Exercise - Good for your health? Ummm..Not always.

I see it all the time, people begin a new exercise routine and throw themselves headlong into it for a few weeks. Then, suddenly, boom, they get ill, and are forced to lay off for a week or so. This enforced lay-off unfortunately allows detraining to occur, and because the person is new to exercise, the gains disappear extremely rapidly.

Then the self-talk starts; ‘Why should I bother training, if I’ll end up ill again and lose all of my gains?’ or ‘What’s the point? Exercise is meant to make me healthier, not unhealthy.’

This negative spiral of despair continues until the person convinces themselves not to continue their exercise program any more. Chalk another person up to the Health and Fitness scrapheap.

You can’t blame them. The majority of celebrity fitness ‘experts’ and ‘gurus’, where the majority of people access their knowledge of fitness, still trot out the same old ‘no pain, no gain’, and ‘feel the burn’-esque philosophical maxims. Unfortunately just like their vacuous ‘personalities’, their knowledge of physiology and exercise is also found to be wanting.

Beyond all question, any exercise above playground clapping game level, puts your bodily systems under pressure. The body’s response to this challenge is the cause for the defensive changes and growth that is the hallmark of improved fitness.

So unless you want to limit your chosen fitness activity to lawn bowls or crazy golf which provide little challenge and therefore little gain, then you’d better learn to respect your immune system.

If you do however want to make improvements in fitness you need to use effective exercise such as resistance training or play higher intensity sports both of which overload the body quite severely. Overload is the key, but overload, taken too far leads to overtraining and system crash.

Even if you can will yourself through subsequent bouts of illness and continue training, is this really the way to go?

Take for example that a lot of elite sportspeople die earlier than the average person. How can this be? Aren’t they super fit? Yes, but years of excessive overload, whether taken to the point of clinical overtraining or not, depresses the immunity of these people and leaves them prey to disease.

The most obvious disease caused by depressed immunity is Cancer. Your body develops Cancerous cells thousands, if not millions, of times during your lifetime. In the majority of circumstances, your immune system recognises and destroys the abnormal cell before it becomes entrenched and replicates. Cancer like many other diseases are a result of immune system failure.

You may have experienced this yourself or with someone close to you. For instance, it has become popular to run marathons. Whether this be for a personal challenge or to support a charity, both of which are great causes, but a little myopic. The general training plan used by most marathon newcomers is to begin 3-6 months prior to the event and increase volume of training each week until the race date. With a lot of people they are taking a body that may not have seen exercise in maybe 10-20 years or more, and asking it to develop over a period of 12 weeks the ability to run 26 miles. Seen in that light, I’m sure you can appreciate how stressful this is to the body. And it shows, research done on both professional and recreational runners show a huge hike in infections following participation in a marathon. If you’ve attempted a marathon before, think back, did you suffer an illness during the weeks leading up or following the event, when you were supposedly at your fittest?

In fact a few years ago there was quite a high profile case that may have involved the above factors. Big Brother contestant Jade Goody in a well documented lack of preparation attempted to complete the 2006 London Marathon. Jade actually collapsed 21 miles in, demonstrating total body shut down. To complete 21 miles would have been a monumental effort for the young lady and she really should have been advised not to have participated. Two years later Jade was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and after a valiant effort unfortunately succumbed to the disease. Were the two linked? We don’t know for sure, but to my mind the Marathon scenario sticks out like a red flag.

Your immune system is vital to prevent many diseases and your overall health, without a strong immunity you are prey to all manner of virus’s, bacteria, chemicals and other insults that your body is exposed to daily. In terms of fitness and performance, a strong immunity will take the handbrakes off, allowing you to use the full power of your motor.

In a later article I’ll show you how to bolster your immune system, here I want to leave you with a simple way to identify whether you are falling into overtraining or immune system overload.

We use four measures, three are simple assessments you can easily do at home, the last test requires the assistance of a Doctor or Medical Lab. The tests follow the acroymn HIBI.

H – Waking (H)eart Rate. This needs to be taken daily and immediately upon waking, whilst still lying in bed. If your waking heart rate is eight beats or more above the previous week’s average then this is a sign that you are overloading your immune system.

I – (I)nsomnia. If you have trouble sleeping, or maintaining a regular sleep pattern, despite feeling tired, then it’s likely you are in immunity overload.

B- (B)odyweight. This needs to be measured daily, preferably in the morning. If you find that your bodyweight has dropped by 3lbs or more below your previous week’s average then it’s a good sign you’re immune system is overloading.

