Forget heart attacks and skinny jeans.
Here are real reasons why weight loss is important.
By James Heathers, PhD
Avoiding heart disease and looking ‘fab’ aren’t always great reasons to lose weight. However, here are 5 immediate and significant ways your life can change when you trim the fat The most popular reasons for losing weight are uninspiring. Take disease; all the big-name medical scares including atherosclerosis, arterial plaque, cardiac arrest, pulmonary hypertension, stroke, all the cancers, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. While these make for great headlines, this angle isn’t very compelling. Why not? Because people rarely change their lifestyle before these conditions appear, only after, rendering prevention a moot point.
Certain aspects of the fitness industry aren’t helpful either. They take the perspective that looking great on the beach, in a certain type of clothing, or at your high school reunion are important. While that can seem inspiring for a minute, it’s not proven to be a sustainable way to achieve long-term weight loss and maintenance.
And, forget the “health at any size” movement. It goes much too far in suggesting that obesity is harmless. This is simply not true; it contradicts most of the available evidence.
5 GOOD reasons for losing weight.
In the end, the most popular incentives — scary disease statistics and fitness industry vanity trips — aren’t very effective, useful, or scientifically valid ways to promote weight loss. That’s a huge missed opportunity, because there are much better reasons to lose weight. More pressing, more evidence-based, more quality-of-life focused reasons. Sadly, they’re not often talked about in the public debate. Notice that I said publicdebate. Scientists and doctors talk about them all the time. They’re well established in research. They just haven’t made it to the public yet. So let’s talk about them now.
Reason #1: Your immune system will work properly again. We tend to think of body fat like an ATM: a place where we deposit or withdraw energy. It isn’t. Instead, fat is an active endocrine organ. That means it secretes hormones and cytokines (cell signaling molecules). Hormones and cytokines have effects throughout the body. They “talk” to one another chemically. Like all things, balance is important. If we have a healthy amount of fat, our hormones and cell signals work properly. If we have too much, things go wrong.
For example, with too much body fat our immune systems get off kilter. There’s a huge, scary pile of evidence here so let’s keep it simple. Increased body fat is associated with greater risk for several kinds of bacterial infections including: gum infections, nose and sinus infections, stomach infections, and herpes (thankfully, the mouth kind).
Why? Too much adipose (fat) tissue can release large amounts of immune chemicals. Over time, this chronic high exposure can interfere with the body’s ability to spot and stop actual outside infections.
Bottom line: Losing body fat can mean a healthier, more responsive, more robust immune system. And that means less colds, fewer infections, and a healthier daily life.
Reason #2: Your knees and elbows will thank you. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease, in which we lose cartilage and gradually destroy the bones of our joints. Imagine two rocks grinding together and you get the idea of how fun that is. In my experience, healthy people don’t think much about osteoarthritis because it’s common. Aging makes it more likely. Everyone’s grandma has a twinge of arthritis.
So we think it’s normal. This hides the degree to which it can be very unpleasant and debilitating. Like most chronic illnesses, osteoarthritis is a vicious cycle: your joints hurt, so you move less, moving less means your joints don’t get worked, less joint work means muscle weakness, muscle weakness means force doesn’t get cushioned correctly, less cushion means the condition worsens, more osteoarthritis means more pain. And, onwards, we circle the drain.
The point? Obesity makes it much more likely that you’ll get osteoarthritis. In one study comparing the heaviest patients to the lightest, the chance of being diagnosed with osteoarthritis in one knee was more than 6 times in the heavy group. For both knees it was almost 18 times. (Naturally, other studies over the last 20 years have investigated the same relationship. Some estimates are higher, some are lower. But the association between body fat and osteoarthritis has been replicated several times.)
The reason this happens is complicated. It isn’t just that heavier people put more weight on their joints, and those joints then degrade over time. It’s also that there seems to be a relationship between the presence of excess fat tissue and inflammation. Thus, osteoarthritis probably comes from a combination of excess joint loading plus the inflammatory chemical and hormonal environment that having too much body fat creates.
Bottom line: One important reason to lose weight is to reduce joint pain and improve your movement. These are are things you can benefit from almost immediately.
Reason #3: You’ll get a good (or better…) night’s sleep. Think of what happens when a rockslide blocks a tunnel. That’s sleep apnea: The upper airway collapses while you sleep, cutting off that oxygen tunnel. Just so you know, sleep apnea is more than a little snoring. Sleep apnea means you stop breathing. Over and over and over. As you sleep. Which is bad.
More body fat means more potential for sleep apnea. This comes from a few combined factors: 1). Fat in your airway narrows the space available. This makes your airway more prone to collapsing. 2). Fat in your upper body puts weight on your lungs and reduces the space available to them. You need more oxygen but you can’t get it as well. 3). Fat, a hormone-producing organ, changes your hormonal signals. This rewires your respiratory systems.
While around 25 percent of adults have sleep apnea, 50 percent of obese adults have it. Even more scary: If you have mild sleep apnea, and you put on weight, the chances of you graduating to moderate or severe sleep apnea are:
5 percent weight gain = 250 percent increase of severe sleep apnea
10 percent weight gain = 650 percent increase of severe sleep apnea
20 percent weight gain = 3,700 percent increase of severe sleep apnea
(And it’s scariest for children: 46 percent of obese children have sleep apnea, while the typical incidence in children is approximately 3 percent). So, why is sleep apnea bad? Sleep is a major regulator of our metabolism. If our sleep is bad, so is our metabolic health. This means things like elevated inflammation, rapid cell aging and oxidation, and hormonal disruption (and, yes, higher risk for all kinds of nasty chronic diseases in the long term).
Bottom line: Another important reason to lose weight is so that you can sleep better. Not only does this help regulate metabolism, hormone systems, and more. It helps you feel, think and live better right away.
Reason #4: You’ll actually start to taste your food. This may sound weird, but it seems that people who struggle with their weight don’t taste food as well. Wait, what? People who often eat more food can’t taste as well? Exactly. Why? We’re not sure. We don’t yet know whether excess body fat changes your tastes. Or whether your tastes change your appetite and cause weight gain.
Here’s what we do know. People vary in how well and sensitively they can perceive different flavors and textures such as fattiness or sweetness. One hypothesis is that if we can’t taste as well, we eat more food to compensate. On the flip side, people with a high percentage of body fat seem to avoid bitter foods more, and have a stronger “disgust” response. As it happens, many vegetables are bitter or astringent (think of kale, Brussels sprouts, green peppers, etc.). Put simply, what this could mean is: Many people with excess body fat also have altered flavor perception.
Note that the foods we consider to be the most responsible for obesity just happen to pander directly to this dysfunction by having aggressively over-sweet, over-salty, over-fatty, etc. flavor profiles. We eat and eat and eat them, but they never seem to satisfy. It’s a Sisyphean irony. The good news is that this is changeable, losing fat, getting fit, and consistently building healthy habits can actually change how we perceive flavors, in a good way. (One day, you might just find you like Brussels sprouts after all). More importantly, when you truly enjoy food, you eat less, but you feel much more satisfied.
Bottom line: Obese people have altered taste perceptions leading to eating more and eating more of the wrong foods. By losing weight you’ll end up craving less high-sugar and high-fat food. You might even enjoy and extra veggie or two.
