Health and Fitness Advice

It kind of amazes me that some people get so freaked out by a tiny teaspoon of sugar.  Fifteen calories has never gotten such a bad rap. In the rush to place blame for the so-called obesity epidemic, this basic carbohydrate that every body needs for fuel, has become a scapegoat.

Nobody has ever gained weight because they put a teaspoon of sugar in their two cups of coffee every morning.  And despite what the Food Police will have you believe, there is no reliable science that indicates that sugar causes obesity or has some extra-caloric superpower that causes people to gain weight.

But some people still don’t get that it’s a simple formula of “calories in, calories out,” and if you eat more calories than you need for energy you will gain weight, and those calories can be in the form of carbohydrates, protein, fat or a combination of all three.  A person can eat the “healthiest” foods imaginable, but if they eat more than they need they will gain weight.  And for the record, one gram of sugar provides 4 calories, one gram of protein and one gram of fat provides 9 calories each.

The one gram of sugar provides the same 4 calories any other form of carbohydrate provides.  The difference between sugar and the other calories is that sugar is immediately converted into fuel that the body uses right away.  If you are active eating carbs and sugars are a necessary part of your diet.  And if you exercise carbs and sugars are a vital part of your fueling and recovery regimens.

If you enjoy sugar, use sugar. Natural sugar.  I’m of the belief that it’s better to use natural sugar – or use nothing – than to use an artificial or chemically altered substance.  And some believe that the taste of real sugar can help to control hunger, and as a result help people to manage their weight.

You might think I’m crazy, my neighbors probably think I’m crazy and if you listen to me your neighbors might think you’re crazy.  And you might be crazy if you listen to me, but you will be in better shape.  Try sledgehammer training.

In the effort to get fit you don’t have to rely on traditional methods of training or standard types of fitness equipment.  Dumbbells and barbells are great, as are kettlebells, but there are other non-traditional implements that can be used to improve your overall physical fitness level.

Which brings us to the sledgehammer, as in a large, heavy hammer wielded with both hands.  There’s not much technique involved, but there is the need to exercise caution, so don’t go and swing away at something for 20 minutes the first time you try this kind of training.  You need to acclimatize your body to the overall demands that sledgehammer training will put on your body.

I wish I could say I thought of this program all by my lonesome, but alas it is not true.  For this I give credit to a Mr. Reinhard Engels who has come up with a simplistic yet brilliant approach to the indoor use of the sledgehammer.  He has worked out a simple yet effective total body routine that can be performed indoors in a small area in about 15 minutes, with a 10-pound sledgehammer.

Completing Reinhard’s “Shovelglove” routine is the prerequisite for embarking on a full-fledged, out-doors, bash-the-heck-out-of-a-tree-stump training program.

And here’s a quick note on the concept of “hardcore” as it applies to working out.  Hardcore is a state of mind, in that a person is willing to deviate from convention and use all the tools and knowledge available in order to come up with an interesting, fun and effective way to train.

Hardcore isn’t going to a gym and struggling and straining and making loud noises in order to do curls or leg extensions or the bench press.  Being big or wearing old, ripped, tattered workout clothes don’t make someone hardcore.  If you’re hardcore, you don’t train with belts, wrist wraps or spend most of your time on machines.

Don’t be intimidated by the concept of hardcore, embrace it.

Once you’ve spent a month or two with the “Shovelglove” you can venture outside and seek out an old tree stump, log or railroad tie or score an old tire from a local auto repair shop.

All you need is a 10-pound sledge, safety goggles (to prevent anything you hit from shooting into your eyes) and the willingness to work hard.  This kind of training is great for every part of your body from your fingers to your toes, and especially works on your core.  Core training is all the rage these days and nothing will work your core like 20 minutes swinging a sledgehammer.

The first time you head outside, after you warm up with some “Shovelglove” moves, spend only 10 minutes actually hitting something   You will be generating quite a bit of force so you don’t want to overdo and suffer an injury.  Working on terrain, and not on a level gym floor, will force your body to move in ways that you probably aren’t used to, which is another reason that you don’t want to do too much right off the bat.

