Conditioning Research

In the theme of the last one.... Bosses Who Work Out Are Nicer We also find that the relationship between supervisor stress and abusive behaviour can be diminished when supervisors engage in moderate levels of physical exercise.  (from a study here)

A few months ago I wrote a post about the way in which spending time with my Dad who has dementia had caused me to reassess bits of my life.  It placed so much in perspective, work and relationships but also all the time I spend thinking about diet and training.  In many ways none of this matters....but in other ways this is so important, so vital to live and experience this world.  Take all that it has to offer. I was with him again this weekend.  It was so good just to sit with him in his confusion.  Family is a constant for him - he recognises us and while he is not sure where or when he is, our presence calms him and gives him an anchor.  I held his hand for a couple of hours while he talked or slept, my mum holding the other.  When his eyes opened and he saw me and smiled, sighed and said "You're a good lad." I melted.  I  want to look after and protect him to carry this burden.  Yet I have to leave and return to a different worl...

Sorry to return to this subject, especially with the pumped up and  over-hyped video, but I think this guy makes good points on the impact of stretching before exercise.  Once you get past the music at the start, it is pretty solid stuff too.   As we have said before, static stretching pre-exercise tends to lead to a poorer performance (the Sock Doc has said this in a great article )

Just a couple of quick links connected by glutes..... Martin Berkhan (you must have heard of him) posted this on Twitter and Facebook, and it is interesting as a study: Low load exercises targeting the gluteal muscle group acutely enhance explosive power output in elite athletes. It is this idea of activating the glutes as a warm up and it now seems to have some support from research. I put a glute exercise in the Hillfit exercise routine - a hip extension / glute bridge - because I think that it is important to get the glutes firing, especially given that our habitual sitting posture tends to see those muscles under activated.  I was really focussing on a big 3 - squat (wall sit), pushup and row - but wanted to add a hip hinge/glute move. Interestingly I saw this post today from Mike Reinold on the kneeling hip thrust as a simple glute exercise.  I was messing with this tonight using bands

Thanks to Adam Dean for pointing this out. Almost a year ago I had a couple of posts ( here and here ) about a Harvard Professor who was doing research into barefoot running.  The research continues, and Wired Magazine had a feature on his two latest studies which have been published just this month.  Their piece is called More Evidence Supports Barefoot Running and points to Daniel Lieberman's latest work: If you’re a runner, start striking with your forefoot. And wear those goofy minimalist shoes while you’re at it. Your body will thank you. Those are the findings of a pair of studies by Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University. He found runners who use a forefoot strike face a significantly lower risk of repetitive stress injuries, and barely there running shoes produce more efficient movement than conventional kicks. The two studies are: Foot Strike and Injury Rates in Endurance Runners: a retrospective study. PURPOS...

I've had stuff here before on the health impact of spending too much time sitting down.  Lifehacker had a good piece on it today too: Do you sit in an office chair or on your couch for more than six hours a day? Then here are some disturbing facts: Your risk of heart disease has increased by up to 64 percent. You're shaving off seven years of quality life. You're also more at risk for certain types of cancer. Simply put, sitting is killing you. That's the bad news. The good news: It's easy to counteract no matter how lazy you are. Their prescription was: Happily, you only need to do two things to counter the effects of sitting all day: Remember to stand once an hour. Get about 30 minutes of activity per day. Whether you're a couch potato watching marathons of Firefly or an office worker sitting in front of a computer, an Australian study suggests short breaks from sitting once an hour can alleviate most of the problems described above

Here is another one on sleep that I saw today in my trawl of the new research.   Nothing that we have not seen before but this is a review that tries to pull together some of the studies: Does inadequate sleep play a role in vulnerability to obesity? The prevalence of obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide, which is cause for concern because obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, reduces life expectancy, and impairs quality of life. A better understanding of the risk factors for obesity is therefore a critical global health concern, and human biologists can play an important role in identifying these risk factors in various populations. The objective of this review is to present the evidence that inadequate sleep may be a novel risk factor associated with increased vulnerability to obesity and associated cardiometabolic disease. Experimental studies have found that short-term sleep restriction is associated with impaired glucose metabolism, dys...

