fitness

Not Eating Enough Protein Can Lead to Early Death

Studies have shown that strength is an even more important predictor for longevity than any other factor, other than single leg balance. Fortunately, single leg balance can be improved more efficiently with a greater strength base.

As we age, our bodies go through significant changes. Around the age of 30, our metabolism begins to slow and our strength and power numbers begin to decrease. By the age of 60, we experience significant decays in strength and power; so much so, that strength into old age equates to living longer and happier lives. This means that it is vital to build a base of strength at younger ages.

Newer research has pointed to the need for greater quantities of daily protein intake. The previous minimum recommended intakes are completely insufficient! This new research suggests consuming quantities of a minimum of 1 gram per pound of body weight desired, especially into older age. As we age, digestion and absorption decrease, which leads to a further increased need for protein. Unfortunately, most people do not realize how little protein they are actually consuming on a regular basis. If you have never bothered to track the amount of food you eat on a regular basis, I dare you to do so, even for one day. I’ve seen regular protein intakes of less than 30 grams a day! Further, it’s often even more difficult for vegetarians and vegans to obtain enough protein. Plant foods are also less bioavailable than meat, which creates a roughly 15% additional deficit.

Lots of people often supplement their diets (yes, I said ‘diet’, that’s because what a person eats on a regular basis is the true definition of a diet) with powdered protein supplements. This is one such way, although not ideal, to get that much closer to their goal. Nothing can beat whole, non-processed foods, but sometimes, getting enough protein is so difficult and limiting for a person, that this is the way to go.

I’ve had tremendous success boosting my client’s amino acid consumption using powders, but especially through the use of a product called Perfect Aminos. Perfect Aminos provide a significant amount of the amino acids that are necessary for building and repairing skin, muscle and tendon strength. Amino Acids are what comprise protein, so this product allows a person to acquire more of their necessary amino acids to maintain their muscle mass into old age, or help build more in young age.

Try out these two amazing protein products to help you with your goals!

Perfect Aminos by Body Health

Organic Whey Protein Isolate from Grass Fed Cows

The Importance of Fat!

Several decades ago, the food industry and “health specialists” began to promote the increased consumption of carbohydrates and reduction in fat consumption. Since then, the obesity epidemic has begun to rise.

Fat is a vital part of our diet and just as consuming fiber when it comes to carbohydrates, fat can slow digestion and help keep you satiated longer. When processed carbohydrates are consumed, especially in the absence of healthy fats, cravings for unhealthy goods tend to rise, especially later in the day. As a result of consuming copious amounts of healthy fats, cravings can be decreased immensely.

Animal fats can also be incredibly healthy. Grass fed meats often contain higher amounts of omega threes, which can actually reduce inflammation. Most toxins are stored in fat cells when they cannot be excreted by the liver and animals fed diets much closer to their natural environment, are exposed to significantly fewer toxins than those traditionally raised by farmers, so their fats are often highly nutritious.

Fat and cholesterol are necessary for hormonal production and cell production. Without fat, testosterone in males quickly takes a nosedive and low-cholesterol diets can negatively affect every cell and tissue in the human body.

Consuming carbohydrates in the absence of fat can increase insulin response in the body and thus decrease insulin sensitivity, which forces the body to hold on to fat more easily and increase risk of diabetes.

In the end, although fat does contain more calories per gram than a protein or carbohydrates, it keeps you significantly more full, requiring less calories in the end and positively affects hormonal levels, especially when consumed in healthy varieties.

In combination with my last blog post, you should now have a better base understanding of why it is extremely important to consume fats in your diet and how the excess consumption of carbohydrates has led to many negative health effects in the Western world. Start implementing healthy fats such as grass fed meats, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil, in your diet and you should see increases in health and more easily control weight loss or weight gain!

What is a Carbohydrate?!

It came to my realization recently that many people do not know what a carbohydrate is, consists of and how they affect us.

Carbohydrates are found in grains (wheats and rice), tubers and roots (potatoes, carrots, yucca and beets), fruit, and other vegetables in smaller numbers.

Carbohydrates consist of sugars and fiber. Most fruits and vegetables contain both, which are equally important depending on the circumstances. If consuming processed carbohydrates, much of the fiber is often removed, this includes juicing and thus the primary nutrient utilized becomes the sugar.

