The Fit Blog

After the Christmas holidays, after all the beer and chocolate and rolls and more chocolate and more beer, I’m going to start 2008 off on the right foot and once again, enter the Zone.  Time to get out the zone block charts and work on my eyeballing skills.

While searching around the net for some Zone recipes to prepare the shopping list for this week, I came across a PBS broadcast from 2004 called “Losing It”.  The program chronicles the weight loss attempts of a group of individuals attempting to lose a few inches.  From stomach bypass surgery to Weight Watchers, each of them goes at the challenge in a different way.  The program also talks about low calorie diets and how carbs should be moderated and they hit home the point about how fats shouldn’t necessarily be considered evil and how they, in fact, are an important dietary element.  Classic elements of diets like the Zone.  The results of the “study” are also interesting (although hopefully not surprising) as the most successful of the dieters was on the Zone.

Fortunately PBS isn’t too caught up in making money and they offer some of their programs for watching online.  Losing It can be found here for your viewing pleasure.

2,202 Comments | In: diet | | #

DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is evil. Plain and simple. Over the last week, due to some regular bouts of rx’d crossfit workouts, I’ve spent more time being sore than non-sore. Typically the days when I’ve done the workout I feel fine. The next day I awake with a bit of soreness but at the 48 hour mark, post exercise, I’m either walking funny or wincing as I reach for a cereal bowl on the top shelf.

So I decided to do some more research on DOMS and what can be done to negate at least the symptoms. As I’ve written before, there are some ok solutions. Advil or some other Ibuprofen works wonders for me. Ice, to decrease the inflamation, can also help make the hurt not hurt so much. But what else can be done?

A great article can be found here, by Johndavid Maes, and Len Kravitz, Ph.D. called “Treating and Preventing DOMS”.  Although it doesn’t come up with all the answers, some good points that it makes are as follows:

• Research done on NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – aspirin or ibuprofen) has shown mixed results and with the common side effects of the drugs, they aren’t a recommended approach for treatment.
• Some nutritional supplements, known for their antioxidant properties, such as vitamin C or E also show mixed results and may, in fact, worsen the problem.
• Warming up, pre workout,  has been shown to be quite effective.  This may be due to the increased muscle temperature and therefore increased elasticity, allowing for easier muscle contractions.
• Repeated bouts of lower intensity exercise before a high intensity session that would otherwise cause DOMS has been shown to its incidence and severity.

1,558 Comments | In: DOMS, pain | | #

It was a great show, back in the day. There’s little better than watching guys and girls struggle against some fierce competition in contests of strength and agility. What ever happened to American Gladiators? Well, it doesn’t matter much anymore because this great show is coming back, on NBC. Yes, that’s right. American Gladiators is returning to our living rooms on January 6, 2008. Here’s looking forward to some great challenges in the Gladiator Arena!

4,409 Comments | In: tv | | #

I just had to scan this in and post it. Again – from this month’s issue of Men’s Health. Reminds me of Taco Bell’s Cheesy Fries and my daily intake of calories during University (mmmm chili cheese fries). Looks awesome. Tastes great. But nearly 3000 calories? Geesh!

4,374 Comments | In: diet, nutrition | | #

In this month’s issue of Men’s Health, Joe Kita writes a great article about the strength training approach of Coach Dos Remedios, or the College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita California and his take on getting bigger, stronger and leaner.

Coach Dos’s training consists of relatively short, high intensity compound resistance exercise, regularly changed up. By concentrating on this method of training, not only will one be able to sculpt the body they want, but they will also gain the benefits of functional fitness.

Hmm…. Where have I heard this ad nauseam before? Oh, that’s right – the tried and true crossfit. But this isn’t the first time that Men’s Health has featured an article about the benefits of athletic type strength training and how superior it is, compared to the isolation movements of the standard bodybuilding repertoire. Several months ago the Men’s Health “guy” was Jason Statham – the ripped action flic actor \ mixed martial arts practitioner who gets his physique (and uncanny strength) through high intensity functional movements. Again – crossfit-esque in every way.

So I wonder – is this the new norm? Are more and more gym rats suddenly going to be hitting the pull-up bar and working on their cleans and push jerks? Will lines begin forming for the power racks? Will squatting and deadlifts start getting the attention they deserve? Probably not. Unfortunately.

