Winter can bring about an entire change in your lifestyle.  You get into hibernation mode: your activities decrease, eating habits change, even foods you crave changes.  And while trying to survive the winter blues by eating a little comfort food here and there may not seem so bad…it can become habitual real easily.

Bad calories are always bad, but combine that with lack of activity, increased consumption (of bad calories), gray skies, seasonal blues and frigid temperatures and you’ve got a perfect environment for cultivating poor unhealthy eating habits that can add inches to your waistline.  But like all habits, good or bad, it can be broken…it only takes 30 days to break and create a new habit.  So, here’s a few simple and easy tips you can immediately implement to help you turn poor eating habits into good habits so you can begin shedding those extra pounds of winter insulation today.

Sugar and fat…a tasty combination that can add up real quick.  A little bit of this after lunch and a little of that after dinner and before you know it, you’ve a bit more than a little “winter insulation” around your belly!  But that’s not all…you’ve also “programmed” your body to accept and store fat easier!  Your body is designed for survival, so when your body gets cold it needs to insulate itself and what better way to do so, than to feed your body empty calories that’s easily stored as fat. 

Remember, not all calories are created equal and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that not all calories are metabolized the same way either.  For instance, take a cup of decadent hot chocolate with whip cream drizzled with nuts and fudge.  My mouth is watering as I’m writing it…BUT it’s highly processed and super high in refined sugars (ie. high fructose corn syrup) and has trans fats (ie. hydrogenated soybean oil) that are all metabolized by your body differently than real unrefined whole foods.  These comfort foods and drinks quickly gets stored as fat, not to mention putting undue strain on your organs (ie. pancreas) as well as increasing bad cholesterol that can clog up your arteries causing heart disease.

So, getting your sweet fixin’ is okay on special occasions, but if those “occasions” become more frequent and start to resemble more of a habit…it’s time to break it!

Habit is unconscious when you’re doing it, but when you’re trying to break it and create a new one, you need to be conscious.  When you’re starting to create a new habit it’s important to keep in mind that it needs to be easy, doable and repeatable.  The easier it is to implement and keep up, the higher your success rate.  This is why I kept the following tips, simple and easy.  Try these tips out for 30 days and see how you do.  I think you’ll be quite surprised at how making just a few small and simple changes can add up to big differences in your life.

TIP 1: 
Never miss breakfast.  Always start off with a well balanced breakfast with plenty of protein in the meal. 

Most people make the mistake of eating calorie dense, highly processed foods like cereals and instant breakfast or carb dense foods like bagels or muffins and wash it all down with even more sugar like orange juice. 

Just as bad are those that skip breakfast all together and start the day off with a cup of coffee on an empty stomach and a dehydrated body. 

Psychologically, it’s vital that you start your day off right, and eating a well balanced healthy breakfast is key to doing that.  Studies have shown that when you start off the day eating healthy, you’re much more likely to stay that way throughout the day.  Whereas, when you start out the day eating poorly or skipping breakfast altogether, you’re much more likely to follow the bad habits throughout the day. 

So first thing in the morning, drink a large glass of water.  Your body’s hasn’t been hydrated for hours, it needs water…not coffee, not juice.  Coffee is a stimulant and will suppress hunger…which is not good when you need to eat breakfast.  Concentration of refined sugar found in juice will spike up your insulin, getting your body started down the wrong metabolic path.

When preparing your breakfast with proteins, eggs are probably the fastest and easiest food to make.  But if you’re not a fan of eggs, pick any other type of protein you like.  You can also get protein from nuts, (whole) grains, (organic) soy and (organic) dairy** products as well.  (**I’m not a big fan of dairy, but if you’re not lactose intolerant or have any dairy allergies, you can use dairy as well)

Here’s a couple of super quick and easy sample breakfast recipes:

Yogurt parfait
Mix 1 - 2 cup(s) of soy or plain yogurt (no added sugar) with one cup of frozen mixed berries and top if off with two tablespoon of chopped walnuts.

Scrambles eggs w/ veggies and a fruit salad
Mix 2 - 3 whole eggs, one cup of chopped up vegetables (you can use frozen veggies thawed overnight) in a frying pan (covered in olive oil or coconut oil) and add a touch of sea salt and pepper for taste. Scramble it all up for a few minutes and serve.  Add 2 cups of mixed fruits (seasonal fruits such as berries, kiwi, peaches) on the side.

Protein power shake
Mix 1 cup of soy milk (almond milk or regular milk), 1/2 cup of soy or plain yogurt, one small banana chopped up, one cup of frozen mixed berries and 1 scoop of whey protein.  (You can use any protein supplement of your choice)

**When using soy products, make sure that it’s organic and non-GMO.
**When using dairy products (ie. milk, yogurt, whey) try to stick to organic milk products.

TIP 2:
Eat 5 - 6 small meals and snacks throughout the day.  Preferably, consume your largest meal in the morning, medium size meal for lunch and a small size meal for dinner.  The more you can adhere to this kind of eating pattern the better off you are.  Try and finish eating by 8 or 9 pm…or give yourself 2 -3 hours before you go to bed.  Your calorie expenditure slows down significantly at night, especially when you’re sleeping, so much of late night calories get stored as fat.  Therefore, the less you consume in the evening (after 8 or 9 pm) the better. 

TIP 3:
When you get hungry in the middle of the day, between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner,  drink a large glass of water first and wait to see if the hunger goes away.  Often times emotional hunger will subside after you drink water.  If you’re still hungry, have a healthy snack like a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit.  I recommend combining foods high in fiber like fruits and vegetables (ie. apple, pears, carrots and broccoli) along with foods that have some protein and fat content (ie. almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, avocados).  The combination of fiber and fat will satisfy your hunger and keep you full longer, while keeping your insulin level stable.

TIP 4:
Be conscious when you eat.  Eat slow and chew well.  Don’t multitask when you eat.  Be present and enjoy the food you’re having.  Eat slowly and pause for brief moments after every 2 - 3 bites of your meal.  With each bite chew at least 10 times, this will slow down your eating and enable your digestive enzymes to kick in, allowing for better digestion.

TIP 5:
Exercise.  This tip isn’t about eating, but a vital part of a healthy lifestyle nonetheless.  Try and get some kind of exercise on a daily basis 5 days a week.  It’s best to stick to an everyday routine, since it’s the easiest to remember and you’ll get in the habit of doing it quicker.  Repetition is the key to success and forming a good productive habit is one critical aspect of it.  Start with something simple and doable for you.  It may be as simple as walking to and from work or going for a walk/jog during lunch time.  Pick something that’s easy to keep up and stick to it until it becomes part of your daily habit.  Once it becomes a habit, you can think about doing a bit more and perhaps join a fitness class or participate in a fitness program.

Follow these 5 easy tips and kick start your way to a new healthy body and lifestyle.  Remember that ditching your old bad habits is all about implementing easy, doable good habits that you can continue for at least 30 days.  Once you make eating and being healthy a habit, you’ll burn off your winter fat storage and get your summer physique back just in time.  But even more importantly you’ll get a healthy body inside and out!

Do you tend to develop bad habits during the winter months?  If you do, how have you gone about breaking your bad habits?

I’d love to hear what do you think.  Share your thoughts below!

About 75 million U.S. adults experience some sort of chronic pain, with low-back pain among the most common complaints. 

Although you can get temporary symptomatic relief from medications like Tylenol, Motrin and Aleve, it’s by no means a permanent solution…and taking too many meds can cause other serious health complications. 

So what’s the best remedy for chronic low back pain?  Well, the solution comes from understanding how the problem first came about. 

Modern conveniences have made us increasingly more sedentary and less active.  This has contributed to our ever expanding waist line, as well as, all of the health problems associated with it.

Although being overweight definitely adds to the problem.  Surprisingly, it’s not the most common cause.
 
You may be surprised to find out what causes most low back pains and the shockingly simple solutions for it.

As your weight goes up, so does the stress on your body and just the shear pressure on your spinal joints is enough to cause irritation and inflammation causing pain and discomfort in your low back. 

The obvious solution is to reduce body weight…right?  Well surprisingly, even after losing weight many people still complain of low back pain.  That being the case…weight can’t be the only issue.

Besides, there are plenty of people that aren’t overweight or obese that still suffer from chronic low back pain.  Even people that are in good shape can have low back pain. 

So what’s the most common cause of low back pain?

Sitting.

Yep…you heard it right.  Just think about it. 

You sit at work, at school, in your car, on the bus, in the theater, at home, on the toilet…wherever you are there’s a strong likelihood that you’re sitting.  And it you’re not sitting you’re walking to get to your next destination so you can sit again.  It’s the most common position people spend their lives in. 

Now let’s think about our basic anatomy.  If you looked at the way we’re built…it’s not to sit, but rather to walk, run, jump and move from one place to the next.  We’re supposed to be moving…not sitting still. 

Our ancestors had to move so they could hunt and gather food to survive.  Motion is key to our survival and lack of motion is detrimental. 

Just look at our sedentary society.  We have become fat, sick and fully dependent on modern conveniences and modern medicine. 

We have become unfit to survive.

I know what you’re thinking…but what about the people that are fit and don’t lead a sedentary lifestyle.  Well, there’a a few reasons why being active and fit may not solve all of the problems.

Spending prolonged time in a seated position causes the following detrimental effects:

• It causes “creep” - a stretching of the ligaments and cartilages.  These soft tissue structures are supposed to keep your joints tight and in place.  As it gets stretched out, it weakens and deforms joints.
 
• It causes muscle amnesia of your posterior chain.  The muscles that make up your posterior chain are your glutes, hamstrings and low back.  This means that the opposing anterior chain muscles become short and overactive.  This causes muscle imbalance which alters biomechanics and can affect even the simplest movements like walking and running.
• It causes shortening of the hip flexor muscle (one of the anterior chain muscles).  The hip flexors are anchored onto your lumbar vertebrae (lower back bones), so when they’re shortened it pulls on the lower back causing the spine to extend (or arch).  This puts additional pressure on the vertebral joints and can cause pain and discomfort.
• The altered biomechanics get carried over to normal movements.  These movements further enhances the imbalance.  For instance when you’re running you further strengthen the anterior chain muscles (hip flexors and quads), which weakens the posterior chain muscles (glutes, hamstrings and lower back) even more - setting up a vicious cycle of muscle imbalance.

