Which probiotic do i choose?

Photo by Daily Nouri on Unsplash

There is a giant — and ever expanding — world of probiotics out there to choose from. The following is a a short list from the book The Psychobiotic Revolution along with some of their benefits.

Also for the lazy, I have included a quick start reference for your next trip to Whole Foods!

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Quick Start Reference

Anxiety
Probio’Stick, L. helveticus, L. plantarum, B. breve, B. longum

Depression
B. bifidum, B. breve, B. longum + L. helveticus, L. acidophilus, L. brevis, L. casei, L. delbrueckii, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius, L. lactis, S. thermophilus

IBS
B. bifidum, B. infantis, B. animalis, B. lactis, L. plantarum, Mutaflor

Ulcerative colitis
F. prausnitzii, B. breve + galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS), VSL#3, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri ATCC 55730, L. delbrueckii + L. fermentum, Mutaflor

Crohn’s disease
S. boulardii, Mutaflor

Diarrhea
B. bifidum, B. infantis, B. longum, L. rhamnosus, S. thermophilus

Antibiotic-induced diarrhea
B. lactis, S. boulardii, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, L. casei

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Bifidobacterium longum (R0175 & 1714) or Bifidobacterium infantis (35624)

B. longum inhibits pathogens in the large intestine, reducing inflammation and helping to prevent diarrhea. It also helps mitigate lactose intolerance and food allergies. Some research has shown that it can lower cholesterol and can act as an antioxidant. Via the neuroendocrine system and the vagus nerve, B. longum reduces anxiety and cortisol levels.3 Through its effects on hippocampal growth factors, it can reduce depression as well. It can also improve cognition, and so might be useful for healthy people who want to improve performance.4 Under stress, it can improve your coping skills. It has been tested on humans5 and the results track those found in mice and rats.

• In a clinical study, we tested whether psychobiotic consumption could affect the stress response and cognition in healthy volunteers. Our results indicate that consumption of B. longum 1714 reduces the perception of stress, reduces morning cortisol levels, and improves memory.6

• B. longum boosts the amount of available tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin, which can have an antidepressant effect. This is the same neurotransmitter involved with SSRIs. B. longum is now considered to be technically the same as B. infantis, and the strain numbered 35624 is known to be a potent anti-inflammatory. You may see it listed as either longum or infantis on an ingredient list.7 Along with L. helveticus, it is naturally found in yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut.

Bifidobacterium breve (1205)

B. breve has shown results similar to B. longum, but with slight differences. It seems to have a greater influence on anxiety than depression.8 It prevents the growth of E. coli, as well as Candida albicans, the fungus behind yeast infections. Its strong antipathogen effect may explain why it helps in the fight against diarrhea, IBS, and allergies. It improves gut health in both premature babies9 and those born by cesarean delivery,10 often with a lifelong impact. In addition, B. breve has long been known to alleviate problems associated with antibiotics.11

• In our laboratory, we found that both B. longum and B. breve helped to lower anxiety in a mouse bred to be anxious. Whereas B. longum acted as an antidepressant, B. breve lowered anxiety. Both species compared well against the antidepressant escitalopram (marketed as Lexapro or Cipralex) to reduce anxiety and depression. In our lab B. longum reduces perception of stress and morning cortisol levels in healthy volunteers.

• These results also suggest that each bacterial strain has intrinsic effects and may be beneficially specific for a given disorder. These findings strengthen the role of gut microbiota supplementation as psychobiotic-based strategies for stress-related brain-gut axis disorders.12

Bifidobacterium animalis (DN 173 010, BB-12, Bi-07) or Bifidobacterium animalis lactis (HN019, DR10)

B. animalis, another member of the Bifido genera that includes the subspecies B. animalis lactis, has proven a benefit to people with ulcerative colitis.13 It has been shown to improve both constipation and diarrhea associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).14 B. animalis is friendly with other psychobiotics, including various Bifido and Lacto species. It causes their numbers to increase, giving you extra bang for the buck.15 B. lactis has been shown to improve mood when used in combination with L. bulgaricus, S. thermophilus, and L. lactis.16

Bifidobacterium bifidum

If you were born vaginally, B. bifidum will be one of your oldest bacterial friends. Newborns typically pick it up as they pass through the birth canal. It competes with pathogens including E. coli and yeasts such as Candida and helps prevent diarrhea. B. bifidum in combination with L. acidophilus and L. casei (in capsule form) for eight weeks has been shown to help people with major depressive disorder.17

Lactobacillus acidophilus (ATCC 4356)

L. acidophilus is the most popular bacteria in probiotic and psychobiotic formulations. It has a long history of safety and is found in fermented foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, and kefir. It helps to prevent diarrhea and is useful in treating small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). It not only lowers inflammation but also increases opioid and cannabinoid receptors, acting as an analgesic and mitigating gut pain.18

L. acidophilus is a potent fighter against Campylobacter jejuni, a pathogen that causes gastroenteritis and anxiety. L. acidophilus outcompetes jejuni and prevents it from sticking to and infecting the cells lining your gut.19 This antipathogenic behavior is a major contributor to its antianxiety effect.

Lactobacillus delbrueckii (bulgaricus) or Lactobacillus helveticus (R0052 & NS8)

L. bulgaricus is found in yogurt and kefir and is often found with other Lacto and Bifido species in these products. It has been shown to improve mood when used in a mix with other milk fermenters. Because it ferments lactose, it can help with lactose intolerance. Human studies have shown it to improve immune function and to moderate the response to emotional stimuli. Recently, L. delbrueckii has been reclassified as L. helveticus.

L. helveticus is a popular addition to cheese cultures, as it inhibits bitter flavors. It has been shown to reduce blood pressure as well as depression and anxiety. Recent studies report that increasing the level of Lacto in the gut lowers the blood pressure of people with hypertension.20 Its main mode of action is to lower inflammation and enhance serotonin signaling. In animal models of liver disease, L. helveticus helps prevent anxiety and cognitive impairment.21 Studies have shown that L. helveticus can mitigate the inflammation and anxiety involved with eating a Western diet.22 Although most of these studies have been done in mice, human studies have shown that L. helveticus enhances nutrient absorption, removes allergens, and fights pathogens.23 Its use in cheesemaking ensures that it is safe for human consumption.

Lactobacillus rhamnosus (IMC 501, JB-1, GG)

L. rhamnosus has been found to be useful for treating peanut allergies, diarrhea, dermatitis, and obesity. It has been shown in animal studies to reduce both depression and anxiety, possibly by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter GABA. The effects depend on the vagus nerve, and if it is severed, the effects disappear.24 L. rhamnosus can alleviate obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in mice. It lowers levels of corticosteroids, which reduces levels of stress, and it produces short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, that both feed and heal the gut. Butyrate can also penetrate the BBB, where it acts as an antidepressant.

• In laboratory testing it was shown that regular treatment with L. rhamnosus induced region-dependent alterations in GABA throughout the brain in comparison with controls. Alterations in GABA expression are implicated in the “pathogenesis of anxiety and depression, which are highly comorbid with functional bowel disorders.

• Importantly, L. rhamnosus reduced stress-induced corticosterone and anxiety- and depression-related behavior. Moreover, the neurochemical and behavioral effects were not found when the vagus was severed, identifying the vagus as a major modulatory communication pathway between the gut bacteria and the brain.25

L. rhamnosus is found in yogurt, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, kefir, fermented sausage, and fermented soy cheese. Note: Use caution with this psychobiotic if you have an impaired immune system, such as what accompanies HIV or lupus, as it could trigger sepsis.

L. rhamnosus GG (LGG) is contained in products, including Culturelle, Nutramigen, LGG, and others. It is one of the best studied strains of L. rhamnosus and has been shown to be effective in treating IBS,26 a disease associated with depression and anxiety. However, in tests with healthy volunteers, it was not shown to reduce stress or improve cognitive performance.27

Lactobacillus reuteri

L. reuteri is one of the most ubiquitous species of gut bacteria, present across a wide spectrum of animals and always with a positive effect on health. In mice, it has been found to correct problems in pups born to mothers on a high-fat diet, including problems socializing.28

L. reuteri produces antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, and protozoans, making it a potent probiotic and an anti-inflammatory. It colonizes in the gut quickly. It improves skin tone, along with reproductive fitness, lowers inflammation, and increases oxytocin levels in both mice and humans.29 It increases levels of leptin (the satiety hormone) and decreases levels of ghrelin (the hunger hormone), potentially decreasing your caloric intake.

L. reuteri has been shown to reduce visceral pain, which can reduce pain-related anxiety. Interestingly, this deadening effect is similar whether the L. reuteri is killed or alive.30 L. reuteri can also lower levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and inflammation, helping to prevent heart disease.31

Lactobacillus plantarum (299v, PS128)

L. plantarum is found in many fermented foods, including pickles, kimchi, brined olives, and sauerkraut—all great ways to consume this psychobiotic. It has been shown in humans to attenuate soy allergies and reduce inflammation. In animal studies it has been shown to enhance memory, even reducing age-related memory loss.32 Some popular products for bowel support contain only this species of bacteria.

L. plantarum strain PS128 competes with Clostridia and Enterococcus species, so it not only boosts Bifido levels, it also knocks down those potential pathogens.33 L. plantarum inhibits inflammation and has been shown to reduce gut pain in patients with IBS.34

Lactobacillus casei (Shirota, DN-114001, Immunita)

L. casei, like other Lacto species, is used in cheese- and yogurt-making and enjoys the company of L. acidophilus. It has been found to be useful in preventing antibiotic-induced diarrhea and C. diff infections, both of which are strongly associated with anxiety. When patients are on antibiotics, many doctors today will prescribe yogurt to help mitigate the inevitable damage of these drugs on the microbiota, and it’s thanks to the L. casei in the yogurt that it has beneficial effects. Studies in humans with depression showed an improvement in mood after 10 days of consuming yogurt containing L. casei.35

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome had less anxiety and better gut health after eating L. casei.36 Interestingly, L. casei caused numbers of Bifido to increase, which likely contributed to the effect—an example of how many of the psychobiotics listed here can work as a team.

Lactobacillus paracasei (IMC 502)

L. paracasei is commonly found in fermented milk products and is common in probiotic mixes. It has been shown to lower levels of pain and intestinal distress caused by antibiotics and is a good adjunct when taking those drugs. In combination with L. rhamnosus, it has been shown to minimize the oxidative stress associated with intense physical activity.37 L. paracasei has also been shown to reduce the liver damage resulting from chronic alcohol consumption.38

Streptococcus thermophilus

S. thermophilus may not sound like a psychobiotic—after all, strep throat is caused by its cousin, S. pyogenes—but this species is a good gut citizen and has been used in fermented foods for centuries. S. thermophilus is a bacteria found in yogurt and kefir, and is often a fellow traveler with L. delbrueckii. They are synergistic: The S. thermophilus provides folic acid to Lactobacillus bulgaricus, thus improving the numbers of that psychobiotic. Women who consumed S. thermophilus in a yogurt formula showed less response to negative emotional stimulation, which is used as a rough determinant of anxiety.

Saccharomyces boulardii

Saccharomyces boulardii is the only psychobiotic on this list that isn’t a bacterium. It is instead a yeast and as such is not recommended for anyone with a compromised immune system or sensitivity to yeast. For others, however, this fungus has a long history of treating diarrhea. Given with antibiotics, it helps to reduce the chances of C. diff infection. Some studies have shown it to be effective with IBS and its attendant anxiety. It has also been shown to be effective in treating the two manifestations of IBD: ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s.39

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References:

3. Premysl Bercik, Elena F. Verdu, Jane A. Foster, Joseph Macri, Murray Potter, Xiaxing Huang, Paul Malinowski, et al., “Chronic Gastrointestinal Inflammation Induces Anxiety-Like Behavior and Alters Central Nervous System Biochemistry in Mice,” Gastroenterology 139, no. 6 (December 2010): 2102–12.e1, doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2010.06.063

4. H. M. Savignac, M. Tramullas, B. Kiely, T. G. Dinan, and J. F. Cryan., “Bifidobacteria Modulate Cognitive Processes in an Anxious Mouse Strain,” Behavioural Brain Research 287 (2015): 59–72, doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2015.02.044.

5. Michaël Messaoudi, Robert Lalonde, Nicolas Violle, Hervé Javelot, Didier Desor, Amine Nejdi, Jean-François Bisson, et al., “Assessment of Psychotropic-Like Properties of a Probiotic Formulation (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) in Rats and Human Subjects,” British Journal of Nutrition 105, no. 5 (March 2011): 755–64, doi:10.1017/S0007114510004319.

6. A. P. Allen, W. Hutch, Y. E. Borre, P. J. Kennedy, A. Temko, G. Boylan, E. Murphy, J. F. Cryan, T. G. Dinan, and G. Clarke. “Bifidobacterium longum 1714 as a Translational Psychobiotic: Modulation of Stress, Electrophysiology and Neurocognition in Healthy Volunteers,” Translational Psychiatry 6, no. 11 (November 1, 2016): e939, doi:10.1038/tp.2016.191.

7. “Friedrich Altmann, Paul Kosma, Amy O’Callaghan, Sinead Leahy, Francesca Bottacini, Evelyn Molloy, Stephan Plattner, et al., “Genome Analysis and Characterisation of the Exopolysaccharide Produced by Bifidobacterium longum Subsp. longum 35624TM,” PLOS ONE 11, no. 9 (September 22, 2016): e0162983, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0162983.

8. H. M. Savignac, B. Kiely, T. G. Dinan, and J. F. Cryan, “Bifidobacteria Exert Strain-Specific Effects on Stress-Related Behavior and Physiology in BALB/c Mice,” Neuro­gastroe­nterology and Motility: The Official Journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society 26, no. 11 (November 2014): 1615–27, doi:10.1111/nmo.12427.

9. Yudong Li, Toshiaki Shimizu, Atsuto Hosaka, Noritsugu Kaneko, Yoshikazu Ohtsuka, and Yuichiro Yamashiro, “Effects of Bifidobacterium breve Supplementation on Intestinal Flora of Low Birth Weight Infants,” Pediatrics International: Official Journal of the Japan Pediatric Society 46, no. 5 (October 2004): 509–15, doi:10.1111/j.1442-200x.2004.01953.x.

10. Jian-jun Ren, Zhao Yu, Feng-Ling Yang, Dan Lv, Shi Hung, Jie Zhang, Ping Lin, Shi-Xi Liu, Nan Zhang, and Claus Bachert, “Effects of Bifidobacterium breve Feeding Strategy and Delivery Modes on Experimental Allergic Rhinitis Mice,” PloS One 10, no. 10 (2015): e0140018, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140018.

11. R. Fuller, “Probiotics in Human Medicine,” Gut 32, no. 4 (April 1991): 439–42.

12. “H. M. Savignac, B. Kiely, T. G. Dinan, and J. F. Cryan, “Bifidobacteria Exert Strain-Specific Effects on Stress-Related Behavior and Physiology in BALB/c Mice,” Neurog­astroen­terology and Motility: The Official Journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society 26, no. 11 (November 2014): 1615–27, doi:10.1111/nmo.12427.

13. Yezaz A. Ghouri, David M Richards, Erik F Rahimi, Joseph T Krill, Katherine A Jelinek, and Andrew W DuPont, “Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Synbiotics in Inflammatory Bowel Disease,” Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology 7 (December 9, 2014): 473–87, doi:10.2147/CEG.S27530.

14. D. Guyonnet, O. Chassany, P. Ducrotte, C. Picard, M. Mouret, C. H. Mercier, and C. Matuchansky, “Effect of a Fermented Milk Containing Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010 on the Health-Related Quality of Life and Symptoms in Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Adults in Primary Care: A Multicentre, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Trial,” Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 26, no. 3 (August 1, 2007): 475–86, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03362.x.

