Healthy Conversations: volume 1

Last week I had a chat over Skype with Matt Metzgar and Marc Van Dam (of Feel Good Eating).  I suppose you could call it a podcast of sorts, but none of us would want to come across as gurus.  We just discussed a few things together, things in which we are interested and around which we have each pondered over the last few years.

Matt recorded the conversation and we have been trying to work out how to host it on our blogs.  I think I have managed it!  This was the first time each of us had done this and I know we felt like we rambled a bit, but the key thing was that we enjoyed the chat and we are sharing it so that you can listen in too.



(or download the mp3)

We talked through the following topics

1) Strength – 05:44

2) Sleep – 19:10

3) Quick Simple Meals – 24:45

4) Skill/Efficient Movement - 32:12

5) Chronic Cardio – 40:00

6) Posture/Abs - 51:35

7) Stress - 58:50

8) Heart Disease - 1:03:50

9) Good Thoughts - 1:11:00

I hope you find it interesting!

I refer to my interest in hillwalking as described here.

A punch is just a punch

Bruce Lee is quoted as saying,

"Before I learned martial arts, a punch was just a punch and a kick was just a kick. When I studied martial arts, a punch was no longer just a punch and a kick was no longer just a kick. Now I understand martial arts, and a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick."

I was thinking of this idea this morning as I was walking in the hills near Edinburgh in some wild weather.  Yesterday afternoon I had the great pleasure of a Skype conversation with a couple of great guys - Marc and Matt.  If you are  not familiar with them please check out their blogs:

 Marc - Feel Good Eating

Matt - Matt Metzgar Musings on Health & Other Topics

We spoke about a number of things but kept coming back to the simple ideas:  go to bed early, eat well, stand up straight, cultivate friendships, look on the bright side, get and stay strong, play.

Like Bruce Lee says, we can get ourselves so enmeshed in the complexities of programmes, diets, science, blogs etc that we need to come back to the simple things sometimes.  Yes there are scores of studies about the benefits of sleep ........ but that still means you need to sleep......we can learn so much about exercise and resistance training....but you still need to do it.  So much information, when we really just need to take some decisions, moment by moment.

Does that make sense?

Gnosticism in Health and Fitness

I want that blogger's secret knowledge

Increasingly I am finding that so much of the fitness & fitness blogosphere is a strange place which I am seeing more as a form of gnosticism.  Let me explain:

Gnosticism I suppose is something of a theological term.  From Wikipedia

Gnosticism comes from the Greek: gnosis which means knowledge. Some religions and sects mostly in the few hundred years before and after Christ are said to be gnostic or practice gnosticism.
This is because these religions believe that there is a special, hidden knowledge that only a few people may have.

Not to get into the theological aspects of all this, look at that last sentence:

these religions believe that there is a special, hidden knowledge that only a few people may have.
 

Gurus & Salesmen

So often we treat our interest in Health and Fitness this way.  We are on a constant search for the  "special, hidden knowledge".  The are looking for the secrets: the special diet, the new routine, the amazing new supplement or exercise.  And on this search we become vulnerable to the gurus and to the marketing people.

The gurus are the purveyors of this special knowledge.  They have their own unique approach to diet or exercise which so often is put forward as the One True Way.  We gather around them in tribes or sects: RenEx, Crossfit, RKC or whatever.  Paleo, WAPF, Primal.

As in cults and sects behind it all often there are those who see the congregation as a source of income. We buy the ebooks, the newsletters, the DVDs because we want the secret knowledges.....

We have gurus pedalling their secrets....which you can buy in a £29.95 ebook.  (Now I feel guilty as I am hawking my ebook in the top right!)

The mainstream

All this goes along with a mistrust of "the mainstream".  There is a scepticism about the conventional wisdom.  We see ourselves as brave reformers, asserting our truth, nailing our theses to the doors of the church of the medical and fitness professions.  We know better....

The thing is that the mainstream is often right!  I know lots of research scientists and while they are not perfect, they are on a professional scrutinised search for truth.  Journalists simplify and sensationalise, but the scientists are generally on an honest journey to find what works and how to get better.

It is difficult!

Reviewing the scientific literature some things are decided....lots are held provisionally.   But the obvious thing is that a lot of it is hard to understand!  It is rarely as simple as we like to make out.  The processes and systems of the body are very complicated.  The scientists that study them work hard for years to develop the knowledge necessary to look into these things.    Yet somehow we run to the bloggers.  Why do we think that we should be getting our health and fitness knowledge, even our health advice from a blogger not a medical professional?

The Gnostic approach makes us feel special

Rejecting the mainstream also makes us feel special, better than the others.  We know a better way and are not so simple and deceived as to believe the conventional.  PRIDE is at the root of this of course.  We want to think of ourselves as so much better than the others, elevated above the drones.

Simplicity, Persistence, Habit

What if it is all actually a lot simpler.  I think it is time to reject the search for the special knowledge and embrace the basics.  A sensible diet.  Exercise.  Sleep.  Social interaction.  Stress management.  Time outdoors.

Most of all though the need is for persistence.  Just keep going.

I have been guilty

I have been guilty of all of this and still am....but I am trying to moderate it.  I have jumped at paleo, kettlebells, HIIT, low carb, whatever the current trend is.  Some - like interval training - has science behind it, but it is rarely as sensationalist as we make it out to me.

Is there still interest in the simple path?  Walk lots, do resistance training, eat well and sleep?  Where is the cash in that?

the rehabilitation of eggs continues

eggs are not so bad after all:

Use 'em, don't lose 'em! Eating egg yolks adds nutritious benefits

New research suggests that consuming whole eggs may improve blood lipids

Of course eggs are nutritious.  Funny of course that the press release is from the American Egg Board!

About the American Egg Board (AEB)
AEB is the U.S. egg producer's link to the consumer in communicating the value of The incredible edible egg™ and is funded from a national legislative checkoff on all egg production from companies with greater than 75,000 layers, in the continental United States. The board consists of 18 members and 18 alternates from all regions of the country who are appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. The AEB staff carries out the programs under the board direction. AEB is located in Park Ridge, Ill. Visit www.IncredibleEgg.org for more information.

When should you have your protein to grow your muscles?

