In-Season Strength Training: Part Two

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

In Part One we defined in-season training and listed the first two objectives when designing a program including exercise selection and energy system needs of the athlete. In Part Two we are discussing the remaining components that determine an athletes program, including rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and  work volume consideration.

An intertwined objective to consider when determining the athlete’s program is choosing the correct rep range, weight load-intensity, and muscle fiber type that’s needed to improve their performance. A blocker or outside hitter in volleyball will need to develop and recruit their fast twitch fibers, so doing between 1-6 reps, with 95-80% of their one rep max (1RM), for their phasic muscles will accomplish this. Similarly, a running back in football will benefit from the same intensity and rep ranges. Now these values can vary depending on the age, maturity, health, and genetic make up of the athlete but explosive power is the important component.

On the other hand the cross-country runner may require 15-20 reps or more, at 60-70% of their 1RM to improve their muscle endurance but may benefit from the 1-10 rep range at 75-95% 1RM to help with 100-400 meter surges or sprint finishes. Several of the top Olympic middle distance runners employ this method in their training.

Either of these athletes may require a different rep range and intensity level to address their individual structural needs. In general if their tonic or postural muscles need work a rep range of 8-15, at an intensity of 80-70% of 1RM, may be required. The specific needs of the individual will always be the most beneficial to them.

The last proponent to consider is the appropriate volume of work needed to maintain and/or improve ability without over-training. The primary focus during the season should be the development of the necessary skills, ability, and strategy needed to perform the sport or position at the highest level. The secondary focus should be on maintaining and/or improving power, strength, and conditioning that was developed during the off-season. Usually most in-season practice is devoted to game preparation, sports skills, drills, strategy, tactics, plays, and related task. Therefore most of the repetition and conditioning will come from those activities, so strength related training only needs to occupy about 10-15% of the athletes total weekly time. That can be accomplished in one or two sessions, with consideration given to adequate recovery time before the day of the competition. Ideally the strength training should enhance practices, skills, abilities, and performance, while reducing the injury potential.

Likewise, practices shouldn’t injure the athlete or hinder their strength training but allow for mutual improvement, or a complete synergistic relationship. A big mistake often made is to abandon strength training during the season. This will usually start to gradually impact performance or increase injury potential after about 14 days. The athlete may start the season strong, fast, powerful, explosive, and energetic but within a few weeks will start to exhibit weakness, slowness, sluggishness, or tiredness.

Coincidently, the residual effects from strength training may last up to 10 days; so training a muscle group at least once a week or every 7 days will allow maximal recovery and strength gains. Often world-class sprinters require up to 7-10 days to fully recover, after running a personal record.

So a cheerleader who practices about 10 hours a week, excluding a 3-hour Friday evening game, at 10% of her weekly practice time the strength training would require about 1 hour to complete. Depending on equipment, facility, scheduling, etc, the 1-hour time could be divided into two 30-minute segments as to minimize time away from skills practice. This could be accomplished with a 30-minute strength training session on Saturday (the day after the game), followed by another 30-minute session on Monday or Tuesday, which would also give plenty of recovery time prior to the game. Each session would be comprised of 4 strength-power exercises for 4-8 reps, times 2 sets; and 2-4 structural exercises for 8-15+ reps, for 1-2 sets. The exercise selection could be different for each session to target various or specific muscle groups as well.

As you can see the exercise selection, energy system, rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and volume all comply with her in-season strength training needs. The exercise selection should depend on her individual needs and ability level. Likewise, considering the amount of impact and repetitive stress related injuries that cheerleaders accrue i.e., sprains, strains, twists, pulls, fractures, and soft-tissue adhesions, this would help to address those concerns. Not to mention the additional strength to help with the skills execution.

In conclusion, the benefits of the in-season strength training far out-way the time, cost, injury potential, and other factors involved.  The correct, safe, and scientific approach should consider exercise selection, energy system, rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and volume to best address the athletes in-season needs.

AE Trainers Push Athletes To Next Level

Guest Post by Paul McKenzie from May 24, 2011

Customized program aims to locate hard-to-find weak spots in elite athletes and those looking for the next level.

People who underperform in their sport or in life in general often have trouble understanding why. AE Creating Elite on Red Rum Drive tries to provide those answers.

“Most people underperform in both,” said co-owner James Walker. “But not always for the reasons they suspect.”

AE uses in-depth assessments and ongoing analysis to find out why their clients are underperforming, whatever their goals may be. The range of goals targeted by the facility’s clientele is wide, and Walker said the expertise found in the gym’s owners and coaches makes such a range possible.

Walker said co-ownwer Monica Walker and coaches David Parks and Casey Johnson are former collegiate athletes and arena football players. “All of us have extensive training in fitness, athletics and nutrition to draw on that you can’t find in most commercial gyms,” he said. “Combined, the coaches here have almost 40 years of training and experience to draw on.”

The gym employs a specialized program, designed for each athlete. “Every client has an in-depth assessment to determine exactly what it is they need,” Walker said, adding than the goals of athletes in training are often at odds with what think they need. “We’ve had professional athletes come in with pain in their hamstrings, for example, whose physical trainers believe that they just need someone to help them be more flexible there. After an assessment, they discover that their lower abdominal area is weak and their quads are tight, which is leading to the hamstring pain. Fix that area, and their hamstring pain goes away.”

As another example, Walker said golfers and squash players have come to the facility to improve arm strength only to find that imbalances in their shoulders are what hold them back. The important point to remember in their approach, Walker emphasized, is that the body is a holistic machine.

“For the older noncompetitive athlete, we aren’t assessing to see how fast they can hit a ball, but rather how they do the basic motor skills like running, jumping, throwing and swinging,” Walker explained. “For the elementary level child, we’re emphasizing mastering those same basic sports skills. For more competitive athletes or older children, we focus on more sports-specific movements, but always with the same approach of treating the body as an interactive and holistic machine.”

The cost of misunderstanding the mechanics of a movement can be twofold, according to Walker: lower performance and higher risk of injury.

“When you ask a body part to take on a load for which it isn’t designed, your body will try to obey you, but you’ll be under performing, and perhaps more importantly, you’ll be operating with a much higher risk of injury. In our assessment we’re looking for subtle cues that others often don’t see or look for to find exactly where the problem lies, and sometimes it’s in an area a novice might easily miss.”

And the desire to correct such imbalances is not limited to elite athletes.

“Everyone wants to perform better, even if they’re not competing for a belt or medal,” Walker emphasized. “They all want to walk or run better and without pain.”

Walker works with professional athletes routinely, but said the real payoff often comes from watching other clients grow. In the end, Walker is passionate about possibilities, and is convinced that most people can accomplish far more than they believe possible.

AE Creating Elite is located at 21690 Red Rum Dr., Suite 102 & 117, Contact the facility at 703.488.9860 or info@aecreatingelite.com.

How To Reduce Hamstring Pulls

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Over the past few years I’ve seen a multitude of hamstring pulls and strains from elite professional athletes to very good scholastic athletes. In most instances there seems to be a common theme, structural imbalance, existing scar tissue, and a lack of strength in the hamstrings.

From an anatomical perspective the hamstrings are located on the back of the thigh and attach over the hips and over the knee joints. From a performance perspective, the hamstrings extend the hips and flex the knees.

First from a structural perspective the hamstrings have a synergistic relationship with the other muscle groups that are located near or adjacent or on the opposite side of the joint. So the muscles that attach over the front of the hip (hip flexors) have a relationship with those that attach over the back (hip extensors), the outside (hip abductors), and the inside (hip adductors).

This is important because those neighboring muscles act together to produce desired movement like sprinting, running, or jumping etc. When the hip flexors become tighter or stronger than it’s antagonistic neighbors the hip extensors, it will pull the hips forward and result in an alignment or imbalance issue. Likewise if the muscles that act to counter the excess forward tilt i.e., lower abdominals are unusually weak or dysfunctional, this further contributes to misalignment and structural imbalance. These imbalances may then cause excess strain on several muscle groups including the hamstrings. The tight muscles like the hip flexors will need to be stretched and loosened to help realign the hips.

