Podcast with Cassandra Forsythe
Book review
If there’s a woman in your life who’s considering weight training (or a man in your life who trains women), The New Rules of Lifting for Women is an excellent introduction to the field of women and weight training.
NROL is written by a kickass trifecta of three major names in the business.
Lou Schuler is a well-known fitness journalist who has written several books, including The New Rules of Lifting, The Book of Muscle, and The Home Workout Bible. He’s been a contributor to Men’s Fitness and Men’s Health, serving as the fitness director of the latter for several years.
Cassandra Forsythe is emerging as one of the most authoritative voices in women’s nutrition and training. She’s a Registered Dietitian who holds a PhD in Kinesiology, an MSc in Human Nutrition and Metabolism and a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science. Her main research interests are low-carbohydrate nutrition, dietary fatty acids, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight-loss, female-specific nutrition and training, and the female athlete triad. Her other book is Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss and Workout Plan to Drop Stubborn Pounds and Get Fit for Life
(She’s also, by the way, pregnant. We explore her insights on being an unusual combination — a serious female athlete, Dr. Nutrition, and pregnant — in the podcast.)
Alwyn Cosgrove is one of the best-known strength coaches in the biz. He’s a former Taekwon-do international champion who now works as a strength and conditioning coach with a wide variety of clientele, including several Olympic and national level athletes, five World Champions and professionals in a multitude of sports including boxing, martial arts, soccer, ice skating, football, fencing, triathlon, rugby, bodybuilding, dance and fitness competition.
Cassandra and I get chatty with it for nearly an hour. Topics covered:
As Cassandra points out, it’s unusual to have a podcast with two women weight trainers chatting so honestly about the realities of training and bodily experiences. But that’s just the kind of good stuff that Stumptuous.com is devoted to bringing to the people!
Listen online by clicking below:
Or download in MP3 format for good listenin’ on your iPod. (65 MB – yeah, it’s a biggie!) Right-click on the link, if you want to save to your hard drive first (recommended).
As I’ve mentioned, NROL is a super introduction to the field of women and weight training, and it’s solidly backed by coaching experience and scholarly evidence.
This would make a great gift for your mom, sister, girlfriend/wife, best friend, etc. — anyone who’s considering weight training but hesitant about whether women should do it. It would also make a great gift for folks who may know their way around the gym a little, but want to become more grounded in some of the fundamental principles of program design and sports nutrition.
The first section of the book provides a primer on sex-based physiology, and why women and men should train the same: with relatively heavier weights, higher intensities, and more challenge overall.
The first section debunks common myths — most notably that women will “get too big” from weight training; that certain types of training can make muscles “longer”‘; and a key point: the myth that men’s and women’s muscles are substantially different.
It explains why weight training is essential for all women, not just athletes, and how weight training improves health, leanness, athletic performance, and daily-life function.
The first section also explains much of the logic behind the training plans provided: the importance of progressive overload, which exercises to choose and why, and why not to waste your time with gender-specific “toning”. (It explains why kickbacks suck. Hooray!)
The second section provides nutrition basics such as how many calories active women need, why protein’s important, and how to supplement with post-workout recovery nutrition. It suggests meal plan and preparation techniques, and there’s no fancy weird stuff or secret/magical ingredients — just clear, basic ideas for organizing your nutrition.
The third section provides a step-by-step, carefully crafted workout program in great detail. If you follow the program closely (and you should, if you want to reap the benefits), it’ll take around 6 months to complete. The lifts are basic yet effective. There’s lots of variation to keep you learning and interested.
Total beginners might be slightly intimidated by the presence of complex exercises such as squats and deadlifts — but hey, they can just come here and get help figuring out the technique!
All in all, this is a super starter text for anyone interested in women’s weight training.
January 23rd, 2010 |
Published in
Pregnancy and postpartum, Stumpblog | 5 Comments
Author of New Rules of Lifting for Women Cassandra Forsythe is blogging about her pregnancy. Her post on her blog at 30 weeks reports that she’s feeling good and strong!
She writes:
All you pregnant ladies out there: we’re learning each and every day how and why training during your pregnancy is so good for you AND your baby (NOTE: this information comes from one of the most prominent pregnancy and exercise researchers, Dr James Clapp III, who has studied many pregnant competitive Olympic athletes):
If you missed Cassandra’s excellent podcast on training and pregnancy (and other woman-related issues), see here.
June 25th, 2010 |
Published in
Pregnancy and postpartum, Stumpblog | 26 Comments
I think it’s Pregnancy Week at the Stumpblog.
I remember my younger sister telling me how creepy it was when total strangers would grab her belly in stores etc. when she was pregnant. Now regular site reader, world traveller, and cheese/chocolate aficionado, Lieke updates me on the “enjoyment” of having her body on public display. From the WTF? files…
Have you experienced similar bullshit? What’s up with this? Let’s hear your comments!
I’m 6 months pregnant and already a crappy mommy. How’s that for a new record?
I’ve just turned 40. I’m pregnant because I wanted to be, thankfully without any external assistance (apart from the one you might expect), and in damn record time too. I’m healthy and active, I try to work out 4-5 times a week according to the Gospel of Squat, and yeah: I do that with all necessary precautions and adaptations to accommodate my ever growing bump.
Truth be said, it was already kind of there because despite of being healthy like a pig, I’m also a bit overweight according to most standards, even after losing 25 pounds last year. Apart from the occasional, not even weird craving I usually don’t give in to (crisps and ice cream), I try to eat healthy stuff I cook myself. And I feel fit and great.
SO WHY THE HELL AM I ALREADY MADE OUT TO BE A CRAPPY MOMMY-TO-BE?!
For many people, being pregnant means being in a state worse than physically handicapped.
It apparently also means abstaining from any (let alone strenuous) exercise. Eating “ well” is highly recommended but can be anything from stuffing yourself because you’re “ eating for two” to counting every single damn calorie you ingest.
Also recommended by my army of apocalyptic friends and family: sitting around and not moving at all for 9 months. They even research the internet on my behalf for any scary pregnancy condition I (or the baby) might attract because of my lifestyle.
I’ve been having fun collecting insane advice about my ever-growing bump:
- Do you drive?! (5 times)
- You shouldn’t work out AT ALL! You might drop the baby (umpteen times)!
- Do you swim?! (+ lots of dirty looks on the beach from older women why think I’m behaving irresponsibly)
- While swimming: (screeching voice from the shore): YOU! HEY YOU! Who, me? YES, YOU!!!! GET OUT OF THE WATER NOW! Are you talking to me? YES, YOU!!! GET OUT! NOW!!!!! But why?! (thinking: sharks? Tsunami? WTF?) THE WATER IS DIRTY! IT’S UNHYGIENIC!!!! (look down: crystal clear, fishes dancing around my toes…)
Well, dear friends and family, I am just not buying into that shit.
Instead of listening to you I:
- Consulted my physician/gynecologist and guess what: OH HORROR! He gave me the green light to go on with, training, eating and living like I was a normal person, barring any pregnancy complications, in which case (duh!) I should consult him again.
