Doctor, Doctor, give me the news!

There is a great deal of advice, routines, diet strategies and information regarding the field in which I practice--strength training and fitness--that is just utter garbage!

Often times it’s the doctors who are perpetuating this ignorant misinformation. The medical community is famous for equating exercise with cardiovascular exercise that is measured by the time spent engaging in them.   A degree in medicine lacks teaching of the basic physiology of strength training, exercise prescription, or any training in the field of exercise and nutrition.  Sure, doctors need to understand human physiology and the effects of lifestyle on the pathological processes, to a minimal degree. This is a very important point, which is why I will repeat it: they do understand it, but to a minimal degree. 

Now, I value the knowledge of physicians when it comes to the field of sickness, not wellness.  Doctor's go through intense schooling on disease and illness, and the methods it take to treat them.  However, just as I am not in the business of disease, I am just putting out the misinformation that is out there confusing the public.  The training of doctors, physical therapists and athletic trainers requires no formal education in the use of effective strength training techniques used by serious athletes who rely on superior performance.   The medical field can diagnose your symptoms and prescribe the proper medication to cure you, but are ignorant in the field of wellness.  That is the process of preventing the problems in the first place or guiding you to a more holistic approach through diet and exercise as opposed to medications.  Lack of perspective on this issue is the medical professions’ largest obstacle-- they don’t even know the problem exists!  When seemingly sound advice or information comes from a position of authority, all too often we fail to think for ourselves and blindly follow whatever they tell us.

Physicians are more than willing to prescribe you a pill for fat loss, high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, insomnia, and the list goes on and on.  A pill for every ill!  Except for family history and genetics, most of these problems are lifestyle related, and can be improved or cured with diet and exercise.  Doctors give you advice because of the very same reasons anyone gives advice about nutrition or fitness. With a few exceptions, your doctor wants to help you, and will say what he or she truly believes will do so. So does your mom, your neighbor and your personal trainer. That does not mean they know what they are talking about, and YOU are the misinformed one who thinks that’s what they are supposed to know. If you’re not smart enough to know who to listen to, then you’re just as “dumb” as they are.

Strength Training is one of the most important activities, when done correct, that a person can engage in.  All too often I see the elderly man or woman that can barely lift themselves from the seated position or climb a flight of stairs.  I can't imagine the anxiety of living a life of fear never knowing if a false step or uneven ground could cause you to fall and injure yourself.   Benjamin Franklin once said that,  "Some people die at 25, but aren't buried till 75".

Strength Training is nothing new, it's been around for decades.  Jack LaLanne promoted diet and exercise in the early 1950's.  His knowledge and advice was far ahead of its time, with his teaching falling on many deaf ears.  He promoted fruit and vegetable juicing before juicing was mainstream.  LaLanne practiced what he preached and lived into his late 90's, still preaching the value of a healthy lifestyle as the key to a long life.  His advice withstood the test of time unlike many of his peers of that time, like runner Jim Fixx, who wrote The Complete Book of Running in 1977. Fixx promoting running as a form of preventing heart disease.  The book became a New York Times best seller and quickly became the Bible of running.  However, Jim Fixx died on the side of the road where he was running, with the cause of death being heart attack.  He was 52 years old.

There is a lot of misinformation in the media today.  The exercise and nutrition advice available is so overwhelming, it leads to a paralysis of analysis.  In other words, the advice is so contradicting it leads many to hover in a state of limbo, not knowing what direction to go in or what advice to listen to.  In the perfect world, doctors would stop giving advice about areas outside of their expertise (so would the general population). In the meantime, the general masses need to get their facts right about what a physician’s job is and most importantly, what it’s NOT.

Just think for yourself!  Don't let other people do your thinking for you.  Research the information, and use common sense to weed through the BS.  The right amount of diet, cardiovascular exercise and strength training is the key.  Don't follow fads.  Follow what has worked for decades.

