Posted by Sean on April 22, 2012
I’m a student. I’m a nurse. I’m a crossfitter. I haven’t quite figured out what is the most exhausting.
I spent the entire weekend studying for finals. Today I hit ‘the wall’.
That ‘wall’ is different for each, but I gotta tell ya.. that mental ‘wall’ can deliver a stronger blow than any crossfit WOD or 16 hour shift.
Weird.
Whew.
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Posted by Sean on December 22, 2011
“Yet another study on endurance athletes suggests that exercise, like everything else in life, has an upper limit.”
Here goes, buckle up.
The study titled, Exercise-induced right ventricular dysfunction and structural remodeling in endurance athletes was published last week in the European Heart Journal.
Researchers from Belgium and Australia enrolled 40 long-term endurance athletes in a study looking at heart function after an endurance race. All subjects were long-term exercisers and were accomplished athletes with above average fitness. They were elite.
By measuring cardiac enzymes (heart injury) and taking ultrasounds (directly seeing heart function) immediately after 4 different length races (marathon through ‘ultra-triathlon’), researchers were able to measure the acute effects of extreme exercise on the heart. MRI scans performed a week later assessed for cardiac scar tissue. (The presence of scar in heart muscle portends trouble because it disrupts electrical signals.)
The main findings:
Compared to pre-race measures, right ventricular (RV) function diminished post-race, whereas LV function remained normal.
Blood levels of cardiac enzymes increased post race and these rises correlated with the amount of RV impairment.
The degree to which RV function decreased correlated with increasing race length and an athletes’ VO2 max.
12% of athletes had scar detected on MRI scans at 1 week post-race. Those with scar reported greater cumulative exposure to exercise and had more RV abnormalities post race.
via CW: More bad news for the (extreme) endurance exerciser.
Balance is the key here. Follow the link to read all of Dr. John’s synopsis.
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Posted by Sean on August 17, 2011
A new study has added to the evidence that when it comes to longevity, being healthy is more important than being thin.
…
Bottom line: This is but the latest study to find that unless obesity is severe (which is never healthy, no matter what), fitness matters more than fatness when it comes to longevity. Being svelte might look good, but it’s healthy habits—exercising, eating healthful foods, eschewing junk food, and not smoking—that can help you live well and longer.
Quality of life matters just as much as quantity. I’ve always believed it’s not about how fit you are, but how healthy.
I don’t believe these studies on the fitness vs. fatness theory have a great deal of strong empirical evidence, but I DO like that they are making a strong argument to eliminate the ridiculously weak and inadequate BMI measurement tool for lifestyle management.
Yes. Fitness does matter
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Posted by Sean on June 8, 2011
Muscles can handle & recover from a lot of volume. Joints & connective tissue… not as much. Keep that in mind.—
Jason Ferruggia (@JasonFerruggia) June 09, 2011
Be sure to follow this man. He is a wealth of knowledge and skill.
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Posted by Sean on June 5, 2011
I’ve admitted this more than once on here about having no love for ‘The Biggest Loser’. They do have a couple things right though…
The 5 secrets to the Biggest Loser
For some strange reason most of John Q Public is continually fascinated by the TV show ‘The Biggest Loser’. They seem to be in awe of the amazing and breathtaking results that the contestants accomplish.
“How do they do it?”
“What’s their secret?”
Some take the road of negativity and place blame on the show for sending such a mixed message (I’m guilty of this):
“If I had a personal trainer, I’d lose weight too!”
Now, let me be clear, I think the show itself is bad for your health. It gives some pretty mixed messages about how to lose weight, and what you should and should not do. But the show does have a silver lining that we can all benefit from. It gives you the tools and the key ingredients on how to successfully lose those extra pounds. Not only lose them, but keep them off!
Here is what the show possess that you need to incorporate into your lifestyle in order to see the changes you desire:
Motivation
The money! Who doesn’t want to win the cash? I don’t know about you, but I could use $250,000. Of course none of us can find THAT kind of motivation, but something that motivates you on a daily basis. Whether it’s a cash prize or not. Some people will place bets with fellow co-workers or family & friends. You decide on the what/when/where, but YOU decide. Because in the end it has to motivate YOU and no one else. You’re gonna need that motivation when it starts to get tough and you start getting tired.
Support
The contestants not only have the support of the trainers and that panel of ‘judges’ at the end of each show (sorry I don’t really watch the show), but they find support amongst fellow cast members, contestants and family. Find support with those that are fighting the same fight as you, or have been through what you are going through. The energy you channel from their validation is empowering.
Deadlines
I for one think that the weekly deadline is a bit extreme, but it’s reality TV, not real life. Create reasonable, realistic and reachable deadlines. Whether they are daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. You set the deadline. But you better be sure to stick to them and not change them to your liking, or change them because you missed the deadline. Create them and stick to them. Period. No excuses. Use the deadlines to help monitor your progress.
Guidance
There isn’t a soul out there that knew everything there is to know about losing weight when they started. They utilized their resources and learned from those that are more educated or ‘field ready’. On the show, it’s relatively easy to seek guidance since they have personal trainers they report to. I only caution you to seek guidance carefully, because there are people out there who will guide you in the wrong direction. Stay away from the absolutes. There is more than one way to skin a cat, don’t let anyone lead you in to believing their way is the only way.
