3 Key Factors for Fat Loss – Part 3

Key #3:
Exercise

You will lose fat by dieting alone, but not as effectively as you would using a calorie controlled diet and exercise plan. If you just dieted, you would end up as a smaller version of yourself.

Exercise helps you to build muscle (which helps you to burn more calories and lose more fat in the process), as well as helping you feel good about yourself, and providing a way to destress. The FITT and SOAP principles should be applied to your exercise program.

The FIIT principle:

Frequency: The number of training sessions completed in a given time period.

Intensity: The level of exertion that you are training at - i.e. if you are training for basic strength you will be using 80-90% of your one repetition maximum.

Time: How long the session lasts for - i.e. resistance training should last no longer than 45-50 minutes.

Type: What mode of exercise is being performed - i.e. aerobic, anaerobic, strength, power, etc.

The SOAP principle:

Specificity: Training you in a manner specific to producing the training adaptation or goal achievement desired - i.e. you must be training for fat loss. "Specificity also relates to the athlete's sport season. As an athlete progresses through the pre-season, in-season, and postseason, all forms of training should gradually progress in an organized manner from generalized to sport specific" - i.e. if you are an athlete your off-season would be general conditioning, progressing to strength and power work, then speed, and eventually to sports specific exercises. "The more similar the training activity is to the sport movement, the greater the likelihood that there will be a positive transfer to that sport".

Overload: "Refers to assigning a workout or training regime of greater intensity than the athlete is accustomed to. Without the stimulus of overload, even an otherwise well-designed program greatly limits the athlete's ability to make improvements. Overload training principles ensure that the muscles involved in the selected exercises are those that the sport relies on and that the loads are sufficient to challenge the athlete to become stronger, larger, faster, and more resistant to fatigue" - i.e. if you are training for strength, then if you do not consistently increase weights lifted during resistance training, then you are not overloading the muscles enough to get stronger. It is only when the body is consistently pushed that gains are made.

Adaptation: Training must be continually progressing via overload; otherwise [positive] adaptations can be lost quickly and performance can begin to decline, with fitness and conditioning sometimes returning to its initial state - i.e. if there was no periodization to your training and you perpetually did the same thing, then your body would stop making adaptations and progressing.

Progression: "The intensity of the training must become progressively greater. Progression, when applied properly, promotes long-term training benefits" - i.e. this is why you must change your training program every 4-6 weeks, to ensure that you are providing new challenges and continually getting results.

The best exercise program for losing fat is one that includes weights, cardio (mostly in the form of high intensity training), and flexibility (to help your muscle flexibility and joints).

Resistance Training:

If you are a beginner, you can start off with 2-3 full-body workouts each week. Otherwise, I would recommend a 3 or 4 day split. Each muscle group should be rested for at least 1 day before training that muscle group again. This gives it plenty of time to recover before the next training session.

Exercises that you should be doing are multijoint, compound exercises, as they use more than one muscle, and are the most effective for not only building muscle, but also in burning fat, because they are recruiting more of your body to perform the exercise than isolation exercises (these are a waste of time unless you are a seasoned lifter and are looking to target specific muscle groups).

The best compound exercises that you can do are the squat and the deadlift, as they use pretty much every muscle in your body. Other compound exercises that are good to include are the bench press, shoulder press, pullups, dips, and calf raises (the only isolation exercise that's really good).

You should be performing between 25-40 repetitions per muscle group, consisting of 3 sets of 10 repetitions for example per exercise, with a 1 minute recovery in between the sets (the shorter the recovery, the lighter your weights will possibly be, which will give you a 'cardio' workout as well).

Be sure that you always use good form for every exercise; otherwise you are putting yourself at risk for injury. All reps should be controlled and with good form. It is not about how much you can lift, but how well you lift. You will get stronger as you keep at it (although maybe not so much when trying to lose fat, but this depends on the individual).

You should never spend longer than 45-50 minutes in total lifting (i.e. your session should take that long from the time you walk in to the time you walk out, excluding if you do a warm-up - and this is strictly your own preference); otherwise you become too catabolic and can end up losing muscle.

You also need to change your weights program around slightly every 4-6 weeks, just so that your body does not get used to it and stop adapting. This can be as little as changing the order of exercises in a session or the number of sets and/or reps that you do for an exercise (and it only needs to be one exercise changed at a time, small adjustments over the weeks).

Here's a sample circuit plan for a beginner. This is a very basic routine, designed to get you 'used' to resistance training and condition your body for it, building a base to work on, whilst also targeting your goals. After 4-6 weeks you will need to change your program.

Do an easy 10 minute warm-up. Select weights that you can do for said reps on each exercise (but not too much more), and use these for the entire session.

Complete exercises in order from 1-7, with minimal recovery (ideally it should be moving from one exercise to another; but if you are a beginner 30-60 seconds will be ok). At the end of one set (i.e. 1-10) rest for 1 minute, and then repeat. Stretch full-body for 5 minutes after your session. This should take ~45 minutes in total.

Every week your weights should increase (i.e. not on all sessions, but keep weights the same for a week, and increase as you can for the next week's sessions), so that you keep challenging your body.

Beginner Fat Loss Workout Program:

Barbell Squats: 2 sets of 15 reps
Romanian Deadlifts: 2 sets of 15 reps
Standing Calf Raises: 2 sets of 15 reps
Pullups: 2 sets to failure
Pushups: 2 sets to failure
Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 2 sets of 15 reps
Crunches: 2 sets to failure

I highly recommend getting a personal trainer if you are a beginner, so that you can be shown the correct technique (very important) for each exercise.

Personal trainers can be there with you for your first few sessions, to determine starting weights, as you get acquainted with resistance training. They also provide motivation, support, and a source for accountability.

A personal trainer will also assist in creating a workout for you and should offer nutrition advice.

Cardio

Whilst long, slow cardio burns calories, you require long periods of time to do it. Some even recommend doing two hours of cardio a day, or double cardio sessions, to lose fat, but it's simply not necessary.

The most effective way to burn fat through cardio is to do either:

Interval training

Cardio at a higher intensity (i.e. just going out and running as fast as you can over a certain distance, instead of 45 minutes at a 60% max heart rate).

Forget about the 'Fat Burning Zone'; it does not matter what fuel you use during cardio, as your body will burn other substrates during the rest of the day (i.e. if you burn fat during cardio it will use carbs the rest of the day, and vice versa).

If you feel that you need to do more cardio, then you can do brisk walks every other day, or perhaps a run (but no more than 30 minutes; after 30 minutes of running you are very catabolic and are likely to lose muscle, which you do not want happening). Skipping, stair sprinting/running, or rowing, are the next highest calorie burners after sprinting.

Flexibility:

Stretch for 10-20 minutes per day, preferably after you have done either cardio or weights, while your muscles are still warm, as this decreases the risk of injury. Stretching makes sure that you can move more freely and easily and helps elongate the muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

Remember that when it comes to exercise more is not always best!

You want maximal results for minimal time. You also need to remember that some of this is experimental, and about finding what works best for you, since everyone is different and responds differently to different exercise programs.

Conclusion

The first step to successful fat loss is to set a goal. Your goal should follow the principles of SMART goal-setting. Once you have set your goal, then you need to look at your nutrition.

