The Incredible Benefits of Regular Exercise

"If exercise could be packed in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the world" - Robert N. Butler, M.D. - Former Director, National Institute on Aging.  That is a pretty bold claim, but as we will see below it is true.

We all have experienced having a “good” day versus a “bad” day and it all starts with your attitude.     Exercise immediately affects your attitude towards yourself, your day and everyone you meet in an extremely positive way!  Exercise directly and measurably affects your brain chemistry, and has been shown in several studies to be more effective than anti-depressant medication in treating depression.     

Proven Benefits of Exercise and Consequences of Inactivity

Exercise is very helpful for preventing and treating anxiety.

Exercise boosts brainpower, ability to learn and memory and helps create new brain cells by increasing levels of brain derived neurotropic factor.

Exercise helps prevent age related cognitive decline by boosting chemicals that support and prevent the degeneration of the hippocampus.

Exercise boosts productivity - studies show that workers who take time for exercise on a regular basis are more productive and have more energy than their more sedentary peers.

Exercise can help control addiction by boosting release of dopamine, the reward chemical.

Exercise reduces stress response and increases your ability to relax.

Lack of activity is the single most significant modifiable risk factor for all causes of disease!   

According to the CDC “more Americans are at risk of heart disease through physical inactivity than through high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking.”

6 out of 10 Americans are at risk for heart disease because they do not get enough physical activity!

Exercise reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes and can help reverse the condition if you have it.

Exercise strengthens your muscles and bones and is very important for preventing osteoporosis.

Proper exercise can help prevent falls which are a leading cause of injury and death in seniors.

In the Harvard Alumni Study the data showed that exercisers between the ages of 35 – 79 increased their longevity by .7 years for each increment of 500 calories per week in leisure-time activity they performed.

Exercise is proven to improve sleep both in terms of making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

Exercise is proven to help prevent and treat impotence in men, and lack of sexual desire in men and woman.

Exercise is one of the only ways proven to increase HDL (Good) cholesterol.

Exercise can help to lower blood pressure.

Exercise helps control the symptoms and pain of arthritis and helps reduce the need for pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication.

Exercise improves many cases of low back pain.

Regular exercisers automatically do a better job of matching calorie intake to calorie output – meaning they tend to naturally not overeat.

The fitter you become the easier exercise gets so unlike diets the results of exercise improve over time!

Although diet without exercise can result in significant weight loss – ALL diets become less effective over time as the body always adjusts resting metabolic rate down in response to any and all forms of calorie restriction so without the addition of exercise all diets ultimately fail!

So get started today and remember doing something is way better than doing nothing!   Just a short walk is a start and if you can make it a habit it will start to make a difference in how you feel which can help provide the motivation to do more exercise.    Exercise has proven to be a keystone habit meaning many people who start exercising find it much easier to make positive changes in other aspects of their lifestyle as well!

The Incredible Benefits of Regular Exercise

"If exercise could be packed in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the world" - Robert N. Butler, M.D. - Former Director, National Institute on Aging.  That is a pretty bold claim, but as we will see below it is true.

We all have experienced having a “good” day versus a “bad” day and it all starts with your attitude.     Exercise immediately affects your attitude towards yourself, your day and everyone you meet in an extremely positive way!  Exercise directly and measurably affects your brain chemistry, and has been shown in several studies to be more effective than anti-depressant medication in treating depression.     

Proven Benefits of Exercise and Consequences of Inactivity

Exercise is very helpful for preventing and treating anxiety.

Exercise boosts brainpower, ability to learn and memory and helps create new brain cells by               increasing levels of brain derived neurotropic factor.

Exercise helps prevent age related cognitive decline by boosting chemicals that support and               prevent the degeneration of the hippocampus.

Exercise boosts productivity - studies show that workers who take time for exercise on a                     regular basis are more productive and have more energy than their more sedentary peers.

Exercise can help control addiction by boosting release of dopamine, the reward chemical.

Exercise reduces stress response and increases your ability to relax.

Lack of activity is the single most significant modifiable risk factor for all causes of                     disease!

According to the CDC “more Americans are at risk of heart disease through physical inactivity than through high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking.”

6 out of 10 Americans are at risk for heart disease because they do not get enough physical activity!