So here’s what you need to do.

First and foremost, minimize sitting and increase moving. 

If you’re working at a desk, you may want to take a break every hour and walk around the office or go to the break room for a quick stretch.  Just 5 minutes of movement will do your low back wonders.

If you don’t exercises regularly, you need to start.  Even though weight isn’t the number one reason that causes low back pain, being lighter, leaner and more fit will undoubtedly help.

If you already exercise than you need to fix the muscle imbalance. Here’s a short protocol you can begin with:

 
• Foam roll (you can use a PVC pipe) your quads and ITB.  Spend as long as you need on each leg.
 
• After foam rolling, stretch out your hip flexors, quads (thighs) and ITB.  Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 2 - 3 times each side.
• Strengthen your posterior chain muscles by doing the following exercises:
  • bridges on the floor
  • bridges on a swiss ball
  • one legged bridges on the floor
  • one legged bridges on a swiss ball
  • supine hamstring curl on a swiss ball
  • one legged supine hamstring curl on a swiss ball
  • one legged deadlifts (use light weights)
  • straight legged deadlifts (use light weights)
  • Perform 12 -15 reps for 2 - 3 sets each exercise
  • The most important thing to keep in mind is form and technique.

  
  You can do the stretches and various bridges on the floor (without using the swiss ball) at your office as well.  If you want, you can even bring and leave a foam roller at work so you can do it whenever you take a break.

  So there you have it.  Avoid sitting for longer then you need to.  Move as often as possible.  Include the stretches and exercises posted above as often as possible.

  If you haven’t gotten on a good fitness regimen, then definitely check out my Max Workouts program.  It’s a 90 day fully comprehensive workout program that’s designed to get the most out of your body’s own chemistry to help you burn fat, lose weight and build a lean body.

  The program is composed workouts with functional full body exercises so you can build a well balanced strong body with a strong core and avoid developing any muscle imbalance.

  If you’re a low back pain sufferer, what have you done to deal with it?

  Do you have any favorite stretches, exercises that you found particularly helpful for you?

  I’d love to find out what you think?  Share you thoughts below.

   

   

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2593 2010-02-18T05:00:26Z 2010-02-16T18:40:27Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  If you’ve been diligently counting calories in hopes of cutting down your caloric intake so you can lose weight…you may be in for a rude awakening!  Apparently all is not what it seems as indicated on the labels of packaged or canned foods. 

  According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, prepared foods may contain an average of 8% more calories than what’s stated on their package labels and restaurant meals may contain a whopping 18% more calories than they claim.

  And as far as the FDA is concerned, it’s completely fine. 

  So let’s say you’re on a 1200 calories per day diet.  8% is only about 100 calories a day.  But add that up and you’re looking an additional 3000 calories a month and 36000 calories a year.  Remember, there’s 3500 calories in 1 lb of fat.  At an extra 36000 calories per year…that’s about 10 extra pounds of fat!

  If you can’t trust the information on the label, what are you supposed to do? 

  The federal government is super stringent when it comes to regulating the net weight of packaged foods…I mean think about the added cost of shipping!  But when it comes to regulating the total calories in the package…they could careless.  In fact, the inaccuracy of the calories may be far worse than the study suggests. 

  And if you’re on a calorie restricted diet, you might as well forget about restaurants.  When it comes to regulating calorie claims in restaurants, the FDA has no hand in it.  Each state is responsible for their own work.  Well, you can just imagine the results of that situation.  Let’s just say that 20% is probably on the low side of inaccuracy. 

  That being said, majority of people that eat out aren’t overly concerned about caloric intake, so the lack of regulation isn’t a surprise.  And if you’re really trying to watch what you eat, you’ll either have to avoid going to restaurants or make sure that everything you order is plain, raw or broiled with sauce or dressing on the side.  It’s the cooking oils and sauces that really bump up the calories. 

  Lack of accurate calorie information in restaurant foods is forgivable, but inaccuracy in packaged food is definitely not.  And I don’t mean just for dieters…it’s the principle of the matter.  If you’re going to have labels on packages, you want it to be factual so you know what it is that your buying. 

  However, truth be told, if you’re reading the labels and checking for total calories…you’re going down the all too commonly failed path of yo-yo dieters. 

  Calorie counting is not the way to lose weight. 

  I know what you’re thinking…it’s ultimately calories in vs. calories out right?  Actually…NO.  And before you start getting all worked up about it, let me explain. 

  Not all calories are created equal.  The fact is, science is still uncovering new information on how your body truly metabolizes all the calories.  Research is finding that the affect food has on your body is much more powerful than ever imagined. 

  Food isn’t just calories…it’s much more than that.  Foods actually communicate with your cells and controls the vast network of biochemical processes that’s responsible for your metabolism. 

  Bottom line is…you need to be more concerned about what you eat more than how much you eat. 

  The secret to losing weight is to eat the foods that your body was meant to eat, not what the food industry pushes you to eat.  This means eliminating all processed, refined and genetically altered foods - which is great, since it completely eliminates the hassles of having to read any labels…ever again! 

  Does this mean absolutely no processed foods, no fast foods, no junk foods…at all? 

  I always say, everything in moderation…but ask yourself this question every time you have a junk food craving.  If you owned an Aston Martin, could you ever imagine putting into your beloved car, anything less than the best mechanical fluids there is to put into it?  Would you ever contemplate putting in regular gas and regular engine oil? 

  I didn’t think so.  So why would you treat your body any differently? 

  Anyway, to makes things a little easier…I’ve listed the worst types of foods that you should immediately and permanently avoid:

  • White flour products: breads, white rice, pasta, baked goods (pastries, muffins, cookies etc.)
  • All refined sugars (List of different names)
  • High fructose corn syrup / corn syrup
  • sucrose
  • glucose
  • maltose
  • dextrose
  • lactose
  • fructose
  • fruit concentrate
  • honey
  • maple syrup
  • natural cane sugar
  • brown sugar
  • dehydrated cane juice,
  • turbinado sugar etc.
  • All genetically modified foods (GMO) ie. soy lecithin (an active ingredient in chocolate bars), corn starch, canola oil
  • All Polyunsaturated oils: soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil and vegetable oil (This means, anything fried - donuts, fries, fried chicken, chicken wings, meatballs etc.)
  • Hydrogenated oils (trans fat - ie. hydrogenate soybean oil) - Anything that’s got preservatives in it, which is pretty much all packaged foods like crackers, biscuits, chips, even most cereals

  So here’s the deal…you don’t need to know any of the above mentioned items if you stick to eating unrefined natural whole foods.  It’s quite simple really, and it gets even simpler.  When you’re grocery shopping, you don’t have to go up and down aisles looking for products anymore.  Avoid the inner aisles all together and just stick to the outer areas, where all the natural whole foods are located. 

  If you’re unsure about what to buy and eat, here’s a quick break down.

  All whole foods can be broken down into three simple (macronutrients) categories: Protein, Carbohydrates and Fats.  The best way to eat is to try and have a little from each category. 

  This usually means some (lean) protein, a decent amount of carbs (complex - fruits and veggies) and some (healthy) fats.  The ratio of macronutrients will vary according to each individual and although there are plenty of diets and nutritional experts out there, that claim a certain ratio is better than others, it’s really not the case. 

  The truth is everyone is different and so each one of us has a ratio that works best for us, and that’s something that you’ll have to figure out yourself.
  Just keep in mind to include some foods from each category every time you eat and make sure that the foods are all unrefined whole foods.

  To help you out a little, here’s an abbreviated list of recommended foods categorized by macronutrients:

  • Lean protein: fish (wild salmon, tilapia, halibut, mackerel), shellfish (shrimps, scallops, clams, mussels), poultry**  (free range chicken and turkey), red meat**  (grass fed beef)   ** all poultry and meat should be free of hormones and antibiotics
  • Fruits: All type and varieties.  (Try and purchase organic when possible to minimize herbicides and pesticides exposure on the produce)
  • Vegetables:  All types and varieties.  (Limit your intake of starchy veggies such as peas, parsnip, corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, turnips)
  • Unrefined Whole Grains:  brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, millet (Be careful with gluten, since many people are allergic to it.  If you’re gluten sensitive, stick to gluten free whole grains)
  • Beans: black beans, kidney beans, lentil beans, navy beans, pinto beans, (organic) soy beans (Make sure all beans are cooked thoroughly to neutralize all harmful anti-nutrients)
  • Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, Brazilian nuts, hazelnuts, pecan, cashew (It’s best if you can get raw nuts.  It’s recommended that raw nuts be soaked for 24 hrs first and then dried to neutralize all harmful anti-nutrients)
  • Fats and oils:  Olive oil (extra virgin), coconut oil (extra virgin), grapeseed oil, almond oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil   (**A good dietary supplements are EFA’s ie. fish oils)

  Stick to eating balanced meals and snacks comprised of unrefined natural whole foods and you’ll never have to worry about counting calories ever again! 

  Eat for your health, not for your weight, and amazingly your body will respond by naturally sloughing off stubborn unwanted fat. 

  Are you skeptical of not having to count calories?

  Do you believe that diet is still all about calories in vs. calories out?

  What’s your take on eating unrefined natural whole foods and not having to ever worry about caloric intake?

  I’d love to hear what you think.  Please leave your thoughts below.

   

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2592 2010-02-11T05:00:10Z 2010-01-17T02:18:11Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Every few months all of the major footwear companies come out with their latest and greatest running shoes.  Some even have built-in computers that help you keep track of how much you ran! 

  Nowadays every possible technology you can think of is being implemented into the shoes…heck with all of the money being spent on R&D, you’d think they’d be able to make shoes with wings so you can fly! 

  Unfortunately, most of the new technologies are more about hype and marketing gimmick then anything that’s actually useful or beneficial. 

  In fact, the latest research done on runners wearing the latest technologically advanced shoes, is that it actually puts more stress on your leg joints including your hips, knees and ankles than walking in a pair of high heels!  Can you imagine that? 