Feedback
Ultimately this is bread and butter of the show. Every week the contestants get feedback on what went right, what went wrong. They are confronted about their weaknesses and congratulated on their strengths and accomplishments. The feedback is the pivoting lever that helps you maintain balance and keeps you moving forward towards your final goal. No feedback = no progress.
Use these tools with ANY lifestyle change or program of your choosing and you will succeed. It’s really that simple.
Posted in fitness, health, opinion | Tagged: lifestyle, scrubsmag, weight loss | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Sean on May 26, 2011
I’m wondering how your excuses can compare to a mom of 39 weeks pregnant? She still has the time/energy/will to exercise – and at a high level none the less!
Wow.
A big thank you to Ben Bruno for sharing this one.
Get out there and get moving. Period.
Posted in fitness, health | Tagged: excuse, exercise | 3 Comments »
Posted by Sean on April 26, 2011
“I want a new drug” – released in 1984?! – scary huh?
(Follow the link )
According to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics:
April 20, 2011 — The 10 most prescribed drugs in the U.S. aren’t the drugs on which we spend the most, according to a report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
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#1 most prescribed = Hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen) — 131.2 million prescriptions
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Out of the $307 billion we spent on drugs in 2010, we spent most of our money on the following:
- Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug — $7.2 billion
- Nexium, an antacid drug — $6.3 billion
- Plavix, a blood thinner — $6.1 billion
- Advair Diskus, an asthma inhaler — $4.7 billion
- Abilify, an antipsychotic drug — $4.6 billion
- Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug — $4.4 billion
- Singulair, an oral asthma drug — $4.1 billion
- Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering statin drug — $3.8 billion
- Actos, a diabetes drug — $3.5 billion
- Epogen, an injectable anemia drug — $3.3 billion
So what does this information tell you about America?
It seems that a majority of Americans suffer from obesity & sedentary life style which can have a cause & effect relationship to:
And this is just me spit-balling here, but the above disease have seem to upset and possibly depress a good majority of the nation as well (need for anti-psychotic drugs = for depression).
Yes, yes, I know this is just scratching the surface of these disease states. No need to debate about the ba-zillion comorbidities that can or cannot be involved with these disease (and many others). I only bring these to light since most of these disease states mentioned above have been argued to be very preventable and/ or controllable without the use of medications.
Just more food for thought.
Posted in fitness, health, opinion | Tagged: diabetes, disease, drugs, lifestyle, medication | 5 Comments »
Posted by Sean on April 10, 2011
Sandwich icing the knee. Lil bit of soreness past few days. The tightness on flexion is starting to concern me. Starting to up my leg workouts. So let’s up my recovery. Working smarter not harder.
I posted this on my Tumblr blog earlier and it made me think of a funny pre-nursing story.
During my days as a student Athletic Trainer – we were learning about therapeutic modalities. All the therapies that athletic trainers use and utilize to help their clients/ athletes recover from injury and recuperate from surgeries. The most basic of modalities is the hot/cold therapy. We have some pretty torturous ways of applying cold. On this particular day it was the ice bath (used in ankle sprains a lot).
So in order for us to pass this class we had to be subjected to every modality we would apply to an athlete. It was my turn for the ice bath.
I screamed until I was blue in the face it was so cold and so painful.
This makes me remember the acronym that helps you remember the phases of ‘icing’ a limb called C-BAN:
C old
B urning
A aching
N umbness
And if you’ve ever iced a limb this is exactly how it feels.
Gewd times folks. Geewwwwd times.
Posted in fitness, health | Tagged: RICE, therapy, training | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Sean on April 8, 2011
I ‘borrowed’ this video from this blog post here: Have You Fallen And Can’t Get Up?
It’s about how you finish. Do you get up when you fall and press on or do you give up and stay down.
If you fall 10 times get up 11. If you fall 1 time, get up 2. Be sure to always get back up. Rise to the challenge, never accept a fall.
It’s always been about how you finish.
Posted in fitness, words of wisdom | Tagged: inspiration, motivation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Sean on April 8, 2011
Here’s a lil motivation for you on this Friday evening brought to you by the beasts over at Elite Fitness Systems:
If this doesn’t get your blood pumping just a lil.. then you may wanna check your pulse. I’m about as far from power lifting as one can get, but the beasts over at EFS know there sh*t. Pretty much all the training tips, trick and principles can be applied to any and everything you do to improve yourself physically.
Of course I’m not going to be deadlifting or squatting numerous plates, but I sure will use the energy, education and down right genius nature of what they are speaking. If you aren’t then you’re missing the boat.
I can’t remember where I read it, but I believe Henry Rollins is quoted in saying that, “The iron never lies” – in fact as I type that I believe it’s a verse from a song from his band. What it means to me : no matter how much ‘fluff’ and no matter how much synthetic or transparent means you may use to boost your ego, when it’s you versus the steel (meaning the weights) the truth always comes out in the end.
You can’t fake your way out from underneath or behind the steel. If you try, you will get hurt.
I always enjoy the parable of animate versus inanimate. At the most basic level that’s what we are talking about here. Moving something that doesn’t move on it’s own. How much to you have in your tank? How much desire? How much strength? How much cojones!?
What’s even better about this wonderful battle is the way in which you can measure your effort and your progress just by adding or subtracting a piece of the steel.
I guess that whole K.I.S.S. principle just won’t sleep huh?
Oh, and the minute you think it’s about physiology and muscle fibers and energy muscle storage.. is the minute you lose.
Posted in fitness, words of wisdom | Tagged: EFS, exercise, motivation, training | Leave a Comment »
