Green Tea - The Powerhouse Supplement!

Green Tea is one of the most amazing substances.  Every time I turn around I see a new article or study about the amazing properties of green tea.  Unless you live under a rock, you have probably heard a lot about it’s cancer fighting, anti-oxidant properties.  It is one of my favorite supplements because it fits perfectly with my philosophy of supplementation: any supplement I take must be reasonably old (at least 5-10 years or more), well studied, and have no negative side effects.  Why would you want to take something to enhance you now if it would kill you later?

I would like to relay a old Chinese proverb: 

"Better to be deprived of food for three days than green tea for one."

I heard this proverb years ago and basically blew it off.  When I started to learn more about green tea, I realized the proverb has some weight to it. 

To date there have been thousands of studies on Green Tea and more specifically EGCg.  EGCg is Epigallocatechin 3-gallate.  It is the most studied chatechin (compound) in green tea.  It is not the only one, but the most popular.  EGCg and or Green Tea has been shown to:

• Build bone
• Reduces inflammation (exercise induced or otherwise)
• Inhibits (not cures) the following cancer lines: Oral, gastric, breast, skin, pancreatic, and others
• Has strong effect against H1N1, and other “type A” influenza viruses
• Slows function of enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates
• Increases maximal oxygen uptake (and presumably exercise performance but I have not seen this personally)
• Helps with Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Lower cholesterol
• Reduces Infection rates
• Seems to help your body burn more calories (But I don’t find this to be a significant amount).

The list goes on and on.

Here are the ways I use it; see if they work for you.

1. Green tea is useful after or between meals to stop the urge to eat more.  Have a decent meal and then use it to cut the cravings.
2. Green tea after a workout is like a “switch” for me.  If I work out VERY hard, it seems to set me back in balance.  I find that about 15 minutes after drinking or taking the supplement, I can function again.  Without green tea, coming back to functionality takes MUCH longer.  I’m looking for research on this but so far I can only find that it reduces DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)
3. When fasting, green tea cuts my appetite.  When you are fasting the concentration of EGCG goes up 3.5 TIMES, that’s 3500% increase in concentration in your blood.  This multiplies the effect.

Where to get it?  The cheapest way is to brew a cup.  This is good because there IS more to green tea that just EGCg.  However, for those of you who despise its taste, try a pill. My favorite brand of green tea supplement is called EGCG and is made by “NOWfoods.”  The cheapest place I have found to purchase this brand is www.swansonvitamins.com.   Most brands do NOT have enough EGCG in them (the label should tell you how much EGCg you’re getting; about 200 mg is good and is equivalent to 3 cups of tea) and even Swanson’s own brand doesn’t have enough. Don’t but the Swanson’s brand, but the NOW brand and it is available on this site.  

I find it to be one of the most perfect sports supplements on many levels.  First, it seems to simply be better for my general, immune, inflammatory and even neurological health.  Second, it stops me from frivolous calories.  Third, it reduces the inflammation caused by exercise and fourth, helps me to function afterwards.  The caffeine can even give you a little lift before you hit the workout!

A good amount seems to be about 3-4 cups of tea a day spread out at different times. This seems to be the most common level for research and suits my lifestyle well.

So grab some of that zero calorie craziness and accelerate your results!

Fad Diets Make you Fat

The fatter the nation gets, the more desperate we become.

Have you noticed the surge of fad diets in the last 20 years?  It seems like every time you turn around there is a new diet promising unbelievable results.  A fad diet is some excessive decrease in calories for a short period of time (usually as long as you can stand it) to induce weight loss (notice I said weight loss, not fat loss since most of quick weight loss is water and muscle).  The two key characteristic of a fad diet is (1) extreme caloric restriction (2) temporary duration.

My only question is this:  If my body has found balance at this size and weight, and ALL I DO is change the caloric intake for a short period of time, what happens when I return to my old habits?  Will I not go back to where I was? When you go on one of these diets, your body responds to the lower calories by releasing something known as "starvation hormones," which slow your metabolism down in order to help you survive. Eventually, you stop dieting and go back to your old ways - but this time, your metablism is slower. This actually causes you to gain more weight than when you began dieting in the first place.

Doesn’t that just seem logical?  Can we really expect anything else to happen? And you paid someone for this genius idea?  Yes, out of desperation you did.  But no longer.

Here are the facts: you either make permanent changes, or you fail.  PERIOD.  The smaller the changes the more likely you are to keep them.  You must change your attitude about what it means to diet: lifestyle change rather than short term dieting.  As you do, you will begin to look for the changes you can make that will last.

(As an aside, I recommend starting with exercise first – get that going and then move on to small gradual diet changes.)

Here are some changes to beging with: focus on clean carbs, lean meats and healthy fats.  If you can’t pronounce the ingredients (and they are in English), that should be a warning to you.   Clean carbs are low-glycemic sources like brown rice, yams and garden vegetables which are favored over white rice, white potatoes, and fruit.  Lean meats examples are chicken breast, turkey, fish, shrimp and very lean beef.  Good fats are olives (olive oil), avocados, and nuts.  Minimize bread and pastas, but enjoy on occasion – hey you’ve gotta live a little!  Even THAT is part of a healthy lifestyle.

So ditch the fad diet and make a lasting change or otherwise you will be worse off than when you started.

How To Eat

"Moderation in all things, even moderation." – Petronius

The overarching principle here is to eat foods that exist in their natural forms, to cook them yourself, and to eat a combination of carbs, fat and protein in the same meal whenever possible.  If you must eat something packaged, you should be able to pronounce the ingredients without a dictionary.

The more I read, the more I see that processed food is going to be the death of our population.  Hormones in meat, pesticides and refined carbohydrates are spiking healthcare costs and killing people.  As you progress in your health and fitness, move towards less and less chemicals and more and more natural foods

For carbs, we have to see them as clean or dirty.  Clean carbs are carbs that will produce the smallest possible sugar spike as they are digested (Google: low glycemic).  Some options are whole grains and brown rice (instead of white rice) but keep these at a minimum.  All vegetables are in the “clean carb” category and they are much better for you than grains.  Fruits are also generally good but I really don’t think you should have more than 4 or so servings a day.  Too much fructose makes you gain weight; more on that in another article.

The next category is “lean meats”.  Think of lean meat as meat that can run (or swim) away from you quickly. Also you can have lean cuts of slow animals: beef, pork, seal (just checking to see if you’re paying attention). Other lean meats are fish, chicken, turkey, shrimp, eggs, etc.  But a good Carbonara every so often is nearly essential to enjoyment of life.  Once in a while, break the rules and break them big.  You heard it here first.

