123-Health | Fitness

How to live to age 90

2008-02-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-301995-678103

Study: How to live to age 90

BOSTON (UPI) -- Five modifiable factors can give a 70-year-old man a 54 percent probability of living to age 90, U.S. researchers found.

The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, also found five factors that add up to an unhealthy lifestyle, which reduces that probability to 4 percent.

"Smoking, diabetes, obesity and hypertension significantly reduced the likelihood of a 90-year life span, while regular vigorous exercise substantially improved it," the study authors said in a statement. "Furthermore, men with a life span of 90 or more years also had better physical function, mental well-being and self-perceived health in late life compared with men who died at a younger age. Adverse factors associated with reduced longevity -- smoking, obesity and sedentary lifestyle -- also were significantly associated with poorer functional status in elderly years."

Dr. Laurel Yates of Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues studied a group of 2,357 men -- with an average age of 72 -- who were participants in the Physician's Health Study beginning in 1981 to 1984. Of these, 970 men lived to age 90 by the time the study ended in 2006.

The researchers found the probability of living to age 90 was reduced 44 percent by a sedentary lifestyle, 36 percent by high blood pressure, 26 percent by obesity and 22 percent by smoking. Having three factors together -- such as sedentary lifestyle, obesity and diabetes -- reduced the probability of living to age 90 to 14 percent.

Hit the Weights to Lose Weight

2008-02-13T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hit the Weights to Lose Weight

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Trying to lose weight? A new study says instead of spending all of your time at the gym doing cardiovascular exercise, you need to start weight lifting. The study found weight training helps improve and control your metabolism.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine conducted the research in mice. They found the mice with more muscles lost fat and showed other signs of metabolic improvement throughout the body. The benefits were seen even though the mice were on a high fat and sugar diet and didn’t increase any other physical activity.

Researchers say type II muscle is what allows you to pick up heavy objects and it may also be key in weight loss. Researchers write, “These findings indicate that type II muscle has a previously unappreciated role in regulating whole-body metabolism through its ability to alter the metabolic properties of remote tissues. These data also suggest that strength training, in addition to the widely prescribed therapy of endurance training, may be of particular benefit to overweight individuals.”

Study authors conclude increasing muscle mass in humans may prove to be critical in the fight against obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension and cancer.

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SOURCE: Cell Metabolism, 2008;7:97-98

Winter Weight Gain - Why Does It Happen And What Can We Do?

2007-12-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Winter Weight Gain - Why Does It Happen And What Can We Do?

Winter weight gain is a common complaint of many people. It seems that every winter we add a few pounds, and come summer we do not lose them all again either. A few of them always stick around, making us a little heavier every year. They seem to be very hard to lose extra pounds! Why does this happen and what can we do?

There are many contributing factors. First, it seems likely that we have a genetic disposition to store more fat as winter approaches. Many animals do this and it was probably vital to survival for our ancestors. Extra layers of fat on the body protect us against the cold and then supposed to be used as fuel in the late winter and early spring when food stocks would historically be very low. We probably have a tendency to eat more in the fall, when food is plentiful after harvest time, to help this process along. We may also unconsciously choose foods that are higher in fat content at this time.

Hormone levels can also influence our weight gain. The interaction of hormones and other chemicals in the brain can bring about variations in appetite and cravings. Some neurotransmitters can also influence the way we eat. People who are overweight often have low levels of these neurotransmitters and the results can include excessive appetite, depression and sleep disorders. At the same time, the lack of daylight caused by the shortening days during late fall and winter can bring on seasonally affected disorder or winter depression. One of the quickest ways to give a boost to the energy levels and emotions is to eat high carbohydrate foods including sugar treats, chips and cereals that give us a fast blood sugar 'fix'. So people who feel low in the winter will tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods, leading to weight gain, more depression and a vicious cycle that is hard to break.

So altogether, there are many reasons why we eat more high carbohydrate foods such as cookies, pies and chocolate in the winter, and of course, most of these foods contain high levels of fats. The best way to handle this is generally to substitute other foods that are also high in carbohydrate so that we get what our body craves, but which have low fat content and plenty of fiber. This means potatoes, wholegrain bread without butter, wholegrain rice, cereals, and fresh whole fruit.

It is also important to take more exercise. Often our physical activity levels drop in the winter and we have a tendency to want to stay home and rest. This is natural when it is cold outside. However, we are not cave dwellers! We have heating in our homes and can be sure that there will still be plenty of foods in the stores come February. We do not need to stow fat the way that they did. Sign up with a gym or get a stationary bicycle for the den. Transform those carbohydrates into energy now instead of keeping it on the waistline until spring. Winter weight gain is easily avoidable this way.

Sports ALL Kids Should Play

2007-11-03T09:51:00.000-06:00

Sports ALL Kids Should Play

Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian's free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com.

One of the questions that I get asked most routinely is which sports I believe offer the best development capacity to young athletes.
This is a loaded question for several reasons…
First of all, ANY sporting activity lead by a quality-based coach is wonderful for kids.
That being said, the true crux and efficacy of that statement is based largely on the ‘quality-based coach’ comment.
It is only when poorly educated and over zealous parents and coaches (i.e. adults) get involved too heavily in youth sports that the experience can become sour. Parents often push too hard and seek success at a young age; coaches often are limited in their understanding of developmental science and routinely ‘drill’ kids with ‘sport specific’ (I hate that phrase) exercises that are too narrow in scope (not to mention that many youth sport coaches don’t know how to TEACH specific aspects of movement or speed and yet get annoyed when their athletes don’t perform a given drill to a high enough standard).
One the most prominent and problematic realities of the above comments is that there don’t seem to be many (any?) outlets for kids just to play anymore. Every young sporting activity is a life or death struggle that MUST climax in a victory… heaven forbid we actually teach developmentally sound skills in a fun and energetic way in order to promote a wholeness to our youths development – which by the way should include emotional stability (for instance highlighting the skills gained in a given season rather than the ‘wins’ and trophies accrued) and mental stimulation (in the form of engaging life lessons that instill a lifelong love for physical activity rather than a win-at-all-costs mentality which can burden kids with various complexes for years).
Having said that, I encourage parents to remove the desire to watch their 8 year olds win the weekend tournament; I encourage coaches to remove there ‘Lombardi’ hats when they walk into a practice or game situation; I also encourage strength and conditioning coaches to remove there yearning to ‘test’ young athletes from a biomotor perspective and look only to increase a child’s ability from a performance outlook.
In fact…
My message is simple…
Play sports seasonally.
Find coaches and programs that highlight skill acquisition rather than victory.
Find trainers who do the same – work towards instilling skills into kids rather than creating performance markers.
So, here than are my top four sports that all kids should play (in no particular order)–
1) Soccer
In most parts of North America, kids lack foot dexterity and soccer is a wonderful natural enhancer of both foot dexterity and foot-eye coordination. Don’t pigeon hole this ability as only necessary for soccer either. Remember, the crux of developing a ‘whole’ athlete is to engross them in as much athletic stimulus as possible at a young age. Increased foot dexterity will, in time, round out a youngsters overall ability and allow them to progress in there ‘chosen’ sport more proficiently.
Additionally, although many North Americans find soccer to be ‘boring’ (although I will need an explanation on how soccer is boring, but baseball and golf are America’s pastimes) it is a wonderfully athletic and tactical-based sport. Sudden bursts of explosive power, change of direction, looking two plays ahead, playing a ‘forcing’ based defense in which the defender uses their body/skills to change what the offensive player wanted to do – these are fantastic athletic lessons that can be filed away in the nervous system and used at a later point in any sporting activity.
2) Swimming
Unloaded shoulder and hip mobility adds a great deal of pliability to the frame of a young athlete. With so many injuries occurring due to restrictions and tightness in kids (yes… I do believe wholeheartedly that many of the youth sport injuries we see annually throughout the world could be prevented with a simple and basic increase in both systemic strength and mobility) hip and shoulder mobility initiatives are crucial.
Additionally, kinesthetic differentiation is a physical skill lacking in many kids (this refers to the knowledge of how much force is necessary to produce a desired result). My opinion on this matter is simple – everything we tend to do with kids, both in sport and training, is based on maximal efforts. In our zeal to search for those ‘performance markers’, we overlook the notion that sub-maximal efforts are both developmentally sound and build certain physical qualities not seen in high force-based outputs. Swimming is the essence of building kinesthetic differentiation – kids simply won’t last long in a pool if they put as much force as possible into every stroke.
3) Martial Arts
Almost every martial art I am familiar with is based on skill acquisition as a primary marker. Not only is that mentally and emotionally good for a child, but it infers the teaching of patience and ‘enjoying the journey’ rather than ‘searching for the destination’.
While a great deal of martial arts practices in North America have become watered down (8 year olds earning black belts – if you knew anything about traditional martial arts, you know how ridiculous that is), most organizations I am familiar with teach a wonderful style of patient skill development and discipline.
Athletically speaking, dynamic flexibility, end-range systemic strength, mobility, spatial awareness – the physical ability built through martial arts is awe-inspiring and can apply to any sport.
4) Gymnastics
Again, the physical elements that can be built through gymnastics are amazing – spatial awareness, flexibility, relative strength, dynamic and static balance – the list goes on.
If for no other reason, the ability to know where you are in space and take a fall ‘well’ is a required skill for any sport.
So… there’s my list.
Don’t get me wrong, the list is nothing without a quality coach at the helm of each of these respective sports. Martial arts instructors for instance, are often archaic in their knowledge of warm-up design as are gymnastic coaches in their practices of flexibility enhancement. Having said that, good coaches do exist and I urge you as a parent to find them. I also encourage trainers to seek out joint venture partnerships with quality coaches and augment a child’s development with solid strength and skill acquisition-based training habits.
Play soccer in the autumn.
Swim in the summer.
Participate in martial arts through the winter.
Take gymnastics in the spring.
Mix in some developmental training and play other sports recreationally for interest and development sake (basketball and baseball for example).
By the age of 13 – 14, you’ll have a solid athlete with limited injury who understands sport tactics and is strong, mobile and flexible…
Not a bad place to be!
Learn more about Brian's complete system of developing young athletes - www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com

Flexibility - Are We Hurting Kids?

2007-10-31T08:31:00.000-06:00

Flexibility - Are We Hurting Kids?

Flexibility remains a mysterious avenue within the sport industry, cluttered with myths, half-truths and opinion. Questions purvey in many trainers’, coaches’, and parents’ minds as to the type of flexibility training one should perform, when they should perform it, and for how long. Of critical importance to this conundrum is the young athlete and how flexibility training should be applied to this demographic. This article will not answer every question you may have, but it will shed some light on a few key points.
The scope of confusion regarding flexibility can be seen when considering the assessment tools most commonly used to test one’s suppleness. The standard ‘sit & reach’ test is most often incorporated into pre-training assessments as the ‘flexibility test’. In fairness, many coaches and trainers I have worked with cite the fact that the sit & reach is an indirect assessment of flexibility at best, and does not give a truly accurate picture as to the ‘global’ suppleness an athlete may posses considering that flexibility is joint specific. Also, it does not allow us to assess any dynamic qualities, which is important because static flexibility is quite different than dynamic flexibility, and dynamic flexibility is critically more important in sport.
The degree of flexibility a joint exhibits is not entirely determined by the tightness or pliancy of the muscles that act on that joint. While elasticity of the muscle is a key component to flexibility, so is the elasticity of the corresponding ligaments and even the emotional state of the individual. Additionally, the physical length of a muscle can play a very large role in determining the flexibility or ROM of a joint. Muscle length is largely determined by genetics, but can also be positively influenced through strength training. This certainly contradicts a common myth that strength or resistance training INHIBITS flexibility. Furthermore, as the elasticity of a muscle reduces with age (which we generally accept as true), strength training can also positively influence this concern. Yes... Strength training has a positive impact on flexibility and suppleness! In fact, when working with younger athletes, basic static stretching habits can increase the length of a ligament and lead to joint instability. This can lead to poor posture and increased dependence on muscles for joint stability. Strength and flexibility (through full ROM) must work hand-in-hand to ensure optimal development and decreased injury occurrence.
In terms of young athletes, flexibility develops in correspondence with growth. In terms of training, type, frequency and duration also change with age -
Ages 6 - 10:
Hip and shoulder mobility declines, resulting in the need for dynamic ROM exercises within these two joints (multidirectional raises and rotations). Maximum flexibility of the spine is reached by the age of 8 or 9 - increases beyond normal ROM can be made, but is unnecessary and considered potentially harmful.
Within this age group, STATIC STRETCHING SHOULD BE AVOIDED. Excitement within the nervous system is much more pronounced than inhibition, which means that kids this age cannot truly execute a held stretch. They cannot gain the appropriate feedback from their body needed to ensure the safety and optimal effectiveness of the stretch.
Additionally, Isometric stretches (as found in Yoga) should also be avoided completely in this age category. These kinds of stretches may increase the resting tone of a muscle, which can negatively affect movement skill and coordination. Remember - Fitness fads come and go, but the critical science of athletic development and human physiology is what it is. Yoga has its place to be sure (although I know many skeptics who disagree with that), but coordination and movement MUST dominate this age bracket.
Ages 10 - 13:
Children incur gains of body mass at a quicker rate than gains in height at this age, which leads to an increase in strength. Flexibility training should intensify in this age category. Increases in strength and changes in body mass can combine and lead to poor biomechanical habits - most critically in not using full ROM during movement. Ensure that kids incorporate full ROM and dynamic exercises into their training.
Ages 13 - 15:
Height can increase as much as one inch per month during the growth spurt. Muscles and supporting connective tissue do not grow as quickly as bone, which can result in general pain throughout the body. Flexibility training can and should target the areas most prone to pain - this would include quadriceps, hamstrings and muscles of the lumbar spine specifically. Poor posture, reduced movement skill and injury are all potential concerns of rapid growth, but can be limited with appropriate flexibility habits.
Ages 15+:
Now is the time to start adding sport-specific means of flexibility training into an athlete=s routine.
Flexibility, especially with young athletes, is not at all just a matter of ‘stretching out’ before or after practice. Hope this article shed some light on a few things for you!
Learn more about Brian's complete system of developing young athletes - www.CompleteAthleteDevelopment.com

The Religon of Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

2007-10-28T10:34:00.000-06:00

The Religion of Pre and Post Workout Nutrition.
By Will Brink
Pre- and post-workout nutrition is all the rage these days, and for good reason. For some, however, it’s become more than a science—it’s become their religion, or perhaps just a place to focus their OCD-like tendencies. Regardless, people have taken the topic of pre- and post-workout nutrition to a level that is not justified by the research, or at least not confirmed by the research that currently exists.

Readers should realize I may have my membership card to the Bodybuilding Nutrition Guru Society torn up and thrown at me for what I am about to share in this article…

As expected, supplement companies—and self–proclaimed ‘net guru types—have used what does exist for research to convince everyone that that if they don’t take in exactly 98.7 grams of carbohydrates and 37.2 grams of protein within 28 seconds after they leave the gym, their muscles will be attacked by every muscle-hating hormone they possess in their body by second 29; with the prior year of hard work in the gym totally wasted by second 30!

People are fixated on this particular topic like nothing else, and when you throw in the other possible ingredients that can be added to the post-workout drink, such as creatine, glutamine, and many others, it’s taken to the level of psychosis!

Of course supplement companies have come out with their own “techno-functional ultra-repartitioning multi-dimensional”* post-workout drink formulas that are claimed to be the latest breakthrough. Besides the carbs and protein in these formulas, many of the additional compounds are either under dosed (ergo the ‘label decoration’ syndrome), have no particular justification for being in the formula in the first place, or both (ergo, the ‘shot gun’ approach)…but I digress.

Now I have to take at least some blame—or credit—for this predicament, depending on how you want to view it. I have written extensively about the importance of post-workout nutrition in all manner of articles, and give the topic extensive focus in my Bodybuilding Revealed e-book.

Unlike many of the supplement companies and ‘net experts’ out there, however, I never claimed you would shrivel up into Pee Wee Herman in a matter of minutes if you didn’t get your ultra high-tech post-workout drink 29 seconds after your last set of squats. I have always taken a balanced view on the topic, by pointing out that food is still more important in the overall equation of muscle growth.

Thus, what I can say is that research—and common sense—tells us it’s advantageous to get some fast-acting carbs and protein after a hard workout to optimize the time we put in the gym. From there, however, people have relied more on wishful thinking than science for their pre- and post-workout nutrition. People who have poor diets and poorly thought-out training routines, but focus on the latest magic pre- and post-workout elixirs are missing the point. Their approach is like trying to hold up a three-legged stool with one support leg and the other two missing.

General Considerations of Research vs. the “Real World”

As we all know, a great deal of research is performed that—although interesting—has very little “real world” application to bodybuilders and other athletes.

This is because scientists do everything in their power to study their chosen topic in isolation. In other words, they go to great lengths and trouble to control variables that will impact the outcomes of their studies. For example, in a study looking at the effects of a drug or supplement, a placebo group is matched to the “active” group. The scientists want to make sure the effect they get—or don’t get—is due to the drug/supplement and not the placebo effect. Making the study double-blind is another way of attempting to prevent the bias of the scientists from influencing the study.

The point is that, when they attempt to isolate an effect of something being tested, scientists often end up with results that may not always be directly applicable to the “real world” of Joe Schmoe gym goer.

When study designs don’t reflect “real world” conditions, they need to be taken with a grain of salt. Were the study participants fasted? What type of exercise did they perform? What effects did the researchers actually look at and how does that apply to the “real world” or athlete in question? Were the study participants new to the form of exercise being utilized in the study or were they experienced athletes? How many people were in the study? Who do the results apply to: endurance or strength athletes? Both? Neither?!

Those are just a few of the essential questions that have to be asked and answered before you can even begin to draw any useful “real world” conclusions from the studies that come out. Yet this doesn’t stop people and supplement companies from jumping on the latest studies as the last word in nutrition and start making recommendations from them. They also tend to ignore the studies that contradict or fail to replicate the advice they are giving out. Let’s look at some examples…

The Fast vs. Slow Protein Craze..

The use of fasted subjects in nutrition studies illustrates how researchers can end up with results that may not apply well to the real world. As the name implies, the study subjects are a group of people who have not eaten for an extended period of time. In many cases, they haven’t eaten for 8 – 10 hours or more, which of course does not reflect how the average person eats, at let alone how the average athlete eats—especially bodybuilders looking to add muscle mass.

Enter stage right, the “fast vs. slow” protein craze. The study that got this craze rolling was called “Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion” and was responsible for causing a resurgence of interest in casein. The basic premise of this much-touted study was that the speed of absorption of dietary amino acids (from ingested proteins) varies according to the type of dietary protein a person eats.

The researchers wanted to see if the type of protein eaten would affect postprandial (e.g., after a meal) protein synthesis, breakdown, and deposition. To test the hypothesis, they fed casein (CAS) and whey protein (WP) to a group of healthy adults, a single meal of casein (CAS) or whey WP following an overnight fast (10 h). Using this specific study design, they found:

•WP induced a dramatic but short increase of plasma amino acids.
•CAS induced a prolonged plateau of a moderate increase in amino acids (hyperaminoacidemia)
•Whole body protein breakdown was inhibited by 34% after CAS ingestion but not after WP ingestion.
•Postprandial protein synthesis was stimulated by 68% with the WP meal and to a lesser extent (+31%) with the CAS meal.

The basic non-science summary is: the study found that CAS was good at preventing protein breakdown (proteolysis), but was not so good for increasing protein synthesis. WP had basically the opposite effects: it increased protein synthesis but didn’t prevent protein breakdown. The problem is that they were using fasted subjects for a single meal. ***

Keep that in mind as we move along here…
So far so good right? So what can we conclude from this study and how useful are the results? Like so many studies, the results were interesting—and of little use to people in the real world. Do these results hold up under more “real world” conditions where people are eating every few hours and/or mixing the proteins with other macronutrients (i.e., carbs and fats)?
The answer is probably not, which is exactly what the researchers found when they attempted to mimic a more realistic eating pattern of multiple meals and or the addition of other macronutrients. The follow up study was called “The digestion rate of protein is an independent regulating factor of postprandial protein retention.” Four groups of five to six healthy young men received:

• a single meal of slowly digested casein (CAS).
• a single meal of free amino acids mimicking the composition of casein (AA).
• a single meal of rapidly digested whey proteins (WP).
• repeated meals of whey proteins (RPT-WP) mimicking slow digestion rate of casein (i.e., reflecting how people really eat).

So what did they find? In a nut shell, giving people multiple doses of whey—which more closely mimics how people really eat-—had basically the same effects as a single dose of casein, and mixing either with fats and proteins pretty much nullified any big differences between the two proteins.

Even that’s not the end of the story, however, as multiple follow up studies done by the same group and others found these effects could also be different in older versus younger people and male versus female! How messed up is that?! So how much press did these follow up studies get? Little or none, as I recall.

Now, a later study did attempt to examine the actual net amino acid uptake after resistance training with whey vs. casein, and found both proteins had essentially the same effects on net muscle protein synthesis after exercise despite different patterns of blood amino acid responses.

Does that put to rest the issue or debate of one protein vs. the other post-workout? No, as there are yet more conflicting studies out there and my bet is still on whey as the superior post-workout protein, but it’s important to realize the answer is far from established at this time.

Got Milk?

Milk: nature’s original MRP. Despite all the fancy proteins out there all claiming to be the next step in the evolution of proteins that “will blast you past your plateaus in the gym,” good old milk seems to be competing—and winning—against some “high tech” products on the market. We have various studies finding increased protein synthesis and other positive effects when a purified protein supplement (e.g., whey, soy, casein, etc.) ingested right after or before a workout—usually in conjunction with carbohydrates—but what about good old milk, a “real” food?

One recent study found good old milk to be an effective post-workout drink that increased net muscle protein synthesis after resistance training. Yet another recent study compared 2 cups of skim milk as a post workout drink compared to a soy drink and a “sports drink.”

In this study, the milk and soy drinks were matched for basic macronutrient ratios and calories and all three were matched for total calories. 56 male volunteers were split into three groups, with all put on a resistance training program for 12 weeks. The volunteers were then randomly assigned one of the three drinks to consume as a post workout drink and again one hour after the workouts.

Although no major differences were found in strength between the 3 groups, the group getting the milk had the greatest increase in muscle mass (via increases in Type I and II fibers) with researchers concluding

“…chronic postexercise consumption of milk promotes greater hypertrophy during the early stages of resistance training in novice weightlifters when compared with isoenergetic soy or carbohydrate consumption.”

But it gets better: how about our favorite childhood drink, chocolate milk? How about chocolate milk vs. two commercial energy/fluid replacement drinks, such as Gatorade and Endurox R4?

One recent study—albeit a small one—found chocolate milk as effective as Gatorade, and more effective than Endurox, as a recovery drink for trained cyclists between exhaustive bouts of endurance exercise.

Now is this a condemnation of sports drinks and an endorsement for milk/chocolate milk as the last word on post-workout drinks? Not at all: remember those essential questions I mentioned above? You have to look at such a study in context—in other words, at the experimental design and how that applies to the “real world.” The subjects fasted for 10 - 12 h prior to the chocolate milk experiment, and these drinks were the only food these guys had for 14 - 16 hours. The results may have been quite different had they been following their normal eating patterns.

They also measured effects on endurance vs.—say—strength or increased protein synthesis, etc.

So, in the context of this particular study design, look at it this way: chocolate milk has casein (a “slow” protein), and whey (a “fast” protein) as well as calcium, some vitamins and a bunch of carbohydrates—so it makes a pretty good, cheap MRP, if that’s all you are going to get all day long. It’s not a half-bad post-workout drink either. It’s not the best MRP—or post workout drink—I could design, but it’s cheap and easy to find. The reality is that there are some inexpensive foods out there can be used, and most of your old school bodybuilders and strong men used milk as the original post workout drink/MRP.

The study that looked at milk vs. soy and sports drink, was done in novice weight lifters, so that too needs to be taken into consideration. Regardless, milk, in particular chocolate milk, should make a perfectly acceptable and inexpensive post workout drink and people who think it’s too “old school” or not “high tech” enough to be if any use are clearly misinformed and the victim of marketing.

Now the study we need to see that does not exist, of course, is milk or chocolate milk vs. a well thought out post-workout drink of—say—whey and maltodextrin (high GI carb source), in experienced weight lifters who are not fasted—but don’t hold your breath on that one. Studies like that get expensive quickly and also pose practical issues. For example, if you wanted to match the protein content of—say—2 scoops of whey isolate to chocolate milk (so the groups were getting an equivalent amount of protein), the subjects would need to drink a large volume of milk (remember, milk is mostly water).

My hunch is that a correctly designed post-workout drink would be superior to chocolate milk, but it would be nice to see the two compared, no?

The Pre-Workout Drink

The pre-workout drink craze followed the post-workout craze after a study found pre-workout nutrition may be more effective than post-workout nutrition.

The study that got this craze going was called “Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise” which found that drinking a mixture of essential amino acids and carbohydrates induced a greater anabolic response (i.e., a net increase in muscle protein balance) when taken right before weight training vs. right after. ****

This study had everyone taking in a pre-workout drink as well as a post-workout drink in an attempt to cover all the bases. It should be noted, however, that—once again—they were using fasted subjects. Think of it like this: you have not eaten in 8-10 or more hours, then you are made to work out on a (very) empty stomach.

Under those particular circumstances, does it not make sense getting something to eat before the workout would be superior to after the workout? We all know hitting the weights on an empty stomach is not an optimal method to preserve—or build—muscle mass. Nor is it reflective of real world eating patterns where the vast majority of people have eaten a full meal at least a few hours before they hit the gym.

After this study, everyone started drinking a protein drink before they hit the gym. Interestingly, however, a recent study done by the same group who did the pre-drink study mentioned above, found whey taken before hitting the gym did not result in an improved net protein balance vs. taking it after the gym.

“Well wait a dang minute Will, now I am really confused!” you are saying angrily to your comp screen! Does this new study show pre-workout nutrition is no more effective than post workout nutrition?

No, and here’s why. It’s an apples vs. oranges study. The first study used free amino acids plus carbohydrates, and the follow up study used whey alone without carbohydrates—which is very odd if they were truly trying to see if free aminos were superior to a whole protein such as whey.

