Over 40 Health and Fitness

Sunday, February 9, 2014

The Sunday Sleuth - Investigating Alkaline Water

In this edition of Sunday Sleuth, we're going to investigate Alkaline Water to see if really is a better than purified water. We'll take a closer look at all the clues to discover weather it has legitimate health benefits, is guilty of false claims, or is a red herring that is just misleading the public. Will it turn out to be a legitimate health drink or high-priced hoax?

What are we waiting for? The game is afoot...

Clean, pure water is a cornerstone of good health. Most of us know that drinking enough clean water is important to maintaining health.Your body is mostly water, so the ongoing intake of water is essential to your every function. The trouble is, many public water supplies are loaded with hazardous contaminants, such as disinfection byproducts (DBPs), fluoride, and pharmaceutical drugs, to name just a few. So you should be concerned about increased pollutants and contaminants in our tap water. Many people opt for bottled water, however, some brands are simply bottled tap water that may or may not have gone through any additional filtering. So in some cases, bottled water isn't necessarily any purer than filtered water -- it's just more expensive. But beyond water filtration, there’s also the issue of pH - alkaline versus acidic water. There are quite a few astonishing health claims being made about alkaline water, but are they true? Let’s take a closer look at these claims.

What is alkaline water?

First, a little chemistry: A pH level measures how acid or alkaline something is. A pH of 0 is totally acidic, while a pH of 14 is completely alkaline. A pH of 7 is neutral. Those levels vary throughout your body. Your blood is slightly alkaline, with a pH between 7.35 and 7.45. Your stomach is very acidic, with a pH of 3.5 or below, so it can break down food. And your urine changes, depending on what you eat – that's how your body keeps the level in your blood steady.

The theory behind alkaline water is, in a nutshell, that alkaline (ionized) water is a powerful antioxidant with surplus electrons that can “mop up” the dangerous free radicals you have coursing through your veins. Marketers claim alkaline water can correct excess acidity in your tissues, which can then prevent or reverse cancer, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases. You can buy a machine, called a water ionizer, which supposedly creates alkaline water via a process called ionization. Manufacturers claim that these machines allow water to interact with electrodes to split hydrogen ions from oxygen, influencing the pH of the water. Many of these in-home ionizers are quite expensive. My investigation found several that products that cost well over $1000. Proponents of alkaline water believe that it can neutralize the acid in your bloodstream and help your body metabolize nutrients more effectively, leading to better health and performance.

Many of the online claims are based on the theory that ionized alkaline water has smaller “clusters” of molecules. According to the Kangen Water website, for instance, “These small clusters make alkaline water Kangen Water more soluble and permeable, allowing you to absorb the important vitamins and nutrients your body needs.” And The Alkalizer (“A Wetter Water for a Better Body”) maintains that, “The smaller mineral clusters, as measured by the use of a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance device is a more hydrating water than normal tap water. Through electrolysis large tap mineral clusters are reduced from their original size. The smaller cluster size gives the water excellent hydrating properties, high solubility and good permeability.”

Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D.

Unfortunately, many chemists say that “ionized water” is a meaningless term, and that health claims made for ionized water are scientifically unfounded. In fact, alternative-health guru Andrew Weil used the word "Bogus" in response to a question about Kangen Water in 2010. “It is the latest variation of so-called alkaline water, which promoters claim is essential for elimination of the acidity in our bodies—attributed to all the evils of the modern world .... The human body needs absolutely no help in adjusting its pH.” He added, “Unless you have serious respiratory or kidney problems, body pH will remain in balance no matter what you eat or drink .... Bottom line: The health claims for water ionizers and for alkaline water are bogus.”

Hmmmm.... a respected Holistic, Naturopathic Doctor, a Medical Doctor no less, shoots down the the manufactures scientific claims? Could Alkaline Water Manufacturers be trying to profit by selling snake oil? Dubious, dear Watson.

Alkaline water is water that’s less acidic than regular tap water. This means it is rich in alkalizing compounds, including calcium, silica, potassium, magnesium, and bicarbonate. Many people believe that the typical North American diet contributes to chronic low-grade acidosis – a condition that may be associated with poor health outcomes including heart problems, altered hormonal status, and the loss of muscle or bone.

Though North American tap water often contains chemicals,it’s relatively safe when compared to the water in many other parts of the world. Tap water contains different dissolved elements that influence its pH level. Pure water has a pH level close to 7. Alkaline water has a pH above 7.