- Talked to my PT, who adapted my training program and food recommendations to fit the bump.
- I (sometimes smiling, sometimes grimacing with gritting teeth) pointed out the above to anyone trying to persuade me that “what everybody says” was actually better advice.
And guess what: they shut up.
So, for all of you ladies in the same situation as me: keep up the good work as it’s only going to benefit, not harm you; do what you have to do, want to do and can do, using your physician’s advise and your own common sense.
- Listen to expert advice and your body, and say screw you to anyone else.
- Kiss your partner and thank them for caring.
- Nod to your mom and do your own thing.
- Smile at your friends and say: thank you, I’ll think about it.
- And beat up anyone else on the useful pretext of “ pregnancy hormones” .
Rapid Weight Loss TipsThere are many people in the world who suffer from overweight and start finding Rapid Weight Loss Tips to lose weight quickly.
It is quite interesting to understand that so many people are struggling with lose weight diets programs wihtout realizing that there is indeed no single same diets to lose weight that will work for everybody.Every program is promising to help loosing one’s overweight and this may become a dilemma to one because it is not wise to try every single of it in order to find the most suitable one.
You want to find the most suitable rapid weight loss methodes for your self by understanding several basic health aspects to ensure you are going to do it safely.
It is good to realize from the very start that you are going to take some time to achieve the result. Every weight reduction process will need time to accomplish so you would better to mentally prepare your self that it is much better to do it proportionally.
You must be encouraged by positive confidence that you will overcome the overweight matter satisfactorily through the diets to lose weight you are undergoing.
The essence of this loosing weight matter is your discipline on how you are doing it. That is the most often forgotten keywords by many others. It is a good point to start lose weight now by emphasizing this discipline factor.Once you keep your diet with a tight self discipline while undergoing it, you will start experiencing the rapid weight loss you are looking for.
Most self directed diet program wants you to have a certain level of self discipline while undergoing it. They are great diets to lose weight programs if you have the discipline it.If you do find a kind of self discipline difficulty for any reason, you may consider to join a diet program that offers direction, leadership, and endorsement by the program leaders and experts in the congregation.
Usually the former leaders of this latest program will share their own experience with the weight reduction program and now volunteer their time to help you do the gain the same success.As a part of the diets to lose weight you must practice a sensible eating habits once you have reached your ideal weight.
You need to be willing to follow up with your own self escort and operation, after all the efforts and Rapid Weight Loss Tips you have undergone. It is now the maintenance period you are to pay your attention to keep your ideal weight. Rapid Weight Loss
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What is the best weight loss guide to you ? Practicing in the gym or buy a sophisticated fitness equipment to exercise at home is not a necessity if you want to be healthier.
There are many other ways to help you stay in fit and lose weight as well. You can do biking, jogging, walking or swimming and many more similar activities which do not require you to purchase equipment or hire a professional trainer.
All you need to do is take your time to perform physical activities and weight management that you like.
These outdoor activities have many similar advantages as well as exercises in the gym. Some of the advantages and relation between walking and weight loss are :
* Routine walking exercise will strengthen the legs and your toes. It is also the best solution for a flat foot. It is very good for the health of your feet.
You many want to do this activity at least once a week. Nothing wrong with walking so do not be embarrassed to do so. You can go to a park nearby you in the morning and then do walking on the grass for at least 20 minutes as a part of your lose weight diet.
* Walking will also strengthen your respiratory system. A good Oxygen intake should mean an optimum contribution to your digestive system. Hence fats should be digested well and you shoud start to see your healthy weight loss.
* Weight Loss Guide Walking is one exercise that makes all parts of your body moving. If you prefer to jog rather than to walk or fast walking this will even increase your heart rate and more physical fitness. Some people prefer to combine both methods.
* Walking can help improve your posture when legs and your lower body moves. It also helps strengthen the legs and lower body and make the joints more flexible. This seems to have nothing to do with quick weight loss so the best way to find out is by experiencing yourself.
When walking, all parts of your body moving and you are expending energy much faster. This help you burn fat and lose weight as well as to control your weight in the long term.
* While concentrating on doing walking to gain a quick weight loss, you are to be aware that walking also helps reduce the risk of heart attacks, improve respiratory function, overcome hypertension and as a rehabilitation therapy for those who have suffered a heart attack. Weight Loss Guide
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Water And Weight LossThe main benefit of fasting is that it can help eliminate toxins from the body.
You see the points here, you can do the natural detox to lose weight. Detox and lose weight simultaneously. What could be better ? However, you can only get this benefit if you do your fast correctly. On the morning after fasting, take two glasses of lemon water weight loss.
You may want to add a little salt to the lemon juice to adjust the taste to your preference. After some time, you can have your breakfast.Lemon water will help you to flush your digestive system with a strong bowel movement and many toxins will be eliminated.
One full day of fasting can be done twice a month in which occasion you may do drinking water and weight loss. Fasting like this will give your digestive organs a rest, help eliminate toxins, build your will power and strength of mind.On top of this, the overall reduction in calories that you get from two days tasting there would be one element of a balanced and sustainable weight loss program.
During the fasting day you may want to do light physical tasks and concentrate more on the intellectual and spiritual activities. During the drinking water weight loss period it is not a good idea to spend time thinking about what you will eat the day after.
Most people nowadays are lack of physical activities and physical motion while intake of foods containing carbohydrates and sugars are often excessive.consequently there is no balance between the food substance with essential substances needed for the purposes of everyday activities.
As a result of the above habit of consuming too much carbo and sugar, one would have fat problem which finally will lead to overweight problem.One is to understand now that water and weight loss are the two sides of the same coin. Overweight and obesity usually become vulnerable to a plethora of diseases i.e. hypertension and diabetes. Sorry to say, once this situation happened then things may become complex to one since weight loss is not an easy thing to do.
It is a big relief to understand that one may do a simple yet effective diet by drinking water and weight loss can be expected in a safest way. Water And Weight Loss
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Weight Loss AdsIn a way, weight loss ads may become a turning point in one’s life i.e. to reduce body weight. As we understand that obesity can cause serious health problems. There are various methods of weight loss diets and weight loss tips offered. For instance the latest popular Blood Type Diet, hoodia diet etc.
From those weight loss ads one may understand which method is the best suit to his latest condition in the sense of which kind of food to be consumed for example is it the pineapple, papaya, apples or others. Like the weight loss hoodia which suggests its participants to consume supplement foods which are made of hoodia flowering plantation.
A good and well managed programs offered by the weight loss ads will usualy prepare a basic questionairre form for interested participants to fill in. Before one is to undergo his weight loss day as suggested and directed then one is to countercheck his readiness to undergo the weight loss programs.
There are several testimonies from successful participants how they had a big meals at their favourite restaurant the day before they undergo their weight loss programs. Took pictures of the party, print it and put it next to their mirror to encorage their one way ticket of loosing weight.
Some weight loss program ads provide big rewardsfor its participants who came back with their “before and after” pics. So when you see such pics, most of them are really true. You can see a lot of similar pics at center loss quick weight.When you are in doubt of a weight loss ads quality in the sense of its reliability then you may take a look at several factors.
