Research Rant; Maryland Personal Trainer

One of my biggest pet peeves is when a study is claimed to "prove" something.

As a personal trainer and simply as someone who is involved in the fitness industry, every time there is a new health-related research headline in the news, I am the first one to hear about it. The conversation usually goes something like this:

Person: "Did you see the new study that proved vitamins ruin your workout?"

Me: The only thing that it proved was that you don't know what you are talking about.. It is possible that large amounts anti-oxidants could interfere with the natural inflammation process, but we would need to see a lot more research before jumping to any conclusions.

When looking at research, people like to read the introduction and the results while skipping over the methods, which is often the most important part. Just take the study above. Subjects took 1 gram of vitamin C daily. Who takes 1 gram of vitamin C a day anyway? Most multi-vitamins only weigh 1 gram as it is.


But I digress. The more important thing here is the fact that studies do NOT prove anything! Things really do not get "proved" at all, especially when it issues pertaining to the human body. The human body is just too complex for absolutes.

Researchers perform studies which become evidence, a piece of the puzzle if you will. The best a scientific hypothesis can hope for is that when once enough pieces of evidence (or studies) are stacked up, it will become generally accepted. Take creatine for example. It is generally accepted that creatine supplementation increases maximum power and strength. However, there's no "proof" that it does so because everything does not work for everyone in the same way and there are plenty of research studies which were unable to show that creatine had any effect on strength and power.

I think the media is mostly to blame for perpetuating this phenomenon. Popular news services love to say a study "proved" something, like when it was proven that puppies' behavior is dependent upon the alignment of planets.

Upset with the current alignment of planets, no doubt.

I am not trying to downplay the importance of research by any means. Sometimes single studies do make landmark discoveries. Take the Boeing Back Pain study for example, where a few thousand employees were analyzed to determine back pain risks. The researchers found that people who did not like their jobs were more likely to have back pain... a lot more likely. This study greatly advanced our understanding of chronic pain - popularizing the notion that chronic pain issues go beyond anatomical cause and effect and in the end the brain puts all the pieces together to decide what hurts and what does not. What this study did not do was "prove that people who hate their jobs will have back pain".

Conclusion

Always take studies with a grain of salt - make sure you know the whole story before jumping to any conclusions. At the end of the day, one study never proves anything - it takes a lot of work from a lot of researches to make definitive conclusions about health and performance!

Eat Your Spinach!; Maryland Personal Trainer

Every piece of food we eat affects our body's acid-base balance. Aside from being loaded in antioxidants and fiber, green leafy vegetables are very alkaline. On the other hand, meat and grains tend to be acidic. As a society, we eat a lot more acidic food than alkaline food, which can have significant effects on health, body composition, and performance. For more information, this article does a great job explaining the science behind the acidity (or alkalinity) of food. The rest of this post is about how to get more spinach in your diet, as it is one of the most alkaline vegetables around. Here are two quick and easy ways for increasing your spinach consumption:

Spinach Salad:

One of the easiest ways to get more spinach in your diet is to use spinach leaves as salad. For a low-carb, protein packed meal, simply fill up a large bowl with spinach, add one can of tuna fish (or other meat), and top with a dressing suitable for your diet goals. Fat-free works when dieting (be careful not to get one with too many carbohydrates if you are watching those), and light ceasar mixed with olive oil (my favorite) works when strength and size are a top priority.

Blended Shake

If you have never tried this before, try not to be too quick to judge. Spinach virtually no taste when added to a blender. Also, it works with frozen spinach (which is unusable in salad and does not taste as good when cooked). This recipe is perfect if you meet any of the following criteria:

- You hate spinach
- You need to get in a meal on the go
- You do not mind getting strange looks
- You can't afford fresh spinach or it always spoils (frozen is much cheaper!)

Blend the following ingredients in the blender:

- 4 Cups Fresh Spinach (or ~1-1.5 cups frozen)
- 1 Cup Cottage Cheese (replace with protein powder if you are lactose intolerant or are restricting fat)
- 2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 8 ice cubes
- 1 tablespoon of flax seed
- artifical sweetener, to taste

Tastes better than it looks!

This recipe is pretty versatile. I hate the taste of frozen spinach and cottage cheese, but with a little bit of peanut butter and splenda/stevia, anything tastes good. You would be surprised what you can sneak into a blender without it affecting the taste of the shake.

Conclusion

Popeye was right all along. Now you have no excuse for not eating your spinach!

Chesapeake Fitness Training is open for business - website now live!; Maryland Personal Trainer

Chesapeake Fitness Training, our training studio, is finally open for business! Our website is up at http://www.harfordcountypersonaltraining.com/. Our site lists a description of our services. Here is a picture of the facility:

Our personal training studio is located just a few minutes from exit 89 off of I-95 in Harford County, making for easy access for residents of Havre de Grace, Aberdeen, and Bel Air. As you can see, we have nice, private studio located inside a well-lit windowed room. We have a squat rack and a full dumbbell set up to 100 lbs, in addition to a prowler and some other fitness goodies. While there are some finishing touches left, the studio is now open for training, so hop over to our website and sign up for a complimentary session today (and come check out the wildlife while you are at it!):

Picture snapped from the window of our studio!