I obviously wouldn't go that far seeing as I keep posting videos of Kelly Starret, but I do think that the arguments for indiscriminate stretching are limited.  For some of us at some times to address particular issues i think there is an argument for stretching.  Anyway, Zero Drop has posted this list of 10 Reasons Why Runners Should Not Stretch Stretching is exercise for the muscles like sea water is hydration for the body. When you're desperate for relief, it feels so right but only makes things worse. All athletes, especially runners, are so passionate about stretching. They defend it like their political association, religion, or family. I think many of them may have pictures of their kids in their wallets doing all types of cool stretches that they show their coworkers every day at the water cooler. Runners will follow any trend they think will make them run faster. Whether it's a new supplement, pair of socks, pair or shoes, custom orthotics, or stretching. T...

Thanks to Matthew Clarke for pointing this out. There is an interesting study in the International Journal of Obesity this month.  Lots of times in the past I've pointed to things  saying to get more sleep for lots of health reasons - inflammation, stress reduction etc.  I have just drafted up an  article on sleep and I talk about the signals that you give to your body.   Compromised sleep sends a signal that you are under threat....so you produce stress hormones to get you ready for the threat.....and chronically elevated stress hormones (cortisol etc) lead to all sorts of problems....including obesity. This new study found that those who slept more were better at losing weight!   Lowered stress was also a success factor, although that is linked - sleep more a way of reducing stress. Anyway, here is the abstract: Impact of sleep, screen time, depression and stress on weight change in the intensive weight loss phase of the LIFE study Ba...

Although it looks a bit warmer, this is much like t he seminar I attended with the great Erwan Le Core back in December 2010 . By the way if you are wondering how this fits with my Hillfit approach, I think High Intensity Training, resistance training can quickly get you the strength that you need in order to practice MovNat Skills.  Without basic strength you will never get far in terms of climbing etc.  I do not discount all these skills, and I think there is value in becoming expert in them.....but strength.....exercise is something else.

We've had material up here before on the way in which exercise can promote insulin sensitivity - even brief intense exercise . I spotted this new study that highlights that both endurance and resistance training can have an impact, but on different elements of that sensitivity: Insulin Sensitivity After Maximal and Endurance Resistance Training Maximum Resistance Training (MRT) led to a greater increase in glucose uptake capacity (in muscles), whereas Endurance Resistance Training (ERT) led to greater insulin sensitivity, supporting the recommendation of both MRT and ERT as primary intervention approaches for individuals at a risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is something that I point to in Hillfit - intense exercise to failure that can tap into all the muscle fibres - slow, intermediate and fast twitch - lets you drain them of glucose in a way in which endurance exercise does not allow....and endurance exercise does have some benefits. Actually it is pretty much si...

I have had stuff on here before about warm ups, mainly discouraging static stretching as a warm up since it seems to impair performance and do nothing to prevent injuries or soreness.  Dynamic stretches or mobility work seems to have more promise. Anyway, there was a post on the excellent Sweat Science blog (reading that blog just makes me want to give up because he does all this stuff so well!) which looked at a recent study about the impact of different warm up protocols on swimming performance - The ideal warm up for swimmers It is well worth reading the post and it prompted me to search around because initially I could not find the study to which it referred.  I did find the actual thesis from the student who did the work however .  What is interesting to me is that 37% of the sample performed best with no warm up whatsoever.  It may be specific to the event that was being measured and I am sure that there are confounding factors in the study, but it is so...

