In Search Of The “Perfect Workout”, Or Searching For The Motivation To Begin, What’s Diet Got To Do With It?

If you’re in search of the “perfect workout,” or just searching for motivation to begin working out, then your search is over. SuperSlow® strength training is the “perfect workout” with its 20-minute, twice-a-week workout �?�and the added convenience of exercising in your everyday clothes or workout attire making it easy to get in, workout, and get on with your life day.

Whether an exercise champion or still on the sidelines of contemplation, a common thought bubble may surface �?? should I modify my diet to optimize my workout to ensure that I lose body fat and add body-shaping muscle? Realize that it’s not about weight loss, although weight may be lost, but rather, will my workout regimen:

• Assure any weight lost is from stored fat.
• Stimulate muscular growth.

Remember, our bodies require fuel and, if our goal is to use excess fat stores for any calorie deficit, we must understand the body’s rule book. Otherwise, being constantly at odds with what we want vs. what we get will cause constant frustration.

Let’s consider a few scenarios:

1. Drastic Calorie Restriction (<800 calories is classified starvation), No Exercise: Extreme dietary restriction triggers your survival mechanism to kick-in, dictating resources available FOR fuel. When failsafe is activated, the body indiscriminately draws from all tissues �?? except fat. Put a big X by this plan!
2. Normal Daily Calories (1500 �?? 2000 calories), No Exercise: Without exercise to preserve your muscle mass, the body indiscriminately draws from both fat AND muscle stores, as well as bone and organ tissue to satisfy fuel needs. Put a big X by this plan!
3. Normal Daily Calories (1500 �?? 2000 calories) Plus SuperSlow® Exercise: SuperSlow® Exercise signals the body that muscle reserves are off limits; preserve current muscle mass; and create new muscle, with the result of discriminate fat loss for additional fuel requirements. Bingo �?? this plan is the winner!

Now, let’s consider the roles diet and exercise play in attaining and maintaining desired results. Initially 80-90% of FAT loss comes from dietary changes; we have established that losing the FAT you WANT from your excess fat stores requires exercise �?? not just cutting calories. Here, exercise means SuperSlow® Strength Training to build muscle �?? not just expending calories during an activity (which will contribute to your fat-loss program), but primarily your focus should be on SuperSlow® Strength Training results:

• Selectively use excess fat stores for fuel requirements.
• Increase caloric needs through creation of additional muscle.

On the more excessive side, body builders, looking for leanness and muscle definition, adhere to extreme dietary regimens to produce those Mr. America results: low- to no-fats, leafy greens, and lots and lots of protein. But dietary sacrifices to achieve the right “look” may result in long-term, negative effects.

Basic considerations for the average person to achieve a balanced workout and diet approach are:

1. Protein: “building blocks” of muscle required to build or repair muscle; excess protein does NOT build MORE muscle. Not all sources of protein are equal, so focus instead on “complete” proteins more easily absorbed by the body from lean, high-quality protein sources such as chicken, fish, lean meats and beef, and egg whites. Incomplete proteins [lacking one or more “essential” amino acids, which the body can’t make or create by modifying another amino acid] usual sources include: fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts.
• The Institute of Medicine recommends adults consume 8 grams of protein/20 pounds bodyweight/day to prevent slow breakdown of tissues. Athletes may require more protein, because of extreme demands placed upon their bodies, but for most of us, seeking to achieve a “balance” in our mix should be our paramount goal.
2. Carbohydrates: fuel NEEDED for muscular system energy, usually requiring combination of healthy protein/fat/mineral/vitamin ratio. Low glycemic index choices like sweet potatoes, brown rice, green veggies, carrots, some fruits, and low-fat dairy choices are best. Carbohydrates are in almost everything we eat and drink. About 40% of each meal should come from favorable carbohydrates to maintain blood sugar levels to promote efficient fat burning.
3. Fat: Saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated dietary fats are biologically active molecules that play a key role in both positive and negative effects on, blood pressure, weight gain/obesity, and how muscles respond to insulin resistance/ glucose metabolism. [Researchers report: losing fat stored around belly/thighs/ buttocks requires consuming “new” fat or making new fat in the liver; small amounts of dietary fats: fish oils more effectively activate fat burning pathways in the liver.] Western culture challenges center less on fat quantity and more on the KIND of fat �??mistakenly avoid eating fats whether good or bad for the heart .
• The “Mediterranean Diet” recommends the healthiest �?? Omega 3’s and mono-unsaturated fats �?? instead of saturated fats, which are probably over consumed eating beef. Many seeds, nuts, olive oil, fatty skin fish (salmon, trout), and avocados are all healthy ways to integrate fat into your plan.
4. DHEA (delivered in the 7 Keto method): Kick you’re health and strength gains out of the park!

   Mother nature is in love with the young. She turns their food into energy and gives them the ability to recover from exercise at an insanely quick rate. SuperSlow Zone® uses Univera products, and in particular their DHEA product called Prime, because they are designed to put those of us past 25 years old in a similar state of rapid recovery and increased performance �?? it’s not theory, its scientific fact. If you want to guarantee results in a person over 30, putting their muscles under load while ensuring the body has the essential ‘muscle stimulating chemistry,’ Univera’s Prime will astound you.

   Univera Prime teaches the body how to replicate the repair signals of a healthy 29 year old. Look at the 3,000+ studies on performance and the body’s natural ability to produce DHEA, the master repair signal in the body.

   A healthy 29 year old has DHEA levels between 250 and 400, while a 65 year old woman can be in double digits. Strength training is, by far, the best method to get DHEA levels to naturally begin to rise, Prime just finishes the job �?? offering SuperSlow Zone® clients the opportunity to knock their strength gains out of the park.

5. Water: essential for the majority of important body functions �?? regulate/maintain body temperature, transport nutrients/oxygen, remove waste products and moisten mouth, eyes, nose, hair, skin, joints and digestive tract. Water is, quite simply, the purest and most caloric-free way to fill needs without diet sweetener negatives. Aspartame-laced drinks work against diet goals �?? increasing your appetite. Load up instead on good old H2O to cleanse your inner body and help you control that appetite.

Don’t think you can do it all at once? Take small “bites.”

Focus on changing the TYPES of fats you consume. Change portion sizes/content ratios. Eat slowly�?? give your brain time to feel full �?? listen to your body. Drink LOTS of water. Small, manageable behavioral changes integrated gradually often “stick” better than extreme modifications, with healthier outcomes. It’s a beautiful cornucopia of food choices �?? have fun, and begin building a healthier YOU!!

Authors: Brenda Hutchins, Co-Founder of SuperSlow® & Marie Theriault-Ortiz (SuperSlow Zone® in San Jose, CA)

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

Avoided A Total Hip Replacement Through SuperSlow Zone®

I recently attended a Florida Women’s Executive Luncheon and a woman across the table said, “SuperSlow…you saved me from having to have a total hip replacement!”

Avoided A Total Knee Replacement Through SuperSlow Zone®

When talking with SuperSlow® Zone owner in Longview, Texas, David Penn, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I asked, “What good things are going on with clients?” He responded, “We have a client that was told by her Orthopedist that she would need a total knee replacement. She found us, started SuperSlow® Rehab and then continued with SuperSlow® strength training. She does not have any knee pain and does not need a total knee replacement.”

Gets New Limbs With The Help Of SuperSlow Zone®

Several months ago I received a call from a guy that said he was a quadriplegic, which occurred from a motorcycle wreck. After months of traditional rehab, he found SuperSlow® strength training and in his words, “I gained more strength and range of motion from SuperSlow® in 6 weeks than all of rehab…I am now ready for my new limbs!”

Focusing On Helping Others

Is what we do at the SuperSlow Zone® cool or what! I hope whatever you do in your life, that you get as much joy and satisfaction as we do helping others.

While the stories listed above may sound extraordinary, just think how SuperSlow Zone® helps folks that have lesser challenges than they do…we have the opportunity to serve almost everyone, and for this, all SuperSlow Zone® staff throughout the country gives thanks daily through very rewarding work and service.

Thursday we are celebrating Thanksgiving! We take time to set aside an entire day for giving thanks. This is a time usually steeped in tradition and a special time for sharing a meal with family and friends served with all the blessings, hopes and dreams we enjoy for what happened in the past year. We dust off family favorite recipes, polish the silver, set the table with festive arrangements, and really take time to spend time with those we hold so dear. It is a good time to reflect on the past and create memories for the future.

We have much to be grateful for, even in these tough economic times, and we at SuperSlow Zone® Corporate want to acknowledge our gratitude to you as part of the SuperSlow Zone® family, for allowing us to work you as a colleague, and if you are a client of SuperSlow Zone®, to helping you sustain better health and fitness.…and if you are not our client (yet!) we extend the offer of helping you as we grow.

