Arnold Schwarzenegger has 5 children – two beautiful daughters and three sons. Not all of the heirs to the Hollywood actor lead a public life. So, almost nothing is known about the life of the youngest son, 20-year-old Christopher. The guy does not attend social events, does not maintain pages on social networks, so his fresh photo surprised many fans.
The youngest son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver is studying at the University of Michigan. A student who has transferred to the fourth year usually spends summer in his native Los Angeles. During the school year, 21-year-old Christopher was not heard from. However, the day before, the guy got into the lenses of the paparazzi.
Recall that last year, photographers captured Christopher Schwarzenegger getting out of his SUV and heading to a cafe. After the pictures of the guy scattered across the web, users noted that Christopher continues to gain weight. Of course, he was never skinny, but now you don’t recognize him.
Then some of the fans of the star family suggested that the guy had health problems.
What’s wrong with being overweight?
This is the road to disease. Fat people are susceptible to type II diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, cardiovascular and oncological diseases. First of all, you need to find out whether excess weight is associated with some kind of disease. It happens that the disease has not yet developed, but a premorbid state is detected, when there are already changes in biochemical analyzes of blood, urine, ECG, or when monitoring blood pressure. Then the doctor advises excluding certain types of physical activity. There are very few healthy people among overweight people.
Often, overweight people find it difficult to admit that they are obese. But there are exceptions: for example, the other day there was a photo of Christopher walking to the Erewhon health food store in Santa Monica for food. And many have noticed – the star heir has lost a lot of weight!
Years later, he was able to recognize the problem and began to struggle with it.
Christopher Schwarzenegger 2020 weight loss
Christopher admitted that he took his time in the process of losing weight and is working on his health in a relaxed manner. For the first 12 weeks, he concentrated on fat-burning training in the therapeutic zone – 60-75% of his maximum heart rate.
The power of the load determines which substrate will be the source of energy for muscle activity – creatine phosphate (a molecule that concentrates energy and is located inside each cell), carbohydrates, or fats. High power loads use creatine phosphate, medium loads use carbohydrates, and low loads use fat. A fat person needs to burn fat, which means that they practice low-intensity and long-term loads.
Thus, Christopher’s workouts in the heart rate zone 60-75% of the maximum heart rate are optimal in order to activate adipose tissue and not overload the heart. The maximum heart rate is calculated using the formula: 220 minus age. That is, for a 21-year-old healthy person, the cardio zone of the maximum load is 180 beats per minute, and for his peer with excess weight – 108-135.
Christopher also began to practice oriental practices that are recommended for his health condition. In general, it is better to start with light loads – while sitting or lying down. Stretching, an exercise bike, Pilates, and yoga are great for a start. Another thing is that it is better to start with exercises in a prone position, and not with complex asanas and twists.
In obese people, breathing is often impaired: the diaphragm is compressed due to visceral fat (fat accumulation around the abdominal organs), so a person begins to breathe with his shoulders, and this entails cervical osteochondrosis.
Eastern meditation practices teach you to breathe with your stomach: you need to put your hands on the solar plexus in a reclining position, take a deep breath into your stomach and then exhale, while the forearm and trapezius muscles should be absolutely relaxed. Thanks to this, all the energy goes into the stomach.
How many workouts per week do you need to start losing weight?
Cardiologists advise exercising three times a week for 30-60 minutes. It is useful to alternate aerobic exercise – yoga, cycling, swimming, Scandinavian walking – with strength, which builds muscle mass and burns fat. Strength training includes workouts performed without weights (push-ups, pull-ups, squats) and with weights and external resistance (for example, with dumbbells or a barbell).
With excess weight, the optimal balance for a week is three aerobic workouts and one strength workout in the gym. Aerobic exercise can be left in the evening (but no later than 2 hours before bedtime), but power training is best done in the morning or afternoon, as it excites the nervous system.
What kind of stress can only make it worse?
It is necessary to exclude shock loads: boxing, Muay Thai, kudo, brisk walking, and interval training, which alternate with high and low-intensity loads. For the first time, people with obesity are contraindicated in jumping exercises, which give a serious load on the musculoskeletal system. They should be replaced with more measured physical education. Obese people with the first degree of obesity can be engaged on a treadmill (preferably – fast walking), but with the second and third – it is not recommended.
First results of Christopher Schwarzenegger weight loss
All efforts of Christopher were not in vain, and his father began to pay more attention to him. Previously, Arnold avoided their communication.
But in May, Arnold Schwarzenegger shared a photo collage of Christopher on his Instagram and heartfelt congratulations on his graduation from the University of Michigan: “Christopher, you are a champion and I love you. I know your graduation from Michigan wasn’t the big celebration you dreamed about for years, but walking across a stage isn’t what makes me so proud of you: it’s your compassion, your hard work, your vision, your critical thinking, and your selflessness that make me burst with pride. I can’t wait to watch you keep climbing and succeeding.”
Also, Arnold decided to motivate the guy and work in pairs to stimulate the competitive element. It helps to overcome laziness and adds interest to monotonous workouts. Schwarzenegger Sr. advises that in order to become more organized and purposeful, you can set a time frame: for example, lose a certain number of pounds by a specific date.