10 Ways to Improve your Nutrition

Over 60% of Americans are overweight, and at least 25% of those are obese. Overweight or not, we all fight a nutritional battle every time we enter a grocery store or a fast food restaurant. Low-fat or low-carb? South Beach Diet, Adkins Diet, or the Zone? At some point, all of us have taken advice from a new fad or diet and tried it with little or no success. As a nation, we’re still fatter and plagued by more disease than ever. And soon enough, the cost of medical care will skyrocket even higher than it is now. Outside of the diet spectrum, here are 10 tried and true basic methods toward a sound nutritional plan that many fitness experts agree on:

1. Keep a food diary. Most people underestimate their caloric intake, until they start writing it down.   Although people may find it tedious to write down every consumed morsel, it can be the most effective way to point out what you are actually eating so you can get on a healthy eating plan.  Behavior modification is one of the most successful methods for long-term weight management. And who wants to regain weight after working so hard to lose it? Keeping a food diary can also help you determine unhealthy eating patterns. Do you raid your co-worker’s candy jar every time you walk past it? Do you eat more when you’re sad or angry? Do you wait until you’re famished to eat, and then consume food like a vulture? Keeping an accurate food log (listing food and portion sizes, time of day, hunger level, mood, etc.) will help you determine your nutritional weaknesses so you can eliminate the elements that lead to excess weight.

2. Drink more water. Everyone knows the 8, 8-ounce glasses of water a day rule. The National Academy of Sports Medicine says, on average, people should drink closer to 96-ounces of water.  Most people are more dehydrated than they realize. The human body is made of 60% water; if you are dehydrated, your body will not be able to perform at an optimum level.  Research shows decreased blood pressure and increased heart rate as effects of dehydration, which has a negative impact on your performance in everyday life activities. Caffeine, although proven to enhance performance to some degree, should be consumed in limited amounts to also avoid dehydration.

3. Eliminate the foods that tempt you. Out of sight—out of mind. If you love Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream and can’t control the urge to eat the whole carton, don’t buy it! That doesn’t mean you can’t have it as an occasional treat. Once a month, drive to your local ice cream store and buy a single scoop of ice cream in a cup. This way, you aren’t tempted to eat 12-servings in one sitting, and it is a treat that you look forward to versus a nightly calorie buster. 

4. Don’t “diet.” Call it a “healthy eating plan,” or something along those lines. Just don’t call it a diet. The word ‘diet’ for most people signifies a short-term solution to a weight problem. Your goal should be healthy eating for life, which helps you get down to and maintain a reasonable weight and fight diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart-related illnesses. Choose healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and lean meats most of the time. And live a little—enjoy those “not so healthy” foods on occasion.  

5. Have one “no holds barred” meal per week. Eat whatever you like one meal a week—no matter if it’s off the charts unhealthy.  Preventing yourself from eating your favorite foods is a sure way to lead to binge-eating, if you love pizza, chocolate, or deep-fried enchiladas, enjoy it, but only once a week.  This way, you don’t feel deprived and have less chances of overeating. You may even find your cravings for the so-called “bad” foods actually diminish over time. 

6. Eat until you’re satisfied not stuffed. We’ve all done it. We order an appetizer, salad, main meal, and dessert and wonder why we’re hoping our waiter can help roll us out the door. Think of fueling up your car. You wouldn’t put gas in a full tank! It’s the same with your body. If you add food to an already full stomach, you wind up with excess calories and excess weight. Consider the following options: 1. craving dessert?  Order a salad and split the dessert with a friend. 2. Request a lunch-sized portion; most restaurants will do this if you ask. 3. Ask your waiter to wrap up half of your entrée before he even brings it out to you. This way, you aren’t tempted to overeat, and the bonus is an enjoyable lunch the next day.