It is hard to imagine a people more blessed than we are here today. We truly enjoy a bounty unimaginable to most throughout the places and ages of the world. This is something worth recognizing and considering. And during the coming holiday season to remember to share the goodness in our lives with those who have less of it than us. Focusing on helping others is one of the best ways to truly appreciate what we do have.

Spend time discussing, not the things which separate us, but the things that bring us together. It is a time to acknowledge the good things of life. It is a time of introspection, a time to forget strife and struggle, time to celebrate that which is worth celebrating. While thanksgiving is wonderful as an event day, one of the most important things worth giving thanks for is our daily health … how wonderful then it is to be dedicated to helping clients work toward achieving healthy daily goals. How then do we give thanks for how far we’ve come and then look forward to what is yet to come?

The Extraordinary In Everyday Life

Capturing the extraordinary in everyday life is one of the best ways we know to share our gratitude for what we do each day to touch lives. This is why we led off with some of the extraordinary client stories of personal accomplishment through SuperSlow Zone® for which we thankfully share.

Health and Fitness In 2009 – What Is Your Choice?

Now let’s turn toward our thanksgiving for hope for 2009 by reading the article from Financial Week, because investing in personal health and well-being remains high on everyone’s to do list. Encouragement for growth in the business sector is very inspiring for things to come.

On Nov. 23, 2008, Financial Week reported that, as the U.S. economy spirals deeper into an abyss, researcher Ibis World has identified a handful of industries it believes will actually grow in 2009—as well as sectors it thinks will suffer in the months ahead (not included are the obvious candidates for “worst year ever”: financial services companies and automakers). “The current economic downturn is indeed pervasive in terms of both geographic spread, industries affected and even consumer segments,” said Ibis senior analyst George Van Horn. “As such, in some cases, being a winner may simply mean that revenue growth expectations have been lowered, yet still remain positive.”

Coming in at number 5, health and fitness clubs with more people focusing on achieving healthier lifestyles, this industry is expected to increase 2.2% in 2009. As baby boomers pass through their 40s and 50s, health-care costs are forecast to rise dramatically, creating an incentive for insurers to promote preventive practices, like hitting the gym. Corporate fitness programs are also expected to become more popular, further driving growth in this sector.

I mention the article above, because it clearly indicates that, as the US economy realigns itself, each person may be re-prioritizing what they care about or deepening a commitment to their current priorities…which ever it may be, your health, fitness and well-being MUST be at the top of the list…and we at the SuperSlow Zone® hope that we can serve you in this.

Source: Super Slow Zone - Kaliste Saloom » Articles

Avoided A Total Hip Replacement Through SuperSlow Zone®

I recently attended a Florida Women�??s Executive Luncheon and a woman across the table said, “SuperSlow�?�you saved me from having to have a total hip replacement!”

Avoided A Total Knee Replacement Through SuperSlow Zone®

When talking with SuperSlow® Zone owner in Longview, Texas, David Penn, a Doctor of Physical Therapy, I asked, “What good things are going on with clients?” He responded, “We have a client that was told by her Orthopedist that she would need a total knee replacement. She found us, started SuperSlow® Rehab and then continued with SuperSlow® strength training. She does not have any knee pain and does not need a total knee replacement.”

Gets New Limbs With The Help Of SuperSlow Zone®

Several months ago I received a call from a guy that said he was a quadriplegic, which occurred from a motorcycle wreck. After months of traditional rehab, he found SuperSlow® strength training and in his words, “I gained more strength and range of motion from SuperSlow® in 6 weeks than all of rehab�?�I am now ready for my new limbs!”

Focusing On Helping Others

Is what we do at the SuperSlow Zone® cool or what! I hope whatever you do in your life, that you get as much joy and satisfaction as we do helping others.

While the stories listed above may sound extraordinary, just think how SuperSlow Zone® helps folks that have lesser challenges than they do�?�we have the opportunity to serve almost everyone, and for this, all SuperSlow Zone® staff throughout the country gives thanks daily through very rewarding work and service.

Thursday we are celebrating Thanksgiving! We take time to set aside an entire day for giving thanks. This is a time usually steeped in tradition and a special time for sharing a meal with family and friends served with all the blessings, hopes and dreams we enjoy for what happened in the past year. We dust off family favorite recipes, polish the silver, set the table with festive arrangements, and really take time to spend time with those we hold so dear. It is a good time to reflect on the past and create memories for the future.

We have much to be grateful for, even in these tough economic times, and we at SuperSlow Zone® Corporate want to acknowledge our gratitude to you as part of the SuperSlow Zone® family, for allowing us to work you as a colleague, and if you are a client of SuperSlow Zone®, to helping you sustain better health and fitness.�?�and if you are not our client (yet!) we extend the offer of helping you as we grow.

It is hard to imagine a people more blessed than we are here today. We truly enjoy a bounty unimaginable to most throughout the places and ages of the world. This is something worth recognizing and considering. And during the coming holiday season to remember to share the goodness in our lives with those who have less of it than us. Focusing on helping others is one of the best ways to truly appreciate what we do have.

Spend time discussing, not the things which separate us, but the things that bring us together. It is a time to acknowledge the good things of life. It is a time of introspection, a time to forget strife and struggle, time to celebrate that which is worth celebrating. While thanksgiving is wonderful as an event day, one of the most important things worth giving thanks for is our daily health �?� how wonderful then it is to be dedicated to helping clients work toward achieving healthy daily goals. How then do we give thanks for how far we�??ve come and then look forward to what is yet to come?

The Extraordinary In Everyday Life

Capturing the extraordinary in everyday life is one of the best ways we know to share our gratitude for what we do each day to touch lives. This is why we led off with some of the extraordinary client stories of personal accomplishment through SuperSlow Zone® for which we thankfully share.

Health and Fitness In 2009 �?? What Is Your Choice?

Now let�??s turn toward our thanksgiving for hope for 2009 by reading the article from Financial Week, because investing in personal health and well-being remains high on everyone�??s to do list. Encouragement for growth in the business sector is very inspiring for things to come.

On Nov. 23, 2008, Financial Week reported that, as the U.S. economy spirals deeper into an abyss, researcher Ibis World has identified a handful of industries it believes will actually grow in 2009�??as well as sectors it thinks will suffer in the months ahead (not included are the obvious candidates for “worst year ever”: financial services companies and automakers). “The current economic downturn is indeed pervasive in terms of both geographic spread, industries affected and even consumer segments,” said Ibis senior analyst George Van Horn. “As such, in some cases, being a winner may simply mean that revenue growth expectations have been lowered, yet still remain positive.”

Coming in at number 5, health and fitness clubs with more people focusing on achieving healthier lifestyles, this industry is expected to increase 2.2% in 2009. As baby boomers pass through their 40s and 50s, health-care costs are forecast to rise dramatically, creating an incentive for insurers to promote preventive practices, like hitting the gym. Corporate fitness programs are also expected to become more popular, further driving growth in this sector.

I mention the article above, because it clearly indicates that, as the US economy realigns itself, each person may be re-prioritizing what they care about or deepening a commitment to their current priorities�?�which ever it may be, your health, fitness and well-being MUST be at the top of the list�?�and we at the SuperSlow Zone® hope that we can serve you in this.

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

Muscles Matter was a lead article in the September 15, 2008 American Medical News; it is published by the AMA.

The article enumerates Medical Doctors and PhDs who strongly endorse the benefits of strength training�?�in fact, 10 key potential benefits are listed in the article. I added an additional six benefits. What was fantastic about this endorsement is that the medical world is finally taking a strong, public stand for strength training. [Link to AMA article and Muscles Matter FAQ are at the end of this article.]

And speaking of �??the public,’ if you are going to take on the mission of being able to strength train �??the public’ (and this IS the mission of the SuperSlow Zone®), you better have a way to help the entire spectrum of �??the public’ from kids, to the medically fragile, to high performing athletes, to seniors, to busy people 40 �?? 69 years old, and, of course,�?�all ages of people who pay attention NOW �?? regardless of how “in condition” they are or are not �?? to preserving the muscle they have now and for the future.

Historically, the majority of medical professionals have recommended �??walking’ as a main form of exercise to their patients. However, walking will never, ever maintain the muscles you have now, nor build new muscles as you age. Three of my favorite �??jaw-dropping examples’ from the article are:

1. How weak women ages 55 to 64 are;
2. The dreaded �??ending up in a nursing home’ scenario, and,
3. Your brain �?? what does muscle have to do with it?

Regarding �??weak women,’ the article sited Barbara Bushman, PhD, Professor of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Missouri State University,

“�?�In one study, 40% of women ages 55 to 64 said they couldn’t lift 10 pounds. We suggest that people get a dog and walk the dog for exercise, but then they can’t even lift a 10 pound bag of dog food into their car. The numbers are even worse for women 75 and older �?? 65% said they couldn’t handle that amount of weight. To me, that’s pretty frightening. They couldn’t even lift a grand child or respond to an emergency situation.”

