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Is Saturated Fat Bad?
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Is saturated fat really a deadly nutrient?
Tuesday, September 04, 2012 by: Ben Hirshberg
(NaturalNews) Many doctors and health experts vilify dietary fat, urging everyone to cut down on the macronutrient in favor of low fat alternatives. Even more common is for health experts to talk about good fats and bad fats. More often than not, saturated fat is at the top of the fat naughty list. It is worth examining how saturated fat got its reputation for being a deadly nutrient and seeing if the reputation is deserved or not.
Saturated fat and Ancel Keys
Those who abhor saturated fat point to the work of Dr. Ancel Keys, who popularized the notion that saturated fat causes heart disease. In 1953, Keys wrote a paper with the key finding of a correlation between fat intake and heart disease deaths in six countries around the world. Data was actually available for 22 countries around the world, and the association between fat intake and heart disease was not present in several of the countries.
17 years later, Keys published a study looking at seven countries that found a correlation between animal fats and heart disease rates, as well as total cholesterol numbers and heart disease rates. Keys concluded that saturated fats in animal foods led to high cholesterol levels which led to higher incidences of heart disease. The problem with Keys’ 1970 study of the seven countries was that three of the seven countries examined actually had no correlation between animal fat consumption and heart disease prevalence.
Saturated fat and cholesterol
As far as the connection between saturated fat and cholesterol goes, Keys got it wrong as well. Saturated fat does increase LDL cholesterol, which builds up plaque on artery walls. Saturated fat also increases HDL cholesterol, as much or possibly more than it increases LDL cholesterol. HDL cholesterol removes plaque from artery walls, which means that any damage saturated fat does to bad cholesterol is undone by its effect on good cholesterol levels.
Furthermore, it appears saturated fat doesn’t affect LDL cholesterol levels as negatively as previously thought. LDL cholesterol comes in two varieties: small and dense particles or large and fluffy particles. The large and fluffy LDL particles have no association with clogged arteries, whereas the small and dense LDL particles had a strong association with clogged arteries. It turns out that replacing carbohydrates with saturated or unsaturated fats decreases the levels of small, dense LDL particles.
Saturated fat – A vital nutrient?
So is saturated fat the demonic nutrient conventional wisdom makes it out to be? It appears that the answer is no, and that saturated fat is not only safe but actually quite beneficial to human physiology. Saturated fat improves cardiovascular risk factors, increases bone strength, improves liver health, is essential to lung and brain health, influences insulin release and metabolic rate, and helps the immune system function. Ancel Keys got it wrong, and unfortunately his condemnation of saturated fat has contributed to a widespread dietary fat phobia.
Sources for this article include:
http://www.menshealth.com/health/saturated-fat
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/06/06/saturated-fat/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/saturated-fat-healthy/#axzz24uV2KtXB
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/037055_saturated_fat_cholesterol_health_myths.html#ixzz25WYJLxNX
The Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways to Stay in Shape at the Office
The Desk Jockey Workout: 8 Ways to Stay in Shape at the Office
by BRETT & KATE MCKAY on JULY 24, 2012 · 57 COMMENTS
For most of human history, work has been a physically demanding activity. Our cavemen ancestors chased down mastodons and hurled spears into their tough, but tasty flesh, American homesteaders tamed the wilderness into productive farms with nothing but grit and sweat, and just 60 years ago, the majority of men in America flexed their muscles on factory floors or construction sites.
Fast-forward to today.
Instead of feeding ourselves by the sweat of our brows, most of us just slouch in a chair all day in a climate-controlled building while we push buttons and send documents through the ether. And the sitting doesn’t end after work. When we get home, we plop down in front of the TV to watch reality shows of men performing the kind of virile, physical, and often dirty work we fantasize about doing while answering emails in our cubicle.
Man’s transition from callused-handed, blue-collared laborer to soft-handed, white-collared desk jockey has done a number on us physically and mentally. Not only have our desk jobs made us weak, flabby, and stiff, sedentary work is sapping the very hormone that makes a man a man: testosterone.
What’s more, all this sitting is slowly eating away at our life meters. One study showed that men who sit for more than six hours of their leisure time each day had a 20% higher death rate than those who sat for three hours or less. For the desk jockey, death comes wrapped in a Successories Poster and waving a USB drive.
“Ah-ha!” you say. “I work out out like a beast in the gym every day and have a physique that rivals Eugen Sandow’s. My hour-long, herculean effort counteracts all the sitting and slouching I do at work!”