The Best Protein Bars; Maryland Personal Trainer

In an ideal world, we would all eat healthy whole foods for every meal. However, we do not live an ideal world and sometimes life gets in the way. The fact is, at some point in your diet something is going to side track you. It might be your stressful job, your demanding kids, or even both! Having a backup meal is necessary to help you stay on track. In my experience as a trainer, the most successful dieters are the most flexible dieters.

One of the easiest back up meals is a protein bar. However, in defiance of the basic laws of economics, there are literally hundreds of competing brands of protein bars. I think so many supplement companies are able to exist is because the consumer is not aware of what is a quality bar. The easiest way to check out the quality of a protein bar is to check out its ingredients list. There are 3 main things to consider:

Type of Protein:

When it comes to protein, there are three major types - concentrates, isolates, and hydrolysates. Concentrates are lower quality; they are not as pure, have more tag along carbohydrates and fat, and are cheaper to produce. Isolates are a higher quality protein (usually 90%+ protein), resulting in less extra carbs and fat in the protein powder. Hydrolysates are usually the most pure (and expensive proteins). They are also the most quickly digested.

Soy, Whey, Milk (a combination of casein and whey), and Casein are the most popular types of protein used in protein bars. Soy concentrate is by far the cheapest protein around, and I would make an effort to avoid it at all costs. If you are vegan or lactose intolerant, soy isolate is a lot higher quality. Everyone else should look for whey, casein, or milk proteins.

Fiber

Any meal replacement needs some fiber! Make sure the protein bar you get has a few grams of fiber in it. Try to get 1g fiber for at least for every 100 calories.

Avoid Trans-fat and HFCS

While this may seem like a no-brainer, many protein bars contain some form of hydrogenated fat, high fructose corn syrup, or both. While trace amounts will not kill you, watch out for either of these items ranking high on the ingredients list.

My Recommendations:

My favorite bars on the market right now are the VPX Zero Impact line (pictured above). I like the Chocolate peanut butter. The taste is nothing to write home about, but with milk protein isolate topping the protein list, almond butter topping the fat list, 6 grams of fiber and 410 calories, this beefy bar is my go-to meal replacement. Vitamin Shoppe in Bel Air, MD had a sale on these not too long ago for 24$ a box. Otherwise, search around the internet for a good deal.

If 410 calories for a bar is bit too much for your current caloric needs, I like the Metabolic Drive Protein Bars by Biotest as well. There are a bit cheaper cost-wise going for 12 bars for 19$ (free shipping) and have 240 calories a serving.

If neither of these work for you, you can always try your hand at making your own protein bars. My business partner Danny posted a recipe up recently for home-made pumpkin protein bars (you can find the recipe here). Lots of fiber and protein, and they taste good to boot!

Looks weird, tastes good!

Grass-Fed Beef; Maryland Personal Trainer

In In Defense of Food, author Michael Pollan notes that "You are what you eat eats".

I am sure by now you have heard about the wonders of fish oil, and how healthy omega-3 fats are. However, have you heard why all animal fat is not blessed with this health benefit? The difference is diet of the animal.

A supplement everyone should be taking!

As humans, we do not consider green vegetables to have a significant fat content. For cows and other grazers which eat pounds of greenery each day, these trace fats are a substantial part of their diet. Once upon a time, before corn was king, people ate animals that fed on mostly green things (or ate animals that ate animals that fed on green things). Green vegetation tends to be rich in omega-3 fats. These omega-3 fats from grass were then stored by animals like buffalo and deer as fat. When ancient man ate these animals, he too consumed high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which became an integral part of his composition.


Unfortunately, corn is high in omega-6 fatty acids. Animals that eat corn as their primary dietary source become rich with omega-6 fatty acids rather than omega-3 fatty acids. As a society, Americans tend to get way too many omega-6 fatty acids as it is compared to our predecessors due to the preponderance of corn in modern diet. Vegetable, corn, and soybean oils are all high in omega-6 fatty acids. As a result, omega-3 fatty acids virtually vanished from the modern human's dietary supply. Omega-3 fatty acids are needed for cell membranes and biochemical reactions in addition to making up a large amount portion of brain tissue. As a result, supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids has been linked to many positive effects such as improved insulin sensitivity and improved vascular health.

In short, grass-fed beef is healthy because it is high in omega-3 fatty acids. These omega-3s were a big part of ancient man's diet. Corn-fed beef, and other corn-fed animal fat is not considered healthy because it is high in omega-6 fatty acids, which the average person gets too much of already.