I love dogs�?�but walking Chopper, my buddy, will never enable me to easily lift 10 pounds or more. Strength training�?�and SuperSlow Zone® in particular�?� will enable me to left that type of weight, and more!, now and as I age.

As for the nursing home�?�I don’t know anyone who aspires to live in a nursing home! I know that today there are many forms of these, from high-end to low-end versions, BUT regardless of which one�?�you still want to be 100% functionally independent. Period! Tony Marsh, PhD, Associate Professor of Exercise Science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, said it best:

“The one thing people are most fearful of losing is the ability to function independently. The strength of your muscles is fundamental in maintaining your independence.”

Jeff Williamson, MD, Clinical Director of the J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation Wake Forest University School on Medicine put it this way�?�and he should know�?�after all, the aging ARE who he works with�?�

“I’d like to say there are really only two reasons older people end up in a nursing home. One is that their brains stop working, and the other is that their muscles stop working. Especially their leg muscles.”

�?�And speaking about your brain, “Neurological loss is another factor that seems to be at work,” said John Faulkner, PhD, Research Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology University of Michigan Medical School (82 Years Old). Dr. Faulkner is referencing how our brain and body communicate when it comes to doing what we want to do. Faulkner’s research has focused more recently on the role played by motor units that send signals from the brain to the muscles.

And you got it, strength training is critical, once again.

Faulkner stated,
“The [neuron-muscular] loss begins to occur in the major weight-bearing muscles between ages 40 to 50. From there it’s a pretty linear decrease until the end of the road�?�Although muscle fibers can’t be preserved, the ones that remain can be made more effective. The size of the fibers can be increased by lifting weights.”

It is very clear from these four renowned university researchers, the overall impact to your physiological system from using strength training to minimally retaining, let alone stimulating the growth of your muscles, is critical whatever age you are NOW and even more essential as you age.

There is only one convenient, safe, efficient, and effective way to get the many benefits from muscles:

• …that has a distinguished 26 year history and is IACET-accredited,
• …that is in a beautiful, clinically controlled strength training environment,
• …that will serve the spectrum of people comprising �??the public,’
• …and that will meet you at your level to help you feel and look good, do what you want to do�?�and increase your energy.

That way is through SuperSlow Zone® strength training.

Madeline Ross
CEO
SuperSlow Zone®

P.S. Click On Article To Read in PDF Format - AMNews Article. Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles" /> Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

Everyone at the SuperSlow Zone® thrives�?�.gets really really happy when our CLIENTS ARE HEALTHY AND HAPPY!!!

Weight loss (fat loss!) is a big, national�?�and might be a personal�?�issue.
In the first week of August 2008, a national headline was “A federal agency says a study from the journal, Obesity, predicts that the US is heading toward 100% overweight.” Yikes!

SuperSlow® strength training can promise that you will gain muscle and strength, when you apply your skill. Some clients �??lose weight�?? (meaning increase their muscle mass and lose fat) and inches without changing their eating�?�but this is rare.

80% to 90% of weight loss (fat loss) comes from changing your eating habits…and keeping them changed!

Several SuperSlow Zones® are now offering SuperSlow Zone® + Transitions�?�
for weight (fat) loss and optimal health.

Do You Have Any Of These Questions?:

1. Why can�??t I lose weight (fat)?
2. When I do lose, why can�??t I keep the weight (fat) off?
3. Why does it get harder to lose weight (fat)?
4. Will this program work for me?

SuperSlow Zone® is pleased to work with our strategic partner, Transitions Lifestyle System�?�, for the perfect combination of healthy eating for weight (fat) loss and/or optimal health plus SuperSlow® strength training�?�.to achieve and maintain your ideal �??muscle-fat ratio.�?? [Click here to see/read client results.]

SuperSlow Zone® + Transitions�?� is:

• SuperSlow® strength training plus a food-based, educational lifestyle change, which includes natural, non-caffeine supplements to kick-start faster weight (fat) loss.

What Is Transitions Lifestyle�?�?

• It is a food-based, educational lifestyle change, which includes natural, non-caffeine supplements to kick-start faster weight (fat) loss.
• A 6 week class follow by a second 6 weeks of either coaching or class.
• It is back by science and research.
• Transitions�?� + SSZ = the results you want.
• Real people really do it!

Transitions�?� PLUS SuperSlow®�?�Who Is It For?

• All ages.
• You have those pesky 5 to 10 pounds you want to get rid of�?�permanently.
• You have several pounds (moderate-to-a lot) you want gone.
• You have a medical or health concern that �??getting the weight off�?? will substantially help (benefit?).
• You have �??no diet experience�??�?�you have �??too much diet experience�??…either way, this is for you.
• You have �??inches you want to lose�?? and, short of sawing them off�?�you just want them gone so that your clothes fit better�?�and for you to feel better.
• You want a better �??muscle-fat�?? ratio = fit better in your clothes; feel better in your body.
• “Learn how to eat better�?�for life” has been whispered in your ear�?�by you!

If you have been desiring to�?�or perhaps struggling with how�?� to eat better, to be trim, strong and healthy, SuperSlow Zone® + Transitions�?� might be for you.

The word �??lifestyle�?? is a common reference these days�?�what does it really mean to you? The simple truth is, what you do daily = your lifestyle. SuperSlow Zone® is a twice-a-week work out for you�?�or may become your work out. When you add healthy, balanced, eating daily, and combine it with SuperSlow®, you have simplicity and peace of mind because you are living well �?? living strong.

The Proof is in the Results!

Results #1: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words…

Deb Dereshkevich Certified Transitions Lifestyle Coach	Brenda & Gabor McLaughlin Before and After

Results #2: Deborah P’s Story…

Read below an unsolicited SuperSlow Zone® + Transitions�?� story

[Deb is 45 years old, a CPA and a Winter Park, FL, SuperSlow Zone® client.]

Hi everyone! I had to tell you all about the new me! I am soooo excited about the way I look and feel that I felt the need to spread the good news about Transitions Lifestyles�?� and SuperSlow Zone®.

I have tried many, many exercise programs and diets over the years, but I have never felt so healthy and looked so good due to my last 6 weeks in this program.

As you may know, I gained some weight after I quit smoking a year and 1/2 ago. I went from 140 to 165, gradually, even though I ran 5ks with Rhonda and was working out at home at least 4 days per week. My eating habits were not that bad - I had switched additions addictions from nicotine to sweets, but I didn’t eat a whole bag of cookies at one sitting! Nevertheless, the scale kept creeping up, and my clothes no longer were fitting. Yikes!

I was devastated! [Click here to read her entire message.]

Results #3: Two SSZ Owner and Client Result Stats…

SuperSlow Zone® Winter Park, FL
Client Results for Transitions�?�
Healthy Eating Program for Weight Loss and Optimal Health

SuperSlow Zone® Lone Tree, CO
Client Results for Transitions�?�
Healthy Eating Program for Weight Loss and Optimal Health

Ask your SuperSlow Zone® about their Transitions Lifestyle program. Soon to be available at most SuperSlow Zones®!

Our best,

Madeline

Madeline Ross �?? CEO SuperSlow Zone®, LLC

P.S. Click Here to Listen to Clients Results

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

Do your cardio. Aerobics three times a week. No, wait �?? is it five? Walk, don�??t run. Walk for 30 minutes a day�?�or is it five hours a week. Get out and do SOMEthing. Conflicting messages abound -how do you sift through this? And, what�??s this about strength training on top of it all?

Popular, mis-guided recommendations for your health include �??cardio�?? three times a week and strength training twice a week. We know, we know �?? how can you fit this into your busy schedule? Well, let�??s prioritize based on the results�?�after all, you are doing this to achieve and maintain results otherwise, why bother?

Strength training is now recommended as the most important exercise for multiple reasons. Muscle loss begins as early as your 30�??s, and you have to actively maintain it , let alone build muscle, to avoid sarcopinea (loss of muscle mass) & osteoporosis. Your heart and lungs exist to support or service the working skeletal muscles. When you increase your strength, your muscles work more efficiently, creating less demand on the cardiovascular system.

By stimulating the skeletal muscles, a growth mechanism activates that affects other biological systems, in particular your metabolism. Your body burns more calories �?? an increase by 4-8% in your resting metabolic rate which translates to burning more calories while at rest. Compare THAT to the incremental caloric burn you gain for traditional activities such as running, swimming, or biking.

Other critical improvements include cognitive benefits, cardiocirculatory fitness, improved aerobic capacity, helping to control diabetes, and enabling a quality of life that aging attempts to take away from us. From fitting better into your pants, to just being able to pull ON your pants, it�??s a win-win.

