in 10 days!” and “Get a defined midsection in less than three minutes a day!” While this does have a certain appeal, it unfortunately isn’t the way the human body works. Now, some of the advertised products are indeed good, but the claims shouted by the ecstatic spokespersons are often laughable exaggerations of what is the truth. Actually, they aren’t that funny when you think about how many hopeful people send in their hard-earned bucks for the stuff.
Anyone who has participated in physical training for at least a year knows that it takes time and effort to lose weight, to get aerobically fit and to develop the best body that genetics allow. While there are rare people who are genetically blessed and can achieve tremendous success faster than the rest of us (we so hate them), even they can’t do it in 10 days, using three-minute workouts.
So why do people buy these infomercial products? Besides falling prey to the slick salesmanship, infomercials appeal to their desperate hope that there really is a magic bullet out there that gives results for little effort: larger breasts, whiter teeth, $10,000 a week working only two hours a day, rock hard abs, and self-defense skills from aerobic kickboxing. The con artists selling these hopes and dreams drive nice cars and wear flashy suits because people are buying, people who want to believe there is a shortcut to success, fame, health, and a youthful appearance. Even the word “infomercial” is a trap, as it suggests that what you are viewing isn’t just a commercial but information, truthful information. More times than not, though, it’s disinformation.
Over the many years that infomercials have been entertaining insomniacs and Sunday morning early risers, they have offered a host of products (besides spray-on hair and vibrating finger attachments) that promise an easy and fast path to a hard body: diet pills, abdominal exercisers and electrical muscle stimulating devices. While some products do give minimal results, seldom are they sold with information that isn’t distorted, exaggerated or falsified. Let’s take a look at one product seen frequently on infomercials that has appealed to many martial artists.
Why They Can Lie to You
Have you ever torn your gaze from the attractive spokesperson and noticed the tiny print at the bottom of the screen that companies must display to cover themselves legally? The print usually reads like this.
“A sound diet is necessary for permanent weight loss.”
“Individual results may vary.”
With these barely visible phrases, the makers of infomercials are able to get away with twisting facts so that you buy their products. The fine print also prevents you from suing them when you sadly discover that you still have a big tummy though you followed their instructions and spent less than three minutes a day for 10 whole days on their goofy abdominal contraption.
Abdominal Machines
Setting aside the fact that some ab machines are bad for your back (co-author Christensen bought one of those) or that some do a terrible job of targeting the abdominal muscles, let’s take a look at those oh-so-sincere claims made by those oh-so-attractive, bubbly spokespersons as to how they “burn calories” and award you with “a tight tummy and a sexy six-pack.” Right, and cows fly in formation.
Here is a statement you will see many times in this book: To lose fat, you must burn more calories than you consume. Any physical activity you do beyond what is your normal daily activity burns extra calories. For example, should your TV remote suddenly die and you are forced to get up off your sofa 10 times in one evening to change channels (we pray that never happens to you), you will burn extra calories. Now, getting up and manually changing channels won’t give you an awesome six pack of abs, but because it’s an activity beyond what is normal for you, you will burn a few calories, roughly the same number contained in a couple of potato chips.
Likewise, since you normally don’t exercise on that abdominal machine the partially clad spokesperson is pitching, doing so burns a few extra calories. Will that activity alone give you a defined midsection? Sorry, but no way. How about if you do it every day? Nope. You still have more work to do before you can show off your bellybutton ring.
Now, we aren’t against all ab machines, per se; some are safe and some actually help you develop a strong midsection. However, it’s our opinion that you really don’t need an apparatus since there are hundreds of free-hand exercises that can be done without spending a dime. There are even martial art movements that work your abs (see Chapter 8). For now, just know that when you diet consistently and train intelligently, your six-pack will one day show itself in your bathroom mirror.
About 111,000 Reps Should Do It
To burn one lousy pound of body fat - 3,500 calories — on an ab machine, you would have to do thousands of reps, since it’s an easy exercise and the abs are small compared to, say, the leg muscles. You would have to emulate a guy by the name of Edmar Freitas, a Brazilian weight-training instructor who cranked out 111,000 crunches in 24 hours for the Guinness World Records. If you choose to burn fat like ab-man Freitas, know that you are going to have to do it about every day, which means you have to scratch sleep, eating and going to the bathroom off your “Things-to-do-list.”
Fast Facts
Look at the diets of some well-known fighters and martial arts action stars, and it’s amazing they can perform at all, let alone do well.
You can’t change the genes your parents gave you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change your appearance to some degree.
Ectomorphs generally have low body fat, small bones and very little muscle mass. Endomorphs have large bones, high body fat and not a lot of muscle mass. Mesomorphs have low to medium body fat levels and lots of muscle mass.
When a genetically blessed fighter pushes his body through all the rigors of the martial arts but doesn’t feed it the necessary macro and micronutrients, it’s going to erode and even cannibalize itself for the nutrients it so desperately needs.
Individuals react differently to carbs, protein and fat ratios. Know that just because a specific diet works for your karate teacher, doesn’t mean that it will work for you, too.
Since you can’t see into the future, there is no way of knowing if an unhealthy habit, even a small one, will strike you down in your prime.
We encourage you to read about champion fighters and movie martial artists, but never emulate them 100 percent, especially those anomalies who do everything considered bad for their health.
CHAPTER TWOIt’s All About You
Sometimes martial arts masters, tournament champs and movie stars are regarded as nearly mythical. They throw head-high kicks seemingly without effort and at laser-like speed; their punches flail as fast as a mad drummer’s sticks and, with today’s movie technology, celluloid martial arts heroes can run up a wall, over the roof and down the other side. Many of these champions, whether real or reel, are placed on pedestals where
