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This guy has pretty good balance!
One of the main indicators of someone who has metabolic disorder is abdominal obesity, as clearly demonstrated in the picture above. The scary part is that many dads out there look just like this!
Please read below for an excellent description of Metabolic Syndrome from http://www.medicinenet.com/:
What is metabolic syndrome?
An association between certain metabolic disorders and cardiovascular disease has been known since the 1940s. In the 1980s this association became more clearly defined and the term metabolic syndrome (also known as syndrome X or the dysmetabolic syndrome) was coined to designate a cluster of metabolic risk factors that come together in a single individual.
In more current times, the term metabolic syndrome is found throughout medical literature and in the lay press as well. There are slight differences in the criteria of diagnosis - depending on which authority is quoted. Regardless, the concept of a clustering of risks factors leading to cardiovascular disease is well accepted.
The main features of metabolic syndrome include insulin resistance, hypertension (high blood pressure), cholesterol abnormalities, and an increased risk for clotting. Patients are most often overweight or obese.
Insulin resistance refers to the diminished ability of cells to respond to the action of insulin in promoting the transport of the sugar glucose, from blood into muscles and other tissues.
How is metabolic syndrome defined?
The definition of metabolic syndrome depends on which group of experts is doing the defining.
Based on the guidelines from the 2001 National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III), any three of the following traits in the same individual meet the criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. Abdominal obesity: a waist circumference over 102 cm (40 in) in men and over 88 cm (35 inches) in women.
2. Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dl or above.
3. HDL cholesterol 40mg/dl or lower in men and 50mg/dl or lower in women.
4. Blood pressure of 130/85 or more.
5. Fasting blood glucose of 110 mg/dl or above. (Some groups say 100mg/dl)
The World Health Organization (WHO) has slightly different criteria for the metabolic syndrome:
1. High insulin levels, an elevated fasting blood glucose or an elevated post meal glucose alone with at least 2 of the following criteria:
2. Abdominal obesity as defined by a waist to hip ratio of greater than 0.9, a body mass index of at least 30 kg/m2 or a waist measurement over 37 inches.
3. Cholesterol panel showing a triglyceride level of at least 150 mg/dl or an HDL cholesterol lower than 35 mg/dl.
4. Blood pressure of 140/90 or above (or on treatment for high blood pressure).
And though Metabolic Syndrome affects more women than men, there is certainly no shortage of men 40 years and older who have that “deadly beer gut” that literally makes them a ticking time bomb for a slew of serious medical conditions.
But there is good news amongst this frightening reality: The most common cause of metabolic disorder is of course a vicious combination of a lack of exercise and poor diet.
See below for the top 7 Father's Day Fat Fighting tips to help save our father’s lives:
1.) Lay off the Brewskis
It’s no wonder why our dads have more of a keg for a gut than a six-pack. See below for the best way I know of explaining how alcohol can destroy your body composition:
How Alcohol Makes You Fat
-Alcohol first passes through the esophagus as it travels to your stomach.
-From there, 20% of the alcohol is absorbed immediately by your bloodstream.
-The remaining alcohol travels to your intestines and is absorbed from there.
-The alcohol in your bloodstream then travels directly to your liver. It is here that
the body breaks the alcohol down, something that is absolutely essential since
alcohol is toxic to the body.
-Alcohol brakes down into acetate and acetaldehyde which IMMEDIATELY
signals to your body to stop burning fat. Even worse, another waste product of
alcohol, acetyl CoA, actually starts to make more body fat.
If you booze, you WON’T lose fat!
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What Does this Mean?
-Your body can only effectively process 0.5 to 1 ounce of alcohol per hour
-How much damage? A 12-ounce beer contains about 0.6 ounces of alcohol. If
you consumed 5 of these, your body would be inhibited from fat burning for up to
6 hours. This is aside from the fact that your body will actually be storing fat
during these 6 hours! The more you drink, the longer your body is inhibited from
burning fat in addition to a greater fat build up from excess acetyl CoA. As you
can see, one day of binge drinking can set you back days if not a full week when
it comes to fat loss!