Last component of a complete meal is healthy fats.  Olive oil, avocado, and almonds all have great sources of monounsaturated fat.  Fat (and fiber) help you feel full.  You need fat to live.  There are types of fats that you cannot manufacture in your body and you need to get them in your diet.  Use olive oil in your cooking and then add a little  butter for flavor (sometimes).

In general, you will want to have all three of the above combined in each meal or snack.  A slice of turkey, a carrot and handful of almonds go a long way to satisfaction without spiking your insulin.

If you focus on clean carbs, lean meats and good fats you won’t be far from a lifetime of healthy eating.  For me, one of the reasons I love to work out and eat right is because when I do “break the rules” and eat a bunch of crazy food (bad carbs, fatty meats, and bad fats), I actually can enjoy it without guilt because I know that most of the time, I’m doing what is right for my body.

No Brainer Supplement for longer life

Wow this new research is amazing!  Scientists have been looking more and more at what young DNA and old DNA looks like.  More and more they are seeing the importance of little “tails” on the end of the DNA called “Telomeres”.  Every time the cell divides the Telomere gets shorter.  When the Telemere gets to “ZERO” the cell dies.

(As a side note, cancer cells have broken Telomeres and keep dividing without them shortening.)

What the latest research has shown (and I’m talking about published in the last 2 weeks) that people who exercise have longer Telomeres, and people who consume Fish oil do as well. Obviously, the younger your DNA is, the younger your cells are.  The younger your cells are, the younger you feel!

Here's the full story: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/health&id=7227234

In addition to lengthening your Telomeres, fish oil (and the acompanying Omega 3 Acids) also have all kinds of crazy benefits including lowering risk of heart disease, reducing deposits inside the arteries, reduction of all forms of cancer, lowering inflammation in the joints, lowering cholesterol, and even a slight lowering of blood pressure (according to the Mayo Clinic).

This is not some super exclusive or hard to find supplement – you can get it at Costco (online or at the store) I like that brand pretty well (it's also cheap; it will cost you roughly $10 a year!!).  There are lemon scented ones at www.swansonvitamins.com, which should help cut down on any fishy smell. Trader Joe's sells an "odorless" brand that promises no fishy reflux. The KEY in your purchase is to look for“Molecularly distilled”.  Don’t by any other kind for there is potentially too much mercury in it and you’d be better off not having it at all.

Lost sleep contributes to weight gain

Sleep is one of those things that probably seems SOOOO overrated.  I mean, I have too much to do to sleep.  Have you ever had somebody at work or school say, "I'm so well rested.  I got such a good night sleep!"  You would likely look at them like they're crazy.  More likely, they'll say, "I was up all night, or I only slept 4 hours."   Then we think they must be important because they are so busy.

The fact is, we are chronically tired.  Sleep pays a huge role in your ability to rebuild (and your ability to be nice to people!)  If you are at all concerned about your weight, you need to be concerned about your sleep.

Before the invention of the light bulb the average American slept an average of (are you ready for this?) 10 hours a night!  Now we are leaning just south of 6.5 hours a night.

Lost sleep makes it harder for your body to deal with carbohydrates (fat loss, anyone?).  Lost sleep makes your stress hormones go up at night and increases your cravings for sweets during the day.   And it seems to accelerate aging – yuck!

So your fat loss secret for today is just to start getting 8 hours a night. 

Here is a link to a decent article about it:

http://www.swansonvitamins.com/health-library/articles/stress-relief-sleep/mercola-lack-of-sleep-may-accelerate-aging.html

Repeat after me: not all carbs are the Devil

The non-carb craze is making us fat.  The biggest factor is that people crave carbs so you can’t stay away from them for long.  Remember: Extreme diets = short term success (maybe) and long term failure (for sure)

You need carbs all day long.  If you do not consume carbs, your body will break down protein in a process called glucogenesis to make them.  This involves destroying hard-earned muscle, and converting some of the amino acids to glucose for your brain.  Your brain will not be starved; it will do what it has to do to survive.

The best kinds of carbs are ones that exist as close to their natural form as possible.  Vegetables, fruit, beans, and brown rice are all great carbohydrate sources.  White rice is natural but not preferable due to the insulin spike it causes.  Whole grain bread is better than other types because it has been processed less.  Look for the least number of ingredients and avoid the added sugar if possible.

The next key to carbohydrates is to eat them with protein.  This is not a hard and fast rule, though.  If you work out in the morning, for instance, you’ll want to get up and have some fruit.  This is going to fuel your workout. 

I love honey after a workout.  Honey requires no digestion, yet it directly fuels both the liver and the muscles in minutes.

For breakfast, I often have 2 scoops of protein powered mixed with ground oatmeal.  Oatmeal is a great slow-burning carbohydrate.  Slow burning carbs keep a steady flow of glucose in your blood without causing an insulin spike.  Brown rice has a similar effect but I don’t like that for breakfast.  I do like brown rice for dinner, though. YUM!

So start mixing some good carbohydrates in with your diet if you haven’t already.  Dump the processed stuff!  And guys, stop taking 50 grams of protein in a single shake.  Your body can only process about 25 grams at a time anyway; the rest is turned to glucose using the same process described above.  Think slow burning carbs all day, then fast carbs before and after a workout.  You’ll feel better, be less hungry, and have more energy for your workouts.

Cut Soda and Live longer

Since there are probably at least three people who still think it’s okay to drink soda, I have to post this article for them.  It’s the latest diss on soda adding to things like soda causing obesity and the preservatives linked to cancer.  Here is another nail in the coffin:

“People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk -- or nearly twice the risk -- of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks”

Pancreatic cancer is not something that you really get over; cancer rates are as follows:

In 2009 (according to National Cancer Institute)

New cases 42,470
Deaths 35,240

Some quick math here, that’s 83% death rate.  No bueno.

Let’s look at this from another angle: Imagine you only drink one soda a day, but you’re trying to lose those “last 10 pounds”.  Well, without doing anything else – no weight training, no walking, and no running – dropping that one soda a day would save you 12 pounds a year, not to mention a healthy cancer risk reduction.

