Coach Mike's Corner

Colouring and chemicals in your sport powders make them more harmful than good

2010-12-05T06:26:00.003-05:00

Friend and notable "toxicoligist" Mark Schauss just sent this out to his subscribers- part of a great report on food dyes.

Before you read the notes on each dye below, I'm pasting in the ingredients of a popular

BCAA drink:

L-Leucine, L-Glutamine, L-Valine, L-Isoleucine, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid, Citrulline Malate, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Pyridoxine HCL, Yellow #5, And Green #3.

SuperPump Drink:

Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Lecithin(Soybean), Xanthan Gum, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Red #40, Silica

Creatine Punch:

Laboratory-Tested, HPLC-Certified Dextrose, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Citric Acid, Beta-Cyclodextrin, Calcium Silicate, Gum Blend (Modified Food Starch, Gum Arabic, Titanium Dioxide, Tricalcium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Citric Acid), Red Color Flecks (FD&C Red No. 40, Gum Arabic), Sodium Citrate, FD&C Red No. 40.

Do you really believe that a Paleo diet w/ natural supplements (fish oils, vitamins, HCL), hard training and planned recuperation could not rival the results of the above supplements without the health risks ?? Please read the report below:

Food dyes, synthesized originally from coal tar and now petroleum, have long been controversial.

Many dyes have been banned because of their adverse effects on laboratory animals.

This report finds that many of the nine currently approved dyes raise health concerns.

Blue 1 was not found to be toxic in key rat and mouse studies, but an unpublished study suggested the possibility that Blue 1 caused kidney tumors in mice, and a preliminary in vitro study raised questions about possible effects on nerve cells. Blue 1 may not cause cancer, but confirmatory studies should be conducted. The dye can cause hypersensitivity reactions.

Blue 2 cannot be considered safe given the statistically significant incidence of tumors, particularly brain gliomas, in male rats. It should not be used in foods.

Citrus Red 2, which is permitted only for coloring the skins of oranges not used for processing, is toxic to rodents at modest levels and caused tumors of the urinary bladder and possibly other organs. The dye poses minimal human risk, because it is only used at minuscule levels and only on orange peels, but it still has no place in the food supply.

Green 3 caused significant increases in bladder and testes tumors in male rats. Though the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it safe, this little-used dye must remain suspect until further testing is conducted.Orange B is approved for use only in sausage casings, but has not been used for many years. Limited industry testing did not reveal any problems.

Red 3 was recognized in 1990 by the FDA as a thyroid carcinogen in animals and is banned in cosmetics and externally applied drugs. All uses of Red 3 lakes (combi- nations of dyes and salts that are insoluble and used in low-moisture foods) are also banned. However, the FDA still permits Red 3 in ingested drugs and foods, with about 200,000 pounds of the dye being used annually. The FDA needs to revoke that approval.

Red 40, the most-widely used dye, may accelerate the appearance of immune-system tumors in mice. The dye causes hypersensitivity (allergy-like) reactions in a small number of consumers and might trigger hyperactivity in children. Considering the safety questions and its non-essentiality, Red 40 should be excluded from foods unless and until new tests clearly demonstrate its safety.

Yellow 5 was not carcinogenic in rats, but was not adequately tested in mice. It may be contaminated with several cancer-causing chemicals. In addition, Yellow 5 causes severe hypersensitivity reactions in a small number of people and might trigger hyperactivity and other behavioral effects in children. Posing some risks, while serving no nutritional or safety purpose, Yellow 5 should not be allowed in foods.

Yellow 6 caused adrenal tumors in animals, though that is disputed by industry and the FDA. It may be contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals and occasionally causes severe hypersensitivity reactions. Yellow 6 adds an unnecessary risk to the food supply.

Phenomenal physiques and performance noteworthy athletes appeared long before the advent of these supplements. . . and they're still around . . quite healthy because of it !

Possible Cautionary Use of Glycine in Prostate Cancer

2009-03-17T14:18:00.003-06:00

For all of us who follow Poliquin's doctrines, including the regular use of Glycine, here's a cautionary note from Mark Shauss on the need for vitamin B2 to offset prostate dangers . .

Possible Cautionary Use of Glycine in Prostate Cancer

In the February 12, 2009 issue of Nature, researchers led by Sreekumar reported on the correlation between the progression of prostate cancer and the amino acid sarcosine. Sarcosine is derived from glycine and methionine through methylation pathways. Functionally low levels of vitamin B2, aka riboflavincan cause a build-up of sarcosine as well as low folic acid levels.

What ramifications this study has in the treatment of prostate cancer is unclear but it should help in possibly slowing the progression through the denial of glycine and possibly methionine in the diet.

In my comment about B2, I mention functional deficiency. I do this as opposed to a measured deficiency. The difference is that while person A and B may have the same levels in their blood, plasma or whatever fluid you are testing, person B may be functionally deficient because they may need more of the nutrient due to things like genetic polymorphisms, stress, environment or other factors. So while measuring nutrient levels may be helpful, they may not be as clinically relevant as functional markers like sarcosine.

Stress and Anxiety

2008-12-07T18:07:00.004-05:00

I had to laugh when I saw this month's topic: Stress and Anxiety. Between the shifting government to stock market roller coasters to the Christmas rush that comes every year at this time, every one of my clients and your Coach too, has been as tightly strung as a Christmas Ham.

I could get on a soapbox and be all pious, "Perception is stress . .it's all about your self talk.". This is true and in fact the basis for much of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

One of my favourite tenets is the playing out worst case scenario.
It's very easy in self-speak to get into a frenetic back and forth of "What if . .and then . ." until we suffer analysis paralysis.
The truth of it is, when you play out fully, your worst what-if scenario, you'll likely find it's quite survivable and you're more than equipped to deal with it.

BUT, that said, as stress manifests itself physically- disrupted sleep to challenged immune system, we can become the proverbial card castle, ready to drop with the next gust.

So what can we do to buffer the physical side of stress and anxiety ? Here comes Coach to the rescue . .

1. Physical Exercise: 30 minutes HARD, 3x/ week, NOT 60 minutes, 5-6x/week. Hans Selye summed this up beautifully as an inverted "U" curve of optimal stress (eustress) vs too much or too little of a good thing as distress. The bottom line is exercise not only relieves pent up tension, but also mitigates your physical response to stress- physical, emotional, etc.

2. Recuperation and Hydration: Underslept or underhydrated can actually change the pH of your system, driving cortisol, the stress hormone, upwards raising feelings of anxiety, tension and even affecting blood pressure and catecholamine profile ( the bad stuff that can cause heart troubles). I get my clients to try for a minimum of 6-8 hrs sleep and 3 litres of water/ day.

3. Adaptogens: these are botanicals that aid our ability to buffer the hormonal reaction to stress. Greatest results seem to come from cycling 2 week bouts of each so the body grows neither dependant nor used to them. Some of my favourites include Ginseng (both Siberian and Panax), Rhodiola and Ashwaghanda ( google them- you won't be sorry)

4. Omega 3 Fatty Acids: there's a reason we call these ESSENTIAL fatty acids and not recreational fatty acids. DHA and EPA, the prime constituents in marine oils' n-3 fatty acids have been implicated in every stress effect mitigation possible. They drop blood pressure to cholesterol to inflammation and ease depression and anxiety effectively. Look for distilled with a source of small fish such as anchovy, herring or mackerel. Indeed the Irish tend to be one of the most deficient with the highest rates of both depression and alcoholism. At 3g with 3 meals/ day, the bulk of my clients tend to report very favourable, positive effects on all the symptoms mentioned.

5. Magnesium profile: this is a gem I learned initially from Dr. Charles Poliquin as part of his "Yin Stack" for dealing with stress. Especially in the form of Magnesium Taurate, it's quite effective at restoring sleep patterns and ridding the body of the buy brain wakeups in the middle of the night. Dr. Poliquin writes:
". . .In regards to catecholamine metabolism, magnesium demonstrably suppresses the release of catecholamines by the heart, which is an indirect index of sympathetic efferent neuronal activity. Ultimately, magnesium calms the nervous system and makes us less irritable under stress. . .Along with GABA, taurine is recognized to be a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, specifically acting as a modulator of GABAnergic function."
Hence my use of Magnesium Taurate. Most of my clients have found 350-500 mg with dinner and 1 hr before bed more than adequate. A full night's sleep without restless wakeups planning the workday, home budget and auditing your health issues makes for a different you in days.

There's five of my very effective practices for you to apply in dealing with your stress and anxiety. I'm fully convinced each habit will contribute positively to your successful dealing with your stress based hurdles and a better you in the long run.
Happy Holidays all.
Who loves ya !
Coach Mike

Blood Sugar and Love Handles: Carb Management

2008-11-05T13:57:00.007-05:00

As a fitness professional, one of the most common hurdles I encounter in a client is the immovable "love handle". They've lost all the bodyfat elsewhere . .lean face, muscular legs and arms, but that persistent inches of pinches hangs around the sides of the waist.

In the landmark work of Charles Poliquin's "Biosignature of Fat Storage", he was able to conclusively correlate love handles and upper back (subscapular) fat dominance with varied degrees of insulin resistance, the predecessor to Hypoglycemia and Diabetes.

Between carbohydrate management and use of supportive botanicals and ergogens, we can usually rid the body of the last inches and ward off the statistically foreboding, "... 1 in 2 North Americans will have blood sugar issues".

To put it in simple terms, it's not just what we eat, but when we choose to eat it and with what. Was that simple ??

Carbohydrates (starches, sweets, fruits and veggies) absorb best when our blood sugar is lowest. These times are post workout or when we first arise.
Nutrient timing and glucose tolerance
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2008, 5:17

A decent workout of high intensity (sprinting intervals to resistance training) taxes our glucose levels and allows us to consume more without dealing with an undesirable insulin elevation
Exercise and oral glucose tolerance
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2008, 5(Suppl 1):P14

For years, I had trained a very high powered, high stressed executive, in charge of a major Canadian retail chain. Thomas would work hard but the love handles would go nowhere. Upon prodding, Thomas admitted that to avoid overuse of the stress managing martini, his second "relief" of choice were "Crunchy bars" . .sponge toffee coated in milk chocolate. Knowing the above, I asked Thomas if he'd be willing to earn his bars ?

While not optimal for health, I knew that if we had a hard 30 minutes of resistance training, the candy bar would be less damaging to his insulin (fat storage) profile and more apt to supply the muscles, etc. with needed fuel.

In doing so, Thomas lost his last 2 inches and his MD echoed a positive sentiment of significantly lowered resting glucose levels.
He had his pants taken in and was able to retain his effective weight control adjustment.

Beyond this, insulin control came as result of all other meals being a balance of healthy protein, carbs and fats in a balance, not unlike Dr. Sear's ZONE DIET, as this controlled the glycemic index of each meal, effectively limiting insulin spikes.

Now further to nutrient timing and meal balancing, many supplements can aid in glucose clearance from teh blood stream. Indeed rotating these ergogens is an uderlying tenet to the success of the Biosgnature of Fat Loss system.. I strongly reccomend you pursue each one in a rotating manner under teh watchful guidance of a Naturopath or licencesed Biosignature practitioner. Well worth researching include:

1) Gymnema Sylvester
Use of Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract in the control of blood glucose in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
J Ethnopharmacol. 1990 Oct; 30(3): 281-94.

Antidiabetic effect of a leaf extract from Gymnema sylvestre in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients.
J Ethnopharmacol. 1990 Oct; 30(3): 295-300.

2) Alpha-Lipoic Acid (R-ALA preferred)
Differential effects of lipoic acid stereoisomers on glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle.
Am J Physiol 1997 Jul; 273(1 Pt 1): E185-91

3) Cinnamon
Effect of cinnamon on postprandial blood glucose, gastric emptying, and satiety in healthy subjects.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1552-6.

4) Corsolic Acid
Effect of corosolic acid on postchallenge plasma glucose levels.
Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin;2006;29(3):585

5) Chromium Picolinate or Polynicotinate
Follow-up survey of people in China with type 2 diabetes mellitus consuming supplemental chromium.
J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 12:55-60, 1999

6) Fenugreek
Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) extract on blood glucose
Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16 Suppl 1:422-6.

Now by no means are these the only supplements that contribute to managing glucose levels. Omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium and Bitter Gourd have all been used successfully as well. The key is first to time and balance your carbohydrate intake and then cycle the use of supplements to test which you respond to best.

Here's to the loss of the love handles and maximizing your vitality and health.

Preventing Cancer: Hormonal Hurdles

2008-10-04T16:55:00.007-06:00

A couple years back, I had the distinct pleasure of learning the Biosignatures of Hormonal fat Storage from Dr. Charles Poliquin. While it was a week full of gems, to paraphrase one of the most profound statements of the internship:

"Genetics are the gun, evironment is the trigger. Control your environment and answer the genes with correct supplements,and we disarm that gun"

Indeed, it has been shown that typically over 90% of cancers are a result of environmental exposures.

Fast forward to last week as I watched Canadian Homeopath extraordinaire Dr. Bryce Wylde interview Dr. Lorna Vanderhaege of Estrosense fame. Lorna sited multiple examples of estrogen mimickers in the environment that basically disrupt our endocrine balance and set off many a cancerous gene sensetive to the balance: breast, ovarian, prostate and more.

Dr. Sherry Rogers wrote of this years back in her best seller, DETOXIFY OR DIE. In it, she sites the vast presence of pthalates in plastics to xenoestrogens in our cosmetics to the heavy phytoestrogen content in non-fermented soy products such as soybean oil (ice cream to salad dressings) to tofu. The recent top seller, THE WHOLE SOY STORY, successfully explained and documented the need to consume fermented soy only if we are to avoid the unwanted hormonal imbalances and cancerous risks.

We see it in the coming generations as our children show underdeveloped reproductive organs and feminine fat storage in young males and premature breast development and puberty in the females.

Here are three tips for identifying products that have, or are likely to have, phthalates or another compound that has raised similar concerns and is found in similar products, Bisphenol A.

1. Read the ingredients. You can identify phthalates in some products by their chemical names, or abbreviations:
DBP (di-n-butyl phthalate) and DEP (diethyl phthalate) are often found in personal care products, including nail polishes, deodorants, perfumes and cologne, aftershave lotions, shampoos, hair gels and hand lotions. (BzBP, see below, is also in some personal care products.)
DEHP (di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) is used in PVC plastics, including some medical devices.
BzBP (benzylbutyl phthalate) is used in some flooring, car products and personal care products.
DMP (dimethyl phthalate) is used in insect repellent and some plastics (as well as rocket propellant).

2. Be wary of the term "fragrance," which is used to denote a combination of compounds, possibly including phthatates, which are a subject of recent concern because of studies showing they can mimic certain hormones.

3. Choose plastics with the recycling code 1, 2 or 5. Recycling codes 3 and 7 are more likely to contain bisphenol A or phthalates.

Here are great strategies for Avoiding Xenoestrogens

1.Find out the composition of consumer goods you use regularly, including personal-care products and cosmetics.

2.Read labels or call manufacturers and ask about synthetic materials in their products.

3.Whenever possible, purchase organically grown fruits and vegetables.

4.Buy meat and dairy products that are hormone-free.

5.Remove plastic wrap and Styrofoam trays from foods--including deli meats, cheeses, and raw meat--and replace them with wax paper or freezer paper.

6.Slice off cheese surfaces that have been in contact with plastic wrap.

7.Avoid water, soft drinks, and baby formula sold in polycarbonate (clear plastic) bottles. If possible, use only glass baby bottles. If you use polycarbonate bottles, do not heat or microwave them.

8.Limit food storage in plastic wrap or containers, especially high-fat foods such as meats, cheeses, creamed soups, and anything made with a cream sauce.

9.Do not microwave food or water in plastic or Styrofoam containers. Use only ceramic or glass containers. If you need a lid, use a flat dish or a piece of freezer paper.

10.Invest in a water filter to separate out xenoestrogens that may be in municipal water supplies.

11.Use organic pesticides. Avoid having your home sprayed by an exterminator.

All this said, what of the levels we've been carrying for years and wish to detoxify or rid from the body ?

Different nutrients can influence what type of metabolites of estrogen the liver creates. Certain nutrients can also protect your organs from the potent and dangerous metabolites. Some nutrients have even been shown to reverse damage that has been done and shrink tumors. According to the science, four of the most powerful nutrients that work together are green tea, curcumin, lycopene, and d-limonene.

Here's what the research says:

Green tea-acts to inhibit breast tumor growth, improves liver detoxification of estrogen, reduces aromatase and lowers levels of damaging estrogens, protects against estrogen-specific free radicals and carcinogens

Curcumin-improves detoxification of estrogen by supporting safe, tissue-protective estrogen metabolite, reduces oxidative damage, inhibition of the growth of breast cancer cells

Lycopene-powerful antioxidant, inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, reduction of DNA damage from estrogen,

D-limonene-suppresses tumors, reduces tumor size, prevention of mammary, liver, lung and other cancers, carcinogen removal, reduction in breast tumor growth, inhibition of mammary carcinomas, breast carcinoma regression in both early and late stage development

Additionally, the array of nutrients in Dr. Vanderhaege's ESTROSENSE act as blockers and catchers to excess estrogens in the body, helping restore the balance of estrogen to progesterone in the female and estrogen to testosterone in the male.

Knowledge is power my friends- here's to your hormonal health !
"Coach Mike"

When to Stretch !!

2008-08-30T03:40:00.004-06:00

If peak torque in your muscles is something you want to maintain through the workout (of course it is . . ), looks like saving the stretching until after the workout is a good idea.
8 minutes of passive stretching reduced the PT muscle output by 6% - which typically is the marker point in relative strength training we stop the set.
Intra-set protracted stretching ? . .probably not such a good idea.
"Coach Mike"

Do Practical Durations of Stretching Alter Muscle Strength? A Dose-Response Study.

APPLIED SCIENCES

Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 40(8):1529-1537, August 2008.
RYAN, ERIC D. 1; BECK, TRAVIS W. 1; HERDA, TRENT J. 1; HULL, HOLLY R. 2; HARTMAN, MICHAEL J. 3; STOUT, JEFFERY R. 4; CRAMER, JOEL T. 1
Abstract:

Purpose: To examine the time course (immediate, 10, 20, and 30 min) for the acute effects of 2, 4, and 8 min of passive stretching (PS) on isometric peak torque (PT), percent voluntary activation (%VA), EMG amplitude, peak twitch torque (PTT), rate of twitch torque development (RTD), and range of motion (ROM) of the plantarflexors.

Methods: Thirteen volunteers (mean +/- SD age, 22 +/- 3 yr) participated in four randomly ordered experimental trials: control (CON) with no stretching, 2 min (PS2), 4 min (PS4), and 8 min (PS8) of PS. Testing was conducted before (pre), immediately after (post), and at 10, 20, and 30 min poststretching. The PS trials involved varied repetitions of 30-s passive stretches, whereas the CON trial included 15 min of resting. PT, %VA, EMG amplitude, PTT, and RTD were assessed during the twitch interpolation technique, whereas ROM was quantified as the maximum tolerable angle of passive dorsiflexion.

Results: PT decreased (P <= 0.05) immediately after all conditions [CON (4%), PS2 (2%), PS4 (4%), and PS8 (6%)] but returned to baseline at 10, 20, and 30 min poststretching. %VA and EMG amplitude were unaltered (P > 0.05) after all conditions. PTT and RTD decreased (P <= 0.05) immediately after the PS4 (7%) and the PS8 (6%) conditions only; however, these changes were not sufficient to alter voluntary force production. There were also increases (P <= 0.05) in ROM after the PS2 (8%), the PS4 (14%), and the PS8 (13%) conditions that returned to baseline after 10 min.

Conclusion: Practical durations of stretching (2, 4, or 8 min) of the plantarflexors did not decrease isometric PT compared with the CON but caused temporary improvements in the ROM, thereby questioning the overall detrimental influence of PS on performance.

(C)2008The American College of Sports Medicine

Loud Music and Alcohol Consumption

2008-07-19T03:09:00.003-06:00

I . .vaguely . .remember the triple bill I attended a few years back.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent and Deep Purple . .none of theem known for their quiet ballads. . .

I certainly drank more than the Anita Baker concert

Here's some sage advice when you're heading out for pounding music

How Listening To Loud Music Could Be Affecting Your Drinking Habits

Waking up on a Sunday morning, you realize your head is pounding as loud as your eardrums. You rue the decision to down those last few beers, and wonder why you tend to drink so much at parties and bars.

Most people who notice this tendency attribute it to the friends they go with, the atmosphere of the party, or simply the need to let down their hair and give little further thought to their behaviour.

But a new study suggests that the amount of alcohol you consume may be related to the volume of the music around you. That may explain the ground-thumping, ear-popping decibel level at which most dance clubs play their tunes. Research also found that music will make you stay in a bar longer than if there were no music, and that songs with a quick tempo can make you drink faster.

The experiment, which will be published in the August edition of the publication Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, observed bar patrons over the course of three Saturday evenings and at two establishments in the south of France. Only those who ordered 236mL (8 fl oz.) glasses of draft beer were included in the recordings. Participants were 40 men between the ages of 18 and 25, and were unaware they were being studied.

Researchers recorded the amount of alcohol consumed by each person when the music was at 72 decibels, which is considered normal, and then turned up the music up to 88 decibels and recorded the number of drinks again.

The results appeared to show a relation between the music's volume and the number of drinks consumed. The average number of beverages went up from 2.6 to 3.4 per person when the sound was cranked, while the time required to down one fell from 14.51 minutes to 11.45.

Experimenters recognize the limitations of the small scale and scope of their testing, and couldn't determine the reason for the trend with any certainty.

They did, however, provide two hypotheses for the results. One is that high sound levels may provide higher arousal, which made people drink more and faster. The other possible explanation is a social one - that because people can't talk as much when the music's loud, they're more inclined to drink without distraction.

Study co-author Nicolas Guéguen, a professor of behavioral sciences at the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France, suggested that it's important to study the relationship between atmosphere and alcohol consumption because of the amount of deaths caused by over-consumption and the number of traffic accidents that involve drunk drivers.

If you'd like to control your drinking with a little more awareness, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) recommends that low-risk drinking comes with consuming no more than two standard drinks a day, and no more than nine drinks a week if you're a woman and 12 if you're a man.

Standard drinks are based on the amount of alcohol in them: they include 142mL of wine, 43mL of spirits, 341mL of regular strength beer.

CAMH offers the following tips to keep your drinking within the low-risk guidelines:

Know what a standard drink is.
Keep track of how much you drink daily and weekly.
Never drink and drive.
Don't start drinking for health reasons. To keep your heart healthy, eat better and exercise.
Don't drink if you're pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
Develop an alcohol policy for your home, workplace, school, or community organization.
If you're a host, encourage your guests to stay within the low-risk guidelines.

Stress and the need for Organic Cleaners

2008-07-06T07:12:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a very relaxing week in Florida . .

Full night's sleeps, no internet and hours in stress absorbing surf . .barefoot walking in the sand

Nutrition was so-so but lost and inch off the waist !!
. . cortisol (stress) and bodyfat anyone ?

As I rejoined the "race", I noticed many of my high performance, highly driven clients had developed skin reactions that they couldn't figure out . . as timing goes, so came out news on the myriad of new chemical additives to detergents, cleaners, etc.

So here, my organic needing team- ideal for the stressed to the protective organic parent, is a list of simple homemade cleaners, detergents . .never mind the $$$$ saved on product

Who loves ya ?!
"Coach Mike"

http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?fetch=household#laun

Obesity vs Terrorism: The Greater Threat ?

2008-07-01T05:10:00.001-06:00

Need we say more ?

Exercise for Stress and Anxiety Relief

2008-06-30T06:40:00.002-06:00

Everytime I get "stressed out", my workout always serves the pressure
valve needs of my psyche.

There isn't a client of mine, from over 20 years of working as a
Fitness Professional, that hasn't declared how much better they feel
after our sessions . .physically, psychologically and emotionally.

We know scientifically that exercise raises our "happy hormones" both
during and after the process. In fact Hans Selye, in his landmark
book,"STRESS", addresses what's known as the General Adaptation
Syndrome.

Basically, Selye showed us that the fitter we became, ie. the more
resistant to the rigours of physical stress, the greater our abilities
to "handle" other stresses. We still experience the anguish of
financial or relationship stress emotionally, but the physical
manifestations- from elevated blood pressure to excess stress hormones
( catecholamines), fail to rear their ugly head.

The conundrum for the trainee is in deciding which exercise and how
much is optimal.

Like most things in life, optimal choice tends to come in the form of
an inverted "U" curve- with too little or too much being equally
ineffective at mitigating our stress. The optimal choice lying in the
middle.

Rather than lend a personal bias in choice, I've included below a few
studies speaking to choice and results for exercise as an anxiolytic.
Look for my "Coach's Comment" following each.

