Monday, August 29, 2011

Is your weak butt giving you back pain?

Sitting all day leads to glute inhibition and quadricep dominance. When we sit all day, the glutes are seldom called upon to perform their primary purpose, which is hip extension (pulling the leg behind you). So we end up with tight, overactive hip flexors, and weak, overstretched glutes. When the glutes no longer work appropriately, the hamstrings and lower back muscles must compensate and work double-duty.

Weak glutes/tight hip flexors also lead to shortened hip extension movement, which leads to a compensatory over-arching of the lower back (increased lordosis). This leads to compression on the facet joints and intervertebral disks.

When the pelvis stays tilted forward (the increased lordosis, above), the abdominal muscles become overstretched and weakened, and the lower back muscles shorten and tighten. So you are left with overactive and abused hip flexors and lower back muscles, and glutes and abdominals that are not working.   

If you wanted to create a recipe for low back pain and dysfunction, the list of ingredients would be:

  • tight/overactive hip flexors and quadriceps
  • weak/inhibited glutes and hamstrings
  • weak abs and tight lower back
  • anterior tilt of the pelvis (hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine)

Is your weak butt giving you back pain?

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Sitting all day leads to glute inhibition and quadricep dominance. When we sit all day, the glutes are seldom called upon to perform their primary purpose, which is hip extension (pulling the leg behind you). So we end up with tight, overactive hip flexors, and weak, overstretched glutes. When the glutes no longer work properly, the hamstrings and lower back muscles must compensate and work double-duty.

 

Weak glutes/tight hip flexors also lead to shortened hip extension movement, which leads to a compensatory over-arching of the lower back (increased lordosis). This leads to compression on the facet joints and intervertebral disks.

When the pelvis stays tilted forward (the increased lordosis, above), the abdominal muscles become overstretched and weakened, and the lower back muscles shorten and tighten. So you are left with overactive and abused hip flexors and lower back muscles, and glutes and abdominals that are not working.   

If you wanted to create a recipe for low back pain and dysfunction, the list of ingredients would be:

  • tight/overactive hip flexors and quadriceps
  • weak/inhibited glutes and hamstrings
  • weak abs and tight lower back
  • anterior tilt of the pelvis (hyperlordosis of the lumbar spine)

 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

My Comments on the Paleo Diet

Comments on the Paleo Diet

(See my comments in blue.)


The Paleo diet should be high in fat, moderate in animal protein and low to
moderate in carbohydrates. Calorie counting is not encouraged, neither is portion
control.


I would be careful with an eating plan that states that portion control is not
encouraged.


Eat unlimited amounts of saturated fats like coconut oil and butter or clarified
butter. Beef tallow, lard and duck fat are also good, but only if they come from
healthy and well-treated animals. Beef or lamb tallow is a better choice than lamb
or duck fat. Olive, avocado and macadamia oil are also good fats to use in salads
and to drizzle over food, but not for cooking.


Eat generous amounts of animal protein. This includes red meat, poultry, pork,
eggs, organs (liver, kidney, heart…), wild caught fish and shellfish. Don’t be
scared to eat the fatty cuts and all meals with proteins should contain fat as well.
Learn to cook with bones in the form of stocks and broths.


It's true that saturated fat is only harmful to the arteries in the absence of
adequate HDL, adequate omega-3 intake, and lack of inflammatory
response in the system. Not too many people have all three of those
under control, so be careful about eating too much saturated fat if you are
a "normal" person. Remember the Atkins Diet argument? Same thing
here.


Eat good amounts of fresh or frozen vegetables either cooked or raw and served
with fat. Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes and yams are also great as a
source of non-toxic carbohydrates.


Eat low to moderate amounts of fruits and nuts. Try to eat mostly fruits low in
sugar and high in antioxidants like berries as well as nuts high in omega-3, low in
omega-6 and low in total polyunsaturated fat like macadamia nuts.


Amen to all this.


Consider cutting off fruits and nuts altogether if you have an autoimmune
disease, digestive problem, or are trying to lose weight faster.

Nuts are common allergens for many people, and some people do not do
well with fructose, so I don't have a problem with the above if you fit the
described demographic.


Preferably choose pasture-raised and grass-fed meat coming from local,
environmentally-conscious farms. If not possible, choose lean cuts of meat and
supplement your fat with coconut oil, butter or clarified butter. Also preferably
choose organic, local and/or seasonal fruits and vegetables.


Good stuff, except you probably don't need to add more saturated fat to
your animal protein. Instead, spice it up with spices like rosemary,
oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and
paprika -- these antioxidants reduce the triglyceride response from fatty
foods.


Cut out all cereal grains and legumes from your diet. This includes, but is not
limited to, wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, brown rice, soy, peanuts, kidney beans,
pinto beans, navy beans and black eyed peas.


This is the kind of thing that makes "diets" unsustainable. Eating fewer
grains and more vegetables is a fine principle, but trying to cut out all
grains is very, very difficult, not to mention unnecessary. Additionally, one
will be hard-pressed to present a reasonable argument for legumes being
a problem.


Cut out all vegetable, hydrogenated and partly-hydrogenated oils including, but
not limited to, margarines, soybean oil, corn oil, crisco, peanut oil, canola oil,
safflower oil and sunflower oil. Olive oil and avocado oil are fine, but don’t cook
with them, use them in salad dressings and to drizzle over prepared food.


Correct.


Eliminate sugar, soft drinks, all packaged products and juices (including fruit
juices). As a rule of thumb, if it’s in a box, don’t eat it. At the grocery store, visit
only the meat, fish and produce sections.


Sound advice.


Eliminate dairy products other than butter and maybe heavy cream. You don’t
need dairy, but if you can’t live without, consider raw, full-fat and/or fermented
dairy.


Ah, the dairy argument. Given the available science, one can make a
reasonable argument both for and against, so I don't really have a strong
stand one way or the other. If you tolerate dairy well, go ahead, but use
hormone-free product from organic farms. If dairy gives you inflammatory
response, gastric upset, or mucus over-production, either skip it, or try an
alternative like sheep's milk or goat milk, or try dairy from European cows
– they are typically from a different genetic strain, and some folks with
lactose intolerance to milk from western genes can consume European
milk with no problems.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Glycemic Index

by Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

Glycemic value is a measure of how fast the carbohydrates of a particular food enter the bloodstream. The value assigned to a particular food is an average blood sugar response of various subjects tested. Foods with a higher GI rating enter the bloodstream more quickly. As a general rule for fat control, avoid eating too many high glycemic carbs. Extra insulin is turned into bodyfat.

