Before you exercise...

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

So it's getting close to bathing suit weather and we all know what that means. The bulky sweat shirts come off and expose the ten pounds of belly fat that somehow appeared through the winter that we have been conveniently hiding behind our loose fitting cloths. As we all know, we cannot hide this any more one we throw one the bathing suit that has been sitting there waiting for us all winter.

With this said, what is the one change that so many are people are going to be making soon? 

This change is going to be the countless people heading to the gym in "hope" of eliminating that winter 10 and looking lean and healthy in their swim gear. While I support exercise and movement as a fundamental of health, I would be willing to bet that many of you are going to engage in exercise that will have a detrimental affect on your health and perhaps be counterproductive in your goals of trimming your waistline. 

Here's why...

Here's a common scenario. You gain weight through the winter months and decide it's time to lose that nagging flab around the midsection. From here you may begin address this nutritionally, but still not losing the weight. Due to this you begin working out, perhaps starting with some walking and lifting weights. Still, no weight loss...ugg! So now you talk to a friend that works our regularly and they tell you the key is to push the cardiovascular activity and suggest 45 minutes of intense work on the treadmill or elliptical. Still nothing, and perhaps at this point you're even seeing your weight go up. Really? How frustrating can this be? It almost seems as the more you do, nothing budges.

So how can this be? After all, we have all been taught that it is simply about calories in and calories out right? Yes, this is what we have been taught but if this was true, you would lose weight very quickly with the above scenario.

What is one of the most important factors to define before you exercise. This factor is adrenal function and there are many reasons for this. Here is a list of factors that are directly tied into your adrenal function as tied into weight loss.

• Thyroid function
• Pancreas function
• Ability to regulate body weight and fat
• Metabolism of fat and protein
• Every level of detoxification
• Pro and anti-inflammatory states
• Cellular energy
• Blood sugar balance
• Quality of sleep
• Neural connectivity

Understand that all of these levels tie into weight loss and a significantly affected by adrenal function.

But there's more...

How you exercise is impacted by your adrenal function. First understand that out of 3 stages of adrenal insufficiency that we would recognize at Depke Wellness, most of our clients show up in a stage II or stage III response. So basically, this means that most have already blown out the hypothalamus, adrenal and pituitary axis. The job of this HPA axis is to bring your body into a deep state of relaxation after a stressful event. This state is essential for healing and maintaining a healthy weight.

Remember above we mentioned that you will likely be told that they have to kick up the cardiovascular activity? Well, here's the kicker there. If you are in stage II or stage III adrenal insufficiency and you are exercising in a way that raises your heart rate and maintains this elevated heart rate, you are actually worsening your adrenal function. So yes, the hard work you are doing is not only not helping you lose weight but it is actually worsening your adrenal function.

If you do find yourself in a stage II or stage III adrenal insufficiency you still want to exercise but this should be via anaerobic training. So this would include weight training with heavy weight, low reps and rest in between sets. This would also include a casual walk, casual bike ride, gentle flow yoga, stretching and another huge benefit from burst training. I use burst training myself and recommend this at different times of the day for my clients depending on where there adrenal function is. 

While I cannot say enough about burst training, I am far from an expert with this but thankfully in the upcoming adrenal summit I have interviewed one of our worlds leaders in burst training, Dr Josh Axe. Make sure you register for the complimentary for Adrenal Summit and not only enjoy the interview on burst training and adrenal function with Dr Josh Axe but also the 12 other experts listed below. 

So in the end, before you exercise, properly assess your adrenal function.

Dr Daniel Kalish, DC

Adrenal Summit Launch 

Dr. Thomas O'Bryan, DC, CCN, DACBN
Gluten Sensitivity, Celiac and Adrenal Function

Dr Peter Osborne

Gluten Cross Reactivity and Adrenal Function

Dr Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

The Cortisol/Insulin Connection

Dr Josh Axe
Exercise Effects on Adrenal Function

Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Inflammation Effects on Adrenal Function

Linda Clark, M.A., Certified Nutrition Consultant (CNC)

Detoxification, Toxicity and Adrenal Health

Sue Ingebretson

Stress and the Emotional Impact on Adrenal Health

Dr Robert Janda, DC

Infection and Adrenal Function

Manny Aragon

The Structural Body and Adrenal Health

Lynda Buitrago, MS

The Thyroid/Adrenal Connection

John Lewis and Jeffery Zavik

Obesity, Sensitivity and Adrenal Function

Dr David Fletcher

Chiropractic Care and Adrenal Health

Glen Depke

Adrenal Summit Conclusion

The experts that we have for your enjoyment and education are the leaders in their field and actually the experts "experts". This event is going to create a paradigm shift and the needed education for our culture to understand adrenal fatigue, the impact this has on our health and happiness and more importantly, what we can do about this. Visit the Adrenal Summit for further information and registration for this complimentary event.