Sorry to break it to you Mac, but your visits to the gym aren’t doing much to mitigate the damage that accumulates from all that desk jockeying.
Studies have shown that consistent, vigorous workouts don’t do much to offset the damage we do to our bodies by sitting down all day at our cushy Dilbert-esque jobs.
So what’s a modern man to do?
If you want to live to see your future grandkids and maintain your manly physique and sense of well-being, you’re going to need to stay active throughout the day.
That can be tough when you’re chained to a desk filling out TPS reports or attending unproductive brainstorming sessions on how to build more “synergy.” But with a little creativity, and a bit of gusto (along with a thick skin about what other people think of you), you can easily find ways to sneak some exercise into your work routine and flip the Physicality Switch of Manliness. Below we offer a few simple suggestions on how to stay active all day even if you’re a white-collared desk jockey. Incorporate them into your schedule and you’ll find yourself with hips as limber as an Olympic powerlifter and more energy than you had as a teenager.
1. Make Getting to Your Office a Challenge
Look for ways to make getting to work and into the corporate cave a challenge. Biking to work is of course ideal. If you have to drive, park at the far end of the lot so you have to walk further to the building, carry a giant Saddleback Briefcase (those suckers are heavy) filled with your laptop and small boulders, and hurdle over small hedges as you make your way to the door. For extra challenge, throw in some parkour and scale the walls like AoM reader Jeremiah Jacques:
2. Take the Stairs. While You’re At It, Run Up Them
Instead of using the elevator to move between floors, take the stairs. Start off walking, but work your way up to a full out sprint. Don’t worry about looking like a crazy person. Most stairs in office buildings are hidden away as fire escapes and hardly anyone uses them. Once you reach your floor, pause outside the door to catch your breath, straighten your tie, and mop your forehead with a handkerchief. You just literally leveled up on your high intensity training!
3. Get a Standing Desk
One of the best things you can do to mitigate the health-sapping effects of your desk jockey job is to get a standing desk. The drain on your weight and health, including hip and back stiffness and pain, that comes from sitting down all day will disappear. While you might not be able to convince your boss to spring for an expensive hydraulic-powered standing desk (though I’d at least try lobbying him for it), you can jerry-rig your own standing desk in various ways (search Flickr.com for “standing desk” for ideas).
To learn more about the benefits of standing to work (and its manly history), check out this article from the archives on standing desks.
4. Maintain Good Posture Throughout the Day
If you want to avoid the Quasimodo shoulder slump that seems prevalent among desk jockeys, make the effort to practice good posture throughout the day. Yes, it’s hard and tiring at first, but the struggle is well worth it. Practicing good posture while sitting and standing can reduce tension in your neck, shoulders, and back, improve organ function, and strengthen your all-important core.
Check out this classic article for instructions on how to improve your posture.
5. Do 10 Push-Ups and 10 Squats Every Time You Take a Bathroom/Coffee Break
When I clerked at a law firm here in town, my office sat adjacent to that of the firm’s sole surviving founding partner. He was one of the coolest old guys I’ve ever met. He was sort of like Teddy Roosevelt in a lot of ways. The walls of his office were covered with stuffed and mounted wildlife from his many hunts; dropping memos off in his office was like stepping into the Museum of Natural History. Despite being nearly 80 years old, this old partner was spry as a young buck. I asked him his secret to his youthful vigor at lunch one day, and this is what he said:
“Maintain a sense of humor. You need it in the legal business. And do lots of push-ups while you’re at work. I always do ten anytime I get up from my chair.”
And he did.
Every now and then, when I walked by his office, I’d see a short, bald old man on the floor, cranking out push-ups in his waistcoat.
That little old man inspired me. I started a similar routine that summer at the law firm. Anytime I got up from my chair, I’d do 10 push-ups. I also added 10 bodyweight squats for good measure. The result? I felt more energized and less stiff. More importantly, I started losing some of the summer intern lunch chub that I had gained over the summer.
Stay active throughout the day by incorporating a similar routine.
6. Get Up and Walk Outside for 15 Minutes Every 45 Minutes
I’ve noticed that I’m more productive when I work in shorter increments and take frequent, small breaks throughout the day than if I slog through a project in a single sitting. Taking frequent breaks isn’t only good for your brain, it can also be good for your body, too. To keep your brain and body running on all six cylinders, use the Pomodoro Technique when you’re working.
