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Plan to get a blood draw at your physician’s office or through a direct-to-consumer lab. (I recommend InsideTracker, at store.insidetracker.com, and you can use the code DRLYON for a discount.)
TG stored in and around muscle instead of adipose tissue that remains there in a stagnant pool indicates impaired fat oxidation capacity in muscle: a hallmark of insulin resistance. In this scenario, your body’s ability to manage extra calories becomes more and more dysfunctional over time as muscular fat accumulates.
Exercise is one of the best ways to increase healthy HDL cholesterol. Adding more omega-3s to your diet can also help.
Other blood markers we can use to track improved body composition are two enzymes released from the liver, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST).
Ideal ALT blood levels total less than 20 units per liter of serum for women and less than 30 units for men. I typically recommend that my patients continue to lose weight until they reach these target levels. Although studies show that liver enzymes may temporarily rise immediately following diet-induced weight loss in women, these increases, when transient, are considered benign, with no cause for alarm.17 It’s also important to note that intense exercise can also increase levels of these enzymes. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT):18 Male: 29 to 33 units/L Female: 19 to 25 units/L Aspartate
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ACTION ITEM Test ALT and AST levels every three to six months.
While LDL cholesterol levels are more commonly discussed as indicators of heart health, studies suggest that serum levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) are a stronger predictor of cardiovascular trouble.
I recommend using hs-CRP as a general “tell” for body inflammation because this protein reacts grossly to inflammation, facilitates damaging plaque deposits, and triggers immune responses.21 Ideally, this number should be less than one. Even low-grade inflammation, indicated by just slightly elevated serum levels, can be significant. Data suggesting that low-grade inflammation and obesity make it more difficult to build muscle22 only further emphasize how imperative it is for people in this situation to rework their body composition and gain momentum.
ACTION ITEM Test hs-CRP every three to six months.
Another effective way to regulate blood-glucose levels, as discussed, is through exercise, because muscle contractions use up glucose. Stored as glycogen, the glucose in muscle contributes indirectly to blood-glucose levels through a metabolite called lactate.
One tool I recommend as part of the Lyon Protocol is a continuous glucose monitor. Available over the counter, this monitor provides real-time data that give a great picture of metabolic health. Experiment with this device to see exactly how your choices impact your metabolism. What levels are we looking for? For someone with healthy blood-sugar regulation, blood glucose should be 140 mg/dL or less, two hours after eating. Healthy fasting glucose levels run between 70 and 99 mg/dL.
Normal hemoglobin A1C ranges between 4.0 and 5.6 percent. A level between 5.7 and 6.4 percent indicates prediabetes and a higher chance of getting diabetes. A level of 6.5 percent or higher means you have diabetes.
Normal glucose tolerance should not exceed 140 mg/dL and should return to a normal fasting blood-sugar level after a two-hour period. If elevated glucose following meals poses an issue, we can use training as a tool for correction. Exercise will lower blood sugar, using muscle as medicine. Using a continuous glucose monitor will allow you to gauge the effectiveness of your workouts.25 It will also allow you to see, in real time, if an after-meal walk is sufficient to keep blood glucose in check or if you require more rigorous activity such as air squats. The goal is to be able to leverage
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Max rep push-up: How many continuous push-ups did you do? Were they elevated? From your knees? When did you start to feel fatigued? Squats for time: How many squats did you complete in one minute? Did you incorporate a load? If so, how much weight? When did you start to feel fatigued? Did you rest? Plank hold for time: How long did you hold your plank? Were you balanced on your forearms? Your hands? When did you start to feel fatigued? 1 mile: Did you run or walk? When did you start to feel fatigued? Did you complete the mile without stopping to rest?
For more assessment tools, including ones for calculating your One-Rep Max (the max weight you can lift for a single repetition for a given exercise) or VO2 Max (the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilize while working out), check out www.foreverstrongbook.com to download a template.
Don’t think of training as an activity with health benefits. Instead, consider it as a baseline requirement for wellness and an essential component of maintaining health and protecting longevity.
(Pro tip: Sitting on the couch and eating protein will not stimulate the muscle-protein synthesis your body needs!)
Instead of trying to incorporate every new tip or hack that pops up in your feed, try focusing strictly on building and protecting muscle. This approach will deliver big, long-lasting results in overall health and quality of life.
You can expect to lose roughly 12 percent of your strength with each week of inactivity.
Testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, and essential amino acids all directly promote anabolism, meaning they contribute to building skeletal muscle and priming the body for growth. Exercise, meanwhile, further stimulates these growth effects.
Resistance exercise training (RET) differs from endurance training, for example, and the specific challenges and benefits of each can help determine proper application. The goal of RET is to increase muscle mass and strength through regular high-tension muscle contractions against a heavy external load. Because of the muscle breakdown-and-repair process, training at least three times a week is essential. Performed regularly with enough load, this training generates the sequence of muscle breakdown and repair, or hypertrophy, that builds new, stronger muscle tissue. The goal is providing a
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Before hiring a personal trainer, check for one of these well-respected accreditations: ACSM, NASM, ISSA, or NCSF, all of which come from certification programs that also offer internship and job-placement opportunities for graduates.