Alkaline water & acid-base balance in the body

The Human body has the complex job of maintaining blood pH within a tight range. And it performs this task amazingly well. Alkaline advocates argue that even if your pH levels look fine", your body could be drawing on stored buffers from bone and muscle to maintain pH within the ideal range. And that can damage your overall health and lead to disease.

Proponents of Alkaline water claim that everyone needs to “alkalize” your tissues in your body but this might be an over-simplification.For starters, each organ system has a unique pH range. And since there are various ways that the body maintains pH balance, if pH is out of whack, it’s important to get to the underlying cause. Without knowing the cause, you can’t determine whether alkaline water will really help you.

While anecdotal evidence suggests that the pH of water could be relevant to health, so far, there’s not a lot of firm data.

But focusing on the pH level of our water might be somewhat beside the point. Because if alkaline water is helpful, that might be due to the minerals it contains rather than its inherent pH level.

Data does suggests that consuming alkaline water can increase overall body alkalinity but this may not always be a benefit. For example, if someone has a kidney condition, or is taking a medication that alters kidney function, some of the minerals in alkaline water could start to accumulate in the body. For these people, high alkalinity might lead to negative side effects. If kidney patients should avoid alkaline water, athletes and exercisers are one sub-group who might benefit from drinking it. Why? Because alkaline water may allow active people to retain more fluid in the cardiovascular system, while decreasing their urine output and blood osmolality. That’s important because high plasma osmolality is associated with elevated risk of death from stroke.

The research suggests that these effects might not be instantaneous, but rather, gradual.Thus: Alkaline water might improve overall hydration status in active people over time. And proper hydration is important to our health. But again, this is a big “maybe”.

So, what are the recommendations for optimal drinking water pH?

The WHO has published a nearly-600 page document called “Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.” In this voluminous tome, you would expect to find everything you’d ever want to know about your drinking water, right? Well, everything EXCEPT a pH recommendation - there are no health-based guidelines for pH! They state that pH usually has “no direct impact on consumers,” yet they also write pH is one of the “most important operational water quality parameters.”

They do recommend your water pH be in the range of 6.5 to 8.0 so as not to corrode your pipes - and they’re NOT talking about your body’s plumbing:

“Alkalinity and calcium management also contribute to the stability of water and control its aggressiveness to pipe and appliance. Failure to minimize corrosion can result in the contamination of drinking water and in adverse effects on its taste and appearance. Failure to minimize corrosion can result in the contamination of drinking water and in adverse effects on its taste and appearance.”

It appears that the WHO is more concerned about the pipes in your house than the pipes in your body.

Most likely the optimal pH of the water you were designed to drink is somewhere between 6.5 and 8. Above or below this level may have other purposes, such as disinfection, but I would be careful drinking water outside of these ranges.

Alkaline Water to fight Cancer

There has been a great deal of debate about battling cancer by making your body alkaline. This has become a focus of interest as cancer rates have skyrocketed (along with many other chronic, debilitating diseases), while our bodies have become more acidic from our processed-food diets.

The scientific research about the benefits of alkalinity is by no means conclusive. PH appears to have a major influence on cell mitochondria:

Normal cells die under extremely alkaline conditions. A study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry found that alkalosis (rising cellular pH) causes alkaline-induced cell death as a result of altering mitochondrial function.

Another study out of Cornell University states that antioxidants have not proven to be effective against many neurodegenerative diseases, and they state it may be a result of how the mitochondria operate within the cell in certain pH conditions.

There are some scientific studies that really argue against alkalinity, at least with respect to preventing or treating cancer.

Consider the research by Robert Gilles, who has studied tumor formation and acidity. According to Gilles, tumors, by their very nature, make themselves acidic - even in an alkaline cellular structure. In other words, they make their own acidity.

Scientists who are in the process of developing prototypes for potential new anticancer agents that selectively kill tumor cells by interfering with the regulation of intracellular pH, have found that alkaline treatments do NOT have the desired effect - but strongly acidic treatments do.

Talk about fighting fire with fire - they are fighting acid-loving cancer cells with acid!

LESS alkalinity inside a cancer cell seems to be what you want, not more.

So, all of those salesmen promising alkaline water will lower your cancer risk are completely clueless when it comes to what the scientific research actually shows.

Even more interesting is a 2005 study by the National Cancer Institute, which revisits the use of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) to treat cancer. They found that, in pharmacologic doses administered intravenously, ascorbic acid successfully killed cancer cells without harming normal cells. This is yet another example of cancer cells being vulnerable to acidity, as opposed to alkalinity.

It’s clear that the relationship between alkalinity and cancer has been grossly oversimplified by those jumping to premature conclusions - and of course by those trying to profit off your fear.