I- (I)mmunity. This requires the performance of a Full Blood Count (FBC). You will either need to ask your Doctor for this test, or, if available to you, you can approach an independent lab. What you are looking for (or not looking for really) is elevated levels of Segmented Neutrophils, Lymphocytes, Monocytes and Eosinophils. If you find these measures elevated in the absence of obvious illness or injury, you are in immune system overload.

Using HIBI or just HIB to detect an overloaded immune system can help you eliminate the possibility of losing weeks and months of training gains due to illness. It may even help you reduce the possibility of developing the big diseases, which make lost training time seem trivial by comparison.

To end, I promised a follow up article to show you ways to strengthen immunity, but in the meantime, if you notice any of the above symptoms, cut back on your training to reduce the imposed stress and get more sleep. Sleep is one of the key players in immunity.

Want Optimum Body Composition Results? You’ve Got To Resistance Train

You may have noticed my preference for resistance training as an exercise modality. With practically every client, resistance training is usually the best method for achieving the majority of goals. This is especially true of physique transformations, the results you can achieve in muscle and body composition will be greater and last longer if you perform progressive resistance training rather than perform endurance training.

If you’ve been reading my work you should already be well aware of this, but it’s nice to have some academic backup to support what we have all known for years.  Some new research coming out of Taiwan found that resistance training is more effective at building long-lasting lean body mass than endurance training. Let’s take a brief look at the study.

Previously untrained individuals performed three training sessions a week, either a periodised resistance training program of ten exercises, or 30 minutes of treadmill running at an intensity of 70-85% of maximal heart rate. The fact that the endurance group (EG) had a greater increase in maximal oxygen uptake (an indicator of cardiovascular capacity), was not really a revelation, but, and here’s what most people fail to appreciate, the resistance training group (RG) also improved (EG by 17 percent, RG by 12 percent). Lean body mass increased 71 percent in the RG and they maintained significantly more muscle after six months of detraining (a period of no training).

As I always say ‘the devil’s in the details’ and to a lay person the way this study is presented in no different. Take for instance that the study suggested the EG increased lean mass by 12 percent after training. So they gained muscle? Nope, the EG actually lost half a kilo of muscle over the six month training period, it only appears that way statistically because they lost fat mass during the period.

Between the two groups only the RG group had gains in strength and hypertrophy with training, and they had a statistically insignificant (but still very real) trend toward reduction in body fat.

After six months of detraining, the EG had lost the training gains with a return to pre-training body weight, body size and cardiovascular fitness. The RG lost its cardiovascular fitness but maintained some strength and lean mass, with higher than baseline values.

While greater cardiovascular gains can be made with endurance training, the benefits for body composition, strength, and overall long-term effects are substantially greater from lifting weights. A good way to increase cardiovascular capacity without compromising your program, is to perform high-intensity interval sprints or circuit training in addition to a resistance training program

Reference:

Lo, M., Lin, L., Yao, W., Ma, M. Training and Detraining Effects of the Resistance Vs. Endurance Program on Body Composition, Body Size and Physical Performance in Young Men.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning. July 2011. Published Ahead of Print.

Lies to Adults

One of the biggest barriers I have when discussing training and nutrition is that of Calories.

In fact, let’s start out differently by laying it on the line. Calories, at least in the common usage, are a myth. This (the Calorie concept) is principally used by the weight-loss industry to keep customers locked in to a vicious cycle that only serves the bottom line; profit.

If you want to achieve any appreciable result with your body, you need to discard the concept almost entirely. Interested? read on.

To understand how the Calorie myth became accepted ‘common knowledge’, we need to quickly take a look at the way it, and other ‘not quite right’ concepts, are perpetuated.

The (common) Calorie concept is what we call a ‘Lie to Children’. ‘Lies to Children’ also go by the name of a ‘Wittgenstein’s Ladder’. A ‘Lie to Children’ is a teaching tool that simplifies a complex concept to make it easier to access and understand. However, as the name ‘Wittgenstein’s Ladder’ implies it is then meant to lead on to another step. The following steps then reveal the ‘lie’ and provide more accurate explanations of the concept(s).

The problem is most people are given a ladder with only one step. Hence ‘Lies to Children’ easily become ‘Lies to Adults’.

So the fact that we are surrounded by adults that (through no fault of their own) believe in this distorted Calorie concept, the continual ignorant usage of Calories in popular media and the food industry, and the deceitful use of it in the weight loss industry, it’s no surprise that we are in this current state of confusion.

To help you see clearly, let’s dig a little deeper. Not too deep though, as it can be a pretty deep hole.