Reason #5: You’ll dramatically increase your chances of surviving surgery and childbirth. People with a lot of body fat: are harder to intubate, have a longer operation time, have a higher risk of post-operative infections, and have a higher rate of other serious postoperative complications. Surgery is a risky business for people who are obese. This is a double whammy because people who struggle with obesity also struggle with more health issues that may require surgery. So obese people may need surgery… but not be able to get it, or not recover as well when they do.
Regarding pregnancy, among women who are significantly obese, about 50 percent of them must undergo Caesarean sections, compared to only about 20 percent of the general population. Even if they give birth naturally, obese women may have to have a lot more instruments and medical procedures involved. After surgery, mothers with obesity may end up with more surgical site infections. This is aside from other pregnancy complications, which also go up significantly as body fat increases.
Bottom line: Every surgery patient wants a safe and speedy recovery. And every mother wants a safe birth and a thriving, bouncing baby. Having a healthy range of body fat makes those happy outcomes much more likely.
Conclusion: Let’s focus on how awesome life can get when your body is as functional, mobile, and metabolically healthy as it can possibly be. Here’s some strategies to help you with that:
1. Go toward the good We’ve noticed a trend in the stories of people who lost a great deal of weight: They focus on the small blessings and achievements of everyday life. Things like: “I can live in a walk-up apartment now.”, “I can run around with my kids.”, “I don’t get tired through the day.”, “Food tastes better. I can’t explain how.”, “My random aches and pains stopped.”, “I can carry my two-year old without wheezing.”, “I have so much more energy.”, “I bounce back from illness quickly now.”
2. Seek incremental change Real, lasting changes in diet and lifestyle require a different, slower approach. Incremental change serves us best — and, it produces the most improvements in quality of life.
3. Focus on the tangible benefits Losing weight isn’t magical, yet with a healthy amount of body fat, your life often becomes a little bit easier and better. You’re a little more functional and mobile. A little more capable.
Keep the focus on positive changes you could see in your life in just a few weeks’ time: things like knees that work, colds that go away, a good night’s sleep, food that tastes good, and an uncomplicated recovery after surgery.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Friday, January 08, 2016
Why we plank
By Sue Whiting at S.W.E.A.T. Ltd.
Crick, United Kingdom
The 30 Day Plank Challenge will send your core strength through the roof! Yes, all you have to do is HOLD this position, nothing else! It looks pretty easy, but it isn't!
Day 1 - 20 seconds
Day 2 - 20 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds
Day 6 - REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds
Day 13 - REST
Day 14 - 90 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds
Day 19 - REST
Day 20 - 150 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds
Day 26 - REST
Day 27 - 240 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!
Benefits of Plank Exercise:
*It strengthens your lower back
*It develops your core muscles – which include the abs, back, hips and the butt.
*Helps you to avoid injuries and encourage good posture
*Can be done anywhere
*Develops your abdominals by targeting the rectus abdominis
SUPPORT each other in Fitness!!
This is a beginner routine.. everyone starts somewhere!
Tuesday, January 05, 2016
5 Things That Happen When Your Training Sessions Are Too Long
When you practice a skill, generally the more you practice, the better you get at that skill. So, it's understandable that many people think this also applies to their workouts—believing that the longer they train, the bigger and stronger they'll become.
However, "more is better" does not apply to any form of exercise, and this includes strength and conditioning. In fact, training for too long can lead to diminished results, and worse, an injury. We spoke to Dr. Mike T. Nelson and Dr. Joel Seeman, both exercise physiologists, to learn about the problems that occur when you spend too much time in your training efforts.
Problem 1: The Quality of Your Workout Gradually Decreases
Workouts are designed to put stress on your muscles. That's the only way you can make gains in strength, size and power. However, stress causes fatigue. You might be physically exhausted, grabbing for your knees after a set. Or, you might feel sluggish, slow and weak after finishing a tough workout.Regardless of the type of fatigue you experience, you can expect it to seriously impact your workout performance as you move through your routine. At a certain point, you won't be able to perform exercises with max strength and speed, and your exercise form will degrade."Excessively long workouts create a lot of fatigue that will deteriorate your movement patterns, and your technique is going to break down," says Seedman. "That's not only going to have a negative impact on that workout itself, but the poor technique you engrained in that workout will trickle into the next workout."
According to Nelson, it's quality versus quantity. As a beginner, you likely won’t not be able to handle the workouts you see more advanced practitioners do. "Unless the someone is pretty advanced, longer workouts are not sustainable," he says. "When you hear someone who says they were at the gym for two hours today, you know the quality of work at the beginning and end are dramatically different."
Problem 2: Your Body Might Break Down Muscle For Energy
As you pass the 45-minute mark in your workout, cortisol levels begin to rise in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps regulate metabolism to ensure the body has sufficient energy to function. The concern is that as cortisol levels rise in a workout, the hormone will signal your body to use your muscle protein as a source of energy—essentially wiping out the positive effects of your workout. The exact time when this begins depends on the intensity of your workout, but the levels gradually increase once it starts.
Nelson thinks the fear is somewhat unfounded. He points to recent research that found increased cortisol levels during a workout are actually a marker of progress. "Cortisol is used to provide fuel," says Nelson. "If you have someone who can increase cortisol levels during training, that's actually a good thing."
However, elevated cortisol levels after a workout can become problematic. "The catch is that as soon as the training is done, we want cortisol levels to go back down to a normal level," he adds. Seedman explains when cortisol levels remain elevated, inflammation increases throughout the body, which subsequently reduces insulin sensitivity. Insulin helps shuttle the nutrients you eat into your muscles so they can grow. Reduced insulin sensitivity makes it more difficult for this process to occur, putting your body in a situation where it can't create new muscle.
Problem 3: Your Muscles Won't Be Able to Recover
Strength training damages muscles. To gain strength and size, your body repairs the micro-tears, creating muscle fiber that's larger and able to handle more stress, or it becomes stronger. This rebuilding process occurs when you recover from workouts, not while you're training.
Create too much damage too often, and your muscles won't be able to repair themselves. Seedman says, "You could cause your muscles to decrease in size and strength from workouts that are too long because your body can't recover. It can cause you to go backwards." That's why it's recommended to prioritize recovery with routines such as foam rolling and even light recreational activities to help muscles repair before the next workout. You don't need to spend all of your time lifting.
Problem 4: It's Not Sustainable
At this point, you might be wondering about some of those pro athletes, actors and bodybuilders who are famous for their super-long workouts. Yes, it's possible to work out for hours, but only under special conditions.Athletes don't typically do marathon training sessions. If they do, they normally split them into multiple sessions. For example, we saw Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota do about 45 minutes of speed work. He then took an hour break and ate some food before going into a 60-minute strength session. According to Nelson, a split like that is fairly common.
People who do three-hour workouts need to consider a few things. First, it's an actor or a bodybuilder, they have a specific goal, to look good, which often must be accomplished in a short amount of time. So drastic training methods might be necessary.
These individuals typically pay a ton of money for training and have every resource available to them. They're closely monitored by experts throughout the process to ensure that things don't go awry. Most people typically do not have this large pool of resources available to them.
Nelson adds, "They're working with someone who is watching and monitoring everything they do. Their recovery is a lot better. The motivation to do it is usually short-term."
Problem 5: You Might Overreach or Over-train
Too much training without allowing for recovery causes overreaching. In simple terms, the body shuts down to protect itself from too much stress. It's like post-workout fatigue that doesn't go away. Common symptoms include premature fatigue, lack of strength and endurance, lethargy and elevated resting heart rate.