ATTENTION DIABETICS:
Glucose response to a particular food is highly individual. Combinations of different foods can produce unexpected results. Also, the way food is prepared can have an effect on the GI. Therefore, you should always monitor your own blood glucose levels after eating particular foods to determine if they have a high or low GI for you. This index is reprinted from the Diabetes Knowledgebase:

152 maltose
138 glucose
134 cooked parsnips
132 puffed rice
131 lucozade
128 potato, Russet, baked
126 honey
121 rice, instant
118 potato, instant
117 carrots, cooked
115 cornflakes
109 fava beans
103 millet
100 tortilla, corn
100 potato, mashed
100 bread, white
100 bread, wheat, whole meal
99 corn chips
97 shredded wheat
96 muesli
94 Mars bar
91 cookies, plain crackers
91 apricots, canned
89 sucrose
89 bread, rye, whole meal
88 raisins
87 porridge oats
84 banana
81 rice, brown
81 pastry
80 corn, sweet
80 potato, new, boiled
79 fruit cocktail
78 cookies, oatmeal
77 potato chips
74 yam
74 peaches, canned
74 buckwheat
74 Allbran
70 potato, sweet
69 grapefruit juice
68 bread, rye, pumpernickel
67 orange juice
66 pineapple juice
65 peas, green, frozen
64 macaroni, white, boiled
63 wheat kernels
63 sponge cake
63 pears, canned
62 grapes
61 spaghetti, white or brown, boiled 15 min
60 baked beans, canned
59 orange
59 apple juice
58 pears
57 beans, white
54 pasta, star white, boiled 5 min
54 beans, brown
53 apple
52 yogurt
52 tomato soup
52 ice cream
52 fish fingers
50 lima beans
50 peas, green, dried
49 milk, whole
49 peas, chick (Garbanzo)
48 milk, 2%
47 rye kernels
46 milk, skim
46 beans, butter
46 peas, blackeye
46 apricots, dried
45 beans, kidney
43 beans, black
40 peaches
39 sausage
38 pasta, protein enriched
37 red lentils
34 plum
31 fructose
31 barley
22 soy beans
15 peanuts
12 Bengal gram dal
10 prickly pear (Nepal)



Here's another glycemic index reprinted from Ironman Magazine:

Cereals:
Cornflakes 80
Shredded wheat 67
Oatmeal 54
All Bran 51

Legumes:
Green peas 51
Baked beans 40
Chick peas 36
Kidney beans, butter beans, lentils 29
Soybeans 15

Fruit:
Apple 39
Banana 62
Orange 40
Orange juice 46
Raisins 64

Grains:
White bread 72
Wheat bread 69
Brown rice 66
White rice 72
Wheat spaghetti 42

Vegetables:
Beets 64
Carrots 92
Corn 59
Potato 70
Yam 51

Sugars:
Fructose 20
Glucose 100
Maltose 105
Sucrose 59

Misc:
Honey 87
Mars bar 68
Peanuts 13
Potato chips 51

Dairy:
Ice cream (full fat) 36
Yogurt (full fat) 36
Whole milk 34
Skim milk 32



Here is a glycemic index reprinted from The Zone by Dr. Barry Sears:

Glycemic value greater than 100:
Puffed rice cakes
Corn flakes
Puffed wheat
Millet
Instant rice
Instant potatoes
French bread
White bread

Glycemic value between 80 and 100:
Grapenuts
Whole wheat bread
Rolled oats
Oat bran
White rice
Brown rice
Muesli
Shredded wheat
Carrots
Corn
Parsnips
Bananas
Raisins
Apricots
Papaya
Mango
Ice cream (low fat)
Corn chips

Glycemic value between 50 and 80:
Spaghetti (white)
Spaghetti (whole wheat)
Pumpernickel bread
All-bran cereal
Oranges
Peas
Pinto beans
Garbanzo beans
Kidney beans
Baked beans
Potato chips (with fat)
Candy bar

Glycemic value between 30 and 50:
Barley
Oatmeal (slow cooking)
Whole grain rye bread
Apple
Pear
Grapes
Peaches
Lentils
Black-eyed peas
Chick peas
Lima beans
Kidney beans (dried)
Tomato soup
Ice cream (high fat)
Milk (whole or skim)
Yogurt

Glycemic value of 30 or less:
Cherries
Plums
Grapefruit
Soybeans
Peanuts

Return to the Nutrition Articles menu.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Gluten-Free Diet

Gluten Allergy - (Celiac Sprue disease)

by Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

Gluten is a mixture of two proteins, gliadin and glutenin. When mixed with water, it becomes sticky and so forms the familiar texture of dough made from wheat and rye flour. When gluten comes into contact with the lining of the small intestine, a reaction occurs, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the lining of the bowel as if it was a 'foreign' organism.

The small intestine has 'villi', which are tiny finger-like projections, visible under the microscope. They provide a large surface area, over which we absorb nutrients, such as vitamins, folic acid, iron and calcium. In coeliac disease these villi are attacked by the immune system and are eventually destroyed. This results in food going down the gut without nutrients being absorbed (malabsorption), leading to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, anemia, and osteoporosis.

Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye. That means a gluten-free diet cannot include bread, biscuits, cakes and pastries, pasta, common breakfast cereals, and many manufactured soups and sauces. Gluten is also hidden in some foods such as chips and similar snacks, as well as chips in restaurants. Stay away from “modified food starch” too.

Cooking oil (or mixed vegetable oil) can contain wheat-germ oil, so use sunflower or olive oil instead. Malt vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and mayonnaise contain gluten. Beer and whisky are made from grain containing gluten, but other alcoholic drinks, such as wine or cider are gluten-free. Most specialists now consider all distilled forms of alcohol safe to drink, provided no colorings or other additives have been added, as they might include gluten ingredients. Wine, sherry, port, cider, rum, tequila, bourbon and vermouth are all probably safe. Liqueurs and pre-mixed drinks should be examined carefully for gluten-derived ingredients.

Special care must be taken when checking ingredients lists as gluten may come in forms such as vegetable proteins and starch, modified food starch (when derived from wheat instead of maize), maltodextrin, malt flavoring, and glucose syrup. Many common ingredients contain wheat or barley derivatives.

Some medicines contain gluten, so you must check with your pharmacist.

The suitability of oats in the gluten-free diet is still somewhat controversial. Some research suggests that oats in themselves are gluten free, but that they are virtually always contaminated by other grains during distribution or processing (most oats are milled and stored in the same mills as wheat and are probably contaminated with gluten). However, recent research indicated that a protein naturally found in oats (avenin) possessed peptide sequences closely resembling wheat gluten and caused mucosal inflammation in significant numbers of coeliac disease sufferers. Some examination results show that oats are very dangerous to certain celiacs, while not very harmful to others. Given such conflicting results, excluding oats is the only risk-free choice for coeliac disease sufferers.

Hidden Gluten
Here's a list of places you might not expect to find gluten:

  • Sausages contain breadcrumbs (the bread is one of the ways in which the texture of the sausage is obtained, without including an unacceptably high proportion of fat), except the most high class variety of butcher's sausage, and even in this case it's quite likely.
  • Burgers, grillsteaks and similar products generally also include bread or other wheat products in the mixture.
  • Crab sticks and prawnies seem to be made entirely of fish, but if you check the label and you will find wheat flour or modified starch listed in the ingredients.
  • Some drinks contain gluten as a thickener, to provide 'body'.
  • Wheat flour may be a hidden ingredient in ice cream, ketchup, mayonnaise and instant coffee.
  • You often find gluten in low fat versions of products, to make them seem less watery (for example, yoghurt, soft cheese or mayonnaise).
  • Pre-packed grated cheese is coated in flour or modified starch to stop it from sticking together in the packet - this includes the cheese sold with jacket potatoes in takeaways, unless they grate their own (but most don't).
  • Obviously, anything coated in batter or breadcrumbs contains gluten in the coating. This makes almost every fish product out of bounds for the gluten intolerant, as the ones that aren't coated are usually packaged in a sauce thickened with flour.
  • Monosodium glutamate, known to Chinese cooks as 'taste powder' or 've-tsin' is manufactured with gluten. This ingredient is very frequently included in factory-prepared goods, but may not be listed on the label - or merely described as a 'flavor enhancer' or 'natural flavoring'.
  • Soy sauce is almost always made by fermenting soy beans and wheat together, so contains gluten.
  • Although wheat germ does not itself contain gluten, because of the process of separation employed in manufacture, it is likely that a small amount of gluten will be present in wheat germ sold in the stores.
  • Malt and malt extract are derived from wheat, and can be a hidden source of gluten. This is sometimes listed as maltase or malto-dextrin.
  • Any alcoholic drink made from grain -- beer or whisky, for example, contains gluten.
  • Even medicines may contain gluten, used as a thickener or a binder.

