This very accessible and easy to perform intervention could have a strong effect on reducing blood pressure, say researchers.
* This article was originally published here
Friday, August 20, 2021
Thursday, August 19, 2021
Prior training can accelerate muscle growth even after extended idleness
Skeletal muscles in mice appear to 'remember' prior training, aiding muscle growth and adaptability when retrained through exercise.
* This article was originally published here
* This article was originally published here
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
STS™ MCT Oil
STS
MCT Oil helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels while providing long-lasting energy! It supports cognitive function, metabolism, energy, and endurance.
Energy is something that most of us could use more of, and often the key to improved vigor is balanced nutrition, most notably the inclusion of beneficial fats in our diet. Whole foods are always the best option, but seasoned trainers know the value of supplementing with medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) for optimal health and performance. STS has delivered the goods in that department with its versatile and easy-to-use MCT Oil, which blends excellently with coffee and shakes – so you can start your day empowered to face the world.
Healthy Alternative to Oils
STS MCT Oil is a healthy alternative to traditional oils, energy and sports drinks. Packed with nutritious fats, MCTs are absorbed directly from the gut to the liver, where they are burned quickly for energy to keep you active throughout the day.
Full Spectrum of MCTs
STS MCT Oil is made with 100% natural, organic coconuts and contains the full spectrum of medium-chain triglycerides with 99% C8 and C10 concentration and less than 1% lauric acid, a powerful fat also found in mother’s milk.
Long-Lasting Energy
STS MCT Oil helps maintain healthy cholesterol levels while providing long-lasting energy! It supports cognitive function, metabolism, energy, and endurance. STS MCT Oil is great for coffee, smoothies, protein shakes, salad dressings and more. The options to enjoy STS MCT Oil include:
• Cooking. Substitute traditional cooking oils with MCT Oil (smoke point 320°F). Not recommended for frying.
• Coffee. Mix 1 tablespoon of MCT Oil with your morning cup of coffee.
• Dressing. MCT Oil maintains its liquid consistency and can be infused into any dressing or marinade.
• Shakes and Smoothies. Upgrade your shakes and smoothies by adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of MCT Oil.
Energize Your Life
As a dietary supplement, begin by using 1 tablespoon (15ml) of STS MCT Oil per day until personal tolerance is reached, as excessive consumption may cause digestive discomfort. May consume up to 3 tablespoons per day.
STS MCT Oil
• Sustained Energy
• Flavorless and Odorless
• Beneficial Fats
• Pure MCT Oil
• Blends Well With Coffees and Shakes
For more information, visit stsfit.com
USAGE WARNINGS: Not recommended for use in frying due to relatively low smoke point. Keep out of reach of children and pets. Do not use if safety seal is damaged or missing. DO NOT REFRIGERATE. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
The post STS™ MCT Oil first appeared on FitnessRX for Women.
* This article was originally published here
Monday, August 16, 2021
How to Transform Your Body
With the right exercise and nutritional program, you can significantly improve your physique and do so quickly.
Q: What’s the fastest way to get into shape?
A: Your question is perhaps the one I’m most frequently asked to answer. While the specifics of creating a detailed routine to tone up fast is beyond the scope of this column, let me outline the protocol I impart to my clients so hopefully you can get an idea of how to construct a routine on your own.
Without question, people are inherently impatient by nature – we don’t just want something, we want it now! Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to getting into shape. One has to look no further than the endless sea of infomercials for fitness gizmos and “magic pills and potions” claiming to help you get buff fast; or the booming cosmetic surgery field, where tummy tucks, liposuction and a host of other high-tech procedures promise instant gratification. Fortunately, you don’t have to waste your money on bogus gimmicks or go through the pain and expense of surgery to have a great body; with the right exercise and nutritional program, you can significantly improve your physique and do so quickly.
Now quickly doesn’t mean instantaneously. As a general rule, you can’t lose more than about 2 pounds of body fat per week – the emphasis here being on the words body fat. Sure, you can lose more total weight, but it will be in the form of water and, worse, muscle tissue. This causes a metabolic slowdown, which ultimately leads to a rebound effect where you end up gaining back all of the lost weight – and then some. Bottom line: Be realistic in your expectations as to what can be accomplished in a given time frame and stay away from diets or fitness programs promising mega-weight loss in a mere matter of days. Remember, a 2-pound-a-week weight loss might not seem like a lot, but it equates to over 20 pounds in just three months time. Given the space constraints here, I’ll focus on explaining the exercise portion of the program – hopefully I can cover the nutritional aspect in a future post.
It’s important to understand that you don’t need to spend hours in the gym to achieve head-turning results. It’s the quality – not the quantity – of training that’s important. The fact is you need only perform about three hours a week of total exercise to get maximal results in minimal time. When you train properly, less really is more.