15. M. Ahmed, J. Prasad, H. Gill, L. Stevenson, and P. Gopal, “Impact of Consumption of Different Levels of Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 on the Intestinal Microflora of Elderly Human Subjects,” Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging 11, no. 1 (February 2007): 26–31.

16. Ryan Rieder, Paul J. Wisniewski, Brandon L. Alderman, and Sara C. Campbell, “Microbes and Mental Health: A Review,” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (January 25, 2017), doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2017.01.016.

17. “Ghodarz Akkasheh, Zahra Kashani-Poor, Maryam Tajabadi-Ebrahimi, Parvaneh Jafari, Hossein Akbari, Mohsen Taghizadeh, Mohammad Reza Memarzadeh, Zatollah Asemi, and Ahmad Esmaillzadeh, “Clinical and Metabolic Response to Probiotic Administration in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial,” Nutrition 32, no. 3 (March 2016): 315–20, doi:10.1016/j.nut.2015.09.003.

18. Christel Rousseaux, Xavier Thuru, Agathe Gelot, Nicolas Barnich, Christel Neut, Laurent Dubuquoy, Caroline Dubuquoy, et al., “Lactobacillus acidophilus Modulates Intestinal Pain and Induces Opioid and Cannabinoid Receptors,” Nature Medicine 13, no. 1 (January 2007): 35–37, doi:10.1038/nm1521.

19. Raffaella Campana, Sara Federici, Eleonora Ciandrini, and Wally Baffone, “Antagonistic Activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 on the Growth and Adhesion/Invasion Characteristics of Human Campylobacter jejuni,” Current Microbiology 64, no. 4 (April 2012): 371–78, doi:10.1007/s00284-012-0080-0.

20. Pedro A. Jose and Dominic Raj, “Gut Microbiota in Hypertension,” Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension 24, no. 5 (September 2015): 403–09, doi:10.1097/MNH.0000000000000149.

21. Jia Luo, Tao Wang, Shan Liang, Xu Hu, Wei Li, and Feng Jin, “Ingestion of Lactobacillus Strain Reduces Anxiety and Improves Cognitive Function in the Hyperammonemia Rat,” Science China Life Sciences 57, no. 3 (March 2014): 327–35, doi:10.1007/s11427-014-4615-4.

22. Christina L. Ohland, Lisa Kish, Haley Bell, Aducio Thiesen, Naomi Hotte, Evelina Pankiv, and Karen L. Madsen. “Effects of Lactobacillus helveticus on Murine Behavior Are Dependent on Diet and Genotype and Correlate With Alterations in the Gut Microbiome,” Psychon­euroendo­crinology 38, no. 9 (September 2013): 1738–47, doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.008.

23. Valentina Taverniti and Simone Guglielmetti, “Health-Promoting Properties of Lactobacillus helveticus,” Frontiers in Microbiology 3 (2012): 392, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2012.00392.

24. Javier A. Bravo, Paul Forsythe, Marianne V. Chew, Emily Escaravage, Hélène M. Savignac, Timothy G. Dinan, John Bienenstock, and John F. Cryan, “Ingestion of Lactobacillus Strain Regulates Emotional Behavior and Central GABA Receptor Expression in a Mouse via the Vagus Nerve,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, no. 38 (September 20, 2011): 16050–55, doi:10.1073/pnas.1102999108.

25. Ibid.

26. Natalia Pedersen, Nynne Nyboe Andersen, Zsuzsanna Végh, Lisbeth Jensen, Dorit Vedel Ankersen, Maria Felding, Mette Hestetun Simonsen, Johan Burisch, and Pia Munkholm. “Ehealth: Low FODMAP Diet vs Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” World Journal of Gastroenterology 20, no. 43 (November 21, 2014): 16215, doi:10.3748/wjg.v20.i43.16215.

27. John R. Kelly, Andrew P. Allen, Andriy Temko, William Hutch, Paul J. Kennedy, Niloufar Farid, Eileen Murphy, et al., “Lost in Translation? The Potential Psychobiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus (JB-1) Fails to Modulate Stress or Cognitive Performance in Healthy Male Subjects,” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 61 (March 2017): 50–59, doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.11.018.

28. Shelly A. Buffington, Gonzalo Viana Di Prisco, Thomas A. Auchtung, Nadim J. Ajami, Joseph F. Petrosino, and Mauro Costa-Mattioli, “Microbial Reconstitution Reverses Maternal Diet-Induced Social and Synaptic Deficits in Offspring,” Cell 165, no. 7 (June 16, 2016): 1762–75, doi:10.1016/j.cell.2016.06.001.

29. S. E. Erdman and T. Poutahidis, “Probiotic ‘Glow of Health’: It’s More Than Skin Deep,” Beneficial Microbes 5, no. 2 (June 1, 2014): 109–19, doi:10.3920/BM2013.0042; Bernard J. Varian, Theofilos Poutahidis, Brett T. DiBenedictis, Tatiana Levkovich, Yassin Ibrahim, Eliska Didyk, Lana Shikhman, et al., “Microbial Lysate Upregulates Host Oxytocin,” Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 61 (March 2017): 36–49, doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.11.002.

30. T. Kamiya, L. Wang, P. Forsythe, G. Goettsche, Y. Mao, Y. Wang, G. Tougas, and J. Bienenstock. “Inhibitory Effects of Lactobacillus reuteri on Visceral Pain Induced by Colorectal Distension in Sprague-Dawley Rats,” Gut 55, no. 2 (February 2006): 191–96, doi:10.1136/gut.2005.070987.

31. Douglas B. DiRienzo, “Effect of Probiotics on Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Disease: Implications for Heart-Healthy Diets,” Nutrition Reviews 72, no. 1 (January 2014): 18–29, doi:10.1111/nure.12084.

32. J. J. Jeong, J. Y. Woo, K. A. Kim, M. J. Han, and D. H. Kim, “Lactobacillus pentosus Var. plantarum C29 Ameliorates Age-Dependent Memory Impairment in Fischer 344 Rats,” Letters in Applied Microbiology 60, no. 4 (April 2015): 307–14, doi:10.1111/lam.12393.

33. Kamini Ramiah, Carol A. van Reenen, and Leon M. T. Dicks, “Surface-Bound Proteins of Lactobacillus plantarum 423 That Contribute to Adhesion of Caco-2 Cells and Their Role in Competitive Exclusion and Displacement of Clostridium sporogenes and Enterococcus faecalis,” Research in Microbiology 159, no. 6 (July 2008): 470–75, doi:10.1016/j.resmic.2008.06.002.

34. K. Niedzielin, H. Kordecki, and B. Birkenfeld, “A Controlled, Double-Blind, Randomized Study on the Efficacy of Lactobacillus plantarum 299V in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” European Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 13, no. 10 (October 2001): 1143–47.

35. D. Benton, C. Williams, and A. Brown, “Impact of Consuming a Milk Drink Containing a Probiotic on Mood and Cognition,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61, no. 3 (March 2007): 355–61, doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602546.

36. A. Venket Rao, Alison C. Bested, Tracey M. Beaulne, Martin A. Katzman, Christina Iorio, John M. Berardi, and Alan C. Logan, “A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of a Probiotic in Emotional Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” Gut Pathogens 1, no. 1 (March 19, 2009): 6, doi:10.1186/1757-4749-1-6

37. “Alison C. Bested, Alan C. Logan, and Eva M. Selhub, “Intestinal Microbiota, Probiotics and Mental Health: From Metchnikoff to Modern Advances: Part III—Convergence Toward Clinical Trials,” Gut Pathogens 5 (March 16, 2013): 4, doi:10.1186/1757-4749-5-4.

38. Noriko Komatsuzaki and Jun Shima, “Effects of Live Lactobacillus paracasei on Plasma Lipid Concentration in Rats Fed an Ethanol-Containing Diet,” Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 76, no. 2 (2012): 232–37, doi:10.1271/bbb.110390.

39. L. V. McFarland and P. Bernasconi, “Saccharomyces boulardii. A Review of an Innovative Biotherapeutic Agent,” Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease 6, no. 4 (January 1, 1993): 157–71, doi:10.3109/08910609309141323; Mario Guslandi, Gianni Mezzi, Massimo Sorghi, and Pier Alberto Testoni, “Saccharomyces boulardii in Maintenance Treatment of Crohn’s Disease,” Digestive Diseases and Sciences 45, no. 7 (July 1, 2000): 1462–64, doi:10.1023/A:1005588911207.

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Ballin' on a Budget? Here's the best bang for your buck

Marty Kendall over at OptimisingNutrition.com put a bunch of data together to show you how to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to shopping for the most nutritious foods!

Cost vs maximum nutrient density

As a starting point, the picture above shows cost vs nutrient density.  As a general rule, foods that are more nutritious tend to be more expensive.  But if funds are tight, you can get a better nutritional bang for your buck by focusing on foods towards the top by keeping to the left. 

Some quick tips for interpreting the charts:

• Foods towards the top are more nutritious.  

• Foods towards the left are cheaper.

• Foods towards the right are more expensive (on a calorie for calorie basis).  For example, it would cost you more than $100 per day to live on 2000 calories of fresh blueberries or asparagus.  However, it might only cost you $1 per day to live on vegetable oil, sugar and oatmeal.  

• Foods towards the bottom left of the chart (e.g. fats, oils, flour and sugar) are cheap but are nutritionally very poor.  While we don’t eat these foods by themselves, they often end up as ingredients for high profit margin processed foods.  

• The foods towards the bottom right are not a good investment in terms of either nutrient density or cost.  

If you want to look at more popular foods check out the Tableau chart here (you’ll need to be on a computer with a screen not a phone for this, sorry). 

If you’re super eager and want to check out ALL the data for all the foods that we have collected price and nutrient data you can check it out here.   

Improving Pressing Strength

Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

Few other exercises share the same level of popularity as the bench press, yet the majority of the time a proper diagnosis is necessary to keep improving the poundages.

The following is based on Charles Poliquin’s structural balance teachings .

Monday is international Bench Press day and thousands of meatheads pour into the gym to get their fix. Yet, despite its popularity, it continues to carry a reputation as being responsible for a number of pec tears and shoulder injuries.

However, whether you’re a bodybuilder, an athlete, or a weekend warrior who just wants to look better naked, the bench press can part in your routine. The focus of this article is to help you find your best assistance exercise to boost your performance in the bench press.

First, You Must Find the Weak Muscles

Louie Simmons, of Westside Barbell, along with Charles share an idea that sticking points in large compound lifts are due to one or more weak muscles in the chain that makes up that lift. If you want to get better at any give exercise and lift more? You must find the weak muscle first, then strengthen it using a few choice assistance exercises that recruit the most motor units.

To be fair, this knowledge is more applicable to the advanced lifter/athlete. For instance, if you only bench press at least 1½ times their body weight. You aren’t going to find a lot of value in the following information.

Let’s look at the most common pressing styles and their sticking points…

Pressing Style	Sticking Point	Target Muscle
Close Grip/Wide Grip	Start/Mid-Range	Serratus Anterior
Both	Start	Anterior Deltoid
Wide Grip	Start	Pectoralis Major, Clavicular portion; Subcapularis
Close Grip	Start	Pectoralis Major, Sternal portion
Wide Grip	Mid Range	Biceps Brachii, Long Head Coracobrachialis
Both	Lockout	Triceps

Target the Weak Link With the Right Exercises

The next step is to choose what exercises will be right for your unique issue. Don’t be a Chihuahua who does an exercise just for the fun or the change of pace. Real gains come from purposeful application of exercise selection. Now is the time for serious lifting with exercises that will recruit the largest motor unit pools possible to increase strength in the right muscles.

Have a look at table 2 to determine which exercises are right for you.

Target Muscle	Assistance Exercises
Serratus Anterior	Incline Front Cable Raises Front Cable Raises
Anterior Deltoid	Seated Press Behind the Neck Seated DB Press, Semi-Supinated Grip Seated Military Press
Pectoralis Major, Clavicular portion; Subscapularis	Wide-Grip Bench Press to Collarbone Bent-Arm Flys Flat Crossovers Partial Bench Press (Bottom Range) Functional Isometrics Incline Press Flat DB Press, Pronated Grip
Pectoralis Major, Sternal portion	Parallel Bar Dips Decline Press Decline Flys (Cables or DBs) Functional Isometrics Flat DB Press, Semi-Supinated Grip
Biceps Brachii, Long Head	Barbell Curls Incline Curls Standing Cable Curls w/ Elbows behind the body. Any type of curlswhere the upper arms are in line with the torso or behind it.
Triceps	Triceps Extensions to Neck Parallel Bar Dips Skull Crushers Lockouts in the Rack Close-Grip Bench Press Reverse Grip Bench Press Board Presses

Putting it Together

One thing that makes a major different in gaining strength or overcoming plateaus is knowing how to prioritize the exercises in a workout to make it more efficient at reaching a given goal. In this case, always start with the pressing exercise, and then do serratus/anterior delt work, followed by triceps and finally biceps. This will ensure that your nervous system is able to recruit the most motor units in each muscle group so you will get the most bang for your training buck.

How to win while drinking

Photo by Yutacar on Unsplash

Let’s face it, we know alcohol isn’t good for us but at the same time no one is going to completely cut it out of our lives because at some point we enjoy what it does for us. To counteract the negative effects of drinking in excess check out the following steps to lessen the toxic burden your next night on the town might have:

BEFORE YOUR NIGHT OUT

Eat a light meal. You want some food in your stomach to slow the absorption of the alcohol, but not so much food that you’re overloaded with calories from both the meal and the booze. If not, you risk flooding your body with too much ethanol too fast, and the subsequent conversion into acetaldehyde can overwhelm your antioxidant defenses. Preferably, the meal should include plenty of polyphenol-rich plants and spices, including turmeric powder, ginger, berries, and beets, since anything pungent or colorful is fantastic for alcohol metabolism, as well as quality protein. Adding in a spoonful each of extra-virgin avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil, and red palm oil will provide the polyphenols and vitamin E that can protect against alcohol-induced oxidative stress, and the monounsaturated and saturated fats in all three protect the liver.

The easiest example of a light meal is a “meat salad”, think mixed greens with your choice of lean protein topped with beets, nuts or seeds, herbs like turmeric or ginger, sprinkle in your olive/avocado/red palm oil and enjoy. A light desert can be a square or two of dark chocolate (not only does the cocoa fat in chocolate protect against ethanol-induced liver damage, but the cocoa polyphenols can increase your antioxidant capacity) or a handful of berries. Make sure to salt the meal with a good mineral-rich salt, such as Redmon’s Real Salt. Another, and perhaps better tasting way to get the benefits of polyphenols without the plant matter is to add a scoop or 2 of Nutridyn’s Fruits & Greens to mineral water and sip on before your party bus arrives.

Take 500 to 600 mg of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and 1 g of vitamin C. NAC is a precursor to glutathione, the antioxidant responsible for metabolizing alcohol. Hospitals give NAC megadoses to treat Tylenol-based and alcohol-based liver poisoning. Vitamin C helps NAC supply glutathione, an essential antioxidant.

Take 300 to 400 mg of magnesium. Alcohol depletes magnesium and can also cause constipation, and this helps with both. You may want to save this tactic for after the party if you find the magnesium gives you loose stool, which is common, or use a time-release magnesium formula such as Jigsaw MagSRT.

Mix a few spoonfuls of collagen powder into a smoothie or drink of your choice (such as green tea—see below) or drink a cup of organic bone broth. The glycine in collagen and gelatin reduces lipid peroxidation and antioxidant depletion in the liver. Adding vitamin C with a supplement or a squeeze of lemon can increase glycine absorption.