Nelson explains that stress outside of the weight room can make matters worse. Work, family commitments, school, homework and/or sports all take their toll. Exercisers need to realize that training adds to this stress, and doing too much can cause the body essentially to fight back.
Fortunately, overreaching is short-lived as long as you recover. But if you don't, you might slip into the overtraining category. The symptoms are more severe and it takes several weeks or even months to recover.
What Should You Do?Nelson advises to train smarter, not longer.
Workouts between 60 and 90 minutes time in length are just fine. This is sufficient time to challenge your body with quality reps. Anything more, and you'll see diminished returns for your efforts.
If you feel inclined to train longer, it's best to split up your workout. "Instead of a two-hour session, do an hour mid-morning and an hour late afternoon," says Nelson. "You can get much higher quality work done with way."
Nelson recommends prioritizing the frequency, not the duration, of your workouts. It's better to do five or six 60- to 90-minute workouts each week than three, 2-hour workouts.
All this depends on the style of training, too. Seedman says that if you're doing an intense interval workout or a bodybuilding routine with a lot of reps and little rest, 45 minutes might be all that you need.
However, if you're attempting to build max strength and doing only a few reps per set with long rest periods, you might need 90 minutes. If you were to do intervals for 90 minutes, you would quickly burn out.
However, "more is better" does not apply to any form of exercise, and this includes strength and conditioning. In fact, training for too long can lead to diminished results, and worse, an injury. We spoke to Dr. Mike T. Nelson and Dr. Joel Seeman, both exercise physiologists, to learn about the problems that occur when you spend too much time in your training efforts.
Problem 1: The Quality of Your Workout Gradually Decreases
Workouts are designed to put stress on your muscles. That's the only way you can make gains in strength, size and power. However, stress causes fatigue. You might be physically exhausted, grabbing for your knees after a set. Or, you might feel sluggish, slow and weak after finishing a tough workout.Regardless of the type of fatigue you experience, you can expect it to seriously impact your workout performance as you move through your routine. At a certain point, you won't be able to perform exercises with max strength and speed, and your exercise form will degrade."Excessively long workouts create a lot of fatigue that will deteriorate your movement patterns, and your technique is going to break down," says Seedman. "That's not only going to have a negative impact on that workout itself, but the poor technique you engrained in that workout will trickle into the next workout."
According to Nelson, it's quality versus quantity. As a beginner, you likely won’t not be able to handle the workouts you see more advanced practitioners do. "Unless the someone is pretty advanced, longer workouts are not sustainable," he says. "When you hear someone who says they were at the gym for two hours today, you know the quality of work at the beginning and end are dramatically different."
Problem 2: Your Body Might Break Down Muscle For Energy
As you pass the 45-minute mark in your workout, cortisol levels begin to rise in your body. Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps regulate metabolism to ensure the body has sufficient energy to function. The concern is that as cortisol levels rise in a workout, the hormone will signal your body to use your muscle protein as a source of energy—essentially wiping out the positive effects of your workout. The exact time when this begins depends on the intensity of your workout, but the levels gradually increase once it starts.
Nelson thinks the fear is somewhat unfounded. He points to recent research that found increased cortisol levels during a workout are actually a marker of progress. "Cortisol is used to provide fuel," says Nelson. "If you have someone who can increase cortisol levels during training, that's actually a good thing."
However, elevated cortisol levels after a workout can become problematic. "The catch is that as soon as the training is done, we want cortisol levels to go back down to a normal level," he adds. Seedman explains when cortisol levels remain elevated, inflammation increases throughout the body, which subsequently reduces insulin sensitivity. Insulin helps shuttle the nutrients you eat into your muscles so they can grow. Reduced insulin sensitivity makes it more difficult for this process to occur, putting your body in a situation where it can't create new muscle.
Problem 3: Your Muscles Won't Be Able to Recover
Strength training damages muscles. To gain strength and size, your body repairs the micro-tears, creating muscle fiber that's larger and able to handle more stress, or it becomes stronger. This rebuilding process occurs when you recover from workouts, not while you're training.
Create too much damage too often, and your muscles won't be able to repair themselves. Seedman says, "You could cause your muscles to decrease in size and strength from workouts that are too long because your body can't recover. It can cause you to go backwards." That's why it's recommended to prioritize recovery with routines such as foam rolling and even light recreational activities to help muscles repair before the next workout. You don't need to spend all of your time lifting.
Problem 4: It's Not Sustainable
At this point, you might be wondering about some of those pro athletes, actors and bodybuilders who are famous for their super-long workouts. Yes, it's possible to work out for hours, but only under special conditions.Athletes don't typically do marathon training sessions. If they do, they normally split them into multiple sessions. For example, we saw Tennessee Titans QB Marcus Mariota do about 45 minutes of speed work. He then took an hour break and ate some food before going into a 60-minute strength session. According to Nelson, a split like that is fairly common.
People who do three-hour workouts need to consider a few things. First, it's an actor or a bodybuilder, they have a specific goal, to look good, which often must be accomplished in a short amount of time. So drastic training methods might be necessary.
These individuals typically pay a ton of money for training and have every resource available to them. They're closely monitored by experts throughout the process to ensure that things don't go awry. Most people typically do not have this large pool of resources available to them.
Nelson adds, "They're working with someone who is watching and monitoring everything they do. Their recovery is a lot better. The motivation to do it is usually short-term."
Problem 5: You Might Overreach or Over-train
Too much training without allowing for recovery causes overreaching. In simple terms, the body shuts down to protect itself from too much stress. It's like post-workout fatigue that doesn't go away. Common symptoms include premature fatigue, lack of strength and endurance, lethargy and elevated resting heart rate.
Nelson explains that stress outside of the weight room can make matters worse. Work, family commitments, school, homework and/or sports all take their toll. Exercisers need to realize that training adds to this stress, and doing too much can cause the body essentially to fight back.
Fortunately, overreaching is short-lived as long as you recover. But if you don't, you might slip into the overtraining category. The symptoms are more severe and it takes several weeks or even months to recover.
What Should You Do?Nelson advises to train smarter, not longer.
Workouts between 60 and 90 minutes time in length are just fine. This is sufficient time to challenge your body with quality reps. Anything more, and you'll see diminished returns for your efforts.
If you feel inclined to train longer, it's best to split up your workout. "Instead of a two-hour session, do an hour mid-morning and an hour late afternoon," says Nelson. "You can get much higher quality work done with way."
Nelson recommends prioritizing the frequency, not the duration, of your workouts. It's better to do five or six 60- to 90-minute workouts each week than three, 2-hour workouts.
All this depends on the style of training, too. Seedman says that if you're doing an intense interval workout or a bodybuilding routine with a lot of reps and little rest, 45 minutes might be all that you need.
However, if you're attempting to build max strength and doing only a few reps per set with long rest periods, you might need 90 minutes. If you were to do intervals for 90 minutes, you would quickly burn out.
Friday, January 01, 2016
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
The 10 Universal Rules for Building Muscle!
By Ben Pakulski & Vince Del Monte
1) A muscle is WEAKEST at its EXTREMES of the range. SO, learn to isolate these points of the strength curve and make it stronger. As a result, you will become proportionally stronger in the mid-range and GROWTH WILL OCCUR!