One of the most important factors in constructing a shape-over routine is to take advantage of a phenomenon called “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption” (EPOC). In a nutshell, EPOC is a measure of the calories you burn after your workout is finished. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, your metabolism remains elevated for up to 36 hours following training. Moreover, there’s an increased secretion of both growth hormone and noradrenaline. These hormones help to mobilize adipose stores, resulting in an increased utilization of fat for fuel. All told, there’s both a greater total amount of calories expended as well as a greater amount of fat oxidation following training. Here’s the catch, though: EPOC is intensity-dependent – the harder you train, the more calories you expend after exercise.
To maximally exploit EPOC, I recommend performing a periodized resistance-training routine where you alternate between strength workouts and endurance workouts from one week to the next. The strength workouts should utilize a moderate rep protocol (approximately eight to 10 reps per set) with rest intervals of about one minute or so between sets. Sets should be performed “straight” (perform a set, rest, perform another set, rest, etc.) and various high-energy techniques such as drop sets should be added to jack up intensity of effort.
The endurance workouts should utilize a higher rep protocol (15 to 20 reps per set) with shorter rest intervals of about 30 seconds between sets. Here, supersets and giant sets should be employed for a high-energy effect. For those not familiar with these terms, a superset is where two exercises are performed in succession without rest; a giant set is where three or more exercises are performed in succession without rest. After performing a superset or giant set, you rest for 30 seconds and then repeat the process.
Regardless of whether you’re performing strength or endurance workouts, you must adhere to the overload principle, stressing your muscles beyond their physical capacity. Simply stated, this means sets need to be challenging, where you struggle to finish the last couple of reps. If you can easily complete the target number of reps, then it’s time to increase the amount of weight used.
It’s also important to interject constant variety into your routine. The human body is the most resourceful of all organisms and intuitively adapts to repetitive stress, including that coming from exercise. Accordingly, it begins to become “immune” to exercises when they are performed over and over again. By changing up your exercises, you keep your body “off-guard,” never giving it the opportunity to get accustomed to a particular muscular stress. Your muscles are thereby forced to adjust to new stresses, ultimately fostering their ongoing development.
What’s more, you should pay heed to how the exercises in your workout interact with one another. In order to enhance muscular symmetry, it’s important to train from multiple angles. For example, there’s little sense in performing an incline bench press and an incline dumbbell press in the same workout; they both work the same area of the chest. Much better would be to combine an incline bench press with a flat dumbbell flye, which hits the muscle group from different angles, thereby recruiting a greater number of muscle fibers and hence fostering better development.
For cardio, I recommend performing interval training. Not only is interval training extremely time efficient, but it’s also proven to be more effective at burning fat than comparable steady-state exercise. In large part, this is due to an increased effect on EPOC, whereby fat burning is prolonged far after you finish the activity.
Interval training is where you alternate between bouts of high-intensity exercise and bouts of low-intensity exercise. During the high-intensity intervals, I recommend training for one minute at a level that exceeds your lactate threshold. This will be followed by a lower-intensity interval of between one to four minutes (depending on your fitness level), whereby your body has a chance to clear lactic acid from the blood and replenish oxygen stores. The cycle will be repeated multiple times over the course of the cardio workout, which should last for about 30 minutes.
The intensity of intervals should be monitored using a concept called a rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Simply stated, RPE is a measure of how hard you feel you’re exercising. It takes into account the physical sensations you experience during exercise, including increases in heart rate, breathing rate, sweating and muscle fatigue. The RPE scale will range from one to 10, with one being the lowest and 10 the highest. High-intensity intervals should be maintained at an RPE of around nine and low intensity intervals around a five. Try to cross-train amongst several different modalities (i.e. treadmill, elliptical, jumping rope, stationary bike, etc.), choosing the ones you most enjoy.
So there you have it, a template for transforming your body in just one month’s time. Over the four-week period you can expect to lose approximately 6 to 8 pounds of body fat while simultaneously adding several pounds of lean muscle – enough to drop a dress size and be significantly firmer and more toned – provided you incorporate healthy nutrition into your program. The key is consistency. Just stay dedicated and results are all but assured.
Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., CSCS, CSPS, FNSCA is an internationally renowned fitness expert and widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on training for muscle development and fat loss. He is a lifetime drug-free bodybuilder, and has won numerous natural bodybuilding titles. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed studies on various exercise- and nutrition-related topics. Brad is a best-selling author of multiple fitness books including The M.A.X. Muscle Plan (Human Kinetics, 2012), which has been widely referred to as the “muscle-building bible” and Strong and Sculpted (Human Kinetics, 2016), which details a cutting-edge, body-sculpting program targeted to women. Brad also has authored the seminal textbook Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy (Human Kinetics, 2016), the first text devoted to an evidence-based elucidation of the mechanisms and strategies for optimizing muscle growth. In total, Brad’s books have sold over a half-million copies. For more information, visit lookgreatnaked.com
The post How to Transform Your Body first appeared on FitnessRX for Women.