Set a timer for 45 minutes and work non-stop. When the 45 minutes are up, take a break for 15. Instead of surfing the web or chatting with Mark in HR, go outside and take a leisurely 15 minute stroll (unless of course you have a job where your boss expects you to be at your desk every minute). Plain old walking provides a surprising amount of health and mind benefits such aslowering our resting blood pressure, reducing obesity, and improving our working memory.
Doing your walk outside will also help you activate the Nature Switch of Manliness, which will reduce stress, keep you mentally sharp, and even boost your testosterone.
You can even make your walks productive by holding meetings with co-workers as you stroll. There’s something about walking and talking that gets the creative juices flowing. Steve Jobs was famous for his walking meetings. Instead of sitting at a table in a stuffy conference room, he’d ask the person he wanted to meet with to take a walk with him outside. Co-workers would go on to say that those “walking meetings” were some of the most productive meetings they ever experienced. Jobs was likely inspired by Aristotle’s peripatetic teaching. Instead of standing in front of a large group of students to lecture, Aristotle preferred to walk and talk to his students.
If it worked for Jobs and Aristotle, maybe it will work for you. Even if you don’t come up with a breakthrough business idea during your walking meeting, you’re at least staying active.
7. Perform 15 Dips When Leaving for and Returning from Lunch
Work those tri’s before and after lunch by cranking out a quick set of 15 dips when you leave for and return from lunch. Just place your hands on your chair and walk your feet out in front of you. I like to keep my legs stretched straight out while I perform the dips. Lower yourself until your arms form a 90 degree angle and then press up. Repeat 14 more times.
8. Perform 30-Second Grok Squats Throughout the Day
Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple introduced me to one of the best exercises to help alleviate the back, groin, and hip tightness that comes from sitting in a chair all day: the Grok Squat.
Also known as the Asian Squat or Indigenous Person Squat, the Grok Squat is a sitting position that you find in cultures that don’t have sofas or chairs like we do in the West. It’s something you did as a tot, and have forgotten; our almost two-year-old son, Gus, gets down into some really amazing Grok Squats all the time.
The Grok Squat is very similar to a catcher’s stance in baseball. Simply squat down until your butt touches your ankles. Keep your heels firmly on the ground and back straight. Hold that position for 30 seconds to a minute. You should feel your hamstrings, quads, Achilles tendons, lower back, and groin gently stretching. If you’re super stiff, it may take a few days of practice to sink into a full-on Grok Squat. Keep at it. Your back and hips will thank you.
To avoid the stiffness that comes from sitting and standing all day, incorporate several short Grok squats into your daily routine. A great time to do them is right after your 15 minute long walks. Before you resume working, simply crouch into a Grok squat and hold it for 30 seconds to a minute. For added effect, do the Grok Squat on top of your desk while holding a stapler above your head like that monkey hoisting the bone at the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
What do you do throughout the day to stay active? Share your desk jockey fitness tips with us in the comments.
Illustrations by Ted Slampyak
More athletes choose real food and reject synthetic ‘high-tech’ sports drinks and supplements
More athletes choose real food and reject synthetic ‘high-tech’ sports drinks and supplements
Tuesday, July 24, 2012 by: J. D. Heyes
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036569_sports_drinks_athletes_electrolytes.html#ixzz21YCuMRbY
(NaturalNews) Not all of today’s high-tech, ultra-talented athletes are hooked on today’s high-tech supplements. In fact, more than a few of them are beginning to do the right thing for their bodies by rejecting synthetic sports drinks and supplements, in favor of real food.
The natural food phenomenon is being highlighted as the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London is set for later this month, when viewers of the games will no doubt be bombarded with ads for so-called “sports” drinks, nutritional supplements and energy gels – the latter of which comes in small foil packages and which so many runners and cyclists use during their events.
In fact, top-selling Powerade is the “official” sports drink of the 2012 Olympics, National Public Radio reported recently, implying that “processed sports foods and neon-colored drinks are the stuff that gold medalists are made of.
Increasingly; however, sports nutritionists and professional athletes are not in agreement. Physician and nutrition expert David Katz, of the Yale University School of Medicine, told NPR that sports drinks on average are about as bad as soda.
“[Sports drink companies’] marketing is based on the gimmick that somehow this extra load of sugar and calories will turn you into an athlete,” he said.
We need electrolytes, true, but…
One of the most prevalent of these drinks is Gatorade, which sells itself as an end-all, be-all supplement for athletic prowess. One of its most effective pitches is that the drink can rehydrate a body more efficiently than simple water.