The bottom line is that alkaline water isn’t cancer’s magic bullet.

Too much of a Good Thing?

If you drink alkaline water all the time, you’re going to raise the alkalinity of your stomach, which will buffer your stomach’s acidity and impair your ability to digest food, as low stomach acid is one of the most common causes of ulcers. This can open the door for parasites in your small intestine, and your protein digestion may suffer. It also means you’ll get less minerals and nutrients over time - in fact, some of these health effects can already be seen in hardcore alkaline water drinkers.

Alkalinity is also potentially a problem because it is antibacterial, so it could potentially disrupt the balance of your body’s beneficial bacteria.

Exercise

Physical activity and diet can alter pH balance. A diet high in fresh vegetables will usually result in greater alkalinity.

So alkaline water’s benefits might be more obvious in people who do not exercise, or those who eat a typical Western diet of processed foods. Meanwhile, folks who exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet of whole foods might fail to notice much change from drinking alkaline water. But even if they don’t particularly notice a change, active people might benefit from alkaline water for reasons that go beyond improved hydration. Intense exercise spurs our muscles to produce more hydrogen ions than our body can efficiently remove. Fatigue increases. Drinking alkaline water might enhance the body’s buffering capacity and temper the acidity, thus improving our performance. Note that mineral supplements (calcium, magnesium, potassium) decrease cardio-respiratory stress and blood lactate responses, while improving power output in endurance athletes. That’s why long-distance runners sometimes supplement with sodium bicarbonate. This practice would seem to support the benefits of mineralized water.

Toxins

Tap water is disinfected to protect us from bacteria and toxins. But when disinfectants interact with organic matter in our tap water, disinfectant by-products form. DBPs can lead to health and environmental problems – a good reason to avoid them. Alkaline water seems to break down some DBPs, neutralizing their dangers to us. Meanwhile, alkaline urine might help to draw certain environmental toxins and pharmaceuticals from the body, another potential benefit. Sounds great, right? But other DBPs seem to thrive in an alkaline environment. So all in all, alkaline water is not necessarily better at protecting us from toxins.

Gut Health

Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is a measure of the tendency of a solution to either gain or lose electrons when it is subject to change by the introduction of a new species. ORP seems to influence bacteria in the gut. Electrochemically activated (i.e. ionized) water possesses a negative oxidation-reduction potential, which means it might offer extra disinfectant properties, helping to protect us from dangerous microorganisms.

Glycation

Glycation is a reaction that takes place when simple sugar molecules, such as fructose or glucose, become attached to proteins or lipid fats without the moderation of an enzyme. This results in the formation of rogue molecules known as advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs). AGEs are associated with health risks such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Ionized water seems to result in lowered glycation levels and reduced liver damage in rats with poor blood sugar control. Now, rats are not humans, and it is tricky to extrapolate directly from animal studies to human health. Even so, this evidence is worth weighing in the balance.

Living Water

We need to drink pure water - water that is clean, balanced, and healthful, neither too alkaline nor too acidic. Ideally, the pH of your water should be somewhere between 6 and 8.

And some of the most healthful waters in the world - that which emerge from mountain springs - are actually acidic in the range of 6.5. Mountain spring water is “living water,” which is living in the same way that raw food is "living food." One reason I try to eat plenty of fresh, organic raw food is for its biophotons. Biophotons are the smallest units of light, which are stored in and used by all biological organisms - including Humans. Vital energy finds its way into your cells from the biodynamic foods you eat. In the same way that raw foods are alive with biophoton energy, natural water is “alive” in a similar way. Visionary Japanese researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto experimented with the crystal forms of water. What he discovered is that different forms of energy influence water’s ability to organize into crystal forms. He demonstrated that water crystallization depends on the natural health of the water. He found that water from natural springs, healing water sources, etc., formed beautiful and complex crystalline geometries - like snowflakes. Water that had been distilled or polluted lost its inner order, and its ability to crystallize was profoundly disturbed. Living water becomes dead water.

Along with drinking clean, PH balanced water, you can optimize your body’s pH by eating like your ancestors did - a diet rich in raw, organic, whole foods. This will help your body achieve homeostasis without the need of spending your hard earned money on an Ionizer.

I think I smell a Herring

So far I am seriously doubting the validity of Alkaline Water's miracle health claims. I do believe that many people are overly acidic, and could benefit from increasing their alkalinity. But paying thousands of dollars to "scientifically" manipulate the water, while laying out a serious cash investment, seems fishy.