* This article was originally published here
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Friday Faves
Hi hi! Happy Friday and three cheers for the weekend. How did the week go? Ours was a good one and a bit of a blur. The kids are pumped to be back in school but I’ve gotta say, it was pretty nice sleeping late and staying in our pajamas while it lasted. 🙂 Even so, I’m looking forward to a glimpse of what a routine is like and having some work/productivity blocks. I feel like a better mom when I’m not stressed about work stuff and can get most of my stuff done while they’re at school. What do you have going on this weekend?
It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite picks from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments below.
Random/life:
We had some friends over last weekend for taco night and it was such a blast. The kiddos swam, the adults hung out and drank margaritas, and we had tacos and amazing desserts.
(+ guac and chips, homemade ice cream, pizookie, brownies, and fruit tart)
We also busted out this ridiculous palm tree drink cooler that Julie shared on IG. When I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for pool parties.
(PS my pool reveal post is taking 1800 years but I’ll have it up as soon as it’s finished!)
Fitness + good eats:
Did this yoga class on YouTube and loved it. It was the perfect blend of stretching and moving and felt like I got a workout without being too intense.
The best meals from Sakara this week. I loved the lemon poppyseed donut, the beet and quinoa salad, and this savory and delicious salad. I accidentally ordered another shipment for next week and am not even a little mad about it. 😉 (Use my code XOGINAH for 20% off if you want to give it a try.)
Maisey says hey 🙂 She’s in serious need of a haircut – she gets to see the groomer (and go on walks!!) after her final booster shot next week. So excited!
If you want to change up your sandwich game, lots of good ideas here.
How resistance training burns fat.
Read, watch, listen:
This put the biggest smile on my face.
Strange but powerful facts about the human brain.
How to be present and peaceful when you can’t stop thinking.
Fashion + beauty:
LOVING the new cream shadows from Beautycounter. I did a quick tutorial on IG the other day and they’re incredibly easy to apply and have the perfect amount of shimmer. I’ll definitely be using these into the fall.
Ordered this little purse for Liv and it’s amazing. It’s something I would have wanted as a 9 year old.
Happy Friday, friends!
xo
Gina
The post Friday Faves appeared first on The Fitnessista.
* This article was originally published here
Fat Gain: Thyroid to Blame?
By Dan Gwartney, MD
Long, long ago and far, far away, obesity was uncommon in the United States. Social acceptance of the condition was much lower and people who were “heavy” often offered excuses for not being able to lose weight. Among the more frequently used excuses were, “I have large bones” and, “I have a thyroid condition.” Though some people may indeed suffer from excess bone weight in conditions such as Proteus syndrome (most notably known from the case of Joseph Merrick, the subject of the movie the “Elephant Man”), this is very rare.1
On the other hand, thyroid conditions are much more common.2 However, no survey has shown that obese and overweight Americans have a poorly functioning thyroid. Seemingly, neither of these two classic excuses pardons a person for becoming unhealthily overweight. In a few years, as genetic and antibody testing becomes mainstream, future excuses may turn instead to, “I have a MC4 receptor mutation” or, “I was exposed to an adenovirus when I was young.”3,4
Certainly, future reasons for being obese, aside from the obvious environmental and behavioral causes, could be based upon scientific evidence. Even though many people will object, it is likely that data chips or bar codes will be placed in or on people to provide immediate access to medical information, citizenship or visa status, criminal record, etc. While this may improve security and provide more personalized services and care, it carries the risk of the loss of privacy. Yet, one mistake made over and over again is failing to look back to the past and learn.
Why was the thyroid so often blamed for weight gain? Did it hire a bad public relations firm? Was it covering for one of the vital organs? Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity? Or could it be that the thyroid actually was guilty?
The rationale behind the belief is reasonable enough. After all, the thyroid plays a major role in whole-body metabolism, essentially “pacing” the rate at which calories are burned much like the pace car sets the speed when a yellow flag comes out in NASCAR.5 If the body is sluggish about burning calories, resulting in a sluggish body like Jabba the Hutt from “Star Wars”, then it is logical to assume that the metabolic rate is too slow and the thyroid is not functioning correctly.
