UP CLOSE & PERSONAL AUSTRALIA

Renata Provenzano

THE WORLD
ACCORDING TO KARL

No cardio, lots of resistance training, plenty of exibility and a strong emphasis on nutrition thats Karl Ostrowskis recipe for long-term tness. Renata Provenzano talks to the activities manager of Gingwanna lifestyle retreat about his unique approach
KARL OSTROWSKI says 70 percent of tness is what we eat. And the other 30 percent? Well, just dont put cardiovascular activity into the equation, but think more about whether you can touch your toes comfortably... bend and ex. A former aerobics instructor, Karl hasnt run, jogged, swum or cycled in a decade. Now the activities manager at Australias only purely organic lifestyle retreat, Gwinganna in Queensland, Karl encourages a convincing routine of resistance and weight training, with a huge emphasis on exibility from practising Pilates or yoga. Having studied a host of Eastern arts, Karl now advises clients to keep their bodies open and owing, instead of pumped in time to top 40. Soft-spoken, thoughtful and wise, Karl comes across as a person who could send the tness industry into a new wave. Having studied sports science at honours level, published works in the United States, taught aerobics overseas and worked at Australias prestigious Golden Door Retreat, Karl says his current

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thoughts on tness have developed through observation. By observing exercise habits and tendencies inherent in the tness industry over time, I became aware that the conventional approach lacked effectiveness, Karl says. My change of mind-set was a gradual evolution. When I taught aerobics, I would teach 10 to 12 classes a week and watch members coming in for two or three months with no change occurring to their body shape or tness levels. I assumed it was because of the lack of variation in their training, and that they were plateauing and perhaps should do a mixture of cardio exercises. But then I noticed people using the treadmill, rower and stepper they were ridiculously t, yet six or 12 months later, there was no change in them either. It wasnt just one person, but dozens, who were all working hard, but struggling to control their weight. It made me think that conventional training just doesnt work. This led Karl to study the effects of resistance training and how it mimics the original seven primal movement patterns established by Paul Chek push, pull, squat, lunge, bend, twist and gait. I do weights twice a week, primarily made up of these primal pattern movements; compound actions like lunges and squats. Ill do chinups and dips and they really form the core. In addition, rather than the highcarb, low-fat diet I used to eat when I taught aerobics, I now include a lot of protein. I eat organic, with lots of green leafy vegetables and no dairy, because I believe it tends to affect our tissue, blood, digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Karl adds that tness means adopting behaviours that will create physical vigour, spiritual

growth and awakening of positive emotion. Exercise should create grace of movement and enhance the bodys vital energy, the chi, which exists throughout our entire being and physiology. According to Karl tness training should include body movements that are: 1. Economical and efcient, involving no superuous or wasted motion 2. Invigorating, giving an increased sense of wellbeing 3. Beautiful 4. Create an enhanced state of awareness 5. Available for application to any and all activities of life If we really would like to do cardio, the best option, Karl suggests, is short sprints in between walking or hiking. However, he points out the impact of too much stressful cardio work. Prolonged cardio sessions dramatically increase free radical production, he says. Free radicals, the by-products of energy production, are destructive on a cellular level. They cause damage to cell membranes and thus to all tissue. During long bouts of cardio, about ve to 10 percent of the energy production is derived from protein synthesis (ie muscle breakdown), again exacerbating failure to maintain lean body mass (muscle). Cardio also promotes wear and tear of joints, Karl explains, and causes inammation in joints that results in elevated cortisol levels. The stress hormone cortisol is catabolic and has the effect of wasting muscle tissue it is therefore counterproductive to maintaining lean body mass. Cortisol decreases the metabolic rate and increases fat cell sensitivity, prompting fatty acid storage.

Karl says studies have shown that resistance training elevates levels of cardiovascular condition. This would suggest that cardiovascular or aerobic training only appears to be necessary if an individual has impaired aerobic function. He says it is also worth noting that cardiovascular tness and aerobic tness are separate entities. An individual can be aerobically t, but have cardiovascular disease, for example a blocked artery (atherosclerosis). Karl says exibility is a key for optimum living through to our senior years, as demonstrated by many Eastern cultures. On the ipside, minimal mobility is prominent in Western elderly, he says. When we stretch, it develops elasticity and offsets stiffness of joints. Because the primal movements are fairly static, were releasing fascia around muscle, releasing connective tissue and elongating muscles. Fascia is the specialised connective tissue layer surrounding muscles, bones and joints, giving structure to the body. Deep fascia not only aids muscle movement, but also provides a passageway for nerves and blood vessels the exchange of nutrients, waste and energy so exibility is a conduit to good energy control and hormonal function. I think its an ignored aspect of body composition, compared to aesthetic or cosmetic concerns, Karl says. No one ever says you need exibility to lose weight. If muscles are constricted via fascia and connective tissue, muscular performance is inhibited. I think its a real impediment to general weight control and weight loss if nutrients are not getting into cell membranes and the general interaction of uid transference is obstructed. This is crucial to whether you burn calories or preserve them. If we keep our bodies in shape with

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primal movements, theres a correlation to a reduction in auto-immune diseases and the malaise that springs up in our culture in later life.

Heel Balm

A BALANCED APPROACH TO FITNESS (ACCORDING TO KARL)

1. Maintaining muscle strength and tone will help maintain your resting metabolic rate throughout your life. It helps maintain insulin sensitivity, so muscle tissue receptor sites are more sensitive to insulin. Insulin, being the transporter of glucose and fat into muscle cells, will do a better job of storing glucose (as glycogen) and fat in muscle cells, rather than storing them as fat in fat cells. This also means muscles have improved glucose metabolism, in other words they burn sugar more effectively, so excess sugar is not stored as fat. Maintaining muscle mass, strength and tone also helps offset the accrual of body fat that normally occurs with maturity. 2. Maintaining tissue elasticity and exibility ensures efcient muscle contraction during movement. This improves the performance of movement and enhances the benets accrued from movement. It also improves energy transfer throughout tissues and across cell membranes, therefore enhancing energy metabolism during exercise. 3. Maintaining nervous system health and operation supports the function of all organs and glands. Organs and glands take care of essentially all of the bodys functions digestion, energy provision, immune system function and hormone production. If the nervous system is at optimum force, then attempts to lose weight, get stronger or be more exible will all be more readily achieved, and one will also be able to perform a functionally appropriate range of movement patterns (squats, lunges etc). 4. Maintaining posture ensures the nervous system works optimally as the spinal cord runs through the spinal column and the nerves emanate from foramina (openings) in the spine. If the spinal column is deviated or misaligned, then the foramina can become clogged by the development of brous tissue. This brous tissue may eventually impede nerve impulse conduction. 5. Observing nutritional habits that extend to the effect of diet on digestion and tissue acidity is important, rather focusing merely on calorie intake and nutrient composition.

GOLD

What do you think of Karls training philosophy? Send an email with your thoughts to t@tnesslife.co.nz

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