This is a topic that keeps coming up time and time again.  It may be another example of us always seeking the secret knowledge, the magic key that will suddenly solve all our problems with muscle gain and fat loss....

Anyway there is research going on.  This full paper is available

Protein timing and its effects on muscular hypertrophy and strength in individuals engaged in weight-training

In general, protein supplementation pre- and post-workout increases physical
performance, training session recovery, lean body mass, muscle hypertrophy, and strength

Classic Erwan ...MovNat

It was good to interview and train with Erwan over 2 years ago.....

Be sure to check out his new website and podcast

Reviewing the Hoo-rag!

So what the heck is a Hoo-rag? 

That is what I thought when I received the email asking if I wanted to try one and write a review.  Intrigued I asked if they would send one to Scotland and there was no problem.  A week later it arrived.

Ah.....it is a Buff!  Well it is similar but the Hoo-rag is its own thing.

Maybe you are none the wiser?  These bits of clothing are very versatile and useful items that I have come to trust and rely on in both hot and cold weather.  A simple, seamless tube of lightweight, wicking cotton/polyester that can serve in lots of ways.  I use mine as a hat - they make simple beanies;  a wrap around my wrist to soak up sweat; a bandana.....and most often a neck gaiter on cold days.  Best of all on a cold day is pulling the tube up from around the neck so that it covers the mouth and nose and ears. Breathing in and out through the material warms to freezing air and takes the chill from icy days.

On Monday I wrapped my new Hoo-rag round my neck and went for a walk up a local hill.  It was icy and I slipped around the hard frozen ground, but eventually I got to the top of Tinto Hill to watch the sunset.

I sat there as the sun went down, turning all of the clouds to gold.  Sipping coffee from my flask I soaked in the view.  Turning to descend the cold gripped my face and then I was grateful for the Hoo-rag round my neck....I rolled it up covering half my head suddenly feeling warm and safe.

Later as I got lower I warmed up and it returned to a neck gaiter.

You can learn more about Hoo-rags at their blog. Definitely recommended.  If there are two items of kit that I rely on in the outdoors it is a Hoo-rag (or Buff) and a pertex windshirt.   For such a cheap piece of equipment, they have so many uses!  Check out the Hoo-rag site.

Why I Eat The Way I Do - by Tom Furman

Tom Furman has posted a good piece on diet.  He traces out some of my own journey here too.


Why I Eat The Way I Do:

Diet is an emotionally fueled issue. Quite often training for strength or training for sports is performance based. Put up or shut up. However for one reason or another, "belief" and therefore "faith" enters into eating habits. I was certainly one of those people years ago. I did things and said things that made sense then, but are fundamentally wrong based on evidence. Remember that word, evidence. 

Not just habit but patience

In the old days...pre-internet I got my information from magazines.  I remember an article in the old Ironman or maybe it was Hardgainer which laid out a basic routine.  Then it told you to stick to it until the next issue of the magazine came out in 2 months.  8 weeks of consistency.

Now we do not get new information every 2 months....it comes everyday, every hour as the RSS feeds pump out new stuff.  We are distracted.  Try this, try that.

What we need is not just habit but consistency.  Stick to some basics for a while.  Sleep.  Eat well.  Walk.  Train some basics  Don't swap from programme to programme, diet to diet, approach to approach.  Just keep going...

Diet Update

I intend to do a more detailed diet update in the future following on from my post a while ago where I highlighted my experience with a Leangains Intermittent Fasting approach.

The obliques are coming in!

For now, just a couple of photos.  I have lost maybe a couple of pounds since the last photos, putting me at about 154lb.

You can see my obliques coming in now.

I have some loose skin on my lower abs which I hope will go as I get leaner.

I am no longer fasting.  I east 3-4 times a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a snack.

I walk a lot and train in the gym once a week.

Diet sorts out definition.  Calories are important.  Control those and you will control your weight.  Diet composition? - follow the bodybuilders: set calories, get enough protein and fill in the rest as you wish

...and my arms are still there....

Habit

I've been following a writer / trainer for a little while who has a blog called Go Kaleo.  I like her approach a lot.

She put this on Facebook which is worth repeating

The secret to weight loss and improved health and fitness isn't paleo/low carb/plant based/low fat/crossfit/yoga/pilates/raw/isagenix/shakeology/protein/etc.
The secret to weight loss and improved health and fitness is:
Good habits, practiced consistently, over time.
Sorry it's so boring.

That fits with a lot of what I am thinking about at the moment - so many are searching fo the magic secret knowledge that will solve all of their training  diet and health problems.  We disciple ourselves to guru after guru  as we look for that secret - low carb, paleo, vegan, cardio, zumba etc etc etc.  But the basics, the sensible basics remain.  We blame our fatness or unhealthiness on gluten or casein or carbs or fat or something.  But we ignore sleep, relaxation, walking, real food and friendship.

People do not like the basics of sensible food intake and exercise.

How do knees work?

From Scientific American

Getting stronger makes cyclists more efficient....

Cyclists' improvement of pedaling efficacy and performance after heavy strength training.

AbstractThe authors tested whether heavy strength training, including hip-flexion exercise, would reduce the extent of the phase in the crank revolution where negative or retarding crank torque occurs. Negative torque normally occurs in the upstroke phase when the leg is lifted by flexing the hip. Eighteen well-trained cyclists either performed 12 wk of heavy strength training in addition to their usual endurance training (E+S; n = 10) or merely continued their usual endurance training during the intervention period (E; n = 8). The strength training consisted of 4 lower body exercises (3 × 4-10 repetition maximum) performed twice a week. E+S enhanced cycling performance by 7%, which was more than in E (P = .02). Performance was determined as average power output in a 5-min all-out trial performed subsequent to 185 min of submaximal cycling. The performance enhancement, which has been reported previously, was here shown to be accompanied by improved pedaling efficacy during the all-out cycling. Thus, E+S shortened the phase where negative crank torque occurs by ~16°, corresponding to ~14%, which was more than in E (P = .002). In conclusion, adding heavy strength training to usual endurance training in well-trained cyclists improves pedaling efficacy during 5-min all-out cycling performed after 185 min of cycling.

Does massage help through an effect on stem cells?

Maybe....

Stem cells, angiogenesis and muscle healing: a potential role in massage therapies?

