You know,

It can be soooo frustrating. I just got back from the workout studio. For the last two hours, I was training in Krav Maga (Full Contact Combat Training).

We start off getting paired up by our body shape. The big-body, muscular-types on one end, and the thinner people on the other. I do not have a big-body, nor any am I a big muscular-type. As we progress, I start to compete against more and more of the big-body, muscular-types. They can hit hard, at first; then they so way down, and eventually they start spending more and more time bent-over at the waist, huffing and puffing.

Here's what kills me! They turn to me and say (every freakin week): "Jeff, you are in such great shape!"

My God! My "SHAPE" has nothing to to do with it. The big-body, muscular-types have the better "SHAPE", in their eyes. What I have is better cardiovascular "FITNESS".

So, not all Cardio is useless.....

J.

yeah..I always thought cortisol and annabolism and catabolsim are more hormonal/stress/nutrition related....does this tie to adrenals ?

No, they do - that part's okay - cortisol is made in the adrenals, as well as androgens such as test. I just don't know what LCJ's getting at.

Nope. Cardio is not useless. Just overrated for changing body shape.

This has been my point all along.

You probably would have been happier with my cardiovascular "fitness" when I was running, but I didn't like my shape.

Now that I no longer rely on cardio for the shape of my body, I actually LIKE the way my body looks. Hard, lean, and tight. Not fat and flabby like it was in my running days.

Built,

I guess the knowledge is not so-common around my circles. None of the people that I was working with ever gave as much credit to ardenal function as you seem to have referrenced. Either that or they were just keeping it from me.

I was interested in your recommending a mainstream book that might go further into it, that I might purchase at the book store.

(By mainstream, I mean one that would be readily available on bookstore shelves. I usually don't buy books that have to be special ordered. I prefer books that have already been accepted by the mainstream.)

J.

I thought you were a certified trainer?

Built, not to put down "Certified Trainers", but, I believe that anyone on this forum could become a certified trainer, on paper.

Send in your VISA card, complete the assignments, send in your tests. Presto, you too, can be a "Certified Trainer".

Your real ability happens in the field, with real life situations.

J.

Maybe I'm jaded, but most "Certified Trainers" are a joke. And no, I never had much emphasis placed on adrenal function in any of my training. Also, I am a member of the 'National Endurance and Sports Trainers Association' and in the process of becoming a "Certified Fitness Nutritionist". But, in my opinion, it's just another piece of paper to hang on the wall.

exactly...which is why you see fat aerobics instructors, fat runners, fat triathletes.....unless you are the elite or the "winners" that J references so often. It is these folks jobs to train all day every day ...and if they are elite or pro you can pretty musch gurantee there is something not natural about their regime. If they are non pro, but win races the folks I know in these circles tend to train 15-20 + hours a week, they are lean, but that has do do with diet as well..and the average joe on this board I do not think is looking for that type of commitment.

There are plenty of references on the web to cortisol and the like J, if you do a search you should find it...that will also save you some money in buying a book...or Built can direct you as well.

LCJ, as a fellow low carber you should know that just because something has been acccepted by the mainstream, it isn't necessarily correct or appropriate.

look at the heart associations and what they recommend for reducing cholesterol, etc... and most of the recommendations the gov't gives are heavily connected to special interest groups!

Oh, I know, I know,... the web can be great. But there is also so much bad information and bad science on the web. There is also bad science in many, many books, I know; but I tend to trust a published mainstream piece of literature a tiny bit more than somebody's website.

J.

P.S. Great new profile photo! LegWarmers!, really great!....but what is up with the goat cheese revolution comment!?!?

this just in Jim Gold..of Gold's gym fame..died at age 82

hey he outlived Jim Fixx dead at 52

there's your scientific proof....lifters live longer

Well, we're in agreement there.

Getting back to the cortisol/hormone thing - as you know, hormones are simply chemical messengers. Cortisol is one of them. Testosterone is another one.

High intensity exercise destroys muscle tissue and in doing so, stimulates an anabolic response. This raises metabolic rate and helps rebuild the muscles.

Cortisol kicks in after about an hour of this, so it's important to avoid overtraining. Cortisol is a CATABOLIC hormone.

Lower intensity exercise also destroys muscle tissue, but unlike higher intensity anaerobic exercise, it doesn't tend to stimulate the same anabolic response. So you don't get the stimulus required to rebuild the damaged muscles. This is why your metabolism doesn't go up afterward like it does following intense activity.

Just call your local University or college. Or go to a library. There's LOTS of information available on these things. The information has been around for so long it's become second nature to many of us.

Basically, cortisol overstimulation is the problem to be avoided, since it "builds you down". When exactly it kicks in is a little different for everybody. The way I see it, the trick is finding your own balance point.

true, but there are certain certifications that ARE respected and not easy to get.

someone wise once told me:

thank you.

i like goat cheese.

You know,

I did go to the Library and to Borders, yesterday, looking for just such a book; but I couldn't find anything. Nothing seems to be obvious.

I haven't gone to the university library. A lot of the remarks seem to run counter to my own knowledge base. But, I am always willing to look at new ideas and ways of thinking about something.


J.