The primary rules that I subscribe to when it comes to carbohydrates state that each person’s genetic make-up can significantly affect the amount of carbohydrates that a person can tolerate before they begin to negatively impact health, as well as the type of carbohydrates. Sometimes individual variance can alter this, however, generally, those who’s families have spent many generations near the equatorial line have had more access to these carbohydrates than those who have lived near a poll. In areas close to the polls, people residing in these areas have had access to more meat and less carbohydrates due to lack of more regular sunlight.

Several decades ago, the health industry began pushing the use of more carbohydrates and less fat in the diet than what people can truly tolerate. Since then obesity has begun to rise and has not shown signs of stopping. Fat is absolutely necessary in the diet, especially good fats, which I will discuss in the future.

Athletes or extremely active people are generally going to require more carbohydrates despite their genetic make up, in order to help sustain their practices since the body requires glucose in order to properly perform and recover from most physical activity. Depending on a person’s style of training, less carbohydrates can be required, which is evident with the recent popularity of the ketogenic diet (many females due to hormonal changes may not do as well on this eating style).

Time of day also makes a big difference. Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the body as it affects many different processes. Excess consumption of carbohydrates and increases in body fat reduce ones ability to utilize insulin and thus comes diabetes, inability to clear cortisol (stress hormone), which can make sleeping more challenging and difficulty building muscle, which can make it harder to lose weight, or just get up the energy to exercise.

Carbohydrates are extremely important in the diet, however, they should often be taken in moderation and near training or later in the evening in order to help reduce cortisol before sleep. Starting the day off with a bowl of carbohydrate heavy cereals and juices sets a person up for greater insulin resistance, brain fog, weight gain and tiredness. Attempt to reduce carbohydrate consumption early in the day and in general, especially processed carbohydrates and based on your genetics and you’ll begin to feel healthier, burn body fat more efficiently, sleep better, build muscle and be happier!

Neurotransmitter Profiling

As I have always preached, every person is highly individual. Every goal, every hormone, every gene, every response to training and every nutritional need is personal. Most of these factors are easy to adjust to, but the most challenging of which can often times be the precise training that each individual requires in order to expedite results and training enjoyment.

In Coach Charles Poliquin’s course, Neurotransmitter Profiling, I discovered the ultimate test to easily adapt anyone’s training to their particular needs, called the Braverman Test. To the ordinary person, this test can seem rather limited in information regarding training, but it can help me to know how often to rest someone, the repetition ranges that will benefit each individual more precisely and how often to adapt and adjust parameters.

I am immensely excited to put this knowledge to practice and continue to give my athletes, fat loss and weight gain clientele the best results possible in the shortest time possible!

Continued Learning

I have been bitten by the knowledge bug. I can’t stop and won’t stop learning. I love learning about strength training, customizing for individualizing to the greatest possible extent, health, nutrition, business, and the list goes on. I am truly excited for an upcoming seminar in Los Angeles from one of, if not the, greatest Strength & Conditioning Coach ever, Charles Poliquin.

Here, Coach Poliquin writes about his stumbling upon one of the answers that brought his programming a great deal closer to perfection. This is an amazing article for anyone to read, but can truly put individualization to the forefront of any Coach’s toolbox. He explains how our neurological profiling can dictate a person’s needs during training and even goes over supplementation for deficiencies in hormones. All of this can be found out through a simple pen and paper test!

Neuro Profile Based Program Design

Better Sleep Tonight!

Many of us experience problems sleeping from time to time. In fact, studies show that there is a correlation between instances of overweight populous in every country in the world and poor sleep; these percentages often equate to nearly identical.

Sleep is the most important thing we can do for our bodies. We repair our brain and our body while sleeping and it is nearly impossible to make up any lost sleep in the future, which causes a compounding affect. Here are my top recommendations for sleep.

Temperature:

Studies show that ideal room temperature when attempting to sleep is 60-68 degrees. Anything above or below could compromise sleep quality and ability to fall asleep.

Avoiding extended rigorous activity:

Can coincide with temperature. Internal body temperature can rise with activity. Most people experience difficulty sleeping after physical activity.

Diaphragmatic breathing:

Can help put one in a state of relaxation after activity or improper breathing throughout the day, which puts the nervous system into fight-or-flight mode. I like to practice this with what is called box breathing.