Second there is usually scar tissue or adhesions in the hamstrings and it’s neighbors like the hip abductors and/or hip flexors. In part due to those muscles having to over compensate by assisting the hamstrings from the repetitive use and stress over time. This excess scar tissue will interfere with the proper function and recruitment of these muscles, which in turn produces more scar tissue. This may also shorten and make the muscle tight as well.

Third the hamstrings are usually weak in comparison to it’s neighbors. Since the hamstrings are part of the motor or engine, along with the hips, for those athlete’s who run, jump, throw, and sprint, they need to be strong. If you want to sprint you need a high performance engine aka, Corvette or Lamborghini or Top Fuel Dragster not a Civic or Smart car. In addition the hamstrings will help support the knee joint during planting, stopping, and changing direction, so they need to be dimensionally strong.

So if you want to reduce or minimize hamstring strains address the structural imbalance, scar tissue, and strength needs early on with a good pre-training assessment or evaluation to identify and optimize performance.

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscles, & Nerves: Part III

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

In Part I, I defined the terms involved with adhesions, knots, scar-tissue, fascia, muscles, and nerves. In Part II, I identified the primary causes of adhesions, knots, and scar-tissue (AKS). In Part III I will discuss solutions or remedies to AKS formation through nutrition & foods, supplements, and treatment or management methods.

Proper nutrition is a very important part to manage AKS. Since stomach, cell, and tissue inflammation is an integral component of AKS formation foods that can reduce this are vital. For instance increasing the intake of anti-inflammatory foods, spices, and alkaline water may help immensely. Foods such as dark green vegetables, garlic, onions, mushrooms, peppers, berries, seeds, nuts, metal free fish, grass feed beef, organic eggs, and natural raised chickens. Like vegetables herbs and spices have anti-oxidant and ant-inflammatory abilities as well like cinnamon, curcumin, tumeric, oregano, rosemary, olive, ginger, and green tea help to reduce inflammation. To determine specific individual allergens an allergy test such as the MRT maybe necessary.

Specific supplements can help to reduce inflammation as well as remove AKS and dead cells. For acute responses products like Pain X, EFA Complex Px, Omega 3 6:1, Uber Curcumin 2.0, and Flame Quench Px to name a few relatively fast acting natural anti-inflammatory supplements that seem to work very well but without the adverse effects on the stomach or liver like meds or pharmaceuticals.

For chronic solutions products like Serrapeptase, Worbenzym, Vitalzym, and other forms of Proteolytic enzymes can help reduce inflammation aid in the removal of AKS and dead tissue cells from the body. Most of these supplements can be purchased from AE Training & Products, AE Creating Elite, local health stores, or over the internet. See my articles “Essential Supplements That People Don’t Need” and “ Favorite Supplement Brands”.

The best method to treat and manage AKS is through physical contact or hands on application. For instance applying tension or pressure to the affected area via massage, stroking, or rolling with an object. For example a foam roller, basketball, baseball, golf ball, lacrosse ball, or softball placed underneath the AKS area and rolling back and forth 6-20 times will start to break up the AKS. Often the adjacent muscles will need to be rolled as well due over compensation. The most precise treatment involves hands on care by a experienced practitioner of Myofascial Release, Active Release, Graston, or Scar -Tissue Management. They can usually assess and determine the severity of the AKS and provide the best care to remedy the problem.

Finally I hope that this information has been enlightening, educational, and helpful. Remember these suggestions are not the only remedies but are a good place to start. They will definitely enable you to stay healthier, more athletic, active, and lead a better injury resistant life style.

Part 1

Part 2

References:

• Clinical Mastery In The Treatment Of Myofascial Pain by Ferguson & Gerwin.

• Active Release Technique, Soft-Tissue Management System by M. Leahy.

• Sports Medicine Prevention, Assessment, Management, & Rehabilitation Of Athletic Injuries by Irvin, Iversen, & Roy.

• Fitness & Strength Training For All Sports, Theory, Methods, Programs by Hartmann & Tunnemann.

• Biosignature Modulation by C. Poliquin

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscles, & Nerves: Part II

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Adhesions, knots, scar-tissue (AKS) caused by the excessive formation of fibrin on tissue will inhibit the function of those tissues. Over-training, inflammation, repetitive stress, trauma-injury, poor posture, aging, and inadequate nutrition may all contribute to the formation of AKS.

For example, over-training and inflammation that cause excessive formation of AKS on the fascia around the lower back and crest of the hip may develop into a mass or knot the size of a marble or golf ball. This mass may interfere with the nerve impulse or neural drive that occurs between the fascia tissue and the muscles of the lower back and hip. Because the AKS blocks the signal to these muscles other muscles may be recruited instead of the desired ones and a faulty motor-muscle recruitment pattern may result eventually leading to an injury.

Often if the AKS is so strong that it will restrict the range of motion (ROM) of the affected muscles as well as pull the connecting skeletal segment out of alignment or balance. Either scenario can result in muscle atrophy, weakening, de-conditioning, and loss in muscle tone. The above example may occur as a result of excessive treadmill or incline treadmill running caused by over hyperextension of the hip-thigh segment.

Repetitive stress and trauma to tissue leading to AKS formation within a muscle such as the bicep femoris of the hamstrings can prevent muscle fibers from contracting properly thereby irritating and inflaming the muscle tissue even more thus producing more AKS. Eventually this can lead to muscle shortening, tightening, and decreased ROM, then to a strain, tear, or pull within the weakest part of the tissue. The type of activity, movement, angle, and force will determine the severity of the injury as well.

Similarly poor posture, structural imbalance, and decreased circulation can affect a nerve segment within the correlating body segment thus assisting in AKS formation around the nerve. It can entrap that nerve, blocking the impulses to the muscle supplied by that nerve and other muscles along the path of the nerve. So muscle utilization will be difficult or compromised, affecting whatever movement is to be performed. Sort of like sitting 10,000 lb on top of an electrical cord to an appliance, over time the signal will dissipate or be interrupted making the devise useless.

Unfortunately aging is a contributor to AKS. As we age our production of the proteins and enzymes that help our bodies repair and regenerate healthy cells diminishes along with the proteins and enzymes that regulate AKS production. So we accumulate AKS easier as we age and it takes longer to break down and dispose of damaged tissues and cells. This process may also cause an increase in intra-cellular inflammation.

Inadequate nutrition may also aid in the formation of AKS by creating a blood, cell, and tissue environment that’s very acidic or inflammatory. Foods that may contribute to acidity and inflammation like processed flours, gluten, sugars, sodas, and snacks should be avoided or reduced. Artificial foods, drinks, and sweeteners will promote an acidic or inflammatory response as well. These antagonistic foods and their responses begin in the mouth and stomach and prohibit adequate protein-enzyme production while inhibiting the absorption of nutrients and the formation of healthy bacteria.

Next in Part III I will recommend foods, supplements, and treatment methods tomanage AKS formation.

Adhesions, Knots, Scar-Tissue, That May Affect Fascia, Muscle, & Nerves: Part I

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

What are adhesion's, scar tissue, or knots and how can they affect fascia, muscle, and nerve function? Lets start by explaining each of these terms. I'll begin with fascia, it's the thin layer of connective tissue that covers the muscles, tendons, vessels, and nerves. It’s like a latex glove or plastic wrap that fits around these tissues. In addition this fascia surrounds individual and whole groups of muscle fibers. If you have ever cut up a chicken you can see the thin almost translucent layer of tissue covering the muscle underneath of the skin, that’s fascia.