You may be thinking that if this was the case, why do we not see grass-fed beef everywhere? Well, the biggest problem with grass-fed beef is that it is expensive and typically hard to get. However, if you happen to live in Bel Air, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Forest Hill, Fallston, Churchville, or any other Harford County area, you are in luck! Shop Rite has grass-fed whole beef tenderloin on sale this week for 4.99$ a lb. Grass-fed beef is less fatty than normal types of beef, which makes the tender whole beef tenderloin the best grass-fed cut. When I lived in Washington, this cut was over 20$ a lb at the local grocer!

I'm no chef, but the cook in this video gives a good demonstration on how to prepare a beef tenderloin.



If you do not think you can handle a kitchen knife, Shop Rite also has grass-fed sirloin on sale as well for 4.99 a pound!

R Phase Weekend #2; Maryland Personal Trainer

Just came back from the z-health R-Phase weekend #2 certification in Denver. I am officially R and I phase certified!


While we covered a lot of material over the 3 day course, the biggest impression I could not help but carry was how valuable it is to have someone look at your form. Even good movement patterns can degenerate over time. Injuries, stress, changes in load, and a host of other factors can all alter motor patterns. If left unchecked, these compensations will become the brain's preferred pathway for executing a certain movement, and that is no way to train. Practice makes permanent!

While there is no replacement for a good coach or trainer, a workout partner is a great start. If you do not have one now, make friends with someone at your gym. If you hate your gym, try looking on a local forum. Even if your friend does not follow your exact routine, being able to grab someone to check out your form, especially on more complex movements, is a great asset. Just make sure they know what they are looking for.

If you absolutely can not get a workout partner, video taping your form is another option. Digital cameras are cheap, and many cell phones have cameras on them. Just make sure you set up the angle of the camera right. For example, if you have a history of knee valgus (knees collapsing inward) during your squat, make sure the camera is directly in front of or behind you as you will not be able to clearly see knee valgus from a different angle.

While it is not quite the same as instant feedback, it is certainly a lot better than assuming your form is good. Watching how your form has changes from video to video can also promote motor learning. So, if you do not have a training partner, find one! And even if you are not very good at making friends, you can always buy a camera.

A Healthy Sweetener Alternative - Cocoa Powder; Maryland Personal Trainer

As a personal trainer, I'm often asked for healthy ways to sweeten foods. While I am no chef, one of my favorite things to add to my post workout smoothie is a bit of cocoa powder.

Cocoa powder has been studied a lot over the last decade. Recent research has shown that consumption of cocoa powder can reduce blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, and improve the capacity of blood vessels to dilate (1, 2, 3). Additionally, cocoa powder makes things taste like chocolate (no research needed)!


When buying cocoa powder, there are two options - raw and processed. Thanks to the increasing popularity of organic foods, the health-conscious consumer might leap for the raw cocoa. However, I do not think that this is a good idea for most people. Not everything is for humans to eat raw (like really bitter plants, which cocoa is), so your best bet when picking a cocoa powder is an organic but processed powder. Anecdotal evidence suggests raw cocoa powder results in some digestion problems for quite a few people.

However, processing can reduce the amount of compounds known as flavanols in cocoa powder. These compounds are associated with many of the positive benefits of cocoa. Food companies such as Mars have been working on new processing techniques for cocoa powder which do not remove or damage the flavanols. The Mars product line is not complete currently, but Acticoa claims to have a powder with a high flavanol content. Normally I would be quite skeptical of a "brand new processing technology that improves the healthiness of a food", but the early research has shown one of these high-tech cocoa powders to effectively lower blood pressure (2). However, I am sure these products are very expensive, for now I am okay with normal organic cocoa powder.

Since right after a hard workout is the best time to get some fast digesting carbohydrates and protein, I like to add sweetened cocoa powder to a shake of fruit, oatmeal, and whey protein. Sweetened cocoa powder (as long as it is not sweetened with high fructose corn syrup) is fine right after a workout (within 45 minutes or so) since a post-workout insulin spike is not a bad thing. Cocoa powder also has a very strong taste; usually a tablespoon of cocoa is enough for a 20 oz smoothie. Like all things, cocoa is best in moderation; flavanols may reduce blood pressure, but eating 20 candy bars will certainly raise it. With that said, next time you need a little bit more flavor in a smoothie, reach for some cocoa powder!


In other news, the Harford County Personal Training website should be up very soon!


References

1. Grassi D., et al. (2008). Blood pressure is reduced and insulin sensitivity increased in glucose-intolerant, hypertensive subjects after 15 days of consuming high-polyphenol dark chocolate. Journal of Nutrition, 138(9): 1671-6.

2. Cienfuegos-Jovellanos E, Quiñones Mdel M, Muguerza B, Moulay L, Miguel M, & Aleixandre A. (2009). Antihypertensive effect of a polyphenol-rich cocoa powder industrially processed to preserve the original flavonoids of the cocoa beans. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57(14): 6156-62.

3. McCarty, M.F., Barroso-Aranda J., & Contreras, F. Potential complementarity of high-flavnol cocoa powder and spirulina for health protection. Medical Hypothesis, epublished ahead of print.