Exercise reduces your risk of type 2 diabetes and can help reverse the condition if you have it.

Exercise strengthens your muscles and bones and is very important for preventing osteoporosis.

Proper exercise can help prevent falls which are a leading cause of injury and death in seniors.

In the Harvard Alumni Study the data showed that exercisers between the ages of 35 – 79 increased their longevity by .7 years for each increment of 500 calories per week in leisure-time activity they performed.

Exercise is proven to improve sleep both in terms of making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night.

Exercise is proven to help prevent and treat impotence in men, and lack of sexual desire in men and woman.

Exercise is one of the only ways proven to increase HDL (Good) cholesterol.

Exercise can help to lower blood pressure.

Exercise helps control the symptoms and pain of arthritis and helps reduce the need for pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication.

Exercise improves many cases of low back pain.

Regular exercisers automatically do a better job of matching calorie intake to calorie output – meaning they tend to naturally not overeat.

The fitter you become the easier exercise gets so unlike diets the results of exercise improve over time!

Although diet without exercise can result in significant weight loss – ALL diets become less effective over time as the body always adjusts resting metabolic rate down in response to any and all forms of calorie restriction so without the addition of exercise all diets ultimately fail!

So get started today and remember doing something is way better than doing nothing!   Just a short walk is a start and if you can make it a habit it will start to make a difference in how you feel which can help provide the motivation to do more exercise.    Exercise has proven to be a keystone habit meaning many people who start exercising find it much easier to make positive changes in other aspects of their lifestyle as well!

How to Manage the Work/Rest Ratio in HIIT Training

High Intensity Interval Training aka HIIT training is all the rage and there are many different HIIT training protocols circulating, but to produce the best results it is important to understand how to manipulate the Work/Rest Ratio.    The Work/Rest Ratio is the ratio of time spent working in the high intensity interval to the time spent in the recovery interval and there is no one ideal Work/Rest Ratio. In fact there are three different methods you can use to design interval training programs based on how you manipulate the Work/Rest Ratio.

Fixed Work, Fixed Recovery

This is the most common method and often used for group training because it keeps everyone working together.   In this method the amount of time spent in the work phase is fixed as is the amount of time in the recovery phase.   For example the ever popular “Tabata” Protocol is a fixed work, fixed recovery protocol using 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of recovery done 8 times.    Another example is the “Peak 8” protocol which uses 30 seconds of work and 90 seconds of recovery.   Needless to say there are endless variations of fixed work, fixed recovery interval protocols and each one feels different and allows for a different level of relative intensity.    The advantage of these type of protocols is that they are very simple to design and very easy to track using a simple timer, and if using heart rate monitoring you can adjust the actual work intensity and recovery intensity based on individual heart rate response.   Also this is a very easy way for a trainer to manage a group as mentioned previously.

Fixed Work, Variable Recovery

In this method the amount of time spent working is fixed, but recovery time varies based on heart rate response.  This method is a more precise way to do HIIT training where each work interval begins after the heart rate slows to a predetermined point correlated with a specific level of individual recovery.  The advantage of this method is it can be customized to each person based on their goal, age and current fitness level.   An example would be doing a 1 minute work interval with a fit 20 year old and setting the recovery threshold at say 120 beats per minute (a relatively low exercise heart rate for a fit 20 year old).  So he would work as hard as he can for 1 minute then go into recovery and stay in recovery until his heart rate slows to 120 beats per minute.

Variable Work, Variable Recovery

This method varies work time AND recovery time based on preset work heart rates and recovery heart rates.   For example using the same example of a fit 20 year old you might set a goal work heart rate threshold at 180 beats per minute – meaning that you keep him working hard until his heart rate hits this work threshold and then immediately begin recovery.    Then you would keep him at a reduced work rate until he hit a predetermined recovery heart rate threshold such as 120 beats per minute.    This is a highly sophisticated and highly individualized way of exercising with precise management of work and rest customized to the individual.

Have some fun and experiment with each of these to prevent plateaus in your workout progress!

Egg Yolks vs No Egg Yolks

Eggs in general and egg yolks in particular have gotten a bad rap for raising cholesterol and increasing the risk for heart attack and stroke.     This is not the case and in fact US Dietary Guidelines have been changed as per this quote from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) “cholesterol is not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.”

