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.

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?

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.” 

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.

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. 

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.” 

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.

By Linda Melone

December Birthday

Idle minds

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

Atheists and Sex Offenders

You can find the entire text for History of Athiesm, with references, at http://franklludwig.com/atheism.html

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. 

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.

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.
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 Oakley, Ph.D. from A Mind for Numbers 

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!

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.

 

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.

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.

George Hrab Shows You How to Think

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.

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

'MST3K' Turkey Day Marathon: Watch it Here!

For all of you MST3K fans, here's a blast from the past.
You can watch all 6 movies from here.
Enjoy!

'MST3K' Turkey Day Marathon: Watch it Here!

You just can't please everybody, but then why try?

Ohio Town Outraged By Zombie Jesus Nativity Scene On Man’s Lawn

 

 

Men forget everything

 

And so...

Nice Ways to Say No to Food Pushers

Nice Ways to Say No to Food Pushers: Politely Turn Down Food at Parties & Other Gatherings

During family gatherings, food temptations are everywhere. From stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving to eggnog and sugar cookies in December, to barbecues in the summer, the seasonal temptations are endless. It can be tough enough to navigate the buffet without having your great aunt force an extra helping of potatoes on your plate or resisting Grandma Dolly's pleas that you take a second piece of her famous apple pie. There's always some kind of event going on: birthday parties, family get-togethers, company meetings, bridal and baby showers--and all of these events have one thing in common (besides all the tempting food): food pushers.

Food pushers range from well-intentioned loved ones to total diet saboteurs. Regardless of their motivation, it's important to stick to your guns. You can always be honest and say that you're simply trying to eat healthier but if that response gets ignored (or doesn't come easily), the following retorts to their food-forcing ways will keep you in control of what goes on your plate and in your mouth!

1). The Push: "It's my specialty, you have to try it!"  Your Response: "I will in a bit!"

Why It Works: Stalling is a great tactic with food pushers. Odds are the offender won't follow you around making sure you actually try the dish. If they catch up with you by the end of the party to ask what you thought, tell them that it slipped your mind but you'll be sure to try it next time.

2). The Push: "This [insert name of high-calorie dish] is my favorite. You'll love it!"  Your Response: "I had some already—so delicious!"

Why It Works: A white lie in this situation isn't going to hurt anybody. You'll get out of eating food you don't want or need, and the food pusher will have gotten a compliment on what probably is a delicious dish.

3). The Push: "It's just once a year!" Your Response: "But I'll probably live to celebrate more holidays if I stick with my nutrition plan!"

Why It Works: People can sometimes see healthy eating as vain—a means to the end result of losing weight and looking better. It's harder for a food pusher to argue with you if you bring attention to the fact that you eat right and exercise for better health and a longer life. Looking good just happens to be a side effect!

4). The Push: "Looks like someone is obsessed with dieting…" Your Response: "I wouldn't say obsessed, but I am conscious of what I eat, and to reach my goals, I need to be."

Why It Works: Words like "food snob" or "obsessed" are pretty harsh when they're thrown around by food pushers. But don't let passive-aggressive comments like this bring you down—or make you veer away from your good eating intentions. In the long term, acknowledging your willpower and healthy food choices might influence others to be more conscious of what they eat. Sometimes you just have to combat food pushers with a little straightforward dialogue.

5). The Push: "If you don't try my dish, I'm just going to have to force you to eat it!"  Your Response: "Sorry, but I don't like (or can't eat) [insert ingredient here]."

Why It Works: It's hard to argue with someone's personal food preferences. If someone doesn't like an ingredient whether its sweet potatoes, pumpkin, or butter, odds are that he or she hasn't liked it for a very long time. If you'd like to get creative with this one, go into detail about how you got sick on the ingredient as a kid or how your mom says you always threw it across the room as a baby. Who can argue with that?

6). The Push: "You need some meat on your bones." Your Response: "Trust me, I'm in no danger of wasting away!"

Why It Works: This food push is definitely on the passive-aggressive side. Using humor to fight back will defuse any tension while making it clear where you stand.

7). The Push: "One bite isn't going to kill you." Your Response: "I know, but once you pop you just can't stop! And I'm sure it's so delicious I wouldn't be able to stop!"

Why It Works: This is another situation where humor will serve to distract the food pusher from his or her mission. It's a way to say "thanks, but no thanks" while making it clear that you're not interested in overindulging.

8). The Push: "But it's your favorite!" Your Response: "It used to be, I think I've overdosed on it. I just can't eat it anymore!"

Why It Works: If you have a favorite holiday dish that everyone knows you love, it can be especially tough to escape this push. If a loved one made the dish specifically for you, the guilt can be enough to push you over the edge. But people understand that food preferences change, and most have been in that situation of enjoying a dish so much that they can't touch it for awhile.

9). The Push: [Someone puts an extra helping on your plate without you asking.]  Your Response: Push it around with your fork like you did as a kid to make it look like you tried it.

Why It Works: While putting food on someone else's plate can be viewed as passive-aggressive, it was probably done with love. (Let's hope!) Making it look like you ate a bite or two can be an easy way out of the situation, but you can also just leave it alone and claim that you've already had your fill. (After all, you didn't add that extra helping!)