AT THE PARTY

Drink only the highest-quality alcohol available and avoid high-fructose corn syrup, added sugars, and other nasty ingredients. A few good choices are gin or vodka mixed into sparkling water with bitters or a splash of fresh juice; organic or biodynamic wine; or a noncaloric soda such as Zevia mixed with wine and ice for a sparkling cooler. Unless you are drinking the super-fancy, expensive stuff, dilute wine and other spirits with sparkling mineral water to improve hydration. If people ask why you’re ruining the wine with water, inform them that you are making yourself a fancy French sparkler. Add a pinch of salt or one effervescent electrolyte tablet to each glass of water you consume (ideally from a glass bottle, such as Pellegrino or Gerolsteiner).

BEFORE BED

Be sure to get some electrolyte’s in. Mix 1 scoop of your favorite Electrolyte mix (be sure to pick one without added sugars like Dynamic Hydrate) into mineral water, add additional salt to taste. Drink this 30-45 minutes before bed to give yourself enough time to pee before you fall asleep. You can also include up to 1500 mg of any vitamin C supplement with this water..

Consume another 200 mg of magnesium, or a full 400 to 600 mg if you haven’t taken any magnesium yet.

Take four capsules of activated charcoal to sop up any toxins in the gut. Contrary to popular belief, charcoal does not absorb alcohol, but it does absorb toxins, so this step is only truly necessary if you’re unsure of the purity of the compounds you’ve been consuming, or if you have gas and bloating from excess sugars or strange party foods.

Take 3 to 10 mg of melatonin. Alcohol reduces melatonin secretion, which can contribute to annoying early awakenings when all you want to do is sleep in.

IN THE MORNING 

• Drink the same pre-bed drink from the night before, and/or consume a scoop of Fruit’s and Green’s.

• Take two more capsules of activated charcoal and another cap of vitamin C.

• Consume a fatty/protein breakfast that includes eggs so that you can get the benefits of choline..

• Exercise lightly (e.g., take a walk in the sunshine) or sit in a sauna. Do anything that gets you sweating (infrared sauna therapy is best due to the added detox effect). Afterward, take a cold a cold shower to reflect on the previous nights bad decisions!

Concussion Protocol (CTE)

1. Dynamic Brain Restore Powder….first 2 months take 1 scoop twice daily (earlier in the day as it is a nootropic). Then for the following month take 1 scoop per day. For prevention purposes after the first 3 months, take 1/2 a scoop per day. This combo has been shown to heal the brain, increase the dendritic lengthening creating improvement brain cell communication. Improves neuronal glucose metabolism and brain energy.

2. Brain Support…..first 2 months take 2 caps twice daily. Then take 1 capsule twice daily for another month. For preventative purposes, take 1 capsule daily. This formula will reduce brain inflammation and oxidative damage.

3. DHA Liquid Omega Liquid….first 2 months take 1 tablespoon twice daily. The following two months take 1 tablespoon per day. For ongoing brain health and prevention, take 1-2 teaspoons daily. The brain is made up of 60% fat, with 40% of that being DHA. Fish oils reduce axonal and neuronal damage, decreases depression/anxiety because it supports neurotransmitters, reduces neuronal apoptosis, inflammation/edema, and oxidative stress. Also increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor).

4. Magtein….first 2 months take 2 capsules 2-3 times daily. The following month take 2 caps twice daily. For preventative purposes take 2 capsules daily. This form of magnesium (magnesium threonate), is the only form of magnesium to substantially cross the blood brain barrier as a signaling molecule for controlling synaptic density and plasticity. Improves sleep and mood.

5. This supplementation along with a Ketogenic Diet high in vegetables, quality protein, and try to eliminate sugar, gluten, and dairy as they are inflammatory and reduce the healing of the brain. Check out the following Keto Food Matrix from Robb Wolf’s Keto Masterclass to create an easy meal.

You can still make gainz with light weights at home

We are all out of sorts right now due to our limited access to gyms and heavy weights, but do not let that deter you from continuing to get after it with lighter weights.

One study on the effects of high reps and low reps on muscle growth compared sets performed with weights at 80 percent of one-rep maximum (1RM) to complete muscular fatigue with sets performed with weights at 30 percent of 1RM to complete muscular fatigue. Turns out that the weight of the load is not as important. Instead, what matters is whether a muscle is worked to complete fatigue. This study demonstrated that high reps and light weights can stimulate just as much muscle growth as low reps and heavy weights.

For example, you can build your chest by doing a few sets of high-rep push-ups to complete failure. This is a potent tactic you can apply right now in your living room.

In another study, super-slow lifting at 55 percent to 60 percent of the participant’s 1RM increased both muscle thickness and maximal strength just as much as standard-speed lifts performed at 80 to 90 percent of the participant’s 1RM.

In yet another study, both heavy lifts of eight to ten reps and light lifts of eighteen to twenty reps activated the genes involved in muscle growth. Research has also demonstrated that 25 to 35 reps with lighter weights leads to the same gains in muscle size as 8 to 12 reps with heavier weights. Even in seasoned weight lifters, 20 to 25 reps with a light weight leads to the same muscle growth as 8 to 12 reps with a heavy weight.

Ultimately, if you want to add muscle mass during this time, you should incorporating one of these modalities because you can still build muscle with light weights and high reps—and, incidentally, research suggests this approach is particularly effective when training legs.

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1. Cameron J. Mitchell et al., “Resistance Exercise Load Does Not Determine Training-Mediated Hypertrophic Gains in Young Men,” Journal of Applied Physiology 113, no. 1 (July 2012): 71–77, https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00307.2012.

2. Michiya Tanimoto et al., “Effects of Whole-Body Low-Intensity Resistance Training With Slow Movement and Tonic Force Generation on Muscular Size and Strength in Young Men,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 22, no. 6 (November 2008): 1926–1938, https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e318185f2b0.

3. Brad Schoenfeld et al., “Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 29, no. 10 (October 2015): 2954–2963, https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958; Bent R. Rønnestad et al., “Dissimilar Effects Of One- And Three-Set Strength Training On Strength And Muscle Mass Gains In Upper And Lower Body In Untrained Subjects,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 21, no. 1 (February 2007): 157–163, https://doi.org/10.1519/00124278-200702000-00028; Hanssen et al., “The Effect of Strength Training,” 728–739, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0838.2012.01452.x.

Personal Training is Dead... again

Looks like the personal training is dead in the water. We've been replaced with videos of home-based bodyweight workouts on youtube. Can't say I'm surprised as the majority of personal trainers are little more than rent-a-friends with the ability to count to 10. If this is you, good riddance, you aren't going to make it through this hiatus because you've provided very little value to your clients and did nothing to advance the public's perception of what a trainer should be.

To be honest, I don't even like being identified as a personal trainer as it's tinged with mediocrity. Yet, I love what I do. I think anyone who has worked with me will agree that I do all that I can to become better at my craft, in order to deliver the best results possible.

My problem is that if the best thing we can offer our clients right now, in their pursuit toward optimizing health, is a bodyweight workout we have definitely lost our way. Or, perhaps it's just me. Maybe I need to change directions. Maybe I've outgrown the framework of the current industry.

There is no downtime in the process of accumulating health. Why do gym closures so strongly affect the majority from continuing to provide value to their clients lives? Because as an industry, we have literally fit ourselves into a BOX. We haven't established ourselves as being able to provide more than a workout routine and nutrition advice, most of it cookie-cutter. This is the time to work with someone knowledgeable enough to help you with more than just how to squat, count calories, or push supplements. Yes, they are all helpful within a gym setting, but where does that leave us now? Plenty of our client continue to have issues that impact sleep, cause rampant inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, hypertension, gastrointestinal distress, hyperglycemia, adrenal dysregulation, etc. during this quarantine. And GUESS WHAT, the worst affected are those with the aforementioned issues! This would be the time to work on those issues, but we're not because the majority of us don't know how. And don't give me any bullshit about how "you're not a doctor" because the healthcare industry is worse.

At the end of the day, if you aren't fully invested in what you preach and have no desire to tirelessly learn more, please get the fuck out because I have work to do and you're only making me look bad

something to think about during your quarantine netflix binge...

Since the world is in a health crisis, here is something to thinking about during your quarantine netflix binge...

In epidemiological studies, TV watching has a huge negative effect on health:

- Adults age fifty to seventy-one who watch the most television each day have a 61 percent higher risk of dying than those who watch the least, even after adjustment for amount of exercise. The most vigorous athletes, who exercise more than an hour per day, still have a 47 percent higher risk of dying with greater television viewing.*

- An Australian study found that every hour spent watching TV reduces life expectancy by twenty-two minutes.**

*Matthews, C. E. et al., “Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors and cause-specific mortality in US adults,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 95, no. 2 (February 2012): 437–45, http://pmid.us/22218159. A hat tip to Gretchen Reynolds, “Don’t just sit there,” The New York Times, April 28, 2012, www.nytimes.com/…/29/sunday-review/stand-up-for-fitness.html, and Dan Pardi, “Buy 1, get 2 free!” Dan’s Plan, blog, May 4, 2012, www.dansplan.com/blog/1501-buy-1-get-2-free.

** Veerman, J. L. et al., “Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: A life table analysis,” British Journal of Sports Medicine (August 15, 2011), http://pmid.us/21844603. A hat tip to Gretchen Reynolds, “Don’t just sit there,” The New York Times, April 28, 2012, www.nytimes.com/…/29/sunday-review/stand-up-for-fitness.html, and Dan Pardi, “Buy 1, get 2 free!” Dan’s Plan, blog, May 4, 2012, www.dansplan.com/blog/1501-buy-1-get-2-free.)

Stop Jogging...

Since the world is shutdown and very few people have access to weights, it seems like the go-to right now is jogging. While this is better than nothing, just be aware it will not give you the adonis body that you've been promised by fitness magazines. While long bouts of cardio may improve your endurance (however, not necessarily best for health — but that a story for another time), they don't do much for your waistline. One of the problems that many people find with jogging is an inability to shed fat. The reason is simple: distance running a.k.a. chronic cardio create a heightened state of metabolic efficiency. When you engage in aerobic exercise, your body wants to work as efficiently as possible while producing the greatest amount of physical output. Example, during long cardio session with increasing volume and frequency, your body will attempt to shed unnecessary, excess weight and store usable energy it can draw on during these sessions. Muscle mass is more or less unnecessary when you run because of its added weight and the additional energy it takes to be cooled. Alternatively, do you know what's a great source of stored, usable energy for cardio? BODY FAT. So when you perform increasingly longer bouts of cardio, your body gets rid of its muscle and stores fat to prepare for each bout of cardio, while also down-regulating anabolic hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, as these are paradoxical to the demands being placed on your body. The classic example is to look at the comparison between a sprinter and a marathoner... which would you rather look like?

Most everyone exercises to look better naked, with health training someone behind. For a more effective workout — burning fat, building muscle — in a fraction of the time, substitute sprints for longer cardio bouts. No only will you improve your health, but will look better too!

Developing a System is better than Striving for a Goal

The prevailing wisdom says that the best way to properly transform your body, and health — whether it be through weight loss, muscle gain or improving overall quality of life — is to set specific, actionable goals. This notion of goal setting, while good intentioned, falls short with the majority of people. For example, according to the U.S. News & World Report, the failure rate for New Year’s Resolutions is said to be around 80%, with most people losing their resolve by mid-February. From this we can surmise that goal setting on its own is an ineffective strategy for achieving what we want and even worse for producing long lasting results. 

Goals have the ability to steer us toward short-term results. Yet, because they are inherently self-fulfilling, once they are reached, much of their power quickly dwindles. Most of what was necessarily done to create change — nutritional awareness, monitoring calories, increasing exercise, etc. — to achieve the goal is disregarded or lost. Solidifying any newfound change driven by passion is bound to fail if you’re not thoroughly invested in the process.

The fundamental problem arises as goal-oriented people are seeking to become someone they aren’t. Acting in a way that suppresses the current version of yourself — e.g. eliminating cookies and cakes therefore putting you in a calorie deficit — will allow you to arrive at a weight loss goal, but without a system put into place, willpower can only last so long. By employing measures that restrict them from who they are, without improving upon who they wish to be, in effort to deliver them to a result derived from sacrifice, the inevitable result is that they fall back to the person they were at the start of the process. Success hangs on their ability to overcome the challenges that brought them to their current impasse. As Scott Adams put it in How to Fail Big; “goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous presuccess failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things don’t work out.”

In effect, if your goal is to lose 30lbs, you would spend every waking moment until you reach your goal focused on numbers instead of processes, thinking as though you were a failure if things didn’t progress as planned because you are an overweight person who wants to be thin. Until you usher in a system that allows you to think and make choices like the thin version of yourself would make you will inevitably be fighting against progress and exist within a constant state of failure. Because willpower is an easily fatiguable muscle, without a systems-oriented mindset, it can only last so long before delaying gratification takes its toll, and you succumb to failure. 

Goals are a complete-it-and-be-done situation. A specific objective you either achieve or don’t sometime in the future. Being goal-oriented is short-sided if long-term change is the intention. Its approach is driven by sacrifice, deprivation, and blindness to the overt desires of the self you wish to reinvent. Alternatively, a system is something you do everyday to increase your odds of fulfillment throughout the life of the system. A system is something you do on a regular basis with a reasonable expectation that following it will provide you with the body and/or quality of life you desire, ultimately becoming the “after” version of yourself with the implementation of the process.

Simply put, if you’re waiting to achieve it someday in the future it’s a goal. If you’re doing it everyday, it’s a system. 

Losing weight is a goal; eating right is a system. Gaining muscle is a goal; training with purpose and intensity is a system. Improving any specific blood marker is a goal; “eating whole unprocessed foods, getting outside in the sun, moving a lot, sleeping like you’re on vacation, and surrounding yourself with loving relationships” is a health promoting system espoused by researcher and author Robb Wolf. All systems lead to desirable results, but all goals do not provide desirable systems, hence their unsustainability. Goals are about the results you want to achieve, whereas systems are about the processes that lead to those results. 

To achieve a goal, you only need to exhibit a momentary change, but what happens in the long run? Failure. Remission. Relapse. As an illustration, take this example from author James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits: “Imagine you have a messy room and you set a goal to clean it. If you summon the energy to tidy up, then you will have a clean room — for now. But if you maintain the same sloppy pack-rat habits that led to a messy room in the first place, soon you’ll be looking at a new pile of clutter and hoping for another burst of motivation.” Fundamentally, you’re left with the same outcome over and over again because you failed to change the system behind it. 

Results that last have little to do with goals and everything to do with systems. In the above example, you can see that the symptom was treated without addressing the cause. Much like an overweight person with a weight loss goal who has emotional issues with food — dieting will help them achieve a healthy weight, yet doesn’t address the real issue. Their achievement only changes their life momentarily because they were focused on a goal instead of fixing their system. We don’t need better results, we need better systems. Solving problems at the results level is temporary, instead, in order to create permanent change in peoples lives, we need to start solving the problem at a systems level because with the wrong approach to change people aren’t going to rise to their level of goals, they fall to their level of systems. 

None of this is to say that having goals doesn’t matter. It is important to recognize that the power of goals is derived from their ability to provide direction in our journey to become who we want, and live the life we want. This begs the question if you completely ignored your goals and solely focused on the systems your future-self used, could you still succeed in becoming the person you want to be? For example, if you were a coach and completely ignored the goal of winning, and instead focused on improving execution of what your team does in practice each day, would you still get results? Absolutely, because practicing a system to the point of excellence is akin to mastery. The goal of any sport is to finish first or with the highest score. Establishing a system provides a way to out maneuver, out strategize, out power, and out play your opponents. No one enters the arena wanting to lose, but because we are what we consistently do, plenty of teams approach competition with a flawed or suboptimal system. Singularly having a goal of winning, without a system to get there isn’t enough. Those are the coaches who get fired mid-season for staring at the scoreboard wondering why their teams score isn’t higher.