Usually a qualified one will provide a long list of testimonies from successful participants complete with their contact mail address.Hence you may contact them directly to countercheck the validity of the testimonies. You may have known by yourself that weight loss is basically about reducing carbohydrate while to maintain the protein intake.
And you may have tried to practise it in your own way without satisfactory result. It means the time for you to listen to and practise weight loss tips from professionals.At this stage we can see the important role of weight loss ads which are to provide you informations and options of various diet programs.
In case your overweight condition is in a really serious level, you do not need to feel awkward for joining a center loss quick weight nearby you. Weight Loss Ads
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Have you ever felt happy just from walking into a colorful day? The sky is blue, the trees are green, the earth has red, purples, yellows, and browns. Well, today’s blog is about adding some color to your plate as well as your life. Yes, I am talking about vegetables and fruits (hereafter referred to as “V F.”)
Every day science and health experts find more reasons that V F will make us healthier, stronger, and less vulnerable to disease. Power-packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, these products of nature reduce our risks of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and provide the “keys” to natural healing, feeling great, and powering our bodies. Plus, eating them adds additional fiber and nutrients that may take the place of, say, something less nutritious that you could have chosen to eat.
Time to put this knowledge to use! Let’s be practical. How are we going to get more of these V’s and F’s into our life right now? How will you, fellow Dukie, add more VF to your life, as a student athlete, writer, dreamer, pre-med, future engineer?
Good news: each new day provides plenty/countless opportunities to consume more V F (even if you haven’t had success in the past.) If you can’t get the veggies in one meal, get them in next time. When swiping our Duke cards, try to choose the more “veggie-ful” options on the menu. That doesn’t have to be a salad, but it might mean the option that at least has a few veggies included in the ingredients. When you pass by Quenchers pick up a few carrots or cucumbers to munch on. Everything counts.
How about the little snacks we all eat in our rooms? How to “veggify” those? The key: Be prepared! Stock your dorm fridges with favorite V F. For example, keep available a package of baby carrots from the Lobby Shop. If you tend to eat toast or sandwiches, try adding V or F. I personally love tomatoes and cucumbers. I will add them to cream cheese toast, or a hummus sandwich. Banana slices also go great on PB sandwiches. You can also add apples to your morning cereal, berries to plain yogurt, pears, bananas, grapes, or other fruit.
Fruits and Veggies have another benefit aside from adding nutrition to our diet: they also help replace those calories that don’t give us as much benefit. By munching on those cold crunchy carrots, for example, that bag of chips will probably stay behind the glass in the vending machine. Swipe for an apple or banana to replace another swipe you wouldn’t mind not making-maybe that cookie or chocolate muffin. Of course, I am not saying to never eat treats, only that we shouldn’t let the treats crowd out the space for eating V F. Eat the V F first; then, if you still have room and still want to, eat a non V and F snack. Practice the 90/10 rule: It is what you eat most of the time that matters. So make V and F the default. Use them to reduce the risks of sickness and keep your body at its best. Don’t miss out on V’s and F!
How do you keep the color in your life?
Written by Adiel Mora/Trinity 2013
My next-door neighbour, a little old lady originally from Greece, is out every morning at 7 a.m. to do battle with the weeds in her vegetable garden. Ancient men and women can be seen scuttling everywhere in Chinatown with enormous loads of groceries perched on their backs. My landlord’s Portuguese father, a wizened man in his 70s, visited his son in Canada to “relax” by building a stone retaining wall. My grandfather, when he “retired”, built a house by himself. You get the picture.
Aging need not and should not mean that your butt finds a comfy groove on the couch at age 35 and stays there for the next 50 years.
Don’t believe me? Check out this link to 72-year old Kelly Nelson. I don’t want to hear any more complaining about how you’re too old to lift weights! Thanks to reader Stephanie Ferguson for alerting me to this amazing woman.
Oh, 72 is too much of a spring chicken for you? Then how about an 86 year old bodybuilder who probably looks better than most of us will ever look in our entire lifetimes? Scroll down!
In this article I’m going to talk about how to put together a program for an older person. What defines “older” is a matter of opinion. In our culture, 50 is often considered an indicator of late adulthood. I think this is ridiculous, but it is true that 50 and after tends to be the time when age-related complaints begin. So, for the purpose of this article, I’m going to lump everyone from 50-100 together. It’s seriously incorrect to do so, but since, as I said, in our youth-obsessed culture, 30 is considered “old”, many of our practices reflect that assumption. Many folks in their 40s might have a lot in common with people 20 years older if they have neglected their physical fitness. So, my apologies for gross categorization. Obviously there is great diversity and range of abilities.
It used to be “common knowledge” that aging involved physical and mental degeneration. Some effort was made to keep old people reasonably ambulatory, but it was generally thought that aging just meant a long, miserable ride downhill.
There are many stereotypes about older people which continue to circulate and which contribute to incorrect assumptions about what kinds of physical activities older people should choose.
For example, it is often thought that older people are dependent and sickly. In fact, most stats show that up to 85% of seniors are healthy, vigorous, and living independently. Only 2-5% are sufficiently disabled to require institutionalization. In addition, it used to be thought that older people are unable to gain muscle or lose fat. For this reason, nobody really bothered to find out what might happen if older people were put on a program of serious weight training.
Above, my beloved Grandma pumping iron in the pool.
Now, as our population ages, the face of the “senior” citizen is changing. Far from going gently into that good night, older people of the late 21st century are kicking and screaming every step of the way. Much more attention is now being given to debunking the myths that shaped our “knowledge” of aging.
Research is proving that most of what we thought to be part of “normal” aging was simply a result of physical inactivity and disuse, not to mention poor nutrition and lack of focus on preventive medicine. If you think that at age 40 you’re over the hill, then you’re going to start to act like it. As my father in law likes to say, “If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” Basically, your motto should be use it or lose it.
One of the most significant consequences of aging combined with disuse is age-related muscle loss, commonly known as sarcopenia.
Lose muscle and a lot of stuff goes with it: balance, mobility, daily-life strength, bone density, etc. Regardless of whether you want to bust out a 400-lb deadlift on your 80th birthday, having enough muscle is important for health and function. Few things make you feel like less of a schmuck who should’ve taken better care of yourself like getting stuck on the toilet, or struggling to open a jar.
(This, by the way, is why I do not respond to queries from misguided women asking me how to lose muscle. Muscle will go away on its own soon enough. Do not rush it.)
A 2009 study examined the phenomenon of sarcopenia and noted that while the origins of sarcopenia are multifactorial and still not fully understood, we are well aware of the consequences, “i.e. loss of independence and metabolic complications, represent a major public health [problem].”
The researchers speculate that in part, poor protein synthesis relative to protein breakdown is one key cause, “but other causes like neurodegenerative processes, reduction in anabolic hormone productions or sensitivity such as insulin, growth and sex hormones, dysregulation of cytokine secretions, modification in the response to inflammatory events, inadequate nutritional intakes and sedentarity lifestyle are involved. Consequently, the age-related loss of muscle mass could be counteracted by adequate metabolic interventions including nutritional intakes or exercise training.”