So consider some tea or even coffee instead of a Coke.  Don’t be deceived by diet soda, either!  (That’s a whole other article).  If you gotta have something sweet, try green tea with honey, or flavored water with no artificial sweeteners.

http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20100208/pancreatic-cancer-linked-sodas

ABS DIET Craziness from Editor of Men's Health

Great stuff.

Want to know the right way to eat and only have to read one short article? Here ya go. Written by Men's Health Editor-in-Cheif, David Zinczenko, the ABS Diet is a scientifically proven food plan that turns on your metabolic fat furnaces and puts the resulting energy to work building muscle. Enjoy!

1. Almonds and Other Nuts 
Superpowers: Building muscle, fighting food cravings
Secret Weapons: Protein, monounsaturated fats, Vit E, fiber, magnesium, phosphorus
Fight Against: Obesity, heart disease, muscle loss, cancer
Sidekicks: Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, avocados
Imposters: Macadamia nuts (very high in fat)

All nuts are high in protein and monounsaturated fat, but almonds are the king of nuts.  Two ounces of almonds (about 24 of them) can suppress your appetite; especially if you wash them down with 8 oz of water. For a quick popcorn alternative, spray raw almonds with nonstick cooking spray and bake them at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Then sprinkle them with either brown sugar and cinnamon mix or cayenne pepper and thyme.

2. Beans and Other Legumes (including soybeans, chickpeas, pinto, navy, kidney and lima beans)
Superpowers: Building muscle, helping burn fat, regulating digestion
Secret Weapons: Liver, protein, iron, folate
Fight Against: Obesity, colon cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure
Sidekicks: Lentils, peas, bean dips, hummus, edamame
Imposters: Refried beans, which are high in saturated fat; baked beans, which are high in sugar.

All beans are low in fat and packed with protein, fiber, and iron – nutrients crucial for building muscle and losing weight.  If you can replace meat-heavy dish with a bean-heavy dish once or twice a week, you’ll be lopping a lot of saturated fat out of your diet and replacing it with higher amounts of fiber.

3. Spinach and Other Green Vegetables 
Superpowers: Neutralizing free radicals (molecules that accelerate the aging process)
Secret Weapons: Vitamins inc. Vit A, C, and K; folate, beta-carotene, minerals inc. calcium and magnesium; fiber
Fight Against: Cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, osteoporosis
Sidekicks: Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and brussels sprouts; green, yellow, red, orange veggies such as asparagus, peppers, and yellow beans
Imposters: None, as long as you don’t fry them or smother them too heavily in fatty cheese sauces.

Everyone knows vegetables are packed with important nutrients, but if you or your family hate them, hide them. Puree them and add them to marinara sauce or chili. The more you chop, the less you taste, and the easier it is for your body to absorb the nutrients.

4. Dairy Products (low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese)
Superpowers: Building strong bones, firing up weight loss
Secret Weapons: Calcium, vitamins A and B12, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium
Fight Against: Osteoporosis, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer
Sidekicks: None
Imposters: Whole milk (too much fat), frozen yogurt (too much sugar)

A University of Tennessee study found that dieters who consumed between 1,200 and 1,300 milligrams of calcium a day lost nearly twice as much weight as those taking in less calcium. Researches think the mineral probably prevents weight gain by increasing the breakdown of body fat and hampering its formation.  Milk is your best bet because liquids take up more room in your stomach.  Mix with a chocolate whey protein for an extra filling snack that can curb your sweet cravings.

5. Instant Oatmeal (unsweetened, unflavored)
Superpowers: Boosting energy, reducing cholesterol, maintaining blood-sugar levels
Secret Weapons: Complex carbs and fiber
Fight Against: Heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, obesity
Sidekicks: High-fiber cereals like All-Bran and Fiber One.
Imposters: Sugary cereals

Oatmeal can propel you through sluggish mornings, and you can eat a bowl a couple of hours before a workout to feel fully energized by the time you hit the weights, or at night to avoid late night binges.  Use berries to enhance the taste…or just a tiny bit of honey or sugar.  Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, meaning that it attracts fluid and stays in your stomach longer than insoluble fiber.

6. Eggs
Superpowers: Building muscle, burning fat
Secret Weapons: Protein, vitamins A and B12
Fight Against: Obesity
Sidekicks: Egg Beaters
Imposters: None

The protein found in eggs has the highest “biological value” of protein – a measure of how well is supports your body’s protein need – of any food.  In other words, the protein in eggs is more effective at building muscle than protein from other sources.

7. Turkey and Other Lean Meats (lean steak, chicken, fish)
Superpowers: Building muscles, improving immune system
Secret Weapons: Protein, iron, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6 and B12, phosphorus, potassium
Fight Against: Obesity, mood disorders, memory loss, heart disease
Sidekicks: Shellfish, Canadian bacon, omega-3 rich flaxseed
Imposters: Sausage, fatty bacon, cured meats, fatty cuts of steak like T-bone and rib eye

Turkey is one of the leanest meats you’ll fine, and it packs nearly one-third of your daily requirements of niacin and Vit B6. For beef, look for round or loin cuts, which are lower in fat.

8. Peanut Butter (all natural, sugar-free)
Superpowers: Building muscle, burning fat
Secret Weapons: Protein, monounsaturated fat, Vit E, magnesium
Fight Against: Obesity, muscle loss, wrinkles, cardiovascular disease
Sidekicks: Cashew and Almond butters
Imposters: Mass-produced sugary and trans fatty peanut butters

Yes, PB has its disadvantages: it’s high in calories and fat. But it’s packed with monounsaturated fats that can increase your body’s production of testosterone, which can help muscles grow and fat melt. No more than three TBL a day should give you benefit without overloading on the fat.

9. Olive Oil
Superpowers: Lowering cholesterol, boosting immune system
Secret Weapons: Monounsaturated fat, Vit E
Fight Against: Obesity, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure
Sidekicks: Canola oil, peanut oil, sesame oil
Imposters: Other vegetable and hydrogenated vegetable oils, trans fatty acids, margarine

Olive oil and its brethren will help control your food cravings; they’ll also help you burn fat and keep your cholesterol in check. It’s always better to use oil than lots of butter when cooking.

10. Whole-Grain Breads and Cereals
Superpowers: Preventing your body from storing fat
Secret Weapons: Fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vit E, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc
Fight Against: Obesity, cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease
Sidekicks: Brown rice, whole-wheat pretzels, whole-wheat pastas
Imposters: White rice, white potatoes; processed bakery products like white break, bagels, and doughnuts; bread labeled wheat instead of whole wheat

There’s only so long a person can survive on an all-protein diet or an all-salad diet or an all-anything diet. You crave carbs because your body needs them.  They key is to eat the ones that have all the heart-healthy, belly-melting fiber intact. Whole-grain carbs can play an important role in a healthy lifestyle. Whole-grain bread keeps insulin levels low, which keeps you from storing fat.

