So, is your gut in inhibiing your recovery? Most would say NO!, now, inhibiting the abilitly to tie their shoes is a different story. Some say they need the extra weight for the power/leverage. But is that true? Recently read this in Stephen Phinney’s book. “From a functional perspective, body fat is not involved in force production and there fore decreasing body fat does not adversely affect strength or power production” So if you cant’ flex it… it’s worthless for generating power. Even worse it is slowing down your bodies natural ability to recover?
To know the answer to this we are going to have to take a look at what is actually causing this distention of the gut. Quite often you see powerlifters, strongmen comepetitors etc with these huge protrutions in there mid section. The unique thing about this is that it would seem appear solid as a rock. You might even see some ab out lines. Why is this? The answer is Viseral Fat pushing out from the inside. This is different from Subcutaneous fat that is under you sking. Viseral Fat is fat packed in around your ogans. You body sees this more or less like a huge sliver in your body. It reacts to it with inflamation.
“One of the more sinister things VAT (fat packed in around your organs) does is to activate the enzyme IIβ-hydrozysterios dehydrogenase (IIβHSD). The IIβHSD stimulates the production of cotrisol from its inactive precursor cortisone. As the amount of cortisol increases it promotes the storage of even more VAT. A consequence of accumulating VAT is that it begins to interfere with the way the body deals with blood sugar, causing glucose intolerance and even type II diabetes, it works its mischief on one level by increasing the release of fat directly into the liver (the blood vessels form the fat in the abdominal area drain into the liver), which causes the liver to develop insulin resistance, which in turn drives the liver to produce more fat itself. In a nutshell, an accumulation of VAT can lead to elevate insulin, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, high blood pressure, elevate triglycerides (fat in the blood), and a pro-inflammatory state. It can also cause the blood to become “sticky” and more prone to clot, which is bad news for the coronary arteries. This Bad news doesn’t even include how unsightly VAT appears in the form of a giant protruding Belly!” [6 week Cure, Dr. Michael Eades. pg50.]
Is it possible to eliminate VAT around organs?
Yes, it is. Through diet. If you are looking for an easy read with a lot of information on VAT and some of the health issues asscociated with it and a fairly easy plan to get rid of it. Get Dr Eades book. 6 Week Cure for the middle aged middle.
This is great, I always wondered why some people has these huge guts but they were hard as a rock and others were huge and just mushy fat, but I never thought to gather the answer. My Dad is exactly this body, big belly, hard as a rock and has developed type 2 diabetes. I am on the brink of understanding how cortisol, insulin and glucose work in the body and your articles and posts really help. I understand there is a lot to the science of the body, and more than anything, I am desiring to know how mine works for optimal use, strength, endurance, beauty all in a healthy balanced way. I wonder as well about the ladies, I have yet to see many ladies with the big belly hard gut, I wonder is this due to the estrogen in there bodies? When i butcher chickens-the males are super tawny, muscular and not a whole lot of plumpness in the muscles, unless I force water on them, they are fairly dry. The hens on the other hand have such beautiful plump muscles and a huge layer/layers of fat surrounding their muscles and egg making machinery, They store water and fat and it is quite pleasant butchering the females. Same with deer bucks vs. does and same effect when I look at the people at the gym the men naturally are much tighter, more defined whereas women regardless of size tend to gather and store fat in the same areas-more so during certain monthly cycles. Can you enlighten me, if the fat VAT for men is actually more condensed hard than on women and for what chemical reason? Or is it in the book recommend?
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, There are many reasons metabolic and genetic. Lots to do with modern diet and the tons of carbohydrates spiking insulin levels that one way or another got deemed healthy by the all mighty dollar. (HFCS 55, grains, oats, potatoes, legumes etc) I can recommend a fairly easy to read book on the subject. It’s by one of my favorite authors. It’s called “the 6 week cure for the middle aged middle”. by Dr Eades. Dr Eades backs a lot of stuff up with science. Something that seems to get disconnected between the modern nutrtionists and biologists. (you can always bug me in the gym too)