When older people lift weights and eat enough protein, they stay lean, strong and healthy even though they don’t necessarily break down and use protein as efficiently as younger people: “Recent observations clearly show that changes in quantitative as well as qualitative intakes of dietary protein are able to counteract some pathophysiological processes related to muscle loss progression. Other strategies including changes in daily protein pattern, the speed of protein digestion or specific amino acids supplementation may be beneficial to improve short term muscle anabolic response in elderly people. The beneficial impact of resistance or endurance training on muscle mass and function is highlighted in many studies suggesting that the potential anabolic response to exercise still remains despite a lesser metabolic response to nutrients. Thus a multimodal approach combining nutrition, exercise, hormones, [and] specific anabolic drugs may an innovative treatment for limiting the development of sarcopenia with aging.” (Boirie Y. Physiopathological mechanism of sarcopenia. J Nutr Health Aging. 2009 Aug;13(8):717-23.)
Other studies have confirmed that older people don’t need less protein and exercise as they get older — in a sense, they almost need more.
The most important discovery for us to know about (which actually seems like common sense to me, but I guess I don’t get the big research bucks to come up with “breakthroughs”) is that weight training gets results whether the trainee is 19 or 90. Even people in their 90s have been shown to derive substantial benefits from a regular program of weight training.
This means that they were able to gain strength and muscle long after people figured the body had packed it in. And one need not have started weight training at a young age. People can start at any age and make significant gains, even after only 6-8 weeks of training.
The benefits of training should be obvious to you by now if you have been reading any of this website, but let me give you a brief rundown again. Older people, especially women, are particularly prone to loss of bone density, which results in osteoporosis and a greater risk of serious fractures, such as hip fractures. A hip fracture for a teenager means a short stay in the hospital. A hip fracture for a person in their 80s can mean death from a resulting infection or a long convalescence. Weight training, combined with a diet rich in calcium and magnesium, is the best gift you can give to your bone density.
59-year-old Leena from Norway, looking fabulous after getting into weight training at 54. Check out her before shots on the reader’s page.
In fact, weight training has been shown to be more effective than simply supplementing minerals alone. Weight training also helps combat age-related muscle loss, improves circulation, helps thermal regulation and improves the body’s response to the environment, improves general work capacity, eases arthritis, improves balance and stability, builds up muscle around joints to prevent joint problems, and translates into functional strength for daily tasks such as carrying groceries or shoveling snow.
In addition, since weight training is not a contact sport and doesn’t involve trying to hit a ball or subject the body to sudden shocks, it can be done by people with a variety of abilities and levels of mobility. Weight training requires no special skills, requires no learning of complicated processes, and can be adapted to fit everyone’s individual needs.
There are, of course, considerations involved in planning a workout program for older adults. Here are some basic guidelines.
Consider your beginning level of fitness. My grandma, the original tough old broad, could probably crank out a set of squats on her first day. Other trainees might not be so lucky, and might be starting from complete physical inactivity. Before beginning any workout program, have a complete medical evaluation done by your physician.
If you are using a trainer, select one who is knowledgeable about aging and working with older people. Don’t hire a trainer who doesn’t take your concerns seriously, who won’t challenge you enough because s/he thinks you’re “too old”, or who doesn’t appear to know how to tailor a program to your individual needs. Your program should be safe and comfortable, yet also interesting and have a sufficient level of difficulty. Also, do your own homework. I’ve recommended some further reading at the end of this article.
Ease into a workout program gradually. Older people will obviously not have the recovery capacity of a 20-year-old. The level of difficulty and complexity of a program should be increased slowly over a period of weeks and months. Begin with very modest goals.
Take care to warm up and cool down properly. The workout should start with 5-10 minutes of gentle cardio, such as moderate walking on a treadmill, to get the joints moving (joint mobility decreases with age, and joints will need plenty of coaxing before they will accept weight bearing activity). The trainee should then carefully stretch her entire body. After the workout, repeat the full body stretching.
Few exercises are truly off-limits. There is an assumption that older people should stick to the foo-foo stuff and forgo free weights or challenging compound exercises such as squats. While it’s true that the older trainee might need to work on building the skills, strength, and stability necessary for performing some exercises, this should not mean that these exercises are contraindicated. It just means that they’ll take a little longer to get to. In addition, moderating the weight can be done just as easily with free weights. Many challenging exercises have excellent payoffs. For example, learning and practising a squat can help older folks get out of a chair more easily.
Muscles learn by doing. If you need to learn balance, do exercises that help you develop it, not exercises that allow you to do without it. Compound free weight exercises force the body to function as an integrated system. You don’t learn stability by doing machine exercises that provide the stability for you. That being said, older trainees will likely have to make allowances for beginning a program with reduced stability and balance, and gradually increase the level of difficulty in their exercise choice.
Muscles should be worked through a full range of motion (ROM). Working through a full ROM develops strength in all positions.
Aim to develop functional, “real-world” strength. Identify weak points and work hard to strengthen them. Often people’s bodies compensate for weaker parts by forcing stronger parts to work harder. This can lead to strength imbalances and injury if the weaker part ever gives out completely. Look at your daily routine and identify tasks that require strength, then take this into consideration when designing a workout. For example, older people often find that their grip strength is reduced. To remedy this, add a hand and/or forearm exercise to the workout. Two of the most important tasks to improve are rising from a seated position, and rising from the floor.
Progressively increase the difficulty and complexity of the program. Research shows that learning new things is a workout for the nervous system and helps keep it healthy. This progression should be gradual of course, but change is important to avoid stagnation and to ensure continual progress. Set clear goals for each week, month, and quarter, and plan ahead carefully so that slow yet significant progression and change can be achieved.
Know yourself. Know what good pain and bad pain feels like. Know what your limits are, and when you can push them. Watch your temperature and hydration levels. Wear stuff that you are comfortable in, and invest in a good pair of shoes that gives you good support.
Allow yourself plenty of recovery time. Rest at least a couple of minutes between weight sets. Rest at least a day between weight workouts. And get enough sleep. The older we get, the less recovery capacity our bodies have, though this improves somewhat with training. Don’t train to failure. In fact, more frequent and less intense training is better than less frequent, more intense training for optimizing recovery.
Be more wary of indiscriminate supplementation. If you have high blood pressure, don’t take ephedrine, for example. Also, many people become lactose intolerant as they age, which means that a whey protein supplement would be an unpleasant experience. This doesn’t mean that older people can’t benefit from supplements, especially a protein supplement, but read labels carefully and be conscious about medication interactions. Older women especially should look into supplementing with soy protein, as soy contains plant estrogens which have been shown to help prevent certain kinds of hormonally based cancers.
Above all, don’t be intimidated by the younguns in the gym. Get in there and have fun, and know that you’ll be the fittest old broad on the block.
More reading:
This article originally appeared in the Philadelphia Citypaper August 2006.
