Joining the rapidly growing field of food based documentaries, “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” follows the story of an Australian man, determined to cure a rare skin disease simply by going on a juice fast for 60 days. The film touches upon a rapidly growing subject, food as medicine. There are many films discussing how important nutrition is, and the most significant research today points to the simple fact that people eat too much meat and too many processed foods. This film is unique in that it is not about the science, but rather a case study of one man’s mission. He became significantly healthier on his juice fast, and even motivated an American truck driver to follow in his footsteps and do the fast. Both men were cured of their disease, free from their medicine, and continue to be advocates for healthier diets. It was good to see, and personally I believe that too much focus is on health care, medicine, and technology to solve our health problems. When the cheapest alternative is also the most effective. This is not to say that there is no place for the advanced treatment options available today, by all means, if you are at the point where you need heart surgery or bypass surgery take advantage of the top operations available, but people have the ability to prevent, and in some cases reverse the effects of the most costly and devastating health problems the world faces simply by changing their diet. I don’t like conspiracy theories, but I’m sure the popularity of plant-based diets are hindered by the fact that people billions of dollars are made from health care that could be easily and costlessly avoided.
Many people think that getting in shape needs to be costly, and it can be! With all the fancy new gadgets, gym fees, and expensive gear exercise has become big business. However, people fail to realize that the best workouts are often the simplest. I once heard someone that elliptical machines were “more natural than walking”. At the time I thought they were crazy, in fact I still do. While it may have its benefits (low impact, but still works many major muscle groups), people were designed to walk and run. People can get into great shape simply by exercising outside or at home. The key is to work smart. Start with walks, and fast and far as you comfortably can. Then 1-2 days per week, add a jog, light at first, stopping before any injuries or pain sets in. Then slowly increasing. Add in push-ups, pull-ups, or sit-ups. Do 3-4 sets of as many as you can 3 days per week and you will see rapid improvements in your performance, body, and confidence.
My favorite workouts are outdoors. I love running, especially in Los Angeles, where the mornings provide near perfect conditions almost everyday of the year. Want to get stronger, go to Malibu Creek State Park and do some rock climbing. No need for any gear, just climb laterally a few feet of the ground, you will feel your body working hard quickly, especially at first.
Don’t be confused by overtraining. Many athletes suffer from chronic injuries. Chronic injuries (or “stress injuries”) are those that are caused by repeated trauma, rather than one significant event. For example, some common chronic injuries include back pain, shin splints, or stress fractures. People often blame overtraining for these types of injuries. I believe that it is not entirely accurate to immediately diagnose an athlete suffering from these types of injuries as a victim of overtraining. More often than not, these injuries are caused by mistraining. Shin splints, for example, often come to people who run too much, but most cases can be prevented with proper equipment, stretching, and warm ups. I have many times blamed overtraining for shin splints, when in reality, it was my carelessness to warm-up, stretch, and strengthen the related muscles.
I suffered from serious back pain my senior year of high school, and was even limited from running and lifting for an extended period of time. In the months leading up to the injury, I had been training extremely hard to be a pole vaulter and also a distance runner. I thought the back pain was due to the fact that I was overtraining, as these two sports have very little in common in terms of training. Later on I realized that the training played a part, but the main problem was a lack of flexibility and proper progression. I was strength training and running high mileage, but rarely stretching. I run more, lift heavier, and train harder in general, but rarely have any back pain as long as I stretch and do the proper warm-ups.
One of the keys to improving your body and mind is habit formation. It is significantly better to run 3x per week for 30 minutes, than once per week for 90 minutes. The body needs to be challenged on a regular basis to improve. Shortcuts never work. Work out hard and efficient. All too often people go to the gym when they can, and end up spending one or two days working out. Even if those workouts are extremely difficult and well planned, they will be minimally effective. You need to work out on a regular basis. This is not applicable to everything. Some specific training types, such as plyometric training (jumping) should only be done 1-2x per week, but they need to be paired with a regular power or strength routine. The key is to work out on a regular basis, make it a habit. The hardest part of going to the gym is walking through the door.
