"Sarcopenia"? Do I Need a Penecillin Shot for That?

Between the ages of 50 and 80 a man will lose 30% of his muscle mass if no efforts are made to retain it.  "Sacropenia" is the scientific name for this phenomenon, and it has nothing to do with your private parts. You can safely uncross your legs now.

So, if you lose 30% of your muscle mass, why don't you lose 30% of your body weight? Where does the 30% go?  Well, some people actually do "shrink" as they get older, but most expand in the hips and waist line.  The "Middle Age Spread" is a well known phenomenon that is actually real. So why is that?  Well, the loss of muscle mass creates a series of events that are all bad, but that people don't understand. In fact, what you think may be helping you achieve "active aging" is actually contributing to your expanding waist line. "Resilient Longevity" is a better goal, and is based on retaining your muscle mass.

The manner in which your body processes your macronutrients (protein, fats and carbohydrates) does not change as you get older.  Some of the velocity with which the processes occur is affected, but the processes themselves remain the same. For example, carbohydrates are processed with four outcomes: conversion to glycogen and storage in skeletal muscle, immediate utilization as energy during activity, as a component of other body processes, and storage as adipose fat - which is stored more predominantly in the waist and hips as you age. Since there is a maximum amount of glycogen that can be stored in the muscles, the more muscle mass you have, the more glycogen can be stored. The more active you are, the more carbohydrates are used for energy and other bodily processes.  The result is less carbohydrate converted to adipose fat.

Protein, which repairs muscle damage and promotes lean muscle mass, is processed more slowly as you age, which means that you must both increase protein intake and ingest it more frequently. Without sufficient stimulus and microfiber repair after resistance training, combined with sufficient protein intake, the muscle mass is slowly replaced by collagen. Collagen is what comprises your tendons, the connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone. More collagen and less muscle means less flexibility, and, more importantly, less efficient force transfer.  Protein is also a critical nutrient during any programming to modify body composition.  Note that I didn't say "lose weight" or "diet". Have you ever noticed that people on low-carb diets look weird and seem tired. They have not compensated for the loss of calories with an increase in protein consumption and are losing muscle mass. They aren't "losing weight", they are "wasting".

Lots of people think that "cardio" and "fitness" are synonymous terms. They are not.  A 100% cardio "fitness" program fails to retain essential muscle mass and therefore reduces glycogen storage, which increases the storage of adipose tissue. Anaerobic/metabolic conditioning that combines resistance training with full body conditioning will improve cardiovascular health and retain muscle mass. Get of that elliptical machine, treadmill and (God, no) recumbent bike and pick up something and lift it off the ground.  It's the key to "resilient longevity", which just sounds better than "active aging". Active aging is that guy on the billboard photo for the retirement community power walking with pastel weights on the golf cart path. Don't be that guy Be exceptional, not ordinary. 

Stay well, my friends.

Finally, A Plan! Learn to Love Your Macros

The most mysterious thing in the wellness business after your basic health biometrics is the allocation of your dietary macronutrients (your "Macros")  The typical YouTube conversation about this subject goes like this:

Meathead #1: "Dude, I can eat whatever I want if it fits my macros"
Meathead #2: "Yeah, bro, did you see that YouTube video of Muscle Nuts eating those pancakes?"
Meathead #1: "Bro, Ronnie Coleman eats French fries with gravy every morning and he's RIPPED".
Meathead#2:  "Dude, my metabolism is so fast I can eat Ben & Jerry every day, if it fits my macros".

"If It Fits My Macros (IIFMM)" is one of the most-oft quoted acronyms in the fitness world these days. Essentially, the IIFMM diet is like Weight Watchers - you have a limit to what you eat each day. However, the "points" in this case are your daily intakes of protein (PRO), Fats (FAT), and Carbohydrates (CHO). The problem is that most people have absolutely no idea what the point totals are for each of these three macronutrients. But...if you have read my previous posts, you certainly do: Fat = 9 cals/gram and Protein and Carbs are each 4 cals/gram.