2) Always try to work a muscle through its complete CONTROLLABLE Range of Motion (ROM), although that may not be possible within ONE exercise. It is always possible within a given workout!
3) Muscles DO NOT recognize weight! Muscle recognize TENSION! Increase tension, increase growth!
4) Focus on training DISADVANTAGES, not advantages. Training disadvantages = bigger muscles. Every workout you should be learning how to make every exercise HARDER by manipulating body position, slowing the movement down, maintaining tension in both directions… BEFORE you even think about adding weight. Often times, adding weight just leads to your body seeking out training advantages, in other words, cheating.
5) ALWAYS INITIATE with the working muscle! (if you're training your delts, the first movement MUST come from the delt, not somewhere else or momentum!)
6) CONTROL through the entire range is a must. A negative (eccentric) rep should be under such conscious control that you can change direction at ANY point of that ROM, and start coming back up (concentric). Control is the CURRENCY of muscle growth. If you can’t control the muscle, you can’t challenge it.
7) Larger muscle require more stimulus to reach exhaustion. But also take longer to recover between workouts. Smaller muscle groups can recover faster so can be trained more frequently.
8) KNOW which muscles are PRIMARILY fast twitch and which are PRIMARILY slow twitch! This will ALWAYS affect the number of reps, sets, loads and rest periods.
9) Work a variety of rep ranges within each workout. Different rep ranges allow you to vary your TUT (time under tension), and ensure you're working all types of muscle fibers.
10) SQUEEZE IT LIKE IT OWES YOU MONEY!! (my personal favorite! ;)) Another way to say this is to “Contract AGAINST the resistance.” You can fatigue a muscle simply by contracting the life out of it. Often times more weight only stresses your joints more than your muscles.
Now, print these! Tape them to your wall, stick em to your forehead, whatever it takes to learn them and know them and remember, KNOWING = DOING and having something to show for the knowledge.
1) A muscle is WEAKEST at its EXTREMES of the range. SO, learn to isolate these points of the strength curve and make it stronger. As a result, you will become proportionally stronger in the mid-range and GROWTH WILL OCCUR!
2) Always try to work a muscle through its complete CONTROLLABLE Range of Motion (ROM), although that may not be possible within ONE exercise. It is always possible within a given workout!
3) Muscles DO NOT recognize weight! Muscle recognize TENSION! Increase tension, increase growth!
4) Focus on training DISADVANTAGES, not advantages. Training disadvantages = bigger muscles. Every workout you should be learning how to make every exercise HARDER by manipulating body position, slowing the movement down, maintaining tension in both directions… BEFORE you even think about adding weight. Often times, adding weight just leads to your body seeking out training advantages, in other words, cheating.
5) ALWAYS INITIATE with the working muscle! (if you're training your delts, the first movement MUST come from the delt, not somewhere else or momentum!)
6) CONTROL through the entire range is a must. A negative (eccentric) rep should be under such conscious control that you can change direction at ANY point of that ROM, and start coming back up (concentric). Control is the CURRENCY of muscle growth. If you can’t control the muscle, you can’t challenge it.
7) Larger muscle require more stimulus to reach exhaustion. But also take longer to recover between workouts. Smaller muscle groups can recover faster so can be trained more frequently.
8) KNOW which muscles are PRIMARILY fast twitch and which are PRIMARILY slow twitch! This will ALWAYS affect the number of reps, sets, loads and rest periods.
9) Work a variety of rep ranges within each workout. Different rep ranges allow you to vary your TUT (time under tension), and ensure you're working all types of muscle fibers.
10) SQUEEZE IT LIKE IT OWES YOU MONEY!! (my personal favorite! ;)) Another way to say this is to “Contract AGAINST the resistance.” You can fatigue a muscle simply by contracting the life out of it. Often times more weight only stresses your joints more than your muscles.
Now, print these! Tape them to your wall, stick em to your forehead, whatever it takes to learn them and know them and remember, KNOWING = DOING and having something to show for the knowledge.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
5 Things That Happen When You Stop Working Out
This is taken from the December 29, 2015 edition of Livestrong.com.
Ever wonder what happens when you quit exercising?
2. Strength Starts to Diminish After Two Weeks
When you quit strength training, changes in your muscles begin to occur within days, says exercise physiologist Michelle Olson. “Muscle, when not receiving its regular challenge, will start to lose protein, which is absorbed into your circulation and excreted via urination.
By Linda Melone
Ever wonder what happens when you quit exercising?
It
happens to the best of us: You get injured, find yourself working
around the clock or are otherwise forced to put exercise on the back
burner for a while. And when the holidays roll around, you’re also
provided an incentive to eat and drink and skip your workouts until
January. But a day or two can easily stretch into weeks or even months,
and you’re right back to square one. In technical terms, you’ve become
“deconditioned.” In fact, 25 to 35 percent of adult exercisers quit
working out within two to five months of starting, according to the
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). How quickly your fitness
level declines depends on several factors – some may surprise you.
1. Cardiovascular Fitness Starts to Tank After One Week
Aerobic fitness is defined as the ability of the body to transport and utilize oxygen from your blood in your muscles. This measure, also known as VO2 max, decreases after as few as one to two weeks of inactivity, says Danielle Weis, doctor of physical therapy with Spring Forward Physical Therapy in New York City. “The functional capacity of the heart also decreases. After three to four weeks of bed rest, your resting heart rate increases by four to 15 beats, and blood volume decreases by five percent in 24 hours and 20 percent in two weeks.”
Aerobic fitness is defined as the ability of the body to transport and utilize oxygen from your blood in your muscles. This measure, also known as VO2 max, decreases after as few as one to two weeks of inactivity, says Danielle Weis, doctor of physical therapy with Spring Forward Physical Therapy in New York City. “The functional capacity of the heart also decreases. After three to four weeks of bed rest, your resting heart rate increases by four to 15 beats, and blood volume decreases by five percent in 24 hours and 20 percent in two weeks.”
When you quit strength training, changes in your muscles begin to occur within days, says exercise physiologist Michelle Olson. “Muscle, when not receiving its regular challenge, will start to lose protein, which is absorbed into your circulation and excreted via urination.
Small
but meaningful loss in muscle protein (the building block of the
contractile units for each muscle fiber) can begin to occur in 72
hours.” Noticeable changes when attempting to lift your usual amount of
weight show up in two to three weeks, adds Olson. And as with
cardiovascular fitness, long-term exercisers will see a slower muscle
loss than those new to exercise, says Dr. Brad Thomas.
3. Aging Affects Fitness Loss
You lose strength and overall fitness twice as quickly as you age, says Dr. Brad Thomas. “It’s largely due to hormone levels. As we age, we have lower levels of human growth hormone (HGH), which makes it harder to recover.” We also lose our ability to handle stress and recover from the resulting stress hormones, such as cortisol. As we get older, this same mechanism results in greater fatigue after a workout. Older athletes take longer to recover from workouts in general, according to several studies, including a 2008 article published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.
You lose strength and overall fitness twice as quickly as you age, says Dr. Brad Thomas. “It’s largely due to hormone levels. As we age, we have lower levels of human growth hormone (HGH), which makes it harder to recover.” We also lose our ability to handle stress and recover from the resulting stress hormones, such as cortisol. As we get older, this same mechanism results in greater fatigue after a workout. Older athletes take longer to recover from workouts in general, according to several studies, including a 2008 article published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.