Where I was this morning....  I suppose this is another post about my book  - Hillfit .   The reviews are still coming in and I've collected them on a page here .  As I've said, the reason I train is to get out into the hills, so each trip will be easier, safer and more fun.  This morning was up in my local hills to watch the sunrise.  It was windy but stunning. Anyway, this post is just to say that a big credit for the quality of the book goes to my editor / proof reader.  Dr M C Aldhous went through the text, proof reading, reference checking and generally tightening up my prose.  Her input was vital in getting the thing together in a decent state such that we were happy to put it up for sale. It is one thing writing blogs, but pulling together something a bit more substantial and then being audacious enough to try to sell it is a different proposotion, having a proper professional editor was a huge help. Dr M C Aldhous is an immu...

I heard this as I was walking home last night after a long day at work and a crap week.  This week Robb Wolf had Michael Rutherford on the podcast   and it was a fun listen, easvesdropping on some pals chatting away really.  One quote stood out: Your best ally as you age is to take as much muscle mass into your latter years as possible. Of course it is.

Balance is fascinating.  On Clarence Bass recommendation a couple of year ago I read Scott McCredie’s book Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense (2007).  It is really interesting and gives you a new appreciation for the importance of balance. In Hillfit I mention balance as a complex of three different systems: the visual the proprioceptive the vestibular - the inner ear sense that positions you in space relative to gravity, your equilibrium  One of the key things in balance in general I say is to be stronger - sometimes the muscles are not strong enough to maintain balance whatever the systems are saying. I've mentioned the proprioceptive systems before in terms of ankle sprains .  Anyway, all that is just introduction to this study which I found today. V estibular rehabilitation therapy: review of indications, mechanisms, and key exercises. Vestibular rehabilitation therapy (VRT) is an exercise-based treatment program designed to promote vestibular ad...

Hot on the heels of that last study here is another.  It is again pointing to messed up sleep leading to messed up appetite and eating patterns. The effect of sleep restriction on snacking behaviour during a week of simulated shiftwork. Due to irregular working hours shiftworkers experience circadian disruption and sleep restriction. There is some evidence to indicate that these factors adversely affect health through changes in snacking behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of sleep restriction, prior wake and circadian phase on snacking behaviour during a week of simulated shiftwork. Twenty-four healthy males (age: 22.0±3.6 years, mean±SD) lived in a sleep laboratory for 12 consecutive days. Participants were assigned to one of two schedules: a moderate sleep restriction condition (n=10) equivalent to a 6-h sleep opportunity per 24h or a severe sleep restriction condition (n=14) equivalent to a 4-h sleep opportunity per 24h. In both conditions, sleep/...

Doug had already given a great review to Hillfit, but today on Body by Science, he had more to say: Chris Highcock over at www.conditioningresearch.com   has a new book out called Hillfit . It is basically a high intensity training program directed toward hikers and climbers.  Even though it is directed at this particular sport, it is pertinent to any sport as it effectively shows how to combine (and separate) physical conditioning and skill conditioning in the most user-friendly fashion I have seen to date. As I said previously I have massive respect for Doug.  He is my inspiration and mentor and  to read these words from him is fantastic. Read more about the book and order it from www.hillfit.com

I've referenced autophagy before in relation to fasting.  Scientific American today pointed to a new study in Nature which identifies exercise induced autophagy. “Our findings demonstrate that exercise is a potent inducer of autophagy,” the researchers wrote. “Autophagy induction may contribute to the beneficial metabolic effects of exercise,” they concluded.  Here is the abstract - Exercise-induced BCL2-regulated autophagy is required for muscle glucose homeostasis Exercise has beneficial effects on human health, including protection against metabolic disorders such as diabetes1. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying these effects are incompletely understood. The lysosomal degradation pathway, autophagy, is an intracellular recycling system that functions during basal conditions in organelle and protein quality control2. During stress, increased levels of autophagy permit cells to adapt to changing nutritional and energy demands through protein catabolism3. Moreo...