Do yourself a favor and take your time, as the best approach is to “sledge” for about 10 minutes at a time three times per week.  From here, you can add time to your sessions until you can go for about 25 minutes at the most.

You will be amazed at how sledgehammer training will improve your physical fitness.  Buy a sledgehammer now.

Health and Fitness Advice

Comments made by Mark McGwire’s bodybuilding idiot of a brother illustrate A) what a joke body building is and B) why  bodybuilders should NEVER be allowed anywhere near real athletes.

So Mark McGwire’s loose-cannon brother has come out with a book, and in it he details his big brother’s steroid and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) taking regimen.  Does anyone really care what this little man has to say about his disgraced brother?

As a matter of fact, who really could be interested in what he might have to say about anything, what it’s like to be the  talentless brother?  Is there that much interest in bottom feeders these days?

Note: Someone should ask Jay if he helped his NFL quarterback of a brother Dan McGwire get an edge, as well.

Jay McGwire’s comments really speak volumes about how little bodybuilders know and why they should be ignored when they talk about athletic performance.  Here’s a sample of idiocy from Little Jay, “Oh, his strength. His leg strength was awesome. I talked about what he is doing on the leg press — over 600 pounds for 20 reps. That is pretty good for a baseball player. And that is the key in baseball, I think. … Mark didn’t really have big legs until after that. He couldn’t do some other serious leg workouts because of his lower back issues, so we had to be careful with that.”

Hey Jay, did you stop and think the leg press machine might be responsible for your brother’s back problems?  What did you do to try to strengthen the lower back, huh? Also, as a guy who supposedly spent a lot of time in the gym, you should know that 600-pounds on the leg press is common-place, unless you’ve spent your time in Curves’ gyms.  And come on, what functional purpose does the leg press serve for a baseball player, not to mention for a guy who is approaching the end of his career? A lot of people can leg press 600-pounds for 20 repetitions, I have seen it countless times and it is completely unimpressive.  It also proves nothing and is indicative/predictive of nothing.

More nonsense. “And obviously his arm strength, getting those hands through the [hitting] zone. Think about it, it is pretty remarkable. He is gaining 30 pounds over three years, and that is the right way to do it because you go slow and the body reacts slow in the ways of getting it more flexible. So Mark was more flexible 30 pounds heavier. Now think about that torque that he could have. That is why the ball was going out of stadiums.”

WTF? This is gibberish. It would take thousands and thousands of words to try to decipher this garbage. It’s classic bodybuilding, throw some jargon around, figure you’ll impress/intimidate people who supposedly don’t know as much, and Voila, you sound like an expert.  He actually sounds like a moron.

At 170-180 pounds Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron were hitting home runs, why couldn’t Mark McGwire hit them at 225-pounds?  Oh, and the Cardinals’ new hitting instructor had more strike outs than hits during his years as an active player in St. Louis.

Then Jay McGwire spoke about his brother’s drug cycles.  More Neanderthal musings.  Just like Greg Anderson, the alleged personal trainer who ruined Barry Bonds’ body with steroids and unsound training, Jay McGwire dosed his brother up with massive amounts of drugs.  Again, bodybuilders who don’t do anything that can be considered even remotely athletic just need to add muscle, and ingest tons of drugs.  Baseball players and real athletes don’t need to pack on muscle at any cost, especially at the cost Jay McGwire exacted on his brother’s body.

No less of an expert than BALCO Labs’ Victor Conte says, “The first thing you are going to see is size. You are using Dbol (Dianabol) and this stuff at this dosage, you’re going to look like Hercules, if he is doing the weight training. At 12 weeks and those dosages, this is not baby food.”  By the way, you can train like Olive Oil and you’ll look like Popeye if you dose up like Mark McGwire did.

