The Petite Advantage Diet (27 page)

I am a big fan of heart-rate monitors. But traditional heart-rate monitors require that you wear a chest strap, of which I have never been a big fan. Many of my clients told me that they loved the information they got from the heart-rate monitor, but found the chest strap uncomfortable. Now, a new monitor has been created that only requires that you touch the monitor to obtain your heart rate. Go to www.JimKaras.com for details.

I have always been a fan of what Diane Sawyer calls “measurable results.” Diane was very clear to me at our initial consultation at her home that she needs to see quantifiable details as to how her body is responding to the eating and exercise program that I put her on. She wore the heart-rate monitor initially, but disliked the chest strap, so I took her readings manually.

The reason a heart-rate monitor can be so beneficial is that it shows you how your heart rate jumps up during exercise, then how it responds during periods of rest. Thus, you can see very quickly that you body starts to get into better shape. Your whole cardiovascular system improves, which is good news. The bad news is that this then requires you to work harder to achieve the same heart rate. I know you don’t want to hear that you have to work hard, but–come on–if this were easy, would anyone be overweight? Yes, you have to work hard, but trust me: the amazing results are so worth it that you will keep coming back for more.

And being a Petite does make exercise easier for you. Your compact stature makes you strong and coordinated. You will fly through this program and it will feel like dancing, which is something I really love and hope you do as well.

So what exactly is strength training? I find that most people are totally confused by the term, so let me break it down for you.

Strength training consists of three phases: working repetitions, fatigue, and failure. Yes, that’s right: failure. Let me explain.

In the first phase of strength training, you will easily complete approximately the first five or six repetitions of your ten-rep set. You are in good form, it is not too hard, and you are moving at a pace that correlates approximately to a count of one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand on the concentric–when you are contracting or shortening the muscle–and the same on the eccentric–when you are lengthening the muscle and returning to the starting position. That is why each set in my program will take approximately one minute. Since it will take you three seconds to contract (shorten) the muscle and three seconds to lengthen the muscle, each rep will take you 6 seconds. Since you will perform ten repetitions of each exercise:

6 Seconds per Rep x 10 Repetitions = 60 Seconds or 1 Minute

Speed is a big issue when it comes to effective strength training. Many people I see go far too fast when performing their routines. As a result, they are just using momentum, not muscle–and they are also risking injury. The expression “slow and steady” applies perfectly to effective strength training.

You will also be working a full range of motion for each repetition, which means that you will be working through the full range of each muscle group. Full range of motion is the key to developing long, lean, sexy muscles and to improving your posture.

In phase 2–fatigue–you will start to really feel the muscle around the sixth, seventh, or eighth repetition. This may include some burn and possibly a desire to cheat, or use other muscle groups to help you out, or cut down on the full range of motion. Your muscles are clearly telling you: “Hey, this is getting
really
hard.” This is good, as you are overloading the muscle (that’s the key to strength training) and nearing the most critical part of the training.

In phase 3–failure–you hit momentary muscular failure and can no longer perform even one more repetition to continue the set. This is extremely important because, when it comes to strength training:

You Succeed When You Fail!

Failure is essential to strength training, as it sets into play two important responses by the body.

1.
When you hit the essential “failure,” you create tiny little tears in your muscle fibers. Don’t think of a tear as a bad thing. On the contrary, breaking down and tearing muscle fiber is your goal, because then, over the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, the muscle fiber will go about repairing itself.

2.
As the muscle fiber repairs itself, your very smart brain says to your body: “Hey, the next time you perform that strength-training exercise, I want you to get better at it, or more proficient.” It therefore tells your body, while repairing the muscle fibers, to slightly increase the amount of lean muscle tissue. This increase in lean muscle tissue will give you more strength
and
the increase in your metabolism you so desperately need and desire. It’s a win-win situation.

Please reread what I just wrote expressed as an equation:

More Strength = More Lean Muscle Tissue

More Lean Muscle Tissue = Increased Metabolism

If your intensity and strength is staying the same or increasing, then your lean muscle tissue is staying the same or increasing. There is only one tissue you are losing–fat. That’s great and is your goal on this plan. If your strength and intensity go down, that’s an indication that you are losing muscle. Strength and muscle are best friends. They go up and down in tandem.

Now, to be perfectly clear, the vast majority of people that I see performing what they think is strength training never hit this critical failure phase because they use very light weights. Using very light weights is a
total
waste of time. You need to use a tension/weight that enables you to hit failure by the tenth repetition. Remember:

More Tension = More Results

When I talk about the “magic” of strength training, most women say to me: “Oh Jim, I already strength train.” Then they proceed to tell me about a program they embraced in 1972 that urged them to use three-pound weights. They have never lifted more than three pounds and they call that strength training! Please understand, it’s not.

Performing too many repetitions goes hand in hand with using very light weights. You must abandon the belief system that says light weights and many reps “tones” the muscle, while heavy weights and fewer reps “builds” the muscle. This is an old wives’ tale and is totally untrue. You
want
to build muscle, because slightly increasing your lean muscle tissue and burning off all your body fat is what is going to create that “toned” look. I will go so far as to say that heavier weights/tension works magic on your body, regardless of your age, height, or weight. Jane Brody, a health writer for
The New York Times
, has written that “strength training gives women a tighter physique.” That’s the “recomposition” you’re going to experience.