The Claims versus the Supporting Evidence

There are a plethora of testimonials and so-called scientific studies on the Internet claiming alkaline water will cure your every ill. As we have seen, there is a lot of evidence that conflicts with the hype. Many consumers, struggling to make sense of the scientific jargon, eventually throw up their hands in frustration. The reality is, most of the circulating information is distributed by clever marketers, with very little scientific validity to back up their claims. Complicating matters is the fact that most water alkalizers are being marketed by multi-level marketing (MLM) companies with less-than-stellar ethics. They sell you a very expensive machine, for which you get a good discount if you sign up as a rep, and once you're part of the MLM, you can't very well change your mind about its benefits (especially if you're going to sell the units) - even if you realize that the alkaline water is no longer "working" for you.

Here’s a brief overview of the claims for alkaline water and the clinical research evidence that currently supports them.

CLAIM	CURRENT EVIDENCE STRENGTH
Alkaline water helps treat chronic acidosis	Weak / speculative. The body regulates pH tightly, and different organs have slightly different pH requirements. There is little clinical evidence that “chronic low-grade acidosis” exists.
Alkaline water improves overall health	Weak / speculative. Alkaline water may increase overall body alkalinity, but it’s not clear that this improves health outcomes. People with certain health conditions should avoid excessive mineral intake.
Alkaline water is important for athletes	Weak / speculative. Proper hydration helps athletes, but there’s no evidence that alkaline water is anything special in this regard. Some benefits may be derived from buffering acidity.
Alkaline water protects us from toxins	Weak / equivocal. We may avoid toxins from disinfectant by-products in tap water, but other toxins can thrive in alkaline water.
Alkaline water contains a negative oxidation-reduction potential, helping protect us from pathogens	Weak / speculative. ORP seems to influence bacteria in the gut. Electrochemically activated (i.e. ionized) water possesses a negative oxidation-reduction potential, which means it might offer extra disinfectant properties, helping to protect us from dangerous microorganisms.
Alkaline water reduces advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) Alkaline water fights Cancer	Suggestive / speculative. Ionized water seems to result in lowered glycation levels and reduced liver damage in rats with poor blood sugar control. Suggestive / speculative. There is no hard evidence to support the claims. Some evidence indicates that cancer is vulnerable to acidity and NOT alkalinity.

Conclusion: Red Herring!

The more I investigate Alkaline Water, the more I uncover that the "miracle liquid" is more hype than fact, and the claims and scientific support for it's supposed health benefits mislead the public into spending more money than they probably should.

There isn't enough evidence to back up the claims that Alkaline Water is the key to vibrant health and longevity. And the "Scientific" evidence of it's Cancer fighting properties is a bit murky. Though it is not unhealthy to consume in moderation, it looks like consuming large amounts of alkaline water for an extended duration can actually have a reverse effect on good health. There are lots of marketers out there that want to sell you their products so they can profit on your fears, wants and needs.

So until science leaves a smoking gun that proves Alkaline Water really does what it claims, I suggest you save your money and stick to filtered tap water or purified drinking water.

In my humble opinion, if you really want to alkalinize your body, it would seem wise to encourage it by eating clean and avoiding overly acidic foods. Another way to get your PH in balance is by drinking green vegetable juice. Green vegetable juices will help your body normalize your body’s pH naturally. Without costing you thousands of dollars. My very first juicer was a second hand one I got for $25 at Goodwill. Hardly beaking the bank. Eventually, I saved up enough money and upgraded to a Breville, but my point is that you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to bump up your alkalinity with ionization. If you are interested in learning more about the power of green juice, check out my earlier post: Juicing Greens For Health and Vitality.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read this article.

The views expressed on this site are my opinions and should not be taken as a substitute for qualified medical expertise. I am not a Doctor. I do not give medical advice or make claims to cure any sickness, disease or affliction. I simply share my understanding of health and fitness. Please consult your Doctor or Health Care Practitioner before starting any diet or fitness routine.

Affiliate link disclosure: I use affiliate links on my Blog. This means that in some cases when I link to an online retailer I get a commission for referred sales. Meaning, if you click one of these affiliate links and make a purchase the retailer gives me a cut of it. For what it’s worth, I never write articles and insert affiliate links for the sole reason of earning a commission.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

The Twinkie Diet?

Can you lose weight by eating the majority of your calories from junk food? Okay, I'm all for having a cheat meal once in a while. In fact, I usually devote my Saturdays to having a complete cheat day. Since I strive to maintain a weekly calorie deficit, and even use Sunday to do an Intermittent Fast, I don't sweat it too much if I go a little crazy one day a week. But junk food every day for fat loss?

Come on, really?