Psychiatr Pol. 2004 Jul-Aug;38(4):611-20.
The most improvements are caused by rhythmic, aerobic exercises, using
of large muscle groups (jogging, swimming, cycling, walking), of
moderate and low intensity. They should be conducted for 15 to 30
minutes and performed a minimum of three times a week in programs of
10-weeks or longer. The results confirm the acute effect of exercise
i.e. the reductions in anxiety and depression after single sessions of
exercise. The changes in anxiety, depression and mood states after
exercise are explained most frequently by the endorphin and monoamine
hypotheses.
Coach's Comment: Straight forward as a 15 minute walk, 3x/week can
create great change in anxiety levels. using hand weights so maximum
number of muscles involved increases the effectiveness.

J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2002 Mar;42(1):108-12
These results indicate state anxiety reductions occur following 50-min
of aerobic exercise or weight training, and responses were not altered
across 8-weeks of training. Similar state anxiety reductions were
observed for each exercise mode in cases with elevated baseline state
anxiety values, low baseline state anxiety levels were significantly
reduced solely in the step aerobics condition.
Coach's Comment: Whether weights or aerobics, at 50 minutes, both
created great changes but it looks like step aerobics had the biggest
impact. Maybe it's the happy music !

Br J Sports Med. 2002 Apr;36(2):105-7.
The results indicate that combined sessions of aerobic and resistance
exercise are associated with reductions in state anxiety, and that the
order in which the exercise is completed does not influence this
response.
Coach's Comment: Rather than choosing one exercise over another, looks
like combining multiple forms ensures us positive change.

So what would my routine for stress and anxiety look like ?

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 20 min weights, 20 min step cardio and 10
minutes stretching
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: a good 60 min brisk walk

Nutrition is a given in this but not the scope of the article. Stable
blood sugar via frequent feedings, with healthy fats and lean protein
at each meal go a long way.

Once you've covered this, adaptogens such as Rhodiola, Ginseng and
Maca or Nootropics such as 5-htp for serotonin support and tyrosine
for dopamine support can go a long way as well.

Big Breakfast= Big Fat Loss

2008-06-18T17:40:00.001-06:00

I've been saying it for years !

Big breakfast = Fast metabolism = Long term fat loss

Time your carbs to low blood sugar windows: post workout and at breakfast

Include protein as it raises your metabolism 25% . . real protein:
eggs, cottage cheese, meat . .not nut butter or skim dairy (mostly
carb)

Now listen to your Coach and read the vindicating current news below

Who loves ya ?
"CoachMike"

Study: Big, Carb-Heavy Breakfast Key to Weight Loss

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Eating a big breakfast, heavy in carbs, is the key to keeping slim,
according to new research.

A new study found that women who eat half of their daily calories
first thing in the morning lose more weight in the long term than
those who start the day with a small breakfast.

And they are also less likely to pile the pounds back on.

Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, from the Hospital de Clinicas in Caracas,
Venezuela, who led the study, said: "A very low carbohydrate diet
exacerbates the craving for carbohydrates and slows metabolism. After
a short period of weight loss, there is a quick return to obesity."

It is thought that eating a meal packed with protein and carbohydrates
helps cut cravings for sweet or starchy foods, and boosts the
metabolism.

Scientists compared the "big breakfast" diet with a strict low-carb
weight-loss regime.

Jakubowicz and a team at Virginia Commonwealth University studied 94
obese, inactive women and found that low-carb dieters initially lost
more weight.

The strict low-carb diet caused an average weight loss of 28 pounds;
the big-breakfast version cut 23 pounds.

However, after eight months, the strict dieters had regained 18
pounds. The big-breakfast eaters continued to drop weight, losing
another 16.5 pounds.

Those on the big breakfast diet lost more than 21 percent of their
body weight, compared with just 4.5 percent for the low-carb group.

Women who ate a big breakfast reported feeling less hungry, especially
before lunch and had fewer cravings for carbs than the other women
did. The big breakfast dieters ate an average of 1,240 calories per
day, 610 of which were consumed at breakfast. The low-carb dieters ate
just 1,085 calories per day.

The findings will be presented this week at ENDO 08, the 90th annual
meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Francisco.

Cell Phones and ElectroMagnetic Pollution

2008-06-15T10:33:00.001-06:00

Need I say more ?

Téléphone Portable + Maïs = Pop-corn - Vidéo

Training for "Maleness"

2008-06-01T12:32:00.002-06:00

The Male animal is a broad topic, as each decade brings a different
array of strengths and concerns. June focuses on Male Health issues,
the fitness side.

From 25 to 65, the two most common goals of every male I train are to
look fit and muscular and to move as well as they look. So let's
dissect these goals into manageable training goals.

1) A pronounced V-shape: Well this can come via various approaches- be
it broader shoulders or a narrower waist. I had the pleasure of
working under Vince Gironda- the original iron guru who trained Steve
Reeves of Hercules fame to create just that heroic look. Let's look at
the top contributing factors:

a) Widened shoulders. For this we need to specialize on the side
lateral raise with dumbells. it focuses on the lateral head of the
deltoid which imparts width to the shoulder structure. Grasping two
dumbells, start with them in front of your thighs, four bells
touching. Raise up and out to the sides until you reach shoulder
height and lower to return. Pick a weight you can do 4 sets of 12 reps
(Monday), 4sets of 6 reps (Wednesday) and 4 sets of 20 (Friday).

b) A V-shaped Back. Pullups with a wide grip on the can up bar rule if
you're strong enough. Otherwise, the wide grip lat pulldown to the
front will bring out the upper/ outer lats giving you a broader upper
back. Pick a weight you can do 4 sets of 12 reps (Monday), 4sets of 6
reps (Wednesday) and 4 sets of 20 (Friday).

c) The tight midsection. Now we know this comes first and foremost
from a healthy diet, high in protein and veggies and low in sweets,
starches and fats. Beyond that though, you can beat the plank as a
safe and sound exercise for the core. it provides strengthening to all
aspects without the hazards possible with dynamic movement.
Lying face down on a mat, raise your body to support it on elbows and
toes, trying to keep the hips a mere 9-12" off the ground.
Mondays, try to do it with feet and arms in tight- hold for 3 sets of
60-90 seconds.
Wednesdays, we do the same but with feet wide apart - again hold for 3
sets of 60-90 seconds.
Fridays, we keep the feet wide and try to hold one arm behind our
back- so a three point stance. Try for two sets each side of 60
seconds.

2) A body that is as athletic as it looks. Often time, I've seen more
than one embarrassed bodybuilder who looks like the ultimate athlete
but can't open the jar of pickles for his wife, so Tuesdays and
Thursdays, we focus on movements that impart athletic ability to the
male.

a) Pushups: you know how to do them. Just vary the grip: close, medium
and wide . .strict form is the key.
Work up to 4 sets of 20 ( calm down- many a beginner starts with 4
sets of 3 . .it's a goal ! )

b) Single Leg Toe Touches: standing on one leg, bend at the waist and
knee and attempt to touch your toe with both hands- keep the weight
equally spread on the ball of the foot and heel. Again work up to 4
sets of 20 on each leg.

c) Chin ups: Using an undergrip on a bar . .or as a beginner, on a
broomstick rest across two chairs, lying on the floor underneath.
Attempt to pull yourself up to the bar for 4 sets of 20. When you can
do 20 chins, you will possess the athlete's body that can do 4 sets of
20 chins . .it's that simple.

Well there you have it men. The "fitness side" of being very "male".
Follow these workouts Monday through Friday and stick to the nutrition
advice from this site.
You'll be very pleased with how you look and move in a blink.
Cheers from the Coach.

Indiana Jones reminded me 40+ training is different

2008-05-30T13:11:00.002-06:00

Mrs. Coach, the kid and I went to see the Indiana Jones movie this past weekend.

Stunt doubles aside, there's a scene where 65 year old Harrison Ford is shirtless and tensing.
He'd make a 20 yr old proud.

Fast forward to an e-mail for a 60+ client of mine who is successfully finishing my body transformation protocol.

We discuss the merits of the various movement patterns but the issues with carpal tunnel to osteo-arthritis.

Now I communicate best with analogies, as I hate speaking for no reason . .really.

It's the difference between teaching and simply lecturing . ..( attended a Paul Chek seminar of recent ?. .take it as you will . .)

I said to my client David, that at "our stage" we have to train ourselves not like a muscle car but as a classic car.

Training age gives one the ability to create huge impact in minimal sets . .we have the ability to turn on the juice and flatten ourselves in three sets of squats.

So the voluminous protocols of the newbie, disconnected from their true exertive abilities quickly overtrain us.

Additionally, we fare best reversing the time spent warming up and training.

40 minutes of warm up and dynamic/static stretching, and 20 minutes of deadlift, pullup, dip and hang cleans/push press . .finish with planks to keep the core a strong conduit of forces.

The Gray Cook movement screen is no longer a one time qualifier but becomes a montly "test drive" to make sure the classic car keeps a humming engine and optimal alignment.

As for nutrition, I've been finding with my 40+ crowd that a diet higher in good fats, protein and veggie but lower in starchy or sweet carbs keeps inflammation at bay. On some levels, given the recently published, forboding statistic of 1 in 2 will deal with diabetic-like conditions , the insulin sensetizing effect of lesser carb and more marine oils is probably a good idea too.

The fun supplements "Mega-pump Anabolic Activator Vascular Energizer", take a back seat to those that promote and maintain the systems:

* Digestive Support ( I like Bio K and Digest More Ultra)
* Cognitive Support ( I like NOW's Brain Elevate )
* Sleep Support ( I like ZMA + Melatonin)
* Immune Support ( I like Astragalus, Eldeberry, Cold Fx and Homeococcinum as needed)
* And the Kings of well being- marine oils and Greens Concentrate

The "Classic Car" has a panache, performance and styling when restored and maintained properly.

Treat it like a Muscle Car though . .beautiful vehicle, used incorrectly

My thoughts . .at 40+ anyhow

Cheers all
"Coach Mike"

Beyond the Gray Cook movement screen . . .

2008-05-09T15:09:00.000-06:00

Hollywood Trainer VALERIE WATERS Interview

2008-05-06T16:57:00.003-06:00

I recently had the pleasure of attending the three day PERFORM BETTER SUMMIT in Chicago.

All the top guns were there attending or presenting: Cressey, Boyle, Hartman, Dos Redos, Gray Cook, Versteegen, Jose Antonio, Boyle, Brian Grasso and one of my favourite buds, Alwyn Cosgrove.

Talk about information overload.

Alwyn introduced me to his "trainer friend" Val - none other than L.A.'s Supertrainer to the stars Valerie Waters.

To our good fortune, Valerie agreed to let me pick her brain and learn some of her celebrity sculpting secrets.

Mike: Val, thank you so much for agreeing to this. How about we start off by having you tell us a bit about your training background and where you are today?

Valerie: I actually come from a body building background. I read everything I could when I was young (of course this was mostly Muscle & Fitness Magazine) and tried all the different exercises and training programs, not to mention the diets. When I first started training clients I used many of these same techniques. I soon learned that most people don’t want to work with quite that much intensity and with only 2-3 days per week to train someone, do I really need one just for arms? I first started experimenting with circuit training about 15 years ago and I have used some version ever since. I found I can get so much more done in the same amount of time and with better results. Of course literally hundreds of hours of study, many continuing educations courses and meeting and learning from Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle and Alwyn Cosgrove has changed the specifics of the circuits or thoughts behind them. Working with hundreds of women, many of them high profile, also shaped my training protocol.

Mike: Jennifer Garner, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Berkley are but the tip of your client roster. Do you have any favourite clients or memorable workout stories ?

Valerie: Well, I very clearly remember getting a call from “a girl named Jennifer” who said she was going to be playing a spy and needed to get in shape. We had so much fun deciding what a butt kicking super spy should look like and then we had had 3 weeks to get there. Thus began an eight year relationship with the beautiful Jennifer Garner who is every bit as nice as you think she is.

One of my favorite stories, and one I have used many times as an example, is when Jennifer Lopez first came to me to get ready for the movie Out of Sight. One of the first things she said to me was: “ I have a big butt. I like my big butt, guys like my big butt, I don’t want to make it smaller.” (This was before she was praised in every magazine for her shapely behind.) When she worked out, she did not tie a sweatshirt around her waist or hide her curvy figure under baggy clothes. She loved her body as it was, while still acknowledging the things she wanted to work on. I believe she was instrumental in changing the way media viewed curvy women and helped many women feel good about their bodies even while working to improve them.

Mike: For these celebrities to look the part year round, you developed the "Red Carpet Ready" plan. Could you tell us about it?

Valerie: Red Carpet Ready is my 6-week, get in the best shape of your life program. It was developed over years of having 6 weeks or less to get a celebrity ready for a Red Carpet event, a photo shoot or a movie or television role. All the workouts in the book were tested on my clients. The program will produce dramatic results in a short period of time without having to spend 3 hours a day hours in the gym. Each workout is about 45-60 minutes per day, 5-6 days per week. The diet is the same one my clients follow. By the end of 6 weeks, eating the Red Carpet Ready way will be a habit. You won’t have to think about it.

Mike: I know you've been getting Rachel Nichols ready for the upcoming GI JOE movie. Could you give a sample circuit you'd use to give a female and action hero body?

Valerie: Of course. I actually just posted this on my blog, and I called it the Action Hero Workout #2. Click here: http://valerie-waters.blogspot.com/

Mike: In Chicago, I got to try your torturous but highly effective "VALSLIDE". Folks, for those of you currently using those "pie plate" gliders; they don't hold a candle to this baby! Val do you want to tell us about it?

Valerie: I am really proud of the Valslide and the results it produces. It is being used by everyone from Physical Therapists and pro athletes, to stay at home moms and business executives. The sliding action is so much smoother than anything else I’ve tried and you are able to mimic most slide board exercises without requiring so much space or investment. Not only are the results amazing but the Valslides are so small and light that they can easily fit in a purse or back pack. All my clients travel with them.

Mike: Val, people tend to believe celebrities don't work out as hard being more genetically blessed and makeup enhanced. I've looked at your workouts Val- from movement prep to planned circuits of functional exercise compounds you echo the best of Cosgrove to Boyle. Is this typical celebrity training?

Valerie: I don’t think people realize how hard most celebrities work to look as good as they to. There is tremendous pressure on them, particularly the women. They are like the rest of us, in so much as they too would like to sleep in or lie on the couch and watch American Idol. However, if that’s the only time they have to workout then they get up and do the workout. They also like pasta, ice cream, chips & guacamole but they indulge in these very seldom and only in moderation.

I am not sure about all celebrity trainer’s programming but I can tell you my workouts are designed to produce a very specific look. I may borrow from Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle and Alwyn Cosgrove but then I tweak it for my girls who want to be fit and toned but not overly buff. Alwyn & Mike like to quote Bruce Lee and I am following suit: “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.” This is what I have done.

Mike: Now you've been training celebrities for a good 17+ years, but you look like you'd get "ID'd" at the bar. What are your personal secrets to looking the part of the proverbial Hollywood trainer?

Valerie: Thank you so much! There is something to be said for eating clean most of the time, exercising consistently, getting adequate rest and wearing sunscreen!

Mike: And if our readers want to find out more about you and your methods/ training tools, where should they go?

www.valeriewaters.com

www.valslide.com

www.redcarpetready.com

Mike: It was a pleasure meeting you Val.

I think all of us Coaches foraging for lean protein and fresh veggies in the Chicago Convention Center brought us all closer together.

(How many sandwich fillings can one eat?)

I've already ordered a set of Valslides to use with my clients. So for all of them tuning in, be afraid you guys . .be very afraid.

Thanks again Val.

Valerie: Thanks Mike!

Osteoporosis: From Teens to Adults

2008-05-03T10:16:00.002-06:00

Most every media at this time addresses osteoporosis and the aging female, but did you know during the teen years, almost one-half of the adult skeleton is formed ?

Those ounces of prevention are significantly easier than the pounds of cure: Ounces of dairy consumed and pounds of weight bearing exercise lifted in this case.

One out of every two women will get some degree of osteoporosis after age 65, so there's no doubt this is an issue to be reckoned with as a female or parent of one.

The teen years are rife with habits which can weaken bone or prevent achieving an ideal bone density. These include smoking, consumption of soft drinks over calcium rich sources and lack of physical activity.

The fact is if you build your bones when you're in your teens, you will be less likely to fracture your bones when you're older.

In order for the bones to absorb more calcium and grow dense and strong, there has to be a need for it and a supply of it.
The need is created by weight bearing exercises- the key word there being weight bearing. Swimming, walking and dancing do little to create this need.

Basically, when the bones come under load such as a weight bearing workout, the fibres compress like an accordion, rubbing against one and other. This rubbing sets off a charge and literally attracts the calcium to the bones like a magnet.

So vanity aside, those bodyshaping workouts of lunges, squats, pushups and shoulder presses don't only make you look hot, they create "magnetic bones" to the calcium ions.

Many of you may object that, "I heard swimming is healthy". Think of the astronauts as they return to earth, having lived weightless for a protracted period. One of the key health issues they face is loss of calcium from the bones. Is swimming healthy ? In some paradigms, yes. But is it an optimal choice for creating bone density ? No way !

So correct exercise choices covered do you have enough calcium in your diet to meet these needs ? Supply is the next issue.

Eat lots of calcium-rich foods like milk, yogurt and cheese; calcium-fortified orange juice and bread; green leafy vegetables like collards and kale; canned salmon and sardines or tofu. If you don't eat dairy products, it may be necessary for you to take a calcium supplement to meet your high calcium needs as a teen ( or any age for that matter). Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before taking any type of supplement.

Your post workout shake can not only help rebuild toned muscles and maintain a fat burning metabolism, but also optimize your calcium intake. I use this with my female clients of all ages, and it covers pretty much every nutritional base for all facets of health:

Bone Solution 1:1 Liquid by Prarie Naturals - 1 tsp
Greens Extra Cran-Cherry by NH - 1 scoop
Shape UP™ - Dreamy Vanilla by NH - 1 scoop
12-16 oz Crystal Lite Raspberry ice flavour

Blend the above with ice and you won't believe how good it tastes. Enough that a teen will drink it and prevent future issues of bone density and the active woman can enjoy it as part of her great health maintenance program.

Putting all the above together can seem a daunting leap, especially for the sedentary who have just made the resolution to master their optimum health.

As an educated fitness professional, I always welcome clients for program design, as do chiropractors, dietitians, etc.
If you can stand and move better on one leg than the other, we have orthopaedic issues. Left unaddressed, it's like driving your car with an underinflated front tire. A dietitian may catch a menu rich in calcium but low in the necessary magnesium, D3, zinc, etc. to absorb it.

We always achieve more as a team. Here's to your health and a vibrant future.
"Coach Mike"

The GEORGE COSTANZA workout

2008-03-16T10:15:00.003-05:00

I love SEINFELD.

Even in reruns, the comedic timing and admissions of being human, make for relief on my part.

As training and diet zealots, we tend to work from a deficit mentality- being aware of the last inch, the need for a tan or the lagging lift. It doesn't make for a great mindset . . pass the anxiety meds.

In one of the better SEINFELD episodes, George decides to live the day as "Opposite George". Whatever his usual pattern of response in life, he's going to do the opposite with the goal of turning around his life "as-is".

Now I believe it was Charles Staley or Mike Boyle ( both exceptional coaches) who coined the phrase:

"The best routine is the one you're currently not on"

We're great for searching until we find a "guru" that validates our current choices. And given the internet, it's not hard to find.

My challenge to you, is an about face in your current methods . .if you've been plateauing.

We don't fix what ain't broken, right ?

It's not change for the sake of change, but rather a psycho-emotional breaking of the bonds of dogma that have made you feel obliged to tradition. . .and stimulating gains in a plateauing routine.

As Jerry Seinfeld said, it was like watching BIZZARO SUPERMAN in action.

George walks up to an attractive blonde, sitting at the counter of their regular Diner. Basically says:

"My name is George. I'm unemployed, live with my parents and am short and bald. I'd like to go out with you"

She's so taken aback by his honesty that she dates him and he has the time of his life !!!

So let's try the same with your current regime:

IF YOU CURRENTLY:

1. Do 3x8 you will switch to 8x3
2. Train 5x/week, you will go to 3x/week
3. Do token stretching, you will begin a campaign of aggressive dynamic and static stretching
4. Use isolation movements, you will switch to compound movement only
5. You typically spend an hour in the gym, you'll strive for an effective half hour
6. You use machines you will switch to free weights
7. Your core work is a small bit at the end, it will become an aggressive amount of core work before each workout
8. Your breakfasts have been fruit and dairy, you will use eggs or meat and veggies
9. You focus on training intensity, I'd like you to turn your focus on sleep length and quality: recuperation
10. Do cardio for endurance, time to try H.I.I.T.

Now with all that change ( even some of it) , do you really believe you won't see dramatic changes in the next 6-8 weeks ?

At the end of 8 weeks, you'll be able to say what held value for you and what did not.

On new information, Bruce Lee basically said:

"Keep what is of value and discard the rest"

I invite you to post your own proposed changes, epiphanies or "about-faces" . .we're about 8 weeks out from really having to strut your stuff in t-shirts and shorts.

If your workouts and nutrition have ground to a halt- change will only create exactly that !!!

Best of luck guys
"Coach Mike"

Evolving the Perfect Eating Plan

2008-03-03T18:34:00.004-05:00

No one starts at the finish line, especially in the quest for the perfect diet or exercise regime. Thank goodness. I base a career on this.

I was invited to address a team of junior trainers today on how to develop an effective eating plan for a client.

Like most things, by the inch it's a cinch but by the yard it's hard- so we outlined the baby steps that ensure ease of transformation and compliance without attrition, the trainer's biggest hurdle.

Assessment always has to precede prescription, so what I developed for them was almost a flow chart of eating in a good, better, best progression. Here's how it went:

1. Do you eat 3x/day: if the answer here is "no", don't even consider all the esoteric cleanses and tweaks. I don't care if it's three squares from the McDonald's healthy choice menu. Regular feeding begets a higher metabolism. We'll deal with food quality later on.

2. Now let's snack 5x/day: snacking maintains a more stable blood sugar ridding the body of cravings and maintaining a stronger metabolic speed. Hopefully now, we're starting to eat a bit better quality food

3. Digestive support ?: if you've gone from a couple meals to 5 healthy feedings/day, you may encounter bloating, fullness or gasiness. A few things will fix this- food rotation, a digestive enzyme complex before your main meals or acidophilus for intestinal flora health (take this one on an empty stomach upon arising). Simply follow the labels on the bottle

4. Eat Right for your Blood Type ?: Dr. D'Adamo did good work analyzing the commonalities of reaction to foods by the different blood types. Like there's no one cut of clothing for everyone, same goes for food choices. All my clients have benefited from choosing foods from the "Beneficial" lists provided in this book. Whether you feel best pursuing a vegan, Atkins or Zone approach to eating, using foods suited to you makes for a favourable metabolism.

5. Eat Right for your GENOTYPE ?: A decade later Dr. D'Adamo has tweaked the 4 Blood type diets with mapping somatotypes as they reveal the strengths and weaknesses we encountered each trimester of gestation. The result is a genetic based diet to your geneaology and chromosomal strengths and weaknesses. Charles Poliquin summed it up best when he said,
"Our genes are the gun and our environment the trigger- eating and supplementing to your biosignature disarms the gun".
So expect a more detailed approach to finding your food lists.

6. Supplements to your Biosignature ?: Well by now you've come a very long way in meal frequency, quality and food choices. What of stubborn bodyfat or optimizing health. Look into Dr. Poliquin's Biosignature of Fat Storage to learn about how dominant fat patterns in the body require different arrays of supplements and nutrient skews. So where some people have love handles, others have a beer belly or others problematic hips: each has it's own plethora of solutions.

I wish it were just in the exercise folks, but if this was the case, the gyms would be full of fit bodies. What we see are throngs of workout junkies, carrying great shapely muscle but covered in a "breading".

You can't out train a bad diet and truth be told, the majority of my clients fight being overfed but undernourished.

The objective, educated eye afforded by an established trainer can prevent the pitfalls of the dogmatic quick fixes that plague the fitness industry. Look to the near future as genetic testing becomes available to "map" your nutrient needs and digestive hurdles to maintaining vibrant health. That "User's Manual" of self is just around the corner.

In the meantime, let's start with 3 meals/day.

Studies detect slew of new genes for prostate risk

2008-02-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

Having lost my Dad to this, it's a topic near and dear to me. After reading the GENOTYPE DIET, I can see that genetic testing and eating to support one's strong genes and quieting the troublesome ones will be the way of the future.

Studies detect slew of new genes for prostate risk
Sun Feb 10, 2008 1:37pm EST
By Michael Kahn

LONDON (Reuters) - Three studies published on Sunday identify at least ten new genes that raise a man's risk of prostate cancer, information which could lead to better screening and targeted drugs to treat the disease.

The U.S. and European findings add to the number of known genetic variations linked with prostate cancer risk and may help, one day, predict which men are susceptible to the most aggressive forms of the disease, researchers said.

The teams published their independent studies in the journal Nature Genetics.

Ros Eeles, an oncologist at The Institute of Cancer Research in Britain, whose team identified seven new gene changes linked to prostate risk, said genetic tests based on the findings were a few years away.

"The results we have found today are a breakthrough as they have identified seven new areas of the genome associated with prostate cancer risk," she said.

