Army Physical Fitness Standards Lowered - Photo by Wired.com

Wired magazine is reporting the Army has commissioned research for a experimental weightloss program where they will inject Brown fat into their recruits to help them weightloss. WTF? Wow, I thought the whole point of Army indoctrination was to go through boot camp and to become an “Army of One”. And I thought all Armed Services had minimal physical fitness standards they adhered to when evaluating a potential recruit. Has recruiting gotten so bad for the Armed Services now they actually have to lower their standards and accept obese recruits – if so are National Security is in trouble.

What is Brown Fat? Brown adipose tissue (BAT) or brown fat is one of two types of fat or adipose tissue (the other being white adipose tissue) found in mammals. Brown fat is present in infants but starts to diminish as we reach adulthood. However, further, recent studies using Positron Emission Tomography scanning of adult humans have shown that it is still present in adults in the upper chest and neck. The remaining deposits become more visible (increasing tracer uptake, that is, more metabolically active) with cold exposure, and less visible if an adrenergic beta blocker is given before the scan. The recent study could lead to a new method of weight loss, since brown fat takes calories from normal fat and burns it.

What’s the difference? Yellow fat, which is what we usually think of as body fat, serves as storage for extra calories. Brown fat, found in much smaller amounts in the body, actually burns calories to generate heat. Babies and children have a relatively high proportion of brown fat to help keep them warm, but as we age, we lose it.

I can see this type of research being commissioned by one of the big pharmaceutical companies as this could be a blockbuster product for them as it will potentially have far reaching effects across many special populations. According to the Wired, an estimated 75 percent of today’s young Americans are either too fat, too sickly or too dumb to serve. The Army’s even overhauled their fitness program, in part to accommodate softer recruits, by swapping long runs and grueling drills for yoga and calisthenics – WOW! Well I guess it makes sense though as more Wars will eventually be fought from behind a computer screen a la Unmanned Aircraft.

And to quote Wired, fat losses aren’t synonymous with fitness gains. In other words, the soldiers of the future might very well be smaller and leaner. But without rigorous exercise, they’ll still, sadly, totally suck at CrossFit.

Read the full Wired article, “Army’s New Weightloss Plan: Transplant Soldiers With Extra Fat“

Chest & Back Workout

I was tired tonight and tempted not to workout at all as I have been burning candles from both ends. But when you are Carb cycling (low carb off-days, medium carbs on-days) if you are on your carb day and you skip your workout you can end up having a week of all carbs totally interrupting your goals so I persevered tonight. I changed my warm-up workout tonight to the Stairmaster Gauntlet and 5 minutes of that totally kicked my butt. I will not use that as a warm-up machine again.

My pre-workout meal consisted on medium sweet potatoes and Atkins Mocha caffeine protein drink (see facebook.com/activehealthywell photos) 1 hour prior to the workout.

Warm-up

• 5 min warm up on the Gauntlet

Chest & Back Exercises

I am in my light phase (60% of 1RM) right now so plus I was tired so I only performed 1 set of each of the following

• Super Set Group 1

Dips: BW X 15 rep X 1 sets

Underhand grip Pull ups: BW X 15 reps X 1 sets

• Super Set Group 2

Machine Incline Bench Press: 180 X 20 reps X 1 sets

Standing Rows: 120 X 15reps X 1 sets

• Super Set Group 3

DB Bench: 80 X 15 reps X 1 sets

DB Pullovers: 80 X 12 reps X 2 sets

• Super Set Group 4

PecDeck: 80 X 12 X 1

RevPecDeck: 80 X 12 X 1

 

At the end of the workout, I performed a 8 min HIT on a life-cycle and not on a treadmill because I have bad knees from years of football.

Post Workout

Immediately after your workout you need to eat, drink, or both within 30 minutes to 1.5 hours afterward. You should strive for a 4:1 Carb to Protein ratio. Why? After a workout is a critical time for growth and recovery as your cells and hormones (specifically, Insulin one of the most anabolic hormones in the body) are most receptive at that time.

Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle.

Tonight I had 1 banana, 1/4 cup of mixed fruit, and 1.5cups of chocolate milk with the Gaspari Chocolate Protein powder some of the best tasting protein powder on the market right now. I chased that down with 1tsp of Creatine and 1tsp of Glutamine, Mmmm good. Prior to bead tonight I will have another dose of Glutamine and Liquid Amino’s for recovery.

This is a very important concept that I am not going to talk about in depth here as it is a very extensive topic that deserves much more than I want to talk about in this workout post. I will revisit the concept in another post however if you want to know more check out Nutrient Timing by John Ivy et al.

Music by Spotify

To assist with workout intensity, I usually listen to rap and that’s probably the only time I listen to it. It serves its function in the gym to keep me HYPE and INTENSE throughout the workout. Here’s the play list:

• Public Enemy: Bring Da Noise
• *Busta Rhymes: Respect My Conglomerate
• *Travis Barker Let’s Go, Give the Drummer
• Lil Wayne: Lollipop
• *Diddy: Angels
• Freeway: Free At Last
• DJ Khaled: I’m On One
• *Pharoahe Monk: Simon Says
• *Timbaland: Carry Out
• FloRida featuring Timbaland: Elevator

*Right now my two favorite HYPE songs that I can play over and over are The Game’s, One Blood and Busta’s, Respect My Conglomerate. There’s something about those two songs that just make me want to break through glass blocks and when I need that extra Umph – I replay those two songs because the beat is so infectious and it take you up one level and sometimes you need all the help you can get.

Diet

On workout days, my calories are higher as I follow the Cheat to Lose diet methodology whereby I vary my calories based on my activities; however my macros stay the same. My diet on workout days is as follows and keep in mind this is a custom diet based on my body-weight and goals.

• Meal 1: Protein drink blended with spinach, berries, and almond milk using Magic Bullet
• Meal 2: 1 Cup Brown Rice, 2cups Ground Turkey, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kidney Beans, 1/2 cup Spinach + 1/4 Cup mixed fruit
• Meal 3: 20oz Latte with Oh Yeah Protein bar
• Meal 4: Medium Sweet Potato, Atkins mocha protein drink (with spinach)
• Post workout: 2 Cups of 2% Organic Chocolate Milk (I ran out of chocolate milk) with 30gm Gaspari MyoFusion Chocolate protein powder, 1 Banana, 1/4 Cup mixed fruit
• Meal 5: 1 Cup Brown rice, 2 chicken breasts
• Prior to Bed: Glutamine, Liquid Amino’s

Yes I really eat all this stuff check out the pics here www.facebook.com/activehealthywell.

My stats

Age: 41 | Weight: 225 | Bodyfat: 24% (49lbs) | Lean Muscle: 171lbs

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