Yep, really. Mark Haub, a professor of nutrition at Kansas State University went on a "convenience store" diet to show that the amount of daily calories matters more than nutritional content when it comes to losing weight. To prove his point, he went on a 10-week Twinkie diet.

For a class project, Haub limited himself to less than 1,800 calories a day. A man of Haub's pre-dieting size usually consumes about 2,600 calories daily. So he followed a basic principle of weight loss: He consumed significantly fewer calories than he burned.
Before the diet, his BMI (Body Mass Index was 28.8. After 10 weeks, he had a BMI of 24.9, which is considered a "normal" weight. Professor Haub ate a Twinkie, or a bag of chips every three hours but also ate more nutritional foods which comprised about one third of his total caloric intake. He drank a daily protein shake and took a multivitamin. And he rounded out his culinary creation with canned green beans or several sticks of celery.

Here's a link to the article on CNN.com.

The results?

He lost 27 pounds
His "bad" cholesterol dropped 20%
His "good" cholesterol increased 20%

Though he states that his health markers improved after the 10 week experiment, health experts say that such a diet may lead to long-tern health consequences. Wow, big surprise there. And admittedly, Haub does not recommend that anyone follow his example. That's right Haub, CYA.

Mmmmmm.... I love Twinkies. But they just don't love me back

Here's my take on this guy's dietary disaster:

First off, I totally agree that fat loss comes down to eating in a calorie deficit. But there's more to it than that. Imaging what his health would be like after 10 years of eating like that? But really, who eats junk food on a regular basis for 10 years? Ummmm....Most Americans. You think it might increase the risk for Cancer? Maybe Diabetes? Nutritionally, I wouldn't recommend eating like this, either. Not for 10 weeks. And certainly not for a lifetime.

I believe that, as long as you keep within your weekly calorie deficit, a Twinkie here or a bag of chips there won't derail your fitness goals as long as you can control your consumption. If you base your overall diet and calorie intake on nutritionally-dense foods, and stay within a weekly calorie deficit, you can have a weekly cheat day without too much to worry about. So go ahead, have a Twinkie for desert once in a blue moon. Want to pork out on nachos with co-workers after work on Friday? Go for it. Just make sure you don't derail your diet and fitness goals by blowing your calories out of the water. I speak from experience on that one.

Professor Haub proved his weight loss theory, but I think he is missing the forest for the trees. This guy's approach uses an extreme example to illustrate his belief that it's all about calories but what surprises me most is that he is a nutritionist. You'd think he might want to do an experiment that inspires the American public to follow nutritional RDA guidelines to limit calories and lose weight. Instead, he gave overweight people an excuse to have their Hostess Cake and eat it, too.

He argues that families who live in "food deserts" have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables, so they often rely on the kind of food he was eating. And in his own defense, he stated that, "These foods are consumed by lots of people. It may be an issue of portion size and moderation rather than total removal. I just think it's unrealistic to expect people to totally drop these foods for vegetables and fruits. It may be healthy, but not realistic."

Okay, I agree that it portion control when eating junk food is an issue with most people. And I don't think it is out of the question to expect people to go without junk food. It's called an educated choice. And it comes down to willpower. Most Americans, even in so called "food deserts" have access to frozen vegetables and canned fruit. Even if they can't buy fresh produce. And I am skeptical about him being "healthier" after 10 weeks of losing weight by eating mostly junk food instead of more nutritious options available at connivence stores.

Maybe it was the protein shakes.

Though he "proved" his point by making junk food the main part of his weigh-loss diet, he isn't exactly a shining example to follow.

Wal-Mart now has a carpool lane for express shopping

So what's next? Some family will go on 52 week Wal-Mart Diet and base their calories on Wonder Bread, balogna, tater tots, frozen pizza and Diet Coke? Oops, there's millions of Americans who already do that. My bad.

Final Thoughts

To get a perspective on what the typical American family eats during a week, take a look at this photo, courtesy of Food Matters, "What the World Eats" and compare it to some other countries. For the full list go to http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/what-the-world-eats-shocking-photos

North Carolina, USA (lots of pizza)

California, USA

France

Italy

(I don't see any pizza )

Japan

Chad

(yes, that's a weeks worth of food)

Friday, February 7, 2014

Fitness Friday - Drop and give me twenty!

Come on, Mayo-naze... stick your face in it!