Unfortunately this latter study really didn’t do much to confirm or deny the first study’s findings. And, don’t forget my comments regarding using fasted subjects, which adds yet another wrinkle to all this.

So does that essentially disprove the pre-workout drink vs. the post-workout drink studies? Nope. One recent study did look specifically at the issue of timing and does support the idea that the pre- and post-workout window is the most effective period for ingesting some fast-acting protein and carbs.

This study, titled “Effects of supplement timing and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy,” has gotten a fair amount of attention in the bodybuilding/sports nutrition oriented publications. The researchers examined the effects of a drink of whey, glucose and creatine given to two groups of experienced weight lifters, either morning and evening (M/E) or pre- and post-workout (PP), to see if the actual timing of the drink had an effect on muscle hypertrophy or strength development.

The study found that the group getting the drink PP had an increase in lean body mass and 1RM strength in two of three assessments that were tested. The group getting the drink PP also experienced greater creatine retention and glycogen resynthesis, which means timing of specific nutrients is an important strategy for optimizing the adaptations desired (e.g., increased muscle mass and strength) from your hard work in the gym.

So does this study finally put to rest the issue of pre- vs. post-workout nutrition? No, it did not compare one strategy to the other per se, but did confirm that nutrient timing is an important aspect.

One obvious issue is that this study used a drink that contained creatine throughout, so technically it’s not a pro + carb study, but a pro + carb + creatine study. On the plus side, it was done in experienced weight lifters and they were not fasted, so it does at least represent the metabolic realties of “real world” people looking to get the most of their nutrition. Either way, it supports the idea of taking in the right nutrients both pre- and post-workout, but people should not be under the impression that this issue of timing has been “put to bed,” so to speak, and realize there are still plenty of unanswered questions yet to be explored.

Of course, there are more studies than just the ones mentioned above, so there are plenty of measurements on indicators of recovery from exercise, such as effects on glycogen resynthesis, alterations in hormones, and hormone levels. Nonetheless, I prefer to look at the actual endpoint that really matters at the end of the day: did this person gain muscle mass, strength, or performance by using this product? Without that, everything else—though potentially interesting—is mental masturbation.

Conclusions, and Real World Recommendations.

Now I didn’t write this article to confuse you, but to demonstrate that the optimal strategy for increasing strength and LBM in response to resistance training is not as cut and dried as you are often led to believe. However, it’s also probably simpler than you are led to believe, as the human body is far more adaptable to the types of protein it receives as well as the amounts it receives.

Thus, the people who stress over whether they got 35g of protein and 60g of carbs in their post workout drinks vs. 32g of protein and 70s of carbs in the drink are probably wasting their time, and causing what is known as “paralysis by analysis.” Put more practically, the amount of cortisol you produce from worrying about such minutia probably offsets any gains you might make from one drink vs. another!*****

I also wanted to dispel some of the hype over one protein vs. another, and the fact that expensive pre-made high tech drinks that are all the rage right now are just that: expensive and over hyped.

In the real world, people have used variations of the idea that fast acting proteins and a good dose of simple carbs can improve the effects of resistance training for many years. My good friend, the late Dan Duchaine, used to give people whey mixed in water and Corn Flakes with skim milk as their post workout meal.

One bodybuilder I knew who went onto be a well known IFBB pro, used to have a drink of whey after his workouts and several slices of apple pie at the local Friday’s restaurant next to the gym for his post-workout meal.

Most of your old time strong men and bodybuilders drank quite a lot of milk, and as we have seen from the research, it’s not a half bad post workout drink either.

If people want to buy pre-made carb/protein mixtures with other nutrients added (e.g., creatine, glutamine, various vitamins, etc) out of convenience and don’t care that they can “roll their own” for less money, there’s nothing wrong with that.

Just don’t think there’s anything magical about the pre-made post-workout drinks, no matter what the marketing material or web site says to entice you to purchase it.

Comments of interest:

* = yes, I have seen every one of those words used in the marketing of a product; sadly it's not exaggeration!

** = Brink’s Body Building Revealed

*** = The reason for this is that whey is absorbed rapidly (being a highly soluble protein) and much of it is oxidized while casein forms a “clot” in the gut and is absorbed slowly (being a fairly insoluble protein), thus causing a steady level of amino acids. That’s why they dubbed whey a “fast” protein and casein a “slow” protein.

**** = Measured as the Phenylalanine disappearance rate - considered an indicator of muscle protein synthesis - via femoral arteriovenous catheterization, as well as muscle biopsies from the vastus lateralis were used to determine phenylalanine concentrations

***** = Credit for that statement/joke has to be given to nutrition writer Lyle McDonald who said something very similar in a post on the news group misc.fitness.weights a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away about a topic I don’t remember….

References

Boirie Y, et al. Slow and fast dietary proteins differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Dec 23;94(26):14930

Dangin M, et al. The digestion rate of protein is an independent regulating factor of postprandial protein retention. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Feb;280(2):E340-8.

Dangin M, Boirie Y, Guillet C, Beaufrere B. Influence of the protein digestion rate on protein turnover in young and elderly subjects. J Nutr. 2002 Oct;132(10):3228S-33S.

Dangin M, et al. The rate of protein digestion affects protein gain differently during aging in humans. J Physiol. 2003 Jun 1;549(Pt 2):635-44. Epub 2003 Mar 28.

Demling RH, DeSanti L .Effect of a hypocaloric diet, increased protein intake and resistance training on lean mass gains and fat mass loss in overweight police officers. Ann Nutr Metab 2000;44(1):21-9

Tipton KD, et al. Ingestion of casein and whey proteins result in muscle anabolism after resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Dec;36(12):2073-81.

Elliot TA, et al.Milk ingestion stimulates net muscle protein synthesis following resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Apr;38(4):667-74.

Hartman JW, et al. Consumption of fat-free fluid milk after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accretion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young, novice, male weightlifters. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug;86(2):373-81.

Karp JR, et al. Chocolate milk as a post-exercise recovery aid.
Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2006 Feb;16(1):78-91.

Tipton KD, et al. Timing of amino acid-carbohydrate ingestion alters anabolic response of muscle to resistance exercise Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Aug;281(2):E197-206.

Tipton KD, et al Stimulation of net muscle protein synthesis by whey protein ingestion before and after exercise. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jan;292(1):E71-6.

Cribb PJ, Hayes A. Effects of supplement timing and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Nov;38(11):1918-25.

Additional citations of interest:

Rankin JW, et al. Effect of post-exercise supplement consumption on adaptations to resistance training. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Aug;23(4):322-30.

Børsheim E, et al. Effect of carbohydrate intake on net muscle protein synthesis during recovery from resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol. 2004 Feb;96(2):674-8. Epub 2003 Oct 31.

Bird SP, Tarpenning KM, Marino FE. Liquid carbohydrate/essential amino acid ingestion during a short-term bout of resistance exercise suppresses myofibrillar protein degradation. Metabolism. 2006 May;55(5):570-7.

Baty JJ, et al. The effect of a carbohydrate and protein supplement on resistance exercise performance, hormonal response, and muscle damage. J Strength Cond Res. 2007 May;21(2):321-9.

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About the Author - William D. Brink

Will Brink is a columnist, contributing consultant, and writer for various health/fitness, medical, and bodybuilding publications. His articles relating to nutrition, supplements, weight loss, exercise and medicine can be found in such publications as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.

He is the author of Priming The Anabolic Environment , Body Building Revealed & Fat Loss Revealed. He is the Consulting Sports Nutrition Editor and a monthly columnist for Physical magazine, Musclemag and an Editor at Large for Power magazine. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.

He has been co author of several studies relating to sports nutrition and health found in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as having commentary published in JAMA. He runs the highly popular web site BrinkZone.com which is strategically positioned to fulfill the needs and interests of people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge. The BrinkZone site has a following with many sports nutrition enthusiasts, athletes, fitness professionals, scientists, medical doctors, nutritionists, and interested lay people. William has been invited to lecture on the benefits of weight training and nutrition at conventions and symposiums around the U.S. and Canada, and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

William has worked with athletes ranging from professional bodybuilders, golfers, fitness contestants, to police and military personnel.

See Will's ebook's online here:

Brink’s Body Building Revealed

"Bodybuilding Revealed is a complete blue print to muscle building success. Everything you need to know about diet & muscle building nutrition, over 50 bodybuilding supplements reviewed, weight training routines, high intensity cardio, the mental edge, pre made muscle building diets and an online private members forum, diet planner, meal planner and much more. It's all in Will Brink's ultimate guide to gaining muscle mass."

Fat Loss Revealed

"Fat Loss Revealed is the ultimate fat loss manual. A complete online and offline system used by anybody looking to attain a fantastic lean physique. A complete fat loss diet plan, with pre made diets, over 40+ fat loss supplement reviews, resistance workouts, and cardio , along with motivation and goal setting and a huge online private members area and forum form Will Brink's Ultimate Fat loss Program.

Health and Fitness Body Building Tips for Women

2007-10-26T08:14:00.000-06:00

Health and Fitness Body Building Tips for Women

Just a decade or two ago, it was not fashionable for women to be in the weight room confines of a gym. Rather, women were relegated to walking, jazzercise, aerobics and other similar type of pursuits to lose weight. However, these days, many women think nothing of pumping iron with the men to achieve overall health and fitness body building benefits.

Why is weight training so important to women in the pursuit of health and fitness body building? The reason why it is so important is because it jumpstarts their metabolism and therefore provides a more efficient and effective way to burn calories. As muscles start to gain mass from the weight training, more calories are being burned off in order to fuel this muscle transformation.

It’s All about Balance

When it comes to health and fitness body building for women, weight training does not leave much room for fat to stick around and that is a great thing. Women will actually lose some fat if they decide to tweak their diet a bit and lower calorie intake. Doing so allows the new burgeoning muscle to eat up the calories you consume as well as take care of some of the calories held in reserve in body fat.

There is a balance that must be determined in the diet to avoid the body from retaliating by shrinking muscle and storing more fat than before to compensate. In addition, while training with weights is not considered an aerobic activity, studies have shown that it will still elevate the heart rate just as like cardiovascular exercise which is important in the burning of fat.

No Fear about Bulking Up

In health and fitness body building for women, there should be no hesitation about starting a work out plan. Weight training does not ad bulky mass to a woman’s body unless they pump steroids into their blood stream. Rather weight training for women creates a solid, fibrous muscle with less fat content which actually serves to provide a smaller, svelter appearance.

Women are genetically predisposed toward less muscle mass when compared to men and as a result will have lovelier feminine curves with weigh training. Many experts warn women who embark on a health and fitness body building regiment to not hop on the scale for a while.

The reason is because muscle actually weighs more than fat does which can be a bit disconcerting at first. However, with less fat on their frame, women will discover that they could weigh the same before the weight training but wear a few sizes smaller. Less fat and more muscles is what matters in terms of health and fitness body building for women.

Weight of the World

2007-10-24T07:42:00.000-06:00

Here is an article that doesn't surprise me. All you have to do is look around and see that the world itself is slowly succumbing, it isn't jsut the United States. Personally I think it is a combination of factors rather than jsut one singular cause to the health and fitness crisis.

Kevin Newman
CPT

Weight of the World
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The growing number of overweight or obese people isn’t restricted to the United States; it’s a problem worldwide.

Data collected from a new global study reveals 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women are overweight. When it comes to obesity, 24 percent of men and 27 percent of women fall into the classification.

Researchers involved in the study collected data from 168,159 people ages 18 to 80. Participants were studied in 63 countries and on five continents. “This is the largest study to assess the frequency of adiposity (body fat) in the clinic, providing a snapshot of patients worldwide,” lead author Beverly Balkau, Ph.D., director of research at INSERM in Villejuif, France, was quoted as saying.

Physicians worldwide recorded participant’s age, gender, and whether there was a diagnosis of heart disease or diabetes. They also measured waist circumference, overall weight, height and body mass index.

“Overall, there’s a significant increase in the frequency of heart disease and diabetes with increasing waist circumference,” Dr. Balkau reported. The frequency of heart disease was 16 percent for men and 13 percent for women, while diabetes was 13 percent for men and 11 percent for women.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Circulation, 2007;116:1942-1951

The 7 Rules For Gaining Fat - Fast!

2007-10-21T09:44:00.000-06:00

So, you’ve decided to give up.

You’re fed up of all the diets that have promised you great results yet left you hungry, tired, irritable and weak.

You’re fed up of all the ‘wonder workouts’ that have promised you amazing strength, fitness and flexibility ‘in just minutes a day’ but that have left you feeling tired, sore, stiff and, truth be told, no firmer or less flabby than you were before.

But most of all, you’re fed up of all those fitness ‘experts’ out there who tell you how easy it is, how little time it takes and how amazing you’re going to look if you follow THEIR program (ONLY theirs, mind you, no-one else’s will even come near to what they’re offering).

So you’re quitting.

You’re giving up the diet and exercise ‘thing’ and have decided that you’ll just go with the flow and see what happens to your body when the experts aren’t poking their noses into your business and ramming their idea of healthy down your throat.

What a great idea!

No more ‘eat this’ or ‘don’t eat that’, no more ‘don’t forget your cardio’ or ‘weights is better’.

In fact, no more interference of any kind from the countless do-gooders who seem to think that it’s ok for them to advise, nag and bully you into following all kinds of fat loss and fitness advice… as long as it’s theirs.

Good on you!

But before you take the quitters route that most people take, doesn’t it make sense to quit in the right way?

Sure it does!

There’s a science to quitting too y’know and I’m just the person to share it with you : )

So here’s the deal. If you want to quit and quit fast, if you want to pack on pound after pound of soft, warm, figure-blurring bodyfat then you’ve got to have a strategy.

You’ve got to have a plan.

MY plan is easy, straightforward and six-year-old-simple to follow and consists of just seven rules that, if you follow them, will guarantee you the maximum fat gain in the shortest time frame.

It consists of just 7 rules

Rule one: Only eat processed foods

If you’re truly serious about packing on some serious fat-pounds, you’ll follow this rule faithfully.

Without a doubt, processed foods are the No.1 friend to fat due to their denatured, sugar-loaded and mostly synthetic nature.

With most of the vitamins and minerals removed from processed foods, the highly calorific and mostly indigestible remain, creating a massive storehouse of both calories and toxins for you to bury deep within your already overloaded fatty tissues.

Better still, the toxic nature of most processed foods mean that you’ll gain not only fat but a whole lot of subcutaneous water too as your body tries to ‘dilute’ the impact of all the extra toxins you’re holding onto, meaning that you’ll put on extra scale weight and look soft and squidgy into the bargain.

Great stuff!

Rule two: Cram in as many starchy carbs as you can

Starchy carbs eaten in isolation or, better yet, with sugary carbs are an absolutely fantastic way to accelerate the battle of the bulge and gain both fat and body weight at a more rapid pace.

Eating carbohydrates in isolation allows your hormones to engage in a free-running form of guerrilla warfare where insulin levels raise through the roof and, in doing so, command your body to store fat.

A word of warning though; whatever you do, don’t mix your starches with fats or proteins. This reduces both the amount and the effect of all that lovely insulin and will definitely scupper your chances at serious fat gain.

Rule Three: Get to bed as late as you can

If rapid fat gain is your greatest desire, then make sure that you get to bed as late as you possibly can, with the ideal scenario being that you stay up so late every night that you fall asleep on the sofa.

Doing This will ensure a steady supply of the stress hormone cortisol into your bloodstream to help you break down all that energy-consuming lean muscle tissue that’s slowing down your fat gain.

Just don’t ruin the effect by getting to bed by 10:30 or you’ll find that the cortisol levels drop far too low to cannibalise your muscle and you may even find that you lose all your precious fat!

Rule four: Steer clear of water

Drink too much water and you’ll not only do away with your body’s false food cravings (meaning that you won’t eat unnecessarily), but you’ll also create a freer flowing route for the digestion of the foods you’ve eaten.

Obviously, this is a bad thing as it means you won’t keep undigested foods in your stomach long enough for them to go putrid and add to the overall toxic load on your system.

Remember, anything that speeds up your metabolism is bad!

Instead, use coffee, tea and soda to 'mix up' your metabolism and increase toxicity.

Rule five: Don’t forget the alcohol!

Alcohol is just about as pure a sugar source as you can get and is absolutely jam-packed with calories that contribute nothing to the function of your body.

Better still, alcohol adds to your toxic load meaning that you’ll hold a large amount of water too!

Rule Six Use the microwave for all of your cooking

Microwave’s are great!

During the heating process they vibrate the molecules of your food so fast that they actually change their structure, meaning that when you eat nuked food, your body has no idea about how to cope with them, let alone extract nutrition from them.

This is fantastic for your fat gain quest because you’ll be adding to your toxic load AND creating a surplus of non-nutritional calories, meaning that you’ll get hungry again very soon after eating and have another opportunity to stock up on calories.

Rule Seven: Avoid all unnecessary movement

There’s no getting away from it, movement of any kind costs you valuable calorie-energy and robs you of the vital fat building stores that’ll be necessary for your quest.

Stay as still as you can to conserve as much energy as possible and commit to using as many labour-saving devices as you can find. Things like remote controls, stair lifts, escalators etc all serve a valuable role in the creation of your fat stores, so use them.

If you are forced to move, then whatever you do, don’t engage in any form of activity that might lead to an increase in strength or muscle mass as this’ll speed up your metabolism and rob you of calories. Instead, engage in steady-state, slow aerobic activities as these are energy efficient and have the added benefit of increasing cortisol and, in doing so, breaking down that calorie-robbing muscle tissue.

So that’s it!

Your seven rules that, if followed, will absolutely guarantee that you pack on fat faster than you’d ever believe possible and allow you to thumb your nose and poke your tongue out at every personal trainer or diet guru who ever promised you a rapid result from following their plans.

Follow just one or two of them for even a short time and you’ll see a rapid softening of the waistline and an appreciable gain in scale-weight. Follow them all and you’ll gain so much weight that you’ll be stunned by the reflection staring back at you within a month.

Give it a go!

Note: If you’re one of those wierdo’s who feel that you’d like to take the extreme approach of actually losing bodyfat then just reverse the rules above to see equally rapid fat loss… I don’t know why you’d want to though!

Dax Moy is a performance coach based in London England.

Voted one of the UK's top personal trainers, Dax writes for and has been featured in just about every major publication in Britain as well as appearing regularly as a guest expert for BBC, ITV, Channel , Channel 5 and CNN World news.

The author of 2007's best selling goal achievement program The MAGIC Hundred, Dax is much sought after for his cerebral approach to goal attainment and getting results for his clients.

For more information visit http://www.daxmoy-pts.co.uk or http://www.themagichundred.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Clifford

Reduce Stress

2007-10-19T20:09:00.000-06:00

I came across Burt Goldman's site, The American Monk, almost by chance and it's been an enlightening experience since.

Burt's claims that through his meditations he is able to focus the mind in such a way, that he's able to slow down aging, pick up new skills, and maintain perfect health.

He's become an award winning photographer, a painter, an album releasing singer, and he's in the best of health; the catch: Burt Goldman is 80 years old.

Burt's goal is to raise the consciousness of 1 million people over the next year. And with the help of John Lake from Mindhacks.org, is going to do this for free to deliver Burt Goldman's message to the world.

You've got to check this out!

Some who reduce weight reduce hypertension

2007-10-03T08:54:00.000-06:00

I would argue that it is more than just some who are able to reduce hypertension as a result of losing fat. One thing you have to remember in these studies that cite BMI, it isn't an accurate measure of obesity. A 240 lb linebacker is often obese by the BMI measure. A better measure is body fat percentage. Reducing body fat will increase your health on so many levels.

Kevin Newman
CPT, CPC

Some who reduce weight reduce hypertension
TUCSON (UPI) -- Researchers in Italy found that as many as 50 percent of overweight, hypertensive adults, may have hypertension as a result of being overweight. Study leader Dr. Roberto Fogari of the University of Pavia, in Italy, said the findings apply only to overweight patients, not to obese patients, with high blood pressure -- defined as systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher or a diastolic pressure of 90 mm Hg or higher. The study analyzed 210 overweight men and women -- ages 29 to 65 -- whose systolic blood pressure was more than 140 mmHg, but less than 159 mm Hg, and diastolic blood pressure more than 90 mm Hg, but less than 99 mm Hg. The study patients were overweight with a body mass index 25 to 29.9. An individualized reduced-calorie diet was designed for each patient and when diet alone did not achieve the appropriate body weight reduction, the weight-loss drug Orlistat was given. After six months, 49 percent of women and 53 percent of men achieved body weight reduction of more than 5 percent weight loss and a mean reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of about 5 percent. The researchers presented the findings at the American Heart Association's 61st annual fall conference of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research in Tucson, Ariz. Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Childhood Obesity: Complex Problem

2007-09-26T08:22:00.000-06:00

Childhood Obesity: Complex Problem
(Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- There’s not just one cause for the epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States, according to researchers contributing to a special report released this week.
Studies point to racial and ethnic disparities, the availability of fast food, exposure to advertising, and the presence of soft drinks in schools, among other contributors, as reasons for the surging numbers of children with excess weight.
Researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor report 67 percent of middle schools and 83 percent of high schools have contracts with soft drink companies, meaning students often have constant access to soft drinks.
Another study reveals time in physical education classes decrease as students age. Eighth graders spend an average of 172 minutes each week while 12th graders only spend 89 minutes in PE class each week.
“Research is showing us that we have in our schools and communities a perfect storm that will continue to feed the childhood obesity epidemic until we adopt policies that improve the health of our communities and our kids,” Frank Chaloupka, head of a team of University of Illinois at Chicago researchers who also contributed to the special report, was quoted as saying.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2007;33, Supplement 1:S147-S310

Boozing Harms Losing Belly Fat

2007-09-23T20:28:00.000-06:00

Boozing Harms Losing Belly Fat

By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs
www.FlattenYourAbs.net

As we attempt to cope and deal with the pressures in our lives, alcohol consumption is becoming too much of the norm. We release our stress sometimes via an alcoholic beverage or two without thinking about the cause and effect it can have on your waist line, appetite and overall health.

I am not here to bash having a drink or two, but I am going to encourage anyone who wants to lose body fat to rethink their drinking habits.

First and foremost, alcohol is a poison and your body must fight to get it out of your system. It directly impairs liver function thus severely hampering your metabolism of fat. If fat loss is your main goal moderation is a key. I have trained many adults who like there nightly beverage, but they never or rarely lose body fat. I would suggest limiting alcohol consumption to once a week if fat loss is your goal.

When your liver is processing alcohol it will stop all other metabolic functions. It will do so until it rids your body of ethanol toxicity which is the by product of alcoholic consumption. This process leads many times to stubborn fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and syndrome X.

Drinking in excess will also contribute to fat gain not loss. If you think you are going to gain muscle mass while drinking think again! Your liver is to0 busy doing something it does not want to do, process alcohol instead of amino acids. In addition, alcohol reduces testosterone.

We have not even touched on how many extra calories alcohol consumption can add to your daily caloric intake. As my good friend Tom Venuto states, "Those calories add up so quickly." Think about how much you consume and the caloric value of each drink. Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. This is almost twice that of carbohydrates and protein and just under the 9 grams per calorie for fat. Here is an example: consuming 2-3 drinks a day can add up to over 400 calories extra each and every day. Multiply that by one week and you are over 2700 calories extra. That is over a half a pound.

According to studies drinking alcohol increases visceral adipose tissue. This is the fat around your body organs. NOT HEALTHY! Other studies suggest alcohol consumption increases and stimulates appetite. I remember when I went through my Nutrition and Lifestyle Courses, alcohol was an afternoon subject and I recall this sobering thought, "If you really want to piss off your entire digestive system and set your body up for a total metabolic nightmare, drink alcohol before you eat."

Another item I have learned from Tom Venuto was the simple but often overlooked factor that by doing something everyday becomes habit-forming behavior. The daily routine of consuming an innocent evening drink will lead to the ill affects of alcohol consumption.

Consuming alcohol again stops all fat burning, adds extra calories, increases estrogen level (stubborn fat), increases appetite and makes you more easily persuaded to eat that entire cheese cake.

There are some simple guidelines you can follow that will not only help you stay on the fat burning path, but will encourage better overall health.

Drinking red wine is much better for you then drinking beer. Red wine contains some good things that can benefit your health. On the other hand consuming beer, which contains hops and are highly estrogenic, will lead to more fat gain and harder fat loss.

Try to stay away from extra sweet drinks with added sugars. This will keep your blood sugar from a massive spike while having a drink. Have you ever wondered why are these drinks are so popular?

I would highly suggest that you read my stubborn fat solutions report (If you think you have stubborn fat) and to avoid alcohol for at least two weeks while your detoxify your liver and get started on a friendly fat burning environment.

Follow the European model; eat some fat or protein with your wine. The more food you have in your belly the slower the absorption. It also aids in insulin regulation. Avoid high carbohydrates snack with alcohol. It carries many metabolic problems like insulin elevation and high fat levels in your blood stream.

According to nutrition writer Ori Hofmelker below is a list of good to bad:

Alcohol
1. Red wine - Best
2. White wine
3. Champagne
4. Vodka
5. Gin
6. Rum
7. Whiskey
8. Cognac
9. Sweet wines
10. Sweet mixed drinks
11. Liqueurs
12. BEER! Worst

Some common problems with alcohol consumption are:

Reduced testosterone
Increased estrogen
Increased hydration
Inability to absorb vital nutrients

In summary, I would suggest eating an anti-estrogenic, well- balanced diet and minimize alcohol consumption until you reach your fat loss goals. This will also aid in your quest for a set of six pack abs.