At 86, great-grandmother Morjorie Newlin keeps pumping iron.
Fourteen years ago, when Morjorie Newlin was 72, her neighborhood supermarket had 50-pound bags of kitty litter on sale. Without anyone to help her carry the bags back to her house, she struggled mightily under the load. Never a particularly athletic woman, but staunchly independent, she decided that she had to do something about her deteriorating physical capabilities. Though osteoporosis was also on her mind, the septuagenarian began lifting weights — for her cat.
“I want to be as independent as I can be, for as long as I can,” says Newlin, a great-grandmother and retired nurse who turns 86 tomorrow. “I just want to do things for myself.”
After 13 years of weight training, Newlin is more than taking care of herself. At her two-story home in Mt. Airy, Newlin, who runs up the stairs with the sprightliness of a 10-year-old, has a room dedicated entirely to plaques, certificates and trophies (some almost as tall as her) from bodybuilding competitions that have taken her as far away as Italy, France and Germany. She’s won more than 40 trophies in her late-blooming career. “There are so many, I don’t know what to do with all of them,” she says.
“I chuckled when I saw this little old lady walk inside the gym,” says Richard Brown, a personal trainer at Rivers Gym in Mt. Airy, where Newlin began her training. “I was a little leery. I was just training young athletes at the time.”
The little old lady quickly showed him what an older athlete could do. “She kept coming in day after day, week after week, and month after month,” Brown remembers. “She didn’t want to do ‘girly’ workouts. She wanted to train with us fellows. After a few months of training, I looked at her physique and knew she was ready for a [bodybuilding] show,” he continues. “She definitely had something to show.”
74 years old, on the bodybuilding stage. I want to give high fives for this until my hands fall off.
Newlin was bench-pressing 65 pounds when she was 73 years old. A year later she was throwing up 85.
Newlin recalls being a little reluctant when she saw the string bikini she’d have to wear in front of the bodybuilding audience.
“I knew the contest meant a lot to my trainer so I went along with it,” she says. To everyone’s surprise, Newlin won. The crowd went crazy on hearing she was 74 years old. Newlin began her competition career in that AAU’s Master’s Division, which splits contestants into two categories: under and over a certain age limit, usually 35 or 45 years old. Newlin obviously fell way over the dividing line, wherever it was set, but was competing and winning against women half her age.
“I was always the oldest in all my competitions,” says Newlin.
The daughter of very active Barbadian immigrants, Newlin admits that athleticism is in her genes: “My family is used to walking and running long distances.” Although she’s taking a break from bodybuilding competitions for now, Newlin is still training at least three days a week, now at Bally Total Fitness in Cedarbrook, and can still throw down with the best of them. “I could bench-press 90 pounds with a spotter. I can dead lift 95 pounds. I can squat 135 pounds,” says Newlin.
She’s been featured on Oprah and The View, and has appeared in commercials in Barbados. She spends her time out of the gym as a motivational speaker at schools and banquets, discussing the importance of exercise, weight training and dieting. “A lady called me earlier this week from Hawaii,” Newlin says. “She asked questions about how to use weights.”
Though some in her position might wonder how much longer they can keep it up — or how far they might have come if they’d started earlier — those questions never cross Newlin’s mind. “Every day is different. The next day will take care of itself,” she says with Zen-like calm. “Age is only a number,” says Brown. “There is only one Morjorie Newlin. … She could do this for as long as she wants.”
It’s easy to get overly-heady about exercise. Being a strength/fitness nerd, it’s not only easy for me, it’s fun. For those new to this world, though, I suspect it can be a little overwhelming.
After all, you might just want some simple advice on getting started. If so, this article is for you. This program starts you off with a few basic movements that are guaranteed to increase your overall strength and fitness if you’re a beginner.
Of course, this is just a start. You are encouraged to look around this site, take in all the information and even e-mail questions to Krista or myself. You’re definitely encouraged to learn enough to start putting things together on your own. Unless you’re an iron-pumping savant, however, this will take more than an afternoon.
And you want to get going now! Good. So while you’re learning, may I present a starter program.
Here’s what you’re going to do:
Warm-up
Move around. Step deep, reach high and breathe deep. Pay attention to where movement feels restricted by tight muscles and gently (gently!) move through that range of motion. Now start moving faster. Jog, crawl, shuffle from side to side. Up the pace until it’s a challenge to keep your breathing even. This whole process should take about 10 minutes. Good? Good enough!
Exercise 1: Split squat – 10 each leg
Weight: Bodyweight
Take a lunge position, but leave your feet in place as you go up and down. The front heel stays dug in, the rear heel stays up. Get nice and long – long enough for you to feel a real stretch. Your feet should be at hip width and both pointed forward. The rear knee should almost touch the ground with each repetition. Your front hip, knee and ankle should form a straight line. Up and down on one side, then the other. If there is any joint pain, stop.
Exercise 2: Dumbbell row – 12 each side
Weight: 40 lbs. for dudes, 20 to 30 lbs. for chicks
Put one hand on a bench. You can have the same-side foot on the ground or put the shin on the same bench. Whatever. Grab a dumbbell with your other hand and pull it as far away from the floor as possible, control your descent and then repeat. Don’t rotate your torso. If there is any joint pain, stop.
Exercise 3: Dumbbell bench press – 12 each side
Weight: 30 lbs. for dudes, 15 to 20 lbs. for chicks
Lie back on a bench with your feet on the ground. Keep your shoulder blades squeezed together throughout and push those dumbbells (one in each hand) toward the ceiling. Keep your elbows within about 45 degrees of your body. Control your descent and repeat. If there is any joint pain, stop.
Exercise 4: Forearm plank – 60 seconds total
Weight: bodyweight
Lie face-down, with only your forearms and feet touching the ground. Hold just a slight pike (your ass should just be slightly higher than the rest of your body). Take very short breaks whenever you feel like your spine is trying to bear the weight (as opposed to your abs). If there is any joint pain . . . well, you know.
Now that you’ve been through all four exercises, go through them a second time. Maybe even a third.
Now get on an exercise bike and perform the following:
Go fast: 30 seconds
Go slow: 2 minutes
Repeat this four times (that’s 10 minutes total).
Towel off, go home and do some more reading. Don’t forget to tip your servers. Thank you and goodnight!
Geoff Girvitz runs Bang Fitness in Toronto, which offers personal training, group classes and combat conditioning in Toronto. Bang Fitness is, like, totally sweet. It has tires and sledgehammers and an Olympic lifting platform and a dragging sled and freakin’ Astroturf! If you are in the west end of Toronto, this is definitely the place to train.Geoff is also one of my favourite boys in the whole world. He introduced me to the epic joy of Rottblott’s, a hardware surplus store — basically a candy store for people who love old-skool strength training toys. Thanks to Geoff I now own 20 feet of thick rope. And I’m eyeing a heavier sledgehammer…
We are still talking about veggies and fruits this month, and this week I have decided to have some fun and talk a little botany (very little because truly I don’t know that much).
