Good morning, I hope everyone isn’t too busy getting ready for the Olympics to read my blog. Of course not right? Anyway as promised here are some good recommendations for how to conduct safe and effective health and fitness research online

•   Make an appointment with a qualified fitness professional first. Never use the Internet to replace in-person attention. Before you even open your web browser, book an appointment with a qualified local trainer. Just about every personal trainer offers a complementary assessment and or consultation. Use that time to get to know him/her, their credentials and experience. Look for trainers that specializes in the area(s) you are most interested in. If you choose wisely at this step you may not need to execute any of the other recommendations.

•    Try to stick to official websites of reputable health associations . Since the Internet is not regulated, a website that appears to be credible and scientific may still present false, partial, erroneous or incomplete information.

•    Avoid sites with affiliate ads and bannersall over the page. This demonstrates that the site administrator has made a conscious decision to make money from you and therefore may not have your best interests at heart. Of course this isn’t always the case as some webmasters put a lot of effort into their sites and need to cover costs but you should be aware nonetheless.

•    It goes without saying but if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.How many times have you seen sites or ads online with unbelievable physique transforming photos with promises that you can do the same in 6 weeks….guaranteed. It’s amazing what can be done with photoshop and an unscrupulous fitness professional. While some can change their bodies to astonishing levels in a short period of time, this is the exception and not the rule. If the claims seem plausible then you need to exercise good judgement to weed out the quality sites from the ones aimed at marketing.

•   Use sites that teach you how to eat and exercise rather than tell you what to eat and train. One that demonstrates the science and application of exercise and nutrition. These are few and far between but they do exist. They understand that changing your body into a healthier one is not easy and that you will need to be supported every step of the way.

•   Avoid sites with a gang-like or cult mentality. Although some good information can be found on these sites, the members that have been so brainwashed into buying into a single system that they become very lonely, very fast. Just read some of their forums, god help anyone who would speak out against the “system”. Again it’s gang spirited hatred. Unhealthy and unproductive.  Everybody wants to feel like they belong and it is the truly lost individuals that get sucked in the most. Stand on your own, question everything and learn the basics.

Your success on any health and fitness program is determined by your ability to make informed decisions and use good judgment in your actions. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from them. There are so many people making a profit off your inability to do just that. This industry is on the biggest and most attractive markets for Internet businessman and they have saturated the resources with their garbage. I believe it’s time for people to see the writing on the wall and take control, with appropriate guidance and support to finally achieve the body you’ve always dreamed of.

Please share your thoughts….

Hey there, I hope you’re doing great… first off, I want to thank everyone who has been a reader of my 2009 fitness blog… without my readers,  this blog would be pointless… and the only person reading it would be my girlfriend, and maybe my mother.  I now have my mission statement straight and aim to bring you regular quality content, not just when I want to rant… as it was in the past, but rather up to date and always unconventional views on everything weight loss, muscle building and fitness.

So again, thanks if you are a return reader and welcome if you’re new …….you’ll be glad you took the time to make my blog part of your fitness solution.

Ok  now on to business. Today I want to address the issue of using the Internet as a prime tool for obtaining health and fitness information.  In a recent study by the Pew Internet Project, eight in 10 people use the Internet to look for health information, with only 75 percent verifying the credibility of the source and the date it was created. I would believe this is probably also true of most things…including fitness.

Now I’ve been quite candid in past entries about my disdain for canned workout and  diet programs and I believe the Internet has exploited this problem to levels that are unacceptable. Online, you can find a range of health and fitness directories, articles,products and services which allow anyone – from teenagers to the elderly – to find instant solutions to their weight problems.  But with so many health and fitness information sites online there is concern that  people are taking their health into their own hands. What’s worse is they may be putting it in the hands of someone with no real credentials or experience.

Other problems with online fitness programs/resources  include:

1) Online fitness sites are not regulated, meaning there is no guarantee that the information provided is accurate or complete.  There’s also no insurance that these fitness sites are even written by fitness experts and that applies to both aesthetically-challenged websites and the more official-looking ones.