Other mistakes people make when they think they are doing strength training is to lift too quickly and to ignore form. Never, ever lift weight rapidly. You want to move slowly to “overload” the muscle effectively, which is what you accomplish when you hit the fatigue and failure phases. That “overload” requires what we call “time under tension.” For each set, you will give your muscles sixty seconds or less to fail.

And remember to emphasize form. The key to effective strength training is to isolate the muscle that you are challenging. If your form is all over the place while you are watching TV (which you will
not
be doing while performing my exercise routine, as I would much rather have you listening to music), you are pretty much wasting your time and risking injury. I’m only asking you to exercise for thirty-one minutes, three times a week. Clearly, you can focus your attention for thirty-one minutes on this results-producing activity. And the appearance of those sexy muscles will keep you coming back for more.

By performing strength training my way, you will find that the time just flies by and you see results right away, especially if you are very new to strength training or now performing it the right way for the first time.

Remember that, as a Petite, you are generally more athletic than many taller women. You are known to be faster, more flexible, and more structurally aligned (the taller you are, the greater your risk of injury). Therefore, you can hit this exercise program hard, as intensity is so essential to seeing and feeling the results you desire.

Intensity is critically important, because we want to optimize not just the calories you burn during the exercise, but the calories you burn after the exercise. This after-burn–technically called EPOC, Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption–is the most important element of exercise. By performing just thirty-one minutes of my interval-based strength training, you may experience a thirty-eight-hour increase in your metabolism. No, that’s not a typo. Thirty-eight hours
after
you have exercised, your metabolism will still be pumping at a rate higher than normal.

You may be wondering why. Why such a response? It is caused by something called “disruption.” When you perform these exercises, you shock your system, confuse your muscles, cause a great deal of disruption, and subsequent muscle-tissue damage. Then, the “repair” process that I mentioned earlier comes into play, which requires a lot of calories and bumps up your metabolism. As a Petite, it is essential that your metabolism is always pumping. Remember, we want your motor on “high” all the time, just like your hair dryer and blender. You can’t create the big caloric deficit that taller women can, therefore, your “calories out” have to be high. That’s why your EPOC is so important. FYI, the EPOC of cardio is only a few hours–yet another reason why it’s a complete and utter waste of time.

I specifically selected the Gravity Straps as the equipment for this program because it is perfect for Petites:

• It allows you to set the intensity. By changing your foot positioning, you can make the exercise more or less challenging or intense. Know that intensity is your best friend. You never really saw results in the past because you never really challenged yourself. This routine is a great challenge and Gravity Straps are the perfect tool to accomplish your “recomposition.”

• You determine the range of motion. Given your smaller stature, I don’t want you to feel confined to a program or piece of equipment that you have to try to fit into. You are in complete control of the range of motion that you need to build those long, lean, sexy muscles and stay motivated.

• It works the whole body, all the time. You want to stimulate as many muscles as possible. By using your body weight at all times, you fire up so many muscles that both the calorie burn during the exercise program
and
the after-burn are off the charts.

• You really challenge your core. Since you are standing at all times, you are forcing your core to work. The more you work it, the more you will love the new shape of your body. You want that tight, sexy, hourglass figure. The more you lean out your midsection, the more you will love the way you look.

• You very effectively work the back of your body. Posture is critical to a Petite. I call posture your “Weapon of Mass Retraction,” because scapular retraction literally means pulling your shoulders back. This piece of equipment allows you to work the back of your body very effectively, which is the key to perfect posture and to stretching out and elongating the front of your body.

Because we spend our lives in our cars, at computers, and carrying purses, briefcases, luggage, groceries, and kids, we spend
too much time
hunched forward. We tighten up our chest and shoulder muscles and that brings our posture forward and down. That is not the goal. The goal is the complete opposite. You want your chest open, your shoulders back, and your head held high and in alignment. Improving your posture immediately leans out your abdominals, as you are standing up straighter and therefore lengthening those core muscles in the front. And every eighth of an inch makes a difference.

When you follow my exercise plan, you are working the two sides of your body individually. We call this “unilateral” training in the industry. We all have a dominant side. By using the individual handles of the Gravity Straps, your stronger arm cannot take over. You probably have one arm that is longer than the other and ditto for your legs. These exercises will keep you in perfect balance, and better balance leads to more strength.

More Strength = More Muscle

More Muscle = Increased Metabolism

And that all means one word that we
all
love to hear–
results
!

I also love this product because it travels well. Whether you travel for business, for pleasure, or for family, any piece of exercise equipment that is easy to transport will get more use. I’ve traveled with this for years and my most successful Petites know that exercise is not an option–and that includes when you are away from home. The Gravity Straps weigh next to nothing, so it’s not a weight issue in your suitcase or carry-on when traveling. It’s a “Petite” piece of equipment. It even comes with a carrying case, so it’s perfect for all your needs.