Ladies “Birthday Bash” - Lighthouse Point Yacht and Racquet Club

Club Activities & Sports
8
Fitness Corner
The Difference between looking “fab” or “flab”
When using the cardio machines the panels can be confusing. You see everything from your heart rate, speed, mets,
watts, calories per hour, total calories burned and distance covered. Most people just look at calories burned. Yet a good
understanding of your cardio machine could literally mean the difference between looking “fab” or “flab”. Here are
some tips to help you understand what all those readings mean.
Mets
Mets stands for metabolic equivalent,
which simply means the
amount of oxygen you consume in
one minute. The relevance of this
is that your body converts fat into
energy through a process called
glycolysis, in which oxygen is
the major catalyst. This is why you
feel the need to breathe faster when
under physical exertion, like when
you’re running on the treadmill. You
will notice that the met reading
on your console rising as you work
harder, indicating that you are consuming
more oxygen and, therefore,
burning more fat. So, if your aim is
to lose fat, it is necessary to maintain
a high met count.
Calories
Most modern cardio machines have
two calorie counters; one that shows
the total calories burned at the end
of the session and one that estimates
how many calories you would burn
in an hour at a given level of effort.
They are nowhere near accurate! This
is because the amount of calories
you burn in an exercise session will
generally vary due to several factors.
For instance, heavier people burn
more calories than lighter people
because they use more energy to do
the same tasks. People with a higher
percentage of muscle also burn more
calories because muscle is metabolically
active tissue that burns calories
24 hours a day. Men also tend to
burn more calories than women because
they have higher levels of the
fat-burning hormone testosterone
and, more often than not, a lower
overall percentage of body fat. All
these factors count, but your average
machine has no way of computing
this information. My verdict? Don’t
sweat the calorie count too much.
Treat it as an estimate rather than an
incontestable fact!
Watts
Watts refer to the actual power
output of your work-out session at
a given point. During your average
cardio session, you often “generate”
enough energy to light up a 100-
watt electric bulb for a minute!
Heart rate
This is where you need to concentrate
because it measures something
that is tangible. The basic aim of
most cardiovascular programmes
is to keep the participant within
the “aerobic heart rate” zone for as
long as possible. This simply means
the point at which your body is just
about able to meet your body’s
oxygen requirements at a given workload.
If you move any faster, you step
into the “anaerobic zone”, where
your body cannot meet its own
oxygen demands and you burn out
quickly from too much lactic acid
in the muscles. If you move slower,
you are not working hard enough to
significantly stimulate your heart &
lungs enough to reap the benefits of
the exercise. This will happen if you
chat on your cell phone or read while
working out on the treadmill. If you
fluctuate between high & low in your
zone you will burn more calories.
Please wipe off the machines with
you finish. Thank you,
Juliette D. Woodmansee,
Fitness Director
Swimming News
We made it to the National Championships! John Jessel, who trains with
Coach Larry competed in three events at USA Swimming’s Conoco Phillips
National Swimming Championship in Atlanta , GA John swam lifetime
personal records in the 200, 500 and 1650 yard freestyle races. John placed
33rd in the 1650.
Our winter swim team will continue in our heated pool. Practice is
offered for all abilities. Our Pre-Competitive Stroke School swims Monday,
Wednesday and Friday or Tuesday and Thursday from 4-5pm or 5-6pm.
Swim Lessons will begin again in March. We are available for private lessons for beginners or video / technique
analysis for competitive swimmers.
Any questions? Contact Coach Larry Blomberg (954) 788-7300.