7. Check your labels. Many fat-free and reduced-fat foods have added calories. Food manufacturers take away the fat, but add sugar and other ingredients to add flavor. This increases the food’s caloric value. Many of these same manufacturers have followed suit with the low-carb craze. Some items may have fewer calories, but they have more saturated fat and trans-fatty acids which has been shown to contribute to heart disease. Trans-fatty acids raise the LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels and this can cause a build up of fatty plaque in the arteries.  Try to avoid overly-processed foods like fast food, doughnuts, cookies, and potato chips. Base your diet around whole, naturally nutritious foods with minimal processing like oatmeal, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

8. Try to eat smaller, more frequent meals.  Some people say, “You are what you eat.”  I say, “You eat what you are.”  Most people truly believe that making healthy food choices revolves around will power.  They feel that if you discipline yourself to say no to certain foods, you will magically kick your cravings to the curb.  In reality, cravings for sweets, chips, chocolate, or other over-processed foods are the result of inadequate food intake and low blood sugar.  In most cases, waiting longer than three hours without eating leads to a drop in your blood sugar and increased cravings. Minimize this by eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day. The key is to keep your meals “Snack-size,” vs. “Biggie-size.”  Depending on your caloric needs, this averages to around 200-400 calories per meal. Keeping this key in mind while eating smaller, more frequent meals, helps you decrease your overall caloric intake and increase your energy levels throughout the day. 

9. Exercise regularly. There is something about exercise that encourages a healthy lifestyle. As you exercise, your brain releases specific hormones that not only help you feel good, but also help you relieve stress. Stress is a leading cause for poor food choices in the first place. And with all of the new-found energy from exercising, eating healthier becomes less of a chore and more of a routine part of your life.

10. Create a support team. Sometimes it can be extremely difficult to eat healthy when those around you eat like they are carb-loading for the Boston Marathon.  It helps to have a spouse or friend that understands your situation and will not throw roadblocks in your way to trip you up. Two heads are better than one, so try to recruit someone who will “carry the torch” with you on your journey to better health. And if all else fails, hire a personal coach or nutritionist to help you reach your goals.  If you can afford the cost of paying someone to assist you with your nutrition, it will go a long way.  A paid consultant is highly motivated in helping you achieve your goals at all costs.

Remember, you want a healthy nutritional plan that you can maintain for life. Making too drastic changes with your nutrition will only create short-term successes. Take your time and resist the temptation to be lured into following the latest fad diet. Gauge your progress by analyzing how you look and feel, and make modifications when needed. Get regular checkups from your physician and always inform your doctor of any lifestyle changes (including dietary changes) you are pursuing. 

Is stress keeping you fat?

Do you feel sore, tired, irritable or weak? Have you noticed that your gains have plateaued? These could be signs that your cortisol levels are out of whack. Learning to control this muscle-eroding hormone will increase your muscle mass

Cortisol is a stress hormone that's truly the antithesis of testosterone: whereas testosterone supports muscle building, excess cortisol kills it. Besides tearing down muscle tissue and preventing the body from storing carbs as muscle glycogen, cortisol actually lowers testosterone. It also interferes with testosterone's ability to bind to its receptors within muscle cells and induce an anabolic effect. When testosterone levels drop, not only does it become harder to build muscle and recover, but estrogen tends to have a stronger effect in the body. Estrogen is correlated with water retention, and it also makes shedding body fat a lot more difficult.

Cortisol levels can be elevated for a variety of reasons; hardcore training itself can induce this rise. It's important that bodybuilders learn how to control their cortisol levels to keep making the best gains. If you suffer from the symptoms mentioned earlier, institute the following suggestions to help get your cortisol levels under control.

1. Stay on top of your workout nutrition As mentioned, cortisol rises when you train, it's a natural reaction. One of the best ways to avoid excessively elevated cortisol levels is to be disciplined with your post workout nutrition. By supplying your body with exactly what it needs as soon as the work-out is done, you'll jump-start your recovery and help blunt cortisol spikes.

