Squatting is fundamental to human movement, and squats can be a fantastic exercise to condition, strengthen and tone the entire lower body and core. However most people have difficulty squatting in proper form, and improper squat form can cause serious injury.
There are three simple techniques you can use to get just about anyone to squat in perfect form. Watch this outstanding squat tutorial from World-Renowned Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Boyle to learn these techniques:
Stand-up Paddle Boarding (SUP) is a fun activity that almost anyone can learn, and it is one of the best workouts available! Stand-up Paddle Boarding is low impact and provides a combination of balance, core, strength, and endurance. Since you are standing you have to use everything from your feet (wow do you use your feet!) all the way up through your entire shoulder girdle. Because you are standing your arms never have to go above shoulder height which means that there is much less stress on the rotator cuff muscles than kayaking. You use your shoulders heavily but your shoulders are stressed in the position where they are naturally most stable and strong so much better than kayaking for those with shoulder and neck issues!
Just standing on a Paddle Board forces you to stabilize your entire body and core, and it is one of the best activities available to develop balance. Best of all if you do fall you land in the water and getting back on the board is very easy!
Learning to SUP is easy but mastering the stroke and
maximizing your speed takes lot of practice. The first thing to focus on is
NOT pulling the water! Instead you
want to plant the blade in the water and pull yourself and the board up to the
paddle blade. Imagine that you are
stabbing the paddle firmly into soft sand then pulling yourself and the board
up to the paddle. If you can clearly
visualize the difference here it will go a long way to getting your stroke
where it needs to be for optimum speed.
Think about grabbing the water NOT pulling the water by you!
Once you get a little feel for it start looking at how far
you are reaching forward to put your paddle in the water. You want to reach as far as possible each
time you stroke, BUT there is a limit based on your particular anatomy,
shoulder strength and balance. If you
reach too far you can overstress your low back, shoulder or just be off balance
which is counter-productive.
This is where the blade of the paddle enters the water. Make sure the entire blade enters the water
before you begin to pull. The catch
should be as smooth and clean as possible with no splashing.
Now you are ready to apply power to the paddle. Use your entire body for this part of the
stroke. It is NOT about using your
arms. Rather your arms merely connect
you to the paddle through your hands and you use the rotation of your torso,
hips, and shoulders to drive your paddle!
Try to relax your arms as much as possible to perfect this technique. Do
not pull too far back as this will actually slow you down. Once the paddle passes your hips if you keep
pull you are actually pulling the paddle up meaning you are pulling the paddle
board down and this only slows you down.
After the pull you need to release the paddle from the
water. Like the catch you want this
movement to be quick, smooth, and with zero splashing. Feathering the blade of the paddle creates a
smooth release and set-up for the next catch.
You feather by dropping your top shoulder, “breaking your wrist inward”,
or a combination of both.
Once you release the paddle you are ready to set-up for the
next catch and pull. Try to relax
during this phase – the key to optimum paddle technique is learning to set a
rhythm between tension and relaxation and ultimately getting your breathing
into a rhythm with the stroke. The first
time you feel this come together it is amazing – really zen! So stay relaxed and let go of the tension you
produced in the catch and pull and smoothly swing the paddle forward to prepare
to drive the blade fully into the water for the next pull!
Obviously your actual calorie burn will depend on the
intensity of effort you are putting into to paddling along with your height,
weight, and the wind and water conditions you are paddling in. However here are some estimates based on
people weighing between 165 and 200lbs :
Yoga on Paddle Board – 416 – 540
calories per hour
Touring on a Paddle Board – 615 –
708 calories per hour
Surfing on a Paddle Board – 623 –
735 calories per hour
Racing a Paddle Board – 715 – 1,125
calories per hour
So if you have not taken the plunge yet – google “Stand-up Paddle Board Rental” and find a rental location and give it a whirl. Rentals including paddle, board, and lifejacket are generally $25 - $35 per hour so get out there and give it a go!
The answer used to be yes, but recent research has proved that this is NOT the case! The current research used a method to measure metabolic rate called doubly labeled water. This involves giving people water with Deuterium (a form of hydrogen) and Oxygen-18 which is a specific form of Oxygen.
Then using urine samples scientists measure how much of
each of these unique forms of Hydrogen and Oxygen are being eliminated. This allows them to know the rate of carbon
dioxide production with extreme precision over a long period of time.
Carbon dioxide production can be used to directly and
accurately determine calorie burn and metabolic rate. Doubly labeled water is the Gold Standard
for measuring calorie burn/metabolic rate, and this is the first time it was
used to accurately measure metabolic rate in over 6,421 people from 29
countries looking at metabolic rate in people from 8 days old to 95 years old.
Game Changer
The result of the study clearly proved that metabolic rate
does NOT slow down because of aging between the age of 20 and 60. After 60 metabolic rate does gradually
slow down, but it is very gradual.
Another surprising finding was that babies have a much
higher metabolic rate (50% higher than adult values) meaning that on a pound for
pound basis babies burn a lot more calories than adults.
This high metabolic rate declines slowly from birth to age
20, but after that stays very stable until after age 60. So it IS true that children and teens have a
higher metabolic rate.
Take Home
Although metabolic rate burn does not slow down
from aging in and of itself - other factors can result in your metabolic rate
slowing down! Loss
of lean mass with aging can and does result in a slower resting metabolic rate. The loss of muscle from aging, known as sarcopenia,
CAN result in a lower metabolic rate.
To make things worse the more muscle you lose the lower
your activity levels tend to be and it becomes a viscous cycle: lower muscle = less activity = less muscle!
This is why it is so critical to include strength training
in your fitness program as you age because it can prevent this loss of muscle
and help maintain higher activity levels and metabolic rate!
Although strong muscles are important for health and athletic performance -the key to high level athletic performance is power which is the ability to produce a lot of force quickly. This takes more than regular strength – the secret is being able to store and release elastic energy to create more explosive movement. By understanding how power is produced, we can keep people walking, running and jumping into older age and how to walk again after injury or illness.
Storing and releasing energy is known as the stretch-shortening
cycle or muscle-tendon elasticity. These
cycles are the foundation of ALL human movement, and this is not just about
muscles – tendons are key! Tendons
attached muscle to bone are very strong.
In fact, in the most powerful, explosive athletes – their tendon
strength is much higher than the average person and this is key for power
production as we will see.
Muscle Strength and Contraction Speed
Although muscles can be very powerful (calf muscles can produce
upwards of 1,000lbs of force) they have one big limitation. Muscles can only shorten/contract so fast –
even in the fastest athletes. In fact,
at high speeds muscles can produce very little force at all while shortening. This is important because muscle shortening,
known as a concentric muscle contraction, is how force is applied to external
objects including the ground!
To make it even more confusing - when athletes move at the fast
speeds their muscles cannot produce force fast enough to help while shortening –
so how do they move so fast?
Tendon Stiffness
Humans, like most other animals on Earth, make use of something
called the stretch-shortening cycle aka muscle-tendon elasticity
which allows us to store and release energy rapidly when needed.
The stretch-shortening cycle relies on our relatively long, stretchy
tendons attached to a strong muscle and bones. Tendons are what attaches muscle
to bones. When the muscle produces force it stretches the tendon, storing
elastic energy. The subsequent recoil of the tendon generates way more power than
our muscles are capable of producing. Our tendons act as power magnifiers!
To take advantage of this ability people intuitively learn that
they need to move in the opposite direct of desired movement (called “counter-movement”). For example: if you ask anyone to jump as high as they can
you will see them squat down and then rapidly change directly to
jump up! This results in energy being
stored in the tendons as the muscles lengthen which is then released as the
muscles stop lengthening and shorten rapidly as the person jumps up!
Stiffer Tendons and tendons that are stretched further can store
more energy and generate more power during recoil. Because most of the power
used in running and walking comes from the ankle joint – it should be no surprise
that the Achilles Tendon of Runners are stiffer than the average person!
Eccentric and Isometric Muscle Contractions
The key to fast, explosive movement is the stiffness of tendons
combined with the proper use and timing of isometric and eccentric muscle
contractions. Optimizing this technique
is one of the keys to optimal athletic performance.
Isometric contractions are used to prevent movement such as during
the plank exercise where the core is working to prevent sagging of the low
back. There is no muscle movement
during isometric contractions.
Eccentric contractions are used to absorb force like landing
from a jump and muscles are lengthening under tension.
We engage eccentric contractions during the counter-movement
which occurs immediately before we produce a strong concentric (muscle
shortening contraction). For example,
in running when we land the ankle, knee and hip joints flex and the muscles
around these joints lengthen under tension to absorb the impact of landing.
Then we couple this with isometric contraction at the bottom of
the counter-movement to stop briefly.
Then finally we rebound back up using the energy stored in the tendon to
generate MOST of the force needed. Over
70% of the energy for efficient human
movement is produced through this and process and NOT produced by concentric/muscle
shortening contractions!
The faster we run the more energy we store and the more recoil
energy is released from the tendons. This
occurs even in walking and allows us to move more efficiently and at high speed!
How to Improve the Stretch-Shortening Cycle and Power Output
Part of our ability to optimize the stretch-shortening power cycle
is determined by genetics, but it’s also something we can improve through
training. Technique training helps, but also the use of heavy strength training
and eccentric dominant training can both help to improve tendon strength and stiffness.
As we age, our tendon stiffness and power output decrease, and this
means we lose movement efficiency and must use more energy for activities like
walking because we get less recoil energy from our tendons.
People with less stiffness in their Achilles’ tendon (and the
accompanying lower strength in the calf muscles) have slower walking
speeds. Also walking speed is directly
related to mortality and morbidity in the elderly so maintaining tendon
stiffness is important as we age.
The greatest force for walking, running and jumping is produced
at the ankle joint. This is an important target for athletes, but also for
anyone who wants to maintain their walking, running, jumping capacity as they
age.
How to Build and Maintain Stronger Tendons
They key to building tendon strength is focusing on the
eccentric/muscle lengthening aspect of strength training. This
can be challenging to do, and one of the best ways to build this strength is
the use of the reACT Trainer – www.reacttrainer.com
Nothing does a better job of safely improving eccentric lower body strength and
endurance and accompanying tendon strength and stiffness.
It is also good to specifically keep your ankle muscles
conditioned by doing calf raises with resistance. The calf and ankle joint can produce
enormous amounts of force so as the exercise gets easier add more resistance to
continue to build muscle and tendon strength and stiffness.
Another great exercise to build tendon stiffness and power is
repeated jumping at a relatively fast pace ideally in bare feet on a stable
flat surface. Like your ankle your foot
and foot muscles are specifically designed to allow you to store energy in the
foot muscles when you land and the reuse that energy to project more energy as
you push-off.
It is key that you land ball
of the foot first and then allow your heels to touch the ground before you
rebound. Start with very small jumps
at a quick pace – done properly you will literally feel the stretch-shortening
cycle and feel “springy”. Slowly build
up to being able to do this for 5 full minutes – it is harder than it sounds and
you will notice your feet and calves both get tired at first!
If you have ever watched children in bare feet you will notice that
they frequently spontaneously do this type of jumping because it feels good and
teaches them to how to store and release energy from the Achilles Tendon.
Unless you live under a rock - you are hearing about the Delta Variant of Covid that is now the dominant strain of Covid causing infections. Unfortunately, even vaccinated individuals can have “break-through” infections although the evidence is clear that these infections tend to be much milder with very low rates of hospitalization or death.
Whether you
are vaccinated or not there are steps you can take to protect yourself and
minimize the risk of serious infection.
Maintaining in ideal bodyweight, blood pressure, and exercising
regularly can all lower your risk of serious outcomes.
Having a nutritious
diet combined with targeted supplementation can also make a difference. Having ideal levels of Vitamin D in your
blood has been directly linked to significantly lower risk of serious outcomes –
so get your D levels checked with a blood test and supplement accordingly. Ideal D levels are incredibly important to
your overall health and to your body’s ability to fight Covid.
Another
supplement proven to help minimize the impact of Covid is Quercetin. Quercetin is a bioflavonoid. Quercetin was
initially discovered to enhance the antiviral effects of zinc by serving a zinc
ionophore – meaning Quercetin enhances the transport of zinc INTO your cells
where it can fight viruses.
The science on quercetin’s anti-covid activity quickly evolved further showing additional specific actions useful against SARS-CoV-2. Quercetin exerts significant inhibition on the binding of specific spike proteins to ACE-2 receptors, thereby blocking the ability of the virus to infect human cells.
Quercetin has also been shown to directly neutralize viral proteins that are critical in the replication of Covid. It exerts multiple sites of inhibition of the virus.
In order to reproduce the antiviral effects, the dosage of Quercetin must be able to raise the level of Quercetin so that it can effectively combat the virus. Regular Quercetin Supplements are not absorbed well and there is a high degree of absorption from one person to the next.
The great
news is that there are more bioavailable types of quercetin proven to
dramatically boost the amount of quercetin absorbed and in the blood stream
where it can do its work.
Two New Clinical Trials Using Bioavailable Quercetin
Most
importantly two new clinical trials showed dramatic results with using one of
these forms of quercetin along with standard care for people infected with
Covid!
The type of Quercetin
used in these clinical trials was Quercetin Phytosome which is a patented form
that combines quercetin with a liposome.
A liposome is a special type of carrier that chaperones quercetin into
the body and cells.
In the first
study it was shown that 400mg of Quercetin Phytosome produced statistically
significant improvement in all clinical outcomes such as need and length of hospitalization,
need of invasive oxygen therapy, and progression to intensive care and death.
The second
study provided even better results.
The study involved 42 patients with early Covid who were given standard
medical care alone or with Quercetin Phytosome at a dosage of 600mg per day for
the first 7 days and 400mg for the next 7 days.
After 1
week, 16 of the 21 patients in the Quercetin group tested negative for Covid
and 12 patients had all of their symptoms resolve. In the group getting standard medical care
only 2 out of 21 patients tested Covid negative and 4 patients had partial
symptom improvement.
By 2 week
all remaining patients in the Quercetin group tested negative for Covid while
in the standard care group 17 tested negative, one tested negative by week 3
and one patient died by day 20.
The Three Forms of Bioavailable Quercetin
The key to getting results with Quercetin is that
you MUST use one of three highly bioavailable forms to raise levels where they
need to be to fight Covid. The three
forms of bioavailable Quercetin on the market are:
Quercetin Phytosome by Thorne – recommended dosage
for effects – 600mg per day – 2 – 3 capsules
Quercetin LipoMicel
Matrix by Natural Factors – 500mg per day – 2 capsules per day
Bioactive Quercetin
EMIQ by Natural Factors – 200mg per day – 4 capsules
These
supplements are all available on Amazon and both Natural Factors and Thorne
produce supplements of the highest quality in direct compliance with pharmaceutical
good manufacturing production guidelines so you know what you are taking!
As with all
supplements speak to your physician first and those taking any medication
should search for drug nutrient interactions with Quercetin before
supplementing. For example quercetin
may amplify the effects of blood thinning medication so people on this type of
medication should NOT take quercetin at all with speaking to their physician.
One of the most common questions about weight training aka resistance training is how long should you rest between each exercise set. If you take a look at the relevant research concerning this topic there are some good answers.
For a long time, researchers believed that shorter rest periods were better for increasing muscle size which was thought to occur because of increased levels of metabolic stress by not allowing complete recovery. However, research done in 2015 shows that using longer rest periods actually results in better results for both increased muscle size and increased muscle strength. It is thought that this occurs because longer rest periods allow a higher training volume (more repetitions of each exercise).
Another study which looked at the effects of rest interval length on training volume discovered another important item: reduction in training volume occurs mainly between 1 and 2-minute rest periods. The percentage difference between 2 and 3-minute rest periods is much smaller, except when doing 5 or more sets of an exercise. So, for people doing 3 – 4 sets per exercise, 2 minutes is a good rest interval, but if doing 5 or more sets you should probably extend the rest interval to 3 minutes.
Another important piece of information is that recreational lifters who self-determine rest periods tend to rest just under 2 minutes between sets meaning that for most lifters doing 3 to 4 sets of several exercises whose goal is increased muscle size and strength you probably do not need to time your rest intervals and can go just go by feel.
Optimizing Vitamin D through Safe Sun Exposure
By following sensible sun exposure rules, including making sure you do not get burned, you can maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of skin damage that could lead to skin cancer. Overexposure, not completely avoiding the sun, is the real issue for increasing your risk for skin cancer. At the same time, optimizing vitamin D through regular sun exposure can decrease your risk of many forms of cancers that are far more common than Melanoma which is the deadliest form of skin cancer.
If you are confused about whether exposure to the sun is good or bad or somewhere in the middle – you are not alone! There is a ton of conflicting advice and information being given on Sun Exposure. On the one side we are being told to completely avoid all sun exposure and wear heavy duty sunscreens at all time, and on the other being told that sun exposure is vital and good for us.
As always, the real answer is somewhere in the middle, and it is critical to evaluate the validity of information you receive based on the source and if they have a commercial stake in the information they give you.
For example, it is not at all surprising that sunscreen manufacturers are pro sun screen and push the concept that everyone should wear it all the time to insure they do not get skin cancer, but we know they have a vested commercial interest so should use some judgment evaluating information from these sources. And yes there is information suggesting that many sunscreens contain chemicals that can be harmful to your health. It is important to use sunscreens that do not contain toxic ingredients and do block both UVA and UVB rays. For a great guide check out this article by Dr. Mercola: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/06/04/ewg-sunscreen-guide.aspx
The fact is that this issue is not so simple as “authorities” would have you believe. For example, in this research article (Avoidance of sun exposure as a risk factor for major causes of death: a competing risk analysis of the Melanoma in Southern Sweden Cohort) that studied all-cause mortality in 29,518 Swedish Woman the conclusion was that avoiding the sun can actually be as dangerous as smoking when it comes to cancer risk and overall mortality risks. Woman who avoided the sun had a much shorter life expectancy than those who got the most sun. This really challenges the conventional wisdom on sun exposure. It is also important to state that it is all about dose and your personal genetics meaning that the amount of sun you are exposed to and your personal genetics are very relevant here!
Improving Vitamin D Status is a Key Benefit of Proper Sun Exposure
Sun exposure increases the body’s production of Vitamin D and does so in a way that is quantitatively and qualitatively different and superior to supplemental Vitamin D. When the body produces Vitamin D from sun exposure it simply will never produce too much Vitamin D and this is not the case with supplementation. In addition, there are other benefits to safe sun exposure in addition to Vitamin D production. Proper sun exposure can and does help treat several skin conditions such as psoriasis, vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, and scleroderma. In addition, sun exposure protects against and suppresses the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, helps relieve fibromyalgia pain, helps treat seasonal affective disorder, enhances mood and energy by stimulating the release of endorphins, and helps synchronize biorhythms and melatonin production.
The Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have reported an association between vitamin D and overall mortality risk from all causes, including cancer. However, supplementation studies have been all over the map in terms of showing a positive relationship between boosting Vitamin D status and incidence or mitigation of disease. Since we know for sure that the human body was designed with the specific capability of producing Vitamin D from sun exposure and we know that Vitamin D levels are crucial for optimizing health it seems quite likely that production of Vitamin D through sun exposure is the ideal if it can be done safely.
There is a lot of positive research on Vitamin D and cancer prevention and treatment, heart disease prevention and treatment, etc. showing that optimizing Vitamin D is a good prevention strategy.
Vitamin D affects almost every cell in your body, which is one of the reason’s it affects so many different disease states.
Vitamin D from Sun Exposure and Health
There have been many
studies done on average vitamin D levels and the vast majority of them have
found that at least half of the U.S. population has inadequate levels.
Vitamin D is not really
a vitamin – rather it is a steroid hormone that your body is designed to create
through sun exposure, not from your diet. While some foods do contain vitamin D
it is nearly impossible to get all the vitamin D you need from dietary sources
alone.
The U.S. Surgeon General
American Academy of Dermatology recommend complete and total sun avoidance
in order to prevent skin cancer, and there is no question that overexposure to
sun can and does cause skin cancer at some level. However, sun avoidance has been shown to
increase your risk of death from all
causes substantially so this recommendation does not make the most sense.
Stay tuned for Part 2 Next week and learn how to optimize safe sun exposure based on your skin type, where you live and time of year!
The short answer is YES! It is common knowledge that aerobic exercise and resistance training can both help prevent decline in mental function as we age – but there is something particularly potent about dance exercise.
A recent
study at Colorado State University looked at 174 people in their 60’s and 70’s
and divided them into four groups who met three times a week for six
months.
One group
did brisk walking.
Another
group walked and took a dietary supplement.
A third
group did stretching and balance exercise.
The fourth
group learned new dances in hour long group dance sessions.
Researchers did
scans to examine all participants brain pre and post study. They found that people who did brisk walking
slowed down the breakdown of the white matter in their brains.
But only one
group significantly improved the amount of white matter in the fornix of their
brains – the dancers. White matter is
found in the deeper tissues of the brain and contains nerve fibers coated with
a myelin sheath (like insulation covering wires)
The fornix
of the brain is located in an area of the brain called the limbic system and is
involved in cognition, memory, emotion and sexual responses.
What if someone told you there was an inexpensive nutrition supplement proven to be completely safe that has solid research proving that it can:
Immediately
and dramatically reduce anxiety with zero sedation or side effects.
Improves
mental focus and concentration.
Quickly
reduces the stress hormone cortisol.
Reduces Beta
Brain Waves associated with anxiety and fear.
Increases
Alpha Brain Waves associated with relaxation and meditation.
Proven to
offset stress induced Immune Suppression.
Improves
Sleep:
Decreases time to fall asleep.
Decreases night-time awakenings.
Increases the amount of Deep, Restorative Sleep.
Improves
Memory and Mental Capacity.
Sound too
good to be true? It’s NOT!
How Does
Pharmagaba Work?
Pharmagaba
is a unique, patented form of GABA that crosses the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB
for short). GABA is a
neurotransmitter that that balances out the excitatory neurotransmitters like Norepinephrine
aka noradrenalin.
Although GABA
supplements have been around for a while regular GABA supplements are
completely ineffective because they do not cross the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). The BBB is exactly what it sounds like – a
chemical gateway designed to protect the brain from toxins and infections.
Unlike
regular GABA supplements Pharmagaba crosses the BBB! This allows it to quickly change your mental
state from a sympathetic dominant state to a parasympathetic state. A sympathetic dominant state means you
are stressed out and anxious and feeling on edge whereas a parasympathetic
dominant state is when you are relaxed and calm.
To learn
more about Pharmagaba watch this short but highly informative video going
through all the benefits and research: https://youtu.be/wOzSy3HiXOU
The best
supplement on the market is Pharmagaba from Natural Factors. It is offered in chewables or capsules. For maximum effects buy the Pharma GABA
250mg version which can be purchased through Amazon or Iherb online. Do NOT confuse GABA with Pharmagaba – you
will only experience benefits if you use the patented Pharmagaba form.