Now, that you know the calories for each macro, how do you construct a food plan? More specifically, how to create a food plan that can be measured and managed - preferably in a spreadsheet - by Type A, Alpha characters like you, who are often have no time for such nonsense or are always on the road.  Here's how:

• Take your ideal weight (not your fantasy weight or the weight you weighed in high school) and multiply it by 11. That is your daily calorie intake. That's it.  I read and studied for two years and that's what I came up with. Think of how much money you just saved.
• After that complex math problem, you multiply the appropriate macronutrient ratio by the total number of calories.  Now here is where some actual science comes in. If you are over age 40, add 5% to the protein and reduce 5% from the carbs. If you are over 50, add 10% to the protein and reduce fat and carbs by 5% each.  As you age, your body has harder time processing protein, which is why you much increase your intake as you get older. 

So take me for an example. I currently weigh 205 pounds and would like to weigh 200 or less because it's easier on my joints and it's an easy way to gain more reps on bodyweight exercises like pull-ups. I'm 55 years old, so the increased (but not excessive) protein intake is a key for me. So how do I figure my macros effectively?

Since most Alphas want to see an algorithm via a spreadsheet, here you go.  First, enter your weight and press "Enter". Find your age group and you will see your daily macro reported by calories and by weight.

ENTER	Goal Weight (lbs)	200
	Daily Calories	2,200
		Allocation
	Macronutrient	Age <40	Age 40-50	Age >50
	Fat (FFA)	20%	20%	20%
	Carb (CHO)	65%	60%	55%
	Protein (PRO)	15%	20%	25%
		100%	100%	100%
		Daily Intake (calories)
	Fat (FFA)	440	440	440
	Carb (CHO)	1430	1320	1210
	Protein (PRO)	330	440	550
		Daily Intake (grams)
	Fat (FFA)	49	49	49
	Carb (CHO)	358	330	303
	Protein (PRO)	83	110	138

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of the spreadsheet, I will send it out via e-mail on request.

OK, so now you have the plan. So what do you do with it? Stay tuned to the next episode and find out.

Be well, my friends.

Executive Wellness MBA, Nutrition 101:: Trust Me, You Don't Want to "Lose Weight".

The most common request for a "plan" to a nutritionist is related to weight loss: "I want to lose weight". The problem is that you really don't want to lose weight:  You want to modify your body composition.  Some of your bodyweight, like your bones and organs, is not going to change. You can "lose weight" permanently by having your spleen removed, but that won't change the way you look. Face it, this is going to come down to fat and muscle, and it's a battle that's going to go on for the rest of your life. 

To lose one pound of body fat is the equivalent of 3,500 calories.  To gain one pound of muscle mass is the equivalent of 2,500 calories. That 1,000 calorie difference is the turf battle that is going to go on inside your body. But the reality is that by increasing lean muscle you actually make it easier to lose body fat.

Your resting metabolic rate (or "basal metabolic rate") is the amount of energy your body needs to function.  It is the largest component of your daily caloric requirements, followed by activity (like exercise), and lastly, the "thermic effect of food" (insert the NERD ALERT alarm), which is the energy needed to digest what you eat.  Think of it like your electric bill, the power needed to run your heat in the winter is transparent to you, but when you turn up the heat, the heat displaces the cold. Same thing with muscle, the more you have, the more calories your body burns and therefore it displaces more of the fat.

So what does this have to do with nutrition?  Well, to change your body composition you need to have a food plan that both reduces fat and increased muscle mass. And the ratio of the macronutrients - PRO, CHO, and FFA - you consume will have a direct impact on that composition change. So here's the punch line...Ready for it?...

Low-fat and low-carb "diets" work equally well for weight loss, but to effectively change body composition you also need to increase protein consumption.

This is the key to changing your body composition: Build muscle mass through training and increased protein intake. The increase muscle mass will increase the amount of calories you burn at rest and close the 1,000 gap between losing fat and gaining muscle. Protein is also the most difficult macronutrient for the body to digest, which gives it the highest thermic effect. 