Meditation:

Can help calm the mind and focus on relaxing, instead of mind wandering thoughts.

Electro Magnetic Frequencies:

Keep cell phone, ideally turned off or as far away from the body as possible late at night and while attempting to sleep. Many hotels have regulations that reduce the electrical frequencies that escape wires in walls, but as soon as something is plugged into a wall socket, that socket becomes active and releases electrical frequencies into the room (try to unplug everything in your room when traveling before bed). At home, a great option would be to install an electrical kill switch in each room of the house that deactivates all electrical flow to that specific area when deactivated. Bluetooth signals should be turned off at night and WiFi signals including both electronics and routers should deactivated be as well.

Blue light:

Any light exposure prior to bed will reduce the bodies ability to produce melatonin (sleep hormone) for up to 2 hours and increases internal cortisol levels (wake up/stress hormone). Blue light especially is effective at this. This specific ray of light is produced in significant amounts by electronics. Try to turn off cell phones, computers and televisions several hours before bed. This is often challenging for most so some minor compromises can include dimming a screen to an orange hue, wearing blue light blocking glasses and using blue light blocking screens. Many LED lights are produced in this hue, so attempt to purchase those with “natural lighting.” iPhones have this option built in and can even be adjusted in settings to more efficiently block out more blue light. F.Lux is an app for PC and Mac that can help with this as well. A great company that produces light bulbs with low blue light is Lighting science.

Here is a link to some blue light blocking glasses that work great and look good!

Supplementation:

  • Yin Reserve by Charles R. Poliquin is an amazingly effective supplement that helps to sleep without addictive properties or severe side-effects. It is designed around reducing anxiety and certainly does the job.
  • Melatonin should be used sparingly since dosages on packaging are often far greater than necessary and can cause the body to produce lesser amounts naturally. For melatonin supplementation, I recommend using a rub on cream and using between the thighs for better absorption.
  • Cannabidiol (CBD) can be effective at helping to sleep. This is a non-psychedelic and extremely healing component of hemp that can reduce cortisol and inflammation. Can be purchased at nearly any health food store now.

Anti-anxiety based herbs:

  • Valerian Root
  • Chamomile
  • Ashwaganda
  • Lavender
  • Passionflower
  • Magnolia bark
  • California poppy

Grateful log:

A grateful log has been scientifically shown to actually begin to change the mind and it’s focus. If we are stressed and angry throughout the day, a grateful log can help reset the mind and put you into a happy relaxed state, allowing for greater restfulness. Write in your log prior to bed, try writing 3 things you are grateful for on a daily basis. You can also write, one thing good you did, one good thing someone did to you and one good thing you observed today.

Carbohydrates before bed:

Try to include with fat to increase the time of release of glycogen. Low levels of insulin at night can cause a spike in cortisol and cause you to wake. Further, insulin helps to clear cortisol from the body. Consuming these macronutrients can help to keep you slightly more satiated throughout the night and prevent a spike in cortisol.

Consistency:

Another challenging one, but consistency with sleep helps immensely. Attempting to go to sleep at the same time every night helps. Studies have shown that our brain heals itself best between the hours of 10 PM and 2 AM and the body heals best between 2 AM and 6 AM. These times are very important, so try to get to bed by 10 PM at the latest when possible.

Caffeine:

Caffeine has a half-life of 6 hours, which means that after 6 hours, the caffeine you consumed has only half dissipated from the body. If you have a 300mg of caffeine beverage at 12 PM, by 6 PM you will have 150mg still circulating in your system; by 12 AM, there is still roughly 75mg floating around. Try to keep caffeinated beverages to a minimum and the earlier the better. Although some people do not have problems sleeping after consuming caffeine, it can still have a negative affect on the body, such as increasing cortisol, increasing inflammation, decreasing quality of sleep, etc. If a person is experiencing symptoms related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, often times they attempt to remedy this issue with more caffeine which can cause a compounding affect. Be careful with this amazing drug!

Back Pain!

Back pain is a b****!

It affects nearly everyone in the United States at some point or another.

Here are a few statistics to mull over:

  • There are over 650,000 surgeries annually in the US related to back pain alone.

  • Over $20-billion is spent on back pain in the US annually.

  • Back pain is the number one reason people miss work.