Abstract

Skeletal muscle injuries are among the most common and frequently disabling injuries sustained by athletes.Repair of injured skeletal muscle is an area that continues to present a challenge for sports medicine clinicians and researchers due, in part, to complete muscle recovery being compromised by development of fibrosis leading to loss of function and susceptibility to re-injury.Injured skeletal muscle goes through a series of coordinated and interrelated phases of healing including degeneration, inflammation, regeneration and fibrosis. Muscle regeneration initiated shortly after injury can be limited by fibrosis which affects the degree of recovery and predisposes the muscle to reinjury. It has been demonstrated in animal studies that antifibrotic agents that inactivate transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 have been effective at decreasing scar tissue formation. Several studies have also shown that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can increase the efficiency of skeletal muscle repair by increasing angiogenesis and, at the same time, reducing the accumulation of fibrosis. We have isolated and thoroughly characterised a population of skeletal muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) that enhance repair of damaged skeletal muscle fibres by directly differentiating into myofibres and secreting paracrine factors that promote tissue repair. Indeed, we have found that MDSCs transplanted into skeletal and cardiac muscles have been successful at repair probably because of their ability to secrete VEGF that works in a paracrine fashion. The application of these techniques to the study of sport-related muscle injuries awaits investigation. Other useful strategies to enhance skeletal muscle repair through increased vascularisation may include gene therapy, exercise, neuromuscular electrical stimulation and, potentially, massage therapy. Based on recent studies showing an accelerated recovery of muscle function from intense eccentric exercise through massage-based therapies, we believe that this treatment modality offers a practical and non-invasive form of therapy for skeletal muscle injuries. However, the biological mechanism(s) behind the beneficial effect of massage are still unclear and require further investigation using animal models and potentially randomised, human clinical studies.

Common running injuries

This is a clever little infographic.

Click away

Too much aerobic bashing?

A couple of days ago I posted a video of James O'Keefe talking about the potential dangers of running too much.   His research and presentation has got a fair bit of coverage - e.g. in the Wall Street Journal.

His position and presentation are quite compelling, but perhaps are not the whole story.

Alex Hutchinson points out some of the concerns about the research :

The Too-Much-Running Myth Rises Again

The Sock Doc also has just written a post closely examining O'Keefe's argument and the way in which it has been popularised.  Definitely worth reading:

Enough of the Aerobic and Endurance Bashing Fostered by “New Research” and Personal Agendas

Remember: Always health first, fitness second. So train smart and train hard when you can and you’re ready to do so. Training hard is good for you, but do not do such extreme training too often. I love training hard, but I am intentional about it and only when my health is optimal and my movement is efficient

I think possibly we are all on the same side here, just misunderstanding each other a bit.

Run for Your Life! At a comfortable pace, and not too far

a good video, recommended by Bill

Back to the body language

In the light of that TED talk I pointed to the other day, I thought that this was an interesting report:

Body Language, Not Facial Expressions, Broadcasts What's Happening to Us

If you think that you can judge by examining someone's facial expressions if he has just hit the jackpot in the lottery or lost everything in the stock market -- think again. Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at New York University and Princeton University have discovered that -- despite what leading theoretical models and conventional wisdom might indicate -- it just doesn't work that way.  Rather, they found that body language provides a better cue in trying to judge whether an observed subject has undergone strong positive or negative experiences.

The face is not as impressive as the whole body.... it is the gross impression that is important.  We judge not just on first impressions, but on the BIG PICTURE.  It is like in self defence where we are taught to use gross motor skills that will not be eroded as much by adrenaline in a stressful situation.  Similarly it is the overall impression of a person that hits us deep down - how the posture looks, not the facial expression

When you are fatigued your balance will suffer....

Interesting but perhaps obvious.  When your muscles are fatigued your balance will be poorer.

Effects of exercise-induced fatigue on postural balance: a comparison of treadmill versus cycle fatiguing protocols

This is something important I believe in terms of injury prevention, particularly in walking.  When we are stronger, fitter and walking more efficiently (all covered in Hillfit) walking will be less fatiguing and  so balance will be impacted less.  You will be a more resilient walker, less likely to stumble, less likely to fall and get injured.

moobs

Man boobs.  A strange topic, but I have to agree with this piece on the BBC that there seem to be more and more men about sporting breasts.

Increase in male breast reduction surgery

The piece makes a case that it is not about obesity but about a variety of medical conditions that promote the growth of breast tissue.  Maybe.  However, there are a lot of guys who are developing fat chests rather than breast tissue  or what we used to call bitch tits.

When I was fatter I used to have a fat chest and as a teenager  I was made fun of in the changing room for having "tits".  It was fat though.  As I've leaned out over the years, I've lost them.  

Surgery is maybe too easy a way out.  Yes there are those with medical conditions that require surgery, but maybe others could do with simple fat loss?

Eat like a predator?

I'm not sure that I agree with this guy anymore....but the video is funny in a South Park kind of way



To be honest I am nowadays much more sceptical about the paleo world...but that is another story (ask Matt)

Body Language

Posture....reveals how you feel.....and controls how you feel!

strong one arm chins!

Some amazing strength on display here.

Intermittent Fasting - weight loss and cardio-protection in obese women

Another study from Varady's group - they've done a fair bit of research on IF in the past.  Interesting how the approach is put together: not a compressed eating window, but a 1 day a week fast with the other days being 2 meal replacement shakes and a normal food but calorie controlled dinner.  I wonder how important the fast was in this.  (the full paper is available)

At least the researchers recognise this - they admit that they do not show whether it was the IF or the calorie restriction that caused the benefits:

This study is limited in that it did not tease apart the effect of IF and CR on body weight and  CHD risk. Thus, the independent contributions of the IF diet versus the CR diet on these various parameters, are not known. In order to answer these key questions, a future study should be performed that compares the effect of IF combined with CR, to that of IF alone, and CR alone.

Intermittent fasting combined with calorie restriction is effective for weight loss and cardio-protection in obese women

Creatine for endurance

Creatine has typically been promoted for its benefits for strength and power athletes.  Interesting to see this new study indicating that it may have benefits for endurance sports, through decreasing the production of lactate

Oral Creatine Supplementation Decreases Blood Lactate during Exhaustive, Incremental Cycling.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of creatine supplementation on blood lactate during incremental cycling exercise.