Not only are eggs and egg yolks not bad for your health the fact is that egg yolks are full of essential nutrients including cholesterol!  That’s right you heard it here – cholesterol is an essential nutrient.   In fact it is so essential that every human being manufacturers cholesterol in their liver every day.   The more cholesterol you take in from food the less you have to make because make no mistake if we eliminated all cholesterol from your body you would soon die!  For the vast majority of people intake of cholesterol and saturated fat have little impact on circulating levels of cholesterol and of the “bad” types of cholesterol including LDL.   In fact high egg consumption (including the yolk) has been linked to increases in the HDL (good cholesterol).

Egg whites are primarily albumin which is a highly absorbable from of protein, but unlike egg yolks, no one worries about egg whites being unhealthy.    Besides cholesterol egg yolks contain several key micronutrients.  For example, yolks (but not whites) contain vitamins A, D, E and K along with omega-3 fatty acids. Egg yolks also contain more beneficial folate and vitamin B12. The yolks also contain far more of the nutrient choline than the whites, and all of the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin.

So why all the negative press on egg yolks and why do bodybuilder always choose egg whites only?   It all started with the research of a guy named Ancel Keys.   In his famous “7 Countries Study” Ancel Keys deliberately elected to only base his analysis and conclusions on 7 countries vs the 22 countries he actually looked at.   Why?  Because this is the only way he could show a link between dietary fat intake and coronary artery disease aka heart disease.    Once you add in all 22 countries the supposed link disappears!

This deception is a fact and easy enough for anyone to verify by taking a little time to look at Key’s research and the research refuting his conclusions including long term longitudinal research studies like the Framingham Study which are the gold standard.   Even in the case of the Framingham Study people tried to twist the facts.  However this quote from William Castelli, the former director of the Framingham Heart study, says it all:  "In Framingham, Mass., the more saturated fat one ate, the more cholesterol one ate, the more calories one ate, the lower the person's serum cholesterol. The opposite of what… Keys et al would predict…We found that the people who ate the most cholesterol, ate the most saturated fat, ate the most calories, weighed the least and were the most physically active."  It has taken a while but the facts are finally starting to penetrate the American Nutritional Recommendations.  Now we are in no way suggesting you deliberatly eat more saturated fat and cholesterol or that eating more will make you more healthy - but clearly cholesterol is not something to be afraid of!

As to body builders not eating egg whites they are focused on maximizing protein and minimizing calories so while yolks are not bad for you they do have more calories and fat than the whites which are mostly protein.   However you should keep in mind that a whole egg (yolk and whites) has about 78 calories with the vast majority coming from the yolks.   Make no mistake calories DO count, and a little fat goes a long way because fatty foods contain twice the calories of non-fatty foods!

Eggs are a very healthy food choice with high levels of protein and nutrients (if you eat the yolks!), and if you choose free range, organic eggs you are eating a veritable nutrition powerhouse.    Another good compromise is to eat say one whole egg and mix in more egg whites to maximize protein without loading up on fat!  Like all things it is probably best to eat them in moderation, but egg yolks are not something to be afraid of!

Mastering the Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebells are all the rage in fitness, and when used properly they are fantastic tool!   However not everyone needs or should do all the exercises possible with a kettlebell and like all things a mastery of the basics is the necessary foundation for advancement.     For the kettlebell that foundation is all about mastering the Kettlebell Swing.

The swing is a hip hinge movement NOT a squat!    Most people do not know the difference which is the first challenge.    The following shows an unloaded hip hinge using a dowel (can use a broomstick or anything light) to keep the spine in perfect alignment which is key!

 Start by doing hip hinges holding a rod held at hips and head to groove hip hinge pattern – you should feel it in hamstrings (back of your leg) and butt! Also notice how the knees do NOT move forward over the toes showing that all the movement is occurring at the hip joint.  Do NOT progress until you can do reps like this correctly and have fully grooved the movement pattern.

