Quick To Fit

Want To Lessen The Pain Of Working Out? Coffee To The Rescue!

The initial results from a new study have suggested that caffeine may have the effects of lessening the pain from intense exercise. From MSNBC.com

That cup of coffee that many gym rats, bikers and runners swill before a workout does more than energize them. It kills some of the pain of athletic exertion, a new study suggests. And it works regardless of whether a person already had a coffee habit or not.

The study looked at how caffeine helps to block a certain biochemical that is important in pain processing.

Caffeine works on a system in the brain and spinal cord (the adenosine neuromodulatory system) that is heavily involved in pain processing, says University of Illinois kinesiology and community health professor Robert Motl. And since caffeine blocks adenosine, the biochemical that plays an important role in energy transfer and thus exercise, he speculated that it could reduce pain.

What they found was that the caffeine did in fact help with reducing the pain of exercise, both in people who regularly drank coffee or caffeine filled drinks, and in those who didn’t. Details of the study:

An hour prior to each session, cyclists — who had been instructed not to consume caffeine during the prior 24-hour period — were given a pill. On one occasion, it contained a dose of caffeine measuring 5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (equivalent to two to three cups of coffee); the other time, they received a placebo.
During both exercise periods, subjects’ perceptions of quadriceps muscle pain was recorded at regular intervals, along with data on oxygen consumption, heart rate and work rate.
“What we saw is something we didn’t expect,” Motl said. “Caffeine-naïve individuals and habitual users have the same amount of reduction in pain during exercise after caffeine (consumption).”

So what is the conclusion that they’ve reached, and what is the practical application?

We’ve shown that caffeine reduces pain reliably, consistently during cycling, across different intensities, across different people, different characteristics. One of the things that may be a practical application, is if you go to the gym and you exercise and it hurts, you may be prone to stop doing that because pain is an aversive stimulus that tells you to withdraw,” Motl said. “So if we could give people a little caffeine and reduce the amount of pain they’re experiencing, maybe that would help them stick with that exercise.

So drink up! Starbucks here we come!

Being Active Gives You Hope And Reduces Depression

By Peter 4 Comments

Have you ever found that when you’re living an active lifestyle, your mood and temperment tend to be better than when you’re more sedentary? I know I tend to be in a better mood when I’m working out.

Now a new study has found that men who aren’t active are more likely to “feel hopeless”.

More active men seem to have a rosier outlook on life, new research from Finland shows.

Dr. Maarit Valtonen of Kuopio University Hospital and colleagues found that men who spent less than one hour a week doing moderate to vigorous leisure-time physical activity were 37 percent more likely to report feeling hopeless than men who logged at least 2.5 hours weekly.

The men who got at least 2.5 hours of moderate activity each week were significantly less likely to be hopeless than men who were active for an hour or less weekly, and this association remained even after the researchers adjusted for age, socioeconomic status, smoking, and other relevant factors. Vigorous physical activity had a particularly strong effect.

When the researchers adjusted for depression, the link between hopelessness and activity remained. But while low levels of fitness were also tied to greater likelihood of feeling hopeless, further analysis found depression was the responsible factor.

Many people, including those who aren’t depressed or otherwise mentally ill, feel hopeless, the researchers note. The current findings, they say, suggest that “hopelessness and depression are overlapping, but distinct entities.”

The findings also suggest that being active can help “ameliorate or protect against feelings of hopelessness” even if a person’s fitness levels don’t improve.

So once again, being physically active is shown to be good for your health – both physically and psychologically.

As for me? I’m still waiting for that study that says eating hamburgers and pizza – and being a couch potato are good for your health. I’m still waiting.

Weight Loss Success Doesn’t Have To Cost A Lot, But It Depends Upon Your Level Of Motivation And Willingness To Change

By Peter 3 Comments

In talking with my wife, we often have conversations about losing weight, getting fit, and finding the “right plan” to help us to lose weight. My wife will talk about how if she just finds the right fitness plan, things will be different. I sometimes feel the same way, thinking if I find just the right workout and nutrition plan I’ll be able to turn the corner.

