The Power of Keystone Habits

Everyone has habits, and understanding them is key to changing bad habits to good ones (see this previous blogpost to understand how habits are formed and the ONLY way to change them:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2018/01/how-to-overcome-negative-habit.html )   

All good habits are not equal – certain habits have a much bigger positive effects than others.     These “super” habits are called Keystone Habits, and if you are looking to adopt a single habit that will have the biggest positive impact on your life consider one of the keystone habits described below.

Although on the surface keystone habits share a lot with any other habits the difference is that keystone habits tend to have a domino effect and act as a positive catalyst for change in other areas of your life.   Keystone habits help create and maintain other good habits.

So what makes a habit a keystone habit?    Charles Duhigg, author of the definitive book on habits – The Power of Habit, says that keystone habits actually change how we see ourselves – “When researchers look at how people change their habitual behaviors, they find when some changes occur, it seems to set off a chain reaction that causes other patterns to change as well.     The power of a keystone habit draws from its ability to change your self-image.”

Exercise – The KING of Keystone Habits!

For many people exercise is THE keystone habit because when they develop the habit of exercising consistently they tend to naturally make better easting choices, stop procrastinating, etc.    This happens because exercising regularly helps you create a positive self-image – which is that of someone who is healthy!

By adopting habits, like exercise, that create a positive self-image, we begin to subconsciously encourage ourselves to reinforce that new self-image by adopting other positive behaviors.   This is VERY powerful!

Other Keystone Habits

Meditation – there are many forms of meditation but people who make meditation a habit often find that it is catalyst for overall positive change in their life.   Research supports this belief – there is a huge body of scientific research showing all sorts of physical and mental benefits from the simple practice of meditation!

Reading – if you adopt a regular habit of reading you constantly learn and grow and help maintain mental flexibility while aging along with having the ability to travel to distant worlds, escape to a better place, and in general have access to endless entertainment and fun!   Many people describe the action of developing a reading habit as being the single most important factor in their later success and happiness!

Writing – as a means of self- expression and creativity - writing is amazing.   A regular writing practice helps order your thoughts and mind and share ideas with others!   Like the other keystone habits this practice often faciitates positive and lasting change!

Socializing – Humans are social animals and we need and crave social contact.     This is particularly true as we age.      Developing a social group/habit is absolutely key to happiness for most people.      And who you socialize with has huge impact on your opinions and habits – be they good or bad.

There are many other habits that can become keystone habits for you.  To identify keystone habits, look for habits that have that domino effect in your life, and help change your self-image for the better by participating in the habit.    Pay attention to how you feel as you perform regular actions and activities in your life and when you notice you feel better about yourself when you do something it is quite likely that this is keystone habit for you!

How to Use Stress to Improve Health and Fitness

Yes - you heard that right - stress is actually critical to health and fitness!    The body is specifically designed to be responsive and adjust to stressors both short and long term - the key is understanding this process so you can use stress to help you reach your goals.

You are constantly being exposed to stressors all the time such as changes in temperature, having to increase activity level when going from sitting to standing or laying down to sitting up, etc.   Each of these stressors creates a demand on your body which the body must respond to in the short-term.    Stress is anything that creates a demand and there are many situations which demand a response from the body.

The body must maintain tight control of many factors including temperature, pH, and energy production in order to survive.  This process is known as homeostasis which is a fancy way of saying auto--regulation to maintain the internal environment in a stable state.

The body responds to short-term stressors like those listed above by making short-term adjustments such as shivering in response to cold and increasing cellular energy production when going from a lower energy state to a higher energy state.     

In the case of long term stress exposure the body will try to adapt to the more constant stressor by adapting itself to be better able to handle the stress.   This is what exercise is all about - exercise is a stressor that creates significant demands on the body.    The key to getting good results from exercise (or any other stressor!) is exactly how the stress is applied in terms of frequency, intensity and duration of the stressor.     

Frequency is how often you are exposed to a stressor.    Intensity is how strong the stressor is such as light exercise versus heavy exercise.   Duration is how long you are exposed to the stressor such as how long you exercise.   By adjusting one or more of these factors over time you can optimize the body's adaptation to stressors. 

This does not just apply to exercise - it applies to many stressors including temperature and even mental stressor such as taking tests.    For example if you gradually start spending time in colder environments (such as ending your showers with a short period of colder water) and gradually increase the frequency, intensity, duration of exposure your body will adapt to cold water exposure by making longer term physiological changes to the point that you can handle colder water for longer periods of time more frequently without falling apart.     In fact we know that this type of exposure can dramatically boost brown fat levels with a corresponding big increase in calorie burning!