So, where does SuperSlow® strength training fit into all of this? Well, let�??s see. You want to look fitter because you are fit. Be more active, or at least support the lifestyle you want to live (now, and in the future). And avoid health issues that may have haunted you or your families in the past. We on track here? Sounds like you need to integrate strength training into your life. �?�ah, you say, �??I don�??t have the time!!�?? Not so with SuperSlow® .

At the SuperSlow Zone® you give maximum effort with a Zen-like focus in your short, 20 minute, supervised, all-body one-on-one session . Arrive at the SuperSlow Zone® in your work or day clothes, do your work out and on your way you go. SuperSlow�??s high intensity strength training uses a proven, safe method to accomplish your strength training needs 50% faster than traditional resistance training with the effect of not just burning calories during the workout, but to burn them all the time.

Rest is important for building muscle, so your workouts require 72 hours to build more muscle - any less than that and you�??re working against the muscle build process. In today�??s time-crunched, environmentally conscious lifestyle that means that for just twenty minutes, twice a week, SuperSlow Zone is the ultimate prescription for fitness.

By Madeline Ross, CEO SuperSlow Zone, LLC and

Marie Ortiz, Owner SuperSlow Zone Silver Creek, CA & Certified SS Instructor

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

Focus on: Strong Women

“The SuperSlow Zone�??s® clients are men and women because they feel comfortable with our professional service and the results they achieve. However, we are focusing on women as a special Summer 2008 initiative.

The message SuperSlow Zone® feels imperative to send women everywhere is that being strong…and I mean average woman of ALL ages - not just female athletes�?�is essential to our self-accountability. Strength is critical to a female�??s health, beauty (inner and outer), and grace. By ‘grace’ I don’t mean being ‘Princess Grace’ I mean the grace embodied in our functionality �?? through living our daily lives, by caring for ourselves and for others.

If you don’t believe in or understand the importance of functionality, just try having your ability to move compromised or taken away from you…or think of a fragile person �?? someone you have seen or someone you know �?�then you will recognize what I am saying about functionality. By ’self-accountability’ I mean what we pro-actively do NOW to invest in our strength, health and grace.

Allow it to sink in…’grace = strength = ‘functionality’; allow this notion to grow through you and guide your self-care. SuperSlow® strength training is a 20 minute work out, two times a week…and in your street clothes, if you prefer. For 26 distinguished years, SuperSlow® has been the leading and most viable option in safe, effective strength training protocols. SuperSlow® will positively impact your bones, heart, metabolism, neuro-muscular control, functionality and…of course, your physique. You get the most bang for your exercise buck in the shortest amount of time with SuperSlow Zone®. Period!

Americans already spend an astronomical $2 trillion dollars annually for health care…that is 16 cents out of every dollar; by 2016 it is expected to double to more than $4 trillion annually with the government share of the tab reaching 50 percent according to economists with the National Health Statistics Group. Translation: In 10 years, the total spent will be nearly 20 cents out of every dollar. Out-of-pocket consumer spending on health care will rise to $440 billion. Add that figure to the $50 billion Americans already spend on beauty alone, and it is clear that we each are going to reach deeper into our pocketbooks for our health and beauty costs. So I ask you, �??What would you rather do, ’spend more later’ or ‘invest wisely now’ in your strength for health, beauty and grace?�?? Click on this link and listen to Strong SuperSlow Zone® Women.

Madeline Ross
Passionate SuperSlow Zone® Client
Founder & CEO
SuperSlow Zone, LLC®

P.S. And by the way, don’t forget about the men in your life (and even the boys!). SuperSlow Zone® is also perfect for them, but we won’t tell them that I chose to focus on you this month. I know Mother’s Day was in May, but hey, isn’t every day Father’s Day?!

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

“The SuperSlow Zone’s® clients are men and women because they feel comfortable with our professional service and the results they achieve. However, we are focusing on women as a special Summer 2008 initiative.

The message SuperSlow Zone® feels imperative to send women everywhere is that being strong…and I mean average woman of ALL ages - not just female athletes…is essential to our self-accountability. Strength is critical to a female’s health, beauty (inner and outer), and grace. By ‘grace’ I don’t mean being ‘Princess Grace’ I mean the grace embodied in our functionality - through living our daily lives, by caring for ourselves and for others.

If you don’t believe in or understand the importance of functionality, just try having your ability to move compromised or taken away from you…or think of a fragile person _ someone you have seen or someone you know …then you will recognize what I am saying about functionality. By ’self-accountability’ I mean what we pro-actively do NOW to invest in our strength, health and grace.

Allow it to sink in…’grace = strength = ‘functionality’; allow this notion to grow through you and guide your self-care. SuperSlow® strength training is a 20 minute work out, two times a week…and in your street clothes, if you prefer. For 26 distinguished years, SuperSlow® has been the leading and most viable option in safe, effective strength training protocols. SuperSlow® will positively impact your bones, heart, metabolism, neuro-muscular control, functionality and…of course, your physique. You get the most bang for your exercise buck in the shortest amount of time with SuperSlow Zone®. Period!

Americans already spend an astronomical $2 trillion dollars annually for health care…that is 16 cents out of every dollar; by 2016 it is expected to double to more than $4 trillion annually with the government share of the tab reaching 50 percent according to economists with the National Health Statistics Group. Translation: In 10 years, the total spent will be nearly 20 cents out of every dollar. Out-of-pocket consumer spending on health care will rise to $440 billion. Add that figure to the $50 billion Americans already spend on beauty alone, and it is clear that we each are going to reach deeper into our pocketbooks for our health and beauty costs. So I ask you, “What would you rather do, ’spend more later’ or ‘invest wisely now’ in your strength for health, beauty and grace?” Click on this link and listen to Strong SuperSlow Zone® Women.

Madeline Ross
Passionate SuperSlow Zone® Client
Founder & CEO
SuperSlow Zone, LLC®

P.S. And by the way, don’t forget about the men in your life (and even the boys!). SuperSlow Zone® is also perfect for them, but we won’t tell them that I chose to focus on you this month. I know Mother’s Day was in May, but hey, isn’t every day Father’s Day?!

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

�??Practice makes perfect�?? goes the well-known cliche. Yet this belief is open to challenge. Practice makes perfect only if the practice is perfect to begin with. It is only perfect practice that leads to perfection and, ultimately, to artistic musical performances, and only then within the framework of personal genetic limitations. The same principles apply to athletes.

Learning the skills of musical performance and expression is more than mere physical activity. It is complex interrelationships between mind and body. Skill is both mental and physical.

Perfect performances result from perfect practice. For perfect practice to occur the performer must capitalize on the concepts of specific practice and mental practice to effect positive transfer to the actual performance. He must utilize these principles simultaneously recognizing and avoiding negative transfer wherever possible. And to foster the most efficient application of these techniques the performer must make intelligent decisions regarding the length and frequency of each rehearsal. This is the domain of motor learning discipline and the subject of this article.

The following simple test will surprise anybody who attempts it. Read these instructions through first, then actually perform this test in quiet surroundings:

Cut a piece of string about 10 inches long. Attach a small key to one end. This forms a pendulum when you later hold the string by the end opposite the key. Now take a piece of white unlined paper and draw on it a circle about two inches in diameter.

Sit at a table. Rest your left arm comfortably on the table. Place your right elbow on the table and hold the end of the string in your hand with the wrist slightly forward. Place the paper under the pendulum so that the center of the circle is directly under the key. Hold the string so the pendulum just clears the paper. Loop the string over your first finger for stability.

Now adjust your body so as to be very comfortable. If you are sitting properly, the pendulum should hang in front of the center of your body and the key should be about one-half inch above the top of the table.

Sit very quietly and at ease for a few seconds. The pendulum is motionless. Mentally visualize its beginning to move back and forth, left to right, right to left, left to right, right to left. Actually will it to move. The pendulum is swinging.

Once you have demonstrated that visualizing the key to move does result in movement, you can heighten this process by visualizing the pendulum going in a circle. Now make it go around the other way by visualizing it to reverse itself.
Why does the pendulum obey? Is this mind over matter?

In a way it is. Motor learning experts have found that by placing an electromyograph on certain muscle groups and merely thinking about their contraction produces tiny signals of activity in those muscles. Faint contractile changes take place that rehearse the actual movement. The person is not consciously exerting any effort to swing the pendulum. But by visualizing and thinking about the movement, he is influencing his subconscious to perform the necessary manipulation of the hand.

Mental Practice

It is commonly taken for granted that skills are the direct result of physical practice. Although physical practice is indispensable for acquiring high proficiency levels, mental practice is also a means of increasing motor skill.

Mental practice is seeing a definite performance in the imagination. Controlled studies of mental practice began in the 1940s. The results of one early study found that a group of students learned a basketball free-throw shooting skill and a dart-throwing skill almost as effectively with mental practice as with physical practice.