Nick Saban, the head coach of the University of Alabama football team, has what he calls The Process. He encourages players by saying; “Don’t think about winning a Championship. Think about what you need to do in this drill, on this play, in this moment.” The Process is about focusing on the task at hand. The ability to apply your system to what is directly in front of you. By existing in the present, not the distant future we can commit ourselves to excelling in the habits that will take us toward the person we wish to become. 

So, are goals useless? No, but they should be identified as having limited utility. Goals are good for setting direction, but systems are best for making long-term progress, and sustaining the health or life goal you have captured. Without a system — founded on the principles of becoming healthy, lean, and strong — goals can restrict our overall happiness. The implicit assumption behind any goal is this; “once I reach my goal, then I will be happy.” The problem with this goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone. 

There once was a great archery master named Awa Kenzo who did not focus on hitting the center of the target with his students, instead he focused on teaching technical mastery of the bow. He spent almost no time instructing his students how to think in a way that would deliver the results they desired — hitting the center of the target. You can fire randomly at a target and hit a bullseye eventually, much like you can follow any dietary program and achieve results, but in a world based on vanity no one wants to hit their target and walk away, they want to keep their target, and the happiness that comes along with it. Fulfilling results come from enacting a system that allows for the target to be continuously hit, with minimal effort, consistently, until a new target is decided upon. While the goal of archery is to hit a bullseye, Kenzo pressed the fact that “the hits on the target are only the outward proof and confirmation of the adherence and trust in the process.” He wanted his students to get so lost in the process that the result wouldn’t be the focus. He wanted them to give up their notions of what archery was supposed to look like. He was demanding that they be present, not focused on their past failures or future outcomes. The process, or systems-first approach, that allows one to become a proficient archer — much like what it takes to become the version of healthy, lean, and strong that you desire — is realized through consistent and purposeful action. 

Body transformation is similar to archery in that you are looking to hit a certain target. You can try so hard on a particular variable that you end up overshooting your target, manifesting more issues and frustrations. While all targets are achievable, the energy you’re spending aiming the arrow is energy not spent developing your system to consistently deliver the best technique. If you’re too conscious of the technical components of shooting, you wont be relaxed enough to deliver the desired result. As marksman say these days, “slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” Because we are what we repeatedly do, a practice of excellence put into action is the surest way to maximize our trajectory and deliver us to the body, health, and life we want. 

A systems-first approach can improve the trajectory by providing us with a structure to follow. If you are not who you want to be it is because the error of your ways has led you astray from the person you want to become. Generally this due to an accumulation of errors. Over time, small decisions can accumulate into large consequences. Think of it as the 1% rule, whereby repeating a 1% error day after day by replicating poor decisions, tiny mistakes and rationalizing little excuses all compound into toxic results. It is this accumulation of too many missteps that eventually lead to larger problems down the road. 

To make this more relevant, in his book Why We Get Fat, author Gary Taubes states that over consuming roughly 1% on your calorie intake over a 20 year period will equate to a 20lb increase in weight. “Since a pound of fat is roughly equal to 3500 calories, this means you accumulate roughly 7000 calories worth of fat every year. Divide that 7000 by 365 and you get the number of calories of fat you stored each day and never burned — roughly 20 calories.” On average, we consume around 2700 calories a day, so matching energy in to energy out, with the 20 calorie mark equates back or our 1% rule. {reference (https://garytaubes.com/inanity-of-overeating/)}

Making a choice that is 1% better or worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of a lifetime, or the course of a journey toward your goal, small choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Therefore, success is the product of implementing a good system, not a singular focus on a distant goal. 

With a systems-first approach, trajectory can be fully applied and set toward gaining the healthful life we all desire. Let’s use a Global Positioning System (GPS) as an analogy for a systems-fist approach to get what we want. It is a literal manifestation of a system designed to get you where you want to be. By allowing the goal to set the direction, we can trust the system to align the course.

• A GPS gets you to your destination faster and with less stress. Not knowing where we are going and without help we can get lost quickly. Trusting the system can alleviate the stress of trying to navigate on your own.

• A GPS provides constant feedback. By constantly assessing your progress, it will keep you aware of where you need to turn and how far you are from your desired destination. 

• A GPS foresees upcoming obstacles. It has the ability to reroute you around roadblocks and anything else that will deter you from arriving at your destination. 

• A GPS will help you get back on track if you happen to deviate from the path. We all have missteps in our journey, but any wrong turn can be righted by rerouting and correcting course.

Whether you want to lose weight, get stronger, or save money, it pays to incorporate  systems-first approach. Without it, you may find yourself lost, confused, and failing over and over. 

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goals set the direction, systems get you there

goals are impermanent, systems are permanent 

goals work on sacrifice, systems work on fulfillment

goals say I want to look fit, systems allow you to be the fit person

goals are about the results you want, systems are about the processes that lead to the results

goals provide a picture of who you want to be, systems allow you to become that person

Quarantine & Chill

With social-distancing in full swing, it may seem like options for improving your health are down to Quarantine and Chill, or participating in the scourge of bodyweight workouts that are woefully ineffective at promoting long-term results. Instead let's look at some options that can be completed within the isolation of your own home!

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NUTRITION

- When stocking your pandemic pantry you should select foods that consist of the greatest nutrient density, with the lowest impact on blood sugar, have the ability to be stored for a relatively extended period. Selecting foods that are highly satiating will be your best option in these times. Look for high in protein (such as meat, dairy, eggs, or protein powder), high in fat (coconut cream, olives, olive oil, nuts or nut butters), and lower starch/fructose containing fruits and veggies (such as all colors of sweet potatoes and carrots, or frozen berries). For more info check out the Fundamentals of Food.

- If you are having trouble piecing together an easy meal use this SUPER SIMPLE MEAL PLANNER.

Combine: 1 Fat + 1 Protein + 1 Veggie + 1 Spice = Delicious and healthy meal!

Combine: 1 Fat + 1 Protein + 1 Veggie + 1 Spice = Delicious and healthy meal!

- Now would be a great time to start a practice of Intermittent Fasting (IF), or choosing a feeding window that is shorter than you're used to. This will not only allow you to conserve on food but also give your body a break from digesting food. Because the body is never dormant it will use the extra time to complete a process called autophagy, which clears out senescent or old defective cells that could cause health problems. Additionally, IF promotes the clearance of pathogens and infectious bacteria, protect against the negative effects of stress and provides time for our gut lining to rest and repair.

- Incorporating a practice of IF is as simple as selecting a window of time you'd like to eat within whether 6,8,10, or 12 hours. Whichever time you pick, you have that long to get all your calories in and then you're done! Example, if you have an 8-hour window and you eat your first bite of food at 6AM, you'll have to get all your calories in by 2PM.

- Supplementation that will help with boosting Immunity are:

- NAC
- Vitamin C
- Zinc
- Glycine
- Glutamine
- Multi Vitamin/Mineral
- Protein
- Immune Support (probably the best choice overall)

To save 5% on the purchase of any or all of these go here: NutriDyn

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MOVEMENT

- During this quarantine it looks like we have to be sequestered to sitting on the couch, however I have a better idea. We can make time to focus on improving movement in our daily lives and how we interact with the environment we consistent find ourselves in. WHY WE SHOULD SIT ON THE FLOOR is an article I wrote about how incorporating sitting in different archetypal postures can improve mobility with very little effort. Here is an excerpt: 

"Achieving better tune, thus less pain and freer movement, is as easy as adopting a floor based lifestyle, just like those used by our ancestors. Instead of sitting on a chair or couch while watching television, transition to sitting on the floor. Floor sitting encourages normal movement patterns across the biggest joints and muscles of the biomechanical system. Archetypal postures are also valuable to use in a post-exercise setting, as the body finds the usual 30-second calf stretch to be an insignificant task of little benefit after running up a hill for the last 30-minutes. Returning to the floor in various archetypal postures will reestablish fundamental relationships between muscle compartments as they cool and set. After exercise go back to the floor as people have always done."

- Many are probably under the impression that stretching is the best way to improve mobility, however this notion completely leaves out the fact that mobility without strength equates to being a spaghetti noodle, and you'll never be able to fight your way through the toilet paper isle like that. In an article entitled REFINING TUNE THROUGH MOVEMENT I address this very issue and go over ways to improve mobility for the comfort of your quarantine. Here is an excerpt:

"Why can’t I stretch my way to tune, like we used to do in gym class? Before you bend over to touch your toes, listen to what former U.S. National Gymnastics coach and author of Building the Gymnastic Body, Christopher Sommers has to say; “flexibility can be passive, whereas mobility requires that you can demonstrate strength throughout the entire range of motion.” The individual muscle concept presented in traditional anatomy class gives a purely mechanical model of movement by separating things into discrete, executable functions that fail provide an accurate picture of the seamless integration seen in a living body – when one part moves, the body responds as a whole. Thus, the ability to transition into and out of a squat requires more than any one muscle being flexible. The approach to mobility parallels biomechanical tune, in that they engender a systemic or whole-body foundation. Efficient structural relationships, therefore, must be exposed and resolved within the individual so that one can grow out of a the dysfunctional pattern."

- The following are my contributions for what to do for workouts at home...

- Here is a link for bodyweight movements... or take a look at the following gif

- Here is a minimalist workout for those with limited equipment... if you want to order some adjustable dumbbells check out this review

- Don't forget about your abs...

- Bored with the regular shit?? Learn how to do a HandStand...

First, let’s define the position you need to maintain.

Torso “Hollow”: Sit on a chair, back straight, with your hands on your knees. Now, try to bring your sternum (chest bone) to your belly button; “shorten” your torso by 3 to 4 inches by contracting and pulling in your abs. You’ll maintain this position throughout the entire exercise. No lower-back arch or sag permitted.
Shoulders “Protracted”: Keep your torso “hollow” per the above. Now, pretend you’re hugging a telephone pole. Your shoulders should be well in front of your chest, sternum pulled back strongly. Straighten your arms but maintain this position. Next, without losing any of the aforementioned, lift your arms overhead as high as you can. There you go. Now we can begin.

1. Get into a handstand position against a wall, nose facing toward the wall. (fig. A)

2. Keeping your body in one line, slowly walk your hands out and your feet down the wall simultaneously. (fig. B) Keep your knees straight and walk with your ankles. The steps should be small.

3. Reach the bottom with your feet on the floor in a push-up position. (fig. C) Correct your form to be maximally hollow and protracted.

4. Reverse and go back up the wall, returning to handstand position. That is 1 rep, my friend.

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SLEEP

- A lack of sleep contributes to the following...

• Impairs insulin sensitivity. Want to become diabetic overnight? Just sleep poorly. A night of poor or missed sleep can make one as insulin resistant as a type 2 diabetic… the effects of sleep deprivation on insulin sensitivity and thus glucose tolerance are profound and nearly immediate.

• Increases gut permeability. Increased intestinal permeability itself impairs insulin sensitivity while increasing our reactivity to certain foods.

• Increases systemic inflammation. Even with very little sleep loss we immediately see increases in C-reactive protein and the tendency of platelets to stick together (not great if you’re at risk for a stroke or heart attack). All modern degenerative diseases have a commonality of increased systemic inflammation

• IMPAIRS IMMUNE FUNCTION.

• Alters anabolic hormones.

• Causes cravings. Sleep deprivation is a stress, and when a stress becomes chronic, one of the first adaptive mechanisms our bodies shift toward to deal with the stress is to seek out quick energy…. generally that comes in the form of highly processed foods

• Lack of total sleep time suppresses your immune system and increases your risk of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI).

• (Sheldon Cohen et al., “Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold,” Archives of Internal Medicine 169, no. 1 (2009), https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2008.505; Aric A. Prather et al., “Behaviorally assessed sleep and susceptibility to the common cold,” Sleep 38, no. 9 (2015), https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.4968.)

- Now is the perfect time to work on improving our sleep hygiene. Start with the following tips and sleep soundly in your isolation chamber, aka room. 

• Go to bed at a similar time each night (even on the weekends). The body thrives on routine.

• Stop using blue-lit screens (TV, Computer, or Mobile devices) 2 hours before bed. The blue light from the screen tricks your brain into thinking the sun is out, therefore suppressing melatonin — a hormone necessary for the onset of sleep.

• Be sure to stop eating at least 2 hours before bedtime, as digestion can cause sleep interruptions. 

• If you must use a device with a screen, utilize "night mode" or blue-light blocking technology like F.lux to minimize your exposure.

• Sleep in a cool, dark room. Research has shown that the best temperature to sleep at is around 68°F. And, the darker the room the better. 

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STRESS

- For sure we are in uncharted waters at the moment in history however that doesn't mean you have no control over the way you feel. Perception is a matter of choice. You can choose how you respond to anything. In any situation in life you have three options. You can change it, you can leave it, or you can accept it. What is not a good option is to sit around wishing you would change it but not changing it, wishing you would leave it but not, and not accepting it. Acceptance is the only way to mitigate the stress of this situation and move to make the best out of whats left.

- Something I find helpful in quieting the mind is the practice of gratefulness. Most people think you can only be grateful after something has happened, but if you are actively looking for things to appreciate you will find them. Establishing a habit of gratitude welcomes it into your consciousness, shifting awareness away from less desirable or stressful emotions. Get a journal, download an app, or simply open up a blank document on your computer. Set aside a few minutes each day and use the following prompts to ease your mind...

• To be answered in the morning:

• I am grateful for… 1._______ 2._______ 3.________

  1. What would make today great? 1._______ 2._______ 3._______

  2. Daily affirmations. I am…. 1._______ 2._______ 3.________

• To be answered at night:

• 3 amazing things that happened today… 1._______ 2._______ 3.________

  1. How could I have made today better? 1._______ 2._______ 3.________

• ideas on what to be grateful for:

• an old relationship that really helped you or that you valued highly.

  1. an opportunity you have today

  2. something great that happened yesterday, whether you experienced or witnessed it

  3. something simple near you or within sight… the gratitude points shouldn’t all be “my career” and other abstract items

- Another thing that could have a positive impact is taking up Breathing Exercises or Meditation. 

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GUT HEALTH

- Since you have nothing else to do, think about fixing your shit, literally! 80% on your immune system lies in your gut. If you are not digesting your food optimally, your immune system may be compromised. Check out the following guide to assess your mess...

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DETOXIFICATION

- The Environmental Working Group estimates that on average, each adult uses nine personal care products daily, with 126 different chemical ingredients. Women use more products than men, so the tally for women goes up to 168 chemicals from personal care products alone. Many of these products we use in, on, or around us are full of chemicals that are linked to serious health issues such as endocrine disruption or cancer. Take this time to review the ingredients of the personal care products you use — shampoo, toothpaste, cologne, perfume, make up, deodorant, lotion, etc. Enter anything you can't pronounce into the EWG's SKINDEEP rating system to see what you're being exposed to. Once you find the worst offenders, replace the item with a less toxic version when you run out. 

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EXTRA STUFF

- Take your ass outside in the sun and go for a walk (just avoid people). Going out in the sun is the easiest way to stay active, slim and boost immunity....