"They have the potential to be developed into a genetic test. However, we consider that marketing of tests to the public is premature."

Prostate cancer, which becomes more likely as men get older, is the second most common cause of cancer death among men after lung cancer. Each year some 680,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and about 220,00 will from it.

The cancer is also often a slow-growing tumor and many men will die of something else before it becomes dangerous. Detecting more of these genes is important because it could one day make it easier to pick out men at highest risk, Eeles said.

"These results could help decide who really needs screening," she told reporters in London.

In her study, the researchers studied the genetic make up of more than 10,000 men to pick out gene sequences found more often in men with prostate cancer. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland that makes fluid for semen.

Researchers from Iceland's Decode Genetics Inc turned up two new genetic changes and the biotechnology company said it would offer a screening test available through a physician for $500 starting on Sunday.

"We believe that this is a test with significant clinical utility for improving and personalizing the screening and treatment of one of the most common cancers," Decode's Chief Executive Kari Stefansson said in a statement.

A host of companies now offer such genetic tests for common conditions like cancer, diabetes and heart disease but some scientists say they do little good and can saddle people with unnecessary anxiety or provide false reassurance.

Steven Chanock of the National Institutes of Health in the United States and colleagues detected three genetic changes in their study of more than 1,100 men with prostate cancer and those without the disease. Like the other studies, his team confirmed the findings in an independent population.

New Supplement Line

2008-02-08T13:44:00.000-05:00

Many of my clients know how much I've used the Troponin supplements with them and myself.

I just wanted to give Justin Harris a plug and wish him the best on his new line of supplements.

He and Dante, at trueprotein.com, will be offering them intially at elitefts.com. I've yet to see anyone go wrong using Justin's work.

STATIC STRENGTH LINE LAUNCH
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm VERY excited to announce the launch of Static Strength.
EliteFTS is going to have the exclusive rights to the launch of our products. You will ONLY be able to get the first run of Static Strength here at Elite.

I can't tell you how excited I am about these. These aren't run of the mill "copy the other guys" products.
Each of these products contain ingredients that have NEVER been put into production before. Two of the ingredients won't even come up under a google search, even if you put the exact chemical name.

I won't get into too much detail until these are available to the public, but here is a basic synopsis of what these products are.

Vast 3:
The next generation of high molecular weight carbohydrates. This is a weight gain formula for those wanting to move up a weight class. Everyone knows how hard Dante worked on the research for Waxy Maize. Well, Vast 3 has Waxy Maize plus TWO NEW high molecular weight carbohydrates. One of them is extremely high in Beta-Glucan (Dante has raved about its ability to ward off illness).

Fuse 22:
The number 22 is VERY significant here. The human body requires 20 amino acids for survival. We metabolize left handed amino acids as a necessity for human life.
But, there are also right handed amino acids and racemic (left and right combined) amino acids.
Fuse 22 contains 2 forms of non-metabolizable Leucine.
There is a racemic form and a Beta form. These two amino acids have some incredible effects in the body.
The racemic Leucine causes an increase in Glutamate binding, activating the NMDA receptors. This causes neural excitation, improved cognitive function, and vigilance (tolerance to the discomfort of work).
The Beta form, when combined with L-leucine, causes an insulin release at the pancreas. This creates a non-blood glucose fueled insulin release to stimulate protein synthesis. (L-leucine is already a trigger for protein synthesis).

Leverage:
This product will contain EVERY ingredient that promotes strength and contractile force.
It contains ingredients that improve endurance, scavange waste products from exercise, raise intracellular fluid levels, promote protein synthesis, AND contains two specific amino acids.
One of them is an inhibitory neurotransmitter.....but when combined with another specific amino acid, creates an excitatory neurotrasmitter response. This works at the very base of the mental processes of "excitement."

LOAD:
Load is a product that will create an increase in "fullness."
Load also contains the two "next generation" high molecular weigh carbohydrates, and is designed to essentially "Load" the body with fluid and nutrients.
This product is designed to re-fuel after weigh ins, and can be used at any point to load up with fluid and nutrients for added strength.

Hysteria:
I've talked about this for a while. I've had a chemical for some time that I've been dying to get onto the market.
This product will blow every other stimulant out of the water. That's not a statement like everyone else claims. The chemical structure of the main ingredient in Hysteria will literally blow every other product out of the water. Anyone with a chemistry degree will have their eyes bug out of their head when they see the structure of this molecule.
And, we're not just "adding a methyl group" to some other random compound that has been around for ages (like I see so many companies doing). This product has never been used in a nutritional product.
But, once you FEEL how it works, you'll wish it had been around since day one.

HEART HEALTH: Exercise or Diet ?

2008-02-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

HEART HEALTH: Exercise or Diet ?

Recently, a groundbreaking study and documentary were released comparing the use of exercise vs dietary measures to promote and maintain optimum heart health.

Heart attack and related circulatory diseases still remain one of the #1 silent killers in North America. Besides the obvious external cosmetic signs of a challenged heart and the need for fat reduction, what can one do to assure themself their ticker's in tip top shape ?

The outcome of the study was that it was in fact heart elasticity that indicated one's susceptibility to heart disease.

That is, the ability for the heart muscle and arteries to expand with increases in blood pressure, heart rate, stroke volume, etc.

The trainers all cried do your cardio
The nutritionists rallied to fish oils
MD's in large maintained the aspirin a day to prevent thrombosis, and of course
Yoga practitioners and the like deemed planned relaxation/ meditation the answer

Truth be told, as in most cases, it was the sum of all good things that created a great result.

The heart responded with improved elasticity when forced to work harder, as in resistance training as well as for prolonged periods as in cardiovascular work.
Barring pre-existing conditions, a clean bill of health usually allows for the standard 20 minutes, 3x/week at a heart rate of ((220-age) x 60-80%)).

Of all the nutritional supplements on the market, by far, prudent use of the fish oils for their EPA/DHA content, as well as nut and seed oils for their monounsaturates, were shown to promote the strongest levels of circulatory elasticity.
That said, you're only as strong as your weakest link, so judicious use of an antioxidant rich Greens formula and the obvious avoidance of trans fats for their near instant artery hardening effect are equally important.

Yes, 2 drinks/day ( and only two !) were also shown to be cardioprotective in mechanism, so enjoy your wine or beer in moderation and good health.

Even without a family history of risk, the medical community has maintained the daily use of a simple baby aspirin effective at preventing the unwanted stroke causing clot. It creates a more slippery arterial wall if you will. More is not better, so don't go past this dosage. In conjunction with the diet and exercise practices mentioned, you're well on your way to maximal heart health.

Finally, the relaxation response. It's not stress itself but rather how we react to stress that can create a dangerous internal climate. People with consistently elevated cortisol levels (the stress hormone), tend to store "heart attack fat" or possess that beer belly look. It's not that the fat is there so much as what it indicates in stress hormones that we should worry about.

There's a myriad of topics to cover in regards to managing stress. The way a Personal Trainer aids you with correct diet and exercise choices, a Life Coach can do the same in making objective baby steps to achieving your needs and goals in a most manageable way.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy will alert you to your reactive patterns and their roots to stressful situations and help you create new response patterns.
FEELING GOOD by David Burns, MD is an excellent best seller in this regard.
Signing up for scheduled Yoga, Meditation or Personal Training sessions ensures you have planned outlets for stress release.

Cortisol mitigation can also come from nutritional aids such as phosphatidyl serine, adaptogens such as Rhodiola, Ginseng and Ashwghanda as well as promoters of deep REM sleep such as Magnesium, Melatonin and Valerian.

My strongest advice in this realm is to proceed with the guidance of an ND or licensed wholistic practitioner able to address your big picture.

The take home message here is an elastic, resilient circulatory system is yours when you address the big picture. Focusing on one aspect at the expense of others can make for a very unbalanced body- and we don't work that way.

Coach in your corner always
Mike

Probiotics Affect Metabolism

2008-01-16T04:34:00.000-05:00

Probiotics Affect Metabolism, Says New Study
ScienceDaily (Jan. 16, 2008) —

Probiotics, such as yogurt drinks containing live bacteria, have a tangible effect on the metabolism, according to the results of a new study published January 15 in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

Coach's Note: I regularly cycle on/off a week of BIO K: .
"
for its' effectiveness in maintaining a healthy digestive system . .it's not what we eat but what we digest- right ?

The research is the first to look in detail at how probiotics change the biochemistry of bugs known as gut microbes, which live in the gut and which play an important part in a person's metabolic makeup. Different people have different types of gut microbes inside them and abnormalities in some types have recently been linked to diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

For the study, researchers from Imperial College London and Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, gave two different types of probiotic drink to mice that had been transplanted with human gut microbes. Probiotics contain so-called 'friendly' bacteria and there is some evidence to suggest that adding 'friendly' bacteria to the gut can help the digestive system.

The researchers compared the levels of different metabolites in the liver, blood, urine, and feces, of mice who had received treatment with probiotics and those that had not.

They found that treatment with probiotics had a whole range of biochemical effects and that these effects differed markedly between the two probiotic strains, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Adding 'friendly' bacteria changed the makeup of the bugs in the gut, not only because this increased the number of such bacteria, but also because the 'friendly' bacteria worked with other bacteria in the gut, amplifying their effects.
One of the many biochemical changes observed by the researchers was a change in how mice treated with probiotics metabolised bile acids. These acids are made by the liver and their primary function is to emulsify fats in the upper gut.

If probiotics can influence the way in which bile acids are metabolised, this means they could change how much fat the body is able to absorb.
Professor Jeremy Nicholson, corresponding author on the study from the Department of Biomolecular Medicine at Imperial College, explained "Some argue that probiotics can't change your gut microflora - whilst there are at least a billion bacteria in a pot of yoghurt, there are a hundred trillion in the gut, so you're just whistling in the wind.

"Our study shows that probiotics can have an effect and they interact with the local ecology and talk to other bacteria. We're still trying to understand what the changes they bring about might mean, in terms of overall health, but we have established that introducing 'friendly' bacteria can change the dynamics of the whole population of microbes in the gut," he said.

The researchers hope their new insights about how probiotics and gut microbes interact will ultimately enable the development of new probiotic therapies, which can be tailored for people with different conditions and different metabolic makeups.

Dr. Sunil Kochhar, another author on the study from the Nestlé Research Center, added: "Understanding changes in the molecular events triggered by the so-called beneficial bacteria in the host metabolism is an important prerequisite in our efforts to develop customized nutritional solutions to maintain and/or enhance our consumer's health and wellness at an individual level.
The results of this study are highly promising to address personalized nutrition

10 Minutes with Justin Harris

2008-01-03T18:06:00.000-05:00

Coach Mike: Justin, welcome to the Precision Nutrition forums. Before we start hitting you with questions, how about briefly telling us a bit about you.

My name is Justin Harris, owner of Troponin Nutrition. I'm a competitive bodybuilder, winning the Overall at the 2004 Mr. Michigan and the Superheavyweight class at the 2006 Jr. USA's. I'm also a powerlifter, winning "Best Lifter" at the 2007 APF Michigan powerlifting championships, totaling 2,149lbs for an Elite Classification.

Coach Mike: Now looking at all the top nutrition gurus, the common denominator for fat loss or weight control, appears to be managing insulin. Precision Nutrition successfully uses nutrient timing and Poliquin is big on carb deprivation with judicious use of glutamine over PWO carbs and insulin sensetizing agents ( R-ALA, Fenugreek, etc.).
I know you've been quite successful with CARB CYCLING. Tell us about it.

For the most part, I utilize a higher protein intake and a lower carbohydrate intake than I do in the off-season. Protein and carbohydrate intake should vary inversely to each other. The more protein you eat, the less carbohydrates you'll need since much of that protein will be converted to glucose by the body.
Conversely, the more carbohydrates you eat the less protein you'll need as carbohydrates, and more specifically the insulin secretion caused by the carbohydrates, is very anti-catabolic and protein sparing.
But, insulin also blunts fat loss by decreasing the amount of fatty acids shuttled to the mitochondria to be oxidized, so carbohydrate manipulation becomes more important when attempting to shed body fat.

The vast majority of my diets are set up in a carbohydrate cycling approach, where the amount of carbs ingested will vary each day. Some days will see carbohydrate intake be very high — some clients as high as 1,500 grams in a day. Then, some days will be very low and other days will be in a more moderate range.

We utlize the lower carbohydrate days to increase the potential for fat burning by decreasing insulin levels. These days will have higher protein and essential fatty acid content. A by-product of the low carbohydate intake will be depleted glycogen stores. A superheavyweight bodybuilder will be able to store upwards of 1,000g of glycogen in the body. That is 4,000 calories of variance just from carbohydrates.
The problem with lower carb/calorie intake is the body's fight for homeostasis. Eventually your body lowers its metabolic rate to a level concurrent with your calorie intake. To fight against this, we utilize high and medium carbohydrate days.
The high carbohydrate days restore the lost muscle glycogen (which in large bodybuilders allows for a LOT of calories from carbohydrates without additional fat storage). The elevated insulin from the carbohydrates also lowers the risk of protein catabolism. The insulin also promotes protein synthesis.
When utilized properly, our high carbohydrate days can still be "growth" days even deep into a contest prep.
The medium carbohydrate days are a day that allows for fat loss, without the extreme calorie reduction of the low carbohydrate days. This is another aid for maintaining a high metabolism.

Coach Mike: I've followed Dave Tate's journals over at elitefts.com as he got ripped under the tutelage of Dr. Berardi, Dr. Serrano and most recently yourself. Dave, like many of us always seemed to find compliance a real issue. Tell us about your own experience with Dave.

Dave was much more compliant than I had expected. In fact, Dave never mentioned deviating from the diet the entire time. One of the things I do is include very high carbohydrate intake days when possible, as well as cheat meals when possible.
Dave had a carb day each week termed a "mega-high day" where his carb intake was over 1,000g of carbs, with up to 1/2 coming from sources containing high amounts of sugar. His only rule was to avoid fat as much as possible.
We also utlized cheat meals quite frequently. These two "reliefs" from the diet allowed him to remain focused each week knowing a day of enjoying food was never too far off.
Dave is also a very large man. This allows him to eat a very high calorie amount. Eating the amount of food he is able to with his LBM will help make hunger a minimal side-effect.

Coach Mike: Many of our forum members are in a battle to go from scrawny to brawny. They fear cardio will negate their strength and muscular gains. Could you tell us about your own training ?

My current training is primarily geared towards powerlifting as I'm planning on a few powerlifting meets in 2008. As a 130lb High School junior, I know a little bit about starting out scrawny.
Cardio can actually be an effective tool at increasing appetite. Cardio creates some anabolic advantages, provided you ingest the proper nutrients afterwards.
Cardio lowers blood amino and blood sugar levels. It also oxidizes fatty acids. The usage of blood aminos will facilitate a release of muscle and liver glycogen to be used as energy as well.
This creates the situation where, after cardio, the body is looking to store glycogen, is sensitive to insulin, and had a desire to restore blood amino levels. By providing essential amino acids and carbohydrates after cardio, the elevated insulin will promote protein synthesis and there will be lower likelyhood that the carbohydrates will be converted to triglycerides and later fatty acids, as the carbohydrates will be predisposed to replacing the lost glyocgen stores.

Any EPOC created by the cardio will help minimize fat gain throughout the remainder of the day as well.

Coach Mike: So your advice for the "Hard gainer" ?

Stop pigeonholing yourself as a hard gainer. Hard gaining means slower/smaller gains. Believing that fact is a set up for failure. I bought into that term when I started out too. Unfotunately all it did was give myself a convienient excuse for why I wasn't growing at the rate I wanted.
Everyone is a hard gainer. You just don't add muscle at extreme rates. If you started out at 15 years old and 150lbs, and converted just 10 GRAMS of protein to new muscle each day. (10 grams out of the 100's that you eat) You would be almost 400lbs of pure shredded mass in your mid 30's.
Obviously, there are no contest ready 400lb bodybuilders, so it is safe to assume that even the "easiest gainers" out there are converting much less than 10g of protein to new muscle each day.
The advice for hard gainers is to be diligent and consistent. Creating the potential for even 1 additional gram of protein to be converted to muscle protein each day will amount to MASSIVE gains over time.

Coach Mike: I've thoroughly enjoyed my recent transition to Dante Trudel's DC training . Are you still a proponent of it yourself ? Times when you would not recommend it ?

I still utilize many aspects of DC training, even when preparing for a powerlifting meet. When training for bodybuilding, DC training is my favorite training program.
I would recommend it to anyone looking to add muscle size. The routine focuses on heavy, intense training with big eating and extreme stretching. These are all elements that promote anabolism.
DC breaks it down to what works. HARD training, HEAVY lifting, BIG eating....and it IS that simple.

Coach Mike: I understand you and Dante will be releasing your lines of supplements for bodybuilders and powerlifters through trueprotein.com. Care to tell us about them ?

We are hoping to release our "Static Strength" line of supplements early in 2008.
These products will be 100% devoted to improving performance. These won't be about looking pretty, getting a pump, or any superficial effects. Static Strength will increase performance. Period.

The first product will be called LEVERAGE:
Leverage will contain every ingredient available to increase strength and endurance for weight training.
Our formula contains two products that have never been used in a supplement. These products have shown amazing effects in studies, and how they've been missed is beyond me.
They're so under-used that writing the chemical name into a google search will yeild no results. I'm incredibly excited about getting them out to the public.

Another product will be called HYSTERIA:
Hysteria will be a pre-workout stimulant/mental focus product. The ingredients in this products are also rare and un-used in the supplement industry. I've supplied beta samples to a few clients, and one of our sponsored athletes, and they've been amazed.
In fact, one sponsored athlete Tim Hensely used Leverage and Hysteria to break the all-time AAPF Michigan 198lb bench record.....as a 181lb competitor. Tim just decided to do the meet to try out the products. He moved up a weight class to avoid the worry of making weight, and still set the all time record.

We have a few other products, including a night-time growth formula called ACQUIESCE and a pre/during/post workout nutrient formula.
The main problem with production has been the rarity of these ingredients. They're just not ingredients you have available at your warehouse. And, we've been finding that they're not just available at major chemical manufacture plants either. We're currently looking for Chemical manufacurers to produce these products solely for our supplements.

We also have plans for a Troponin Foods line of products later this year, as well as an MMA product division through Myosci Technologies.

Coach Mike: And for those that hope supplements will counter poor nutrition ?

It's a wonderful hope, but it won't provide any benefit. Nutrition is the most important aspect of physique alteration. I could spend a lot of time trying to show why, but it shouldn't be an issue. Everyone at the gym is doing the same exercises. Most are doing the same routine. The reason some look like bodybuilders and some look like they don't even workout is nutrition, plain and simple.

Coach Mike: And in your experience, the most common dietary blunders by those wanting to achieve optimal fat loss or muscle gain ?

Believing that the extreme will be the best route. I can't tell you how many people I've had tell me they were just going to eat chicken breasts and lettuce until they're shredded. Or conversely, how many people believe that you have to eat whole large pizzas by the hour to add muscle.
It's just not that way. It is about consistency. Consistant focus and diligence on the main aspects of training and nutrition over time is what gets results.
I tell people it is like creating a diamond. A diamond starts out as a lump of coal, and after millions of years and millions of tons of pressure....the coal becomes a diamond.
Our bodies are the same way. We start out as a lump of coal, but with constant pressure and enough time, you can create a diamond.

Coach Mike: Many people site work and family obligations as the reason for their lack of gains or ability to commit and comply to a program. Tell us about your typical day

My kids get me up abou 7:30. I get the little one a new diaper, get her dressed and comb her hair.
By then our 2 year old is wandering around. I get her dressed, comb her hair, and head to the kitchen. I make them breakfast, and why they're eating, I try to get my breakfast going.
After they finish, I clean up, throw down the rest of my food and get dressed for the gym. By that time it is usually about 8:45/9:00. I take them to Day Care and get to the gym about 9:30. I train from 9:30 until 10:30. From there I head back home and pack up my food for work. I shower, get dressed, and try to answer as many emails as I can by 11:30. I then leave for work, where I stay until 9pm. I get home about 9:45 or so, and my wife and I begin preparing my food for the next day. We're done about 10:30 or so. Depending on the day, we have up to 3 hours of packaging to do for the business. If there are a lot of clothing orders, we have to make them at that time (we have a clothing printing set up at our home).
By then it is pretty late and my wife has to study (she'll be a Dentist in 18 months). I try to get work done on the books I have planned, or complete interviews such as this at that time. We're in bed by 12:30 (my wife is often later....and also out the door at 6am for 7am classes).
I work full time at one of the top Cardiovascular hospitals in the US. I also run www.TroponinNutrition.com where I have 6 nutritionists. I get over 100 emails a day, and am my own shipping and receiving for the business. My wife is in medical school to become a Dental surgeon. We have two children aged 13 months and 2.5 years.
While I understand the difficulty in having a family and job while still improving your physique, believing you can't achieve your physique goals is a convienient cop out.

Coach Mike: Does your diet and training advice differ greatly for women and men ?

I rotate carbohydrates for both men and women. Women require much less calories than men, which is the biggest difference.
In the offseason, I'm more caring to include higher essential fatty acids for hormone production in men.
Other than those differences, the carb rotation approach works for anyone with a human physiology. lol

Coach Mike: I thoroughly enjoyed your Detroit workshop this past fall. You provided so much depth of discussion in training and nutrition, I had bad writer's cramp by mid-afternoon. I feel all you offered to be a wonderful adjunct to the tenets of the Precision Nutrition methods.
For those wanting to purchase your seminar on DVD or your new book, "Comprehensive Performance Nutrition", where should they tune in ?

You can get my book "Comprehensive Perfomance Nutrition," my DVD "Project Superheavyweight," my Seminar DVD, Troponin Nutrition clothing, and all your diet advice needs at www.TroponinNutrition.com.
You can also get any of our products, as well as ask me direct questions, at www.EliteFTS.com.

Coach Mike: My thanks for taking the time to share with us Justin. Any parting thoughts or comments ?

Thank you very much for the interview, and thanks for always keeping me on my toes with your questions and insight with nutrition.

Weightloss / Health and 2008

2007-12-06T19:31:00.000-05:00

Well, Christmas is nearly upon us. Forget the deprivation diets or tasteless alternates to flavourful Christmas traditions. It's supposed to be a fun time of year, so make it so. Hopefully, you've had a successful year of Greens, fish oils, whey and hours of weekly exercise, and it shows. You've earned the reprieve.
My problem at this time of year lies not in the Christmas celebration, but in the drastic New Year's resolutions I hear from many of my clients:

* "I'm going on the 8 week abs diet . . "
* "I'm going to join the 4 week BootCamp . ."
* "I'm going to do a fast and cleanse . . "

Listen folks. When your resolution has a temporary / quick fix air about it, you can expect a yo-yo of results, usually making bad things worse in the long run.

2008 should be your year of EVOLUTION !

Permanent, very manageable little steps that you will be able to maintain throughout the year effortlessly. This usually means adding in the "good", not eliminating the "fun". Keep your glass of wine or Sunday morning Starbucks treat but do also begin habits of health.

Like the compound interest that accrues in our RRSP, multiple evolutions of good habits create permanent health momentum.

Samples of some of my more successful clients' permanent changes have included:

* "I will take fish oils daily to check my cholesterol and blood sugar . . ."
* "I'm going to keep a large water bottle at my desk daily . . . "
* (My favourite) "I'm purchasing 52 sessions with my trainer to ensure I go to the gym weekly and am held accountable this year . ."
* "I've prepaid for 6 months of Organic home delivery, so I 'll always have the good stuff in the house . . "
* "I've posted my 7 favourite SUPER SHAKE recipes on the fridge, so I don't forget how simple good nutrition can be . ."
* "My wife and I have signed up to learn to dance, . .if not now when ? We'll get fitter and closer" ( this client was in his 60's and very dear to me )

The point is, all these little things have a long term, sustainable air to them. They will evolve the daily and weekly routines for the individual so new habits of health are born. As the years go by and habits are kept, one builds on the next until we find ourselves in a very, very good place in our later years.

The old adage goes, "Fail to plan, plan to fail", and so must your resolutions make sense.

Too many people will fire off a list of generic good things without regard for the applicability to their own lives. These choices of change should foster a fire within you, that you know will create the small victories near and dear to your heart.

May your ounces of prevention prevent the need for pounds of cure in the years ahead !
A Happy and Healthy 2008 from your Coach !!

Troponin Nutrition/Trueprotein.com

2007-11-16T04:28:00.000-05:00

Two of my favourite companies and Top Guns ( Justin Harris and "Dogg Crapp") have come together. This should be exciting for all natural trainers wanting to keep on the edge with supplements and technologies.

From Dante "DC" himself . .

" . . .And then they became one: Troponin Nutrition/Trueprotein.com

I am very pleased to announce that Justin Harris and Troponin
Nutrition has joined forces with Doug and myself here at Trueprotein.
The parent companies Nutrivation (Justin) with Myosci Technologies
(Doug and Myself) and all the companies that fall under that umbrella.
We are very excited at this partnership because it will bring to the
forefront some cutting edge technology that both companies have as
assets.