The final insult comes in the form of this statement by Jay McGwire, “Jay McGwire repeatedly stressed that any changes weren’t just from the drugs, but that his brother trained ridiculously hard, often six days a week. And the combination paid off.” This is just bullshit.  The drugs are responsible for allowing someone to train “ridiculously hard, six days a week.”

Don’t buy this nonsense. And don’t but the malarkey that teammates and team personnel didn’t know what was going on.

Mark McGwire cheated by taking performance-enhancing drugs because he wanted to break home run hitting records and his brother was right there with him every step of the way.

Health and Fitness Advice

Spare us the tears, Mark.  It’s 2010 and nobody is buying the pathetic nonsense that you didn’t take steroids to help you hit home runs.  Furthermore, if it weren’t for steroids – not androstenedione, creatine or any other supplement – Mark McGwire would have been out of baseball around the time he was setting home run records.

Steroids were responsible for allowing McGwire to embark on his magical 8-year run that began in Oakland in 1995.  That’s all we needed to hear.  Not getting that simple,unqualified admission made the McGwire/Costas interview kind of silly.

McGwire acted like a little kid who got caught doing something wrong and broke down in an attempt to minimize the punishment and engender some sympathy.

Although it is sad that McGwire is still lying to himself and is still in denial about his steroid use.  His claim that he didn’t take steroids to hit home runs defies logic, especially when you consider that Little Mac had the help of a public relations firm.

And let’s ignore Tony LaRussa’s defense of McGwire.  LaRussa was on the scene of two of the biggest steroid scandals in baseball’s history, the Jose Canseco/McGwire A’s and the McGwire St. Louis Cardinals, and now he wants to bring Mac back to the scene of one of the crimes.  I wrote about this years ago, and my case holds up to this day.  LaRussa has managed to skate through all these years without having any of this steroid stink stick to him.  Don’t buy this “Teflon Don’s” take on McGwire or anything to do with the steroids in baseball story.

The overlooked joke of this whole story is that Mark McGwire is coming back as the Cardinals’ hitting instructor.  McGwire is a guy who struck out once every 4 times at bat and was worthless at the plate when he didn’t hit a home run.  In his last year, after the steroids had ravaged his body, he had a .187 average, 56 hits with 29 home runs and 4 doubles.  He struck out 118 times in 299 at-bats, the 4th highest total of his career in about 40% fewer total at-bats for the season.

The bottom line is that Mark McGwire got another chance to come clean and he blew it.

Health and Fitness Advice

As the New York Times reports that Dr. Anthony Galea, a physician who has treated Tiger Woods, is being investigated for providing Performance Enhancing Drugs to athletes, debate is being waged on sports talk shows across the radio dial; did the revealed-to-be-a-horn dog golfing great use steroids or human growth hormone and if he did, how much, if any, did these drugs help?

As usual, when discussing athletes and PED use, logic and facts take a back seat to emotions, incorrect and inconsistent assertions, and misinformation about what these drugs can and cannot do.

Arguments are being forwarded in this debate that were used when baseball players got caught using steroids and HGH.  Steroids don’t make the athlete, technique does; bulk doesn’t help these athletes; young athletes don’t really get any benefits from the recovery benefits offered by PEDs; the athletes were great when they were teenagers and young men, so why would they need to take PEDs to get any better, and the list goes on.

Different sports and different athletes, but the same bad info and faulty logic.

For the sake of discussion, let’s accept the” big picture” assertion made by some folks that athletic performance in golf is (somehow) different than all other athletic endeavors, and therefore, steroid use cannot improve the swing and play of a golfer.

So what?

Tiger has displayed such incredibly bad judgment in the way he has handled his personal life it’s entirely reasonable that he would use the same faulty decision making process regarding the use of PEDs.  Knowing what we know about this mess, Tiger’s reasoning skills are obviously suspect.

