Reader Q&A: The Sauna, Weightloss Miracle or Pointless Waste of Time?

Question 

One of my readers wrote in with:

I have a friend who swears by the weight loss properties of the Sauna.  He says he goes in and comes out feeling (and weighing) lbs lighter.  I told him he’s just sweating the weight off but he says that’s exactly the point and says I do the same thing when I exercise.  So is the sauna the same as exercise?

Answer

No, absolutely not.  A sauna is NOT the same as exercise.

What Is Sweating?

Sweating is the body’s way of trying to cool down.  The human body needs to maintain a relatively even temperature.  If it gets too warm, it tries to cool off by sweating.  Part of this cooling off mechanism is sweat.  When we sweat, glands in our skin are letting water from our bodies flow out.  The evaporation of the water uses some of the heat energy which in turn helps our bodies cool down.

Why Do We Sweat When We Work Out?

Easy, because exercise warms our bodies up and in order to stay cool, we sweat.  However, sweat is just the side effect of the exercise.

Why Do We Sweat When We Sit In The Sauna?

Easy, because it’s really really warm in the sauna and our bodies are trying to cool down.

Well, That Sounds The Same As Exercise

Not really.  With exercise, our bodies are warming up because of something we’re doing.  We’re being active and burning energy to workout.  This causes our temperature to rise which in turn causes sweat.  However, it’s the exercise itself which burns calories and gives us the positive effects of physical activity.  With the sauna, we’re not doing anything.  We’re just sitting there baking in steam.  The heat of the sauna causes our bodies to overheat and this in turn causes sweat.  There’s no energy burn here, no calories being used.

But I Weighed Myself and I Weigh Less After The Sauna

Sure, and I weigh about 6lbs less after a long run.  That’s just water loss from sweat.  Drink some water and it will all come right back.  Remember, the sweat you lost is primarily water, with a bit of salt.  You didn’t really burn any energy in the sauna.  At least the run burned some calories along with all that sweat.

###

Sitting in the sauna is no replacement for exercise.  It may make you sweat, but that’s just a reaction to an outside influence rather than the result of physical activity.  That kind of weight loss will last about as long as it takes you to drink a glass of water.

Secret Food Cures Book Review, Revisited

A few weeks ago I reviewed a book by the name of Bottom Lines Secret Food Cures and Doctor-approved Folk Remedies. My review wasn’t very complimentary and some people seemed to take that personally. So I wanted to revisit the subject and discuss it in a bit more detail.

Is Modern Medicine Perfect?

First, many readers seemed to think I was setting up modern medicine as the only source of healthy living. That is, if you want to get healthy, you should see a doctor and start taking some pills. That’s is almost but not quite the complete opposite of what I believe. For the most part, I try to stay away from the doctor’s office. I don’t believe in taking pills for every symptom and I don’t believe medical treatment or surgery is the answer to all my problems. My whole philosophy is based on living a healthy lifestyle so that I DON’T need to go to the doctor’s office.

I would rather eat healthy than take medicine that would lower my cholesterol. I would rather exercise than be treated for high blood pressure. I would rather work out with weights than take some pills that would increase the strength of my bones. I eat fruit and vegetables because I want to lower my risk of death to cancer through healthy living rather than chemo or surgery. So yes, I am a great believer in good ole’ fashioned healthy living as a great alternative to the doctor’s office.

But…

You knew there was a “but…” coming up somewhere. Well, as much as I don’t believe in a life based on medicine only, I also don’t believe in completely unproven and unscientific folk cures. I am 100% sure that some herbs and minerals do have positive medical properties. For example, we now know a lot about the cancer fighting chemical in some vegetables. I also believe that some plants have restorative properties. However, I am not going to go out there and start taking lemon rind soup for my migraines without a bit more information just because my ancestors believed in it. My ancestors also believed that life came from mud, storks brought babies and that the earth was flat.

Reading a book like this and then rushing out to try out all the cures seems foolish to me.  I would much rather take a more careful approach.  Read the proposed cure and then do some research about it.  Are there some chemicals in lemon rinds that might lessen pain or inflammation?  If so, what are they and what are their side effects?  Are there any articles out there about the long term impact of ingesting these chemicals?  Were the articles written by the lemon industry or by some reputable institute?

We have a wealth of information at our fingertips these days so why not use it?  I don’t mind reading about old folks cures but I sure as hell am not going to rush out and try them just because a book tells me some people in Eastern Europe in the 1800’s believed this remedy helped cure chicken pox.