A) A food grade division for all things fitness, bodybuilding,
powerlifting and health related. Engineered foods that have a specific
health reason behind them. Without getting into details included in
this will be desserts, breakfast genre meals, and an ingenious dieting
aid (designed by Justin) that will be used daily and often that people
will love to use freely....in place of what they are currently using
daily and often....and lose bodyfat doing so. In essence every single
meal could become a fat burning meal!

B) Strategy Supplements: Justin will work with Doug and I on specific
supplements we have currently in development for MMA fighters and
combat enthusiasts. Virtually all fighters have the same skills now,
the playing field is getting narrowed. All elite martial artists are
getting honed in wrestling, striking, jui jitsu, and the other martial
arts. What will be the difference? Strength/conditioning and to
achieve that....supplements/nutrition. Thats where we come in.

C) Static Strength: This is a line of supplements being developed by
Justin for powerlifters/weightlifters/strongmen. Not only did Justin
win the 2006 JR USA superheavyweight class in bodybuilding but he won
best lifter at the 2007 APF Michigan powerlifting championships with a
total of 2,149 pounds (876 squat, 573 bench, and 700 pound deadlift).
His passion for this area is great and will be shown in the potency
and design of the supplement line. Doug and I will help him bring this
all to fruition.

D) Troponin Supplements: We are all going to work together in
developing products that will create their own separate niche in the
market. The idea is to create supplements that work so well, the
results are so outstanding, that when you hear "Troponin Supplements"
your first notion is the thought "thats the company that makes all the
new cutting edge products". Already we have a 5-8 compounds that arent
even on the market yet that we are researching/studying. Some we might
lose to legality reasons. Some we might lose due to the reasons that
its untested in trials and needs to go thru much testing first.
For example we have a compound that was engineered at a university
many years ago, has been in storage (we have the only existing sample
of this compound) which has amazing bodyfat loss properties (fat
burning will be possible at all times, regardless of what foods you
eat!) in animal studies. It has never been used in humans. Will you
see this in production anytime soon? No you wont, not without a myriad
of testing, but these are the lengths we are going through to study
existing compounds/developing like compounds and bringing products to
the health/fitness/bodybuilding etc markets in the future.

Stay tuned....

Stress and Exercise

2007-11-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

It’s one of the most common prescriptions for the overworked, overstressed modern day executive or overextended stay at home parent.

“You need to exercise!”

But is it always an optimal choice? This generation has seen an overabundance of “heart attack fat”.

Also known as VISCERAL ADIPOSE TISSUE, it shows typically as a beer belly of distension, even if the rest of the body is lean.

Cosmetically frustrating, it comes from an overabundance of the stress hormone Cortisol, which creates this marbling of fat around the internal organs and is a warning sign that nutrition and rest are lacking while stress is NOT!

As a Fitness and Nutrition expert, I’ve often had to send clients home from the gym, as more activity would have been the straw that breaks the proverbial camel’s back. Instead, a focus to charging the batteries has to come first, so we don’t make a beaten body moreso.

Nutrition advice is standard: Essential Fatty Acids, Greens concentrates, Immune boosting whey protein and often digestive support from enzymes complexes and acidophilus; coupled with quality, low fat foods. Each meal a source of good fat, low glycemic carbs and protein to avoid the pitfalls of insulin ( love handle) based fat storage.

Life advice: Heed your sleep patterns and support them with Naturopathic ergogens if need be. Try for the power nap and keep hydration to a minimum 12 glasses clean water/ day.

Exercise for the stressed individual must be healing in nature: Yoga, Pilates, gentle swimming, long distance walks and guided stretching regimes to match their posture hurdles ( use your chiropractor for this).

Now in a nutshell, Hans Selye, the father of “STRESS” study, taught us that there exists a General Adaptation Syndrome ( G.A.S.). In other words, if we become physically resilient to exercise stress, we’ll become physically resilient in the face of emotional stress, financial stress, etc.. Our hormonal response won’t be “heart attack levels” of cortisol, etc.

That said, exercise tolerance is a progressive overload principle. Once you can handle 3 exercises ( use a Fitness Professional in making your choices: there is indeed a hierarchy of choices for optimal and safe time spent ), you move to 4 exercises until a typically successful pattern of whole body workouts 3x/ week with stretching and cardio added, is reached.

At this point in time, we have made our bodies physically resistant to stress and cosmetic reductions in belly fat become obvious.

So the take home message: Be ready for exercise before you think adding more exertion to your life will heal your stress based woes. Use professional guidance in your choices for stretching to exercises to frequency and volume of workouts. We rarely can be objective with ourselves and our bodies.
Keep doing good things for you!
“Coach Mike”

My Year of Conferences in a Nutshell

2007-10-28T12:15:00.000-05:00

Dr John Berardi's G-Flux in Ottawa: (http://www.precisionnutrition.com )

- 2 days of this man talking and not a bored soul in the house. Sat
with Krista Schaus' hubby Pete and her protege/ trainer Susan . . top notch
discussions.

- The take home message (to wa-a-a-ay oversimplify), is that athletes
have shown us that high volumes of frequent exercise provide the
impetus for an elevated metabolism when alternated with frequent
feedings. Adequate recuperation measures are a given to prevent
overtraining, and when those frequent feedings follow successful
tenets of nutrition ( PN . hello ?), JB cranked the athlete's results
exponentially.

- Additionally we had Kris Aiken and Amanda demonstrating the key compound
lifts. Why ? Because as they're the cornerstone to all the athlete's
elevated metabolism after the gym ( EPOC - you go google it), so it
should be your focus.

- So from here came the proof yet again, that JB's base need of 5
hours of activity / week should be a minimum to create a metabolic
elevation of any consequence ( no Yoga doesn't do that - valuable yes -
but not in my books for upping the metabolic rate. . . ."But how come
so many of them are thin ?" . .come look at the mainstream health club
Yoga wannabe's . .not as pretty as the models in the videos ). Make it part of your regime, not your only part . .

Charles Poliquin's BIOSIGNATURE of Fat Storage ( http://www.charlespoliquin.com )

- Had the pleasure of attending this one with Krista Schaus in Toronto. A
good 30 of us for a few intensive days of pinching fat on each other's
body and realizing that wherever you store it the most, reflects your
internal hormone of hurdle.

- Love handles and Upper Back Fat mean trouble with carbs and insulin,
distended tummies ( the beer belly) mean whacked adrenals, soft pecs
in mean or pudgy triceps and hips in women usually mean trouble with
estrogen: testosterone ratios. lean upper body but heavy thighs ?
Could mean your GH levels need a tweak.

-Charles provided us with dietary, training and supplement protocols
that address each of these and more but was quick to point out, it's
the ratio of each skinfold to one and other and unless you've done a
good 2000 clients' skinfolds, don't be too quick to call the shots on
your own. I agree.

- That said, yours truly did his own transformation using JB's
guidance of diet and exercise and added R-ALA, Fenugreek and extra
Fish oil for the love handles and Phosphatidyl Serine and an Adrenal
healing Gemmotherapy of tinctures for the distended tummy and dropped
8" from the midsection over 5 months, despite a few hurdles of health
along the way.

Take home message: G-Flux + PN Nutrition + Biosignature tweaks = a
whole mess'o success

Disruptive Coach's note: Foods from the blood type list are rearing
their head again as successful with three competitors I've trained
recently . .so had I added that to the above equation ? Might things
have been even better ?

Alwyn Cosgrove and The Hierarchy of Fat Loss ( http://www.alwyncosgrove.com )

- I had the pleasure of spending a couple days in Arkansas working
with Alwyn and others at the JP Fitness Summit. Alwyn's take home
message was simple:
you're a regular Joe, working full time to overtime, have family and
life obligations and are not from the gene pool of Schwarzenegger . .
.so what do you do with the little time you can get in the gym to
maximize your fat loss ?

- Superset compound movements- go google Barbell complexes
- Perform High Intensity Interval Training for your cardio
- Whether you perform your cardio in the morning on an empty stomach
or after your bacon and eggs, you've still burned the same calories/
day and eaten the same calories/ day . .and in fact you risk some
muscle loss. So short of spending $ on BCAA's, Creatine ,
Beta-Alanine, etc. for pre- fasted cardio training . .forget about it.

Chad Waterbury and the Motor Unit recruitment hierarchy
( http://www.chadwaterbury.com )

- Still living it up in Arkansas with the top guns, I had the pleasure
of spending some time with Chad and hearing how to maximally recruit a
muscle and when to stop a set. To skip some serious neurophysiology,
let's answer:
a) Explode your concentrics but under control ( of course )
b) Stop the set as soon as you lose form or speed as the prime movers
are shutting down
c) Failure to do so can result in "synergist compensation" patterns
developing and you basically teaching the body to use the wrong
muscles for the right movement ( and injuring yourself)
d) Pick a load that hovers around 80% of your 1RM- fast twitch types
will likely die off at 3-5 reps and slow twitch trainees 6-9

Dos Remedios and using Olympic Lifts
( http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1587252 )

- One very big , big man who trains as many as 200+ carded athletes at
a time, Dos is the NCAA's Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year.
-Dos rubbed our noses in the fact that he had university athletes
training SO freaking hard in power cleans and deadlifts, that they had
abs while living on Mac and Cheese and Jello shooters ( he doesn't
advocate it, but what he was trying to drive home, like JB in Ottawa
or Alwyn and Chad for that matter, was that the most productive choice
is always frequent use of compound big movements.
-All of us who thought we had mastered the lifts were torn down by Dos
showing that Olympic lifts and Power lifts should never be self
taught, even by top gun Trainers and Coaches.
- On a side note, Dos with all his size is a vegan that lives pretty
much on Mexican food: Bean burritos being a mainstay . .I hate my
genes

Zig Zeigler and the kinematics of the foot ( not boring ! - please read) ( http://forums.jpfitness.com/motion-dna-tv-fitness-ground-up/22810-introducing-zig-zeigler.html )

- Here's where we learned that every contraction in the body's muscles
while standing, could be traced to an initial contraction around the
big toe.
-Zig proved the value of flat footed training ( which is why Dave Tate
and the top lifters are in Chucks intuitively )
- More importantly to me, was the science behind NIKE FREE's which
muscularize the feet, ankles and shins by merit of their flat,
flexible sole mimicking being barefoot . .
-SINCE SO MANY OF MY CLIENTS SWITCHED TO THESE SHOES I HAVE SEEN KNEE
PAIN DISAPPEAR AND HIP ALIGNMENT IMPROVE WITHOUT CHIROPRACTIC AID . .I
LIVE IN THEM

Charles Staley and Escalating Density Training ( http://www.staleytraining.com/ )

- I learned more hanging out in the hallway, during a band training
workshop, with Charles and the top guns than I did the bulk of a
conference.

-Charles, simply by merit of years in the game, and his gift for the
vernacular, could dish out quotes that rattle you to the bone.

"We tend to recognize New Research too quickly. It's quite easy to
criticize methods in place but harder to improve upon them"

"Guys assume that everytime they touch a weight, there's going to be
improvement"

-On Coaches and the protocols they pick for their clients:
"There's a fine line between having a conscience and having balls"

"We need to work from a performance based paradigm not a pain based one"

"Misinformed trainees assess workout effectiveness by pain"

"Most trainees are not as Elite as they think they are"

-Escalating density means just that. You attempt to do more in the
same period f time; be it via sets, reps, less rest interval, more
weight . .but there's always improvement. This escalating density
creates a constant impetus for results or change in the body.

Bill Hartman and Upper body ( Shoulder especially ) training: ( http://www.billhartman.net/blog/ )

- You better be brushed up on your anatomy, physiology, kinesiology,
functional neurology and kinetic chain reactions of movement before
even trying to keep up with Bill . . (but , for those of us that
did, it was another workshop of excellence, bar none.

- A couple high points included, the need for total assessment before
starting any "misfiring or misalligned" client's regime ( that would
be nearly all )- and the need to refer to orthopaedic or chiropractic
for that assessment.
-Scapular mobility: Y-T-W-L, Scapula wall slides, Scapula pushups,
face pulls, foam rolling and mobility drills . .coupled with adequate
pectoral flexibility will equate to a healthy glenohumeral socket.
ie. Good shoulders= strong training, pain free living for a long time.
-Because of the "lock' of the scapula, Bill performs weighted pushups
instead so as to facilitate the co-ordinated upper back mobility.
-Bill, with weight vest and chains did indeed perform a 300+ pound set
of pushups . .he looks the part.

Greg Roskopf and the tenets of Muscle Activation ( http://www.muscleactivation.com )

- late summer in Toronto, the annual CanFit Pro conference comes to
town attracting many top gun presenters. 3 days and over 5,000
attendees to the Waterfront metro Convention Center makes for quite
the sight of fit bodies with notebooks and training gear.
- Greg is the pioneer behind Muscle Activation- basically the healing
of poor movement patterns from tight joints where misfiring
musculature has pulled the body out of its' correct firing pattern.
-In a nutshell, when a muscle at a joint is inhibited ( let's say the
hamstrings at the hip joint as a hip extensor), the other muscles at
that joint work double time to stabilize the joint, purposely
overfiring to stop you from moving with an unsound joint ( in this
case, the hip flexors tighten up)
-Common reaction is to try to stretch a tight muscle, but the folly
being you temporarily destabilize the joint further, so the body tends
to retighten quickly, making the attempt moot.
- By gently stimulating the inhibited muscles with sets of 6 reps, at
10 sec. each , 10% exertion, they re-awaken.
- As the opposing muscle group reawakens ( hamstrings), the reciprocal
group ( hip flexors) quiet down and joint mobility returns as the
muscles around it are back to normal firing.
- Basically it makes a strong case against aggressive stretching to a
troubled joint and the case again for muscle testing by a licensed
professional to dictate what needs addressing. Remember, tight hips
can affect shoulder posture, so the trouble isn't always where the
pain or problem is, right ?

Paul Chek
-Also presenting at the CanFit was Paul Chek (
http://www.chekinstitute.com/articles.cfm )
- I'm not ready for the Paul of today. He's an analytical physicist by
nature that tries to analyze the religions, environmental hurdles,
energy medicines from Chakras to accupuncture, to pheno / genotypes and
their response to the evolving exposures to food supply and
technological pollution . .all under his paradigm of statistical
analysis.
-His material of old on the kinesiology of exercise and core
activation pioneered the way for many of today's top guns authors such
as Gray Cook and Stu McGill . .but the new stuff . .while I'm sure
he's onto something giving credit to the extremes fo metaphysical
healing . .it may be premature to do so with such pious vigour
(Could I have been more politically correct ?)

Dr. Len Kravitz and Metabolism of Fat burning
( http://www.drlenkravitz.com/Pages/articles.html )
- Dr. Kravitz, a professor from University of New Mexico has a
fascinating website analyzing his two passions: the fascilitators of
metabolism and esteem issues and how they affect the individual's life
quality and physical abilities
-In a nutshell, the gem to come from Dr. K was the significance of
activity outside of the gym and it's significance to being a fat
burning animal ( echoing the G-flux tenets of Dr. Berardi )
-NEPA or Non-Exercise Physical Activity; like walking to the store,
running for a bus, shovelling snow all the way to fidgeting and
chewing gum contribute much more than we realize to our BMR or the
number of calories we burn per second while at rest . .
-The take home message is get off yoru ass and move whenever you can . .
-I understand the newest is the treadmill desk, or a work station that
allows you to work at your computer while walking slowly as opposed
to sitting . .crazy as it sounds, many a etired senior gains new zest
for life as they start walking programs. You have nothing to lose but
bodyfat.

Justin Harris of Troponin Nutrition and diet / training ( hard core)
( http://www.troponinnnutrition.com )

-This one was a passion for your Coach. Despite a road trip to Detroit
frought with stress and a vehicle well outside his comfort zone . .and
given that I look like Dog the Bounty Hunter's cousin, so border
crossing was no picnic at all . . it was to be time spent with the big
boys.
-Held at the Power House Gym n. of Detroit, Justin at 6' 2" or so and
about 275 lbs of solid muscle, is the nutritionist currently used by
world powerlifter leaned out, Dave Tate ( following Dr. Eric Serrano
and Dr. Berardi's successes respectively ).
-Justin is a big proponent of Carb cycling; that is to say, eating a
diet higher in starchy carbs and fat free proteins on 2-3 training
days/ week when you need the exra carbs.
-Justin is big on adequate hydration and sodium to facilitate
absorption of the carbs into the muscles. Their "taut" fluid retained
state provides the base for heavy load training on those days.
-Days off of heavy training are focused on proteins, veggies and good
fats such as nuts, seeds, avocados, olives, oily fish, fish oils,
borage oil , etc. to improve hormonal response to training and
improved insulin sensetivity. Like Dr. Poliquin, Justin gives a nod of
approval to improving carb tolerance with things such as R-ALA and
Fenugreek or excess stress hormone with Phosphatidyl Serine.
- Justin and many of the big guys enjoy the tenets of DC Training as
purported by trainer exceptonial Dante Trudel (
http://www.intensemuscle.com ).
-At the end of the day, be it Nutrient timing as mastered by Dr.
Berardi or Carb cycling as purported by Justin Harris . .it's all
about managing carbs and fat and insulin response to avoid getting
into a fat storage climate.
-The strong point to carb cycling in my books, is that it forces the
trainee to rotate foods in their diet ( trainees can be horrible for
eating the same thing day in and out developing allergen responses), the
tough thing being low carb intake is rough on training days where
there are simply proteins, fats and carbs.

Pick a system . .follow it to a tee for 8 weeks . .judge for strengths
and weaknesses . . change or keep it.
It really is that simple

Well folks, there in a nutshell (a big nut shell), are the basics of
my year of upgrading to be the Coach you love to bug. It's always a
pleasure to make a difference . .here's to knowing it's a big one !!

Yours in health
"Coach Mike"

The Latest Fat Burning Cocktail

2007-09-23T12:36:00.000-06:00

BOTTOM LINE:
Caffeine 250 mg
Arginine 6g
Soy Isoflavones 200mg
L-Carnitine 1.5g/ kg diet

Sounds like adding Soy isoflavones to your NO EXPLODE and topping up the carnitine may crank the fat burning potential

2007 American Society for Nutrition J. Nutr. 137:2252-2257, October 2007

Nutrient Physiology, Metabolism, and Nutrient-Nutrient Interactions
A Combination of Caffeine, Arginine, Soy Isoflavones, and L-Carnitine Enhances Both Lipolysis and Fatty Acid Oxidation in 3T3-L1 and HepG2 Cells in Vitro and in KK Mice in Vivo1

Shinji Murosaki2,*, Tae Ryong Lee3, Koutarou Muroyama2, Eui Seok Shin3, Si Young Cho3, Yoshihiro Yamamoto2 and Sang Jun Lee3

2 Research and Development Department, House Wellness Foods Corp., Itami, Hyogo 664-0011, Japan; and 3 R&D Center, AmorePacific Corp., Giheung-eup, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 449-729, Korea

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Murosaki_Shinji@house-wf.co.jp . To develop an anti-obesity agent containing dietary components, we focused on the mechanisms that enhance both lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation.

Caffeine and arginine (CA), a nonselective adenosine-receptor antagonist and an inducer of lipolytic hormone, respectively, were used to stimulate lipolysis.

Soy isoflavones and L-carnitine (SL), stimulators of carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A and a cofactor for ß-oxidation of fatty acids, respectively, were used to enhance fatty acid oxidation.

Effects of a combination of CA and SL (CASL) on lipid metabolism were studied in vitro and in vivo. During 3T3-L1 differentiation, lipid accumulation was significantly lower in cells treated with CASL (50 µmol/L, 1 mmol/L, 1 µmol/L, and 1 mmol/L, respectively) compared with each alone.

Lipolysis was also significantly greater in 3T3-L1 adipocytes treated with CASL (50 µmol/L, 1 mmol/L, 10 µmol/L and 0.5 mmol/L, respectively) compared with each alone.

In addition, treatment with higher concentrations of CASL (2 mmol/L, 1 mmol/L, 10 µmol/L, and 1 mmol/L, respectively) significantly enhanced ß-oxidation in HepG2 cells.

The effects of CASL-containing diets (250 mg, 6 g, 200 mg, and 1.5 g/kg diet, respectively) were studied in vivo. When KK mice were food deprived for 48 h and subsequently refed a fat-free diet for 72 h, hepatic triglyceride (TG) accumulation was significantly lower in mice fed CASL compared with the control mice.

In addition, after obese KK mice were fed a low-fat diet for 2 wk, adipose tissue weights were significantly lower in those fed CASL, but not CA or SL alone, compared with the control mice.

Plasma and liver TG levels were also lower in mice fed CASL than in the control mice. These results suggest that CASL is effective for controlling obesity.

Motivation ? Sometimes we need to be told

2007-09-16T08:48:00.001-06:00

If this doesn't do the trick, I really don't know what will . . .

Steroid Documentary: HRT for Men ?

2007-08-27T10:54:00.000-06:00

Thought provoking to say the least . .a strong reminder of the need for medical support if you choose this route- for sure !

Steroids
Uploaded by Tech9

More DC Training

2007-08-27T10:43:00.000-06:00

And you question the effectiveness ?

BFTO 2006 David Henry part 2
Uploaded by serbmarko

DC Training

2007-08-27T10:41:00.001-06:00

I've really been enjoying the short burst of high intensity RP training afforded by the DC system. As long as there's adequate warm up, this is well worth a try- especially for those with an older training age:

BFTO David Henry Part 1
Uploaded by serbmarko

CanFit Pro 2007: Bands, Chek, Muscle Activation

2007-08-20T14:13:00.000-06:00

Hey guys !

I'm back . .

What a terrific line up at this year's show.
First off I ran into more PN members, an entourage from Nunavut, U of Toronto Alumni, CanFit members, the Nutrition House gang and Fitness Professionals I've corresponded with. . .a real pleasure to hook up with you all !

Paul Chek . . .and I'll preface this by saying, his old material on strength and conditioning and core activation is gold material . . .but Stu McGill and JC Santana ( trainer to Strongmen, MMA fighters and elderly alike) both showed the TVA should be braced and not drawn in . .leave your belly button where it is.

We did a workshop with JC where we held our arms out as if to hold a pistol.
At this point we grasped elastic tubing held taut by a partner about 10 paces to our right . . .
We moved a little left to right with our midsection braced and things fired great !
As soon as we tried to "draw in" . .everything shut down and referent pain was often unbearable.

Take home message- hold your midsection tight.

Now my GOLD moments came from following Greg Roskopf around like a rock groupie for two days, through all his workshops.

Greg is the pioneer behind MUSCLE ACTIVATION
http://www.muscleactivation.com

Rather than try to summarize it all, here goes my best bullets at the highlights of an incredible science that would compliment ART, Chiropractic and even trainer protocols:
When we are unstable, like standing on ice, we reduce our range of motion and protectively hold to the midline of the body
Muscle weakness does not equal instability, muscular imbalance about a joint does. 400 pound benchers may be "tight" from imblanaces
Pain or tightness about a joint is your first sign that "half" the muscles are grumpy and overworking to hold that joint while the other half are inhibited
An example of this would be hamstring tightness ( a hip extensor)

Traditionally a trainer would look and say, "Hmm, tight hams . .let's stretch them"
. .but that does nothing to stabilize the joint and obviously doesn't hold

Whereas, if we were to activate the hip flexors ( inhibited right now- possibly by stress/ trauma/ overuse or faulty gait ) via the MAT protocol of isometrics of 6 x 6seconds at only 10% exertion, it will re-awaken the communicating fibers to bring the hip flex or back to life.

These communicating fibers are called INTRAFUSAL FIBRES and are slow twitch by nature ( hence the low load + higher duration of contraction ).

Pushing too hard will make the bigger motor units kick in which likely are compensating muscles ( wrong muscles for the right movement) . .hence the value of this screening prior to explosive stuff like the Waterbury programs of recent.
Intrafusal fibres are innervated by gamma neurons- they tell the muscle to fire or the opposing muscles to relax
Extrafusal fibres do the work told by the intrafusal via gamma neurons
If we overload an inhibited muscle ( the intrafusal fibres are carrying the messages), bad compensation patterns occur by the synergistic muscles
Can you see the error in forced reps yet ? The guys all talking about train until you lose speed or form are really onto something
The co-ordination of alpha-gamma co-activation means messages and contractions/ relaxations are in synch
Maintaining this successful co activation is the key to maintaining muscular efficiency
Now for those of you who kept reading . .here's the GOLD . .
Potentiating your reflex activation via the intrafusal fibres will override your tendency to shut down the prime movers via the golgi tendon reflex

In other words, the loads you lift won't shut you down so soon, if your muscle are firing correctly . .

So what are the signs of misfiring ?

Obviously pain, lack of symmetry between left and right or loss of range of motion (ROM )

New gem: Chronic Low Grade Inflammation will always affect the slow twitch motor neurons and create misfiring or injury potential.

Know what ?