Next there are two types of muscle tissue, skeletal and smooth. Skeletal muscle is the elastic tissue that crosses over a joint and attaches to the bone to form a lever that produces movement, force, and locomotion. For example the biceps muscle in the upper arm attaches to the inside of the shoulder blade (scapular bone) and on the outside of the elbow at the forearm (radius bone) and contributes to elbow flexion or “making a muscle”. Since it attaches to bone it only makes sense that it’s called skeletal muscle. Also because we can start, stop, and control the movement willingly it’s action is considered voluntary.

The second type of muscle tissue is called cardiac or smooth. It’s responsible for the heartbeat or cardiac contraction, but in the stomach and intestines enables food and waste to be moved through the digestive tract. This type of muscle action occurs without our conscience effort and happens automatically, so it’s considered involuntary.

Nerves are fibers or cords that transmit electrical signals to various parts of the body i.e., brain, eyes, fascia, heart, lungs, muscles, organs, spinal cord, etc. It’s like an extremely complex highway or fiber optic system or matrix that’s alive and works 24/7 to keep us alive and functioning. The signals can originate from the brain or central nervous system or other sensory receptors.

Now adhesions, knots, and scar-tissue (AKS) are caused by the excessive formation of fibrin, a protein that helps form blood clots and repairs muscle, lung, and other tissue as a result of stress or trauma. The normal formation of fibrin contributes to and aids these natural processes but problems arise when excessive amounts are produced to form AKS. A thickening of the tissue will start to occur which initially is designed to strengthen and protect the area but too much will interfere with the normal function of the fascia, muscles, and nerves.

A visual analogy is like using glue to repair a broken vase but you continue to use the glue long after the vase has been fixed. Eventually you have a distorted vase that not only looks bad but doesn’t function as well either.

Okay, now I’m sure everyone has had enough of the biology session but unfortunately training and rehab comes down to science and math. So what’s the big deal about AKS? In part II we will discuss AKS in more detail and ways to lessen it’s affect.

Training Smart vs. Hard Which Is Better?

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

I've been telling my clients for decades that it's better to train smart than hard given the choice. I find myself exporting these words to younger athletes almost on a daily basis. It sounds smart to say it but what does it really mean?

You always hear athletes talking about training hard or how hard their training session was. I think they are referring to effort and difficulty, meaning if a workout requires a lot of effort or is difficult to execute then it’s hard, and it must be good.

With this model working out to exhaustion or past muscle failure is the standard for a productive training session. If you’re suppose to do 10 repetitions, do 12 or 15 or 20, it’s better. Maybe the athlete is supposed to run eight, 20-meter sprints but instead they run twenty or even forty. As you can see this type of philosophy were more is better can apply to any type of training. Quality and purpose go out the window for quantity and difficulty.

Workout until you puke or pass-out is the goal and every training session should be like this! I see trainers in the gym doing this with clients all the time. The client has reached muscle failure with reasonable form at 10 reps but the trainer belts out “I want 10 more”. You then see the client attempting the next 10 reps looking like a contortionist with the circus.

Likewise I've heard horror stories from athletes who were injured after being told to lift progressively heavier weights or more reps, without considering correct form, structure, progression or supervision.

The problem that I have with this type of training is that it’s not very quantifiable or scientific, yet it’s hard or difficult. Quantifiable meaning there are no restrictions or limitations or rules regarding training nor any record keeping or training logs. You rarely see the trainer or trainee keeping a record of their reps, sets, or session when doing this type of protocol.

If they did, then it would become obvious after a month or two. Especially when the trainee’s strength, endurance, reps, or composition hasn’t changed. In addition the trainee is consistently tired and has sleep, inflammation, or tendinitis issues. It’s not working!

Training scientifically means using the principles of science to orchestrate, predict, and maximize the client’s progress by planning and prescribing correct protocols.

For example the Principle of Super Compensation states that when your body or muscles fully recover from the workout you have a better increase in strength-performance than with a partial or limited recovery period. So if you’re tired reducing the volume or number of sets in the workout will yield better results vs. doing the entire workout just because it’s scheduled, hard, or challenging.

Likewise waiting an extra day or two to allow complete recovery may yield even better results. Not only better results but possible a reduction in injury and illness by not over exhausting an already tired immune system. That’s scientific or smart training!

Another scientific principle that gets violated when hard misguided training methods are used is called faulty motor pattern, affecting the muscle recruitment patterns in a negative way. For example if a squat is perform with a weight load that is too heavy or the repetition number goes beyond what the trainee can perform with correct form, the central nervous system will recruit additional muscles to complete the task. If those additional muscles aren’t design or trained to perform that task, inflammation, scar tissue, or injuries will result from this compensation.

By knowing scientific principles and how to apply them you can reach your goals faster, safer, easier, and smarter. By having an outline or plan to achieve your goals you will reduce over training, injury, frustration, and optimize results. This is called Periodization, planning your workout in advance by weekly and monthly stages, in order to achieve your goals.

Training this way is measurable, repeatable, quantifiable, reliable, objective, valid, challenging, and more controllable yet yields predicable results, very scientific. Whereas hard training is just hard!

In-Season Strength Training: Part One

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Welcome back from a seemingly very short summer. I decided to take the summer off from writing but am always thinking of articles or topics to write about. Since it’s the start of the fall season of sports I thought in-season training would be a interesting topic to explore.

First of all, in-season strength training is the training that’s performed during the season, not prior or after the season. I get asked from athletes all the time “What should I do during the season”? I think many athletes and coaches struggle with how to determine the correct amount of work that’s necessary to maintain what the athlete has spent the entire off-season developing. Hopefully, the athlete prepared during the off or slow season! For athletes the off-season is the opportunity to really recover, regenerate, grow, develop, and mature. We live in an era were almost all sports have evolved into year round participation, so it‘s become difficult to balance and to avoid over-training.

Over-training should be a real concern for athletes and coaches alike. Over-training can lead to illness, repressed immune system, injury, muscle strains, pulls, and tears, decreases in performance, speed and strength, depression, inability to focus and concentrate, formation of soft tissue adhesions, tight & shortened muscle tissue, structural imbalance, insomnia, suppressed testosterone and growth hormone production, irritability, and mood swings. These are just some of the more apparent symptoms and conditions.

The objectives to consider for in-season strength training should be, what are the demands of the activity, sport, or position? The considerations should include the exercise selection, energy system, muscle fiber type, rep range, weight load-intensity, and work volume.

The first consideration is the exercise selection, what exercise does the athlete need to improve their performance, including structural needs?  Upon observation or assessment does the athlete have any postural, structural, muscle imbalance, or movement flaws? If so they need to be addressed. Next, does the athlete need muscle specific strength, power, or endurance to optimize their performance? Again, indentify and address those needs.

For example a lineman in football with issues of jamming their opponent off the line may benefit from rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. A sprinter who has difficulty starting out of the blocks may benefit from deep squats or platform dead lifts. While a midfielder in soccer with stride issues might require split or single leg squats or lunges to best help their ability. Obviously there are exercises that all individuals may benefit from that enhance their athletic ability i.e., jumping, quickness, stopping, change of direction, which can be determined during the athlete’s tryout or assessment phase.

Another example, cheerleaders who are subjected to high levels of impact force from tumbling and landing need strength through their legs, spine torso, and arms to absorb and displace the stress, in order to prevent and reduce injury to those areas. The stronger the muscles the better the stress and energy displacement.

The second consideration might be, what energy system is used by the athlete in their particular sport or position?  So whether it’s anaerobic energy needing fast twitch muscle fibers or aerobic energy requiring slow twitch muscle fibers, the energy system determines how the athlete should train to enhance their ability. For example a volleyball player needs to react quickly and jump for short bursts, interspersed with periods of waiting. So their energy system is more anaerobic and requires high energy phosphate compounds like adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP), creatine phosphate (CP), and carbohydrate-sugar compounds i.e., glycogen, or a combination thereof for fuel. Whereas a cross-country runner will need more endurance with occasional surges of speed, requiring primarily oxygen, fats, and glycogen for fuel.

In Part Two we will examine the necessary rep range, weight load-intensity, muscle fiber type, and work volume requirements of the athlete.