The Combined Approach

I believe the right way of doing things is the combined approach.  Learn what it takes to live a healthy life.  That means eating healthy, being more active and adopting some healthy habits.  Some of those healthy habits could involve a few things your old grandmother would heartily agree with.  “An apple a day will keep the doctor away.”  Yep, eating fruit is healthy.  “Chicken soup will cure a cold”.  Yep, a nutrient rich broth is easy for a sick body to digest and includes a lot of energy your body needs to fight off some ailments.  Aloe for sunburns?  Yep, there have been numerous studies on the anti inflammatory properties of the aloe plant.  So by all means, adopt these healthy habits that have been used by human beings for centuries.  Just make sure there’s some substance behind these claims.  Don’t just rush out and try everything you read about in books like these.

However, don’t adopt them blindly and don’t ignore doctors.  Have a yearly physical.  Talk to your doctor if you’re going to make some changes to your life.  Ask their advice before trying some radical change to your eating habits.  You’d be surprised how useful doctors can be.  Sometimes they’ll tell you “yes, lemon rinds have so and so chemicals in them and can be used in moderation to treat the following things” and sometimes they’ll say “no, lemon rind soup is completely garbage.”  Either way, you’ll learn something.

Summary

So no, I am not opposed to folk cures.  I am however opposed to blindly trusting my health to some book I bought on Amazon without doing any kind of research or checking with my doctor.  Hope that clears things up and gets me a few less angry emails

Reader Q&A - Negative Calorie Foods

Today’s reader question comes to us from Minnesota.

I heard there are foods which count for negative calories. Things that actually work off calories if I eat them. The one I keep hearing about is celery. Is this true? Can I have a meal and then eat celery to work off the calories?

Well, yes and no.

What Are Negative Calories Foods?

These foods are ones where the calorie content is so low that our bodies actually spend more calories digesting the food than they get out of it. Our bodies actually have to spend energy digesting food. There is energy spent on digesting and even more energy used for moving the food around internally. All of this energy means calories spent. So if these calories spent are higher than the calories we get out of our food, the food adds up to negative net calories. Another example might be a cold drink with very few calories. The calories our bodies would spend to heat up the liquid as it enters our body might be more than the calories our digestion can extract from that liquid leading to a net calories loss.

The Mythical Celery

Celery is mentioned most often when we talk about negative calorie foods because it’s become an urban myth of sorts. There were even some fad diets based on negative energy foods that used celery as a prime ingredient. Yes, celery does cost more energy to digest than it provides. On average, a stalk of celery has 6 to 8 calories in it. Because it mainly fiber, our bodies use up slightly more than that to digest it. So on average, our bodies might lose 2 or 3 calories per stalk of celery that we eat. So yes, it is a negative calorie food, but before you rush out and begin your celery only diet, let’s think things through.

Simple Math

You’ll lose around 2 to 3 calories per stalk of celery. So let’s see, in order to lose the four hundred calories you just gained from that chocolate bar, you’re going to need to eat 200 stalks of celery. In order to work off the 1000 calories you just ate in that pizza, you’re going to need to eat 500 stalks of celery. Alternatively, you could work off about 100 calories with a 30 minute walk. Which one would you rather do, walk for 30 minutes or eat 50 stalks of celery? I prefer the walking.

Diet Staple

That said, low calorie but high fiber foods like celery should definitely be a part of your diet. They’re full of essential vitamins and minerals and they fill you up without a lot of calories. However, don’t assume that they’re some sort of magic bullet. Eating nothing but celery and cold water is NOT a healthy diet.

Summary

So yes, negative calorie foods do exist, but they’re not the magic bullet solution to weight loss. Eating healthy and getting some physical activity is the key to that.

Some more facts about celery, courtesy of Snopes.com

Reader Q&A - The zero dollar workout

This is a question that came in from one of our readers over the weekend:

Hey Gal,

I really enjoy your blog and have gotten a lot of useful health tips from it. I’m in a situation where I would like to get in shape, lose some weight and get toned-up, espec. But, unfortunately, I don’t have the finances right now to go to a gym or purchase weights. I’m a 5′10”, 200 lbs guy and would like to know if you could give me some kind of workout plan or direct me to one that would give me a full body workout and help me build muscle. I run 4 days a week for about 45 minutes, so I have the cardio part wrapped up. And over the last 2 months have changed my eating habits and started eating “clean”. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This reader has a very common issue, he wants to get in shape but he doesn’t have the money to spend on equipment or gym membership. The four day workout we discussed a while back uses a minimal amount of gear, but even it requires dumbbells, which not everyone can afford. So is it possible to get a good workout with absolutely no gear?