  The truth is you don’t need to get caught up in the hype and pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of athletic shoes that may look nice, but can actually harm you.  There’s a much better solution that’ll save you a lot of money while improving your athletic performance and keep you injury free.  Check out the full story below. 

  Quoted from www.medicalnewstoday.com

  In a study published in the December 2009 issue of PM&R: The journal of injury, function and rehabilitation, researchers compared the effects on knee, hip and ankle joint motions of running barefoot versus running in modern running shoes. They concluded that running shoes exerted more stress on these joints compared to running barefoot or walking in high-heeled shoes

  .

  It’s quite interesting to note that the more we spend on achieving comfort the less it seems to be good for our bodies.  Ultimate comfort and luxury convenience is the pinnacle of our modern society and it’s also the down fall of human functionality.  It’s a sad irony, but true. 

  I think instinctively, humans are lazy.  We constantly try to find ways to do things faster, more efficiently and with less work.  And although that drive has accelerated human advancement, it’s come with a price…the loss of our basic human functional movements. 

  But not all is lost…yet!  In fact, getting your functionality back isn’t hard.  A great place to start is by getting rid of your expensive multi-colored logo flashing, gadget filled running shoes (or at least put them in your closet for the time being) and instead opt for a pair of simple flat shoes, with no frills but just a good fit. 

  In fact it doesn’t even have to be running shoes.  Any shoes that’s light, has thin flat soles and fits your feet well should do. 

  A good tip: The more it resembles being barefoot the better. 

  I wrote an article, not too long ago about the benefits of running barefoot.  The entire concept is based on the fact that we evolved by running barefooted, so our anatomy (bone and muscle) developed in such a way that we’re actually best suited to run barefooted.  And now a recent study by Dr. Casey Kerrigan, MD. (JKM Technologies LLC) further strengthens that point. 

  When you run without any support under your feet, you automatically change the way your run.  Since you don’t have the cushion under your heels anymore, it forces you to run on your forefoot…which is actually the way we’re supposed to run!  (Check out my video on how to run on your forefoot) 

  But don’t worry if you can’t do it, or you’re worried that it’s too extreme of a change to go from running with shoes to running barefoot.  The real important part is isn’t about running, but about starting to use your feet again. 

  Just by taking your shoes off and walking barefoot in your house, you’re already re-awakening your feet.  There are more than 100 intrinsic muscles, tendons and ligaments that support all 26 bones and 33 joints that make up your feet. 

  Even though your foot muscles are small, they play a vital role in maintaining proper postural alignment, body balance, body mechanics and even weight distribution.  And the 200,000 plus nerve endings located in your foot allows active stimulation of proprioception and acute awareness that enhance all human movements. 

  Many of the strongest power lifters in the world lift barefooted or with just a pair of thin flat soled shoes.  They feel it helps them generate more power and stability from being able to feel and grip the floor when they pull 700 lbs off the floor! 

  It’s just another point, that conscious movement is initiated from your feet and without it you’re functionality is altered.  Strengthen your feet and you’ll move better, prevent injuries, be stronger and enhance your overall fitness level.

  Here’s a few simple ways to help you strengthen your feet:

  • Take your shoes off as often as possible
  • Walk around your house without shoes
  • Workout** without shoes or with thin flat soled shoes
  • Run barefooted or with thin flat soled shoes as often as possible
  • Walk outside with thin soled shoes and be conscious of how you walk and what’s underneath your feet

  **If you workout without shoes or with a pair of thin soled shoes, makes sure to perform functional full body exercises so you can take complete advantage of strengthening your feet to increase your proprioception, balance, postural alignment and athletic performance. 

  Compare the way you feel when wearing thick soled shoes vs. thin soled shoes (or barefoot)? 

  Do you think comfort has any place in the world of functionality?

  P.S. If you’re unfamiliar with full body exercises, you can check out my Max Workouts program. It has over 40 full body functional exercises (all with pictures and detailed instructions) programmed into short, but high intensity workouts to help you maximize your calorie burning potential and get you strong, lean and fit.

  I’d love to hear what you think.  Share your thoughts and leave your comments below!

   

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2591 2010-02-04T05:00:13Z 2010-01-28T00:53:14Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Sugar is a HUGE conundrum for many, because it’s in pretty much everything you buy….and that’s especially the case for processed foods, pre-packaged foods and all fast foods. 

  Sugar is addictive…no doubt about it.  And it’s lethal combination of abundance and addiction that has resulted in our current health debacle where over 60% of the adults in the nation (US) are either overweight or obese. 

  At this rate some experts say that it can reach 75% by 2015.  That’s 3/4 of the entire nation! 

  This problem has spawned a MULTI-MILLION dollar industry of sugar alternatives as a solution to help curb sugar consumption in an effort to beat the overweight and obesity problem.

  Artificial sweeteners are 300 times sweeter than sugar, they don’t cause an insulin spike and have low (or no) calories. 

  Sounds good to me…all the pleasure without the guilt. 

  Although, there are some “minor” health like issues like headaches, migraines, seizures and even brain tumors, that’s been linked to active ingredients like aspartame in artificial sweeteners—it’s all good because it still helps you lose weight (I’m being very sarcastic here if you didn’t catch that). 

  Well, that is until recently… 

  Studies have now come out that indicate sweeteners aren’t as effective at helping you lose weight as initially thought.  In fact, now there’s evidence that they actually promote weight GAIN! 

  Don’t get left in the dark about this ...read the full story here and find out what you can do about it:

  The entire artificial sweetener industry is based on the fact that sugar causes weight gain and that by using sugar alternatives you’re better off than consuming real sugar. 

  That’s true to a point…but let’s face it, if you didn’t over consume sugar in the first place, none of this would be an issue. 

  The fact is, we need sugar to survive.

  The simplest form of sugar is glucose and it is one of the most vital sources of energy for our body. 

  Back in our caveman days, food wasn’t abundant and we certainly didn’t have access to readily available forms of sugars.  So, our body evolved to be able to efficiently breakdown foods like fruits and vegetables into glucose for energy use. 

  The mechanism for breaking down various forms of carbohydrates to glucose is efficient and effective and it’s all controlled by hormones.  These chemical messengers are triggered by your brain, organs and even peripheral tissues like fat.  And each hormone triggers a cascade of other processes creating a complex network of signals and actions…but somehow it all works together. 

  But now, instead of scarcity, we’re dealing with too much abundance.  Now sugar is available in refined and processed forms that needs little to no breaking down.  And it’s consumed in immense volumes!  This has completely shocked our system and wrecked havoc to it. 

  Our body wasn’t intended for over consumption of refined and processed sugars and the evolutionary mechanisms that metabolizes carbohydrates to convert it for energy use is now being used and abused.  Our current consuming behavior is essentially de-evolving our metabolic processes.  We’re now becoming less robust, more susceptible and definitely more reliant on processed foods, artificial chemicals and man made drugs. 

  The result is what you see today…an obese, sick society dependent on foods and drugs developed by engineers and chemists working for major conglomerates.

  So, it should come as no surprise that artificial sweeteners aren’t actually helpful for you, when it comes to losing weight. 

  Essentially, these sweeteners fool your brain into thinking it’s having sugar without causing the natural metabolic processes—in this case an insulin spike.  So when your brain is tricked, it never actually receives any feedback from your body that it got sugar (glucose).  This causes the hormones that trigger the sugar cravings to stop, to actually increase the signals, because it senses that your body is being deprived of it. 

  The enhanced sugar cravings ultimately become too strong and you eventually end up consuming more sugar than intended.  This means you consume more calories and produce an even higher insulin spike which equals more fat deposition and greater weight gain. 

  Your sugar cravings are there for a reason and it’s usually a symptom of something larger, that’s out of balance in your body.  It’s an indication that you’re metabolically off kilter…so you’re much better off fixing the source of the problem then just covering it up by eating sweets that have sugar alternatives

  But what about natural sugar alternatives like stevia and xylitol?

  Well, they’re definitely better than the artificial sweeteners.  These sweeteners come from real food sources and there hasn’t been any health effects associated with it.  That being said, majority of the big studies have been done on artificial sweeteners and not so much on these natural alternatives, so the jury is still out.  But, if you had to use a sweetener, I’d choose the natural sugar alternatives over the artificial ones any day!

  However, the best healthiest solution for you body is to simply avoid all processed foods with man made ingredients.  These foods have a ton of hidden sugars and countless other unhealthy ingredients.  And remember, these chemicals have to be metabolized by your body and if your body doesn’t recognize it, it’s going to throw a wrench into your system and cause further damage. 

  Instead, eat real whole foods.  Foods that our ancestors ate.  Foods that grow on trees and come from mother earth.  Foods that roam the natural pastures or swim in the wild seas.  Foods that your body will recognize so it knows exactly how to metabolize it. 

  By cutting out all processed foods and refined sugars your body will slowly regain it’s natural homeostasis and balance out your hormonal signals.  Your overwhelming cravings for sugar and your insatiable appetite will slowly dissipate. 

  Feeding what your body was meant to be fed, is the best way to a healthier you. 

  So the next time you’re at your local coffee shop getting your morning caffeine fix, think twice before you reach for the sweeteners.

  Sensible healthy eating composed of real whole foods combined with an effective workout program like Max Workouts, is your best “real” solution to permanent weight loss and a leaner, fitter you. 

  
  What real whole foods do you eat on a daily basis? 

  And what processed foods do you need to start eliminating on a regular basis?

  What do think about the ineffectiveness of sugar alternatives?  I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please leave your comments below!

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2533 2010-01-21T05:00:10Z 2010-01-20T16:00:11Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Do you workout but your one problem area never seems to go away…your belly fat?  If you’ve been on a quest for a flat belly or even a six pack, it’s what you don’t know that may be sabotaging your efforts of budging that stubborn fat off your stomach.  The right information can be the difference between looking at your same old belly a few months from now or seeing a brand new you with flat abs you haven’t seen since your high school days.  Find out what’s keeping you from losing your gut.

