Good Fat, Bad Fat, Poop, and Spot Reduction
(warning: some strong language and slightly graphic)
Resent research has concluded that all fat is bad for you regardless of where it is stored. You may have heard of the android (apple shaped, abdominal fat storage) or the gynoid (pear shaped, hip fat storage) fat storage concept? This research reminded me of a conversation I had with one of our new trainers today (Brett) about his Olympic lifting snatch technique. Brett, was telling me about the improvements he has made in his lifts while also complaining of some new soreness and pain throughout his body he was a little confused about. After giving Brett a few back handed compliments about his progress I said, “So tell me Brett, what is better? Three day old dog poop, or one day old dog poop?” Looking at me confused. I snap back, “Neither, they are both STILL SHIT!” He got the point that it’s still not optimal, and until we clean up his positions and form, he will continue to have these obscure pains. It’s amazing how educational poop can be.
All you ever wanted to know about poop, see Brett, there IS a difference.
What does this have to do with fat? Well, consider the same question in regards to body fat. There as been some rather comical but necessary research thrown around about which fat may be better or worse for you. Which leads to the notion of ideas like, ‘fat and fit’, or ‘she is just a little healthy.’ While, I am ALL for being positive and helping people be happy with themselves physically and mentally (And I love everyone regardless of their fat cell size! Unless you are a Cubs fan, then I HATE you.).
I think we all have greater standards than that? Possibly? Maybe? That’s like saying that there is a better or worse form of cancer. Sure, I know there or varying degrees and stages that are technically better or worse, buts it’s CANCER! I will take ZERO cancer cells thank you very much!
Interestingly, I can’t say I have ever had a client that didn’t want to lose ALL of their body fat. While we know that that fat around the waist line serves as a good predictor of heart disease the most recent research explains something very interesting. Dr. Emanuele Di Angelantonio, a lecturer in medical screening at the University of Cambridge in England states, “This research shows that belly fat is just the same as other fat” when analyzing heart disease risks.
The study’s findings, developed by a global team of 200 scientists from 17 countries and based at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, are reported online March 11 in The Lancet.
To explore the predictive power of various heart disease risk factors, the researchers examined data from 58 studies that included more than 222,000 men and women from 17 countries.
The study found that waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio and BMI measurements were all similar in their ability to predict a person’s risk of developing heart disease or stroke when combined together are the leading cause of death in the US (CDC, 2010). This shows that “whether you carry weight around your waist, or any other way, it doesn’t matter. Whatever way you carry your fat is bad,” Di Angelantonio said.
While this may be interesting I find this to be a bit obvious. And furthermore when you look at the links to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and more it is pretty safe to say the OBESITY (or an excessive accumulation of fat cells) is the number one killer of human beings.
Forgive me for dismissing this brilliant mans research as, ‘obvious’ but some of these measures are not always so straight forward. Take for instance the BMI (body mass index) which is merely a factor of height and weight. As we have now discussed research has demonstrated that elevated BMIs are a predictor of disease but ALSO the reverse, yes HIGHER BMI lead to longer life spans. What a paradox. Yes, the ‘obesity paradox’ has show that there is a protective effect of being overweight.
However, one doctor is attacking this issue head on to get to the truth about BMI. According to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, being overweight or obese is associated with a higher rate of death FROM ALL CAUSES.
Researchers led by Amy Berrington de Gonzalez, an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. analyzed data from more than 1.5 million white adults who participated in 19 past studies that evaluated risk for developing cardiovascular disease.
“We conducted the study to try and clarify the relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality, in part to answer two questions: what the optimal BMI range is and the risk associated with being overweight, or having a BMI of 25 to 30,” said de Gonzalez. “There’s particular uncertainty with regard to this second question.”
Again, excuse me for being captain obvious again here but consider this scenario. If we look closer we will see that a BMI is not a BMI is not a BMI. When you simply don’t account for lean body mass you have a very major difference. You can have a 200lb man that is either 30% fat or 3% fat. At 30% body fat this man has 140lbs of lean mass with 60 of fat mass. The 3% body fat man is 194lbs of muscle with 6 extra pounds of fat to carry around. You tell me who you think will survive a chronic disease or illness better? While their BMIs are identical they are NOT the same person. Yes, hundreds of thousands of dollars (probably millions) of the national Institute of Health’s money has been drained into this simple concept. While I REALLY appreciate the research these guys are doing I would love it if they could be a little more vague…lets take things a bit further shall we?
This simple conclusion isn’t good enough and we can take these signs from the physical body’s appearance a bit further. While I firmly agree nearly ALL fat is unhealthy (with obvious exceptions to the essential fats in the brain, joint padding, etc), I also feel that there is just simply more to this whole picture. There is clearly more to the notion of reducing things to, ‘calories in vs. calories out,’ and even, “move more and eat less.’ While these may be learning gems to a 4th grader I am a professional and choose to take my very expensive education, and be a little more precise and productive than that. I mean I have been measuring body fat percentage, BMI, and waist circumference for over a decade and to what conclusion? “Ummmmm, yeah, we need lose some weight, oh lets say, here, here, and little over here, k?”