10). The Push: "Have another drink!" Your Response: "I have to drive."

Why It Works: No one will argue with the fact that you want to drive home sober. If they do, you should have no qualms about walking away from the conversation, period. If they offer a place for you to stay, you can always get out of the situation by blaming an early morning commitment or the fact that you need to get home to let the dog out. Kids will also get you out of everything.

  
11). The Push: "We have so many leftovers. Take some!" Your Response: "That's OK! Just think, you'll have your meals for tomorrow taken care of."

Why It Works: Not every party guest wants to deal with the hassle of taking food with them, and this makes it clear that you'd rather the food stay. If the host is insistent, you can feign worry that they'll go bad in the car because you're not going straight home, or it'll go bad in your fridge because you've already been given so many leftovers at other parties recently.

Memory Mondays: "Regression Therapy" Isn't Real, but Hollywood Keeps the Myth Alive

In October a movie appeared in cinemas around the world. It is a movie about a concept that has been a distinct part of our social consciousness for about a century. A concept that has many believers but even more non-believers. This incredibly contentious topic that I speak of, which has led to the so-called "memory wars” is that of regression, and along with it it’s sister concept repression.

Read the entire story here...

Memory Mondays: "Regression Therapy" Isn't Real, but Hollywood Keeps the Myth Alive

I need to find two of these...

 

One for home and one for work! 

 

Imagine that...

 

A View from the Rear

A View from the Rear - Marlene Harris, NSCA-CSCS, NASM-CES

     Today’s 411 is nothing but butt--all about the largest muscle you  own, your gluteus maximus (see image at right) and friends. Yes, there’s more to your bum than just your “glutes” as the gluteus maximus is commonly called. Few people realize that lurking beneath this highly visible swath of might are a merry band of other supporting muscles, discussed later.

     The glute max is a very important muscle for a number of reasons besides just appearance. There’s many functional considerations, and since it is such a large muscle, it even impacts your metabolic rate. Remember: strength muscles require calories for maintenance, and the bigger and stronger they are, the more calories they require.
     In terms of function, it’s one of the strongest muscles in your body, and when it contacts it extends your upper leg & hip rearward and works to you get up our of a chair, climb stairs, & similar actions. It also rotates the upper leg outward (away from the front/center of your body) and serves a stabilizing role in maintaining your upright posture (hopefully…). If you’re having difficulty with any of these actions, your glutes could use some attention of the focused strengthening variety. Variations of squats, deadlifts, and my personal favorite, lunges, all work to keep this important group strong and able to do its good work.
     Unfortunately, in addition to being the largest and potentially strongest muscle, along with the other lower body muscles, it’s also among the first to degrade from the ravages of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is the natural loss of Type II (strength) muscle that begins its insidious creep around age 30 if you’re not doing regular resistance training and not taking in adequate amounts of protein. Ever wonder why some older folks have problems getting up out of chairs, climbing stairs, squatting down to pick something up off the floor and more importantly, rising back up again? THAT’S why--a loss of glute strength and stability, mostly from disuse and a lack of maintenance. Fortunately, it’s quite preventable and reversible with a bit of consistent and appropriate action following the time-honored gym wisdom of the “use it or lose it” principle.

     As noted earlier, your glute max is accompanied by an array of friends that lurk beneath it. The 2 larger of these, depicted at right, are the gluteus medius (upper right side of image) and underneath it, the glute minimus (left side of the image, middle). These muscles serve a couple of different functions depending on which portion (anterior/front or posterior/back) of the muscle is contracted. Since this gets a bit complicated due to the opposing nature of the movements, I won’t elaborate to avoid mental meltdowns among readers. The point is that there are other muscle groups layered under your glute max, and that movements of the hip involve more than just glute max action.

     Also clustered beneath your glutes and below (but not underneath) the glute medius and minimus are 5 smaller bands of muscle (see image at left, middle of image) including the pesky piriformis (more on this later). I won’t name them all for the sake of brevity and reader sanity but these smaller bands are all involved in external rotation of the hip and upper leg (a couple have multiple functions). The piriformis is notable due to its proximity to the sciatic nerve, which runs right under it (see the pic at, right).  
When this muscle become irritated (all too common) it puts pressure on the sciatic nerve which results in one of the more nagging, burning, and depending on the level of inflammation and compression, radiating pains one can experience. Unfortunately for us modern folks, prolonged sitting is one of the more common triggers of this annoying event, so frequent bouts of upright movement are strongly advised!
     To recap, when we talk about your hip muscles or “your glutes”, there’s more to consider than just the top layer, your gluteus maximus. Beneath this large, strong muscle, towards the top of your hip, there’s also your gluteus medius and layered beneath it, your gluteus minimus. Situated below those, in the middle of the hip, are smaller bands of 5 (mostly) external rotators, including the piriformis. These 8 muscles, large and small, all function together in performing many movements of your hip and upper leg. These movements are important in terms of everyday life, so use these muscles often, or lose them and compromise your functional capacity; translation: lose your ability to effectively do the stuff you want/need to do!