Gluten-free food

Of course, many foods do not contain gluten, including all fruits and vegetables, rice, maize, sweet corn, nuts, potatoes, red meat, chicken, fish, eggs, and dairy products (although a lot of patients with gluten allergies also react poorly to dairy, so if a gluten-free diet does not improve your symptoms, we should look at a dairy-free diet too).

Several grains and starch sources are considered acceptable for a gluten-free diet. The most frequently used are maize (corn), potatoes, rice, and tapioca (derived from cassava). Other grains and starch sources generally considered suitable for gluten-free diets include amaranth, arrowroot, millet, montina, lupine, quinoa, sorghum (jowar), sweet potato, taro, teff, and yam. Various types of bean, soybean, and nut flours are sometimes used in gluten-free products to add protein and dietary fiber. In spite of its name, buckwheat is not related to wheat; pure buckwheat is considered acceptable for a gluten-free diet, although many commercial buckwheat products are actually mixtures of wheat and buckwheat flours, and thus not acceptable.

Important: This article is not intended to serve as a treatment for gluten allergy, nor is it intended as a substitute for qualified nutritional and medical guidance from appropriate professionals.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Dangers of Artificial Sweeteners

by Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

 

artificial sweetenersWhat if I told you that there was a chemical added to many foods that could cause brain damage in you and your children?

If I showed you evidence that something many people drink every day could be precipitating some of the degenerative neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, would you be upset?

Would it surprise you to learn that the FDA has approved several food additives to sweeten food
which have been proven to increase the risk of brain tumors and thyroid problems?

You can either believe the FDA position stand that these chemicals are "generally regarded as safe in moderation",
or you can investigate the science and research yourself. I suggest you do the latter. Here is what I have found.

 

Artificial sweeteners work by causing neuroexcitation in a part of the brain that causes us to perceive a sweet taste.
The problem is, these chemical sweeteners over-stimulate the neurons, to the point where they literally self-destruct.

MSG and NutraSweet are especially dangerous for babies (both in and out of the womb), because infants' brains are not yet protected by the blood-brain barrier. My own theory explaining some of the enormous rise in the incidence of autism in American children is that it is due to the mothers' use of these chemicals while pregnant, and the prevalence of these chemicals in processed
food for babies and toddlers. I am not making this up -- I will encourage you to investigate the research in such journals as
The Journal of Child Neurology, Biomed Biochim Acta, International Journal of Neuroscience, and Journal of Neurochemistry.

Let's look at some of the specific sweeteners and their associated dangers:

 

MSG (monosodium glutamate)

Most folks are aware that this one is bad news. Here's why:

Brain damage. Excessive glutamate in the brain kills glutamate receptors and neurons connected to it.
This has huge implications for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Weight gain. MSG increases the amount on insulin produced by the pancreas. One of the standard
laboratory practices to create obese mice and rats is to inject them with MSG. They are even referred
to as "monosodium-glutamate-obese rats" in the research reports! I am not joking -- go to www.pubmed.com
and search for "MSG obese".

Retinal cell damage.

Hypothalmus damage. The hypothalmus controls other endocrine glands like thyroid, adrenals, etc.

Increases appetite. The pro-MSG lobbying web site (www.msgfacts.com) used to boast that one of the
benefits of MSG use for food manufacturers was that it caused people to eat more of their products!

Other names for MSG

Because MSG gets so much bad publicity, food manufacturers will hide MSG behind these names:

  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
  • Natural flavoring
  • Spices
  • Plant protein extract
  • Sodium casienate
  • Yeast extract
  • Textured (vegetable) protein
  • Hydrolyzed oat flour
  • Malt flavoring
  • Natural beef (or chicken) flavoring
Why is this legal? Somebody help me out here!

 

NutraSweet (aspartame)

Brain damage. Like MSG, aspartame kills glutamate receptors and neurons connected to it.
This has huge implications for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Increased appetite. NutraSweet supresses production of seratonin, which is one
of the neurotransmitters that makes you feel full and satisfied. When your serotonin levels
are not allowed to rise as they normally do when you eat, you crave more and more food.

Methanol (wood alcohol). Aspartame is 10% methanol, which according to the European Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, "can give rise to formaldehyde, diketopiperazine (a carcinogen,) and a number
of other highly toxic derivatives."  [Homer Simpson voice] "Mmmm....Highly toxic derivatives...."

Brain tumors. In experiments to test the safety of aspartame before its FDA approval in 1981,
animals fed NutraSweet developed 25 times as many brain tumors as the control animals.

 

Splenda (sucralose)

Good news -- apparently sucralose doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, so it shouldn't
cause brain damage.

Bad news -- Splenda is a chlorocarbon, which is a known carcinogen (and is used as a pesticide too).
The chlorocarbons have long been known for causing organ, genetic, and reproductive damage.

Immune system suppression. The testing of sucralose reveals that it can cause up to 40 percent
shrinkage of the thymus -- a gland that is vital to our immune system.

More sucralose trouble -- In animal studies, Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in the intestines
by 50%, acidifies the intestines, and contributes to increases in body weight. It also affects the P-glycoprotein
in the body in such a way that certain medications (chemotherapy, AIDS treatment, and drugs for heart conditions)
could be rejected by shunting them back into the intestines rather than being absorbed by the body as intended.

Splenda was approved by the FDA as a sweetener in 1998. The approval was based on more than 110 animal and human safety studies. However, what they don't specify was that out of these 110 studies, only two were human studies, consisting of a combined total of 36 people, of which only 23 people actually ingested sucralose. Additionally, the longest of these two human trials lasted only four days and looked at sucralose in relation to tooth decay, not human tolerance!

What Should We Do?

Don't eat products with these chemicals (or their hidden pseudonymns) on the label.

Without getting into too much biochemistry, suffice to say that supplemental vitamin E,
vitamin C, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), and acetyl l-carnitine have powerful neuroprotective
(brain-protecting) properties. Preliminary research on alpha-lipoic acid may look good too.

If you must eat or drink something with MSG or Nutrasweet, make sure there are some
carbohydrates in your system. The damage that these chemicals cause to your brain is
much worse when your glucose levels are low. One of the worst things you can do to your
brain is drink a diet soda on an empty stomach!


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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Creatine

by Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

WHAT IS CREATINE MONOHYDRATE?

Creatine (methylguanido-acetic acid) is a compound that is vital to the process that supplies energy to our muscles. Creatine is taken up by the muscles cells where an enzyme called creatine kinase bonds creatine to a phosphate group. The resulting compound is creatine phosphate (also called phosphocreatine), and it is stored in muscle cells until the phosphate bonds are broken in order to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the substance our bodies use to fuel muscular contractions. The bottom line for muscular performance is that your ability to regenerate ATP depends on your supply of creatine. The more creatine you have in your muscles, the more ATP you can regenerate, allowing your muscles to function at their maximum potential. We obtain creatine from meat and fish in our diets, and our bodies also make it from the amino acids arginine, methionine, and glycine.

