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!

Exercise Spotlight - The Trap Bar Deadlift

The Trap Bar Deadlift is one of the best exercises around for strength and athletic development. This lift hits the hamstrings, quads, erectors and upper back. It is also great for grip strength and trap size (which is correlated with instant respect). Here is a short and sweet video demonstrating proper form for the trap bar deadlift:

If you need something to listen to on the way to work, this site also puts out regular fitness podcasts which are quite good.

I'll add that the most common mistake experienced lifters make when doing the trap bar deadlift is making the trap bar deadlift into a regular deadlift. It is typical to see more experienced lifters straighten the knees out early in the lift, effectively starting the movement with knee extension and finishing with hip extension. In a proper trap bar deadlift, the knees and hips should move fluidly and lock out at the same time.

Also, as with any deadlift, neutral spine is priority number one.

Reasons for using the Trap Bar Deadlift:

1. It works both the quads and posterior chain:

This one is a no brainer. A traditional deadlift involves little quad involvement, whereas the quads are a prime mover in the trap bar deadlift. This makes a true trap bar deadlift a "more athletic" pattern than a traditional deadlift because in both real life and on the field, the brain will select whatever motor pattern is most effective at completing the desired movement. Nearly all of the time, this results in the cooperation of joints rather than the isolation of joints in movement.

2. Less compressive spinal and shearing force

The trap bar deadlift is also a great movement because it significantly reduces the high levels of compressive and shear force imposed upon the lumbar spine during traditional deadlifts. Many lifters who have lumbar issues with deadlifting are able to trap bar deadlift pain free. Here's why:


In a simplified look at deadlifting mechanics, the longer the horizontal distance between the fulcrum (the point of rotation, in this case the pelvis/SI/L4&5 area) and where the force is being applied (in this case the bar), the more shearing force and compressive force endured by the lumbar spine.

In a traditional deadlift the moment arm is quite large, as shown in the picture below:



In a trap bar deadlift, the bar is beside the feet, which shortens the moment arm by bringing the hands closer to the hips. However, with a trap bar deadlift, the knees are able to travel forward more since the bar is not in the way, and the hips are able to slide much closer to the bar.

While not the greatest picture in the world, it should demonstrate how allowing the knees to flex more decreases the moment arm and ultimate reduces the amount of shearing and compressive force experienced by the spine.

Conclusion

I should note that I am by no means opposed to the traditional deadlift, especially if your anthropometry favors it. However, if you are not doing the trap bar deadlift, try it out. It is a great way to blast the legs and improve strength total body strength while minimizing spinal load.

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!

The Deload Week - How Structured Rest Can Lead to Greater Gains

Resting Your Way to Better Results

Structured rest periods, affectionately known as a "deload" period (10$ to whoever can figure out where this word first appeared (serious)) are a necessity for any serious athlete. I really loathe the deload - I hate walking into the gym and using less weight for less reps, but it is a necessary evil. Everyone needs to manage training loads - whether they be team sport players (like football or lacrosse), weightlifters, powerlifters, bodybuilders or just fitness enthusiasts. Many top nutritionists even recommend structured breaks from dieting (I do too!). But before you take a week off from the gym and head to the buffet, it would be wise to take a look at the science first.

Deloading Theory

A popular theory about how training performance occurs is known as the Fitness-Fatigue model. In the figure below, a model of the fitness-fatigue theory is provided:

Adapted from Zatsiorsky & Kraemer (2006)

If you were not able to tell from my incredible Paint skills, the Fitness-Fatigue model essentially says that performance is the result of two factors - fitness and fatigue (not redundant at all right?). Basically, at any given time, your performance is the result of your "fitness" (which is increased via training), and your fatigue (which is also increased after training, but also by a host of other factors such as illness, stress, and sleep to name a few).

The idea is that after a workout, fitness and fatigue are both increased, but fatigue fades quicker than fitness. Essentially, this seems to be true, however, there is a catch. Generally, muscles recover from workout to workout pretty quickly. Muscles are highly vascular and receive lots of blood to help with this. However other body systems, which are necessary for high levels of performance, get fatigued and do not recover as quickly as the muscular system.

