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Exercise By The Numbers

Exercise used to be a simple matter for me. In the late 1960s, I practiced karate for 2 years. Although I left the Dojo after 2 years, for aerobic benefit, I continued the exercises through my 20s. My routine consisted of a warm up, leading to a series of kicks, punches, chops, knees, and elbows executed as hard and as fast as I could thrust them. I ended the routine with a cool down. The entire exercise routine lasted about 90 minutes.

During this period of my life, I had a very full and thick hairline. I remember dropping double hair roots frequently and surprised by an occasional triple hair root. My hairline was the envy of young and old.

At the age of 30, things changed suddenly for me when I injured myself. I could barely walk after my injury. It took me about 5 years to fully recover. By that time, I no longer had the time or energy to resume my high aerobic karate exercises. But I did want to maintain the hairline that was part of that lifestyle activity. I needed to find alternative exercises that provide the same aerobic benefit that my 90 minute karate practice sessions provided.

The answer I was looking for was in the metabolic equivalent number, or MET. The MET represents an activity’s caloric burn rate. It is expressed in calories per kilogram of weight per hour. When the MET is converted into calories per pound per hour, you have the Cal/lb number. The MET number helped me to compare exercises and choose which ones work best as a substitute for my karate exercises. The Cal/lb number makes it available to determine how many calories per pound have been expended on average during a day.

Knowing the metabolic equivalent for your exercise routine eliminates the uncertainty associated with how much exercise is enough to meet the health goals you have set for yourself. The MET and Cal/lb numbers provide a system by which you can, over time, consistently achieve the level of activity you choose. The power of this approach is the ability for you to eliminate exercise as a variable when it comes to managing your health.

As an example, during my karate routines, my 90 minute practice session burned a MET number of 6.8 calories per kilogram. If I had sat quietly for 90 minutes, I would have burned a MET number of 0.68 calories per kilogram. When compared to sitting quietly I was using 10 times more calories during my 90 minute workouts.

The average Cal/lb number is a better indicator of how well you are doing on a daily basis. The average Cal/lb number for sitting quietly is 12.0 calories per pound of weight. Athletes can register a daily average of 17.0 Cal/lb or greater when they are in training. The rest of us lie somewhere between those two numbers. On those days that I used to practice karate, my daily average Cal/lb number was raised from 12.0 to about 18.0.

The Healthanalysis Hair Growth System (HGS) comes with access to the Healthanalysis.com Metabolic Calculator allowing you to determine your daily caloric burn rate. The MET number is also displayed on various activities so you can compare the burn rate of the listed activities. Access to the MET number means you can choose the activity or exercise that can dramatically raise or lower your caloric burn rate.

The Metabolic Calculator also provides the total calories used over the day with the protein, carbohydrate, and fat grams required to meet your caloric demand. Meet the caloric demand and you maintain your weight. If you take in fewer calories than you require than you can lose weight. Increase the number of protein and carbohydrate grams and you can build muscle mass more easily. The opposite holds true when you reduce your intake of protein and carbohydrate grams below the suggested values – you will lose muscle mass. The Metabolic Calculator is a powerful tool that can be used for gaining or losing weight, or sculpting the body by building or losing muscle mass.

The HGS eManual also contains information about the timing of exercise. Interviews that I conducted (mostly with men) as well as my own testing of different exercise routines showed a correlation between level of activity and the time of day the activity is performed and the health benefit of that activity. From the test results and responses received from the interviewees, I concluded that it is possible to receive the same health benefit from an exercise that nets a lower total caloric burn rate provided it is performed at the right time of the day. Exercises performed later in the day can be more beneficial health-wise. Therefore, in terms of health benefit, the 90 minute high aerobic (karate) sessions I used to complete can be replaced by 60 minute walks provided the walks are completed later in the day.

The HGS eManual provides the details of the interviews and tests that I have conducted, and explains the relationship between level of activity and the timing that is best for the various activities including exercises. The HGS method also allows you to accurately set health goals and meet those goals more easily. The Metabolic Calculator is the power behind the HGS because it makes it available for you to Exercise by the Numbers.