4. Fitness Levels Decline Faster When You’re Sick
Someone who’s healthy and takes a break from exercise loses muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness more slowly than a person who stops exercising due to an illness or injury. The latter will lose fitness levels twice as fast, says Dr. Brad Thomas. The stress of an illness or injury takes a greater toll on the body than simply taking a break when you’re healthy. Whether you’re an athlete or recreational exerciser, if you’ve taken a few weeks off from your routine, your level of deconditioning will be pretty low, says physical therapist Danielle Weis. “If you are recovering from a fracture, surgery or have been on bed rest, it can take up to and longer than 12 to 24 months to fully recover.”
Someone who’s healthy and takes a break from exercise loses muscle mass and cardiovascular fitness more slowly than a person who stops exercising due to an illness or injury. The latter will lose fitness levels twice as fast, says Dr. Brad Thomas. The stress of an illness or injury takes a greater toll on the body than simply taking a break when you’re healthy. Whether you’re an athlete or recreational exerciser, if you’ve taken a few weeks off from your routine, your level of deconditioning will be pretty low, says physical therapist Danielle Weis. “If you are recovering from a fracture, surgery or have been on bed rest, it can take up to and longer than 12 to 24 months to fully recover.”
5. It Takes Three Weeks to Gain Back One Week OffAfter a period of lying around, your nervous system loses its ability to fire up as it did before you took time off, says Irv Rubenstein, exercise physiologist and founder of STEPS, a science-based fitness facility in Nashville, Tennessee.
That’s
due to the fact that you lose the neural stimuli that enables you to
lift heavy objects with the same amount of effort. “When you return to
lifting, you may be able to lift the same weights, but you will be
working above your normal capacity, which could put tissue at risk. It
will take a greater effort to do what you used to do and will require
more rest between sets and days in order to recover.”A novice who’s
taken time off during the holidays will need to start from scratch. The
athlete or experienced lifter can start back to where they were in early
November and give it a month to get back to speed.
The original article “These 9 Unexpected Things Happen When You Stop Working Out“ appeared on LIVESTRONG.COM.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
The Technology of Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, meaning "Christ's
Mass") is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ,
observed most commonly on December 25 as a religious and cultural
celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central
to the Christian liturgical year, it is prepared for by the season of
Advent or Nativity Fast and is prolonged by the Octave of Christmas and
further by the season of Christmastide. Christmas Day is a public
holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated culturally by a
large number of non-Christian people, and is an integral part of the
Christmas and holiday season.
The Technology of Christmas
History of Atheism - The Light Shines into the Darkness
The history and challenges of atheism over the past 200,000 years.
History of Atheism - The Light Shines into the Darkness
History of Atheism - The Light Shines into the Darkness
Atheists and Sex Offenders
You can find the entire text for History of Athiesm, with references, at http://franklludwig.com/atheism.htmlTuesday, December 22, 2015
How Your Metabolism Changes in Your 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s
A.K.A. why you need to start strength training right now! By K. Aleisha Fetters
When you’re a kid, you can wolf down candy bars, fast food, and frozen pizza bagels without a second thought—you know it won't impact your weight. Now, you're a hardcore veggie eater and struggle to lose those extra few pounds. Why does this happen? As you likely know, your metabolism takes a nosedive over the years and ultimately impacts your waistline. Now that we've got that out of the way, here are all the ways your natural calorie-burning power transforms as you age—and what you can do to keep it in high gear.
In Your 20’s, You Hit Your Peak: Most women enjoy their highest basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn by just being alive), in their late teens or early twenties, says Christopher Ochner, Ph.D., weight-loss expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Some women will hit it a bit earlier, others later, which has a lot to do with genetics, but your activity level also plays a big role. After all, the more you hoof it around campus, play on intramural teams, and hit up the university weight room, the more calorie-torching muscle you’ll build and the higher your metabolism will be, he says. Plus, until you’re about 25 or so, your body is still building bone, and that process burns up calories.
…But It Doesn’t Last Long: According to the American Council on Exercise, your basal metabolic rate drops roughly one to two percent per decade. “By the late 20’s, many women notice that they can’t eat the same things they used to without gaining weight and that the weight doesn’t fall off as easily as it once did,” says Ochner. Since this drop starts right about the time people settle into the (largely sedentary) workforce—and start losing muscle—your office job can certainly accelerate this process, he says. Buzzkill!
In Your 30’s, The Fattening Cycle Continues: As your activity level drops and you lose muscle, your natural calorie-burning ability slows even more. And as you lose muscle and gain fat, fat can weave it’s way into the muscle and cause weight gain and metabolic dysfunction, says Caroline Cederquist, M.D., creator of bistroMD and author of The MD Factor. To add insult to injury, during your 30’s, you aren’t producing as much human growth hormone as before (no more growth spurts for you!), which also leads to a dip in your metabolic rate, she says. However, strength training can help you build muscle and produce more human growth hormone, both of which keep your metabolism running as fast as (or faster than) it did when you were 20.
Pregnancy Can Go Either Way: If you decide to bring a baby on board, pregnancy can give your metabolism a bump—but not enough to start eating your normal diet times two. “Yes, you need to eat for yourself and the baby, but that baby might only be a couple millimeters large, so you don't need that many extra calories,” says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During pregnancy, you'll likely burn about 200 extra calories a day, says Delbridge. Women who are at a healthy weight before pregnancy should only gain about 25 to 35 pounds during those nine months, he says. Unfortunately, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, almost half of women gain too much weight when they’re preggers—which can contribute to muscle- and metabolism-wrecking insulin resistance.
Breastfeeding to the Rescue: A huge calorie burn comes from breastfeeding. The average woman who's breastfeeding full-time can expect to burn an extra 500 to 1,000 calories per day, says Delbridge. Unfortunately, as soon as you start weaning your little one, your metabolism goes back to pre-pregnancy levels—as long as you haven’t lost any muscle since you got pregnant.
In Your 40’s, Your Hormones Begin to Tank: Around 40, your baby maker prepares to close up shop, and your levels of estrogen, progesterone, and (again) human growth hormone decrease, says Cederquist. So unfortunately, your metabolism follows suit. That means you'll have to focus on reducing your caloric intake during your 40’s in order to maintain your weight, says Delbridge. If you're working out, that might only amount to eating about 150 less calories per day, he says. But if you don't exercise and sit most of the day, you'll probably have to cut even more calories to stay svelte.
Building Muscle Becomes a Non-Negotiable: Okay, so this is a must at any age, but around age 40, your body’s natural decline in muscle mass, called sarcopenia, sets in. To combat the loss of lean mass and keep your metabolism revved, you really have to turn to strength training. (But, hopefully, you have already!) According to research from the Harvard School of Public Health, people who lift weights put on less belly fat as they age than cardio bunnies. While any exercise will help you burn calories while you’re at the gym, strength training gives your metabolism the biggest boost after your workout ends, says Ochner. On top of pumping iron, eating enough protein (about 100 to 120 grams a day) will boost your efforts to get stronger. “A woman who was sedentary in her 20’s and 30’s can actually achieve a higher metabolic rate in her 40’s if she exercises and changes her approach to nutrition,” says Cederquist.
When you’re a kid, you can wolf down candy bars, fast food, and frozen pizza bagels without a second thought—you know it won't impact your weight. Now, you're a hardcore veggie eater and struggle to lose those extra few pounds. Why does this happen? As you likely know, your metabolism takes a nosedive over the years and ultimately impacts your waistline. Now that we've got that out of the way, here are all the ways your natural calorie-burning power transforms as you age—and what you can do to keep it in high gear.
