muscle burns between 7 to 13 calories a day (as determined by studies that measured oxygen and blood flow to tissues), that means the average boost in metabolism is only 14 to 52 calories a day, said Dympna Gallagher, the director of the body composition unit at the New York Obesity Research Center in Manhattan.

The effect of weight lifting "on metabolism is minor and certainly not the savior of dieters," said William Kraemer, a professor of physiology and neurobiology at the University of Connecticut.

A recent yearlong study of 59 sedentary women at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated what little difference weight training can make in weight loss. About a third of the women lifted weights three times a week, another third did yoga three times a week, and the last third did neither. All the women followed a daily diet of 1,200 to 1,500 calories for the entire year and walked five days a week. In the end, those who had lifted weights or practiced yoga lost as much weight and fat - but no more - than those who only dieted and walked.

Surprisingly, many of the women became no stronger. "We were looking at whether women would stick to the routine, and if so, would they resistance train intensely enough," explained Kara Gallagher, the lead researcher. "It appears that many did not."

When people lift light weights and fail to progressively increase the load, they only increase endurance, Dr. Kraemer said.

After turning "doughy," Ms. Rivera of Los Angeles followed a few workouts using five-pound weights that she'd seen in Glamour and Shape magazines. "After three months the scale hadn't budged," she said. "I didn't see much of a difference in muscle tone."

Eventually she realized that light weights were not enough. "When I progressed from a five-pound dumbbell and began to lift heavier, my arms and butt got firmer within three weeks, although I still did not lose weight," she said.

For those looking to build a more sculptured body, dieting may be counterproductive. "To create new muscle tissue you need to eat enough, not cut calories, to fuel the process," said Karen Reznik Dolins, the director of nutrition at Altheus, a sports center in Rye, N.Y., and a nutrition adviser to the New York Knicks.

Genetics can also help determine the impact that weight lifting can have on muscle development and metabolism.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst looked at almost 600 men and women who did a strenuous, progressive resistance routine for three months, according to a study in this month's Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Three percent were "high responders," some of whom doubled their strength. One percent were "low responders," who became only 1 percent stronger than they were when they started. The majority of men and women increased muscle size 15 to 25 percent; and most men improved their muscle strength 40 percent while women increased theirs 65 percent.

Shannan Catlett, a fashion sales executive in Manhattan, said lifting heavy weights helped tone her slimmer body. After she lost 50 pounds by using the elliptical machine and treadmill and by following a healthier diet, she improved her muscle definition with weights.

"I never lost weight from strength training, but my butt got smaller and I got stronger and firmer all over," Ms. Catlett, 41, said. "I still have to make sure that I'm always fit in regular cardio to maintain my weight."
 
Karen,

I heard that the increased calorie expenditure AFTER an intense workout can last from 24 to 48 hours. (Not to mention the calorie expenditure while working out.)

Isn't that what really helps with slimming down (besides cardio, of course)? The muscle itself (while resting) doesn't burn THAT many more calories than say, fat.

That's what's fooling a lot of people: that they can get away with 1 or 2 sessions a week and still lose weight. Some fitness experts in Oxygen magazine recommend 3-4 per week for optimal results.


Hope that helped to answer your question,

Chiquita
 
This article is focusing strictly on weightloss NOT health. Surely, you can lose weight by abusing the body, meaning eating a low calorie diet and doingo a lot of cardio - but the body will be in a worse shape after the weightloss than before.

What are considered light or heavy weights? I understand why programs like the SS are considered light weight/high rep workouts but Muscle Max, Muscle Endurance, Power Hour aren't that 'light' - is using a 40 lbs barbell for legs, 12, 15, and 20 lbs dumbells for UB still considered light weight/high rep just because they do more than 8 reps/3 sets of the exercises? There is a big difference between Cathe's endurance workouts and beachbody's or the FIRM's.
 
Nancy

Thanks for posting the article. It is very interesting. I hope you all have a good day.