Leslie Bonci, a dietary advisor to a number of Major League Baseball teams and a Gatorade consultant says the body can absorb the drink more quickly than water alone, and that the sugar contained in Gatorade provides necessary calories that water can’t.
“Gatorade is a source of fluid, it’s a source of energy, and it’s a source of electrolytes,” she said.
Indeed, electrolytes are essential minerals that help the body retain water. It’s also true that humans can’t live without electrolytes.
But those contained in Gatorade and Powerade have to be added; they occur naturally in several foods, including fruits, vegetables, grains, milk and even coconut water, NPR reported.
Dr. Katz of Yale said the sugar content of sports drinks is more likely to create unwanted side effects than help you become a better competitor and finish a race or game stronger.
Such side effects include tooth decay and extra layers of fat that won’t go away, no matter how vigorously you exercise. Part of that, he notes, is because makers of sports drinks and nutritional supplements don’t just encourage their use during sporting events, but before and after as well.
One such brand is GU Energy, a popular foil-wrapped gel that contains 100 calories in each pouch. The manufacturer advises sucking one of them down before a workout, then every 45 minutes during the workout. And, for the workout-recovery meal, there is GU Recovery Brew.
“The sports nutrition industry just tells us to eat, eat, eat,” Stanford University nutrition coach Stacy Sims said. “They don’t care how big you are or whether you’re a man or a woman or if you’re trying to lose weight.”
(NPR went onto to say that Sims co-founded her own sports nutrition company called Osmo, “which makes powdered sports drinks for hydration and recovery, and are purportedly easier on the body than syrupy energy gels.”)
Stay natural, not flabby
And even though pediatricians and many health care professionals advise drinking lots of water during hot days on practice fields, you’ll see most kids slurping on the faddish sports and energy drinks.
More and more professional sports figures; however, are coming out against them. Among them is mountain biker Gary Fisher, who said all the “engineered nutrition” products keep many an amateur athlete on the hefty side.
“I see guys who really put in the miles, and they have a gut that never goes away,” he said, adding that he prefers to eat roast beef sandwiches, burritos, nuts and bananas during bike rides. Afterward, he said, he often eats a large chicken or fish helping with a salad dressed in olive oil.
Stanford’s Sims says flat out – keep away from the goos and gels unless you just don’t have anything else to consume.
“The fact is, every time you take a gel, you’re doing the exact opposite of what you want to do,” she said.
Sources:
www.naturalnews.com/sports_drinks.html
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036569_sports_drinks_athletes_electrolytes.html#ixzz21YCYly15
Strong or in diapers at a nursing home?
Watch 82 year old Joe Stockinger squatting the equivalent of 3 Kenyan marathoners!
Do you want to be strong and “harder to kill and more useful in general”? Or in diapers at a nursing home?
Educate yourself with these great articles:
STRENGTH TRAINING FOR SENIORS
“I have found a fountain of youth, and it flows out of a barbell” Dr. Jonathon Sullivan MD, PhD
Barbell Medicine: http://startingstrength.com/articles/barbell_medicine_sullivan.pdf
Is strength training bad for your heart? http://stronglifts.com/strength-training-cardiovascular-fitness-blood-pressure/
How to build muscle: http://stronglifts.com/how-to-build-muscle-mass-guide/
Squats and Knee/Back Pain Myths:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/388/8_Stupid_Myths_about_Squatting.aspx
Appropriate Conditioning for athletes (if you don’t need endurance, then don’t train for it! And most sports do not require endurance.)
http://startingstrength.com/articles/appropriate_conditioning_sheaffer.pdf
Is holding your breath dangerous? The Valsalva Maneuver.
http://www.projectdeliverance.com/breathing.htm
-A landmark 2008 study of nearly 9000 men followed for an average of nearly nearly 20 years showed that muscular strength is inversely associated with death from all causes, even when adjusting for fitness and cardiovascular health 34. Ruiz JR, Sui X, Lobelo F, et al. Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study. BMJ 337:a439, 2008
Sprinting: The ultimate fat burning exercise
Friday, May 25, 2012 by: John McKiernan
(NaturalNews) Sprinting is considered by many as the ultimate exercise. It not only increases athleticism by building fast twitch muscle fiber, it is highly effective for fat burning. Performing sprints a few times a week can replace long cardiovascular workouts on treadmills or ellipticals. The key to getting the most out of your sprinting sessions is to perform them at 100 percent intensity.