The answer is absolutely. First, remember that weights don’t have to be dumbbell shaped. It just has to be something with mass that you can grip. There are a variety of ways to improvise good weights but one of the best I’ve found is water bottles. These range in size from the little ones you buy for yourself to the big ones you see at the office water cooler. Either one can be filled up with water and then held in your hands as a weight. The big ones are great because you can fill them up with a different amount of water to simulate different weights. And when you’re done working out, you can drink your weights

At the same time, there are plenty of good workouts you can do without weights. We’re going to take the four day example and make it into an equipment free workout that still works out every part of your body. The key here is going to be form. When you’re going through these exercises, go very slowly and with good form. You’re substituting time for weight. Instead of moving dumbbells up and down, you’re moving your body weight, but you’re doing it slower because that demands more from your body. Remember too, that you can make up for lower weight by doing more reps. It’s not quite the same but it’s still very good for you, especially since you’re looking to tone up, not bulk up.

Try to do 4 sets of each of these, 15 reps each set.

Day 1 - Abs and Back.

• Legs Raises - Start out with abs.
• Back Extension - Move to the back.
• Crunches - Back to abs.
• Dead Lift - Back again. Note that this one is usually done with weights but you’re just fine doing it with just body weight. Go a bit slower and maintain good form and you’ll still get a great back workout. Remember that you can also improvise a bit. Any weight will work here.
• Alternate Sit Up - To work on the obliques.
• Chin Up - Finish it up with some mid back work. I’m assuming you do have access to a chinup bar. They can be found in almost any playground or can be improvised at home. If not, do another run of the dead lifts.

Day 2 - Biceps and Triceps

• Close Grip Press Up - Start with triceps
• Curls - Biceps now. This is one exercise that could really use those improvised weights I discussed earlier. However, even body weights curls are better than nothing. Just go nice and slow.
• Bench Dips - You can easily improvise this one with some furniture. I used to do them with my hands on the bed and my legs on a chair.
• Hammer Curls - Another biceps exercise that would benefit from improvised weights but can be done on its own.
• Push Ups - Similar to the Press Up but with a wider grip. More of a shoulder workout but it’s still good for the triceps.
• Pull Ups - Just like chin ups but your palm is pointed towards you, not away. Again, if you don’t have access to a chin up bar, repeat one of the other biceps exercises.

Day 3 - Legs

• Lunges - Doesn’t need any weights, but you can improvise them if you want.
• Squats - Same.
• Calf Raise - The trick to doing these with no weights is to do one legs at a time. Just stand on one foot and then raise yourself up to your tip toes.
• Thigh Abduction - No weight needed here.
• Lying Leg Adduction - Same.
• Dead Lifts - Good for your back and your legs.

Day 4 - Chest and Shoulders

• Press Ups - The standard body weight chest and shoulder exercise.
• Shrugs - Another good place to use your improvised weights, but body weight will work as well.
• Close Grip Press Up - Slightly different position.
• Bent Over Row - Quick tip on improvising this one. Do you have a dining room chair? Just position your upper body underneath it, grip the seat of the chair from below on both sides and then lift your upper body up.
• Wide Grip Press Up - Again, slightly different position.
• Hindu Press Up - Cooper’s has this listed as a “Hind” pressup, I’ve also seen it referred to as lunging or moving press up. Either way, it’s a great exercise that involves your entire body.

Summary

That’s a four day workout with virtually zero gear that works out your entire body. It’s not going to be as straightforward as a workout that uses dumbbells and you might need to improvise here and there, but you’ll be able to get a decent workout without a single dollar spent.

Reader Q&A - Finding the right workout

I received this email a few days ago.

Hello,

I am a daily reader of your blog and just had a couple of questions. I am going to start exercising at the gym but can’t find a workout plan that I like. I have read some of your posts on the 4 day workout but would rather work with machines and a few free weights. My main goal is to build a little muscle, but not look like a bodybuilder.