2) One size fits all plans are often prone failure, and this is usually because of one simple reason: your needs are not being met. This can cause a lot  of undue stress as people will move from one program to the other in hopes that one will eventually work. It wont!

3) Articles and programs found on many of these sites are written by ghost writers of professional hired guns that know absolutely nothing about the topic they are covering. Many sites try to boost their rank with just such common SEO tactics.

4) Administrators of health and fitness sites may be more interested in marketing opportunities than your health.  Though some health and fitness websites have the honest intention of informing the public with the most up-to-date and accurate information, they may also try to recommend supplements or pharmaceuticals to drive profits, which may yield little to no benefits for people.

Only a face-to-face consultation with your qualified health and fitness proferssional can provide you with a proper  assessment and exercise prescription.  This may mean seeking one who has examined hundreds of cases, providing them with a frame of reference from which they can make sound  judgements for you. 

That is not to say that doing it all yourself and locating health information on the Internet is noxious or of no use.  Responsible and controlled research may actually lead to better health care by preparing people with a better understanding of their bodies and the ability to ask informed questions when under the care of a qualified fitness professional.

If I have only one mission in life…it is to slowly and steadily help dilute the polluted information highway and bring my reader real world knowledge and skills. My next post will offer some solutions and recommendations when scouring the Internet for the latest and greatest fitness program.

Hope you enjoyed this post… I‘d love to hear your comments …

If I only had the time, money and energy back that I wasted inthe early days of training. I followed the best programs and used the best supplements money could buy. I experienced good results, for a period, only to go right back to where I started; thus began the virtual merry-go -round that most people so through when they embark on a physical transformation.

I hate to say it but the fitness industry thrives on the failure and frustration that their programs and supplements bring. I once purchased 10 programs from various well known “experts” and executed them to the letter. What happened in the end…NOTHING….NO CHANGE…..all courtesy of the fitness industry merry go round. It’s not always devious on the part of the”expert”, sometimes it’s ignorance toward his own craft.

Most trainers who write programs and want you to follow their precise guidelines are just trying to look more important than they really are. They want to sound smarter. Most are armchair trainers with some degree and no real world concept of how to train themselves let alone someone else. Very few trainers do the programs they write about. They act like everyone who follows it will get great results, but the truth is that most won’t.

Nearly all of the programs found online are written to illustrate a concept, not to teach someone how to train. I can create a program in ten minutes, but if you don’t know how to train it’d be a waste of your time to follow it.

Let’s say I give you directions on how to get to my house, but on the way there you run into some construction and have to take another route. You still have the general plan and know where you’re going, but you now have to find your own way.

It’s the same thing with the program. It’s a template, but you must find your own way. Ninety-five percent of the results you’ll get are going to be from how you train, not the program itself.

The whole purpose of training is to create a physiological response in the body, that is, to temporarily disrupt your body balance or state of homeostasis. It’s this physiological response that contributes to the kind of results you achieve. If your training program can’t get you that response, it’s worthless. And since your daily physiology changes depending on how you’re feeling, your training must change with it.

That’s why group training sessions and bootcamps, in my opinion, are worthless for producing REAL physical development. Sure you can have a good workout, but I’m talking about optimal results.  Everyone is different and will require different training stimulus to to create a physiological response. In a bootcamp setting you will have some people getting a great workout and some getting nothing out of it. I guess it’s a fun way to burn some calories though.

My current methods teach people to train themselves and understand the principles to eventually become there own trainer. All of the experience and knowledge I have aren’t worth a dime if I can’t do that.

My advice to anyone looking for the holy grail of programs to change you body; there isn’t one. Learn the principles of exercise science, from a trained professional, and apply them to your own body’s ability and recovery. Experiment and don’t blame a good program for poor results, take a second look at your application.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this situation… just leave a comment below…

Also check out my newly updated site for Vancouver personal training

Today’s topic will cover an issue that anyone who has ever enjoyed a couple of cocktails and follows a regular exercise routine will relate to. Alcohol and exercise will always interact for many reasons: Guilt from having one too many will force someone back into the gym before they are ready; alcohol is mainly marketed toward sports and leisure (sometimes I participate in a sport I don’t enjoy just for the ensuing beer-infused camaraderie); lastly some exercise enthusiasts will view alcohol as a reward for their hard work and discipline during the preceding time period. The motivations to consume alcohol are endless, but I specifically want to address its affect on exercise. Will alcohol affect exercise performance? How about on subsequent days to its consumption? How to lessen or subdue these reactions? I’ll attempt to look into each of these questions to help everyone who drinks get the most out of their workouts and out of life.

