FAT LOSS LABORARTORY

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Water on Courses

Kathy Liley (Yarra Valley, VIC)

I always carry my own water. It doesn’t’ have to be an expensive solution – a 500 ml bottle easily fits into a small bumbag or waist-belt-type bag and doesn’t slow down this non-elite runner. Then I’m not at the mercy of course-setters or terrain of the types described by John Colls & Geoff Peck (The Australian Orienteer Dec’08, p28). They provided a map example of a “better” solution. But looking more carefully at that map and course, the earliest ‘real’ opportunity for a drink on that course was between #10 and #11. Many runners would have taken the road route from #4 to #5 which did not have a water point! (I wonder why there wasn’t water point at the SE point of the triangular road junction?) I would argue that the OA Competition rules should be amended to allow water to be placed at other convenient locations (eg at multiple points along a road which all competitors must cross) but as John and Geoff point out, the safety of competitors should not be compromised. It should not be possible for a competitor to avoid passing a water ‘control’ because a sensible route choice does not have a water point. One creative way around the OA Rules would be to put the same-numbered control (eg #110) at every water point along the road. Wen you cross the road you must visit one of these points – but depending on your preferred route choice, it can be any one! Then of course you have to be sure that the water points are where they are marked on the map and not in danger of interference by passing traffic (if army cadets, etc, are not available to guard all the points) … Finally, we might note that the OA Competition Rules are only binding on Level A and Level B events on the Australian calendar – ie Australian and State Championships, Australian 3-Days, National Orienteering League events and designated Badge events.

TRAINING

Fat Loss Laboratory

Do you have a few kilos to shed? University of NSW (UNSW) researchers have shown that short periods of intense exercise interspersed with active recovery exercise burns more fat than steady continuous exercise. Of course, runners have known this for years. Interval training and “fartlek” sessions are often used to improve speed and fitness, but it’s encouraging to learn there is scientific evidence to show that it is, indeed, effective in toning body fat.

How to burn more fat

Researchers from have found an easier way of getting off those extra kilos you may have gained over the holiday season. The team has trialled a different way of exercising which burns more fat than regular continuous exercise. “The group which did around eight seconds of sprinting on a bike, followed by 12 seconds of exercising lightly for twenty minutes, lost three times as much fat as other women, who exercised at a continuous, regular pace for 40 minutes,” said the team leader, Associate Professor Steve Boutcher, Head of the Health and Exercise Science program, in the School of Medical Sciences at UNSW. The study involved a group of 45 overweight women who cycled three times a week over a 15-week period. Professor Boutcher said this would be applicable to other types of exercise such as swimming, walking, and rowing. The results have been presented at meetings of the Heart Foundation and American College of Sports Medicine. “We think the reason that it works is because it produces a unique metabolic response,” said Professor Boutcher. “Intermittent sprinting produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under the skin and within the exercising muscles. The resulting increase in fat oxidation drives the greater weight loss.” The women lost most weight off the legs and buttocks. “This may be unique to this type of exercise,” said Professor Boutcher. “We know it is very difficult to ‘spot reduce’ troublesome fat areas. When you do regular exercise, you tend to lose fat everywhere and you tend to look emaciated. Our results are unusual but were consistent across the women who performed the sprinting exercise.” “Overall, any type of exercise is good. You just have to work out your objectives, whether it is to increase muscle, lose fat, or enhance other aspects of your life such as improving the quality of your sleep,” said Professor Boutcher. And there is a positive message for some people who are overweight. “A lot of people are fat despite having a good diet and a high level of physical activity,” he said. “But being ‘fat and fit’ is much healthier than being lean and unfit. Those overweight people who don’t have excessive fat around their abdomen and don’t have low grade inflammation typically stay healthy and don’t become diabetics. “The message that fat is awful is an exaggerated one,” he said.