METHODS:

Thirteen male subjects (mean ± SD: 23 ± 2 years; 178.0 ± 8.1 cm; 86.3 ± 16.0 kg; 24 ± 9 % body fat) performed a maximal, incremental cycling test to exhaustion before (Pre) and after (Post) 6-days of creatine supplementation (4-doses per day of 5 g creatine + 15 g glucose). Blood lactate was measured at the end of each exercise stage during the protocol, and the lactate threshold was determined as the stage prior to achieving 4 mmol·L-1. Lactate concentrations during the incremental test were analyzed using a 2 (condition) x 6 (exercise stage) repeated measures ANOVA. Differences in power at lactate threshold, power at exhaustion, and total exercise time were determined by paired t-tests and are presented as means ± SD.

RESULTS:

Lactate concentrations were reduced during exercise following supplementation, demonstrating a significant condition effect (p = 0.041). There was a tendency for increased power at the lactate threshold (Pre: 128 ± 45 W; Post: 143 ± 26 W; p = 0.11). Total time to fatigue approached significant increases (Pre: 22.6 ± 3.2 min.; Post: 23.3 ± 3.3 min.; p = 0.056), as did maximal power output (Pre: 212.5 ± 32.5 W; Post: 220 ± 34.6 W; p = 0.082).

CONCLUSIONS:

Our findings demonstrate creatine supplementation decreases lactate during incremental cycling exercise and tends to raise lactate threshold. Therefore, creatine supplementation could potentially benefit endurance athletes.

Antioxidants

I have had things on here before warning that antioxidants supplements are not necessarily a good idea.  Seth Roberts points to an good piece that sums this up:

antioxidants, once believed to reduce aging by reducing oxidative damage, have turned out to have the opposite effect. By reducing a hormetic effect, they make things worse. 

Congruent Exercise for the Kindle

While I am recommending books, Bill Desimone's Congruent Exercise is now available for the Kindle.

I interviewed Bill here and wrote about Congruent Exercise here.

Highly recommended.

The Amazon Link is here 

or

here for the UK

Drew Baye: High Intensity: The Annotated, Uncensored Post Workout Delirium Induced Ramblings

Drew Baye has a new book out:  High Intensity: The Annotated, Uncensored Post Workout Delirium Induced Ramblings.  I have read it, enjoyed it and got a lot from it.  It is interesting to see how his ideas have developed over recent years and how they have changed so little - surely the mark that his basic position has been pretty sound.

High Intensity: The Annotated, Uncensored, Post Workout Delirium Induced Ramblings is a collection of post-workout essays I wrote in the late 1990s covering a variety of bodybuilding, fat loss, health and performance related topics, along with over thirty pages of annotations (169 pages total) which provide additional background information, current perspectives, and recommendations for exercise performance, dieting, workout design, and much more.
Ebook: $20 (instant download)

It is a good read - you will be entertained and also learn some important things about training safely and effectively

Getting seduced by the marketing...

I do not do deadlifts....I am happy with my exercise and how it supports my lifestyle and hobbies.....I have no real interest in deadlifting hundreds of pounds.......It was the deadlift that originally hurt my back 20 years ago......

Yet still I found myself severely tempted by Pavel and Andy Bolton's new book, Deadlift Dynamite....even the cheesey sales video had me drawn in.

I didn't buy it.  I am sure it is a good book, but I am trying to wean myself off the marketing, the products.  Automatically buying whatever promises a new secret.  There are no secrets.

stunning goal

1 finger pushups

Of course about half way through the video you realise that the guy is actually stood up against a wall.  The magic of turning your camera on its side.

Get moving

Go Kaleo posted this on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing further

Physical inactivity as the culprit of metabolic inflexibility: evidence from bed-rest studies

The full text is at that link

Although it is no longer debatable that sedentary behaviors are an actual cause of many metabolic diseases, the physiology of physical inactivity has been poorly investigated for this purpose. Along with microgravity, the physiological adaptations to spaceflights require metabolic adaptations to physical inactivity, and that is exceedingly well-simulated during the ground-based microgravity bed-rest analogs. Bed rest thus represents a unique model to investigate the mechanisms by which physical inactivity leads to the development of current societal chronic diseases. For decades, however, clinicians and physiologists working in space research have worked separately without taking full awareness of potential strong mutual questioning. This review summarizes the data collected over the last 60 years on metabolic adaptations to bed rest in healthy subjects. Our aim is to provide evidence that supports the hypothesis that physical inactivity per se is one of the primary causes in the development of metabolic inflexibility. This evidence will focus on four main tenants of metabolic inflexiblity: 1) insulin resistance, 2) impaired lipid trafficking and hyperlipidemia, 3) a shift in substrate use toward glucose, and 4) a shift in muscle fiber type and ectopic fat storage. Altogether, this hypothesis places sedentary behaviors upstream on the list of factors involved in metabolic inflexibility, which is considered to be a primary impairment in several metabolic disorders such as obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

It is another one that puts the focus on the dangers of being inactive....sitting around all day....at your desk, in front of the TV, in your car.

Get out and get moving

Stand up!

Dangers of too much water for some athletes

Just a quick link to an abstract I saw which draws attention to the potential dangers of drinking too much water during exercise.

An important warning given the usual admonition to drink lots!

Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia and Hydration Status in 161-km Ultramarathoners

Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia incidence can be high in 161-km ultramarathons in northern California. In this environment, EAH is more common with dehydration than overhydration and is more common in hotter ambient temperature conditions. Because weight loss >3% does not appear to have an adverse effect on performance, excessive sodium supplementation and aggressive fluid ingestion beyond the dictates of thirst are ill-advised

It reminds me of elements of this advice given to those preparing for the West Highland Way ultramarathon

Notes / slides are here

Standing room only

I haven't posted for a while - too busy with real life I suppose.

One thing that has been in my mind the last few days has been the idea of standing or at least not being sedentary.  One of my guilty pleasures is listening to the podcasts of Superhuman Radio.  Carl Lanore has some really interesting interviews, if you can get past the over the top advertising.  I actually like Lanore's style too - he makes me laugh and comes across as a nice guy.