It's Friday! That means it's time for another edition of Fitness Friday. Today we're going to discuss pushups. There's a reason the Army and Marines make you do lots of them. They build functional upper body strength. I lift weights for the majority of my upper body workouts, but I still incorporate body weight workouts as well. And the push up is at the top of the list. Remember when you were were in gym class and the Teacher made you drop and give him twenty pushups? He was probably a sadistic, power-hungry tyrant, and you swore that you'd never do pushups as an adult. Or maybe you are still remembering the spine tingling screams of a Drill Instructor. Regardless of your past history or current abilities, I have a method for improving your push up prowess that I want to share with all of you. No, it doesn't involve screaming, swearing, or berating you with a flurry of four-letter put downs. It is a progressive technique that builds strength without pushing yourself to exhaustion.

Are you quitting on me, Private Pyle?

Are you having trouble breaking past your push up limit? Most people get stuck because they crank out a max amount of pushups and push to failure. By pushing to failure, you are stressing the muscles to the point of breaking them down. And when muscles get broken down, they need time to repair. So If you want to stack up the push up numbers, you might want to take a softer approach.

Synaptic Facilitation

The principle of synaptic facilitation is doing frequent, non-exhaustive sets of a specific exercise to strengthen the nerve pathway. Basically, this is a fancy way of saying muscle memory. Think of a baseball players for instance… they practice their swing each and every day. The reason they do this is to develop a “groove” where the body gets more efficient at performing that movement. They are strengthening the neural pathways to perform that movement, the more they practice it.

Building Push Up Strength

You want to think of building strong neural impulses to strengthen the neural pathways, so fatigue is to be avoided. So doing push ups, multiple times per week, but training short of failure, helps to produce the same strength-building results. Put into simple terms…you are doing many sets of one exercise short of failure to improve in that one exercise. The key to progressive strength training is to stop 2 reps short of failure. Lifting to failure is fine when you are trying to break down the muscle and gain mass, but it isn’t the best way to gain strength. The problem with lifting to failure is that it develops fatigue. Once a muscle is fatigued, it reduces its ability to contract hard.

This is where you can build in the concept of Periodization, or Ladders. Think of ladders as taking “two steps back, in order to take 3-4 steps forward”. Let’s say you are stuck at only being able to crank out 20 push ups. No matter what you do it is impossible to do more. And the more you try to push past 20, the more you seem to be stuck. Sound Familiar? Personaly, I can identify with my bench press. I hit a personal best plateau, and actually bent backwards the more I tried to aggressively go past my plateau . It was a frustrating experience. But once I learned about doing ladders, I was able to build mind to muscle strength, strengthen the muscle fibers by lifting less weight more frequently. By doing ladders, and lifting less, I increased my bench press strength and beat my personal best. It works for push ups, too.

The plan for adding more push ups is to back down a bit from your personal best and then spend the next two weeks building back up to increase it.

To start the work out, do one set of of 3 pushups, rest 10 seconds and repeat. Do this push up repetition sequence for a total of 10 minutes.

Standard Pushup – 3 reps

Rest – 10 seconds
Standard Pushup – 3 reps
Rest – 10 seconds
Repeat this progression for five minutes.

When it starts to get tough to do the 3 reps you should rest for 20 seconds. The key here is o give your muscles the proper rest in between sets so you can do 3 pushups without going to failure. At first you will think this will not happen, but it will! Doing only 3 push ups may seem a little “too easy” at first and you’ll probably be tempted to start out doing higher amounts of reps. Don't. Just do 3. If you have to rest 30 or 40 seconds between sets that's fine. Again, what makes this strength building workout effective is the fact that you are not pushing to failure. You are successfullly doing 3 good pushups A LOT of times.

Do this push up workout two times a week. Don't go kamikaze and push yourself to overtraining. You don't want to fatigue the muscles. Remember, the key to periodization is to take your time to re-build your strength foundation. If you rush the time to reach your previous best, you may wind up getting stuck. The key is to be able to do 3 pushups, several times, without feeling the burn or going to failure.

After a few of these workouts, go back to attempting as many push ups as possible. Go for a personal best. Chances are, if you did the periodization workouts correctly, you can now do 5 to 10 more than before.

Give this strategy a try and see if it works. Good luck!

Are you looking to gain muscle, lose fat, and get a lean, "Hollywood Look"? Then I personally recommend Visual Impact Muscle building. This is a 72 page course dedicated to advanced techniques in gaining muscle in a way that creates a sharp physique with hard, full muscles.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Cardio After Weight Training Burns More Body Fat

A 2011 study showed that it is best to do cardio after weight training. In the study, cardio workouts following weight training was compared to just doing cardio workouts alone. The fat burning effects of doing your cardio after weight training is much greater.