  • Economically, this affects the US by as much as $215-billion annually.

  • 85% of people in the US experience substantial back pain at some point in their life.

Back pain can stem from a multitude of factors. These can include the obvious two, holding on to excess weight and having a weak core. The core consists of more than your visible 6-pack, but the portion I am referring to here includes the entire musculature surrounding your mid-back, frontal abdominal region and gluteal muscles. Beyond these, reasons can include stress, which can have an impact on many other areas of your body and life that can all lead back to pain in the back. Try to find an activity that allows your to relax, such as meditation, Tai Chi, Qigong or positive talk.

Injury to the front of your abdominal region can affect internal organs, which can then lead to pain in surrounding areas. This occurs when inflammation or pain occurs, which can lead to poor activation of musculature in the related regions. Specific exercises to help reactivate these muscles, once the injury is healed is necessary. Similarly, if the stomach is not functioning well, it can negatively affect musculature in the surrounding areas. This means that if the diet is poor, this can lead to significant inflammation and digestive issues; the core musculature then can become weak and inactive.

Although this next part may sound slightly unbelievable, if you take into consideration the power of placebo, it makes perfect sense. Negative self-talk, such as saying “pain in my a**” too often can actually lead to issues in itself. Learning to repeat positive self-talk is important to creating healthy body image, happiness in daily life and patience, including on the road! More on this in future posts.

Constant seated positions and poor posture are also major contributors to back pain. When we sit too long, our hip flexors (illiacus and psoas) can become tight. These two muscles attach from the thigh, into the lumbar spine (lower back). If these muscles become stiff, then some movement can begin to pull on the spine, which can cause pain. Stretching properly, along with fascial release (massage) can assist at reducing this cause.

The vertebrae due to spinal loading over the course of long periods can also compact the spacing between each and eventually deteriorate the liquid filled disks that help to function as impact bags to prevent grinding of the bone. When these compact too much and severely deteriorate the disks, osteoarthritis and other issues can arise. Exercises such as ELDOAs can reestablish spacing between the vertebrae, which can reduce this stress. These exercises are performed by the individual, but can be incredibly complex, challenging and harmful if performed incorrectly. Search for a provider near you online!

Of course, we can’t forget the unfortunate accident. Often times people can develop back pain post vehicular accident, fall or awkward movement. Sometimes, the previously mentioned ELDOA exercises can help to relieve pain from these causes. These injuries can also lead to lack of muscular activation, as previously mentioned.

You can fix or reduce your likelihood of back pain by working with a professional, on top of the aesthetic and health benefits! Take action and start feeling better today!

Contact me if you have specific questions!

The Truth About Peaking for Maximal Performance

Here is another dual Breaking Muscle post on best methods to prepare for a specific event and the truth about peaking for Maximal Performance!

Take a look here!

Working with Athletes

I primarily Coach athletes and especially youth athletes. As a result of the majority group that I work with, before and after pictures are few and far between. Rather, the accolades that my athletes collect are our before and after success stories. Although my athletes and I are often confined to a gym setting, with minimal space and the right tools, we don’t need a field and a ball to improve significantly. In my training, I promote the necessity to move well before all else. Moving well consists of being able to control the body through acceleration and deceleration, jumping and landing, agility, balance, and strength and stability in many planes. We then work to build strength so that we can build a base to control and create all movement; as a result, building a base of strength, even with children through body weight exercise, is important. Power is an expression of strength in a rapid manner and therefore a base of strength can become even more vital. Many youth volleyball and basketball coaches often search for the ultimate vertical jump building guide, finding that they either don’t help or work for a short period and progress stalls. With proper strength and power development, athletes can make long term improvements; just as Kaizen states: constant and never ending improvement. Early this week, one of my new female soccer athletes relayed to me that she had played significantly better than she had ever in her weekend tournament, leading her coach to name her team captain for the week. Although this isn’t exactly being named league MVP, it proves in the power of proper athletic development and confidence building that this form of training can provide. To make things even more impressive, I have only had the opportunity to see her one time a week for the last four weeks, including this one.

With proper supervision, planning, development and progression, any athlete with the right drive can be developed into a faster, stronger, more confident and dominant one. Find a great Athletic Performance Coach near you at the National Strength & Conditioning Association’s site. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, contact me at (818) 726-2362!