The Executive Fitness MBA: Nutrition 101, Class 2: "It's NOT a Diet"

In the first Nutrition 101 segment I gave you fortunate souls the building blocks of your food plan: The Macros.  Recall, if you will, that "food" is not "nutrition". "Nutrition" is the combination of macronutrients, micronutrients, and supplements. The Macros are associated with food, and include protein (PRO), carbohydrates (CHO), and fats (FFA).  FFA contains 9 calories per gram and both CHO and PRO contain 4 calories per gram.  Obviously, the real question is how to organize these macronutrients is what you all want to know.  As a C-suite athlete you expect to see the "executive summary" so I'll give it to you in two words: "It depends" 

In general, most executive athletes will do best by investing in each macronutrient in a defined range based on a target total caloric intake.  Scientific, peer-reviewed, studies have demonstrated that all "diets" work the same in terms of their affect on body composition. Total caloric intake is what affects body composition, and arbitrarily eating a "low carb" or "low fat" diet without an appropriate baseline is madness. Your "diet" is the sum total of that food you eat and the macronutrients you consume with that food. Your "food plan" should reflect your performance and body composition goals.  Your "food plan" is not a "diet", your "diet" is part of your "food plan"!

First and foremost, you should see a physician who specializes in executive physicals and have a complete and thorough physical exam. This will include blood and urine analysis that will accurately identify any dietary changes that you will need to address to maintain or improve your general health. Remembers, the GOAT of wellness investments is your annual physical exam. If you're not healthy, everything else is meaningless. 

So you're asking yourself "What's the punch line, Mr. Sports Nutritionist?" How much of each macro do I need?  Since most of you are "Alphas" I understand your impatience, so here are the ranges of each that are promulgated by the International Society of Sports Nutrition.

• CHO: 45 - 65% of total calories per day.
• FFA: 20 - 50% of total calories per day
• PRO: 10 -15% of total calories.

So where do you fit in the range?  Once again, it all depends...on your age, your activity level, your body composition goals and - most importantly - what your doctor says.  I'll let this sink in a bit because I'm sure you're surprised at these ratios. I'll also tell you that we will make some modifications to these ratios based on your goals.  Seems like a lot of fat, right? Well, that's because you are thinking of "low fat" as a diet and not as "fat" being part of your food plan. We'll fix that.

Class dismissed. Next on the syllabus is determining daily caloric needs and putting together the outline of a food plan.

The Executive Wellness MBA: Nutrition 101 - "These Macros Ain't in Excel"

The biggest mystery in the field of health and fitness is nutrition.  Everybody has an opinion about what to eat, when to eat it, and what can kill you if you eat too much of it. At the heart of the confusion is a basic lack of understanding or what makes up "nutrition". "Nutrition" is not "food". "Nutrition" is, of course, made up of three components: Macronutrients, micronutrients, and supplements.  And if you have read ANY publication that is "fitness" oriented, you will likely have seen these three components covered in exactly the reverse order as I have listed them. Supplements take of the lion's share of ad space. Why? Because most of us C-suite types have always just assumed that we need supplements to achieve our goals. Just blame Arnold for that. And we think of "real food" only in the context of where it fails, not where it succeeds. Never is this more true than when you are on the road or have a busy schedule that makes you inclined to take shortcuts. 

In order to level set us on "nutrition", let's start with Macronutrients (The "Macros"), the majority of which you get from "real food". There are three macros:

• Protein (PRO): There are 4 calories per gram of protein. 
• Carbohydrate (CHO): There are 4 calories per gram of carbs.
• Fat (FFA - "free fatty acids): There are 9 calories per gram of fat. 

 Armed with this information, you can assess the total energy content of any meal or snack. Most nutrition labels don't make the math work exactly, because they are rounding up or down to get to whole numbers when in comes to content of PRO, CHO and FFA. But check this label and try it for yourself.

So the next time you're in the hotel "canteen" and eyeballing that trail mix as a "healthy snack" you can drop it like a hot rock, right?

Now that we are level set on how what you eat affects your calorie counts we can move on to how to allocate these macronutrients, which will be in Class #2. I know you're saying to yourself, "Just give me a diet plan!". But let me ask you this, would you starting making widgets without knowing the value chain and the cost of each component?  Nope. Remember, your wellness is an investment, and you need to know all the costs - and hidden fees - before you invest. Stay healthy, my friends.

The Rule of Three in Executive Wellness

The reason I chose the name "3Sigma" for my business was because after two years of constant study I realized that almost all of fitness and nutrition is organized around "threes". Wellness, therefore, is the sum of all of these "threes", hence the name 3Sigma. So what are the "threes"? Three is the number of...

