Cardio & Health

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hi,

New to the forum -at least in terms of posting, so apologies if this is not the best place to put this. ( Or if it’s been covered to death elsewhere - I did search though).

I have read that Stu Mittleman and Dr Maffetone insist that one should ‘warm up’ for at least 15 mins at 50% of max heart rate before cardio. This, they say, gradually mobilises the fatty acids into the bloodstream so that fat is burned instead of vital blood sugar. This builds health and fitness, they go on to say, without injuring the system.

I have searched about in these articles, etc etc, and know that the emphasis seems to be on getting ripped, as opposed to health alone, but does it damage health if we don’t warm up in such a manner? Both Mittleman and Meffetone are well qualifed and one has ran the 1000 mile marathon - can I believe what they say? Or is there any counter evidence?

Thanks for you time and help

Alin

2

[quote]alin wrote:
Hi,

New to the forum -at least in terms of posting, so apologies if this is not the best place to put this. ( Or if it’s been covered to death elsewhere - I did search though).

I have read that Stu Mittleman and Dr Maffetone insist that one should ‘warm up’ for at least 15 mins at 50% of max heart rate before cardio. This, they say, gradually mobilises the fatty acids into the bloodstream so that fat is burned instead of vital blood sugar. [/quote]

Perhaps they overlooked the fact that we’re capable of burning fat any time we’re in an aerobic state :wink:

Of course blood sugar is vital, but we’re fine to be within a certain range, it’s not like if all of a sudden you start exercising that BAM! it’s all gone, lol.

3

Yeah, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that the human race was designed to deal with emergencies and the strenous effort that might entail.

For example, when being chased by a big animal, I don’t think the big animal gave a damn about our optimal conversion to aerobic fuels or any such nonsense. We either had it in us to run away and survive or we got eaten…

Now, if you want to warm up for other reasons, knock yourself out. :wink:

4

I don’t say this to make fun of you, but wow, that came out of left field. I’ve never heard anyone make the claim that a warmup prevents systemic damage due to “not using up blood glucose” before.

From an energy systems stand point, their claim makes no sense. Simply put, your body has very capable ways of regulating blood glucose that aren’t “damaged” when you start exercising, and most of the energy used in beginning aerobic work comes from stored glycogen anyway.

If you’re going to do long duration aerobic work, though, there’s no harm in a little warm up if you’re concerned about your ticker. Like vroomie alluded to, there’s other reasons one may want to engage in a warm-up, like increased synovial fluid, for instance.

Have a good one,

Dan

5

After posting, I got to thinking “They had to know that the body can cope with exercise, there had to be something they were basing these claims on that appears to make sense.”

Can you post a link to anything they’ve written? I’m curious now.

-Dan

6

Thanks for replies so far.

Unfortunately, I can’t find internet links showing this information - perhaps they won’t give it away for free?

Regardless, someone showed me this in the Anthony Robbins book ( apparently he trained with them) ‘Awaken the Giant within’ pp 445 446. Like some of you guys, my inital response was, ‘@"$% off’ and who’s he? I also thought about the caveman, but his emphasis was not on burning fat, but just getting the hell out of there. He didn’t have mobile phones or cd’s or TV’s,( but I’m not giving mine up) nor did he try to build his muscles ( they were merely functional) - plus he evolved.

Yes, I agree, though - it seems odd that being woken up in the middle of the night by a firework alarm clock or whatever, can injure your heart, but I’m told that’s the case.

Obviously, you guys are very well qualified, unlike Mittleman , with his masters in Sports science, and Dr Maffetone, with his years at medical school, so those who wanted to help - thanks.

7

[quote]alin wrote:
Obviously, you guys are very well qualified, unlike Mittleman , with his masters in Sports science, and Dr Maffetone, with his years at medical school, so those who wanted to help - thanks.[/quote]

Howdy -

I actually completed a BS in Exercise Science with an emphasis in cardiac rehabilitation and physiology in May and am currently working on a master’s in biomechanics.

I’m not just spouting off “These guys must be stupid.” There’s no mechanism by which exercising without a long warm-up can cause chronic damage to the heart. If your coronary arteries are already significantly occluded, trying to go too hard too fast will result in a cardiac incident due to insufficient blood (and thus oxygen) flow to the myocardium.

Exercising hard without a warm-up doesn’t produce any chemical that will damage the heart nor does it cause undue strain to an otherwise healthy heart (especially through blood glucose regulation), though. The only exception I could think of would be someone with a compromised pancreas.

You mentioned Tony Robbins - there’s your first red flag. He’s widely known in many professions as espousing false claims with no backing, or taking a small bit of factual information and twisting it around into a poor semblance of the truth. That’s why I asked if any of their work was available online; they probably said something that was true and it got twisted around.

Good motivational speaker though.

Sorry if my reply came across as a little unprofessional, I’d just been trying to install the Windows Vista beta that day, and it’s a royal pain in the ass. That’s for another thread, though.

Have a good one,

Dan

8

[quote]buffalokilla wrote:
alin wrote:
Obviously, you guys are very well qualified, unlike Mittleman , with his masters in Sports science, and Dr Maffetone, with his years at medical school, so those who wanted to help - thanks.

Howdy -

I actually completed a BS in Exercise Science with an emphasis in cardiac rehabilitation and physiology in May and am currently working on a master’s in biomechanics.

I’m not just spouting off “These guys must be stupid.” There’s no mechanism by which exercising without a long warm-up can cause chronic damage to the heart. If your coronary arteries are already significantly occluded, trying to go too hard too fast will result in a cardiac incident due to insufficient blood (and thus oxygen) flow to the myocardium.

Exercising hard without a warm-up doesn’t produce any chemical that will damage the heart nor does it cause undue strain to an otherwise healthy heart (especially through blood glucose regulation), though. The only exception I could think of would be someone with a compromised pancreas.

You mentioned Tony Robbins - there’s your first red flag. He’s widely known in many professions as espousing false claims with no backing, or taking a small bit of factual information and twisting it around into a poor semblance of the truth. That’s why I asked if any of their work was available online; they probably said something that was true and it got twisted around.

Good motivational speaker though.

Sorry if my reply came across as a little unprofessional, I’d just been trying to install the Windows Vista beta that day, and it’s a royal pain in the ass. That’s for another thread, though.

Have a good one,

Dan[/quote]

No offense meant, particularly to you. And thank you for replying.
I’ve decided to just get on with it and to hell with Robbins. Incidentally, I’ve found out that he gave a foreward in the John Little book on static contraction training, claiming that big muscles can be yours in as little as 2 mins per week - or somthing like that ( please don’t sue me , Mr Robbins!!)
Perhaps he is somewhat of a magpie , yet it was the guy who did the 1000 mile marathon that interested me, initially. Perhaps, like you say, they didn’t actually say that and he’s twisted it. I’m not gonna shell out for the book to find out - I’ll take your knowledge on this matter, thanks.

Thank you for your words, yet again.
Alin

9

No prob- I really ought to stop posting after midnight on things that take thought, though, so I can say what I mean the first time…

Have a good one,

Dan