4,392 Comments | In: crossfit, exercise, fitness | | #

Yet another crossfit video.

4,301 Comments | In: crossfit | | #

Curls – one of the seemingly preferred exercises at the gym.  Pretty much at any given moment at your local gym, there’s likely at least one guy on the dumbbells, machines or barbells doing curls of one form or another.  Probably preacher curls or hammer curls with obnoxiously large amounts of weight and form that’s fit for… well… is likely terrible.

The curl is so popular because it targets one of the most sought after muscles – the biceps, or more specifically, the biceps brachii – that bulbous muscle that sits in the front of the upper arm and assists in bending the arm at the ol’ elbow.

But while curls are definitely the way to go for building the biceps, those hammer curls you’ve been doing day in and day out perhaps aren’t as effective as you’d hope. While curling one way or another isa great exercise, what you really want to do is effectively target your biceps brachii 100%- with no other muscles helping out.

Here’s where concentration curls come in.  Sitting at the edge of a bench, lean slightly forward and hold a dumbbell with one arm hanging down between your legs and your elbow against the inner thigh on the same side of your body.  Curl the dumbbell and “concentrate” on the movement – taking things slow, perhaps, but focusing on exclusively targeting the biceps.

Unlike some other curling techniques, like hammer curls, concentration curls seriously target the biceps and can help turn them into the guns you’re going for.

4,328 Comments | In: exercise | | #

All jokes aside about possibly even contemplating using a pumpkin as a piece of workout equipment, the Home Workout Guide has a unique take on how to get the most out of your pre-carved jack-o-lantern.

4,495 Comments | In: equipment | | #

500m CII Indoor Rowing World Record?

4,392 Comments | In: rowing | | #

Seems obvious, but a recent study at Northwestern University which analyzed the BMI from over 2600 participants over the course of 20 whole years found that those who managed to get about 30 minutes of moderate to high intensity exercise per day between the age of 20 and middle age were more likely to have a healthy BMI than those who didn’t.

Although diet plays a very important part in a healthy BMI, exercise is also incredibly important. Not only is it important in keeping off body fay, exercise is a key ingredient to staying healthy all around, from maintaining strong bones and muscles as well as keeping the ticker and other organs in tip top shape.

So the moral of the post is to keep on chuggin in your workouts and activity. Get some exercise in on a daily basis, even if just some jumping jacks and air squats. Work up the heart rate and get a little sweaty. It’ll do your body good.

1,402 Comments | In: exercise | | #

While a barbell and some weights are all you really need to get in a good workout at home, there are other elements that can also be good for a home gym setup or to supplement your weight lifting. One great addition to your arsenal that is not only useful but is both inexpensive and extremely portable is the exercise band.

The exercise band can be purchased in a bunch of different resistances so is usable by people just getting into exercising as well as bodybuilders who have been at it for years.

For such a simple piece of equipment, the exercise band is extremely versatile. It can be used to add resistance for squats, presses and curls, just to name a few different exercises. The downside is that there is a limit to the amount of resistance available and you can’t really perform max weight lifts, nor are you really able to translate the amount of resistance from an exercise band to the amount of resistance in weights. However, for a circuit style low to high intensity workout, resistance bands can be incredibly useful.

One great resistance band exercise that I enjoy is a squat to shoulder press.  Stand on the exercise band with your feet about a shoulder’s width apart, straddling the center of the band.  Hold each handle in the respective hand.  Go down into a deep squat and then stand, imediately going into a shoulder press with the band.  That’s a single rep.  Do several sets of 10 to 20 of these as part of a circuit of either weight lifting or body weight exercises.

About.com has some more information and sample resistance band exercises here.

4,267 Comments | In: exercise | | #

Squatting is one of the best leg exercises you can do. Problem is that not many people do them regularly. Do you?

4,444 Comments | In: poll | | #

This is great stuff.  Mark Rippetoe, the author of several well known strength building books, is also a sort of beer connoisseur.  A custom brew was made for a post-crossfit lifting seminar he led…  Read on here.

4,399 Comments | In: crossfit | | #

There’s no questioning Bruce Lee’s fitness level. Check out this vid of him doing some training and strutting his stuff. Two finger one armed pushups?!?

4,360 Comments | In: fitness | | #