DO I NEED A CREATINE SUPPLEMENT?

3
Between what your body makes and the small amount found in foods (you'd have to eat 5 lbs. of steak to get 10 grams of creatine!), most people have muscle creatine levels that are just a fraction of what they could be. The average person uses about 2 grams of creatine daily, which is the amount that is usually eaten and synthesized in a day; thus the average person maintains creatine balance. Athletes, however, are not average people. High intensity exercise rapidly depletes creatine stores, thus limiting performance. An athlete with higher creatine levels will be stronger, faster, and last longer than one with low muscle creatine levels. A dietary creatine supplement is a proven performance enhancer for any athlete whose activities involve short, intense bursts of energy - weightlifters, sprinters, martial artists, football players, swimmers, etc. There is no evidence to my knowledge that indicates whether or not creatine supplementation improves endurance - long distance running or cycling - but there is some preliminary evidence that creatine may act as a lactic acid buffer. Further research will provide more answers.

IS IT SAFE?

Creatine is not a steroid or a drug. It is a perfectly natural substance, and any extra creatine in your system is excreted. Creatine has been proven to be very safe, even when used in relatively large quantities. The only adverse effects reported in any of the studies are diuresis, occasional gastric upset, and, according to Dr. Paul Balson in a 1994 Sports Medicine review, "an increase in body mass." I suspect that most athletes (especially bodybuilders) will gladly accept this "adverse effect." Athletes have been supplementing with creatine for 40 or 50 years, and none of the research to date shows any negative effects of creatine supplementation.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SUMMARY OF THE
NATIONAL STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING ASSOCIATION CREATINE SYMPOSIUM, JUNE 1998

HOW DO I USE CREATINE?

Creatine monohydrate is the best form to use as a supplement. Other forms are either ineffective or less concentrated. Creatine monohydrate is sold in powder or capsule form. I recommend powder - correct dosages require swallowing an awful lot of capsules! There are two options for saturating creatine stores in muscle. Option one is to use a loading phase. Take a 4 gram (slightly less than a flat teaspoon) serving, dissolved in liquid, four or five times daily for 4 or 5 days. Then drop to a maintenance dose of one or two servings daily.

Option two is simply to begin taking one or two maintenance doses every day. In about a month, your creatine levels will reach what they would be after the loading phase.

Buy creatine monohydrate from established, reputable companies like EAS, Twinlab, Nature's Best, Weider Nutrition, and SportPharma. Some "discount" supplements contain little or no actual creatine, and may contain undesirable additives. Creatine uptake is markedly enhanced by ingesting it with some simple (high glycemic) carbohydrates*. The added insulin response transports more creatine into the muscles. EAS sells a product called Phosphagen HP that has carbs and other creatine uptake enhancers mixed in. I recommend it highly. A recent study showed Phosphagen HP boosted anaerobic performance 30% more than creatine alone1. Take your maintenance dose any time on non-training days. Do not take it on an empty stomach - 'screaming diarrhea' is the operative phrase here. On workout days, take one dose 1 or 2 hours before your workout, and one dose with your post-workout shake or meal.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I STOP TAKING CREATINE?

Your muscle creatine levels will gradually drop back to pre-supplementation levels over the course of one or two months.

*Glycemic value is a measure of the speed at which a carbohydrate is broken down and released into the bloodstream. Several glycemic indicies are available here.

1 Stout JR, et al., "The Effects of a Supplement Designed to Augment Creatine Uptake on Anaerobic Reserve Capacity" NSCA National Conference Abstract 1997.


Here are some charts reprinted from Creatine: Nature's Muscle Builder by Dr. Ray Sahelian and Dave Tuttle (Avery Publishing Group, Garden City Park, NY).

Creatine Daily Maintenance Dosages (in grams)

 BODYWEIGHT

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

 up to 155 lbs 4 6 8
156 - 175 lbs 5 7 9
176 - 199 lbs 6 8 10
200 - 225 lbs 7 9 11
over 225 lbs 8 10 12

level 1: 2 or 3 workouts per week, low intensity
level 2: 3 or 4 workouts per week, medium intensity
level 3: 4 to 6 workouts per week, high intensity


Creatine Content of Some Foods (g/kg):

Beef: 4.5
Cod: 3.0
Herring: 6.5
Pork: 5.0
Salmon: 4.5
Tuna: 4.0

Return to the Nutrition Articles menu.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Insulin Control - How to Control Insulin Levels with Diet

by Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

Dan37
The Atkins diet. The Zone diet. South Beach. Sugarbusters and Protein Power. The common thread that connects all these popular weight loss programs is emphasis on controlling insulin levels. Chronically elevated insulin levels are responsible for a number of major problems, including adult onset diabetes and the inability to burn fat. Excess insulin is converted to bodyfat within hours, and the end result of high insulin levels is a hormonal cascade that turns on the appetite center to make you crave more and more sugar. Unless you're diabetic, your body's insulin production is very predictable, and is directly related to eating patterns. In order to achieve permanent bodyfat control, you must learn to control your insulin production.

1) Never eat too much at one time. A good rule of thumb is to limit yourself to about 500 calories at a time. Any excess is converted to bodyfat. Never get stuffed.

2) Eat often. Going long periods of time without eating causes your body to cannibalize muscle tissue to feed itself. When your body thinks you're starving, you will secrete large amounts of lipoprotein lipase, which is an enzyme that collects and stores bodyfat. Never go hungry.

3) Always try to combine protein with carbs every time you eat. Protein and fat slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream, thus reducing the amount of insulin needed to control blood sugar levels. Fiber also slows down sugar entry. Eat a high fiber diet with most of your carbohydrates coming from vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

4) Use organic essential fatty acid supplements. Essential fats cannot be manufactured by the body, and are necessary for a multitude of physiological functions. Fats help to regulate blood sugar levels, and adequate amount of essential fats are necessary for the utilization of bodyfat. A tablespoon of an omega 3/omega 6 blend (1:1 ratio) twice a day should do the trick. One of the major problems with the popular Atkins diet is that it suggests poor choices for fats. Foods with high saturated fat content, such as bacon and whole dairy products, promote elevated cholesterol levels and heart disease. Stick with unsaturated fats whenever possible.

5) Avoid high glycemic carbohydrates. Glycemic index is a measure of how fast a particular food is broken down and released into the bloodstream. Higher glycemic foods enter faster, and therefore promote higher insulin levels. Stick to lower glycemic foods whenever possible, and remember that combining protein and fat with carbs will really help to stabilize insulin production. Try not to eat just carbs, with the exception of a high-fiber piece of fruit, or another low glycemic alternative.

6) Watch your total carbohydrate intake. Depending on your activity levels, the USDA recommendations for carbohydrate intake may be too high. Remember that carbs eaten late at night have little chance of being used as fuel. Guess what happens to them? Don't go too crazy with your anti-carb quest, though, because if you don't eat enough carbohydrates, your body will start to break down muscle tissue to manufacture enough glucose to function.

7) Take a mulit-vitamin/mineral supplement every day. This will ensure that you've got all the minerals needed for all the important physiological functions in your body, and will prevent your body from turning on the appetite center due to nutritional deficiency. Consider using additional chromium picolinate (200mcg per day). Chromium is vital to an efficient insulin drive.

