Friday, March 13, 2009

Kettleworx Crap and Performance Research for March: Fat Loss-Diet and Green Tea

In this Issue
  • Kettleworx Crap--another rant?
  • Research: Diet and Exercise- Do I need both?
  • Will green tea deflate my spare tire? New study

Greetings and happy Friday the 13th to everyone! Since it is Friday the 13th and I am feeling kind of puckish today, it is time for another rant.

Ok, I am not trying to piss on this guy's leg and tell him it is raining, but be on the look out for

KettleWorx Launches 'I Love My Kettlebell' National Media Tour

February 23, 2009

KettleWorx announced its sponsorship of Ryan Shanahan's "I Love My Kettlebell" national media tour. Shanahan, creator of KettleWorx and the world's leading expert in kettlebell fitness, will be appearing on a series of television newscasts across the country to promote awareness of kettlebells as the ultimate fitness tool. "It's the fastest and most effective fitness and weight loss tool available, but most people still don't know what a kettlebell is, or how to use it," said Shanahan. "Once people discover how easy it is to slim down and tone up with just three, 20 minute KettleWorx sessions a week, they really will 'love their kettlebell'."

"We're seeing more interest in kettlebells as a result of recent endorsements by athletes like Lance Armstrong and celebrities like Katherine Heigl and Penelope Cruz," said Steve Roberts, CEO of FitnessWorx, LLC. "But people need expert training if they are going to get the same benefits celebrities enjoy, which is why we partnered with Ryan in the creation of KettleWorx and now support his national media tour."

Ryan Shanahan appeared yesterday on the KTVK Phoenix program "Good Morning Arizona" and today on KNSD-TV in San Diego. He has previously appeared on the CBS Early Show, on the WTXF show "Good Day Philadelphia," and on KARE 11 in Minneapolis - St. Paul. Planned future appearances include "AM Northwest" on KATU in Portland and with KING 5 in Seattle.

My comments

I have the full video for you to watch now, but don't try this at home (seriously, don't try it)

KettleWorx KettleBell Workout & Kettlebell Fitness Program on KARE11 Minneapolis



Yikes. I do agree that Kettlebells are awesome and I love them! Yes, in the hands of a qualified instructor and athletes that know how to use, they are incredibly effective.


Just because a celebrity uses something, doesn't automatically mean it is better. I highly doubt the average celebrity knows much more about fitness than any other consumer, so why do we think they will make a better choice? True, they can afford to pay more, but don't assume that because "so and so" worked with a celebrity that they AUTOMATICALLY are that much better. Perhaps they are a better trainer, perhaps they are not.

Same thing goes for people, er I mean "expert trainers" on TV. Some are true experts and others are not. If someone has been on TV 5 times, that does not make them a better expert automatically.

Just a heads up to be on the lookout for more Kettleworx crap near you and feel free to read my whole rant below.

Kettleworx As Seen on KARE 11 TV Can Kiss My....

If you are looking for some real KB products, click on the icon on the right hand side to take you to the Dragon Door site. Yes, I do make a few bucks on selling their products and I have used their KBs for years now and can attest that they are top notch. I would never recommend anything just to make a few bucks.

On to some actual science that you can use to get you the results you deserve! Enough crap.

Association of 1-y changes in diet pattern with cardiovascular disease risk factors and adipokines: results from the 1-y randomized Oslo Diet and Exercise Study.
Jacobs DR Jr, Sluik D, Rokling-Andersen MH, Anderssen SA, Drevon CA. Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA. jacobs@epi.umn.edu


BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that favorable changes in dietary patterns would lead to a reduction in body size and an improvement in metabolic status.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study changes in diet patterns relative to changes in body size, blood pressure, and circulating concentrations of lipids, glucose, insulin, adiponectin, and other cytokines in the context of a 1-y randomized intervention study.

DESIGN: For 1 y, 187 men aged 45 +/- 2 y, approximately 50% of whom met the criteria of the metabolic syndrome, were randomly assigned to a diet protocol (n = 45), an exercise protocol (n = 48), a protocol of diet plus exercise (n = 58), or a control protocol (n = 36). A previously defined a priori diet score was created by summing tertile rankings of 35 food group variables; a higher score generally reflected recommended dietary changes in the trial (mean +/- SD at baseline: 31 +/- 6.5; range: 15-47).


RESULTS: Over the study year, the diet score increased by approximately 2 +/- 5.5 in both diet groups, with a decrease of an equivalent amount in the exercise and control groups. The weight change was -3.5 +/- 0.6 kg/10-point change in diet score (P < style="font-weight: bold;">

CONCLUSION: The change toward a more favorable diet pattern was associated with improved body size and metabolic profile.

My Notes: How many more studies do we need to show that you have to watch what you cram in your pie hole and you need to move your butt around to drop some fat? The cool part here is that they were looking at some other potential mechanisms and hormonal changes.

Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults.

Maki KC, Reeves MS, Farmer M, Yasunaga K, Matsuo N, Katsuragi Y, Komikado M, Tokimitsu I, Wilder D, Jones F, Blumberg JB, Cartwright Y. Provident Clinical Research, Bloomington, IN 47403, USA. kmaki@providentcrc.com


This study evaluated the influence of a green tea catechin beverage on body composition and fat distribution in overweight and obese adults during exercise-induced weight loss. Participants (n = 132 with 107 completers) were randomly assigned to receive a beverage containing approximately 625 mg of catechins with 39 mg caffeine or a control beverage (39 mg caffeine, no catechins) for 12 wk. Participants were asked to maintain constant energy intake and engage in >or=180 min/wk moderate intensity exercise, including >or=3 supervised sessions per week. Body composition (dual X-ray absorptiometry), abdominal fat areas (computed tomography), and clinical laboratory tests were measured at baseline and wk 12.

There was a trend (P = 0.079) toward greater loss of body weight in the catechin group compared with the control group; least squares mean (95% CI) changes, adjusted for baseline value, age, and sex, were -2.2 (-3.1, -1.3) and -1.0 (-1.9, -0.1) kg, respectively. Percentage changes in fat mass did not differ between the catechin [5.2 (-7.0, -3.4)] and control groups [-3.5 (-5.4, 1.6)] (P = 0.208). However, percentage changes in total abdominal fat area [-7.7 (-11.7, -3.8) vs. -0.3 (-4.4, 3.9); P = 0.013], subcutaneous abdominal fat area [-6.2 (-10.2, -2.2) vs. 0.8 (-3.3, 4.9); P = 0.019], and fasting serum triglycerides (TG) [-11.2 (-18.8, -3.6) vs. 1.9 (-5.9, 9.7); P = 0.023] were greater in the catechin group.


CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced changes in abdominal fat and serum triglycerides.

My Notes: While I love green tea and it has tons of benefits, the fat loss effect (if there is one) is very small. They stated that there was a TREND towards greater fat loss and the word TREND can also be replaced with NO DIFFERENCE, since it was NOT statistically significant.

So enjoy your green tea, but don't expect to drop a couple pounds in a few days!

If you are drinking the green tea foo foo drinks from Starbucks, these do NOT count as real green tea, so please stop now. An occasional treat is fine, but don't delusion yourself into thinking it will help kill your muffin top.