Deb:)
 
Great post Nancy.
However, I had to laugh when it said something to the effect of after 6 weeks so and so gained 2 pounds. Whoa! Two pounds----what a disaster!
Beyond the article --Everyone certainly has to find their own balance between weights and cardio. I personally feel that most people can do 30 mins. of fairly hard to hard cardio for 2-3 sessions per week and that is plenty. And as far as lifting goes, if done correctly with varying lifting tempos which accentuate the negative portion of a lift, you really only need one set of each exercise to failure to get results.
The problem with most people is that they do the same stuff month after month and year after year. For me, changing up every 2-3 weeks on both cardio and weights makes all the difference. And those changes can be a different machine, time, intensity, etc. for cardio and for weights varying lift tempos, exercises, and routines. You cannot remain static and expect to get anywhere...IMHO.
I firmly believe that most exercise info in the general media is BS and mostly aimed at screwing people out of their money anyway. The media latches on to new fads too easily and since alot of people are looking for the easiest way to get results, they fall for alot of nonsense.
Working out is supposed to be hard work. The motivation should be to look good, not to always be looking to have fun. The fun is looking in the mirror at the results of your hard work. Not everyone feels this way but that's my take on it.
 
Nancy, Chiquita and Katerchen,

Thank you all for your replies. Luckily, after being in the health care field for 18 years, I understand the theory behind strength training and muscle endurance. The article did have many accurate statements within it however for those people who are just beginning to use weights may read this article and have a different view of the many benefits this type of exercising has.

My goal was to get a fitness expert like Cathe to explain the proper way to benefit, through gradual progression of weights, and understand the numerous advantages of adding proper strength training to your cardio routine. Every avid member of this site can attest to the benefits of proper strength training via Cathe but a novice maynot be able to read through the lines of this NYT article. I believe that is why my friends contacted me after reading it.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Karen;-)
 
I am not Cathe, and do hope she responds, but I noticed several points in this article that run counter to what I hear Cathe saying online and in her videos. YOu might be able to use these points to reassure your friends (and if anything I write seems wrong, someone correct me!)

1. First, when answering questions about weight loss and cardio/weights, an invariable response from Cathe is to remember to eat "clean" and drink water. The research in the article focuses on "dieting" aka calorie reduction (which is different than eating clean - Cathe does not appear to advocate slashing calories while trying to build muscle, but instead to eat good, clean foods, and to listen to your body). Also, its not clear from the research on women who did not lose that the researchers were actually monitoring these women's diets at all. What if, like many of us, they struggled to keep it clean? Cathe has never said that simply weight training, or cardio alone, without attention to clean eating is going to result in good results.

2. What is the definition of "light" weights - endurance? I imagine the women in this article doing what I see them doing at the gym, lifting a maximum of 5 lb dumbells a zillion times and using momentum to help themselves do that. A Cathe workout is a whole other ballgame. Most women would freak to squat with 40 pounds, which is going to be a muscle-building weight for most of us for awhile (it still is for me and I've been doing Cathe for over a year!). Cathe also uses a variety of techniques, like low-ends, reps at varied slow tempos, etc that create an awesome burn. I have to wonder what the results of research would be on women who regularly do Cathe workouts and who increase the weight when they are supposed to (which is point #3 - Cathe always reminds us to increase the weights).

AS part of my graduate work for clinical psychology, I was trained in research methods, and I have to question the sample of research articles on fitness. Most people struggle to make exercise consistent enough to adequately measure results, and the assumptions women make about weight training making them bulk makes me wonder how much actual quality weight training they are doing.

Also, and very unfortunately, this article focuses on weight loss, and I think what it presents will discourage women from weight training. I agree that the muscle-metabolism connection has been exaggerated by many. But I wonder why the presentation of women saying they failed to lose weight, EVEN THOUGH THEIR PROBLEM AREAS GOT SMALLER AND TIGHTER??? This article perpetuates an unhealhy focus on the scale rather than improving the quality/strength/appearance of the body, and I strongly believe that until we get away from numbers, our body image will be forever constrained...
 
What a smart, coherent post. I wish everyone who read the article could read your "rebuttal."

Nicely done. Thank you!

Marla
 
I do not believe added muscle has added to my metabolism so I have a had time believing the theory, but, it may be another situation where it works for some and not for others.
 