Veggies and fruits have a lot in common, they are all edible parts of a plant and I think we can agree that they are an important part of a healthy diet.
But have you ever thought about what makes a fruit a fruit and a veggie a veggie? Here is the easy answer if it contains or is a seed it is a fruit.
Ok I can hear you already “what about a cucumber?” Answer – fruit. “A pepper”? Fruit. “Pumpkin, zucchini, tomato”? Fruit, fruit and fruit.
I know they aren’t sweet but botanically speaking they are fruits. A fruit being defined as the reproductive part of a plant that contain seeds or, wait for it, ARE seeds. That’s right nuts and peas? You guessed it- fruit!
What about veggies? Good question. A vegetable would be defined as the stem, leaf, root or flower of a plant. So broccoli would be a flower, asparagus a stem, carrot a root, cabbage and spinach are leaves.
The truth is that no matter what you call them this food group is just plain good for you. Eating more is good and we are beginning to understand that eating more of what you might traditionally think of as veggies (including those peppers, cucumbers, zucchini etc.) over fruit is an even better idea. Why? The simple answer is eating less sugar, even the natural type, is a good idea. That doesn’t mean you should avoid fruit, quite the contrary. It just means that when you think about fruits and veggies, think veggies and fruits instead and fill you plate with a second (or third portion) of veggies and have some fruit as well.
For information check out Fruits and Veggies More Matters® at http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/.
Scar removal does not have to consist of painful and expensive laser therapy. However, it is going to take more than just scar creams and onion extract or vitamin E. The good news is that scar removal can take place in the comforts of your own home regardless of what your dermatologist may have told you. Your dermatologist will recommend medicated creams or refer you to a laser therapy treatment because that is how they make money. Truthfully, eliminating scars does not have to be painful, and it does not have to cost you an arm and a leg. Scars are not permanent, and unlike the popular myths, you do not need invasive surgery or medicated creams.
Scar removal can be accomplished several different ways where the discoloration is eliminated and the smooth, natural texture of the healthy skin returns. Hyperpigmentation is often the result of older scars, and this can be treated just as effectively as the redness and discoloration of skin caused by recent damage.
For those of you would prefer to remove scars naturally, there are ways to do it that are dermatologist approved and clinically proven to work. They even work for skin damage that you may have thought to be irreparable. Here is a list of scars that can be remedied naturally:
Hopefully this information was of some help to you. If you need more details, perhaps you would like to read the report on how to heal your skin damage at home? Click here for the medical research on scar removal and see whether your skin damage is reversible. If you happen to find that it helps, or if you find better information elsewhere, it would be much appreciated by many if you would share you experience or knowledge here in the comments. Thank you
Several months ago I posted about how Martha Rotter figured out that her acne was caused by cow dairy products. Now a longer version of her story (by me) is on Boing Boing. There is a ton of useful information in the comments. Some examples:
“Dairy is what caused my acne.” Someone replied: “Same here, specifically milk. I switched to soy milk in high school and my moderately-bad acne went away very suddenly. . . . If I eat a lot of cheese at once, like having pizza more than a couple days a week, my backne gets worse and I get acne inside my ears.”Someone else misunderstands genetics: “I do have tumor-forming disease (fortunately stable, and partially corrected with surgery) so I do have some sympathy when it comes to this sort of thing, but my condition is so well established as genetic I never even saw hope in trying to control it with diet.” Aaron Blaisdell had a well-established genetic condition (porphyria) that went away when he changed his diet.
Someone else found that dairy mattered:
I had terrible acne as a teenager and I drank almost a carton of milk every day. . . . When I moved out on my own, I no longer had milk delivered at the door and I fell out of the habit of drinking it altogether, switching to tea and water instead. My face cleared within weeks. . . . Whenever I indulged in cheese, the break-outs returned.
Someone else discovered multiple causes:
I have had strikingly similar experiences with a very particular form of acne, for years. Multiple doctors with no results until I got frustrated with it. I heard that the four most common causes of skin reactions can be wheat, milk, peanut butter and eggs – so I took all of them out *and* meat.
And watched my skin slowly return to normal.
After playing with my food by putting one thing in, seeing what happened, and then taking that out and trying something else, I found that wheat in particular is the trigger for me with dairy as a close second.
Someone else: “I took wheat from my diet, and my skin cleared up. If I allow wheat back in for one day, the next day I have acne.”
Not all solutions were dietary:
My wife and I found the only thing that worked reliably–even including a couple of different kinds of antibiotics–was “the regimen” as described on acne.org. Basically you use a low-strength (2.5%) benzoyl peroxide every day and moisturise like mad afterwards.
These are just examples. There are many more helpful comments.
Hey there, welcome to Best Acne Treatment. My name is Jeroen Waning, and I’m glad you found my site because I have posted some info for free to help you solve your problem with stuff around your house. I wanted to share this information with you because it has greatly helped me. First of all, I know what it is like and what is going through your head because I’ve been there, but all of the things you have heard about your acne probably aren’t all true. It’s not a “once you have it, you’ll never get rid of it” deal at all, and once I figured this out, it turned my life completely around. I was amazed to learn it has nothing to do with genetics, and it is not our fault. You can get rid of it by yourself easily because you don’t need expensive medication, creams, lotions, diet scams, or cleansers to do it. Skeptical? I was too…
Please watch the video above because you no longer need to have low self-esteem or worry about how you look ever again. I know how you feel and this is why I am excited to share this news with you. The best part of this acne treatment is not any gel, cleanser, drug, or new hype, but a truly effective and proven method to help restore your skin’s natural radiance and glow from within your body. If you’re tired of only temporarily treating the symptoms, and you want to get started with something clinically proven to free you from your problem for life, I suggest researching things that will treat your problem from within and don’t just hide your blemishes temporarily. When I did my research and tested it out myself, Acne No More was the best I could find, but please see this first to determine whether it is something you can use yourself, or whether you’d rather just use the tips here on this site.
Even if you believe you have the worst possible case of acne and have just about thrown in the towel, there is a guaranteed set of techniques that will give you 100% smooth, radiant, blemish-free, scar-free skin. The best acne treatment is not done with topical cleansers and acne medications you see on infomercials because those are truly a waste of time. They only treat the symptoms of acne, and this leads to a life-dependency on expensive lotions, cleansers, or chemicals. There is no topical acne treatment that can actually cure your acne. However, your diet does play a major role in your acne, but eating a perfect diet is not going to cure it alone. Has your doctor or nutritionist told you that there is no connection between diet and acne? Well, that’s because your doctor or dermatologist can’t make money off of your nutritional intake. He or she would much rather promote the medications or topical treatments they are paid to by their sponsors.
Click here to learn how to get rid of embarrassing and ugly scars.
The reason your diet is such a major part of deciding how bad your inflammation, redness, oily skin, or any of your acne symptoms can be is because of how it controls your hormone balance and how it cleanses you of toxins. Again, it is not a cure all by itself, but begin to understand how important this aspect is to becoming permanently free of breakouts and regaining your confidence. It doesn’t mean you have to eat things you don’t like or go on some crazy diet just to have flawlessly radiant and smooth skin, but it does mean you need the right information on what steps to take to look your best and feel much better.