• Wellness Portfolio Components: Health, Fitness, Nutrition
• Nutrition Components: Macronutrients, Micronutrients, Supplements
• Macronutrients: Carbohydrates, Fats, and Proteins
• Muscle Fiber Types: Type I, Type II, and Type IIa
• Body Types: Ectomorph, Endomorph, and Mesomorph
• Energy Systems: ATP/Phosphagen, Glycolytic, and Oxidative
• Resistance Training Rep Ranges: Power, Strength and Endurance
• Resistance Training Cycles: Hypertrophy, Strength, Power
• Training Cycles: Macro, Meso, and Micro.
• Training Session Segments: Active warm-up, Main Set, Cool Down
• Programming Concepts: Specificity, Variation/Overload, Progression

OK, so I modified the last one a little bit because it fit my theme, but you get the picture.

I am going to go in depth on all of these concepts in future posts, and - unlike others in social media - I am focusing on what they mean to you, the C-suite Athlete. Think of the details behind all of these items like the analytics you put into practice when managing your P&L or evaluating your portfolio.  Wellness, like the financial markets, is near-perfect in terms of competitive intelligence, you just have to know where to look. Hopefully, I can be as critical a part of your daily reading as the WSJ.

Click Here for The Wellness GOAT!

How many times have you heard or read "Consult your physician before starting an exercise program"? The truth is that you see it all the time for something like walking, or Tai Chi, or doing some senior center workout with the pastel 2lb dumbbells, but you really don't hear it when you watch YouTube videos of some variation of the non-age specific bad-assery display that dominates that medium. The bottom line is that weights don't come with directions. Running shoes don't come with directions. Neither do kettle bells, sandbags, tractor tires, or any other implement that is regularly used to demonstrate physical dominance on video. The fact that the instructions don't exist means that anybody can watch a video and just go to work, regardless of their physical status. Why does that sound like a disaster waiting to happen? Because it is.

Before you get to your ultimate fitness or body composition goal, you should first determine what your starting point is. A complete physical examination is a great starting point.  In fact, a complete physical is the best possible investment you can make in your wellness portfolio.  And the best part is that as an actual financial investment standpoint, it may be one of the cheapest. Most health plans cover an annual physical at 100%.  Some corporate wellness programs, like mine, actually pay ME for submitting my biometric date every year. 

An annual physical actually is three investments in one, which makes it the GOAT: Greatest of All Time among wellness investments.    It makes a separate investment in all three of the portfolio segments: health, nutrition, and fitness.

Physical Health: It can be an early indicator of chronic disease. Let's be honest, you don't know if you have prostate cancer without both a PSA test and a "digital exam". So you can continue to hide from it or you can face it. Both my father and grandfather had prostate cancer. If I'm at a 70%+ likelihood of having it, too, why should I hide from it?  Vince Lombardi died from colon cancer because he refused to have a colonoscopy. Really?  That dude was a badass, and he died because of the lack of a simple medical test. 

Nutrition: This is the one really hidden advantage of doing the annual physical. You will likely provide bodily fluids (blood and urine) for the exam, and this can be used to level set your nutritional goals for the following year. And this goes beyond cholesterol and triglycerides.  At my physical this week my blood test results showed a high level of creatine, which can affect kidney function. Well, I take a creatine supplement, and supplemental protein. Why? Well, the badasses on the internet all say to do it. BUT THEY AREN'T 55 YEARS OLD!  As a sports nutritionist I actually had to answer a question about supplemental creatine and older athletes.  I got the answer correct on paper, but failed in practice. Supplements are part of the nutritional investment, but they only have a positive ROI if utilized correctly, and the annual physical gives you a clear view of how supplementation affects your personal health.

Fitness:  It may not seem like it's connected, but it is. My personal physician does multiple levels of "executive" physicals, including one with a full stress test, which will give a very accurate assessment of your cardiovascular fitness level. He also now has body mass index (BMI) measurement available. Once again, this allows you to establish a baseline. "Weight loss" without a well thought out plan to modify body composition is just as dangerous and blindly following a "program" from YouTube without first establishing a baseline fitness level.

The bottom line is that the annual physical is - and will remain - the GOAT of wellness investments. Schedule yours today and let's go to work. 

Just a reminder to follow me on Twitter @3Sigmawellness and on Instagram at 3Sigmawellness.