Never stop improving!

Proper programming and finding a great coach!

John Wooden once said “failing to plan is planning to fail.” This applies in life, sport and in coaching. Programming is a necessary, but often challenging aspect to coaching. For a coach, it is important to create a plan and have a blueprint in order to help themselves, their athletes and their trainees reach their goals in as quickly a manner as possible. If you understand what a coach has to consider to create a good program, it can help you identify a good coach or even help you understand how to program for yourself.

To better understand coaching and programming, we can look at the multitude of aspects that must be taken into consideration. It’s not enough to put together a list of exercises and just perform them. Many factors must be considered, such as:

• Actual age

• Training age

• Goals (there can even be more than one)

• Time to train weekly

• Event or activity training for

• Changes in eating

• Recovery

Beyond the basic specifics that have to be taken into consideration, other factors have to be looked at as well. These include but are not limited to:

•Time under tension

• Isometric pauses

• Deloads

• Mobility

• Proper strength ratios between antagonistic muscle groups as well as those between opposing limbs

• Exercise selection

• Training specific muscles to reduce injury, (i.e. semitendinosus hamstring fibers vs biceps femoris and/or semimembranosis)

It’s nearly impossible to learn all of these requirements from one direct source, often requiring multiple books, mentors, classes and life experiences. Programming, just like coaching can require 10,000 hours to master, which is why many great facilities, such as Results Fitness, run by Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove in California, employ staff who’s sole responsibility is programming for their members.

Some of the best sources that have helped me to become better at programming for my athletes and clientele are Charles Poliquin‘s books (specifically the “Poliquin Principles”) and courses, various podcasts, Triphasic Training by Cal Deitz, Louie Simmons’ Conjugate method, and articles on the various differences between different periodization methods, such as block, undulating, linear, conjugate, etc.

Exercise and Workout Programming Resources

There is a never-ending supply of information to learn from, both scientific and in-gym proven based methods. As legendary strength coach Charles Poliquin states, “the human body hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years.” We have training data dating back to the Roman and Ancient Chinese Empire’s that can be utilized efficiently today! In reality, the human body truly hasn’t changed much in the last 100,000 years.

The best place to begin when trying to become proficient at program design is through specific certifications. Many certifications exist that help coaches to begin to understand program design that has been proven to work and are often based on work that has been developed by coaches before them. Some of these include:

• Charles Poliquin’s basic and advanced program design courses

•Michael Boyle‘s Certified Functional Strength Coach

•Joe Defranco and Diesel’s Certified Physical Preparation Specialist

• CHEK Exercise Coach C.H.E.K. Practitioner Program

These are all amazing certifications, but it is important to make sure not to only take from one modality. There’s something to learn from everyone, so it’s important never to get caught in the belief that you know everything. Further learning can be taken from these individual certifications’ assessments, but others exist in the field that can potentially be useful. These include:

•Functional Movement Screen

•Dr. Nicholas Romanov’s Pose Method

•Paul Chek’s Holistic Lifestyle Coach Certification

And truly in-depth programs such as Postural Restoration Institute’s 3 introductory courses.

When searching for a coach, some of this information can become useful as well. Going in to your assessment or initial intake with your new potential coach, it is important to have your ducks in a row. Make sure you know what you want out of your training experience and be ready to list all of your major injuries and issues; your coach should have some ideas or be able to put an action plan together almost immediately, or not be afraid to admit if they do not know the full answer to a question or problem and at least be willing to research it. If your coach can’t break things down in a way that makes sense to a 5 year old, then they often do not have a clue about what they are explaining. Look up short articles by some of the coaches I have previously mentioned and create a small base of knowledge on a topic that interests you and see if your coach can answer more detailed questions regarding some of these interests.

Finding a great coach can be one of the most challenging things to do, but great certification programs such as those listed previously, often have a database of certified coaches in your area that can potentially be a great fit for you!

Later in the learning experience, I’ve found that great sources of information can be taken from seminars and podcasts. Even one tidbit from each source can make the difference in you improving for the rest of your life. Kaizen stands for “constant and never-ending improvement” and this is one of my core principles. It’s important to always keep learning and improving your craft, even if it is the most minute piece of information, that may help only one particular client achieve better results.

Link to the article:

http://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/learning-programming-and-finding-a-good-coach