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Just thought you should get another opinion (one I share).
Category: opinion
My training philosophy
People always ask me what training style I follow. My answer usually perplexes them…
“I’m not a yeller”, I might say, (my spinning adherents might disagree, but that’s a different environment).
“Whatever seems to suit your needs, if it’s within me”, is another common answer I give.
Or, “observational and fact based training”.
None of these answers is satisfying for most prospective clients. That want to know what kind of “system” I adhere to.
One certifying body; NASM (national academy of sports medicine) has actually created a rigid model they expect all trainers to conform to, and all trainees to accept. They are ridiculous, and their concept is ludicrous. That’s fodder for another posting.
Nick Tumonello, a fitness educator, has posted on his blog 7 tips from Bruce Lee that will make you a better trainer. These words of wisdom from the late martial arts master cut to the chase of my philosophical beliefs when it comes to training, and most other aspects of daily life. Click this to read more.
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Exercise Science? part 2
Science is a rigorous, no-nonsense, discipline. A few months ago, a research team of physicists at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland reported that they had measured and recorded subatomic particles that traveled faster than the speed of light. This is the most revolutionary discovery in the history of modern physics. It completely destroys Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and undermines the whole scientific consensus of how the universe works. The reaction of the scientific community was immediate and visceral: “hmm, that’s interesting. Lets double-check that.” “I wonder where they made their mistake? Lets check it out”. Even the CERN scientist who recorded this potentially revolutionary finding wondered: “I wondered what we did wrong?” Every real scientist would love to be the one that upend Einstein, just like Einstein overturned Newton. But no real scientist is going to base their reputation on 1 study that has not been independently verified multiple times. Not even if its their own study. That’s science. That’s integrity. That’s truth.
The world of exercise science is nothing but bogus hucksterism: verb [ with obj. ]promote or sell (something, typically a product of questionable value). Popular experts are dangerous people, selling opinions and personal preferences as facts, when their not trying to sell you a product they don’t even believe in. That’s the nature of the “fitness world”.
One of this blogs followers; Mia; asked me about another blog she read. I will not link to it, because it is terrible. The author, Kassem Hanson is a personal trainer, a disciple of Charles Poliquin (an expert I formerly admired until I read this garbage). The article talks about getting “skinny fat” and how certain exercise activities, like Spinning, can cause you to develop “cottage cheese thighs”.
I’m so tired of this. This Kassem Hanson, if his bio is to be believed, ought to be an expert that I could quote, not waste time refuting. He claims to have a BS in Exercise Science, BA Biochemistry and Molecular Biology – Cornell
BA Biology – Cornell. A google search seems to indicate he went to Cornell College, in Iowa, not the Ivy League University in NY. The fact that he intentionally leaves this vague indicates he wants you to assume the Ivy League connection. Not that there is anything wrong with the similarly named college. I don’t even have a degree in an exercise related field, which is why I would expect more from him. And I am disappointed.
Let me be clear. Not a single, reputable, scientifically based research study has shown spot reduction to be anything but a myth. The American Council of Exercise (ACE), The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), The International Sports Science Association (ISSA), the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM), and every other accredited personal training certifying body, as well as the National Institute of Health (NIH), all link to thousands of articles, research papers, and position papers giving the evidence against spot reduction of fat. The inverse is equally true. No activity can cause fat to specifically form in one area of the body over another, The simple fact is that body fat accumulation is mostly genetically determined. Again, the scientific evidence is overwhelming! Hanson, and apparently Poliquin, are basing their opinion on a lone Danish study from 2007 that was never peer-reviewed or duplicated independently. That such a study was done at all, and got published somewhere, doesn’t surprise me and was discussed in part one. That Hanson and Poliquin would tout this and base their entire training philosophy around a single dubious study goes more to show their personal exercise preferences and bias than their commitment to exercise truth.
They misinterpret what Spinning is, and even say that “indoor cycling” is a better choice because it incorporates anaerobic high intensity intervals. Uhhh, excuse me…Spinning is the original “indoor cycling program” and includes as part of its standard protocol anaerobic high intensity intervals, though there’s no guarantee in any program that the instructor truly understands or incorporates these principles, or that every participant follows those instructions.
He goes on to make other comments on the subject of things that will make you “skinny fat” mixing myths and facts indiscriminately, showing a tremendous lack of judgement. For instance, he says that eating a vegan diet will make you “skinny fat”. I know of at least 4 professional body builders who are Vegan, and I have friends who are vegan. The body builders look like body builders. And my friends run the gamut of fit, fat, “skinny fat” and powerful. No I don’t personally advocate the Vegan diet because it is it is way more complex to insure that the individual consumes adequate complete proteins, but properly done, it can be just as healthy as a meat inclusive diet, for most people. Please remember, that no diet is universally good for everyone.