White sugar and milk are two big things that will lead to acne. The reason is the way your body reacts to it and how this creates the production of sebum oil. The reaction your body produces to compensate and process these food items also stimulates the growth of harmful bacteria. That was just a very basic introduction, but get started now and check out these…
Lieke Lekkas shared her training-while-pregnant experiences with us here. Now, an update on what she’s doing as a new mother — and of course, she keeps it real. (On labour: “It was a bit like squatting heavy with a really bad case of constipation.”)
The benefits of training during pregnancy are clear and have been researched, but how about the help that exercise can give you while giving birth… and afterwards?
I know that exercising all those months during my pregnancy helped enormously to maintain my health, which includes body awareness and hormones.
During labour, the benefits were also very apparent, especially when pushing, and overall recovery afterwards. I didn’t really need to push full force and I could control my breath as well as my contractions just fine. It was a bit like squatting heavy with a really bad case of constipation. I didn’t even feel the need to abuse my hubby or anyone else, and no need for medication (too late anyway, since it all took about 19 minutes).
Recovery felt much more rapid than I had expected. And Little Sprout had a 9/10 APGAR score, slept well from the start (anywhere), grows well and is rarely sick.
After 3 weeks I got bored of staying at home all the time and went to my gym for my first training. It felt great. And then I crashed completely for the next 2 months. Oops.
Nutritionwise, I had a complete blackout. I could take the easy way out and blame it on hormones but frankly, it was my own stupid fault, since I didn’t have enough milk to breastfeed and in my panic thought that by eating seven kinds of crap, milk would come too. Milk didn’t come; pounds came instead and piled up everywhere. DAMN.
Now, thankfully, 6 months out I’m back on track, I eat healthy portions and healthy food again, I’m back to training 4-5 times a week, and my extra weight is slowly decreasing into the “green zone”.
Starting up your training again after giving birth is tougher than I thought it would be. Even if you have had a good active pregnancy and have the perfect baby (and let’s be honest, the chance of that is about 1:1.000.000), that baby suddenly takes up vast amounts of time that used to be yours to spend. You start from scratch while being sore overall and you go without sleep for what seems like two hundred years at a time. Your partner is cranky.
And everybody who bothered you with “good advice” during your pregnancy is coming back at you with a vengeance now you’re down and out, with advice on how to raise your newborn cute little purple-faced, snub-nosed turbo poo-machine that apparently only sleeps when you don’t.
So how the hell do you fit your training into that crazy schedule as well?
When and where do you start?
And how long should it take to feel strong again and shrink into your usual shape?
Good news: it is possible and even fun to train with a baby around… it just takes some extra organizing.
According to your level of fitness and strength and how you feel after giving birth, you could give yourself a training break (not counting short walks with the baby) of at least about 2 weeks.
Start with longer walks with the baby outside when you feel like it. I started with 30 minute walks, 10 days after giving birth, plus some short sets of light squats and careful stretching.
After that: slowly build up your stamina and physical condition.
Take the baby with you whenever you can. They love going places. And they’re asleep most of the time anyway during the first few months when they’re not drinking milk or crapping their pants. My gym let me stash the pram within sight in the kitchen area and my little monster loves participating so I sometimes just hang her in her baby carrier and start training with her hanging on at the front.
I found that I could easily do these exercises in the gym and it’s actually most of the stuff I used to do before.
No gym? No excuse: go do some exercise in the park.
Make your initial walks longer as the days go by to increase your stamina. Babies love being outside, and it’s good for them too.
Have fun: find a fallen tree trunk and try log walking for balance, log squatting, backflips (haha)… all fun. As an added bonus, this stuff will make you feel like you’re 10 again.
Other exercises:
Most of the above indoor and outdoor exercises, and many more, are possible with a baby in a pram or baby belly carrier, but be a Good Mommy and please avoid anything that involves lifting heavy stuff that you wouldn’t want to squash your little sprout with if you let go of it. These include dumbbell presses, barbell shoulder presses, overhead squats. Or exercises that involve sprinting or jumping. Duh.
PS: I forgot just how good exercise is for fertility too. Number two is on its way.
“I am trying to eat healthier so I’ve been eating more salad”. Sound familiar? I know as a nutritionist I hear this quite often. The definition of “healthy” used here is sometimes iffy, though that could be a blog post unto itself.
Suffice it to say that I have seen some very creative salad combos being construed as healthy.
Since we are still talking veggies and fruits, as part of our fruit and vegetable month, this week I thought it would be fun to discuss how to construct a balanced, satisfying salad meal (my definition of healthy).
What do I mean by balance? Basically getting a good combination of all major food groups (see our Balance Your Plate page for more information http://studentaffairs.duke.edu/dining/nutrition-and-dietary-information/balance-your-plate).
Your salad should include lots of veggies, maybe some fruit if you like, a good source of protein, some grain or starchy vegetable and some healthy fat.
1. Cover your plate with a base of veggies— look for darker greens (spinach arugula, romaine, chicory etc.) these greens will have the highest content of Vitamin A, C, folate and even some iron. But if you are looking to add fiber you will have to look beyond the leafy greens, think broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage, bell peppers and more (some of each color should do the trick).
2.Next add some good quality protein like grilled chicken or water packed tuna, hard boiled eggs, or cottage cheese are typical options. But don’t forget options like tofu, hummus, beans of all types, or edamame or nuts (these are particularly useful for the vegetarians and vegans out there. Remember I was talking earlier about making a salad satisfying? Protein is one key to accomplishing that goal.
Just in case you’re looking to get more iron into your diet, always add an acidic veggie or fruit to your salad to help absorb the iron, particularly that iron found in plant proteins. Produce like tomato, bell pepper, strawberries, mandarin orange sections, kiwi and cantaloupe are all good sources of vitamin C which make them acidic and can typically be found on a salad bar.
3. Next is grain or a starchy vegetable which will provide you with some useful energy, b-vitamins and again add to the satiety value of the meal. Choose lightly dressed grain salads in small amounts such as cous cous, bulgur, even a slice of whole grain bread or a bean based soup or chili on the side will do. Not interested in grains? Try sweet potato or beans.
4. Finally add some healthy fat. Yes you need it. A recent study suggests that people who ate their salads with fat free dressing absorbed less essential nutrients than those who used regular or low fat dressings.
One-two tablespoons of a low fat or regular dressing will do the trick (think the size of a small “to-go” dressing container or ½ a shot glass). Don’t like dressings? That’s ok use avocado, olives, seeds or nuts to add some healthy fat, but not just vinegar or lemon juice – no fat there.
Here are some other useful tips to keep in mind:
- Use mayonnaise dressed salads (like egg salad, macaroni or potato salads)in moderation or avoid altogether
- Use cheese as a garnish—a little sprinkle will do for taste. Choose other lean proteins for your main protein source
- Croutons should not be a choice of grain for your salad—again if you like them, add a few but look for other more nutritious grain options.