After your workout, take in 30-50 grams (g) of whey protein with 60 to 100 g of carbs. Maltodextrin is easy, but you can take in other fast-digesting carbs such as rice cakes, white bread or cold cereal. You can also add 5 g of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to the mix, or take them before you work out. BCAAs before exercise help maintain testosterone levels and can be used to fuel muscles. Leucine, one of the BCAAs, also spikes insulin levels through a different mechanism than carbs, and insulin helps in the suppression of cortisol. Whey provides building blocks that help prevent catabolism  muscle breakdown and preventing catabolism is directly related to lower cortisol levels. Finally, the carbs in this combo spike insulin to further offset protein breakdown.

2. Control your workouts Training volume can have a direct impact on cortisol levels. If you're over training  you're taking your body past the point where you can make the best gains. Follow these rules to make the most of your muscle-building regime.

Limit weight training to four sessions per week. Training more frequently prevents the body from attaining a full recovery.

Keep sessions to no more than an hour. When you perform too many sets and exercises in a given session, you can break down your muscle tissue too much. Limiting the length of your training sessions helps avoid this.

Emphasize multijoint movements. Exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses are the most effective at stimulating muscle growth while helping to limit total training volume. They also best stimulate growth hormone (GH) and testosterone, which can help blunt cortisol.

Avoid excessive pumping and finishing movements. When you perform numerous sets and reps of these types of exercises, you can raise your cortisol levels too high without stimulating as much muscle growth. Try to keep pumping and finishing movements to no more than three sets per body part at the end of the workout.

3. Be careful with your cardio If cardio exercise burned only body fat, then you could hop on a bike and cycle your way into the record books as the most ripped human ever. The problem is, though, that prolonged and excessive cardio causes an increase in cortisol, and this situation can begin to prioritize muscle tissue as an energy source, tearing it down instead of helping to build it.

How much is too much cardio? I'd say anything more than five sessions a week  and try to keep it to no more than four times per week when you're not being strict with your diet. Thirty minutes per session is also enough, except when you're trying to get really ripped.

4. Eat six meals a day The benefits of eating multiple meals per day are numerous. Besides allowing you to stay lean, a diet strategy of smaller and more frequent meals has been shown to keep cortisol levels lower than less-frequent feedings. Multiple meals at any calorie level will result in greater cortisol control than less-frequent meals, and we know keeping cortisol in check yields less fat, more muscle, better recovery and more energy. Strive to take in six meals per day throughout all phases of your training program.

5. Take vitamin C This water-soluble vitamin cushions the negative effects of free radicals, compounds that are released with hardcore training. Free radicals target tissues such as muscles, weakening them and increasing inflammation and breakdown. When this happens, cortisol levels spike. By providing your body with antioxidants, such as vitamin C, you can help control cortisol. One study showed that a daily dose of 1,000 milligrams (mg) helped weightlifters keep cortisol under control. A good bet is to take 1,000 mg with your post-training meal, when free radicals are most likely to be present. Don't go to the extreme and take a mega dose, though, because new research shows that excessive vitamin C could actually be detrimental.

6. Supplement with vitamin E This fat-soluble vitamin offers many versatile benefits. Primarily, vitamin E helps combat the oxi-dative stress of training and dieting. Like vitamin C, vitamin E is also helpful at combating free radicals. Large amounts of vitamin E have been shown to decrease creatine kinase activity, a marker for muscle-fiber injury. That's what happens when you train. It's the irony of trying to get big: you tear down your muscles to rebuild them and make them grow bigger. Taking 800 international units of vitamin E daily may help to prevent severe breakdown, which, in theory, should allow you to recover more quickly from your training.

7. Try phosphatidylserine Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid, a quasi fat that is derived from soy beans. PS has been shown to help control cortisol levels. When you take 800 mg immediately after training, it saves muscles by blunting the total amount of cortisol released by your body. In theory, you can train like a madman and rapidly recover if you follow up the hard training with this anticortisol supplement. Another benefit is that when you keep cortisol levels under control, it's easier for your muscles to carb up. With escalating cortisol levels, muscles experience a downgrade in their ability to take up carbs and deposit them as stored muscle glycogen.