  First and foremost if you’ve been doing various ab exercises in hopes of reducing fat surrounding your stomach…you need to stop.  I’m talking all traditional ab exercises like crunches, sit ups, side bends, weighted sit ups, bicycle sit ups, side crunches…anything that involves you doing some type of torso twisting or bending.  These ab exercises don’t do much other than wreck your posture and put unnecessary strain on your lower back.  Here’s the thing, flexing (bending) your spine isn’t what your ab muscles are supposed to do.  The real function of your ab muscles are to maintain midline stability.  Basically, your abs are there to protect your back from bending and twisting too much.  It may seem contradictory at first, (especially if you’re a fan of ab exercises) but if you look at the functional anatomy of your abdominal muscles and spine, it completely makes sense.  Here’s a quick overview.

  Individual joints in your spine actually doesn’t have a lot of mobility, in fact the joints are primarily made to bear axial loading (along a straight axis), rather than shearing and twisting.  So your spine can support heavy loads as long as it maintains neutral position which is it’s natural S curve.  Any deviation from that position can put significant strain on the individual joints in your spine.  It’s like the pillar of a house.  The pillar can support the weight of the house simply because it’s structure can disperse the weight evenly along the pillar.  But, once there’s a bend in the pillar, the weight can’t be evenly distributed anymore, and all of the weight gets put onto the small area where the bend occurred.  Eventually the pillar can’t sustain the weight and it collapses.  That’s essentially what happens when you injure your back.  Excessive flexion of your spine only weakens the neutral curve (or the S curve) of your spine, so you can’t bear as much weight.  So it makes sense to minimize excessive flexion of the spine. 

  Your abdominal muscles are attached to your spine, your ribs (both front and back), and your pelvis.  The muscle fibers run in all directions, up and down, diagonal, criss cross, and horizontal.  If your ab muscle were meant to flex (bend) your torso, don’t your think all of the fibers would just run up and down.  If you look at all other skeletal muscles, they all have one direction, which is why it’s meant to flex and extend.  Take a look at your bicep muscles, it runs up and down along your arm, so when you flex it, your elbow naturally bends.  However, when you flex your torso, you’re essentially only activating one of six different ab muscles.  In fact, the only way to activate all of your ab muscle at once is by bracing your stomach muscles like your about to get punched in the stomach.  And the result of that action is spinal stabilization.  It basically makes your spine more rigid, there by protecting it. 

  There are many ways to activate and strengthen your ab muscles, but none of them involve flexing (bending) your torso.  Here’s a good sample exercise you can try, that gets your abs activated.  Start on the floor in a plank position with both your elbows bent at 90 degrees.  The only body parts touching the floor should be your elbows, forearm, hands and your feet.  The torso should be in straight alignment without any slouch in your back or your butt up in the air.  The goal is to maintain this neutral position for 60 seconds.  Brace your abs, and lift one foot, one inch off the floor.  Hold it for 15 seconds.  Put it down and repeat with the other foot.  Once you bring that foot down.  Raise your arm off the floor and reach straight forward ahead of you. Extend you arm fully out in front of you along your head.  While in this position, don’t tilt your body, hold a straight plank position.  Hold that position for 15 seconds and bring it down and repeat with the other arm.  If you were able to hold a perfect plank position for 60 seconds, while each part of your limb was lifted off the floor, you abs are in functional shape.  Congratulations!  But it you were unable to hold that position, you have some work to do!  If you’re interested in learning more effective abdominal exercises my Max Workouts program has 12 challenging core stimulating exercises that effectively activates and strengthens your abs.  But having strong functional abs aren’t enough to get you a flat stomach. 

  In order to effectively get flat abs you have to burn the fat from your stomach.  The problem is you can’t target reduce fat.  That means when you burn off fat, you burn it off from your entire body.  But here’s the kicker, certain areas in your body are more resistant to fat burning for a specific reason…Insulin insensitivity.  And one of the most common areas effected by insulin insensitivity is your belly. 

  How can one little hormone keep fat stored in your belly and not let it go?  Normal functioning insulin actually helps you stay thin, by directing sugar and fat into areas of your body that need it, so your body can maintain a healthy balanced state.  But, when your insulin gets abused, it stops doing it’s job and causes havoc in your body.  And there lies the real problem of your stubborn belly fat.

  Your insulin spikes every time you eat, since food is broken down into sugar and enters your bloodstream.  However, depending on the type of food you eat, the level of insulin spike varies.  The more you consume sugar or foods that break down quickly into sugars like pasta, bread, rice and other starchy foods, the more your insulin has to work.  A repetitive constant demand for your insulin eventually causes it to loses it’s sensitivity and it stops working as it’s supposed to.  Bottom line…insulin insensitivity causes more sugar to be in the blood stream and increases fat storage.  And it just so happens that your belly has high numbers of fat receptors that accept fat deposited by insulin.  So it’s a double whammy.  Your poor diet causes your insulin to become insensitive which causes more calories to be consumed and more fat to be stored in your belly.  If you think one donut or one candy bar won’t effect you…think again!  Once you’re insulin insensitive, your body becomes even better at storing fat.  So much so, that even a small amount of sugar you consume gets stored as fat!

  Your only solution is to re-sensitize your insulin.  And there’s two ways to do that -  exercising at higher intensities and eating diet low in (refined) sugar.  Studies have shown that exercise helps increase insulin sensitivity for up to 24 hours after exercising.  However, they found that increasing the intensity of the exercise kept insulin sensitivity for up to 15 days afterwards.  It’s also essential that you clean up your diet, by eliminating any refined sugars as well as significantly limiting the intake of starchy foods.  Your best bet is to keep away from all foods that are processed, man-made, and/or packaged (and yes that includes fast foods!) which are heavy on simple carbohydrates (sugar and starches) and stick to (real foods) complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and whole grains (ie. quinoa, brown rice).  Even though some fruits are higher in sugar, the fiber content in fruits help slow down the sugar entering your blood stream and helps reduce the insulin spike.  Along with complex carbohydrates, make sure to consume enough lean protein from natural sources (ie. cold water fish) and healthy fats (ie. olive oil).  Much like fiber, protein and fat help slow down the sugar uptake as well, helping insulin maintain healthy, steady blood sugar levels.

  So there you have it.  It may seem simple at first, but this information can really make a big difference if you apply it.  A combination of high intensity exercises and a well balanced diet (low in refined sugar and processed foods), along with functional ab strengthening exercises, will finally help you burn off the stubborn belly fat and get you the flat abs you’ve been working for.  If you want the formula for flat abs, check out my Max Workouts program.  The workouts are based on high intensity strength circuit training and cardio interval training to fully maximize your body’s calorie burning potential.  And since all of the workouts and exercises are systematically planned out, you don’t have to think about a thing.

  Now that know how your ab muscles work, would you still do sit ups?

  What are your thoughts on the insulin connection?

  I’d love to hear what you think, so please leave a comment below.

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2530 2010-01-14T05:00:01Z 2010-01-13T17:02:02Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Losing weight isn’t the hard part, it’s maintaining your hard earned body that’s tricky.  Most people gain their weight back within 2 years of losing it all.  And the reasons aren’t what we initially thought.  Gaining your weight back and more, may have more to do with your body’s biological processes.  There is strong evidence which shows, once you lose the weight, your body does everything in it’s power to regain that weight back.  Your thinner body needs less calories to sustain itself, but your craving for food intensifies, making it increasingly difficult to maintain your hard earned lean body.  But not all is lost, where there’s a will there’s a way!  Find out what you can do to keep your weight off and maintain your lean body for the long term and avoid being the 90 - 95% of people that gain it all back.

  Paul Maclean, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado,  has been studying how your body functions after weight loss and what he’s discovered is quite startling. 
  Quoted from L.A.Times

  “There are strong physiological adaptations to weight loss that promote weight regain,” MacLean says.

  Your body is designed for survival, and so innately it functions to protect it from weight loss and starvation.  But what’s interesting is that once you’re overweight, your body assumes that state to be normal and it does everything it can to get it back to the previous “overweight” state once you’ve lost weight.  It’s part of the survival mechanism.  And here’s the kicker, scientists haven’t figured out how long it takes for your body to recognize your new weight as the normal state and hence stop all of the biological processes from sabotaging your efforts.  So you may be fighting your body’s urges for a long time. 

  Once you lose the weight your metabolism changes, since you need less calories per day.  Each pound you lose you require 8 calories less than before.  This difference in the energy required has been coined the term “energy gap” by Dr. James O. Hill (a professor from University of Colorado and director of Center for Human Nutrition).  This energy gap may be one of many reasons why your body tries to gain more calories back into your body.
  

  One way to fill the void (energy gap) is by changing your body’s appetite hormones.  Leptin, an appetite depressor hormone helps curb your appetite.  But, after weight loss, the level of leptin in your body is lowered, making it harder to curb your hunger.  Another hormone is ghrelin. It’s an appetite stimulant.  It makes you hungry, but subsides after you eat.  However, after weight loss the level of ghrelin in your body is elevated.  Even after you eat the level of ghrelin doesn’t do down as much as before.  This leads to lower satiety (satisfaction) levels and increases your chances of over eating.  Additionally, MacLean’s research suggests that even your fat stores in your stomach send signals to your brain to tell the body to regain the lost weight.

  It’s no wonder that people gain their weight back.  Your brain and body reprograms everything to try to restore the lost weight and it doesn’t seem to let down until it’s succeeded. 

  I know… it all seems doom and gloom, but before you raise you hands up in despair and give up.  There is a way!

  Amongst the estimated 5 - 10% of the successful people that lost weight and kept if off on a long term basis, there was one constant that really made a difference in helping them keep the weight off…EXERCISE.

  Rather than just trying to consume fewer calories by eating less, these people exercised more.  Scientists believe exercising helps control your body’s instinctive biological mechanism to regain the lost weight - such as re-sensitizing your appetite controlling hormones like leptin, ghrelin and insulin, so that it can help you keep the weight off.
  Quoted from L.A.Times

  “Everyone thinks exercise is about burning calories,” Fujioka says. “But you are actually returning the system to more like what it should be. Things start working again.”

