Can You Turn Off Your Fat Genes?

You can’t change your genes, but you just might be able to change how they work in your body. And in the case of those that play a role in fat loss, pumping iron could be key.

In addition to affecting the genes in your muscles, resistance training also influences the genes in your fat, says a new study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology. After subjecting participants to eight weeks of heavy resistance training, researchers found that the expression of two genes found in fat tissue decreased by around 20%. Participants also had a boost in muscle mass and fat burning, as well as a drop in the protein adiponectin, which plays a role in fat breakdown.

But…what exactly does gene expression mean, anyway? It’s actually pretty simple. Similar to how you’d consider the occasion and number of guests to plan the menu for a party, genes use information to create proteins that determine an organism’s characteristics. In this case, it appears that certain genes might be paying attention to the type of exercise that you do—and use that information to decide whether your body should burn fat or store it.

Researchers aren’t sure why, though. “We didn’t expect that the gene expression would decrease following resistance training, so it’s hard to explain the findings,” says lead study author Malin Alvehus. What they do know? The combination of strength training and cardio seems to encourage the body to use fat as fuel more than cardio alone. “So I think it can be a good idea to add resistance training to your exercise regimen to burn more fat and facilitate fat loss,” Alvehus says.

To start... have a look here.
Seven-minute High-intensity circuit training using body Weight, by the American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness.

The workout requires no more than a wall, a chair and seven minutes of your time.
However the experts say that you must be in pain when performing the regime in order to benefit. These 12 exercises use the body’s own weight to get the same amount of exercise as doing a long run and session of weight-training in just seven minutes. In the program the recovery is provided in part by a 10-second rest between exercises. This rest is extended by alternating the muscles used in each exercise. During eat set of exercises, the unexercised muscles have a moment to ‘catch their breath’, which makes the order of the exercises important. The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each. But to get maximum benefits the intensity must hover at around and eight on what they term as the discomfort scale of 1 to 10.


Sources: http://www.foxnews.com/, http://www.prevention.com/, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/