-What’s the worst-case scenario? Mixing alcohol with sugary beverages
promotes even further fat gain due to the resulting insulin surge that triggers fat
storage (e.g. regular beer or cocktails mixed with regular soda and/or fruit juice)
The Bottom Line
If you want to be lean, you must minimize ALCOHOL consumption!
If you must drink:
a.) Choose wine or hard liquor and “light” beer
b.) Limit alcohol consumption to 1-2 days per week with a 1-2 drink per day max
References:
Campbell and Volek, “TNT Diet: Targeted Nutrition Tactics”
2.) Quit being such a pansy and work your lower body
Most dads just want to do the typical meathead workout that emphasizes the upper body only. If you are going for the Johnny Bra
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However, it is important to note that strong, muscular legs are the key to torching your gut. After all, the majority of your body’s muscle mass, and thus metabolism, is contained within your lower body.
Not working your legs is like going to a gun fight without a gun, and here’s why:
a.) Training your whole body (legs included) not only helps you burn more calories each workout, it also maximally depletes your body’s glycogen stores (the sugar in your muscles) to allow for more total body fat burning
b.) The more lean muscle mass you have in your lower body the more calories your body will be burning 24-7-365 outside of your workouts
c.) Whenever you work your legs you generate the largest increases in natural anabolic hormone levels which translates into more total body muscle and less ugly, unwanted body fat.
So if you want better abs, you better start using those legs!
This can be easily accomplished with 3 total body workouts per week that train your upper body, lower body, and core within the same workout.
3.) How about doing something other than bench presses and curls!?
Look- I get why guys don’t want to train their legs. Unless you are wearing a speedo, no one is going to see them! So there is simply not as much motivation to put the time and effort into your lower body as there is for your upper body which is always on full display at the beach or poolside.
Nothing beats a little chest and bi’s baby!
In fact, your lats are the biggest muscles in your upper body and when developed they really help promote that V-shaped torso that both makes your waist look smaller and your wife happy ;)
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Let’s gather a group of genetically gifted former pro athletes that have them pack on some pounds since ending their playing days. We’ll have them all get their asses kicked by top personal trainers while following a restricted calorie diet so we lean them out real nicely.
But then we lie to the overweight male coach potato consumer and tell them that they got these results from eating the same exact food they are currently eating- you know, pizza, lasagna, brownies, ice cream, etc. Except we’ll make the meals the size of a dime so they can still technically eat what they want and lose weight at the same time.
To make it even better, we’ll pre-package all of their meals for them to buy from us so these lazy bastards don’t have to do anything besides nuke it up and eat it!
We’ll make millions! Brilliant!!"
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It only takes about 3-5 minutes to lengthen your muscles and lubricate your joints to best prevent injury and ready your body for a more effective workout, so DO NOT skip the warm-up!
Below is a great 5-minute body weight warm-up for you to do before your workout:
Alternate between 50 s of work and 10 seconds of rest for each exercise in the following warm-up circuit:
1- Stationary Running
2- Jumping Jacks
3- Lunge, Reach and Twist (left leg)
4- Lunge, Reach and Twist (right leg)
5- Front Pillar Hold
7.) The “no pain-no gain” attitude will leave you a bitter, crippled, and grumpy old man
The “no pain, no gain” methodology is quite possible the most abused practice in fitness. Pain is a good thing as long as it’s the right type of pain as outlined below:
When exercise BURNS YOUR MUSCLES that’s a good pain- this means you are pushing past your comfort zone to inspire change, working with intensity to torch calories and build muscle, and burning sugar so your body can burn fat for hours and hours after your workout.
When exercise HURTS YOUR JOINTS that’s a bad pain- it means you are quickly wearing down the structural integrity of your joints and will soon be unable to do anything without pain or stiffness. This is most often caused by a combination of using too heavy of loads, poor exercise form and technique, strength imbalances, and lack of mobility and/or flexibility- more reason to heed Tip#5 and seek professional help!
I have worked with too many dads who have beaten their bodies down and nothing’s more depressing than a dad who can’t play with his kids or participate in recreational activities with his buddies.
Happy Father’s Day! I love you Dad. You mean everything to me ;)
Mike
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