Weekly Training Targets 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity to vigorous exercise. Resistance training three to four days a week. 1 HIIT session each week.
but combining cardio with resistance training on the regular will also keep you from gaining back any fat you’ve lost, eliminating the yo-yo effect of dieting.
The first adjustment I usually make to a patient’s plan is upping their resistance training.
INTERMEDIATE At least 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic training per week. Resistance training of moderate or greater intensity that involves all major muscle groups three to four times a week, using eight to twelve reps per exercise.
Write down all your commitments and anything that might keep you from accomplishing your goal. What time do you have to be at work? What time do you have to pick up the kids or take them to a practice or event? What if they’re home sick? Do you have a recurring injury? Do you travel frequently? Write down all the nonnegotiables and commitments you have in your schedule along with some potential solutions for when they arise. Example: I start work at 8:30 a.m. every day. I travel once a month for business. I must complete all my independent activities by 8:00 p.m. to preserve quality time with
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Example: I will lose 10 percent body fat in six months through resistance training three days a week and cardio twice a week.
Bonus tip: For a higher payoff, do your conditioning and interval work as a separate morning session, then complete a resistance training session approximately six to eight hours later. Research suggests that back-to-back strength and endurance sessions are less effective because of insufficient recovery time to achieve maximal benefit.6 But this type of scheduling is an ideal, not a requirement. Most important is that you get the sessions done.
Tip: Perform the most important exercises first, when you have the most energy, mental focus, and time. Prioritizing which movements you execute at your peak will bring you that much closer to achieving your goal. If your workout winds up getting cut short, at least you will have consistently executed your workout’s primary objective.
studies show that muscle improvement increases when we visualize the target muscle and consciously direct activity and concentration there during exercise performance.
SMART goal: I want to lose 10 percent body fat so I can enjoy hiking with my family. To get me there, I am going to do three days a week of full-body resistance training at home and two days of cardiovascular training to prepare me for my hiking trip in six months. Nonnegotiables and commitments that could get in the way of your goal: I start work at 8:30 a.m. every day, I travel once a month for business, and I must stop independent activities by 8:00 p.m. to protect quality time with my family. I will plan to do my workouts at home in the morning. Time frame and training frequency: Three
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DAY 2—LOW-IMPACT CARDIO Note: Don’t forget to warm up on your cardio days! Choose your favorite form of low-impact cardio. Examples: swimming, biking, rowing, elliptical, hiking, walking.
DAY 4—HIGH-IMPACT CARDIO Note: Don’t forget to warm up on your cardio days! Choose your favorite form of high-impact cardio. Examples: HIIT class, sprint intervals, running, StairMaster, boxing. High-intensity cardio entails working at 70 to 80 percent of your max heart rate. Either choose one of the activities above or calculate your heart-rate range using this formula: 220 – your age = general guideline for max heart rate. Then multiply that number times the percentage of the target heart-rate zone.
One type of soreness, lasting from 24 to 48 hours, is called delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and can occur after intense and heavy-weight workouts. To aid your post-workout recovery, make sure to stretch, rest, and eat high-quality foods.
Travel days can make me hungry. I often wake up too early after a night of poor sleep. Knowing that all these factors have the potential to erode my willpower, I plan for them in advance. I bring along beef jerky, protein bars, or a low-carb snack to eat en route. When the plane lands, I head straight to a grocery store to pick up the food I’ll need during my stay and for the trip home.
I’ve found that the key to successfully returning to your baseline is to do so quickly. Maybe a vacation, an illness, an injury, or some other interruption to your routine sets you back, and you fall out of rhythm. This moment can leave you extremely vulnerable to defeatist thoughts that can easily fuel self-defeating behaviors. The faster you get back to an empowered emotional state, the higher you are on the resiliency spectrum and the more successful you will be at reaching your goals.
If you cannot move your mind, move your body instead.
By creating a targeted environment with triggers that elicit positive behaviors, discourage negative behaviors, and help you maintain momentum, you can create habits of health that allow for excellence. Post visual reminders of the goals you want to achieve, quotes that inspire mental toughness, or the attributes that you wish to embody. Put your training gear in places that will spur you to get up and go. Get ready for a morning workout by sleeping in your exercise clothes. Remove tempting, but unhelpful, foods and clutter from your environment.
here are my best tips for getting yourself to work out and eat well consistently: Do not depend on motivation. Motivation ebbs and flows. It doesn’t give you the consistency needed to garner success in the gym, the kitchen, or life. Motivation is rarely present when you’re entering an uncomfortable realm—but that realm is precisely where growth occurs. Instead, focus on developing a new identity. This will give you the right mental framework to overcome obstacles, no matter the difficulty.
