Finding Credible Information on Supplements

I just finished taking a course on supplements for performance and there are 3 steps that you need to take in order to evaluate a supplement and to see if it is safe to take. The first one is gathering information. You can gather this information from labels, brochures, advertisements and website materials. The second is to find scientific evidence on the supplement that follows a research protocol that seeks to reduce bias and increase objectivity. It is during this process, that you should able to answer these 2 questions regarding a supplement: Is it Safe? Is it Effective? The third way of evaluating a supplement is checking its safety and effectiveness. To check on a supplement's safety and effectiveness, you can visit some of these websites, the National Library of Medicine's searchable database ( http://nccam.nih.gov/ ), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/. An even better site than the National Library of Medicine is the CAM medline website that focuses only on articles that are related to complementary and alternative therapies, including dietary supplements. The address is http://nccam.nih.gov/. You can also check out Quackwatch, which is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health related frauds, myths, fads and fallacies. Their website is http://www.quackwatch.com/. The last website comes from Supplement Watch, Inc which is a self  funded privately held corporation consisting of a small group of scientists, physiologists, nutritionists and other health professionals dedicated to educating people about the pros and cons of dietary supplementation. Their website is http://www.supplementwatch.com/.

The Gyms of The Future

The biggest thing to hit the fitness industry since the aerobics and bodybuilding craze is functional training. Gyms have evolved from makeshift equipment and grimy settings to country clubs and  more commercialized settings. As gyms became more suited to the needs of the general public, they have gravitated away from  what brought them their in the first place which was gymnastics and bodybuilding. As machines became more prevalent, one would see less dumbbells, power racks, power platforms and bumper weights unless you went to a powerlifting or hardcore bodybuilding gym. Fast forward to the present moment and you will see an even bigger trend in which more and more gyms are resorting back to the powerlifting, bodybuilding and functional strength training format. I know some of you are saying bodybuilding can't be included in this format. Yes, it can and should. Bodybuilders have been doing squats, pull ups, dips, and feats of strength since its inception which by today's fitness nomenclature is very functional based. Here is a picture of a gym without all the machines. This type of gym is what is needed more nowadays than ever.

 We sit too much and move less and the current model of gyms with a ton of machines are only reinforcing  those bad habits even more. The newer gyms now being constructed are adding more functional training equipment and less machines as we resort back to fitness in its primal glory.

How To Motivate Yourself In the Gym

I had a conversation with a client earlier this morning and she said that out of all the diets and exercise infomercials, all of those things are just gimmicks to get you to do something that you don't necessarily want to do or allow you to do the same things that you have been doing all along. In other words, if you are looking for an easy way to exercise, there are a ton of machines out there where all you have to do is sit down and roll or move side to side to get in shape. That's what the pitch is anyway and the great thing is you get to melt away fat doing nothing! If you believe that then I have some farmland in a galaxy far away to sell you. As far as diets go, you can choose from an array of diets that will allow you to eat what you want, drink certain concoctions, eat protein this or fat that, etc. Some of these diets will work for some individuals and some won't. At the end of the day, you know if you haven't eaten a fair share of fruits and vegetables, enough protein and more than enough fat. The point out of all of this is that we all know to a certain degree of what we should be doing as far as eating and exercise, yet we don't do it. It doesn't take rocket science to establish this for most people. If you say that you have to or should do something, you won't do it. You don't have to do anything that's your choice. Your choices have gotten you to where you are now, whether good or bad. Even the choices you have made where you say to yourself, "I don't want or like to do this but I have to anyway!" You don't have to do anything! I repeat you don't have to do anything! If everything you say to yourself that you "have to" do more than likely you won't do it because you don't want to do it anyway and you don't feel motivated or excited about doing it. Change the words around to "I chose to" and you will feel more empowered to do something and more than likely you will do it. If you take small baby steps toward your goals, (1) you will feel better and more empowered, (2) those baby steps will lead to bigger and better things and (3) you will have become a better person along the way. It's not the end destination but the journey there that means more. So next time you are not thinking about going to the gym because you are dreading "having to" workout, change that to "I chose" to workout to feel better and want to so that I can maintain my healthy lifestyle.

Adding Cardio to the Strength Training Workout

I have been doing short intense burst of cardio during the my workouts since I have begun my power phase of training. I usually do something after each circuit of exercises. It can either be jumping rope for a minute, sprinting for 15-30 seconds, riding a stationary bike as fast as I can for a mile or rowing 500m as fast as possible. Traditionally, I would do cardio at the end of a workout so as not to be so tired while I was weight training. I have also done cardio first and then gone into weight training. I really think that the intensity of the cardio session along with what exercise phase you are in (muscle endurance, hypertrophy, strength, power and power endurance) dictates how you will perform in the weight room before and after a cardio session. Since I really don't want to break up my day and do a cardio or weight session first and then come back later in the day to do the other one I didn't do first in the morning. How many of you have done this before or are currently trying this and how do you feel? Have you seen a vast improvement in your cardiovascular conditioning? Mild or None at all?