What we know about athletes who use PEDs, their motivation is that they believe taking the drugs will help.  It is also clear that many athletes are willing to go to extreme measures to be successful and to gain an edge over the competition.  In this regard, could Tiger be that different from Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rodney Harrison or any other uber-competitive, successful athlete?

The nonsense about increased muscle mass – aka “bulk”- and steroid/HGH use comes from what people think they know what these drugs can do as a result of stories about body builders and other meat heads.  Unless the definition and physics of “athleticism” and “ability to perform more work” has changed, increased muscle mass is never a bad thing; a relatively small increase in muscle mass can reap large performance benefits.

A golfer, baseball player, tennis player, swimmer or any other athlete will benefit from increased muscle mass and athletes who use PEDs don’t have to look like this, they look like this.

By the way, Tiger is known to have hit the weighs hard and has added muscle to his body over the past several years, so it’s clear that Tiger thinks adding muscle to his frame will help his game.

Again, for the sake of argument if we accept the line of reasoning that adding muscle is detrimental to a golfer’s performance to explain why Tiger Woods would not use PEDs, how can this “no improvement” be measured?  Whether from weight lifting and PED use, or weight lifting alone, if he wasn’t as muscular would he have won more tournaments?  First, there’s no way to know this and second it is not logical to say that Woods wouldn’t use PEDs simply because he didn’t want to add muscle mass.

In the real world we can’t ignore the facts for the sake of argument and the unshakeable reality is that additional muscle is beneficial to any athlete, athletes are aware of this, and as a result follow many strategies – ethical and unethical, legal and illegal – to improve their performance.  However, while increased muscle mass can’t be considered to be a detriment, there is no doubt that a golfer – or any athlete – can decrease performance and increase their risk of injury by following an improper weight lifting regimen.

There is no evidence that Tiger Woods has taken steroids, human growth hormones or any other banned PEDs.  However, absent any proof, hackneyed and ignorant arguments cannot be used to explain why he wouldn’t.

We’ve had some nice fall weather over the past few weeks here in New Jersey and that means joggers are out in force.  It’s very similar to what happens when spring springs and the first batch of 70 degree sunny days show up after a long, ugly winter; joggers take to the roadways and sidewalks en masse.

The problem is that most people are what I call, “Ugly Joggers.” Now don’t jump to conclusions – especially you, Marianne – as I’m not talking about a person’s looks, but rather their running “form,” and by using “form,” I’m being very kind.

Over the past week or so I’ve seen at least 40 joggers, but only 2 or 3 could be considered to be running with proper form.  The form breaks run the gamut; short stride length, no hip extension, improper (or no) arm swing, leg drag, valgus and varus, limp.  Think of a flaw and you’ll see it when Ugly Joggers are in season.

Do yourself a favor and stop jogging.  Get exercise, but leave the jogging and running to the real runners – no offense.  If you want to go out and pound your skeletal system into powder at least seek out an expert that can teach you how to run.

I find it funny when people ask me what they can do to improve their cardiovascular fitness and I tell them to swim, and they tell me, “Oh I don’t want to swim, what else can I do?” I get the same kind of response from folks who want to know how to improve their distance running, like they can’t be bothered to do the right thing.  As if it’s an insult to be told that they need to learn how to do something as simple as running.

Actually, running properly is difficult for most people, even athletes.  I spend a lot of time teaching high school and college athletes how to run properly and correcting their form.  Show me 100 high school athletes and I’ll show you 95 kids who don’t know how to run. And for adults the percentages would be even worse.

So if you aren’t jogging the right way, don’t do it at all. Go for a brisk walk, do calisthenics, or take a swim, but lay off the jogging.  When you consider that each step of running places a force on your joints up to 3 times body weight, your body will thank you for exploring low-intensity/low-impact options.

Health and Fitness Advice

Despite reams of evidence to the contrary too many personal trainers and consumers still think bodybuilding is a valid method of training. There are no such things as “bodybuilding secrets.”