Over the years I’ve lost a considerable amount of weight (40+ lbs) more than once, and on different plans, but never spending a lot of money. The problem is that I haven’t been able to completely turn things around, and change the way I live. I haven’t had the motivation or the willingness to change my habits in order to keep the weight off. Now, I’m wondering if maybe to find that right plan I may need to spend a bit more money to get that added boost and motivation?

A study published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine talks about how weight loss doesn’t have to be expensive. The caveat? You have to be motivated and willing to change. The greater your motivation, the less you’ll probably have to spend. The study compared 4 popular diets:

They found they all produced similar results. After two years, the dieters in each group lost an average of nine pounds. Notably, the dieters who attended more counseling sessions lost a little bit more, which may support the notion that behavior is more important than diet alone.

Motivation, though, is not always easy to come by — especially when it involves changing habits. Some people may need a little help to kick-start a weight-loss regimen, whether that means following a popular diet or enrolling in an organized program. Your goal, though, should not be short term.

“Keeping weight off permanently is a lifelong process,” says James O. Hill, a psychologist and a founder of the National Weight Control Registry , a database of 6,000 people who have lost weight and kept it off.

How ready are you? The more committed you are, the less you will need to spend.

Motivation And How Much You Spend To Lose Weight

The article goes on to talk about the different levels that people are at with their motivation, and how much they ‘ll need to spend:

Highly Motivated and Willing To Change Do It Yourself-ers – Spend The Least: You can lose weight for no cost if you are very motivated, and are ready to change your lifestyle. Free resources for losing weight abound on the web, and usually your doctor can give you some helpful pointers on good healthy nutrition. You can also get helpful weight loss books from the library, or use a community gym for free.
Somewhat Motivated And Willing – Spend A Little: A lot of people take this route where they spend some money to get fit, usually buying fitness books, or simple exercise aids. Not exceedingly expensive, and a good option if you’re motivated and willing, but don’t want to spend a lot.
Not Motivated And Somewhat Willing – Spend a Lot: More people need that extra push, support and motivation that is provided in a more structured setting. For those people there are groups like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and other similar weight loss support groups. Also bunched in here might be groups at your local fitness club that guide you in proper nutrition and exercise. Most of these groups will having fees to join, weekly or monthly charges, and extra charges for things like food or supplements. You can really spend a good deal of money to do this.
Not Motivated and Somewhat Willing But Needing Extra Support – Spend A Ton: Many people have tried a lot of different ways to lose weight, but have found that they just can’t do it without added help. Many of them have some real big health problems that need to be addressed. For those people often a monitored hospital based plan is the ticket. These plans will often include visits with a doctor as well as follow up visits -all which cost money. You can end up spending a lot of money over the months that you lose weight, but for some it is the only option.

In the past I’ve always just kind of done my own workout plans, calling upon free workout resources online to help me in the process.

I think the time may have come for me to move it up to another level and actually invest in some books and other resources that may cost a little bit of money. I think I may need that extra boost!

How are you with your workouts? Are you highly motivated and able to do it on your own? Do you benefit from added help you can get from an organized program? Do you need more structure? Tell us what you think in the comments.

Core Strengthening Exercise For Hip And Knee Pain

By Kevin 6 Comments

Hip and knee pain are often the result of weakness in the abdominal and glute muscles.

Your abdominals (a.k.a “core”) work to keep your upper body stable while your arms and legs move and your glutes extend your hip by bringing your leg back like when you walk or run.

But, when your abs and glute muscles are weak other muscles must compensate. This happens when your quadriceps (thigh muscles) and your hip flexors try to perform the work your abs and glutes are supposed to be doing. This is also why you can have knee pain when squatting.

The result is often one or more of the following:

-lower back pain
-hip pain
-knee pain
-foot and ankle pain

I use many different types of core strengthening exercises to eliminate hip and knee pain quickly.

Using exercises to strengthen your core muscles help to strengthen weaker muscles to reduce painful symptoms.

In the video to the right I’ll show you a simple, yet really effective core strength exercise to strengthen your abdominal muscles immediately and reduce hip and knee pain.

Try it out and leave me a comment here and tell me how it worked for you.

Will Exercise Help You To Rev Up Your Metabolism?

By Peter 2 Comments

One thing that I remember hearing from multiple sources when beginning to research options for weight loss plans, was that when you begin working out, you’ll give your metabolism a jump start, and your body will essentially take over and become a fat burning machine. Many believed that your body would burn calories more effectively for up to 24 hours after working out.