Hanson claims scented candles will cause a man’s androgen levels to significantly drop. Where he gets this tidbit from I don’t know, but if it were true, then their must also be scents that would raise androgen levels. Where are those? Trust me when I say the FDA would have this as a controlled substance if it were true.
So watch the next tour d france, the track athletes running the mile, three-mile, or marathons in the next olympics, or the top 100 finishers of the next Iron Man Triathlon. Find the cottage cheese thighs. Find the “skinny fat” competitor. But also remember, you are not them. You don’t train as hard, you don’t eat as well, you don’t sleep as well, and you don’t dedicate your life to your training. That means you can’t compare you’re results, either.
What people like Hanson are doing is attacking a mode of training many people favor in the hope of getting these people to switch to a mode favored by Hanson (and other personal trainers). Since the activity is different, you may in fact start to see some positive change, but that has to do with the SAID principle, not to any inherent superiority of their training method. Once you start training with them, inertia is likely to keep you as long as you can afford it. Of course, with a trainer watching you, it’s much more likely that you will train more intensely. And that could lead to some improvement. And now they are getting your money, too.
Don’t expect unrealistic results that are greater than your commitment. and always ask for the research. Then ask for the independent, corroborating research. Stop being a sucker.
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Ice Baths
So what are we to make of the phenomenon of post exercise ice baths? Even a casual investigation of the therapy will reveal that there are no actual studies that support the effectiveness of the therapy as an aid to recovery. On the contrary, the few actual studies of its use in this regard are either inconclusive or show a negative impact. This is not the same thing as using it for the treatment of injuries, though I can’t imagine full body or partial body immersion as ever being necessary. Perhaps a runner suffering from chronic shin splints might immerse both legs up to her knees in an ice bath or bucket post race to deal with the pain and inflammation associated with that condition before it worsens post race, or to allow them to compete in the next event as close to full strength as possible, but for the average person, the very first letter of the RICE protocol says it all: REST! Being an athlete is not about being in great shape or being healthy! You must be in great shape to WIN. You must be as healthy as possible to WIN. BUT THE POINT IS TO COMPETE AND WIN! Athletes routinely sacrifice future health for the sake of their competitions. Are you willing to risk the future health of your knees in order to be able to squat 415 lb. in 3 months?
My take on the ice bath is this. Everyone is looking for magic. A successful athlete uses this technique and claims it is the source of her success (this is called anecdotal evidence: meaning personal opinion without any proof). Paula Radcliffe (image below right) is often credited with popularizing the practice by crediting her European long distance championship in 2002 to the use of ice baths. This reminds me of another piece of magic from the world of sports. In the late 90’s Mark McGwire was one of the great home run hitters and attributed his remarkable power to a readily available OTC supplement called DHA. It was touted as a steroid “precursor” that the body could use to make elevated levels of testosterone (increasing muscle mass and power). It’s popularity exploded in gyms and high school sports across the country. This was taken so seriously by baseball “authorities” that they actually banned its use. Of course, what McGwire didn’t tell the world was that he was actually taking steroids, too, and that maybe actual steroids had just a little to do with his herculean power. DHA, meanwhile, is still readily available at your local Vitamin Shop and GNC. And the FDA hasn’t seen fit to pull it off the market 20 years later.
What might ice baths do to actually help improve athletic performance? Well, there’s the placebo effect. You think something helps, so you unconsciously push yourself a little harder than you previously thought possible (though it was always possible). It probably increases the victims tolerance to pain and extreme discomfort (SAID principle), allowing the athlete to mentally push through their pain threshold allows them to push just a little harder than their competitors (no research to prove this. It is just my supposition; an uncertain belief). You can now site this on your own, and in a few years it will be repeated as a fact by hundreds of sources all linking back to each other and this blog in a vicious circle of fog and mis-information, that may turn out to be true, or false, if anyone ever deigns to do actual reproducible studies.
Here’s the Wikipedia link to ice baths: click this
Just remember, unless you’re a competitive athlete; i.e. someone who lives and dies their actual competitions; when you’re injured you rest your injuries as the first protocol of RICE. Even professional Athletes, in their off-season, rest.
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Exercise Science?
Hello. I’m back. And i have a few things to say.
Over the last 2 weeks I’ve read multiple articles in the New York Times Health section, and a much longer piece in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, that would make any seasoned exerciser bewildered about what we do, and don’t know, about how the human body works.