Post Workout Shake Recipes

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Regular Chocolate: pour 16-32oz of milk in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of chocolate protein powder, add 4-6 cubes of ice if desired (usually will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Chocolate Plus: pour 16-32oz of milk in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of chocolate protein powder, add 3-4 scoops of favorite ice cream that goes with chocolate, i.e., cookies & cream (usually will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Vanilla: pour 16-32oz of milk in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of vanilla protein powder, add 4-6 cubes of ice if desired (usually will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Vanilla Plus: pour 16-32oz of milk in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of vanilla protein powder, add 3-4 scoops of favorite ice cream that goes with vanilla, i.e., cookies & cream (usually will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Strawberry: pour 16-32oz of water or milk in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of vanilla protein powder, add 4-8 strawberries (may be pre-frozen, will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Strawberry Plus: pour 16-32oz of fruit juice (apple or orange or mango or pineapple) in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of vanilla protein powder, add 4-8 strawberries (may be pre-frozen, will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Mixed Berry Plus: pour 16-32oz of fruit juice (apple or orange or mango or pineapple) in blender, followed by 1-1 ½ scoops of vanilla protein powder, add 1-1 ½ cups of mixed blue, black, raspberry, strawberry (may be pre-frozen, will make it thicker & colder), blend until smooth.

Healthier Shake: pour 8-18oz of water in blender, followed by 2-4oz of heavy cream, followed by 1-2 scoops of chocolate or vanilla protein powder, blend until smooth; fruit may be optional.
Notes:

The protein serving size is subject to individual metabolic needs; the above recipes use 1-1 ½ scoops of whey protein which should equal approximately 24-36 grams of protein; this should suffice for most middle school males and high school females but larger more muscular individuals or those with higher metabolic needs may require more up to 2-3 scoops.

The maximal ratio of protein to carbs should be approximately 1:4 for post workout shakes to assists in post workout recovery and nutrient replacement. So if 1 scoop or 24g of protein powder is used then 96g of total carbs should be used from whole milk, almond milk, heavy cream, juice, fruit, or the total from any of the aforementioned combinations.

For example 1 cup or 8oz milk has about 12g of carbs, while 8oz of juice will have approximately 25g of carbs; 1 cup of berries is approximately 17g of carbs; check the label on the container or package to get the general idea so you develop a visual image of the amount but don’t be annul; for individuals with super slow metabolisms or that have too much body fat try reducing the ratio to 1:0 or 1:1 until body fat drops.

If your bodyfat is low or ideal feel free to experiment to come up with your own personal favorites, including substituting yogurt or ice cream and combining several of the ingredients together. Bon Appetite or Enjoy!

Recommended brands: Any that make a high quality isolate whey protein without cross contaminates such as steroids, nickel, mercury, lead, or arsinate, here are three varied high quality brands that we can recommend, they do not mix or taste the same but are extremely reputable MRM, Poliquin Performance, Douglas Klean, just google search to find. They will sell in 2lb container as well as packets.

Does Exercise Science Matter?

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Does exercise science matter when training? First of all, what is exercise science? Exercise Science is the study of human movement and the related biological responses. Movement becomes a science through precise study, analysis, and documentation of exercise and sport type activities. It involves biomechanics, kinesiology, physiology, and health and constructs usable principles from this science into training. Well what are these principles of exercise science? There are many exercise science principles. In this article I will list and briefly describe 10 scientific principles of training, in no particular order.

1. Super Compensation is the amount of time required for the body to fully recover from the previous workout or workouts.

• There should be full recovery prior to repeating the same muscle workout for the best gains.
• This will result in strength increases of 1-2% or by 1-2 repetitions each week.
• Optimal increases will not occur with out the proper rest, recovery, and regeneration.

2. Periodization – is a pre-planed training plan, which consists of short or long-term cycles (days vs. weeks vs. months), with changes in the workout at regular intervals.

• By manipulating your training variables, such as variations in exercises, reps, sets, and weight load intensities you will maximize your progress and motivation, and help to prevent plateaus, injuries, and over-training.

3. Time Under Tension (TUT)  is the time required to complete a rep or a set (group of reps). TUT is influenced by the tempo.

• Muscle fiber type recruitment and energy system type utilization depends on time under tension.
• e.g., tempo x reps = total time under tension per set, 302 tempo = 5 seconds total tempo x 6 reps = 30 seconds of time under tension per set.

4. Tempo-is the pace, rhythm, and time required for each repetition.

• Planned tempo use will ensure correct muscle fiber and energy system recruitment, and will reduce injury and faulty motor patterns.
• Tempo is usually expressed in counts e.g., 302, 301, 30X or 402, 401, 40X, or 502, 501, 50X, that are normal but may be 31X, 512, 911 counts.
• The first number represents the negative (eccentric) phase of the rep, usually expressed in a 2-9 range.
• The second number usually represents the midway point, usually expressed in a 0-2 range.
• The last number represents the positive (concentric) phase, usually expressed in a X-2 range.
• e.g., a 302 tempo for an arm curl, starting position at the bottom with the weight in front of thigh, a 2 count is performed while the weight is curled up to the shoulders, a 0 pause at the top or midway position,  a 3 count is done while lowering the weight to the start.

5.Technique and Posture – proper form and posture are necessary for correct muscle recruitment and optimal strength gains.

• If a movement cannot be performed with the correct technique, form, and posture it should be stopped.
• An assessment should be made to determine the reason, so that the necessary corrections can be made.
• Remember correct technique and posture will optimize neural drive to the correct muscles and will prevent faulty muscle recruitment patterns and injury.
• e.g., excessive forward lean vs. upright torso in the squat, places undue stress on the knees and lower back regions.

6. Reflex Inhibition –when a muscle is injured by repetitive use, trauma, faulty motor patterns, imbalances, or scar tissue, the central nervous system shuts down the neural drive to the muscle (turns off the muscle) to protect it from further injury.

7. Posture, Stability, and Synergist Muscles – are muscles that assist the primary (larger) muscles by helping to hold a position to achieve the desired action. This help is called synergist.

• e.g., when sprinting the ankle dorsi-flexor muscles and the toe extensor muscles put the foot in the correct position prior to the foot strike.
• The synergist may also assist in achieving a particular action.
• ,e.g; in elbow flexion the arm biceps muscle may get assistance from the forearm brachioradialis muscle.
• Often these muscles are the smaller muscles and/or the secondary actions of neighboring muscles.

8. Over Training-is caused by constant training that does not allow adequate time for recovery, regeneration, or super compensation to occur.

• Symptoms may include irritability, increases in injury, healing time, resting heart rate, normal blood pressure, illness, and changes in mood and appetite, decreases in immune system and performance.
• In addition there may be excessive inflammation, scar tissue formation, over compensation by other muscle groups, soft tissue strains and tears, bone fractures, and a weakened level of strength and conditioning.

9. Overload and Progressive Loading – neuromuscular adaptation occurs as a result of progressive amounts of overload or in other words your body adapts to small progressive amounts of stress (the fictitious Greek wrestler Milo carrying the calf until it’s a full grown bull).

• This adaptation is optimal when the progression of stress or overload is gradual and in small increments of 1-5% of the working intensity level (also called the Kaizen Principle of constant and never ending improvement by increasing in small increments over a long period of time).

10. Central Nervous System (CNS) – is made up of the brain, spinal cord, nerve pathways, and sensors to the muscles and organs.

• The impulse or signal to the muscles from the spinal cord is called neural drive, involving motor or efferent neurons, nerve fibers, motor units, motoneurons, and muscle fibers.
• The central nervous system response is extremely fast and gets better with repeated efforts but happens instantly, e.g., picking up a pencil vs. picking up a 50 lb dumbbell. The CNS instantly determines if the task can be completed, what muscles to recruit, and how to perform the task. It knows the difference between the weight of the pencil and the 50lb dumbbell even with your eyes closed by touch and feel.
• Things that interrupt and obstruct CNS neural drive are poor posture, improper form, inflexibility, strength imbalances, nerve injury, and scar tissue.