A new report published in the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews suggests that our bodies may not work that way, and that you need to rethink your dietary intake so as not to undue your exercising.

The notion that exercise somehow boosts the body’s ability to burn fat for as long as 24 hours after a workout has led to a misperception among the general public that diet doesn’t matter so much as long as one exercises, says Edward Melanson, an exercise physiologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver.

People think they have a license to eat whatever they want, and our research shows that is definitely not the case,” he says. “You can easily undo what you set out to do.” In the new report, published in the journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, Melanson and colleagues discuss research to date on the issue of burning fat during and after exercise. The authors conclude that while people do burn more fat when they are exercising than when they are not, they have no greater ability to burn fat over the next 24 hours than on days when they are couch potatoes.

“If you exercise and replace the calories you burn, you’re no better — with regard to how much fat you burn off — than if you didn’t exercise,” says Melanson.

So what does that mean for all of us out here working out, trying to lose weight? Maybe that we need to be more careful about our diet and exercise regimen, and not count on our exercising to allow us to eat whatever we want.

“Bottom line is that we once thought that exercise would burn calories, especially fat calories, for a long period after a bout of exercise,” says exercise physiologist Gerald Endress, fitness director for the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center who was not involved in the research. “This does not seem to be the case.”

But both Melanson and Endress say it can’t be ruled out that longer, harder and possibly different types of exercise performed regularly on consecutive days could lead to a more lasting post-workout fat burn. In Melanson’s research, for instance, participants all cycled for under an hour, burning up to 400 calories.

All this isn’t to say, however, that you should not exercise to help lose weight and keep it off. “It’s not that exercise doesn’t help with weight loss,” says Melanson. “It’s that it’s harder to lose weight with exercise than diet.” That’s not surprising when you consider that it might take an hour to burn 400 calories but just five minutes to consume them.

So there you go. Don’t count on your exercise plan alone to help you lose weight. Make sure you have a good plan of exercise and diet that will help you to lose weight.

What do you think about this study? Does it challenge your beliefs about exercise and metabolism, and how our bodies work? Will you be changing anything because of this?

10 Free Iphone Apps To Help You Lose Weight

By Peter 1 Comment

Greatest moment in computer game history

photo credit: Johan Larsson

Just a quick link to an article I found this morning that might be helpful to some of you out there, its top 10 free Iphone Apps to help you lose weight! From the website:

Even if you didn’t make a resolution to lose weight this year, you probably have some fitness goals you would like to achieve in the new year. To help, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 free iPhone apps to help you lose weight and get into shape.

Top 10 Iphone Apps To Help You Lose Weight

Enjoy!

Interview With A Weight Loss Champion and Ultra Marathon Runner

By Peter 5 Comments

A few days ago I discovered a blog that I found to be inspirational in my own adventure in weight loss. The site was Run4Change and it details the weight loss journey of the site’s owner Jason.

Since 2006 Jason has lost over 130 pounds, and went from being overweight and un-athletic, to fit and trim and running ultra-marathons. That’s quite a switch!

jason

Here’s a quick bio from his site:

My name is Jason. I have lost 130lbs and have transformed myself from a roly poly to an athlete. I am married to an absolutely wonderful woman named Audrey. She inspired me to be more creative and start this blog. Since I am a former fat guy who has lost 130 lbs I hope to inspire you to become healthier and happier. I am a new person, I might say I am an old person since I weigh the same as I did 16 years ago.

Although I have lost all of my excess weight, I still have fat guy fears..I am moving and running on to enjoy my life even more. I have found a new love called running. I once feared this activity as painful, hard, and boring. Now I see it as an outlet, an emotional and physical recharge. I will never be the same since I started running. I guess you could say that I am running away from my old self.

My blog is my unique angle on health, running, weight loss, and life. My blog, is here to inspire you. To let you inside a regular guy who yearns to do amazing things and live an amazing life. Hopefully you can learn about health, running, weight loss, and me. Life is an adventure.

I contacted Jason and asked if he might be interested in a quick interview about all his success on this blog, and he was kind enough to oblige. I know his story will inspire and motivate all of you!

