PACE: THE 12-Minute Fitness Revolution

Today, I want to introduce a new way to Copy Naturewith exercise and to transform your
health and maximize your fat-burning capacityin just 12 minutes a day, based on Dr Al Sears
new book, PACE: The 12-Minute Fitness Revolution, that copies nature better than any other
exercise routine.
He assertswith the backing of both scientific research and his own clinical experiencethat
this program has the power to rebuild your heart and lung functionand fully activate your
bodys fat-burning capacity; and yes, it really only takes 12 minutes a day.
Sounds too good to be true, but for once it isnt. In fact, as Dr. Sears writes, a number of recent
research studies are proving that copying Natures exercise pattern for humans is whats best for
your health.
Cavemen didnt go jogging!
So what exactly is Natures exercise pattern for humans? Well, for the vast majority of
humanitys time on planet Earth, the usual human exercise pattern has been running as fast as
possible for only as long as necessary to catch lunchor to avoid being lunch. Weight lifting
was done only when there was actual work to do. Fewif anyindividuals did repetitive daily
running. In other words, cavemen (and cavewomen) didnt go jogging.
As Dr. Sears out it: Your heart and lungs were designed for short bursts of intense exercise
followed by rest. And thats the exact opposite of what many modern fitness gurus tell us is
true. He points out that animals instinctively exert themselves in small bursts followed by rest.
You will never see an animal run for hours on end.
And scientific study backs him up. As youll read in PACE (which is short for Progressively
Accelerated Cardiovascular Exercise), running a marathon creates an inflammatory storm in the
body that is identical to the early symptoms of heart disease. Dr. Sears notes one study in
particular which found that 35 percent of marathoners had significant levels of arterial plaque,
compared to just 22 percent of non-marathon-runners. Thats an increased risk of over 50
percent! Dr. Sears also points to the Harvard Health Professionals Study which found the key to
lowering heart disease risk is the intensity of the exercise, not repetition or duration.
Thats just the beginning of the evidence supporting the PACE program. Dr. Sears cites multiple
scientific studies proving that short bursts of intense exercise are best for restoring more youthful
lung capacity, lowering cardiovascular risk, and reducing body fat while building muscle. But
one of my favorites is Dr. Sears very own identical twin study.

Boulder Natural Medicine Clinic | 2885 Aurora Ave. Suite 29 | Boulder, CO 80303 | (303)447-1339

In this study, Dr. Sears instructed one of the 18-year old women to follow the PACE program,
while the other did traditional cardio exercise. The cardio twin ran up to 10 miles a day,
while the PACE twin sprinted 50 yards as fast as she could, rested, and repeated the cycle six
times.
Although the twins had the same lean body mass and body fat (24.5 percent) at the beginning of
their programs, after 16 weeks, the PACE twins body fat decreased to just 10 percent, and she
gained 9 pounds of muscle. The cardio exercise twins body fat decreased to 19.5 percent, but
she actually lost 2 pounds of muscle.
Less time, more benefits
The PACE program also has other health benefitsparticularly when it comes to one of the most
widespread conditions in this country, metabolic syndrome.
Youve read about this condition in these pages before and how it comes about as a result of
insulin resistance and is characterized by excess weight, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and
high blood pressure (or any combination of these symptoms). If it goes uncorrected, metabolic
syndrome ultimately leads to high blood sugar, at which point its diagnosed as full-blown type 2
diabetes. Exercise is an important part of correcting metabolic syndrome, but recommendations
for how much and what sort of exercise have been quite variable.
But in his new book, Dr. Sears cites research specifically on this topic, in which 32 individuals
diagnosed with metabolic syndrome did either continuous moderate exercise (CME), or a version
of intense exercise called aerobic interval training (AIT) three times a week for 16 weeks. (There
was also a control group that did no exercise during the study period.)
By the end of the study, the patients in the AIT group had significantly increased their lung
function by as much as 36 percent. The CME group, on the other hand, had increased theirs by
only 16 percent. The AIT also appeared to eliminate more metabolic syndrome risk factors that
CME. AIT was superior to CME in improving insulin signaling in fat and skeletal muscle and in
reducing blood glucose and fat formation.
Based on these results, the researchers concluded high-intensity exercise training is superior
to moderate-intensity training in reversing risk factors of the metabolic syndrome.
Dr. Sears PACE program is even higher intensity than the AIT program used in the study
above. So its very likely that it will do even better than AIT to lessen or eliminate the symptoms
of metabolic syndrome.
As Dr. Sears carefully explains in his book, its actually important to go past aerobic exercise
into the anaerobic phase in order to achieve the most benefitsimproving lung and
cardiovascular function, building muscle, and reducing body fat. Going into the anaerobic phase
of exercise actually helps reset human metabolism in a way aerobic exercise cant. The PACE
program is designed to bring about this anaerobic phase of exercise.

Boulder Natural Medicine Clinic | 2885 Aurora Ave. Suite 29 |Boulder, CO 80303 | (303)447-1339 2

And while it is very high intensity, keep in mind that the entire workout only lasts 12 minutes.
That means you get significantly more muscle, significantly less body fat.not to mention lower
cardiovascular risk, increased lung capacity, and the ability to improve or eliminate metabolic
syndrome (if you have it) in a fraction of the time youd spend doing a traditional jogging and
weight-lifting program. If you are a man over 40 or a woman over 50 and want to exercise more
vigorously, you should check with your physician before getting started.
Thank you and be well!

Boulder Natural Medicine Clinic | 2885 Aurora Ave. Suite 29 |Boulder, CO 80303 | (303)447-1339 3