These are just a few of many scientific principles that can and should be incorporated into a training program. By incorporating them you will achieve results at a much faster, safer, calculated, predictable, and repeatable outcome. Look for a trainer or strength coach who understands and employs principles such as these and you will be on your way to new gains in strength and a different outlook towards training.

References: J. Hartmann & H.Tunnemann, Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports; Lippincott-Williams-Wilkins, Fundamentals of Musculoskeletal Assessment Techniques; Thomas Baechle, Essentials Of Strength Training And Conditioning; Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Science And Practice Of Strength Training; Charles Poliquin, Poliquin Principles; Carol Oatis, Kinesiology-The Mechanics & Pathomechanics of Human Movement.

Essential Supplements That People Don't Need, Right!

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Since I am always asked about what supplements to take by acquaintances, colleagues, family, friends, trainers, and strangers in the gym here is a list with explanation and usage of some essential supplements that just about everyone can benefit from or use. At the end of each selection I list some brands that are great or good and I’m sure much better than I see most people take. Check out my article about Favorite Brands, where I list and give my favorite brands and online suppliers. I must thank Charles Poliquin, Warren Brown, Sonja Petersen, William Wong, and Johnny Bowden as my resources for this article.

Here are 8 essential supplements that most people need even if they don't know it.

Multivitamins - should help prevent cellular oxidation, improve energy and wellness, contribute to overall health, and protect from toxins. It’s a well documented that today’s foods have the same calories and less nutrients, than they did 30-40 years ago. So it’s important to consume a multivitamin and one that’s highly absorbable or bio-available. The better multivitamins will break down, digest, and absorb in 10-30 minutes, and usually the faster the absorption, the better the quality. Which means the manufacturer used high quality ingredients and formulation methods. They will use amino acid chelates for minerals, natural carotenoids, therapeutic levels of vitamin B, natural vitamin E with a equal ratio of alpha to gamma tocopherols, genetically usable folic acid, and calcium citrate that actually builds bone. All of the nutrients should be highly absorbable, and in natural forms increase your energy after consumption. Try Multi Intense or Complete Multi by Poliquin, Life Force by Source Naturals, Beyond Basics by MRM, Preventive X by Douglas, or Total Balance by Xtend-Life.

Betain w/Pepsin - helps stomach health and repair, breaks down food, increases digestion of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, kills bad bacteria, increases nutrient absorption and utilization, thereby increasing muscle (15-18 lb in 2 months), strength, fat metabolism, weight loss, energy, and overall health. Some symptoms of low stomach acid are: belching, bloating, or gas post meal, bad breath, meatless desire, nausea post supplements, brittle fingernails, undigested food in stool, stomach pain, desire to miss meals, estrogen increase, acne, and depression. Possibly half of the US population has a HCL deficiency. Also a deficiency of HCL decreases B12 absorption and causes accelerated brain aging, so energy and thinking decrease. Take 200-1600 mg mid-meal, with each meal depending on your need (based on HCL test). May take up to 5 years to repair. Try Digest Force or Ultra HCI by Poliquin, HCL w/Pepsin by Solaray, Essential Enzymes by Source Naturals, Digest-All by MRM, Betaine Plus by Douglas, or Betaine HCL by KAL,.

Proteolitic Enzymes - helps cells, vessels, muscles, and connective tissues reduce inflammation and eliminate excessive fibrin and scar tissue, caused by allergens, exercise, food allergies, injury, stress, toxins, and trauma. Excessive scar tissue can build up in arteries, ligaments, muscles, organs, tendons, and vessels and inhibit their ability to do their job and function, especially after early adulthood around the age of 25. Proteolytic enzymes such as bromelain, papain, serrapeptase, and trypsin, will help break down and remove only scar tissue not healthy tissue and manage inflammation over time. Another benefit is that proteoytic enzymes seem to boost or stimulate the immune system and disable certain viruses. It seems more effective to take them on a empty stomach if possible or a light fruit snack. Take 5 capsules, 3 x a day depending on the strength, and increase to 10 capsules, 3 x a day for more severe trauma, and will take 3-5 months to resolve or repair. Try Omnizyme by Poliquin, Wobenzymn by Mucos, Vitalzym by World Nutrition, or Neprinol AFD by Arthur Andrew.

Whey Protein – for muscle growth, repair, recovery, boost immune system, and promotes gastrointestinal health. The brand should be low-heat processed, contain immunoglobulins, CLA, BCAA’s, and L-Glutamine, not be denatured, and is bioavailable or readily absorbable. Take 30-80 g, post workout, in a shake with chopped up fruit, juice, milk, dextrose, or water, depending on your needs. Try Whey Stronger by Poliquin, Isobolic WPI Whey by MRM, Whey Protein Isolates by Douglas, or Ultra Pure Whey Protein by Biogenesis.

Vitamin D3 - improves bone health, brain development of babies’, blood sugar levels, neurological conditions, depression, bipolar disorder, muscle function, body fat loss, life expectancy-longevity, immune defense against cold, flu, and other infections, reduce skin problems like psoriasis, cancer risks, insulin resistance, blood pressure, prevent and/or remedy rickets, multiple sclerosis, and protect the heart, A deficiency will cause muscle and strength loss. Almost every disease and adverse health condition is associated with low vitamin D3 levels Take 5,000 iu every day to return to normal levels in 3 months or 30,000-100,000 iu, 2 x a week to return to high normal levels sooner. Try D3 Emulsion or D3 Excellence by Poliquin, Liquid D3 or Vitamin D by Douglas, D3 2,000 by Source Naturals, or D3 2500 by Jarrow Formulas.

Magnesium – Regulates heart muscle contractions, calcium absorption, muscle relaxation, increase number and sensitivity of insulin receptors, improves glucose use in elderly diabetics, increase carbohydrate tolerance, correct insulin resistance or sensitivity, reduce stress, anxiety, cortisol, and hyper-responsiveness in the sympathetic nervous system, ATP energy production, protein synthesis, DNA manufacture, fatty acid synthesis, anaerobic glycolysis, and is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions, A deficiency will cause muscle spasm, tremors, personality changes, nausea, increase diabetic complications, interrupt insulin secretion and activity, reduce fat loss and muscle gain. Almost 70% of population is deficient, while most well trained athletes are deficient. Absorption is increased by stomach acid or HCL. Take 200-500 mg, mid-meal with dinner and bedtime. Try Uber Mag or Poly Mag Px by Poliquin, Magnesium Citrate by KAL, Ultra-Mag or Magnesium Chelate by Source Naturals, or Amino Mag by Douglas.

Omega 3 Fish Oil - with high levels of EPA will reduce inflammation and boost immune health, while omega 3 with high levels of DHA will improve nerve function that affect brain, eye, cell membrane, and heart health and muscle function. Also DHA will lower resting heart rate, cortisol levels, and body fat. Take 1-10 g, mid-meal with each meal, depending on your need. Try EFA Complete Px or EFA-DHA 720 or Omega 3 6:1 or Opti EFA or Uber Omega 3 by Poliquin, Omega 3/DHA by Xtend-Life, Smart Blend by MRM, Super Omega 3 or The Finest Fish Oil by Carlson, Pro Omega or Ultimate Omega by Nordic Naturals, Coromega Orange Flavor by Coromega, Omega 3 Fish Oil by KAL, or Krill Oil Neptune by Source Naturals.

Zinc - Aids in wound and burn healing, digestion, metabolism of protein and carbohydrates, and prostate gland functions. A deficiency will cause a loss of taste, poor appetite, fatigue, slow growth, insulin resistance, low HCL levels due to stress, and low testosterone. Take 50-75 mg, mid-meal at dinner and bedtime. Try Uber Zinc by Poliquin, Zinc 100+ Chelated by KAL, Zinc Amino Acid Chelates or Opti Zinc by Source Naturals, or Opti Zinc by Douglas.