To Get More Information About Fat Loss and Toning Your Abs

Go to: Firm and Flatten Your Abs:

Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington

P.S.If you enjoyed this workout, then you will love the workout programs in my Firm And Flatten Your Abs E-book. You can get more information on the home page at:
Firm and Flatten Your Abs

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About the Author:

David Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: Firm and Flatten Your Abs

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Abdominal Myths Your Should Know

2007-09-22T16:24:00.000-06:00

Abdominal Myths Your Should Know
By David Grisaffi, Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Developing a great set of six-pack abs is really quite simple once you understand my unique Firm and Flatten Your Abs system, which includes two important components:
1. A workout program consisting of carefully selected, biomechanically correct abdominal exercises, and
2. A nutrition program that optimizes fat loss and maintenance or growth of lean muscle tissue.
As simple as this sounds, I'll be the first to admit that ab training can be an extremely confusing subject at first because there is so much conflicting information on the subject.
Opinions Are Just That! Opinions
Countless opinions, rumors, and theories about ab training are continually being circulated by an endless parade of "experts" including doctors, personal trainers, infomercial gurus, and even friends, teachers, and parents. Some information is valid, but most of it isn't. It's hard to sort through it all, let alone know what to believe. Abdominal mythology abounds, and some myths never seem to die.
That's exactly why I wrote the e book Firm and Flatten Your Abs: To help you cut through the myths and lies and lead you straight to the truth that will help you develop the type of body that you'll be proud to show off the next time you hit the beach.
Before we discuss the anatomy and physiology of the abdominal muscles or the actual training routines, the first thing to do is clear your mind of the myths, lies, and misconceptions that have been polluting your brain as a result of gym folklore, falseadvertising, and bad advice from self-proclaimed experts.
More bad information is published and told about ab training than any other health and fitness subject, and I've boiled it down to 14 myths that are particularly damaging and pervasive. I will explain 3 of them in this article.
Let's put them to rest permanently, shall we?
MYTH #1: If you train abs every day, you're guaranteed a six-pack. One of the most common abdominal myths is that training your abdominals every day is the best way to get a small waistline and develop the six-pack look in your stomach. This misconception was probably funneled through the bodybuilding world, because so many bodybuilders train their abs daily prior to competitions. Despite the fact that bodybuilders appear on stage with incredibly ripped abs, their abs come from their diet, not just their daily abworkouts.
Daily training is not only a waste of time, it's an approach that won't work for the average person who doesn't use performance-enhancing substances or have a naturally high recovery capacity.
There are two reasons that daily abdominal training is unnecessary and does not guarantee you a six-pack.
First, the muscle tissue of your abs is virtually the same as the muscle tissue in the rest of your body. Abdominal muscles cannot become stronger and more developed without time to rest and recover after each workout, just like any other muscle group such as your biceps or chest. You wouldn't do 100 barbell curls every day to "see your biceps" or 100 bench presses every day to "see your pecs," so why do the same for your abs?
Second, even if you could achieve excellent muscular development in the abs with daily training, you won't be able to see your abs if they're covered with a layer of fat. Daily abdominal training does not burn the fat off your midsection! Fat is lost by creating acalorie deficit through your diet. Build the muscle tissue with exercise; burn the fat with diet.
During the initial phase of the Firm and Flatten Your Abs program (Level 1), I recommend that you perform exercises daily for the first two to three weeks. However, these Level 1 exercises are very basic movements using only your body weight, and they are designed to prepare, strengthen, and neurologically program your body for the more advanced exercises to follow.
For the long term, you can get fantastic results training your abs every other day (about four days a week), and once they're developed, you can maintain your abs with even less frequent training.
MYTH #2: You can eat pizza and hamburgers and still maintain a six-pack as long as you work out right after you eat them. The truth is that developing your abs is achieved through exercise, but seeing your abs is more a function your diet than any other factor. You could have a great set of abs completely covered with fat. The secret to uncovering the abdominal muscles is nutrition.
Theoretically, you could lose the fat covering your abs while eating whatever you wanted, as long as you still had a caloric deficit. However, eating calorie-dense junk food makes it much harder to maintain the caloric deficit you need to burn body fat. Furthermore, eating fast food and other nutritionally-void junk as regular daily staples in your diet will eventually exact a serious toll on your health.
You simply cannot expect exercise to cancel out poor eating habits. It takes proper exercise and nutrition to get optimal results. Go into your local fast food restaurant and look around. How many people do you see that have an envious abdominal region? Chances are, you won't see any!
MYTH #3: Sit-ups develop the abdominal muscles best. It's ironic, but the sit-up, which is the most popular exercise in the world for the abdominals, might be the absolute worst exercise and could even be dangerous for some people under some circumstances.
What most people don't realize is that the sit-up is not a true abdominal exercise. During a sit-up, your main trunk flexor, the iliopsoas muscle, often does the majority of the work while the abs are not optimally recruited.
Because the iliopsoas muscle originates on the lower back, the sit-up literally pulls on the lower back with every repetition, especially if your feet are held down or anchored, or the repetitions are performed quickly in a jerky fashion. This is why too many sit-ups can lead to a strength imbalance between the iliopsoas and abdominals, as well as poor posture and lower back pain.
Some people who have very strong abs and lower backs may be able to perform conventional sit-ups more safely than others. There are also some safer and more effective ways to perform sit-ups. One is the Janda sit-up. This exercise uses the law of reciprocal inhibition, which means that if one muscle is working, its antagonist (the opposing muscle) must relax.
During a Janda sit-up, instead of holding your feet down, your partner reaches around and holds your calves. As you sit up, you contract your hamstrings and glutes by pulling your calves back against your partner's hands. (You can also press your lower legsback against small dumbbells or a heavy weighted barbell.) When the hamstrings and glutes contract, this shuts off the iliopsoas, making your abs do more of the work.
If I prescribe sit-ups, I simply have my clients do Janda sit-ups. However, Janda sit-ups can be difficult to perform on your own and because of the injury potential from sit-ups in general, and since there are so many other more effective exercises, I have left sit-ups out of this course completely.
It's incredible, but true: You can develop amazing abs without everdoing a single sit-up!
Coach David Grisaffi, Tacoma Washington
P.S.If you enjoyed this workout, then you will love the workout programs in my Firm And Flatten Your Abs E-book. You can get more information on the home page at:www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html
About the Author:
David Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Weight Loss Plan: The Goal to Go For

2007-09-20T19:49:00.000-06:00

Weight Loss Plan: The Goal to Go For
Kevin Newman CPC, CPT

Since excess weight puts you at risk for many health problems, you may need to set some weight loss plans to help avoid those risks and prevent disease.

But what should be your long-term goal? And what short-term goals should you set to help you get there? You have a better chance of attaining your goals if you make sure that the weight loss plans that you will use are sensible and reasonable right at the beginning.
Here are some guidelines from the experts in choosing weight loss plans and goals.

1. Be realistic
Most people’s long-term weight loss plans are more ambitious than they have to be.
For example, if you weigh 170 pounds and your long-term plan is to weigh 120, even if you have not weighed 120 since you were 16 and now you are 45, that is not a realistic weight loss goal.
Your body mass index or BMI is a good indicator of whether or not you need to shed of pounds. The ideal BMI range, according to the national Institutes of Health, is between 19 and 24.9. If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are considered overweight. Any number above 30 is in the obesity range.

From this point of view, you will need a sensible weight loss plan that will correspond to the required BMI based on your height, because this is the primary factor that will affect your BMI.

2. Set appropriate objectives
Using a weight loss plan just for vanity’s sake is psychologically less helpful than losing weight to improve health.
You have made a big step forward if you decide to undergo a weight loss plan that includes exercise and eating right so that you will feel better and have more energy to do something positive in your life.

Make sure to set a big enough appropriate "Why". Why do you want to lose weight?

3. Focus on doing, not losing
Rather than saying that you are going to lose a pound of fat this week, say how much you are going to exercise this week. This would definitely make up of a sensible weight loss plan.
Keep in mind that your weight within a span of a week is not completely in your control, but your behavior is.

4. Build bit by bit
Short-term weight loss plans should not be “pie-in-the-sky.” This means that when you have never exercised at all, your best weight loss plan for this week should be based on finding three different one-mile routes that you can walk next week.
Take your weight loss plan one step at a time. Don't expect to go from couch potato to beach bode in a week.

5. Keep up the self-encouragement
An all-or-nothing attitude only sets you up to fail. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fall short of some goals, just look ahead to next week. You do not need to have a perfect record.
After all, self-encouragement should definitely be a part of your weight loss plans. Otherwise, you will just fail in the end.

6. Use measurable measures
Saying that you are going to be more positive this week or that you are going to really get serious this week is not a goal that you can measure and should not be a part of your weight loss plan.
This is another reason why you should incorporate exercise on your weight loss plan and focus on it. You should be able to count up the minutes of exercise in order to be successful in your plan. Also use a tape measure to chart your progress.

The bottom line is, people should not make weight loss plans that will only remain as it is, just a plan. They have to put it into action by incorporating goals that will motivate them to succeed.

What is your "Why"?

Muscle Building Fiction

2007-09-16T11:50:00.000-06:00

Kevin Newman
CPT, CPC

If you've been training for any length of time, here's a short list of bodybuilding fiction that you have probably heard in the gym.

1. 12 Rep rule
Most weight training program include this much repetitions for gaining muscle. The truth is this approach places the muscles with not enough tension for effective muscle gain. High tension e.g. heavy weights provides muscle growth in which the muscle grows much larger, leading to the maximum gains in strength. Having longer tension time boosts the muscle size by generating the structures around the muscle fibers, improving endurance.

The standard prescription of eight to 12 repetitions provides a balance but by just using that program all of the time, you do not generate the greater tension levels that is provided by the heavier weights and lesser reps, and the longer tension achieved with lighter weights and more repetitions. Change the number of reps and adjust the weights to stimulate all types of muscle growth. Change is required for continuous muscle growth.

2. Three Set rule
The truth is there's nothing wrong with three sets but then again there is nothing amazing about it either. The number of sets you perform should be base on your goals and not on a half-century old rule. The more repetitions you do on an exercise, the fewer sets you should do, and vice versa. This keeps the total number of repetitions done of an exercise equal.

3. Three to four exercises per group
The truth is this is a waste of time. Combined with twelve reps of three sets, the total number of reps amount to 144. If your doing this much reps for a muscle group your not doing enough. Instead of doing too many varieties of exercises, try doing 30 to 50 reps. That can be anywhere from 2 sets of 15 reps or 5 sets of 10 reps. Think about the '300' program.

4. My knees, my toes
It is a gym folklore that you “should not let your knees go past your toes." Truth is that leaning forward a little too much is more likely a cause of injury. In 2003, Memphis University researchers confirmed that knee stress was almost thirty percent higher when the knees are allowed to move beyond the toes during a squat.

But hip stress increased nearly 10 times or (1000 percent) when the forward movement of the knee was restricted. Because the squatters needed to lean their body forward and that forces the strain to transfer to the lower back.

Focus on your upper body position and less on the knee. Keep the torso in an upright position as much as possible when doing squats and lunges. These reduces the stress generated on the hips and back. To stay upright, before squatting, squeeze the shoulder blades together and hold them in that position; and then as you squat, keep the forearms 90 degree to the floor.

5. Lift weights, draw abs
The truth is the muscles work in groups to stabilize the spine, and the most important muscle group change depending on the type of exercise. The transverse abdominis is not always the most important muscle group. Actually, for most exercise, the body automatically activates the muscle group that are needed most for support of the spine. So if you focus only on the transverse abdominis, it can recruit wrong muscles and limit the right muscles. This increases the chance of injury, and reduces the weight that can be lifted. I have found that multi-joint exercises are the best to use when possible.

Couples Dieting

2007-09-10T10:02:00.000-06:00

Couples Dieting
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- She was a fourth-grade teacher in Florida. He was a Web designer in Iowa. They each had a top weight of 307 pounds and wanted to be thinner.
"I didn't want to live life like that, because I didn't really feel like I was living," says Julie Switzer. She went to Weight Watchers and lost more than 100 pounds. Then, she met Kevin on the online message board and sent words of encouragement.
"That's just really what it was for me at first, was having that support there that I didn't have from anyone else," says Kevin Switzer.
What started out as 'what's for dinner?' turned to more personal questions. Eventually, Kevin flew down to meet her. It was love at first sight.
"One of those everybody else, time stands still, and the room spins around you kind of deal," says Julie.
The two now share a home and the same weight loss goals.
"It works so much better with a partner," says Julie.
Experts agree.
"When the entire family does the same thing, works together, there is more success," says Sherri Flynt, R.D., from Florida Hospital in Orlando, Fla.
Couples just need to keep in mind men have more muscle mass, so the pounds melt off faster. "That can cause some friction," says Flynt. But they can also help balance each other out. Oftentimes, women are more focused and measure everything out, while men can just commit to eating less and exercising more.
Julie and Kevin plan and cook healthy meals together and encourage each other to stay active.
"No one always wants to exercise, but if one of us at least does, then we push the other one to go," says Julie.
The two married this summer and say, sometimes, the best place to find love is where you least expect it.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
For more information, please contact:
Sherri Flynt, R.D. Author, SuperSized Kids

Jogging is beneficial, soccer more so

2007-08-28T13:50:00.001-06:00

There has long been a running argument on the best way of getting a cardio workout for fat loss. Some subscribe to the long duration slow jog theory, others to the short fast theory, still others say you should get enough cardio if you are doing rigorous weight training. Honestly I think the answer somewhere in the middle.

Cardio should be based on your individual level of fitness. If you are just starting out then most likely long distance slow burn is probably the best. But if that is becoming easy for you then perhaps you should look into some other form of cardio because our bodies adapt to the level of training then plateau effect sets in. In order to keep improving we need to keep changing things up. The following article is a good illustration of this principle.

Kevin
Natural Fat Loss

Jogging is beneficial, soccer more so

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) -- Danish researchers found that those who
played soccer lost fat and developed muscle, while joggers only lost
fat and gained no muscle.

Peter Krustrup and colleagues at the University of Copenhagen, the
Copenhagen University Hospital and Bispebjerg Hospital followed a
soccer team consisting of 14 untrained men aged 20 to 40 years, a
similar group of joggers and a control group. The soccer players and
the joggers did two to three weekly rounds of soccer practice or
jogging for about one hour.

After 12 weeks, the soccer players had lost 7.7 pounds of fat and
gained more than 4.4 pounds of extra muscle mass, while the joggers
lost 4.4 pounds of fat and showed no change in total muscle mass.
However, both groups showed significant improvements in blood
pressure, insulin sensitivity and balance.

Krustrup say he thinks that it is the shifts of walking, running and
sprinting that causes the soccer players to experience better health
benefits.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Technorati Tags: obesity, health, fitness, fat loss, weight loss, muscle gain

Rapid Weight Loss Techniques

2007-08-26T15:48:00.001-06:00

"Rapid Weight Loss Techniques"
Kevin C Newman CPT, CPC
Natural Fat Loss

Other than physical appearance weight affects a person in many ways. This could be the overall quality of life, self-esteem, depression, health risks, and physical incapabilities. There are a lot of positive changes that come into a persons life once they experience weight loss. It is for this reason why a lot of people are searching for a weight loss technique that will surely trim down those fats and get a super slim head turner body.

The first thing that an over-weight person should do is seek a doctor to recommend the best weight loss regimen. This will be done after a full physical examination, which leads to the determination of proper weight loss technique. And to lose weight fast and effectively four aspects of life should be changed: what to eat, how to eat, behavior and activity level.

Here are fast tips that can change an over-weight person's life:

First: Fast weight loss composes of a multi-faceted technique that consists mindset, exercise, and in other cases, diet supplements. Begin by learning a diet food plan that can easily be accustomed with. Incorporate an exercise plan that allows even at least fifteen minutes a day like brisk walking, running, swimming, and dancing.

Second: Set realistic approaches. Fast weight loss does not mean instant. The ability to focus and have proper mindset enables someone on a diet to quickly lose those extra pounds. With discipline and proper mind set, a dieter will never be discouraged and lose focus.

Third: Listen as the body speaks. Each and everyone's body metabolism reacts differently to different fast weight loss programs and plans. Try substituting one program for another to compensate the body's reaction. Exercise program must be suitable to one's body, as others are not able to exercise as rigorously as others can. If walking is all that can be done, then walk for this has been proven to be one of the best exercises. Muscles burn more calories than fats so it's also best to put on a little muscle and looking good too.

Fourth: Eat more fibers for it makes a person full sooner and stays in the tummy longer, slowing down the rate of digestion. A single serving of whole grain bread moves fat through the digestive system faster. Grains turn into blood sugar that spikes the body's insulin level. Thus, making the body more energized and ready to tell the body when it should stop burning fats or start storing.

Fifth: Keep away from fried foods especially deep-fried as this contains the greatest amount of fat. Although fish and chicken appear leaner than beef, this white meat can contain more fat than when a beef is fried. It is recommended for those on strict diet to opt for grilled or baked food as this does not have or contains a smaller amount of fat after the food is cooked.

Sixth: Takes lots of fluid. Drinking at least six to eight glasses of water a day keeps the body refreshed. Since weight loss depends on how the body eliminates body wastes, the body must stay hydrated. It is best if you can get one half ounce of water per pound of body weight.

All in all, discipline and consistency is still the best practice and the key to a rapid weight loss success. Light dieting, workout, and right amount of supplementation applied in a regular way everyday will result in faster weight loss than having a massive action only to be followed by a return to old habits as this would only lead to gaining more weight than when the weight loss plan had started.

Technorati Tags: fat loss, obesity, exercise, health, fitness

Calorie Cutting Tip

2007-08-23T13:43:00.001-06:00

Drink a
glass of water before you eat. Many times we go into a meal feeling
famished. Consuming eight ounces of water 30 minutes before you sit
down to eat works wonders. The water fills you up and you won't be as
hungry when your meal is served. In turn, you'll be less likely to
overeat. Water eases cravings and controls hunger without costing you
any calories.

Taking Responsibility

2007-08-23T13:01:00.001-06:00

Taking Responsibility
Kevin C Newman CPT, CPC
Natural Fat Loss

Something that many of you have read about in the news seems to give people a reason to pass the buck on their health and fitness. Research has come out suggesting that the common cold virus, adenovirus 36, is an underlying cause of obesity. It seems to me someone is stretching the research as a way to take responsibility away from the individual for their health. It isn't your fault that your obese, it is the fault of some virus.

Quite frankly this is pure hogwash. This is possible under strictly controlled circumstances but not as likely in a living human. You would have to have a cold 24/7/365 in order for it to be feasible. What wasn't brought up in the study was the fact that most people with a cold do not feel like eating.

Thankfully the researchers did add the addendum that an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise are still the leading cause of weight gain.

So take responsibility for your health and fitness levels. Eat healthy and exercise. You might just find that you can keep colds at bay and when you get them they are short lived.

Technorati Tags: fitness, health, obesity, research

The Belly Fat - Stress Connection

2007-08-22T12:23:00.000-06:00

The Belly Fat - Stress Connection

By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs

Most people look at body fat as an enemy and they should to a certain extent. However, in understanding how to beat belly fat, it helps to understand the genetically engineered reasons that we store body fat the way we do and the differences between modern life and the way our ancestors lived. It all started with simple survival. Without the ability to easily store fat some of us would not even be here on this earth today, so thank your ancestors for improving the hardiness of your family's gene pool and keeping you in the mix.

Despite fat's value in the evolutionary scheme of things, excess belly fat can cause many problems and I'm not talking about whether you can tie your shoelaces. Belly fat - which refers largely to visceral fat, not just the subcutaneous fat below your skin - has been associated in recent years with all kinds of health problems ranging from heart disease, to strokes to diabetes. Fat can be cosmetically frustrating, but belly fat can also be deadly.

Gender is one factor that affects where you store your fat. Men store most of it in their belly, while women store more fat in their hips and thighs. Women store body fat in the lower body because of childbirth and hormonal reasons. After menopause when hormones change women also tend to begin storing more fat in the abdominal region.

But why does the fat go there so quickly and easily?

Why doesn't it just even itself out all across the body rather than concentrating in one unsightly area? And why do we get belly fat in the first place? Obviously, the first reason is caloric excess. That is always true in males and in females, so before you start pointing your finger at genetics, gender, hormones, adrenergic receptors or anything else, look at how much you're eating every day first.

At the risk of continuing to state the obvious, the second reason is not enough exercise. In today's modern technologically advanced society, we do not work like our grandparents did, and our waistlines show it. I also believe that in our society today, we are much more stressed out than our ancestors were. Sure, there were fight or flight situations in the natural environment which we no longer have today, but those occasional natural phenomena have now been replaced by continuous daily stress from our regular daily workload. Combine that with the reduced exercise and increased portion sizes and availability of food, and could this be a third reason for belly fat?

Experts argue about whether stress "causes" fat, but there is no question that stress correlates highly with fat and it creates a situation - both environmentally and hormonally - that is highly conducive to increasing fat. Because of the nature of stress hormones such as cortisol, combined with metabolic syndrome, excess insulin and insulin resistance that is the common result of sedentary lifestyle combined with refined foods, the caloric surplus is stored as visceral body fat and our bellies begin to bulge.

More and More Research Is Proving the Connection

More and more research is starting to explain, scientifically, how high levels of stress ultimately lead to increased body fat. In a paper published in the journal Hormonal Metabolic Research (Kyrou July 2007) Greek researchers said that stress may affect the thyroid by inhibiting the enzymatic conversion of T4 into the biologically active form, T3. They also noted that while stress causes a generalized catabolic state, the extended action of the glucocorticoids on the metabolic pathways eventually leads to increased visceral body fat accumulation and insulin resistance. In fact, numerous researchers now point at central obesity as the distinguishing factor in metabolic syndrome.

So although we may not be able to say that "stress causes belly fat" literally, there is very clearly a strong association between the two. How are your stress levels? What does your diet look like? How does your exercise regimen stack up? How does you belly look? Add high stress levels onto a sedentary lifestyle with an excess of calories and you have a textbook formula for gaining belly fat.

The belly fat, in turn can lead to more health problems than you ever thought. "Hundreds of studies have led to the conclusion that any fat can be problematic," said obesity expert Jeffrey S Flier, MD, "But it's much, much more dangerous when it's accumulated in the abdomen.," He added that pound for pound, fat that builds up in the abdomen is much more likely to cause diabetes and heart disease. His research is published in the Dec. 7 issue of Science.

Flier and his colleagues looked at a stress hormone called cortisol - the "fight or flight" hormone that kicks in during stressful situations. When the body produces excess cortisol, it tends to cause a build-up of belly fat.

So what do we do about all this?

In addition to the usual prescription of eat less and exercise more, it looks like we have to add something else: reduce stress… Relax and enjoy life. Stop worrying and start taking care of yourself. Consider taking up meditation. In light of the recent evidence about the stress-belly fat connection, this no longer seems like a "new agey" type of thing to do. Even of 5-10 minutes of breathing exercises daily could work wonders.

Many people are failing to reach their fat reduction goals because they have not considered the possible effect of stress on their weight as well as their health. This is one of the reasons I included a stress relief course along with my Flatten Your Abs Program.

When you combine the calorie deficit from nutrition with muscle building exercises, fat burning exercises AND stress relief exercises (which in my course include yoga and mind body relaxation techniques of Tai Chi And Qigong), you may very well have the most complete approach to a flat stomach that has ever been created.

You can learn more about the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program as well as the bonus courses, including the stress relievers program on the home page at:

www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html

Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington

About the Author:

David Grisaffi majored in physical education and holds multiple certifications including 3 from the prestigious CHEK Institute: Level II high Performance Exercise Kinesiologist, Golf Biomechanic, and health and lifestyle counselor. He's also certified by the ISSA as a personal trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. David has been a high school wrestling and baseball coach and is currently an independent trainer and strength coach. He has been sought after by some of the top athletes in professional sports including world champion boxer Greg Haugen and professional golfer Michael Putnam. David’s ebook, Firm And Flatten Your Abs is an online best seller which teaches you how develop “six pack abs" while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. Find out more on the home page at: www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Technorati Tags: health, fitness, exercise program, abs, fat loss, flatten your abs

Better Work Out

2007-08-21T18:01:00.001-06:00

Better Work Out

Kevin C Newman CPT, CPC
123 Health | Fitness

1.Stop and Go

If you play a sport that requires a full sprint, remember that a full
sprint strains the muscles of the lower body. To combat this, do
stop-and-go exercises. For example, run 30 meters at about 80 percent
of your effort, slow to a jog for five to 10 meters, then run again for
another 30 meters. Repeat this process five times.

2.On bended knees

Almost 3 out of four ACL injury occurs when players are landing or
turning. If your knees are bent instead of straight, the risk of injury
is greatly reduced according to a report in the JAAOS (Journal of the
American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons).

3.Cool down

Heatstroke is not something that can be easily cured like headache. To
avoid it, stay cool and hydrated. drink a minimum of .5 ounce water per
pound body weight per day. Be sure the combined temp an humidity is less than 160. This is according to Dr. Dave Janda of the IPSM.

4.Get the proper equipment

Badly fitting gears or ill sized equipment can be a cause of training
injuries. The extra money spent on proper equipment goes a long way.

5.Do it the right way

Bad technique is just as bad as, well, bad equipment. Seek advice from
pros and trainer, this advice are invaluable to your exercises or
training.

6.Go West (or whichever direction)

If you're playing or training in multiple directions, your warm up
should also. Move sideways, backward, forward and all the motions you
might be doing. This allows your body to be prepared.

7.Have yourself filmed

The camera doesn't lie. Show your video to a person well verse in your
training, so he can give a critic of your fitness regimen.

8.Loosen the shoulders.

Even a slightly injured rotator cuff can shut down the function of a
shoulder. You might want to include stretching to protect your rotator
cuffs.

9.take An early dip

Schedule your swimming sessions early. The less people in the pool means less of everything in the pool.

10. Protect yourself

Wearing custom-fitted mouth guards reduces the risk of injuries by as
much as 82 percent, according to a study at UNC at Chapel Hill. Plunk
out the cash for a custom-fitted mouth guard and it'll last for years
including your smile and teeth.

11. Smooth out your tendon

Inquire about ultrasound needle therapy. These procedure is minimally
by using ultrasound to guide a needle. The needle smoothens the bone,
breaks up calcifications, and fixes scar tissue. Thirteen out of twenty
patients saw improvement, and the session takes only about 15 minutes
of your time.

12. Buy your running shoes after work.

Shop in the evening, the feet are swollen after a day of work. It
approximates how your feet will be after three miles of running.

13. Do off road running.

If the surface is unstable, it trains the ankles to be stable.

14. Know where you're going.

Whether its biking, or skiing, be sure to have a dry run down any path
first. A lot of injuries can be avoided when you're familiar with the
route taken.

