Aging is associated with decreased metabolism, increased toxicity, decreased skeletal muscle mass and increased visceral fat deposits that compromise the normal functioning of vital organs such as liver, pancreas and intestines, increasing the risk of a number of health problems including type 2 diabetes. Strenuous physical exercise can reach these deeper visceral fat layers. However, the inverse cortisol/testosterone relationship where cortisol increase due to over-training leads to testosterone decline, pauses a dilemma to baby boomers. The excessive workout necessary to reduce visceral fat enhances the age related hormonal imbalance canceling out the benefits of exercise, since both cortisol increase and testosterone decline result in weight gain. In the current study we examined the blood tests of eight subjects undergoing an innovative treatment of effortless exercise invented in London University, while looking at changes in visceral fat, body fat mass, muscle mass, Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR), waist and abdomen cm lost, and ovecrall weight in kilograms before and after six 45-min treatments. Subjects result revealed a statistically significant increase of T3 accompanied by a significant decrease of VLDL and Triglycerides with no significant fluctuations in cortisol or testosterone. There was a significant decrease in visceral fat and body fat mass and a significant increase in muscle mass.

Introduction

Historical evidence shows that physical inactivity is detrimental to health and normal organ functional capacities. Physical activity has been proposed as primary prevention against 35 chronic conditions including accelerated biological aging/premature death, metabolic syndrome, obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, coronary heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cognitive dysfunction, depression and erectile dysfunction (Booth, 2012) Lack of exercise leads to increased toxicity. Exercise increases lymphatic drainage and detoxification. During steady-state exercise in humans, lymph flow has been shown to increase to levels approximately 2- to 3-fold higher than at rest (Lane, 2005). Toxicity may directly (hormone disruptor) or indirectly (immune toxin) disrupt both endocrine and immune systems by disorganizing cell-cell interactions regulated locally by cytokines and growth factors (Osteen, 1997). Hepatic detoxification systems are overloaded by toxicity which promotes insulin resistance, and disorganizes hypothalamic satiety modulation of central inhibitors and stimulators of appetite, including leptin (induces satiety and fat burning) and cortisol which has been strongly related to caloric intake and total consumption, triggering stress eating behaviors (Hyman 2005; George et al., 2009). Toxicity interferes with all fat burning hormones, such as insulin (lowers blood sugar by storing glucose in adipocytes), ghrelin (stimulates hunger and fat storage) and adiponectin (lowers blood sugar and burns fat). The resulting hormonal imbalance increases hunger. As hunger increases with systemic toxicity and RMR decreases with age, weight gain becomes inevitable.

Exercise is perceived by the body as a form of stress and stimulates the release of cortisol. Collectively, the cortisol findings support the view that moderate to high-intensity exercise provokes increases in circulating cortisol levels, while low-intensity exercise actually results in a reduction in circulating cortisol levels. Research has shown that the administration of cortisol into the circulation at rest will result in reduced total testosterone levels. Brownlee et al. (2005) findings confirmed a negative relationship between cortisol and total testosterone after exercise. Handziski et al. (2006) examined changes in some hormonal parameters in professional soccer players during a half-season competition and found a significant decrease in testosterone blood levels, with a significant increase in ACTH and cortisol blood levels at the end of competition season of more than 30%, accompanied by an absolute and relative muscle mass decrease after the conditioning phase, and an absolute and relative fat mass increased after the competition phase.

The inverse cortisol/testosterone relationship resulting from excessive exercise further contributes to the hormonal imbalance observed in older age making weight gain unavoidable despite physical exercise. Additionally, excessive exercise, necessary to reduce visceral fat deposits that hold large amounts of toxicity, increases cortisol while decreasing testosterone, undermining the benefits of physical activity. Hence, the difficulty of reducing visceral fat at an older age, irrespective of how strenuously and how long you exercise. In conclusion, although exercise enhances detoxification and safeguards health, excessive exercise, necessary to reduce visceral fat is associated with increased lactic acid production and a negative relationship between cortisol and testosterone resulting in weight gain and other complications which in older age are bound to offset the benefits of exercise

Method

Eight subjects of Chinese descent, four males and four females ages 27-45 years received six effortless exercise 45-min treatments in a private clinic under the supervision of a consulting physician. Measurements were taken before the first treatment and one week after the 6th treatment by using a measuring tape and a scale that gives scores on weight, body fat mass, visceral fat, muscle mass, and BMR (basal metabolic rate). Blood tests were given prior to the treatment and immediately after the 6th treatment. One-Tailed, t-tests for two dependent variables were performed on each of the subjects before and after measurement and blood test variables.

Results

The results of the measuring variables yielded statistical significance at the probability level of over 99% (p< 0.01). Both Subcutaneous and Visceral fat were significantly reduced after the sixth treatment and appeared to be stable at that lower level a week after treatment completion. The visceral fat decrease was accompanied by a significant increase in Muscle Mass. The Weight loss variables, waist and cm lost and weight loss in kilograms were all statistically significant, demonstrating a substantial cm and kilograms loss that persisted a week after the last treatment. Blood tests' analysis yielded a statistically significant decrease in the very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), the so-called "bad cholesterol" was accompanied by a significant decrease in Triglycerides and a significant increase in the metabolite of the thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine (T3).

High-density lipoprotein (HDL), the so-called "good cholesterol," increased but without reaching statistical significance. Similarly, increases in testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) were non-significant. There were no changes in Cortisol, suggesting that this effortless exercise intervention does not stress the body.

According to our results, 81% of the subjects showed increased HDL after receiving effortless exercise. Our results also showed that DHEA increased by 83% of the subjects after effortless exercise treatments. Testosterone increased in 72% of subjects receiving effortless exercise. Results on cortisol levels indicated that 84% of subjects did not have a cortisol increase after this treatment. No significant changes in cortisol or testosterone were observed. Cortisol showed a decline after the sixth treatment for most subjects while testosterone showed an increase that was more prominent in females, who on average, have lower testosterone levels than males. This may be the body safeguarding of hormonal balance that is bound to maintain hormone levels within the normal range. Males who were younger in age probably had adequate testosterone and therefore increasing testosterone in makes would get testosterone to spike outside the normal range.

We did not see the inverse cortisol/testosterone relationship observed during strenuous exercise where while cortisol increases, testosterone decreases, despite the subjects' subjective experience that the treatment had resulted in enhanced fitness as if they had worked out for several months. Both subjects and operators noted the intense 8-sec involuntary contractions that involved the entire body's coordinated musculature contracting rhythmically every 2-sec, one thousand times. Subjects reported that they experienced different types of contractions during the treatment that ranged from contractions that felt like endurance exercises to strength isokinetic and isotonic exercises of different kinds.

Conclusion

Effortless exercise on its own and without diet or changes in lifestyle can be effective in elevating Free T-3 at statistically significant levels and in reducing VLDL and Triglycerides.  The Free T3 increase seen in this study remained within the normal range suggesting a metabolic boost but without causing hormonal imbalance.  Effortless exercise alone can reduce visceral fat and increase muscle mass without increasing cortisol. Cortisol increases, as a result of bodily strain during regular exercise, enhance eating behaviors leading to weight gain.  George at al (2010) found that corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) that elevated cortisol levels of healthy adults relative to placebo, was strongly related to both caloric intake and total consumption.  The subjects in this study reported reduced hunger, yet, normal appetite, possibly signifying a combination of optimal cortisol levels combined with a decrease in systemic toxins that disorganize the hypothalamic satiety modulation of central inhibitors and stimulators of appetite generally increasing hunger.  More research exploring specific hormones like leptin and ghrehlin is necessary to validate this hypothesis.