Your diet should be individualised for you, to ensure that you get the results that you want in the timeframe that you want them. Your diet should follow the principles of adequacy, balance, energy control, nutrient density, moderation, and variety.

The last piece of the fat loss puzzle is exercise. Your exercise program should follow the FITT and SOAP principles; and include resistance training (3-4 times weekly), cardio (predominantly in the form of high intensity sessions), and flexibility (to aid your joints and muscles).

As long as you are eating right for you for fat loss, doing weights 3-4 times per week, doing cardio 2-3 or more times per week for 12-30 minutes per day (depending on the intensity; the higher the intensity the shorter you do it for!), and allowing your body to recover (this is very important; if you do too much, then your body will not be able to recover properly and you will not get the results you want, since your body only adapts and gets results in the recovery time!), then you will successfully lose fat!

1-2-1 Fitness can help you start your journey to a leaner, fitter body.

Please contact me for further information.

3 Key Factors for Fat Loss – Part 2

Key #2:
Nutrition

When you look at your nutrition you should think "diet", as defined by a diet plan that can only be sustained for short periods of time (i.e. low calorie or low carbohydrate diets). When you think "diet", you should think lifestyle eating (i.e. your diet should be something that you can easily maintain all year round, with the only thing you change about it being the amount of calories consumed, based upon your body goal).

Your diet plan should incorporate 6 principles:

Adequacy: Your diet provides enough energy and nutrients to meet your needs.

Balance: Not over consuming any single type of food.

Energy Control: You need to know what your energy needs are (i.e. maintenance), and allow for that; to ensure that you get the nutrients that you require without going in excess of your required calories, use foods that have a high nutrient density.

Nutrient Density: Select foods that deliver the most nutrients for the least energy.

Moderation: Moderating portion sizes; and consuming foods that contain high fat and sugar in moderation.

Variety: Eating a variety of foods day-to-day.

Here are some tips on diet for fat loss:

Eat every 2-3 hours after waking. This helps keep the metabolism going throughout the day, as well as keeping insulin levels stable (you can see that 3 meals is simply not enough, even if they are in small portions).

Every meal should include quality lean protein (i.e. chicken breast, fish, tuna, salmon, lean beef, egg whites, etc.), and fibrous carbs (i.e. vegetables, green ones in particular). Complex carbohydrates (i.e. rice, oats, etc.), should be consumed mainly around your workouts.

Do not avoid fat (except saturated fat and trans fats). You need fat in your diet, as fat plays major roles in energy metabolism and other parts of your body. It is important to ensure that you consume your required amount of good fats (i.e. flaxseeds or flaxseed oil, fish oils, peanut butter, nuts - especially almonds and walnuts, hempseed oil, olive oil, etc.) each day.

Do not avoid carbs completely. You need a small amount of carbs each day for your body to burn fat effectively and to provide the energy requirements of your brain and central nervous system.

The only sugar needed on a regular basis is the natural sugar found in food; these are mostly found in fruit. Too much sugar plays havoc with insulin levels; you want these as stable as possible throughout the day. The best time to be having sugar is straight after a resistance workout, when the body is trying to replenish muscle glycogen stores. Therefore, make sure that you have a protein shake with some simple sugar (i.e. fruit smoothie with ice and protein powder is great here) as soon as possible after your resistance training, and then a proper meal (i.e. complex carbs, protein, fibrous carbs) about 60 minutes after your post-workout shake.

Consume adequate protein, to prevent muscle loss and maintain a relatively high thermic effect.

It has been proven that one or two servings of dairy per day help you lose more fat than if you avoid it altogether.

At a minimum your body requires 2 litres of water per day to cover its water needs. For those with higher energy outputs, good recommendation is to drink 4 litres of water per day. This will help keep your system clean.

Do not drink black tea or coffee. Try drinking green tea instead; it helps with thermogenesis, and is especially good if you take it one hour before doing cardio first thing in the morning.

Do not drink alcohol. Alcohol has no nutritional value and is full of calories.

Minimize salt addition to food. Instead, flavour meals with herbs and spices (i.e. ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, chilli powder, and garlic all help thermogenesis).

Eat most food as 'natural' as possible. This means fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, grains, etc. Try not to eat too much packaged food, as it is full of extra calories and sugar.


Most importantly, remember that it is OK to cheat every now and then. Actually the body needs cheat meals. By throwing all the guidelines just mentioned out of the way and having a day where you eat what you want it helps not only your mind, but also in preventing your body from going into starvation mode (i.e. where the body battles you to hold onto the fat as much as it can). If you prefer not to 'cheat', then add in 1-2 higher calorie days (i.e. go up to just above maintenance, or bulking, or even slightly higher), with the extra calories coming from quality complex carbs.

Supplements should not be a big deal, as most fat loss can be done through simply eating the right food at the right time; and unless everything that you are doing is already done to ensure the maximum results in the timeframe that you want to achieve it in, and then supplementation should not be the focus. However, there are a few supplements that I think are important to any regime.

Multivitamin: Although you should be eating as much of a variety of food as possible, in order to meet the RDI/AI of most nutrients from actual food.

Creatine Monohydrate: Creatine helps the body to recover faster, as well as indirectly aiding in increasing strength levels and lean body mass.

Flaxseed/Fish Oil: This is the good fats. Flaxseed or Hempseed oil is great with breakfast or in protein shakes.

Protein Powder: This just helps when you are struggling to fit a meal in, or after the gym, and to make sure that you get enough protein in.
Apart from these four 'staple' supplements, you do not need much else. You especially do not need fat-burners or thermogenics; they are a waste of time unless you are already lean and are looking for that 'extra edge' to lose the extra % BF (i.e. like a fitness competitor, etc.)

The 1-2-1 Fitness Diet is available at a very competitive rate. We will calculate your daily nutrient requirements for you, help you with meal plans and assist you all the way until you reach your goal.

Please contact me if you would like more information regarding the 1-2-1 Fitness Diet.


Part 3 of this article will be coming soon....

3 Key Factors for Fat Loss – Part 1

Many people have the desire to lose weight. More specifically, many people desire to lose body fat . However, most of those people do not know how to go about it. They see conflicting messages everywhere, from one fad diet to another, one person telling them one thing about training and someone else telling them differently.

Those who are successful at fat loss know their body well and how it responds to different aspects of nutrition and training manipulation. Those who do not know look to those who are successful and try to emulate their methods. What everyone needs to remember is that everything is individual. What works for one person may not work for another.

However, there are three keys to fat loss that apply to everyone:

1. Goal Setting
2. Nutrition
3. Exercise

Each key is important, and without one of those keys, whilst one may lose weight/bodyfat for a time, they are less likely to keep that weight/bodyfat off.

This article is going to discuss the first key, and make suggestions on how to utilize them effectively for fat loss.


Key #1:
Goal Setting

The first thing that you need to do, before you look at diet and exercise, is to set goals. Look at where you are now, and what you want to be. Your end goal can be whatever you want, because as long as you give yourself a realistic timeframe to achieve it in, you can achieve anything that you want!

Once you have set your long-term goal, then you need to set smaller goals - these are your short-term goals that will help you get to your long-term goal. Goals made should be SMART goals.

