I recently was able get an interview with Las Vegas family practice, sports medicine physician Dr. Michael Gunter. Dr. Gunter has been a mainstay in the Southern Nevada community for years. You may also see him ringside as a Nevada fight commission doctor for the popular UFC. I was able to ask him a few questions about the direction he thinks our society is going as far as health & wellness, his favorite type of exercise, and a few other hot topic issues. Dr. Gunter is known for not pulling punches and he didn’t let me down with this interview.
Doug: Thanks for taking the time out of your crazy schedule for an interview. As a country we have more options for a healthy lifestyle, but every day we seem to become more & more unfit as a country. With obesity being a hot issue, for both adults & children, do you see us reversing that trend in the upcoming future?
Dr. Gunter: Well, one can only hope so. Companies are incentivizing their employees to lose weight and to stay in better overall health. As you know, as we decrease body fat we reduce the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. It’s also been proven that you lower absenteeism and you can improve performance in the work place. That being said, as parents I feel it is vital to start educating the benefits of a healthy lifestyle with physical activity to our kids. A healthy kid has a better chance of growing up to be a healthy adult.
Doug: You’ve mentioned to me that you have seen great success with hormone replacement therapy. As a physician that thinks there are many benefits with this, who do you think are good candidates for this type of medicine?
Dr. Gunter: As we all age, specifically once we get past age 35, we start a steady decline of testosterone in our bodies. What a lot of people don’t know is that men also experience a form of menopause similar to women called andropause. So with that said, men and women who experience a decrease in energy, decrease in recovery from exercise, decrease in mental clarity, insomnia, joint pain, decrease sex drive, and for men a decrease in erectile function may all be good candidates for the evaluation for hormone replacement therapy.
Doug: As a sports doctor who is exposed to all different types of athletes and training modalities, what type of exercise do you prefer?
Dr. Gunter: I think there needs to be a mix. I believe you should have a program of both cardiovascular exercise and resistance exercise. It’s been proven and documented that resistance training improves and increases the bodies resting metabolic rate for a longer period of time. However, we do need our cardiopulmonary fitness, especially for those who are endurance athletes. I think we need a compliment of exercises that includes resistance training to increase lean muscle mass, core work to reduce back injuries, and flexibility work for quality of life. I love HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts. HIIT is a great option for those people who don’t have a lot of time. These people can get a great workout within 40 minutes.
Doug: For all those busy people out there who complain that they don’t have enough time to exercise, what’s your response?
Dr. Gunter: I typically say that everyone has time. Period. We just have to make the effort. Once we figure out that our most important entity is our body, we have to take the initiative. There’s a couple ways to go at it. You can just get up and do it, or if you need more of a push you can use a personal trainer to get back in the game. Trainers are important for many reasons. They reduce the risk of injury by showing proper technique, can help you map out a program personalized for your needs and your body, and can be there to motivate when you need it. We all can get in a rut with work and family life. Before we realize it we haven’t worked out in months, maybe years, and we look in the mirror and say “who’s that person?” I give every one of my patients a physical every year, and we discuss exercise and nutrition. I provide them with recommendations. I believe fitness is a key ingredient for longevity and quality of life, and overall reduction in disease.
Doug: Thanks doc.