Conditioning Research

The whole paper is here It is all about general activity levels rather than vigorous activity.... The study found that the time spent sedentary, as opposed to the vigor of physical activity, was significantly and negatively correlated with a number of metabolic risk factors. Reports here and here Think I better walk to work today.  Nice views to come anyway!

It has been interesting in recent months to see how previously lauded approaches are sometimes abandoned and positions reversed.  For example Fish Oil used to be prescribed in massive dosages ...(remember the Whole9 Fish Oil Calculator?) but there has been a recognition that this might not be healthy. Vitamin D was also held up as a wonder drug for long enough too.  Again now there are questions as to the value of it, especially in terms of supplementation. Too much vitamin D during pregnancy can cause food allergies\ Pregnant women should avoid taking vitamin D supplements. Substitution appears to raise the risk of children developing a food allergy after birth. This was the conclusion drawn from a new survey carried out by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg in Germany which was published in the February issue of the medical journal Allergy . I am sure we could question the...

I spotted an interesting report yesterday about the potential dangers of carrying a heavy backpack in terms of nerve damage at the shoulders. ...the pressure of heavy loads carried on the back have the potential to damage the soft tissues of the shoulder, causing microstructural damage to the nerves.   The result could be anything from simple irritation to diminished nerve capacity, ultimately limiting the muscles' ability to respond to the brain's signals, inhibiting movement of the hand and the dexterity of the fingers. In practice, this could impact functionality, reducing a worker's ability to operate machinery, compromise a soldiers' shooting response time, or limiting a child's writing or drawing capacity. The context of the study was soldiers carrying heavy backpacks (I am trying to find the actual study - might be this ) However, it did make me think of the potential damage that could be caused by heavy back squats where you have large weights righ...

Chronic disease and sitting time in middle-aged Australian males: findings from the 45 and Up Study That is a link to the pdf of the full paper. As usual, the NHS Choices site is pretty good at pointing out the limitations of the study before we all rush off and get too paranoid about things. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that there is an association between longer periods of time spent sitting down and diabetes and overall chronic disease in middle-aged Australian males. Previous research has also found that the amount of time spent sitting down (‘sedentary behaviour’) is a risk factor for health, and that this risk factor is independent of the amount of time spent performing physical activity. This large study, which took into account several potential confounding variables, adds to this body of evidence. However, this study has limitations: Due to the cross-sectional study design, we cannot tell whether increased sitting time occurs ...

Another vanity post. Still maintaining a fairly lean state.  Nothing complicated in terms of either training or diet.  As I've been saying it is about consistency, patience and persistence.  I'm 45 and have been training with weights for 30 years.  I am nothing spectacular, but certainly look better and am fitter than most of my 45 year old friends. My main challenge is keeping that focus on the basics and not being diverted by the glamour of the latest machine or technique. I am still trying to get stronger because if there is any magic, then that is it - progression.  But beyond all this is a desire to keep safe and avoid injury. Diet?  Since getting more sensible and introducing more carbs and less fat, I've leaned out a lot.   Not sure if Matt Stone would be happy with me though!

This is more like a glossary or definition of terms, but it is interesting to see where some of these words come from

I've not put up a video of a big jump fo a while.  Here is what an Olympic high jumper can do:

in the vein of the recent posts on keeping thing simple and in perspective, I thought I'd post this recent statement from Brad Pilon My advice - Stop trying to get a PhD in endocrinology by studying blog posts and articles about hormones and hormone interactions and stick with this simple plan: Consistency of Effort in the gym + eating a little less than you want to. Get a good nights sleep, don't get injured and stop trying to figure out 'what's wrong with you' The whole post is here

This is great The implication is that one great way to increase performance is to reduce perceived threat, because threat might make our movement weak, slow, stiff, uncoordinated and painful. Sounds like everything we try to get rid of when we go to the gym! But of course many people will create excess threat during their workout, which will tend to be counterproductive.

For all my chat about the over complication of exercise I do want to be clear that strength training is very important to health and brings with it a host of benefits, not least in terms of promoting function and health as we age. Skyler explains :

From the same article You read about some exotic exercise or exercise system; some 'wonder' vitamin, mineral or protein supplement; secret attitude etc...etc...Though all of these factors may play a role in successful bodybuilding, they are so secondary that they become almost trivial compared with the essence of bodybuilding. Bodybuilding fact is that if you would ensure that your training is progressive then you will gain muscle without hardly giving a thought to diet, attitude,  specialist equipment etc.  People are continually looking for new easy ways in bodybuilding by considering those factors outside hard heavy training.  The cause of this misdirected attention probably lies with those individuals who have commercial interests in bodybuilding   The essence of successul bodybuilding is so plain and simple that it cannot allow many people to make gain from it.  What...

A couple of quotes from an article in May 1982 Iron Man, one of the first bodybuilding magazines I ever bought and one of the most sensible. Stop worrying about your training and fretting over your diet.  Train hard and briefly using progressively heavier and heavier weights, get as much rest as you need between workouts and eat a healthy well varied diet.  Base your diet on natural foods as nature intended rather than on refined and processed foods.... Those people who expound the absolute need for dietary supplements, exotic training courses and specialist equipment nearly always have vested commercial interests in the perpetuation of these myths. Please learn from mine and many other people's mistakes and stop being misled by bodybuilding fiction. From Bodybuilding Fact and Fiction by Stuart McRobert, in Iron Man May 1982 issue. You know, 31 years after that was written and perhaps 30 years after I first read it I am realising how littl...

For the first time in years I did a times 500m row on the Concept 2 at lunchtime.  1:44.3 for 500m.  Not great.  I forgot how hard it is.  The first 100m or so I was in the low 1:30's for pace and then it hits you hard.  The last 250m are a killer, each stroke seeming harder the power draining out of each pull.  It would be good to get under 1:40 again - about 10 years ago I was at 1:39. I am amazed by the speed that some people can achieve: Here is a 70 year old guy pulling 1:34.2 and this guy getting 1:14.4 for a world record

There has been a lot of crap written about "functional" training.  I've probably written some of that crap myself over the years.  (I've been getting struck repeatedly recently by how little I know, how far I am from being any sort of expert). I was thinking about the whole concept this last weekend as I was visiting my mum.  Forget balancing on a Bosu ball or single leg deadlifts...I saw what was important.  She is 77 and has now got rid of the bath for a walk in shower because she was no longer able to get in and out of the bath.  She walks... but it is getting harder.  Standing up from the floor?  I don't know if she could. That is the sort of function that we need.   Sufficient strength and appropriate skill to survive independently, to live independently .  All of the endless debates and arguments about training methods frustrate me. Just get stronger and do it safely.  Take the long view.   Is what you are doing...