Specific: You must be specific in what your goals is - i.e. I want to lose 4% bodyfat in 8 weeks.

Measurable: You must be able to measure your progress towards achieving your goal - i.e. %bodyfat can be measured doing a 6-8 skinfold body composition test every week.

Adjustable: Your goals must be able to be adjusted if for whatever reason something happens and they no longer become realistic for the period that you have set yourself.

Realistic: Your goals must be realistic - i.e. losing 4% bodyfat in 8 weeks is realistic; losing 4% bodyfat in 2 weeks is NOT.

Time-Based: You must set a time frame over which you want to achieve your goal; have specific start and finish dates- i.e. I want to lose 4% bodyfat in the period 13 July to 6 September.


Part 2 (Nutrition) will be posted soon, so keep your eyes peeled for it....

Using a Foam Roller ? You should be !

A decade ago, strength coaches and athletic trainers would have looked quizzically at a 36-inch long cylindrical piece of foam and wondered, "What is that for?" Today, nearly every athletic training room and most strength and conditioning facilities contain an array of foam rollers of different lengths and consistencies.

What happened to bring foam rollers into prominence? The change has been in our attitude toward massage therapy. We have been slowly moving away from an injury care mode of isokinetics and electronics to more European-inspired processes that focus on hands-on soft tissue care. We now realize that techniques like massage, Muscle Activation (MAT), and Active Release Therapy (ART) can work wonders for sore or injured athlete.

In addition, the understanding at the elite athlete level is: If you want to stay healthy, get a good manual therapist in your corner. Thus, athletes at all levels are starting to ask for some form of soft tissue care.

What does all this have to do with foam rollers? As coaches and athletic trainers watched elite-level athletes experience success from various soft tissue techniques, the obvious question arose: How can I make massage available to large groups of athletes at a reasonable cost? Enter the foam roller.

National Academy of Sports Medicine President Michael Clark, DPT, MS, PT, NASM-PES, is credited by many-this author included-with exposing the sports medicine community to the foam roller. In one of Clarke's early manuals, he included a few photos of self-myofascial release using a foam roller. The technique illustrated was simple and self-explanatory: Get a foam roller and use your bodyweight to apply pressure to sore spots.

Since then, many of us have discovered more uses for foam rollers, including injury prevention and performance enhancement. We've also moved away from the accupressure concept and now use them more for self-massage. And we've come up with specific protocols for different situations.

Essentially, foam rollers are the poor man's massage therapist. They provide soft tissue work to the masses in any setting. But you need to know their nuances to get the most out of them.


What, How & When

A foam roller is simply a cylindrical piece of extruded hard-celled foam. Think swimming pool noodles, but a little more dense and larger in diameter. They usually come in one-foot or three-foot lengths. I find the three-foot model works better, but it obviously takes up more space.

They are also now available in a number of densities from relatively soft foam (slightly harder than a pool noodle), to newer high-density rollers that feel much more solid. The denser the athlete, the more dense the roller should be. Large, heavily-muscled athletes will do better with a very high density roller whereas a smaller, younger athlete should begin with a less dense product.

The application techniques are simple. Clarke's initial recommendation was based on an accupressure concept, in which pressure is placed on specific surfaces of the body. Athletes were instructed to use the roller to apply pressure to sensitive areas in their muscles-sometimes called trigger points, knots, or areas of increased muscle density. The idea was to allow athletes to apply pressure to injury-prone areas themselves.

The use of foam rollers has progressed in many circles from an accupressure approach to self-massage, which I've found to be more effective. The roller is now usually used to apply longer more sweeping strokes to the long muscle groups like the calves, adductors, and quadriceps, and small directed force to areas like the TFL, hip rotators, and glute medius.

Athletes are instructed to use the roller to search for tender areas or trigger points and to roll these areas to decrease density and over-activity of the muscle. With a little direction on where to look, most athletes easily find the tender spots on their own. However, they may need some instruction on the positioning of the roller, such as parallel, perpendicular, or 45 degrees, depending on the muscle.

The feel of the roller and intensity of the self-massage should be properly geared to the age, comfort, and fitness level of the athlete. This is one of the plusses of having the athlete roll themselves-they can control the intensity with their own body weight.

There is no universal agreement on when to roll, how often to roll, or how long to roll, but generally, techniques are used both before and after a workout. Foam rolling prior to a workout can help decrease muscle density and promote a better warmup. Rolling after a workout may help muscles recover from strenuous exercise.

My preference is to have athletes use the rollers before every workout. We also use them after a workout if athletes are sore.

One of the nice things about using the foam roller is that it can be done on a daily basis. In fact, in their book, The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, Clair Davies and Amber Davies recommend trigger point work up to 12 times a day in situations of acute pain.

How long an athlete rolls is also determined on a case-by-case basis. I usually allow five to 10 minutes for soft tissue activation work at the beginning of the session prior to warmup. If my athletes roll after their workout, it is done for the same length of time.


Some Specifics

While the foam roller can be used on almost any area of the body, I have found it works best on the lower extremities. There is not as much dense tissue in the upper body and our athletes are not prone to the same frequency of upper body strains as lower. The hamstrings and hip flexors seem to experience the most muscle strains, so we concentrate on those areas.

Here are some protocols I use:

Gluteus max and hip rotators: The athlete sits on the roller with a slight tilt and moves from the iliac crest to the hip joint to address the glute max. To address the hip rotators, the affected leg is crossed to place the hip rotator group in an elongated position. As a general rule of thumb, 10 slow rolls are done in each position (although there are no hard and fast rules for reps). Often athletes are simply encouraged to roll until the pain disappears.

TFL and Gluteus Medius: The tensor fasciae latae and gluteus medius, though small in size, are significant factors in anterior knee pain. To address the TFL, the athlete begins with the body prone and the edge of the roller placed over the TFL, just below the iliac crest

After working the TFL, the athlete turns 90 degrees to a side position (see Figure Three on page XX) and rolls from the hip joint to the iliac crest to address the gluteus medius.

Adductors: The adductors are probably the most neglected area of the lower body. A great deal of time and energy is focused on the quadriceps and hamstring groups and very little attention is paid to the adductors. There are two methods to roll the adductors. The first is a floor-based technique that works well for beginners. The user abducts the leg over the roller and places the roller at about a 60-degree angle to the leg. The rolling action begins just above the knee in the area of the vastus medialis and pes anserine, and should be done in three portions. To start, 10 short rolls are done covering about one third the length of the femur. Next, the roller is moved to the mid-point of the adductor group and again rolled 10 times in the middle third of the muscle. Last, the roller is positioned high into the groin almost to the pubic symphysis for a final set of 10 rolls.

The second technique for the adductors should be used after the athlete is comfortable with the first one. This exercise requires the athlete to sit on a training room table or the top of a plyometric box, which allows him or her to shift significantly more weight onto the roller and work deeper into the large adductor triangle. The athlete then performs the same rolling movements mentioned above.

Although I primarily use the rollers for athletes' legs, they can also be used with upper extremities. The same techniques can be used for pecs, lats, and rotator cuffs, although with a much smaller amplitude-making the movements closer to accupressure.