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Common Foods that Help Prevent Disease

By Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

Dan37
"Let food be your medicine."
-Hippocrates

"The key to disease prevention is host resistance."
-Louis Pasteur

Many people run to the drugstore for painkillers, antihistamines, laxatives, and antacids, but often you need to look no farther than the shelves of your grocery store for foods that can fight off disease.

Oatmeal contains beta glucan, a fiber that interferes with the absorption of cholesterol. Oatmeal (slow cooked, not the one minute kind) is also an excellent source of low glycemic carbohydrates. Wheat fiber (insoluble) can prevent colon cancer by adding bulk to the stool, thus increasing intestinal transit speed. Wheat bran also lowers estrogen levels, thus reducing a woman's risk of breast cancer.

Cranberries and blueberries block an infection-causing bacteria from sticking to the cells of he urinary tract, thus preventing common urinary tract infections.

Capsiacin, the chemical that gives hot peppers their heat, can short circuit cancer development by preventing nitrosamines (preservatives frequently added to packaged meats) from attaching to and damaging DNA. Capsiacin may also clear the blood of clots for a short period of time.

A cup of tea may be one of your best defenses against heart disease, cancer, and stroke. The polyphenols in tea act as powerful antioxidants, which may explain why Japanese women who drink at least 5 cups of tea per day are half as likely to suffer a stroke compared to women who drank less. Chemicals in tea called catechins block malignant changes in oral, stomach, lung, pancreas, and colon cells. Antioxidant flavonoidsin tea keep arteries clear by preventing damaging LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and clogging blood vessels.

In a Loma Linda University study, vegetarians who ate nuts 5 times a week cut their risk of heart attack by fifty percent. Nuts are high in unsaturated fats which can lower cholesterol, and are high in magnesium and copper. These two minerals affect blood vessels, making them less prone to plaque attack. Almonds are high in the amino acid arginine, which is the precursor of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide relaxes the blood vessels and inhibits the buildup of cells on blood vessel walls - an important defense against heart disease.

Good news for chocolate lovers! The type of fat in chocolate (stearic) may actually curb high cholesterol. One and a half ounces of chocolate have the same amount of polyphenols as a 5 ounce glass of red wine. The darker the chocolate, the more antioxidant phenolics it contains.

Moderate intakes of alcohol (1 or 2 drinks) can shave your risk of heart disease by 30 or 50 percent, regardless of diet or smoking habits. Alcohol raises HDL levels that cleanse blood vessels of cholesterol. Red wine retards blood clot formation, probably because of a chemical in grape skins called resveratrol. Phenolics in red wine and dark beers may prevent LDL cholesterol from sticking to arterial walls. If you choose not to drink alcohol, the same protective chemicals are found in red grapes and grape juice.

Soybeans contain isoflavones, which are actually weak estrogens. These compounds can ease menopausal symptoms, reduce the risk of uterine, colon, and breast cancers, and help prevent bone loss. Eating soy protein reliably lowers elevated LDL cholesterol levels. For more detailed information about soybeans, read Soybeans and Health in the Nutrition section.

Populations eating large amounts of garlic have lower rates of stomach cancer, boosted immunity, and lower blood pressure. Garlic's sulfur compounds block the conversion of chemicals into carcinogens. A clove a day can lower cholesterol by nine percent. Deodorized capsules are available from most health food stores.

Ginger acts as an anticoagulant by blocking thromboxane, a chemical that induces platelet aggregation. Ginger works as an anti-nausea agent, and can also help people who suffer from arthritis, because it acts as an anti-inflammatory agent.

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Breakfast - What to Eat, and Why

By Nashville personal trainer Dan DeFigio

Loosejeans
There's an old saying that goes “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper,” but most of us do the opposite. This is exactly the wrong way to eat if we're trying to lose weight. It also works against us if we're trying to keep our energy up during the day and our mental performance level high. Remember, you've just gone eight hours without food, your body is craving nourishment, and your brain needs glucose to function at its best. Skipping breakfast is one of the worst possible things you can do. You set yourself up for disaster in a number of different ways later in the day.

Research shows that between 35% and 40% of all Americans skip breakfast, and many kids leave for school without it. The implications are dramatic, both physically and mentally (more on that in a moment). "People who skip breakfast are more than four times as likely to be obese than people who eat something in the morning," says Jonny Bowden, Clinical Nutrition Specialist. Wow. Skipping meals makes you fatter!

Then there's brain performance. "Numerous studies over the years have shown that skipping breakfast impacts the behavior and mental performance of school kids," Bowden said. "Kids who eat breakfast have better memory, and higher math and reading scores. And kids who are hungry have a large number of behavior problems, including fighting, stealing, having difficulty with teachers and not acknowledging rules."

Additionally, people who eat breakfast are far more likely to get a healthy intake of vitamins and minerals than those who don't. In one study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers found that people who ate a hearty breakfast containing more than one-quarter of their daily calories had a higher intake of essential vitamins and minerals, and lower serum cholesterol levels to boot.

So what constitutes a good breakfast?

Is it the high-carb, low-fat "Breakfast of Champions" that was so in vogue several decades ago? Or is it a plate piled high with meat and bacon minus the bread and potatoes a la Atkins diet?

Breakfast that includes protein translates into a more sustained level of energy throughout the morning. Protein fills you up longer, and you're less likely to have midmorning cravings. You're also less likely to overeat at lunch, or to be so hungry that you'll grab whatever takeout garbage you can get your hands on. And higher protein at breakfast increases metabolism, helping you to maintain a healthy weight. "In one study, a high-protein breakfast increased the metabolism of healthy young women by a shocking 100%," Bowden said.

There are definite advantages to adding protein to the traditional all-carb American breakfast, but that doesn't mean you should have 1000 calories of bacon! One-third of your breakfast should come from a lean protein source, and the rest from healthy fats and fibrous carbs. Don’t eat the same thing every day.
Don’t be afraid to think outside the American “breakfast food box.” In Asia, the traditional Japanese breakfast consists of a small piece of fish (like salmon), some light vegetables and a tiny portion of rice, accompanied by a small bowl of miso soup. The health benefits of fish and vegetables in the morning are huge, and the omega-3s in salmon are terrific for your skin, plus they help regulate mood and are essential for proper hormone formation. If fish in the morning is too much of a stretch:

Eggs
are loaded with protein and other nutrients such as phosphatidyl choline for the brain and heart. Scramble some eggs with spinach and sliced apples in some coconut oil, and season with turmeric and lemon pepper. It's loaded with protein and nutrients for the eyes, like lutein and zeaxanthin, plus the turmeric is one of nature's great anti-inflammatories.  Note: we officially recommend free-range, antibiotic-free eggs. They have higher nutrient content than conventional eggs, it’s better for the chickens, and it doesn’t perpetuate antibiotic resistance like conventional chicken feed does.

Yogurt that contains active cultures. Try a cup of greek yogurt with nuts, grapes, or berries.

Peanut butter sandwich. Buy whole-grain bread and spread some natural peanut or almond butter on a slice, fold it in half, and you have an easy, no-cook breakfast. Goes great with a glass of skim milk or some hot green tea.

Whey protein shake. If you cannot conceive of eating a protein source for breakfast that isn’t bacon or sausage, try some powdered whey protein as your protein source. It’s easy, inexpensive, and versatile. You can mix whey powder in water, milk, or juice; or you can sprinkle some on your cereal. You can make a smoothie by adding frozen berries or half of a banana.  Or try powdered whey in cranberry or pomegranate juice. Or almond or rice milk. Adding a splash of flax oil to the shake will add essential fats and help the smoothie 'stick' with you a little longer. Experiment and see what you like. Univera's Ageless Xtra with some whey protein is one of my personal favorites.