Interview With Jason, 130 pounds later!

Quick to fit: Tell us a little about yourself, and your fitness & weight loss journey?

Jason: Well, I started weight watchers in Dec. 2006 and I have lost 130 lbs using that program. It took me about a year and I have kept the weight off for a little over a year also, but I don’t plan to go back to deep fried burritos any time soon. My exercise started with 12 minutes on a stationary bike 3 times a week. Every time I lost 10 lbs I would increase the time and variety of exercises that I did. I started running after I lost 60 lbs. My life has been completely changed by losing this weight and starting to run. I have learned so much on this journey and I hope to inspire others that it is possible for them too.

Quick to fit: On one post on your blog you said, “Getting to the starting line is the biggest victory. After that, if you can just endure the ups and downs of the journey you will end up at the finish line.” To me this really is a profound comment, and speaks to how so many people just never get to that starting line, and then don’t stick it out. What was it that finally got you to the starting line, and what helped you to endure?

Jason: My sister was the one who got me walking towards the starting line. She invited me to weight watchers. I had to overcome some serious fears to get to that first weigh-in. Common fears too like:

I might fail
If I do lose the weight I probably won’t keep it off.
What will people think to see someone so fat like me.
Will I be the only guy at weight watchers.
It is going to be so boring and hard.

Anyways, I overcame these fears by accepting the fact that change is uncomfortable. There was no way I would ever attain weight loss if I was not willing to be uncomfortable. So I dove right in. I endured the journey until now by setting written goals for weight loss as well as running, not letting guilt pull me down if I messed up, and understanding that it is not cheating if you count what you eat.

Quick to fit: Did you ever find yourself discouraged or frustrated while losing weight, and how were you able to overcome those feelings?

Jason: Oh yeah. I couldn’t even count how many times I got discouraged and wanted to give up. To beat this I talked about it. I talked to my sister, my wife, my WW leader, and God. I also learned so much from running. Being a person who never exercised to finishing marathons, I learned that feelings (although very real) really have nothing to do with our ability to keep going.

Quick to fit: Now that you’ve lost the weight that you wanted to, what kind of a maintenance regimen do you follow to make sure you don’t gain it back?

Jason:I still follow weight watchers the same way I did when I started except I eat my extra points and activity points now. I still go to the meetings faithfully because if I could have done it by myself I would have done it a long time ago. This is a big factor in making it through those hard ups and downs we face during our journey.

Quick to fit: What prompted you to start running long distance races, and what is the longest distance you’ve run? Could you have imagined yourself doing those things a few years ago?

Jason: Since about 1996 I wanted to run a marathon and ultra-marathon. I read a magazine article about a guy who ran 50 miles and I thought to myself, “Wow, I did not think that a human could do such a thing.” I started running at that time but quit very quickly. So after losing 60 lbs this time I started to train for my first marathon and I accomplished my first finish 7 months later. I feel in love with the long runs. They made me feel good mentally, physically, and spiritually. My confidence went up a lot and I started to believe that I could do things that I never dreamed or imagined were possible. My long runs grew. In February of 2008 I ran my first ultra-marathon (31 miles) and in July 2008 I finished the White River 50 miles trail running championship race. I did it in around 11 and 1/2 hours. It was a great experience. All in all, I finished 7 marathons and 4 ultra-marathons from Oct. 2007 to Oct. 2008.

Quick to fit: What helpful advice would you give to others out there who are trying to lose weight, whether its 30 pounds, or 130?

Jason: I think that there are two things that are totally essential for us to understand as we walk in this weight loss journey. First, we need to change how we think about “cheating”. Cheating is the use of deception. If you eat something that is not “on plan”, just count it however you count in your program and it is not cheating. Finish the day off accordingly. You have your whole life ahead of you and 1 day of bad eating is just a blip on the radar. This thinking will free you up and finally allow you to have that “life change” perspective so that you can live the plan. The second thing is to never give up. So what if you mess up. I know it is depressing, angering, maddening, etc. (it is for me at least), but it is not the end of the world and it certainly should not be the end of your program. I learned in the ultra marathons this: There is a guarantee that when things are going great, watch out because they are going to get bad. When things are going bad, all the better because they are going to get good again. This happens over and over and over during an 11 hour race. You cannot escape these surges of good and bad. If you just take one foot and put it in front of the other, regardless of the pain or guilt or mistakes, you will make it to the finish line. Good luck.