Anyway, last Wednesday he interviewed Emma Wilmot:

SHR # 1080 :: Get Up! Stand Up!: Sitting For Long Periods Causes Death PLUS So What's The Big Deal About Grass Fed Whey  

The show can be downloaded from here as an mp3:

Dr. Wilmot's group has looked at research done on over 794,000 participants to determine that your lack of activity will lead to your early demise. This is an important interview. Even if you train hard once a day you may be negating the benefits by sitting at your desk for the rest of the day. Learn how easy it is to reverse the metabolic events that accompany sitting with just a few small modifications

It was an intriguing interview.  Emma is a Scottish doctor working in diabestes research in Leicester, with a focus on lifestyle issues, particularly the dangers of being sedentary.  The paper that they were discussing was

Sedentary time in adults and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death: systematic review and meta-analysis

with the full paper available as a pdf here

In some ways it is the standard paper - sitting down is bad for you.

However, one thing that came up in the discussion which was fascinating was the idea of standing after rather than moving as such.  They spoke about a study which looked at lipoprotein lipase. This molecule plays a central role in how the body processes fats; it’s produced by many tissues, including muscles. Low levels  are associated with a variety of health problems, including heart disease. Studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce this molecule when they are actively being flexed (for example, when the animal is standing up and ambling about). The implication is that when you sit, a crucial part of your metabolism slows down.  Simply standing keeps muscles working in ways that sitting doesn’t. Sitting is so passive. The signals it sends are pretty negative.

I was not sure what the study was, so I emailed Dr Wilmot and she pointed me to

The Effect of Walking on Postprandial Glycemic Excursion in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and Healthy People

and

Role of low energy expenditure and sitting in obesity, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

That first one showed that even simply standing after a meal increased glucose control in healthy people.  Walking helped more but even simply standing was a big impact. 

There has been quite a lot of coverage of Dr Wilmot's review: e.g. at the BBC

Skewed views of science

via Bret Contreras.

Good stuff....somethings are true whether or not you like it!

Strength Training makes you a more efficient walker

This is really one for the Hillfit side of things.

Search pubmed for "walking economy" and you find some interesting things.  Walking economy is defined as "The rate of O2 consumed per distance covered during walking, which is related to ambulatory biomechanics and cardiac burden. "   

So we are thinking about how much oxygen it takes to walk a distance, which of course is related to the  amount of energy that you need to burn to cover that distance.  It is about the efficiency of your gait.  We are back to walking as a skill.  The more skilled you are at walking, the more efficient you will be, the less energy each step will take.

You can get more efficient by practising walking....obviously and skill conditioning is always important, but you can also improve walking economy by getting stronger!  Stronger muscles are more efficient.   You can appreciate that weak, flaccid muscles will waste energy in movement....

Maximal strength training improves walking performance in peripheral arterial disease patients

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients have reduced muscle strength and impaired walking ability. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of maximal strength training (MST) on walking economy and walking performance in PAD patients. Ten patients with mild to moderate-severe claudication, classified as Fontaine stage II PAD and with functional limitations from intermittent claudication were recruited and went through an 8-week control period followed by an 8-week, three times a week, MST period. The patients performed four sets of five repetitions dynamic leg press with emphasis on maximal mobilization of force in the concentric action and with a progressive adjusted intensity corresponding to 85-90% of one repetition maximum (1 RM). After the MST period, leg press 1 RM significantly increased by 35.0 ± 10.8 kg (31.3%). Dynamic rate of force development, measured on a force plate installed on the leg press, increased by 1424 ± 1217 N/s (102.7%). The strength improvements led to a significant increase in walking economy of 9.7% when walking horizontally, and to a significant increase in walking performance of 13.6% measured on an incremental treadmill test to exhaustion. No changes were apparent after the control period. No changes in body mass or peak oxygen uptake were observed. MST increases strength in Fontaine stage II PAD patients and leads to improved walking economy. These results suggest that application of MST could accompany aerobic endurance training as a part of the treatment of PAD patients with mild to moderate-severe claudication.

walking straddle planche

wow

Sleep through your TV to prevent fat gain?

We often read, and I have often pointed to, reports which stress the importance of sleep to health in general, but also to weight maintenance.    We also read of the dangers of sitting down too much -  our sedentary life is totally unnatural and stressful.

I just read this post, where a researcher brings those 2 ideas together - instead of watching your TV...take a nap.  Sleep through the programmes!  Sleep is better than just sitting....

Dr Buman’s work focuses on the relationship between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and health, and his talk was on a new cross-sectional study which examined the potential health impact of replacing time spent sitting down (e.g. sedentary behaviour) with light activity, moderate-to-vigorous activity, or even sleep.

Not surprisingly, he found that replacing sitting time with moderate or vigorous physical activity provides the biggest health benefit.  However, his analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey suggests that simply replacing your sitting time with light activity (e.g. standing or walking), or even sleep could result in significant health benefits

Here is a video where Dr Matt Buman of Arizona State University describes his new study which suggests that if people simply replaced their time sitting with time being active, or even with sleep, they would likely reduce their health risk.

When Sir Chris Hoy met Danny MacAskill

what an ultra does....

I have great admiration for ultra runners.  I follow a number of them via twitter and facebook and each year get excited when the West Highland Way Race is happening.   Still, I am not convinced that they are healthy!

Extensive inflammatory cell infiltration in human skeletal muscle in response to an ultra-endurance exercise bout in experienced athletes.

In conclusion, a low-intensity but very prolonged single endurance exercise bout can generate a strong inflammatory cell infiltration in skeletal muscle of well-trained experienced ultra-endurance athletes, and the amplitude of the local reaction is not proportional to the systemic inflammatory response.

Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?

....is the name of an excellent book....by Alex Hutchinson

but also the subject of this study that indicates that cardio before weights might not be as bad as we tend to think.   Then again....is there any such thing as cardio?