Every one of your tonic ( posture) muscles are slow twitch in nature . .so if ever there was a case for fish oil, rest, recuperation, anti-oxidants, tyrosine, GABA, 5-htp, Taurine and everything else that replenishes to reduce the low grade inflammation - now's the time.

So in other words, if you're inflamed at the knee- it's global and making you move like crap and use the wrong muscles in compensation patterns through the whole body . .got it ?

Fix it ! . .Gamma motor neurons . .the wiring for your "check engine light" . .are slow twitch and get screwed by the inflammation.

As for JC Santana- good stuff but like Dave Tate, too much elastic/ band work did a real number on my left elbow and shoulder joints . .but very cool stuff used in moderation ( not three 90 minute workshops)- look it up.

Paul Chek has a course called Eat, Drink and Be Healthy . .
He ranted on about religious wars, our definition of God, had us chant "Ohhhhhhhm" to activate a chakra . .criticized women who at 36 had not had children thus screwing their Ying/ Yang and challenged the males to ejaculate on a patterned basis . . .ummmmm . .OK

I liked the Muscular Activation stuff . .go see a practitioner and get a report card of what's working and what isn't on you before you do real damage.

http://www.muscleactivation.com/main.html

Here's to 4 days of great learning as usual . .hope to see more of you there next year

MAXIMIZING FAT LOSS THROUGH EXERCISE

2007-07-02T11:57:00.000-06:00

MAXIMIZING FAT LOSS THROUGH EXERCISE

If you've been reading this site regularly, you know by now that the most successful dieters tend to:

* Eat several small meals/ day
* Have protein at each meal
* Use supplementary fish oils
* Keep their starches to early morning or post workout
* Have fresh fruits or veggies at each meal (organic)
* Try to keep their beverages calorie free ( green tea and fresh water )

Exercise wise though, it's a product of training smarter and harder NOT volumes of overtraining.
If there's one thing I teach my every client, it's that you can't out train a bad diet.
So if fat loss is your goal, what's going to create the greatest metabolic disturbance ? That's to say, what will elevate your metabolism, not just while at the gym but after your workout as well ?

1. Resistance training is the number one way to promote year round elevated fat loss and love the body your in as it takes shape. it not only shapes the body so it's lines are pleasing but the added muscle burns more fat than you had before, 24 hours/day, 365 days/ year. The possibility for wrong choices or injury is there, so choosing a trainer to set your routine gives you the educated, objective coaching needed to guarantee success.

2. H.I.I.T. stands for High Intensity Interval Training and has been scientifically proven to not only raise your metabolism for 36-48 hours after you've left the gym, but to also improve one's abilities to handle carbohydrates; using them for fuel as opposed to storing them as fat. It's known as improved insulin sensetivity and comes as a result in part by increasing your proliferation of GLUT-4 cells. Basically, you pick a piece such as a stationary bike, sprint for 10 seconds and pedal normally for 50 . .repeat this for up to 12 minutes on do so on days that you're not lifting weights.

3. N.E.P.A. stands for Non Exercise Physical Activity and you'll be amazed at all the extra calories you can burn in a day when the effort is made. We typically vie for the closest parking spot, take the escalator, watch our kids play, etc.. But with conscious effort, we can easily spend an extra 500 calories/day moving about. Remember, 500 calories x 7days / week = 3,500 calories or 1 pound of fat extra / week. That's 12 pounds gone by summer's end even without #1 and #2 above ! Examples include:

* Park at the farthest spot out at your local mall or even better, walk there
* Take the stairs everywhere; especially if you're carrying shopping bags
* Play with your kids- don't just watch !
* Walk to the gym ( and skip the treadmill- pump iron !)
* Adopt a pet and start the twice a day walks and play
* Become a big brother or sister and join the festivities

Look at all the good your doing for heart, soul and the environment . .all while becoming a better, healthier you !

Here's to your successes, in the gym and out.

All the best
"Coach Mike"

Scale fluxes explained

2007-06-17T13:35:00.000-06:00

Here's a great piece I found by
Dr. Melina Jampolis, author of
The No-Time-To-Lose Diet.

Basically it outlines the reasons the scale can flux so dramatically in one day, especially women:

You were thirsty
For every 16 oz of fluid you consumed, that's an immediate gain of
1 pound

You need to poop
Time to reintroduce your Greens+ and fibre . .but being backed up can cause a weight retention of as much as
2 pounds

You're on vacation or a traveling executive
Air pressure changes in flights that take 4 hours or longer will actuallly increase fluid retention typically to the tune of
2 to 3 pounds

Pizza ? Chinese ? . . or perhaps you join the Coach in Ribfest season
Have a high sodium dinner and whoooo boy- you'll likely find yourself waking up heavier by
2 to 3 pounds

That time of a month ? Or are you a sympathetic expecting
Dad-to-be ?
Hormone fluctuations for up to a week leading into your period, or for the guys truly connected to their wife's pregnancy, expect a water weight gain of up to
5 pounds

So, if you're a thirsty, constipated, frequent flier, with a penchant for pizza and heading to that time of month, expect a quick shift in the scale of up to:
19 pounds !!

And to all the guys that thought Micronized German Creatine was impressive for fluid retention . .HA !

Rants from an experienced trainer

2007-06-03T09:42:00.001-06:00

As I play catch up with my clients from being off ( see appendicitis trip), I've been forced to train during the busy times.

Being in the free weight area during peak flow, you get a real sampling of all the idiotic things still done common place . . here's making sure you're not guilty of any of them . . in no particular order.

1. Doing a standing quad stretch beween almost every exercise

There's about 3 guys who do this regularly . .some curls followed by quad stretch . .bench press . .go to the water fountain and then do a quad stretch . .WTF ?

Icing on the cake ? . .he did a set of squats and proceeded to do a doorway pec stretch . . sheeeesh

2. Curling in the squat rack

I know this has been beaten to death but really ! Can you not deadlift your curling weight from the floor ? Consider it a superset:
A1. Deadlift curling weight to stand 1 x 1
A2. Standing BB Curl 1 x 10
A3. Negative only deadlift w/ curling weight back to floor 1 x 1

(repeat for 3-5 cycles )

3. Believing you should do your favourite bodybuilder's magazine routine for massive quads

I'll leave this to the inimitable wit and insightfulness of Alwyn:
"Are You Advanced?
by Alwyn Cosgrove

You have to be advanced before you do an advanced program. A 140 pound 14-year-old kid doesn't need Jay Cutler's program, just as a JV basketball player doesn't need an NBA All Star's current routine. Most of the time, people are looking for advanced routines before they're ready. Just because you've posted on a website 5000 times doesn't make you advanced. Think about it."

4. Junior trainers forcing their trainees onto the BOSU . .for damn near everything

I'm not a big proponent of open kinetic chain training to start with- balance is a proprioceptive process from the ground up, not the abs down . .
Mike Boyle and Eric Cressey et al have put out numerous pieces on the value of unilateral training . .on terra firma . .

Here's Poliquin on the BOSU use:

""Entertainment Training"
by Charles Poliquin

The BOSU ball? The BOSU ball is a Swiss ball for morons! For one thing, when you stand on it you're always bowlegged. Why do you want to get into a position that's not good for your knees and ankles? What about doing it on one foot? So what, then you have to reduce the load! I call this "entertainment training," not strength training. And any time I see that horseshit, I want to kick the personal trainer in the head with a pair of steal-toe construction boots."

5. Trainees that spend 1/2 an hour doing crunches in hope of core strength . . and visibility

Real core strength comes from maintaining a braced midsection ( you'll notice I didn't say vaccuumed ) during compound big lifts.

"Top Ab Exercises
by Chad Waterbury

The best ab exercises are: deadlifts, overhead presses, cleans, rope pulls, overhead figure 8's, and pull-ups with a dumbbell between your feet. Not the exercises you were expecting? Isolation abdominal exercises don't induce enough stress compared to high-load compound exercises. It all goes back to load. Focus 75% of your time on performing the aforementioned exercises. The other 25% of the time should be spent performing hanging pikes, decline sit-ups, inch worms, side bends, and cable crunches."

Real core visibility comes from a clean diet and correctly timing your carbs ( if you deserve them )

"Get Lean, Then Eat Carbs
by Charles Poliquin

People are kidding themselves about how many carbs they need. There's a difference between a mouth and a vacuum. Forty to fifty grams per day of good carbs is plenty for most of the population. That's why there are so many fat dieticians and personal trainers. Nutrient timing makes a difference, too. A lean 200-pound man can keep his leanness eating 250 grams of carbs a day, if 200 of them are taken post-workout and the other 50 grams spread throughout the day in low glycemic carbs. Remember, I said "stay lean," not get lean. Get lean first if you want to eat carbs. The leaner you are, the more carbs you can eat"

6. Preworkout "MEGA RIPPED CUTS" and during workout "NO EXPLODE, VACULARIZING PUMP ENHANCER"

Yeah right . .and you try to explain the value of real world foods that actually do the trick and it's deaf ears on lil' Johnny . . big tummy, little arms, a Gold's Gym Y-back tank and Westside skull cap. He reads Flex and MMI . .and knows better.

Lest I remind all, from JB himself:

"More Good News About Fish Oil
by Dr. John Berardi

Data from the University of Western Ontario shows that fish oil supplementation increases lean body mass (during non-dieting conditions),
increases BMR (by up to 400kcal/day),
decreases inflammation,
and improves the ratio of fat/carb oxidized (sparing carbs, burning fat). Recommended dose: start with 6-10g per day of total fish oil (assuming 30% EPA and DHA)."

7. Vegan bodybuilders who are convinced we're all on our way to renal failure . . .you don't even have to ask them . .they'll tell you

. . .and heaven help our hapless beginner who looks at the vascular vegan in his pious rant . .and confuses his genetics . . or the fact there is a difference from a functional eating style to an optimal eating style.

Sure there are numerous cases of healthy vegans who have made all the efforts necessary to make it work . .but it didn't mean it was optimal.

Once again I turn to our good in house guru:

"Your Kidneys Are Safe
by Dr. John Berardi

Some physicians still believe that high protein diets cause kidney dysfunction. This is FALSE according to everything science now knows to be true. This presumption states that if you take a healthy person and put them on a high protein diet, the protein will negatively influence the kidney. To this end, there's absolutely no data in healthy adults suggesting that a high protein intake causes the onset of renal dysfunction. There aren't even any correlational studies showing this effect in healthy people. Any studies that show a correlation between renal dysfunction and protein intake are in those with some type of pre-existing kidney disease."

8. Trainees that focus on the weight lifted . .and OBVIOUSLY not the form used . .we really do laugh behind your back

Yes Arnold used cheat curls . .and Mike Mentzer forced reps ( although if you've been reading Chad Waterbury's lessons on FF Motor units, you'll shy from these too ).

You're not Arnold or Mike . .please go back to point #3

Here's Dave Tate on it:

"Work on Technique!
by Dave Tate

We should all be working on technique. It can always get better and will always need reinforcement. Have you gained weight? Guess what? Your technique will change! Lose weight? Get stronger? Get weaker? Injured? Tired? Time of day? Day of week? There are hundreds of things that will affect technique. Just about every sticking point can be attributed to a breakdown in technique! So why aren't you spending time working on this?"

9. Guys doing DB Kick backs . . .with a belt on . . and gloves

Usually it's because (they say), they're attempting to etch the definition into their 13" arms . . .so they're ready for the beach in 30 days . . .chances are it was from an article in Men's Health . . or Oxygen

"Best Triceps Exercises
by Mike Robertson

The close-grip bench press, coupled with dips, should be the backbone of any triceps program. The close-grip bench is excellent because it's very "real world." When you bench press your arms are deviated away from the midline of your body. On the other hand, when you push things in real life, usually your arms are in tight to your body. Another great thing about this exercise is that it can be performed in all the bench variations. You can do close grip presses on a flat, incline, or decline bench."

10. Put your F#@*ing weights away . .and the DB's in the rack where they belong

It ain't my job . .I didn't do University, Post Grad and continuing education to rerack your 100 pounders for you . . used in power factor lockouts . . with gloves, wraps, straps, belt and partner assists . . sheeeesh

10 min. w/ Poliquin Top Gun Krista Schaus

2007-05-17T17:54:00.000-06:00

The Poliquin Performance Center in Toronto, Canada is right around the corner from my own gym, GoodLife Fitness.

It only took half a year of being neighbours for me to catch up with Krista ( ironically the first time was when I was driving into work and saw a petite blonde walking along a rough downtown street at 5am . . "She's crazy" I thought, . .but as I wheeled to take the corner I saw it was none other than Krista- ex-cop and powerlifter . . ."she'll be fine. . . ".

Krista's been a shining star for Charles at his new Toronto center and agreed to share some of the secrets that make the PPC's turn out so many success stories

1) Krista, you've had the chance to spend about half a year now living
and teaching the Poliquin methods at the new PPCenter here in Toronto.
What were the biggest evolutions or alterations to your programming
style ?

Assessing and prescribing proper exercises and their progressions for structural imbalances. More specifically - Peterson step ups and more Peterson step ups, rotator cuff and trap 3 work. I also learned more in the area of Energy Systems Training specifically using Monarch bikes but many people hate it. I still believe that the best energy systems work is the one the individual client will actually do when not under your supervision. I know the bike is the safest and most "user friendly" for the vast majority of clients, but I would say 90% of my clients hated it (if you are doing it right, you likely will not enjoy it) and would never do it on their own.

2) Charles is the king of tweak when it comes to supplements
addressing genetic challenges. What are the most common ones you
prescribe ?

I have been prescribing fish oils for years and Charles confirmed and strengthened how vital this supplement is for fat loss, performance and overall health/wellness so that is a primary one. PPC also makes magnesium (Ubermag specifically), Vitamin E (Perfect E) and a broad based gender formulated multi (Compete Multi and Metabolic Enhancer... rotating between these) part of the PPC core supplements. Beyond that we would add one or two depending on the client's Biosignature results. Common ones were Phosphatidyl Serine, DIM Avail, Poliquin's new Insulinomics and some non-PPC supplements such as Gemmo Therapy or H9/H12, both of which are Chinese formulations that have a strong cleansing or detoxifying effect. Plus, almost all our clients did an HCl challenge before any supplements were prescribed to ensure they were actually able to absorb what we recommended and not wasting their money or time and they would get maximum results.

3) As we chatted today, you and I both lamented the irony of how much
being a trainer challenges your ability to train yourself- less sleep,
more supplements and careful vacillation of training loads. What have
you done personally to maintain both career momentum and training
success in your self ?

I used to get 8 hours sleep before working in Toronto as my business was home-based. In Toronto most my days entailed waking up at 4:30 am to start work at 6:00 am and went to 6:00 pm. I tried to be in bed by 9:30 and would end my day by light reading rather than TV watching. But that still meant 6 or 7 hours sleep and over time the deficit will affect your body, strength, body fat etc... I would do yoga, Chakra balancing exercises, meditation and deep breathing where I could. I found a good shiatsu massage therapist (John Werynski at Rosedale Roots to Health) who Charles actually saw many times, I found an amazing osteopath who used to work with Cirque in New York, I took advantage of our gifted ART practitioner at the PPC and ate as well as I could. Of course I took many PPC supplements that I previously was not taking to assist with sleep and hormone balancing such as Yin R-ALA, Ubermag in the evening and Metabolic Enhancer. As I approached CPU Powerlifting Nationals in March, I doubled my intake of most of my supplements and tried to be done work by 4:00 pm. I also got on a meal plan fro the month of March and 3 meals and 2 snacks were delivered to my work each day. That was treat (thanks to a generous client who sponsored it for me - Thanks B-Line!).

But, all in all, balance is still absolutely vital for peak performance. Working 12 hours days 5 days a week, no matter what "balancing methods" you invoke, will still ensure you do not get optimal results. I still felt weaker at Nationals. I had a personal best bench press at 170 lbs (raw, no bench shirt), but my squat and deadlift were not where they should have been. I find the squat is the most negatively affected by less than ideal conditions prior to competition.

On the plus side, I gained quite a bit of lean mass while at PPC with my body fat levels slightly higher (came in at 12% and hover around 13-15% now) and my other lifts are all up. Overall strength has improved and I am much more structurally balanced. I attribute this to three things:

1) More balanced and sport appropriate Poliquin programs with reps staying in the relative and absolute strength range (as a powerlifter with 10 years training experience should be)
2) The use of all the thick handled accessories, DB's and bars
3) The use of BCAA's at every training session which I previously did not use. I used ICE until Poliquin recently came out with his own BCAA's that do not have sucralose (capsules)

4) The Biosignature is only as good as the tester is with the
calipers, that said, do you believe a visual assay of where someone's
dominant fat storage will still work or are bad caliper readings
better than no caliper readings ?

I have been pretty good with visual assessments or pinching certain areas but once you get into the nitty gritty of an athlete or more advanced trainee you need the qualified tester with good quality caliper devices. PPC clients get their BioSig once every month so you will not necessarily see a significant change in sites visually so the calipers are necessary. You can maybe get away with a cursory visual guess if you are only seeing someone once or for the first time - plus it is just that, a guess. I can grab someone's subscap vs tricep for a rough estimate of thier carb tolerance; I can grab a suprailliac to see if they are lying about carb intake; I can grab or see easily if someone has cortisol issues - but the magic of BioSig is in the correlations and the axis etc... There is much more to Biosig than their body fat or what hormone is their dominant problem.

Bad caliper readings are probably worse than no caliper reading. Depends how you define "bad". If you are recommending supplements based on caliper readings, better get good ones and get good at it. Until you get good at it (though experience), nothing wrong with doing it for general monitoring of body fat but remember it is all about results. So why do something "badly" and recommend the wrong supplements or protocols. You are better off to use your tools, abilities and experience that you are confident in and know are good. Nothing worse than a case of "cognitive dissonance" where you are going into territory that you know you are out of your league in. It is the higest form of anxiety. So avoid it. If you are confident in your abilities - go for it. If you know you suck - go get better.

5) What have you encountered to be the most dominant biosignatures in your clientelle ?

Cortisol and insulin without a doubt. Remember most of my clients are Bay Street executives - lots of business travel, long work days and weeks, deadlines, big money deals, dog eat dog environment, social business outings with bad food and alcohol, sleep issues, not enough quality time spent with family... Estrogen and liver issues also (due to city pollution and other toxins).

6) More sleep or more supplements ? Which is more anabolic in your opinion ?

More sleep without a doubt but when that is not possible the supplements will help counter the negative effects and improve the quality and quantity of sleep.

I have a client who is a slow responder, has not been pleased with the pace at which her results are coming. She works 6 days a week, commutes daily in crappy TO traffic, works 12 hour days in a stressful job. She went on a vacation, had a great time, go lots of sleep and when she came back I could SEE the difference. She looked leaner, lighter, more vibrant, happier, healthier. That spoke volumes.

7) Rant on any garbage supplements or ones that you just don't see
working for anyone

No rant on any specific supplement, but if you do not BELIEVE the supplement will work, it will not. I strongly believe that much of the effectiveness of any protocol is from the placebo effect. The brain is the most powerful tool in achieving any goal or making anything happen. I think sometimes we rely on supplements too much and neglect the fact that eating good food that you enjoy, and training hard (you have to like whatever exercise you are doing to some extent also) and living a balanced life (hey, take some time to laugh, breath, do nothing!) ranks at the top of my recommendations.

8) I know Charles often refers to Traditional Chinese medicine,
speaking of liver and digestive health as the route for hard to heal
injuries. I encountered this as my appendix was just removed and a
chronic elbow tendonosis of 4 months+ cleared almost immediately. What
progressions do you use at the PPC for addressing inflamed joints ?

No standard answer - depends on the joint, the history, the client etc... but we have used everything from high doses of Glutamine, high quantity and quality of fish oils, H9/H12 for elbow pain (related to liver issues) and proper exercise protocols and progressions (ie VMO and hamstring strengthening for knee issues). I have seen a severe case of meniscus almost completely cleared after 3-6 weeks of ART, Peterson step ups, hamstring work and PPC core supplements protocols. I too have seen chronic elbow pain disappear after a round of H9/H12.9)

9.) Finally- I understand the Toronto's loss is Burlington's gain, and those wanting to work with the Top Gun Herself, will have to follow you west of the city. What's next for you ?

I have a few possibilities I am investigating, but nothing is finalized at this point. I consider myself an adult educator and have a mosaic resume so I can do a variety of things and often do all at one time. I still am on the Ontario Powerlifting board of directors. I coach a women's powerlifting team, Defining Strength and Power out of Southern Ontario. I am working on my degree and WILL write a book someday and WILL get my Masters maybe even PhD one day (even if I'm 80). I would like to enter politics and/or down the road address the inconsistencies, lack of accountability and professionalism in the fitness industry that currently exists. I would also like to explore my more spiritual / artistic side and get back into art, do more yoga, learn more about meridians, Chakras and how the body is an integrated system. I won't go on... I fear the rest of this list myself.

Regardless, you'll know. One thing I don't do well is stay under the radar :-). I am not really a private person as you know.

For me life is one never ending episode of The Amazing Race - a learning experience, self discovery process, tour of duty, roller coaster ride and dream chasing excursion. No matter where it is, what the job title is, how long the position is filled - it will always be just one step in front of the other on the journey. Always enjoy the journey.

Thanks Krista- always a true pleasure and I'll look for you at the symposiums.

THE APPENDICITIS PAGES

2007-05-10T11:20:00.000-06:00

THE APPENDICITIS PAGES

Not to be outdone by fellow Precision Nutrition moderator Kris Aiken whose appendix went on him Saturday night
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/me...ead.php?t=6809
, yours truly had his own appendicitis attack Monday night !

I had been dealing on/off with some GI issues and was blaming everything from my love of curry and jerk to overdoing BCAA's or Magnesium.

NOT SO

Had a workout Monday and was gurgling in the stomach at a peak . .got home looking like a human bagpipe and around midnight, woke up Mrs. Coach and said, don't tell Junior . .I'm going to go to emergency at the local hospital and have this checked. Hopefully it's nothing

LIFE LESSON: Squeaky wheel gets the oil . .typical polite Canadian, I sat there quietly while screeching other's had their stubbed toe looked at . .12 hrs passed and a CT scan . .immediate surgery and woke up in Recovery Tuesday night, minus an appendix.

So it's Thursday- I got home last night after a laproscopy . .3 stab wounds through the gut . .one cutter, one grabber and one camera .. and it pretty much feels like 3 stab wounds . .and the pumping me full of air is no picnic either . .but incredibly amusing to the male animal as it passes today

As I sat in the hospital room bored out of my nut yesterday, blog thoughts came to mind. Here's a few:

1.Having core stability and strength compromised, I now realize how truly dependant gait, posture, strength potential, etc. depend on core strength. Right now all is pooched and I get it . .I really get it. I will be doing more planks, side planks and isometric hypers once better ( Bill Hartman, Stu McGill . .you're right . .I get it now ).

2. Stuck hunched over sucks - I regularly preach to my charges, the hazards of the "computer desk slouch posture" - in fact a great two piece article by Tony Gentilcore and Jimmy Smith are up at t-nation right now on this. But in this slouch, you can't stand up straight, your back aches, your rotator cuff doesn't rotate . .I feel like a car out of alignment . .
So if you're overtraining pecs and abs and neglecting your posterior chain . .smarten up . . .this sucks

3. Health Foods Work - I had a few pre-bouts of GI upset leading up to this and blamed spicy foods to supplements. My surgeon was a fascinating guy into integrated ( read: Natural and Medical ) approaches to healing. He concurred that despite the severity of this final attack, my use of GI health supplements regularly such as acidophilus, glutamine, greens+ and enzymes, likely kept it localized and not ruptured.

That said, the Coach is now downing all the above along with oral and topical TRAUMEEL, Wobenzyme, Arnica and BCAA's to speed recovery.

4. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone (temporarily ):
On a roll with my bodytransformation for the summer- abs coming out and muscles taking shape, I was pumped . .then boom . .it's tough to walk and avoid weights for the coming weeks ( even forearms and calves doc ?? ). 1 day post op and I'm out of breath trying to walk the hospital halls.

Updated take home message: Next day I'm already bouncing back. My hospital roomates were worse off even though staying 3 days post op (see point 3 ).

PS: Hospital Food is an oxymoron - overcooked, nothing raw, pudding, cookie, tea, potatoes boiled down to their base sugar . .as soon as I got home, I started everything from point 3 above.

5. Listen CLOSELY to your body's complaints- My TCM Accupuncturist has always driven the point home that pain in one place can mean problems in other parts. I had been suffering inflammations far too grand in scale to the sources of strain.
"If you have inflammations through the body", George would explain to me," chances are it's the body calling out for help over other issues".

Old solution: Ice, NSAID,DMSO, "work around the injury" . .in other words, try to silence the message and get around it ( do the life lessons ever stop ? )

LIFE LESSON: Had I gone to my GP regularly for checkups and he listened to my gurgling gut and prodded the area for distention ( which I believed was stubborn bodyfat ), I would've gone in for the same operation but not in the middle fo the night, unprepared via the Emergency ward.

Interesting Side Note: 2 Days Post op . . . diseased appendix removed, my chronic elbow pain of months is gone. Man . .oh man.