Now That We’re Properly Motivated..

Thanks again to Jason for agreeing to do the interview, and for sharing his amazing story. If his story won’t get you motivated, I don’t know what will! I think I’m going to go and run a few miles now!

Don’t forget to check out Jason’s site at http://run4change.wordpress.com. Subscribe directly to his RSS feed here.

Golf Shoulder Exercises To Prevent Golf Swing Shoulder Pain

By Kevin 5 Comments

Proper golf shoulder exercises can usually correct poor golf swing mechanics. I have identified 4 common reasons that contribute to golf shoulder pain:

1. Poor posture: Having forward rounded shoulders and a slouched upper back limits shoulder motion and proper shoulder turn during your golf swing. As a result, shoulder turn during your golf swing is decreased and increased stress occurs to your rotator cuff.

2. Limited trunk rotation: Proper rotation must happen at your hips and trunk to allow proper shoulder turn and a balanced golf swing. When trunk rotation is limited it prevents proper hip and shoulder turn which can force the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulders to overcompensate resulting in pain.

Large deficits in trunk rotation results in lateral body movement which displaces your center of gravity and throws your golf swing way off balance.

Lateral deviation of your body during the backswing or downswing often results in:

loss of balance
reduced power
poor accuracy
over-slicing the ball
topping off the ball

3. Poor shoulder flexibility: This is frequently caused by tightness in the pectoralis major/minor muscles of the chest. When these muscles are tight they limit the amount of external rotation at the shoulder which results in poor golf swing mechanics and increased stress to the shoulder.

4. Weakness in the upper and mid-back muscles: The muscles that make up your upper and mid-back are very important for healthy shoulders and a proper golf swing.

rotator-cuff I won’t get to scientific here but basically each rotator cuff is comprised of 4 muscles that attach to your shoulder. The rotator cuff’s primary function is to stabilize your shoulder during movement. But, your shoulder isn’t the only
attachment site of your rotator cuff. Your rotator cuff muscles originate from your shoulder blades.

And, your shoulder blades are controlled primarily by the muscles in your upper and mid-back. When properly conditioned, your upper and mid-back muscles help to allow proper shoulder motion and swing mechanics. When these muscles become weak and deconditioned the deltoid muscles in your shoulder and even your neck muscles can start to overcompensate which leads to shoulder and/or neck pain.

In the video to the right I show 3 key golf shoulder exercises I’ve used for my golfing clients with great success:

Wall Rows
Diagonal Shoulder Patterns
Trunk Rotations
My 3-way doorway stretch

These can help correct golf swing mechanics and prevent golf swing shoulder pain.

Post a comment below and let me know what you thought of this post and the video.

Why Your Knees Hurt Squatting And 3 Alternatives To Keep Your Knees Healthy

By Kevin 34 Comments

This is a guest post from Kevin Yates, founder of Yates Performance Training, and new blogger over at Post Rehab Exercise. Check out his new site, read the article below, and then watch the video to the right. Thanks Kevin!

Just because your knees hurt squatting doesn’t mean that squats are a bad exercise. In fact, squats and lunges have gotten such a bad reputation for causing knee, hip and lower back problems when this is absolutely not true.

In this post I will share 3 alternatives to eliminate knee pain squatting but before I get there you need to know why squats hurt your knees.

In nearly a decade of working with clients who have had issues such as back pain, lower back fusion surgery, knee pain, meniscus surgery, acl reconstruction, knee replacements, hip replacement surgery and other nagging injuries I have yet to see any indication where squats were directly responsible for knee pain or back injuries.

The truth is that knee pain during squats is almost always the result of doing the exercises incorrectly. Squats will not hurt your knees if you do them correctly. But, most people do not perform them correctly even if they think they do.