Assessing Effectiveness

Foam rolling is hard work that can even border on being painful. Good massage work, and correspondingly good self-massage work, may be uncomfortable, much like stretching. Therefore, it is important that athletes learn to distinguish between a moderate level of discomfort related to working a trigger point and a discomfort that can lead to injury.

When an athlete has completed foam rolling, he or she should feel better, not worse. And the rollers should never cause bruising. Ask the athlete how his or her muscles feel after each session to assess if the techniques are working.

I also judge whether foam rolling is working by monitoring compliance. If I don't have to tell athletes to get out the foam roller before a workout, I know the techniques are working. Most do it without prompting as they see the benefits.


Rolling vs. Massage

The question often arises: "Which is better, massage therapy or a foam roller?" To me the answer is obvious: Hands-on work is better than foam. Hands are directly connected to the brain and can feel. A foam roller cannot feel. If cost was not an issue I would have a team of massage therapists on call for my athletes at all times.

However, having an abundance of massage therapists on staff is not in most of our budgets. Therein lies the beauty of the foam rollers: They provide unlimited self-massage for around £20. Sounds like a solution to me.

Antioxidants: Twenty Of The Best Health-Boosting Foods

The US Department of Agriculture recently presented a Top 20 list, which provides a surprisingly helpful guide for picking out some of the healthiest foods the next time you go to the supermarket. (I say 'surprisingly' because these are the same people that brought us that famous food pyramid that was built on refined flour.)


Measuring up
Last month, a team of USDA nutritionists published a study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The title: 'Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States.'

Snappy title. But perhaps a more descriptive title would be 'Top 20 antioxidant-rich foods.'

The USDA nutritionists examined more than 100 different kinds of fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, cereals and other foods. Using an analysis method called the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), they were able to detect the lipid soluble (lipophilic) and water soluble (hydrophilic) antioxidant capacities of the food samples.

They also singled out certain foods to test the impact from two different processing methods: cooking and peeling.

Starting at the bottom...

The results weren't altogether surprising: Fruits, vegetables and beans claimed nearly all the spots in the Top 20. We'll start with the lower ten, counting backwards:

20. Gala apples
19. Plums
18. Black beans (dried)
17. Russet potatoes (cooked)
16. Black plums
15. Sweet cherries
14. Pecans
13. Granny Smith apples
12. Red delicious apples
11. Strawberries

If there's a surprise here, it's that strawberries - known for their high antioxidant content - just missed the top ten.

Cream of the crop....

When I began reading the USDA study, I tried to guess the number one antioxidant food before looking at the list. I guessed 'blueberries,' and I was close, but not quite on the money. Here's the Top 10:

10. Raspberries
9. Prunes
8. Blackberries
7. Artichokes (cooked)
6. Cranberries
5. Blueberries (cultivated)
4. Pinto beans
3. Red kidney beans
2. Blueberries (wild)

And the number one antioxidant-rich food:

1. Small red beans (dried)

Small red beans! Who knew? The small red bean looks like a kidney bean - same colour and shape - except that it's (you guessed it) smaller. It's sometimes identified as a Mexican red bean, but it's grown in Washington, Idaho, and Alberta, Canada.


To cook, or not to cook...
The USDA list is very useful, but it's important to remember that the best way to get your antioxidants is not to eat heaping bowls of dried small red beans each day, but rather to eat a wide variety of antioxidant-rich foods.

That way you'll also get other useful nutrients, such as ellagitannin; a substance that has been shown to help prevent the growth of cancerous cells and is found in raspberries and strawberries. And when you eat pecans you'll add copper and potassium to your diet.

Pinto and kidney beans are good sources of folate (sometimes called vitamin B-9), which may help lower homocysteine levels. And blueberries deliver a chemical called anthocyanis that has been shown to help protect brain cells.

As you might imagine, most antioxidant foods lose some of their antioxidant capacities in processing. (The most notable exception is the tomato; the antioxidant lycopene is enhanced by cooking.) Ronald L. Prior (one of the study co-authors) told HealthDayNews that 'fresh' is the unsurprising best choice over frozen, cooked or otherwise processed.

So while blueberry pie may seem like a somewhat healthy treat, it can't begin to compare with a bowl of blueberries, picked fresh from the meadow.

The Basics Of Bulking And Adding Lean Mass

While most of us are always trying to lose weight, there are some people who are interested in just bulking up; which in simple terms means eating more and training heavier in order to gain muscle weight.

There could be many reasons for this such as, a person has been dieting for a long period of time and wishes to increase size and muscle tone.

Or, a sports person that includes a vast amount of cardiovascular exercise into their routine and has suffered muscle atrophy.

Like everything, there is a right way and a wrong way to do things. I see many people who in an attempt to gain weight just start eating everything in sight, and thus, either overtax their digestive systems, thus not being able to eat several times a day, and/or simply start gaining too much body fat, as the case is for those without a hardgainer metabolism.

In order to gain quality weight, the nutrients taken in have to be of a high quality nature. While some hardgainers have such a fast metabolism that they could benefit from also adding cheat meals to their nutrition plan, the best way to gain weight is through a planned and controlled increase in macronutrient intake. By ensuring that the quality of the nutrients is high (such as low glycemic index carbohydrates, low fat proteins and high quality fats) muscle weight gain is optimized and fat weight is minimized.

However, in order for a bulk up phase to be effective, it needs to be executed properly. Otherwise, you end up gaining way too much body fat, which at the end of the day, whether you just want to look good for the beach over the summer or participate at a bodybuilding competition, you will need to lose anyways. In this bulk up/weight gain guide I'll teach you the bulking up rules to gaining some solid muscle weight while minimizing fat gains.


When To Bulk Up
First of all, bulking up is not about eating everything in sight and trying to lift as heavy as possible hoping that all of the increased weight gain will come in the form of muscle. This old school strategy will only lead to excessive fat gain. The best time, in my opinion, to bulk up is after you have been dieting for a long period of time. At this time your body will act like a sponge and absorb all of the nutrients that you give it at peak efficiency in response to the fact that it has not been getting such an influx of nutrients for a while. Also, if you are above 10% body fat, in which case you cannot see your abs, then you need to concentrate on losing body fat up until the point (at the very least) where you can see the top two rows of abs (when you have a four pack). Your bulk up plan will work even better, however, if you get down to where you can easily see your full abdominal wall (which is around 6-7% body fat for most people) as when you increase calories in this state, your body will be more primed to gain most of the weight in the form of muscle mass in response to the low calorie period that came before it.


Bulking Up Basics
Having said that, know that while most of the weight that you will gain will be in the form of muscle, some of it will be in the form of fat no matter how good your diet is. The reason for that is the fact that on a state of caloric surplus (when you feed your body more calories than what is burned) some of those calories are stored as body fat. However, by bulking up on good foods, by training hard and by starting from a low percentage of body fat, you will minimize the fat gain and maximize the muscle mass gain.

Blast: Metabolic Interval Training

You know what's really cool about powerlifters and strongman competitors? Their necks are wider than their heads. You just gotta love that.

But I'm talking about something else cool about them: They do what works. No bullshit, no endless study-flinging — they just try stuff. If it works, they keep it. If it doesn't, they dump it. It's like survival of the fittest for training methodologies.