I do not believe added muscle has added to my metabolism so I have a had time believing the theory, but, it may be another situation where it works for some and not for others.
 
I figured as long as it was in today's paper, you could copy it for free. Wait a few days, and you have to pay the NYTimes to read it in their archives.
 
I am second to Nancy(Nancy324) and Marla(JumpHiger). Nice post.

I think the balancing cardio, weight training and keep eating clean (not one straight cut diet) is very important. Also, scale should not be the only measurement. I began workout after 2 years inactive by using Cathe's tapes this March. I did not see my weight dramatically drop, so far about 10lbs give and take. However, everybody comments that I look healthier, has color in my face rather pale and tiresome looking. I also look much toner. My clothes size dropped from 8 to 6. I saw the results especially after using Pyramid series combined with treadmill running. Though I still need to work hard and have another 20lbs to lose, it is a slow pace; I am sure one day I will reach my goal. Look at ladies in this forumn, and those in the roadtrip pictures, I am inspired.

I think when you put your goal to keep you healthy rather than dropping in the scale, it will eventually lead to the real beauty.

WantFit
 
The preceding posts are pure reflection of why all y'all are considered to be the 'educated crowd'. Thanks so much for some of the best fitness reading I've done in a while:) It's an honour to be a part of this forum and cross virtual paths with such smart, educated, fit, rational women (and a few men too!:7 ):)

Take Care
Laurie
 
Wow--great article. Thanks for starting the thread. I get two things out of this article: The importance of having a really good training program and the importance of sticking with it. I lifted weights for several years, but only really started to see amazing results when I found Cathe. Even so, I've especially noticed a big change when I started using the Gym Style DVDs. In my case, maybe it's that particular training program; maybe it's sticking with it--probably both.

I also am curious about this section of the article:

<<A recent yearlong study of 59 sedentary women at the University of Pittsburgh demonstrated what little difference weight training can make in weight loss. About a third of the women lifted weights three times a week, another third did yoga three times a week, and the last third did neither. All the women followed a daily diet of 1,200 to 1,500 calories for the entire year and walked five days a week. In the end, those who had lifted weights or practiced yoga lost as much weight and fat - but no more - than those who only dieted and walked.

Surprisingly, many of the women became no stronger. "We were looking at whether women would stick to the routine, and if so, would they resistance train intensely enough," explained Kara Gallagher, the lead researcher. "It appears that many did not."

When people lift light weights and fail to progressively increase the load, they only increase endurance, Dr. Kraemer said.>>


Many of the women became no stronger?? What were they doing? Lifting 3 pound weights for a year? In my opinion at least, it wouldn't be a fair test of the results of weight training if they're doing it with really bad form or ridiculously low weights. It'd be like telling someone to go do cardio, but then not paying attention to the fact that their cardio consists of walking so slowly that their heart rate never reaches anything even close to their training zone. If the researchers instructed the women on how to do cardio walking correctly--the right pace and duration, for instance--but didn't bother telling them that you have to progressively increase the weights you lift and how many reps to do, etc--that's not a particularly fair test of weight training. Just a thought here--I don't have the study in front of me, but if the study design is flawed, the results will reflect that.

Also, I have *definitely* gotten results from using Cathe's ME..."ONLY increase endurance"?? I am thinking here specifically of the biceps section in ME: The only way I can make it through that is with 5 or at best 7 pound weights. By the end, my biceps are screaming and are sore the next day. You can't tell me that does nothing for your muscles. Again, I think it's a question of proper form and a great training program. Thank you, Cathe!

Finally, my personal experience is that I have not lost any weight with Cathe--scale has stayed rock steady on the same frustrating number. Yet I've dropped 2 dress sizes. Then again, anecdotal evidence is no evidence at all. :)
 
Bubbun, sounds like you've achieved excellent results. I would LOVE to have the scale stay rock steady and lose 2 dress sizes! That's exactly where you want to be: gaining muscle and losing fat. I've never been consistent enough with my cardio to achieve those kind of results. But after 2 years on these boards, at least I'm educated enough now to know what I'm doing wrong.

Good for you! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top