• Sunlight's effect on Immunity: Vitamin D production, stimulated by exposure to the UVB portion of solar radiation, may improve immune system response, and thereby reduce risk of infections. One of the mechanisms by which this is accomplished is the production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which can help to negate the effects of bacteria, fungi, and viruses. One of the most important AMPs is cathelicidin, which is under control of the vitamin D receptor (VDR), whose activity is regulated by the presence of the potent hormone form of vitamin D: 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D). Research demonstrates that when disease causing microbes breach physical barriers, a class of proteins called toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognizes the invading pathogens and triggers the body's immune cells (white blood cells, such as macrophages) to respond in various ways, including the activation of the immune cell's vitamin D receptors (VDR). This response prompts the stored form of vitamin D, 25(OH)D, to be taken from the blood and hydroxylated to form 1,25(OH)2D (the potent hormone), which binds to the VDR of the immune cell. The cathelicidin gene is then activated and the human cathelicidin, LL-37, is synthesized within the immune cell in order to destroy the pathogen after the immune cell engulfs it. This reaction is totally dependent on the availability of the stored form of vitamin D. The cathelicidin also acts by destroying the integrity of the lipoprotein membranes of the pathogens, rendering them harmless. It also has a chemotactic effect, acting as a chemoattractant for immune cells in the immediate vicinity of the pathogen breach.

• Can sun exposure help with body transformation?

  A recent study from Northwestern Medicine demonstrates that timing and intensity of light correlate with BMI... Optimal BMI is between 18-25.

  The study showed that exposure to bright morning light was directly related to BMI. After adjusting for confounders such as diet, exercise, and timing of sleep, it was determined that very early exposure to morning light correlated remarkably to lower BMI. Even when light intensity was equal at different times of the day, those who received the earliest bright light had lower BMI. In fact, for each hour later in the day when light exposure occurred, BMI increased by 1.3 units. This fact is exceptional, since a person who has a BMI of 25 (upper ideal range) could approach 30 (basically obese), over time, simply by the habit of receiving sun exposure later in the day, e.g. 10:00AM rather than 7:00AM.

  The authors suggested that the mechanisms by which early light exposure could influence weight control could be the following: (1) resetting the circadian rhythm, (2) the greater quantity of blue light in the morning sun and (3) effects on melatonin production. Whatever the mechanisms, we now know that early-morning sun is important to weight control. It may also be important to other health issues. But before we begin to think sun exposure is the cure-all for obesity, we must address poor nutritional and exercise habits. Nevertheless, in these times of limited access to gyms, it is a simple addition to any routine. 

  ref: Reid KJ, Santostasi G, Baron KF, WIlson J, Kang J, Zee PC. Timing and intensity of light correlate with body weight in adults. PLoS One 2014;2;9(4)

• Sun exposure is superior to Vitamin D supplements in prevention of weight gain.

  Research conducted on mice with shaved backs were placed on a high-fat diet and then exposed to non-burning ultraviolet radiation (UVR) during a three-month experiment. The mice, without the benefit of UVR, would have been expected to gain weight rapidly on that diet, but when they were exposed to UVR, the weight gain was impressively reduced. The UVR treatment achieved a 30-40% reduction in weight gain, compared to the expected weight gain with the high-fat diet.

  Other benefits included: significant reductions in glucose intolerance, insulin resistance and fasting insulin levels (all markers and predictors of diabetes), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cholesterol. All of these factors, including obesity, are part of a cluster of maladies known as the metabolic syndrome which is indicative of deteriorating health and susceptibility to heart disease and diabetes.

  ref: Geldenhuys S, Hart PH, Endersby R, Jacoby P, Feelisch M, Weller RB, Matthews V, Gorman S. Ultraviolet radiation suppresses obesity and symptoms of metabolic syndrome independently of vitamin D in mice fed a high-fat diet. Diabetes. 2014 Nov;63(11):3759-69

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COMIC RELIEF via MEMES

Workout Nutrition Infographic

Osteoporosis Protocol

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

The Benefits Of Dry Sauna Use

The use of dry saunas for athletic recovery isn’t necessarily something we’d call trendy. While plenty of people will duck into saunas casually in their own gyms, many view it as a vague relaxation measure, and others even look at it as something of an old-fashioned thing to do. Other forms of physical recovery are trendier these days; for instance, NBA players and teams have lately done a great deal to popularize the idea of cryotherapy (which, to be fair, has benefits beyond being popular).

With this said though, there do still tend to be plenty of people in the world of athletics, both within the public eye and otherwise, who believe in the benefits of dry saunas.

English football teams, for instance, have been associated with sauna usage fairly frequently over the years. Liverpool may come to mind first in this regard. The Reds are one of the most prominent teams in Europe, and currently appear to be on a fast track toward a Champions League title. In fact, the UK’s free betting services, which have all sorts of odds listings for an event this big, are almost universally picking Liverpool to win the Champions League this June. If those picks and odds come to fruition it will be at least in part because of the team’s exceptional fitness, which in turn appears to be somewhat due to recovery efforts. Liverpool’s players have at times been noted for using saunas, and the city itself is actually known for a few spas with, shall we say, more advanced sauna options (like infrared). Meanwhile, it’s not just the possible Champions League winners who are relevant here. Other football stars like Jeremy Vard y and Harry Kane (the latter of whom will be facing off against Liverpool in the Champions League final) are among those who were known to favor saunas during England’s World Cup run last summer.

Meanwhile, sauna use also remains fairly popular outside of the public eye, among ordinary people in ordinary places. You need only look around at public gyms wherever you might live to discover that many if not most of them actually have saunas of one kind or another included within their facilities. It could be a local YMCA, a major chain like Planet Fitness or Lifetime Fitness, or even a gym associated with a hotel or resort - saunas are typically in place at all of the above, at least a significant portion of the time. It’s impossible for us to gather statistics as to how many people use them or when, the way we know that Harry Kane used a sauna during the World Cup. But it also stands to reason that these gyms and the organizations behind them wouldn’t keep including saunas in their plans if in fact they didn’t get quite a lot of use. By all indications, this is still a very popular activity during or after workouts.

Given these examples, from the local YMCA to the prospective Champions League winners' locker room, it’s safe to say people are still using dry saunas (as well as other kinds). But does this mean we should actually be using them more? What are the actual benefits all of these people are getting from their time in these wellness-oriented hot boxes?

As it turns out, for those who may never have looked into these questions, dry saunas carry numerous benefits, which we’ll briefly summarize here, as per Livestrong:

• Circulation - The heat of dry saunas raises the heart rate, which in turn increases blood flow, even in those who might typically have poorer circulation.


• Metabolism - Dry saunas speed up metabolism, which means weight loss efforts can be more effective.


• Flexibility - Blood vessels opening up and blood flow increasing can lead to invigorated feelings and improved flexibility.


• Relaxation - There’s a strong component of mental relaxation associated with time spent in a sauna as well.

Considering these benefits - as well as some possible others that are less scientifically based (such as releasing toxins through sweat or assisting muscle growth) - it could be that all those people still interested in using dry saunas are onto something after all. These saunas can still be very useful tools for workout recovery and general health, and should be taken advantage of.

Personal Training is Dead

I am ashamed to tell people what I do. And here’s why...

I once worked with a guy who tied a mini-band around a clients ankles and made him do Power Cleans while directing him to jump onto a box. Maybe he was into some kinky Franz Bosch training, but you cannot convince me this was relatively safe or even sound training. The bad part was this guy had a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology from a great school. (◔_◔)

This guy had 4+ years of education about exercise physiology, strength training, biomechanics, etc., and the best thing he could come up with can basically be classified as circus training. Degrees and certifications aside, it seems ridiculous to me why people go to college to learn how to become Personal Trainers or Strength Coaches to begin with. The concept of learning from a professor, who isn’t in a gym or weight room producing results that inevitably you are going to want for your clients but instead reading out of a book is completely backwards. Don’t get me wrong, I fully embrace education, but from reputable sources. For example, if you wanted to be the best carpenter in the world, would you rather go to carpentry school or apprentice with the top carpenters in the world? Given you had a choice to hire one or the other to craft the woodwork in your new house, who do you hire? My money would be on the guy who learned from the best people in the industry, not from a book or an online certification.

When I was in college, the last week or so we were having a discussion about what we were grateful for and I remember one girl say she was “grateful that she wouldn’t have to read anymore.” The fuck?!? If you aren’t reading like they are burning libraries down, then you don’t deserve to be in this industry. I don’t care what school you went to, you don’t know enough to stop learning. But let me be honest, after I got my Personal Training certification, I thought I was Einstein. I knew every-fucking-thing and was happy to hand out unsolicited advice to any and all gym goers. However, once the basic advice I learned stopped working and came across someone who knew the game better than me, I quickly begin to tumble down the Dunning-Kruger curve into a realization that I really know nothing. It is a necessary and humbling experience that all great coaches have had.

Perhaps that is why, no matter what gym you step into it seems like it is a revolving door for Personal Trainers. Every 6 months or so you have a whole new crew, using the same basic level of knowledge as the last. The ones that left, probably did so because they were facing challenges that Instagram didn’t prepare them for and thus had to further educate themselves. I think turnover is so high because knowledge is so low. Not everyone wants to put in extra work, however those that deliberately put in the time for continuing education and additional research make the best coaches. To be successful in this industry you have to have a desire to want to improve yourself everyday.

Another reason turnover is so high is that the pay is so low due to the highly competitive nature of the Personal Training/Gym business. Companies want to undercut the gym across the street so they slight the trainers pay so much that you need 40 clients to pay the bills which takes up all the time you have training, and leaves none for education. Yes, every certification has its requirements of continuing education but it’s all sponsored bullshit from the certifying body and besides, if you think that only completing the minimum amount of education to retain your cert is enough, you don’t deserve to be in this industry. Humblebrag, I did 64 hours of continuing education and read 57 books last year on everything from business, to sleep, strength training, anatomy, brain health, hormone imbalance, biomechanics, nutrition, to Alzheimer’s, all in hopes of expanding my base of knowledge on how to improve the health and performance of my clients.

Unfortunately, companies do not value knowledgeable employees or good training, because they would have to pay them more, so again turnover is favorable. They devalue the profession by taking an obscene % of the training rate charged to the client. You are lucky to get half of what they charge the client for an hour of training. And some companies take as as much as 85% of the revenue coming from the sales of training, which is asinine. Once trainer’s build a client base and realize they can basically double their income by working for themselves, their out. Personally I think it behooves you — the corporation or the client — to pay more money so that I don’t have to run around all across the city to make money to eat. Instead, pay me what I’m worth, then I will have enough time on my hands to invest into learning more about how to help you optimally achieve your goal or, even better, how to improve myself as a coach. It makes more sense for me to charge $100 an hour and have 10 clients, with 30 hours to invest into education, than to charge $10 an hour and have 40 clients with no time to invest in education. Anyone who has studied the body substantially will tell you that there is a LOT going on in there (and no one is the same, just check out the book Biochemical Individuality). If you have 40 people, you can bet your ass that you will never be able to optimally impact the individual health or even handle a client base that high.

Speaking of not being stretched too thin, if you’re walking around with a cup of coffee or another stimulant drink in your hand during each session, what do you think that tells your client? Their workout bores you to sleep or that you aren’t fully prepared to give them your full attention. It gives off a terrible vibe. Maybe, if you went to sleep earlier or didn’t need to have 8 clients back-to-back to pay the bills, you wouldn’t need a stimulant and you’d have a free hand to actually write down the workout so that you can track the progress of your client, or better yet be awake enough to provide safe and sound training for your client.

Not too long ago, I was working out next to the Personal Training manager at a large gym chain who was “training” his client. He had this poor girl, who was obviously new to lifting, doing Split Squats at near maximal weight with poor technique. Needless to say it didn’t end well. She fell over and busted her ass and the trainer made it seem like it was her fault. Perhaps, if this guy wasn’t sitting on the nearest bench observing with a fucking Bang in his hand, he could have seen the faults in her execution and adjusted accordingly. The scary thing is this guy is a manager and suppose to set the example for the fleet of trainers he is in charge of.

Here’s another thing, if you’re in charge of a Personal Training department, I would expect you to look like you workout. I don’t think that is asking too much. You don’t need to be jacked or ripped or flawless, just look like you practice what you preach. I say all that to say this… I once worked with a guy who was a Metabolic Specialist. He ran a national program that sought to improve the efficiency of people’s fat-burning through a “specialized” heart-rate training. He was obese. I feel that this is akin to taking advice from a overweight dietician. The program obviously had some flaws!

Now, I’m not perfect, but I feel that physical appearance should play a part in being the face of a company wide program about weight-loss. Powerlifting and Strongman aside, your physique should have some semblance of what your clients desire because after all the majority of Personal Training clients are simply looking to lose weight to look better naked. This just speaks to the fact that people really don’t know what they are doing, whether it be metabolic assessments, nutrition or even lifting, which leads me into my next gripe...

Last time I checked, no one cares how much you can Lat Pull, but that didn’t stop this one trainer from trying to impress a potential client by attempting to pull the whole weight stack. Obviously, it was too heavy, but fortunately for him he lifts like he’s having an epileptic fit. Even with him swinging, rocking, slamming and bouncing the weight, he only gets a few half-reps but does manage to make a complete fool of himself. I don’t understand how, as a trainer who is supposed to teach proper movement, this is acceptable. behavior.

It’s shit like that that has made me jaded. Terrible training is everywhere and people refuse to listen to common sense or learn simple biomechanics. Case in point; I had a trainer tell me that the best way to “isolate the hamstring” (like it’s one fucking muscle) is by doing an undulating single-leg half squat with a weight in the contralateral hand placed in the midline of the body. Last time, I checked, the Hamstrings either a primary knee flexor or assist in hip extension. Now you can argue for the Hamstrings being worked with the aforementioned movement, but by no means are they working hard as if you were to use an exercise that mirrors knee flexion or hip extension — a Leg Curl or an RDL, respectively. The funny part is, the trainer had the client holding onto the Leg Curl machine for balance while she was “isolating the hamstring” with this ridiculous movement.

Speaking of Hamstrings, I knew a trainer who had a 4-year degree in Kinesiology, along with multiple certifications on top of an internship who couldn’t tell me the muscles that make up the Hamstrings. I’m not an anatomy wiz by any stretch of the imagination, but I know that medially to laterally the muscles consist of Semimembranosus, Semitendinosus, and the Biceps Femoris (Long head and Short head). And I know their actions. It is a major muscle group, so the lack of understanding is just baffling.

To go further, if you aren’t well versed in the basic anatomy of a major muscle group, what makes you think you have any business helping people break up scar tissue or “release” a tight muscle? Because you bought a Hypervolt?!? Scar tissue probably wasn’t even on your radar before you saw the advertisement. Without a fundamental understanding of anatomy, using a tool such as a Hypervolt or a Theragun, is at best a shotgun approach to a more complicated problem. Your power to use this tool has successfully educated you beyond your intellect. Your clients deserve a more informed approach and so does the industry.

Another thing plaguing the industry is professional athletes thinking they know how to train, when in fact they make the worst trainers. Due to their freakish genetics, pretty much anything they have been instructed to do in the weightroom, whether considered good or bad training, has worked for them. So when they retire from their sport or are forced out from injury, some of them revert to Personal Training because they are so “familiar” with the gym. I’ve worked with two NFL guys. One swore up and down that Speed Ladders were the key to his on-field success, which led me to write this: Ladder Drills DO NOT Increase Sport Performance. To my dismay, he refused to respond after I sent him the article. And as for the other guy, he had the bright idea to do Power Cleans… with chains on the bar. It wasn’t long before he realized why no one else was doing it when he smacked himself in the face. It may be surprising to hear but there are very few novel things in the world of strength training.