That's why I was intrigued when I heard about Chad Coy, a dude who's both a powerlifting champ, a strongman athlete, and a trainer and gym owner. When guys like Chad say something works, they mean it. They've tested it in the real world, and they wouldn't use it if it didn't get them fast results.

This is Chad's method for stripping body fat off in record time. He calls it "Blast." I just call it one hard-ass workout.


Beg, Borrow, and Steal to Get Ripped Fast
Metabolic interval training, or "Blast" as I call my version of it, is an exercise protocol that utilizes the latest science of endocrinology and performance training to totally tax the body's major energy systems. The main focus of Blast is to maximize the use of stored adipose tissue (fat) as a fuel source, both during and after exercise.

Blast is a "beg, borrow, and steal" type of training, taking ideas from every aspect of exercise to make a superior training session that incinerates fat at an incredible rate. In a given session, you could experience a combination of standard resistance training, calisthenics, body-weight training, gymnastics, reactive training — that's plyos for you old-schoolers — Olympic movements, kettlebell training, and strongman events in one integrated interval training session.

These sessions are fast paced, involving intervals of hard work and short rest periods to produce maximum fat loss in the shortest period of time. And don't just think gymrats are the only ones who thinks this works — it's backed up by science.

In a 2008 study presented in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, metabolic interval-type training had a ten-fold greater fat loss when compared to either aerobic exercise or weight training individually. Numerous other studies found in The Journal of Medicine and Science in Sport, The European Journal of Physiology, The Journal of Sports Nutrition, and The European Journal of Applied Physiology over the last eight years have supported this.

Some research showed that metabolic interval training actually had as much as a 50 percent increase in the use of fat as a fuel source during exercise. One research study showed that this type of training produced EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) that lasted 16 to 48 hours.

As a personal trainer and performance coach, I have to produce results fast or I'll find myself without a job. As an athlete myself, I've trained about every way known to man in the last 30 years, but I'm always looking for more productive ways of doing things. After reading the research, I began working on how to incorporate this type of training into what we do at my gym.

Over the last twelve months I've been working on the Blast training protocols with all my clients: professional and college athletes, bodybuilders, strongmen, MMA fighters, police officers, firefighters, powerlifters, and MILF's (Moms in Love with Fitness — get your mind out of the gutter). Through the use of Polar heart rate monitors and the BodyBugg by APEX, we found that the average client burned 11kcal per minute during exercise and had an elevated metabolism post exercise.

I haven't seen the 16 to 48 hours of EPOCH that some of the science has reported, but my clients have maintained a metabolic "afterburn" of four hours on the average.

One thing that I didn't expect was that this type of training helps aid recovery. Like "feeder" sets, Blast does a great job of flushing out the metabolic garbage from muscles by pumping tons of blood through them. GPP (general physical preparedness) is most assuredly improved by doing metabolic interval training.

Enough science. Time to show you how to do it!

You can work this in as a stand-alone session or build it into your body part splits. I'll give you some loose guidelines of how we do it for a stand-alone session.

Work and Rest
We start with a split of 30 seconds of work to 20 seconds of rest. We'll work up to 45 seconds of work and as little rest as 15 seconds.

Week 1: 30 seconds work / 20 seconds rest / 120 seconds between rounds
Week 2: 35 seconds work / 15 seconds rest / 110 seconds between rounds
Week 3: 40 seconds work / 20 seconds rest / 100 seconds between rounds
Week 4: 45 seconds work / 15 seconds rest / 90 seconds between rounds

Exercise Selection and Load
The bigger the movement the better, but the load doesn't need to be super high. I personally prefer compound movements across as many joints as possible and a load that allows 15 or more reps to be completed in the interval.

Stations and Rounds
Twelve stations and three rounds is what seems to work best. Much more than that and my clients — regardless of their conditioning — seem to just shut down. Our typical session lasts about 45 minutes.

Breaks Between Rounds
We range between 90 and 120 seconds of rest between rounds. That's generally enough time to wipe your face off and get a sip of water.

Note: The rest between rounds can be adjusted depending on condition of those in a training session. Some of our high school teams have gone up to 60 seconds work and 15 seconds rest.

Frequency
Training sessions per week should be limited to no more than four. Most of my clients lift weights two times per week and then add one to two Blast sessions.

Effort
How much effort should you put into each set and every round? I guess that depends on what you want to get out of the training? More effort = better results!

A "Regular Gym" Example
At my facility we have all kinds of specialized equipment. Your gym probably doesn't. Sorry about that. But here's a session example you can do with common equipment that'll leave you sucking gas and dripping sweat.

1. Body weight squats
2. Pulldown with reverse grip
3. Push-up
4. Dumbbell high pulls
5. Stationary speed skaters
6. Dumbbell bent-over rows
7. Jump dip. You'll need something to absorb your jump, such as an aerobic step.
8. Hanging leg raise (hold chin bar)
9. Lunge walk while holding plate locked out over your head
10. Ab roll-out
11. Dumbbell stiff-leg deadlifts
12. Standing broad jumps

Bonus Round
Fifteen to twenty minutes of good old low- to moderate-intensity cardio. The calories burned during this time period are almost exclusively fat because of the hormonal cascade you set up during the metabolic interval training.

Same Session Blast
Like the idea but aren't super keen on doing an entire separate session? Then just toss it in at the end of your workout.

Start out with no more than three exercises and three rounds at the end of your main training session. I've done the same body parts that I just trained, and I've just worked feeder sets for what I hit the day or two before. Both ways produce great results.

Give this session a shot and let me know what you think!

The Football Strength, Speed and Endurance Program

With the current football season drawing to a close, most players will do very little exercise during the break until the dreaded pre-season training sessions take place.

Some may go for a run a couple of times a week and others may opt for a kick-around with their mates.

Why not take advantage of the break and get yourself stronger, quicker and fitter.

Get the upper-hand on your competitors and start next season at the top of your game.

During the break, 1-2-1 Fitness will be offering routines specifically designed to increase your strength, speed and endurance.

These are all vital components to make you a better player.

1-2-1 Fitness is also offering to train 2 people for the price of 1, so why not train with a friend / team mate and split the costs?

If you want to start next season fitter than the rest, then contact me for further details.

Tea Benefits. Not drinking it ? You should be !

Energy drinks, fat burners, green tea capsules, why not just go to the source? It's convenient and cheaper! Green tea offers a ton of health benefits including disease-fighting antioxidants, assists in burning fat, and even protects your pearly whites, keeping you energized and looking your best.

More Tea, Please
The next time you're in line at Starbucks you may want to think about ordering tea instead of your usual coffee. With only 1/3 the amount of caffeine it may not be enough to perk up the avid coffee drinker, but tea offers numerous health benefits that will keep you going in the long run.

Tea has been popular for thousands of years all over the world. It is the second most consumed beverage behind water. Teas such as black, green, white, and oolong are made from the leaves of the evergreen tree camellia sinensis, which contains polyphenol antioxidants.

Antioxidants are important in a person's diet, because they rid the body of molecules called free radicals, which are a by-product of cellular activity, pollution, and the natural aging process.

Free radicals are destructive within the body, because they harm DNA molecules and pave the way for illness and disease. High amounts of antioxidants can be found in fruits and vegetables and other plant based foods such as the dried leaves used to make brewed tea.