Again I hope that this information is useful, which means that it’s used!

Part One, Insulin, It’s Role and It’s Consequences

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Insulin is such an important hormone in regulating our daily health, mood, weight, and body composition. It’s so important that it takes five other hormones to keep it in check or balanced. It’s no wonder that in my original Biosignature course maybe a third of the lecture centered on insulin and it’s function, affects on health, body composition, and modulators. Insulin and sugar are like accomplishes or weird best friends, that can be bad or good depending on the sensitivity and resistance of the relationship. In this Part, One of Four, I will explain insulin’s role and consequence when things go wrong. Since insulin is a hormone let’s first take a look at their definitions.

What Is a Hormone?
Hormone is a chemical made in the body that controls or regulates the function of an organ or cell or bodily process. Hormones are made by special glands, such as the adrenal, hypothalmus, ovaries, pancreas, parathyroid, pineal, pituitary, testes, thymus, and thyroid that make up the endocrine system. In addition, endocrine related organs or tissues like the kidney, liver, placenta, skin, small intestines, and stomach produce vital hormones as well. Hormones are necessary for every bodily function, such as digestion, metabolism, growth, reproduction, mood, nerve transmission, etc,

What Is Insulin?
Insulin is a protein hormone made by beta cells in the pancreas that monitors sugar/glucose levels in the blood, then transports and stores it, or builds up protein. It’s the only hormone that prevents high blood sugar. Whereas there are at least five hormones such as glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline, noradrenaline, and growth hormone (hgh), that help prevent low blood sugar. Insulin is the catalyst that bridges the relationship among these compounds.

Insulin works directly with the liver to help balance and control blood sugar levels and energy use. Insulin is necessary to sustain life, but too much and too often, and it can cause problems and wreck havoc on health. I will explain insulin’s role when things are ideal and the consequences when things go wrong.

Insulin’s Role

The primary role of insulin is to transport or store sugar or glucose. During digestion carbs are converted to a usable sugar such as glucose and released in the blood. Insulin transports the glucose to the brain and muscle cells for fuel to think or exercise. Equally important, insulin transports glucose to the liver and stores it for emergencies, when blood glucose levels drop too low. The pancreas releases the hormone glucagon for the liver to do this. Both the muscles and liver can store glucose as glycogen in their cells for energy. Insulin will transport extra glucose to fat cells to be stored as fatty acids or triglycerides for energy as well. Besides having a role in fatty acid formation insulin can have a role in protein formation also. Excess liver glycogen will be converted to triglycerides and released back into the blood.

Insulin also stores magnesium in cells, which is essential for heart health and nearly 300 other metabolic functions, including cell energy production. So if cells become resistant to insulin magnesium can’t be stored in the required cell like the heart or muscles. Magnesium helps to relax heart artery walls and muscles, so without it those vessels constrict, blood pressure elevates, heartbeat disrupts, and arrhythmia results.

The proper response to insulin is to be insulin sensitive. Insulin sensitive means that the muscle cells accept glucose from insulin, stores it, and uses it as energy, thereby making room for additional glucose to continue the cycle. So the muscle receptors are sensitive or receptive to insulin’s effort to receive, store, and utilize glucose.

Insulin’s Consequences

Insulin Resistance is when the muscle cells stop accepting sugar from insulin, they eventually become resistant to insulin’s efforts but the fat cells will accept the sugar in the form of converted fat. So the fat cells get bigger and you do to! Extra fat and triglycerides in the fat cells will produce more ldl (bad cholesterol). The pancreas keeps putting out insulin to lower the high blood sugar levels and the cycle continues, more fat cells, triglycerides, cholesterol, ldl, increased heart disease, exhausted pancreas, increased resistance, and type II diabetes.

As stated, when insulin can’t store glucose in the muscles or liver it circulates in the blood resulting in bad health by becoming fatty acids & triglycerides, causing insulin resistance, and fat gain. If this cycle continually repeats itself, over time the proper mechanisms began to erode, shut down, and stop working. This leads to additional health problems such as heart disease, hypertension, inflammatory diseases, type II diabetes, and increased cancer risk.

Another role that insulin plays is to help put and keep fat in fat cells. By doing this it will actually prevent fat burning. In addition, insulin prevents fat burning by inhibiting the amino acid carnitine, which is responsible for putting fatty acids into muscle cells. Once there, it can be used as energy through exercise. So by blocking carnitine, fat can’t be channeled from fat cells to muscle cells to be burned and eliminated. Consequently, by reducing insulin levels, fat can actually be released from fat cells, transferred into muscle cells, metabolized, and burned.

Similarly, if insulin levels become too high or too prevalent as a result of constant carb intake, high blood glucose levels ensue, triggering the production of cholesterol. Cholesterol may combine with triglycerides to form very low-density lipoproteins (vldl), which become low-density lipoproteins (ldl) or bad cholesterol. LDL becomes damaged thru oxidation or by glycation (attaching to sticky sugar), resulting in plaque formation. Prolong insulin circulation will also lead to artery wall thickness, growth, stiffness, and inflammation. All of which, enables plaque formation, restricts blood flow, and increases blood pressure.

Furthermore, increased insulin levels raise blood pressure by signaling the kidneys to retain extra salt. By retaining more salt the kidneys will have to retain more water as well, thereby increasing blood volume and blood pressure. High levels of insulin will eventually raise adrenaline levels, which will also raise heart rate and blood pressure.

In summary, insulin’s job to control blood glucose level is vital. Without insulin our bodies could not last very long, and would succumb to metabolic acidosis, coma, and eventual death.  On the other hand, prolong insulin levels will result in increases in blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, fatty acids, fat cell saturation, ldl, ldl glycation, plaque, artery thickness, inflammation, blood pressure, hypertension, heart rate, heart disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, and cancer risks. By learning to control insulin you can greatly improve your health.

As a side-note fat consumption does not cause an increase in cholesterol production because fat doesn’t trigger an insulin response, only carbs do. Without excess blood insulin there is no catalyst for cholesterol, triglyceride, or ldl formation. So lower sugar consumption means lower cholesterol and triglyceride formation!

Next Part Two, Sugar, Friend Or Foe?

Book References

1. BioSignature Modulation, 2010 & 2012, Charles Poliquin, Ms
2. Living The Low Carg Life, Jonny Bowden, MA, CNS
3. Protein Power, Michael Eades, MD; Mary Eades, MD
4. The Schwarzbein Principle, Diana Schwarzbein, MD
5. The Zone, Barry Sears, PHD
6. The South Beach Diet, Arthur Agatston, MD
7. The Fat Flush Plan, Ann Louise Gittleman, MS, CNS
8. Your Fat Can Make You Thin, Calvin Ezrin, MD; Kristin Caron, MA
9. The Paleo Diet, Loren Cordain, PHD
10. Neanderthin: Eat Like A caveman, Ray Audette
11. Physiology Of Exercise, Herbert A. DeVries, PHD
12. Fitness and Strength Training, Jurgen Hartmann, PHD; Peter Klavora, PHD
13. Essentials Of Strength and Conditioning, Thomas Baechle, EDD
14. Bioenergetics, Michael Stone, PHD; Michael Conley, MS
15. Noeuroendocrine Response To Resistance Exercise, William Kraemer, PHD

Part Two: Sugar, Friend or Foe?

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Recently sugar has been under attack by some leading doctors like Dr. Robert Lustig, a California endocrinologist, considered a pioneer in the study of sugar, and Kimber Stanhope nutritional biologist at the University of California–Davis who thinks that sugar is as addictive and destructive as any powerful drug. This may explain why it’s so difficult to sever ties with it. Besides, as young kids growing up we loved visiting the local neighborhood store that had all sorts of goodies–candy, soda, cookies, cup cakes, cereal, bubble gum, pixie sticks, and all of the great chips and treats. Even Halloween was a green light to sugar over dose but back then we could run around and play until we burned most or all of it off.

