Conditioning Research

Eat, drink and be merry: dieting's new philosophy : Just what women need after the festive season: a new book telling them that eating fats is good and a shot of vodka is allowed I spotted this in the Guardian. Perhaps the tide is turning and people are starting to realise that there is a problem with lowfat diets? Here are a couple of quotes: "We live in a low-fat, fat-free culture, and women in particular have done their bodies a disservice, because we have disrupted our hormones to a quite phenomenal degree," said Blum, author of Secrets of Gorgeous: Hundreds of Ways to Live Well While Living It Up. "We have got ourselves to a stage where we can't comprehend that we need good fats to live a healthy life. We need fat to regulate our hormones. We need cholesterol to make oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. We should be eating full-fat food, " she said. "Fat-free foods can contribute to weight gain because they register in the body as a carboh...

Steve Maxwell(remember Steve Maxwell ?) has a great post today on the 6 count burpee: One of the most grueling and gut checking exercises I can think of is the 6-Count Burpee, known in the military as the 6-Count Body Builder. It's a tremendous, results-producing, body fat burning exercise which exploits every body muscle from head to toe and drives the cardio system like few things else. Like other whole-body exercises of its kind, it instigates a considerable HGH surge, similar to sprint protocols. Something separating the Burpee is the athleticism and coordination involved: there's a level change and a strong core component, mixed with upper body pushing then followed by an explosive leap from the low squat position. Regularly working Burpees into your routine develops athletic attributes, such as agility and coordination, not typically covered in fitness programs.

Art DeVany mentioned this the other day . The world's oldest person has just died at 115. Here are some interesting quotes from t he news report: Parker lived by herself on the family farm until she was 100. At that lofty age, she could still climb a ladder to fix a light , grandson Donald Parker said Thursday. When her family learned she was still climbing ladders, they persuaded her to move in with relatives. Parker especially enjoyed eggs, sausage, bacon and fried chicken. "I guess we'll have to rethink lard," Daniels quipped after hearing about her high-fat diet. Parker, who credited her longevity to various factors, including education, remained relatively free of health problems in her last years. According to family members, she took few medications and at 113 could still walk.

I posted something about vitamin D a few days ago. Dr Briffa has more: More research links vitamin D with protection from cardiovascular disease Vitamin D deficiency was associated with a 20 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease after accounting for so-called confounding factors (such as age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, smoking status and presence of high blood pressure and/or diabetes). The authors of the study conclude that “These results indicate a strong and independent relationship of 25(OH)D deficiency with prevalent CVD in a large sample representative of the US adult population.” This study adds further to the body of evidence which links vitamin D with protection from cardiovascular disease. And it further reminds me of the need to ensure good levels of this nutrient in the body throughout the year. Winter time for many of us can spell danger here, because of reduced sunlight exposure of our skin.

I'm really getting into Scott Sonnon's joint mobility work . It is smoothing out some of the kinks in my body and helping with the everyday aches and pains. He has a lot of free videos and tutorials on his site and on Youtube and the free ebook he has ( download here if you don't want to subscribe to his list ) is worth reading. Here he is explaining the background: I am tending to do a short mobility routie everyday now and befoe every workout, to get things loose. I am not sure of the science behind this, but it feels good!

We haven't had any new IF Research for a while. Here is a quick podcast for you to listen to: Fasting May Equal Calorie-Restricted Diets A study in the journal Nature finds that worms that fasted every third day got the same anti-aging benefits offered by severe calorie-restricted diets. The report is referring to this study: Signalling through RHEB-1 mediates intermittent fasting-induced longevity in C. elegans Dietary restriction is the most effective and reproducible intervention to extend lifespan in divergent species1. In mammals, two regimens of dietary restriction, intermittent fasting (IF) and chronic caloric restriction, have proven to extend lifespan and reduce the incidence of age-related disorders2. An important characteristic of IF is that it can increase lifespan even when there is little or no overall decrease in calorie intake2. The molecular mechanisms underlying IF-induced longevity, however, remain largely unknown. Here we establish an IF regimen that effective...

normal service will be resumed in a few days...... Here is a move that I'll be playing with in future: from Rob