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Recently I have been reading about visceral fat. Visceral fat is different from subcutaneous fat, which is the spare tire around your middle or hanging off your butt. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds your organs and is the dangerous kind which causes high cholesterol, stroke, and heart attack.
Even people who are ’skinny’ on the outside can be fat on the inside with visceral fat literally choking the life out of their organs.
Here is the really interesting part. There is a way to work out which is the most efficient way to rid the body of its visceral fat. The research says you should warm up for a few minutes then engage in a series of burst and rest sequences. Specifically it says you should do two or three minutes of fairly intense exercise then have a short recovery period. Um, in kickboxing we call these ’rounds’ followed by a minute rest. We have been doing this for centuries.
The research also suggest that one need to do at least 2 to 5 of these sequences (rounds to us) in order for the body to burn fat after the workout has ended. We routinely train for 8 to 15 rounds. No wonder our students get into such kick butt shape, and grill the fat off their bodies in record time.
Another fact I discovered in my research is that doing straight (boring) cardio like running on a dreadmill (intentional misspelling) you cause your body to use fat as fuel. So far so good, right? Wrong! Under these circumstances your body is only using the subcutaneous fat, and by using it as fuel your brain gets the message to produce more fat. By contrast, doing interval type training as we do in kickboxing, your body is using carbohydrates as fuel, and therefore does not send the message to produce more fat. Not only that but the body then continues to burn both types of fat after you are done working out.
That is why kickboxing is a superior workout to the conventional weights and cardio routine. That is also why people can spend years in the (boring) gym and still be fat, whereas people routinely lose pounds and inches by the bucket load within months of beginning their training at FMAA.
Now that you know the deal there are only two things left to do. Get your butt in class at least two times a week, and tell everyone you know that at Family Martial Arts Academy you can get a healthy attractive body while melting your stress and learning how to protect yourself. I welcome your comments and feedback.
See you in class.
Photo: Nevada Tumbleweed
My first boxing trainer was one of those old timers, not unlike Mickey, of the Rocky movies. In my first encounter with him, he asked me three questions. He said, “Are you a wise guy kid? Because I love to tame a wise guy,” to which I answered, “Uh, no sir.” Then he said, “You a bleeder?” to which I responded, “Uh, I don’t know sir.” Finally, he said, “Can you skip rope?” and I said, “Uh, yes sir.” And he said, “Well go grab a rope then,” and I said “Uh, ok sir.”
On Monday morning I was in the West Palm Beach airport, heading back to New Jersey, returning from a family gathering. To pass the time I was in one of the gift shops with my kids, and noticed the 
On November 1, 2009 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, the high school, under the leadership of principal Fredrick Williams, will play host to full contact karate competitions presented by the NJCCKL, which is co-directed by Joel and Yvonne Levy of Highland Park. The couple also own the 
“It’s an honor to compete against great amateur fighters, who share the same passion for martial arts that I do,” said Mike Patrone. “We don’t fight because we are angry at each other; it’s just the opposite. We gain a tremendous amount of respect for each other, and we grow both as martial artists and as people. I don’t compete to win or lose, but to better myself as a person.” “Graduating from college in the same week just took it over the top,” he said.