Higher Endeavors

Drinking fluids with meals dilutes digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid. Therefore, minimal fluid should be consumed during a meal. Limiting fluid intake during a meal will ensure that the digestive juices are concentrated enough to properly breakdown the meal and prepare it for proper assimilation.

If a liquid is absolutely necessary it should be some form of a warm beverage like a tea and be four ounces or less. Otherwise, do not drink anything within 30 minutes before a meal and approximately two hours after a meal. This simple nutritional modification will increase the likelihood of proper digestion which will allow the body to reap the full nutrient benefits of the food consumed. 

When establishing a goal or attempting to achieve some feat there are certain steps that need to be taken. The steps can range from extremely simple to highly complex. Each step has its own place and potential benefits. In the U.S. a vast majority of people have health and fitness related goals and they want the quickest and easiest way to achieve those goals. Whatever magic pill or latest fad is in the media for their specific goal they will try. However, they fail to address the simple foundation of what they are trying to achieve.

Photo Credit: About.com

How many people put a lot of thought into their quality of sleep? How about hydration levels? Does the typical American diet provide enough fiber for the body to function optimally? These are all very basic concepts that deal with the overall functioning of the human body. If the body cannot perform the basic day-to-day activities that are required of it, how can it be expected to achieve any kind of higher endeavor?

Using the analogy of a pyramid, with the goal being at the top, you have to build a strong foundation and slowly build up from there. It is time to start addressing the foundation of the human body and once that is addressed it is possible to progress upwards and beyond. The results that are achieved simply by addressing foundational concepts may be surprising and may actually allow the attainment of the initial goal.

Training the grip can have tremendous impacts on overall upper body strength. It will even improve pulling strength in lower body movements like the deadlift or snatch. While most individuals in a gym setting avoid training the grip, and in some cases compensate for a weak grip with wrist straps, I advocate strengthening the grip through various methods.

One method that can be utilized to strengthen the grip is thick bar training. Charles Poliquin, a world authority on fitness, has an article addressing some of the ideas of using a thick bar for maximizing results. While the concepts and potential benefits of thick bar training are great, the ability to incorporate them into the average person’s workout can be very difficult.

The individual who has their own gym or workout area is stuck spending hundreds of dollars to get a good, thick barbell  as well as dumbbells. Those in the typical corporate gym setting usually do not have any options. One solution is to purchase a set of grips that go over the bar that increase the diameter of the bar. I am aware of one product available and am a big fan of it, however it still may be more money than some people care to spend.

With that in mind, I will show how to make various apparatuses for thick bar training for less than $10. A quick trip to the local hardware store and a little handy man work will create many new grip training possibilities.

For years people in many different health and fitness related industries have been trying to create the ability to spot reduce body fat. The ability to reduce the specific fat around the abdomen or around the hips would be a tremendous accomplishment. However, it has always been understood that the idea of spot reduction is a fallacy. That is until Charles Poliquin created the revolutionary system called Biosignature Modulation.   

Photo Credit: Charles Poliquin

Charles Poliquin, the world-renowned strength coach, developed Biosignature Modulation over 20 years by comparing blood, urine, and saliva tests against the measurements taken by skin fold calipers. Through mathematical correlation he was able to find commonalities between certain skin fold ratios and hormonal levels or imbalances. Over time, through the study of endocrinology, Poliquin was able to develop nutritional, supplementation, and exercise protocols to address the various hormonal imbalances and, in effect, create the ability to spot reduce.

The typical American diet, high in acid forming grains and protein while lacking alkaline  forming fruits and vegetables, greatly affects the overall pH of the body. The human body works very hard to maintain a blood pH around 7.35-7.45. Going back to high school chemistry it may be remembered that a pH lower than 7 is acidic while above 7 is alkaline. Diverging too much from the ideal range in either direction can be potentially harmful, but the American diet subjects the body to a much higher acid-load than is optimal.

Photo Credit: flickr

Without getting too scientific in this article, understand that the negative health consequences of an acidic blood pH are many. One of the biggest consequences, in my opinion, and generally overlooked until recently, is the effect on osteoporosis. If the body is too acidic it will utilize stored alkaline buffering minerals in an attempt to regain the optimal pH. One of the primary stored buffering minerals in the body is calcium. Under acidic conditions the body will resort to pulling calcium out of the bones in an attempt to regain homeostasis, thus creating the potential for osteopenia or over time osteoporosis.