I plan on going to the gym 3-4 days a week. I read that you should do chest and triceps one day, biceps and back another, and legs and shoulders another day. Is this the right combination of muscle groups to work together or should I just stick to one muscle group a day? Thanks

There’s more than one question here:

1. The four day workout I wrote about used a minimum of machines. Most of the equipment involved was a pair of dumbbells. I did this on purpose because I wanted to make sure that even folks without access to a gym could use this workout routine. However, it’s very easy to adapt this routine to use more machines. Take a look at the exercise encyclopedia on Cooper’s Guns. You can see that just about every exercise on the 4 day workout has a counterpart that uses machines. For example, instead of squats you can do the upright leg press which exercises the exact same muscles. Proponents of free weights will tell you that using machines is less beneficial since it doesn’t involve stabilizing muscles but then again, free weights are slightly more injury prone. In general, I’m ambivalent about this whole machines versus free weights thing. Use whatever feels right to you and feel free to modify my four day workout using machine based exercises. An alternative source to Cooper’s Guns is exrx, which also has a variety of exercise possibilities.
2. Building a little muscle but not going all the way to body building doesn’t have much to do with machines versus free wights.  It’s a bit of a misconception that body builders work with free weights and people who just want to build up a bit of muscle tone work with machines.  Both can give you a great workout and both are used by body builders.  The key difference between body builders and non body builders is the time they spend at the gym.  If you’re like me and plan to spend 3 to 4 days a week at 1 hour or so each time, then you’re fine.  That’s simply not enough time to really bulk up.  Keep your weights reasonable and your reps at around 10 to 15 per set.  You’re not going to look like a body builder anytime soon with that routine, but you will get the muscle tone you’re looking for.
3. Should you stick to one muscle group a day?  Well, that’s ideal, but it doesn’t work well with a 3 to 4 day schedule.  You have more than 3 or 4 major muscle groups so doing one per day is just not realistic.  With your planned schedule, two muscle groups per day seems like a better idea.  You’ll fit in all the major groups while still getting a great workout for each.
4. The four day workout I described worked the following groups together; abs and back, chest and shoulders, biceps and triceps and finally legs.  I’d recommend sticking to that combo over the suggested groupings in your email.  For one, your planned workout doesn’t include time for abs, which are a crucial core muscle group to work on.  Second, legs are such a large portion of your body that I really think you should devote an entire day to them.  In fact, calling legs a single muscle group is really misleading, there’s more than one major muscle group down there.  After you fix those two issues, the other muscle groups can be combined any way you like.  There’s no real benefit that I am aware of in the various combinations.

If anyone out there has a tip they would like to share with us about their workout routine, please feel free to do so in the comments.  Would love to hear how other readers split up their exercises.

Sample workout for a cut body

This was a comment I received from a reader by the name of Andrew a few days ago. He had read my series on the 4 day workout and responded with this:

Was wondering if you can give me a specific routine for working out. i want to be cut, want a 6-pac (nice abs), nice arms and triceps, back. Any suggestions on what to do at the gym instead of just what I should work on?

First of all, Andrew does something well here that most people ignore. Rather than just setting some nebulous goals, Andrew has some specifics in mind. I would recommend that anyone thinking of working on their health come up with these kind of goals. You should know exactly what you’re looking to achieve and hopefully a time frame to go with that goal. This is because all workouts are not created equal. Some promote muscle bulk, others promote tone, still others promote cardio endurance with little emphasis to muscles. This means that you need to know what you want to achieve and then plan the right workout.

Andrew’s specifics

Andrew here has done that. He’s looking for a “cut” look, which typically means more definition and tone than simple bulk. That also means a lower body fat percentage. Also, Andrew has specifically stated that he wants a gym workout, rather than a simple home workout. That’s another good thing to know in advance since it impacts the type of exercises open to you. With that in mind, what should Andrew do?

My recommendation is based on a 4 day workout. Assuming Andrew has less or more time than that, he could easily modify this workout to fit his schedule. All the resistance workouts are meant to be done with 3 sets of 15 reps each. The high number of reps will help focus on tone rather than bulk. The weight used should be something Andrew can barely do on the 15th rep. If necessary, the weight can be lowered slightly each set.

Day 1 - Core, abs and lower back.

Abs

• Crunches
• Leg Raises
• Trunk Twist

For the back

• Dead Lift
• Good Mornings
• Back Extension

Day 2 - Chest and upper back

For the chest

• Bench Press
• Pec Dec (always loved that name)
• Dumbbell Pullover

For the upper back

• Shrugs
• Upright Row
• TBar Row

Day 3 - Legs

• Barbell Squat
• Barbell Lunge
• Leg Curl
• Machine Calf Raise
• followed by more squats and lunges

Day 4 - Upper arms

• Hammer Curls
• Concentration Curls
• Palm Down Preacher Curl
• Skull Crusher (another great name)
• Standing Extensions
• Cable Extension

Cardio

Yes, you still need to do cardio because it will keep the body fat low and therefore emphasize the muscles more. Do two days on the treadmill and two days on the elliptical, preferably one with arm movement and not just leg movement. Go for 30 minutes at a time with a moderate pace.