Actually the secret of bodybuilding isn’t really a secret; anabolic drugs – steroids, human growth hormone, insulin and a whole host of other illicit chemicals – are responsible for creating the “sport” of bodybuilding.  Without drugs, bodybuilding would have never attracted the attention of the American public.

For all the showmanship and bravado possessed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, without steroids he wouldn’t have given us, “The Terminator,” “Conan the Barbarian,” or the iconic “Pumping Iron” in which he displayed the persona that catapulted him to fame. This isn’t meant to denigrate what Arnold accomplished, but to point out the stark reality.

No drugs, no Arnold, no bodybuilding, no Muscle & Fitness magazine, and the multi-billion dollar Hulk that is the fitness industry is a 97-pound puny weakling by comparison.  The fitness revolution initiated by Arnold and his steroid-taking Muscle Beach behemoths allowed bodybuilding to stake out the territory that bodybuilding occupies in the land of legitimate fitness.  Amazingly, almost 40 years later many personal trainers still employ the antiquated and flawed techniques favored by the anabolic using pioneers with their non-drug using clients.

Thankfully the mainstream has started to turn away from bodybuilding, also known as “reductionist training.” Members of the highest levels of the fitness profession never really embraced the methods of bodybuilding, which breaks down the movements of the body in to component parts.  Using machines and exercises to isolate/exercise one muscle group at a time, and following a split routine for workouts, is incredibly wasteful and counterproductive.

In a quest for bigger biceps and triceps, well-defined abdominal muscles and other appearance-based goals people still search the Internet for bodybuilding secrets.  The answers provided by bodybuilder-types are flawed, the exercises recommended don’t deliver on the promised results (without the drugs pro bodybuilders use) and the quest for other secrets continues.

The never-ending search for secrets – and in effect short cuts – is thanks to the flawed bodybuilding premise, that an improved appearance equals improved performance.  It isn’t sexy and it doesn’t sizzle, but there are no secret ways to build muscle, build fat free mass, burn fat, tone muscle or do any of the other things you can find when doing a Google search for “bodybuilding secrets.”

Health and Fitness Advice

The Health Commissioner of New York City and a Yale University professor look to expand the nanny state with proposal to tax soda and sports drinks that contain sugar.

In the attempt to save us from ourselves two so-called public health officials have written a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in which they claim a penny per ounce tax on sugary drinks could reduce consumption by 10 percent while raising over $1 billion dollars in revenue for the state.  This is just another money grab dressed up as a public health measure as the State of New York is experiencing a financial meltdown and needs every dollar it can grab.

The money grab element of this proposal is obvious; the authors claim this tax could be the biggest boon to the public’s health since the tobacco tax. Whoa, doesn’t smoking cause hundreds of thousands of deaths per year?  Yet these learned men suggest that the living benefit from taxes levied on people with this deadly habit, and rather than ban tobacco and save countless lives, they would rather tax those who will die from smoking to (somehow) save others.

That’s messed up.

But back to the soda tax. Millions of people who aren’t overweight (by whatever arbitrary measure these public health types use) enjoy soda and consume sports drinks responsibly and shouldn’t be financially punished at the point of sale.  Harbor no illusions, this kind of tax is all about punishing behavior deemed undesirable by the state.

The logic used by those who say smoking kills doesn’t apply in the case of soda.  The anti-smoking zealots position – and even some otherwise level headed folks – is that if you smoke, you’ll die from smoking. However, no rational person can claim that if you drink soda or Gatorade you will get fat or become obese.

If these public health officials had any guts and really wanted to deter consumption they would propose taxing overweight and obese purchasers of soda and sports drinks, and put scales and Body Mass Index charts at checkout counters in every supermarket and convenience store in New York.  But this kind of action takes courage and wouldn’t generate enough revenue.

These academics propose taxing sugary drinks even though over the past decade consumption is down yet obesity rates have still risen.  Then there is the question of whether higher taxes reduce consumption.  For example, despite one of the highest cigarette taxes in the country New York still has over 1 million smokers and a booming cigarette black market.