  Another possible key in the fight to maintain your weight loss, is stabilizing your blood sugar levels.  Some scientists believe that it plays an important role in helping to reprogram your brain and body, so it can see your thinner and lighter body as the new norm.  This in turn helps your body’s biological processes return back to normal.  A key tip in stabilizing your blood sugar level is to eat low glycemic foods and foods with high fiber content along with lean protein and healthy fats.  Eating 5 - 6 smaller meals through out the day will also help keep your blood sugar level even.  Another important tip is to eliminate all processed foods, and replace it with real whole foods instead.  Processed foods have hidden sugars that’ll spike your insulin and trans fats that are very toxic to your body.  Just by eliminating processed foods and ready made foods (And yes, that means all fast foods as well!) you’ll have much better success keeping your blood sugar levels even.  Combining a well balanced eating plan consisting of real whole foods along with an effective, comprehensive workout program that you can easily follow is your best solution to beating the odds of regaining weight and be among the 5% of successful people that “figured it out” and kept their lean body for good. 

  If you’re tired of going through the same old yo-yo dieting process of losing weight and gaining it back, and this article really made sense to you.  Then it’s time you took action for good this time.  The Max Workouts program is based on strength circuit training and cardio interval training to maximize your body’s calorie burning potential and help re-sensitize your insulin so it can function optimally to stabilize your blood sugar levels.  The program is fully comprehensive, easy to follow and provides you with all the tools you need to successfully achieve a leaner, fitter and healthier you without any crash dieting, pills or gimmicky gadgets  

  Now that you know what you need to do to maintain your lean body and weight loss, how would change the way you approach your body transformation?

  And if you’ve already lost the weight but seem to be gaining some back, what do you need to do to get back on track and stop the weight gain?

  I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please post your comments below.

   

   

   

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2010:index.php/blog/17.2534 2010-01-07T05:00:12Z 2009-12-28T19:07:13Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  What image comes into your head when you think of fat?  You may think of fat as an inanimate blob that just takes up unwanted real estate in your body.  But new research has shed light on this unpopular and otherwise inert substance and it can actually help you lose more fat!  Yep you read correctly…fat that burns fat.  Up to 300 - 500 calories a day!  Check out how. 

  Did you know that you’re born with two different types of fat?  White fat and brown fat.  Brown fat is hardly ever mentioned because until recently it was thought that brown fat disappeared during our infant stages and that only white fat stayed in our bodies.  White fat, is the blubbery mass of metabolic inactive matter that simply stores calories and makes you overweight.  But brown fat is completely different.  It is very metabolically active since it contains high numbers of energy producing organelles called mitochondria.  5 years ago Aaron Cypess, a research associate stumbled upon a fact, that has since been studied and is now known to be true - brown fat exists in adult humans.  This was a huge finding, considering the possible implications it has on the subject of weight loss. 

  Studies have found that brown fat plays an important role in metabolism.  In fact, the amount of brown fat available is a direct indication on whether that person is overweight or not.  Younger, skinnier individuals have more brown fat than older, overweight individuals. 

  For some reason, brown fat in adults are concentrated in the neck and chest region.  Why is it located there?  They don’t know…but, they do know that temperature plays a big role in activating brown fat.  It’s also more prevalent in women than men.  One theory is that the lack of muscle mass in females make them more susceptible to colder temperatures and as a result, more brown fat exists to make up for bodily heat loss.  Since both muscle and brown fat are metabolically active, they can burn energy to keep the core temperature warmer when exposed to cold temperatures. 

  Here are some studies done on brown fat and it’s relation to colder temperatures:
  Quoted from Popular Mechanics

  A team led by Sven Enerbäck, a medical geneticist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, found that when subjects spent 2 hours in a cold room wearing thin clothing and intermittently soaking their feet in ice water, their brown fat burned 15 times more energy than it did at room temperature. One subject had enough brown fat to lose 8 to 9 pounds per year.

  Dutch researchers found active brown fat in 23 out of 24 subjects when they were cold, but not when they were warm.

  Research at the University of Nottingham in England revealed brown fat activity was closely associated with seasonal decreases in daylight as well.

  Animal studies also suggest brown fat boosts weight loss. Last year, Stockholm University scientists found that mice that could not make brown fat gained weight 50 percent faster than mice that could.

  In a 2008 study, mice fed a high-fat diet and kept at room temperature ended up nearly four times heavier than mice fed the same diet and housed at 39 F.

  Researchers estimate that just 2 ounces of active brown fat could burn 300 to 500 calories a day. “You don’t need much to have a profound effect on your body’s metabolism,” Cypess says.

   

  So how do you activate brown fat without having to move to the North Pole. 

  Well, scientists have discovered a protein that’s only present in brown fat but not in white fat.  Interestingly, when they deactivated the protein, the brown fat cells converted into muscle cells.  Talk about “literally” turning your fat into muscle!  Scientist are now trying to figure out how this protein (amongst others) can be used to help obese people lose fat.  Their ultimate goal, is to make a pill that can activate brown fat and help increase one’s metabolism so they can lose weight.  Another Phen Phen in the making?  Hope not! 

  In the mean time though…why not take advantage of the one thing that activates it. 

  Cooler temperatures. 

  What the heck, it’s winter!  Take advantage of it.  Go out for a brisk walk, or taking up some outdoor activity, like ice skating, cross country skiing or snow shoeing!  But, if you’re not a fan of outdoor winter activities you can always do my Max Workouts Programs.  You don’t have to suffer in the cold to burn tons of calories.  In fact, by doing Max Workouts you can crank up your metabolism and burn fat for up to 48 hours after each workout.  So you can relax in the warm comfort of your own home while your body keeps burning the calories away.

  Now that you know about brown fat…what are thoughts on it? 
  Would you take a brown fat activating pill or would you stick to the time tested results of exercise and clean eating?
  I’d love to hear your thoughts, so post your comments below.

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2529 2009-12-29T05:00:02Z 2009-12-28T04:22:03Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  You are what you eat.  It’s something we all understand (intellectually) but don’t take it seriously enough.  (And I was reminded of that myself, after watching a documentary called “Food Inc.” A great film…and I have to say, even for me, some of the information was quite disturbing.  So much so, that I decided you need to know about it…so I wrote a little about it myself.  I highly recommend you watch the film.)  It’s much easier to look over the obvious and pretend that everything is fine.  I mean everyone else is eating it… so it must be okay…right?  Well, considering the epidemic rate of obesity and diabetes, I’d say that following what majority of others eat, is not such as wise idea.  But in all fairness, the food industry makes it extremely difficult for you to eat well.  I mean have you noticed that you can buy a burger for a buck but you can’t buy an apple for the same price?  How does that make sense?  In fact, if you went to your local grocery store and started comparing prices of processed foods to real foods like vegetables and fruits, 9 out 10 times the processed foods are cheaper. How can that be?  It’s processed, doesn’t that mean, it should cost more?  It takes more time and energy into making each product right?  You would think that what comes out of the ground or grows on trees as mother nature intended would naturally be cheaper than anything that has to be processed.  But logic takes a back step when greed and profit become the primarily motivator.  What’s happened to our food industry is not only alarming but darn right scary.  Find out more…

  What used to be hundreds of small to medium size food companies have all gone out of business or have been bought up or merged into 4 huge food conglomerates.  Each of these companies are so huge that they have the power to make decisions on what gets put onto the shelves of our all grocery chains in North America.  And much like most large conglomerates, the bottom line is always profit…no matter what.  And who gets the short end of the stick?  That’s right, you and I,  the consumers.  I know it seems like you have many choices when you go into a grocery store, but you really don’t.  It’s a facade.  When there’s only 4 food major companies producing most of the products, what you see on the shelves are just different names and packages of the same thing.  And that’s not all, it’s what they’re putting into the food that’s most disturbing.  You may see bright fresh looking fruits and vegetables or freshly cut sides of beef or well packaged and displayed chicken breasts and endless processed foods with labels like 25% less fat, or 15% more fiber and all sorts of others things that fool you into thinking that you’re buying fresh, healthy foods…but don’t judge the book by it’s cover.  It’s what’s inside that counts.  From meat and poultry injected with antibiotics, growth hormones, to fruits and vegetables sprayed with carcinogenic pesticides, preservatives and other harmful chemicals to ready made, processed foods prepared by chemists in laboratories using artificial chemicals rather than natural foods.  If you are what you eat…it’s no wonder that our nation is battling a health epidemic such as early onset diabetes, obesity and countless numbers of health problems that have all emerged in the last couple of decades.

  Unfortunately, the situation we face today is really a product of our own poor choices. Poor choices that you and I made over the years by going to fast food chains for a quick cheap meal or going to your local convenience store to get your salt and sugar fix from soft drinks, candy bars and chips.  It probably didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but when just one fast food chain serves over a billion customers…cumulatively it makes a HUGE difference.  In fact, you can thank your fast food industry giants like McDonald’s and Coca Cola (just to name a few) for the changing the entire food industry as we now it today. 

  It’s our insatiable appetite for fast foods, which ironically put so many of the smaller food companies out of business and allowed the bigger companies to get bigger and more powerful.  The result is what you see today.  The crazy thing is our appetite keeps getting bigger as well.  We want more food, faster, for less money.  And these large food companies make it happen by finding better faster more efficient ways to produce it.  But like anything else, when mass, speed and efficiency is the goal, things always have to get cut out.  And in almost all cases it’s quality and sometimes even safety.  Lack of quality is not good for anything, but lack of safety is completely unacceptable when it comes to food.  The USDA does have guide lines to ensure that we as consumers are protected, but these guidelines seem to favor the large food conglomerates rather than the consumers.  Now, I’m not going to get too far into the political aspect of this issue here (although it’s hard not to, since it’s all intricately related), but let’s just say that sleeping with the enemy is common practice amongst former executives of these food conglomerates and the USDA.  Let’s just say that many of the top execs have held similar positions on both sides of the fence.  So who determines “quality” and ”safety” in our foods?  Well, your guess is as good as mine….either way one thing is for sure?

  When you can’t trust the ones that are supposed to protect you…what do you do?