There are many other examples of positive adaptation to stress including tolerance to toxins such as alcohol - we all know that if you regularly drink alcoholic beverages you tend to develop a tolerance to them as the body ramps up the production of enzymes for the breakdown of alcohol.   In fact it applies to ALL stressors to some extent.

At the same time to much stress to soon and/or too often and the body cannot adapt and grow stronger and you go in the wrong direction.       This is often referred to as "hormesis" which refers to the fact that the response to a stressor tends to follow a biphasic curve - low doses result in stimulating an adaptive response while high doses/exposure can cause weakening of the system.

This is also true of many beneficial plant compounds which are in fact poisons that plants make to prevent being eaten.    In the relatively small doses we encounter when eating these plants these chemicals produce a hormetic effect and actually strengthen the body.    An example is horseradish and broccoli which both contain a class of plant chemicals that would be toxic in really large doses but in smaller doses actually stimulate the body to ramp up detoxification which results in many benefits including cancer prevention.

So when you think of stress - don't think good or bad - think how much, how often, and for how long.  Great coaches learn how to use appropriate stressors (both mental and physical) to help their clients adapt and become mentally and physically stronger and more resilient!

How Much is Too Much HIIT Training?

High Intensity Interval Training is clearly highly effective for conditioning and fat loss.    However, like all exercise stimulus overdoing it can make people more prone to injury and overtraining.

A new study presented by Penn State Associate Professor Jinger Gottschall at the recent ACSM conference provides some specific clues as to how much HIIT is too much.    The research presented showed that the best results are obtained by spending 30 – 40 minutes of total time per week with the heart rate above 90% of maximum heart.      More time at this intensity makes participants more prone to injury.

All exercise acts as a stressor and as with all stressors to much stress to soon does not allow the body to recover and adapt from the stress and will always result in injury or illness.

Advanced exercisers may be able to tolerate short periods where they can use more time at 90% of their maximum heart rate, but for the majority of exercisers it would be wise to stay under 40 Total Minutes of HIIT Training with heart rate above 90% of Maximum.

This highlights the potential advantages of Coaches encouraging the use of chest strap heart rate monitors with one on one PT clients.      These monitors can be purchased from many sources.    To understand the three different methods of managing a client's work/rest ratio using a heart rate monitor read this previouis blogpost:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2018/02/managing-workrest-ratio-in-hiit-training.html 

The Many Benefits of Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea has been around for a long time – and was used as a medicinal herb in Ancient Egypt and Rome.     Chamomile is the common name for several daisy plants like German Chamomile, and English Chamomile.   

In addition to being a natural, safe sedative, chamomile contains potent anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds, in addition to antibacterial, antifungal, anticspasmodic, andtiulcer, and antiviral properties.    Perhaps most significantly consumption of chamomile tea has been shown to protect from thyroid disease including thyroid cancer!

Sleep Inducer

Chamomile has a long and successful history of treating insomnia and is well-known for its ability to calm and relax.    The sedative effects of chamomile are probably due to a particular flavonoid apigenin which binds to benzodiazepine receptors in the brain.    Unlike benzodiazepines chamomile does NOT lead to any dependence of addiction!

Helps Gum Inflammation, Mouth Sores and Tooth Abscesses

Chamomile is also effective for reducing gum inflammation, mouth sores and abscesses, and has a long history of use for tooth pain that can assist while waiting to see a dentist.

Reduces Menstrual Cramps

Several studies have shown that chamomile tea helps reduce the severity of menstrual cramps in a safe way along with assisting in reducing the accompanying psychological symptoms.

Relief of Gastrointestinal Complaints

Chamomile is renowned for its ability to assist with just about any gastrointestinal symptom from gas, heartburn, cramps to ulcers.

Reduces the Risk of Thyroid Cancer

The more chamomile tea consumed the lower the risk of thyroid cancer.   In a 2015 study those who drank chamomile tea two to six times per week had a 70 percent lower risk of developing thyroid abnormalities and for those who drank it for 30 years there was an 80% reduction in risk.

Potential Side Effects

Chamomile is usually well tolerated, BUT if you have an allergy to ragweed of any other member of the daisy family avoid it.    Also avoid chamomile during pregnancy, and be careful if you are taking blood thinners like Warfarin, Coumadin, or other medications like this as chamomile has a slight blood thinning effect which can create problems when mixed with these prescription medications.

