Metabolic Finance

Metabolic Finance
By John Heaton

Just think of this scenario.
Your bank manger offers you two savings accounts for your finances.
Account 1.
You can make a deposit any time you like. Almost anywhere you like. You don’t even need to be near your own bank. Any bank will do.
The only snag is that no interest is added to your account.
Say you set up a standing order to pay in £100 per month in January you will have £1100 put away to pay for Christmas. Lovely jubbly.

Account 2.
You can’t make a deposit any time you like and you can only pay in at branches of your own bank. Quite restrictive. What it does offer though is a great deal on the interest. Every month, the bank will add 10% of your balance to your account. Using the above example of a £100 per month standing order it looks something like this. January balance £110, February, £231, March, £364.10, April, £510.51, May, £671.56, June £848.72, July £1043.59, August £1257.95, September £1493.75, October £1753.13, November £2038.44. So you will have over two grand to spend at Christmas as opposed to £1100.

I am sure most people would choose Account 2 if they have any sense.

Let’s convert the above scenarios into exercise perspectives.
Account 1 = Exercise 1 = CV Training.
You can do CV any time, any place. Walking, running, skipping, swimming, cycling, etc. You burn calories whilst exercising. However, once your heart rate returns to normal, your metabolic rate also returns to normal.
Account 2 = Exercise 2 = Resistance Training.
You can’t do resistance exercise anytime, any place. To do it properly requires special equipment (although bodyweight exercises can do for some people).
You burn calories whilst exercising. (Not quite as many as when doing CV) However, here is the clincher, the interest. Your metabolism is raised when exercising and providing the intensity is high enough, your metabolism is elevated for hours afterwards. Also, resistance training is the only way to add lean muscle tissue to your body. Every pound of muscle tissue is literally a little fat burning furnace. Adding just 10lbs of muscle to your body will enable you to burn an extra 100 calories a day (even at rest). 100 calories x 7 days is 700 calories per week. This means in 5 weeks you will have burned 3500 extra calories without trying. 3500 calories = 1lb of body fat. Over the course of a year you will lose 10lbs of body fat on top of what you burn whilst exercising. It is just like earning interest on your savings whilst sitting at home.





Summary
Sensible exercisers will take advantage of both bank accounts/exercise formats.
CV training does have its place. It is good for the heart, it is free mainly, and it burns lots of calories and sometimes can be enjoyable. Higher intensity CV training can add to the benefits by burning more calories per hour and also elevating resting metabolism.
Resistance training strengthens bones, strengthens the heart, adds lean muscle tissue and boosts metabolism at rest.
All in all, exercise in any format is beneficial but make your investments wisely and reap the rewards in double quick time.

July update

Hi All.

Just a few things this month.
I will be shortly filming a week of training for the re-vamped NPA website shortly to be launched. I will be demonstrating my Max OT training that I have been following for the past 9 months or so.

Last week was an amazing one really. I did my 1st bungee jump on Saturday. Thanks for everyone that sponsored me.
On Thursday, I travelled to London with a group of friends to film an episode of Eggheads, the BBC2 Quiz show. It will be shown in April so watch this space. Worth a look.
Finally, I went along to watch a great rock band on Friday night. Two of my friends Karl Johnson and Chris Pickard are in the band and they are called The Lost Souls. Check em out on myspace http://www.myspace.com/thelostsoulsuk