Green Tea Benefits
One of the most studied teas for its amazing health benefits is green tea. Green tea is rich in catechin polyphenols, such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is an antioxidant with cancer fighting powers.

Studies have shown it can aid in protection against various forms of cancer including esophageal, gastric, skin, ovarian, lung, and colon cancer. Studies have also shown that drinking 2-3 cups per day can lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and decrease the risk of heart attack.

Not only does green tea contain immune boosting antioxidants, but it can also protect your teeth. Tea has bacteria killing properties to fight plaque, gum disease, and bad breath. Tea contains fluoride, which can protect against cavities.

Green tea has gotten a couple of knocks for it's fluoride content, despite the positive attributes, since too much fluoride can be bad for you. It is recommended that a person receive no more than 10/mg of fluoride per day. Loose leaf green tea only contains about 0.3 mg of fluoride, so unless you're drinking about 30 cups per day, don't worry.

Studies suggest that the polyphenols in green tea can help reduce and prevent rheumatoid arthritis. One study found that regular tea drinkers reported to have stronger bones and were less likely to develop arthritis. Those who drank tea regularly for 10 years or more had higher bone mineral density in their spines than non-tea drinkers.


Conclusion
Green tea is currently gaining more popularity due to studies that suggest it aids in weight loss. The combination of EGCG and caffeine in green tea work together to stimulate thermogenesis, heat production in the body. It increases fat oxidation and increases energy expenditure.

Although EGCG is capable of giving metabolism a boost, drinking a cup or two of green tea is not a weight loss remedy. A Japanese study shows that 5 cups of green tea per day only burns about 70 calories through thermogenesis. Drink your tea for all the health benefits, but keep in mind that you must always exercise and eat a well balanced diet for weight management.

There are tons of teas to choose from, but high quality loose leaf teas are the best. Brew your tea for 3-5 minutes to bring out the antioxidants. Add honey, milk, lemon or sugar to sweeten. Relax, sip, and enjoy.

Interval Training and High-Intensity Weight Training for women reducing body-fat levels

For years, marathon cardio sessions were 'mandatory' for women who wanted to lower their body fat. These sessions were long and boring... nothing like 2 hours on a recumbent bike!

No one seemed to notice that athletes who trained using short duration, intense workouts (such as sprinters) were leaner and more muscular than athletes who did much higher volumes of cardio (long distance runners).


Part 1: Interval Training
Research now shows us that higher intensity training, such as interval training, can deliver the same results in much less time than traditional longer duration cardio sessions.

Many studies prove the effectiveness of high intensity training:

The first major study was conducted in 1985. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition determined that high-intensity training increases metabolism for up to 24 hours after training.

With lower intensity training (steady-state cardio) metabolism returned to normal shortly after the exercises session ended. (It is now an accepted fact that the rate at which you burn fat depends more on how many calories you burn in the hours following your workout as opposed to the number of calories you burn during your workout).

As recently as December 2006, researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada found that two weeks of interval training done on alternate days can increase metabolism by 36% in women.

"Short term intense interval training is highly effective in altering the ratio of lean body mass to fat without compromising muscle size." -Dr. Patrick O'Shea, (Quantum Strength and Power Training, Gaining the Competitive Edge).


What Is Interval Training?
Interval training is characterized by short, intense speed/effort increases during your cardio session, followed by longer duration 'recovery' period in which you return to your usual pace on whatever piece of cardio equipment you are using.

For example, let's say you normally run at 5.0 on the treadmill for 40 minutes. To introduce intervals into your session, you would (once you are warmed up) sprint for 20-30 second 'intervals' (at a higher speed than your usual 5.0), then reduce the speed back to 5.0 (or slightly lower) for 2-3 minutes, depending on your conditioning. This would be repeated for half of your normal cardio time (20 minutes).

That's all there is to it… It seems simple but if you've never tried it, be prepared for an extremely intense workout. Research shows that proper interval training can get you the same results in half the time of steady-state/lower intensity cardio.

This can be done on any piece of cardio equipment. The spin bike is excellent for intervals because of the ease at which you can control the speed/tension.

You should be out of breath at the end of each interval segment. If you can talk comfortably, you are not pushing yourself hard enough!

Just remember to take it easy while you are a beginner.

As your conditioning improves, you can increase intensity by:
1. Increasing the length of the interval segment.
2. Decreasing the 'recovery' time (some of my competitors sprint on a track for 30 seconds and 'recover' for only 1 minute).

Training at this intensity is only for women who are in superior cardiovascular condition. The worse thing you can do is to rush the process and burn out. I've seen this happen far too many times!


Part 2: High-Intensity Weight Training
Look in many exercise magazines for women and you will see workouts that call for 2 or 3 sets of 15 reps per set. A few sets and fifteen reps may be good for someone trying to get or stay in shape, but for someone trying to lose body fat and keep as much muscle as possible; it is not the most efficient way to train.


What Is High-Intensity Resistance Training?
Studies show that higher intensity weight training (lifting heavier weights in the 8-10 rep range) is more effective at burning calories and keeping metabolism elevated, in the hours following your workout, than higher rep training.

The key to fat loss is this continued elevation in metabolism, which continues for 16-24 hours after a high intensity workout. Lower intensity/high rep training and low intensity cardio do not keep your metabolism elevated in the hours following a workout. With lower intensity forms of training, your metabolic rate returns to normal shortly after the workout is finished.

This dispels the myth that high repetition training is the best way of getting 'cut'.

When I talk about high intensity weight training, I'm not just talking about lifting heavy weights. I'm talking about weight training in a manner that:
1. Burns the maximum amount of calories.
2. Keeps all of your hard earned muscle.

These are the two most important goals.

The best way to accomplish both of these goals is to:
1. Use weights that only allow about 8 - 10 repetitions (for most sets - but there are some higher rep exercises such as jump squats which are great for maintaining muscle size and send your heart rate through the roof).
2. Choose multi-joint exercises. These are exercises that require the use of many muscles to execute, such as plyometric pushups or walking lunges with bicep curls.
3. Group the exercises together in a circuit type fashion with minimal rest between sets - repeat these circuits multiple times. (10 minutes to 45 minutes depending on your conditioning).

This is a very demanding way to train. The heavy weights will maintain your muscle size while the choice of exercise and the circuit format keeps your heart rate high. The calorie burn is tremendous.

If you are not used to this type of training, take it easy at first. High-intensity training places great demands on your body. Proper form is very important because you will become exhausted while performing these exercises and it's easy to get sloppy and lose focus.


Conclusion
The combination of interval training and high-intensity weight training is the most effective way to decrease your body fat percentage. When performing intervals for the first time, decrease the time you normally perform cardio by 50%. Work hard and as your conditioning improves, increase the length of your cardio (interval) sessions.

The same goes for your resistance training. Reduce your normal workout time by 50% if this is your first time trying this type of circuit training. As your body becomes more conditioned, you can increase the length of your workouts. You will actually do more 'work' in these shortened sessions than you did in your longer ones.

Over-indulged at Easter ?

The Top 10 Reasons To Use FULL BODY Workouts

Choosing the appropriate muscle-building workout program is important if you are to maximize the time you spend in the gym and get clear body changing results. Some people are too quick to hop onto the first program they find without really thinking through what they are looking for in a weight lifting program.