Stress can make you fat – and being obese can create stress. A vicious circle of stress Getting fatter can potentially trigger the stress response, which in turn encourages additional weight gain. "When you go up in weight, your body also comes under stress. That probably has a self-reinforcing effect – so you get even fatter," Foss explains. But dieting can also stimulate cortisol production, which in turn may trigger the stress response and thereby counter the weight loss. "Should our hypothesis turn out to be correct, it would mean that you'll have to break this stress pattern if you want to halt the weight increase," says Foss. The paper is in medical hypotheses.... Stress in obesity: Cause or consequence? Abstract Obesity is a global public health challenge that increases the risk of various diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension and cancer, and will in the future cause further increases in the incidence of chronic disea...

Maybe.  The full paper is available here.  In terms of hydration it appears to be just another drink..... Comparison of coconut water and a carbohydrate-electrolyte sport drink on measures of hydration and physical performance in exercise-trained men Conclusion : All beverages are capable of promoting rehydration. Little difference is noted 3 between the four tested conditions with regard to markers of hydration or exercise performance in a sample of young, healthy men. Additional study inclusive of a more demanding dehydration protocol, as well as a time trial test as the measure of exercise performance, may more specifically determine the efficacy of these beverages on enhancing hydration and performance following dehydrating exercise.

We've been saying this for a while.  Good health - the optimal operation of all your systems - is built on quality sleep.  Of course I know this and preach this but must admit that my own sleep habits are not what they should be.  Work and family problems are worrying me and I am waking too early, thinking about things. Good sleep....in pitch black. Anyway, here is a study I spotted today - Lack of Sleep Makes Your Brain Hungry "After a night of total sleep loss, these males showed a high level of activation in an area of the brain that is involved in a desire to eat. Bearing in mind that insufficient sleep is a growing problem in modern society, our results may explain why poor sleep habits can affect people's risk to gain weight in the long run. It may therefore be important to sleep about eight hours every night to maintain a stable and healthy body weight." There is a journal referenced, but I can't find the article yet. Acute Sleep Deprivation Enhanc...

I've been a great fan of Bill's work since I first came across him via Doug McGuff's site .  I've interviewed him , featured his videos and reviewed his books.  Indeed I need to get a more extensive review up of his new book - Congruent Exercise . Anyway, Dave Durrell has just posted a great 1 hour plus interview with Bill over on his site High Intensity Nation. Do yourself a favour and check out some innovative and inspiring thinking. 

Chris Kresser has spoken a bit on the gut brain axis - for example in his podcast here .   There was an article in the Wall Street Journal today that went through these ideas more.  It is fascinating and definitely worth reading: A Gut Check for Many Ailments The Body's Other Mind The enteric nervous system, or 'gut brain,' can operate independently of the brain. Neurons in the gut produce neurotransmitters also found in the brain, such as serotonin. Disruptions to beneficial gut bacteria may affect mood. Neurotransmitters made in the gut help control the formation of bone. Stimulating gut neurons may help treat obesity and diabetes.

Last year I wrote my reading about Captain Barclay ; his most famous exploit was the walking of 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in 1000 hours for 1000 guineas in 1809.  There is good analysis here. Anyway, I just noticed that a case study has been published looking at the physiological impact of repeating this feat: (presumably it was Richard Dunwoody )  It sounds easy..one mile in 1 hour.....but doing that every hour for 1000 hours....little sleep, curtailed rest.  Hard stuff. The biochemical, physiological and psychological consequences of a “1,000 miles in 1,000 hours” walking challenge Abstract The combined effects of 42 days of chronic sleep disruption and repeated hourly bouts of physical exertion have not been described. This case study reports the physiological and psychological demands placed on one individual who walked 1 mile in each consecutive hour for a period of 1,000 h (42 days), covering a total distance of 1,000 miles. The participant walked at a mean sp...

Bret Contreras repeats what we've said here before : Stretching and DOMS DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) typically arises within a day of exercise and peaks in intensity at around 48 hours. Many strength & conditioning practitioners believe that stretching before or after exercise will reduce soreness. Henschke and Lin (2011) reviewed the research on this topic and concluded that stretching does not affect muscle soreness. Twelve total studies were included with a combined 2,377 participants. Pooled estimates showed that pre- and post-exercise stretching reduced soreness on average by one point on a 100-point scale one day following exercise, increase soreness on average by one point on a 100-point scale two days following exercise, and had no effect on soreness by day three. Findings were consistent across settings (lab vs. field studies), types of stretching, intensity of stretching, populations (athletic, untrained, men, women) and study quality, so the conclusio...

