Monday, June 27, 2011

Meagan on Megan: BMI and Exercise

If you couldn't figure out from the title of the post, this is the BMI and exercise part of the Megan Fox wrap up interview.

As you may recall, the Megan Fox regime consisted of 30 minutes of cardio three times a week along with some core workouts.

Meagan on the three times a week: "If you're already at a lower weight, you don't have to do as much to maintain that...the ASCM [American College of Sports Medicine] recommends 30-50 [minutes] a day of moderate activity."

And what makes moderate activity? Apparently it's all about heart rate. Moderate activity should be 55-60% of your heart rate max (calculate that here).

She continued on the topic of exercise. "The more trained you get, the more your body adjusts to exercise, you don't have to do as much...the optimal fat burning zone is two days a week of moderate activity for 30-40 minutes, and two days a week of 20 intense." (Intense activity--target heart rate is 70-85% of max.)

The benefits? It increases your VO2 max (it's a good thing) and strengthens your heart. In addition, it changes up the exercise level, also important. "Most people constantly stay at even keel...think of losing weight as a plateau."

Fair enough, that's the basic idea behind calorie cycling.  And as for the core training?

"I want 6 pack abs, a flat stomach...you can't just work out the core..think about the long term. Strength training is especially important for women...build bone mass when you're young."

Young? "Teens and twenties...I use the terms strength and resistance training with my clients. It doesn't scare women as much."

This sounded like a mismatch. Girls should be strong, but we tend to aim for skinny?

"Not just women and girls...the exercise movement is a new concept...a new revelation to most people. Moving from working on farms and in factories to desks, our activity level has decreased tremendously."

So what about using BMI as a tool for health? I got a slow head shake.

"I don't like to use it to qualify someone. There's so many limiting factors. It's very easy...but it doesn't take into account gender, or lean mass to fat mass."

She prefers to use body fat to measure health and underweight. "Elite women athletes have about 12% body fat..anything under 12% body fat is extremely unhealthy."

And in the case of celebrities? Again, she shook her head and began talking about her clients.

"I want them to be confident, strong, and not constantly compare themselves...if you see someone who is skinny and thin and think they're healthy, they're probably not."

Surprise, surprise...healthy and skinny aren't the same. She addressed the social issues too.

"Being underweight is not as addressed...society appreciates it...There needs to be a shift from appreciating the super skinny to the healthy lifestyle living...to emphasize to girls that strength training doesn't mean beefed up woman, and get away from comparing ourselves. What is it going to take for me to feel confident?"

Finally, she threw in some added wisdom about the supplement market and fad diets.

"For credible nutritional or physical information, look at scientific journals..I really like Idea Fitness Journal--all professors, researchers, and peer reviewed articles...look for credible sources."

Smart stuff. That wrapped up the interview. Upon leaving, I promised to try that cardio kickboxing class--you guys should look into it too. Details in this post. Maybe I'll see you there!

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