It’s not just the people within the industry, but the clients as well. The majority of people who hire Personal Trainers do not want to work hard. They just want to be babysat and talk. These are the worst clients because they not only get zero results but it’s your fault and their attitude toward training will drag you down with them. How can I, as a coach, improve my craft if all a client wants to do is sit and talk about the Bachelor? I got into this industry because I think the human body is fucking fascinating. I read and learn constantly so that I can get better at what I do. I am not a conversationalist, I am a coach. I haven’t watched TV in months, so I give zero shits about a reality show where you can vicariously live out your fantasies of being whisked away. You know what my fantasy is? Someone who wants to listen, work hard and get results. That is really the only way I am able to get better, but maybe I’m selfish.

I’ve gone on far too long so I want to finish by saying that I no longer consider myself a Personal Trainer. That is not what I am because I am better. I have seen too much fuckery in this industry to allow myself to be associated with the halfass attempts, low paying jobs, lack of effort, disrespect and ignorance. I am henceforth known as a Health and Performance Coach. I am facilitator, not a motivator. I didn’t get into this industry to tell you you can do it, I got into this industry to show you how. I’m not a cheerleader, nor do I desire to be one. I am a coach. It’s simple; do the work, get results.

Optimizing Vegetable Selection

All food is not created equal! Appearance matters when it comes to selecting the most nutritious foods at the super market. Use the following tips to select and prepare your veggies.

Artichoke:

• The Globe or French artichoke is the most common variety as well as one of the most nutritious.

• Artichokes are one of the highest antioxidant valued vegetables in the supermarket. You would have to eat 18 servings of corn or 30 servings of carrots to get the same benefits.

• Due to their high respiration rate, it is important to buy the freshest artichokes you can find as both their flavor and health benefits decline with each passing day.

• If you must store them, place them in the crisper drawer as soon as you get home and eat them within 1 or 2 days.

• It’s not often that the inside of a vegetable is as nutritious as the outside but recent research has shown hat the artichoke heart is as nutritious as the leaves.

• Steaming artichokes retains more nutrients than all other cooking methods.

• Canned or jarred artichoke hearts are nutritious as well. 

Asparagus:

• When selecting asparagus, choose the bunch with the straightest spears. When asparagus is stored in a dark warehouse for a week or more, the spears length and bend upward in search of light giving them a contorted appearance.  Additionally, if tips are starting to separate, have a yellowish cast, or mushy consistency these asparagus have been stored far too long. Once you select healthy looking spears, flip the bunch over; the cut end of the stalk should be smooth and moist.

• Green asparagus has 7x more antioxidant than the colorless white variety.

• Asparagus has a high respiration rate, similar to broccoli or artichokes. It loses much of its flavor and nutritional value within a day or two of harvest.

• Cooked asparagus is more nutritious for you than raw. If you steam asparagus it will increase the antioxidant value by 30%.

• For storing asparagus for more than a day, it is best to place the bunch in a microperforated bag and keep them in the crisper drawer.

Beets:

• Beets are more nutritious after you steam, microwave or roast them.

• If you cook them with the skin on and remove after they will retain more nutrients. The skin acts to keep water-soluble nutrients inside the beets.

• Beet greens are more nutritious than the beets themselves, add them to salad or in a green smoothie.

Broccoli:

To increase nutrient absorption use Extra Virgin Olive Oil as part of your cooking of vegetables or as a dressing for salads will increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

• Whole heads of broccoli are more nutritious than the pretrimmed florets. Sectioning broccoli into florets doubles its respiration rate, using up much of its antioxidant reserve in response to the “injury” of being cut into pieces. This leaves little for you, so buy whole head and trim them yourself before cooking.

• Eating broccoli raw will give you 20x more of the compound called sulforaphane than cooked broccoli. Sulforaphane has been shown to reduce inflammation, slow again and fight cancer.

• Frozen broccoli is convenient but is less nutritious.

• Cooking broccoli in boiling water will cause half the nutrients to leach out into the water. Microwaving isn’t a good idea either as you can destroy have the nutrients in two minutes.

• The best cooking method to retain the most nutrients for broccoli is to steam it for about 4 minutes. Or sauté them in extra virgin olive oil, this way they don’t lose any water-soluble nutrients because they are in contact with oil, not water.

• If you keep broccoli for more than a day, place it is a resealable plastic bag, prick 10-20 small holes and then store in the crisper drawer for the best retention of nutrients and flavor.  

Brussels Sprouts:

• When selecting Brussels Sprouts, look for bright green, tight heads. Browning shows their age and reduced nutrient value.

• Brussels Sprouts respire rapidly so treat them as you would Broccoli. Purchase them as needed. Use them when you get them or store in the refrigerator for the next day.

• Frozen Brussels Sprouts have been shown to only contain 20% of the beneficial compounds of fresh Brussels Sprouts.

• The best cooking method for the preservation of nutrients is to steam them for 6-8 minutes. Brussels Sprouts become less sweet and more bitter the longer they cook. 

Cabbage:

• Cabbage is lower in antioxidant than other crucifers, however still nutritious. The deeper the color the more nutritious.

• Cabbage does not respire quickly and as such can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or two without losing many of its nutrients.

• The longer the storage, the more compromise comes in flavor. In only a few days of refrigeration, 30% of its sugar will be gone along with the freshest flavor.

• Prepare cabbage by cutting it and steaming it briefly to reduce odor and increase nutrient yield.   

Carrots:

• Deeper colored carrots are more nutritious than fairer varieties. Purple carrots have more antioxidant activity and potentially more health promoting benefits than the beta-carotene in orange carrots.

• For the freshest, most nutritious and flavorful carrots, select those with their green tops still attached. Before refrigerating, cut the tops off to preserve the moisture in the carrot. Be weary, of purchasing carrots without the top as they are often several months old which will give them less flavor and nutritional content overall.

• Baby carrots, while convenient, are just larger misshapen carrots that have their outer-skin whittled away. Like potatoes or Apples, the skin or outermost part of the vegetable or fruit is the most nutritious because it has to pump up the phytonutrient and antioxidant content in that regions to defend against UV rays, mold, insects, fungus and disease. When the outer most part of a carrot is whittled away, 1/3 of its phytonutrients go along with it.

• Cooking carrots whole, then chopping them before plating will allow the carrots to hold onto more nutrients than if you chopped them beforehand.

Cauliflower:

• Colorful varieties are higher in antioxidants than less colorful varieties. Purple cauliflower has been shown to have 2.5x more antioxidants, and Romanesca cauliflower has as much as 4x glucosinolates — the beneficial sulfur-containing compound that gives cruciferous vegetables their bitter taste and high nutrient density — than the standard white variety. However, white cauliflower has more cancer fighting compounds than either green or purple.

• Frozen cauliflower, like most frozen vegetables has fewer nutrients than fresh varieties. The processing and freezing of cauliflower can destroy up to 40% of their phytonutrients.

• Prepare cauliflower as you would broccoli, by steaming for 4 minutes or sautéing with a quality extra virgin olive oil.

Chives:

• Garlic chives have more antioxidants than the most potent of onions

Corn:

• Go for organic corn as it will have 50% more phytonutrients than conventionally raised corn.

• Choose colorful varieties if possible; look for deep yellow, red, blue, black or purple as they are higher in phytonutrients than pale yellow or white corn. The same goes when searching for cornmeal.

• Frozen corn has the same nutritional content as fresh yellow corn. It is better to steam frozen corn without thawing to retain more nutritional value.

• Steam, grill or microwave corn but don’t boil it as nutrients will be lost in the water. Corn cooked in the husk will retain the most nutrients overall.

• If you have no time for prep, canned corn can be as nutritious as fresh corn. The canning process reduces the vitamin C content, however it does not alter the phytonutrients with some even becoming more potent. Studies show that during the process of canning, the heat applied transforms certain phytonutrients into more active forms, making them easier to absorb. This may explain why canned corn has higher carotenoid content than fresh corn.

Garlic:

• There has been no concerted effort to improve garlic for conventional farming and selling practices, therefore it contains most of its wild nutrients and anything you come across at the store is a great find. Look for garlic with plump, firm cloves with a tight outer wrapper.

• Optimizing the nutrients of garlic is dependent on how you prepare it. To get the full benefit of garlic it is best to chop, crush or use a garlic press, then let the garlic rest for 5-10 minutes before use. Different enzymatic reactions occur when garlic is prepared this way allowing for the powerful compound called allicin to have it’s full effect.

• Allicin has been found to have health promoting effects on atherosclerosis, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Kale:

• Kale is one of the few vegetables that exceed the nutritional values of some wild greens.

• Red-leaved varieties have a higher antioxidant value than green-leaves.

• For those who are prone to kidneys or gallstones, the variety known as “Dino Kale” or Lacinato Kale are lower in oxalates. 

Lettuce:

• The most nutritious lettuce greens aren’t green, but red, purple, or reddish brown and then dark green — the deeper the hue the higher the phytonutrient content. 

• The arrangement of leaves on a lettuce plant plays a role in the phytonutrient content. Tightly wrapped plants like iceberg lettuce have less phytonutrient content than plants with loose or open leaves like romaine or red lettuce. If given a chose seek out the looseleaf varieties

• As soon as you get home, separate the individual leaves, rinse and then soak them for about 10 minutes in very cold water. In addition to increasing the internal moisture of the greens which allows them to remain crisp longer, the cold water will reduce their temperature, slowing the aging process. Next, it is important to dry them, with a dry paper towel or salad spinner, as any moisture left on the surface will hasten their decay. Store in a plastic bag with 10-20 tiny prick holes, then place in the crisper drawer.

• If you tear your greens into bite-sized pieces it will increase the antioxidant content, however if you do this make sure to eat it within a day or two.

• Whole heads of greens are always fresher than bagged greens, this goes for all varieties. The longer the leaves stay in a bag the greater the reduction in antioxidants. If you do buy greens in a bag, look for mixtures that contain both red and dark green varieties. Be sure to check the “use-by” date and reject anything that has yellow, brown or withered leaves.

Onions:

• The more strongly flavored the onion, the better for your health.

• Red and Yellow onions pack more nutrients than White onions

• Small onions have more nutrients per pound than their larger siblings 

Potatoes:

• The most colorful potatoes with the darkest skin and flesh — blue, purple, and red — will give you more antioxidants than yellow potatoes.

  • The Purple Peruvian potato has 28x more bionutrients than the Russet Burbank and 166x more than the Kennebec white potato

  • However, the Russet Burbank potato is still a good choice as it is higher in phytonutrients than most white potatoes.

  • Another good option is the Purple Majesty. It has been said that this potato has twice the anthocyanin amount of any other fruit or vegetable

• Don’t peel your potatoes, if you do you’ll lose 50% of the antioxidant value

• Store your potatoes in a cool dark place with plenty of ventilation. New potatoes can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or two but after than find a cool dark storage area with a temperature between 45-50° to prolong nutritional life of the potato.

Scallions (Green Onions):

• Scallions are more like wild onions than any other variety, as such they are more nutritious than most other allumins

• The long green leaves have a greater concentration of nutrients than the small white bulbs 

Shallots:

• Ounce for ounce shallots have six times more phytonutrients than the typical onion.

Spinach:

• Bunches are fresher than bagged leaves. Spinach that’s been in a bag for only one week has just half the antioxidant benefits of freshly harvested.

• Mid-sized leaves have more phytonutrients than baby spinach or large spinach leaves. 

• Compared to Spinach, Dandelion Greens have eight times more antioxidants, twice the calcium, three times the vitamin A and five times more vitamin K and E. Try mixing in Dandelion Greens to your next salad, just be careful as adding too much can make the salad a little too bitter for some. If this is the case add come acid from balsamic vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon.

• As soon as you get home, separate the individual leaves, rinse and then soak them for about 10 minutes in very cold water. In addition to increasing the internal moisture of the greens which allows them to remain crisp longer, the cold water will reduce their temperature, slowing the aging process. Next, it is important to dry them, with a dry paper towel or salad spinner, as any moisture left on the surface will hasten their decay. Store in a plastic bag with 10-20 tiny prick holes, then place in the crisper drawer.

Sweet Potatoes:

• Sweet potatoes are higher in antioxidants than regular potatoes.

• The most nutritious varieties have purple and dark orange flesh, but remember you still need to consume the skin for the full benefits.

• Avoid storing sweet potatoes in the refrigerator as they can develop a distinctly “off” flavor. Like normal potatoes, store sweet potatoes in a cool dark location.

Tomatoes:

• Choose tomatoes that are deep red in color, they will have more antioxidants than yellow, gold or green tomatoes.

• Size is equally as important as color, when selecting tomatoes. Small, dark red tomatoes are sweeter and more flavorful as well as having the most lycopene — the phytonutrient that gives tomatoes their red color and has been show to have benefical effect on the heart, blood pressure, osteoporosis and skin  — per ounce. The red-colored cherry, grape and currant varieties are the most flavorful and carry the highest amount of lycopene. Additionally, smaller tomatoes will have more vitamin C than their heftier relatives.

• Storing tomatoes in the refrigerator is not a good idea because when the internal temperature drops below 50°, it stops producing and exacerbates the loss of flavor and aromatic compounds. The longer the duration of refrigeration will make the tomatoes increasing less sweet and more bitter. Store at room temperature to preserve taste.

• The longer you cook tomatoes the more health benefits you get. The heat breaks down cell walls and transforming nutrient compounds making them more available and easier to absorb. Just 30 minutes of cooking can double the lycopene content.

• As such, canned tomatoes are the most nutritious sources of lycopene, due to the heat required in the canning process. Canned tomatoes are also more flavorful than what you would find in the produce section because they are picked when ripe and then processed immediately. Therefore, no flavor is lost along the way.

• Tomato paste is the most concentrated source of lycopene you can find, with up to 10x more than a raw tomato.

New Research Shows Benefits of Collagen for Skin Conditions

Not all collagen is considered equal. Supplementation sources can vary from porcine, bovine or marine — all variations in quality and molecular weight can affect absorption and efficacy.

Collagen is broken down in the digestive tract, whereafter it enters the bloodstream and accumulates in various tissues depending on it's molecular weight. For superior absorption, a collagen supplement with low molecular weight is key.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, making it the most prevalent structural material in the human body after water. This is important when we understand that collagen is a necessary component for building beautiful skin. As much as 75% of the extracellular matrix is comprised of collagen.

In a recent research review the efficacy of collagen supplementation was tested for dermatological applications. The researchers looked at 8 studies using collagen hydrolysate (which has a low molecular weight) at doses ranging from 2.5-10 grams per day for a period of 6-24 weeks. These studies found a reduction of wrinkle volume, improved skin elasticity, increased skin moisture and a significant reduction in the degree of cellulite.

Additionally, The use of collagen has also expanded into treating such dermatological conditions as atopic and allergic contact dermatitis. The aforementioned review also looked at one 12-week study that sought to examine the effect of collagen supplementation with atopic dermatitis with a dose of 3.9 grams a day. Those who supplemented with collagen saw a significant decrease in immune response and inflammation after 12 weeks. Severity of skin eruption areas, skin hydration and itchiness were all reduced with collagen supplementation.

Collagen is effective in supporting various dermatological conditions such as wound healing, skin elasticity, and suppleness. Other applications for collagen supplementation include osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, improving blood pressure and insulin resistance. As with all things, quality is important. It is necessary to use a high-quality collagen supplement that is supported by clinical research and is of a low molecular weight in order to optimize absorption and intended results.

Source: Choi FD, Sung CT, et al. Oral Collagen Supplementation: A Systemic Review of Dermatological Applications. J Drugs Dermatol. 2019 Jan 1;18(1):9-16.