It looks like we are all writing books at the moment!   Richard Nikoley of the Free the Animal blog has just published a book which condenses the lessons of several years of his blog into a great little introduction to the "paleo" philosophy.  I say philosophy because, rightly, Richard looks holistically at lots of elements - diet, exercise and general health lessons. I have always thought of Richard as a proper blogger - he writes thoughtful posts that analyse and explain, that argue and promote positions.  He explains his own experiments and explorations. (I always feel that my blog is a bit more modest  - it started as somewhere to collect bits and pieces of interesting things about fitness to resource my own thinking, a set of bookmarks really.) I've been following his blog for years.  In fact, in my Google Reader it is still called Honesty Log, the name of the blog before he began to focus fully on paleo issues.  In those years I've seen him gro...

Although I have previously pointed to studies which question the general value of stretching  particularly in terms of impact on sports performance, injury and muscle soreness.  Stretching before exercise has been especially challenged. However, stretching to restore deficits caused by poor posture or the environment - like too much sitting - is still something that I do and recommend.  Here is Tom Furman on a simple stretch series for the hipflexors.  Tom says "Stretching, and eliminating hip flexor tightness can improve posture and reduce back ache."

Wow. This was recommended by Tyler Micheli in a comment on the last post: Here is 102 kg Steve Langton, USA Olympic bobsledder and World Push Champion, doing a standing box jump to 62". Cruise his channel for other impressive feats.

I am also still a sucker for videos of big jumps....

Carrying on with the discussion of "functional" training I suppose, I came across an absolutely superb post from James Fisher, who has a blog that you really should be following.   James picks apart all of the arguments that are usually presented in favour of using the Olympic lifts  -  power development, skill, safety - and concludes that for the the science does not really support the use of the O lifts for conditioning.  If you are an Olympic lifter - fine - if you are not.....don't bother.  Anyway - go and read this, it is excellent Weightlifting for Strength and Conditioning - A Critical Analysis The idea of simplicity and safety are key to what I recommend in Hillfit too - you need safe exercises to get stronger and then learn how to apply that strength to your sport.

I thought this was interesting: First Step Toward Treatment for Painful Flat Feet It reports on a study which looks how flat feet in an adult occur: Adult-acquired flat foot is most common in women over 40 and often goes undiagnosed. The condition results from the gradual 'stretching out' over time of a tendon near the ankle bone -- the tibialis posterior tendon -- which is the main stabiliser of the foot arch. The researchers looked at the very structure of this tendon: Working with surgeons and scientists at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge and the University of Bristol, the team showed that the structure and composition of tendon specimens had changed and found evidence of increased activity of some proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes can break down the constituents of the tibialis posterior tendon and weaken it -- causing the foot arch to fall. The study itself is available here .   What I found interesting though was the way the report skims over something i...

I am a real sucker for parkour videos.  This one is impressive Juste un Instant from Alex Yde on Vimeo .

Fred Fornicola has been very supportive of this blog in the past.  I interviewed him here and I am a big fan of his book on Dumbbell Training , often recommending it to others. Anyway, Fred has a new blog which is worth checking and adding to your feed readers. Fred Fornicola

I can't add to this, so will just point you to Sweat Science where there are some amazing photos showing how training as you get older maintains muscle mass. The incredible unaging triathlete

I've had stuff here in the past about the way in which spending a lot of time sitting has serious negative health consequences .  Previously the things I've pointed to have highlighted the impact on physical health - cardiovascular disease, posture etc. Today I saw this report which also mentions the impact on mental health. (via Science Daily ) There is not much detail but it just notes that That more time spent sitting at work was associated with a decrease in mental well-being. and quotes one of the researchers: Dr Duncan says "People don't need a psychologist to tell them to get up and walk around. But if it helps, I'd tell them to put a post-it note on their computer to remind them. Anyway go and talk to your colleagues face to face, it's a lot more sociable and better for you than emailing them." Fair enough.  If we are doing things that are not what we were designed for then there will always be negative consequences which include problem...