Future Plans: Ironically I was a contributing author to AGING SMART , where myself and other authors all spoke of the need for regular assessment ( beyond strength gains and fat loss you muscle heads ).
England's medical system is fascinating in that the whole medical profile is encouraged . .the MD, ND, Homeopath, Chiro, RMT all give their feedback and an integrated plan is developed.

I do this with my car ( a Cobalt at that for crying out loud )- fluids, allignment, tires, transmission, brakes, etc . . .
Time to plan the same with me . . .ounces of prevention are so much easier to deal with.

So I'm off work until Monday and hope to be moving well then . .think I'll get some practitioners on side to keep the feedback going.

Would that a trainer could train himself objectively.

Sleep, a busy brain and Magnesium +

2007-05-06T15:11:00.000-06:00

Back in October of 2006, I enjoyed working under Dr. Charles Poliquin and learning his Biosgnature protocols.

One of the things I have always been plagued with is a "busy brain" at bedtime. I'm already solving tomorrow's problems before they come. We could say I have a busy sympathetic nervous system.

One of the greatest "stacks" for both healthful benefits and "coming down" at night for me, has been Dr. Poliquin's YIN STACK. I highly recommend anyone dealing with the same, look up Dr. Poliquin's site and look into his "Catecholacalm" supplement for it's postive management of the stress hormones.

Here's a great piece on it:

The Yin Stack
Date: Saturday, June 03 @ 21:34:39 EDT
Topic: Supplements

The balance of Yin and Yang is a lifelong challenge for all of us. Read this article for details on balancing the Yang of strength training with a full stack of Yin.

The Yin Stack
By Charles Poliquin

Readers of Eastern philosophy are familiar with the dual concept of “Yin” and “Yang,” two primal, but complementary forces representing the feminine and masculine elements of the universe.

If Yang is fire, Yin is oil. The more oil you’ve got, the more Yang you can put out.

Strength training is a very “Yang” activity. To balance our commitment to strength, the following stack will build your “Yin” reserve for “burning” in your next “Yang activity. Among other things, you can use the following stack to help your nervous system to calm down in the evening:

Magnesium glycinate 450 mg - strength athletes who are experiencing elevated catecholamines are often insulin resistant. Insulin resistance retards cellular uptake of magnesium. It is crucial to use highly absorbable chelated forms of magnesium such as glycinate. In regards to catecholamine metabolism, magnesium demonstrably suppresses the release ocatecholamines by the heart, which is an indirect index of sympathetic efferent neuronal activity. Ultimately, magnesium calms the nervous system and makes us less irritable under stress.

Taurine 3,000 mg - Along with GABA, taurine is recognized to be a major inhibitory neurotransmitter, specifically acting as a modulator of GABAnergic function. Increasing your taurine intake increases expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase, the enzyme responsible for GABA synthesis.

Phosphatidyl-choline 1.5 g - This one completes the stack by helping the nervous system to calm down by diminishing sympathetic nervous activity. I learned about the usefulness of this supplement for promoting weight gain from Robert Crayhon. Detoxification of neurotoxins requires that the cell membrane is nourished with balanced essential fatty acids (4:1, plus HUFAs) and supportive phospholipids. Phosphatidylcholine is the most abundant phospholipid of the cell membrane and is hepato-protectant. Consider the fact the liver has 33,000 square meters of membrane area, it is crucial to protect it against toxicity and infection. Furthermore, it detoxifies xeno-estrogens.

Take the aforementioned stack twice in the evening - once at dinner and the other time with your bedtime snack. The quality of your sleep will improve as your sympathetic nervous system activity will calm down. Better yet, you may feel more balance between your Yin and Yang.

Back and Hips fixed from the feet !

2007-04-29T11:44:00.000-06:00

At the JP Fitness Summit 2007, we had an excellent presentation from kintics and kinematic analyst extraordinaire, Zig Zeigler.

The giste of what Zig got across, is that between rubber flooring and gel filled shoes, we've set up such a prophylactic environment, that the thin filament muscles that insert through our feet and ankles, which should be like reactive steel cables to the ground and our foot strike are quite the opposite.

Typically misfiring and underdeveloped, leading to knee and conversely hip, thoracic and even shoulder problems. he advised investing in barefoot training ( not new but re-emphasized from Vince Gironda in the 50's, whose dance training led him to this intuitive practice.

Near equally effective, explained Zig, are the Nike Free shoes that rather than buffering the feet and ankles against the ground, force you to use the foot musculature.

I purchase a pair and after wearing them for a day, was intrigued to find my left calf and right hip muscles ( which make sense in a juxtapositioning, lines of force paradigm ) were both re-activated and feeling the corrective effect.

So in an unbiased consumer test with no sponsorship, I'm wholeheartedly recommending all invest in these at least to work out in so as to develop the kinetics from the ground up ( contrary to wobbly surface training . .another rant for another day ) to promote postural chains of interactive strength and reactivity.

Fish Oil again !!

2007-04-22T11:00:00.000-06:00

Greater intake of fish and omega-3 fatty acids linked with reduced cognitive decline

In yet another study to find that fish and omega-3 fatty acids help maintain mental acuity, researchers from the Netherlands found that older men who consumed fish experienced significantly less cognitive decline than men who did not eat fish.

The researchers, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the Julius Centre for Health Sciences and Primary Care, and Wageningen University, evaluated data from 210 men aged 70 to 89 who were enrolled in the Zutphen Elderly Study, a prospective cohort study of men born between 1900 and 1920 in the Netherlands. Participants were examined in 1985, and cognitive function testing was conducted in 1990 and 1995. Dietary questionnaires completed in 1990 were evaluated for fish intake, fatty acid content, and other factors. Men included in the current investigation were free of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer at the beginning of the study.

Twenty-four percent of the men did not eat fish, 41 percent consumed up to 20 grams per day, and 35 percent consumed more than 20 grams. Although there was no difference in their cognitive function in 1990, men who did did not consume fish experienced a subsequent five-year cognitive decline four times greater than that of men who were fish eaters. When omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA were examined, there was a dose-response relationship observed between intake and cognitive decline. Men whose intake placed them among the top one-third of participants experienced significantly less cognitive decline than those whose intake was in the lowest third.

"The current study provides evidence that a combined daily intake of approximately 400 milligrams omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids EPA and DHA is associated with less subsequent cognitive decline in elderly men," the authors conclude.

Note: this was originally released at the Life extension website. I encourage all to frequent it:
http://www.lef.org

It's one of the better magazines for referenced material on optimall health and longevity

JP FITNESS SUMMIT 2007: ALL THE SECRETS !!

2007-04-16T06:58:00.000-06:00

The JP Fitness Summit 2007: so much info ! . . .so many TOP presenters

Rather than summarizing everyone's material, I'm going to try to give you the gems so you can create the most effective routines possible.

I think the BIG NEWS came as Chad Waterbury explained Motor Unit recruitment and muscle growth. .

I'll try to pare it down to simple:

1) We have 3 types of Motor Units - small, medium and large and they tend to innervate muscle corresponding in size . .small, medium and large

2) Once a motor unit stops firing, so does the muscle . .you're no longer training it ! ( re-read that). AND the failure occurs biggest to smallest.

3) So in a bench press, when the big motor units stops firing, so do your pecs . .so your bench now start to bear down on delts, tris and rotator cuff . .keep that set going and the big delts shut down and now you invite injury as the rotator cuff, small muscles around the forearm and core try to keep control of the weight.

4) YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED THE SET WHEN THE FAST/ BIG MOTOR UNITS STOPPED FIRING

5) How do we know when this is ? . .movement speed is directly correlated to the MU firing . .so when your movement slows . .stop the set ( re-read that ) . . .
...this means we want speed (under control) in our concentric . .1-3 sec depending on range of motion of course

6) By using 80% of 1RM, you're pretty much guaranteed they strength and hypertophic response you want . .the cool thing is this system is autoregulating ( think about it )
Fast twitch guys will fail at 5 reps, slow twitch guys will keep the speed up for 12 reps

For muscle growth you want to hit a rep total of about 24-36 reps/ muscle
So the fast twitch guy naturally ends up doing 10 x 3 and the slow twitch guy keeps his speed longer and does 3x12

NOW BEFORE WE RUN OFF AND OVERDO IT . .

Step in Bill Hartman . .the Orthopaedic trainer/ guru that did the Inside Out DVD with Mike Robertson.

"Until a client can perform:
Plank: 2 minutes
Isometric held hyperextension: 2 minutes
Side Plank: 90 sec.
They are not allowed to load more than 20% of their bodyweight in external lifting"

This pretty much supports the view held by Back and core guru Stu McGill.
But HOLY SMOKES . .best not neglect that core training !!

Charles Stayley and a few of us were chatting in the hall and he kept spitting out quotes of note, but to this he added:

"Most people are not as elite as they think they are"

and

"Guys assume that everytime they touch a weight, there's going to be a benefit"

Guys, that's two very important take home messages !

Bill and Charles both concurred with Chad, that as soon as movement loses speed, or technique, stop the set, regardless of thee predetermined number of reps you wrote down . .you've accomplished the growth stimulus.

FOLLOWING THE ABOVE ADVICE BY THREE TOP GUNS WILL PREVENT OVERLOADING THE CNS AND THE INJURIES AND HORMONAL DEPLETION THAT ENSUES.

So how much is enough in training ?

Coach Dos Remeidos was bugging some of the crowd's bodybuilding officianados ( and Alwyn Cosgrove at that ) at how JACKED his football players became on a simple split of whole body 3x/week or push/pull split with hip and knee training 4x/week . . without diets.
Average workout had 3 sets/ movement plane taken to TECHNICAL/ SPEED failure.

Charles Stayley pointed out this was the beauty in using Olympic lifts ( in perfect form !) as you know when movement speed has dropped even 2% . . you miss the lift of course !!

ALL the top guns agreed for functional protection and development, unilateral movements must figure strongly at all times !

In fact Motion DNA TV host and kinesiologist, kinetic/ kinematic guru Zig Zeigler proved to us all ( and Orthopaedic guru Bill Hartman concurred) that in every movement . .even a curl, the big toe contracts first . Yep, that's right.

In fact much of the knee, hip, low back, upper back, shoulder and even jaw problems were proven due to lack of strength or mobility or a balance of both bilaterally through the ankle and foot.
( sounds almost like a plug for djmad's z-health doesn't it ? )

The take home point: Training barefoot or in Nike Free's will aid in rebalancing and correcting all the flaws above . .

Sort of makes sense though when you think of a shifted house . .the upstairs window won't slide open ? Working on the window doesn't fix it . .reestablishing the house's footing will.

Now once we've fixed the foundation, Bill Hartman's explanation of using a practitioner to check lumbo sacral alignment, thoraco-scapular health and shoulder function, only makes sense. You should only drive a car that's roadworthy . .otherwise, take your time to fix it first . .before driving it.

Check my PN interview with the A.R.T. gurus at this site( or the link below) as they substantiate this:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/me...ead.php?t=6257

MORE IS NOT BETTER . .when you've achieved the rep totals and followed the routines- adding an extra arm day or more cardio or more whatever invites lack of recovery. . . and every presenter intimated:

"Workouts stimulate change, recovering from the workouts create change"

Alwyn Cosgrove's current article at T-nation, THE HIERARCHY OF FAT LOSS:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1526539
pretty much summed up his point . .make the most of the time you have.

The real world for many is 3 hrs a week to give- so pick the activities that will stimulate the greatest return for burning fat and building muscle first . .and add on as you develop better time management:

1) Activities that burn calories, maintain/promote muscle mass, and elevate metabolism (weights . .esp. supersets)
2) Activities that burn calories and elevate metabolism (HIIT)
3) Activities that burn calories but don't necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism (Regular energy systems work)

Now preceding this point, Alwyn tried to beat into everyone's head, that all the science and technology behind the above program design, will do F**K ALL if you don't comply to a planned nutrition program.

Can you say Precision Nutrition ? . .or even better- customised and tweaked PN v 2.0 ?
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/me...ead.php?t=6148

To which, top gun Nutritionist Mike Roussell was there to address nutrient timing. All that we've purported here at the forums has been summed up by Mike in his new Naked Nutrition guide. Mike's a great speaker that succinctly lead the group of all levels to get:

Insulin is good PWO
Carb sensetivity allows for starches in most individuals at least PWO if not with breakfast as well
Quick proteins like whey are ideal PWO but slower ones like casein and whole foods are great the rest of the time.
ALL fats are good and should be represented in the diet: each play a hormonal role
Cortisol management via morning carb repletion or supplements will aid in muscle retention and an anabolic state
Protein and good fat should be at every meal except PWO to mitigate insulin or a "glycemic conundrum"

Mike put up a study quote to re-emphasize all of Alwyn's work:

"For a similar energy expenditure, exercise at low workload for a long period does not favour fat oxidation when the post exercise period is taken into account"

Take home point: Slow steady cardio done ad naseum will not burn more fat than a brief intense HIIT protocol.

For those of you that read this all the way through, you're contrary to Lou Schuler's take home point on how and why the fitness mags need to print in disjointed little coloured blocks ( take a close look at Men's Health or Women's Health which Lou edited).
Our ADHD generations want summaries, bolded sentences and pretty colours and pictures and few words or they pass . .so I tried to do what I could given our posting edit options.

Nate Green from T-Nation was there- a great guy to chat with and obviously a strong writer. He concurred on all the hurdles in writing style, images, etc. that he has to go through to keep being published.

So do you want me to take a stab at a template given all the above ?
Here it goes:

Day One:
Inside Out stretches (DVD)
Warm Up: BB complex 3-4 x 30 sec
Horizontal Push (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Horizontal Pull (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Vertical Push (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Vertical Pull (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Rotator Cuff - 3 min
Core - 3-5 min

Day Two:
Magnificent Mobility lower body stretches (DVD)
Warm Up: BB complex 3-4 x 30 sec
Straight legged Calf Work (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Bent knee Calf Work (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Knee Dominant Move (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Hip Dominant Move (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Core - 3-5 min.

Day Four:
Inside Out stretches (DVD)
Warm Up: BB complex 3-4 x 30 sec
Unilateral Horizontal Push (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Horizontal Pull (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Vertical Push (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Vertical Pull (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Rotator Cuff - 3 min
Core - 3-5 min

Day Five:
Magnificent Mobility lower body stretches (DVD)
Warm Up: BB complex 3-4 x 30 sec
Unilateral Straight legged Calf Work (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Bent knee Calf Work (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Knee Dominant Move (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Unilateral Hip Dominant Move (12-18 reps) @ 80% 1RM
Core - 3-5 min.

Energy system work on alternate days as per Alwyn's Hierarchy ( HIIT first !)
Try exercising in Nike Free or socks . .limit support shoes to competition times
Nutrition . .c'mon you guys- PN nailed it . .and I suggest v 2.0 for personal tweaking

Final Note: JP is a class act and the kindest host you could wish for !
His Fitness Summit is an empassioned labour of love and I can't encourage enough of you to start setting aside for next year.
http://www.jpfitnesssummit.com
It's a smaller venue with tons of the biggest names in our industry. The attendees are top notch, class act people that share your passion for knowledge and desire for physical change.
I can't thank JP enough for all the effort he put into this.

And yes . .Coach Mike highly recommends the WHOLE HOG cafe on Cantrell Rd for it's award winning ribs, pulled pork, 6 house sauces and excellent sides. The Catfish grill on University is a close second. Coach rented a red pickup, listened to C&W driving the interstate and was full of ribs and catfish . .when in Rome right ?

Cheers guys !!

10 Minutes with the Healing Gurus

2007-04-11T11:36:00.000-06:00

THE ART OF A.R.T.

Here in Toronto, there exists an oasis of relief for all of us with
chronic exercise pains to postural predicaments. Dr.'s O'Connnor and
Marshall have fixed everything from my squatter's back to bench press
elbow and regularly treat my clients with similar woes. Now these guys
are good. From the diagnostic to the treatment, you know you're
working with top guns. Even Charles Poliquin dropped in for a visit
when in town.

Doctor's, I've had the pleasure of training one of your current
clients, Olympian Martha Henderson of sailing fame, but I know that
doesn't even begin to scratch your roster of who's who in athletics.
How about a partial list of your treated top guns ?

DR.O and DR.M
We've had the privilege of working with some great athletes from a number
of sports. Over the years, we've helped out(treated) Donavon Bailey, Gary
Roberts, Jaromir Jagr, Bryan McCabe and Daniel Nestor to name a few
professional athletes. We also work (and travel) with the National
gymnastics team as well as a number of other olympic athletes.
And don't forget to include yourself in that list as well Mike!!

For those not familiar with how Active Release Therapy works, could
you provide a brief description, and why simple stretching and
chiropractic adjustment won't always suffice ?

DR.O and DR M
Active Release Techniques or A.R.T. is a specific, movement based soft
tissue treatment system that targets the muscles, ligaments, tendons,
fascia and nerves. It is designed to eliminate movement restrictions
within and between those structures.
Any mechanical dysfunction in the body is going to have both a soft
tissue component AND a joint component. While the adjustment can alleviate
the joint component (or restriction), the soft tissue component usually
involves a number of layers and types of tissue. When different layers of
tissue going in different directions are bound together,or when nerves are
entrapped within the fascia, simple stretching won't be enough to free up
the tissue.
A.R.T can quickly target the specific layer and direction of the tissues
involved and remove the restriction and restore normal movement.
We find that by addressing the soft tissues first before the adjustment,
not only are we able to adjust the area easier, but the adjustment holds
better and longer.

And what happens if we leave these injuries untreated ?

DR O and DR M
These "injuries" are mechanical dysfunctions as described above that, if
left untreated will lead to mechanical compensations, faulty biomechanics
and further injury that will be harder to fix. We refer to these injuries
as having 'layers'. The more layers an injury has, the longer it takes to
fix. The deceiving thing is that the individual may not even be in pain
while all of this is going on!! Frequently, the pain occurs only after the
body's compensation ability is overloaded and fails. Fixing the problem
therefore, doesn't just involve removing the pain either. Getting the
person back to a 'comfortably compensated' and pain free state can happen
fast, but the real 'fix' involves removing the layers of compensation and
restoring proper mechanics.

Muscle testing will always reveal inhibited firing patterns. As a
trainer, when I catch clients working "around" movements or using the
"wrong muscles" for the right movement, I know it's time to refer them
to you. How can we tell if we need A.R.T. ?

DR O and DR M
Those are the compensations that we are talking about. Basically any
person who is working "around" movements can benefit from A.R.T. Inhibited
firing patterns revealed by muscle testing are one of the main initial
signs or indicators that compensatory movements are taking place. We
muscle test every patient to determine the inhibited muscle and then use
A.R.T. on the agonist, antagonist, synergistic muscles and related fascia
and nerves to determine where the cause of the inhibition is coming from.
When normal motion is restored, the inhibited firing pattern is resolved.

What are the most common injuries or importantly signs of trouble to
come in weight trainers ?

DR O and DR M

Usually, people involved in weight training are pretty body aware. Meaning they have a good sense of how their body is moving and how it is feeling. They also get a good sense of what is normal and abnormal. Pain must be a sign that you shouldn't ignore. It is also a sign that something is very wrong. The body will always compensate for as long as it can before we consciously feel pain. So, what you need to become good at is recognizing the early signs of problems before they become symptomatic. These early warning signs can be asymmetries in movement (each arm of leg moves differently) or wanting to cheat during an exercise by using a different muscle or avoiding a certain position. These can be indications that you are trying to change your biomechanics. This is what leads to injuries.

We spoke of the depletion of Tyrosine/ Tryptophan and the related
neurotransmitters from chronic inflammation. Could you explain this to
the readers?

DR O and DR M
Tyrosine and Tryptophan produce the neurotransmitters in the brain that
help us deal with pain. These neurotransmitters also control numerous other
aspects of overall body function When pain receptors are not INHIBITED by
properly functioning mechanoreceptors ie. when body alignment is off or
when joint mechanics are faulty, more tyrosine and tryptophan is being
used to deal with the pain. In chronic states ie. chronic inflammation,
chronic pain, chronic stress, chronic mechanical compensation (this
describes half or more of the city of Toronto), tyrosine and tryptophan
can become depleted. In this case we, of course get more pain. BUT...the
health consequences are far reaching. Depleted tryptophan leads to
decreased seratonin and causes anxiety, loss of sleep and depression.
Depleted tyrosine leads to decreased dopamine, GABA, and norepinephrine/
adrenaline. This causes the adrenal glands to become overworked and leads
to increased cortisol production. This cascade of events can cause a
number health problems. Decreased adrenaline causes decreased Ach and
muscle spasms and trigger points.
Cortisol helps the body deal with excess stress and helps mobilize fuel
for muscles and organs BUT can't provide the brain with enough fuel, so
insulin production increases. This drives the body into metabolic acidosis
and causes fat storage in the tissues.
It paints a nice clinical picture. The type A patient who is chronically
stressed out, overweight, in pain, tired etc. and then starts to train
without any direction and does so 4 maybe 5 days a week and can't lose a
pound or worse gets injured!!!
It points to the importance of proper mechanics, balance in life (if
attainable) and proper guidance in fitness, nutrition and structural care.

Other than A.R.T., what modalities of treatment do you typically use ?

DR O and DR M
Obviously as chiropractors, we use adjustments to address the joint
component of proper mechanics. As far as other modalities, we use
acupuncture, which can be used in a number of different ways. Acupuncture
can activate inhibited muscle, inhibit muscles in spasm, stimulate nerves
to fire, and inhibit nerves that are facilitated and therefore reduce
pain! You get the idea, acupuncture is a very versatile treatment and an
excellent complement to the soft tissue and joint work that we do.
We also use low level laser therapy. Lasers stimulate the production of
ATP in the cell. This basically leads to a number of really good things,
like cell and tissue regeneration. They are very effective in decreasing
healing time for damaged tissue. Depending on the wavelength used they can
be very effective in pain control as well.
Another treatment we use is Kinesiotape. It is a special tape that has
multi-directional elasticity and is designed to stimulate the
proprioceptive mechanism in the skin and affect underlying structures like
muscles or blood vessels. Kinesiotape is also an excellent complement to
the tools in our tool box. You can use it to activate or inhibit muscle
firing or reduce swelling. It stays on for 2-3 days and therefore provides
a proprioceptive input or treatment effect to the area involved for long
after the patient leaves our office.
Basically Mike, we're committed to continually expanding our tool box with
whatever modalities and/or techniques we find help us get people working
better, faster.

Any special success stories or tales from the treatment table you'd
care to share ?

DR O and DR M
A couple come to mind.
A few years ago we had this young national team gymnast come to us with
about a 30% reduction in stride length in her right leg that had been like
that for 1 year and was getting worse. Her parents were pulling her out of
gymnastics, but she came to see us as a last resort. She was a classic
example of compensation on top of compensation. For over a year she had
been competing at a high level with basically one leg not functioning.
EVERY muscle tested weak around her right hip. That's a "slight
hindrance" in gymnastics at the national level....at ANY level. Yet she
still found a way to compete at a high level for quite some time before it
became too painful. We've worked with professional football and hockey
players but they don't hold a candle to gymnasts when it comes to pain
tolerance and toughness.
Her hip capsule had become so restricted in all ranges, the hip
muscles(ALL OF THEM) had all shut off and had become bound together.You
should have seen her mechanics not only in her hip, but through her whole
pelvis. We had to go layer by layer down to the capsule to free up that
hip. Through the glutes, through the adductors etc. She was a great
example of someone who was in a lot less pain even though she still had
mechanical compensation. When we got full range of motion after about
7-8weeks (that's along time for us) she relearned how to stride fully and
she was fine. She went on to become a gold medalist in the Commonwealth
Games and go to great school in the US on full scholarship. GREAT KID!!

Finally, the two of you are obviously well established top guns and I
can personally attest to the amazing success you deliver to myself and
my clients. If our readers are in the Toronto area, how can they
arrange treatment with either of you ?

Just call our office at 416-481-7901
We are on the web at www.bayviewchiropractic.com

Thanks guys, a real pleasure . .see you tomorrow for my elbow and
hamstring

Tyrosine: injuries, overtraining and depression

2007-04-08T17:01:00.000-06:00

After interviewing two of Canada's top A.R.T. practitioners this past week, it became evidently clear that injuries and overtraining rapidly deplete our tyrosine stores. This causes a drop in dopamine levels and symptoms of anxiety and depression can rear their head. Real pleasant for the already injured and overtrained trainee eh ?
So without further ado, I'd like to offer a great piece written by bb.com author, Clayton South.

L-Tyrosine.

By: Clayton South

What is it and where does it come from?

L-tyrosine is a nonessential organic amino acid that is a building block of protein. It is an organic amino acid due to the presence of a carbon atom in its makeup.

It is a precursor of the neurotransmitter dopamine, as well as a precursor to the adrenal hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine.1 The body can make L-tyrosine from the amino acid phenylalanine. L-tyrosine rich foods include animal meat, wheat products, oatmeal and seafood.

What does it do and what scientific studies give evidence to support this?