The numbers don’t lie
When the body performs any explosive movement at a high intensity it releases growth hormone in the days to follow, to aid in recovery. One study showed that a 30 second all-out sprint increased HGH 530 percent over baseline levels. High growth hormone levels are ideal for keeping body fat low and building lean muscle.
Sprinting increases size of the mitochondria, the part of the cell which stores energy. This makes the body more efficient at releasing energy and thus it has less propensity to store body fat for energy. This means that sprinting not only oxidizes fat, it also prevents the body from storing new fat.
When compared to low intensity exercise, sprinting and other high intensity training burns far more fat and calories. A 20-minute workout session doing high-intensity sprints is roughly comparable to an hour-long cardio workout at a lower intensity.
Start with caution
When starting out with sprints you need to be very cautious because the body needs time to adjust to this type of intensity. To avoid injuring yourself, start out by stretching and doing a little jogging and then work up to moderate intensity sprints. After completing moderate intensity sprints for your first few sessions you can start doing full intensity sprints.
The only thing more effective than sprints
To get the very most out of your sprinting sessions find a hill to sprint up. The only thing more effective for fat loss than sprinting is sprinting uphill. Many professional athletes use this technique to reach peak physical form.
If you looking to get your body-fat percentage down into the single digits, sprinting is the answer. Combined with the proper diet you can achieve the very lean and sculpted look so many strive for. Sprinting in general is far more effective and efficient for burning calories, increasing athletic performance and burning fat than low intensity exercise. Not only that, but you can enjoy much shorter workout sessions!
Sources for this article include:
http://jasonferruggia.com/hill-sprints-for-fat-loss/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mohr102.htm
Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035969_fat_burning_exercise_sprinting.html#ixzz1vtU7MRI3
Strength training does a young body good, too
“Fears that strength training puts developing bodies at greater risk of bone damage, growth plate injury and stunted growth are “old-school thinking,” says Brenner, director of the Sports Medicine Program at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Va.
“It’s the No. 1 myth about strength training, and absolutely false,” Faigenbaum says. More than a decade of research shows strength training is safe for kids if properly supervised and planned, he adds.”
Read the rest here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/story/2012-03-13/Strength-training-does-a-young-body-good-too/53515902/1
FREE Self Defense Seminar
Update: There are only a few spots left. I will be closing registration soon so make sure to get your name on the list before it’s too late. Coach David
80,000 + Surveyed want more Self-Confidence
80,000 subscribers reveal what they want most of all – stronger self confidence – on Mental Health Exposed
(From Coach David Alexander; If you want Real Self Confidence then take a Self Defense Lesson or Seminar with myself or a Strength & Conditioning 4-pack of training sessions. I cannot think of anything else in this world that could give you more Self Confidence then knowing how to protect yourself or your family from violence or being stronger and in better shape to take on life’s obstacles.)
Thursday, May 17, 2012 by: Mike Bundrant
When you feel safe, you DON’T feel stressed, angry, jealous, anxious or depressed. All of these emotions, in one way or another, result from a perceived lack of emotional safety. When you feel fundamentally safe, you are fundamentally relaxed.
It makes sense, then to take a proactive role in your own safety. Listen to this episode to learn specifically how to accomplish this.
Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/035886_self_confidence_mental_health_boosting.html#ixzz1v8erk3Nv
Free Self Defense Seminar
Update: Spots are filling up fast. Make sure to get your name on the list before it’s too late. Coach David
Free Self Defense Seminar May 22nd
FREE SEMINAR at Xtreme Fitness
-How to Survive a Violent Encounter-
Street Fighting Secrets Revealed!
“Don’t Be A Victim, Learn To Defend Yourself!”
By Coach David Alexander (Self Defense Expert)
Sponsored by: Coach Z Training.com
Print Flyer here: FREE Street Fighting Seminar Flyer
Street Fighting (def.): A spontaneous and violent confrontation between
two or more individuals wherein NO RULES APPLY.
When: Tuesday Night, May 22nd from 6:00p – 7:30p
Cost: FREE to all members and guests!
Where: Xtreme Fitness, 68 Salt Springs Dr. Friday Harbor, WA (off Beaverton Valley Rd.)
Learn the 10 Most Devastating, Hand-Picked, Lethal and Non-Lethal Street Fighting/Self Defense Techniques which are the Fastest and Easiest to Learn and Apply + Lifesaving Bonuses!
Technique #1: How to stop the fight before it ever happens. This is the most important technique of them all!