Just remember, every time you eat, try to get a combination of protein and carbohydrates. Eat often (every 3-4 hours), and don’t eat too much at one time!

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

What Supplements Should I Take?

Most average folks can benefit from the following nutrition supplements for basic nutrition support:

Muscles

  1. Basic multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. Deficiencies in vitamins or minerals can compromise immune system function, increase hunger and cravings, and crash your energy levels. All vitamin supplements are NOT the same -- it is important that you buy quality products from established companies that consistently test well in the lab for purity and labeling accuracy. It is also important that you get a vitamin/mineral supplement that contains high-quality forms of minerals. In general, oxides and sulfates are not very good forms of minerals, so the stuff you buy off the shelf at Walgreens or WalMart is usually made from low-quality ingredients. Feel free to email us for recommendations for high-quality vitamin/mineral supplements.

  2. Essential fats. Have you heard of Omega-3 fats? They are essential fatty acids that cannot be manufactured in the body -- they must come from the diet. The bad news is that the typical American diet is very deficient in Omega-3s. Dietary sources of Omega-3s are primarily certain fish, flaxseed, and certain nuts. Omega-3 fatty acids have been most widely studied regarding their effects on cardiovascular health. Increased consumption of fish oil capsules may help slow the progression of atherosclerosis, thereby preventing heart attacks and cardiac arrhythmias. The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA have a number of heart-healthy effects, including reducing triglyceride levels, raising levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, reducing levels of homocysteine, and reducing blood pressure. Omega-3s are also powerful anti-inflammatory agents, and have been tried in the treatment of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis with considerable success (especially in early stages of the disease). Since DHA is important for normal development and function of the brain, current evidence suggests that omega-3 fats can improve symptoms of depression, and delay the progression of nervous system disorders like Alzheimers and Parkinsons. DHA is also often added to formula for premature infants and some regular infant formulas and foods. If you use fish oil supplements, be sure to use distilled capsules from reputable companies. Contact us for a high-quality essential fat supplement available at a 20% discount.

  3. Phytonutrients. These are plant-based compounds that improve immune system response, aid digestion, and help to maintain proper acid/alkaline balance. There are literally thousands of these phytochemicals, and they cannot be manufactured -- you have to eat your veggies! We often recommend that folks use a powdered green drink to increase the amount of phytonutrients in their diets. A good green drink should include lots of different plants, such as Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Aloe, Nettle Leaf, Shavegrass (Horsetail), Alfalfa Leaf Juice, Dandelion Leaf Juice, Oat Grass, Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Ginger Root, and Nopal Cactus. Two fantastic products are Univera's Metagreens and Dr. Ben Kim's Super Green Food.

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No information published on this web site is intended to treat or prevent any disease or medical condition. You should always consult a qualified health care professional before undertaking any exercise or nutrition regimen.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Antioxidants and Phytonutrients

By Dan DeFigio, www.gettingfit.com

3
The chemical process of oxidation is one of the most common means of decay on this planet. It is what makes meat go bad, nails rust, and apples turn brown. Inside your body, oxidation takes its toll in the form of things like suppressed immune systems, cataracts, and even heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. We are exposed to a much higher concentration of free radicals (the chemical renegades that cause oxidation) than we were 20 years ago due to ozone depletion, pesticides, pollution, and food processing. Exercise also produces a hefty amount of free radical damage in the body. Taking daily anti-oxidant supplements can minimize oxidative damage in your body. Some of the major antioxidant nutrients with suggested dosages are listed below:

Phytonutrients: These are plant-based compounds that improve immune system response, aid digestion, and help to maintain proper acid/alkaline balance. There are literally thousands of these phytochemicals, and they cannot be manufactured -- you have to eat your veggies! We often recommend that folks use a powdered green drink to increase the amount of phytonutrients in their diets. A good green drink should include lots of different plants, such as Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Aloe, Nettle Leaf, Shavegrass (Horsetail), Alfalfa Leaf Juice, Dandelion Leaf Juice, Oat Grass, Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Ginger Root, and Nopal Cactus. Two fantastic products are Univera's Metagreens and Dr. Ben Kim's Super Green Food.

Vitamin C: 1000-2000mg in divided doses throughout the day - big doses can upset your stomach if you're not used to them. Your vitamin C supplement should have rose hips or acerola cherry, because "regular" ascorbic acid tablets have just the outer ring of the vitamin C molecule. Rose hips or acerola cherries will add the other vitamin C compounds like tyrosinase, rutin, factors P and J, etc.

Vitamin E: 200-800 IU per day. Look for mixed tocopherols.

Zinc: 30 extra mg per day. Zinc oxide and zinc sulfate are cheap forms - look for zinc picolinate, zinc aspartate, or zinc ascorbate.

Selenium: 200-400 mcg daily. Use the L-selenomethionine form. Daily doses higher than 800 mcg can build up to toxic levels, so be sure to include the amounts in your multi-vitamins when determining your daily dose.

Coenzyme Q10: 60-200 mg per day. Older patients may want to take more, as the body's ability to make CoQ10 declines with age. Use of statin drugs (popular cholesterol medications) shut off the body's natural production of CoQ10, so it is especially important to supplement with CoQ10 if you use these medications.

Glutamine: L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle tissue, and your immune system uses gobs of it when your body is under stress. Supplement with one or two grams of ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (OKG) or L-glutamine powder two or three times a day.

N-acetyl cysteine and L-methionine: These are two amino acids that help to protect the organs and detoxify harmful substances. They can be especially important because they protect the body's stores of glutathione, which is one of your body's major endogenous antioxidants. These two amino acids are often packaged together, so use n-acetyl cysteine as your dosage guide: 50 to 350 mg daily.

Instead of having to mix and match 8 or 10 pills every day, many companies offer an all-in-one antioxidant product containing all of the necessary nutrients in a single pill. Our Body Armor pack contains the finest products for maximum protection.

I would like to emphasize the importance of buying your supplements from established, reputable companies. Nutrition supplements are not regulated by the FDA, so any fly-by-night company can put anything it wants in a bottle. We only recommend and sell products with proven track records of consistent product quality and labeling integrity. If you have questions about the reliability of a particular brand, the Colgan Institute and ConsumerLab.com are superb sources of information. They have been testing nutrition supplements off the shelves throughout America for years. They do not accept money from any manufacturers, and receive no grants of any kind for their work. Their evaluations are not for sale.

Pills are not the end-all in nutrition! There are thousands of chemicals and combinations of different nutrients that are found in vegetables and fruits that we are just beginning to understand. Eat a variety of organic vegetables and fruits every day, preferably locally grown. The phytochemicals in plants form the foundation for protection against disease. A diet based on vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins is more important than supplemental vitamins and minerals. By combining the two, you are well on your way to maintaining a healthy immune system and minimizing potentially deadly oxidative damage.