I have been doing cardio after resistance training for a while but recently came across this article. It supports what I have already been dong, but I wanted to share this. So my normal routine is to take advantage of the fat burning "window of opportunity" created by weight training...and do 20 to 30 minutes of cardio after each and every lifting session.

Short duration interval sprint training improves aerobic fitness with only 10% of the effort compared to low intensity cardio.

Read the article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17277595

The he way I do cardio is a bit different than the mainstream doing "killer cardio" bouts of high intensity for 45 minutes or more. I've found that the combo of sprint intervals followed by low intensity cardio covers the fat burning spectrum better than sprint intervals alone. Here's what it looks like:

Stage one: High Intensity Interval Training - Stationary bike (15 minutes)

2 minute warm up - level 3
60 seconds fast - level 10
60 seconds recovery - level 3
60 seconds fast - level 11
60 seconds recovery - level 4
30 seconds fast - level 12
60 seconds recovery - level 4
30 seconds fast - level 13
60 seconds recovery - level 4
60 seconds fast - level 14
90 seconds recovery - level 4
30 seconds fast - level 14
Cool down - 3 minutes

Stage two: - Walking on the Treadmill
20 minutes of walking - level 3.5

So after my resistance training, and my two-stage cardio workout, I was in and out of the gym in a little over an hour.

I like the one-two punch of "Strategic Cardio" (intervals followed by low intensity). I used it today after doing my 5x5 upper body workout.

Just make sure to watch out for sign of over training and fatigue. You only need to do high-intensity training a couple time a week. In fact, it has been shown in studies that performing HIIT more than 2-3 times a week can lead to overtraining and possible injury. Many experts suggest doing this for no more than 8 weeks before taking a few weeks off, to make sure you don’t wind up chronically overtrained. Personally, I was doing this type HIIT + Steady State Cardio of 4 times per week, but after 4 weeks of this intensity, I got burned out and needed a break.

So now, I do my Strategic HIIT + Steady State Cardio 2 to 3 times a week and limit the duration to 30 minutes after lifting.

I learned this Cardio workout routine and many more cardio fitness tips from Rusty Moore's Visual Impact Cardio

Learn More

His "Progressive" Cardio Course is great for eliminating fat loss sticking points.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

High Intensity Interval Training - Strategic Cardio for Fat Loss

Today, I am going to cover a Cardio strategy that has helps me drop unwanted fat, keeps me in relatively good cardiovascular health, and doesn't put me at risk of chronic injury. There is a lot of "Cardio Bashing" going around in the fitness circles, and you are probably on the band wagon. And I will add that is largely for good reason. For most people doing traditional high intensity cardio routines, they are not going to get the fat-burning results they are sweating for because they are going about it all WRONG. I see this at the gym a lot: people toiling on the treadmill or elliptical machine, doing intense, sustained aerobic activity for 45 minutes to an hour. Here are a few reasons why "killer cardio" is not the way to go:

It over stress' the heart and involves repetitive joint motion that it causes chronic injury.
It relies heavily on a carbodydrate-fueled energy system
Promotes hyperinsulinemia (overproduction of insulin)
Increases oxidative damage (the production of free radicals),
The stress of prolonged, high intensity training raises cortisol (stress hormone) levels through the roof.

As a species, Humans have the capacity to go long and relatively hard every now and again. But It’s the chronic, day-in, day-out long, hard stuff that is counter-productive. Think about it... Did our hunter-gatherer ancestors regularly ramp up their heart rates for over an hour a day, every day, to acquire food or escape danger? After 45 minutes to an hour of all out running, you’ve spent an incredible amount of energy, but have no food to replace that energy. Now you need Carbs. And to top it off, you are so exhausted that you have potentially become some other animals prey because you are physically wiped out. Hardly a blueprint for human survival. The Human organism is made for short, intense bursts of activity with a foundation of frequent slow moving. We aren’t designed to run as hard as we can for two or three hours. Our bodies are not suited to running all out with the express purpose of “burning calories.” So for many in today's modern world, doing 45 minutes of high intensity, steady state "killer Cardio" can actually put your health at risk. I know that this may go against the grain of conventional wisdom. So just bear with me.

A few years ago, I ditched doing cardio in the gym. I did however adopt a High Intensity Interval Training workout that involved doing treadmill sprints once a week. I am a big fan of Mark Sisson, and read his books and follow his blog, Mark's Daily Apple. He is a major influence in my diet and fitness lifestyle, and is one of the most vocal detractors of "chronic cardio." He maintains that low level activity (walking, hiking) aerobic activity, with sort, intermittent sprints, is the the kind of cardiovascular activity that best suits our species. And I agree. Overall, I felt that the once a week sprint routine was doing it's job, but I picked up a fitness routine by Rusty Moore, a fitness expert who advocates combining strategic High Intensity Interval cardio with steady state cardio.