Calories are simply the measure of heat produced by the burning (combustion) of food in a fairly basic piece of equipment called a bomb calorimeter. Now here’s the problem, the instrument cannot distinguish whether a potato is being burnt, or poo. They both give off Calorific measurements, but do you think a poo would nourish as well as a potato? I’m not sure how many WW points a poo is worth? But if the request is made, I’ll work it out.

That’s only the first step. Foods in a bomb calorimeter are burnt. We are neither a bomb calorimeter, nor do we ‘burn’ anything. The human body and the way it processes energy is only vaguely associated with the concept of Calories. This disconnect is most easily demonstrated by hospitalised obese patients who despite being fed a Calorie controlled diet (usually 1,200 Calories per day) continue to gain fat. How is this possible, when common Caloric concept says that it is quite impossible? Well, since the indisputable evidence is clearly in front of your eyes, maybe it’s time you questioned the concept.

If the human body doesn’t burn (combust) fuel, how is it able to derive energy? Well, combustion is fairly crude and inefficient means of liberating stored energy, and Nature, being the mother of efficiency, gave us a much cleaner and effective system. This system is able to harness the amazing boundless force of the Universe; light.

Our body, processes food in a number of steps which eventually, via our mitochondria, extracts the light energy from food and transfers it to a chemical called Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP).

ATP, and the Solar energy it contains, powers your life.

I’m going to curtail this article here, but will show in upcoming articles, how this (essentially) processing of nuclear power can be optimised, or as has happened due to the continual and misapplied emphasis on Calories, go very, very wrong.

Delimiting Diets

I’ve just read a new study looking at the nutritional state of professional football players in the UK. I purposely used the word state, because that word accurately sums up the situation.

The study looked at the dietary practices of 10 players over a 7 day period during the competitive period of the year.

The researchers concluded that the players had excesses in all macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and lipids (fats)) and barring fibre, had adequate intakes in all micronutrients that were included in the analysis. I beg to differ.

Let’s look at a few of the points in a bit more detail.

The authors suggest that to provide energy for competition the players should increase their carbohydrate intake and lower their fat intake to bring their carbohydrate percentage up to 60-70 percent of their total energy intake. This would take their (mean) carbohydrate consumption up from 393 grams up to 421-491 grams per day. If I was working with the average player at this club, I would have set their carbohydrate intake to 387.5g give or take, so as far as overall ‘quantity’ the players seem to be on the money as it stands. Timing and quality of these Carbohydrates are where the issues lay, which I guarantee the players don’t have down.

For the players to be eating this much Carbohydrate and still not be hitting adequate fibre or in my opinion micronutrient intakes suggests that their choices of carbohydrate are somewhat out of whack, more on this in a bit.

Timing of Carbohydrate is a whole other story, that, would take up far to much space here, but again, if they are taking in the amount (which is pretty substantial) of carbohydrate and still not achieving optimal glycogen levels in muscle, then one has to assume they are not getting their timing (and type) of carbohydrate nutrition correct. This may also be indicative again of a micronutrient deficiency, inhibiting the synthesis of glycogen.

Looking at the protein, fat and micronutrient intakes together, it’s obvious to anyone who knows nutrition that these players are getting the majority of there protein intake from red meats. I love red meat, but from a nutritional standpoint it should be a minor item in the diet. Their protein is neither very anabolic/ anti-catabolic and the fatty acid profile steers the body towards lipogenesis (fat accumulation). The total protein is a little low for a sport that is based upon repeated bouts of high intensity efforts.

The micronutrient intake is very telling. As stated with the amount of macronutrients being consumed, the levels of micronutrients should be a lot higher.  I only have space to discuss two, but all, micronutrients reported were equally poor. As an example of the faulty nutrition, the sodium to potassium ratio is significant. The sodium intake of the players is over twice that of the RNI (Reference Nutrient Intake), whereas the Potassium is lower than the RNI. Food in its natural state has a ratio of sodium to potassium of 1:7, processing food reverses this in favour of sodium, resulting in a ratio of 2:1. Looking at the players’ diet, it’s obvious what these sportsmen are living on. I use the term living, I would love to use ‘thriving’, but they are restricting their potential by consciously or unconsciously providing their supercar body with supermarket fuel.

I can’t go into detail about every point, as this short article would turn into a tome. However, I will say this, if the nutritional practices illustrated by this study are indeed a reflection of the entire English Football game, then it’s understandable that we see so much inconsistent, underachieving performances that are prone to breaking under stress. These players have undeniable talent, which we often see in flashes of brilliance, but due to their woefully inadequate nutrition, these brilliant moments are erratic in their frequency.

We do have the talent in this country to be dominant on the world stage, but there are factors present in the current set-up that are not conducive to achieve this potential.