Michael from Critical MAS posts a great observation here about "boot camp" training .  He points out that amid all the marketing hype currently around Boot Camp sessions that people are missing something key.  Just because young soliders making it through boot camps are "fit" it doesn't follow that their training got them fit.   Even without the fact that they are young people at their peak there is something else that we miss, the whole selection bias thing. Boot camp training is for those who are already fit!  If you are not fit and able to do the training you are told to go away and come back when you are fit. The biggest difference between real Basic Training and Boot Camp training is the massive pre-screening effort the Armed Forces does to ensure a higher rate of success. When you take a bunch of healthy men and women that are mostly 18-20 years old and subject them to high levels of training, they tend to respond positively. Young people have a greate...

What a morning .  As I tried to explain in Hillfit:Strength all this training is about facilitating other things, recreation and even every day life.  This morning that meant going up my local mountains and sharing the sunrise with the sheep. It was amazing.

Alright, enough of pimping the book .  Back to normal with interesting studies that I spot!   How about this one: Physically active men show better semen parameters and hormone values than sedentary men The present study shows that there are differences in semen and hormone values of physically active subjects and sedentary subjects. Physically active subjects seem to have a more anabolic hormonal environment and a healthier semen production. er.....I won't say any more I thought semen were like sailors?

Hillfit.com Doug McGuff is an MD, co-author of Body by Science and a leading thinker in the world of physical training.  I interviewed him on this blog a couple of years ago and have previously pointed to videos of him speaking.  Doug has been good enough to review Hillfit:Strength and offer his comments.  I am humbled by what he says: Chris has knocked it out of the ballpark with Hillfit ! Although the book is oriented to those who hike or climb, it is applicable to any sport, or even just activities of daily life.  In Hillfit Chris has effectively distilled physical conditioning and strength training down to its essential elements.  The "why" and hows" are presented more clearly and precisely than I have ever seen .  This book will not just be another conditioning book for a specific sport;  it will serve to demonstrate for all sports the appropriate separation between physical conditioning and skill conditioning.  Bravo Chris! Doug Mc...

Well the booklet is now finished and available for sale.   It has its own site at Hillfit.com ,  where I write more about it and give some testimonials / reviews from people that have read early drafts.  There is also a Table of Contents pasted up on that page.  Hillfit.com has some buttons where you can buy the booklet.  It downloads as a pdf file and is about 50 pages.  I hope you enjoy it! Alternatively you can just buy it now by clicking here if you like:  Click here to download the booklet. If you have any questions or comments, either leave a comment or email me

Of course they should.  We know that. Here is another study just to rub it in: Physical function predicts improvement in quality of life in elderly icelanders after 12 weeks of resistance exercise. Conclusions : Our study shows that a 12-week resistance exercise program significantly improves lean mass, muscle strength, physical function and HRQL in elderly individuals, and that improvements in physical function predict improvements in HRQL. Our study indicates that resistance training should be promoted for the elderly as it has the potential to improve physical performance, thereby prolonging healthy, independent aging.

I told you yesterday that all the key health problems are up your bum.  Now there is even more to that story: The microbiome and disease: Gut bacteria influence the severity of heart attacks in rats

This is superb from mc ( interviewed here ) Burn the Chair, We’re Wired to Move: Towards Design Implications for Inovation, Discovery and Creativity in HCI via Neural Science and Human Performance Studies The whole paper is here , but here is the abstract: (The following paper is meant as a starting exploration around the questions: if we know that our bodies’ state has an impact on our cognitive performance, what are the implications for design and evaluation of design – particularly design to support creativity, innovation, discovery?) As per the Creativity Tools Report, 2005, a goal of Human Computer Interaction / Human Factors research with respect to creativity and cognition has been to develop principled heuristics that can both inform design of software, hardware and their environments, as well as offer a foundation for evaluation metrics [41]. As an approach towards developing such formalisms, we propose a novel combination of research from two domains not usually associ...

So I was advised that I needed a decent book cover for my ebook and was pointed towards www.fiverr.com   I used http://fiverr.com/shuttercraft to create a design. I think it is good, what do you reckon? I am hoping to launch the thing this weekend.  It is all about final proof-reading and editing just now.  Plus my job is very pressured just now.....

Last night I pointed to a piece on Lifehacker which listed some health myths which they "busted".  One of them was to do with cholesterol.  Of course the cholesterol hypothesis as usually understood is a pile of microbiome , and initially Lifehacker in their post pointed this out.  I cut and pasted the relevant paragraph into yesterday's post . Today that whole paragraph has disappeared!  Instead there is something on snake venom with this footnote: Note: Myth 9 previously discussed the relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease. We were working with some bad information and now believe it was incorrect, so we've added this snake bite myth instead. We apologize for any confusion or misinformation. What a bunch of tossers!  They originally pointed to Malcolm Kendrick and Chris Kresser who refuted the cholesterol hypothesis but they now think that all that was "bad".    Ha. Here is another refutation .

Have you noticed that in recent years everything has suddenly focussed on the role of the "microbiota" (how the heck is that pronounced?).  The bacteria up your bum now have a role in every sort of health issue.  Fair enough although I draw the line at fecal transplants ....even if it seems to be a miracle cure for some things.  There have been scientists recently looking at how those born via C section (I gave up trying to spell Caesarean) are prone to certain diseases because they do not get the right dose of bacteria as they are born....they do not scrape along the birth canal.  Anyway, in the light of all that stuff I saw this today: ( Gut Microbe Networks Differ from Norm in Obese People, Systems Biology Approach Reveals ) For the first time, researchers have analyzed the multitude of microorganisms residing in the human gut as a complex, integrated biological system, rather than a set of separate species. Their approach has revealed patterns that correspon...

I really don't enjoy running that much.  But every year I do a mass participation 5K here in Edinburgh...without training for it.  I walk in the hills every week and do a strength training session too but don't run.  Sometimes I go through a phase of doing some sprints but not lots. As long as I can run round this course without training I think I am doing OK.

The role of exercise in promoting insulin sensitivity is something that I mention in my ebook (Hillfit: Strength) which I hope to launch in the next week.  The book presents a basic strength training routine for hikers, backpackers and hillwalkers explaining why strength is so important and its many health benefits.  I am sure I will promote the life out of the thing once it is available, but that is not the point of this post.  I just wanted to point to this abstract of a study that I saw today: The role of skeletal muscle glycogen breakdown for regulation of insulin sensitivity by exercise Glycogen is the storage form of carbohydrates in mammals. In humans the majority of glycogen is stored in skeletal muscles (∼500 g) and the liver (∼100 g). Food is supplied in larger meals, but the blood glucose concentration has to be kept within narrow limits to survive and stay healthy. Therefore, the body has to cope with periods of excess carbohydrates and periods without s...

Break ton Neck from Alex Yde on Vimeo . via Irene

Todd has an excellent post on the impact of posture on pain: Posture and Pain Tolerance In the first experiment, participants who assumed a dominant posture displayed higher pain tolerance than those in submissive postures. In the second experiment, subjects had differing strength and pain tolerance levels depending on whether they interacted with a partner who used either dominant or submissive posturing.

