Conditioning Research

(apologies for any offense to the Irish). Here is one for Brad Pilon Nice joke on Intermittent Fasting: An Irishman was very overweight, and so his doctor put him on a diet. "I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least 5 pounds. When the Irishman returned, he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 60lbs! "Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my instructions?" The Irishman nodded..."I'll tell you though, by jaesuz, I t'aut I were going to drop dead on dat 3rd day." "From the hunger, you mean?" asked the doctor. "No, from all the bloody skippin"

Here is another interview, this time with Fred Fornicola , owner of Premiere Personal Fitness and co-author of Dumbbell Training for Strength And Fitness an excellent little book. Fred, I first came across you due to your book on dumbbell training and then seeing you as a regular commenter on the Body by Science blog , but can you give my readers a short introduction to yourself? Who are you and what is your background in exercise? Well Chris, my name is Fred Fornicola and I’ ve been involved in training and fitness since I was about 15. I own and operate Premiere Personal Fitness in Asbury Park, New Jersey ( Chris - there is a video of the gym here ) . I’m a fitness professional, personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, fitness consultant, lifestyle fitness coach, as well as a published author. I’ ve been involved in the field of strength and fitness for over 34 years. I was one of the contributing authors of the book Get Fit New Jersey! and co-authored the bes...

I had a couple of posts on this a while ago - Get your greens and Exercise in the outdoors - but I spotted this bit of news that says the same thing: Forests -- and other natural, green settings -- can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness. Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells. Many studies show that after stressful or concentration-demanding situations, people recover faster and better in natural environments than in urban settings. Blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the level of "stress hormones" all decrease faster in natural settings. Depression, anger and aggressiveness are reduced in green environments and ADHD symptoms in children reduce when they play in green settings. A nice excuse of one of my photos of the Highlands anyway.

Story here . (via Bob P )

Matt has pulled together a good page on barefoot running. Definitely worth a careful read. The Evolutionary Correct Guide to Running I am totally in agreement about some of these points, especially posture and walk breaks which are linked. I often see joggers run past with awful posture, bent over, shuffling along. To me one thing that stands out from them is that they do not look fit....they look by their very posture and stance to be damaged. Body language would mark them out as weak, and lacking in "pride" and confidence. They do not look like they could defend themselves. They look like prey....not hunters! I want fitness to by accompanied by a stance that expresses health and confidence. The bent over shuffle doesn't do that. I'd rather people walked with confidence and pride than shuffled along looking tired and broken down. If yo are too tired to run with decent posture and style then walk for a while!

Last year Drew Baye pointed to a long article called The Myth of Core Stability . It is an interesting read amid all the current fashions of training. Part of the conclusion was as follows: Weak or dysfunctional abdominal muscles will not lead to back pain Tensing the trunk muscles is unlikely to provide any protection against back pain or reduce the recurrence of back pain.Core stability exercises are no more effective than, and will not prevent injury more than, any other forms of exercise. Core stability exercises are no better than other forms of exercise in reducing chronic lower back pain. I think there is definite value in targeted and tailored prehab and rehab work of the sort I sometimes point to - e.g. as discussed by Colin - but that article did get me thinking. I thought of it again when I saw this: Effects of Traditional Sit-up Training Versus Core Stabilization Exercises on Short-Term Musculoskeletal Injuries in US Army Soldiers: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Backgroun...

High-intensity exercise and carbohydrate-reduced energy-restricted diet in obese individuals Fourteen days of carbohydrate-reduced diet improved Oral glucose insulin sensitivity (OGIS) and fat oxidation (RER) in obese subjects. Looks interesting.