11. Extra-Protein (Whey) Powder
Superpowers: Building muscle, burning fat
Secret Weapons: Protein, cysteine, glutathoine,
Fight Against: Obesity
Sidekicks: Ricotta cheese
Imposters: SOY protein

Whey protein contains essential amino acids that build muscle and burn fat (not found in soy). But it’s especially effective because it has the highest amount of protein for the fewest number of calories, making it fat’s kryptonite!

12. Raspberries and Other Berries
Superpowers: Protecting your heart, enhancing eyesight, improving memory, preventing cravings
Secret Weapons: Antioxidants, fiber, Vit C, tannins (cranberries)
Fight Against: Heart disease, cancer, obesity
Sidekicks: Most other fruits, especially apples and grapefruit
Imposters: Sugary Jams and Jellies

Blueberries are one of the most healthful foods you can eat. They beat out 39 other fruits and vegetables in the antioxidant power ratings! Fruit can be an excellent alternative to dessert as well.

Why Vit d3 might save your life

As part of the raging debate over if sunshine is good for you or bad for you, I’m throwing my hat in that vitamin D3 supplement is not as much fun as getting outside and getting sun, but is still excellent for your health.

Vitamin D3 is created naturally in your body when ultraviolet light from the sun strikes your skin and converts cholesterol to Vitamin D.  A short bout of 15 minutes will give you about 15,000 IU of the stuff.  You have to be fully naked to get that amount but experts agree that is a pretty decent dose.  Recent research says you can supplement as high as 10,000 IU a day safely, but the best consensus I can find is 1,000 IU to 2000 IU a day.

According to Reuters news service this week (3/7/10), vitamin D3 is essential for activating one of the most important functions of your immune system: the killer T cell.

The Killer T cells have many functions. They are responsible for destroying infected cells, and preventing you from getting same disease twice. They are the reason why you (usually) don’t get chicken pox twice, and why vaccines work. Confused Killer T cells can actually attack your own body, causing auto-immune diseases. Thus, lathering up your kids (or yourself) and never letting ultraviolet light get through to their skin will dampen their vitamin D3 in their blood and reduce T cell effectiveness. 

Low Vitamin D levels have also been linked to breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, depression, weight gain, and even all causes of death later in life (meaning low vitamin D levels connect to all types of death in the elderly) These studies show that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of disease.

Vitamin D is essential for making bone and reducing inflammation. The Vitamin D Council – “suggests vitamin D treatment might be found helpful in treating or preventing autism, autoimmune disease, cancer, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, flu, neuromuscular diseases, and osteoporosis.” *

So, I would say it’s a no brainer –  take 2000IU of D3 a day to reduce inflammation and keep your blood levels of up, as well as reduce short term and long term disease.

Getting Strong (and healthy) Together,
Brian

Cheap, good supplement:  http://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW1030/ItemDetail?n=0

*http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/the-truth-about-vitamin-d

Why Diets Fail

Since dieting is just about a national obsession, it’s high time we talked about why 95% of them fail.

Scientists from Indiana University and an Institute in Berlin looked at two completely different types of diets and found the more rules the women had to follow, the sooner they failed.

When you are evaluating a diet plan, find the simplest set of rules – this will help you succeed.  Even if the diet is more attractive because it might allow “more cheating”, if it has too many rules the researchers suggested looking elsewhere.

There are many paths to a good diet.  I don’t claim to know them all but what I keep coming back to are some basic rules that seem to make a lot of sense and help the people I share them with.

1 - You take baby steps or you take no steps.  Changing how you eat is a process. It must be slow or it won’t stick.   And to that point, you should consider yourself on a one year journey.  Don’t expect to get any solid benefits for at least 90 days.  If you can set in a habit for 90 days you are well on your way.

2 -I don’t advise any big shifts in diet to begin with (see #1 above).  Instead, start by exercising.  Leave your eating essentially the same.  “But Brian – isn’t diet 80% of your success?”  My opinion is that it’s about 50% of the success and since it’s SOOO hard to change, I think you should start with exercise – you’ll feel the benefits faster.

3 - First dietary target: sugar (and artificial sweeteners).  It will most likely take you months to successfully remove sugar from your diet.  Your goal should be six days a week you get no sugar, one day a week plan (the key is to plan, not accidental) you get to eat whatever you want.  For some people, this could take you an entire year to get right.  It’s taken me longer but it is a huge factor.  Most people are so completely addicted to simple carbohydrates – it’s hard to even IMAGINE quitting.

4 - While you struggling with #3 it might be okay to start trying to modify breakfast.  It’s the first meal of the day and starts off the insulin ride for most people.  It’s also easier to fix, in my experience.  Breakfast should not include cereal.  Cereal of any kind is usually high in sugar, low in nutrition.  Most people spike their blood sugar during breakfast and that starts the “insulin cycle” all day. Breakfast should be eggs and fruit, or eggs and oatmeal.  You can scramble them, throw in some vegetables and a little cheese.; get some protein with not TOO much fat.

So there is your “diet”: exercise, cut sugar and fix breakfast.  It’s a great place to start and get yourself on track.  If you can master those – you’re ready to move on. 

Protein - much much do I need?

I have talked to a lot of people who think that simply adding protein to your diet will make you thinner.  This is sort of true but I think it ends up being an excuse for most people to just eat more protein and in turn, more calories.

I’m going to write about a couple studies to help us guide our eating habits.  This applies if you’re sedentary (couch potato – which nobody is who watches thedailyfit) or active (which you all must be, by default, since you partake of the sweet nectar of my wisdom.  Please don’t laugh too hard.)

Too little protein will result in loss of muscle mass, even if you consume enough calories.  If you diet (by simply cutting calories) and don’t keep your protein levels up, you’ll lose both fat and muscle.  When you lose muscle mass and your metabolism slows.  Slower metabolism means more fat when you go back to eating like you used to.  Suddenly, you have more fat than when you started.  Sound familiar?

Too much protein will cause something called Lucien oxidation – nutrient overload.  This is a sign your kidneys and liver are straining to keep up with the excess protein.  Excess protein is converted to glucose.  In the end, it’s the same thing as eating sugar.  That is not helpful to the diet or the health.

