Minimal effective dose exercise to improve insulin sensitivity

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #21

Yep. McGuff cites studies that show about 2.5-3 minutes of intense exercise at 250% VO2 max is all that’s needed to substantially outperform people doing 4.5-6 hours of moderate activity.

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #22

Yeah thanks for turning me on to McGuff. I have 18 master training sessions remaining at my gym, so I’m using my trainer there to do McGuff protocol in the interim. May go to Hahn’s studio for some sessions after the winter.

Which means I’ll need to google Hahn’s blog articles to get that encouragement, because at this point I know more about these single set to failure techniques than my trainer does! She said I should have warmed up, but McGuff is against warming up. You?

Do you have any other hints or tips?

#23

Thank you! :slight_smile:

(Brian) #24

Hey Gabe, have you ever checked out Ted Naiman’s YouTube on his exercise routine? It doesn’t get much more simple. And he’s not spending hours and hours and hours.

Have a look if you get a chance. And good wishes for moving forward with good health, my friend. :slight_smile:

#25

I love this!

It should be the moto of everyone who follows any whole food diet whether LCHF or HCLF!

There are studies on people eating the Masai diet and the Sad. Go to Nairobi. There are plenty of Masai who moved to the city, are genetically the same and have many problems that the Masai do not have

#26

Well @gabe I don’t “warm up” because slow, intense, deep breathing weight lifting provides wonderful incremental warming and deep circulation. In fact, pre-stretching before exercise has been largely debunked by recent science as far as know.

As far as hints or tips - I’d just say keep it simple, enjoy the benefits, and help others who are starting after you on the road of reclaiming biological self-love and metabolic power! And why not become a trainer yourself down the road…?

Am hoping to do that myself eventually - because the benefits of slow strength training are so comprehensive and offer a new view of ageing and the elder years as well. As a certified yoga teacher and martial arts self defense student & teacher - I see a lot of synergy between the super slow/slow burn practices and those of self-cultivation eastern traditions.

In an often meaningless and/or addiction-driven industrial world, the meditative and rejuvenative benefits of this style of strength training can really change the average modern person’s outlooks - as can keto power! - and thus really be a conduit for healing the greater society. Taking people from the SAD (standard american diet lifestyle) to the GLAD lifestyle :smiley:

(Ben) #27

I’ve been looking for a routine that I’m happy doing and fits into my daily life. Having started and abandoned a few different things, I’ve just started one which I think I’ll be able to keep up and it’s very much based on Minimum Effective Dose. I found it via a Ted Naiman tweet:

5 minutes of push-ups to failure
5 minutes of pull-ups to failure
5 minutes of squats to failure

So 15 minutes out of my day, and I can do them at home, no gym travel time etc.

(Mel Soule) #28

Thank you for posting this Mary. So much wisdom, so few words.

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #29

I’m actually really frustrated; my last weekly resistance workout was December 11. I had to cancel my December 18 session and haven’t trained since because of a medical issue (I’ve had sudden hearing loss and tinnitus, a bit of a medical mystery actually and a bit scary) and I’ve been on a steroid for a week and now starting antibiotics for a week. So the earliest I’ll be able to train again is like January 6. Maybe.

Anyone got any advice while I’m grounded from training? It’s so, so annoying. My body just wants to get back into it already! @SlowBurnMary?

#30

Well @gabe maybe revisit Doug McGuff MD’s points in Body By Science on how longer recovery times can be a really good thing - even a couple of months off sometimes. :smile:

Seriously, the medical issue and the mental stress of it is a good reason to rest - hearing loss is a huge worrisome event and the body doesn’t need further increase of cortisol levels by training, as cortisol interferes with progress anyway.

In fact, there’s plenty you can do of a different kind of training. Now’s a good time to prepare to make full recovery from the steroids and antibiotics after you’re done with them (all very serious suppressives which can make new problems sometimes unless significant attention is paid to rebuilding the gut and warming the circulation). It’s a good time to nourish and build up the immune system and your microbiome - not to breakdown & build muscle tissue!

Also a good time for restorative bone broth (using powdered bone broth/hydrolyzed collagen peptides, or making your own 2-3 day pot of it), and drinking it frequently. And to learn about Ginger capsules or Ginger infusions and fermented foods for gut health. Also a great time to study & learn everything you can about the root causes of things/possible nutritional deficiencies that may be involved and potential labs that can be done to confirm (tinnitus often involves a deficiency of B12 and hearing loss a deficiency of Vit D).
Diaphragmmatic breathing not only helps stress reduction, it resets the parasympathetic nervous system/vagal nerve pathway which often plays a part in resolving certain issues.

Traditionally deep winter is a time to hibernate and prepare for spring, so there’s no shame in taking a break from strength training in order to heal and rebuild on a deeper level!

(Gabe “No Dogma, Only Science Please!” ) #31

Thanks Mary. I needed to hear your comment this week! I know McGuff talks about longer recovery times, but I was frustrated because I’d just been doing his protocol for like 3 weeks when this happened! Anyway, hopefully when I get back to it in a week or two, I will only have gained strength.

Re B12 and D – I’m actually ahead of you on these ones. I’m monitoring my levels of both (and more) – I’ve been supplementing 4000IU of D to bring my level from insufficient (around 28) to a level of about 54. I’ve also brought my B12 from the 400s to the 800s, meaning mid-normal up to high-normal.

Re breathing – you’re very right. I’ve been neglecting my meditation practice. I will begin again this new year – ie tonight!

Great comment, and much appreciated. Send more pearls of wisdom my way anytime!

And Happy New Year!

(Consensus is Politics) #32

I’m considering asking my doctor to adjust my Metformin dosage just for that type of maintenance. I’m currently at 1,000 mg 2x a day, although I stopped taking it after a missed day of dosing improves my blood glucose (BG). Not that I actually think I did better without it, but it showed me I didn’t need it to keep BG in check. And I did pester the doctor about the “why am I taking this script for?”. I was persistent, that I knew the entire reason I was taking it. He mentioned that there are other effects, other benefits, but the only benefit I needed right now was how it helped insulin get rid of BG. I’m not into taking extra meds I don’t really need, so when I was doing just fine without, I stayed cold turkey with it.

But seeing as I’ve been hearing lately there are benefits to Metformin such as helping the recovery of Insulin resistance (IR) [<< see what I did there? It’s not hard] that perhaps my IR could be reversed a bit faster.