The effectiveness of mental practice is not surprising when the normal process of motor learning is considered. Thinking is an integral part of such learning before, during, and after the physical practice performed in the practice room on the stage, or on the field of competition. This is especially true as complexity and proficiency increase. Intense, sometimes exhausting, mental concentration is required to climb higher on the imaginary ladder of improvement.

Especially true of musicians, possible alternative actions and interpretations, variable acoustical and tempo feedbacks and many other performance considerations must be acknowledged, evaluated, and planned. The proven probability of success or failure in each possible situation will determine the recourse most suitable for any performer in a given circumstance. Mental practice is generally an attempt to formalize such possible recourse in the performer�??s mind.

The primary advantage of mental practice is that a musician can mentally perfectly perform passages 100 percent of the time if he knows the correct performance of the passage beforehand. He can even create a mental picture of the exact performance conditions in various imagined possibilities. He can mentally rehearse those sounds and interpretations he heard from recordings, instructors, recitals, and his own physical practice. This will certainly speed the learning effect.

Distribution of Practice

There are two types of physical practice that develop skills: distributed and massed. Is it better to provide practices that occur frequently but are of short duration over a longer period of time (distributed), or fewer sessions of longer duration over a shorter period of time (massed)? The length and frequency of sessions over time is at stake here.

From a close examination of motor learning literature, it appears that distributed practice is favored for learning music skills. Distributed practice minimizes fatigue, avoids boredom, allows for strengthening the performance image, and yields best performances. Research consistently confirms this opinion for short-term results. The long-term effects, however, are inconclusive. Young, inexperienced musicians should have a distributed schedule. Common sense suggests that time limitations and task complexity are also important variables that determine optimum practice schedules. With more-mature, motivated, and skilled individuals, some form of massed schedules should be used.

Knowledge of Results

Results, in the musician�??s mind, are his perceptions of progress he is making in skill acquisition�??in other words, mastering progressively more-difficult passages. Studies show that knowledge of that progress is the most important factor in his learning and performance. Without that information, both learning and performance will deteriorate. Not being able to measure progress is like throwing darts in a totally dark room with ear plugs blocking all sounds. But even then the thrower derives certain feelings from the various stimuli in his body.

Normally, every performance gives some intuitive knowledge of results or accuracy that suggest progress to the musician. This knowledge may come from tactile, muscular, visual, or auditory reaction. Summary knowledge of results is often obtainable. Augmented knowledge of results is information introduced beyond intrinsic. Devices such as metronomes, pacing clocks, video tape replays, and other replay equipment give added information.

The factors that allow the musical performer to demonstrate expertise become extremely specialized in each skill. This conclusion is based on a vast amount of data accumulated since the early 1920s. This data indicates that the interrelationship among specific motor performances is almost universally low. For example: It would seem that much interrelationship would exist between speed in the shuttle run and speed in a circle run. Researchers have found, however, that even though both involve fast running, only about 20 percent of the skills involved were common to the two performances. Running back and forth and running in a circle are each highly specialized or �??specific�?? activities. Another example: There appears to be little carryover between tennis and racquetball. Another example: It is not likely that an athlete will improve as a boxer by jumping rope and striking a speed bag.

In a relevant vein, most authors of physical education books write with the assumption that general skills exist. They habitually refer to coordination, agility, balance, reaction time, and other skills as if they were characteristic of all forms of athletic endeavor. An athlete who is quick at running is expected to be quick in any skill or situation. Slowness is also assumed to be general. Research in numerous motor tasks has definitely indicated that this is not true.

Motor learning researchers and writers use the terms, ability and skill in a formal, restricted sense. An ability applies to an activity that is more-or-less developmental and/or inborn. Abilities are general�??walking, crawling, running, climbing�??and are versatile to apply to many different specific actions.

Skills, on the other hand are specifically acquired. Although they make use of general abilities, they focus actions on precise tasks. Skills are not versatile in transfer to other skills. For example: A specific skill that focuses the ability of running is the 100-yard dash. The precise skills of running a 100-yard dash are not transferable to a 440-yard dash at the runner�??s ultimate proficiency level for either task.

Specificity Training

Specificity training affects our lives in more ways than you might realize. Within the last 20 years, the notion of specificity in exercise has gained prominence.

Specificity training epitomizes the belief that to physically exercise or strengthen a muscle for fast performance, fast weightlifting is appropriate.

Also seemingly appropriate is to design strength-training equipment that closely simulates the sport skill in form and speed. The three major exercise principles that are violated by specificity training, whether by partaking of the listed examples, or by utilizing such machines. Following is a brief list of these principles:

1)Efficient Muscular Loading
2)Motor Learning Principles
3)Safety

You probably see that musicians are guilty of much of the same nonsense. These specificity concepts are so much part of our stock notions and folklore that they served in 1980 as the theme for a network mini-series about the first U.S. Olympic Team. As the story goes, our poorly financed athletes defeated the competition because they had trained on heavier, antiquated, more cumbersome equipment than other Olympic teams, making our team stronger and better. This makes for a great fable, but it is false.

Lynn Swann attributes much of his poise and finesse on the gridiron to ballet. Motor learning research disputes this. But we can admit that if ballet did anything to his football performance, besides unnecessarily wasting his precious time and energy, it perhaps contributed to his dancing in the end zone after his touchdowns.

The specificity myth and a general confusion regarding abilities and skills help to foster the popular appeal for the recent rage, cross-training.

What Motor Learning Research Shows

Dr. Edwin A. Fleishman and associates measured the performance of numerous subjects on eight balance tasks. Each task involved maintaining balance on a narrow rail. A subject attempted to maintain a balance with one or both feet in lengthwise or crosswise foot position and with eyes opened or closed.

If a single balance skill existed, those subjects who performed one balance feat well would also do well on the other tasks. Their high level of balance skill would enable them to perform well in each of the balance situations. The same relationship would be expected of those who did poorly on the same task. Their low balance skill would result in equally poor performance on the remaining seven measures.

If varied balance skills exist, then those who scored well on one task may or may not score well on the others.

Conclusion. There is very little common skill in various types of balancing. Dr. Fleishman maintains, with much conclusive evidence, that specific skills are more prevalent than common ones. There are as many balance skills as balance tasks. Very little general balance skill exists, and there is certainly not a balance. Similar findings are present in other performances. There are specific coordinations, not a coordination; specific agilities, not an agility; specific speeds, not speed.

Likewise, there are few, if any, general music skills any more than there are general athletic skills. Skilled performance on one stringed instrument does not necessarily imply a skill advantage toward a similar but slightly different stringed instrument. There is not a keyboard skill applicable to all keyboard tasks. It is also inferred that accurate and fine pitch recognition is dependent upon familiarity with exact tone, texture, and acoustical influence of various sounds. These observations and their significance become increasingly more profound as increasingly higher proficiency tasks are examined.

Except for the general physical fitness developed by proper exercise, a general intellectual understanding of music history, theory, and performance protocol, and very fundamental skills developed to facilitate simple keyboard and other instrumental appreciation, extreme competence in one musical medium is not transferred to another.

Exceptional Individuals

Apparently, extremely gifted individuals exist who do not conform to our last statement. Great athletes and musicians sometimes seem to break all the rules yet perform incredibly well in spite of their practice habits.

Such gifted individuals are termed discriminators. Skills that are regarded as very closely alike in common perception, remain well-separated in their perceptions. As the typical individual might perceive cornet playing and trumpet skills as closely similar, the discriminator perceives the two activities as different as cornet playing and xylophone skills. It is as if the average man can see a gray wall as gray, while the genetically gifted discriminator sees several distinct shades of gray.

Discriminators often mislead other musicians and athletes. Due to their extreme skills and reputations, it is natural to seek their advice and to emulate their practice habits, when in fact their methodology works only for other rare discriminators. Indeed, research suggests that even discriminators would reap more-efficient results if they obeyed the principles of motor learning discipline.

The Role of Discrimination

Pretend that you are a baseball pitcher attempting to achieve the greatest accuracy in pitching. Realizing the principles of specific practice, you practice the same pitch to the same catcher to the same target from the same distance at the same speed. After months of disciplined practice your accuracy is the perfection of shooting baseballs with a rifle.

You then find difficulty applying this precision in a baseball game. Each batter notes that you consistently throw the same pitch and are therefore totally predictable. With perfect practice, a batter can learn to hit a home run off your pitches while blindfolded.

But since an object of the game of baseball is to prevent hits and runs, you must become unpredictable. You must learn to throw different pitches�??the fast ball, the slow ball, the drop ball, the slider, the curve ball, etc.�??in different locations of the strike zone in order to disturb the batter�??s specific skill. The practice of other pitches introduces negative transfer (discussed later) that compromises the extreme accuracy of the single kind of pitch you originally developed, but this compromise is justified and preferable to being hit out of the park.