L-tyrosine may help athletes avoid overtraining, due to its ability to offset fatigue.2 Because L-tyrosine is a precursor of Dopamine, supplementing with L-tyrosine may heighten mental alertness, increase feelings of well being, decrease feelings of depression, and offset physical and mental fatigue.3,4

Who needs it and what are some symptoms of deficiency?

Everyone.

Populations in need of L-tyrosine include: athletes, the obese or overweight, and the elderly. Hard training athletes may benefit from supplementing with L-tyrosine as it helps to offset fatigue and stress associated with intense training. L-tyrosine also serves to protect the integrity of the skin. Melanin, a substance which acts to protect the skin when the epidermis has been exposed to ultraviolet light, is derived from L-tyrosine. If a shortage of melanin is present within the body [because of a lack of L-tyrosine], skin defenses will be compromised. Melanin, which is derived from L-tyrosine, chemically reacts with sunlight to form a protective shield that protects the deeper layers of skin tissue.

Because persons suffering from depression frequently have low blood levels of this amino-acid, it may prove beneficial for members of this population to supplement with L-Tyrosine.5 People suffering from neurological degeneracy may also benefit from supplemental L-tyrosine.6

Members of the obese population may benefit from supplemental L-tyrosine. The thyroid is responsible for the manufacture of T-cells. L-tyrosine influences the manufacture of thyroxin [T-cells], which influences basal metabolic rate. Because of this, L-tyrosine may prove effective for weight loss. Individuals suffering from immune system destroying viruses like HIV, AIDS or hepatitis may find supplementing with L-tyrosine to be beneficial. Disease processes that ravage the immune system often induce catabolism, and thus muscle wasting. A loss of muscular protein results in increased for osteoporosis and bone fractures. To retain bodily protein, skeletal muscle, and thus anabolism, supplementing with L-tyrosine may be beneficial.

How much should be taken? Are there any side effects?

At this time clear dosing guidelines have not yet been established, so it is best to do what is known as "tolerance mapping".

Take a small dosage for one week, note the benefits and the side effects, and increase the dosage until the benefits are maximized and the side effects minimized. Over time the two will converge and you will hit the optimal dose. This process is similar to "receptor mapping" for bodybuilders who use insulin and steroids.

Many protein powders on the market are fortified with amino acids, including tyrosine. With this in mind, pay particular attention to how much tyrosine you are ingesting from all sources. No side effects have been reported, although as with any amino-acid, overdose is a possibility. Individuals suffering from psychiatric conditions should consult a qualified medical practitioner prior to the use of supplemental L-tyrosine.

If you do not feel comfortable following the above-described procedure, it is always best to follow the directions as prescribed on the products label.

Where can I get it?

There are many different brand names that manufacture supplemental L-Tyrosine.

REFERENCES

1. Wurtman, RJ, and Lewis MC. Exercise, plasma composition and neurotransmission. In: Advances in Nutrition and Top Sport, edited by Brouns F.. Basel: Karger, 1991, vol. 32, p. 94-109.
2. Romanowski, W, and Grabiec S. The role of serotonin in the mechanism of central fatigue. Acta Physiol Pol 25: 127-134, 1974.
3. Lieberman, HR, Corkin S, Spring BJ, Wurtman RJ, and Growden JH. The effects of dietary neurotransmitter precursors on human behavior. Am J Clin Nutr 42: 366-370, 1985.
4. Banderet, LE, and Lieberman HR. Treatment with tyrosine, a neurotransmitter precursor, reduces environmental stress in humans. Brain Res Bull 22: 759-762, 1989.
5. Gelenberg AJ, Gibson CJ, Wojcik JD. Neurotransmitter precursors for the treatment of depression. Psychopharmacol Bull 1982;18:7-18.
6. Meyer JS, Welch KMA, Deshmuckh VD, et al. Neurotransmitter precursor amino acids in the treatment of multi-infarct dementia and Alzheimer's disease. J Am Geriatr Soc 1977;7:289-98.

Interview: Top Strength Coach Chad Waterbury

2007-04-05T05:11:00.000-06:00

It's my pleasure to have this opportunity to pick the brain of one of the world's leading experts on developing muscle and enhancing sport performance. Author and University of Arizona alumni, Chad Waterbury.

Q: Chad I'm excited to attend your upcoming lecture at the JP Fitness Summit,"How the Nervous System Controls Your Muscles". How about giving us an outline of your presentation ?

CW: Basically, I’m going to outline the science behind motor unit recruitment. There are two primary ways the nervous system works to produce force. The first is motor unit recruitment; the second is rate coding.

As a general rule, the first 80% of your force capabilities comes from recruiting more motor units. The last 20% comes from rate coding. What I’m referring to, however, is non-emergency situations. When your kid is trapped underneath a car, a whole other phenomenon takes place. But I won’t delve into that area with my presentation because it would leave people scratching their heads.

The motor unit recruitment aspect is a little more complicated so I’m going to focus on that. Rate coding can be explained by simply saying the motor neuron sends more signals to the muscles to produce more force.

Finally, I’m going to unleash a bomb on the crowd and bring up a topic that has yet to be addressed in the hypertrophy and strength world. I’m going to make a statement that will be an epiphany to many coaches and trainers. It’s something that they’ve probably never realized in all their years of coaching.

Bring your thinking cap because you’re going to need it!

Q: As an experienced strength and conditioning specialist, I'd like to ask how you differentiate between a beginner and intermediate lifter ? Given hypertrophy as the goal, which programs would you recommend respectively?

CW: I’m glad you asked that question because I covered it in my book, Muscle Revolution. But I’ll say that whether you’re a beginner or intermediate, in my mind, has more to do with your maximal strength levels with compound movements compared to the time you’ve been training.

As a gross generalization, you’re a beginner if you can’t bench press your bodyweight, and if you can’t squat and deadlift 1.5 times your bodyweight. Of course, if you can do all of those lifts with that load, you’re an intermediate.

A good example to explain my position is with Bill Kazmaier. At the SWIS conference a few years back he said that the first time he attempted a deadlift was in his mid-teens. Guess how much he could lift? 500 pounds! So right out of the gate, he was an advanced lifter, even though he never performed any real strength training up to that point.

Finally, proper form is a big component to determine how I categorize a lifter. You’d be surprised how many lifters tell me that they can squat 2.5 times their bodyweight, but when I analyze their form, and subsequently correct it, they are often relegated to dropping some serious poundages. So don’t bullshit yourself. When I mention a 1.5 times bodyweight squat and deadlift as the threshold for being an intermediate, I’m talking about perfect, raw, full range of motion form.

For hypertrophy, I like to have beginners start with Anti-bodybuilding Hypertrophy since it’s an upper- and lower-body split routine. It tends to be better because it doesn’t overwhelm a beginner’s recovery ability. For intermediate, they can start with that program, too. However, I have many intermediate people jump straight into one of my three day per week, total body programs such as Total Body Training, the Waterbury Method, or Hybrid Hypertrophy, for example.

Q: I've seen thin athletes who are incredibly strong and vice versa. Given this, do you feel it possible to gain appreciable muscle size without pursuing strength goals ?

CW: Are you referring to the bald-headed guy with earrings who can bend nails? Yeah, I’ve seen him, too.

You see, the term strength is ambiguous to many coaches. If someone says a guy is strong, what does that mean? Does it mean that he can bend nails? But what if he can’t deadlift twice his bodyweight? Some people have high levels of technical strength, but low levels of total-body strength. I think it’s important to differentiate between the two. To me, I don’t care how great a lifter’s technical strength is if he can’t perform compound movements with an appreciable load. I don’t think elite arm wrestlers, for instance, are necessarily strong. The best ones simply have great technique.

So to answer your question: if a guy is naturally strong, he can definitely get big without solely focusing on increasing his maximal strength. It’s all about the nervous system, as I’ve said many times. If a thin guy has high levels of absolute strength he can recruit his maximal motor units more effectively than the average population. So for him, I’d force him to work for longer periods of time. In essence, I’d have him perform more reps per set.

Q: Fatigue management. The popularity of your programs is near unparalleled but the forums ring with posts of frustrated trainees unable to keep up as the training cycles intensify. My own situation with work and family obligations will always limit me to a 6 hour night of sleep. How would we tweak your programs so we could still benefit from them, when fatigue becomes a regular factor ?

CW: That’s simple: add in an extra day or two of rest with each cycle. Don’t change the parameters; focus on giving yourself more time to recover between workouts if your schedule can’t handle the load.

When I design programs for the masses I must take into consideration what the majority of the audience can handle. For most, my parameters are right on target, but for others, they need to tweak the parameters. Again, the simplest answer is to add in more days of rest.

The other issue, of course, is their nutritional plan. When someone tells me they can’t recover from my workouts I ask them how much protein, fish oil, and fruits and vegetables they consume every day. Usually, the answer to that question elucidates their dilemma. Beyond that I like to focus on recovery drinks and ZMA. Simply put, most people aren’t getting enough nutrients every day. It’s easy to point the proverbial finger at a training plan, but people should really be taking into consideration their nutritional plan and sleep habits. If you can’t get 8 hours of sleep, find time for a 15-20 minute nap. You’d be amazed what a difference it’ll make in terms of recovery.

Q: The debate over static vs dynamic stretching is rearing its' head again. Do you have a preference in choice or timing for application of either ? Times perhaps when you would outright avoid either ?

CW: I’ve never been a fan of static stretching before a workout, and that still holds true. However, I think the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction with regard to static stretching. It definitely has its place! The place I’m referring to is best positioned within an hour after the workout.

The reason why static stretching is bad news before a workout is because it reduces your force capabilities by forcing your muscles to relax. This, however, is a good thing after a workout because it enhances recovery.

Dynamic stretching is best suited for pre-workout drills, or on non-training days. Dynamic stretching activates your muscles, unlike static stretching. So dynamic drills are excellent to prime the nervous system, but they’re not so great for enhancing post-workout recovery if performed directly after a workout.

Q: As a Fitness Professional I feel various exercises have a risk vs return attached to them. Given hypertrophy as a goal, which would rank highest and lowest choices on your list ?

CW: That’s a difficult question to answer because it’s specific to the person. For some, upright rows are bad news, but for others, it can be a beneficial movement. This holds true for virtually any movement. Think of it this way: if you have an injury, it’s never a good idea to perform a movement that overloads those muscles and joints.

Second, you must take into account a person’s skeletal structure. Tall athletes often have problems with traditional back squats because their femurs are so long. This often leads to excessive knee strain. For others, the back squat is one of the best, and least risky movements.

I will say that I’m not a fan of behind the neck presses and leg extensions for the vast majority of the population. The risk to benefit ratio is simply too high. There are much more effective, and safer options.

Q: What would be your top three preworkout and post workout supplements of choice ?

CW: My first choice for pre- and post-workout supplementation is Surge. My second choice is a high-quality whey protein isolate along with maltodextrin powder. My third choice would be whey protein with raisins. I really like the 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein for any of these choices.

As for other supplements, I really like Spike for the pre-workout strength and energy boost. And, of course, we can’t forget about creatine. Everyone should consume 5g of micronized creatine after his/her workout.

I must mention that if someone isn’t taking Surge they should include an additional 4-8 grams of branched chain amino acids with their post-workout feeding.

Q: Are there supplements you just don't see the value in using ?

CW: Ha! I’d say most of them fall into that category. There are so many crappy supplements out there that I can’t even begin to name them all. What I’ll tell you is this: focus on the supplements that I mention in my book, and in my articles. Those are the ones I’ve found that actually work.

Q: I was talking recently with Dr. Berardi regarding my battery of injuries of recent. John said he has gone to warm ups as long as an hour in length in order to maximize workout performance and minimize risk of injury. Given my body's own history of muscular "hissy fits" I've followed in suit. Do you have a preferred protocol for warming up relative to training age, etc. ?

CW: Berardi? Never heard of him. Ah hell, I’m just kidding ya. I do agree with his advice. You can’t go wrong if you spend the time to really prepare yourself for iron combat by thoroughly warming your joints and ramping up your nervous system.

However, I’ll say that most injuries are rarely due to improper warm-ups. Instead, injuries often result from a lack of strength balance around a joint, and a lack of mobility. So if you were my client, you better get out your checkbook because it ain’t gonna be cheap! Nah, I’m just kidding again.

If you were my client I’d take you through my battery of tests to determine what was out of whack. I ‘d test your overall strength ratios and your mobility. Once I do those tests I can hone in on your underlying problem. I’ve developed a kick-ass assessment system since I work with so many fighters. Those dudes all have some sort of serious imbalance because of out-dated, poor training techniques that they typically follow. In fact, I’d venture to say that my assessments is one of the primary reasons why I’ve been so successful in this industry.

You must determine what’s causing a reoccurring injury. Once you do that, and once you know how to correct it, the rest is a cake-walk.

Q: How does your own current routine read relative to your goals ?

CW: As I’ve said before, I typically don’t like to talk about my specific training plan because most people simply couldn’t handle it. Second, my plan is specific to me. Third, I’ve got a really good trainer, right?

It’s kinda like following Ronnie Coleman’s biceps-building plan. It’ll only work if you have his genetics, and if you’ve spent the last 10 years doing everything he’s done.

I’ll offer an olive branch, however, and tell you that my training goal is not to build more muscle. I don’t need anymore, and I don’t want to look like a competitive bodybuilder. For me, the key is performance. Not only do I train elite fighters, but I also train for fighting, myself. My current plan consists of five jiu-jitsu sessions, two MMA sessions, three weight-training sessions, and two total-body strength-endurance sessions each week. In essence, I train at least twice a day for six days a week. Luckily, my jiu-jitsu training takes care of a lot of my mobility requirements so I don’t have to spend too much time improving it.

Q: Finally, new projects, programs or protocols in the works ?

CW: Well, I’m starting the initial stages of my next book, and I’m also talking with some investors about a project that will cater to a lot of people. Is that ambiguous enough? Honestly, I can’t divulge what I’m working on right now because there’s a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo involved. Rest assured, there are some big things on the horizon! I’ll be sure to keep you all privy to what’s going on in my world.

Thanks so much for your time Chad. I eagerly look forward to your presentation in Little Rock. We'll see you at the Summit !

TRIAD TRAINING: The 3 Exercise Workout

2007-04-01T09:05:00.000-06:00

TRIAD TRAINING: The 3 Exercise Workout

Years back, the late nutritionist Don Lemmon
( meal separation school ) and myself wrote an article called Triad Training.

The basic premise was to get to the gym and back out in about 30 minutes while maintaining training momentum and great gains.
In retrospect it rings somewhat of CB's Turbulence Training
and Alwyn's Afterburn except we had foregone the supersetting aspect.

(Both available here: http://www.precisionnutrition.com/members/forumdisplay.php?f=84 )

Currently, a good lot of my clients are eager to keep momentum as we approach the Spring reveal of our bodies but have been overwhelmed by tax time, work deadlines and the 101 life obligations that come with kids, a career and commuting.

Basically we used the old Vince Gironda rep scheme of 12,10,8,6,25 with an unscientific declaration of 60sec. rest between sets. .it could be tweaked of course but it worked so try it unchanged.

Combos included:

Incline Press
Romanian Deadlift
Full Squats

Overhead Press
Cleans
Leg Press

Dips
Bent Over Rows
Step Ups

Pull Ups
Chest Press
Lunges

Check the Exercise Library for full descriptions and pics here:
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/members/exercise.php

Or you can try:
http://www.exrx.com if you don't have access to PrecisionNutrition.com

Stretching and core were relegated to infront of the TV at nights when you had a bit of time.

If you've been stalling, overtraining or are limited by time, a month to 6 weeks of rotating through these is sure to quick start the gains again. Given the short window of time taken, cortisol tends to stay at bay as long as your compliance to good nutrition stays in check.

Go here for a free download of Compliance Worksheet in Xcel
http://www.precisionnutrition.com/members/showthread.php?t=777

Or simply start logging your eating ON THE FRIDGE for you and all to see . .you'll get a sense of when you're on track.

Hope you enjoy !!
~"Coach" Mike

Soy and hormonal health: implications

2007-04-01T07:38:00.000-06:00

In the current T-Nation, there's a great piece entitled:

The Soy Conspiracy
Kaayla T. Daniel, Ph.D. Exposes the Whole Soy Story
by Chris Shugart

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1512419

Basically Dr. Daniel speaks of the insiduous nature of soy in our diets- hidden or otherwise- and the danger's due to its' typically high allergen status and ability to act as a hormonal dissruptor in developing males, or those contraindicated for estrogen exposure ( E+ breast cancer, etc. ).

It reads as an avoid-at all costs, alarmist piece, however, Reuters health ( shown below ), summarizes findings from Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, March 2007, whereby Japanese, who consumed daily amounts of isoflavone/ soy enjoyed a protective effect against Prostate cancer whereas dosing later in life, itseems to accelerate the metastases.

In the former piece, Dr. Daniel points out the Asian intake is actually low, at about 35g/day . .a far cry from the 250g block in my morning omelette.

I won't be supplementing isoflavones but I'm really not sure what daily exposure is beneficial and at what point it crosses to dangerously estrogenic in nature. Noo signs of my femine side showing at this point . . .but I'd love to hear comments or further research on this . .

Soy intake may stave off early prostate cancer
Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:26PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Consumption of the estrogen-like "isoflavone" substances found in soy may reduce the risk of developing early prostate cancer, but isoflavones appear to be associated with advanced disease if prostate cancer does occur, Japanese researchers report.

Isoflavones found in traditional foods that Japanese eat throughout life may be protective against prostate cancer, Dr. Norie Kurahashi told Reuters Health, but we can not recommend isoflavones from supplements to those who don't consume them regularly, "because isoflavones may increase the risk of advanced prostate cancer."

Kurahashi and associates from the National Cancer Center, Tokyo, investigated the association between dietary isoflavones and risk of prostate cancer in a study of Japanese men, who generally consume large amounts of soy products and have a low rate of prostate cancer.

The study, which is reported in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, involved some 43,500 men followed from 1995 through 2004. During that time, 307 of them were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Consumption of isoflavones (principally genistein, but also daidzein and soy foods) was associated with a decreased risk of early prostate cancer, the authors report. Genistein and daidzein, however, were associated with an increased risk of advanced prostate cancer, the results indicate.

The protective effect of isoflavones for early prostate cancer was clearest among men over 60 years old, the researchers note, as was the association of isoflavone with an increased risk of advanced prostate cancer.

"We suggest that isoflavones delay the progression from latent cancer to clinically significant prostate cancer in Japanese who consume isoflavones regularly throughout life," Kurahashi said. "However, we do not know when or how isoflavones affect latent or (early) prostate cancer development and whether isoflavones can be used in the treatment or...prevention of this cancer."

More studies are needed "to clarify what period in life soy consumption exerts an effect against prostate cancer and what type of prostate cancer it can prevent," Kurahashi concluded.

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, March 2007.

10 minutes with Nutrition Expert Mike Roussell

2007-03-30T07:49:00.000-06:00

It's my pleasure to have the opportunity to interview Nutrition Expert Mike Roussell.
Mike, I'm looking forward to your upcoming presentation on "Nutrient Timing" at the JP Fitness Summit in Little Rock. Would you care to outline some of the issues we can look forward to you addressing ?

Yeah definitely. As you mentioned my presentation is entitled "Making Sense of Nutrient Timing". There are a lot of myths, rumors, and theories floating around about nutrient timing especially surrounding carbohydrate consumption. In the talk I'll go into detail about the benefits and drawbacks of early morning carbohydrate consumption. Another hot topic is whether or not carbohydrates consumption during the workout period will stop fat loss. I have a couple really interesting studies that examine that also. Finally, I'll go into the benefits of different types of proteins and fats and the times that these are best consumed.

Now additionally, I understand you'll be releasing your new book at the summit. How about telling us about it ?

Sure. I've just authored my first nutrition manual entitled "Your Naked Nutrition Guide". Nutrition doesn't have to be complicated; in fact it is very simple. Unfortunately nutrition is big business so companies are always looking for the next idea or concept they can tweak to make a buck. As the title infers in this manual I have stripped nutrition down to the bare essentials. The manual is all about results. The beginning section walks you through how to set your physique, performance, and/or health goals so that you have a set target to move towards. Then I lay down the nutritional basics – what I call the "6 Pillars of a Solid Nutrition Foundation". Once the six pillars are explained I lay out how to make meal plans based on proper food choices. From there I give people the option to make their nutrition plan more specific by introducing a serving system that I developed. Counting calories is too much of a hassle and counting serving is much more practical because people don't eat 14 grams of fat, they eat a tablespoon of olive oil. This is the intense part of the manual as I describe in how to create a meal plan and then how to adjust the plan depending on your goals and how your body is responding. I also have a section on supplements and using multiple measures of progress.
I couldn't be happier with how it came out. I sent a couple prerelease copies to friends in the nutrition and fitness industry and the feedback has been great.

And for those that don't make the summit, how will they be able to get your book ?

Well, if they can make the summit then that is the best option as I'm going to be giving the attendees a monster discount. But if they can't make the summit the manual will be available at www.NakedNutritionGuide.com. If you go to www.NakedNutritionGuide.com now and sign up to receive email updates you will receive a special link when the manual gets released to receive free shipping.

Now let me pick your brain a bit. Alwyn Cosgrove has said to look for the common denominators to the experts in the field, not the differences. I know from previous conversations you've said that you share much the same foundations in your approach to diet success as Dr. Berardi and Chris Mohr. What would these be ?

I actually make a similar point in my manual because when you strip nutrition down, you find that the leaders in the field are saying very similar things. For example John, Chris, and I all stress the importance of eating whole foods, consuming large amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and a variety of fats. We all understand and use the principles of nutrient timing to help our clients reach their goals faster. I know that Chris and I have similar feelings towards counting calories vs. portions as I write about it extensively in Your Naked Nutrition Guide and he just released meal planning software based around portions not calories .

OK, assuming I've coordinated my grocery shopping, cooking and meal planning and there's dietary compliance on my part. It's time for me to pick effective supplements. This can be a daunting task for even an intermediate. What would your top three choices be for:

Health- Fish oil, a greens supplement, and a multivitamin. For the multivitamin I don't recommend anything fancy. I think that multivitamins are best used as an insurance policy against vitamin/mineral deficiencies so there is no need to spend lots of money here. Just get something that provides 50-100% of your RDA for most vitamins and minerals. I use ½ a One-a-Day for men tablet each day.

Fat Loss- BCAA, Fish oil, and Hot-Rox Extreme

Muscle Gain- Creatine, Beta-Alanine, and a solid dextrose/whey hydrolysate workout shake (Surge is my shake of choice).

Any garbage supplements or warnings ?

Any arginine/nitric oxide supplements are a waste of money. I haven't been impressed with all the pre-workout energizers that have been hitting the market either. I have been testing out Labrada's SuperCharge but I didn't notice anything drastic. Spike is the only "energizer" that I'd pay money for as with two spike tabs I have laser like focus. Another one is arachidonic acid supplements. I discussed on my radio show ( www.MaxOutRadio.com) a recent study that didn't find any remarkable findings with high dose arachidonic acid supplementation but some people are acting like they are legal anabolics! I think that the risks greatly out weigh the potential benefits of supplementing with arachidonic acid.

It's said that diabetes or glucose management issues are going to reach epidemic proportions in the coming generations. Poliquin's Biosignature analyses has made us aware that our love handle / subscap fat storage patterns affirm this. Indeed Dr. Berardi has even taken to tweaking his successful Precision Nutrition program macronutrients prescriptions by carb tolerance.
What insulin management protocols or techniques do you advocate?

I stress a diet not necessarily low carbohydrate but low starch as the starches are what get people in trouble. It isn't just their glycemic index rating either. I think energy density is a bigger problem. Energy density is the weight of a food divided by its caloric content. Two of the biggest factors that dictate energy density are water and fiber. Here's a great blub from the Mayo Clinic that discusses how these two factors play a role in energy density:

"Water. Many fruits and vegetables are high in water, which provides volume but not calories. Grapefruit, for example, is about 90 percent water and has just 39 calories in a half-fruit serving. Carrots are about 88 percent water and have only 52 calories in 1 cup.
Fiber. High-fiber foods — such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains — not only provide volume, but also take longer to digest, making you feel full longer."
It is so easy to consume 50-100 grams of carbohydrates from rice. Try eating 50 grams of carbs from spinach! By focusing on foods with a low energy density you will automatically control insulin levels. The person most responsible for bringing the importance of energy density to the weight loss (or insulin management) world is Dr. Barbara Rolls. Just plug her name into a search on PubMed and you'll find a lot of very interesting studies.

Another thing is exercise. Exercise is the great equalizer when it comes to glucose tolerance so I don't normally recommend restricting starchy carbohydrates in the post workout window – but as you know there are exceptions to every rule.

