Personal Trainer Secrets Issue Mar 26 2007

Fitness Article of the Week
Why Our Favorite Foods Are Making Us Fat

Junk food - it's bad our bodies but we still crave it Why is it that we crave coffee, candy, cookies, and all the goodies that are so bad for us?

A visit to any location of the world’s most successful coffeehouse chain provides a clear glimpse into the American food addiction. As a nation, we’re now experiencing more disease, obesity, depression, relationship troubles, and general life dissatisfaction than ever before. One of the biggest reasons for all the problems is that our food — our fuel — is destroying us. Rather than eating healthy foods that build up and nurture our bodies, we continually make nutritional choices that are decaying our bodies, and slowly eliminating us from the human species (our poor nutrition is a huge factor in our rising infertility rates). Yes, it’s that extreme!

Can you imagine what the farmers who helped settle our great country would think of us today? Once upon a time, there were no such things as lattés, instant breakfast shakes, frozen yogurt, pizza, or protein bars. People actually worked hard to grow natural (organic) food for themselves and their families. Today, we have the luxury of not needing to grow our own food, but we’ve become so spoiled and lazy that we think it’s too much work to visit a health food store, buy nutritional food, cook our own meals, and eat healthy meals.

You might wonder, “Why are you being so harsh? I do all right. I exercise and eat pretty well . . . most of the time . . . OK, some of the time . . . well, maybe you do have a point.” Sometimes we need a kick in the pants to drag us out of our misery.

The truth is that your nutritional health is up to you. Commercial food companies don’t have your best interests at heart — they employ food scientists and engineers whose sole job it is to make them richer by getting you to consume all these so-called “great-tasting” foods. How about calling them what they are — extremely addictive and void of nutrients.

Sure, they make us feel good temporarily. But they ultimately are empty, even dangerous. Have you ever wondered why it’s gotten to the sad state that we’re so in need of immediate gratification? When did we decide to give up control over fueling our own bodies, minds and spirits? Are we so desensitized to our nutritional needs that we’re willing to endanger our lives and our children’s lives for the sake of another grande cappuccino or sugared breakfast cereal?

You are your children’s first role model. They mimic what they see you do. If you don’t value nutrition, you are teaching them not to value it either. Poor nutrition stunts our mental and physical growth; in children, this leads to disease, obesity and poor studies.

In our fast-paced, frenetic, get-it-done-yesterday world, we’ve lost the ability to relax, nurture ourselves, eat well and savor our food. We’ve become addicted to caffeine and sugar because they provide the temporary high to get us through the next project, meeting, or extracurricular activity. And in our depleted, depressed emotional states, they give us momentary comfort and satisfaction.

However, when our bodies are stressed and run down, what they really need is time out for renewal and recharging, not another instant pick-me-up. Medicating ourselves with caffeine or sugar is a lot like attaching a rocket to a car that’s run out of gas. It shoots you where you need to go, but quickly burns out — and soon you will need another boost that is stronger and more powerful to achieve the same result.

Just as keeping your car regularly gassed, oiled, and maintained is a much better strategy, continually nourishing your body with good quality organic fuel will keep you alert and functioning optimally all the time. Next time you think about pulling into that fast food restaurant or visiting your neighborhood coffee joint, you might consider the nourishment factor of your decision. You can justify it with a comment like, “It’s just this one time,” or you can plan for a healthy future and keep on driving to the health food store.

For more information on this or other health-related subjects contact Scott White at swhite@personalpowertraining.net for other supplement and multivitamin resources.

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Featured Exercise
Medicine Ball Training

Many sports require physical action that could arguably be described as Woman performs "woodchops" with a medicine ball explosive; a pitcher hurling a baseball, a defenseman taking a slapshot in hockey, a quarterback firing a pass, and many others as well. While weight training is a great way to develop the muscles required for these types of actions, medicine ball training has rapidly been increasing in popularity.

A medicine ball is a large, weighted sphere that adds weight resistance to specific exercises. The reason medicine ball training is sometimes preferable to weight training is that weight exercises are very rigid in their technique, whereas medicine ball exercises are a bit more fluid, allowing a person to mimic actions they might actually use in their sport.

Medicine Ball Training Program

Starting a medicine ball training program does not have to be difficult. With careful planning by the instructor and hard work by the athlete, a 45-minute medicine ball program can be devised that will affect all necessary muscles, while providing a safe, effective workout. As with weight training, it is extremely important with medicine ball training to warm up appropriately, first. Warm-up exercises could include stretches or light cardio, and are necessary to prevent workout injuries. Likewise, a cool down period after the medicine ball training session is required to prevent the cramping up of muscles, as well as further potential injury.