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7 Counterintuitive Tips to get Healthy, Lean & Strong

1. CARDIO IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO BURN FAT

Cardio is easy, that is why it is everyone’s go to. However, your body doesn’t care how easily you can jog away from something. Ease of use is not a priority for the body’s growth or energy expenditure. If you move easy, your body will take it easy and progress will be slow. The body is built through adaptation and stress applied from external sources, as such it prioritizes what it needs. If you jog, it sees no need to use energy to build muscle and thus your lack of effort and hyper caloric intake leads you to gain fat instead of burn fat. The body priorities what it needs. If you do easy workouts it will not grow and you will not lose weight. Instead, prioritize higher intensity bouts of cardio like sprint intervals (e.g., 10 seconds all out followed by 50 seconds recovery pace). Not only will you get better results and body composition, but you will do it in a fraction of the time. For even better results, combined your sprint intervals with moderately-heavy weight training sessions with only 30-60 seconds rest in between sets.

2.BLINDLY RESTRICTING CALORIES IS NOT THE BEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT

The conventional advice given to those trying to lose weight is to simply limit calories. Initially, this will produce desirable weight-loss, however progress will quickly stall because during calorie restricted diet a significant percentage of the weight lost comes form muscle mass. Muscle is important to hold onto as it is metabolically expensive, requiring as much as 40% of your body’s resting metabolism. Blindly restricting all calories will only serve to hinder further weight-loss progress. To combat the negative effect of losing muscle mass, it is important to increase you caloric intake from protein to maintain a greater amount of muscle mass. To optimize weight-loss by preserving muscle mass just remember there is an inverse relationship between calories and protein, whereby decreasing calories will result in an increase need for protein. Aim for .08 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

For more information, check out the article: Eat Less & Move More is Bad Advice

3. IT’S NOT WHAT YOU CAN DO IN THE GYM, BUT WHAT YOU CAN RECOVER FROM

Working out comes with a host of negative consequences — higher blood pressure, muscular weakness due to muscle fiber breakdown, a compromised hormonal profile, fatigue, etc. It’s the recovery phase in between the workouts where your body adapts, heals and as a result allows you to become leaner and stronger. Prioritizing rest and recovery is a key to optimizing progress, regardless of your goal. Remember, it is not what you can do in the gym, but what you can recover from. One thing to keep in mind, is that the more fit you get the longer it takes to recover due to you being able to push yourself further and harder than before.

4. YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT, YOU ARE WHAT YOU CAN ABSORB

Good thing you are not what you eat because if you’re like most people you’d be fast, cheap and easy!  Seriously though, the health of the gut determines what nutrients are absorbed and it is directly linked to the health of the total organism. It is often said that we are what we eat, but it is more accurate to say we are what we absorb. A strong gut barrier, diverse microbiome and sufficient levels of stomach acid is necessary to breakdown food, assimilate their nutrients and keep bad things from entering the body. When either of these things go awry, problems other than micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) deficiencies can arise. For example, if the integrity of the gut is compromised it can lead to joint pain and inflammation throughout the body, a microbial imbalance can lead to mood disorders or cause intense cravings, and insufficient stomach acid production can lead to heartburn or unwanted bacteria entering our body. 

To help the processes of the gut heal:

• Try an Elimination Diet. Remove suspect foods from your diet for a period of 2-3 weeks to see if symptoms subside.

• Take a Digestive Enzyme with meals to improve the digestive fire and assist with the breakdown of food.

• Supplement with L-Glutamine (20-30 grams, taken in 5-10 gram doses throughout the day) to mend the intestinal lining. 

• Improve your microbiome with a Multi-Strain Probiotic.

For more on joint inflammation check out: Correlation between Food and Joint Pain

5. THE TWO BIGGEST STRESSORS IN LIFE COME FROM OUR MOUTH

What comes out of your mouth is as important as what you decide to put in it. Choose your words as carefully as your food. Both can have negative consequences.

6. CHOOSE ORGANIC TO REDUCE YOUR TOXIC LOAD

It is no secret that large agricultural companies spray their crops and add a host of chemicals so that they will be able to increase their product yield. What is less known is the damage a lifetime intake of pesticide laden food can have. In addition to possible endocrine disruption, nerve disorders, reproductive issues, and birth defects it can cause us to gain unsightly fat! This is largely due to the overall toxic load we are up against. If the toxic burden is too much for our body to get rid of or exposure becomes chronic our body simply stores toxins in fat cells to be dealt with later. An easy way to reduce your exposure to pesticides is to utilize the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Dirty Dozen list when selecting produce. Each year the EWG selects the most sprayed foods and compile them for you. If you pick all organic versions of the following fruits and vegetables you can reduce your exposure to chemicals and pesticides by as much as 74%.

1. Strawberries

2. Spinach

3. Nectarines

4. Apples

5. Grapes

6. Peaches

7. Cherries

8. Pears

9. Tomatoes

10. Celery

11. Potatoes

12. Bell Peppers

For more information check out: Will Eating Organic for 2 Weeks Make a Difference?

7. A NEGATIVE MINDSET CAN NEVER LEAD TO A POSITIVE LIFE

The way we see the world shapes our personality which develops our personal reality. A personal reality cultivated by an unconscious process of negativity can never lead to a positive life because thinking the same negative thoughts lead to making the same choices. Making the same choices leads to practicing the same behaviors. Practicing the same behaviors lead to creating the same experiences. Creating the same experiences lead to producing the same emotions that lead to the same negative thoughts. Nothing can change unless you break the cycle. If you exist in the same negative mindset, think the same negative thoughts, experience the same negative emotions, how can you expect to positively change your life? As long as you view the world the same way, you are bound to create the same life. To truly change, you have to shift the way you view the world and believe you are destined for a better life. 

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For more tips purchase the ebook

21 Tips to Become Healthier, Leaner & Stronger

Calm Down! CBD Oil for Anger and Stress

Guest post authored by Madeline Taylor from SundayScaries.com

Emotions are part of human life and throughout the course of our lives, we will go through the entire spectrum of feelings. There are some emotions that are directly related to events such as post-traumatic stress disorder and others that seem to pop up from nowhere. Anger and stress are two of the most powerful feelings that we can experience and if one is present, the other will be too.

Stress and anger are often accompanied by underlying anxiety and this is what makes it difficult to find an appropriate treatment. When these three emotions are all present in someone’s life, things can get out of control rather quickly and your quality of life is in jeopardy, especially if you don’t seek treatment. It is easy to overlook the fact that your anger could be a side effect of anxiety, especially if you haven’t been eating or sleeping properly and you may find that even the smallest of issues will suddenly seem like the end of the world is nigh.

Would you purchase CBD products from Stay Strong?

Yes

No

Stress shouldn’t be taken lightly as, in severe cases, it can kill you. It causes hypertension, affects your nervous system, and can lead to depression. Furthermore, as there is still a stigma attached to those who seek medical treatment for seemingly minor emotional issues, many people choose to ignore the symptoms of stress and anger and hope that they will go away on their own.

The Effect of Pharmaceuticals on Mental Health Issues

When we feel like we are under a high level of stress or anxiety, there will likely come a point where a friend or colleague will point us in the direction of a physician to help us address our issues. It could be caused by a social anxiety disorder, increased stress levels through work, Post-traumatic stress (PTSD), or even because of chronic pain. And one of the most commonly prescribed treatments for anxiety is a benzodiazepine like Xanax. These pills will treat your symptoms almost immediately, but they are accompanied by a long list of harmful side effects—especially when used for long periods of time. Benzodiazepines are highly addictive and they can cause the following symptoms:

• Nausea

• Depression

• Dry Mouth

• Incontinence

• Headaches

• Shaking

• Paranoia

• Loss of appetite

• Acne

How CBD Works for Anger and Stress

The past couple of years have seen the rise of alternative medicines such as CBD products like hemp seed oil, cannabis oil, and medical cannabis becoming increasingly popular. Medical marijuana and hemp oil (and all their derivatives) have been proven for use as an efficient and effective natural treatment for disorders like anxiety, depression, and stress and it is currently a hot topic in the medical industry. This has led to more studies being performed on cannabinoids and its potential therapeutic uses, as well as much more research scheduled to take place in 2019. While CBD oil is relatively new to the medical market, it has been used in ancient traditions for thousands of years to cure illness and provide relief from emotional issues like anger, stress, and anxiety.

Here are some of the ways that CBD is thought to alleviate the symptoms of anger and stress:

CBD is thought to cause pleasure hormones in the body to be released. These particular hormones are incredibly powerful, as they are responsible for inducing feelings of calm, reducing stress, and eliminating underlying anxiety.

• Research has shown us that CBD positively affects the basolateral amygdala receptors that we naturally have in our bodies in order to process most of our sensory information.

• The hippocampus is the part of our brain that is basically an emotional control center. CBD interacts with receptors in the hippocampus to stimulate positive emotions and the necessary chemicals to provide us with therapeutic comfort.

• A daily dose of CBD oil has been found to reduce cognitive impairment.

• CBD has powerful anti-inflammatory properties that help eliminate the effects that stress can have on our heart and arteries.

Another major factor to take into account, when looking at CBD as a viable treatment for emotional disorders, is the effect that CBD has on Serotonin levels in the brain. Science and anecdotal evidence have both demonstrated the positive effect that CBD has on the mood-enhancing chemicals in our brain. It triggers the release of these necessary chemicals and works to ensure that they are balanced in an entirely natural way. As an added bonus, it is not accompanied by any nasty side effects.

CBD Is not Addictive

CBD oil is a cumulative substance, meaning that it builds up in our body and works away behind the scenes. This is why it should be taken as a routine supplement each day, instead of when you are right in the clutches of a panic attack. Good quality CBD oil is extracted and processed in a way that allows it to override the psychoactive effects of THC (another important compound in the cannabis plant—the one that gets you high) this means that you won’t be walking around like a zombie and CBD oil is perfectly safe to take at work and it won’t impair your ability to drive or be productive. One of the primary risks of treating anxiety with traditional pharmaceuticals is an addiction and this, in turn, contributes to even more stress! CBD is completely non-addictive and you can take as much or as little as you like, without experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

Final Thoughts

While CBD oil is an incredibly powerful natural substance, not all oils are created equal. Before making a purchase, always check that the oil you are looking at is full spectrum and extracted in a chemical-free process. One of the biggest appeals of using CBD oil is the fact that it is completely non-toxic, so making sure that it is as pure as possible is going to be the key to success. It is also not a quick fix and should ideally be taken as part of a balanced diet and combined with exercise, which is also another incredibly effective way of eliminating stress from our lives. Finally, know that it is completely safe to experiment with dosage. What works for one person, might not be effective for another. Therefore, always start by taking a lower dose and increase it until you notice a positive change with regards to your anger and stress.

SOURCES:

• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262809.php

• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/style/cbd-benefits.html

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Additional Notes on CBD:

While THC, the psychoactive chemical found in cannabis, is a restricted substance that is not legal in several states and countries, the compound cannabidiol is: Mary Barna Bridgeman and Daniel T. Abazia, “Medicinal Cannabis: History, Pharmacology, And Implications for the Acute Care Setting,” Physical Therapy 42, no. 3 (March 2017): 180–188, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/

CBD is a cannabinoid that composes up to 40 percent of the marijuana plant: Alline Cristina Campos et al., “Multiple Mechanisms Involved in the Large-Spectrum Therapeutic Potential of Cannabidiol in Psychiatric Disorders,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 367, no. 1607 (December 2012): 3364–3378, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0389

CBD acts as an antagonist of THC by turning off or turning down anything that would activate the receptors through which THC exerts its effects. CBD itself does not, like THC, attach to receptors associated with addiction, so it is neither addictive or habit-forming: Shenglong Zou and Ujendra Kumar, “Cannabinoid Receptors and the Endocannabinoid System: Signaling and Function in the Central Nervous System,” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 19, no. 3 (March 2018): 833, https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19030833; Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, “Cannabidiol (CBD) Critical Review Report,” World Health Organization, June 2018, https://www.who.int/medicines/access/controlled-substances/CannabidiolCriticalReview.pdf

CBD also has no psychoactive effects, and there is a growing body of research to support CBD use for recovery: Bridgeman and Abazia, “Medicinal Cannabis: History,” 180–188, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5312634/

CBD is particularly potent against inflammation, which is one of the leading contributors to conditions like heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and nephritis: Natalya M. Kogan and Raphael Mechoulam, “Cannabinoids in Health and Disease,” Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience 9, no. 4 (December 2007): 413–430, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3202504/; Martin Frisher et al., “The Role of Cannabis and Cannabinoids in Diabetes,” The British Journal of Diabetes & Vascular Disease 10, no. 6 (2010): 267–273, https://doi.org/10.1177/1474651410385860; Claudia Ho, Dan Martinusen, and Clifford Lo, “A Review of Cannabis in Chronic Kidney Disease Symptom Management,” Canadian Journal of Kidney Health and Disease 6 (2019): 2054358119828391, https://doi.org/10.1177/2054358119828391

CBD is also effective against acute inflammation, which you might encounter, say, after a long day of racing or working out… CBD can also reduce levels of the inflammatory compound interleukin-6: Prakash Nagarkatti et al., “Cannabinoids as Novel Anti-Inflammatory Drugs,” Future Medicinal Chemistry 1, no. 7 (October 2009): 1333–1349, https://doi.org/10.4155/fmc.09.93

The problem with CBD is that it is not naturally highly bioavailable because CBD oils, capsules, and powders are not water soluble. Considering that your body is over 60 percent water, you have to find a way to overcome this problem to enjoy the benefits of this cannabinoid: Natascia Bruni et al., “Cannabinoid Delivery Systems for Pain and Inflammation Treatment,” Molecules 23, no. 10 (October 2018): 2478, https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23102478

Turmeric plays a significant role here because the isolated curcuminoids (which are the active ingredients of a high-curcumin-containing turmeric plant) mix with the cannabinoids and terpenoids of CBD, causing their bioavailability to explode: Bruni et al., “Cannabinoid Delivery Systems,” 2478, https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules23102478

When you take CBD with curcumin or turmeric high in curcumin, you can get five to ten times the effects: Grant Hosking, “The Synergistic Effects of Turmeric and CBD,” Modern Nature, February 12, 2019, https://modernnature.com/blogs/articles/the-synergistic-effects-of-turmeric-and-cbd; Kelly Harrington, “Combining Hemp Extract and Curcumin,” Healthy Goods, April 12, 2019, https://healthygoods.com/blog/combining-hemp-extract-and-curcumin/

CBD topical lotions can be just as effective as or more effective than oral CBD supplementation for spot-targeting joints: D.C. Hammell et al., “Transdermal Cannabidiol Reduces Inflammation and Pain-Related Behaviours in a Rat Model of Arthritis,” European Journal of Pain 20, no. 6 (July 2016): 936–948, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.818

recommend just 10 to 20 mg of CBD if you have never used it before: Kerstin Iffland and Franjo Grotenhermen, “An Update on Safety and Side Effects of Cannabidiol: A Review of Clinical Data and Relevant Animal Studies,” Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 2, no. 1 (2017): 139–154, https://doi.org/10.1089/can.2016.0034

How to Run Faster: Mental and Physical Techniques

Guest post authored by Nate Martins from HVMN.com

What is speed? If we’re opening the dictionary, it’s a measurement of the rate at which someone or something is able to move; it also means to move quickly. Speed is both relative and concrete. It’s both an exact measure and a feeling with wholly different meanings depending on the context.

Speed is inexorably linked to time: seconds, minutes, mile splits, PRs. It can be easy to forget the idea of being fast, the heavy breathing, wind-through-your-hair, quad-burning sensation in which runners know they are hitting the ground but feel as if they’re floating.

Sam Robinson is a writer and marathoner–he has a PhD in history, has been featured in Outside Magazine, and is a fixture in the Bay Area running community. He recently discussed the idea of running philosophy on the HVMN Podcast.