Technique #2: End the fight in less than 4 seconds with this DEVASTATING MOVE! (Outlawed in the UFC).
Technique #3: Use this lightning fast technique to hasten a quick escape.
Technique #4: Collapse your attacker by scrambling his brain using this technique.
Technique #5: Use this strike to cause massive soft tissue damage to your attacker while avoiding damage to yourself.
Technique #6: Leave high flying spin kicks to Hollywood; I will show you the two kicks that actually matter in a real fight.
Technique #7: Devastate your attacker with a blow to these two very specific targets.
Technique #8: Smash one of these into your attacker and turn his lights out, while you casually walk away.
Technique #9: How to take your attacker off guard using just two fingers and make him scream for his mother.
Technique #10: Turn the toughest street thug into a whimpering mouse with this brutal technique (not for the faint of heart).
Each Street Fighting Secrets Revealed Seminar also includes these BONUSES! (If time permits):
Bonus Training #1: How to avoid being shot by a gun, stabbed by a knife or beaten with a club plus how to shoot a gun, stab with a knife and beat someone with a club., Bonus Training #2: Chokes & Strangles plus How to avoid getting Choked or Strangled., Bonus Training #3: Takedowns that slam the attacker to the ground but keep you standing., Bonus Training #4: Ground Fighting for the street (not sport!)., Bonus Training #5: Cool pain causing moves just to mess with your friends., Bonus Training #6: How to fight multiple attackers…and WIN!., Bonus Training #7: Are pressure points real? Is there really such a thing as a “Death Touch?”
“…that was the SCARIEST and MOST INTENSE seminar that I have ever attended…
…it was also the ABSOLUTE BEST that I have ever attended!” Teri R.
“The best spent 90 minutes of my life…Actually, it may have just saved my life! Diane N.
I feel that I am a Human Weapon after attending this class…Thanks Coach David! Brian S.
“Great lifesaving tools that I hope I never have to use. I feel more confident having learned these skills.” Sean S.
“When you’re in a fight for your life…you better know how to win!”
Coach David Alexander (Self Defense Expert)
This seminar is Rated R for violent themes and adult language. Must be 16 or older with parents’ permission. Sit & watch or participate, it’s up to you. Dress Comfortable. Limited spots available. Sign up at the front desk to reserve your spot. If you need more info please email Coach David Alexander, coachalexander@gmail.com. Or visit
Coach Z Training.com
MetCon Madness Today! 5:30pm
(Update: Congrats to Jenny for getting the most reps!)
The workout for today was as follows:
Do as many reps as possible for each exercise in two minutes with a 1 minute break in between exercises. Add up the total amount of reps to see who wins.
-Burpee Broad Jump
-Air Squats
-Tire Jumps
-Hang Power Cleans
-Hill Sprints
FREE CLASS! FREE CLASS! FREE CLASS!
METCON MADNESS MONDAY at Xtreme Fitness! Please sign up at the front desk.
(You do NOT need a membership to attend this class!)
A tip from Fitness Expert Charles Staley
For many people, the very exercises or activities that have been chosen to solve problems actually create problems. There are many examples, but I’ll just list a few:
- Jogging: For men, jogging (especially when combined with a vegan diet) is perhaps the most effective form of non-surgical gender-re-assignment possible. All of the qualities we associate with masculinity— strength, power, muscularity, and testosterone levels, are all diminished through chronic jogging. For women, it works similarly: the most successful female distance runners look like pre-pubescent boys. Women who do not possess these physical characteristics will suffer injuries as the body attempts to adapt itself in that direction. For both genders, jogging is tedious, time-consuming, and one of the least effective ways to lose weight. No wonder most people hate it.
- Ab Exercises: Sit-ups and crunches don’t make your abs more visible, but they do wreak havoc on your lumbar spine. Why anyone does them is completely beyond me.
- Stretching: I’m all for having optimal levels of mobility, but stretching (especially the way most people do it) is somewhere between a complete waste of time and injury-promoting. Better to use full range of motion resistance-training movements and develop strength and mobility simultaneously.
–Charles Staley
Strength & Conditioning columnist
http://www.staleytraining.com
Great Job Bryan!
Bryan was the fastest to finish the MetCon Madness workout yesterday. The workout was as follows:
After the warm up we did:
3 Rounds for time of:
20 Thrusters
20 Good Mornings
20 Vertical Jumps
1 Hill Sprint and run around building.
The next MetCon Madness workout will be on May 7th, starting exactly at 5:30pm.
Coach David Alexander.com 