As a trainer, I have lost count how many times I have received a call on Saturday or Sunday morning from a client cancelling their session because of excessive partying and drinking the night before. I have also lost count of how many clients have come to the gym hungover or, even in some cases, still partially intoxicated. It’s hard to expect much from someone who’s looking at you with red eyes and pillow impressions still on their face, but it happens. I have always said that if you;re not well, exercise will do more harm than good.

Although this seems like a logical statement, people will always want to test their limitations; I know because I’ve done it all my life. The effects of “excessive” alcohol consumption are well documented but it’s worth skimming over some of them here. Alcohol influences brain function by first affecting the brain’s frontal lobes, the reasoning centers and sedating the inhibitory nerves.

Higher levels of alcohol then affect the centers of speech, vision, motor control and eventually consciousness. Most of us have felt these effects, where everything and everyone becomes more desirable (or are we just less inhibited?). In the stomach, alcohol causes over-secretion of acid and histamine leading to inflammation (gastritis) and ulcer formation. Alcohol also causes inflammation of the liver cells, even in occasional users, which can be detected in blood tests that show an increase in release of enzymes from the liver. In some people, long-term drinking leads to cirrhosis, irreversible scarring of the liver.A lot of people are misguided or uninformed when it comes to alcohol.

 Studies are regularly surfacing touting the benefits of regular alcohol consumption. These studies are usually refuted or disproven as more reliable data comes forth. Few substances demonstrate the perils of poor study design as alcohol. With confounding hidden variables and bad judgments made by the designers, very little can be taken seriously from most of this research. Just the other day, on the news, there was a report advising everyone to drink beer for the vitamin B content. This is a falsehood; in fact, alcohol acts to displace vitamins from the body.

First, it causes intestinal cells to stop absorbing thiamine, folacin and B12. Liver cells lose their efficiency in activating vitamin D. Kidneys excrete an increased amount of magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc, robbing your body of stores of these essential minerals. This obviously make exercising and recovery much more difficult . Besides, you’d have to consume about 11 beers to obtain the amount of B vitamins in a bowl of cereal.The brain will not function as quickly nor the muscles as skillfully with alcohol in the system.

 Recent research indicates that consumption of even moderate amounts of alcohol following eccentric-based exercise (weight training or running for example) magnifies the normally observed losses in dynamic and static strength. Therefore, to minimize exercise related losses in muscle function and expedite recovery, participants in sports involving eccentric muscle work should avoid alcohol-containing beverages in the post-event period.Alcohol can accentuate exercise fatigue by increasing lactic acid production. It also dilates blood vessels and diverts circulation to the skin

 Consuming alcohol the night before an activity can hinder your performance by causing dehydration and loss of minerals and electrolytes. And a bad hangover can make even the simplest task seem monumental. If you think a few gallons a water and a multivitamin is the cure, think again. If you must do chin-ups while hungover, be prepared to run to the bathroom in a frenzy, mid-set, to succumb to the sickness. Trust me, it’ll shut your workout down in a hurry and don’t even ask me about deep squats with a hangover.

I’ve noticed this many times myself and with clients – exercise the day after a party is ALWAYS a bad idea.

With regards to body composition, a dehydrated, depleted body will yield a higher percentage of body fat than its well-hydrated counterpart. Alcohol also stimulates excess levels of plasma cortisol, which can have harmful immunosuppressant effects and major anabolic consequences. In short, alcohol may slow down or prevent an optimal environment for muscle building and may encourage its breakdown. It tends to make obese people more obese by decreasing total body fat metabolism by nearly 80%.