When it comes to the workout, a few things should be kept in mind. First, although all the actual movements remain somewhat flexible, medicine balls themselves come in different weights. You want to begin with the lighter weights, gradually building up to the heavier ones over the course of the workout. Secondly, exercises of alternate body parts (i.e., arms and legs) should mimic real-life movements, in order to get the full benefit of the medicine ball training. Lastly, you want to arrange your workout so that you start with the easier, lower-movement exercises, working up to those with greater movement and intensity.

Techniques

As with any exercise regiment, you must remember to take the necessary safety precautions. Medicine balls are bulky and heavy, and if not handled properly, they could result in injury. Always make sure you fully extend your arms when throwing a medicine ball, and position yourself with a solidly braced position, with feet firmly on the ground during a throwing or catching motion. Additionally, be sure that if you are new to medicine ball training you do not overextend yourself; such overextension may result in severe injury.

Medicine Ball Exercises

Torso Twists: Two athletes stand back-to-back and pass the medicine ball between themselves, twisting their torsos to do so.
Curls: This exercise can work various muscles, but the two most common exercises are hamstring curls and abdominal curls. Abdominal curls work like a normal two-way curl, except you hold the medicine ball with your knees.

Chest Pushes: Hold the ball to your chest and push it out (similar to a chest pass in basketball), propelling it to your partner. This exercise works the same muscle groups as a pushup, but is considerably easier to do.

Medicine ball training can be a very rewarding addition to your training sessions, but only if both coach and athlete understand the proper exercise techniques. To get the most from this alternate routine, remember to do your research beforehand, develop an appropriate training program, and practice techniques at lighter weights and slower paces before diving into the full workout regimen.

Ask Scott White | Personal Trainer

Question
I’ve been talking with some guys in the gym about steroids and I’m getting confused. Are all steroids bad?

Scott Responds

Man holds a handful of steroid capsules and pills Steroids is a popular term often used synonymously with an illegal substance. However, the usage may not always be entirely correct. Natural steroids are organic compounds that act like hormones in the body; commercially available steroids are synthetic chemicals that mimic the properties of these hormones. The most commonly used steroids belong to two importantly distinct categories, anabolic steroids and corticosteroids. The corticosteroid class of steroids is used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as asthma and arthritis. The fast action of the corticosteroid makes it a preferred medicine of both physician and patient.

The better known – and far more popular – steroids are anabolic steroids.

Anabolic steroids are the class of steroids that are believed to have stimulatory effects. The term anabolic refers to the main attribute of this group, the building up of muscles or bones from smaller molecules, as the name indicates. Anabolic steroids are structurally similar to the androgenic hormone testosterone, and are believed to manifest all the natural effects of androgens, especially testosterone. The main function of anabolic steroids is to induce cell division in all types of tissues and facilitate muscle and bone growth.

Anabolic steroids trigger the physiological processes that induce appetite, protein synthesis, strength, and body weight gain. Sometimes anabolic steroids are prescribed medically to help improve lean mass and overcome the critical wasting condition characteristic of certain life-threatening diseases such as AIDS and cancer. In general, anabolic steroids are believed to bring about positive results, such as muscle building, bone remodeling, induction of puberty, stimulation of bone marrow cell growth, and increased appetite to induce the normal growth process. However, the results have not been proven scientifically.

Steroids are the preferred agent to assist those wanting to quickly and easily build up their bodies. However, anabolic steroids are now being used inappropriately by many athletes to increase and enhance their performance. Even though steroid use is prohibited in most professional and amateur sports, many new generation athletes are addicted to steroids. More precisely, they are addicted to the results they achieve when using steroids.

Many international players, tournaments, and competitions are struggling with the controversies around the use of anabolic steroids. The history of steroids shows that even some of the most outstanding players were steroid addicts. And unfortunately, young people playing at the high school and college level who look to these athletes as role models have now become addicted to steroids, too. Many athletes in all fields of competition requiring severe physical exertion or body toning, such as football, basketball, baseball, swimming, weight-lifting, and most Olympic games, consider steroids a practical shortcut to reaching their achievements. They’ve seen the results others have achieve and believe using steroids will give them an edge over the competition.

Although many steroid supplements are available today, they generally are administered via one of two routes, orally or through injections. Capsule steroids thought to be the most convenient method, but intramuscular injections in the buttocks, thighs, and shoulders are potentially more powerful than oral administration. However, injections must be performed carefully, since they can result in ill effects such as embolism if the steroids are accidentally injected into nerves or blood vessels.

The biggest problem with steroid use is that once initiated, their use quickly progresses to a habit. This is particularly alarming because the extensive use of illegitimate steroids have severe side effects, including the suppression of secondary sexual factors and the increased probability of other severe problems like coronary disease. Even though the trade of the most dangerous anabolic steroids is legally banned because of their potential side-effects, most are readily available through a thriving illegal, black-market trade.

Although they can be beneficial to the body in certain circumstances, most uses of steroids are dangerous and illegal. Anabolic steroids are readily available, but most intelligent people do not use them because of the tremendous possibility of negative side-effects.

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