So how do we calculate what we need?  Ok – get ready for a little math, get a calculator.

Take your body weight and divide it by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms.  For me this would be 165/2.2 = 75Kg

Then multiply that number times .7 (for non active people) and 1.3 or 1.4 for people who perform strength training exercise (like we do at thedailyfit).  The number you get is the number of grams of protein you need per day.  I’m going to pretend that I need the most so that would be 75 x 1.4 = 105 grams per day.  Spread it out over your meals.  These studies did not have a specific protocol for how to consume protein, just daily totals.

In my opinion, for best muscle building, eat larger meals instead of spreading out your protein throughout the day with snacks.  The concept of consuming more tiny meals does not induce what's called protein synthesis (actual building of muscle fibers).  Scientists observed in even elderly women that consuming 80% of their total daily protein in one meal had better nitrogen retention (fancy word for keeping your lean muscle) than women who consumed the same amount of protein spread evenly through four meals.

It’s a delicate balance.  I’m just trying to give you some guidelines so you can check yourself as you go along.  Protein is a pretty big deal for getting and keeping your lean muscle tissue.  Too much and you’ll gain weight, too little and you’ll slow your metabolism (and gain weight).  Keep your eye on it.

Getting Strong Together,

Brian

The Truth about Saturated Fat

This information is so important and already well researched that instead of trying to rewrite it, I wanted to share it with everyone as an excerpt taken from a book by a very knowledgeable nutritionist, Isabel De Los Rios.

By Isabel De Los Riosexcerpt from The Diet Solution Manual, pg. 43-44

Heart disease was quite rare before 1920—so rare that the electrocardiograph (which performs the test now commonly known as an electrocardiogram [ECG]), developed to diagnose coronary heart disease, was considered a waste of time and quickly rejected. Apparently, no one suffered from clogged arteries at that time. But by the mid-1950s, heart disease was the leading cause of death among Americans. Today, heart disease causes at least 40% of all deaths in the United States each year.

In “The Skinny on Fats” (www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html; also in Fallon 2001, 5), the well-known nutritional expert Sally Fallon states that

If, as we have been told, heart disease results from the consumption of saturated fats, one would expect to find a corresponding increase in animal fat in the American diet over the same amount of time as the increase in heart disease. Actually, the converse is true. During the sixty-year period from 1910–1970, the proportion of traditional animal fat in the American diet declined from 83 percent to 62 percent, and butter consumption plummeted from eighteen pounds per person each year to four. During the past eighty years, the consumption of dietary cholesterol intake has increased only one percent.

If saturated fat consumption actually decreased, then what increased? During the same period, the average intake of dietary vegetable oils (in the form of margarine, shortening, and refined oils) increased by about 400%, and the consumption of sugar and processed foods increased by about 60% (Fallon 2001). Given these data, saturated fats apparently have been falsely accused; they are not the cause of modern disease. Unfortunately, people have been led to believe otherwise, so they try to avoid any food that contains high levels of saturated fat.

Coconut oil contains primarily saturated fat but no trans fat. It is rich in lauric acid, which is known for its antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Some medical doctors now recommend coconut oil as a healthy food oil. In the informative online newsletter Doctor House Call, Al Sears, M.D., states, “The saturated fat found in coconut oil is a unique fat that helps prevent heart disease, helps to build up the immune system, and does not turn into fat in your body. In fact, it helps to speed up your metabolism … helping you to burn fat and increase your energy!” (Sears no date). And Joseph Mercola, D.O., claims, “Coconut oil is truly the healthiest oil you can consume” and urges readers to try virgin coconut oil and “experience the health benefits for yourself” (Mercola no date).

The saturated fat in coconut oil (as well as in palm kernel oil) is of the medium-chain fatty acid (MCFA) variety. The body digests MCFAs more easily and uses them differently than other fats. MCFAs are sent directly to the liver, where they are immediately converted into energy. In other words, the body uses the fat to make energy rather than store it (Fife 2001, 39). 

Boost your HgH Naturally (burn fat, build muscle, what more do you want?)

I’ll just get it out right here, all the Human Growth Hormone Supplements (marketed as such) do not work but there are some great ways to maximize your Human Growth Hormone naturally and without side effects.  That is, unless you consider more strength, less fat and more vitality a side effect.

It is the fountain of youth.  You can get it as a drug but it’s extremely expensive and you need a doctor to administer it.  But even then, it can be dangerous.

So, if you would prefer it safe and “free” (I put free in quotes for a reason), then read on.

I have not found anything in my research that any supplement significantly helps HGH.  (2 g of glutamine 90 minutes prior to a workout is an exception but not fully proven) There are many claims for this and I am still looking but you can follow this simple protocol to boost your Human Growth Hormone.

 Step one – A high glycemic lifestyle (lots of sugar and processed carbs) will blunt both your resting levels of HgH as well as the HgH spikes. So step one is to adopt a low glycemic lifestyle: Vegetables, lean meats, good fats, nuts, seeds, clean starches (sprouted wheat bread, yams, brown rice).  This alone will make most people lose weight.  Ditch ‘diet foods” for real foods.  Diet foods often contain more sugar to offset the lost fat.

Step two – 60 minutes prior to the workout: (A) make sure you eat no fat during that time and (B) One or two studies show 2grams of l-glutamine 90 minutes prior to exercise can boost growth hormone.  Glutamine might be one of the cheapest amino acids out there so it’s worth a shot.  It’s also given to cancer patients to help them maintain muscle mass during chemo.

Step three – high intensity exercise 3x a week.  You must be above the lactate threshold (that burning feeling in your muscles) for 10 minutes.  There are some workouts like that around thedailyfit.blogspot.com.  That doesn’t mean 10 minutes of straight burning but it does mean 10 minutes of hard effort.  Jogging doesn’t cut it and neither does simple traditional weight lifting.  If you’re sprinting/cycling use a 1:3 work/rest ratio (meaning, sprint for 15 seconds, rest for 45 seconds)

Step four – take protein NOT carbs after intense exercise.  You have a two hour window to get protein.  Skip the protein shake, have four hard-boiled eggs.  They have about 24 grams of protein with some necessary fat.  Don’t just have the egg whites, the whole egg is better for you.  You can have steak, chicken, EAA (essential amino acids) or as a last resort some whey protein.  Any insulin spike in the first two hours after exercise will blunt HGH response.