It’s not my place to tell people whether they should drink alcohol or not, but rather help people make informed decisions for the betterment of their health and to maximize the results from the training I give them. I firmly believe that 24-48 hrs should pass before vigorous activity should be attempted after drinking 4 or more alcoholic beverages. This may be even more pronounced if you are over 25 years of age and if the drinking coincides with an unusually late night. Partying and drinking are fun and a major part of our social dynamic but it comes at a price to the body, both short term and in the long term. Enjoy drinking in moderation to ensure that you get the most out of life and feel great day in and day out. If you must binge, drinking large amounts of water before, during and after a binge can prevent and treat symptoms. Just be prepared for the ensuing laughter of your friends when you order an ice water with your Guinness. You’ll have the last laugh come morning.

As I write this latest blog entry, I find myself grimacing with every movement I make – why? Because I have delivered myself a nice dose of DOMS this week. Anyone who has ever exercised or exerted themselves in a manner they are not accustomed to is familiar with that debilitating feeling left in the involved muscles for many days following. In fact, as a trainer, I have felt my ears burning as a result of the suffering I’ve imposed upon many a trainee over the years. Well, at least I take my own medicine and now feel compelled to share some of my thoughts; since that’s all I can do as my body is utterly useless today.

Let me start by explaining what “DOMS” stands for, for those who aren’t familiar. DOMS is the acronym for “delayed onset muscle soreness” and is the pain or discomfort often felt 24 to 72 hours after exercising. It generally subsides within 2 to 3 days.

DOMS typically causes stiffness, swelling, strength loss, and pain in the muscles. The exact cause or mechanism is unknown, though most studies suggest that it is caused by the breakdown of muscular fibres. Whatever the root cause, I can tell you that the more de-conditioned you are to a particular activity, the more pronounced your soreness will be. This why people who first start an exercise program or are new to weight training typically exhibit high levels of DOMS for up to several days post exercise. If they were under the guidance of competent supervision this effect could have been minimized, unfortunately many people end up very sore and are turned off exercise forever. There are also those who are pain seekers; individuals who equate high levels of stiffness and physical agitation with achieving an effective workout – “No Pain No Gain” right? So, whether you embrace the pain or avoid it, everyone wants to know one thing – should I train a sore muscle?

Like most topics in health and fitness, this is a contentious issue amongst trainers and exercise enthusiasts alike. I’ll present some common views for and against, then offer my own two cents which, as always, will be firmly grounded by logic and common sense.

Reasons to train a sore muscle:

Proponents of this protocol will be quick to cite studies claiming that complete metabolic recovery occurs after 48 hours so why wait and potentially lose valuable training time. They also believe that the body is a very simple “stimulus-response” system, capable of sending more resources where more resources are perceived as being needed, thus it will eventually adapt to this harsh environment yielding a more profound training effect. Another popular belief is that through exercise you will flush recovery aiding nutrients to the damaged muscles, thereby increasing recovery.

Reasons NOT to train a sore muscle:

This is more of a traditionalist protocol and why programs training the muscles 1-2x/week are the dominant choice on the gym floor. It tends to make sense and the path most people will naturally follow. Proponents of this method believe that the body not only needs time to recover but also for repair, which can take a lot longer. If you are in a perpetual state of breakdown, stagnation through over training will not be far behind.

These are just a few arguments for either side. Where do I stand? Well, 20 years of experience in the fitness world and 35 years of wisdom leads me to believe everything in life falls somewhere in the middle so I say it depends. I am always bemused when I read blogs and articles from “fitness experts” that tell you to train through soreness. What does that mean? How much soreness and what type? What kind of training is being done? What level of conditioning is the trainee at? These black and white answers are completely useless. I guess most people just need to be told what to do. Most people are so out of touch with their own body that they live there entire life without knowing what they are truly capable of. They need a guru to lead the way and, like sheep, they will follow. You see, exercise is always a delicate balance between what you force your body to do and what it will tolerate. You can only push it so far.