Mistakes That Make Your Knees Hurt

Below are the most common mistakes I have identified in individuals whose knees hurt squatting. Just one of these mistakes is enough to feel knee pain during squats:

Weight on the toes: This happens a lot when using too much weight which tends to pull your body too far forward. Other times it’s simply a lack of awareness of how to distribute one’s body weight.
Knees moving forward while squatting: This is another common example of using too much weight. It can also be the result of the quadriceps (thigh muscles) overcompensating for weak glutes.
Thigh and lower back muscles doing most of the work: This happens when the glutes and hamstrings are weak. When you lack proper hip strength muscle imbalances often result in the quadriceps and lower back over working. This is one of the main reasons for knee pain during squatting.
Glutes and hamstrings are weak: These muscles need to be properly strengthened in order to eliminate knee and lower back pain.
Trunk collapsing too far forward: This is a sure-fire sign of weak core muscles and/or quadricep and lower back overcompensation. Typically, weakness in the abdominal and hip muscles are the problem.

Now that you know why your knees hurt squatting we can focus on 3 simple guidelines and alternatives you can use to get rid of painful knees and use squats to strengthen your core and hip muscles.

In the video below I share some unique tips to use so you’ll eliminate knee pain during squats. And at 3:38 I reveal a powerful tip to strengthen your hips almost nobody knows about.

3 Squat Alternatives

Static squat: teaches the basic technique of squatting. To do this stay back on your heels and slowly descend into a half squat position and hold. The goal is to focus on using your glutes and hamstrings and not just your quadriceps (thighs). Once you master this it’s time to move on to some progressions listed below.
Dumbbell deadlifts: an easier option rather than using a barbell because barbell deadlifts pull you forward which can make it harder to stay back on your heels. The difference when using dumbbells is that the dumbbells stay at your sides and don’t have as much forward pull which makes it easier to maintain proper technique
Dumbbell front squats: these help you maintain a more upright trunk because the weight of the dumbbells has a slight forward pull to it which makes you counter balance by remaining upright. You’ll automatically pull yourself to a more upright position to even out the load.

So, what do you think of this post? Anything you disagree with? Any tips of your own that you think should be included? Let us know in the comments below.

The Site Has Been Redesigned Using The Thesis Template

By Peter Leave a Comment

For a while now I’ve been thinking about redesigning this site to make it a bit easier to update, and to make it more flexible when I’m making changes.

I’ve been designing graphics for websites for quite some time now through my other site, Logos For Websites. I started years ago designing logos for friends who had stores on Ebay, and just needed a quick graphic to show on their ebay store. Over the years I’ve moved on to other projects including header logos, twitter backgrounds, entrecard logos, gravatars, ebook covers and anything else you can think of.

One of the more challenging things I’ve done is design header logos for WordPress Templates. The problem is that often the templates are not setup in an easy to understand manner, and there is no real way to know what size the logos should be, how it will fit into the template, and a variety of other issues relating to how the logo will look once inserted. They’re just not user friendly.

Recently I started getting requests to design logos for people who are using the Thesis WordPress Template. Thesis is one of the more popular themes in use today, and after helping design logos for several people using the template, I found out why. It is one of the most flexible, and easy to use templates available. Since I knew so many people who had been happy with the template, I took the plunge and bought it for myself.

Chris Pearson, designer of Thesis talks about why he designed the template:

I built the Thesis Theme because I wanted a framework that had it all—killer typography, a dynamically resizable layout, intelligent code, airtight optimization, and tons of flexibility. Now, after months of field testing, I’m confident enough to offer it to those of you who have come to expect nothing but the finest themes from me.

Some of the benefits of the template, as listed on the Thesis website:

SEO: the degree to which your code and content are organized and optimized for both search engines and people
accessibility: your ability to reach different audiences—those with special needs, people using alternative Web browsers, mobile users, etc.
usability: how effectively your users are able to navigate and interact with your site
flexibility: how easy is it to get the look you want by providing rich markup for styling and customizations via a control panel

So the Thesis theme is flexible, easy to use -even for novice users, has good SEO so you’ll be showing up in search results, and on top of all that they have a top notch support forum where you can find answers to just about any question you might have.

I had a problem with one client’s logo getting inserted into the template. I did a quick search of their support forums and had my answer within a minute or two. Piece of cake!

So if you want an awesome theme that’s guaranteed to give your website the fresh look you need and an easy to use back end, check out Thesis. You won’t regret it!

So what do you think of our new design on Quick To Fit? What things do you like? What things do you not like (for example, is the color too bright?) Let us know in the comments!