The sports nutrition demonstrated in this study is so far away from the level in many other sports, it’s not only ‘not on the same page’, it’s in another chapter, in another book, written in another language, in another library. I suggest English football starts expanding its reading.

Reference:

RUSSELL, M; PENNOCK, A. DIETARY ANALYSIS OF YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCCER PLAYERS FOR 1 WEEK DURING THE COMPETITIVE SEASON. Department of Sports Studies, Moulton College, Moulton, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom; Swansea City Association Football Club Ltd, Department of Youth Football, Liberty Stadium, Landore, Swansea, United Kingdom

Water Load of Nonsense

I’m sure you saw in the news today, oh boy, that Dr Margaret McCartney GP, has written a piece for the comment section in the British Medical Journal, about the futility of drinking large amounts of water and that the risk and consequences of dehydration are often overstated, amongst other spurious claims. As usual, we have Tweedle-dee on one side saying ‘‘tis’, and Tweedle-dum on the other saying ‘‘tisn’t’. The argument and opinions of both sides are not only confusing to the public, but I feel are confused themselves.

Lets have a look at, in all likelihood, the reason we (Humans) are here, that being simple water.

Every living creature on earth is mostly made of water. The saying ‘dry as a bone’ comes to mind, ‘dry’? not a chance, even your bones are a quarter water. The rest of the tissues that make you, have even higher water contents: Blood 82%; Muscles 70%; Brain 75%. Pretty much all of the chemistry that allows you to ‘be’, requires water to take place. Therefore, the most important substance in your body is water. Pure and simple, um…not quite, but we’ll get to that.

The quality of your bodily tissues, their ability to function and resist or repair damage, is almost entirely dependent on the quality of the water you consume. Quality water, however, is not so easy to find.

In the UK most of us get our drinking water either from the tap or as bottled water, we’ll come back to this in a minute. A minority of people still get their water from a well or a fresh spring, in fact one of my closest friends is very proud of the fact that his tap water is directly fed by the local spring, and he claims is as ‘pure as pure can be’. Not quite.

Although it hasn’t been put through a treatment system that may use aluminium or chloride as agents, this does not necessarily make it ‘pure’. Since well, or spring water, comes either from ground or surface water, the water will pick up whatever is in that geology. This could range from fertilisers and pesticides used on agricultural land, to toxins released by both industrial and urban dumping. You also have to factor in the microbes and parasites that go unseen and live happily in the water supply.

So if we can’t get our water from a well, or a spring, due to the above issues, what are we left with? Well, there’s always tap water.

Tap water is chemically treated to reduce the incidence of bacterial and viral infectious agents being transmitted in public drinking water. However, due to an increased burden on the system by the reasons stated for spring water, plus the aging of the water system itself, South London, will know about this from last week’s draught, the quality of the water isn’t always as high as advertised.

The use of chlorine to treat water isn’t as foolproof as it’s professed. Chlorination is unable to eliminate all of the pathogens present in water. An even bigger issue is that by-products of Chlorine and Chlorine reactions in the water can cause Cancer. Not ideal, I might suggest. There are many more chemicals and reactions that make drinking public water, not the best idea for longevity, so what’s the alternative? Bottled water? Let’s look at that.

Bottled water is a huge business, with the largest manufacturers unsurprising owned by soft drinks companies…but, the question is ‘Is it any better?’. You be the judge.

A lot of bottled water is simply tap water passed through conditioning filters such as charcoal, to remove some of the chlorine and remove some of the taste and odours present in public water. You’ve probably got one of these filters at home yourself, most bottled water companies are simply charging you for the convenience of filling up your jug.

Bottled ‘spring’ water is a different case. If it states that it is spring water, it legally has to be from a spring. However, if it’s part of the brand name, it can be tap water, processed just as the other bottled water above is.

Here’s another problem with bottled water, and it goes a lot deeper, if you follow the rabbit hole. The majority of bottles used in the drinks industry are made of recyclable plastic; the chemicals that make this possible are also known as endocrine disruptors. That is, there are chemicals in the plastic used in the food industry (ready meals, cling film etc) that massively affect the hormonal state in your body. Noticed more moobs around lately? More Overweight people? Coincidence? If there’s interest, I’ll write a larger piece on this, but, you have to let me know.

So, we can’t drink from a natural spring, a well, or from the tap. Bottled water has its own set of additional issues. Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink.

The best source of water is distilled water, which can be bought from a store, or more economically, after the initial outlay is to buy a home distiller and clean your own water. Get in touch if you want any advice on what to buy.

