My Cooper Institute Experience

This past week has been physically, intellectually, and socially rewarding. I went to a training at the Cooper Institute that was founded by Kenneth Cooper, MD, MPH. Dr. Cooper also founded the Cooper Aerobics Center. The institute hosts or provides several types of trainings, including personal training, wellness coaching, nutrition for kids and more. My course was Health Promotions Director. The content was broad and delivered in 4 days of lectures by PhD, M.Ed, MS and BS level instructors. Each day we had a lunch AND physical activity break. Two days we had actual physical activity in the curriculum. We also worked within small groups to plan an employee wellness challenge which we presented by power point on day five. Also on day five we had an 87 question exam – not a post test, but a comprehensive exam. Monday was a rainy day, but Tues – Thurs I was able to run on the mile long trail on the CI campus at lunch and at the end of class. I brought my lunch each day and stayed at an extended stay hotel which brought guests to the grocery store on Monday. There were limited refreshments served at the training, but certainly NO unhealthy ones. No juice, no soda, no bakery items. In other words, I traveled and was able to maintain my level of health and wellness. This training was also refreshing because the group cohesion was high. This held true class wide, table wide and within our small groups. Also, there was a pretty even mix of males and females, no age group dominated, no one discipline was more represented, people came from 13 or 14 different states and 95% of the 27 participants were physically fit. In this class were members of law enforcement and fire safety, military, corporate and hospital wellness, education and local government programs. We even had someone from the DOD. Oh yes, there was even a retired NFL player, Keith Thibodeaux, who told ME that I was the fittest person in the class. J A person would take the HPD training in order to be able to create, market, budget and evaluate effective health promotion programs for employees.

Now, when people hear “aerobics institute” the immediate association is step, cardio or even zumba class, but those are actually types of aerobic activities. Dr. Kenneth Cooper promotes and has promoted for decades, cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular fitness. He has VO2max tested some of our Olympic runners and is himself a runner. He is approximately 78 years old at this time and remains engaged, dynamic, agile and energetic. Dr. Cooper believes and has the research to support his belief, that disease can be prevented and that quality life expectancy can be increased. Indeed we have increased life expectancy but he fears that we are at the point now that we are more focused on prolonging death then prolonging life. I agree. He spoke to the class one morning and every thing he said meshed with the vision of this blog.

I will now write my top ten CI bullets and I strongly encourage you to consider adopting, adhering to, contemplating and applying these principles. They are supported by peer reviewed, prospective, longitudinal clinical studies, i.e. the gold standard.

• For nonsmokers, the most important factors affecting cancer occurrence are dietary intake and physical activity.
• Cardiovascular disease can be prevented.
• We have NOT seen the same reduction in cancer rates and deaths from cancer as we have with heart disease. This is certainly related to the obesity epidemic and emerging evidence is showing a correlation to the amount of visceral fat a person has and their risk of death. Visceral fat cells tend to dump toxic substances into the blood stream and increase inflammation and insulin resistance. To note, EXERCISE is the most effective strategy for reducing visceral fat. This is the fat you can’t pinch, it is inside.
• Dietary factors are associated with four of our ten leading causes of death. Those four are Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes (formally known as adult onset), Cancer, and Cerebrovascular Disease.
• Consider lean and fit a baseline state – the ideal. Research shows that an obese fit person has less excess risk of death than a lean unfit person. Also, when looking at categories of normal, overweight and obese persons both fit and unfit, (fit is actually clinically measured in these studies, not self reported), the unfit group always has a higher mortality rate from cancer than the fit group. Exercise matters.
• To lose weight, calorie reduction is the quicker and easier strategy. To maintain weight loss, exercise is more effective. (It takes a lot for a person to burn a 100 calories but a soda has 200 calories.)
• Children! Dr. Cooper has done great things for children with his FitnessGram program. You can look that up. Dr. Cooper is very concerned that he is seeing 20 year olds with resting heart rates of 90. A healthy one is around 60-70. Dr. Cooper said that as a group and with regards to public health programming, there is not much we can do for adults at this point, to prevent chronic disease. He said people who lose weight, usually gain it back. But again, he is speaking of cohorts, not individuals. You MUST do something about yourselves. However, he feels that it is unconscionable for us to allow our children to go on as they are. The consequences of overweight and inactivity at these young ages include very early diagnosis of debilitating chronic disease. If we do not get a handle on this there will be no one to protect and serve, no one to fill the jobs once there is a rebound and no one to lead our country. He has the data to show a link between obesity and low IQ, in children. For those of you more interested in this, I can share the journal information on the study.
• Certain elements of food guidelines are most important. Whole grain and fruit and vegetable intake are key as is fiber. Fiber is important as a means to rid the body of unhealthy cholesterol. Mono and poly unsaturated fats are healthful to the body and saturated fat is not. There is no amount of saturated fat that the body “needs.” Dr. Cooper did note a study that showed how the permeability of cells was lessened because of the layer of fat around them. In class we were told that it is not the proportion of macronutrients that should drive a meal plan, but that you have the right energy balance for your needs. Of course, you have heard that here.
• Consume vitamin D of at least 1000 IU a day. Walter Willett has also made this recommendation. Dr. Cooper said that if we did not get adequate vitamin D the calcium we consume will not be put to use. Omega 3 in the form of fish oil is also recommended by Dr. Cooper and for the first time, I will concur on a supplement recommendation. He states 1 mg a day and that it should have 60% EPA/DHA. I am going to purchase mine from the Cooper Aerobics Center as he has it formulated correctly and because I do NOT trust the unregulated supplement market. I will feel better doing it this way. By the way, these are the ONLY two things that he recommends as supplements.
• Intensity is key. The amount of activity needed to maintain health is 30 min of moderate activity 5 days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous activity 3 days a week. That is the very minimum. For optimal health and fitness it is 60 minutes most days of the week. Vigorous activity is worth more than moderate. Cooper gives points. The aerobically fit earn 35 points a week, but to improve health and longevity 15 are fine. This is only the fitness part of the equation, remember our beginning, the formula is dietary intake AND physical activity. His expectations are high. To earn the 35 points >
  Run 2 miles in less than 20 minutes 4x a week (less than 10 minutes a mile)
  Walk 3 miles in less than 45 minutes 5x a week (less than 15 minutes a mile)
  Aerobic (dance) class 45 minutes 4x a week
  To earn the 15 points a week>
  Walk 2 miles in less than 30 minutes 3x a week
  Walk 2 miles in less than 35 minutes 4x a week
  Walk 2 miles in less than 40 minutes (less than 20 minutes a mile) 5 x a week
  Walk 3 miles in less than 45 minutes 2x a week
  Or do aerobic 45 minutes 2x a week
• Ok 10 + One: Cheating does matter. One hundred extra calories, calories you do not burn, every day, will lead to a 10 pound weight gain in a year. According to the Weight Control Registry, those who have lost weight and maintain the loss for over six years, exercise 60 minutes a day, rarely eat fast food, and weigh daily. It is important to note, as one of the instructors did, that the evaluation of weight should occur monthly, as weights fluctuate for reasons other than real gain.
  
  Oh well, that is it then. There is more of course, but if I overload you then you’ll lose information. More cooking videos are on the way. Stay fit!
  
  Deirdre