  The answer isn’t easy, but we can start by trying to the make right choices.  Here’s a few simple but effective tips to begin with:

  Start by eliminating processed foods.  Almost all processed foods are based on corn.  It’s corn processed in hundreds of different ways combined with a whole bunch of artificial chemicals.  Corn is the cheapest source of food.  In fact, prior to the fuel shortage, corn was cheaper sold than made.  So it’s in every food companies best interest to use corn as the basic source of processed foods.  This also includes frozen ready made foods like burger patties, chicken strips, microwaveable dinners etc.  Processed foods will not only make you fat and unhealthy, but you’re also strengthening the vicious cycle that empowers the food giants.
  

  This is a no brainer…avoid ALL fast foods.  Fast foods are the source of ALL problems.  You need to stop giving them the kind of monopoly power that they’ve acquired.  And the best way to do that is by not eating it.  I don’t need to get into what’s in your fast foods, do I?  Fast foods hits all of your cravings: sweet, salty and fat with absolutely ZERO nutritional value.  These cravings are a chemical addiction much like nicotine.  You’re brain is hardwired to want more if you feed it!  The only way to break the craving cycle is not to feed it!  Remember, no matter what the ads and commercials say, there is no such thing as a nutritional fast food.  And if you don’t believe me, just do a little digging into the source of your fast foods and you’ll immediately understand that it’s NOT possible to have nutritional fast foods. 

  A simple but good tip is to think and eat like a cave man.  They only ate what was available to them from mother nature.  Basically they ate real foods.  Foods that were meant to be eaten.  Fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, meats, poultry and fish.  Foods like bread, pasta and rice which are all based on grains were never consumed.  In fact, grains only became a staple of human diet as population grew quickly and demand for affordable food became necessary.  Since grains are cheap and plentiful, and can be stored and used during months when other types of food were sparse, it became a staple in our diet.  However,  that doesn’t make it good for you.  If you still choose to consume grain products, make sure to stick with whole grains that haven’t been bleached or overly processed like wild brown rice and whole grain bread rather than white rice and white bread.

  Eat organic meat, poultry and fish as much as possible.  It may be a little expensive but it’s well worth it, knowing that you’re eating foods raised in natural environments free of antibiotics and hormones.

  If you’re a beef consumer, makes sure to get grass fed beef.  Most, if not all regular beef in the grocery stores are corn fed cows that are raised in an over crowded manure infested areas, where they have no place to move.  They’re fed corn because, it makes cows fat faster…so fat in fact that they can’t even support their own weight to stand or walk.  Since cows aren’t meant to eat corn, they also develop intestinal infections that have to be treated with antibiotics.  Grass fed cows are free to roam the pasture and graze the natural food that they were supposed to eat, thereby producing healthy lean beef. 

  When you buy poultry, make sure that your buy free range chickens. This goes for poultry as well.  Most chickens are kept in a dark coup with thousands of other chickens where they’re constantly fed from the time they arrive as a chick until their fully grown in as less than 48 days.  The faster they can get bigger the better - which is why many are injected with growth hormones as well!  Not to mention, most chickens are also given antibiotics because many get sick from the atrocious conditions they’re raised in.

  When you purchase fish, try to eat wild caught fish as supposed to farmed fish.  The problem with farmed fish is the condition they are raised in as well as.  Most farmed raised fish are “trained” to eat corn as for food, even though they don’t normally eat corn.  If you have to eat farmed fish make sure that you know where they came from.  Depending on the country, their health and safety regulation can vary pretty drastically.  Stick with wild caught fish and you’re ensured a healthy fish.  (You can go to NRDC to find out the mercury content of fish, so you know which ones are safe to eat.)

  Eat organic fruits and vegetables and support your local growers as much as possible.  The biggest reason being pesticides and soil deprivation.  The pesticides used on fruits and vegetables have been directly linked to cancer and other harmful effects.  The soil they are being harvested in have been over harvested and completely stripped of any nutrients and minerals.  Don’t let the big bold colors of the fruits and vegetables being displayed on the counters of your local grocery store fool you.  Most have been sprayed with deadly pesticides, preservatives and have little nutritional content.  If you have a local farmers market near you, try and get your fruits and vegetables through them.  That way you can ask to make sure that they don’t use any pesticides or preservatives on their products before you buy.  Plus they’ll only carry what’s in season, so you know that the soil hasn’t been over harvested. 

  Lastly, the more you can reduce buying from your local grocery chains the better.  Find other sources of food, like local organic farmers.  You don’t need to live in the country to get local farmed foods.  I live in the city and I have a couple of organic farmers where I order my organic vegetables, free range chicken and eggs free of antibiotics and growth hormones, as well as organic grass fed beef.  It’s a little pricier but well worth the piece of mind knowing that the food I’m eating is healthy and wholesome. (Here’s a list of organic farmers in the US and here’s list of organic farmers in Canada)

  It’s important to keep in mind that you as a consumer vote every time you purchase food.  What kind of foods you’d like to have in your local grocery store is determined by what you purchase.  If you buy Coke, you’re only helping them keep their diabetic promoting drinks on the store shelves for more consumption.  If you eat at McDonald’s it only promotes more unhealthy foods to be produced and keeps feeding fuel to these powerful giants.  If the tabacco industry can be brought down by your choice NOT to smoke…certainly, we can get control back from the food industry giants.  Everybody should have the right to affordable, healthy natural foods. 
  It’s your decision to make.  Vote to be healthy.

  What do you think about the current situation of our food industry? 
  Does this change the way you look at food?
  I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please post your comments below.

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2507 2009-12-17T04:00:56Z 2009-12-23T20:56:57Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  People look at exercising as a means to lose weight, get rid of belly fat and get a lean well-defined body.  And while most of us work hard to get that look on the outside…what’s happening on the inside, often gets ignored.  In fact, it’s what goes on inside your body, that allows you to get the look you’re after.  It’s the unglamorous side…I know.  We all want the end result…yesterday.  But the benefit to you, is that the more you know what goes on inside your body, the better and faster results you’ll achieve on the outside.  So if you’re serious about shedding pounds and losing stubborn body fat, you’d better learn about the little dudes that really calls the shots in your body. 
  Find out how these little dudes actually help you burn more fat.

  The little dudes that I’m talking about are your hormones!  That’s right… these tiny chemical messengers are vital to your body’s daily function.  Hormones essentially carry messages from one cell to another cell and is responsible for cellular metabolism.  In fact, it’s these guys that can manipulate and alter your body’s metabolism…and you know what that means.  The higher your metabolism the more calories you burn throughout the day.  Even though they’re too small to see with your naked eyes, they can make a BIG difference in what you see in the mirror!

  Now there are countless numbers of hormones, each with complicated mechanisms that play an important role in the function of your body.  But I’ve listed the key hormones that interest us the most… those that are vital to your body’s physical appearance.  You can look at these as your “All Star of Hormones”.  Check them out below:

  Growth Hormones

  • Stimulates protein synthesis so you can build stronger and bigger muscles.  It also helps strengthen soft tissues that help protect joints such as your tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. And don’t worry ladies, natural stimulation of your growth hormones won’t make you look the incredible hulk with a bikini.  Instead you’ll build leaner and longer muscles that’ll make have you looking tight and toned.  Plus the more lean muscles you have the more fat you’ll burn, since lean muscle increases your metabolism.
  • Decreases use of glucose and increases use of fat as a fuel during exercise.  Which means it turns on your fat burning switch, so you can burn your stored fat, helping you get rid of that stubborn body fat.  It also helps you keep a healthy blood sugar level which is vital to your health.  High blood sugar is linked to diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome and even cancer.
  • So what’s the best way to stimulate growth hormones?  Exercise. (did you expect anything else?)  And the more intense the exercise the greater the growth hormone production.

  Endorphins

  • These are also known as the feel good hormones.  If helps block pain, reduces tension and anxiety and produces a general feeling of euphoria.  It also helps decrease appetite!
  • The best way to increase your endorphin levels in your blood is by doing intense levels of cardio interval training.  Ever heard of runners high?  Well this hormone is the culprit.  The other neat thing about this hormone is that the more your body gets regular exercise, the more sensitive this hormone gets.  So your body feels the effects of the endorphins better and longer by exercising regularly at higher levels of intensity.

  Testosterone

  • This is a sex hormone more prevalent in males than females, but are available in both sexes.
   
  • It’s similar to growth hormones in a sense that it helps build and maintain the size and strength of your muscles.  It also helps crank up your metabolism so you can burn more calories through out the day.
  • Since it’s a sex hormone it increases the sex drive, especially for men.  But don’t feel left out ladies, even though the level of testosterone is one tenth found in men, it still helps your libido and actually helps you experience the big “O” better!
  • Even though the production of testosterone starts to wane at around forty for men and for women close to menopause, you can still stimulate the production of testosterone effectively through diet and… you guessed it exercise!  Much like the other two hormones discussed earlier, the best way to stimulate testosterone is by doing short intense bursts of activity rather than long, endurance types of training.  In fact, studies have shown that prolonged activity can decrease levels of testosterone.  Keeping your exercises short and sweet can help keep your testosterone levels healthy at any age.

  Estrogen

  • It’s a female reproductive hormone, but much like testosterone, both sexes have it.  Too much estrogen has been associated with loss of muscle mass, bone mass and even some diseases.  But this hormone has gotten a bad rap.  In fact there is a type of estrogen known as “17 beta estradiol”, that’s really good for building a better body.
  • 17 beta estradiol helps breakdown fat from your body, and increases metabolism for better daily calorie burn.  It even elevates your mood and increases libido for females.
  • And although females start to produce less of it with age, you can help your ovaries secrete more 17 beta estradiol with exercise. (Are you startin’ to see a recurring theme?)

  Thyroxine

  • This an important weight loss hormone produced by your thyroid gland.
  • Thyroxine is responsible for increasing cellular metabolism which ultimately causes your body to burn more calories, thereby helping your body lose weight.
  • You can increase blood levels of thyroxine by up to 30% during exercise and it can remain elevated for several hours afterwards, depending on the intensity of exercise.  Higher the intensity, the longer your thyroxine stays in your blood stream.