(Many athletes will now say to me, what about my glycogen reserves?  I need high glycemic food after a workout.  In 24 hours your glycogen levels will be the same whether you eat carbs during this 2 hour window or not.  Get the HGH AND the glycogen.)

Step five – Sleep 8-9 hours.

There is one more step but I am going to dedicate it to another post.  So stick with low glycemic foods, resist fat during the 1 hour prior to exercise, train high intensity 3x a week, take four hard boiled eggs after exercise, wait two hours to eat carbs and get some good sleep!  This alone should be good to get you really going.  HgH will help your recovery, burn more fat and increase your lean muscle strength gains. 

Exercise Keeps you Young

Scientists have known for years that people who exercise live longer.  They have seen it in their blood markers and other measurements.  But recently scientists noticed that the cells of those who exercise are actually younger.

Exercise actually make your DNA younger.  Not only does it make the DNA appear younger but exercise might be more important than even genetics (what you were born with) in terms of the age of the cell.

“Specifically, investigators measured the length of telomeres -- the DNA on either end of thread-like chromosomes. Each time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die. Researchers found that telomere length was related to activity level. People who engaged in the most exercise had telomeres of similar length to inactive people up to 10 years younger.”

Essentially what they are saying is this: each time the cell divides, the telomres get shorter.  When they get too short, the cells die.  When too many cells die, you die.  People who exercise have telomeres longer than people who don’t.

Fasting slows cell division too, but that’s another article.

The researchers also noted you don’t need to run 50 miles a week to get the benefits.

“…active people had cells that were measurably younger than inactive people,” he says. “This striking finding may explain how exercise helps prevent heart attacks, diabetes and other degenerative diseases.””

Full article here. 

Cardio Alone Won't Get You There

Most of us have a very good understanding of “cardio”: Get your body moving until your heart rate is such-and-such and keep it there for a certain amount of time.  The more minutes you do such-and-such movement, the more calories you burn. 

It is well established that such exercise is much more healthy than doing nothing.  But what most people want to get out of cardio is weight loss and it is simply not the best way. 

Weight training whether light or heavy, causes significantly more muscle breakdown than cardio training.  Not only does the rebuilding of that muscle use a lot of calories, the more lean muslce you have the more calories it takes to keep it alive.  It’s a double effect! 

Let me say it a different way.  You may burn more calories “in” the workout while training cardio but you will burn much more after the workout with weight training.  Studies show that resistance training has a measurable effect on your metabolism for 38 HOURS after exercising (1).  This is called EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). EPOC uses about 14% additional calories to what you would normally burn, plus you use a lot more calories to repair your muscles.  Then, once the muscle tissue has grown, it takes still more calories to maintain it simply while you sit, eat or watch tv. Simply put: lifting weights will cause you to burn more calories while sitting at work or watching TV after dinner.

Back on the treadmill, once you step off (unless you’re sprinting hills) you’re not going to get any of the above effects.  The calories you burn while on the equipment are basically all you’re going to get.  You get about 7% or less EPOC and very little muscle building.  Without additional muscle, your metabolism stays essentially the same. 

You might say, "I don’t want to get all big and bulky!" Women have little fear of this since big muscles require testosterone and heavy weights.  Consider the man who can bench press 500 pounds and the man who can bench press 100 pounds 5 times.  Both have expended the same calories but they will be built very differently.

Mens Health Catches up with TheDailyFit

They call it “The New Science of Fat Loss”.  Okay so technically theyprinted it first, but I have been working out with a team of guys for the last 3 years and we have been doing this technique the WHOLE TIME.

The fact is this kind of training will completely blow you away. Weather you are looking to lose fat or gain muscle, this type of working out is simply the best you can get.  It’s not only the best use of your time (normally 20-30 minutes 3 times a week) but it’s the best use of your efforts: we perform workouts that are easily 3 times the volume of most 45 minute sessions in the gym – this quadruples the speed of results.

One of my guys used to marvel at how he could work out only one day per week and still see gains.  The proof is in the pudding and Men’s Health (December 2009) tells us why:

Dr. Volek from the University of Connecticut performed a study of 3 groups of people over a 12 week period.  All three groups went on the same diet.  Group (1) performed NO exercise.  Group (2) performed aerobic exercise like walking, running or biking.  Group (3) performed some aerobic and some weight lifting exercise (equal in TIME to the aerobics-only group).  The results: each group averaged the SAME amount of weight loss, about 21 pounds.  Equally as interesting: though the weight loss was the same, the lifters shed 5 extra pounds of fat but gained 5 lbs of muscle.  This equates to an increase fat loss of 40% in the lifting group.

Dieting alone kills fat AND muscle.  The more muscle you have, the higher you resting metabolism, so you don’t want to kill muscle.  Plus it’s cool to use for stuff like walking and catching your 3-year-old.  Fat doesn’t seem to help with this.

Men’s Health explains that new research is beginning to show what body builders have known all along – lifting weights burns a lot more calories than previously thought.  In fact an 8 minute circuit of near-continuous activity can burn 160-230 calories. That’s a lot considering when jogging you only burn around 250 calories in 30 minutes (for a 150 lb person).

The magazine stops there but the facts go on.  Lifting high intensity circuits boost growth hormone, trains your heart better and increases your blood’s ability to hold oxygen.  It’s also nice to be done in 20 minutes and work out from home.

Lifting intensely also increases power. “Power” is not even on the radar of most fitness professionals but it is like the comparison of a runner who can do one mile in 12 minutes versus a runner who can do it in 4 minutes.  They both burn the same number of calories (if they weigh the same) but how do you measure the difference?  Simply put, “Power” is calories divided by time.  Perform the same effort in less time and you have improved.  Perform more effort in the same time and you have improved. 

In summary, focus your workouts on “Events”: intense, varied circuits which work the whole body.  Your lean muscle will grow; your fat tissue will shrink.  Your body will thank you, your fat cells will hate you.

False Summits - guaranteed you will want to quit, and why you shouldn't

A buddy of mine is a climber.  He tells me that when you’re mountain climbing you get a lot of “false summits”.  These are times when you think you are on the last leg of the climb.  You can see the ridge, and you feel your strength is just about to give out.  Then the unthinkable happens:  You reach the “top” and realize that the next leg is MUCH further away.  You only thought it was the peak because your angle of vision was blocked by the mountain.  Now you have to martial your strength again and keep pushing on.