Now your skill to both control accuracy and deliver different pitches is limited by your ability to discriminate each type of pitch as a completely distinct action. This is also true of the batter. He must learn to compensate and adjust his specific skills (discriminate) as distinct actions or tasks. The athletes that really do this well are true discriminators. They perceive similar tasks as distinctly different and a minimum of skill confusion results.

This same principle is present with music skills. A vocalist is most proficient if he focuses all his precision on a single note. After months of practicing only this note he attains tremendous accuracy and control over that solitary pitch (not baseballs). Although this pure application of the specificity principle has some value, it is doubtful that an audience desires to hear his solos. Like the pitcher and the batter, he must compromise single-pitch specificity for the sake of the discrimination of other pitches. Indeed, he must adequately discriminate control over an infinite variety of possible pitch sequences and volumes. And these similar but specific skills must include proper enunciation of words.

[Note that many novice musicians are first shown the fundamentals of controlling a single pitch.]

An anecdote to this explanation: Several years ago, pitch recognition was discussed at a baseball clinic. Pitch recognition�??in baseball�??is the first instant that a batter can determine the type of pitch thrown by the pitcher.

Some physicists stated that a batter should be able to recognize the pitch at that point halfway to the plate, but some batters claimed that they knew the pitch much earlier�??just as it left the pitcher�??s hand.

But one Hall of Famer surprised everyone. He said that he knew the pitch before the pitcher threw the ball. He then explained that after 30 years of batting against the same pitchers hundreds of times, he recognized certain behavioral traits in each pitcher that unknowingly gave away the pitch.

Who was this famous batter? Hank Aaron.

Types of Transfer

The kind of transfer activities used as practice may help, harm, or have no effect on music performance. Basically, there are three types of transfer: positive, negative, and indifferent.

�?�Positive transfer occurs when the activities of practice and performance are identical.
�?�Negative transfer occurs when the activities of practice are almost the same as those in performance.
�?�Indifferent transfer occurs when the activities of practice are totally unrelated to what happens in performance.

For the most positive transfer between the practice session and the performance, what is done in practice must be exactly, precisely, accurately, and specifically the same as the performance. Great care must be taken by high-proficiency performers to practice the identical passages that they intend in a given performance.

It seems obvious that a rehearsal should be exactly the same as the performance itself. Yet such positive skill transfer is often ignored by artists who do not truly understand the confusion caused by negative transfer. To make practice almost the same as a performance situation is a mistake and often preventable. If a violinist is to perform while standing, he should not practice seated. If a key-boardist intends a harpsichord concert, he is making a mistake to offer a piano accompaniment the day before. If the vocalist expects a full house on opening night, he errs by practicing in a chilled room.

To make practice almost the same as the performance is a mistake, a big mistake often made by top-notch performers. Certainly, all environmental factors of a performance cannot be laboratory controlled. But all factors that can be reasonably and practically controlled should be controlled to insure the best possible performance at all engagements.

Unless a performer is able to discriminate precisely among similar but different skills�??only very rare, exceptionally and genetically-endowed individuals have this ability�??he should always use the same instrument, the same music stand, the same posture, the same mouthpiece, the same bow, the same stage position, and the same clothing that he intends to use in performance in order to achieve the greatest success.

Such slight changes in practice may cause only a slight, barely noticeable disturbance in a good performer�??s concert. But it certainly would confuse his neuromuscular patterns enough to make the difference between a good recital and a great recital.

It is the negative transfer that makes the basketball shooting contests at carnivals so frustrating. The prize seems so easy to win. Three tries at shooting the basketball through the hoop cost 50 cents. Two balls through the hoop win a teddy bear.

Almost any day during Easter vacation at the Daytona Beach boardwalk, numerous college basketball players lose $5 to $10 before they finally win. Yet the man who is running the side show hits the basket consistently to demonstrate that it can be done.

The secret of the side show�??s success is directly related to the principle of specific practice. The standard basketball goal is exactly 10 feet above the floor and has a diameter of 18 inches. The baskets at the side show are either higher or lower, usually 11 or 9 feet, and the hoop�??s diameter is slightly smaller than standard. The situations are almost identical, and this is what causes the confusion.

Skilled shooting at a 10-foot basket requires a specific set of motor memories which are different from those required to shoot an 11-foot basket. Certainly, successful shooting at an 11-foot basket can be learned through practice. Doing so, however, will probably confuse the player when he goes back to the 10-foot basket.

The closer the 11-foot basket gets to 10 feet, the more confusion there will be because the motor memories and patterns will be even more similar. A highly skilled basketball shooter who learned to shoot a 10-foot, one-inch basket and then tried to shoot a 10-foot basket would be more confused than if he had learned to shoot an 11-foot basket.

This is not to say that some positive transfer will not occur. Most practice sessions contain both positive and negative transfer. Nothing is likely to be 100% positive or 100% negative. There are varying percentages of both in all practices. Musicians, however, should examine closely all their practice sessions for activities that contribute more negative than positive transfer to the actual performance situation. The objective is not to practice better but to practice to perform in the most proficient manner.

An extreme case in point: For nearly a century, football coaches have imposed the practices of running through tires, performing agility drills, and doing monkey rolls. While these practices achieve high proficiencies in the specific skills of running through tires, agility drills, and monkey rolls, they have little positive transfer to the skills required to play football in full uniform and headgear. Reflect to discover any similar parallels in your music or athletic career. Mentioned later, an obvious parallel among brass performers are the practices of mouthpiece buzzing and lip buzzing.

Specific motor patterns are of particular importance to mature, highly skilled musicians. Beginning pianists, for example, will profit at first from all types of keyboard activities. They learn the layout of the keyboard from any keyboard�??be it a harpsichord, organ, or a synthesizer. But very soon in their careers they are noticeably affected and frustrated by any slight differences in changing between pianos of different touch and sound. The more skilled they become, the more important it is that their activities in practice are the same as the activities in concert. Clavichord, harpsichord, or organ practice most definitely will not efficiently contribute to a piano recital or vice versa.

The Importance of Indifferent Transfer

Not just for athletes, muscular strength is the foundation of music skills, and strength plays its part in performance by indifferent transfer. Strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular efficiency are best-developed, not by skill practice, but by meeting the physiological requirements of the human body. The most effective exercises for attaining maximum strength, flexibility, and heart-lung endurance are totally unrelated to developing musical skills. If it were possible to design a strength-building exercise in such a way that it simulated a music skill, the use of such an exercise would harm rather than help the musician. The more it resembled the skill itself, the worse it would hurt a performance.

A common example of such an attempt to mimic a music skill in order to build strength is the mouthpiece buzzing and/or lip buzzing performed by many brass performers. Yes, at a fundamental level this concept promotes an understanding of proper lip position and function to the beginner. But to a seasoned performer, buzzing represents a source of negative transfer that can and should be totally avoided.

Another example: Note that performance proficiency declines over a series of daily practice sessions that are continued to the point of extreme fatigue. From one session to the next, performance deteriorates because of negative transfer. At each practice the musician repeatedly rehearses the same passage, each time growing more and more fatigued. Each pass represents a slightly different perception of skill by the nervous system. The first pass is performed with a fresh and rested body and mind. The next is closely identical, but with a subtle adjustment for slight fatigue. The third is adjusted more and so on. The net result is that each daily practice session contains skills that are almost identical�??hence sessions will demonstrate progressively poorer skill, not improvement.

Two Kinds of Conditioning

There are two major categories for conditioning. There is skill conditioning�??exact rehearsal of the skill required in performance. And there is physical conditioning. Physical conditioning is for the purpose of increasing strength, endurance and resistance to injury. It is performed according to muscular function, totally indifferent to the exact skills involved in any particular performance. SuperSlow exercise fits this requirement perfectly.

An Instructional Scenario

Analyze the possible actions taken by a keyboardist who is preparing for the ultimate performance of his career. Suppose his concert debut is slated for July 4. For months he practices the exact material on the exact piano in the exact concert hall at the exact temperature with whatever audience he can assemble to listen critically each day.

Not wise. But suppose that a week before the performance he substitutes for a wedding on a pipe organ. Although this causes severe negative transfer, his behavior could be worse.

Worse. Suppose he plays a harpsichord (more like a piano than an organ) recital on July 1.

Worse yet. Suppose that he participates in a jam session on a different make of piano at home the night before.

And worst of all. Unbeknownst to him, the stage crew replaces his concert grand on the day of the concert with another instrument of the same make and model. It is different from the one he has practiced for months, but the differences are extremely subtle. This causes maximum skill confusion.

Summary

The concepts for maximizing the learning of music skills are so misunderstood that a summary for quick reference is helpful. Notice that these principles also apply to the acquisition of athletic skills.