  Insulin

  • If there was a celebrity hormone magazine, insulin would be on the cover all the time.  It’s the Brangelina of hormones, since it’s gets the most “press” when it comes to general health and disease prevention.
  • It’s the hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels in your body.  And it does so by directing glucose (sugar), fatty acids (fat), and amino acids (protein) into cells that need it.
  • Insulin is secreted by the pancreas, and is increased in response to a rise in blood sugar, often following a meal high in simple carbs (which break down to glucose really quickly) like bread, pasta, pastries and so on.
  • If insulin is abused and secreted too often from eating too many starchy or sugary foods, your insulin develops a resistance it.  And when it does it takes more blood sugar (which means more calorie intake) to secrete insulin.  And worse yet, the blood sugar that’s not taken up by insulin gets stored as fat.
  • The fact is most overweight people have developed some level of insulin resistance, causing them to gain weight.  It’s a vicious cycle because more sugar is needed in the blood stream for the insulin to be secreted…which means more calories consumed.
  • The best way to reverse the effects of insulin resistance is by cleaning up your diet (by cutting down or eliminating starches, sugars and processed foods and drinks) and through consistent exercising.  Studies have shown that regular exercise increases your cell’s sensitivity to insulin, thereby helping reverse the effects of insulin resistance.
   

  So there you have it your “All Stars of Hormones”.  Keep these hormones in check by eating well and… of course by exercising!  For many of the hormones mentioned, the intensity of the exercises are what really helps stimulate them.  And if you that aren’t familiar with working out at an intense level—don’t let it intimidate you.  Intensity is subjective for everyone and the best way to start out is by doing what you’re comfortable with at first, and then slowly work your way up, at your own pace.  To find out how to perform proper high intensity workouts, check out my Max Workouts program.  It has specific exercises and workouts all designed to help you achieve proper intensity levels, so that you can maximize the benefits of each workout and help accelerate your body transformation.

  So now you know what hormones do for your body, which hormone(s) do you think may be affecting you?  And how would you correct it?

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2461 2009-12-03T04:00:55Z 2009-12-02T20:28:56Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Let me start off by saying that NOT all exercises are created equal…and the way you do exercises can mean the difference between looking at your same old body in front of the mirror or staring at a brand new you with curves and muscles you never though you had.  But it’s not just all about looks.  Now science has discovered that the way you do exercises can also help prevent the deadliest disease in the world…cancer. 

  A long term university study recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine studied 2560 Finnish men from the ages of 42 to 61 for a period of over 16 years.  The study was conducted to see if exercising reduced the risk of cancer. 

  Each individual’s physical activity levels were measured and assessed using frequency, duration and intensity as the key variables:

   
  • Frequency - how many times a week they participated in the physical activity. 
  • Duration - on average how long they performed the activity
  • Intensity - how hard they performed their physical activity of choice. 

  After collecting all of the data from the 16 year study, it was found that men who exercised at moderate to high intensity levels for at least 30 minutes a day decreased their chances of getting cancer by half, compared to men who didn’t.  That’s pretty amazing!  Here’s more…

  A higher use of oxygen consumption during physical activity is linked to a reduction in the level of illness in a person and their likelihood of dying from cancer.

  An increase of 1.2 metabolic units (oxygen consumption) was related to a decrease in cancer mortality mainly due to lung and gastrointestinal cancers, after the researchers took into account age, alcohol consumption, smoking, body mass index and energy, fibre and fat intake.

  The higher the oxygen consumption the more intense the activity.  So in essence,  it means the higher the intensity of the workout the lower your chances of getting cancer. 

  Even though the scientific reasons as to why high intensity lowers the risk of cancer are not known, there’s a strong link to disease and oxygen deprivation (i.e. low oxygen levels in your body).  Studies have shown that oxygen is a vital part of maintaining healthy cells in your body and a lack of sufficient oxygen makes your cells unhealthy and susceptible to diseases.  And due to a more sedentary lifestyle, most of us do suffer from low levels of oxygen.

  The best way to combat low oxygen levels in your body and give your cells an oxygen boost is by working out at high intensities. 

  Activities performed at high intensity cause your body to go into a oxygen deficit for a brief period, which forces you to take in more oxygen to make up for the deficit.  This is why exercising at high intensities is more beneficial when it comes to increasing your body’s oxygen levels…even compared to long steady state cardio.

  The benefits of exercising at higher intensities have long been known to be very effective for weight loss, building lean muscle and improving overall fitness, but the reason I wanted to tell you about this groundbreaking study is because it’s the first time anyone’s looked at the correlation of exercise intensity and prevention of disease.

  So, now that there’s evidence that the way you exercise can help protect you from deadly diseases like cancer, are you ready to crank up the sweat-factor in your workouts?  I’d love to hear from you, so please post your comments below.

  P.S.  I get a lot of questions from people who aren’t sure if they’re working out a high intensity.  Here’s a hint…If you’re workouts last longer than 30 minutes, there’s no way you’re working out at a high intensity.  Most people can’t last more than 20-30 minutes on the main set of a truly intense workout.  Even though intense workouts are shorter, they’ll get you MUCH better results (it’s a win-win if you ask me).  This is why all of the workouts in MAX Workouts are programmed in a circuit style strength training format using full body exercises and interval sprint training formats to help maximize intensity.  And, if you’ve never worked out like this before—don’t worry—all of the workouts are scalable so you can start at your own pace and gradually progress up as your body gets accustomed to doing the workouts.  Click here to learn more.

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2351 2009-11-19T04:00:25Z 2009-11-19T00:49:27Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Exercise promotes health…but did you know that certain types of exercises can actually make you more fragile?  What may seem like a healthy, active lifestyle may be missing something critical that’s keeping you in the high-risk category.

  If you look up to super freaky athletes like Michael Phelps, the swimming phenom that won 8 Olympic gold medals in a single Olympic Game or Lance Armstrong, the cycling and cancer survivor extraordinaire who won a record 7 Tour De France.  There’s something you need to know…doing too much non-impact long duration exercises can seriously weaken your bones. 

  Here’s a little excerpt from an article titled The Shatter Proof Skeleton, in the October issue of Outside Magazine:

  ... a study of six Tour de France riders showed bone-density losses of up to 17 percent over the course of the race. Seven years later, the SDSU study demonstrated that two-thirds of the masters bike racers tested had, on average, 10 percent more bone-density loss when compared with the male control group. The results led the study’s author, exercise-physiology professor Jeanne Nichols, to warn of the risk in those participating exclusively in low-impact sports—like cyclists and swimmers. The latter, according to Scott Going, associate professor of nutritional science at the University of Arizona, are engaged in the sport ranked dead last for bone maintenance.

  Now, I’m sure professionals like Lance and Michael have everything all under control with their posse of coaches, therapists and medical doctors monitoring their every move.  But for the rest of us who don’t have the luxury of having such a posse… here’s the deal:

  Doing long endurance types of exercises maybe good for your heart and mind, but not on your bones (nor for your lean muscle building and fat burning capabilities for that matter…but I’ll leave that one alone for another article).  Especially when it involves low-impact types of exercises like cycling and swimming.  But fear not you endurance junkies!  There’s a simple solution. 

  The best the way to “shatter proof” your bones is…weightlifting!

  I know it sounds too simple.  But, weightlifting is by far the most effective way to enhance your bone density and strength.  You’ve heard the saying…”what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger”.  Well…your bones sort of work the same way.  The more stress you put on them the stronger your bones get.  And the best way to do that is by doing weight bearing exercises. 

  Even if you’re an endurance junkie and can’t stop riding your bike 100 miles a week, or you’ve been in training for an upcoming long distance triathlon event—putting in a couple of weightlifting sessions a week will not only keep your bones strong, but it’ll also help improve your performance—if you do the RIGHT THING.

  THE RIGHT THING…is not body building since you’ll just be building non-functional muscle just for show.  It’ll only bulk you up and make you heavier and slower. 

  THE RIGHT THING…is to perform functional exercises using challenging weights (think squats, deadlifts, lunges, and press ups)—these full body moves will make you stronger, more powerful and protect you from getting repetitive injuries commonly experienced when doing long endurance training. 

  If you’re unfamiliar with what functional exercises are or you aren’t sure how to combine them into an effective workout—try out the MAX Workouts program.  The program has over 40 different full body functional exercises all programmed into a short but high intensity workouts to maximize your strength and power while building you a lean, strong body, without gaining any unnecessary bulk—all while keeping your bones strong and healthy.

  How often do you add weightlifting to your weekly schedule?  Or, do you tend to focus more on longer duration cardio for fear of gaining back your weight (which is wrong, by the way)? I’d love to hear from you, so please post your comments below.

   

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2311 2009-11-05T04:00:53Z 2009-11-05T02:08:54Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  Will you get better results if you workout in the morning or the afternoon?  Some say exercising in the morning forces your body to utilize fat as the energy source, so it’s the best time to workout if you want optimum fat loss.  Others say your lean muscle building and fat loss hormones peak in the afternoon, so if you want a better body you’d better workout later in the day.  So which is it, AM or PM? 

  Before we start talking times, let’s quickly go over how your biological clock works.  Circadian rhythm is your internal clock.  It follows a natural cycle and greatly influences how you feel, how you sleep, what you crave and how much energy you have.  Your natural cycle controls your body’s physiological functions by dictating the timing, quantity, and quality of hormones and neurotransmitters it produces.  In a nutshell, your circadian rhythm helps create balance in your body for optimum functioning.  When things are balanced and working properly, you’ll sleep well and wake up when it’s light and fall asleep when it’s dark.  As your body wakes up, it starts to produce the necessary hormones such as cortisol and serotonin to get your blood pressure up, raise your core body temperature, and get you mentally alert and physically ready to start the day.  As the evening approaches and the sun sets, your body naturally starts to wind down and produces hormones such as melatonin and other neurotransmitters that allow your body to slow down, decrease blood pressure, and lower your core body temperature so you can eventually fall asleep.  Sounds like a dream right?  When was the last time your day went like that?

  The problem is that many of us are not in sync with our natural circadian rhythm and this causes our internal functions to be completely discombobulated.  This can cause many health problems like depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, PMS, insomnia and…yep, you guessed it—even weight gain.

  What causes you to be out of sync with your own internal clock? 

  In order for you to best understand circadian rhythm and it’s effect on your body, it’s important to take a closer look into what makes your internal clock tick.