Rock climbing is a hobby, or sport, that requires one to use their hands, feet, and ultimately their entire body to scale walls both short and long. The routes may have varying levels of difficulty determined by the size and placement of holds and degree of pitch. Regardless of these facts, individuals still use their own bodies to climb. Why is it, then, that people think the general rules of physiology, biomechanics, and nutrition do not apply to climbers?

Photo Credit: flickr

Reading rock climbing magazines and websites offering advice to their readers can be  both shocking and frustrating. The writers do not mean any harm with their writings but at times they are quite misguiding with their recommendations. Rock climbers do not live in a bubble where the body performs too differently from other individuals. However, there are still odd recommendations with respect to training, improving performance, nutritional needs, among many other topics pertaining to rock climbing.

Life seems better when there is music playing. Music can give you the desire to get up and dance. It can make people smile, laugh, or even cry. Music can even inspire people to perform acts of greatness. For that reason I have incorporated the internet radio site Pandora into my site. You will find links on the right side of the page that lead to some bands that I enjoy. The station then selects music that sounds similar to the selected group. It is an interesting an enjoyable way to listen to favorite bands while also finding potentially new artists.

Enjoy.

If you were to ask different people why they exercise, eat well, or engage in an active, healthy lifestyle you would find a wide variety of answers. Some people genuinely enjoy exercising while others detest it. Some people willingly eat foods that are deemed boring or tasteless to others because of there health benefits. What differentiates people in their ability to initiate and adhere to varying lifestyles?

Photo Credit: © RTimages - Fotolia.com

The self-determination theory, SDT, began to take form in the 1970’s as research was being done on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. A continuum was developed to describe how intrinsic or extrinsic one’s motivation is towards certain habits or activities. By understanding the concepts behind SDT and the associated continuum, motivation can be evaluated and a shift towards the intrinsic can begin. This can bring more success to any future endeavor.

This is an article about smart weight training…a system of organizing weights, sets, reps, and rest periods in such a way that you'll get maximum caloric burn and fat loss for minimum time and effort. The system works and has a documented history of very happy victi…er, I mean, clients.

Escalating Density Training (EDT for short) is also iconoclastic by its very nature…in designing the system, I've broken nearly every known rule of exercise and weight training. I suppose that's a reflection of EDT's architect- namely, me.

Ever since childhood, I've lived by a simple code: if you want to be successful, do the opposite of what everyone else does (This simple premise isn't accurate across the board by the way…actually it only works about 98 percent of the time. Oh well…)

Up until this very moment however, chances are that you've never even heard of Escalating Density Training, or "EDT" for short. That's because, for various reasons, I've never tried to promote it to women in any type of orchestrated way. Why? Well, it's mostly because I'm a ….well, a guy. And my thinking has been that women listen to other women a lot more than they'll listen to a guy. And who can blame you? After all, us guys are a brutish lot.

In fact, my wife still can't understand why there's nothing but a toothbrush in my medicine cabinet (OK, I gotta ask- what is it with all these products you girls use? Between my wife and daughter, our house is like a cross between a Bed Bath & Beyond and the pharmacy section of Albertsons!)

But I digress. Over the past several months, I've become increasingly aware that EDT may in fact be the world's most perfect form of training for females- especially females looking to tighten up in a serious way.

I'll make just one more observation before acquainting you with my life's work:

You're gonna really like EDT. Promise.

Imagine a training system where each workout has a time-limit and a concise objective. A system where each workout is a competition with yourself, a game that fires up your competitive juices (even if you didn't know you had any!) A system that produces measurable improvements every time you go to the gym. A system that finds and exploits the "sweet spot" between cardio and weight training.

With it's roots in time-management principles, EDT's simplicity is disarming: there are no pre-determined number of reps, sets, or rest periods. Instead, your goal is to amass as many total repetitions as possible in each 15-minute "PR Zone" ("PR" standing for "personal record."). If I've got your attention, please continue with me as I explain the nuts and bolts of the EDT system. I'll also provide an introductory program that drops bodyfat so rapidly, it'll make your plastic surgeon nervous!