In Your 20’s, You Hit Your Peak: Most women enjoy their highest basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn by just being alive), in their late teens or early twenties, says Christopher Ochner, Ph.D., weight-loss expert at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Some women will hit it a bit earlier, others later, which has a lot to do with genetics, but your activity level also plays a big role. After all, the more you hoof it around campus, play on intramural teams, and hit up the university weight room, the more calorie-torching muscle you’ll build and the higher your metabolism will be, he says. Plus, until you’re about 25 or so, your body is still building bone, and that process burns up calories.
…But It Doesn’t Last Long: According to the American Council on Exercise, your basal metabolic rate drops roughly one to two percent per decade. “By the late 20’s, many women notice that they can’t eat the same things they used to without gaining weight and that the weight doesn’t fall off as easily as it once did,” says Ochner. Since this drop starts right about the time people settle into the (largely sedentary) workforce—and start losing muscle—your office job can certainly accelerate this process, he says. Buzzkill!
In Your 30’s, The Fattening Cycle Continues: As your activity level drops and you lose muscle, your natural calorie-burning ability slows even more. And as you lose muscle and gain fat, fat can weave it’s way into the muscle and cause weight gain and metabolic dysfunction, says Caroline Cederquist, M.D., creator of bistroMD and author of The MD Factor. To add insult to injury, during your 30’s, you aren’t producing as much human growth hormone as before (no more growth spurts for you!), which also leads to a dip in your metabolic rate, she says. However, strength training can help you build muscle and produce more human growth hormone, both of which keep your metabolism running as fast as (or faster than) it did when you were 20.
Pregnancy Can Go Either Way: If you decide to bring a baby on board, pregnancy can give your metabolism a bump—but not enough to start eating your normal diet times two. “Yes, you need to eat for yourself and the baby, but that baby might only be a couple millimeters large, so you don't need that many extra calories,” says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. During pregnancy, you'll likely burn about 200 extra calories a day, says Delbridge. Women who are at a healthy weight before pregnancy should only gain about 25 to 35 pounds during those nine months, he says. Unfortunately, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, almost half of women gain too much weight when they’re preggers—which can contribute to muscle- and metabolism-wrecking insulin resistance.
Breastfeeding to the Rescue: A huge calorie burn comes from breastfeeding. The average woman who's breastfeeding full-time can expect to burn an extra 500 to 1,000 calories per day, says Delbridge. Unfortunately, as soon as you start weaning your little one, your metabolism goes back to pre-pregnancy levels—as long as you haven’t lost any muscle since you got pregnant.
In Your 40’s, Your Hormones Begin to Tank: Around 40, your baby maker prepares to close up shop, and your levels of estrogen, progesterone, and (again) human growth hormone decrease, says Cederquist. So unfortunately, your metabolism follows suit. That means you'll have to focus on reducing your caloric intake during your 40’s in order to maintain your weight, says Delbridge. If you're working out, that might only amount to eating about 150 less calories per day, he says. But if you don't exercise and sit most of the day, you'll probably have to cut even more calories to stay svelte.
Building Muscle Becomes a Non-Negotiable: Okay, so this is a must at any age, but around age 40, your body’s natural decline in muscle mass, called sarcopenia, sets in. To combat the loss of lean mass and keep your metabolism revved, you really have to turn to strength training. (But, hopefully, you have already!) According to research from the Harvard School of Public Health, people who lift weights put on less belly fat as they age than cardio bunnies. While any exercise will help you burn calories while you’re at the gym, strength training gives your metabolism the biggest boost after your workout ends, says Ochner. On top of pumping iron, eating enough protein (about 100 to 120 grams a day) will boost your efforts to get stronger. “A woman who was sedentary in her 20’s and 30’s can actually achieve a higher metabolic rate in her 40’s if she exercises and changes her approach to nutrition,” says Cederquist.
Sunday, December 20, 2015
The Appeal of ISIS
The blurry line between Islam and Islamism must be made clear. In the December 16, 2015 reprint of eSkeptic magazine, Drs. Peter Boghossian and James A. Lindsay discuss the choice faced by Muslims to distinguish themselves from Islamists, noting that Muslims who denounce Islamism take an enormous risk with their lives.
The Appeal of ISIS: Islamism, Trust, and Costly Signaling
BY PETER BOGHOSSIAN & JAMES A. LINDSAY
As refugees flood to the West in unprecedented numbers, and in the wake of a series of terrorist acts directly linked to Islamism, the chorus asking Muslims to explicitly denounce the violence of Islamism is growing ever louder. Others decry this request as inappropriate, unnecessary, patronizing, or even racist (Muslims are not a race, but this goes under the banner of “Islamophobia”). Mainstream Muslims should denounce Islamism and violence, but not because of the reasons many take as obvious.
First, however, we must define Islamism as a fundamentalist and militant religious and political ideology that drives for global conquest of an extreme Islamic theocracy and the application of strict Sharia law under its dominion. That Islamism is inspired by Islam via certain literal readings of the Quran is unambiguous, yet it remains just one draconian and acutely regressive interpretation of the religion. Islamism is dangerous and often deadly, and its broad conflation with Islam—and thus association with all Muslims—is deeply unfair. The violence that is associated with Islamism, then, is best understood as Islamist terrorism, not Islamic terrorism. Islam may be adhered to by Muslims who embrace nonviolent secularism. Islamism does not.
The reason Muslims need to condemn Islamism and Islamist terrorism is due to what social scientists call costly signaling—the performance of a symbolic act to indicate to other members of a social group that one is playing for their team and doing so at a price. It evokes trust—an indispensable commodity currently in short supply. Costly signaling taps into fundamental aspects of human psychology. Many Westerners—those on both sides of the political spectrum, from liberals who accuse critics of Islamophobia to conservatives who lump all Muslims into one category—do not appear to distinguish between Muslims and Islamists. Yet this distinction is critical to Western acceptance of progressive Muslims—those who do not embrace the violence of Islamism. The condemnation of Islamism and Islamist terrorism is an important, if not crucial, costly signal by which progressive Muslims can demarcate Islamism from Islam and simultaneously generate trust…
Read the entire article here.
The Appeal of ISIS: Islamism, Trust, and Costly Signaling
BY PETER BOGHOSSIAN & JAMES A. LINDSAY
As refugees flood to the West in unprecedented numbers, and in the wake of a series of terrorist acts directly linked to Islamism, the chorus asking Muslims to explicitly denounce the violence of Islamism is growing ever louder. Others decry this request as inappropriate, unnecessary, patronizing, or even racist (Muslims are not a race, but this goes under the banner of “Islamophobia”). Mainstream Muslims should denounce Islamism and violence, but not because of the reasons many take as obvious.
First, however, we must define Islamism as a fundamentalist and militant religious and political ideology that drives for global conquest of an extreme Islamic theocracy and the application of strict Sharia law under its dominion. That Islamism is inspired by Islam via certain literal readings of the Quran is unambiguous, yet it remains just one draconian and acutely regressive interpretation of the religion. Islamism is dangerous and often deadly, and its broad conflation with Islam—and thus association with all Muslims—is deeply unfair. The violence that is associated with Islamism, then, is best understood as Islamist terrorism, not Islamic terrorism. Islam may be adhered to by Muslims who embrace nonviolent secularism. Islamism does not.
