BY SARAH CHARLSTON
VOLUME 31 LOSE IT! 5PHOTOGRAPHS: LIZA VAN DEVENTER, GALLO IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
According to Primal guru Mark
Sisson, short, sharp bursts of
sprinting are not only anti-ageing
but will also speed up your
metabolism, increasing weight loss.
‘Brief, explosive all-out sprints
are the single best activity to
promote rapid reduction of
excess body fat, achieve fitness
breakthroughs and flood the
bloodstream with anti-ageing
hormones,’ he says. ‘Even a brief
sprint session has a profound
effect on metabolic and hormonal
function for hours and days
afterward, sending what Paleo
movement pioneer Dr Art De
Vany calls a “renewal signal”
to your genes.’
The theory is that we are not
evolved to live safe, static lives at
optimal temperatures: our bodiesexpect danger and fluctuations
in temperature – that’s what
the flight or fight mechanism is
all about. If we stop using that,
says Mark, we become old very
quickly: ‘When we hone our fight
or flight attributes once in a while
as our genes expect us to, we stay
youthful, powerful, vibrant and
self-confident. Conversely, when
we indulge in endless comforts
and conveniences and avoid
hormetic stressors like sprinting,
strength training, exposure to
cold or heat, and so forth, we
atrophy across the board and
become less resilient to all forms
of life stress,’ he says.
Here’s how to blitz sprint:- Forget about ‘No Pain, No
Gain’. This is meant to exhilarate. - If you’re not feeling 100% well,
don’t do it: you’re way more likely
to injure yourself. - Warm up with easy aerobic
exercise (don’t let your heart rate
go above 180 minus your age). - Do a few stretches.
- Run FLAT OUT for between
10–20 seconds, maximum. Then
rest for 40 seconds. Repeat. - Repeat four times, gradually
increasing to 10. No more. - Cool down with 5–10 minutes
of easy stretching or yoga poses. - Only do it once every 4–5 days.
RUN FOR IT!
The first thing we want to know
when someone has dropped
weight and is glowing with health
is how they did it so we can do
the same. But, as we’ve long
suspected, it turns out there’s no
one-size-fits-all approach to weight
loss. While there are definitely
broad strokes (sugar is no good for
anyone, neither is highly processed
food), a recent study from the
University of Minnesota found
that foods with a similar nutritional
profile can have varying effects
on different people’s gut bacteria- for instance, beans increased
the number of certain bacteria
in one person but had very little
effect on another. According to
a simultaneous study at King’s
College, London, this also holds
true for identical twins: while one
twin had a predictable nutritional
response to a particular food, the
other would not have the same
response – because they actually
only share around 37% of their gut
microbes. There’s just no way of
knowing how we will respond to
certain foods. The best approach
is to experiment with your own
body and find out what works. The
good news is that eating low-carb,
with its emphasis on real, healthy,
identifiable foods, is the best way
to do just that! ■
Those pesky
bugs again...
you’ve been with LOSE IT since our first few issues, you’ll
remember Brian Berkman’s inspiring story: he lost 70kg
eating low-carb, regained his health (he now climbs a
mountain every day – just for the pleasure of it) and rediscovered his
love of cooking; this time Banting only. If you’re near Pringle Bay, you’re
in for a real treat: his low-carb, sugar-free feasts (including succulent,
slow-cooked brisket and Parmigiana di Melanzane) are not to be missed.
‘Winter is the secret season in Pringle Bay,’ says Brian. ‘Sheltered from the
South Easter wind, this is the perfect time to be cosy with friends around
a light-filled long table.’ Cost is R400 per head, and you can bring your
own wine. See http://www.brianberkman.com for links to Quicket to book.