Rest Day

Make sure you get at least two complete rest days each week. That means no weight or cardio training on those days. The fifth day is up to you. You can use it for extra weight training, extra cardio, both or something else that’s physically active.

Diet

Make sure you get enough protein to keep your muscle tone while you lose some weight. That means things like fish, lean beef and chicken. No bacon wrapped steaks please. Don’t overdo it though, you should still be eating carbs from sources like vegetables, fruit and whole grains to keep your body healthy and energized.

Standard Disclaimer

As always, this isn’t intended to perceived as medical advice. If you have some kind of medical condition or experience any health problems, please consult with a doctor.

Summary

I hope this was beneficial to you Andrew. Let me know if you have any questions and please stop by again and tell us how you’re doing.

Reader Q&A - Can a home workout be as effective as a gym?

Today’s post is a response to a question posed by a reader. Here’s an excerpt from his email:

My local gym had a trial month, and I enjoyed the wide range of equipment but the normal monthly rate is just too high. So instead I’ve been thinking of getting a cross trainer (around $200) for home and doing other exercises that don’t need any equipment. Does that sound reasonable or do you need all that special equipment the gym has to offer? Also, how does the use of a cross trainer compare to a home trainer? To jogging? To swimming?

Maybe I should mention that I’m mostly interested in:

• losing some weight
• becoming fitter (I haven’t done sports for 10 years)
• getting my back into shape (I’m sitting at a computer all day)

Let’s start by dealing with the top question.

Home Vs. Gym

There’s no doubt that the gym offers more options than any home could. You have a greater range of machines, weights and facilities at a gym which means you can work out different muscles in multiple ways. However, working out at home can be almost as effective. Will you get a workout at home that’s 100% as good as the gym? No, but you can easily get a great workout at home that’s very close to the gym one. I find that I can do about 80 to 90% of what I want to at home. In fact, the only thing I really can’t do at home is cardio, which this reader is going to address with the purchase of a cross trainer. The only thing I would add is a set of dumbbells. You can easily get a good set with a variety of weights for under $50.

Cross Training vs. Swimming vs. Running

First of all, a terminology clarification. Cross trainer is a word that’s usually used to refer to an elliptical machine. However, it can also be used to refer to one of those home gym sets that offers a wide range of weight exercises, like a bowflex. I’m guessing this reader meant an elliptical machine by the context.

If so, cross trainer is going to be used for a cardio workout. Compared to running, the cross trainer is better in that it’s much lower impact. Your feet and knees are safer on a cross trainer than they are jogging, especially if you intend to jog outside on pavement. However, the cross trainer is a bit lower energy than running, meaning you won’t burn quite as many calories on it as you would running. However, the difference is relatively small and for someone just starting out, I would recommend the elliptical cross trainer over running just because of the lower injury risk.

Swimming on the other hand, is about as close as you can come to a perfect cardio workout. The only problems with swimming are the equipment you need (do you have year round convenient access to a pool?) and the boredom factor (how long can you swim back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth without going a little crazy?) If you’re ok with both of these issues, then go with swimming. Personally, I do have access to a pool but I just can’t handle the monotony of swimming. I can’t listen to my iPod or watch TV in the pool, so I choose other forms of cardio.

Summary

I think this reader is off to a good start. I would recommend starting out easy. If you haven’t worked out for ten years, you’re going to find yourself very sore if you overdo things. Do a short weight routine followed by some light cardio three to four times a week. Make sure you adjust your eating habits as well, since exercise alone is not as effective.

Make sure to document everything. That means keeping track of how much you exercise, what exercises you’re doing, what weights and so on. Then, each week, make a small improvement. That could mean staying on the cross trainer an extra minute, adding some weight to a specific exercise or doing an extra rep per set. Just keep increasing things gradually and consistently and you’ll slowly start seeing great results. Remember, you’ve been out of shape for years. You’re not going to fix that in a week or even a month. They key is to gradually improve in ways that you can maintain for the rest of your life.

Related Posts

Ways to cut down on the costs of a gym

A variety of cardio options

Designing a workout, general details

Designing a workout, some specifics

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