In one article, “Why Ice may be bad for sore muscles“, there are so many ridiculous suppositions that it boggles my mind. The article starts off:
“For the study, researchers at the University of Ulster and University of Limerick in Ireland reviewed almost three dozen earlier studies of the effects of using ice to combat sore muscles, a practice that many who exercise often employ. Ice is, after all, the “I” in the acronym RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), which remains the standard first-aid protocol for dealing with a sports-related injury. Icing is also widely used to deal with muscles that twinge but aren’t formally injured. Watch almost any football, basketball or soccer game, at any level, and you’ll likely see many of the players icing body parts during halftime, preparing to return to play.” (The bold text is highlighted by me)
In 29 years of being in the fitness industry, I’ve never; not once; heard the recommendation to ice muscles made sore from regular exercise or physical activity. Not once. Ever. The RICE protocol is used in first aid when dealing with INJURIES. Post exercise muscle soreness is not considered an injury and would be considered counter productive as icing the muscle would reduce blood flow, which is the opposite of what a weight trainer is trying to accomplish. The paragraph then goes on to say that icing is also used for muscles that may not be sore, but “twinge”. Again, never heard this in 29 years from a professional. And the final nonsense: “…players icing body parts during halftime, preparing to return to play”. Body parts, yes. But not specifically muscles. The athletes routinely ice shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, and ankles. They do not typically ice biceps, pectorals, latissimus dorsi, Quadriceps, etc. Do you know what the difference is? Athletes ice joints, not muscles, during competition. And they only ice themselves if they’ve suffered an injury, like a contusion, or severe muscle pull, or sudden attack of tendonitis; situations where inflammation around the affected joint will have a serious impact on the athlete’s ability to continue competing. Yes, muscles cross joints, as do tendons and ligaments. But it is the area of the joint that matters. The article continues to discuss how the research being detailed shows that icing reduces the overall performance of the athlete in the affected area. Really, was it the icing, or the injury that preceded the icing? And how much more degraded would the athlete have performed if they didn’t ice at all and tried to compete anyway? As someone who used to be a tournament racquetball player, I have some experience with elbow tendonitis. Icing was sometimes the difference between winning a trophy and prize money, or losing because i could no longer grip my racquet. As to why an athlete would risk more serious injury by continuing, the answer is: They are competitive athletes with prize money and trophies at stake. This is who they are and it is often their job. And Aaron Rodgers or Eli Manning at 75% effectiveness is many factors of 100% better than their respective backups.
Lets continue:
The article goes on to discuss how: there has been surprisingly little science to support the practice. A 2004 review of icing-related studies published to that point concluded that while cold packs did seem to reduce pain in injured tissues, icing’s overall effects on sore muscles had “not been fully elucidated” and far more study was needed.” Why an ice pack before exercise should depress performance isn’t fully understood…”. Not understood! Oh my god! Icing reduces blood flow and slows down cellular activity, which is why we ice severed limbs, not put them on heaters. And ice will slow down muscle cellular activity and tighten up the muscles it is used on. There aren’t any studies because it would be like a PHD in physics deciding to test Newtons theory of gravity by dropping an apple and a 50 kilo weight from the same hight to see if they fell at the same rate (they do).
I need to point out that a MLB Pitcher, or an NFL Quarterback is paid millions of dollars to play, while you and I are not. They are not icing to rehabilitate an injury, they are icing to continue the competition. And how did we go from discussing whether or not icing injuries was an effective treatment, to icing muscles before exercise to see how that affects performance? How does that have any relevance to icing an injured body part? No one ices before exercising. Anyone in the exercise industry knows you warm up muscles and joints prior to exercise, not cool down! For the rest of us, any injury that would require the RICE protocol would also be followed by the recommendation to rest the injury for a period of days or even weeks, depending on the severity.
Why was this ridiculous study done in the first place? I imagine some graduate student in Ireland needed to conduct research and present their findings in order to receive their graduate degree.
As to why the New York Times decided to publish an article about this I surmise it was a slow news week in the world of exercise, and the writer of the article doesn’t know anything about fitness, or doesn’t care. Write or die. I see the same thing in all the major fitness magazines. You can’t leave blank space. You must publish something every month or go out of business (or lose your job). This writer should lose his or her job just for publishing this nonsense and confusing the public more than they already are. Hey New York Times…maybe you should hire me.
I will follow this up with two more blog posts; each on two other NYT articles; with valid information, much better researched, much more well-informed, and seemingly contradictory, on the issue of fat and weight loss. Stay tuned.
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Holiday hiatus
Hi everyone. There was a problem with my last entry during the upload, and the entire posting was lost. Due to the stresses of the holiday season I’ve been deeply distracted and unable to find the time to post, but I should be back to it at my usual pace starting January. If you have specific questions, please feel free to contact me via email, twitter, or thru the blog, and I will answer usually within 24 hours.
Hope your holiday season has been peaceful.