A Highly Efficient Form of Resistance Band Training

Used properly resistance training bands can provide a unique overload that maximizes muscle fiber recruitment, muscle fatigue and thereby rapidly increases muscle strength and hypertrophy.    Flat, circular resistance bands provide increasing resistance the more they are stretched, and this protocol takes advantage of this fact.

Key movements for maximum strength and muscle size include:

                Squats with band

                Deadlift with band

                Overhead Press with band

                Chest Presses with band

                Upright Rows with band

                Bent Over Row with band

                Bicep Curl with band

                Tricep Pushdown with band

The key to this protocol is how you perform each set.   Since the resistance increases as the band stretches you start out by performing full range of motion exercise (short of lockout for squat, overhead press and deadlift) and perform smooth repetitions under control until you reach a level of fatigue where you cannot complete the full range. When you cannot complete the full range of motion immediately continue to perform repetitions to the farthest point possible (say 50 – 75% of the full range of motion) without any break.   Keep going until you cannot reach that point and are performing reps to 25 – 35% of the possible range of motion.   

The key is that you chose a level of resistance band that will challenge you to complete full range of motion repetitions after 4 – 6 reps due to fatigue.   What you are doing is maximizing force output and muscle fiber recruitment and fatigue at portion of the range of motion.

Done properly this is an incredible stimulus for increasing muscular strength and size.

Here is how you do each exercises.   

Squats with bands - there are several ways to hold the band:

You can step into the band with feet shoulder width apart and band looped over the top of your arms.   Bend both arms at the elbow with forearms crossed and hands on shoulder with band held over the top of both arms near the chest with elbows held high so that upper arms are parallel with the ground/foor.  Here is a great video demonstration:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNDYUhYIrTA

Using two bands looped over shoulders – see video here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxMPjOfMTg

Using bands with a bar and squat rack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDi193zFm8

Using band with bar and weight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRjgVS6AS68

Deadlift with bands:

Stand on band and put hands through both loops and peform a deadlift - https://youtu.be/TfpoYK4nCRc - you can also use the handles that come with the resistance band training kit that comes with MX4 Equipment to enable you to use higher resistance bands without having undue pressure on your hands.

Using Bar and squat rack - https://youtu.be/qze4CP0f7o8

Overhead Press with bands:

                Standing on band - https://youtu.be/24QR6DDWvFI

   You can also attach the handles to both ends of the band standing in the center of the band        and press overhead using handles.

Chest Press with bands:

                Multiple variations with bar or handles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nMIhTGjgiU

High Pulls with bands:

                Standing on bands:   https://youtu.be/m0hs7l2XNlQ       

Bicep Curls with bands:

Stand on flat, circular band and put both hands through the two loops on end and perform curls or attach band handles and perform

Overhead Tricep Press with bands:

                With flat circular band:   https://youtu.be/tJvXMQ5dSQs

Start by practicing each exercise and set-up and organizing the bands you will need for each exercise in the sequence of exercises.    Once you are ready perform each set to failure at multiple points within the range of motion without stepping between each range for one giant set:

                Full Range of Motion to fatigue

                75% of Full Range of Motion to fatigue

                40 – 50% of Full Range of Motion to fatigue

                25 – 35% of Full Range of Motion to fatigue

Five Reasons Most People Can Benefit from Sprint Exercise

Sprints are mentally challenging because of the high effort required, but it is well worth it!  There are 5 key benefits that Sprint Training provides:

Faster Fat Loss

Research shows that regular sprint training produces significant fat loss in a very short period of time.   In a 1994 study, participants either did 20 weeks of steady aerobic training or 15 weeks of Sprints.   The interval group lost nine times more body at and 12 percent more visceral fat than the aerobic group!

Building Muscle and Targeting Fast-Twitch Muscle Fibers

Sprint training helps build muscle and increases the size and strength of fast-twitch muscle fibers.   Fast-twitch muscle fibers are exactly what you tend to lose as you age and the more you have the better! Loss of fast-twitch muscle fibers is linked to increased fall risk, and increased fast-twitch fibers give you the ability to move more rapidly and powerfully.

Sprint training also improves hormone profile during aging by increasing testosterone and growth hormone without increasing cortisol!

Increased Endurance and Work Capacity

Sprint training is more effective than steady aerobic training for improving endurance capacity, maximal oxygen consumption, and time to fatigue.  

Improved Heart Health

Sprint training is more effective at improving cardiovascular health and increasing stroke volume than steady aerobic training.   Stroke volume is the amount of blood your heart pumps with each beat so increased stroke volume means lower heart rates since the heart does not have to pump as often to provide blood and oxygen to tissues.   Sprint training can also be very effective for reducing blood pressure.

