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PACE: THE 12-Minute Fitness Revolution

Today, I want to introduce a new way to Copy Naturewith exercise and to transform your

health and maximize your fat-burning capacityin just 12 minutes a day, based on Dr Al Sears

new book, PACE: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution, that copies nature better than any other

exercise routine.

He assertswith the backing of both scientific research and his own clinical experiencethatthis program has the power to rebuild your heart and lung functionand fully activate your

bodys fat-burning capacity; and yes, it really only takes 12 minutes a day.

Sounds too good to be true, but for once it isnt. In fact, as Dr. Sears writes, a number of recent

research studies are proving that copying Natures exercise pattern for humans is whats best foryour health.

Cavemen didnt go jogging!

So what exactly is Natures exercise pattern for humans? Well, for the vast majority of

humanitys time on planet Earth, the usual human exercise pattern has been running as fast aspossible for only as long as necessary to catch lunchor to avoid being lunch. Weight lifting

was done only when there was actual work to do. Fewif anyindividuals did repetitive daily

running. In other words, cavemen (and cavewomen) didnt go jogging.

As Dr. Sears out it: Your heart and lungs were designed for short bursts of intense exercisefollowed by rest. And thats the exact opposite of what many modern fitness gurus tell us is

true. He points out that animals instinctively exert themselves in small bursts followed by rest.

You will never see an animal run for hours on end.

And scientific study backs him up. As youll read in PACE (which is short for Progressively

Accelerated Cardiovascular Exercise), running a marathon creates an inflammatory storm in the

body that is identical to the early symptoms of heart disease. Dr. Sears notes one study inparticular which found that 35 percent of marathoners had significant levels of arterial plaque,

compared to just 22 percent of non-marathon-runners. Thats an increased risk of over 50

percent! Dr. Sears also points to the Harvard Health Professionals Study which found the key to

lowering heart disease risk is the intensity of the exercise, not repetition or duration.

Thats just the beginning of the evidence supporting the PACE program. Dr. Sears cites multiple

scientific studies proving that short bursts of intense exercise are best for restoring more youthful

lung capacity, lowering cardiovascular risk, and reducing body fat while building muscle. But

one of my favorites is Dr. Sears very own identical twin study.

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In this study, Dr. Sears instructed one of the 18-year old women to follow the PACE program,while the other did traditional cardio exercise. The cardio twin ran up to 10 miles a day,

while the PACE twin sprinted 50 yards as fast as she could, rested, and repeated the cycle six

times.

Although the twins had the same lean body mass and body fat (24.5 percent) at the beginning oftheir programs, after 16 weeks, the PACE twins body fat decreased to just 10 percent, and she

gained 9 pounds of muscle. The cardio exercise twins body fat decreased to 19.5 percent, but

she actually lost 2 pounds of muscle.

Less time, more benefits

The PACE program also has other health benefitsparticularly when it comes to one of the most

widespread conditions in this country, metabolic syndrome.

Youve read about this condition in these pages before and how it comes about as a result ofinsulin resistance and is characterized by excess weight, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, andhigh blood pressure (or any combination of these symptoms). If it goes uncorrected, metabolic

syndrome ultimately leads to high blood sugar, at which point its diagnosed as full-blown type 2

diabetes. Exercise is an important part of correcting metabolic syndrome, but recommendations

for how much and what sort of exercise have been quite variable.

But in his new book, Dr. Sears cites research specifically on this topic, in which 32 individuals

diagnosed with metabolic syndrome did either continuous moderate exercise (CME), or a versionof intense exercise called aerobic interval training (AIT) three times a week for 16 weeks. (There

was also a control group that did no exercise during the study period.)

By the end of the study, the patients in the AIT group had significantly increased their lung

function by as much as 36 percent. The CME group, on the other hand, had increased theirs byonly 16 percent. The AIT also appeared to eliminate more metabolic syndrome risk factors that

CME. AIT was superior to CME in improving insulin signaling in fat and skeletal muscle and in

reducing blood glucose and fat formation.

Based on these results, the researchers concluded high-intensity exercise training is superior

to moderate-intensity training in reversing risk factors of the metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Sears PACE program is even higher intensity than the AIT program used in the study

above. So its very likely that it will do even better than AIT to lessen or eliminate the symptomsof metabolic syndrome.

As Dr. Sears carefully explains in his book, its actually important to go past aerobic exercise

into the anaerobic phase in order to achieve the most benefitsimproving lung and

cardiovascular function, building muscle, and reducing body fat. Going into the anaerobic phaseof exercise actually helps reset human metabolism in a way aerobic exercise cant. The PACE

program is designed to bring about this anaerobic phase of exercise.

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And while it is very high intensity, keep in mind that the entire workout only lasts 12 minutes.That means you get significantly more muscle, significantly less body fat.not to mention lower

cardiovascular risk, increased lung capacity, and the ability to improve or eliminate metabolic

syndrome (if you have it) in a fraction of the time youd spend doing a traditional jogging and

weight-lifting program. If you are a man over 40 or a woman over 50 and want to exercise morevigorously, you should check with your physician before getting started.

Thank you and be well!