This isn’t what this blog is about, but it is an interesting discussion related to exercise, gym memberships, and self-control. The field of behavioral economics has sparked many interesting discussions relating to economics and psychology. Dellavigna and Malmendier (2000) published an article discussing how behavioral economics can help explain how people decide to go to the gym. In the research, they used data from 3 US health clubs. I’ll skip all the economics and just mention what they have found. Potential gym goers had two choices, a monthly fee of $80 or a per visit fee of $10. Therefore, a customer would break even if they went 8 times per month, and if they went less they should choose the per visit fee. However, those who chose the monthly fee went to the gym an average of 4.4 times per month. This cannot be explained by the standard economic model, and so behavioral economists attempted to rationalize the behavior. One possible explanation assumed that people were sophisticated, and used the contract as a commitment device, knowing that if they chose the per visit fee, they would never go. The overall evidence however pointed to naivete, people didn’t realize that they would never go. Looking into the future, they said they would go often to the gym, but when it was time to go they didn’t follow through. This is an interesting look at what has become a very popular self-control problem. Maybe economists will one day have the answer.
The number of reps and sets you do should be geared toward your personal goals, as should the recovery time you allow yourself in between sets. Many people, especially beginners, don’t think it matters as long as you’re working hard, but always smart as well.
Endurance – runners, distance swimmers, cyclists
Should focus on high reps and sets, with low recovery.
Strength Athletes – professional lifters
With strength sports, it is all about lifting heavy weights. Take lots of recovery.
Power Athletes – sprinters, basketball players, football players
Power sports have to have strength, but also need speed. Power is a function of force and velocity, so the training should be reps of about 4-6 and moderate recovery.
Most cardio machines users think the best way to improve fitness and/or lose weight is to maintain a heart rate of 65-75% of max heart rate. It is true that in this zone the body will burn fat most efficiently. However, overall, it a person can burn more calories by utilizing interval training. Interval training should be done about twice a week, and should be varied. Interval training refers to training where the intensity varies with time. For example, on a track you could run the straights fast and lightly jog the curves. 2 or 3 miles of this will help you burn many calories, and spark your metabolism to burn calories in the future. Most people overlook interval training, but it is one of the most important aspects of improving fitness.
Fruit juices provide consumers with minerals and vitamins, but also lots of sugar. Still, they can be very beneficial. But people often fail to realize the key differences between smoothies and juices. A juice takes out all of the liquid from a fruit, it often takes out some of the vitamins and minerals and all of the sugar. So it is very calorically dense, it essentially takes out all the calories, leaving just the fiber. The fiber is a potentially one of the most nutritious aspects of fruits and vegetables. It has this amazing ability to help control your appetite, maintain more stable glucose levels in your blood (blood sugar), help maintain healthier cholesterol, and many other important functions. This also points out an important distinction between a plant based diet, and a whole foods plant based diet. The less processing the better. One can eat vegan and still not be very healthy, one can also eat non-vegan and be healthy. The best diet is plant based, but understand that this is not the only important nutrition rule. Be careful not to just take the fats and sugars out of the plants and eat those. The rest of the plant may actually be the healthiest part.
Barefoot running, or running with thin-soled, flexible shoes is very different then running with modern shoes. For much of history, people ran barefoot all the time. It is an activity that is somewhat controversial in the fitness world. It does provide some benefits, but also has risks. Running barefoot can help all people run more naturally, modern shoes, while they do help cushion the impact, also change the way the body runs, most noticeably, how the foot lands and interacts with the ground. Running barefoot can prevent many injuries. People who run barefoot use their natural stride and learn to land more softly on the ground. It is a safer, more efficient way to run. Now it is important to note that I have previously discussed the importance of quality running shoes. That is true, if you decide to run with shoes on, and most people do these days, make sure the shoe is catered to your specific anatomy and running style. However, if you choose to run barefoot, know that it is very different than running in modern shoes, so in order to avoid the many injuries that are possible, be sure to progress slowly. For example, if you are running 30 miles a week, shorten those runs at first while barefoot and give your body ample time to recover.
Maureen Salamon wrote an article, “The skinny on milk nutrition”, that broke down the many milk options consumers face these days. Cow’s milk has long been thought to be nutritious. However, most relevant research says that it is not a healthy option at all. In the article, Salamon talks about the cons of cow’s milk, only discussing lactose intolerance. In reality, cow’s milk has countless hazards to health. Most obviously, the protein (mostly casein) and the density of the protein have been strongly linked to certain cancers. Despite popular belief that it helps build strong bones, the protein density actually offsets the calcium and bones therefore become weaker and more susceptible to breaking, as well as osteoporosis.