It’s interesting that sugar replaced fat, after we were told for decades that fat was unhealthy and would cause heart disease, obesity, and many other health issues. As fat was removed from foods, sugar became the sneaky replacement. In spite of being supposedly better informed, we have become more fat, more diabetic, more heart diseased, more pharmaceutical dependent, more at risk, and more confused than ever.

The average American consumes 150 to 180 pounds of sugar annually. It’s not a surprise that America leads the world in obesity, at 31%, and being overweight, with 73% of the population. By the way, Korea has the lowest obesity rate at 3%. Don’t feel bad because the rest of the world is catching up, especially as we export more Coke, Pepsi, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.

Let’s take a look at why sugar was a friend but over the past decades has become a foe.

What Is Sugar?

Sugar is a compound that comes from various plants, like sugar cane, sugar beet, fruit, syrup, molasses, corn, and it tastes sweet. After sugar is refined it is used as a crystal, powder, or liquid to sweeten. Sugar is a carbohydrate, just like a starch, fruit, vegetable, or bread, just sweeter. Carbohydrates are converted to sugar/glucose where it is transported and/or stored in the blood, tissue, and cells and used as energy or fuel. There are many types of sugar such as dextrose, fructose, glucose, galactose, and sucrose.

Sugar does have a purpose–to supply energy to the muscles and brain, and to be used by the liver as an emergency back up source to raise low blood sugar levels. So let me emphasize this again, sugar is an energy source for muscles and the brain but used as a emergency provider by the liver when blood sugar levels are low. If sugar can’t be used as fuel it is converted into a fatty acid or triglyceride or trans-fat and stored as fat in fat cells.

Sugar is good if you exercise or burn it off but extra sugar is bad if you are inactive and consume more than is necessary. Although, considering how inactive society has become over the past decades, unless you work out, you probably don’t need much sugar. Up to 80% of sugar is stored in muscles, so intense training or laborious work would help to utilize muscle glycogen.

Three things the liver does with sugar/glucose:

1. Passes it thru and back into the bloodstream.
2. Stores it, turn it into glycogen (store it in the liver, muscles, and brain).
3. Uses it to make fatty acids or triglycerides.

Six Reasons Why Sugar Is Bad

First, excess sugar is sticky and will stick to protein molecules, making them too large so that they become ineffective. These large sugar-proteins, called glycated, are too big to pass through small blood vessels and capillaries that lead to essential organs, tissues, and body parts, especially the eyes, feet, brain, and kidneys. These new glycated-proteins can’t provide the nutrients or catalyst to help those body parts perform properly. Which in turn, they become toxic, fail, or shut down, leading to premature aging, blindness, nerve damage, dementia, or poor immune health.

Secondly and similarly, sticky sugar attaches to the LDL bad cholesterol, making them glycated LDL, thereby damaging and turning them into plaque. Plaque can and will stick to the artery walls to further damage, thicken, narrow, and restrict them.

Thirdly, sugar is a risk factor for cancer cells, since they thrive on glucose. Cancer cells use glucose to grow via glucose receptor cites attached to the cell. Harvard Medical School researchers linked possible high levels of galactose (a sugar byproduct of lactose) with ovarian cancer.

Fourthly, sugar depresses the immune system by making the blood very acidic thereby inhibiting white blood cell ability to work productively at destroying bad bacteria.

Fifthly, sugar has no nutrients, so it uses up certain mineral reserves to metabolize itself causing mineral imbalance and mineral depletion, like chromium, which is needed for insulin function, and magnesium that is essential for heart and muscle health.

Finally, sugar reduces good HDL cholesterol, which helps to combat bad LDL cholesterol, thereby increasing heart disease risk factors.

CBS’ 60 Minutes did a amazing segment on sugar back in April 1, 2012, with correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, interviewing the aforementioned Dr. Robert Lustig, a California endocrinologist, considered a pioneer in the study of sugar, and Kimber Stanhope, a nutritional biologist at the University of California–Davis, and Harvard Researcher Lewis Kantly. Here is the link http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-sugar-toxic-01-04-2012/.

Next Part Three, How Good Carbs, Proteins, Fats, & Exercise Promote Health.

Part Three, Good Carbs, Proteins, Fats, & Health

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

Through Lifestyle changes you can reduce and even reverse much of the ill health effects that are rampant today. Things like insulin resistance, type II diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, etc, that were caused by our bad habits, can be vastly improved if not resolved. But it will require lifestyle and habit changes to control your insulin response and levels.

By lowering your bad carb and sugar consumption, while increasing good proteins and fats, and of course exercise, this can be done! If you don’t believe the growing amount of substantiated research, or doctors coming on board like Dr Mark Houston, of The Hypertension Institute of Nashville, TN, or their patient results, then just look around. Look at the increased girths and size of the general population, and the rise in heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, over the past two-three decades. Yes, since we started eating low fat and high carb foods we have gotten fatter and less healthy.

In addition, by including regular, progressive, intense, and varied exercise the mechanisms that help control insulin and sugar will be supported and aided. Especially, considering the majority of blood sugar is suppose to be stored in muscle cells (80%) and used as fuel. If you don’t exercise then you don’t make room for new blood sugar exchange and the body has no choice but to convert and store it as fat.

Before the past hundred years of human existence, people where continuously active and work was exercise. Now most people will sit or lay most of the day which has profound effects on metabolism and energy utilization. Along with poorer food choices due to convenience, processed, and refined foods we have promoted bad health, medical and pharmaceutical dependency. Since proteins are considered an essential food and nutrient, and there’s something called essential fatty acids (good fats) let’s start there.

What Is Protein?

Protein is a nitrogen based organic compound that consist of large or long chain amino acid molecules, that are found in foods such as meat, fish, milk, eggs, rice, and beans or anything that fly’s, swims, runs, and walks. Protein’s are essential for all living organisms, and is a catalyst for energy, metabolism, cells, enzymes, antibodies, transport, storage, and considered the building block of the body for structures including, muscle, hair, collagen, skin, and cells.

There are over 500 identified amino acids and they are the second most abundant substance in the human body after water. There are 22 standard amino acids, 9 of which have to come from an external dietary source to be synthesized into major biological functions. Protein yields 4 calories of energy per gram of weight.

During digestion proteins increase metabolic rate more then other foods by way of enzyme and heat production, called thermo-genesis. Besides thermo-genesis proteins help weight loss through hormonal responses that help with insulin control and appetite sensation.

What Is Fat?

Fat is a organic compound that consist of esters of glycerol (a compound produced by the reaction between acid and alcohol that eliminates water) and fatty acids that form an oily soft, semisoft, or solid substance, stored in the body. Fat is a major source of fuel and energy and is vital for brain, nerve, heart, muscle, metabolic, health, and vessel function. Fat yields almost 9 calories of energy per gram of weight, thus supplying the most fuel per gram.

There are several types of stored body fat, for instance brown fat is active and helps to burn calories and to keep you warm. White fat is more abundant, helps store energy, and produces hormones that are secreted into the blood stream. Small fat cells produce the hormone adiponectin, which makes the liver and muscles sensitive to insulin. Subcutaneous fat is found under the skin and is what we associate visually as being fat, and can be felt by pinching the skin together. Visceral or “deep” fat wraps around the inner organs and is linked to bad health issues such as dementia, diabetes, heart disease, insulin resistance, and stroke.

Essential fats (essential fatty acids or EFA’s) are good fats that have t be consumed, because they cannot be synthesized in the body, and are required for optimal health. EFAs support cardiovascular, cell, nerve, and skin health, brain function and development, and many other benefits. Every human cell has a receptor site for EFA’s, specifically omega 3’s. Examples of essential fatty acids are coconut oil, cold-water fish, dark leafy green vegetables, grass-feed beef, hemp, nuts, olive oil, and seeds.

What Is a Carbohydrate?