Let me bounce some hot topics off you, that tend to generate alot of discussion at the forums, and get your take on them.
Nutritional approaches to managing fatigue or elevated cortisol (the "belly fat" syndrome)

Most of the people I deal with don't need to worry about belly fat but just plain fat. Cortisol doesn't necessarily make your fat, despite what the commercials will make you believe as excess calories make you fat. Cortisol can make it harder to make progress towards your goals because it is a catabolic hormone. The first place I would look isn't actually nutrition but stress. Nowadays everyone is connected every second of everyday. Cell phones, internet, email, TiVo, you know what I mean. It is so important to unplug yourself. Meditation is another great way to reduce stress and cortisol. You don't have to become a monk or anything but 20 minutes of sitting with no distractions and focusing on your breathing will do wonders. Sleep is the next area to focus on. So many people don't get enough sleep; I don't get enough sleep. If a person is having trouble managing fatigue then sleep needs to become a priority. Eight hours is the general guideline but you really need to listen to your body as you might need more than that for a while until you can bring your system back to normal.

Maximizing one's anabolic potential nutritionally?

For this it is important to pay attention to nutrient timing . Proper workout nutrition (simple sugars, hydrolyzed whey, and BCAAs) is a must because it will halt muscle breakdown, greatly dampen cortisol secretion, and send insulin through the roof. We've talked previously about controlling insulin; the is key – control. Not eliminate. Insulin is an extremely anabolic hormone and during the post workout period the benefits far out weigh the risks when it comes to stimulating insulin.

Another important area is nocturnal nutrition. I always get questions about people wondering if it is okay to eat at night. It's not okay NOT to eat at night. At night slow release proteins like cottage cheese and micellar casein dominate protein blends are great choices to keep protein synthesis cranking all night. Morning and night are key nutritional times because you are coming off a period of fasting in the morning and preparing to fast in the evening. This is another topic I will be discussing in Little Rock. Most people are scared of carbs in the morning but people don't realize that you can eat a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, it won't make you fat, and it will do you a lot of good. It will help replenish liver glycogen stores which get depleted overnight and fight off Cortisol which is naturally higher in the morning. I'm not talking about eating 130grams of carbs from oatmeal (that's 1 1/3 cups of dry oats) but the benefits of 30-60 grams of carbs depending on your body size and calorie intake is greatly overlooked in this carbphobic world.

Finally, I couldn't help but notice at your blog, it looks like you've got a real sweet tooth. Your pic from Hawaii shows you, a dessert and a battle royale to follow. Is that your "cheat of choice" ? . .Little Rock is ribs and catfish country you know ?

Ha! Yeah, I let loose a little in Hawaii. I had fries that meal too, can't remember the last time I had French fries. Don't worry…I can put away a rack of ribs with the best of them. We'll have to see about the catfish though.

Thanks for your time Mike. I'll look forward to your presentation and hopefully we can do a follow up interview on the material.

My pleasure Mike. Yeah we'll definitely sit down and talk again in Little Rock.

It had to be said . . .

2007-03-29T12:08:00.000-06:00

W O R D S

A husband read an article to his wife about how many words women use
a day... 30,000 to a man's 15,000.

The wife replied, "The reason has to be because we have to repeat
everything to men..."

The husband then turned to his wife and asked, "What?"

Fish Oil and Healthy Blood Pressure

2007-03-25T10:17:00.000-06:00

Low dose DHA reduces diastolic blood pressure

A report published in the April, 2007 issue of The Journal of Nutrition concludes that supplementing with a low dose of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish and the algae they feed on, lowers diastolic blood pressure in middle-aged men and women.

Thomas A. B. Sanders of King's College London and his British colleagues randomized 20 men and 18 women aged 40 to 65 to receive 0.7 grams DHA derived from algae or an olive oil placebo daily for three months. The treatment period was followed by an intervening period of at least four months during which no supplement was given, succeeded by another three months during which each group was given the supplement the other group had received in the initial treatment phase. Blood pressure was measured, and blood and urine samples were collected and tested at the beginning and end of each treatment period.

Treatment with DHA resulted in a 58 percent increase in the DHA content of red blood cells, accompanied by a reduction in the proportions of omega-6 fatty acids. Although measures of arterial stiffness and endothelial function did not change during the short periods of DHA administration, diastolic blood pressure was lowered by an average of 3.3. mm HG and heart rate was reduced by 2.1 beats per minute after DHA administration compared to after the placebo period.

"A significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure was noted which is likely to be of clinical significance with regard to risk of future vascular events in middle-aged subjects," the authors conclude. "Future work is needed to confirm these findings and to investigate further the effects of DHA on cardiac function.

300 The Movie: Actors working Out

2007-03-23T12:22:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy2ElkOuNF0

Had to share this guys . . .

You want to make your diet work that much better . .apply this training intensity.

Listen closely to the Coach's comments . .seems a case for Escalating Density Training . .chalk one up for Charles Staley

More and more work in less and less time . . .high intensity will always create greater results over long drawn out low intensity . . .but we knew that . .right ?

Static vs Dynamic Stretching

2007-03-22T17:01:00.000-06:00

I often enjoy the writings of Strength Coach Jason Ferruggia. He's really not scared to tell you what's on his mind and recently it was stretching. I've been moving better than ever in my life since adding in the dynamic stretching protocols of the MAGNIFICENT MOBILITY and INSIDE OUT DVD's by top guns Cressey, Robertson and Hartman.
And I've read numerous studies on the superior value of dynamic stretching for maintaining muscular elasticity and explosive power.

Now that said, Jason comes out swinging in defense of the old school static stretching.
As usual the truth may lie in the middle,but I'll continue with what's working for me right now.

Here's Jason Ferruggia's rant:

“There is absolutely no correlation between static and dynamic flexibility.”

Uhh…ok, sure.

Then why is that dancers and martial artists stretch until they are blue in the face every day of the year?

I remember a funny (not humorous in the least, but funny) little strength coach used to try to prove this point to be true by saying that he knew a martial artist who could kick Shaquille O’Neal in the head but couldn’t touch his own knees. Of course this is a ludicrous (not Ludacris) statement and like everything else that ever came out of his mouth was a complete made up lie.

What about if a guy could do a split but was not a martial artist? Yes, the first time he attempted to kick someone in the head he might be at risk of injury because it is a new range of motion and is an explosive movement he is not used to. But he is going to fair far better than my fat uncle who hasn’t stretched since glutamine was still a popular supplement that supposedly helped build muscle… wait, is glutamine still a popular supplement that supposedly helps build muscle? God help us.

Anyway, it’s no different from a 600 pound squatter who has never done a plyo exercise in his life, attempting to do five sets of depth jumps off a four foot box. Maybe he should technically be able to do it, but it is a brand new stimulus and something he has never done before so the risk of injury will still be very high. This is not a good enough reason to throw static stretching out the window.

They say that static stretching has no carryover to the playing field. Again this is ridiculous. The best way to gain flexibility is to train flexibility and the best way to do that is by doing hours and hours of static stretching just like a dancer or martial artist. If your hamstrings are about as tight as the virgin, Connie Swale and then you stretch the shit out of them for three months straight you are going to feel a lot better both on and off the field. If you tried to break out into a sprint with your extremely tight hammies, there would be a good chance of pulling or even tearing them. If, three months later, you possessed the kind of flexibility that would make a Cirque Du Soleil performer jealous, I guarantee you that your chance of a hamstring injury will be greatly reduced and your recovery time will be drastically improved.

If a running back can do a full split, is that not going to improve his ability to safely and efficiently hurdle an oncoming tackler? According to some misinformed people who are trying to trick you, said running back would tear his hamstring to shreds attempting that move because static flexibility has no correlation with dynamic flexibility.

If I gave you a list of pro athletes who do numerous hours each week of static stretching and even participate in (dare I say it?) yoga or ballet, you would see that their incidence of injury is very low. Coincidence?

If you are over the age of thirty you may remember a wide receiver named Willie Gault who was a Chicago Bears wide receiver on the '85 Super Bowl team. He was known for being a dancer and doing tons of static stretching. He was never injured and was also the fastest man in the NFL and even had a tryout for the US Olympic Team. Coincidence?

A common problem that many people encounter when squatting is that their ass “tucks under.” This causes a great amount of undue stress on the lower back. The reason this happens is because the hamstrings are too tight and thus pull on the pelvis causing it to rotate. As you descend in the squat, the hamstrings lengthen. When they are too tight they can only go so far. The cure for this problem? Static stretching.

Useless? I think not.

For chronically tight areas like hip flexors and piriformis, there is no choice but to static stretch. You can do all your little kicks and leg swings from now ‘til Chingy or Young Cheesy or whoever comes out without a record that can touch anything ever done by Public Enemy (eg. ‘til eternity) but it’s not gonna do a damn thing to help. The only way to improve those areas and to lessen the lower back pain that can be caused from those muscles being tight is to do a whole lot of static stretching.

The Top Five Ways To Lower Testosterone

2007-03-20T17:36:00.000-06:00

Caught this piece in an old post at Charles Poliquin's site. None of us wanting a lean, healthy, muscular body can afford to follow these tenets . .take heed !
"Coach" Mike

By Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS
Nutrition Director, Poliquin Performance Center

Years ago, I read an interesting article on fat loss in a nationally known, health-oriented magazine. The reporter had the unique idea that it would be really cool to follow around someone who was a complete expert at gaining fat. Then, all you'd do was watch what they did and do the opposite. Voila - a prescription for fat loss!
So, they followed around some Sumo wrestlers.

Sure enough, these guys knew how to pack on pounds.

For one thing, they'd skip breakfast.

Then they'd train, eat a huge meal and take a nap.

Finally, after the evening workout, they'd completely pig out on McDonald's then go to sleep. They were strong as oxen but they needed assistants to wash their backs cause they couldn't reach around their own 400-pound girth.

This got me thinking. If you want to lower testosterone, look at the things we know that are guaranteed to raise it, then do the opposite. For all of you who want to bring down your testosterone levels, here's the prescription. Follow it, and before you know it you'll find yourself talking knowledgeably about who Jessica Simpson is dating this week.

The Rules for Lower Testosterone

Number One: Eat a really low-fat diet. Studies show that limiting fat to 10 percent or less of total calories will take your testosterone levels right to the basement. You'll especially want to avoid monounsaturated fats, omega-3's and all those other pesky fats that keep your heart healthy and reduce inflammation. Who needs 'em?

Number Two: Don't eat protein. A study of 1,522 men ages 40-70 following low-protein diets had decreased testosterone and lower sex drives. Research also shows that athletes have higher testosterone levels when eating meat-based protein, so make sure to stay away from that. Remember, Tibetan monks live quite nicely on exclusively vegan diets. Of course, they also don't reproduce, but who cares?

Number Three: Don't lift weights. Who needs 'em? They only make you muscle-bound. Plus, they increase T-levels. According to William Kraemer, a well-known kinesiology researcher at the University of Connecticut's Human Performance Laboratory, weight lifting sets the stage for testosterone to act as a muscle builder. Who are the worst offenders? Big compound exercises that train several large muscle groups at once (squats, dead lifts). If you must lift weights, stick to the little "beauty bells", keep the weight to less than six pounds, and try to listen to the Carpenters Greatest Hits while pumping out sets of 20.

Number four: Try not to sleep too much. Testosterone, not to mention growth hormone, is produced during deep, restful sleep known as REM sleep. If you can just manage to wake up every few hours, or make sure you toss and turn a lot, or better yet, just sleep a couple hours a night, you'll be sure not to be raising either hormone.

Number Five: Drink up! Alcohol can definitely inhibit production of testosterone, not to mention what it can do to performance. Think: "I don't know, honey, this has never happened before. Must be the booze". 'Nuff said?

Burning calories: other than exercise

2007-03-19T12:19:00.000-06:00

So straight out of The Compendium of Physical Activity Tracking Guide ( University of South Carolina, 2002), I had to share these facts about burning calories beyond the gym.

Based on a 160 pound individual and 30 minutes of Activity

Here's the number of calories you will burn:

Watching TV 37 cal

Having Sex 47 cal

Bathing the dog 128 cal

(Pause to reflect the comparison of the last two . . .either that's one mean dog or Mrs. "Coach" and I are far better off than I thought )

Moving on . . .

Walking briskly 139 cal

Mowing the lawn 164 cal

Shovelling snow 256 cal

(Pause again to reflect the comparison of these last two . .is that why I see heavier sorts in the deep south ? I always blamed the high calorie albeit delicious BBQ and cornbread )

Carrying boxes upstairs 329 cal

(And clients wonder why the stairs work so great for fat loss . . .many of us carry a box or two without even physically carrying a box )

Running at 10 km/h 365 cal

The Coach Mike Crepe

2007-03-18T17:47:00.000-06:00

As I put myself through a serious body transformation, with the aid of none other than Dr. Berardi himself, I was told to eat a large amount of egg and tofu almost every morning to ensure I had adequate protein early in the day, to stimulate the metabolism and protect muscle.

Now I'm pretty good in the kitchen. You have to be when your diet has lots of bland foods.
So I came up with the penultimate breakfast treat . . "The Coach Mike crepe"

3 Omega 3 eggs
3 Egg whites
1/4 block extra firm tofu
1tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 pckts SPLENDA

Mix in a blender and bake on the lowest setting in a large crepe pan. Want to crank the protein more ? Roll up a little cottage cheese in the middle.

I top it with organic berries . .antioxidants to fibre.

A low fat, low carb, high protein dream . . .dieting made fun !!
Bon apetit
"Coach"

DIPS and CHINS

2007-03-18T17:31:00.000-06:00

My first Coach, Vince Gironda, did not start me on the bench press and deadlift but rather dips and chins. The latter, he explained, brought out the lines of the physique that compliment the "taper" we were all hoping to achieve. This piece was written by Vince back in the 1950's and I STILL apply it to my aspiring "physique enthusiasts". That's Don Howorth, one of Vince's pupils ( pre-steroid era) in the picture. He was a master of the Chin up. Can you tell ?

DIPS AND CHINS
by Vince Gironda

I do not think I have seen six men in my life do a chin properly. Don Howorth was one of them. Don pulled up with his chest high and touched his chest to the bar almost as low as his low Pec line. His elbows were drawn down to his sides, touching his lats, and with the chest high and the shoulders down and back, he contracted his lats to the maximum.

If you look up the function of the lat in any Kinesiology book, it will show that the lat – in the fully contracted position – the shoulders are drawn down and back! Round the back and shoulders forward, and you shift to the Teres major muscles. Also, if you do not arch your back to full contraction, you will not develop any of the fibres across the back that attach to the spine. This will give you a flat underdeveloped look with no thickness.

This is how you do the chin: Reach up and grasp the chinning bar, but not too wide…closer than you ordinarily do them, because the lats are partially contracted in a wide grip. Next, stand on a box so that you can jump up into the contracted position and hold at the top for a split second. Now, lower your body and stand on the box (Do singles). Jump up again and touch your low pec to the bar and arch the back. Most important – elbows must touch the sides in the top or contracted position to achieve maximum contraction.

The next most abused exercise is the parallel dip for pec development. The average bodybuilder does this exercise with his elbows back and his chest up and the back arched. Also, he does not drop down low enough, plus his body usually swings due to excessive speed in pec – forming the exercise. The proper way to dip is as follows: Hands should be 32” wide, elbows straight out to the sides (never back), and chin on chest. Chest must be concave and back rounded, feet forward under the head. In short, the body is in a crescent shape. The bottom of the dipping movement is the most important part of the dip; the first 8-10 inches are very isolated pec and most important – dipping receives less help from the deltoid than any other pec exercise. Bench Press plus Incline Dumbell Press – knuckles not facing each other but forward, about 90 percent assistance from delts. The wider the parallel bar, the wider the stress on the pec where the pec disappears under the front deltoid. This gives the chest a greater illusion of width.

Here, in Vince’s Gym, we have V-shaped parallel dip bars and by just moving your hands back you get a wider portion of the pec. By the way, if you hump up your back at the top of the movement, you work the Serratus muscles very forcibly.

The SPARTAN workout

2007-03-18T10:40:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, my family and I took in the movie 300 with Gerard Butler. Now I got pumped watching Rocky as I wrestle with my own issues of being 40+ and still keeping fit, but this movie lights a fire in any trainee's gut.

Hollywood is often purported to use special makeup and lighting to make their actors look "more" than they are, but in this case, the cast lived up to the moniker, SPARTAN !

Butler enlisted the help of Mark Twight, a former world-class mountain climber who, based on personal experience, believes in training as if your life depends on it. In fact, Twight would argue that a good workout should make you feel almost queasy upon hearing what lies ahead.

For example, to hasten Butler's mind-body transformation, he created what he calls the "300-rep Spartan workout."
(Trust us, 100 reps is plenty hard.) It goes like this:

Without resting between exercises, Butler performs
25 pullups,
50 deadlifts with 135 pounds,
50 pushups,
50 jumps on a 24-inch box,
50 floor wipers ,
50 single-arm clean-and-presses using a 36-pound kettle bell,
and 25 more pullups.

All this, in addition to utilizing other unconventional yet equally taxing training methods, such as tire flipping and gymnastics-style ring training.

Bet he didn't need much makeup

Not BIG but head turning

2007-03-18T08:18:00.000-06:00

Not BIG but head turning

When I first started lifting weights, while not the 110 lb weakling, I was small at 6' and 165.
This was when I first was introduced to pursuing aesthetics of the body by Vince Gironda.

Traditional advice nowdays is to put up with the awkwardness and build a solid foundation with heavy basics ( squats, deads, etc.).

Inevitably, this makes our mis-proportioned beginner look even moreso as they develop large hips, legs and traps making the arms look smaller and the body strange to look at.

As your friends hear of your pumping iron endeavours, they will guaranteed ask you to "make a muscle" . .well you've added 3" to your legs and 1/4" to your arm and you're hardly going to drop your drawers and show them your new gluteal fold.

So rewind to my time with Vince . .while I didn't gain the bulk as fast we focused on everything that would make girls take a second look at the beach, even if I wasn't football player size.

Traps were minimized to make the shoulders appear wider, Lateral deltoids were "overtrained" to enhance the width further.

No bench pressing was done but wide grip dips and neck presses to make the pecs square with a strong underline was the approach.

Lats were second to the lesser know Teres muscles that sit atop them, to promote a wider "V" when viewed from the back.

The Lateral tricep head was the first and foremost aspect to be pursued so that the arm when viewed from the side was separating into various heads of distinction.

Hips were minimized and calves, forearms and shoulders were meant to be overdeveloped to the rest of the body to create the lines reminiscent of our favourite superhero comic.

So when viewed alone, like 180lb Mr. Olympia Frank Zane, the silhouette spoke volumes to your efforts . . .( that's Frank's photo attached to this post . .impressive for 180 eh ?)

We're 8 weeks from short sleeved weather . . .ask yourself what you hope to show this summer. Natural trainees can only gain so much mass at a time. While not huge, I'll point to Frank's natural lines as probably more attractive in a T-shirt to most than much of the "size-at-all costs" camp. . . and satisfying in the early stages to all our growing "wanna-be-buff-this-summer" gang or others.

An ironic footnote- our diet, and the one purported by Vince since the 50's was very reminiscent of the protein, veggies and good oils so successfully delivering results now via The Metabolism Advantage ( see links section ).

Those of you who would like to read more on these technologies that formed my early years of training can find tons of Vince's stuff at ironguru.com.

I miss my old Coach . . may he rest in peace.

How to LOSE fat and KEEP muscle

2007-03-18T07:48:00.000-06:00

Recently read a GREAT study !
Ball State University researchers put overweight men on a 1500 calorie/day diet.
The first group dieted only
Second group dieted but added cardio 3x/week
Third group dieted, did aerobic 3x/ week and added weight training 3x/week

Each group lost about 21 pounds ! The difference is that the first two groups lost about 5-6 pounds of muscle more than the third group.

Keep your lean mass and pump some iron while dieting.

Plastics, pesticides and hormonal health

2007-03-17T16:21:00.000-06:00

This interview is originally from BB.com. I have read much of Dr. Roger's work ( a link to her books is at the links list). Well worth adding to your library !

By: Charles Poliquin

Recently I had the pleasure and honor to interview cutting edge health expert Dr. Sherry Rogers M.D. She is the author of many books on health issues. Her latest one, Detoxify or Die is a must for any health conscious individual's library. Here are just 3 of the facts revealed in her book.

Research shows that environmental pollutants are so ubiquitous that there's no place on earth to escape them, not even polar ice caps. Even the breast milk of nursing Arctic women has been found to be dangerously high in, for starters, PCBs and mercury (Muckle, Persky, Abe, Grandjean, Weisglas-Kuperus)

EPA studies of breath analysis of New Jersey residents show 93% harbor perchloroethylene in their bodies, 89% had benzene (a known case of leukemia), and 29% were exhaling carcinogenic trichloroethylene, in addition to numerous other carcinogens (Wallace). In fact there are no longer any oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, animals in the wild nor humans on the face of the earth that do not harbor detectable levels of potent carcinogens and other disease-producing environmental chemicals.

The government's EPA studies of hundreds of Americans have shown 100% of human fat biopsies reveal styrene, dioxin, xylene, dichlorobenzene and more (U.S. EPA, 1984, 1987). Most of these are carcinogens and will produce a wide variety of symptoms. In today's interview, Dr. Rogers will share her views on how toxicity can negatively affect your gains in the gym and what to do about it.

The Interview

Charles Poliquin: How can detoxifying help with the processes of building muscle and losing fat?

Dr. Sherry Rogers M.D: First, phtalates or plasticizers have an affinity for the testicles, which accounts the ever worsening levels of testosterone in American males. And this is no surprise that the average American male is producing 30% less testosterone than 20 years, and it is getting worse.

Second, detoxifying the phthalates (plastics that are in all humans) can tremendously boost the effectiveness of your own thyroid and other hormone production. Phthalates are known to block the receptor sites for thyroid. The average human consumes 210 mcg of phthalates, as from everyday plastic wrap on foods, as well as plastic water and soda bottles.

Third, pesticides (another hormone disruptor) are well known to interfere with acetylcholine metabolism. In essence, that is how they accomplish their job. Having pesticides accumulating in your body will interfere with your body's ability to recruit high-threshold motor units.

CP: In your opinion, why do you think intestinal dysbiosis is so common in athletic circles.

SR: First and foremost, the use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, like ibuprofen and other pain medications) increases gut permeability which leads to a host of symptoms also known as leaky gut syndrome.

Second, the use of antibiotics leads to overgrowth of intestinal fungi which inflames the gut wall, leading to poor absorption of nutrients, elevated cholesterol levels, etc...

Third, most athletes eat out a lot because of their schedules and end up absorbing a lot of food borne pathogens. When I was in medical school 35 years ago, parasitology tests were reserved for overseas travelers. Now the world has come to America. If you have no education and cannot speak the language, you end up working in the food industry. No wonder that "irritable bowel syndrome" is the number one condition (treated but rarely cured) by gastroenterologists. Also eating out invariably leads to high levels of trans fatty acids that damage all body chemistry.

CP: Would you agree that the use of stimulants like ephedra and its related compounds leads to elevated cortisol which in turn increases gut permeability?

SR: Yes, you are right, whether they use Ma Huang, Ritalin or "greenies", the high cortisol associated further contributes to lowered resistance to invasion by infectious organisms and increased gut permeability.

CP: If one is on a budget what are the 5 cheapest ways to detoxify the human body?

SR:

Eliminate all trans-fats. Trans-fats, hidden in the majority of factory foods, accelerate every disease and aspect of aging, thus making it impossible to completely heal any condition or reach maximum output until the body's chemistry has returned to normal. Eliminating those nasty fats cuts in half your risk for cardio-vascular disease!
Switch to a whole foods diet. Eat as organic as possible. That may seem obvious, but very few people adhere to this type of diet.

Improve the quality of your water. An inexpensive $100.00 filter will do wonders for your health. Take for example fluoride; it was found that instead of building strong healthy teeth, it damaged brain enzymes and lowered I,Q..s (Zhao, Foulkes).

Take the daily detox formula as explained in my book, "Detoxify or Die"

Take a high quality fish oil to help you regenerate your cell membranes. And for peak performance, have your fatty acids assayed and individually correct and prime your cell membranes (directions in "Detoxify or Die")

Are You Really Meeting Your Potential ?!

2007-03-17T09:33:00.000-06:00

You know, when I was at Vince's gym, some 20+ years ago, he had filed the numbers off the DB's . .letters were in their place.

Originally it was done to stop you from lifting with your ego . .going for 50 pounders just because of the number. Instead I was going to curl the letter K today because the load felt right.

Ironically, the opposite would happen too.
Not knowing what I was lifting for sure, there were no preconceived boundaries. You would do extra reps or go up another pair heavier because you felt you were able to.

Going back to a regular gym felt strange after as I was amazed at how much I must have been lifting and not known it.

This motivation football clip on Youtube is a brilliant piece by a Coach who uses the same approach to show a doubting young team leader what he can really do.
I encourage you to watch it and look to your own gym performance.

Cheers gang !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSM1mvMypWU

Welcome

2007-03-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

Hi all,
"Coach" Mike here. Moderator from PrecisionNutrition.com, Dr. John Berardi's exceptional Nutrition and Lifestyle program. Just wanted to reach out to all with a blogspot to mirror much of my PN work and more.
Here's hoping you find my postings helpful in your health, exercise and related endeavours.
Fitness Expert in your corner.
"Coach" Mike