 

 

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Thursday, July 7, 2011

Weight Training Split Routines

A "split routine" means working different muscles on different days. If you need a change in your training split, here are a few ideas:

1
Day 1: Chest and Arms
Day 2: Legs and Waist
Day 3: Back and Shoulders

Day 1: Chest and Back
Day 2: Legs and Waist
Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

Day 1: Chest and Biceps
Day 2: Legs and Waist
Day 3: Back and Triceps
Day 4: Shoulders, Calves, Abs

Day 1: Back and Triceps
Day 2: Legs and Abs
Day 3: Chest and Biceps
Day 4: Deadlifts and Calves

Day 1: Pushing movements
Day 2: Pulling movements

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 2: Squat, Deadlift, Abs
Day 3: Back and Biceps

Day 1: Plyometrics and Chest
Day 2: Legs and Waist
Day 3: Back and Shoulders
Day 4: Plyometrics and Arms

Day 1: Chest and Abs
Day 2: Deadlifts and Back
Day 3: Shoulders and Arms
Day 4: Legs

Remember to give yourself enough recovery time in between workouts! Due to systemic and nervous system fatigue, it's usually not a good idea to have more than 2 intense weight training days in a row.

Some other ideas if you're feeling stale:

  • Supersets (two exercises back-to-back for opposing muscle groups)
  • Compound sets (back-to-back exercises for the same muscle group)
  • Tri-sets (three exercises is a row with no rest in between sets)
  • 5 second positive, 5 second negative
  • Heavy primary mover/light secondary mover (i.e. rows/bicep curls, chest presses/tricep extensions, deadlifts/hamstring curls)
  • Pre-exhaustion (knee extensions before squats, pec deck before bench press)
  • 2 minutes cardio between sets
  • One set of pushups after every upper body exercise, one set of unweighted squats or lunges after every lower body exercise
  • 21's (7 reps at top half of range of motion, 7 reps at bottom half, 7 reps full range)
  • 40 reps, rest as needed (i.e. 15 reps, rest a few seconds, 7 more, rest, 5 reps, etc. until you get a total of 40)
  • 5 second pause halfway through each rep
  • One super-slow rep per set
  • 45 second work bout, 1 minute rest (those minutes go by real quick after a few sets!)
  • Super light weights -- 50, 60, 100 reps -- whatever you can get!
  • Plyometric exercises before training a particular bodypart with weights
  • Heavy overhead lifts with odd-shaped and/or unbalanced objects: half-empty beer kegs, rocks, lumber, small furniture, etc. Deadlifts also work well with these kind of objects. If you enjoy this kind of strongman training, you may want to check out MILO, a publication dealing with this type of strength training.

Return to the Strength Training Articles menu.

 

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Nashville Personal Trainer Series - Pushups

The pushup is a very underrated exercise. Not only does it strengthen and tone your chest, shoulders, and arms, but it can be a mean torso workout for unconditioned or medium-conditioned clients. Pushups can be done anywhere, with no equipment required, and an infinite number of variations exist to make them as easy or as challenging as necessary.

EXECUTION: The pushup is a pressing movement, which means the focus should be on the pecs, the deltoids, and the triceps. The head should be pulled back into a slightly extended position - this will help to keep the erectors nice and tight to support the spine. The hands should be spaced outside the shoulders, but not so wide that at the bottom of the pushup you've got an angle at the elbow wider than 90 degrees.

Two important things are frequently missed in the proper execution of a pushup - scapular positioning and torso stability.

  1. The shoulder blades should be depressed and retracted, as they should be during all pressing movements. Often, especially at the top of the movement, the client will allow the scapulae to spread apart. This should not happen, nor should the shoulders be shrugged. Both conditions take stress off the target muscles and subject the shoulders to potential injury.

  2. The torso should be locked into a neutral spine position throughout the entire set. A common problem involves allowing the waist to sag, creating an excessive lorditic curve. This robs the target muscles of pushing a majority of the body's weight, and it subjects the spine and back muscles to unacceptable stress. The opposite problem is also common - allowing the hips to rise at the top of the exercise. This is your body's unconscious way of taking the stress off of fatiguing muscles.

pushupThroughout the movement, the arms should not be excessively abducted. The elbows should be just short of parallel to the shoulders when viewed from above. During certain modifications of this exercise, it's easy to go too deep and strain the shoulders. The shoulders should not dip more than a couple inches below elbow level. Breathe in on the way down, and exhale as you push up.

MODIFICATIONS: Pushups can be modified to suit virtually any fitness level. As a general rule, the more bodyweight that's on the hands, the more difficult it is to execute the pushup. Even elderly clients can perform simple pushups by leaning against the wall (photo A). The chart below list some modifications in order of increasing difficulty:

PUSHUP MODIFICATIONS

Standing (photo A)
Incline, on knees (photo B)
On knees (no photo)
Incline, on toes (photo C)
On toes (photo D)
Decline, on toes (photo E)
wall pushupincline pushuppushup on toes
incline pushupdecline pushup

ADVANCED PUSHUPS: For a great challenge, try these variations:

LEGS ON SWISS BALL (no photo) - Balancing yourself on an unstable surface increases the proprioceptive demand of the exercise and works the torso muscles harder. Modify the difficulty by moving your hips closer to or farther away from the ball.

unstable pushup

HANDS ON BALLS (photo G) - To improve balance and increase the activation of the shoulder stabilizers, put each hand on a medicine ball or a volleyball. For an even greater challenge, use two different sized balls, and combine this exercise with the Swiss Ball variation.

tricep pushup

HANDS CLOSE (photo H) - By placing your hands close together, the triceps are heavily emphasized. uneven pushup

 

 

UNEVEN HANDS (photo I) - Place one hand normally, place the other on the floor directly under your neck. For another variation in unevenness, place one hand on a raised surface, like a box or a phone book.

 


PLYOMETRIC VARIATIONS: To develop explosive speed and coordination, add a few sets of these to your workout:

explosive pushupPushoff: When you push, make the movement as fast and explosive as you can so your hands leave the floor. Add a hand clap while you're airborne (photo K).

 

Box Pushoff: Place one hand on a raised surface and one hand on the flootwisting pushupr. Use the same explosive pushoff as above, but leave your hand on the box and twist your body 90 degrees in the air (photo L).

Monday, June 27, 2011

Nashville Personal Trainer Series - Strength Training

As a general principle, exercises should be performed from most demanding to least demanding, making sure that important stabilizer muscles (like trunk and rotator cuff) are not fatigued too soon. "Demanding" can be a relative term, so let me explain some of the criteria I use to categorize the difficulty of particular types of exercises.

Topping the list of most difficult exercises are those that involve not only large groups of muscles, but those that require a high degree of speed and proprioception. Examples would be any weighted, explosive exercises such as the snatch, the clean-and-jerk, or squat presses. Exercises slightly less demanding would be unweighted, explosive exercises that require a high degree of balance and coordination. Most of your plyometric and balance training fits here.

Non-explosive compound movements are next on the difficulty list, and these should usually be grouped from largest to smallest muscular demand (squats and deadlifts first, chest presses and rows next, followed by shoulders, etc.). Dumbbells require more control than barbells, but I suppose heavy barbell movements can be more demanding from the standpoint of total muscular effort. You decide.

Single joint movements are next, including chest flies, lateral raises, biceps, triceps, neck, and forearms.

Waist and shoulder rotator work should be last, because you don't want these important stabilizers to be fatigued during your compound movements. Burning out your trunk muscles before you squat is asking for trouble!