I just had the pleasure of working with the world famous strength coach Charles Poliquin who just may hate fat cells more than me.
He was sucking in;)
Many know of Charles as the man responsible for preparing over 200 Olympic and professional athletes, training 20 different national teams, and coaching at 3 different Olympic Games. He is even responsible for training some of our St. Louis native hockey hero’s Al McGinnis and Chris Pronger.
Charles is…Controversial, yes. Misunderstood by some and cast off as crazy, yes. Criticized for his amazing claims of rapid seemingly impossible progress, yes. Successful at creating numerous World and Olympic champions, YES. Ahead of his time, YES. Able to back up his claims with real world results, YES. The most ripped strong 50 year old man I have ever met in my life, YES. Many people find him perhaps hard to swallow, but it is very common for people to throw stones at things they simply don’t understand (ex: religion, politics, the world being flat, women, etc). Hang out with him long enough and you will realize there is much you don’t understand.
The good news is that it is ok, and all he cares about is RESULTS! Something we have very much in common. As you know The Lab is no stranger to eradicating fat cells from one mil to nil in record time, BUT we always strive to be better. So everyone on staff is constantly studying and learning all they can, it is a requirement of the job. We will seek out any world leaders in order to remain the St. Louis leaders in weight loss, preventative health, and performance.
Poliquin practices what he preaches and at age 47 has successfully kept his bodyfat under 3% for 18 months!
Poliquin has developed one very sophisticated system of altering body composition and taking it to the next level. As the above research is correlating different fat storage sites and their correlations to specific diseases, let’s just say Poliquin has been running with that concept since 1982. Charles references early research from Germany in 1908 showing a connection to fat storage and hormones. Furthermore, Poliquin has used skin fold and body fat analysis measuring 12 different sites on the body to extrapolate just what is going on hormonally and metabolically within an individual for decades, with his Olympic athletes and clientele. Since that time Poliquin has compiled his own data and system to make sniper like augmentations with in lifestyle, training protocols, diet, and supplementation to make radical improvements to body composition and disease. It is truly 200 years ahead of its time.
I have come from a pretty hard core background of evidence based practice from Saint Louis University when it comes to these sorts of practices or claims especially when it comes to the diet and supplementation realm. Being the skeptic I am a I had to find out for myself first hand before sloughing it off as nonsense. I mean, I have read, respected and admired this guy for over 10 years as a strength coach so I owed it to him and myself to find out more before I cast it off as some form of quackery. After spending a week hearing his lectures I quickly realized this guy knows his stuff. He is a human machine with a photographic memory to recall scientific literature to a degree I have never seen in any of my 9 years of college acquiring 3 university degrees (and I had some BRILLIANT professors that have published literature for a lifetime). He is a biochemist, endocrinologist, physiologist, pharmacist, and a library combined into one brain. I prided myself in undergrad in memorizing every biochemical pathway, amino acid, carbohydrate, fat structure, and metabolic process imaginable and I now see I set my standards WAY to low. He knows his biochemistry thoroughly and like wise has a team of MDs and Phds behind him pushing these methods to extreme accuracy.
So what is this method he uses? It is called Biosignature Modulation and it is a way to learn about someone’s own unique physiology and analyzing how their body fat is stored. From there a priority is placed on what may be the most pressing issue holding this persons progress back (looking at several factors surrounding the adrenal glands, cortisol, insulin, estrogen, human growth hormone, androgens, etc.). When the current limiting factor is pin pointed certain protocols are implemented manipulating lifestyle factors, exercise, nutrition, and supplementation when required. Even more startling is Poliquin goes against what we have all been saying for years as trainers and physiologists, “there is no such thing as spot reduction!” Poliquin’s plan has the keys to open the gates of possibility when it comes to targeted fat loss by getting your hormones in their respective balance. Not to be confused with doing 1000 crunches to reduce fat in your abdominal region!
Poliquin performing a Biosignature analysis on Nick Mitchell, the top trainer in the U.K.
So while the current growing body of literature is stuck with the conclusion, ‘obesity is bad,’ Poliquin is leading the pack to do so much more. Read more about this method from Poliquin himself.
What is BioSignature Modulation?
By Charles Poliquin
BioSignature Modulation is a systematic approach to losing unwanted body fat in specific locations “Spot reduction”. The science behind BioSignature Modulation comes from skin fold data Charles Poliquin has gathered over the past 20 years and comparing his data against blood, urine and saliva tests to determine a clients specific hormone imbalance
Charles Poliquin has discovered 12 specific sites that can be measured to scientifically determine what hormones need to be optimized and (read more)
http://www.ppcchicago.com/articles/biosignature-modulation.php
So why do I hate fat? It kills people prematurely and severely reduces quality of life.
If you have any questions, would like to eliminate your fat cells (the good and bad ones;) or would like to get your own Biosignature reading and assessment email me at thelabgym@gmail.com.