                               

Next drop the rod and pick up the kettlebell holding it to your chest and repeat the hip hinge – if you feel it in your back you are doing something wrong!    See the picture below:

To insure you really feel the proper mechanics put toes/ball of foot up on thin board which forces weight into heels and repeat movement – you should really feel it now in hamstrings and glutes and be hinging NOT squatting!  This should really help to lock in the right technique.    See picture below:

Then progress to kettlebell deadlift – stand over kettlebell with bell between heels – hip hinge (do NOT squat) to grip kettlebell handle with arms straight and shoulder retracted.  Stand-up squeezing glutes and drive hips forward but do not hyper-extend.   Repeat until they have this movement grooved.    See picture below:

Once you have mastered the deadlift you are ready to do swings!  Start with kettlebell on the floor in position like you are going to hike a football then  hip hinge with back flat, hips back knees NOT flexed forward with hands holding top of kettlebell handle in hook grip and head in neutral position.  Head neutral shoulder back and down with lats tight like the picture below. 

 “Hike” kettlebell back between legs bracing core so that kettlebell is ABOVE the knees! Should brace core as kettlebell hits bottom position and drawn in belly button slightly.

 Then extend the hips – arms DO NOT lift kettlebell – it should go up from the hip snap – keep shoulders down away from ears and retracted and lats tight – bell should not rise above shoulders.

 Let kettlebell fall back and as it reaches the hips hinge the hips back again.

At end of swing replace bell in front of body in hike position THEN relax body and release bell – VERY important to keep hinge position and brace until bell is back in starting position.   To see a great video on this progression click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYHbu2LRqD0   This video made by Mike Boyle is one of the best there is to teach a kettlebell swing progression.

Once you have mastered the swing movement begin to link your breathing with the movement: Inhale as you swing down and exhale sharply at top of swing.     Remember to brace you core as you hit the bottom of the swing.    Recommended starting weights are about 36 pounds for men and 25 pounds for woman or if you have access to kettlebells marked in kilograms use 12 for woman and 16 for men.   Then slowly progress.

Once you have the movement do big sets of 20 – 40 reps and build to the point where you can complete 200 – 300 repetition in a workout 2 – 3 days per week.      When you get here you and everyone around you will start to notice a difference!

Blackberries – The Unsung Berry!

Fresh blackberries were recently identified as a top cancer fighter.  Blackberries are actually cluster of fruits, similar to grapes, and the seeds inside contribute to the berry’s nutrient value.

Blackberries have one of the highest antioxidant contents per serving of any food tested. In a 2006 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists indicated that blackberries’ antioxidant content was far above that of other foods. This means that regular consumption of blackberries may have a positive impact on health, athletic performance and disease risk.

One of the many phytochemicals in blackberries is Anthocyanins. This flavonoid gives blackberries their dark color.   Anthocyanins have been shown to protect the brain from oxidative stress and may even reduce the effects of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Blackberries have also been shown to have beneficial health effects in the fight against many forms of cancer.

Blackberries have a sweet, tart flavor, making them a perfect for salads or smoothies. They are also great as a topping for yogurt.  Blackberries are also great all by themselves!

Blackberries are also easy to store.  Just wash the berries, cut off the hulls, and seal in a Ziploc bag and freeze.   The other option is to purchase frozen blackberries which are prewashed.   In addition organic blackberries are always the best option, and frozen organic blackberries are much easier to find then fresh ones!

Health Benefits of Blackberries

Blackberries are a nutritional powerhouse loaded with vitamin C, low in calories (only 43 calories per 100 gram serving) and sodium. They are also high in both soluble and insoluble fiber.   A 100 gram serving of blackberries contains 5.3 g of fiber which is about 20% of the RDA!   Blackberries are also rich in vitamins A, E, K, and B vitamins, as well as the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin which are important for eye health and play a role in helping to prevent several chronic diseases. Blackberries also contain other minerals and nutrients including copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine, riboflavin, niacin, and folic acid.

In addition blackberries contain high levels of other powerful phytochemicals including ellagic acid, tannin, gallic acid, pelargonidins, quercetin, cyanidins, kaempferol, catechins, and salicylic acid. These plant chemicals help prevent aging, inflammation, cancer, and other neurological diseases.

Studies on Blackberries

Ellagic acid, found in generous amounts in blackberries, has been shown to inhibit cancer formation.   The beneficial combination of chemicals in blackberries may effectively prevent cancer more than any one of the individual phytochemicals by itself.

Blackberries can also have beneficial effects on brain health.   The high anti-oxidant levels in blackberries may help prevent age-related memory loss!