Regardless of who you are the soda tax is onerous because it imposes someone else’s arbitrary concept of health and fitness on the public

Health and Fitness Advice

Israeli Krav Maga is the official self-defense system used by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and descends in its current form from Krav founder Imi Lichtenfeld’s original organization, the Israeli Krav Maga Association (IKMA).

While there are other Krav organizations, Israeli Krav is recognized by the Israeli government as the authority for krav maga, and Grandmaster Haim Gidon, the founder’s handpicked successor, supervises the training curriculum.  In the United States David Kahn is the IKMA’s Chief Instructor, and he has written several instructional books on the Krav Maga.

Krav Maga is based on the principals of enhancing natural instincts and using the appropriate level of force for self-defense, and all types of people can learn its techniques and tactics in a relatively short period of time.  Krav Maga means, “contact combat,” and the system relies on natural instincts, reflexes, awareness and mental conditioning

According to the Israeli Krav Maga’s web site these are the, “Six Pillars of Krav Maga Training.”

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Simultaneous defense and attack
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Focus on vulnerable soft tissue
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Continuous Combat Movement (Retzev)
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A Building Block Learning Process
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Decisive Action
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Subduing Techniques

Krav’s philosophy is to never use more force than necessary but teaches its students to react with speed and economy of movement in order to end any confrontation as quickly as possible. In extremely threatening situations kravists are taught to do whatever necessary – strikes to the groin, eye gouging, head butts, biting, choking, screaming into attackers ear – to protect themselves.

As opposed to the more well-known and popular martial arts, krav maga teaches its students to use any means necessary to protect themselves and constantly reinforces the reality that there are no rules in the street.  Israeli Krav Maga doesn’t shy away from the aggressive and ruthless approach that’s needed to prepare people to do whatever it takes to survive a possible attack.

From IsraeliKrav.com, “Krav maga is well known for its simplicity, instinctive nature, utility, use of weapons of opportunity, adaptability and proficiency.”  In addition to teaching people of all ages and ability levels how to defend themselves, krav maga offers a fantastic way for people to improve their fitness level.

Weight Training Guidelines For People With High-Blood Pressure

The American Heart Association in association with the American College of Sports Medicine recommend RT programs that feature lower weight and higher repetitions for people with high blood pressure.  Cardiovascular exercise should be performed 20-60 minutes per session, 3-5 days per week at a 40-70% or maximum oxygen uptake.

Personal trainers and fitness consumers should be aware of these guidelines and how a properly designed weight training program can be a benefit to people contending with hypertension.  Before starting any exercise program people with hypertension should consult with their physician and personal trainers need to get medical clearance from all clients before starting any workout program.

American Heart Association’s Recommendations

·         Individuals with uncontrolled high blood pressure greater than 180/110 should not  engage in a weight-training program.

·         Individuals with uncontrolled high blood pressure of 160/100 should not engage in a resistance-training program unless their physician clears them.

·         Resistance should allow for 8-12 repetitions maximum per set for healthy sedentary adults or 10-15 reps at a lower level of resistance for adults over 50-years of age, those who are frailer and/or cardiac patients.

·         One set of each exercise should be performed 2-3 days per week

·         Full range of motion should be used and a moderate, steady pace should be maintained during exercise. Avoid holding breath (Valsva maneuver) and exhale during the exertion and inhale during the relaxation phase.

·         Aerobics should be performed before weight training.

·         Exercises should involve the major muscle groups of the upper and lower body.  For instance, overhead press (also known as military press), pull down, seated row, sit-ups, back extension, lunges, squats and leg press.

·         Alternate upper and lower body exercises to permit recovery between sets of different exercises.

·         Add weight by approximately 5% when higher reps can be performed comfortably.

·         Exertion perception should range from “fairly light” to “somewhat hard” throughout the duration of the set.

Weight training when used in conjunction with a regular cardiovascular exercise regimen can help to prevent and control hypertension.