Each type of program has its own pros and cons so getting straight in your mind what each one has to offer will make the decision of which program is right for you quite clear. The following are the top ten benefits to using full body workouts.


1. Lower Time Commitment:
The first benefit to using full body workout programs is that there is a much lower time requirement to perform them. If you're someone who has something on the go every night of the week, it can be hard to fit in a four-day-a-week gym program.

Since full body workouts can be performed over the course of just two or three days a week, this allows more time for other obligations in your life.

Depending on how you structure the full body workout program you may find they do take slightly longer in the gym to complete, but when you consider the overall weekly time commitment they require, you'll still end up much further ahead than with other programs such as the upper/lower body split.


2. Increased Muscular Recovery Rates:
The second benefit of full body workouts is the increased muscular recovery rates. One main reason why some people do not get progress on their workout program is simply because they aren't recovering from session to session.

Some people cannot handle back-to-back workouts even though they aren't working the same muscle part, so for those individuals, full body workouts are perfect. You will get at least one day off between each full body workout, so they will give your muscles maximum recovery time.


3. Greater Allowance For Additional Sports Or Activities:
Third, since full body workouts only call for you to be in the gym two to three times a week as already mentioned, this also frees more time for other activities.

If you're currently also doing cardio training either for health purposes or because you want to run a 5 or 10 km, using a full body approach will give you four or five days of the week in which you can complete those activities.

Note that you will still have to be mindful of your recovery rates because exercise is still exercise and is stressful on the body, but at least you won't be forced into doing double-day sessions as you would if you were on a higher frequency lifting schedule.


4. Larger Weekly Testosterone Boosts:
When it comes to really putting on lean muscle mass, the amount of testosterone you have flowing through your body is really going to make a significant difference. The higher the levels of testosterone you have in your body, the faster you're going to be able to build muscle-mass tissue.

When it comes to influencing testosterone release through your resistance training workouts, exercises that utilise full body movements and work as many muscle fibres as possible are going to release the greatest amount of testosterone.

Since you will be making good use of compound exercises in a full body workout in order to work every muscle group thoroughly, this fact makes them ideal for accomplishing this goal. Leg exercises especially are known for this, and in a full body workout you will have at least one leg exercise per workout.


5. Easier Manipulation:
In order to prevent training plateaus, it's important that you're constantly manipulating something about your workout program. This could be the exercises you're performing, the total number of reps you are using, the angle in which you're executing the lift, and so on.

When you're on a split body workout, you're going to be using more total exercises for each workout, making it slightly more difficult to throw in new exercises to prevent the plateau.

When you're using fully body workouts on the other hand, each muscle group is only going to get one or two exercises total, therefore you can easily swap things around either from full body workout to full body workout, or from month to month.

Additionally, if you happen to become injured in a particular muscle group, with a full body workout it tends to be easier to omit the exercise(s) that aggravate the injury and replace it with others that don't.

With a split body workout though, if one major muscle group gets injured that could throw off an entire day's workout, so that will definitely put a large kink in your program plan.


6. Decreased CNS Fatigue:
Sixth on the list of advantages of full body workouts is the lower level of central nervous system stress on a week to week basis. Whenever you lift a weight, a stress is placed on the CNS. It doesn't matter if it's a biceps curl or a squat, your CNS will be stimulated.

When you're stimulating the CNS day after day after day, eventually it too begins to fatigue and the overall amount you're able to lift on a daily basis really takes a hit.

The only way to prevent this from happening is to give the CNS a complete break from training, which is accomplished quite thoroughly on full body workouts.

That day in between sessions really goes a long way towards allowing better CNS recovery, so if you're beginning to feel fatigued all the time no matter what you do (short of taking consecutive days off), this might be an indication that you should be switching to a full body workout program instead.


7. Ideal For Home Workouts:
If you're someone who is doing their workouts at home, full body workouts make for a really good option. Often equipment choices will be limited when doing home workouts, so full body workout fit nicely since they require fewer different lifts total, making it easier to complete them just with a set of dumbbells.

Dumbbells can be used to perform walking lunges, deadlifts, lying chest presses, shoulder presses, bent over rows, lateral raises, biceps curls, and overhead triceps extensions, which, when done in combination together, will make up a complete full body workout.


8. Simple Scheduling:
If you're someone who finds life crowding out your workouts on a regular basis, if you're on an upper/lower split or another type of divided workout set-up, this can get to be quite the nuisance.

You must then make the decision of whether you'll perform the workout that was missed on the next workout opportunity, or if you'll just skip that workout entirely and go on to the next. If you repeat the lost workout you're going to be behind in your overall program plan, but if you skip it, then those muscles didn't get worked as they should.

It's quite the predicament to be in and can mess up what would otherwise be a sound plan. With full body workouts though, if you miss a workout, you simply wait until the next opportunity and you'll still be hitting the full body once again.

What's also great is that at most you'll be doing three workouts a week, even if you do miss a day; if you can make it to the gym the next day you won't throw off your weekly schedule, because you will always have some point in the week where you have two consecutive days off.

For this reason, full body workouts are the most practical approach for those who have irregular schedules.


9. Ideal For Fat Loss:
If you're looking for fat loss, then the perfect choice here is also full body workouts. When you're on a fat loss diet you're taking in fewer calories than the body would ideally like, which means a lower level of recovery reserves.

Despite this fact, you still must be stimulating the muscle tissues at least twice per week in order to prevent fat loss on a diet, so cutting back on workouts entirely is not going to be an option.

Full body workouts make for the ideal fat loss workout set-up because they will get you working each muscle group at least twice a week, but won't ask too much from the body in terms of recovery.
This is an important combination because the risk of muscle mass loss on a diet is high for either not working out enough or working out too much, so the two-day-a-week full body workout program is the right compromise between both these issues.


10. Lower Levels Of Boredom:
Finally, the last benefit to full body workouts is lower levels of boredom. The more often you repeat the same activity over and over again the greater the chances that you will find boredom settling in. Since full body workouts require lower levels of frequency, they already have an advantage.

Secondly, since there are so many different ways you can set up and design full body workouts, when you do become bored, it won't take much effort on your part to renew your interest in the program.


Conclusion
So, be sure you give full body workouts a fair consideration. Many people overlook them for what appear to be 'fancier' splits, which are less effective. When done properly, full body workouts can be used to build maximum amounts of muscle regardless of what your current fitness level happens to be.

Contact me if you require assistance creating your own full-body workout.

14 Reasons You Shouldn’t Ignore – Full Squat Benefits !

There seems to be much confusion amongst trainers and trainees as to whether squats should be performed all the way down or just half way.

In most gyms today, a common instruction during squats, deadlifts, and lunges (as taught by many personal training organizations) is not to allow the knees to travel beyond the toes. Doing so will ultimately cause the destruction of your knees!

I do not agree. There are certain instances where partial range of motion (ROM) is indicated, but for the most part, I teach people the full squat for the following reasons.


Full Squat Benefits

1. It is the most primitive movement pattern known to man; our ancestors used to perform many daily functions (i.e. harvesting, gathering, hunting, cooking, eating, etc.) in a full squat position.