Mental rehearsal will positively influence learning, particularly when the performer can mentally practice a skill perfectly
each time.
Most novices should have frequent, short practice sessions rather than infrequent, extended practice sessions.
Practice does not lead to perfect performance unless it is practiced perfectly to begin with.
Knowledge of results is a form of encouragement extremely important to the learning process. Higher levels of proficiency
are reached when knowledge of results is specific and immediate.
There is little interrelationship between motor performances. Performance of a given activity is composed of highly specific
factors unique to that activity.
Transition from practice to performance is a result of three types of transfer: positive, negative, and indifferent.
Positive transfer takes place when the practice is exactly, precisely, and specifically the same as that to be done in concert.
Negative transfer results from practice almost the same as actual performance. It confuses skill and wastes time.
It is the indifferent transfer of physical conditioning exercises that contributes to every music practice and performance.

Conditioning exercises for strength, flexibility, and cardiorespiratory endurance should be the foundation for every performance. But physical conditioning should differ from skill practice as much as possible in content, meaning, form, method of execution, and environment.

Editorial
This chapter originally appeared as a chapter in Conditioning for Football and then later in Power Racquetball by Ellington Darden, PhD. With Dr. Darden�??s permission I paraphrased it for musicians. These are the only comprehensive discussions of motor learning in any of Dr. Darden�??s books and articles.

Dr. Darden earned his doctorate at Florida State University under Robert N. Singer, PhD. Singer is one of the two most popular textbook authors regarding the subject of motor-learning discipline. Another is Dr. Bryant Cratty.

Motor learning is usually required as an undergraduate course for all physical education majors. Darden states that interest in the subject is waning and that fewer students major in the subject each year.

Disinterest in motor learning is a tragedy. Today, students seem to express more interest in the dubious research of exercise physiology. Poorly disciplined and inadequately informed researchers in exercise physiology make sweeping conclusions with little or no consideration of skill acquisition.

Skill acquisition is often the major variable that provides statistical significance to studies purporting to measure physical conditioning phenomenon. What they truly measure is skill improvement, not the physical improvements indicated on many of their measuring devices. This commonly occurs in measurements of strength, cardiovascular assessments, skin fold, and flexibility.

Example: A classic example of this shortsightedness in research revolves around the six-week syndrome. Pretend that a researcher sets out to study the effectiveness of an exercise program�??using SuperSlow protocol perhaps. Commencing the program with a novice, it requires about six weeks for the following factors to come together to impart the total effect of SuperSlow:

�?�Learning the basic movements and techniques to safely enter and exit the exercise equipment
�?�Mastering the skills to avoid the various technical discrepancies of proper SuperSlow protocol
�?�Acquiring adequate pain threshold and will to work adequately intense
�?�Reducing the rest interval between exercises
�?�Focusing the records to find the correct resistance to meaningfully load the muscles but permit gradual perfection of form.

Of course, maximum increases in strength and muscularity will occur in this six weeks with a novice, but most of the performance improvements quantified by the researcher are the result of skill acquisition and learning, not physical improvement. Note that most research projects in exercise physiology last only 6-8 weeks.

References

Brace, David K. Measuring Motor Ability, New York: A.S. Barnes and Co., 1927.
Brace, David K. Studies in Motor Learning of Gross Bodily Motor Skllls, Research Quarterly, 17:242-253, 1946.
Brace, David K. Studies in the Rate of Learning Gross Bodily Motor Skllls, Research Quarterly, 12:181-185, 1941
Fleishman, Edwin A. A Comparative Study of Aptitude Patterns in Unskilled and Skilled Psychomotor Performers, J. Appl. Psychol., 41:263-272, 1957.
Fleishman, Edwin A. A Dimensional Analysis of Motor Abilities, J. Exp. Psychol., 48:437-454, 1954.
Fleishman, Edwin A. Dimensional Analysis of Movement Reactions, J. Exp. Psychol., 55:438-453, 1958b.
Henry, Franklin M. Dynamic Kinesthetic Perception and Adjustment, Research Quarterly, 24:176-187, 1953.
Henry, Franklin M. Reaction Time-Movement Time Correlation, Percept.Motor Skills, 12:63-66, 1961.
Henry, Franklin M. Specificity vs. Generality in Learning Motor Skills, Coll.Phys.Educ. Assoc. Proc., Washington, D.C., 126-128, 1958.

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By Ken Hutchins

My views are slowly changing on diet, but mostly in areas of micronutrients, not so much macronutrients. And while I surprise myself by permitting those who would argue against calorie counting to speak at all, I still feel obligated to state my strongest argument for calorie counting before allowing the sequitors to proceed before the premise, so to speak.

There are many health issues that are affected by diet. It is important to note that what one eats may make a tremendous difference for some conditions. My stance is that, with regard to obesity, what you eat is not nearly as important as how much you eat in terms of caloric quantity, regardless of the quality or identity of the food.

Therefore, in this article, I am not addressing any condition directly other than obesity. For instance, I am not addressing food allergies, diabetes, gout, arteriosclerosis or a host of other concerns. These other concerns are beyond the scope of my present understanding. Hence, we proceed with a diet discussion regarding fat almost exclusively.

Many healthcare workers hear patients state some of the following answers when asked if they are counting their calories as a means to reduce body fat:

�?��??I don�??t like to count calories.�??
�?��??When I count calories, it just makes me eat more.�??
�?��??I don�??t count calories, but I watch what I eat.�??
�?��??I don�??t count calories, but I eat healthy.�??
�?��??Counting calories has never worked for me.�??
�?��??I don�??t count calories, but I count fat grams.�??
�?��??I don�??t count calories, but I count carbohydrates.�??

I still believe strongly in three principles regarding diet and body fat:
�?�I am that fat because I eat that much. (The problem resides in the fact that we must define what that represents.)
�?�The Calorie is the only unit of measurement that exists as a common denominator for all three macronutrients regarding
their food energy values (to determine what that is).
�?�For energy needs, the body can interconvert, to greater or lesser degrees, between the macronutrients (upholding the first
law of thermodynamics: Energy can neither be created nor destroyed).

I admit that the preceding principles may not be perfect, but we must at least start here as a grounding in the analysis. And I am afraid that few people are properly grounded as they commence their journey into nutrition study and conclusion.

If I cause a car wreck where someone is maimed, my insurance company is pledged to compensate the injured with a money settlement. Will the money settlement make the injured person perfectly whole again?�?� No. Does it really fix the discrepancy?�?� No. But it is the only system we have to right a wrong. It is an imperfect system, but it is the best solution we have.

Much the same is true of counting calories. Is counting calories perfect?… No. Does it truly reflect all that the body does with the food energy?… No. But I believe that it is the best that can be hoped for.

To be sure, there are many other factors to consider in controlling body fat. The glycemic index is one extremely important factor that has emerged in recent years. But I do not believe that use of the glycemic index obviates our fundamental dependency on calorie counting.

The Check Book Analogy�??When I was 23 and stationed with the Air Force in Abilene, Texas, I kept a checking account in Lubbock. On two occasions I lost track of my balance and risked overdraft. This occurred merely because I failed to keep good records.

Fortunately, I had some older friends in Lubbock who owned the Lincoln/Mercury dealership and who covered my account for me. The feared discrepancies did not involve much money, but they did require one of my friends to leave his busy management position twice for nuisance trips to my bank. On my next visit to Lubbock I got some strong and very sage advice.

Mr. Jimmie Gunn lectured me on how to make sure I never again overdrew my account due to mismanagement. He carefully explained that the problem is prevented at the point of purchase�?� that I must obey the rule to consistently enter the check amount in the register before writing or presenting the check. No check was to ever be presented until the register was satisfied. I never experienced this problem again.

And the same is true of counting calories. To really know what you consume you must never consume a food before you record it.

What if you traveled all about your community for a month writing checks without first recording the amount, the date, the check number, or the receiver? What would happen?�?� Probably a big mess with your account�?� Right?

And what if after doing this, the bank president called you on the carpet and told you that you could no longer bank there, that you were not responsible enough to have a checking account? Then you whined, �??But I only bought things that were on sale.�??

Do you see how this is similar to �??I don�??t count calories, but I only eat healthful foods (or low-calorie, or low-fat, or low-carbohydrate, etc.)�??

What you eat does not absolve you of your responsibility to record the calories.

It also annoys me to hear those who dispense with calorie counting as though millions of people had tried it and failed to achieve results. I can find many people who talk about counting calories, many who tried it for several days and possessed no consistency long enough, many who did not obey the record-before-eating rule, some who completely or nearly quit eating as a substitute for counting and became ill, and many who flat lied about it, but I have never seen anyone who counted calories properly and not get some modicum of positive results. Most of the time, the results from accurate calorie counting are spectacular. This is not to say that the discipline to count is easy, but calorie control works!

It is inane to condemn as faulty a practice that practically no one is doing in the first place. As Arthur Jones said many years ago about an article by Fred Allman condemning the barbell squat�?? �??This article affords millions of Americans an excuse to avoid doing an exercise they weren�??t doing in the first place.�?? Now the authors of most all of the latest diet books now on the bookshelves are affording millions of lazy Americans an excuse to avoid counting their calories. Americans seem to be in constant search of the easy way out with regard to so many aspects of their lives, including weight loss.