NOTE: This ordering of exercises is only a guideline for general purpose, full-body workouts. Numerous common sense exceptions exist, such as pre-exhaustion, supersets, and grouping all exercises for a particular bodypart together before moving on to the next group. I am by no means suggesting that this ordering system is the only sensible way to go about strength training.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Nashville Personal Trainer Series - Weight Training Basics

What Happens When We Train With Weights?
The skeletal muscle system (or most systems in the body, for that matter) adapt to specific demands placed upon it. We train with weights in order to overload the muscles and skeleton with a workload slightly greater than what they're accustomed to doing. Then, assuming adequate rest and the availability of the necessary nutrients, you get bigger and stronger over the next few days. More muscle tissue means greater strength, higher metabolism, increased immune system response, better posture, resistance to injury, and a host of other health-related goodies. If you stop stressing the muscles and bones, they get weaker. Use it or lose it! Remember -- you don't develop while you're working out, you develop while you're sleeping, using what you've eaten. Get adequate recovery after each workout, and stay fed. Otherwise you become overtrained, stale, sore, tired, injured, and generally unpleasant to be around. All the hard, determined work you do in the gym is for naught.

The most efficient way to train muscles is to pick exercises that use a whole bunch of them. Exercises that involve large groups of muscles and movement at more than one joint are called compound movements. Exercises that involve only one joint are commonly called isolation exercises, although I prefer the term single-joint movements -- it's more descriptive, and muscles never really work in total isolation anyway. A majority of your strength training should consist of compound exercises for the major muscle groups. That's how your body functions in real life activities, so it makes sense to train it that way. A list of common compound exercises for various bodyparts is at the bottom of this page.

Kinesiology Review
Muscles move bones. Adding resistance to the bones' movement puts more stress on the muscles. When performing resistance exercises, it's important to focus on what bones are moving where. Don't think about where that chunk of iron in your hand moves, concentrate on moving parts of your body into a particular position. The weight (or tubing, or water, or machine, or whatever you're using for resistance) just makes it more difficult to move particular bones. Get it? Read this paragraph again. Learning this concept is a crucial part of understanding weight training.

Now that the purpose of weight training is clear, let's discuss in a little more detail what some of the major muscle groups do.

We'll start with the muscles of the legs and hips. This is the biggest group in the body. The muscles in the front of the thigh are called the QUADRICEPS ("quads"). Their main function is to straighten the knee. They are also involved in hip flexion, which is pulling the knee up towards the chest. The HAMSTRINGS are the muscles in the back of the thigh. They have two functions: bending the knees, and, in conjunction with the GLUTES (butt muscles), they pull the leg behind you (a movement known as hip extension). The glutes are also responsible for pulling the leg out away from the body. This is called hip abduction. There are long skinny muscles on the inside of the thigh called the ADDUCTORS. They pull the leg inwards toward the centerline of the body. This movement is called (you guessed it) hip adduction. In the lower leg there is a group of muscles known as the CALVES which push the foot down (point the toes). The group in the front of the shins is called the DORSIFLEXORS. They pull the foot and toes up toward the knee. So you can sound intelligent at cocktail parties, the movement your calves produce (going up on your tip-toes) is called plantarflexion. The opposite movement is dorsiflexion.

Moving up to the torso, the chest muscles, or PECTORALS ("pecs") pull the arms inward toward the centerline of the body, like a hugging motion. The shoulder muscles -- DELTOIDS -- pull the arms out away from the body.

The functions of the muscles of the back are slightly more complex. There are muscles in the upper back called the TRAPEZIUS ("traps"), and the RHOMBOIDS. Their main function is to pull the shoulder blades together. The trapezius, in conjunction with other muscles, also shrugs, depresses, and rotates the shoulder blades. There is a pair of big, V-shaped muscles in the back called the LATISSIMUS DORSI ("lats") which pull the arms down towards your ribcage and behind you. The rear part of the shoulder is also very active during this movement.

The muscles that run along the spine are called the SPINAL ERECTORS. They are also known as the "lower back" muscles, even though the group runs all the way up to the skull. The erectors, together with some deeper muscles, straighten the spine -- a movement known as torso extension or back extension. The abdominal muscles consist of the RECTUS ABDOMINIS, the OBLIQUES, and a bunch of deeper stuff that stabilizes the spine. The rectus abdominis ("abs") runs from the sternum down to the pelvic bone. Its function is to round the spine, thus pulling the ribcage and pelvis together and flexing the torso. There are no "upper" and "lower" abs, so beware of any instructor or instructional material which makes use of those terms. The obliques are diagonal muscles on the sides of the waist. They are mainly responsible for twisting and side bending movements. A good abdominal strengthening program should contain all three movements -- spine rounding, twisting, and side bending (not necessarily all in the same workout); more advanced practitioners should make ample use of multi-planar diagonal movements too. The musculature of the trunk is crucial for stabilization of the spine. For back safety and correct posture, core (waist) strength is very important.

The BICEPS are the muscles in the front part of the upper arm. They bend the elbow (flex the arm) and also turn the palms up (supinate the forearm). The TRICEPS are opposite the biceps, and they straighten the elbow (extend the arm).


Here's a list of the major muscle groups and some common exercises for each:

LEGS AND GLUTES
Squat
Leg Press
Lunge
Deadlift*

Single joint movements for legs:
Knee extension
Hamstring curl
Calf raise
Dorsiflexion
Hip adduction/abduction

WAIST
Reverse curl up
Crunch
Twisting movements (crunch with a twist, rotary torso machine, etc.)
Deadlift
Back extension
Side bends, side crunches

BACK
Rows - bent over row, one arm DB row, machine row, cable row, etc.
Pulldown
Pullup

CHEST
Barbell press
Dumbbell press
Machine press
Pushups
Dips

Single joint chest exercises:
Pec deck
Dumbbell fly
Cable crossover

SHOULDERS
Overhead press
Lateral raise
External rotation
Shrugs/reverse shrugs (primarily trapezius)

Single joint exercises for arms:

BICEPS
Barbell curls
Dumbbell curl
Machine curl

TRICEPS
Pressdown
Lying extension
Kickback
Overhead extension

*The deadlift is primarily utilized as a trunk exercise, but the thighs are so heavily involved that it warrants consideration as a leg exercise too.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Nashville Personal Trainer - How to Warm Up

Proper warmup techniques for exercise.

 

The purpose of a warmup is to prepare the body for the activities to come. A proper warmup increases core body temperature so that the muscles and connective tissues become pliable. Joints become lubricated, and the nervous system gets excited to facilitate better muscular synergy and improved neuromuscular efficiency. Some other benefits of a proper warmup are increased efficiency of cellular respiration and improved function of the body's cooling mechanisms.

The goal of a warmup should be to progress from minimal activity to peak efficiency over the course of about 5 minutes. The full body warmup can be just about any cardio-type activity such as walking into a jog, stairmaster or treadmill, or light calisthenics such as jumping jacks. An activity-specific warmup should then be performed to further activate the nervous system's muscular pathways and prepare the body for the specific activities to come. If squatting is your first planned activity, start with some unweighted squats with limited range of motion, and over the course of about a dozen reps, gradually work yourself down into a full range of motion at full speed. Likewise, if you're warming up for a tennis game, don't just slam into a full-strength serve after your full-body warmup. Start with some half speed racquet swings with a smaller range of motion, and gradually work into a full power, full range swing.

warmup

Note that you should not be short of breath or have a burning sensation in the muscles after the warmup. "Peak efficiency" does not mean exhausted! A cooldown is the reverse of a warmup - it returns the body to a lower level of activity. Just reverse the full body warmup phase. Flexibility training should go here. A proper cooldown is especially important for cardiac patients to prevent blood pooling in the limbs.