Scott
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The Cooper Institute
- Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The Cooper Institute has been a leading health and fitness provider for as long as that category has existed. It was founded in 1970, by Kenneth Cooper, MD, who was an Air Force Doctor when he started researching the role of exercise on general health. He published the results of his research in 1968; titled simply Aerobics, which is the first time that word had ever been used! He literally is called the “Father of Aerobics”, and the organization he founded continues to do much of the cutting edge research being conducted in the fields of exercise science (including resistance training), nutrition, and health. The website offers a plethora of information and tools freely available, including calculators for how many calories you actually eat, burn, proper portion sizes, and determining your optimal weight.
Check this site out HERE if you are even remotely interested in learning more about fitness.
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My reasons
I’ve thought about this question; “why fitness? Why workout? Why compete in sports?”, for a long time. If I’ve learned anything about myself, it might boil down to one loaded word: overcompensation.
I was always smart. The Plainview school district where I grew up started administering intelligence tests in the 3rd grade. In the 5th grade my reading comprehension tested at 12th grade level. I was only average at things like math, but I could pretty much understand any concept. In the 11th grade I played chess grandmaster Shelby Lyman to a draw in a match that lasted over 3 hours. I was cutting classes to stay in the match and the principle was watching the last 60 minutes of it. It was the crowning moment in my love of chess. But I always felt I was cheating just a bit. I was born talented and smart the way some people are born beautiful, I hadn’t really earned it. I took it for granted, absolutely.
I was also born short. Slightly built to the point of puny. And a big nose. Smart, short, skinny, and a big nose, made me an easy target for bullies, but I had some less obvious physical advantages. I was crazy fast, possessed great reflexes, and I had a much older brother who I loved to rough house with, so I was tougher than I looked. I learned to make myself more trouble for the bullies than it was worth, using my brain, my speed, and a first strike policy if I thought a fight was inevitable. I was and am small, but my ego was (is) 10 feet tall. Did I mention I was competitive? Whatever I liked doing physically I needed to do as well as I possibly could. I hated losing in anything if I believed I should win, and I hated not doing as well as I thought I could, even in defeat. I was always a good sport, but would obsessively work on improving my game. The sports I loved to play as a kid were Basketball and football. Did I mention I was puny? Didn’t matter. I played smart, I played fast, and I played big by surprising people with my unexpected strength. It wasn’t that I was super strong, it’s just that people underestimated me and I loved taking advantage of that. When opponents would adjust, even when they shut me down, I felt great; I forced opponents to notice me!
That started slowly changing with puberty, and the discovery that I really liked looking at girls but was at a total loss as far as interacting with them. I retreated. I was still short, puny, big nosed, and now pimply. All the girls were taller than me. I felt I was undesirable in the extreme. I was more comfortable with adults, books, and my art (I was a self-taught sculptor at 4), than with peers. People praising me for being smart or talented meant nothing to me though. These were gifts from fate (or genetics). I wanted, needed, to be acknowledged physically.
I was 17 when I got a job at a nearby gym the summer after high school graduation. If I was afraid of girls before, now it was worse! All these sexy women in their form-fitting leotards (it was the 80’s) and I’d never kissed a girl or been on a date, and was convinced no woman could want me. Low self-esteem. Low self-esteem came into conflict with the fact that I always felt special, above average, above normal, because of those natural gifts. High self-esteem. I started working out to make my body over in the image of my ego. I wanted to feel super strong and powerful. I wanted to earn it. I started building my body, from 5’6″ and 120 lb., to 150 lb. I started playing racquetball and soon became a top club player and a competitive “open” level player, competing in tournaments all over the northeastern seaboard. And women who liked athletic guys started noticing me. The popular athletic guys started wanting to hang out with me, started looking to follow me. I had re-invented myself. There was a cost. I became someone I’d grow to not like very much. It took time to reconcile low self-esteem me to my high self-esteem self.
Eventually I added an additional 20 lb. of muscle, getting to 170. I was really strong and felt compelled to keep pushing. By my mid 30’s I was stronger than anyone my size and un-augmented ought to be and the injuries started piling on. By then I’d learned a secret. All these people who were pulled into my orbit were being pulled in because I was smart and passionate and supremely confident in those attributes. My physical accomplishments had little effect on people’s behavior towards me. It was all about my attitude towards myself. I still want to be the best at whatever I do, but try to be smart enough to know what I can’t do. I haven’t beaten low self-esteem, and it still exerts its influence, but I have improved myself in some ways, taken backward steps in others. It is about health now, and a little more. I still dream of getting myself really strong, if I can do it smarter. I still like being the go to expert on anything I care about. There’s that ego again. Overcompensation isn’t always bad if you channel it right. Still working on figuring out how to tell the difference, 23 years later. The adventure continues…
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