The reason Muslims need to condemn Islamism and Islamist terrorism is due to what social scientists call costly signaling—the performance of a symbolic act to indicate to other members of a social group that one is playing for their team and doing so at a price. It evokes trust—an indispensable commodity currently in short supply. Costly signaling taps into fundamental aspects of human psychology. Many Westerners—those on both sides of the political spectrum, from liberals who accuse critics of Islamophobia to conservatives who lump all Muslims into one category—do not appear to distinguish between Muslims and Islamists. Yet this distinction is critical to Western acceptance of progressive Muslims—those who do not embrace the violence of Islamism. The condemnation of Islamism and Islamist terrorism is an important, if not crucial, costly signal by which progressive Muslims can demarcate Islamism from Islam and simultaneously generate trust…
Read the entire article here.
Procrastination: The pain is in the anticipation
Do you ever procrastinate? (If you’re human (or even superhuman) odds are you do on something!)
Get this: Your brain lights up with pain when you simply think about whatever it is you prefer to avoid. AND... That pain in your brain goes away when you actually do it. (How awesome is that?)
Remember: Procrastination is like an addiction. It gives a temporary hit of feeling good but has devastating long-term consequences.
“We procrastinate about things that make us feel uncomfortable. Medical imaging studies have shown that math-phobes, for example, appear to avoid math because even just thinking about it seems to hurt. The pain centers of their brains light up when they contemplate working on math.—Barbara Oakley, Ph.D. from A Mind for Numbers
But there’s something important to note. It was the anticipation that was painful. When the math-phobes actually did math, the pain disappeared. Procrastination expert Rita Emmett explains: ‘The dread of doing a task uses up more time and energy than doing the task itself.’
Avoiding something painful seems sensible. But sadly, the long-term effects of habitual avoidance can be nasty... Procrastination is a single, monumentally important ‘keystone’ bad habit. A habit, in other words, that influences many important areas of your life. Change it, and a myriad of other positive changes will gradually begin to unfold.”
Barbara dedicates several chapters to understanding and dealing with procrastination. She references a couple books we have Notes on to help us create better habits. Check out our Notes on The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and The Now Habit by Neil Fiore for more goodness.
For now, know that you CAN change your procrastination habit and that it’s wise to invest the energy into knocking out that keystone destructive habit. Practice disciplining yourself to reduce distractions and take the actions you’ve deemed important.
Every time you take a step forward you’re building your “git ‘er done” muscle. Let’s do the lifting and build our skills!
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Jesus Never Existed
Jesus Never Existed – A New Report Finds No Mention Of Jesus In 126 Texts
Jesus never existed. That is the conclusion of a researcher who says he has combed 126 texts written during or shortly after the time Jesus is supposed to have lived — and found no mention of Jesus whatsoever.The claim that Jesus, the messianic figure at the center of the world’s largest religion, Christianity, was simply a fictional character is not a new one. Advocates of the “Mythical Jesus” theory have been around for years, arguing that the story of Jesus bears a close resemblance to numerous other mythological stories of ancient gods who were born of virgin mothers and performed miracles.
In a new article entitled “The Fable of the Christ,” Michael Paulkovich summarizes his findings, or lack of findings, which lead him to believe that Jesus never actually existed, but is instead a fictional character, made up to give followers of the religion founded in his name a central icon worthy of their worship.
Paulkovich says that only one of the 126 texts he combed through contains any mention of Jesus — and that, he says, is a forgery. That text is the first-century history book The Jewish Wars by the Roman historian Josephus Flavius, who wrote his work in the year 95 CE.
But, despite making his home just one mile from Jesus’s supposed hometown of Nazareth, Josephus appears totally unaware of the famous miracle worker who later went to Jerusalem where he became such a political threat that the Romans found it necessary to execute him by crucifixion.
The few mentions of Jesus in The Jewish Wars, Paulkovich argues, were added by later editors, not by Josephus himself.
Otherwise, says the author, despite the remarkable feats Jesus is alleged to have performed and the great deal of political unrest caused by his arrival in Jerusalem, not a single writer from the time and place of Jesus’s life finds that Jesus so much as rates a footnote.
“Emperor Titus, Cassius Dio, Maximus, Moeragenes, Lucian, Soterichus Oasites, Euphrates, Marcus Aurelius, or Damis of Hierapolis. It seems none of these writers from first to third century ever heard of Jesus, global miracles and alleged worldwide fame be damned,” Paulkovich said in a recent interview.The Dead Sea Scrolls, also known as the Qumran texts, also contain no mention of Jesus. Even the Apostle Paul, the New Testament figure credited with spreading the new religion that came to be called “Christianity” shortly after the supposed death of Jesus, never says that Jesus was a a real person — even in the Bible itself.
“Paul is unaware of the virgin mother, and ignorant of Jesus’ nativity, parentage, life events, ministry, miracles, apostles, betrayal, trial and harrowing passion,” Paulkovich states. “Paul knows neither where nor when Jesus lived, and considers the crucifixion metaphorical.”While today Christianity has become the most popular religion in world history, with 2.2 billion human beings calling themselves Christians, Paulkovich points out that as late as the the Fourth Century, Christianity was still a small and widely persecuted cult.
The invention of a mythical figure for followers of the cult to rally around gave the early Christians the strength to survive, according to this theory. On the other hand, another recent advocate of the “Mythical Jesus” believes that Christ was invented by the Romans as propaganda to pacify the public.
“When I consider those 126 writers, all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not — and Paul and Marcion and Athenagoras and Matthew with a tetralogy of opposing Christs, the silence from Qumran and Nazareth and Bethlehem, conflicting Bible stories, and so many other mysteries and omissions,” Paulkovich writes, “I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character.”
What is Occam's Razor?
The final decision is yours to make.
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
What Are Shin Splints?
What Are Shin Splints? The Causes and Symptoms of Shin Splints
Whether you're a novice runner or you're working toward your tenth marathon, chances are you've experienced shin splints at one point or another. Brian Schiff, licensed physical therapist, board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist, and certified strength and conditioning coach, explains what shin splints are, what causes them, and their common symptoms.
What Are Shin Splints?
While they're certainly a pain in the you-know-what, the term "shin splints" generally refers to pain along your tibia, or shinbone, which connects your knee to your ankle. Shin splints—specifically, pain along the medial (inner) side of the lower leg—are referred to as medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS) in the medical community. Shin splints that occur on the anterior, or outside, part of the shinbone are less common.
What Causes Shin Splints?
Shin splints aren't limited to new runners. Dancers and military personnel are also commonly affected by shin splints due to repetitive movements on hard surfaces. However, runners and even walkers are often plagued by shin splints for the following reasons:
Excessive pronation and flat feet:
As you run, your foot, lower leg, knee, and thigh all rotate inwards with every stride while your foot's arch flattens. The rotation of the foot inwards is called pronation. If you have flat feet, this movement is exaggerated and may lead to shin pain.
Improper footwear:
Investing in a new pair of running shoes can be pricey, but it beats paying the price of shin splints. A good rule of thumb is to replace your sneakers every 300 to 400 miles.
Slanted running surfaces:
Running the same concrete hill every day may be putting stress on your shins. Switch up your route to include softer surfaces, like grass or sand, which are gentler on your body.
Walking long distances:
You probably wouldn't run a 10K without some prior training—and you shouldn't walk one unprepared, either. Even at a slower pace, your body may not be used to the sudden strain, which is why shin splints are common among walkers, too.
What Are the Symptoms of Shin Splints?
Symptoms include intense cramping, burning, and aching along the shinbone during or after physical activity. However, these could all be symptoms of a more serious injury, like a stress fracture, which is a crack in the bone caused by physical stress. Since shin splints are generally a precursor to a stress fracture, be proactive and take care of shin splints at the first sign.
Whether you're a novice runner or you're working toward your tenth marathon, chances are you've experienced shin splints at one point or another. Brian Schiff, licensed physical therapist, board-certified orthopedic clinical specialist, and certified strength and conditioning coach, explains what shin splints are, what causes them, and their common symptoms.
What Are Shin Splints?
What Causes Shin Splints?
Shin splints aren't limited to new runners. Dancers and military personnel are also commonly affected by shin splints due to repetitive movements on hard surfaces. However, runners and even walkers are often plagued by shin splints for the following reasons:
Excessive pronation and flat feet:
Improper footwear:
Investing in a new pair of running shoes can be pricey, but it beats paying the price of shin splints. A good rule of thumb is to replace your sneakers every 300 to 400 miles.
Slanted running surfaces:
Running the same concrete hill every day may be putting stress on your shins. Switch up your route to include softer surfaces, like grass or sand, which are gentler on your body.
Walking long distances:
You probably wouldn't run a 10K without some prior training—and you shouldn't walk one unprepared, either. Even at a slower pace, your body may not be used to the sudden strain, which is why shin splints are common among walkers, too.
What Are the Symptoms of Shin Splints?
Symptoms include intense cramping, burning, and aching along the shinbone during or after physical activity. However, these could all be symptoms of a more serious injury, like a stress fracture, which is a crack in the bone caused by physical stress. Since shin splints are generally a precursor to a stress fracture, be proactive and take care of shin splints at the first sign.
Saturday, December 05, 2015
When should you be skeptical?
This is pretty good and might just change your mind on how you view things, and what you know about what you know. Watch the video. It's 23 minutes and worth your time. If it doesn't show you a little more about asking questions, watch it again.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ George Hrab is many things: a musician, a comedian, a fine dresser, and a very good friend of mine. He’s also a skeptic, and an excellent storyteller. Those last two are why I bring him up: He gave a TEDx talk about skepticism recently, and the video is now online. You really need to watch the whole thing; it’s only 24 minutes long, and it’ll fly by. That’s the same length as a standard sitcom, and trust me, it’s way better.
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
The Most Effective Ab Exercises for 6 Pack Abs
When you mention ab
exercises and workouts, crunches, rollers, and twists comes to mind - all of
which are abdominal-specific exercises that target your abs and obliques. While
these are effective in helping you develop and strengthen your abs; they are
not necessarily the most effective in helping you achieve six pack abs.
Regardless how developed and strong your abs are, you won’t be able to see them
if there’s a layer of fat covering them. As such, the most effective exercises
and workouts are not ab specific exercises, but rather, exercises that target
your entire body, stimulating a metabolic response, boosting metabolism, and leading to fat loss. For an
effective ab development program, you need a combination of full body exercises
along with some ab specific exercises to achieve optimal results. Your goal
should be to not only target your abs, but to also create a better fat burning
workout. Here’s a list some of the most effective ab exercises that can help
you achieve six pack abs, even though some of them aren’t even ab specific!
Most Effective Ab Exercises
We'll start the list with the big 3 - squats, clean and press, and deadlifts. You might be surprised to learn that none of these target the ab muscles directly, but are some of the best compound exercises to help you build muscle and stimulate a metabolic response. This can lead to more effective fat loss. Keep in mind that your goal is not just to train your abs - great ab muscles will not show through a thick layer of belly fat - your goal is to build overall lean mass and reduce the amount of fat your carry.
Most Effective Ab Exercises
We'll start the list with the big 3 - squats, clean and press, and deadlifts. You might be surprised to learn that none of these target the ab muscles directly, but are some of the best compound exercises to help you build muscle and stimulate a metabolic response. This can lead to more effective fat loss. Keep in mind that your goal is not just to train your abs - great ab muscles will not show through a thick layer of belly fat - your goal is to build overall lean mass and reduce the amount of fat your carry.
1. Squats are one of the most basic compound exercises fordeveloping strength and mass in the legs. Because it involves a group of large muscles, it’s also one of the best compound exercises for stimulating a metabolic response for a better fat burning workout.
Front squats – this squat requires exceptional stabilization strength from your abs due to the placement of the weight in front of your body.
2. Barbell clean and press--another great addition to any workout program. Multiple muscle groups are needed to perform this tough exercise, and it will help to develop strength and power.
3. Deadlift--one of the best power exercises that involves more muscles than almost any other exercise. The deadlift is a compound exercise that you should include in your training program.
When performing the deadlift exercise, always keep your back tight and straight, with your head up, looking forward - arching your back will place undesirable stress on your spinal column and lower back. When you maintain a straight back, the vertebrae are all in alignment with no unequal stress placed on any point of your spine, thus reducing the risk of injury.
4. Captain's chair (a.k.a, Roman chair) leg raises are another effective ab exercise that directly targets your abdominals and the obliques. It’s performed on a rack with padded arms for support, and allows your legs to hang free. There are also several variations that you can perform. When performing captain's chair leg raises, remember to avoid using momentum to swing your legs - use strict form.
5. Bicycles - no, not riding bicycles, but perform bicycle crunches from a bench. While it will not get rid of fat from your belly, it does directly target your abs and obliques, and does so very effectively.
6. Mountain climbers not only works your mid-section, they involve multiple muscle groups and will give you a fantastic cardio workout as well. It’s a really full-body exercise that also places great amount of stress on your abs.
7. High intensity interval rowing - performed on a rowing machine. You're probably saying to yourself "Isn’t that really a cardio exercise?" True! Rowing is a cardio exercise, but it’s included here because it’s one of the best cardio exercises. It not only gives you a great cardio workout, it also gives you a fantastic full body resistance workout as well. It uses almost every single muscle group in your body including your arms, shoulders, back, abs, glutes, legs, and calves. Perform rows with high intensity using intervals, and you're going to feel the burn.
8. Renegade dumbbell rows are another excellent ab exercise that comes highly recommend. This exercise is performed in a pushup position while holding 2 dumbbells. Start in a push-up position holding a dumbbell in each hand.
a). Row one dumbbell up while keeping your body stabilized with the other arm.
b). Bring the dumbbell back to the floor and perform the same movement with the other arm.
The stabilization required for this exercise puts great stress on your entire core--you will feel it in your abs.
9. Exercise ball crunches are another excellent way to hit the abs directly. What makes this crunch more effective than crunches on the floor is the level of stabilization that is required.
As you can see, this list includes exercises that do not directly target your abs such as squats, deadlifts, and rows; but these compound exercises will work your entire body, stimulate a metabolic response, and allow you to achieve a better fat burning workout. Also listed are several exercises that target your ab muscles directly - notice that the basic crunch is not on the list.
History Channel-The Real Story of Christmas
This is a pretty good chronicle of Christmas. Not complete in every detail, but worth a look.
History Channel-The Real Story of Christmas-Full Documentary
History Channel-The Real Story of Christmas-Full Documentary
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