So, now we have clean water, why is it so important to drink it, and how much?

Dehydration is an undesirable state to be in. Although the article suggested that the dangers of dehydration are overstated, I feel the Doctor has failed to understand the biochemistry. If a cell in your body, be it from your muscles or your brain or any other part is dehydrated it undergoes a number of changes that induce a process known as apoptosis. Apoptosis is a programmed mechanism of cellular death. Again, I suggest, not a desirable state to be in. The body tries to limit dehydration, by reducing your ability to perform work or function, to conserve water supplies. If you dehydrate a muscle by only 3%, it’s ability to display strength decreases by 10% and speed by 8%.

The doctor also highlighted the fallacy of the ‘eight glasses a day’ recommendation. On this note the Doctor was spot-on, there has never been an official study that recommended this amount, it was one of those things that were repeated so often it become entrenched in our psyche.

So how much water do we need to be drinking, to stay hydrated and optimise function and performance?

A typical 75kg person contains about 5 litres of water, which needs to be replaced once every 5-7 days. This works out to just under a litre per day or 66ml per kg per day. If the person is lightly exercising, they will lose about 2 litres of water, in breath, sweat and urine; this also needs to be replaced. Heavy exercise may lose up to 7 litres. Even if you do not exercise, you will still have losses of around 0.5-1 litre per day.

So for our 75kg example, on a non-exercise day they would need to consume about 1.5 litres to stay hydrated. And if lightly exercising, probably 2.5 litres.

Also remember that your food and other beverages will contribute to the pool of water, both during digestion and metabolism, so this may reduce your water needs. And please do not rely on thirst as a measure of hydration, by the time your thirst response has kicked in, you are already dehydrated.

I also have an old article I wrote about a decade ago on using water to lose fat, if there’s interest, I’ll dig it out and post it.

Sleep like a Log

‘Sleep is the best meditation.’ ~ Dalai Lama

If you are to achieve any appreciable level of health, fitness or performance, you need to focus upon three interconnecting areas. These are: nutrition, training and the most overlooked component; sleep.

To help you get a better night sleep, here is a great method and the best part, it’s free.

One of the best ways to tip the balance in favour of having a good-nights sleep is to fill out a ‘Thankful Diary’. All you need is a pad and a pen. Although you can do this on a computer or smart phone, it’s more beneficial (neurologically speaking) to use a pen and paper. Use a pad and ink that are pleasing to you, this will be different for all individuals, but it helps personalise the process.

Keep the diary by your bed, and once you’ve completed your pre-bed routine, take your diary and try to write down 10 things that you are grateful that day. These could be obvious situations of pleasant events, but as the saying ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ reminds us, even negative events can be positive, if you perceive them in the right way. Don’t worry if you can’t think of 10 things, just jot down as many as you can.

To help you focus, you can base your diary around 3 questions:-

What good to other people did you do today?
 
What good did other people do to me today?
 
What did I learn today?

Once completed, turn off your light, feel content, and enjoy a peaceful rest.

Combating Brain Damage in Fighters

One major issue in contact sports, especially in combat sports, is the potential for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Around 10-20% of Professional Boxers have verifiable brain damage, and many more Professional and Amateur fighters would expand this percentage, however, they often go undiagnosed.

If you are involved in combat sports, or you work with combative athletes, you can safely assume that as your/ their career progresses, so will the degree of brain damage. This would also be relevant for contact sportspeople such as Rugby players etc.

A study came out last year that may help to protect ourselves if involved in the aforementioned sports.

The study looked at the effect of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) on the presence of Beta-Amyloid Precursor Protein (a marker of nerve cell damage) after an impact acceleration injury, similar to what would occur in combat sports.

The researchers used two dosing schedules of either 10mg/kg/day, or 40/mg/day of DHA for 30 days following a traumatic impact event. The 10mg/kg/day group developed 82% less damage than the un-supplemented group. The 40mg/kg/day group fared even better and reduced their level of damage by 87%.

DHA is one of the main fatty acids in fish oil (Omega 3), usually present in the amount of 120mg per 1000mg of total oil. So for a 75kg individual to replicate the schedule, they would need to take 6 x 1000mg (6 grams) Omega 3 per day. To replicate the higher dosing would require 25 x 1000mg (25 grams) Omega 3 per day.

For many reasons, this level of supplementation should be a mainstay in your diet. But for people involved in combat sports, it could be a real godsend.

Reference:

Bailes JE, Mills JD. Docosahexaenoic acid reduces traumatic axonal injury in a rodent head injury model. J Neurotrauma. 2010 Sep;27(9):1617-24.