Improved Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity is a big deal and loss of insulin sensitivity is the cause of adult onset diabetes and makes weight loss extremely challenging!     All exercise can help improve insulin sensitivity but Sprints do it much faster and with much less exercise time required.

Sprints can be done by almost anyone and can be done at any fitness level.   For deconditioned people a quick walk interval is a sprint, and sprints can be done with treadmills, rowers, stationary bicycles, while swimming, running, and using an elliptical machine.

The Many Benefits of Green Tea

Green tea is from the same tea plant as black tea and white tea but harvested at a different time in the plant’s cycle.  All forms of tea have significant health benefits when grown in the correct soil properly, but green tea has some unique benefits.

Green tea is chock full of polyphenol antioxidants that include flavonoids and catechins.   The most notable catechin is Epigalocatechin-3-gallate or EGCG for short.   EGCG has many benefits for many different health and disease conditions.

Cardiovascular Benefits of Green Tea

Recent research from the University of Leeds and Lancaster University showed that EGCG can actually help dissolve arterial plaque which is the main cause of heart disease and stroke.     Other research has shown it can also help to inhibit the buildup of amyloid beta plaque in the brain which is the main culprit in Alzheimer’s disease.

Green tea can also help control blood pressure.   Drinking three to four cups of green tea daily has been proven to promote cardiovascular health and help prevent arteriosclerosis, cerebral thrombosis, heart attack and stroke while improving blood flow and protecting against blood clots.

Green Tea and Cancer

Green tea polyphenols also retard the growth of blood vessels to tumors and may help to improve tumor cell response to chemotherapy.

Green Tea and Weight Loss

EGCG increases fat oxidation for several hours after intake which can aid in weight loss.

Green Tea and Exercise Capacity

In a study, mice who were given green tea extract improved their endurance exercise time by up to 24%.

Best Type of Green Tea

Matcha Green Tea uses the entire ground tea leaf and contains much more EGCG than regular green tea.      The best Matcha comes from Japan is steamed rather than roasting or pan frying which retains much more nutrients.    The leaves are ground into a powder which is stired directly into hot water.    The tea is bright green.

Consequences of Too Little Sun Exposure

We are constantly reminded that sun exposure is a major risk factor for skin cancer.     However, there is WAY more to this story and the details matter!    First of all, many studies show that the deadliest form of skin cancer – Melanoma – is not associated with cumulative sun exposure.    In addition, skin cancer risk is mostly about avoiding sun burn, and everyone agrees this is an important goal.

Another important consideration is Vitamin D production – optimizing Vitamin D levels is incredibly important for disease prevention and the best way to do this is with safe, sensible sun exposure.    See this blogpost for information on how to optimize your sun exposure based on your genetics and where you live:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-facts-on-safe-sun-exposure-and.html

Negative implications of lack of sun exposure:

Increased dementia risk - People who completely avoid sun exposure have almost a 40% greater risk for dementia as they age.   

Increase Breast Cancer Risk – Woman who avoid sun exposure have a much greater risk of developing breast cancer.    In an analysis of women in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Study, researchers found that the protective effects of sun-exposure on breast cancer was simply enormous. The risk reductions were highest for women who lived in United States regions of high solar radiation, with RRs ranging from 0.35-0.75. That means, sun-exposure reduced the risk of breast cancer by three-fold; for every 100 breast cancers in women practicing sun avoidance, the sun-loving women only had about 35 cancers, an enormous reduction.

Increased Bone Fracture Risk – Cumulative sun exposure decreases risk of breaking a hip.    Fractures are significantly lower in those with high lifetime sun exposure.   

Increased Risk of Multiple Sclerosis – Many studies show that both lifetime sun exposure and current sun exposure reduces the risk of contracting Multiple Sclerosis.

Increased of Myopia (near sightedness) – according to studies, children who get a lot of sun exposure have a much-reduced risk of developing myopia.

Increase Mortality Risk – A Study that followed 29,000 Swedish women for up to 20 years showed that sun avoiders died much younger than sun lovers, and that the effect of sun avoidance on mortality was equivalent to the risks created through smoking!

CAUTION – As stated above getting sun-burned is a very bad idea for many reasons.      Like most things in life it is all about the right dose which is individual based on your skin and where you live.    

Can Broccoli Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

It may sound crazy, but in a recent study a key phytochemical in broccoli not only cleared the accumulation of amyloid plaque but also improved memory deficits in mice.     Beta Amyloid Plaque buildup is how Alzheimer’s causes brain damage. So even though this was just a mouse study there is other similar evidence for the benefits of Sulforaphane from broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables.   