2. Also, in case anyone hasn't noticed, we spend 40 weeks in the fetal position (which is basically a full squat) prior to entering this world - do we come out with bad knees?

3. We should strive to train in full ROM for each and every exercise. The squat is no exception.

4. Every exercise produces stress around a joint - the body then adapts to this stress.

5. Contraction of the quadriceps, the hamstrings, and the gastrocnemius maintains integrity around the knee joint.

6. Sheering and compressive forces do occur around the knee joint (as opposed to only sheering forces that occur in some open kinetic chain lower body exercises, such as the leg extension); however, the large contact area of the patella with the femoral groove (as knee flexion increases during the full squat) helps to dissipate compressive forces.

7. Therefore, not only is the squat - as a closed chain exercise - considered a natural movement pattern with high functional carryover, but it is also a safe exercise if performed correctly (and that includes full ROM!)

8. Drawer tests are performed at a knee angle of 90 degrees because there is a greater amount of laxity in the knee joint at that specific angle. So, does it make sense to only go down half way where you are most vulnerable especially when greater loads can be used (because you are much stronger in this partial ROM?)

9. According to Ironman contributor, George Turner, the fulcrum moves to the knee joint in a parallel squat as opposed to the muscle belly of the quadriceps in a full squat.

10. Think about it, if you constantly trained in a limited ROM, the likelihood of injury increases if one day you happen to squat beyond your trained ROM.

11. Partial squats performed on a regular basis will decrease flexibility.

12. There is a low incidence of lower back pain and knee injury in Aboriginal and Oriental societies which perform full squats on a regular basis.

13. Even Olympic weightlifters who practice full squats have quite healthy knees compared to other athletes.

14. Although you may find some research that indicates full squats as potentially harmful to the knees, only one study has ever proved this to be true. However, it was performed on a skeleton - the same results do not hold true with surrounding connective tissue. On the other hand, numerous studies show the benefits of full squats.

Unfortunately, many personal training certification courses are teaching half squats as a safe version suitable for all individuals and this has now become written in stone.

God forbid that you deviate from this golden rule to do something that our bodies are meant to do!

Read this carefully: squatting should be performed in a full ROM where the hamstrings make contact with the calves (so that no light can be seen passing through your legs at the bottom position).

It is okay for your knees to travel beyond the toes (just do not relax the knees in the bottom position). In other words, keep the legs tight and try to stay as upright as possible throughout the exercise.

Conclusion
So, next time some fitness instructor approaches you in the gym and advises not to go deep while squatting tell him/her that they don't know squat and come and train with me instead!!!

3 Protein Myths. Don’t buy into them !

Claim Number 1:
High Protein Diets Are Bad For Bone Health


Investigation: At one time or another you have probably heard the claim that "high protein diets are bad for your bones, and they cause calcium losses." However, when examining the scientific evidence we see a different picture.

A large study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research showed that both elderly men and women who consumed the most animal protein had the lowest rate of bone loss whereas those who consumed little protein had much higher rates of bone loss.

A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has shown that postmenopausal women who consumed the highest amount of protein, particularly animal protein, were least likely to suffer from hip fractures and had the strongest bones.(1)

Heaney and colleagues showed, that in free-living middle-aged women who were studied in a metabolic ward and ingested diets that matched their everyday intakes of protein and phosphorus, calcium losses were significantly positively correlated with protein intake and calcium balance was significantly negatively correlated.(2)

This study, cited extensively since its publication, contributed to the common belief that protein is harmful to bone. Almost two decades later in an editorial that was featured in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Heaney critiqued his own study and reported on recent findings.(3)

In conclusion Heaney stated, "Analysis of the diets of hunter-gatherer societies, and nitrogen isotope ratios of fossil bone collagen, indicate that human physiology evolved in the context of diets with high amounts of animal protein.

Although caution has been urged in the interpretation of such analyses, it remains true that there is certainly no evidence that primitive humans had low intakes of either total protein or animal protein. That, coupled with the generally very robust skeletons of our hominid forbears, makes it difficult to sustain a case, either evidential or deductive, for overall skeletal harm related either to protein intake or to animal protein. Indeed, the balance of the evidence seems to indicate the opposite."

Research suggests that consuming high protein diets that contain sufficient amounts of calcium and Vitamin D do not negatively affect bone health. Researchers at Tufts University in Boston found that adequate ingestion of dietary calcium helps to promote a positive effect of dietary protein on the skeleton in older adults. Also, phosphorus (like in milk and meat) and potassium (found in milk, legumes, and grains) reduce calcium loss, thus negating protein-induced urinary calcium excretion.

Conclusion: A high protein diet that lacks sufficient amounts of calcium and Vitamin D may cause harm to bones. But a high protein diet that contains sufficient amounts of calcium and Vitamin D can have positive effects on bone health.


Claim Number 2:
High Protein Diets Increase The Risk Of Coronary Heart Disease


Investigation: A review conducted by Li and colleagues(4) looked at the relationship between red meat consumption and coronary heart disease factors; 54 studies were reviewed.

Findings of the review indicated that, "Substantial evidence from recent studies shows that lean red meat trimmed of visible fat does not raise total blood cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels." And also that "lean red meat is low in saturated fat, and if consumed in a diet low in SFA (saturated fatty acids), is associated with reductions in LDL-cholesterol in both healthy and hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) subjects."

In conclusion the studies found that "lean red meat trimmed of visible fat, which is consumed in a diet low in saturated fat does not increase cardiovascular risk factors."

Conclusion: High protein diets that contain excessive calories and high fat may increase risk factors associated with coronary heart disease. But high protein diets that are low to moderate in calories and saturated fat do not increase risk factors. I generally recommend a few servings of lean red meat each week. Red meat is loaded with micronutrients and is a good source of quality protein.


Claim Number 3:
High Protein Diets Are Bad For The Kidneys


Investigation: Media sources often report, "Too much protein stresses the kidney." What does science say?

Martin and colleagues(5) reviewed the available evidence regarding the effects of protein intake on kidney function with a particular emphasis on kidney disease.

The researchers reported, "Although excessive protein intake remains a health concern in individuals with pre-existing renal disease, the literature lacks significant research demonstrating a link between protein intake and the initiation or progression of renal disease in healthy individuals."

In addition they reported, "At present, there is not sufficient proof to warrant public health directives aimed at restricting dietary protein intake in healthy adults for the purpose of preserving renal function." Protein restriction is common treatment for people with kidney problems.

I have known individuals who consume 300-400 grams of protein per day. Guess what, no kidney problems.

Conclusion: There is no evidence that high protein intake causes kidney damage in individuals with healthy kidneys. To many people this may come as a shocker.


References:
1. Tbk Fitness. How to Prevent Osteoporosis. [Online] September 11, 2009 http://www.tbkfitness.org/Osteoporosis.html
2. Heaney RP, et. al. Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and caffeine on calcium balance in women. J lab Clin Med, 99:46-55 1982.
3. Heaney R. Protein intake and bone health: the influence of belief systems and the conduct of nutritional science. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 73,1:5-6 Jan 2001.
4. Li D, et. al. Lean meat and heart health. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr, 14(2):113-9 2005.
5. Martin WF, et. al. Dietary Protein intake and Renal Function. Nutrition & Metabolism 2:25 2005.