15. Train hard.

Anxiety reduces your peripheral vision by three degrees and slows the
reaction time by almost 120 milliseconds, according to an article of
the Journal of Sports Sciences. When the going gets difficult, the
veteran athlete rely on skills they've trained for and practiced. It
keeps them cooler under pressure, widening their vision so they can see
react much faster.

Waist-to-hip better predictor than obesity

2007-08-20T11:26:00.001-06:00

Waist-to-hip better predictor than obesity

DALLAS (UPI) -- A larger waist-to-hip ratio may predict future heart
disease better than body mass index, U.S. researchers found.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in
Dallas said that people who develop fat around their middle have more
atherosclerotic plaque than those who have smaller waist-to-hip
ratios.

Senior author Dr. James De Lemos said the risk was the same for both
men and women who develop abdominal fat.

Nearly 3,000 individuals aged 18 to 65 participated in the study and
they received a total of three medical visits each, which included an
in-home health survey, blood and urine collection and a detailed
clinical exam complete with abdominal magnetic resonance imaging and
coronary artery calcium scans.

Calcium was more likely to be found in the arteries of patients with
the greatest waist-to-hip ratio and those with the largest
waist-to-hip ratio had a twofold increase in the incidence of calcium
deposits -- a strong indicator of future cardiovascular issues
including heart attacks, reported the study published in the Journal
of the American College of Cardiology.

How To Lose The Most Fat With Walking

2007-08-19T16:34:00.001-06:00

How To Lose The Most Fat With Walking

By David Grisaffi, CHEK

Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist

Golf Biomechanic Certified

Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach

Three universal goals nearly all of us share are: (1) to live longer,

(2) to live free of illness and (3) to control our weight. Amazingly,

walking lets us achieve all three. In fact, walking may be your
best

medicine for slowing the aging process, reducing your chances of
illness

and slashing your body fat. For anyone out of shape or not athletically-

inclined, walking is the no-stress, no-sweat answer to lifelong

conditioning. All you need is a good pair of shoes, a little time,
a few

guidelines from a fitness professional and you're ready to go.

Unfortunately, there's more misinformation floating around today
about

fitness walking and weight loss than ever before. Some experts even
say

walking is not effective for weight loss at all and they insist
that

only higher intensity forms of cardio will do anything to improve
your

body composition. Others fitness experts believe that you should
not do

cardiovascular exercise every day - even walking.

There may be a little truth in each of those statements, however,

walking always was and still is one of the best exercises for

strengthening your bones, controlling your weight, toning the muscles
in

your lower body, maintaining good posture and improving your self
image.

Walking uses almost every muscle in the body, it improves circulation
of

blood to the joints and massages the blood vessels, keeping them
more

elastic. Walking also helps you maintain muscle and an efficient

metabolism as you get older (not to mention keeping you young "in

spirit.")

Walking is incredibly convenient too. Since you don’t need
a gym or any

special equipment, you can walk any place, at any time and that
allows

you to lose weight and get fit with little or no interruption to
your

busy schedule.

People who diet without exercising often get fatter with time.
Although

your weight may initially drop while dieting, weight loss from low

calorie and especially low carb diets consists mostly of water and

muscle. When the weight returns, it comes back as fat. To avoid

getting fatter over time, you must increase your metabolism by

exercising daily.

To get the maximum benefits of a walking program, you need make
it more

challenging than a leisurely "walk in the park." Walking
at a steady and

brisk pace burns more fat simply because it burns more calories.
Just

remember to begin slowly to avoid muscle soreness, and increase
your

pace over time as you become more fit.

To lose weight, it's ideal to alternate your walking sessions between

high intensity and lower intensity days. For example, on one day
walk

for 30- 45 minutes as a steady and moderate pace. On the next day,
walk

at a faster pace. You could even do "road work" like the
boxers do,

where you break up your walk along the route with some sets of squats,

lunges, bench push ups or other body weight or calisthenic exercises
to

make it a real cardiovascular and muscle blaster of a workout! It

doesn’t have to be boring or the same thing every day. Make
it fun and

keep it up consistently, leading an active life-style 365 days a
year.

Slow and casual walking has benefits, but you will not get as much
out

of walking at a very slow pace because we all have a built-in mechanical

advantage for walking long distances at normal speeds.

Our bodies, via the spinal column, muscle attachments and bony

structures, reserve energy in the musculoskeletal system and release
it

back to us without asking for additional energy output. In other
words,

as you walk, your spinal column keeps energy in reserve because
of the

way you straighten and extend your spine during normal walking.

As you step, your spine is stretched, and as you take another step,
the

energy reserved in the spine is used in propulsion. The spine acts
very

much like rubber band as your walk, harnessing this reserve energy.

To get substantial cardiovascular, muscular and weight loss benefits,

this is why you must walk briskly or create extra movement patterns

beyond casual, slow walking in order to optimize your walking program

for weight loss and cardiovascular fitness.

Walking the right way will also improve your posture and tends
to help

keep you upright (because you must see where you are going). Just
hold

your chin up and shoulder slightly back.. Walk with your heels hitting

the ground first and your feet pointed forward. Swing your arms
fully

and make lengthy strides.

To lose weight and achieve optimum health, exercise and diet are
both

necessary and interrelated. Exercising without maintaining a balanced

diet is no more beneficial than dieting while remaining a couch
potato.

Carbohydrates are high-octane fuel. They provide energy for movement

and help raise internal body metabolism. They're also satisfying.
The

key is to avoid adding high-fat and high calorie toppings to your

carbohydrates. Also be sure to focus on fruits and vegetables and
do not

eat the majority of your carbohydrates from the starch category
such as

bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes. These type of carbs can create
an

insulin spike, which in turn feeds your fat storing system.

Fruits and vegetables are the ideal health, diet and fat loss foods
for

many reasons. They're relatively low in fat and calories, high in
fiber

and rich in essential vitamins and minerals. The National Research

Council recommends eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables

a day.

Your everyday habits will determine your long term body weight
and body

composition. Make sure you get enough sleep, drink enough water
to

expel toxins, avoid processed food as much as you can, eat your
fruits

and veggies, eat organic when ever possible and work hard.

Just one last thought: taking a three-minute walk after each meal
is

worth a four pound reduction in body fat in a year’s time.
Climbing two

flights of stairs a day burns off half a pound of body fat in a
year.

On the other hand, one candy bar eaten daily will cost you 20 pounds

annually.

Firm and Flatten Your Abs

If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy
the

David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise
plan

that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at

Firm and Flatten Your Abs

David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN

Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II

Golf Biomechanic

Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II

mailto:david@flattenyourabs.net

http://www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you? Part Three

2007-08-15T00:33:00.001-06:00

Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you?
Part Three

By David Grisaffi, CHEK

Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist

Golf Biomechanic Certified

Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach

As
you know from reading parts one and two of this series, your hormones
can be a liability when it comes to getting rid of stubborn body fat.
For example, the hormone estrogen has a unique relationship with the
fat cell. Fat cells can release signals that enable your body to
synthesize estrogen and to regulate the reproductive cycle. In turn,
estrogen has an effect upon fat cells. An influx of extra estrogen
into the body from food sources can cause fat cells to grow and become
stubborn.

A similar situation occurs during pregnancy
and in mothers who are breast-feeding, as this causes the fat cells in
the body to swell so that they are able to absorb and store more fuel.
The estrogen is telling them that they need to stock up on extra fat,
so the fat cells prepare to do so. This is why a lot of women gain
weight when starting birth control pills or when entering menopause
when levels of progesterone fall and estrogen becomes the dominant
hormone.

Most of the time, women have a more difficult
time losing body fat than men. However, men are quickly catching up in
this day and age due to the estrogenic foods being consumed in our
modern Western society, rife with environmental pollution and refined
foods. Ironically, one reason women have a harder time with fat loss
than men, is because at any given time, women are more likely to be on
a severely restricted diet in order to attain the coveted thinness
that’s been established as a standard of beauty and attractiveness in
our culture.

Unfortunately, severe and prolonged
dieting shuts down the metabolism, sending the body into starvation
mode. The fat cells begin sending out even more fat storing enzymes
and a significantly smaller amount of fat releasing enzymes. Because
the fat cells are afraid of being starved to death and depleted of
their stores, they will hold on to the fat they have to the best of
their ability, causing the body to start burning lean muscle mass to
get the amount of fuel it needs.

Lean muscle mass,
located in the skeletal muscles and the organ systems, is the
metabolically active part of the body. This means that after the diet
is over and your body is out of starvation mode, your metabolism will
still not be functioning as well as before the diet, because you have
lost some of your muscle mass, which was the engine driving your
metabolism.

In addition, the effects of restrictive
dieting on your fat storing and releasing enzymes can be permanent.
Though the levels will return to closer to a normal level after the
diet, the fat releasing enzymes will almost always be at a little lower
level than before the diet and the fat storing enzymes will almost
always be at a slightly higher level. Even worse: The effects are
cumulative. This means that after each successive bout of dieting, it
will be harder and harder for you to lose fat and control your weight
for the long term.

It sounds hopeless, but it’s not, so
don’t panic just yet! This doesn’t mean that you’re stuck with
unwanted fat and excess weight for the rest of your life. It only
means that you don’t have to diet anymore. Even if you “tortured
yourself” with deprivation diets that left you hungry, anxious, and
unhappy in the past, what we know about hormones, enzymes and fat cells
can actually be great news. You can lose your unwanted fat through
good old-fashioned nutrition, calorie-burning and
metabolism-stimulating exercise and anti-estrogenic foods.

What
I am suggesting to you is not a magic bullet solution, and if you’ve
been a long term chronic dieter, it might take a lot longer to lose the
amount of fat you want to lose. But by putting an end to the
quick-results, crash-diet approach and taking the weight loss
gradually, you will not only avoid the feelings of deprivation that
sabotage many diets, but also, the weight you lose will be three times
more likely to stay off.

To improve your results in
losing stubborn fat and to reduce estrogenic effects on your body,
there are a few steps you must take to ensure your success. Your
success will be dependent on your understanding of how to detox your
liver, eat foods that aid reducing estrogen and exercise.

On
this stubborn fat reduction plan, you are going to consume as many
anti-estrogenic foods as possible and eliminate as many estrogenic
foods as possible. In addition to stimulating greater fat loss, this
type of eating will also aid in the detoxification of your liver.
Without cleaning out the liver and reducing the chemical build up, your
liver becomes overburdened and your fat loss can hit the wall.

There are a few stages in stubborn fat removal, so here we go

First
and foremost you must eat unprocessed foods such as fruits, vegetables,
legumes, nuts and seeds and occasional wild salmon. This starts the
detoxification of the liver as you eliminate all processed foods,
grains, farm fed livestock and chemically altered foods. Try to eat as
much organic food as possible.

The base of your
anti-stubborn fat plan is to consume an enormous amount of cruciferous
vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts,
as these vegetables are very anti-estrogenic. Include citrus fruits
such as grapefruit, orange and pineapple as they have enzymes in
cofactors that help your body against the radical damage and help your
liver detox.

Supplement your diet with omega-3 fatty
acids from wild caught salmon and flaxseed. You can also take an
omega-3 fatty acid supplements such as Carlson's oil available at
mercola.com.

Eating raw nuts and seeds, avocados, and
olive oil also improves your body’s function. In addition, eating green
leafy vegetables, whole oats and barley, legumes (no soy), and spices
such as turmeric (cancer fighter), milk thistle (liver detoxer),
dandelion root (natural diuretic) and ginger increases loss of stubborn
fat by decreasing estrogen in your body

There are
many estrogen inhibitors that can help you decrease body fat quickly.
According to Ori Hofmekler, author of The Warrior Diet, consuming these
foods will greatly improve your ability to remove stubborn fat and
decrease estrogenic effects. Hofmekler says there are additional
estrogenic inhibitors such as chrysin (passion flower), Apigene
(chamomile), Quercetin (onions, garlic) and all of these cofactors can
work together to detoxify your liver and get the stubborn fat off.

To
simplify, systemize and organize this information, Hofmekler has
developed an anti-estrogen, anti-stubborn fat program into three stages:

Stage 1 Defense (Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods)

Eat Anti-Estrogenic Foods Estrogen inhibitors

Cruciferous vegetables Passion flower

Citrus fruits Chamomile flower

Omega 3 oils

Wild catch salmon

Organic Dairy

Stage 2 Defense (additional foods that promote anti-estrogenic hormones).

Raw nuts and seeds

Avocado

Olives and Olive oil

Rice Germ Oil

Wheat Germ Oil

Stage 3 Defense (Foods that as cofactors and promote liver detoxification)

Green Vegetables

Spices (turmeric, oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage)

Fruits (citrus, berries, apples, pineapple

Whole oats and barley

Legumes (NO SOY)

Herbs (dandelion root, ginger, alma berries, milk thistle)

Three week plan:

Outlined
below is a very simple three week plan that will produce good initial
results in just three weeks. After this initial three week phase, you
can then to rotate the stages to get continued and even better. You can
also alternate the stages by the day. After the first 3 weeks. To gain
more information on to set up a plan on a day to day bases just e mail
me at

As this part is out of the scope of this article.

Stage 1 for a week

Detox liver

Stage 2 for a week

High Fat for fuel change over

Stage 3 for a week

Food reintroduction

In
addition to eating the proper anti-estrogenic foods to remove stubborn
fat, it goes without saying that a very important part of any program
is exercise. Diet alone is not enough. Regular exercise is not only
beneficial for fat loss, but also for your overall health. Exercise
lowers body fat, blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol. You need
to set some goals and plan to exercise on a continuous basis.

If
you attempt to lose weight without exercise, you should expect only
temporary success and expect to succumb to the rebound effect. This
simply means that sooner or later, you will eventually gain back the
fat and the harder it will be to remove the next time around.

Instead
of using the diet-only approach, emphasize the diet and exercise
combination and focus on increasing your daily activity level overall
(refer to my article titled, “movement sufficiency, not calorie
deficiency” for more information on exercising more rather than just
eating less, and here are a few quick and practical suggestions:

Walk
to the store instead of driving, go for a bike ride, walk upstairs in
office buildings rather than using the elevator, and park your car at
the end of the parking lot instead of looking for the front row spot.
Take short walk during daily breaks or after you get home. Mow your
lawn with a push mower, vacuum your carpets every other day, tidy up
you backyard, basement or garage, iron your clothes, wash your windows,
and play with your kids. These activities are usually not looked at as
“exercise” or “workouts,” but all the activity adds up at the end of
the day and it can work wonders as it accumulates over the long haul.

Naturally,
of course, you should also have a more structured and formal exercise
program to achieve maximum reductions in body fat. Even mowing your
lawn has health benefits and burns some calories, but for really making
inroads into those stubborn fat stores, more intense and focused
exercise is a must.

A great type of routine for
stubborn fat loss goals is a circuit training program. This style of
training not only raises your metabolism, improves your cardiovascular
ability, and increases strength, it is also time efficient. Put
together a routine that uses large body parts such as legs, chest, back
and shoulders into groups and perform all of the exercises nonstop. You
can also mix cardio interval training into your circuit workouts or in
addition to your circuit workouts to increase the fat burning effect.

Here
is an example of an effective and time efficient circuit program that
can easily be performed at home with nothing but dumbbells and a swiss
ball.

A1 - Swiss ball Squats (ball up against the wall)

A2 - Dumbbell Cleans

A3 - Dumbbell Flys on a Swiss Ball

A4 - Lunge

A5 - Dumbbell 3 Matrix (side laterals, bent laterals, front laterals)

A6 - Dumbbell Row

Do
each exercise with perfect form for 6-8 reps and then get on your
cardio equipment and go hard for 1-2 minutes. Rest about 90 seconds
between before repeating the circuit 2-3 more times, as your schedule
and fitness level dictate.

You can easily take one or
two ideas out of this series, put them to work and immediately begin to
see improvements in stubborn fat reduction. However, the real “secret,”
if there is one, is putting all the pieces together into a
comprehensive healthy lifestyle overall.

The lifestyle
below suggestions may seem basic and general, but when combined with
what you’ve learned in this article series, they will have a profound
impact on your outcome.

Don’t diet – Eat reasonably but do not starve or deprive yourself; avoid yo-yo dieting
Avoid empty calories and processed refined foods like sodas and sweets
Eat many smaller meals – eat light at every meal to keep blood sugar steady and metabolism stoked
Eat healthy fat- Eat omega 3 fatty acids such as those found in salmon to promote proper hormone function and balance
Eat a LOT of vegetables, focusing on the cruciferous variety,
Drink lots of water - What can you say other than, “without it, you will die!” Drink a 1⁄2 and ounce for very pound you weigh
Get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep
Keep stress to minimum
Avoid excessive and chronic use of stimulants
Exercise
– Just a little increase in daily activities will go a long way towards
improving your health; add circuits and intervals to knock off the most
stubborn fat.
Have a little fun – find an exercise program you enjoy and do it

http://singldad59.davidfit.hop.clickbank.net

If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy

the

David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise

plan

that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at

http://singldad59.davidfit.hop.clickbank.net

David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN

Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II

Golf Biomechanic

Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II

mailto:david@flattenyourabs.net

http://www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you? Part Two

2007-08-11T12:57:00.000-06:00

Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you?
Part Two

By David Grisaffi, CHEK
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist
Golf Biomechanic Certified
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach

When it comes to the physical make-up of men versus women, many of the differences are obvious. Men, on average, are 10-15% larger than women, weigh 20% more, and are 30% stronger (especially when considering upper body strength). Testosterone is one of the major hormones active in a man’s body. Men also produce more HGH (human growth hormone). Testosterone stimulates muscle enlargement and bone growth and also raises the level of red blood cells in a man’s blood stream.

What you may not know, however, is that all of these factors combine to make oxygen much more available to a man’s cells than a woman’s cells. That means a man could be working at 50% of his capacity during physical activity, but a woman would have to be working at 70% of her capacity in order to keep up. It is not as easy for her cells to absorb oxygen.

This is due partly to the fact that women have a smaller percentage of lean tissue (muscle, organs, etc.) and a much higher percentage of body fat. Though this is detrimental in a short sprint, a higher percentage of fat means that women can power their cells longer from their body’s reserves without stopping to eat or drink in order to refuel. This may translate into greater endurance. Studies comparing men and women in running, swimming, and speed skating have all shown that the differences in time vs. distance decreased between men and women as the length of the event progressed.

Hundreds of studies have showed some interesting differences between men and women in nearly every area. Looking through the research, you would discover all kinds of facts such as how much more likely women are to wear a seatbelt than men (2 times more likely), to how often they are the sexual initiators in a monogamous relationship (65% of the time).

As interesting as those facts may be, let’s concentrate on the differences between men and women that have an effect on women’s physical fitness. These differences are primarily found in the functioning of a woman’s hormones and the construction and function of her fat cells. These two factors influence everything from the way a woman’s metabolism functions; to how likely she is to suffer from stubborn fat and other health related diseases such as osteoporosis.

Though the construction of the male and female fat cell is basically the same, they differ vastly when is comes to size and function. To begin with, a women’s fat cell is five times larger than a man’s! In addition, not only are women’s cells capable of holding more fat, they are genetically programmed to do so. It all comes down to enzymes:

Lipogenic- Fat Storing Enzymes

Lipolytic- Fat Releasing Enzymes

Though these enzymes are present in both men and women, women’s bodies have two times the number of Lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes, and only half the number of Lipolytic (fat releasing) enzymes. This is the genetic legacy of women’s role as the childbearing and nurturing gender of the species. Nature wanted to ensure that women were carrying around enough fat cells to nurture their growing babies and to breast-feed them once they were born. A baby in-utero requires the mother to burn at least 300 extra calories a day and breast-feeding can require as much as 500 extra calories.

In addition to the normal caloric needs of a baby, our foremothers also held onto extra body fat in case of a drought or famine. This extra fat was stored in the hips, thighs, and buttocks. Therefore, the females who survived famine and drought to pass down their genes were the women whose bodies were adept at storing fat. Skinny thighs in the past were a serious liability, serving only to increase the risk of death when food supplies became scarce. These enzymes tend to be balanced in a healthy person. Too much l of either develops an unbalanced system develops and leads to insulin resistance, leading contributor to stubborn fat.

Other contributors to stubborn fat are estrogenic compounds called xenoestrogens. These chemicals are a byproduct of fertilizers, plastics, soy isoflavones, certain herbs and petroleum products. These compounds in our food and water supply mimic estrogenic functions and aid in binding to estrogenic fat receptors. This produces induced aromatase influence. Aromatase is an enzyme which helps convert androgens (male hormone) to estrogenic compounds.

When this occurs, it enhances the production of estrone, which is the main culprit in stubborn fat gain in both men and women. Look at many children today and you can see that they take on some very feminized features such as breast fat.

To benefit from a program that reduces stubborn fat, you must first recognize that estrogenic compounds are all around us (and in us). To combat this problem, you need to look at the food you consume and the liquids you drink, as there are many culprits that cause stubborn fat gain.

You move in the direction of gaining stubborn fat when you develop bad eating and lifestyle habits, which cause insulin resistance, a toxic overburden on the liver and elevated estrogen. These all contribute to the fat that will not go away. To open these cells, you should start by heading down the food chain. Minimize or eliminate all refined foods, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (preferably organic), and exercise.

In the third and final part, you will learn more about how specifically to get this stubborn fat out of you life forever.

Flatten Your Abs

If you enjoyed the information in this article, you will also enjoy the
David Grisaffi Walking Guide, which is a complete walking exercise plan
that comes FREE with the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program at
Flatten Your Abs

David Grisaffi, C. H. E. K. II, CFT, PN
Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist II
Golf Biomechanic
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach II
mailto:david@flattenyourabs.net
http://www.FlattenYourAbs.net

Technorati Tags: fat loss, exercise, health, fitness, obesity, diet, abs

Fat Burning Bodyweight Circuit Exercises

2007-08-09T12:22:00.001-06:00

Fat Burning Bodyweight Circuit Exercises

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

When you travel, you worry about missing your workouts and eating
poorly...So you must plan ahead for both (apples and almonds for
planes, trains, & automobiles)...and bodyweight circuits for "no-equipment fat burning".

And while I have bodyweight exercises that are just as hard as the
bench press and barbell squat in one of my bodyweight workouts, today
we'll focus on replacing intervals with bodyweight circuits.

To do a bodyweight circuit...

a) Pick 3 lower body exercises

b) Pick 3 upper body exercises

c) Alternate between a lower and upper body exercise without rest,
till you are done all 6 exercises

d) Rest a minute.

e) Repeat 2-3 more times until you are done 20 minutes

For example, this is a great circuit that doesn't need any equipment

1) Prisoner Squat (12 repetitions)

2) Elevated Pushups (8 reps per side)

3) Single-Leg Deadlift (10 reps per side)

4) Close-grip Pushups (As many reps as possible)

5) Jumping Jacks (30-60 reps)

6) Cross-Body Mountain Climber (12 reps per side)

Whew. That's pretty advanced...for a beginner, we'd slow it down
like this and take some breaks between exercises...

1) Wall Squat (8 reps)

2) Kneeling Elevated Pushup (5 reps per side)

3) Lying 1-leg Hip Extension (8 reps per side)

4) Plank (30 second hold)

5) Jumping Jacks (5-10 reps)

6) Side Plank (15 second hold per side)

Safe travels, and of course, always check with your doctor before beginning a fat burning bodyweight circuit exercise program.

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist
and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and
Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training
fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness
and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and
women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than
45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence
Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio
sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Stubboorn Fat: Does it affect you?

2007-08-09T12:06:00.001-06:00

Stubborn Fat: Does it affect you?

Part One

By David Grisaffi, CHEK

Corrective Exercise Kinesiologist

Golf Biomechanic Certified

Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach

Everyone walking on the face of this earth has an abundance of fat cells throughout their bodies.

In
fact, if you’re a healthy adult with normal body composition, you have
approximately 30 billion fat cells. This is an astronomical number when
you think about it. Did you ever wonder why you have so many? Have you
ever wondered what those fat cells are for?

The answer
is, fat cells are part of our genetic code and they allowed us to use
stored energy when food was scarce. This survival mechanism is very
much the same today as it was 10,000 years ago. However, today our
needs have changed. There is an abundance of food in modern society
today.

When you consume too many calories, your body
goes into storage mode for that “rainy day,” so to speak, but the
“rainy day” does not happen. So your body simply stores those extra
calories as fat. When you eat less calories then your body demands your
cells release stored fat for energy. Pretty simple equation, however it
does not appear that all fat is the same.

The placement
of fat deposits on our bodies varies depending on each person’s genetic
influences, lifestyle choices and nutritional intake. Men tend to
store their body fat around their bellies and chest. Women tend to
store it around there hips, buttocks, thighs and back of their arms. A
complete discussion of hormones and fat storage would be beyond the
scope of this article, but let it suffice to say that certain hormonal
process do determine body fat distribution.

There is
one major factor that many people do not realize when they are
attempting to lose body fat and this can be a stumbling block in
anyone’s long term success. Many people approach fat loss and fitness
with great enthusiasm and determination. With this attitude, they lose
body fat and feel great, but even so, they just do not seem to get rid
of ALL they fat they want to. They lose fat successfully for a time,
but ultimately get stuck just before all of the fat is completely gone.

This
is commonly known as a plateau and this plateau phenomenon causes many
people who were previously successful to lose their enthusiasm and
return to their old ways. When old habits take over again – and this
happens to the majority of dieters - the body fat comes back with a
vengeance. This is due to programming of the fat cell. Each time you
try to lose body fat again, it seems to take longer and require more
effort.

So what is the real solution? It’s simple – you
must understand how fat cells work and how to get past the plateau
phenomenon and defeat this last bit of body fat, that we often call
stubborn fat.

I have worked with many clients and I
would say most of them have a good amount of stubborn body fat. This
fat is literally “programmed” to be very difficult to lose. It seems to
remain on our bodies no matter what we do, hence the word stubborn fat.
Modern diets and weight loss programs almost all seem to work in the
beginning, but then they never really address this crucial part of fat
loss – the last bit of stubborn fat.

Stubborn fat
develops when your hormonal pathways are broken down. Age does play a
role in this: Fat deposits increase and become more resistant to fat
loss methods as you get older. This you have little control over, but
some things that lead to stubborn fat development are under your
control. Yo yo dieting is one of them. Losing weight on crash diets and
then regaining it – often known as the “rebound effect” – will only
increase stubborn fat in the long run. A decrease in exercise and
activity level also compounds the stubborn fat problem. This is why
people who crash diet on low calories and refuse to exercise and move
their bodies, often have the worst stubborn fat problems of all.

Our
ancestors really never had to deal with this problem because they moved
and engaged in physical labor as a regular part of daily life, whereas
technological conveniences and the modern lifestyle have caused many of
us to become lazy and inactive.

Stubborn fat is
metabolized extremely slowly and is resistant to the hormonal process
that takes place while the fat burning process is started up. To burn
fat, the adrenal hormones better known as adrenaline and noradrenaline,
attach to the fat cell receptors and essentially “open them up” so the
fat can be used in the energy pathways. There are two kinds of
receptors in your fat cells: one is alpha and the other beta. The beta
receptors are much more active and respond to adrenal hormones. To lose
body fat, the adrenal hormones switch on and the body begins to use fat
as energy. However, in the case of people with stubborn fat, this does
not occur, so no body fat is lost.

According to my good
friend and colleague Ori Hofmekler, author of the warrior diet,
"stubborn fat” has a lower ratio of beta receptors to alpha receptors."
Therefore, your body’s hormonal “fat dissolver,” adrenaline, will not
be able to enter the fat cell and open the door. Ori also points out
that “to make these matters worse, stubborn fat has more estrogen
receptors which cause even more stubborn fat.”

If all
this sounds bad enough, what makes it even worse is that if you indulge
in the typical modern diet and sedentary lifestyle, this often results
in reduced insulin sensitivity (read my past article on Insulin
Sensitivity for more information). Added on top of everything else,
your fat tissue becomes so incredibly resistant to your attempts to
lose it, it seems like you will be stuck with it forever.

Diets
fail because they only look at the caloric reduction side of the
equation. You need to understand the other variables in the equation –
exercise and lifestyle. You need to understand the deeper issues you
are really dealing with. Getting rid of stubborn fat is not nearly as
simple as just slashing calories and dieting. Stubborn fat is the
result of a complex interplay of biological and hormonal processes –
all of which are affected by how you eat, how you move and the type of
lifestyle you lead.

Now that you understand why you
have stubborn fat, right down to the hormone and receptor level, the
question is “How do you alter your nutrition, exercise and lifestyle to
get rid if this resistant body fat?” The answer will be found in part
two. Stay tuned.

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Obese Moms and Birth Defects Linked

2007-08-08T10:52:00.001-06:00

We always want what is best for our kids even before they are born. So somewhere along the lines the myth of "eating for two" came up. Here is one that I think all pregnant moms should really take a look at.

Kevin

Obese Moms and Birth Defects Linked

By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The results of a new study may
give doctors one more reason to encourage obese women to lose weight
before getting pregnant. Babies born with structural birth defects,
like heart defects or missing limbs, are more likely to have a mother
who is obese.

Researchers from the University of Texas in Houston compared the
height and weight of nearly 15,000 women. Mothers of babies with
certain kinds of birth defects were more likely to be obese, meaning
they had a body mass index (BMI) higher than 30.

"Our study supports previous evidence, as well as provides new
evidence, for the associations between maternal obesity and particular
categories of birth defects," the study authors wrote. The birth
defects linked to obese moms included Spina Bifida, heart
malformations, defects of the anal opening and penis, diaphragmatic
hernia, small or missing limbs, and intestines protruding through the
naval.

Study authors report they are not sure what is causing the link, though undiagnosed diabetes is one theory.

The findings do not surprise Robert Atlas, M.D., Chair of the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Mercy Medical Center in
Baltimore, Md.

"This is a huge medical problem that we're seeing, and it's not
going away; it's only getting worse," Dr. Atlas said. Overweight and
obese mothers have become part of the norm in his practice, he
explained. Women in these categories are at increased risk of several
complications, including diabetes and unplanned Caesarian sections.

"The great majority of [obese] women do just fine. That doesn't mean
it's OK," said Dr. Atlas. He recommends obese women try to get their
BMI into the overweight range, 25 to 30, if getting to the normal
range, 18 to 24, is not feasible.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Robert Atlas, M.D.; Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:745-750

No Diet Foods for Kids

2007-08-08T10:49:00.001-06:00

No Diet Foods for Kids

By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you hope to curb the obesity
epidemic in your children, don't feed them diet foods or drinks. A new
study reveals low-calorie foods and drinks made to taste like
high-calorie foods and drinks may actually lead to overeating and
obesity.

Researchers from the University of Alberta suggest animals learn to
associate how food tastes with how much energy it provides. Experiments
with rats revealed snacks perceived as low calorie can lead to
overeating at regular meals, while snacks perceived as high calorie did
not lead to overeating. Study author and sociologist David Pierce,
Ph.D., told Ivanhoe the same might be seen in children.

"This is a possible behavioral mechanism for understanding how it is
that a diet drink or diet foods could make you a little overweight,"
said Dr. Pierce. Previous studies have suggested a link between diet
soda consumption and a higher risk of obesity, diabetes and heart
disease.

Researchers trained young rats to associate certain flavors with
caloric content. Once trained, the researchers observed the rates given
snacks flavored with the low-calorie signal would proceed to eat more
food than they needed at regular meals. The effect was seen in lean and
genetically obese rats, which suggests diet foods may lead to more
serious consequences for children who are already overweight.

"I think what it really says is that the best thing to do with
children is to give them nutritious foods," Dr. Pierce said, noting
that well-balanced diets should correspond to the child's level of
daily activity.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with David Pierce, Ph.D.; OBESITY, 2007;15:1969-1979

Health and Fitness Rant

2007-08-05T11:50:00.001-06:00

I'm going to step away for a moment from my normal health and fitness information posts for a short rant.

How is it that so many intelligent people can be so fooled into thinking that there is a quick way to lose the fat that it took them perhaps years to add to their bodies? Everyone is looking for a quick fix so they can look good for a wedding or reunion. Well folk the only semi-quick fix is liposuction followed with plastic surgery to remove all the excess skin. Even then it only lasts if you make a lifestyle change.

Have watched the shows on TLC about people that are so fat they can't get out of bed but yet their families still cook and feed them all the fattening foods they can shovel into their mouths. Do they honestly love them or are they just enabling them to commit slow suicide? When you can't move to get to the bathroom without help or get up and get to the table on your own let alone walk to the car it should be an indication that there is a problem here.

People wake up for crying out loud. Take responsibility for your health and fitness. Do you really want to die and need to be buried in a piano box for a coffin? Do you really want to be hauled out of your house to the hospital through a hole that was cut in your wall on a whale sling by a crane?

Come on. Get a freakin clue. Enablers, or the family caregivers, need to wake up as well. You are killing them. You aren't doing them any favors. They want to eat then they need to be able to get to the table.

Do something for not only for yourself but for your family as well. Eat at the table together as a family. Do activities outdoors together as a family. Eat healthy foods in moderation.

Ok, enough said.

Rant Off. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Kevin
Natural Fat Loss

Dangers of Using Laxatives For Weight Loss

2007-08-03T15:46:00.001-06:00

Dangers of Using Laxatives For Weight Loss

Kevin Newman, CPT
Natural Fat Loss

In the search for quick weight loss people sometimes go to extremes which can be detrimental to their health and fitness causing muscle loss as well. It isn't just fat that is lost when people turn to quick weight loss forgetting that it took time to accumulate the weight in the first place.

One of the popular weight loss supplements available in the market today take the form of tea. Stores all over sell slimming tea, dieter's tea and others but all of them are actually the same. They may appear to be effective, but what is not seen may actually harm you.

One of the effects of drinking dieter's tea is frequent bowel movement. This gives people the feeling of body cleansing. These people may get toxins out of their body but it isn't exactly the only thing that slimming tea actually does to the body. Slimming tea contains herbs which are natural laxatives. These include aloe, senna, rhubarb root, cascara, buckhorn, and castor oil. These are products which are derived from plants and are used since the ancient times because of their potency in treating constipation and to inducing bowel movement.

Cascara, castor oil, and senna are substances which are recognized as laxatives available over the counter and are also regulated as drugs. Scientific studies show that diarrhea induced by laxatives does not absorb significant amounts of calories taken in the body.

The reason for this is that laxatives do not act on the small intestines where most of the calories are absorbed. Instead, they work on the large intestines. If taken in large amounts for prolonged periods, it can affect fat absorption of the body. This may lead to greasy diarrhea and loss of weight. Abuse of laxatives is common practice among people who suffer from bulimia and anorexia nervosa.

While weight loss can be guaranteed by overdosing on laxatives, it may also cause permanent damage to the gastrointestinal tract and the weakening and softening of the bones, a condition known as osteomalacia. Drinkers of slimming teas may actually patronize the product because they are less expensive and taste better than other laxatives sold in the market. Other people, such as those with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia nervosa drink dieter's tea because they work fast and produce a watery stool having a loose consistency.

Women may even be more susceptible to the effects of slimming teas. Although they may are not known to interfere directly with the woman's menstrual cycle and fertility, they should watch out if drinking them causes them to rapidly shed off weight. It is also not safe for pregnant women to be taking in laxatives of any kind. Wise and responsible herbalists also discourage the use of senna and other herbal products with laxative properties for pregnant women and women who are trying to conceive.

One should be wary about these findings because the labeling of slimming teas in the market today can be absolutely misleading. For instance, they commonly refer to the laxative qualities as "natural bowel cleansing properties" and not specifically use the word "laxative". Some even use the term "low-calorie" on their labeling. These products in fact, contain essentially no calories nor nutrients whatsoever; unless of course, if they are sweetened.

Adverse effects of misusing laxatives in the form of slimming tea generally occur when taken in more than or longer than recommended. These effects include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, rectal bleeding,electrolyte disorder, and dehydration as well as injury and worse, death.

It was also reported that excess use of stimulant laxatives cause severe constipation and pain for long periods (as much as for decades) due to the colon losing its function. It can eventually lead to surgery removing the colon altogether.

Can cooking and brown bagging help?

2007-08-03T10:17:00.001-06:00

Enroll
in a cooking class. There are many people who eat out on a regular
basis because the hate to cook. Or because they simply don't know how.

If you're one of these people who barely know their way around the
kitchen, sign up for a culinary class. If you can find a course that
caters to healthy cooking, that's even better. This is one thing I had to learn.

This is a fun and easy
way to learn more about food preparation. As you grow more comfortable
in the kitchen, you can concentrate on giving your meals a makeover by
adjusting recipes with healthy substitutions.

There are many things you can do in the kitchen that will either sabotage your efforts or increase your success. Take your lunch and snacks with you. If you prepare them ahead of time you can have a nutritious healthy lunch and snacks with you where ever you go.

Kevin
Natural Fat Loss

Program Your Weight Loss in as Easy as a Week

2007-08-01T20:28:00.001-06:00

Program Your Weight Loss in as Easy as a Week

By Kevin Newman CPT
Natural Fat Loss

The idea of the program is to be able for you to develop a consistent approach to weight loss as well as a healthy endurance when exercising. The program’s objective is to get rid of the excesses in your body, the excess fat. Not the healthy and lean muscle tissue and body fluids.

The program first requires your focus and dedication, so therefore you need to be prepared in both mind and – of course – body. It is highly advised that you first visit your doctor for a check-up before embarking on any weight loss program.

It is important that when starting on any weight loss program, one should be positive enough to work for the results. Some people get impatient easily and quit before they see results. But long term effects are a sure bet as long as one sticks to the weight loss plan at hand.

Stretch, stretch and stretch some more. Before actually doing those exercises and working out those muscles, a warm up followed by a little stretching is needed in order to avoid any injury or soreness in your body.

It is also not advisable for anyone to go too hard in the beginning. Everything should be done in moderation. Find the level of exercise and training that suits you. It should be enough for you to be comfortable in but not too convenient that it will not be much of a challenge.

The first week

The first day of the program involves a long and steady walk in a little over twenty minutes. After the walk, follow it up with a good stretch. This takes so little of your time for the first day. In less than an hour you have taken that first step to a weight loss program that could work to your advantage.

By the second day, it is good to focus on an upper body workout. This maintains your strength to be able to go through the whole program for the week. On the third day, a brisk walk or jog for ten minutes is in order. For beginners, a lower body workout should be done in the evening.

In the fourth day, a good walk for twenty minutes is in order, as well as a good stretch. This lag time should be used wisely though to sort out any negatives in your mindset. Walking is a good time to sort out things in your mind. The fifth day starts with a good brisk ten minute walk. Exercise the lower body in four sessions of workouts, follow this up with another brisk ten minute walk, and another four sessions of lower body workout.

The sixth day should be spent on a low impact exercise such as swimming. To avoid boredom, do not be afraid to try something new. The last day of the week is a time to solicit the support of the people you care about. Spend time with them or get them to be with you in your long walk. Again, follow up your walk with a light upper body workout.

This is just the beginning though. If by this first week you are able to stick to the program, you have a great chance to further boost your weight loss and stay with the plan until you achieve your desired result. Try as much as possible to be unlike the people who give up easily just because they could not see the result they want at the time they want – like this moment, today, now! Patience is a virtue. The same way it took your body time to gain all that weight, think about it as the time your body will have to exert just to get rid of it.

Health and Fitness

2007-07-30T17:03:00.001-06:00

By Kevin C Newman, CPT
Natural Fat Loss

Being active is what makes a person healthy and strong. It is not
just for people who have weight problems but also for everyone who likes to
stay fit and healthy. There is a lot a person can do to stay in moderate shape such
as jogging or walking every morning, play basketball or any other sport with
friends but if a person wants to have muscles and look lean, then you need to
have a program that includes weight training.

People workout for three reasons;

The first reason is that the person is overweight and the
only way to lose those extra pounds will be to reduce ones calorie intake and
at the same time workout in the gym.

The second reason is that the person is underweight and the
only way to add extra pounds is to have more calories in ones diet and workout.

The third reason people workout is just for the fun of it
with the added bonus of keeping in shape.

The best exercise plan should have a combination of cardiovascular
and weight training exercises. This helps burn calories and increase the muscle
to fat ratio that will increase ones metabolism and gain or lose weight. Overall
weight training of some sort, even body weight training combined with a
sensible diet and a modicum of cardio is the best way to get into a healthy
body weight and shape.

Just like taking any medicine, one should first consult the
doctor before undergoing any form of exercise.

Here are some benefits of exercising;

1. It is the
easiest way to maintain and improve one’s health from a variety of diseases and
premature death.

2. Studies
have shown that it makes a person feels happier and increases one’s self esteem
preventing one from falling into depression or anxiety.

3. An active
lifestyle makes a person live longer than a person who doesn’t.

Starting an exercise program for someone who has not done one
before should gradually take up a program for the best results. Endurance is not
be built in a day, but must be developed over time in order to be beneficial to
the person.

It is advisable to work out regularly with a sensible diet.

A person can consult with a dietician or a health
professional to help plan a good diet program. It starts by evaluating the
lifestyle and the health of the patient before any program can be developed.

After the plan is developed, it is thoroughly discussed with
the client. This plan usually consists of an eating plan and an exercise
program that does not require the use of supplements or one to purchase any
expensive fitness equipment.

A good diet should have food from all the food groups.

It is consists of three major components. The first is protein.
This should come from lean sources of meats, fish, eggs, dairy, and
occasionally soy.

The second is complex carbohydrates. The food that a person
consumes should have vitamins, minerals and fiber. A lot of this can come from
oats, rice, potatoes and cereals. The best still come from vegetables and
fruits since these have phytochemicals, enzymes and micronutrients that are
essential for a healthy diet.

The third is fat which can come from mono and poly saturated
food sources rather than animal fats. Since fat contains more than double the
number of calories in food, this should be ingested in small quantities to gain
or lose weight.

Another way to stay healthy is to give up some vices. Most
people smoke and drink. Smoking has been proven to cause lung cancer and other
diseases as well complications for women giving birth. Excessive drinking has
also shown to do the same.

For people who don’t smoke, it is best to stay away from
people who do since studies have shown that nonsmokers are also at risk of
developing cancer due to secondary smoke inhalation.

Natural Weight Loss

2007-07-29T20:21:00.001-06:00

Natural Weight Loss:

Where you do not over eat and keep moving.

You just have read all that you need to know about how to prevent being overweight. That simple set of instructions should be easy to follow, but not for 35% of Americans who are unable to prevent being overweight.

Of course, once we are overweight, we usually want to trim down for a whole lot of reasons, some related to health, others having to do with looks.

In addition, it is never too late to lose fat. But the fact is, it is a whole lot easier to prevent putting on pounds than to try losing them later on. If there is one thing we all know, it is that weight gain is likely to happen if we do not take forward-looking steps to stop it.

Health experts say that most people who are into losing weight usually stray. They tend to go back to their old eating habits even after they learn to enjoy low-fat eating. They tend to return to sedentary ways even though they enjoy exercising.

But despite the momentum toward weight gain, you can stop it from happening, experts say. And there are plenty of good reasons to avoid excess pounds, reasons that go beyond vanity or social acceptance.

In fact, some health experts contend that the significance of excess weight is more than cosmetic. They say that it takes a huge toll on people’s physical health.

The Way to Losing Weight…Naturally

The nuts and bolts of eating right and maintaining a healthy weight is not all that complicated. In fact, it is a good bet that most people know pretty well what is best. Therefore, losing weight the natural way should not be a problem at all.

Consequently, a reasonable approach for losing weight naturally is to stick to a diet that is high in complex carbohydrates, high in fiber, moderate in protein, and low in fat.

A complex carbohydrate is a baked potato. Fat is the sour cream and butter you should not put on it. Fiber is vegetables. Fat is the oil you should not fry them in. Protein is a lean cut of meat. Fat is the gravy you should not pour over it.

Moreover, health experts say that dietary fat promotes weight gain because it is a very dense source of calories. Also, when you consume excess calories from dietary fat, you store those calories as body fat more efficiently than excess calories from other sources.

On the other hand, it can also help you lose weight naturally if you do not fall into the so-called “fat-free” trap. Manufacturers keep coming out with low-fat or fat-free versions of their best-selling foods, but Americans keep getting fatter anyway.

One of the greatest delusions of the 1990s is that “no fat” means “non-fattening.” The truth is, you are often getting just as many calories from the no-fat version, even if the calories are not coming from fat.

The term fat-free can be a trap if you start to believe that you can eat any amount of the foods that are advertised that way.

What’s more, it is best to respond to hunger with healthful snacks. Health experts say it would be better to try eating every two to three hours, which means a nutritious low-fat snack between breakfast and lunch, lunch and dinner.

When you feel the urge for food coming on, snacking on something healthy such as a slice of whole-grain toasted bread is a better alternative. Never skip a meal and eat snacks instead because that is the worst thing you can do if you are trying to control your eating habits and weight.

Remember, if you want to lose weight naturally, you have to keep track of every food you eat and of every activity that you do. When you say natural weight loss means that you do not have to use some accessories or helpful aids just to lose weight.

Losing weight naturally is a process and not a fad. Hence, it would take a lot of dogged determination, self-control, and discipline just to achieve your ideal weight. It means you have to expend more calories in activity than you are taking in provided you are taking in enough calories to begin with.

Kevin Newman
Natural Fat Loss

2007-07-27T09:25:00.001-06:00

This is the first time I have ever heard of a protein being tied to fat cells in this way. Makes for an interesting read. It will be interesting to watch this research in the coming months and see what develops.

Kevin
Natural Fat Loss

Obesity, diabetes tied to fat cell protein

CLEVELAND (UPI) -- U.S. scientists suggest a protein involved in the
transfer of fat in the blood may influence how fat cells store fat
linked to obesity and diabetes.

The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, looked at
how the protein -- called cholesterol ester transfer protein, or CETP
-- is involved in the cellular storage and regulation of cholesterol
and other fats.

Richard E. Morton and Lahoucine Izem of the Cleveland Clinic say CETP
may be essential for lipid metabolism and storage in fat cells and
that fat tissue is not only an energy storage tissue but also a major
endocrine organ.

"CETP is known to shuttle different types of fat between lipoproteins
-- combinations of fat and protein that transport fats in the blood,"
Morton said in a statement. "In this study, we show that CETP also
shuttles fats inside fat cells between two separate areas and that fat
cells with reduced levels of CETP are unable to process fats
normally."

CETP deficiency disrupts storage of important fats in fat cells, which
can lead to insulin resistance -- a major contributor to diabetes --
and the abnormal release of cytokines, proteins that stimulate the
immune system, according to Morton. "This unexpected contribution of
CETP provides a new understanding of how our body stores and regulates
fats and of conditions such as obesity and diabetes," said Morton.

Quick Tips to Boost Your Metabolism

2007-07-26T20:26:00.001-06:00

Quick Tips to Boost Your Metabolism

There are a lot of people who would give a lot to increase their metabolism. Having a high level of metabolism enables people to maintain weight, burn fat, and lose weight fast with the least amount of activity. Metabolism is the rate by which the body produces and consumes energy and calories to support life.

There are several factors that affect the metabolism of a person, such as the amount of muscle tissue, the frequency of the meals one consumes, genetics, stress levels, personal diet and activity levels. Metabolism slows down due to the following: loss of muscle because of not enough physical activity, the tendency of the body to cannibalize its own tissue because there is not enough food energy to sustain it, and the decrease of physical activity that comes naturally with old age.

Here are several ways to fire up one's metabolism:

1. Build up on lean, mean body mass. It is only natural that metabolism decreases along with age, but it is possible to counter the effects. The amount of muscle a person has is a very strong determinant in the ability to burn calories and shed fat. So it goes without saying that exercise is essential. Build strength and resistance by working out at least twice a week, preferably with weights. Do easy exercises in between workouts. Simple tasks such as walking the dog and using the stairs in place of the elevator can also take off calories. The key is to match the amount of eating to the amount of activity a person has. Here are some guidelines in getting the right exercise:

For strength training

-Increase the amount of repetitions of a particular exercise.
-Add the level of resistance
-Utilize advance exercise techniques if possible

For cardiovascular training

-Insert intervals between exercises
-Perform cross-training and combine the exercises
-Add on resistance and speed

2. Eat breakfast. A lot of people are ignoring the fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Surprisingly, the ones who eat breakfast are thinner than the ones who do not. Metabolism can slow down considerably if breakfast is taken during mid-morning or if one waits until the afternoon to eat.

3. Avoid sugar. Sugar enables the body to store fat. It is recommended that a person consumes food that helps sustain an even level of blood-sugar. Additionally, progressive exercise 2-3 times a week should be in order to stabilize blood sugar.

4. Eat spicy foods. Hot cuisine with peppers can increase metabolism.

5. Sleep more. According to research, it is riskier for people who do not get enough sleep to gain weight. Also, muscles are regenerated during the last couple of hours of slumber.

6. Increase water intake. Water flushes out toxins that are produced whenever the body burns fat. The majority of bodily functions involves water, a lack of water causes the body system's operations to decrease its speed, and produces unneeded stress as a result.

7. Eat smaller meals. It is advisable to consume 4 to 6 small meals that are timed 2 to 3 hours apart.

8. Never skip meals. People tend to skip meals in order to lose weight, which is a big mistake since it slows down metabolism.

9. Plan meals in advance. Always prepare the right amount of food to be consumed at the designated intervals. Do not commit the mistake of eating meals in sporadic patterns.

9. Ditch the stress! Stress, be it physical or emotional, triggers the release of a steroid called cortisol, which decreases metabolism. Also, people tend to eat excessively when stressed.

10. Drink green tea. It can be used as a substitute for coffee. Tea has the ability to stimulate metabolism, and unlike coffee, it has no undesirable side effects when too much is consumed.

11. Include more energy foods in the diet, such as fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains.

Achieving the desired body weight is never impossible if one has the determination and patience needed to increase the metabolism level, which plays an important role in weight loss. A person needs to realize that eating right and working out is not just a passing fancy, but a way of life.

Obese females less likely to go to college

2007-07-25T08:37:00.001-06:00

We all want our children to attend college. Here is yet another reason to help you children obtain and maintain a healthy weight and body image. Get your children enrolled in summer activities. Don't let them sit around the house snacking and playing video games or living on the computer all summer.

Kevin

Obese females less likely to go to
college

AUSTIN, Texas (UPI) -- Obese girls are half as likely to attend college as
non-obese girls, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas
at Austin.

The study also shows obese girls are even less likely to
enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon,
according to the study published in the July issue of the journal Sociology of
Education.

Study leader Robert Crosnoe, a sociologist, tracked nearly
11,000 U.S. adolescents, using data from the National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health.

The study also found obese girls were more likely to
consider committing suicide, use alcohol and marijuana and have negative
self-images.

"Obesity has been identified as a serious public health
issue, but these results indicate the harmful effects extend far beyond physical
health," Crosnoe said in statement.

The disconnect between obesity and
college enrollment was more pronounced among non-whites and among girls whose
parents did not graduate from college.

Obese boys did not differ from
their non-obese peers in college enrollment.

LASIK Eye Surgery, is it for you?

2007-07-24T23:10:00.001-06:00

LASIK Eye Surgery, is it for you?

by Kevin Newman

LASIK eye surgery, you hear about it every where or see it on the billboards.

Many of you
have wondered if it was for you. Everyone is talking about it but no one is
telling you anything. Here we set out to help inform you of your possible
choices.

LASIK eye surgery is for those who are over 18,
have had a stable correction prescription
for one year or more, and are affected by one of the common types of vision
problems or refractive error such as
myopia (nearsightedness), astigmatism (blurred vision caused by an irregular shaped cornea), hyperopia (farsightedness), or a
combination thereof (e.g., myopia with astigmatism).

Your level of
needed vision correction determines the level of vision improvement you can
make.

According to
the people over at, The Eye Digest
, if you have myopia of -7D or less there is a 96% chance of gaining 20/20 vision.
If your myopia is higher your results will vary but there is still an 89%
chance of having 20/40 or better vision following treatment.

There is a rare chance for serious complications to develop. The chance for this is less
than 10% according to the FDA.

LASIK eye surgery
isn’t for everyone. According to the FDA there are certain people for whom the
surgery is too high a risk based on age, health, financial situation, ability
to stare at a fixed point, and lifestyle. LASIK eye surgery will not cure presbyopia,
the aging changes that prevent older people from seeing near objects through the same
glasses that they use for viewing distant objects.

For more information on
LASIK eye surgery check out the folks over at The Eye Digest.
They can help you with making the right choice for you. If you decide to make
the jump be prepared and do your research.

Make sure and ask your eye
doctor if you are a good candidate and for Lasik in Chicago
check the resources at The Eye Digest.

Taking break while exercising helps diet

2007-07-24T08:13:00.001-06:00

Even though the study was small and done over short period I think this sort of thing actually helps. Especially if you look into any sorts of high intensity training. It is a technique that could pay off for those who don't have an hour at one time to workout or prefer to workout in the morning and in the evening. I know there are many bodybuilders who do that when that are getting ready for contest season.

Kevin

Taking break while exercising helps diet

TOKYO (UPI) -- A Japanese study showed taking a break in the middle of
an exercise workout may metabolize more fat than exercising without
stopping.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, compared
one single 60-minute bout of exercise to two bouts of 30-minute
exercise divided by a 20-minute rest.

"Many people believe prolonged exercise will be optimal in order to
reduce body fat, but our study has shown that repetitions of shorter
exercise may cause enhancements of fat mobilization and utilization
during and after the exercise," lead researcher Kazushige Goto of the
University of Tokyo, said in a statement.

Seven healthy, physically active men with an average age of 25
exercised on a cycling machine and rested in chairs. Their respiratory
gas and heart rates were monitored continuously.

Trials with the break showed a greater amount of lipolysis -- fat
breakdown -- than did the no-break trials. The trial with the break
also had a pronounced increase in the final 15 minutes of exercise of
free fatty acids and glycerol -- chemical compounds released when
stored fat is used, the study said.

Pediatricians feel obese talk futile

2007-07-24T08:07:00.001-06:00

It is the one thing that seperate those who lose the fat form those who don't...desire. You have to want to lose the fat in order to lose it. Otherwise you end up on the frustrating yo-yo of lose a few and gain a few pounds of fat. It is especially true when children are involved because then it it s whole family response.

Kevin

Pediatricians feel obese talk futile

ST. LOUIS (UPI) -- Pediatricians who talk to obese patients and their
families about losing weight feel their conversations are futile,
found a U.S. study.

Despite their best efforts to provide families with good advice,
doctors find families lack the motivation or are so overwhelmed with
the stresses of daily life that they don't attempt to attack weight
problems by eating healthier and exercising more, according to lead
author Dr. Sarah Barlow, of the Saint Louis University School of
Medicine.

The study was based on face-to-face interviews with eight St. Louis
area pediatricians from diverse backgrounds and practice settings.

Families who changed what they ate and how much they exercised
typically came to appointments with a desire to lose weight and were
already motivated to change their behavior, according to the study
published in Child: Care, Health, Development.

The pediatricians recognized that parents and children lack time for
food preparation and physical activity and that low-income patients
have many pressing needs, according to Barlow.

Twinkie Tax?

2007-07-23T07:51:00.001-06:00

This article shows how corporate America is fighting the battle of the bulge. It is a great thing for companies who really care about their employees.

Kevin

Healthy Workplaces - Workout at Work

HUDSON, Ohio (IVANHOE BROADCAST NEWS) -- These days, employees are
not just working -- they are working out. Companies like Texas
Instruments are creating long-term wellness programs that include
fitness centers and workout classes offered on site during business
hours.

Crystal Medeorous has lost more than 30 pounds since her company, Beacon Mutual Insurance, hired a nutritionist.

"It helps you to get away from your desk, clear your head and I feel I am more of a productive employee," she says.

But American workers are getting less productive. Exercise
physiologist Tom Gilliam, Ph.D., says corporate America is getting fat.
He figures sick calls and increased healthcare expenses cost companies
$1,900 more per year per unhealthy employee.

"The obese worker contributes greater to absenteeism, and what they
call presenteeism. You go to work, but you really don't do anything,
because of the health, you can't be productive," says Dr. Gilliam.

In
2000, 29 percent of America's new hires were obese. Today, that number
is up to 37 percent. By 2010, that number is expected to grow to 45
percent.

Health fairs and support groups are also helping employees lose
weight. Some companies have even instituted "Twinkie taxes" in
cafeterias, charging more for fatty foods so the costs of healthy foods
can be reduced.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Tom Gilliam, Ph.D.
1696 Georgetown Rd., Unit B
Hudson, OH 44236

The Belly Fat - Stress Connection

2007-07-19T22:04:00.001-06:00

This is something we all need to watch for but especially men. Men seem to put more fat around the belly than women in general and it can have dire consequences to our health. Here is an article by David Grisaffi about belly fat.

Kevin

Technorati tags: fat loss, exercise, weight loss

The Belly Fat - Stress Connection

By David Grisaffi,
Author, Firm And Flatten Your Abs

But why does the fat go there so quickly and easily?

More and More Research Is Proving the Connection

So what do we do about all this?

You can learn more about the Firm And Flatten Your Abs program as well as the bonus courses, including the stress relievers program on the home page at:

www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html

Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington

About the Author:

Hot Weather Workout Tips

2007-07-19T08:09:00.001-06:00

Are you working out in the hot weather? Here's some tips to help you keep going.

1. Stay Hydrated. Make sure to drink plenty of cool water before, during, and after your workout. If you freeze a half-full bottle of water then fill it the rest of the way before you leave you will have planty of nice cold water to drink while you are working out.

2. Wear light colored clothing made of cotton. The light colors help reflect the sunlight and the cotton breathes allowing air to get next to your skin where it can cool you as you are working out.

3. Workout early in the morning or late in teh evening if possible. Morning is coolest time of the day but if you can't do it then go for late in the evening. Cooler temps will help you keep going.

4. Workout with a friend. In hot weatehr it is too easy to get overheated and get a heat related injury. Having a friend along means that you can watch each other for the warning signs of heat injury.

Welll that's all for now folks. Keep up the good work.

Kevin

Technorati tags: fitness, fat loss, exercise, health, heat, weight loss

Fitness Fads Come and Go, But the Swiss Ball is Here to Stay

2007-07-16T19:20:00.001-06:00

Fitness Fads Come And Go, But
The Swiss Ball Is Here To Stay
By David Grisaffi

www.FlattenYourAbs.net

What’s hot in the world of abdominal and core training today seems to change as fast as the latest clothing styles. New gurus, new infomercials, new machines – today’s fitness marketplace is all about “what’s new.” I often write reviews about the latest, greatest ab and core training gadgets, usually debunking most of them, but this time I'm actually going to do the opposite.

As new products push their way into the fitness scene, some truly legitimate, cost effective devices get pushed out, forgotten, or even worse – dismissed as “fitness fads.” Such is the case with the swiss ball (also known as a “exercise ball”, “gym ball” or “stability ball”)

Why Some Fitness Experts Condemn The Swiss Ball

Swiss balls have been around a long time in physical therapy and rehab settings and when they crossed over into the mainstream fitness world, they were probably hyped a bit too much. It’s not that they didn’t deserve the attention, its that many fitness “experts” placed the swiss ball up on a pedestal as the end-all be-all of abdominal, core and fitness training, rather than representing the ball for what it really is - a single training tool among many– just like barbells, dumbbells, cables or any other fitness equipment.

As a result, entire training systems were built around the swiss ball (neglecting other forms of training), and people misused and overused the ball. Some trainers used the ball for “exercises” that were nothing more than circus acts. I’ve seen it all – everything from standing on top of the ball and squatting to bench pressing on the ball with 400 pounds..

As a result of the over-hyping and misuse of the swiss ball, some coaches and trainers have recently spoken up and publicly renounced the ball as a " gimmick." This has caused a flood of emails to pour into my office as consumers and fitness enthusiasts have become more confused than ever.

It’s no wonder: Trainer A says, “The ball is the best thing since sliced bread” and trainer B says “the ball is and always was a gimmick.” I believe the ball is a very valuable training tool and that the truth is somewhere in the middle, so I’d like to help put things back into proper perspective.

Swiss balls are powerful, portable, inexpensive and versatile training tools

I use swiss balls nearly every day in my own workouts and in workouts for my clients. The versatility of the swiss ball is simply unmatched as proven by the fact that I can use a swiss ball to help a 65 year old sedentary woman overcome muscle weakness and improve balance or use the same ball to help a professional boxer build stamina and add power to his punches. I can also show you how to use the swiss ball to develop "six pack abs" as well as train literally every muscle in your entire body.

New Research Reveals That The Swiss Ball Can Make
Abdominal Exercise Up To 104% More Effective

To give you a research-proven example of just how effective a swiss ball can be, let’s focus on one of the most basic and well-known of all abdominal exercises: The Crunch

As most people know, the crunch is a modified (partial) sit up that involves raising the head, neck and shoulder blades up off the floor. Many personal trainers believe that the crunch is highly overrated and overused. I won’t argue, as I agree there’s a lot of truth to that. However, the crunch can be greatly improved with one simple change: Do your crunches on a swiss ball.

Electromyography (EMG) studies have demonstrated that the swiss ball crunch (unstable surface) effectively recruits more muscle fibers than the floor crunch (stable surface). This leads to greater strength, stability and muscle development in your core region.

In 2000, a study by Vera-Garcia and colleagues showed a significant increase in muscle activity in the core area while performing a crunch on the swiss ball, as compared to a floor crunch. The swiss ball improved the level of muscular activity as well as the co-recruitment of spinal stabilizers. The researchers said:

“Performing the curl over the gym ball with the feet on the floor doubled activity in the rectus abdominis muscle, and activity in the external oblique muscle increased approximately fourfold.”

Although research results have been mixed in the past, the studies showing no increase in abdominal muscle activity using a swiss ball may have been due to the exercise technique used on the ball, including velocity and body placement on the ball. Earlier this year, Dr. Eric Sternlicht and colleagues at UCLA designed a study to test this hypothesis and they measured for differences in muscle activity while using different positions on the ball.

The EMG analysis confirmed their hypothesis and demonstrated that body position on the swiss ball could decrease or increase the amount of muscular activation. When the ball was positioned with the upper back high on the ball (just below scapulae), the muscular activity was less than a floor crunch. But by strategically positioning the ball so it was firmly placed at the lower lumbar region, there was a 66%, 93% and 104% increase in upper abdominal, lower abdominal and external oblique activity, respectively.

More Proof That Form Is Everything And Little Things Make A Big Difference

For years I have preached about proper form on all abdominal and core exercises and I have taught my clients “little tweaks” and “tricks” in technique that look minor, but which can lead to huge improvements in results. This new research is proof. It also reveals how the ball is a versatile tool for exercise progression: The high on back position is easier, while the ball lower on the back is more difficult, accommodating for different strength and fitness levels. Further progression can be added by using resistance (dumbbell or weight plate held on chest or at arms length from chest).

Swiss balls are only one of many training tools, but in my opinion, when used properly, they are one of the best of the bunch. I created an entire core training system that uses the ball for many of the exercises, I put all my clients on swiss balls and I highly recommend that you use the ball as well. Just remember, the swiss ball is only a tool – it’s not the “end all be all” of core training and it can’t work miracles. It will also not burn fat off your stomach – you need a caloric deficit to achieve body fat reduction.

Use the ball as one part of a balanced training program that includes other tools such as free weights, cables and your own body weight. Forget the potentially dangerous ”circus act” swiss ball stunts, use good exercise form, purchase only quality, high-strength exercise balls, use them in a clear area, clean them often, check them for leaks and I promise you will have a fantastic versatile training aid that will last you for years and never go out of style. Fitness fads will always come and go, but the swiss ball is still a winner.

Coach David Grisaffi,
Tacoma Washington
www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html

References:
1. Vera-Garcia F, Grenier S, McGill S., Abdominal Muscle Response During Curl-Ups On Both Stable and Labile Surfaces, Physical Therapy, 80:6, 2000
2. Sternlicht E. Et al, Electromyograhpic comparison of a stability ball crunch with a traditional crunch, Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, 21(2), 506-509, 2007

The crunch can be an effective exercise, especially when performed on the Swiss Ball. However, it’s extremely important to incorporate variety into your abs and core routines and not to depend on any one exercise alone. Your body adapts to every exercise in time, so you must put constant variety into your programs. To learn how to perform dozens of other unique core and abdominal exercises using a swiss ball (some of which I guarantee you have probably never even seen before), then visit my website home page to learn more about the Flatten Your Abs training course: www.FlattenYourAbs.net/index.html

About the Author:

David Grisaffi majored in physical education and is a certified high performance exercise kinesiologist with the CHEK institute. David holds a total of 6 certifications, he is a high school wrestling and baseball coach as well as an independent trainer and strength coach, known especially for his work with professional boxers and golfers. David is the author of Firm And Flatten Your Abs, an online best seller which teaches you how to lose body fat and develop "six pack abs' while improving strength, function and athletic power at the same time. You can contact David or learn more about his programs at www.FlattenYourAbs.net

While You're Eating...

2007-07-16T18:39:00.001-06:00

Eliminate any distractions. Turn off the radio. Switch off the television. When you sit down at the table, eating should be your main focus. When other things are going on around you, you're less likely to concentrate on what you're eating and how much you're eating. Besides this gives you the chance to actually savor your food and taste it.

Don't just "wolf" it down. This can cause you to overindulge. By focusing on the task at hand, you'll be more likely to stick to the proper portion sizes. Take your time and make sure to drink plenty of water before during and after a meal.

Don't Let This Happen to You

2007-07-15T09:28:00.001-06:00

Here is something that happens to a lot of people and it doesn't have to. People need to realize that the "No Pain No Gain" theory is dependent on the type of pain.

DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness is one thing, pain from a torn muscle or sprain is something else and not to be "worked through".

Can you relate to this scenario? After putting it off for too long, you commit to get fit-only to find yourself injured the minute you start working out. All of the sudden your fitness goals go back on the shelf and you are left to deal with the pain.
Whether your injury occurs right off the bat or after years of regular workouts the result is always the same. It is discouraging, painful and downright depressing.
And since studies suggest that up to 38% of all exercisers suffer from an injury each year, it is a subject worth exploring.

Top 3 Workout Injuries
The following three ailments occur commonly among active people. Let's explore the cause of each and then detail your very own injury prevention plan-because let's face it, you simply don't have time to spend nursing and injury (and losing all that progress you had made).

1. Strain / Pulled Muscle: occurs when a tendon (connects muscle to bone) or muscle is stretched or torn. If you suffer from a strain you will feel pain and swelling in the muscle belly, or loss of function if the strain occurred in a tendon. Many strains occur as the result of an improper warm-up and insufficient stretching.

2. Sprain: occurs when a ligament (connects bone to bone) is stretched or torn. While this can happen to any ligament in your body, the most common placements of sprains are in the ankle, wrist and knee. Often this injury will happen suddenly as the ligament is stretched beyond its normal limit, usually during a fall or other acute trauma.

3. Low Back Pain: it is said that 80% of the population will experience back pain at some point in their lives-and the list of causes is as diverse as the sufferers themselves. Here are the main reasons for workout related back pain:

Improper form: Similar to bad posture, using improper form while performing weight bearing exercises will leave your back sore and aching. The good news is that once your form is corrected this pain should subside after a healing period.
Weak muscles: If you have a desk job then chances are your deep back muscles are inactive and unconditioned. When you start an exercise program, but fail to properly strengthen these muscles, the result is often an aching back.
Strained muscles: Not to pick on that desk job, but another result of sitting all day is tight back muscles. When these muscles are not properly warmed up and stretched before exercise begins, muscle strains occur.

Here is Your 5-Step Injury Prevention Plan
Injuries don't have to slow you from meeting your fitness goals. The following 5 steps will dramatically reduce your chance of injury and if you do find yourself injured, but have been following these 5 steps, your recovery will be quick and efficient.

Step 1: Warm Up
Preparing for your workout should not begin and end with putting on your gym clothes. Your muscles need to be coaxed into motion by way of a 10-15 minute warm up in order to prepare them for injury-free use. Cold muscles are less elastic and are therefore more prone to tears.

Step 2: Stretch
What is more boring than stretching? You want to exercise, not sit around touching your toes-right? Even though it isn't exciting, stretching is the best way to increase muscle elasticity and durability. Tight muscles are big contributors to strains-remember? Take the time to stretch everyday before and after your workout to stave off injury. Make sure to stretch warm muscles. Try stretching between sets as well.

Step 3: Proper Gear
For most fitness enthusiasts proper gear has everything to do with their shoes. Don't be fooled-not just any shoe will do. Find shoes that offer support and traction for your exercise of choice, and make sure that they aren't too tight or too loose. If you are prone to ankle injuries then try a pair of high-tops for extra support. I suggest going to a store that specializes in athletic footwear. You have the best chance of getting knowledgeable help in getting the right fit for your sport.

Step 4: Lifestyle
Stop for a moment and think about your car-if you don't maintain it with regular tune ups, oil changes and quality fuel then you can't expect it to perform well on the road. The same applies to your body. Getting healthy amounts of sleep, eating well balanced meals and staying hydrated will all contribute to your performance during exercise. This is so important I am going to say it again Getting healthy amounts of sleep, eating well balanced meals and staying hydrated will all contribute to your performance during exercise.The healthier your lifestyle is the less likely you are to suffer an injury.

Step 5: Condition
This may seem like the most obvious step to injury prevention, but unfortunately it is the most overlooked. People who keep their bodies in top condition by exercising regularly and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are the least likely to injure themselves. When exercise programs are started and stopped sporadically your muscles are most likely to become injured.
Of course being conditioned also has another great benefit that everyone enjoys - you get to look and feel great! And who doesn't what that, right?

The ultimate injury prevention plan is to work with me, your qualified fitness expert! Together we will explore proper technique and will craft a plan for your unique fitness goals.
Wouldn't you love to see awesome results before this summer comes to an end? It's time to take action and get the results that you deserve!

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: exercise, fitness, fat loss, injury, health

U.S. child trampoline injuries on the rise

2007-07-13T22:11:00.001-06:00

This is somethign that I think every parent should think about if they are contemplating getting a trampoline for their kids. I have one friend who ended up breaking their leg in three places on one. and thet was with all the safety features in place. Just some food for thought.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: fitness, health, injury

U.S. child trampoline injuries on the rise

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UPI) -- Trampoline injuries have more than doubled in the past decade and continue to rise, according to a Rhode Island Hospital study.
The researchers examined data from 2001 and 2002 and found that an average of 75,000 children per year were seen in emergency departments across the country.
However, the data from 2000 through 2005 showed even higher rates -- 531,378 trampoline-related injuries over the study period, or an average of 88,563 each year, according to the findings presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting and published in the Academic Emergency Medicine.
Ninety-five percent of the trampoline injuries occurred on home trampolines, said Dr. James Linakis, a pediatric emergency physician at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, R.I.
"Our first study on this subject gave us reason for concern, and the need to send a warning to parents," Linakis said in a statement. "Clearly this new study indicates even higher rates of injury than first thought."
The most common injuries were soft tissue -- 256,509 -- while fractures and dislocations were the next -- 168,402.

Overweight children face widespread stigma, unhappy lives, new analysis concludes

2007-07-13T21:49:00.001-06:00

This is a sad state of affairs when children are placed in this sort of situation at such a young age. Most often simple diet changes and more activity can remedy most of this. Is this really something we want for our kids no matter what our physical health and fitness level is? Children learn by example and if they see us stuffing our faces and parked on the barcolounger watching tv then can we expect them to be any different?

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: obesity, children, health, fitness

Overweight children face widespread stigma, unhappy lives, new analysis concludes

The Associated Press

Thursday, July 12, 2007

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: Overweight children are stigmatized by their peers as early as age 3 and even face bias from their parents and teachers, giving them a quality of life comparable to people with cancer, a new analysis concludes.

Youngsters who report teasing, rejection, bullying and other types of abuse because of their weight are two to three times more likely to report suicidal thoughts as well as to suffer from other health issues such as high blood pressure and eating disorders, researchers said.

"The stigmatization directed at obese children by their peers, parents, educators and others is pervasive and often unrelenting," researchers with Yale University and the University of Hawaii at Manatoa wrote in the July issue of Psychological Bulletin.

The paper was based on a review of all research on youth weight bias over the past 40 years, said lead author Rebecca M. Puhl of Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

It comes amid a growing worldwide epidemic of child obesity. By 2010, almost 50 percent of children in North America and 38 percent of children in the European Union will be overweight, the researchers said.

While programs to prevent childhood obesity are growing, more efforts are needed to protect overweight children from abuse, Puhl said.

"The quality of life for kids who are obese is comparable to the quality of life of kids who have cancer," Puhl said, citing one study. "These kids are facing stigma from everywhere they look in society, whether it's media, school or at home."

Even with a growing percentage of overweight people, the stigma shows no signs of subsiding, according to Puhl. She said television and other media continue to reinforce negative stereotypes.

"This is a form of bias that is very socially acceptable," Puhl said. "It is rarely challenged; it's often ignored."

The stigmatization of overweight children has been documented for decades. When children were asked to rank photos of children as friends in a 1961 study, the overweight child was ranked last.

Children as young as 3 are more likely to consider overweight peers to be mean, stupid, ugly and sloppy.

A growing body of research shows that parents and educators are also biased against heavy children. In a 1999 study of 115 middle and high school teachers, 20 percent said they believed obese people are untidy, less likely to succeed and more emotional.

"Perhaps the most surprising source of weight stigma toward youths is parents," the report says.

Several studies showed that overweight girls got less college financial support from their parents than average weight girls. Other studies showed teasing by parents was common.

"It is possible that parents may take out their frustration, anger and guilt on their overweight child by adopting stigmatizing attitudes and behavior, such as making critical and negative comments toward their child," the authors wrote, suggesting further research is needed.

Lynn McAfee, 58, of Stowe, Pennsylvania, said that as an overweight child she faced troubles on all fronts.

"It was constantly impressed upon me that I wasn't going to get anywhere in the world if I was fat," McAfee said. "You hear it so often, it becomes the truth."

Her mother, who also was overweight, offered to buy her a mink coat when she was 8 to try to get her to lose weight even though her family was poor.

"I felt I was letting everybody down," she said.

Other children would try to run her down on bikes to see if she would bounce. She had a hard time getting on teams in the playground.

"Teachers did not stand up for me when I was teased," McAfee said.

A study in 2003 found that obese children had much lower quality of life scores on issues such as health, emotional and social well-being, and school functioning.

"An alarming finding of this research was that obese children had (quality of life) scores comparable with those of children with cancer," the researchers reported.

Sylvia Rimm, author of "Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children," said her surveys of more than 5,000 middle school children reached similar conclusions.

"The overweight children felt less intelligent," Rimm said. "They felt less popular. They struggled from early on. They feel they are a different species."

Parents should emphasize a child's strengths, she said, and teachers should pair up students for activities instead of letting children pick their partners.

McAfee, who now works for the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination, said her childhood experiences even made her reluctant to see a doctor when she needed one. She recalled one doctor who said she looked like a gorilla and another who gave her painkillers and diet pills for what turned out to be mononucleosis.

"The amount of cruelty I've seen in people has changed me forever," McAfee said.

The Yale-Hawaii research report recommends more research to determine whether negative stereotypes lead to discriminatory behavior, citing evidence that overweight adults face discrimination. It also calls for studying ways to reduce stigma and negative attitudes toward overweight children.

"Weight-based discrimination is as important a problem as racial discrimination or discrimination against children with physical disabilities," the report concludes. "Remedying it needs to be taken equally seriously..."

Smoking May Reduce Muscle Mass

2007-07-13T09:31:00.001-06:00

Now for all you smokers out there here comes research that indicates that it isn't just your lungs and heart that ends up paying the cost of your smoking. It is also your muscles. These are the very things we need to build up to increase fat loss, increase balance, have stronger bones, and in general look better. Especially as we age. We definitley don't need to be losing any. The more muscle mass we have the higher our metabolism is as well.

This is definitely something to think about the next time you go to light one up.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: fat loss, muscle mass, sarcopenia, smoking, health, fitness

Smoking may reduce muscle mass

NOTTINGHAM, England (UPI) -- University of Nottingham researchers say not only does smoking cause cancer, heart attacks and strokes, but smokers lose more muscle mass in old age.
Michael Rennie and Dr. Philip Atherton, with colleagues in Denmark and the United States, discovered that smoking impairs the day-to-day upkeep of muscle.
The findings, published in American Journal of Physiology and presented at Life Sciences 2007, show that smoking is likely to speed up a condition known as sarcopenia -- the loss of muscle mass with aging that is linked to poor balance, gait speed, falls and fractures.
"From our tests, we can conclude that smoking slows the muscle protein synthesis machinery -- probably impairing day-to-day upkeep of muscle," Atherton said in a statement.
"We are all well aware of the ill affects of smoking on the lungs, but our study reveals yet another cause of ill-health associated with smoking."
The researchers discovered that the amounts of myostatin, a muscle growth inhibitor, and MAFbx enzyme, which breaks down muscle protein, were higher in smokers than non-smokers.

Exercise Most Effective to Prevent Falls

2007-07-12T18:20:00.001-06:00

Something I think that most seniors need to think about. Exercise helps with falls in two ways from the research I have done. It aids in having stronger thicker bones and improved balance. I would suggest anyone who is over 50 to at least check into tai-chi or yoga as well as daily walking.

Fitness benefits to our health don't stop with age.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: senior fitness, health, fitness, exercise

Exercise most effective to prevent falls

TAIPEI, Taiwan (UPI) -- Exercise proved most effective at improving elderly quality-of-life, better than education or a home safety assessment, says a Taiwan study.
Dr. Mau-Roung Lin, of the Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, Taipei Medical University, in Taiwan, also examined the secondary effects of these programs on functional balance, daily activity, fear of falling and depression level.
Participation in the study was open to people ages 65 and older who had required medical attention for a fall within the previous four weeks. Participants were assigned to one of the three fall prevention program groups, and quality-of-life was then assessed according to the World Health Organization's Quality of Life guidelines, focusing on four domains: physical capacity, psychological well-being, social relationships and environment.
Although all programs contributed to some quality-of-life improvements, the results were significantly higher in the exercise training group, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics.
Exercise training participation also led to improvements in functional reach, balance and fear of falling, said the researchers.