In another study mice with Alzheimer’s were treated with Sulforaphane for four months and it inhibited the production and build-up of amyloid plaque.   As in the first study mentioned the treated mice maintained normal cognitive function compared to other Alzheimer’s Mice at 10 months.

Sulforaphane is an immune stimulant and ramps up the body’s production of key anti-oxidants while reducing harmful inflammation, and increasing detoxification.     

For more information and to see all the many benefits of Sulforaphane see this blogpost:   http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2017/05/how-to-obtain-benefits-of-broccoli.html

A Detox Method that Really Works!

Unless you live under a rock you have probably seen many “detox” cleanses and products that claim to help the body purge itself of toxins, but do any of them actually work?   Certain products can support the key organs of elimination which are the liver, kidneys and digestive tract, but the process of detoxification is actually quite complex and occurs at many different levels starting with individual cells progressing to tissues and then finally organ systems.      Saunas and in particular infrared saunas also support detoxification.

The body is constantly producing waste products that need to be eliminated for optimal cellular, tissue and organ function.    Even people who eat nothing but organic food and highly purified water create waste products, and they also encounter toxins from the environment.    Some of these toxins are worse than others, but no one can completely escape contact with toxins.

Where do Toxins in the Environment Come From?

With over 100,000 chemicals in commercial use with 25% of them known to be hazardous there are a lot of toxins in our environment!

To get a sense of how wide-spread environmental toxins are in our bodies let’s take a look at the results of the National Adipose Tissue Survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency which examined toxin levels in peoples’ bodyfat.     The results are alarming to say the least:

Chemical Tested                                              % of people having this toxin in fat

Styrene                                                                100%

1,4-dichlorobenzene                                      100%

OCDD (dioxin)                                                   100%

HxCDD (dioxin)                                                 98%

Xylene                                                                  100%

Benzene                                                              96%

TCDD (Agent Orange)                                     76%

DDT (banned 1972)                                          55%

PCB’s                                                                     95%

M, p-Cresol                                                        93%

Toluene                                                               91%

To make matters worse many chemicals we encounter do their damage quickly and cannot be found in human tissue because they quickly degrade., yet they do cause tremendous harm from just brief exposure.  

Autophagy – Your Bodies Clean Up Method!

Autophagy is a detox process your body uses to clean out damaged cells and regenerate new ones.  Autophagy plays a key role in your body’s ability to detoxify, repair, and regenerate itself.  The benefits of autophagy include:

Reduced inflammation

Improvement in cellular, tissue and organ function

Prevention or delay of neurodegenerative diseases

Increased longevity

According to Dr. Colin Champ who is a radiation oncologist and professor at the University of Pittsburgh:  “Think of it as our body’s innate recycling program.   Autophagy makes us more efficient machines to get rid of faulty parts, stop cancerous growths, and stop metabolic dysfunction like obesity and diabetes.”

How Do You Increase Autophagy?

There are five key ways to ramp up autophagy in your body:

Exercise

Use Intermittent Fasting

Eat a high fat low sugar and starch diet

Limit protein intake to 15 grams per day one time per week

Get a good night’s sleep!

Exercise

HIIT, High Intensity Interval Training, is the most effective form of exercise to stimulate autophagy because it stresses your body enough to provoke biochemical change.  It is about getting in short-term, acute stress.

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting dramatically ramps up autophagy.   Intermittent Fasting can be done several ways but the easiest method to integrate it into your life is to simply  keep all your meals within an 8 hour window each day (see  this blogpost for details on intermittent fasting:  http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2017/02/intermittent-fasting-for-health-and-fat.html )

Limit Protein

Excessive protein intake stimulates IGF-1 and mTOR which shut-down autophagy.    So in an ideal world you should limit your total daily protein intake from 40 – 100 grams per day depending on your size and level of lean body mass.   

For body builder types or anyone looking to increase muscle mass adequate protein intake is important, BUT you can accomplish this without overeating protein as described above and/or limiting your protein intake to 15 – 25 grams once or twice a week on non-training days.

This gives your body a full day to recycle proteins, which can help reduce inflammation and cleanse your cells without muscle loss.

Sleep

Sleep is a time of physical and mental restoration and during productive sleep autophagy is ramped up all over.   During sleep the brain cleans itself of toxins that have accumulated throughout the day.  During sleep, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain increases dramatically, washing away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells.