Conditioning Research

This one raised a smile when I saw the abstract: The effect of physicians’ body weight on patient attitudes: implications for physician selection, trust and adherence to medical advice Respondents reported more mistrust of physicians who are overweight or obese, were less inclined to follow their medical advice, and were more likely to change providers if the physician was perceived to be overweight or obese, compared to normal-weight physicians who elicited significantly more favorable reactions. These weight biases remained present regardless of participants’ own body weight. I suppose it makes sense.  Why follow their advice if they are unable to achieve something in their own bodies. How does this apply to other areas like fitness or diet gurus?  I think this is where it gets more complex.  I think a diet guru who is promoting a certain approach as leading to health or leanness should really be healthy and lean.  However in terms of f...

this is being claimed as an unofficial world record. Pretty impressive!

So I was reading a standard journalists piece about the Tabata protocol - you know: "Get fit in 4 minutes!!!" and all that.  So far so good - this stuff keeps popping up every now and again as a journalist discovers interval training and decides to break it to the world. Anyway, what was different in this one was that they actually spoke to Tabata himself.  He stressed something that I mentioned in the Wingate post - you need to work very very hard: "....I often go on YouTube and, while I am honoured that people are doing it, some are doing it wrong because they don't realise the intensity you need to work at," says Tabata. Tabata is addressing this by staging his own PR campaign: It's slightly surprising, therefore, that the plan is still the preserve of the serious athlete and musclehead crowd – although that may change now that T abata has agreed a deal with  Universal Studios  that will lead to a network of instructors and a DVD r...

me on Thursday... Walking to work the other day I listened to a podcast from Layne Norton -  Muscle College Radio - where he was discussing cardio and particularly high intensity intervals .  There has been enough on this blog over years about interval training ( e.g. here ) and its benefits, but it was interesting to hear this discussion especially as they got into the different pathways in the muscle that were activated by different types of exercise. There has been a lot of research done on intervals in Dr Jake Wilson's lab where they seem to have a particular interest in bodybuilders looking to gain muscle and lose fat. Anyway in their experiments they tend to use what they describe as a Wingate bike - a stationary cycle set up for the Wingate test .  You pedal to reach a peak revs per minute and then a load is added to the bike to make it harder....then you go as hard as you can for 30 seconds.  This is not just pdalli...

I just wanted to point to this paper on the health, diet etc of the Victorians.  It is fascinating in itself and also in the context of all the discussions of paleo, ancestral health etc. The paper is How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died and it was mentioned by Nigel here

If you are going to take hits to the head - rugby, boxing, mma - make sure you have a strong neck. Isometric cervical muscle strength mitigates head impact severity The cervical musculature may play a role in mitigating head impact severity among collegiate football players. Sports medicine professionals and strength and conditioning coaches should continue exploring the potential benefits of cervical strengthening programmes on head injury prevention.

I have not had much shoe stuff on here for a while.  This might seem like old news to those who discovered Born to Run along time ago, but just to note this bit of news: Cushioned heel running shoes may alter adolescent biomechanics, performance Many of today's running shoes feature a heavy cushioned heel. New research presented today at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that these shoes may alter an adolescent runner's biomechanics (the forces exerted by muscles and gravity on the skeletal structure) and diminish performance.

My posting frequency has falen a bit recently.  Along with my desire to keep things simple I think I've mentioned my frustraion with the fad approaches and gurus, which both offer success apart from the basics.  Patience, realistic expectations, consistency - they are what matter. I think I've mentioned before my view that so much of the internet / blogosphere is built on this unhealthy distrust of the mainstream.  The assumption seems to be that "conventional wisdom" wisdom is wrong.  Sometimes you get the impression that people think that the mainstream is intentionally out to do you harm.  The thing is that conventional wisdom is usually the popularised or dumbed down version of the scientific consensus....and the scientific consensus has been arrived at through some rigorous challenge, testing and interrogation.  Of course scientists have their own agendas and there is publication bias etc, Kuhn's paradigms are at play etc,  but by and large the...

Sitting is still killing you and the odd workout will not cure you. Fascinating piece of research here and the whole paper is available Minimal Intensity Physical Activity (Standing and Walking) of Longer Duration Improves Insulin Action and Plasma Lipids More than Shorter Periods of Moderate to Vigorous Exercise (Cycling) in Sedentary Subjects When Energy Expenditure Is Comparable Conclusions One hour of daily physical exercise cannot compensate the negative effects of inactivity on insulin level and plasma lipids if the rest of the day is spent sitting. Reducing inactivity by increasing the time spent walking/standing is more effective than one hour of physical exercise , when energy expenditure is kept constant.

A number of people in the comments have asked for my thoughts on paleo.  This blog has been going for quite a few years and during its life, paleo has certainly been an interest and it has often been identified as a paleo blog.  Indeed I received a signed copy of Sisson's Primal Blueprint on its release as I was in the paleo gang, which was then much smaller. However I am increasingly uncomfortable with "paleo" in its application, assumptions and adherents.  I may do a few posts on the issues at play here.  As a preliminary observation however, I want to comment on something that I have been thinking about recently:  Paleo as a reiteration of the biblical narrative of creation and fall. Creation and Fall If you are familiar with the biblical narrative man is created in the image of God  and placed in a perfect environment, the Garden of Eden.  He is given a prescribed diet and operates in a state of the social and spiritual ideal.  The Bible...

This blog has recently been on a bit of a simplicity kick.  I've been  pointing out how desperate we all are for novelty - because we are desperate for immediate results - and how that makes us vulnerable to all sorts of hype and fad approaches to diet and exercise.   The basics - good sleep, real food, daily activity, strength training, stand up straight - are boring but effective. Each of these elements however also comes with a bunch of sectarianism and argument.   Sleep - in total darkness, with no electronics within 10 metres; real food - paleo or not paleo, high carb, low fat, etc etc etc; daily activity - run or don't run...if you run it better be in minimal shoes POSE style and sitting is toxic; strength training - is vital....but it needs to be SuperSlow (TM), you need to do barbell squats (!) or take note of the unique physical properties of kettlebells; posture - do you Gokhale? I've been there with all of these trends....and am finding ...

I had a post a few weeks ago that looked at the idea of standing up from the floor and sitting to the floor as a good test of general functional ability and health.  I also mentioned the ideas of Philip Beach  who has a set of moves built around this that he calls erectorcise. I am convinced of the value of all that stuff ad it was interesting to read Dan John take up the same idea in a piece he published this week.   He calls it groundwork: Literally, we need to roll around on the ground more. I have one bit of advice for my older clients: watch all the television you want, but you must be on the floor sitting when you do. Try this. You'll find soon that you roll, pivot, twist, change, and flop the whole show.  It's a cheap workout.  When I assess most programs, groundwork is usually a few sets of crunches and that's it. Groundwork, tumbling and wrestling can transform a program in a few weeks, but few will adopt this simple strategy. ...