8. Eat (or supplement with) garlic This bulbous flavorful herb common to Asian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking has a long-deserved reputation as a health food. Recent research has shown that garlic along with a high-casein diet altered the body's hormonal status, yielding lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Other studies have shown that garlic may help increase testosterone levels. In general, the higher your testosterone levels, the lower your cortisol levels. So supplement with garlic powder  450 mg twice daily with meals or with a garlic supplement that provides about 4 mg of allicin with casein protein shakes. This may help keep cortisol to a minimum.

9. Get your glutamine You knew it had to show up here, right? Recent studies have pooh-poohed glutamine's beneficial effects on cortisol levels, but I disagree. There are many other studies that take a pro-glutamine view in muscle building. Glutamine works to spare BCAAs, and keeping BCAAs high helps keep cortisol levels from rising. In addition, glutamine pushes water into muscles, and hydrated muscles remain anabolic. Several studies show that supplemental glutamine can help keep cortisol levels in check.

Glutamine can help suppress the amount of cortisol circulating in blood. Glutamine also increases GH levels, combating cortisols catabolic effects. For a beneficial effect on cortisol levels, athletes may need a lot more glutamine than amounts that are often suggested. I recommend taking 5 to 10 g before and another 5 to 10 g after training to help reduce cortisol levels.

10. Add arginine to your supplement regime Arginine is now touted as a nitric oxide inducer; yet, it remains an effective GH releaser. Arginine may also have effects on cortisol levels. When GH levels rise, which naturally occurs with sleep, cortisol levels fall. As you get older, the sleep-induced GH boost just isn't what it used to be, which allows cortisol levels to rise. Rising cortisol makes it harder for your body to grow, to hold mass and to get lean. Take 9 to 12 g of arginine before bed without carbs to increase GH levels and to blunt cortisol. 

The Importance of Supplementation

Vitamin and mineral supplementation continues to be a contentious issue among health professionals. The common catch phrase of the medical community is that vitamins and minerals are adequately available from our food. It’s hard to appreciate the credibility of this advice, when it is delivered from a profession that receives negligible nutrition training. In Australia, this claim contrasts in stark hypocrisy against laws prescribing the mandatory fortification of bread with thiamine and salt with iodine. In addition, folic acid supplementation in pregnant women is a recommended requirement to protect an unborn child from developing spina bifida. But we’re meant to be getting that from our foods, right?

The inconvenient reality is that food isn't what it used to be. The marvel of modern agriculture has robbed our soils of essential minerals and consequently, our plants are deficient in these nutrients also. Plants need over fifty vitamins and minerals, yet our abused and overused soils only typically receive phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. If our plants are vitamin and mineral deficient and our bodies cannot manufacture these essential compounds, where else are we supposed to obtain them from?

While sustainable agricultural practices such as bio-dynamic farming aim to restore our soils to health, we have considerable work to do before this option is universally adopted and available to everyone. In the interim, most of us are opting to eat as best we can however the majority of people fail to eat even the bare minimum required fruit and vegetable servings. This is a tad worrying when you consider that even those who do are probably also missing key nutrients. Importantly, supplementation is not a substitute for a healthy diet. But until we can replenish our soils and eat produce freshly picked in season, supplementation can be a tool to atone for the shameful lack in our foods.

Thanks to our current insidious exposure to environmental pollutants, we may also require higher doses of nutrients than any of our predecessors. It is well established in the medical literature that smokers require higher levels of vitamin C than non-smokers. Many cities around the globe already exceed the air pollution limits established by the World Health Organization. Simple logic follows that in a depressingly polluted world, our bodies need all the ammunition that is possible to stay healthy.