Aerobic exercise does not compromise muscle hypertrophy response to short-term resistance training.
AbstractThis study tested the hypothesis that chronic aerobic and resistance exercise (AE+RE) would elicit greater muscle hypertrophy than resistance exercise only (RE). Ten men (25±4 yrs) performed 5 wks unilateral knee extensor AE+RE. The opposing limb was subjected to RE. AE completed 6 hrs prior to RE, consisted of ~45 min one-legged cycle ergometry. RE comprised 4 x 7 maximal concentric-eccentric knee extensions. Various indices of in vivo knee extensor function were measured before and after training. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessed m. quadricep femoris (QF) cross-sectional area (CSA), volume, and signal intensity (SI). Biopsies obtained from m. vastus lateralis determined fiber CSA, enzyme levels and gene expression of myostatin, atrogin-1, MuRF-1, PGC-1α and VEGF. Increases (P < 0.05) in isometric strength and peak power, respectively were comparable in AE+RE (9 and 29%) and RE (11 and 24%). AE+RE showed greater increase (14%; P < 0.05) in QF volume than RE (8%). Muscle fiber CSA increased 17% after AE+RE (P < 0.05) and 9% after RE (P > 0.05). QF SI increased (12%; P < 0.05) after AE+RE, but not RE. Neither AE+RE nor RE showed altered mRNA-levels. Citrate Synthase activity increased (P < 0.05) after AE+RE. The results suggest that the increased aerobic capacity shown with AE+RE, was accompanied by a more robust increase in muscle size compared with RE. While this response was not carried over to greater improvement in muscle function, it remains that intense AE can be executed prior to RE without compromising performance outcome.

I still find it interesting that James Steele's review paper is clear that all of the metabolic, molecular and cardiovascular impacts of "cardio"  can be gained with less time investment, more efficiently, from proper resistance training.

Get the habits right

This is an interesting report of a study looking at how teaching people to eat at maintenance - neither gaining nor losing - can have big benefits for long term weight control.

Mastering weight-maintenance skills before embarking on diet helps women avoid backsliding

women who spent eight weeks mastering weight-maintenance skills before embarking on a weight-loss program shed the same number of pounds as women who started a weight-loss program immediately. More importantly, the study showed that the "maintenance-first" women had regained only 3 pounds on average a year later, compared to the average 7-pound gain for the immediate dieters.

Very interesting.  A lot of this chimes with Lyle McDonald's ideas.

So much of weight control is psychological, learning habits....

Shoulder and Hip Mobility Exercises by Skyler Tanner

This is worth watching....

Skyler Tanner, of Efficient Exercise, discusses shoulder and hip mobility exercises. These exercises can be useful to anyone but especially those in sedentary desk jobs.

scary epigenetics....you suffer because your grandad smoked?

I posted somethings earlier this year after seeing a talk by Nesa Carey.  

Here is a story I spotted the other day, which talks about some of the implications of this areas of discovery.  

new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates that nicotine exposure also causes asthma in the smoker's grandchildren

The report points to an open access study:

Perinatal nicotine exposure induces asthma in second generation offspring

ConclusionsGermline epigenetic marks imposed by exposure to nicotine during pregnancy can become permanently programmed and transferred through the germline to subsequent generations, a ground-breaking finding that shifts the current asthma paradigm, opening up many new avenues to explore.

For those who are parents, or wil be,  this gives an awesome responsibility - your actions will be having  an impact on your children and grandchildren that you cannot even understand.  That is positive and negative.

The purpose

In keeping with the last post on simplicity, I thought I'd post this.  Remember that Einstein adage that we need to keep things as simple as possible but no simpler.

I went back to John Little's article - Done in One   and I wanted to pull out some of the key principles that he stated there that might keep us on track:

What is the purpose of exercise?

• the purpose of exercise is to recruit and stimulate as many muscle fibers (in all categories – slow twitch, intermediate twitch and fast twitch) as possible

• for this to occur, a muscle or group of muscles must be given a load sufficient (but not excessive) enough to initiate a sequential recruitment of fibres, and

• given a time frame that permits such fibres to be recruited.

All that is illustrated in the parable that I wrote on the Size Principle.

Why are we doing this?  To get certain benefits

• to stimulate your body to grow stronger;  getting stronger makes everything easier;

• to employ fibres that otherwise might be left to decondition and atrophy and, thus, give your body a strong impetus to retain (or, in the case of sarcopenia, reclaim) these fibres and the multiple metabolic pathways contained therein. This is why we want to sequentially recruit all possible fibres.

• to empty the glycogen stores within muscle fibres, which can serve to stave off potentially health-threatening conditions such as Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure, arterial plaque and heart disease.

However there can be negatives from exercise

• injury - acute injury from a movement.  A strain, rupture, tear, fracture.....

• wear and tear - chronic problems that accrue from ongoing movement

So we want the benefits while minimising the risks.


How do we do this?  What you do and how you do it

• What you do? - pick safe movements that take account of proper biomechanics, joint function etc.  Read Bill DeSimone's work, or watch this:

• How do you do it? .....how indeed.  How you perform each movement is important.  Quoting John Little again:

Fibers can be recruited with motionless exercise (in which time and load are the only factors)  [think TSC which is the latest fad], and they can be recruited with repetitions (in which case load, distance and varying leverage factors combine to accelerate the fatigue and recruitment process (i.e., in positions of poor leverage and higher levels of moment arm, the fatigue rate is accelerated, while in positions of good leverage and lower levels of moment arm, the fatigue rate is slowed). 

Some 60 Second Krav Maga

From Marcus at Krav Maga Edinburgh

Simplicity

You might have noticed that my frequency of posting has diminished a bit recently.  There are various reasons -  busy work, other commitments - but one thing is a degree of realisation of how much we try to complicate things.  So much of exercise / health / fitness at root is pretty simple and straight forward. However we often seek novelty, look for the new secret exercise, protocol or diet that will transform us.  Basic persistence and patience on the fundamentals gets too boring.

There is a great value in Occam's Razor:

Plurality must never be posited without necessity  

or 

"Everything should be kept as simple as possible, but no simpler." (allegedly Einstein)

This happens so much with exercise.  Making it complicated, using esoteric language, creating the secret gnostic priesthood who really understand and have the knowledge.  

Lets keep it simple.

Lift weights to prevent metabolic syndrome

Of course.  Build some muscle so that they sugar you are eating has somewhere safe to be stored....

"Exercise professionals should strongly encourage the activity of lifting weights among adults of all ages to promote metabolic health," Drs Magyari and Churilla conclude. These efforts should focus on groups with lower rates of weight lifting: women, older adults, Mexican Americans, and lower-income people. 