Simple Tip to Aid Fat Loss

2007-07-12T17:31:00.001-06:00

Here is a simple tip that can be found in any diet/weightloss/fat loss program. Keep a food journal. There's no better way to keep track of what you're eating than by logging it. Record every morsel that goes into your mouth. This will help you keep a tally on your caloric intake. In the event you hit a weight-loss plateau, you can look back and see what foods could be preventing you from losing. All you need is a spiral notebook and a pen to keep tabs on your eating behaviors

Even if you do this for one week you can get an idea of what you are eating and how many calories you are putting into your body over and above what you need for daily energy requirements. I found that writing down the times also helps you see what your eating habits are.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: Fat loss, weight loss program, diet, exercise

Dietary counseling can be effective

2007-07-10T18:48:00.001-06:00

It always surprises me when people do research on something and a light bulb goes off in my head. I realized that for many folks who have a hard time dropping fat % it may be tied to mental factors. They are still seeing themselves as fat rather than slim and trim. That is also a reason many people bounce right back or gain the fat they lost plus some more.

You have to get your head in the game for it to be effective.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: fat loss, diet, obesity, weight loss program, weight loss

Dietary counseling can be effective

BOSTON (UPI) -- Dietary counseling can, on average, result in weight loss of approximately 6 percent of body weight after one year, according to a U.S. study.
Researchers at the Tufts University School of Medicine analyzed 46 trials that included 6,386 people who were participating in dietary counseling-based weight loss programs and 5,467 people not involved in formal weight loss programs.
Programs with more frequent meetings and greater calorie restrictions tended to produce greater weight losses over time, according to one of the study's authors, Dr. Michael L. Dansinger, a physician at Tufts-New England Medical Center, in Boston.
Approximately half the weight loss remained at three years, but almost none of the weight loss remained at five years, said the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"We did not know how much weight people lost on average through weight loss programs or how long it took them to gain it back," Dansinger said in a statement. "This study shows that lifestyle changes need to be for the long-term.
Moderate weight loss -- 10 to 20 pounds -- has a dramatic effect on most of the medical problems caused by obesity, according to Dansinger.

Stress linked to gaining more weight

2007-07-09T18:23:00.001-06:00

More research on the effects of stress and its ties to weight gain, specifically fat gain. A couple of things to lower stress are taking more "Me" time and getting more sleep.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Technorati tags: Obesity, weight gain, fat gain, stress, diet

Stress linked to gaining more weight

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- There is a direct connection among stress, a high-calorie diet and unexpectedly high weight gain, says an Australian, U.S. and Slovakian study.
Scientists at Georgetown University, part of the collaborative study, had stressed and unstressed mice fed normal diets and high calorie -- high fat and high sugar -- or so called "comfort food" diets.
The mice on normal diets did not become obese; however, stressed mice on high-calorie diets gained twice as much fat as unstressed mice on the same diet. The novel and unexpected finding was that when stressed and non-stressed animals ate the same high calorie foods, the stressed animals utilized and stored fat differently, according to the study published in Nature Medicine.
"Our findings suggest that we may be able to reverse or prevent obesity caused by stress and diet, including the worst kind of obesity; the apple-shaped type, which makes people more susceptible to heart disease and diabetes," senior author Zofia Zukowska, of Georgetown University, said in a statement.
"There are millions of people around the world who have lived with high levels of stress for so long their bodies think it's 'normal,' and if these people also eat a high fat and high sugar diet, they will become obese."

Today's Fat Loss Tip

2007-07-09T18:15:00.001-06:00

Here is a new tip for everyone. A surprising one as well.

Avoid the salad bar. Opting for the salad bar may sound like a healthy choice. However, it can be a major diet pitfall for people watching their waistline. The salad bar comes complete with high-fat dressings, mayonnaise-based pasta salads, cottage cheese, nuts, seeds, croutons and other calorie-rich foods that can quickly steer you off plan. Avoid this fat trap by opting for plenty of vegetables, oil and vinegar, fresh fruit (not drenched in syrup) and other diet-smart choices.

Of course self control at the salad bar is also an option. Personally that is my tool, use portion control and a small plate.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

How to Flatten Your Abs and Get Rid of Back Pain with Core Training

2007-07-09T17:11:00.001-06:00

This is a great article and resource on core training and back pain. Core training can help rid you of back pain or prevent it from starting. this could have helped a few friends from a blown back and painful back surgery a few years ago.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

-----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO FLATTEN YOUR ABS
AND GET RID OF BACK PAIN
WITH CORE TRAINING
By Tom Venuto
-----------------------------------------------------
By now, you're probably familiar with "core training" or you've at least heard the term used on TV or in various fitness publications. Your "core" refers not just to the abdominals, but your entire trunk musculature, including those deep muscles you can't even see (like the Transversus Abdominis, or TVA)."
Why should you care about muscles you can't even see? That's a question I would have asked many years ago in my early competitive bodybuilding days, but now I've learned better. And the answer is, among other reasons, to eliminate back pain.
Back pain is one of the biggest complaints of men today of ALL ages, and many women suffer from it well, especially during and after pregnancy. You see, a weak core, combined with other problems such as tightness in certain muscle groups, lousy form and poor selection of exercises is one of the leading causes of lower back pain. The good news is that it's largely preventable with a few easy exercises.
There's more... your core is also the seat of power for your entire body. If you're an athlete - recreational or competitive - core strength means better performance on the playing field. If you're a non-athlete, greater core strength means more efficient and safer performance of regular, day to day activities. If you know anyone who blew out their back lifting boxes or simply doing work around the house, you know what I'm talking about.
The reason I'm mentioning core training today is because David Grisaffi recently sent me a review copy of his new e-book, "Firm And Flatten Your Abs". I just finished reading it and testing out some of his workouts, and I have to admit, David put together a very unique program. This is the first time in a long time that I've seen an abdominal course that's not centered on the usual sit ups and crunches. In fact, there's not a single sit up in the entire course.
David included quite a bit of nutrition info in his book too, but in my opinion, the real strong point is the core training info and the 7 routines, which progress from beginner up to "athlete" level. Some of the exercises are a lot more challenging than they look in the pictures. You have to try them to appreciate them. Many of them can be done with just your body weight. Others require a stability ball (swiss ball), and a handful can be done with a cable apparatus you'd find in any gym.
In the last few years, I've begun incorporating a lot more swiss ball work in my ab routines. Being a "muscle head" bodybuilder, I have to admit I was a little hesitant to start using the ball, and to be honest, I never really had any trouble getting good abs, but the ball and core work has definitely made a difference in the ab department. The real benefit though, was the increase in my core strength and trunk stability and a decrease in low back pain.
About 15 years ago, I was diagnosed with a ruptured disk (L4), and at one point a neurosurgeon told me I should never lift more than 40 pounds and I would eventually need surgery. I laughed in his face about the not lifting more than 40 pounds part (okay, so I laughed silently… but I did laugh... no one takes my weights away from me!)
Fortunately, I was able to rehab my own back without ever going under the knife, thanks to a ton of flexibility work and some intelligent abdominal training. Still, the pain would return from time to time when I got a little cocky and slapped too much weight on the bar. Once you rupture a disk, you can rehab to a remarkable degree, but it's something you always have to be cautious about.
Anyway, in the last few years since I started to use core training methods and not just the traditional "bodybuilding-style" routines, I've seen a greater improvement in my lower low back than ever before. If you haven't started doing any ball work or core training yourself, I would definitely urge you to look into it. David's new eBook is one source for info on the subject definitely worth checking out. Here's the link to his site: Flatten Your Abs

Source: FlattenYourAbs.net

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Obesity Drug: A Weapon for Cancer?

2007-07-09T08:11:00.001-06:00

This is definitely a surprising twist to uses for Alli besides making people wear adult diapers.

Kevin

Natual Fat Loss

Obesity Drug: A Weapon for Cancer?

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A drug used to treat obesity has some benefits for a completely different disease -- cancer.
Five years ago, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine were surprised to find the drug orlistat (Xenical or Alli) could kill cancer cells. Now, they report on how it works. The drug binds and interacts with a protein found in tumor cells, blocking its function and causing the cells to die.
The protein is known as fatty acid synthase. It is found in many tumor cells including those of the prostate, breast, colon, ovaries, liver, lung, and brain.
"High levels of fatty acid synthase correlate with a poor prognosis, so it is a great treatment target," assistant professor Steven Kridel, Ph.D., of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was quoted as saying. "This makes an exciting treatment target because, theoretically, you don't have to worry about harming nearby healthy tissue."
Researchers say orlistat alone cannot treat cancer because while the drug can kill cancer cells in the lab, it is designed to act only in the digestive tract in humans. Now, the goal is to develop a drug like orlistat that can go through the bloodstream to the site of the tumor.
Wake Forest scientists have screened hundreds of thousands of compounds to find the ones that interact with cancer cells like orlistat does. They have narrowed down the list to a dozen and will now work to optimize the compounds to determine if they can create a potent cancer treatment.
Fatty acid synthase is also found in fat cells. This suggests if scientists successfully develop a drug to treat cancer, it could also be used to treat obesity.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, published online July 8, 2007

Source: Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Obesity Drug: A Weapon for Cancer?

Walking the Walk & Talking the Talk

2007-07-09T00:04:00.001-06:00

A great article by Will about somethign that is a hot topic in the news these days.

Kevin

Natural Fat Loss

Walking the Walk & Talking The Talk

By Will Brink

Author of :
Brink's BodyBuilding Revealed

"Bodybuilding Revealed is a complete blue print to muscle building success. Everything you need to know about diet & muscle building nutrition, over 50 bodybuilding supplements reviewed, weight training routines, high intensity cardio, the mental edge, pre made muscle building diets and an online private members forum, diet planner, meal planner and much more. It's all in Will Brink's ultimate guide to gaining muscle mass."

Fat Loss Revealed

"Fat Loss Revealed is the ultimate fat loss manual. A complete online and offline system used by anybody looking to attain a fantastic lean physique. A complete fat loss diet plan, with pre made diets, over 40+ fat loss supplement reviews, resistance workouts, and cardio , along with motivation and goal setting and a huge online private members area and forum form Will Brink's Ultimate Fat loss Program.

"Walking The Walk and Talking The Talk"

Readers Note: This article is not for the easily offended or "PC" minded. It is an in-your-face, and hopefully humorous, look at the topic of steroids and how out of touch the medical/scientific community and the general public can be in regards to the facts about steroids. I don't use steroids (I think my pic on the web page will confirm that!) nor do I recommend them to most people these days. Why? Because they are too expensive, illegal, and fake 90% of the time, moral and ethical issues not withstanding.

If you have an uncle who will write you scripts and you want to use steroids than that's your business. What ever price there is to pay for using them, it will be you and you alone who pays it. I just call em like I see em. Emotions can never alter facts, but facts can alter emotions. Never let your perceptions or your emotions alter your view of the facts. The article is intended as 80% humor and 20% education as it relates to steroids. If you lack a sense of humor, this article is not for you.

We have all heard the expression "walking the walk and talking the talk" as it applies to various situations where there is an appreciable gap between theory and reality. There are many places we can find disagreement between the people who "walk the walk" and those who "talk the talk." If you were to ask me, I would tell you that bodybuilding is the quintessential place to find such individuals. Those who "walk the walk" constantly bickering with those who "talk the talk." Now the best we can hope for, of course, is a person who is capable of both walking the walk and talking the talk! That is, a person who has plenty of hands-on real-life experience, half a brain, and an applicable educational background. However, these people are rare as you (the reader) well know.

Given a choice between the two however, I would rather be able to walk the walk, than talk the talk. In this article I want to discuss a few examples of how this concept plays itself out in bodybuilding, science, nutrition, or what ever suits our purpose to get the idea across that, yes, there is a difference between "walking the walk" and "talking the talk!" This difference is one of several reasons we have so much confusion regarding anything to do with bodybuilding (e.g., nutrition, drugs, training, etc.) . It is certainly not the only reason, but is a major contributor to the plethora of different opinions we find in the world of bodybuilding, sports nutrition, or other fields relating to performance and health.

Ground Breaking Steroid Studies......Not!

Now what ultimately set me off to write this article, besides the fact that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, was a study published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). NEJM is considered one of the most prestigious medical and scientific journals in the world. People tend to hold this journal up as the holy scripture of medical journals. The study was called "The Effects Of Supraphysiologic Doses Of Testosterone On Muscle Size And Strength In Normal Men (vol.336, July, 96)." This was a fairly strait forward study, so we don't need to go into great depths about it and bore you to sleep with all the details. In a nut shell, there were four groups of men studied. One group received 600 milligrams of testosterone enanthate and trained with weight three days per week. The other three groups were just combinations of training with weights and getting no testosterone (placebo), getting the testosterone and not training with weights (couch potato on test!), and so on. So what was so wrong with this study that prompted me to write this article? Well it was not so much the conclusion of the study-which we will get to in a minute-but some of the statements within the study that caught my attention. For example, the researchers state:

"Athletes often take androgenic steroids in an attempt to increase their strength. The efficacy of these substances for this purpose is unsubstantiated, (emphasis mine) however."

Unsubstantiated? Are they for real? Here is another statement from the study.

"...but whether supraphysiological doses of testosterone or other anabolic-androgenic steroids augment muscle mass and strength in normal men is unknown."

Unknown? Unknown? Unknown to who? The next time you sit in the front row of a bodybuilding show or see some 280 pound androgen freak squatting the equivalent of a small family sedan, feel free to yell "hey fella(s), did you know that all those steroids you are taking have not been proven to build muscle!" Gee whiz, guess that forty pounds little Johnny put on in twelve weeks to make the high school football team was a placebo effect of the five Anadrol a day he was taking! As far as The Group For The Use Of Common Sense In Science (GFUCSS) is concerned, regardless of the research, if there is still a single doctor in the entire world who continues to doubt steroids have an effect on muscle mass, he should have his license revoked and should be dope slapped in a public forum! Oh ya, in case your wondering, I am the national president and only member of GFUCSS. Have any of these researchers ever stepped outside of the lab to see what is going on out there in the real world? It's 1996 for God sake. How about this statement from the same study:

"We do not know whether still higher doses of testosterone or the simultaneous administration of several steroids would have more pronounced effects."

We don't know? Well I sure as hell do! Hear that sound? That's the palm of my hand hitting my forehead in disbelief. Could the scientific community possibly be this clueless when it comes to steroids? You bet. So where do I sign up for the next study that proves mixing high doses of steroids build more muscle? Should I bring my own turkey baster or will they supply it? Is it any wonder why bodybuilders don't listen to a thing doctors have to say? Now I am not some disgruntled trainer/bodybuilder who is resentful of science and scientists because he does not have the educational background to understand scientific materials. I have several years of organic and biochemistry, molecular physiology, biology, nutrition, yada, yada, yada, and I still find the average bodybuilder to know more about steroids than 99% of all the scientists and doctors I speak with! This is a sad state of affairs which could be rectified by some of these scientists and doctors coming out of the lab and hanging out at the average gym for a few days. I can just see it now , "here doc, swallow these little pink things and squat 'till you puke!" Now I love science, and many of my friends are scientists, but man this type of stuff boils my blood.......If you couldn't tell.

On the other hand, the study did have some particularly interesting findings that really blow a hole in the "steroids will kill you" and "all you need is hard work to look like a pro bodybuilder" brigade. The study found that the men who got the testosterone but did not workout gained more muscle than the guys who trained with weights but did not get the testosterone! That's right, the couch potatoes on steroids gained more muscle than the natural guys training with weights (poor bastards!). Also, the guys who trained with weights but did not get the testosterone, had a big drop in HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) while the guys on steroids had no drop in HDL! Like the song says "how do ya like me nowwwww!"

In conclusion, the study found 600mg of testosterone enanthate did not change lipid profiles, did not raise prostate-specific antigens, or increase aggression. So what does this study tell us? It tells us what even the dumbest bodybuilder has known for years; that moderate doses of steroids builds muscle and has little if any negative impact on your health. Now before you people out there who use steroids start dancing in the street chanting "I told you so, I told you so," don't forget that steroids do have potential side effects and when abused they do have risks, so use a little common sense. If you get thrown in jail, don't come whining to me when your cell mate says "hey Bob, yer lookin mighty fine in them jeans boy." Yikes!

So after all these years of biased-poorly done-goofy-steroid research, why does this new study pop up in NEJM and show the reality of moderate steroid use without all the scare tactics? The answer can be found in the final paragraph, which states:

"Our findings do, however, raise the possibility that short term administration of androgens may have beneficial effects in immobilized patients, during space travel, and in patients with cancer-related cachexia, disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or other chronic wasting disorders."

Space travel? "Space shuttle to mission control, I can't fit into my space suit anymore, can you send me up an extra-extra large?" So what's the secret message you ask? The pharmaceutical industry and political/medical complex have finally realized that anabolic steroids for use in diseases such as AIDS, cancer, and others, is a huge untapped market for them. Now that we have a population that's getting older, there will be a mountain of money to be made from testosterone replacement therapy and steroids can reverse many of the ailments we associate with aging, such as loss of muscle, stamina, and sex drive. What? Gramps can't get a stiffy anymore?

Give em a shot of Cypionate once a month! "Here pop's, go shave your nads and put these little patches on." By the time this article comes out, the above study will already have been plastered all over the news and in the news papers. Over the next year or two you will start seeing additional research (funded by large pharmaceutical companies) showing steroids to have all sorts of medical uses (which they do) and that steroids are not the evil liver trashing, ax murderer producing, scourge they have been made out to be. Will the legal status change?

It really depends on how much money there is to be made and how much pressure the drug companies can bring to bear on law makers as they wave there shiny new studies showing steroids are not so bad after all. As usual, bodybuilders and other athletes are left to "walk the walk" while the medical community, politicians, and researchers "talk the talk, " as the two sides still can't see eye to eye. Yes, things are improving in this department, but it will be quite some time before the experience of athletes, trainers, and pain in the ass wise guy writers like me, converge with the conservative medical and scientific communities.

More Words of Wisdom........Not!

"Athletes don't need more protein than sedentary people," "we get all the vitamins we need from our food," "Just eat more carbohydrates and avoid all fat in your diet if you want to lose weight," "all steroids in any dosage will make your liver fall out and turn you into a hypo gonadal ax murderer," and finally, "going below parallel when you squat will ruin your knees" are typical statements made by researchers and doctors who continue to ignore research to the contrary and clearly have no real life experience working with athletes. I am sure you could come up with a few more of these stupid statements that make us all foam at the mouth with irritation. Though slowly but surly changing, it is unfortunate that the majority of doctors, researchers, and nutritionists still believe the above statement(s). Although there are cutting edge scientists and others in the field who would totally disagree with the above statements, they are, unfortunately, in the minority.

For example, Dr. Lemon, a leading researcher on protein requirements for athletes, disagrees with the idea that endurance and strength athletes don't need more protein than Mr. Potato Head, errr... I mean Mr. couch potato . Linus Pauling, considered one of the greatest scientific minds who ever lived, spent most of his career trying to convince the world we would benefit from far higher intakes of many vitamins (especially vitamin C) than could ever be found in our food. Dr. Udo Erasmus, the guy who "wrote the book" on fats, would most definitely disagree with the concept of trying to avoid fats in our diet for losing weight and improving health. We all know Dr. Mauro DiPasquale, one of the few doctors with real world knowledge of steroids, would laugh at the common belief that all steroids lead to health problems.

Finally, Canadian Olympic coach Charles Poliquin has written several times that squatting far bellow parallel is not detrimental to your knees, provided your form is good and you are fully warmed up. However, these people, including yours truly, are still fighting an up-hill battle and are in the minority. The truth can never be suppressed, it can only be delayed.

Don't Be Anti-science just 'cause I'm In a Bad Mood!

Of course the reader of this mean spirited sarcastic little piece should not be inclined to become anti-science or anti-research. Good research done by quality scientists is essential to furthering our understanding of human physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, or what ever is relevant to bodybuilding, health, or life itself. However, you have to ask the right questions to get the right answers, no? Asking the question "does anabolic steroids increase muscle in humans?" in 1996 is proof positive that the gap between those that "walk the walk" and those who "talk the talk" is still wider than the average American's butt!

About the Author - William D. Brink

Will Brink is a columnist, contributing consultant, and writer for various health/fitness, medical, and bodybuilding publications. His articles relating to nutrition, supplements, weight loss, exercise and medicine can be found in such publications as Lets Live, Muscle Media 2000, MuscleMag International, The Life Extension Magazine, Muscle n Fitness, Inside Karate, Exercise For Men Only, Body International, Power, Oxygen, Penthouse, Women’s World and The Townsend Letter For Doctors.

He is the author of Priming The Anabolic Environment , Body Building Revealed & Fat Loss Revealed. He is the Consulting Sports Nutrition Editor and a monthly columnist for Physical magazine, Musclemag and an Editor at Large for Power magazine. Will graduated from Harvard University with a concentration in the natural sciences, and is a consultant to major supplement, dairy, and pharmaceutical companies.

He has been co author of several studies relating to sports nutrition and health found in peer reviewed academic journals, as well as having commentary published in JAMA. He runs the highly popular web site BrinkZone.com which is strategically positioned to fulfill the needs and interests of people with diverse backgrounds and knowledge. The BrinkZone site has a following with many sports nutrition enthusiasts, athletes, fitness professionals, scientists, medical doctors, nutritionists, and interested lay people. William has been invited to lecture on the benefits of weight training and nutrition at conventions and symposiums around the U.S. and Canada, and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

William has worked with athletes ranging from professional bodybuilders, golfers, fitness contestants, to police and military personnel.

See Will's ebooks online here:

Click Here For : Brink's BodyBuilding Revealed

Click Here For : Fat Loss Revealed

Easy weight loss tip

2007-07-08T20:30:00.000-06:00

Get the munchies in between your 5 small meals a day? You are eating five small meals a day aren't you? Sometimes the desire to eat is really due to thirst so drink water first. After making sure you aren't just thirsty try this tip.

Brush your teeth. When you feel like snacking, try brushing your teeth. For many people, having fresh minty breath staves off the need to snack. Keep a toothbrush and a travel size tube of toothpaste in your purse or desk drawer. Many times the desire to nibble doesn't come from hunger but from boredom or stress. Instead of paying a visit to the vending machine for chips or candy, hit the bathroom and give your mouth a quick cleansing.

It helps with the boredom eating.

Who knew?

2007-07-08T18:28:00.000-06:00

Learn something new every day.
Kevin

Healthy Relationships Cause You to Gain Weight

In any healthy marriage or relationship,studies have shown that most people will gain an average of seven pounds the frist two years of being together. In order to try and avoid gaining the extra weight or try to take the unwanted weight off you both of you need to create a healthy living plan with one another. Meaning start eating healthy foods together. Find out what your partner likes to eat and try making it healthier. That way you both can enjoy eating the same healthy meals with one another.

Weight Loss and Health Advice on Trial

2007-07-05T19:24:00.000-06:00

this is an interesting story just out on how obesity may affect health. Not sure why they are saying there isn't any clinical trials though.
Kevin

Weight loss and health advice on trial
HOUSTON (UPI) -- We are constantly told to lose weight to reduce our heart disease and diabetes risk, but no clinical trials show this to be the case, say U.S. researchers. No clinical trials have shown a significant reduction in cardiovascular events due specifically to weight loss, according to Dr. Christie Ballantyne, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, in Houston. "We are finding that inflammation of the fat tissue causes both diabetes and heart attacks," Ballantyne said in a statement. "This study will examine how diet, exercise and weight loss affect inflammation, and how these changes affect the health of the patient's heart." A large multi-center trial is being conducted to examine whether weight loss through intensive lifestyle intervention with diet and exercise will reduce cardiovascular events in obese diabetic individuals compared with a control group that receives diabetes support and education. Researchers will follow 5,000 people who are overweight and have diabetes -- both conditions that lead to inflammation of fatty tissue. All patients will be educated in how to change certain lifestyle habits. The aim is to look at how each intervention works for each person, how diet or exercise affect the fat tissue and how these interventions affect the heart, according to Ballantyne

Weight Loss Drug Goes OTC, Does it Work?

2007-06-18T19:38:00.001-06:00

Here is something I want you all to stop and think about. You know the saying about how if it sounds too good to be true it usually is? There are two downsides to the new drug. One, you have to wear adult diapers and bring a change of clothes. I don't suggest wearing light colors even though it is the season, the brown stains show up to well. And the other is that your body needs a certain amount of fat intake in order to function properly.

No one knows for sure what kind of damage to the metabolism will happen or the long term effects.

In this gotta have it now society we live in you need to remember, you didn't put on all that fat overnight, you aren't going to lose it overnight no matter how many drugs you take. besides, what happens when you come off the drug?

Kevin

http://www.natural-fat-loss.com

Technorati Tags: fat loss program, weight loss, obesity, fitness, health, exercise

Weight Loss Drug Goes OTC, Does it Work?

By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Dieters can now buy a formerly prescription-only weight loss drug over the counter. Makers of Alli, an over-the-counter dose of orlistat, say the fat blocker can help people lose more weight than dieting alone, but not everyone thinks it's a good way to help folks shed pounds.

"I have a philosophical problem with just throwing a pill at this," Florida Hospital physician George Guthrie, M.D., told Ivanhoe. The Orlando-based doctor advocates weight loss through lifestyle changes and formerly helped run a health clinic focused on vegetarian diets.

"What people really need is a change in their lifestyle," Dr. Guthrie said. "If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you got. It's true that medication may be helpful, but it's not the answer."

"I think it's a good thing," Holly Wyatt, M.D., told Ivanhoe. The University of Colorado endocrinologist is medical director of The Center for Human Nutrition's Weight Management Program, an obesity clinic at the school. She has used orlistat in her practice. She explained dieters can benefit from having over-the-counter access to Alli, which has been studied for safety and efficacy and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"There are people out there spending lots of money on pills and herbs without the safety data, the research, to back it up," Dr. Wyatt said.

Alli is a 60 milligram version of orlistat, which is still available as a prescription under the name Xenical. The medication can help with weight loss by decreasing the intestinal absorption of fat. It's taken up to three times a day with each fat-containing meal. Because the drug can also block the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, doctors recommend those taking orlistat take a multivitamin.

The most common side effect of the medication is loose stools, which gets worse when more fat is consumed. The effect is delayed six to 12 hours after each meal.