Whole Food vs. Synthetic Supplements

Ideally, we as humans should be consuming our vitamins and minerals through foods in their whole, natural and organic form with all the essential co-factors and enzymes essential for delivering the nutrients directly to our cells. We have however established that due to the state of our soils and planet, food is unlikely to always provide the essential vitamins and minerals required for optimal health. A reasonable option is therefore to supplement (in conjunction with a healthy diet). However, when confronted with the barrage of supplements available on the market, it is difficult to discern whether natural or synthetic supplements are appropriate for your individual needs.

Supplements may be natural food derivatives or laboratory manufactured. The majority of vitamins that are sold in pharmacies, grocery stores, and vitamin shops are synthetic vitamins, which are only isolated portions of the vitamins that occur naturally in food. Vitamins and minerals in nature do not exist as single components that act on their own, they are made up of several different components – enzymes, co-enzymes, and co-factors– that must work together to produce their intended effects. In this context natural supplements are far superior to their synthetic counterparts however this is not the end of the story.

In considering synthetic or natural supplements you must look into why you are supplementing in the first place. If you are looking to take therapeutic doses for a particular illness then it may be necessary to take synthetic supplements to achieve high enough doses for the program to have effect. There is much published work supporting this approach and in this context synthetic supplements play their part. If you are generally healthy and are looking to supplement your diet on a day to day basis then natural supplements are your best option.

Designing a Supplement Program

There are countless studies showing that by simply increasing your vitamin and mineral intake you can promote mental clarity, weight loss, boost your immunity, reduce stress, prevent cancer and other diseases, combat depression, lower blood pressure, reduce cravings, increase energy levels, improve sleep, and regulate digestion. Given this information is it little wonder that many experts now advise that an all-round supplementation program, in conjunction with a healthy diet, is a savvy health choice. The following supplement recommendations will cover the basic building blocks of a robust supplement program:

• A high potency Multi-Vitamin & Multi-Mineral
• Vitamin C
• Essential Fats
• Probiotics
• Multi-Vitamin / Multi-Mineral

Supplementing a healthy diet can improve the body's ability to detoxify and lose weight. There are many different combinations to promote certain functions of the body however it is good to consider a high quality, high dose multivitamin as a solid foundation to begin with. We are lucky there are many multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplements available to us today from your local health food store or pharmacy. These have great results but we recommend where possible to chose raw, whole food nutritional supplements as our bodies are designed to recognize nutrients best when they come from food. Look for these in specialized health food stores.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most important antioxidants. It is important to know that Vitamin C is not produced by the body. The therapeutic properties of Vitamin C are plenty. They include very high anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, aiding in the prevention of cataracts and helping to lower cholesterol. Vitamin C is a great antidote for neutralizing free radicals that will cause premature aging. Vitamin C works wonders at the onset of a cold or flu when taken to bowel tolerance. High doses of Vitamin C is effective as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of cancer. Vitamin C is worth taking separately because the amount you need does not fit in a multi-vitamin. This can be taken in a powdered form or pill form. Look for Vitamin C as Ascorbic Acid.

Essential Fats

Essential fatty acids or EFA’s cannot be made by the body and we therefore need to get them from the food we eat. These oils are great to maintain healthy hair and skin, elevate moods, nourish your brain, assist in a healthy pregnancy, increase energy, and regulate blood sugar. There are two ways of meeting your essential fat requirements: one is from the diet, either by eating a heaped tablespoon of ground seeds every day, having a tablespoon of special cold-pressed seed oils and/or eating fish three times a week; the other is to supplement concentrated oils. For omega 3 this means either flax seed oil capsules or the more concentrated fish or krill oil capsules providing EPA and DHA.

Probiotics

Probiotics help to boost our immune system by assisting the body to absorb nutrients. 80% of our immune system is located in the digestive system. When good bacteria get destroyed by stress, poor diet and antibiotics, probiotics help the digestive system by balancing out the good and bad bacteria. They are necessary to keep your army of good bacteria alive to continue to keep the bad bacteria in check.