HIIT

The concept behind HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is that when aerobic exercise is performed in a very specific manner…your body will release its natural fat burning hormone called Human Growth Hormone…or HGH. HGH is naturally produced in your body all your life, but it begins to decline at age 20. HGH decline combined with a slower metabolism is what contributes to fat gain as many people get older. Working above your aerobic threshold for one minute alternated with short active rest periods is what will make your body release HGH. Studies have also shown that HGH is released better if you train on an empty stomach. It is also suggested not to eat right after training to insure the maximum release of HGH. So when I do my workouts, I don’t eat any calories 3-4 hours before and one hour after training .

Here is High Intensity Interval Training workout program that will shoot your HGH levels through the roof…as well as boost your metabolism for several hours after the workout.

Walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes at a moderate pace (between 3.5 and 4.0 on most treadmills)
After 5 minutes, speed up the treadmill to a jogging pace for one minute (start at 7.0 or 8.0)
After one minute of jogging, slow back down to your set moderate pace (somewhere between 3.5 to 4.0 as discussed before)
After one minute of moderate, speed up the treadmill to your previous jogging pace, but this time add .5 to the speed (so if you first did 7.0…now you are going to set it at 7.5)
After one minute of jogging, you are going to go back to the same set moderate pace for one minute.
Alternate every minute between jogging and walking for 20-30 minutes…making sure that you use the same walking speed each time, but increase to jogging speed by .5 until you can’t jog any faster for one minute.

Note: Take advantage of the natural fat burning state your body is in by doing 10-20 minutes of steady state cardio. This is a great way to skim off every last little bit of body fat.

For more great Cardio secrets, I highly recommend Visual Impact Cardio.

I like the one-two punch of "Strategic Cardio" (intervals followed by low intensity).

A Word of Caution

It has been shown in studies that performing HIIT more than 2-3 times a week can lead to overtraining and possible injury. Many experts suggest doing this for no more than 8 weeks before taking a few weeks off, to make sure you don’t wind up chronically overtrained. Personally, I was doing this type HIIT + Steady State Cardio of 3 to 4 times per week, but after 4 weeks of this intensity, I got burned out and needed a break.

So now, I do my Strategic HIIT + Steady State Cardio 2 to 3 times a week and limit the duration to 30 minutes after lifting.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Paleo-Friendly Super Bowl Sunday Chili

Crazy Heart Chili

With tomorrow being Super Bowl Sunday, I wanted to perfect my crowd pleasing chili recipe, and make it Paleo friendly. One of the challenges of being a follower of the Paleo lifestyle is including organ meats into my diet. I like liver, kidneys, and have absolutely love beef heart. But not everybody in my family is on board. Sometimes I have to sneak it in without telling my kids. So for this batch of chili, I thought I would go a little crazy by throwing in a pound of ground beef heart and keeping it a secret. Otherwise they might think my chili with offal is really awful chili.

So, without further delay, I present.... drum roll please....

CRAZY HEART CHILI

Ingredients - serves 4

1 pound Ground Beef or Bison (I used Chili grind)
1 pound Ground Beef Heart
1 medium Onion, diced
3 to 4 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded and diced
2 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced (or 1- 4 oz can diced)
1 14 oz can of Chopped Tomatoes
1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce or El Pato Hot Tomato Sauce
1 cup Organic Beef Broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 Tablespoons Cumin Powder
1 teaspoon dried Oregano
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon White Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Powder (optional)
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or Avocado Oil
1 bottle of Pilsner-Style Beer (Mexican Lager)
2 or three dashes of Tabasco or similar Hot Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Sauté onions and red bell pepper in olive or avocado oil over med-high heat in a large soup pot. Sprinkle with salt and white pepper. About 5 minutes.
Add beef and garlic and cook until brown. About 7 minutes.
Add beer, beef broth, peppers, and spices. Bring to a boil,
Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef broth, peppers, tomato and spices then reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours. Makes about 6 servings.

Chef's note: If you are not a fan of organ meat, you could easily go with ground bison instead of heart. And you could also replace the chili grind beef with cubed round steak or stew meat. I've made chili with both and I always end up with a fantastic bowl of red.

UPDATE:

So I just samples the first bowl. This is one of the best Chili batches I have ever made. Not kidding. Wow! You can't really taste the ground heart, per se. It tastes a little like Venison Chili. Anyway, it rocks. No one will ever know why I call it Crazy Heart Chili.

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