The only way to train a muscle every 24-48 hours is with a short, low volume approach. This will certainly allow for less soreness and is fine for beginners. But what about intermediate and advanced who require less frequency and more volume and variety in their training? Many things must be considered when deciding whether to train a sore muscle, but remember to use common sense. If it hurts to train it, and this affects your lifting proficiency, you greatly increase your chance of injury. If the soreness is mild enough not to do this, then try it and evaluate for yourself. Just remember, if you abuse the muscle, the body can shut down if it perceives you are exceeding its recuperative abilities. You may find yourself sick and exhausted – try training through that!

The world we live today is vastly different from the one I grew up in. When I first started weight training people who lifted weights were a dirty little subculture that the rest of society shunned with blind aversion. It seemed only bodybuilders and strength athletes knew what we now all know; weight training makes you strong, and only the strong survive. In addition weight training also:

1. Increases the tonus of your muscles which looks great and raises your basal metabolism…which allows you to burn more calories 24 hours a day. You’ll even burn more calories while you’re sleeping.

2. Can reverse the natural decline in your metabolism which begins around age 30.

3. Energizes you.

4. Strengthens your bones reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis

5. Improves your muscular endurance.

6. Makes you less prone to low-back injuries.

7. Decreases your resting blood pressure.

8. Decreases your risk of developing adult onset diabetes.

9. Decreases your gastrointestinal transit time, reducing your risk for developing colon cancer.

10. Increases your blood level of HDL cholesterol (the good type).

11. Improves your posture.

12. Improves the functioning of your immune system.

13. Lowers your resting heart rate, a sign of a more efficient heart.

14. Improves your balance and coordination.

15. Elevates your mood.

Ok, so you get the point, weight training makes everything else in life easier and more enjoyable. Try and find a single drug on this planet that will illicit those results. No wonder doctors are now prescribing exercise as a cure all alternative to other treatment options. I have weight trained all of my life and have never had any medical concerns, EVER! Just lucky? I don’t think so, I know my regular lifting has contributed a great deal to my health.

Now that I’ve sold you on lifting some iron I’ll get to the point of this blog entry. According to the National Health Interview Survey, about 20% of adults from 18-65 years of age weight train 2 or more times a week. While this is great news it has also been reported that of this 20%, 25-30% have reported related injuries that were severe enough to warrant medical intervention. Of those reported injuries, 36% were shoulder injuries. Now that’s alarming. You have a 1 in 4 chance of a severe injury while trying to get better and stronger? I think we have a problem here. I’m not saying lifting doesn’t pose potential risks because it does. I’ve been lucky that after almost 20 years of progressive weight training I haven’t incurred any injury but I know countless others who have.

Why do so many people get injured? There are many reasons but I’ll express the ones that I see on a day to day basis.

 1) Following someone else’s program. This is a great way to get hurt. I see this all of the time, some young kid who new to training and buddying up to the strongest and most advanced guy in the gym. The new kid follows exactly what his new mentor is doing along with all the advanced lifting techniques and get hurt after 5 or 6 sessions never to be seen again.

 2) Getting your program off the internet or media publication. The programs that are not personalized for you are not for you, plain and simple. These readily available programs are generic and designed to sell magazines/supplements and or promote the trainer or business that is projecting them. In the end most will hurt you, I promise you that.

3) Getting advice from a “fitness professional” in a health club. These people that greet you at your local gym don’t have a clue how to train themselves, much less be of any use to you. Their job is to sell, bottom line. I’ve been in this business long enough to see the dark side of this business and it makes me sick.

Most health clubs do not have your best interests in mind but they do have your money, The managers perpetuate this behavior by employing trainers based on factors conducive to meeting their sales goals, not the qualifications of the trainer. Most health club trainers are uncertified and unqualified. Sad, but true.

4) Imbalanced exercise program. It has been shown in numerous studies that the most common resistance exercises, over time, will create imbalances at just about every joint in the body if a proper balancing strength, mobility and stability is not employed. If you follow 1-3 you’ll most certainly end up with an imbalanced selection.

Of course there are may other ways to get injured but I’ll keep it at 4 for now. If you avoid these you’ll be well on your way. Exercise balance is very personal and needs to be overseen by an EXPERIENCED and TRAINED professional. Don’t settle for anything less, your health is your most important asset.