“Fast is relative. It’s always good to keep that in mind.” — Sam Robinson

Fast is a feeling, one that maybe can’t be associated with time for all athletes.

Keeping Pace with the World’s Fastest Runners

During the 100m dash at the 2009 Berlin World Championships, sprinter Usain Bolt hit 27.8mph. Marathoner Dennis Kimetto ran the 2014 Berlin Marathon in 2:02:57 which was the fastest marathon of all time–until Eliud Kipchoge smashed that record on September 16, 2018 (also at Berlin) with a time of 2:01:39.

These runners exhibit different kinds of speed, each fast in their relative events. While Bolt hit a top speed of nearly 28mph, Kipchoge maintained over 13mph during his world-record setting marathon. The result was an average mile time of 4:38, faster than the max speed of the average treadmill (5 minutes per pace). These are the two extremes: sprints and marathons are almost entirely different sports and ways to exhibit speed.

Between these two efforts, middle distance running (800m, most commonly) provides a unique physiological middle ground.

One study cites the contribution from aerobic and anaerobic variables as allowing a runner to maintain speed during middle distance races. These runners are able to produce velocity without impairment from things like VO2 max (long-distance running), and lactate threshold (sprints).1

The world’s fastest 800m runner is David Rudisha, who holds the world and Olympic record set at London in 2012 with a time of 1:40. That effort broke his own record, set in 2010. Before that? The record was set in 1997 by Wilson Kipketer (who broke his own record several times). And before that? The record was set by Sebastian Coe in 1981. This is interesting when compared to marathon records (broken every few years) and 100m world records (broken even more frequently).

This is all to say that fast doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It depends on things like distance, event, output, and maybe most importantly for the casual runner, personal goal: a number, denoted in time, less than your previous run.

We are not Bolt or Kipchoge. But we share a desire to run faster, whatever that may mean to you as a runner.

Mental Techniques

Running faster is something that must be achieved through physical ability–the body is what propels us forward. But now more than ever, the mental aspect of endurance exercise is being considered a powerful tool to push the body to extreme lengths.

“We’re so fixated on screens. Running is one of the times I can get away from that and be in my own head.” — Sam Robinson

The body and mind are linked; while we’ll explore physical aspects of technique and pacing, we’ll also address mental strategies to employ while on the road or the course.

Welcome the Pain

We previously discussed motivational techniques for runners, which points to embracing pain as a way runners can push themselves to log miles every day. The same is true for running faster. There’s an element of discomfort that must be welcomed in order to increase pace.

“Try not to see it as pain, just an intense sensation like spicy food or dark chocolate.” — Michael Brandt, HVMN Co-founder and COO

This is especially difficult for runners who are just starting because they’re not used to the feeling of pain. During workouts like speed training, the pain will come–it’s about being ready for it, anticipating it, and eventually, embracing it.

The pain will lessen with training. Crossing the lactate threshold is the point at which the body cannot recycle the lactic acid accumulated in the blood–it’s then that the body begins sending pain and nausea signals in an effort to make you slow down and thus recycle all that lactic acid. But you can train to increase that lactic threshold and decrease the pain.

With training also comes a knowledge of your body and an understanding of pain, remembering how it feels and at what point in the run it’ll hit.

Positive Thinking

The power of the mind can’t be understated–being aware of your thinking, and how those thoughts make you feel, can have a positive or negative impact on performance outputs. Sometimes telling yourself “you’re great” is the first step to actually making that happen.

One meta-analysis concluded the strategy of self-talk facilitates learning (so it can also help training) and enhance performance.2 Since self-talk has an impact on performance, it’s important to make that self-talk positive.

Cindra Kamphoff has a Ph.D in performance psychology, and she is a performance coach to professional athletes, executives and championships teams from all over the US. She understands the power of the mind and helps athletes harness it. When speaking about the mental aspect of sport, she had this to say: “The negativity is going to come, the disempowering thoughts are going to come because you’re pushing your body. You don’t have to believe them.”

While talking to yourself during a run, it also helps to be mindful. Many runners reach a flowstate of zen or a meditation-like experience. This happens during the run, but its power can be harnessed while off the trail. One study showed that several weeks of mindfulness training could help elite athletes adapt better to stressful situations.3

The ability to harness the connection between body and mind may lead to better results.

Chunking

No, this isn’t adding carbs to your pre-workout.

Breaking a casual run or race into chunks can help–especially for longer runs. This technique can help by making the total mileage feel less daunting. For a marathon distance, a popular way to break it down is into two 10-mile runs and a 10k.

Even on a smaller scale, chunking can be similar to gamifying the run. If you’re running in a city, you might push yourself to the end of the block. During a race, it’s undeniable that seeing the finish line can allow you to tap into a new running gear and push to the end.

Breaking down a run into smaller sections may help increase speed incrementally, which will likely lead to a better overall time.

Training Smart

Training is like juggling. Breathing, form, power–all these things are on your mind with each stride. When one is dropped, the others tend to follow. But it’s during this training process that the best habits are built. And remember, it’s a process.

“Running is about playing the long game. Think of it like a house. A good race or bad race is a single brick in the edifice of your long-term fitness.” — Sam Robinson

Things like intervals and tempo runs can help. It’s also important to track your progress: keep a training log to see how you’ve been able to increase speed after all that hard training.

Intervals

Intervals are great speed workouts for both the aerobic and anaerobic system. They consist of short, high-intensity bursts followed by slow recovery phases which are repeated one after the other. One of the earliest forms of interval training was the Fartlek method (Swedish for “speed play”), and today, many athletes use high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Sometimes, running fast means actually running fast.

Generally, these workouts are ten seconds to several minutes long, run nearly at maximum effort, followed by a rest period of up to four times the length of the effort itself. The shorter the interval, the more of them you’ll likely do.

But the length of intervals (time and distance), power of those intervals, and the rest period, should be optimized for the specific runner. Elite runners can do four intervals of ten minute runs at their 5k pace. Most runners won’t be able to maintain that. An average interval workout is an 8x4: eight repeats of a 400m run done in 90 seconds with a two-minute recovery.

One study in soccer players found that HIIT improved maximal aerobic speed.4 And recreational runners can improve their running economy by replacing aspects of their conventional training with long-interval running.5

Hills

Hill training usually targets power in the legs, meaning higher output. One study found that six weeks of hill workouts increased top speed for runners, while also allowing them to sustain that speed 32% longer.6

Hill repeats are similar to interval training in that they’re usually conducted in short bursts. First, warm up. Then find a hill that’s about 100m long and run hard to the top, with the jog downhill serving as the recovery period. Start with two or four repeats, and work your way up to six or eight.

Tempo Runs

Tempo runs are also known as lactate threshold runs–this is the point at which your body is unable to recycle accumulated lactate in the blood. This is a pace that’s anywhere between ten and 30 seconds slower than a 5k or 10k pace.

The goal of tempo runs is to increase your anaerobic threshold, thus allowing your body to sustain an effort that was previously unsustainable. This training technique tends to benefit longer-distance runners more than sprinters.

Tempo runs should be part of a weekly running routine, and can vary depending on experience level and training needs. One way to incorporate this into training is to start by running 15 - 20 minutes at 75% of maximum heart rate, then build up to 30 - 45 minutes by adding about five minutes to these runs weekly.

Strength Training

While many runners are laser-focused on logging miles, time in the gym can lead to time off your mile splits.7

Two areas of strength training are often employed by runners: leg and core workouts. Weight training can both improve strength and lead to greater running economy (as it did for female runners in this study).8

Exercises like lunges and squats can strengthen those leg muscles used more frequently on runs. And for core workouts, even simple additions like planks and leg raises and weighted sit-ups can positively impact form and posture. Don’t discount yoga and stretching–on days where you’re looking for some active recovery, yoga is perfect for both developing strength in core muscle groups and stretching tight muscles.

Fix Your Form

Essential to running efficiently, improving running form and technique can lead to faster speed. The way you run affects the way force is applied to your muscles and joints. Correcting form can be help injury prevention, as improper execution can cause injury if you’re a beginner;9 if you aren’t running, you aren’t getting faster.

“People assume that running is running is running, but it's not true. Especially when we sit at our desks all day, or aren't used to it.” — Michael Brandt, HVMN Co-founder and COO

Good overall form can feel like a unicorn; it’s best broken down into a few manageable techniques to consider on each run.

Stride Turnover

Changing stride turnover–how my steps taken during one minute of running–may have an impact on speed.10

The goal is to have a higher stride turnover, meaning to take shorter, quicker steps; these reduce the impact on your joints because you’ll hit the ground with less force. Longer strides have the opposite effect, and can create more impact because you’re in the air for longer. Sprinters will typically need to lift their knees higher to achieve maximum leg power, but distance runners won’t need as much lift.

Figuring out your stride turnover is easy. Just run for one minute at your 5k pace and count the number of times your right foot hits the ground. To improve stride turnover, jog for one minute to recover, trying to increase your stride count by one. Repeat this several times with the goal of increasing strides each time.

At the proper stride length, your feet should land directly under your body. And when your foot strikes the ground, your knee should be slightly flexed, bending naturally to the impact. Keep in mind that the middle of your foot should be making contact with the ground–not your heel.

Heel Striking

It’s a very common problem for runners.11 Landing on your heel can mean too long of a stride, which wastes energy and may cause running injuries (hello, shin splints).12 Avoid landing on toes too–this can also increase fatigue and wear out your calves.

You want to be a mid-foot striker. Hitting the ground mid-foot allows you to roll through to the front of your toes. Changing your footstrike takes practice, but the results can show up both in speed and in reduced joint pain. One study of runners from habitually barefoot populations showed an increase in speed when mid-foot or front-foot striking.13

Overstriding is usually the culprit–try increasing your number of strides. Your next run, focus on striking on the balls of your feet. Interestingly, that’s where most people strike when running barefoot; try running on grass (or another soft surface) without any shoes on, translating that muscle memory to other runs. Also, running drills can help. Skipping, high knees, side shuffling, butt kicks–with all these, it’s almost impossible to land on the heel.

One last thing. It may seem obvious, but keep those toes pointed in the direction you want to travel. As fatigue sets in, form gets wonky–you may find your toes are turning in or out, which can lead to joint pain.

Relax

It goes from top to bottom and will have an impact on running posture.

Relax your shoulders. Relax your arms. Relax your hands.

Posture

“Running tall” is a repeated mantra meant to encourage good running posture.

It starts with the head: look ahead naturally while keeping the chin parallel to the ground, and avoid looking down at the feet. This should improve posture in your neck, shoulders and back–which, remember, should be relaxed.

Avoid hiking up your shoulders, which can happen naturally with stress. Upon feeling your shoulders close your ears, try giving them a good shake to relax and keep them level.

Efficient running means less overall movement. Arms, at a 90-degree angle, should swing back and forth around the waist, powering the lower body. Think of yourself as two halves: left and right, and keep each arm on that side of the body. Tension in the upper body is controlled by the hands, so relaxed hands are also important. You may notice tension developing throughout the run as it gets more difficult–imagine you’re carrying an egg in each hand and watch that tension disappear.

The torso and back should be naturally straight, as this promotes optimal lung capacity and stride length. Slouching during a run? Try a deep, realigning breath and hold position.

Breathing

We’ve discussed VO2 max, and its impact on the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently. Since oxygen is feeding those muscles, it’s important to understand how to take in the most air possible.

Inhale and exhale primarily through your mouth–it’s the most effective way to take in oxygen. Your nose can join the party too, but it can be difficult for some to breathe through both simultaneously. Practice makes perfect here; you can try it throughout the day to help get the body adapted to the technique.

And focus on belly breathing, with the force of the inhale extending to the diaphragm with the stomach expanding. These should be deep, slow, rhythmic breaths. Overall, you should see a decrease in cramps and an increased ability to pace yourself.

Sleep & Recovery

The importance of rest cannot be understated–but it’s often forgotten or unaccounted for in a training plan.

“Our culture has a ‘no pain, no gain’ mindset. But that’s not how the body works exactly. You need to recover properly.” — Sam Robinson

Sleep and recovery days are important to give tired muscles a chance to rebuild tissues that have been broken down during exercise.14 That breakdown is meant to cause muscles to adapt and become stronger, thus potentially leading to increased speed. Sleep is also part of this process. It’s important to encourage good sleep: set a sleep schedule and get some screenless time before bed, because screens can negatively impact rest.15 One study found that lack of sleep can lead to muscle degradation.16

Recovery runs are a must. These should be done at a slower, less-strenuous pace that allows the body to recycle lactate as its produced. This pace per mile should be about one minute or 1:30 more than your average pace.

Consuming Your Way to Speed

What you eat, and the supplements you take, can have an impact on how fast you run. A body operating on high-octane fuel will undoubtedly perform better than one with a less-optimized fuel source.

Diet

Diet can have a roundabout effect on speed through a few different avenues.

It directly impacts body composition, which affects speed. It can also determine the body’s fuel source, meaning that a diet low in carbohydrates can lead to fat-adaptation, allowing the body to tap into fat stores. If you aren’t a fat burner, carbs are essential to keep running pace, as glycogen depletion leads to bonking. And after a run, diet can help with recovery, enabling the body to train again faster.

VO2 max is a measure of one’s running fitness; it’s the maximum amount of oxygen that can be delivered to working muscle per unit of body mass. Those with higher VO2 maxes are better runners. And because body weight impacts VO2 max, the lighter the runner means a higher VO2 max which can mean a lighter runner is a better runner.

Many distance runners are employing the ketogenic diet for weight loss. The low-carb, high-fat diet can force a metabolic adaptation allowing the runner to burn fat as fuel (as opposed to carbs). And the restricting of carbohydrates often leads to better body composition.

Counting calories may help you lose weight. While the macronutrient composition of food can be more important than the amount of calories, counting calories while on keto might lead to greater results.

Supplements

We’ve covered supplements for runners extensively, providing you with a toolkit from training to race day to recovery. You’ll want to focus on those for race day, as they’re the supplements that can have a direct correlation to speed.

Many runners drink coffee and consume carbohydrates before a race, giving the body fuel sources to immediately tap into. Buffers are also useful, and may delay the onset of muscle pain associated with the building up lactic acid in the blood (but really it’s the proton associated with lactate)–check out sodium bicarbonate, Beta-alanine and HVMN Ketone.

HVMN Ketone

Ketones are a fundamentally different fuel source from carbohydrates and fats that cells normally use for energy.

Taken before or during exercise, D-BHB (the ketone body in HVMN Ketone) is 28% more efficient than carbohydrates alone, helping your body do more work with the same amount of oxygen.17 In one study, cyclists went ~2% further in a 30-minute time trial.18

When taken with carbs, the glycogen-sparing effect of HVMN Ketone helps many runners–the body will preferentially use the ketones as fuel first, saving glycogen for later in the race, when the need it most.

"By consuming exogenous ketones, athletes give themselves an additional source of fuel that they can burn first, thus preserving glycogen." — Allison Goldstein, Runner’s World

HVMN Athlete and professional cyclists, Vittoria Bussi, recently broke the world record for the women’s Hour: riders see how far they can cycle in a velodrome in one hour. Vittoria used HVMN Ketone before her attempt, citing its effectiveness later in the race.

Read more about Vittoria’s story here.

Running Fast: a Personal Pursuit

With countless ways to measure and track and compare and share statuses, it’s important to remember that on a run, it’s just you and the road. You should want to improve. You should want to get faster. You should expect to work to get there.

Running isn’t about taking shortcuts, if you want to get faster, you have to train. Aspire to some of the world’s best runners, and use that as motivation each time you lace up your shoes to run.

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