  UPDATE CHECK OUT THIS UPDATE Lifehacker today had a post listing a series of health myths which are contradicted by science.....some are the obvious ones - e.g. cold weather does't give you a cold - but surprisingly for a "conventional wisdom" type blog, they also state: Myth 9: High Cholesterol Causes Heart Disease Until writing this article, I believed high cholesterol was the primary contributing factor towards heart disease. It's been a myth I've been told my entire life because I'm prone to cholesterol problems and have watched my levels very carefully since I was a child. According to Dr. Malcolm Kendrick , and many others , the data doesn't consistently link high cholesterol with heart problems. It seems the real culprit is more commonly high blood pressure, and cholesterol problems may have found themselves grouped in because the two issues often appeared together. This doesn't mean you want higher levels of cholesterol (with the exce...

I mentioned Steven Low's blog when I was reviewing his book yesterday He has a good post today:  Keep it Simple Stupid: identifying the 4 key factors with the biggest impacts on our training and health.  1. Sleep 2. Nutrition 3. Training 4. Destressing He has some good advice, well expressed , especially on nutrition:   Nutrition Nutrition I would rank second. We eat nearly 3 times a day for 7 days a week. Therefore, the affect of nutrition on our bodies for improvements in both health and training cannot be understated. You may have heard that “abs are made in the kitchen” and that it is 75-80% nutrition for fat loss. This is true – for the ratio of times we eat per the times we train per week is about 21:5 or about 80%. Really though, keep it simple. There’s lots of good sayings that are generally true: Eat real food Avoid refined carbohydrates Avoid things that come in a package If your grandmother wouldn’t recognize it don’t eat it If it doesn’t gr...

I've had lots of stuff on here over the years calling into question the idea of functional training.  There is no skill transfer from one movement to another.  Movement skills are very specific and when you change the movement you need to develop new skills.  For example in tennis using a heavier racquet would not make you able to hit harder when you switch to a ligher one  -  it is a different skill.  You would have to learn all over again how to move with the different implement.  We covered some of this in the interviews with Luke Carlson , Drew Baye and Doug McGuff . Anyway, James Steele today pointed to a new paper that addresses all this stuff Influence of dynamic versus static core exercises on performance in field based fitness tests. It is worth reading the abstract that James copies.  He concludes: As always, separate physical conditioning from skill conditioning.

It is always stunning and little scary to watch this guy one of the comments on the youtube page: "When he farts, chalk goes everywhere."

Stephan is on of the world's top diet bloggers and researchers.....and a very cool guy

Here is a good one for you! Drink milk to limit exercise induced muscle damage..... Effect of volume of milk consumed on the attenuation of exercise-induced muscle damage Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) leads to decrements in muscle performance, increases in intramuscular proteins and delayed-onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). Previous research demonstrated that one litre of milk-based protein–carbohydrate (CHO) consumed immediately following muscle damaging exercise can limit changes in markers of EIMD possibly due to attenuating protein degradation and/or increasing protein synthesis. If the attenuation of EIMD is derived from changes in protein metabolism then it can be hypothesised that consuming a smaller volume of CHO and protein will elicit similar effects. Three independent matched groups of 8 males consumed 500 mL of milk, 1,000 mL of milk or a placebo immediately following muscle damaging exercise. Passive and active DOMS, isokinetic muscle performance, creatine kin...

Thinking about gymnastics... Rif posted this video on Facebook the other day which looks like some form of child abuse.  Pretty disturbing stuff. then this montage which shows the hard work that goes into being a gymnast in China.....

Over the past few years I have often read the blog Eat Move Improve , written by Steven Low.  He has applied some good analysis to the science and practice of exercise and writes clearly, explaining things very well, even the most complex topics. His posts on shoes and sitting are classics and I would recommend that everyone takes a look at them.  I tend to chuck short posts out about whatever catches my eye, but I have real respect for "proper bloggers" who write detailed, structured posts with new information. Bodyweight Exercise Back in 2010 Steven put up a post on the Fundamentals of Bodyweight Exercise, which gave a thorough exposition of how properly to  construct a bodyweight strength routine.  The focus of the piece was gymnastics and this probably flowed from Steven's own background in the sport.  A key quote: Having trained seriously with bodyweight exercises for about 4 years now, I strongly believe that they are superior for strength develop...