"It's a teaching tool," said Dr. Wyatt. "I've had patients tell me they thought they were being healthy with their favorite salad from a restaurant, only to find out the next day there was more fat than they realized in that salad."

There are some drug interactions consumers should be aware of. Those who have had an organ transplant should not take orlistat because of possible drug interactions. Blood thinners and certain diabetes medications can also interact with orlistat.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with George Guthrie, M.D., and Holly Wyatt, M.D.

Lack of sleep hurts language development

2007-06-15T16:09:00.001-06:00

This is something that I think is so important for everyone to understand. We need sleep. We need enough sleep for our bodies to recover and recharge. It is important for learning, for work, for personal interactions.

Kevin

Technorati Tags: sleep, kids, learning, health

http://www.natural-fat-loss.com

Lack of sleep hurts language development

MINNEAPOLIS (UPI) -- Even mild sleep loss produces marked deficits in children's cognitive development, functioning and speech perception, found U.S. researchers.
Study author Rachel Waford, of the University of Louisville, recorded event-related potentials as a measure of neurocognitive development from 32 children ages 6 and 7 while they listened to the following computer-generated speech syllables: "ba," "da" and "ga."
The results showed that those children not getting an adequate amount of sleep were more likely to incorrectly phonetically code different speech sounds, according to the study presented at Sleep 2007, the 21st annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis.
The research shows that even minor sleep loss of one hour less per night for seven nights contributes to disruptions in neurocognitive functioning, the study said.
"The early school years are crucial windows that determine future learning," Waford said in a statement. "Therefore, it is imperative that children in this age range are well-rested to prepare for the demands of the school day."

Good diet, exercise cut breast cancer risk

2007-06-15T09:12:00.001-06:00

I would also argue that it works for men and prostate cancer as well. People need to realize that our ancestors didn't get to be our ancestors by sitting on their butts. Maybe that is why we see so many big butts today? They are being used primarily as cushions to sit on? Just something to think about.

Technorati Tags: exercise, health, cancer fighting

To your health and fitness,

Kevin

Good diet, exercise cut breast cancer risk

SAN DIEGO (UPI) -- Breast cancer survivors who eat a healthy diet and exercise moderately can reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by half, according to a U.S. study.
The longitudinal study from the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, looked at 1,490 women aged 70 years and younger -- average 50 years -- with early stage breast cancer who were randomly assigned to the non-intensive dietary arm of the ongoing Women's Health Eating and Living study.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that even if a woman is overweight, if she eats at least five servings of vegetables and fruits a day and walks briskly for 30 minutes, six days a week, her risk of death from her disease goes down by 50 percent.
Those who were both physically active and had a healthy diet were much more likely to survive through the follow-up period than the rest of the study group, according to first author John Pierce, director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Moores University of California, San Diego, Cancer Center.
"The key is that you must do both," Pierce said in a statement.

Will Your Plan Lead To Permanent Weight Loss? How To Tell

2007-06-14T17:42:00.001-06:00

Technorati Tags: exercise, fat loss, fat loss program, fitness, health, obesity, overweight, weight loss

Will Your Plan Lead To Permanent Weight Loss? How To Tell

This article summarizes what a plan must have to be able to result in long-term weight loss. If a plan fails in any one of these, any weight loss will be short-term and the individual will experience "yo-yo dieting".
Several years ago, a colleague who had tried several weight loss plans, asked me to help her figure out why she wasn’t able to achieve permanent weight loss. After extensive research on how the body regulates weight and studying individuals who had succeeded in attaining long-term weigh loss, I concluded that there are four characteristics that a plan must have to result in long-term weight loss. If a plan fails in any one, it might create short-term weight loss but the pounds will come back and you will find yourself trying something else. At first glance, these factors might look straightforward and simple but I will present the science behind them and why they must be taken into account for you to succeed.

The four characteristics are:

1. The plan must avoid cravings 2. The plan must avoid hunger 3. The plan must call for increasing your activity level 4. It must be a plan you can live with for a long time

What are cravings? A craving is when your body pushes you to want a particular food ingredient. This can occur even when you are not hungry. When you finally give in and get the food, you almost always binge, that is, eat more than you would have if you did not have cravings for it.

What causes cravings? Your body needs 6 essential food ingredients to function properly. They are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, vitamins and water. If you deprive your body of any of this, it will create the sensation that will drive you to get it. The most easily identified example is when you deprive your body of water. You develop thirst. Thirst is the body craving for water.

Weight loss plans that tell you to cut out particular foods will always lead to cravings. It is this battle in your body to give it what it needs that creates conditions of discomfort and lead to most individuals ending the programs. There is an area of the brain that controls what and how much you eat and is responsible for creating cravings as a way for you to provide the body what it needs.

So, how do you avoid cravings? By eating all the required food ingredients. The key is that in all the food groups, there are “good” types and “not so good” types. You need to know the good types and eat only those. For example, with carbohydrates, the good types are the ones with low glycemic index (GI). GI is a measure of how fast a food increases the production of insulin. Insulin causes fat buildup. Simple sugars, potatoes and white bread are examples of high GI foods, while whole grains and vegetables have low GIs and therefore good for weight loss.

By understanding the concept of eating all the essential foods and dividing them into “good” and “not so good” foods, you will avoid cravings and overeating.

Next time we will discuss hunger and how successful plans avoid hunger.

About the Author

Dr. David Nganele empowers individuals with the knowledge to take help them take control of their health. His latest book is "How to choose a weight loss plan that will work for you". Learn more at http://aboutdietplans.com.

This article courtesy of http://www.naturalweightloss.natural-fat-loss.com.
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your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author
name and URL remain intact.

Sleepy Teens at Risk for Smoking, Drinking

2007-06-13T08:39:00.001-06:00

Do we have our teens trying to do too many things? Are they over involved? Getting enough sleep, good quality sleep, is vital for everyone from babies to seniors.

Kevin

Technorati Tags: Teens, Sleep, Fitness, Health

Sleepy Teens at Risk for Smoking, Drinking

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Teenagers who don't sleep well may be more likely to take up bad habits like smoking and drinking.

In a new study out of China, researchers report adolescents who reported getting less than eight hours of sleep per night, frequently experiencing nightmares, and having trouble falling asleep were at higher risk of drinking alcohol.

A higher risk of smoking was associated with those behaviors, as was having a bedtime after midnight, difficulty staying asleep, and the use of hypnotic drugs.

Researchers studied about 1,300 children from five high schools in China. The average age of study participants was 14.

Study author Xianchen Liu, M.D., Ph.D., from the University of Pittsburgh, reports more research is needed to confirm these findings, but the results "suggest a potential role of sleep intervention -- that is, education in sleep hygiene and the treatment of sleep disturbances -- in the prevention of adolescent substance use."

Previous studies have suggested sleep affects a wide range of physical, mental and emotional aspects of health, with poor sleep linked to everything from cardiovascular disease and diabetes to depression and obesity.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis, June 9-14, 2007

Sleep Vital to Children's Development

2007-06-13T08:29:00.001-06:00

This is something I have been telling people all along. A major reason for the problems in schools are students not getting enough sleep then going to school on a sugar high. Proper sleep and diet will go a long way in helping our kids, not only in school but in life as well.

Kevin

Sleep Vital to Children's Development

By Kate McHugh, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Everyone needs a good night's rest to be ready to take on the day -- especially children.

Research examining the effects of sleep on young children reveals even small sleep loss can have a major impact on a child's cognitive and linguistic functioning. Not developing these skills in childhood can have negative effects on a child's reading and language development and comprehension.

Researchers from the University of Louisville report children not getting an adequate amount of sleep each night were more likely to process speech sounds incorrectly. Thirty-two children between the age 6 and 7 were asked to differentiate between different sounds both phonetically and verbally. The group of children who had an hour less of sleep showed marked deficits in their ability to process these sounds.

"A sleep-deprived child tends to have trouble focusing or concentrating and is in an almost hyperactive state," James Herdegen, M.D., associate professor in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago, told Ivanhoe. "There are some ideas that we cycle in and out of different sleep stages for the purpose of recalling information we have experienced within the previous 24 hours," so any interference with that sleep cycle could have detrimental impacts on a child's cognitive development, he said.

Dr. Herdegen recommends children in preschool get 11 hours to 13 hours of sleep each night, and school-aged children get between 10 hours and 11 hours.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with James Herdegen, M.D.; presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis, Minn.. June 9 to June 14, 2007

Kids Lose Fitness Gains on Summer Vacation

2007-06-06T08:50:00.001-06:00

If there was ever a time for parents to be concerned it is now. Obese children lead to obese adults with all the associated problems. Some children never make it to adulthood before obesity related problems ensue for them. this is something we all need to be concerned about.

Kevin

Natural Fat loss

Reported June 6, 2007

Kids Lose Fitness Gains on Summer Vacation

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- School-based programs aimed at getting overweight kids into shape can work -- but three months of summer vacation is enough to put them right back where they started.

That's the key finding from Wisconsin researchers who followed up on 17 middle school children in a previous study. All took part in a lifestyle-focused fitness program during the school year, achieving significant gains in cardiovascular and fasting insulin levels by the time the last bell rang.

The new study looked at how those same kids fared after three months of summer vacation. The sad news is all the gains were lost. Overall, maximum oxygen consumption (a key marker of cardiovascular health) decreased. Body fat increased, as did fasting insulin levels.

In an accompanying editorial, John Cawley, Ph.D., from Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., suggests these findings show public health policies should be based on solid cost effectiveness analysis to ensure schools and other organizations are getting what they pay for in terms of results.

"Specifically, the critical information that policymakers and educators lack is how to achieve the greatest reduction in obesity for the fixed budget they have available; in other words, how they can achieve the greatest 'bang for the buck,'" Dr. Cawley writes.

Such analysis, he continues, can ensure better allocation of funds to programs aimed at battling childhood obesity.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2007;161:611-614

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Exercising While Pregnant may Mean Leaner Babies

2007-06-04T16:59:00.000-06:00

This is something that I think all prospective motehrs shoudl take a look into given the current obesity epidemic and the problems associated for obese children.
Kevin

Ivanhoe's Medical Breakthroughs - Exercising While Pregnant may Mean Leaner Babies

Fountain of Youth?

2007-05-23T17:30:00.000-06:00

Is exercise a fountain of youth? Personally I think so and now there is some research to go along with my ideas. This article shows how exercise can help seniors stick around longer and have a better quality of life as well as possibly a longer life.
Kevin

Exercise Can Reverse the Aging Process
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Hitting the gym may help seniors find the fountain of youth.
A new study from Ontario, Canada finds exercise, specifically resistance training, rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens.
Researchers looked at gene expression profiles in tissue samples from 25 healthy men and women older than age 65 before and after they did six months of resistance training twice a week and compared them to tissue samples from younger healthy men and women age 20 to 35.
The gene expression profiles or molecular "fingerprints" focused on the function of mitochondria -- the "powerhouse" of cells. Previous research suggests mitochondrial dysfunction has something to do with the loss of muscle mass and functional impairment, which is commonly seen in older people.
The study showed there was a decline in mitochondrial function with age in older adults. However, exercise reversed the genetic fingerprint back to levels similar of younger adults. Results also show before exercise training, the older adults were 59 percent weaker than the younger ones. After strength training, the older adults became only 38 percent weaker than the young adults.
"We were very surprised by the results of the study," lead researcher Simon Melov, Ph.D., was quoted as saying. "We expected to see gene expressions that stayed fairly steady in the older adults. The fact that their 'genetic fingerprints' so dramatically reversed course gives credence to the value of exercise, not only as a means of improving health, but of reversing the aging process itself, which is an additional incentive to exercise as you get older."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: PLoS One, published online May 22, 2007

U.S. High School Students Sleep-Deprived

2007-05-23T16:53:00.000-06:00

Want your high school student to increase their academic performance and overall health? Make sure they get enough sleep. Sleep is an important part of health and when people don't get enough their achievement suffers. Sleep deprivation is also linked to low self esteem and obesity.
Kevin

U.S. high school students sleep-deprived
SAN FRANCISCO (UPI) -- A survey of 280 U.S. high school students found 78 percent said it was difficult to get up in the morning and only 16 percent say they had enough sleep. The students, who all attend Harriton High School in suburban Philadelphia, begin their school day at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:25 p.m. The survey also found that 70 percent thought their grades would improve if they had more sleep and 90 percent thought their academic performance would improve if school were to start later. Dr. Richard Schwab of the University of Pennsylvania conducted the study with his daughter Amanda, one of the sleep-deprived teens at Harriton High School. "I watched her get up early for four years, and saw how difficult it was," Schwab said in a statement. "Teenagers need more sleep than adults and their circadian rhythms are phase shifted so that their ideal bedtime is midnight to 1:00 a.m.; yet they have to get up at 6:30 or earlier for high school." The survey was presented at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference in San Francisco.

Get in Shape Kids! Not Your Mother's Gym Class

2007-05-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

About time someone got it. Healthy diet plus movement equals healthy lifestyle and weight.
Kids need their PE classes.
Kevin

Get in Shape Kids! Not Your Mother's gym Class
AURORA, Ill. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Childhood obesity is a big problem. We don't know, or can't seem to achieve solutions. Not true for one school in Illinois that drastically changed its P.E. program to, not only get kids in shape, but to teach them healthy workout habits they hope will last a lifetime.
Kids can choose from the video game, Dance, Dance Revolution, weight machines or a hi-tech cross-training game called Makodo. All are part of five-day-a-week gym classes at this junior high school where their motto is: Getting fit for life.
Philip Lawler, a physical education expert and PE4life Director from Naperville, Illinois, explained the program to Ivanhoe. He says, "One day a week we focus on cardiovascular fitness. One day a week is muscular strength. And the other ones we do team activity the same sports models that we used to do, but everything is small-sided games." He is seeing good results. Lawler says, "We have recently tested all of our students at our high school, and our rate of overweight and obese combined is 11 percent, compared to 35 percent nationwide. We are doing something here that works."
Bob Paras, M.D., of Castle Orthopaedics in Aurora, Illinois says supervision is a key to preventing injuries. Dr. Paras says, "They have to be shown proper technique, and they should be kind of continually assessed -- that they're still performing those exercises correctly."
The eighth graders say they like the workouts. Jeff Kawalek says, "It gets everyone started on like you know -- to be healthy and get active." Ashley Tegge thinks the lessons will stick with her. She says, "Probably throughout high school and probably when I'm older I'll go to the gym." "It makes you feel more self-confident and everything like that because you're actually getting fit," Jeff Depew exclaims.
The program's coordinators say they're teaching kids activities they can do throughout their lives, rather than games or sports that often die out after high school. The program's creator, Philip Lawler is now director of the PE4life academy where he teaches people from around the country how to implement similar programs in their schools.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

Dieting for Elderly can be Good

2007-05-07T18:25:00.000-06:00

Dieting for the Elderly can be Good
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Older women who try to lose weight could face frailty, a decline in physical function or even death. So what should these women do if they are overweight?
Two new studies from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, reveal older women are actually better off trying to lose weight, even if they gain some of it back. Both projects are part of the Diet, Exercise and Metabolism in Older Women (DEMO) study.
Weight loss causes both muscle and fat loss. Because people naturally lose muscle as they age, scientists wanted to know whether it was safe for older adults to add to this effect by dieting.
"Weight loss without exercise is not widely advocated for older adults because of the potential to lose muscle and reduce physical function," lead author Jamehl Demons, M.D., Wake Forest University, was quoted as saying.
Demons' study looked at 23 obese, postmenopausal, sedentary women. For five months, their meals and snacks consisted of 400 fewer calories than they needed to maintain their weight.
The women lost an average of 25 pounds -- about 35 percent of the total loss was muscle. Results show despite the large amount of muscle loss, participants' strength and walking speed did not change, and their aerobic fitness improved. The findings suggest weight loss through dieting should not lead to increased disability.
The other study looked at body composition when the weight was regained. Participants lost an average of 25 pounds -- about 32 percent muscle and 68 percent fat. They regained an average of 11 pounds -- about 27 percent muscle and 73 percent fat.
"It looks like they are better off than if they had never tried to lose weight," lead author Mary F. Lyles, M.D., Wake Forest University, was quoted as saying.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society in Seattle, Washington, May 2-6, 2007

Docs not helping Obesity Fight

2007-05-07T18:24:00.000-06:00

Docs not Helping Obesity Fight
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many children may be missing out on an important screening for obesity.
Researchers from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center say less than 6 percent of physicians seem to be calculating a child's body mass index (BMI), even though it's recommended they do so at least once a year to screen for overweight and obese children.
Other research from Cincinnati Children's shows the importance of BMI. It reveals increased body mass is responsible for an increase in left ventricular mass -- a major risk factor for heart disease.
In this study, researchers looked at the charts of 397 patients between ages 5 and 11 who had office visits during 2004. Results show only 5.5 percent of the children had BMI documented in their charts and only 4.3 percent actually had it plotted. Residents were more likely to document and plot BMI than attending physicians.
Lead author Jennifer Hillman, M.D., from the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, was quoted as saying, "It's easy and inexpensive to screen for obesity, and we should be doing it at every well child visit to screen for overweight and obesity."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added BMI growth curves to traditional growth charts in 2000. In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended calculating and plotting BMI. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine came out with a similar recommendation.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Pediatric Academic Societies' Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, May 5-8, 2007

Get Moving to Ward Off Arthritis

2007-04-02T08:36:00.000-06:00

Now here is something I have been saying all along. Movement equals health. Taking some fish oil helps as well but movement at any age is the key.

Get Moving to Ward Off Arthritis

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Older women who would like to avoid the stiffness and pain associated with arthritis need to follow some simple advice: Get moving.

According to Australian researchers, women in their 70s are more likely to stave off arthritis if they are at least somewhat physically active.

Researchers conducted the study among about 4,000 women who were ages 72 to 79 when the study began and roughly 5,000 who were between ages 48 and 55. Investigators questioned each woman about stiff and painful joints and levels of physical activity. Women who reported no such symptoms were included in the study.

Three years later, the women were questioned again to see how physical activity levels impacted the development of stiff and painful joints. Researchers linked greater activity levels to a lower incidence of arthritis in the older women.

The investigators note 21 percent of the U.S. population is affected by arthritis, making it the most prevalent chronic condition in older people. They report results from this study suggest physical activity could put a big dent in those numbers.

"If preventive intervention strategies, such as increasing physical activity participation by even small amounts, could delay the onset and development of symptoms of arthritis, there could be considerable cost savings to the health care system and to older women themselves, not to mention reductions in pain and suffering caused by this often debilitating health problem," write the authors.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Arthritis Research & Therapy, published online March 29, 2007

Hard Exercise Leads to Trimmer Boys

2007-04-02T08:32:00.000-06:00

For me this seems to be a no brainer.

If our kids play hard it will invariably lead to be trimmer healthier kids.

Hard Exercise Leads to Trimmer Boys

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- How hard a boy exercises can make a big difference in not only how fit he is, but also how much he weighs.

Researchers who studied boys and girls from 12 schools in the Republic of Ireland report boys who exercised the hardest were the least likely to be overweight or obese and were also less likely to have larger waists. Previous studies have linked larger waist sizes to higher risks for cardiovascular disease.

Girls in the study were not so lucky. While girls who exercised harder were more likely to be fit, hard exercise didn't make a big difference in their weight or waist sizes.

Overall, boys in the study spent about twice as much time engaged in hard exercise -- defined at running nine kilometers per hour or its equivalent -- than girls, about an hour a day versus about half an hour a day. Boys were generally more physically fit than girls, but they were also more overweight.

The study authors write these findings suggest body mass index alone may not be adequate when it comes to determining cardiovascular risks in children. They write, "The evidence for a different relationship between body composition and activity components in girls and boys requires further investigation."

Children in the study were between ages 7 and 12.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: British Journal of Sports Medicine, published online March 28, 2007

Why Isn't Everyone Eating Healthy Foods?

2007-03-28T21:56:00.000-06:00

This is a question that has plagued researchers for some time in the face of the growing epidemic.

Kevin

Why Isn't Everyone Eating Healthy Foods?
By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- America's obesity epidemic may be fueled in part by the lack of affordable and available healthy food choices for the lower income populations.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore report people with less money are more likely to buy cheaper, unhealthier foods. In a study of more than 4,000 adult U.S. men and women, researchers found there are several factors determining the quality of a person's diet, including income level, ethnicity and gender.
Youfa Wang, M.D., Ph.D., a co-author of the study, told Ivanhoe this is one of the first studies to actually use measurable data to explain which factors impact a person's food choices.
People in the study who wanted or needed to spend less money on groceries tended to have a diet higher in sodium and lower in fiber than people who did not consider the price of foods when shopping.
"Family income has an effect on people's dietary intake regarding specific nutrients and also the overall dietary quality," Dr. Wang said.
However, researchers also discovered people who were concerned about what they ate and the nutritional benefits tended to have healthier diets. Women, in particular, were more likely to attempt to meet dietary guidelines than men.
Dr. Wang said it is important to make healthier foods more accessible to people with lower incomes. Also, education campaigns can raise awareness and guide people in a healthier direction. "People's knowledge, attitude and beliefs regarding nutrition has an impact on what foods people may purchase," Dr. Wang said. Because differences were seen in different ethnic groups, Dr. Wang suggested some of the awareness campaigns would be more effective if targeted to specific groups.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Youfa Wang, M.D., Ph.D.; European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published online March 7, 2007

Get Juicy!

2007-03-27T08:10:00.000-06:00

Come to find out berries are among the things that are good for what ails you. Berries are really good in your morning breakfast smoothie as well. They are also good to help you reach your fat loss goals.

To Your Health and Fitness,

Kevin

Cancer Prevention Gets Juicy!

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The key to fighting colon cancer and heart disease may be juicier than you think! Recent research presented at the 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society reveals blueberries contain chemicals that could help prevent colon cancer while lowering cholesterol at the same time.

"Scientists are making extracts from berries, showing the ability of a berry's components to inhibit the growth of cancer cells and culture, and looking at the effects of those extracts in different genes," Gary Stoner, Ph.D., a cancer researcher at The Ohio State University in Columbus told Ivanhoe.

In order to determine the colon cancer-fighting capabilities of pterostilbene, an antioxidant that is particularly abundant in blueberries, researchers at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J., conducted a study using 18 rats with chemically induced colon cancer. Half the rodents were placed on a balanced diet while the other half were given the same diet with pterostilbene supplements. After eight weeks, the rats that received pterostilbene had 57-percent fewer cancerous lesions in their colons than the control group. The chemical also inhibited inflammation in rats who received the experimental treatment.

Because colon cancer has been linked to high levels of calories and gratuitous amounts of saturated fats, researchers believe pterostilbene might also play an important role in lowering lipid levels in the body. In fact, another study conducted by USDA researchers reveals hamsters that ate blueberry skins as part of their diet had lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides than their blueberry-free counterparts. Study authors are still unsure whether the results of these studies are applicable to humans, but they plan to find out. In the meantime, study author Bandaru Reddy, Ph.D., a professor in the department of Chemical Biology at Rutgers writes, "This study underscores the need to include more berries in the diet, especially blueberries."

Based on the results of these two studies, researchers suggest producing pterostilbene in a pill form so patients interested in preventing colon cancer would have a natural alternative to commercial medications filled with unpleasant side effects.

SOURCE: The 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago, March 25-29, 2007

Less Activity = fatter Kids

2007-03-22T08:47:00.000-06:00

Something to think about if you are a parent or have something to do with kids. Even if it is voting on local school board issues such as removing recess in favor of more classroom time. Kids need their physical activity.

To your Health and Fitness,

Kevin

Less Activity = Fatter Kids

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It stands to reason kids who get less exercise are at risk for obesity. But because many of these kids also tank up on junk food, it has been hard to tell for sure whether it's the lack of physical activity making them fat or the things they eat.

British researchers used sophisticated new technology to help inform the debate. Their study measured body fat in about 5,500 12-year-olds using an X-ray emission absorptimetry scanner and physical activity with a device called an Actigraph accelerometer. These two devices produce accurate measurements, allowing the investigators to get a true handle on the role of both diet and exercise on obesity in children.

Results revealed body fat went up as activity levels decreased. The effect was more pronounced in boys than in girls and was stronger for moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) than for total physical activity.

The investigators believe theirs is the first study to use accurate measurements of body fat and activity levels to assess the effects of diet and exercise on obesity in children.

"Our findings, if confirmed, suggest that public health policies that increase physical activity levels and in particular MVPA in children may help to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity," write the authors. "These associations suggest even a modest increase of 15 minutes MVPA might result in an important reduction in the prevalence of overweight and obesity."

SOURCE: PLoS Medicine published online March 19, 2007

Will Brink's Fat Loss Program

2007-03-21T16:45:00.000-06:00

Hi

I wanted to let you know about a brand new article by Industry author and
columist Will Brink.

It's a great piece that really gives you the knowledge (and power) to decide
whether a specific Fat Loss program is worth trying or not.

As usual with Will, it's fully referenced and I highly recommend it.

You can read it here:

"The Big Picture Of Permanent Weight Loss"

http://www.brinkzone.com/cgi/at.cgi?a=412910&e=/articledetails.php?aid=102

Regards

Kevin

Brief bouts of exercise cut child obesity

2007-03-21T16:41:00.000-06:00

Something to think about.

This is something that as a parent is in the forefront of my mind. Giving my children the best leg up to their future that I can by keeping them healthy now. This is advice that would help anyone with their health and fitness.

Kevin

Brief bouts of exercise cut child obesity

BRISTOL, England (UPI) -- Taking the time to kick a soccer ball for 15 minutes after school could make a big difference in childhood obesity, say British and American researchers.

Participating in recreational activity for a brief period each day can reduce a child's chances of becoming obese by nearly 50 percent, says a study published online in PLoS Medicine.

The study was conducted by the ongoing Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, based out of the University of Bristol. It followed more than 5,500 12-year-olds by measuring their activity levels for 10 hours a day. Although eating the right food is crucial in staving off obesity, the researchers found getting good exercise establishes better long-term habits.

"What this research tells us is we must not forget about activity. It's been really surprising to us how even small amounts of exercise appear to have dramatic results," head researcher Chris Riddoch said in a statement.

Experts suggest walking your child to school, rather than driving, could be a simple way to improve the future of your child. Keeping any activity at least as vigorous as a brisk walk is also important, experts said.