Lifting Weights Protects Against Metabolic Syndrome, Study Suggests

Why we blush

apparantly it is something to do with farting

Drugs in Sport

Amid all of the current drama about Lance Armstrong, I just wanted to point to this post from the Sock Doc about Drugs in Sport....It is an interesting perspective.

The question you should ask yourself is just how natural you want to be. How clean do you want to be? And in turn – how healthy do you want to be? By no means am I saying that moderate caffeine, alcohol, or even sugar use is a problem (for most). But if you’re on a drug, for a medical condition or not, realize that you’re almost always altering some physiological function in your body that you shouldn’t be messing around with. If you’re better with it – what’s wrong so you can’t do without it? Why can’t you wake up, sleep, think, or perform in everyway without it?

I must admit to some confusion about the whole area of drugs in sport.  Sometimes I think that we should just hold up our hands and let the athletes do whatever they want.  The one that always gets me is altitude training.   Why is altitude training allowed yet blood doping / EPO isn't ?  It has the same effect.

None of this is about health; sport - especially at the top levels - is not about health.

The Science of Usain Bolt

Carbs make you lose your mind?

Of course if this report was saying the opposite the paleo world would be criticising it because it relies on food survey questionnaires  which are notoriously dodgy.  Be that as it may, this indicates that diets higher in protein and fat fare better in preventing cognitive decline....Who knows, it is all correlation and questionnaires, but is very interesting:

Researchers tracked 1,230 people ages 70 to 89 who provided information on what they ate during the previous year. At that time, their cognitive function was evaluated by an expert panel of physicians, nurses and neuropsychologists. Of those participants, only the roughly 940 who showed no signs of cognitive impairment were asked to return for follow-up evaluations of their cognitive function. About four years into the study, 200 of those 940 were beginning to show mild cognitive impairment, problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes.
Those who reported the highest carbohydrate intake at the beginning of the study were 1.9 times likelier to develop mild cognitive impairment than those with the lowest intake of carbohydrates. Participants with the highest sugar intake were 1.5 times likelier to experience mild cognitive impairment than those with the lowest levels. 

But those whose diets were highest in fat — compared to the lowest — were 42 percent less likely to face cognitive impairment, and those who had the highest intake of protein had a reduced risk of 21 percent. 

When total fat and protein intake were taken into account, people with the highest carbohydrate intake were 3.6 times likelier to develop mild cognitive impairment.

The study is discussed here:

Eating Lots of Carbs, Sugar May Raise Risk of Cognitive Impairment, Mayo Clinic Study Finds

Protein, little and often?

The debate on this one seems to go on and on.

Here is a new study which recommends moderate protein every 3 hours rather than something less frequent.

We conclude that the pattern of ingested protein, and not only the total daily amount, can impact whole-body protein metabolism. Individuals aiming to maximize NB would likely benefit from repeated ingestion of moderate amounts of protein (~20g) at regular intervals (~3h) throughout the day.

Daytime pattern of post-exercise protein intake affects whole-body protein turnover in resistance-trained males

The whole paper is available to read, so it will be interesting to go through it and see what they are really saying.

Another Sunday morning

I am finding it harder sometimes to keep finding things to post here.

I am no scientist or expert and I hope you realise this.  If you want a good analysis of the science and the new studies, check out Suppversity or Chris Beardsley's site.

There is so much information out there now on blogs and we are all so often searching for the new and the novelty.  The basics are what really matter and they are not actually that complicated.  I've been guilty of this myself, always looking for the secret knowledge.  I've come full circle in many ways with respect to diet for example.  The whole paleo thing has gone mental and I have found success basically in an old fashioned sensible diet - as Lyle McDonald recommends.  There is some tracking of calories and macros but with simple rules it is not too hard.

Not sure what I am getting at here!

Oh well, I am still getting into the hills on a nice autumn day....which is what matters.

Sleep....makes you an optimistic problem solver

Sleep is magic and good sleep is even better:

It helps you solve tough problems

It makes you optimistic  (or perhaps the optimistic are able to sleep?)

Fasted Training? Exercise with low glycogen to be a better fuel burner

This is a very interesting one!  Exercise in a depleted state seems to look like it could lead to more mitochondria in the muscle and therefore more capacity to burn fuel and create energy and movement.....  So one up for fasted training?

Exercise with low glycogen increases PGC-1α gene expression in human skeletal muscle.

Recent studies suggest that carbohydrate restriction can improve the training-induced adaptation of muscle oxidative capacity. However, the importance of low muscle glycogen on the molecular signaling of mitochondrial biogenesis remains unclear. Here, we compare the effects of exercise with low (LG) and normal (NG) glycogen on different molecular factors involved in the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis. Ten highly trained cyclists (VO(2max) 65 ± 1 ml/kg/min, W (max) 387 ± 8 W) exercised for 60 min at approximately 64 % VO(2max) with either low [166 ± 21 mmol/kg dry weight (dw)] or normal (478 ± 33 mmol/kg dw) muscle glycogen levels achieved by prior exercise/diet intervention. Muscle biopsies were taken before, and 3 h after, exercise. The mRNA of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1 was enhanced to a greater extent when exercise was performed with low compared with normal glycogen levels (8.1-fold vs. 2.5-fold increase). Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 mRNA were increased after LG (1.3- and 114-fold increase, respectively), but not after NG. Phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases and acetyl-CoA carboxylase was not changed 3 h post-exercise. Mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production and glutathione oxidative status tended to be reduced 3 h post-exercise. We conclude that exercise with low glycogen levels amplifies the expression of the major genetic marker for mitochondrial biogenesis in highly trained cyclists. The results suggest that low glycogen exercise may be beneficial for improving muscle oxidative capacity.

We have all had DOMS...

An interesting study here....while DOMS might be due to damage to a particular muscle, in the brain it looks like the pain is mapped all over the body....