  The study of circadian rhythm, also know as chronobiology, has been around since the 19th century.  But it wasn’t until Dr. Franz Halberg (a scientist from the University of Minnesota) discovered that blood count varied according to a strict rhythm throughout the day, that the study of circadian rhythm started to garner attention from the scientific and medical community.  Many studies have been done since then to learn more about the effects it has on our body, including several key studies done in the 1980’s.  These studies placed people in isolated environments without any outside influences or cues, such as daylight and time.  The studies revealed that human internal clock is actually longer than twenty four hours. 

  But if our internal clock is longer than 24 hours and our day is only 24 hours long—isn’t it just a matter of time before we’re all out of sync with our natural cycle? 

  No one really knows why our internal clock (without any external cues) is longer than twenty four hours…at least not yet.  But fortunately, nature has natural “time markers” that keep our internal clocks in tune with the length of the day.  In the field of chronobiology, these markers have been given the term zeitgebers, which is a German word that means “time givers”.  The most natural zeitgeber, of course, is the sun—but modern lifestyle has diminished it’s importance and has instead shifted our reliance on other artificial cues such as your alarm clock, morning rituals, daily activities like meal times, working hours, and evening cues like going out and watching TV.  All loosely regimented types of activities that have become habitual in nature.

  But this is where many of us get into trouble…our modern life doesn’t always allow for “regular” schedules.  In fact, more and more we work longer hours, travel more, sleep less, eat at odd hours or even skip meals all together and…working out?  Who has time for that?!    (*wink*)

  We are creatures of habit for a reason.  Your body has it’s own internal cycle and since that cycle is responsible for secreting hormones and neurotransmitters, you can imagine the havoc it creates on your body when your cycle gets out of whack.  Your body loses it’s bearings and doesn’t know when to produce the right hormones or how much to produce.  It’s kind of like a sailboat being lost at sea—you’re aimlessly floating whichever way the wind takes you… 

  But not all is lost.

  Even though many of our hormones exhibit circadian effects, there’s strong evidence that some can be produced and enhanced independent of time.  Lucky for us the two most important hormones - testosterone and GH - that affect your body in terms of getting lean, tight and fit, are such hormones. 

  Let’s take a look at these two hormones:

  Testosterone is a male sex hormone, and hence is much more prevalent in men.  But it is vital to building lean muscle for both men and women.  Although testosterone has some circadian effects - some state that it’s levels peak between 5:00-9:00 AM, while others state that it peaks between 3 and 11 hours after awakening.  Testosterone can also be enhanced through high intensity training.  No matter the time, high intensity exercises will always produce an influx of testosterone, allowing you to build more lean muscle - and that means more fat-burning too.

  Growth Hormone (GH) is one of the most important hormones when it comes to your body transformation.  It enhances protein synthesis which builds muscle and lipolysis which burns fat and it also helps inhibit glucose uptake which is a major contributor for gaining belly fat.  Studies show that GH does not have strong circadian effects, but it does depend on getting enough sleep—in fact your GH is most effective during sleep!  Depriving yourself of enough sleep is not only effecting your level of energy and general mental alertness the next day, it’s also keeping you fat.  Other than sleep, the most potent GH enhancer is exercise.  And as with testosterone, the most effective type is short, high intensity exercise.  Again, irrespective of time, if you’re working out with high intensity, you’re producing increased amounts of GH, enabling you to effectively burn fat MUCH faster than you can with isolated exercises or steady-state cardio.

  In the end, the best solution to a healthy, lean, and fit body, is to come up with a regular schedule and stick to it.  Keeping a regular schedule is far more important than being concerned with whether you workout in the morning or afternoon.  Remember, your natural cycle is governed by a combination of circadian rhythm and habitual external cues (ie. zeitgebers) that form your daily life, so try your absolute best to:

  • Eat at at regular times and keep your junk food (ie. refined sugar and other empty calories) intake to a minimum.  Keep your diet healthy, well balanced, and consistent.
  • Wake up and go to bed at consistent times and get enough sleep so you can maximize your body’s fat burning hormones, amongst other important hormones and neurotransmitters to ensure optimum health. 
  • Workout regularly and at consistent times and include high intensity training into your fitness regimen.  If you aren’t familiar with high intensity workouts, check out my MAX Workouts program.  The workouts are short, intense, and optimized to help your body elicit as much favorable fat burning and lean muscle building hormones as possible.

  Do you have a consistent schedule?  Have you found that sticking to a regular schedule has had a positive effect on your physical and mental well-being?  I’d love to hear from you, so please post your comments below.

  ]]> tag:maxworkouts.com,2009:index.php/blog/17.2283 2009-10-28T04:00:37Z 2009-11-04T17:14:38Z Shin Ohtake info@maxworkouts.com http://www.maxworkouts.com/

  The science of aging has always been considered controversial.  A little like chasing Big Foot or the Lock Ness monster, people are intrigued but no one takes it very seriously…until now.  Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Carol Greider, and Dr. Jack Szostak were were the scientists who were awarded the Noble Prize for discovering what may in fact be the key to aging.  Until recently, the aging process was just an accepted process of human development. 

  Dr. Blackburn of University of California San Francisco, a cell biologist, has been working in the field of sequencing (or mapping) DNA for some time now and while working under Dr. Joe Gall of Yale University, she discovered a unique feature about the ends of chromosomes, also known as telomeres.  She and her colleagues discovered that telomeres play a key role in protecting the chromosomes against degradation during cell division.  And perhaps more importantly, they found that an enzyme called “telomerase” is responsible for building telomeres.

  How this is related to the aging process:

  When telomeres are shortened, cells age.  When the telomeres get too short, the cells stop dividing and they die.  As you age you start to accumulate dead cells.

  * Quoted from NewsGuide.us

  According to Dr. Woynarowski, the Chief Medical Education Officer of T.A. Sciences, a company that specializes in Telomere Biology.  Telomeres has very important practical application for aging humans. 

  “Many of the diseases that are associated with aging and that are rampant in our society are associated with shortened telomere segments. These include cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, diabetes and the physical signs of aging- such as wrinkles- to name a few.”

  “Some scientists believe that short telomeres actually cause aging and disease. Although this is not a generally accepted theory, it is gaining significant momentum.”

  Telomerase is the enzyme that builds telomeres and there is evidence that shows it can help prolong cellular life by keeping telomeres from shortening.  Intriguing, right? 

  Is Telomerase the key to the Holy Grail?

  The anti-aging science community has been looking into this enzyme for some time now and a group of scientist from T.A. Sciences have apparently discovered a naturally occurring molecule found in the ancient Chinese herb “Astragalus” that activates the enzyme telomerase.  The company has named the compound TA-65.

  * Quoted from NewsGuide.us

  Woynarowski states, “TA-65 is known as a telomerase activator because it turns on our own pre-existing telomere repair system by activating an enzyme called telomerase. TA-65 seems to help our telomerase find where the shortest telomeres are and targets them to grow longer instead of shorter. By adding length to these critically short segments, we hope to eventually help many conditions that show up as we age. In the end run we’d like to reverse aging or at least slow it down!”

  TA-65…that’s the key to immortality?  An active ingredient isolated from a Chinese herb.  So why don’t we just go get a bunch of astragalus ourselves and eat it until the cows come home?  Well, according to the T.A. Science this is the reason:

  Normal Astragalus extracts contain thousands of different molecules and little or no TA-65. T.A. Sciences has tested four commonly available Astragalus extracts, and none of them contained any measurable amounts of TA-65.

  The refining process begins with 3 tons of plant material harvested from selected farms in one small region in China. In T.A. Sciences’ plant extraction facility, the raw Astragalus root is chopped up and refined. After initial extraction, the base ingredient is further purified and then sent to an outside government testing facility where it is tested for purity, heavy metals, and pesticides. The product is then sent to a FDA certified, state-of-the-art, laboratory for final purification that ends up with 90+% pure TA-65.

  ...sounds a little contrived to me.  Anyway, T.A. Science may hold the proprietary rights to this compound, but there are other natural ways to enhance your telomerase activity without forking over your lifesavings in hopes of attaining everlasting youth.

  Previous studies done by Dr. Blackburn showed a direct link between low telomerase activity and physiological and psychological stress.  They found that people suffering from stress related diseases all showed low levels of telomerase, as well as shortened telomeres. 

  But here’s the good news…

  A study done by Dr. Ornish and colleagues found that simple lifestyle changes that include exercise, a low-fat vegan diet, and relaxation increased blood levels of telomerase by an average of 29 percent! Not to mention, it was done through natural means as opposed to taking supplements.  Go figure!  It always comes back to a healthy eating and exercising…  Although TA-65 is naturally derived, it’s still a supplement that you take to artificially enhance telomerase activity.  And according to Dr. Blackburn, increasing telomerase activity is not always warranted:

  * Quoted from the Nobel Prize press release

  Most normal cells do not divide frequently, therefore their chromosomes are not at risk of shortening and they do not require high telomerase activity. In contrast, cancer cells have the ability to divide infinitely and yet preserve their telomeres. How do they escape cellular senescence? One explanation became apparent with the finding that cancer cells often have increased telomerase activity. It was therefore proposed that cancer might be treated by eradicating telomerase.

  Despite the new found attention telomeres and telomerase have gotten, the science of aging still has a long way to go.  However, it’s garnered the respect from the scientific communities and hopefully that’ll mean more well funded research and studies.  And who knows, I may be writing an update to this article with the “real” key to eternal youth sooner than expected. 

  But for now it’s important to note the power of our own mind and body.  I truly believe that is the key to better health, fitness and good life lies within us and it’s up to us to tap into that potential.  Start by making small changes like eating better, cutting out junk foods, and replacing them with fruits and vegetables.  Participate in some type of exercise program.  Exercising helps to lower stress, which has been shown to increase telomerase activity, helping you fight age related diseases naturally.  And if you want to challenge yourself and really reach your true fitness potential take a look at my MAX Workouts program.  The program will not only help enhance your body physiologically, but also make changes in your limbic (emotional) and hormonal systems so you can feel revitalized and gain endless amounts of energy.

  What are your thoughts on this supposed “wonder” supplement?  If you had the opportunity to take TA-65 would you?  What are you doing to prevent or fight premature aging? 

  ]]>