I could not imagine a better picture of life, accomplishment and getting into the shape you want to be in.

Here’s another way to look at it:  years ago when a person would go on a long journey, it would sometimes be called a “pilgrimage”.  A pilgrimage is not a trip; a trip is traveling to somewhere close. A pilgrimage from America to the Far East would mean crossing an ocean, two continents, and facing hundreds of unexpected things. The person would have to be resolute in his determination to get to his destination because the obstacles he must face were too many to plan for. This journey would have to be about more than the destination – it would have to be about the distance in-between. More importantly, the obstacles along the way were expected rather than unexpected. The blockades are part of the process – the process to make him a better person, making the goal all the greater.

Our workouts are all about NOT GIVING UP.   I don’t think most people realize how important it is to cultivate this kind of attitude.  Getting it is not free!   It is very costly.  Why is it so important?  One day you will be beginning a long journey or standing at a false summit – seeing that you have 5 to 10 times further to go than you ever imagined.  I assure you it will happen and whatever you have cultivated up to that point will be there to help you. 

So as you look back down the mountain, realize how far you’ve come and how much blood, tears and sweat it took to get there.  Say a prayer, dig in and consider this:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.   So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Exercise makes you smarter

Still another study that shows exercise is good for you.  Here are some highlights:

"Six months of intense aerobic exercise "improved cognitive abilities of attention and concentration, organization, planning, and multi-tasking," study chief Dr. Laura Baker noted in an email to Reuters Health. In contrast, cognitive function test scores continued to decline in the group that didn't have vigorous exercise."

Also:

"...for the women in the study, aerobic exercise improved the body's sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that plays an important role in providing energy to the muscles and organs of the body and to the brain."

(Thedailyfit note: Insulin sensitivity is your ability to actually process the carbohydrates you eat.)

Lastly,

"Moderate exercise in midlife was associated with a 39 percent reduced likelihood of developing mild cognitive impairment, and moderate exercise in late life was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the odds of mental decline. The findings were consistent among men and women." 

Here's a link to the whole article.

High Intensity - You want it, but just might not KNOW it yet

I hate sitting around. I used to love it.  I used to love going to the gym and sitting, watching MTV, or whatever lame show they had on the TV’s.  I would do some cardio and catch up on all the Jerry Springer I had missed.

What was I thinking?  Time is such a luxury.  I was hardly social, I just wanted to rest and catch my breath for the next set.  This type of lifting does grow your muscles but does it create better performing bodies?  Does it lengthen life?  I’m realistic – I want both.

Any exercise is beneficial – even walking to the donut shop.  Lifting is better than not lifting.  Cardio is better than no cardio. It’s better to do something rather than nothing; all that is pretty much common sense. 

That said, here is my plug for High Intensity:  In 2008 a study was released covering nearly 50 physical-education students (so these are people who exercise already).  They divided them up into 5 groups for 12 weeks of training.  They were all about the same age.  10 were control, 10 were circuit training, 10 were circuits with running after, 10 were running first with circuits after and 10 were endurance only.  The results were that the group who did only the circuit training produced strength and power improvements more than any other group.

Additionally, the Journal of Strength and Conditioning has the following recommendation for muscle growth (called Hypertrophy): “When training for muscular hypertrophy, consecutive sets should be performed prior to when full recovery has taken place. Shorter rest intervals of 30-60 seconds between sets have been associated with higher acute increases in growth hormone, which may contribute to the hypertrophic effect. When training for muscular endurance, an ideal strategy might be to perform resistance exercises in a circuit, with shorter rest intervals (e.g., 30 seconds) between exercises that involve dissimilar muscle groups, and longer rest intervals (e.g., 3 minutes) between exercises that involve similar muscle groups.” *

Translation: if you want to grow your muscles more – don’t let them rest enough.  If you want to add endurance to that, do circuits.  Guess what, workout with us and you’ll get both muscle growth and muscle endurance – a killer combo!

At TheDailyFit we blend high intensity with muscle chaos to get all the benefits at once: muscle growth, endurance and power.  Sure you could go back to the gym and get muscle growth, but that’s all you get.  Plus, your workouts are 5 times as long and who really has time for that?!

* Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 20(4):978-984, November 2006.
WILLARDSON, JEFFREY M.

Sleep Hacks

Sleep is so important.  

Bad sleep contributes to:

(1) feeling like crap the next day
(2) increased appetite
(3) poor reaction time
(4) loss of attention
(5) loss of HgH – believe me, you don’t want to lose that one.
(6) weakened immune systems
(7) makes you lame to be around

Here are some interesting facts about sleep:

1. Before the invention of the light bulb, the average American male slept 9+ hours nightly.  Today the average American male sleeps about 6.5 hours.
2. Rats usually live 2-3 years, but if deprived of sleep they live 5 weeks.
3. It seems lost sleep cannot be made up (in a single day, or even two)
4. People who slept less than eight hours a day had larger increases in body fat than those who slept more.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever talked with a friend who said, “I’m so well rested, I got 9 hours of sleep last night, I’m ready to take on the day!”  It’s usually something like, “I’m so tired, I was up doing x y z last night,” or, “I pulled an all-nighter” etc, etc….  Our culture, for some reason, thinks it’s cool to lose sleep.

How do we get more and better sleep?
First: (this one I cannot change for you) is you have to want to sleep more.  Turning off the TV, getting off the computer and letting go of all that could be done is a personal choice.  Weigh out the benefits of spending 16 hours more focused than 18 hours unfocused.  Do the math.  If you get past that then go to step two.

Second: set up the right environment.  Beds are for sleeping (and a short list of other things).  Don’t read, study, watch TV or any work/school related tasks.  Dark and quiet helps too.
Third: Hydrate – but not right before bed.  Drink all the water you want 2-3 hours before bed time.  Drink too close to sleep and you’ll probably have to wake up to use the bathroom.
Fourth: If you have trouble sleeping ditch the caffeine and alcohol after 3pm.

Fifth: if a good masseuse is not on hand, I recommend at least a brief stretching regimen.  This will help loosen your muscles causing more relaxation and quicker nod-off time.

Sixth: (try this to see if it helps): Liver Fuel. I'm not talking about eating liver.  I am going to give you a secret that bodybuilders have been searching for, for a long, long time.  Bear with me, this is going to take a minute.