Central Projection of Pain Arising from Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) in Human Subjects

Using event-related fMRI, the temporal evolution of brain activity during the subacute pain state DOMS was mapped in the human brain. We located strongest and widespread pain-related activations in the primary motor and sensory cortex that affected the area somatotopically related to the thigh and also adjacent areas reminiscent of the transient cortical remodelling described in chronic pain states, such as CRPS or phantom limb pain. Further pain-related activation was located in the SMA, IPL, STG, bilaterally in the insula and the cingulate cortex. Activation in the cerebellum was most widespread when pain from DOMS occurred in combination with limb movement. Our study demonstrated that defined stimulation or repeated contraction of a DOMS-affected painful muscle can evoke strong and reproducible increases in BOLD signal; therefore pain from DOMS provides an effective, non-invasive model to study the central processing of inflammatory muscle pain

Very interesting stuff.  I wonder what signals the pain is sending....protecting more than just the inflamed muscles.....

More Protein helps in satiety

At last we are moving away from the idea of eating 6 times a day.....Forget grazing and eat more protein.

The influence of higher protein intake and greater eating frequency on appetite control in overweight and obese men.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of dietary protein intake and eating frequency on perceived appetite, satiety, and hormonal responses in overweight/obese men. Thirteen men (age 51 +/- 4 years; BMI 31.3 +/- 0.8 kg/m(2)) consumed eucaloric diets containing normal protein (79 +/- 2 g protein/day; 14% of energy intake as protein) or higher protein (138 +/- 3 g protein/day; 25% of energy intake as protein) equally divided among three eating occasions (3-EO; every 4 h) or six eating occasions (6-EO; every 2 h) on four separate days in randomized order. Hunger, fullness, plasma glucose, and hormonal responses were assessed throughout 11 h. No protein x eating frequency interactions were observed for any of the outcomes. Independent of eating frequency, higher protein led to greater daily fullness (P < 0.05) and peptide YY (PYY) concentrations (P < 0.05). In contrast, higher protein led to greater daily ghrelin concentrations (P < 0.05) vs. normal protein. Protein quantity did not influence daily hunger, glucose, or insulin concentrations. Independent of dietary protein, 6-EO led to lower daily fullness (P < 0.05) and PYY concentrations (P < 0.05). The 6-EO also led to lower glucose (P < 0.05) and insulin concentrations (P < 0.05) vs. 3-EO. Although the hunger-related perceived sensations and hormonal responses were conflicting, the fullness-related responses were consistently greater with higher protein intake but lower with increased eating frequency. Collectively, these data suggest that higher protein intake promotes satiety and challenge the concept that increasing the number of eating occasions enhances satiety in overweight and obese men.

The whole paper is available here

EPOC again...intervals again....

That old area of dispute about the post exercise impact of exercise in terms of calorie burn has popped up again:

In a new study, researchers show that exercisers can burn as many as 200 extra calories in as little as 2.5 minutes of concentrated effort a day -- as long as they intersperse longer periods of easy recovery in a practice known as sprint interval training.

Analyzing results from the room calorimeter system showed that the volunteers burned an average of an extra 200 calories on the sprint interval workout day, despite spending just 2.5 minutes engaged in hard exercise. Though the researchers can't yet speculate on whether such efforts could translate into weight loss, Sevits and his colleagues suggest that engaging in intense, but brief, bursts of exercise could aid in weight maintenance. "Burning an extra 200 calories from these exercises a couple of times a week can help keep away that pound or two that many Americans gain each year," 

Sleep....

I have often posted on here about the importance of sleep.  If you have not yet got the message then please listen to Chris Kresser's latest podcast on Revolution Health Radio where he interviews Dan Pardi who is a scientist researching sleep and its importance for health.  Dan is also behind the superb Dan's Plan  


Anyway you can listen to the podcast or read the transcript on the site, either way it is full of some really useful and important information.

Why Most People Are Sleep-deprived and What to do About it

Best of all Dan gives some ideas for improving sleep.  Nothing about this is rocket science, but it is all good stuff.   

The thing is, I have written about this before, but my own sleep routine is not great.  I tend to get to bed too late and have been waking up in the night stressing about things.  One thing that I need to address is the internet.  I am getting too addicted to checking, checking and checking - email, twitter, facebook, google reader.  Not much is actually new or that exciting but there is this self imposed pressure to KEEP UP TO DATE....with a lot of pointless drama!  My iphone is the first thing I reach for in the morning and even sometimes if I wake in the middle of the night.  This is not healthy.

There was a good post by a backpacker in the States last week who talked about going without his phone / internet for a while and how it made him feel - truly relaxed!  It is also worth reading and reflecting on.  

Disconnected

But the experiment got me thinking, anyway. Since moving back to Keene, I've been doing things differently than last year. I've cut down drastically on my Internet usage, mostly by cutting out all of my use of forums and web communities. I used to kill hours browsing through discussions on Backpackinglight.com, but I realized I was getting nothing from that community except more and more frustration at the tone of many conversations. I read fewer blogs now, I avoid most news sites, I don't much care what news I'm missing. I feel more relaxed in general, and I now have drastically more time to read books, enjoy the home life, and work on my other projects.

Interval training....with no intervals

If you take the rest intervals out of an interval session.....you get a single all out sprint.  Why do we assume you need to do lots of separate sprints?  Just because Tabata has become a training cliche? Would we get the same effects from a single hard sprint?  Why not?

Well at last scientists are starting to look at this idea.  If we want to keep things simple, lets start with one hard sprint before we start to add complexity.

Check out what James Steele has to say about this idea and the recent new research.

Simply Single Bout Sprinting

....and of course if a single sprint works, why not just do hard resistance training, working to sequentially recruit as many fibres as possible, taking the exercises to failure?

48" single leg box jump

I've not had a big jump video on here for a while.  This is stunning......

Walking and more

I've not put anything on here for a few days.  I've been busy with work and then I've been trying to write up some stuff on my other blog about recent walks, in Austria and then on the West Highland Way.

Austria

The West Highlands

I should have a bit more time now though to put things up here.  The other thing that is going on in the back ground is a little more work on Hillfit, which might see a new expanded version of the book in a few months, with some other services around it, but it is early days.

Follow me on Twitter

I used to use a widget on this blog to share links to interesting things that I was reading via Google Reader, but they took that functionality off.  I often tweet links to things that I have come across that are of interest, so you might want to follow me on Twitter @chrishighcock if you miss that service.  I am pretty broad in my interests - fitness, diet, hillwalking......