An example�??I personally supervise the workouts of a 50-year-old woman who has done SuperSlow Protocol for three years. I lectured her on calorie counting just as I do all clients for several weeks off and on when they start the program. With this woman, I gave up after a while, getting the impression that the exercise was her only interest.

Recently, she complained that her body just never seemed to become as firm as she desired. And I also had not noticed any improvements in her body for the duration. In fact, the texture of her skin was very loose and fleshy.

With this complaint, I reopened the calorie-counting issue, and she talked as if she had never heard before that calorie control was the answer to her problem. I was very strong with my statements to her, but she took what I said with a good attitude.

To my surprise, she started counting her calorie consumption. Within 10 weeks she had a body that was firmer and more youthful appearing than what she remembered it being when she was 20.

Calorie counting is not particularly fun. It may seem a daunting task or simply more trouble than it�??s worth. Yet, from my observations and experience, for a large percentage of people in our society (especially women), their attitude about themselves, their self esteem or self respect�??these states of mind are tremendously influenced by whether or not they feel good about their physical appearance. And whether or not they are overfat greatly determines their attitudes about their appearance. Yet they refuse to commit to something so uncomplicated as calorie counting, and they would rather rationalize some way of not having to be accountable for how much they eat and still lose unwanted fat.

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles

by Ken Hutchins

The following pretends that you desire to become as fat as possible as quickly as possible. This, or course, is exactly opposite of what most of us desire from a program designed to enhance our appearances. By taking a backwards view of fat-loss principles�??namely how to gain fat�??we may obtain insights that normally go unappreciated. This is a picture I have painted for my clients for several years. Although it is written from a woman�??s perspective it applies equally to men.

Pretending

You are a 40-year-old woman who needs money�??big money. However, you must get big to get the big money.
A renowned movie producer contacted you and offered you one million tax-free dollars to star in his film about a circus fat lady. You accepted the role with one requirement in addition to your acting talent: You must weigh 300 pounds.
The problem is that you presently weigh only 150 and your part is to commence filming in six months.

The fact that you signed the contract presumes that you want the money enough to disregard the inconveniences of being so large at a height of five feet, six inches. You accept the problems of being hot incessantly, the discomfort of clothing, the disapproving looks of other people, difficulty moving, the health risks and the plastic repairs that will be required when you take the fat off, if you ever can. These are no small problems.

There are also the personal costs of your clothing and food to obtain and then maintain the size required for the part. All of these considerations are to be dealt with; however, one large doubt remains: Can you meet the producer�??s six-month deadline? Can you gain 150 additional pounds of bodyweight�??mostly fat? Do you, at least, possess the potential to store this much fat?

So you have heard that I had a advanced program for gaining fat and you seek my advice. I cannot actually predict your potential unless you tell me that you have been so large before. But assuming this is your first time, I really have no way of knowing your fat potential.

[Is not it strange that we are discussing potential fatness as though it were an asset like IQ or music or athletic ability?]
What I can do is design a regime to maximize your fat acquisition. I can induce you to acquire fat as fast as possible. What regime might you think this to be?

As I ask you this I expect to hear a most common answer. This answer is a natural conclusion, as most people possess a limited knowledge and experience considering the subject at all.

You guess that you expect me to coerce you to eat incessantly and eat the most fat-laden and calorie-rich foods to be found. [I also find this ironic, since most already-over-fat people deny that they eat too much or much at all.] I admit that this is step in the right direction, but that it will not encourage optimal utilization of your fat cells�?? potential.

Different cells (tissues) of the body can be stimulated to respond in their own specialized way. In other words, what they are specialized to do can be exaggerated by a supernormal stimulation.

Muscle (skeletal) cells will maintain a norm of size and strength given their normal exposure to the normal demands of their normal environment. Above-normal stimulation�??a higher intensity of work�??stimulates muscle cells to become larger and stronger. That is, they adapt to do more of what they are specialized to do�??produce force. Of course, being stimulated and being allowed to respond to the stimulation by the limitations of the body�??s biological resources are two different things.

Certain epithelial cells on the finger, hand, and foot pads are thicker and tougher than the skin in other parts of the body because they are the first line of contact with abrasive surfaces, However, once exposed to a supernormally abrasive intensity they will thicken and toughen beyond their norms. Note that although a mere increase in the volume of abrasive activity may be deemed increased intensity, volume (and force) have limits beyond which the body loses more tissue per stimulation than it can replace between stimulations.

Bone has a similar stimulus-response mechanism although its specialization is for a different purpose.

Our issue here, however, is fat. Fat is a kind of specialized tissue. Other cells do indeed store energy to some extent, but with fat cells, the storage of energy in the form of lobular fat is its forte.

Fat cells are very efficient at storing energy. While muscle cells�??the most active cells of the body�??consume approximately 50 calories of energy per pound per day to passively exist, fat cells burn only 2 calories daily per pound.

And while muscle cells are growth responsive to intense activity�??exercise�?? fat cells are oblivious to exercise. They have no exercise receptors whatsoever. This should be a sobering fact to all those excessive-compulsive types who religiously pump some parts of their bodies in the desperate attempt to force fat away.

But fat does indeed have receptors to some stimuli. The most effective of these stimuli induces fat cells to do what fat cells do best�??store fat. And just what is this stimulus? . . . starvation!

Yes, if you want to make a fat cell grow you must alternately stimulate it with starvation, then provide the body with food that can be converted and stored as fat.

With exercise we desire to shock the body with an intensity it interprets as momentarily life threatening. The result is that the body gears up to meet a supposed survival demand.

With a dietary regimen designed to diminish fat, we do not desire to shock the body. If we reduce calories either too low or too fast, the body reacts conservatively to preserve fat, to become metabolically more efficiently�??if it can�??and to lie in ambush, so to speak, to grab any slightest foodstuff it can pack away�??albeit after the body has converted it to fatty acids if not already in a suitable form.

Realize also that the fat storage process is very advanced in our species. If not, we would not have survived the last ice age. Indeed, those who could not respond to alternating spells of feast and famine with long-term fat storage did not survive. Such adaptive response also had to occur early in life. In today�??s society our frustrations with overfatness become most marked with the onset of middle age. Back in the time of the last ice age (15,000 years ago), our present-day middle-aged man would have been considered an ancient. Few people lived until their 40s. Therefore, to survive, an individual must have acquired significant fat much earlier in life than we typically do now.

The regime I am about to explain, admittantly, is extreme and bizarre but I am trying to make a point of principle. Such clinical control is what research requires to be valid. Such clinical control is also the missing element from almost everyone�??s personal dietary habit and exactly why most people fail to lose fat, although here we are attempting to do the opposite.

The regime is conducted in a controlled room�??jail cell, hospital room, etc. At first, it continues for three days and then repeats:

Day 1�??Fast: Ingest nothing but water and vitamin pills

Day 2�??Fast: Ingest nothing but water and vitamin pills

Day 3�??Feast: Awaken at 8 a.m. to eat. Continue eating all day, concentrating on low-fat foods (mostly complex carbohydrates with a modest amount of protein) until just before you go to bed at midnight. Then eat high-fat foods for your last-ditch attempt to saturate your digestive system. You naturally become drowsy, fall asleep, and we connect you to intravenous glucose to let sugar cruise through your body all night as you sleep.

Day 4�??Repeat cycle

Note that we used low-fat foods for most of the feast day of a fat-gain program. Why?. . . Because we are interested in the body�??s absorption of as many calories as possible. Since fat is the last food to leave the stomach, and since the fat in a meal greatly determines your satiety, we want to avoid fat until the last possible burst of calories into the system. Although fatty foods carry the greatest number of calories, they would merely kill your appetite if incurred before the last minutes of Day 3.

An eating contest was reported in one magazine over 15 years ago whereby a typically-sized, middle-aged housewife consumed over 100,000 calories in one day. Her runnerup, male contestant, ate over 80,000. It is, therefore, not too farfetched to reckon that I could coerce you to eat 40,000 calories over the 16-hour period of the feast day.

If we see that fat acquisition is slowing or unsuccessful after some time, we will upgrade to a longer fast�??perhaps 3-4 days.
Assuming this concept to be valid in some related form, note what it implies to us who desire to lose fat: That starving merely primes the fat cells to perform their specialization better. That low-fat foods are not necessarily the boon to leanness. That skipping meals favors fatness, not leanness. And that many people, particularly women, who started another starvation diet approximately every eight weeks from their 16th to their 80th birthday are actually fatter today than if they had not addressed the problem at all.

Copyright © 1998 by Ken Hutchins

Source: Super Slow Zone - Corporate » Articles