Very rarely, if ever, does anyone talk about fueling the liver.  The liver is the sole source of fuel (called glycogen) for your internal organs while you sleep.  There are a few important organs like the brain and the diaphragm which need glycogen all night long.  Trying to keep it simple, the liver fuels up from your last meal (most westerners around 6) and has enough fuel for about 7-10 hours.   So with dinner at 6, the MAX you’re going to get is until 4 (do you have breakfast then?).

What happens if liver glycogen runs out at night?
Simply put, the brain will not be starved, it activates the adrenal glands – releasing cortisol and adrenaline(do you find yourself waking up at the same time every night? This could be why).  These hormones catabolize (eat) muscle.  This process burns muscle to release amino acids.  These amino acids are converted to glucose to fuel the brain.  Body builders are always trying to find ways to prevent catabolism.  Turns out, if you fuel the liver, it’s not a problem.

When your muscle disappears, you burn less fat.  You worked hard to build it, so keep it!

So, now what?
We need to fuel the liver before we go to bed.  Pure Honey is a great substance that directly fuels the glycogen in the liver.  Milk is a slow-releasing protein.  During that slow release period, your body will remain in a muscle building state.  Milk will also contribute to the fuel in the liver. Turns out the old advice of drinking milk and honey before bed was right on!

Peanut Butter is another protein source as well as a fat source to slow the absorption of the sugar into the system and help reduce the insulin spike from the honey.

Below is a small, 180 calorie snack to fuel your liver for the whole night (assuming you ate dinner).  You can wake up refreshed because your body has done what it was designed to do – recover all night.

1 Cup milk
½ Tablespoon peanut butter
½ Tablespoon honey  

You don’t have to put it all in the same glass.  I usually heat the milk, add the honey and lick the peanut butter spoon while I sip the drink.  You can do it how you like. You can even swap the peanut butter for a handful of almonds.

Now there are real sleep disorders and a good sign that you have one is, once you have tried all the above for about 1-2 weeks without relief, check with a doctor.

Keep sleep as a high priority.  If you are exercising you will maximize your Human Growth Hormone and cut your cravings down a bit.  It will also help you recover faster than if you are sleep deprived.  Set up the right environment, fuel the liver and you should be set up for a night of restful zzzz’s! 

Heavy weights or light weights

I got this question from a subscriber and I thought it was worth mentioning the answer for everyone to read.

Question:  I want to lose some weight and tone up.  I've read a lot of conflicting info on if I should be doing heavy weights with low reps, or light weights with a lot of reps.  I've read a lot of articles saying use light weights to tone but even more say use heavy weights, low reps. Do you happen to know the correct answer to this?  It's very conflicting and confusing.

Answer:  Great question!   One of the things I am trying to do with this web site is bring some clarity and some focus for people doing just what you're trying to do.

The logic behind the heavy weights is : more muscle burns more fat, this is true.  The logic behind light weights is: more reps burns more calories while you're working out, this is also true.  And still another logic says: do cardio since that burns even MORE calories while working out that lifting weights (this is starting to become untrue with new research but we'll pretend it's true).  What's the trick?

They all are.  The trick is to do them all.  Set up a mix and train in all of them all week long and keep your regiment varied.  The key is almost always do high intensity on your lifting days.  High intensity is what we do here.  But some days mix even that up - just do straight heavy sets with 2 min rest between each set.

Example:

Monday:  20-40 min high intensity heavy weights, after that run/cycle/swim cardio for 20-40 more if you have time
Tuesday:  active rest - walking only, nothing strenuous but you can probably go up to 3 miles and it will help you loosen up if you are stiff.
Wednesday:  20-40 min high intensity light weights, run after if you can
Thursday:  active rest again
Friday:  high intensity light or heavy lifting with more rest, run after
Sat:  active rest (or full rest)
Sun:  full rest.  This is very important to avoid over training

Sleep 8 hours a night or more on this schedule.  Eat real food, reduce grains, have more vegetables, lean meats, low fat dairy, and nuts/seeds. And don’t forget to take a before picture so you can see how much you change!

More Strength in Less time

Once again, Men’s Health (a magazine I really enjoy) is catching up with TheDailyFit.  That’s a little tongue-in-cheek; to be fair they shared lots of stuff I didn’t know but this happens to be one area which I have spent a considerable amount of time researching.

April 2010, page 36, “Fast Muscle” says, “Use supersets for super gains.  Researches in Australia and Canada have found that alternating between a back exercise and chest exercises boosts strength more than working just one muscle group at a time does.”

Awesome!  So what I’ve been doing and saying for years (Not only me, but others as well) is even now being proved out (more) true.

Men’s health recommends trying 6 reps on a dumbbell row, resting 60 seconds, then 6 reps on a bench press, rest again and repeat several times.  That’s a great protocol if you have some heavy weights, if you have light weights go 60 seconds effort and 60 seconds rest or 30/60 combo.  By now we’re starting to look a lot like the workouts we do at TheDailyFit.

The article goes on to say, “researchers don’t know why this approach yields better results”.  I submit that the increase in stress on the system increases growth hormone – the mother of all (natural) muscle gain and fat loss hormones.  It’s the same reason high intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training (which I believe will soon be the “new” high intensity interval training) produce faster results in less time: they produce a significant hormone response and force huge adaptation on the muscles and muscle building molecular pathways.  OK, I’ll now remove my pocket protector and get back to normal English.

TURN BACK ONE PAGE to page 34 and a (seemingly) unrelated article talks about how 10K runners took an entire minute off their 10 k times with less running.  How did they do it?  “Runners slashed an average of 1 full minute off their 10K times by switching to “speed endurance regimen” of fewer miles combined with intense intervals (emphasis mine).” That's right, mixing distance running with sprinting makes your distance running faster!  

How does all this apply to you?  Let’s assume you have the exercises you like to do in the gym: keep those exercises but each week change up the way you do them.  Sometimes use heavy weight and other times use lighter weights.  Just make sure to do your exercises as a circuit.  (Minimum of 20 minutes) Example:

Week 1: every workout is 60 seconds of effort with 60 seconds of rest, then switch exercises.
Week 2: every workout is 30 seconds of effort with 30 seconds of rest, then switch exercises.
Week 3: every workout is 20 seconds of effort with 10 seconds of rest (let me tell you, this is rough)
Week 4: every workout is 30 seconds of effort with 3:30 minutes of rest (the 30 seconds for each set should be ALL OUT effort).  

Start over!

That is a simple way to grab all the benefits of each different protocol I have read about recently. 

Good luck!

Get strong!,
Brian