Carbohydrate (carb) is a large group of organic compounds that contain carbon, with hydrogen and oxygen in the same ratio as water (2:1). Carbs are broken down into sugar and released as energy in the body. Carbs include sugars, starch, and cellulose from plants. During digestion carbohydrates from vegetables, fruit, starches, grains, pasta, deserts, candy, juice, soda, etc, are either absorbed or converted into a sugar like glucose that’s more usable in the body.

In chemistry carbohydrates are classified as saccharides (monosaccharide, disaccharide, oligosaccharide, and polysaccharide), with monosaccharides and disaccharides being smaller or simple sugars like glucose and sucrose. Oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are considered larger or complex sugars like glycogen. Carbs yield 4 calories of energy per gram of weight. Since carbs contain sugar they have a direct effect on insulin response with the exception of low glycemic carbs.

Low glycemic carbs have less effect on blood sugar levels and insulin response than high glycemic ones. Carbs effect on blood sugar level can be measured by, a glycemic index, which measures rate of sugar absorption, a glycemic load, which measures total sugar absorption, and a insulin index, which measures sugars effect on blood insulin level. In general carbs that cause a low insulin response should be the primary carbs of choice like vegetables, fibers, and certain fruits that have minimal or zero effect on insulin, which happen to be very healthy as well.

How Good, Carbs, Proteins, and Fat Promote Health

Good carbs, proteins, and fat promote health by decreasing heart disease risk, reducing insulin levels, lowering triglyceride levels, and raising HDL good cholesterol. This nutritional way of managing insulin improves the ratio of triglycerides to HDL, also a good risk indicator of heart disease. A high triglyceride to LDL ratio will increase risks up to 16 times more according to Dr J. Michael Gaziano of Harvard Medical School. Also the lowering of triglycerides will reduce the formation of bad LDL-b cholesterol, (the dense problem causing cholesterol), as opposed to LDL-a cholesterol, (the light harmless cholesterol).

Similarly, eliminating bad carbs and controlling insulin will inhibit the formation of trans-fatty acids, which is linked to bad LDL cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, lower HDL good cholesterol, and insulin resistance. The only good trans-fat is zero trans-fat, according to the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine. The primary sources of trans-fats are, baked goods, cakes, cookies, crackers, deep-fried foods, doughnuts, fast food, French fries, granolas, margarines, muffins, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. So by promoting good carbs and eliminating the bad, many life-threatening diseases can be minimized or avoided.

Like-wise good carbs, proteins, fats, and exercise lowers hypertension or high blood pressure risks by lowering insulin levels, which allow the kidneys to release excess salt and water, thereby dropping blood pressure.

In addition, by eliminating bad carbs like wheat and refined grains, which turn into sugar quickly, and seem to be related to many food allergies or sensitivities, this will vastly improve your health. According to Dr. James Braly, gluten insensitivities may affect tens of millions of Americans. Another prominent doctor in this field, Dr. Joseph Mercola, believes that grains, starches, and sweets trigger a hormonal cycle of sugar addiction, weight gain, and diabetes. Numerous studies link high glycemic load carbs with heart disease and diabetes. (See Part One, Insulin & Part Two, Sugar).

So by lowering bad carbs, reducing refined sugars, flours, and grains and exercising overall health can be greatly improved.

Part Four, Insulin, Good Carbs, Enzymes, Proteins, & Weight Loss

By James Walker CCS, STM, BioSig, Master Trainer

So after reading Parts One, Two, and Three about insulin, it’s interaction with sugar, and influence on health, you can begin to see the relationship between them and a developing pattern. The next natural progression of the relationship leads to Part Four, insulin’s effect on weight loss.

The Two Weight Loss Theories

There are two basic theories of weight loss, one is the Calorie Count Theory and the second is the Chemical Reaction Theory. The Calorie Count Theory, also called the Thermodynamic Theory, says that If you consume less calories than you burn off then you’ll lose weight! Or if you consume more calories than you burn off then you’ll gain weight! Essentially it’s mathematical, fifteen hundred calories eaten vs. one thousand calories burned off equals a five hundred calorie deficit, thus causing a imbalance, or weight gain.

Whereas the Chemical Reaction Theory, called the Energy Balance Theory, says that everything you do involves a chemical reaction, muscle movement, eating, digestion, energy expenditure, insulin release, sugar utilization, fat formation, fat loss, hormonal response, metabolic rate, etc. Essentially every cells, organs, blood, muscles, amino acids, enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, genes, or body function is a result of some chemical reaction or response. By knowing and understanding this you can attain better health and weight management.

How Good Carbs, Enzymes, Fat Cells, and Proteins, Promote Weight Loss

First of all, good carbs produce less insulin but allow glucagon, a hormone that responds to protein, enabling fat to be released from storage sites to be burned as energy. Likewise, by controlling or reducing insulin levels, carnitine is not suppressed, the amino acid that escorts fat into cells, so it can be converted into a burnable fuel.

There are two other important enzymes that are essential for fat-storage or fat-release, lipoprotein lipase and hormone sensitive lipase. Lipoprotein lipase is stimulated by insulin, and stores fat by breaking down triglycerides in the blood stream and putting the fatty acids in fat cells, making you fatter. Where as the hormone sensitive lipase, is stimulated by glucagon, which pulls the fatty acids out of the fat cells and releases it into the blood stream to be used as energy for exercise, making you leaner. So, insulin stimulates lipoprotein lipase and inhibits hormone sensitive lipase, causing weight gain. Glucagon inhibits lipoprotein lipase and stimulates hormone sensitive lipase, causing weight loss.

Actually, fat cells try and protect themselves to stay fat by releasing protective hormones, which make weigh loss more difficult. The hormones estrogen and resistin are two of these. The greater the amount of fat cells, the greater the amount of resistin released into the body. Resistin seems to promote insulin resistance, LDL cholesterol, and inflammation.

In addition, fat cells release another substance called tumor necrosis factor (TNF-Alpha 1), that help destroy tumors, but in the circulatory system it inhibits insulin from lowering blood sugar. So the pancreas will secrete more insulin to correct this, thus making weight loss more difficult. As fat cells try to protect their existence, if you lower your carb intake you’ll lower the amount of fat protecting hormones in your blood stream. This will reduce the amount of fat in fat cells, putting them out of business, and promoting weight loss.

Insulin-resistance causes cells to stop making insulin receptors, that are responsible for putting sugar and fat into cells, referred to as down-regulation. There is so much insulin that the cells stop sending out receptors. By bringing insulin down with low or good carbs, weight loss begins, and the cells start to bring back the insulin receptors. Thus allowing sugar and fat to be transported back into their cells to be used as fuel, called up-regulation. Up-regulation is an indication that the cells are becoming more insulin sensitive, which improves as you lose weight.

Since protein has minimal effect on insulin release but more on glucagon, weight loss results, including an increased metabolic rate. Protein consumption raises metabolic rate through increased HCL secretion and elevated body heat. This process, called thermogenesis, often lasts several hours after digestion. Also, when protein is consumed the intestines secrets a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) which tells the brain when you are full, which takes about 20 minutes. The CCK hormone recognizes protein and fat very well but not carbohydrates, which makes it very easy to over eat carbs.

Interestingly, up to the first thirty grams of protein from the daily intake may be used to help detoxify cells, the next thirty plus grams may help the immune system, and additional metabolic functions. For women and weight loss, protein intake is crucial, fifty grams taken before noon, will significantly enhance and increase their fat loss.

In summary, controlling insulin is the primary goal of good carb, protein, and fat eating. The end result being, improved health and weight loss, particularly fat loss. By controlling insulin you control your blood sugar, which is aided immensely by exercise. Remember up to 80% of blood glucose is stored in muscles so it’s a key component to promote insulin sensitivity and prevent insulin resistance.

My tag line is ‘Train Smart, Safe, and Results Driven’ but I will end by saying ‘Eat Smart, Healthy, and Insulin Control Driven’!