In this context, fatigue refers to all body systems. Connective tissue and the nervous system are also systems subject to fatigue. Connective tissue, like tendons and ligaments, can take a beating and may not recover fully from workout to workout. This is especially true if there is something besides working out that is acting as an irritant, such as poor or repetitive movement patterns. The endocrine system is easily overworked due to high levels of stress, whether that stress be from exercise, diet, or work! Additionally, the nerves that control the muscles simply can not go all out all the time, even if the muscles feel okay (as an example, try to max out on bench every day of the week - you may not get sore but your performance will suffer after a few days, if not sooner).

Practical Application

"A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle" - Kahlil Gibran

Now, the science lesson would be worthless without knowing how to apply it to your training. There are two questions you need to ask yourself (and answer) before planning out your deload:
1. How much fatigue am I really producing?

Here are some basic deloading guidelines to help you determine how much fatigue you are producing:

The more often you workout, the more often you will need to deload.

To put it bluntly, if you only workout twice a week, you probably will never need to deload. If you work out 3 or more times a week, as your training advances, you will need to implement some form of deload.

The more advanced you are, the more often you will need to deload.

The higher your level of fitness, the more damage you will be able to inflict on your nervous system, connective tissue, and endocrine system. As a general rule, beginners most likely do not need to deload until their training plateaus for the first time (unless other issues exist). Intermediate trainees can deload once every 6-10 weeks, and advanced trainees every 4 weeks.

The higher your workout intensity or volume, the more often you will need to deload.

High intensity exercise stresses out the nervous system over time. While it feels good to hit a personal record on a lift, try walking around afterwards. After a hard lift or three, you can create a lot of fatigue despite not doing that much work. This does not just apply to weight-training - hard interval training and plyometrics are also intense activity.

Using a lot of volume, typical of some bodybuilders and distance runners, is also very exhausting. The more volume you use, the more often you will need to deload as well.

Calorie restriction induces fatigue.

This one is the easiest for people to understand. When you eat less you get tired more easily! Keeping calories low for an extended period of time is a big stressor, particularly to the endocrine system. A week or 2 break (from dieting) is generally appropriate for people after 8-16 weeks of dieting (depending on the diet plan). With an approach like carb-cycling which changes macronutrient intake based on training day, breaks from dieting are not needed as often, if at all.

As far as training goes, when restricting calories, deloading may need to occur more often than usual.

Pain may indicate fatigue

If your shoulder hurts a bit when you bench press, it might be a good idea to deload on the bench press sooner than later, and additionally change the movement to something that is more comfortable, such as using dumbbells or a neutral grip.

2. How do I go about reducing the fatigue?

The most common deloading strategy is to simply cut volume across the board for one week by 40-50%. In the gym, that means cutting your total number of reps by 40-50%. This is generally my preferred strategy for intermediate lifters. Dropping the intensity is generally reserved for more advanced lifters and is usually not necessary for beginners.

You can also deload certain movements. For example, if you have a history of shoulder pain with overhead pressing, you might chose to not overhead press during your deload week.

As an aside, the "deload week" is just for convenience sake - if you are on a 5 day training split for example, a deload of 5 days is probably appropriate.

The deload week is a great time to include work on weak parts. Spend some extra time doing light intervals, corrective exercise, dynamic joint mobility, and just walking around and being active. There is no one size fits all deloading plan. The best way to go about it is to experiment with both approaches to figure out which works best for you. Here's a hypothetical example:

A beginner with a history of shoulder pain on the bench press that trains four times a week. His shoulder is "feels better now" but still irritates him on occasion:

For beginners I generally do not think deloading is necessary. However, due to the history of shoulder pain, I would recommend deloading the bench press every 4th week or so. For example, I would lay off of the bench press entirely for the 4th week without dropping intensity or volume at all for other movements, especially rows. With the extra time from not pressing, I would focus on 'rehabilitative' work like face pulls, scapular retractions, Ys, and dynamic joint mobility.

For a real-life example on how a deload workout fits into an overall program, you can check out my training log. I just posted my deload week up yesterday.

References

Zatsiorsky, V.M. & Kraemer, W.J. (2006). Science and Practice of Strength Training. Champaign: Human Kinetics.