Well there you have it a balanced satisfying salad meal, another way to add more produce to your day.
by guest author Candace Stump
In between beatdowns, MMA fighter Gina Carano demonstrates hip flexion.
Yoga means, among other things, “yoking” or “unity”. Traditionally this means unity of body, mind, and breath; the breath being the most important.
One of the most effective ways to think of yoga is as sophisticated relaxation: freedom from unnecessary tension in body, mind, and breath. This does not mean lying down doing nothing! This means using the *least* amount of effort necessary to achieve results. (Sound familiar, grapplers?) Even if that result is a very, very difficult pose.
Most BJJ practitioners, grapplers, and MMA fighters end up with certain muscles totally overdeveloped. I’d like to start with psoas.
The psoas (SO-az) is the main muscle linking the upper body to the legs at the front of the hips. Because of the way BJJ works, the psoas gets very, very tight. I am always surprised when any BJJ or MMA player can sit up completely straight; most have such tight psoas muscles that they can no longer do this.
However, many non-grapplers also have a lot of psoas problems, simply from sitting all day in hip flexion, with thighs at 90 degrees to the torso. The psoas shortens and becomes tight.
An overdeveloped, shortened psoas means less mobility, reduced speed, and greater risk of injury. It tips the front of the pelvis forward and gives us “duck-butt”. It’s more or less abuse of the spine, which will eventually cause back pain.
*If you cannot remember the pose by reading it, try going to the Yoga Journal site and typing in the Sanskrit name in the search box. You’ll get a picture and description.
**If you are new to yoga or need a different variation, check out this article… it walks you through ten simple ways to release the psoas.
I also recommend a few abdominal strengthening poses.
Good luck. Enjoy your practices, all of them, in good health.
Namaste!
“One of the most important skills in any field is learning what to ignore.”
The Psoas Is…
The Almighty Psoas Muscle
Someone named Red Fury made an interesting comment on my Boing Boing article about acne:
I had acne on/off for years. . . . In my mid-thirties, I tried the Retin-A at night, antibiotic gel for day regimen for about 2 years – no effect. . . . Then, I was talking to a co-worker whose daughter was taking ‘modeling classes’ to become a teen model. She casually mentioned her acned daughter had to give up rice, potato chips, and bread, all of which are high-glycemic index foods. My quack-radar went off, and I looked around for something scientific behind that advice. http://www.ajcn.org/content/86…
Huh. I guess those nutrition-bashing dermatologists actually did a study and published the scientific results in a peer-reviewed journal. . . . My acne disappeared completely as soon as I eliminated rice and potatoes.
He finds a study that supports the casual advice, he follows the advice, his acne disappears. By convincing him to follow the advice, the scientific study helped him get rid of his acne. Which is impressive.
The interesting twist is that the study was published twice, clearly breaking the rules. Bad scientists! Who did something really good.
Click here to see the video, but read this first:
Hey guys, Jeroen again here to share a weird update with you about another experience I figured I would share.
My buddy Shawn Heiner, a video game playing guru, has been struggling with acne for quite a long time, and just like me, he was pretty fed up with it.
He was so self-conscious about it at times that he was afraid to let his girlfriend see him in regular light.
With a hopeless attitude, Shawn had been going to the dermatologist for years to do something about the redness, the blemishes, and those ugly annoying whiteheads.
I couldn’t blame him for his attitude, but I admired him for being proactive about it and actually visiting the dermatologist on a regular basis.
It was more effort than I had made about my personal struggle with acne.
I mean, how was I supposed to help him? I’m not going to come out and say, “hey, you’re acne is really ugly, you need to get real help.”
That would be pretty messed up right?
Well one day, he actually mentioned something about it to me.
I guess it had finally broken him so bad that out of desperation, he felt like he just needed to vent to one of his friends about it.
I assured him I understood what he was going through, and he knew I was genuine because he’d seen me struggle with it myself.
When he began to notice I wasn’t struggling with it anymore, he asked me if I had found some miracle cream or cleansing treatment that had cleared up my acne and left no trace of it.
I actually became pretty excited that I finally had some knowledge and experience to share with him.
We played a lot of PS3 together online, but he was always schooling me in every game I had ever played.
I said, “no cream, cleanser, or medication is going to get rid of your acne… it only temporarily minimizes the symptoms before it makes it worse…”
He replied, “trust me, I know all about that… So how did you do it?”
I showed him some cheesy video online about curing acne permanently that had completely changed my life.
He agreed the video was cheesy, and he was kind of turned off by all of the grammatical errors in the text and of the narrator.
I said, “well, Dr. Mike Walden is pretty bad with grammar, but he is a doctor, and I have to admit, he is an expert on holistically curing acne forever.
He’s helped thousands of people that had the same problem as you and me.
He also suffered from severe acne himself, but now, like me, he has permanently smooth, radiant skin.”
Shawn liked the idea of treating his acne naturally, but he became very excited about getting rid of it all together… forever.
At first he said, “I don’t know if this is really for someone like me.
I’m a really extremely disorganized person, and I’m not sure if I could really stick to any treatment regimen.”
I looked at him, raised my eyebrows and responded: “Are you kidding me? Do you know who you are talking to?”.
We just laughed and decided to forget about the whole thing and just go back to what we were good at (or at least him) – playing video games.
“I don’t know if this is really for someone like me. I’m a really extremely disorganized person, and I’m not sure if I could really stick to any treatment regimen.”
Without telling me anything about it, he had gone back to watch the video again and try out the techniques.
To my astonishment, he had cleared up almost all of his acne after only five weeks.
We played video games online together like there was no tomorrow, but we did hang out in person on occasion.
Shawn had just gotten so good about knowing how the light hit his face, which way to turn when he was speaking to someone or when they were looking at him, and how to cover up his acne, that I hadn’t even noticed any improvement.
Then one day, we walked out of the movie theater after seeing a matinee show.
He couldn’t hide his face from the natural sun light, and then I noticed the dramatic improvement in his skin’s texture and smoothness.
I decided to ask him about it, and he said, “…Yeah, I actually have a before-and-after photo on that website now haha!”.
When we laughed together, I could tell how much better he felt inside – not just how much better his skin looked.
“…Yeah, I actually have a before-and-after photo on that website now haha!”
If you found my personal blog about my experience with acne because you are just like us, I just want to say that I admire you for being proactive.
I’m a big fan of people who just go out and do things to change either the world or just their own lives.
Hopefully you are able to solve your acne problem too, but if you are curious about how we did it, I’ll recommend that same cheesy video to you (it’s terrible, I know, but you might learn something too):
Note: If you scroll down on that page, you will actually see my friend Shawn Heiner’s testimonial about his results.
If not here, I hope you can get help with your acne somewhere and learn
on August 22, 2012 at 8:58 am
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Hello Jeroen, there is indeed a need to take acne prevention treatment and how fortunate you were able to share your knowledge and experience with Shawn – my dermatologist advised to experiment with different methods of acne treatment to find what works best, as everyone is different and what works for some may not work for others. A personal recommendation really helps!
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