Thyroid function is both easy and hard to measure. It is easy to measure if the only concern is how much thyroid hormone is being produced and released.6 However, it is very hard to determine how effectively the thyroid hormone is regulating function at the cellular level.7 The thyroid gland, which rests just below the Adam’s apple, sitting on both sides of the trachea (windpipe), is an endocrine organ, meaning it releases a hormone that travels throughout the body to be taken up by individual cells. It is more accurate to say the thyroid gland releases two hormones, T4 and T3. T4 is the dominant form, accounting for about 95 percent of the total hormone load released. T4 is less potent than T3 and it is more appropriate to consider it a prohormone to T3, which is the form that really “turns up the heat.” In circulation (the bloodstream), most thyroid hormone is bound to a carrier protein and is not active when so bound. Inside the cell, T4 is typically converted to T3, which then binds to a receptor and travels to the nucleus (the DNA center of the cell).8,9 The T3-receptor complex can activate or suppress specific genes in the nucleus, leading to a change in cell function. The function of interest in the realm of fat loss is the T3-associated increase in metabolic rate.
T3 increases the rate at which calories are burned through a variety of cellular mechanisms, but the two most powerful are increasing the response to adrenergic stimulation, and increasing uncoupling at the mitochondria.10,11 By making the cells more sensitive to adrenergic stimulation, fat release and oxidation (burning) is increased. Uncoupling is the process that separates ATP generation from burning fats (fatty acids) as calories. This forces the cells to burn even more fat as calories to meet energy demands.
In clinical medicine, there are a number of conditions that alter thyroid function. When the condition causes a state of low thyroid function (hypothyroidism), many changes are noted, including weight gain and fatigue. Conversely, when the thyroid is overproducing (hyperthyroidism), weight loss (including muscle loss) and an agitated state is common. Many studies have correlated the weight change (up or down) in people who suffer a thyroid condition during treatment. However, in the absence of a documented thyroid problem, there is no consensus on treating overweight or obese people with thyroid replacement/supplementation. Anecdotal reports of people reporting weight loss and subjective improvements in fatigue exist, but controlled studies are conflicting at best. Again, part of the problem is that it is easy to measure the function of the thyroid gland but difficult to measure the function of thyroid hormone in individual cells.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine took a different approach that offers new evidence of the relationship between thyroid function and weight gain.12 Most studies look at subjects to see what the thyroid status is at one point in time. However, the researchers in this study looked at the thyroid function and weight in a very large group (part of the Framingham study), and then tracked changes in weight and thyroid function three and one-half years later. Thyroid function was assessed by measuring the concentration of TSH (the pituitary hormone that regulates thyroid gland function released from the brain). TSH regulates thyroid function much as LH regulates testosterone production. When thyroid hormone is detected to be high, TSH levels drop to reduce output; if thyroid hormone is low, TSH increases to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce more hormone. So, a high TSH level indicates that thyroid function is insufficient.
As logic would suggest, people with high TSH at the onset had a higher average bodyweight.12 Unfortunately, body composition data was not available. However, after three and a half years, the initial high TSH (low thyroid function) group did not gain more weight than people with (presumably) better thyroid status.
However, the true value of this study was the finding revealed when change in TSH over the three and a half-year period was compared to weight change. If an individual showed an increase in TSH (indicating a lower thyroid function) over the three and a half-year period, weight increased as well.12 The relationship between TSH change and weight change was linear and significant.
What does this suggest to the average person? It may be important to have hormone levels checked during a state of health (normal weight, young adulthood, disease free) so that later measures can be compared to the individual’s baseline, rather than a generic reference range. There has been a lot of dissension in academic circles as to whether a person needs to be treated if he/she has values within the normal range defined by a laboratory, be it for growth hormone, testosterone or other hormones.
Even if weight gain is not an issue of importance to an individual, there are many other functions of thyroid hormone that need to be appreciated. Another study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine reported that TSH levels within the normal range were also linearly and significantly associated with the risk of fatal coronary heart disease (heart attack).13
Every person is unique. While it is useful and necessary to establish reference ranges, and prudent not to treat people without evidence of need, these studies support the argument that a “cookie-cutter” mentality cannot be applied to many hormones. The resources and technology exist to easily measure individuals’ endocrine hormone levels during states of health, so that changes can be more relevantly analyzed during times of ill health or changes in status (aging, obesity, etc). For the person whose weight has increased over a period of years, who shows a low-normal thyroid function (higher TSH), a trial of thyroid hormone replacement may be warranted. For athletic women, measuring TSH prior to and during an intense training period may allow trainers and physicians to more readily detect signs of overtraining. Hopefully, studies such as these will prompt modern medicine to consider the concept of individualized normal ranges, rather than forcing the population into a one-size-fits-all system.
These studies provide valuable information for clinicians but should not be construed as advocating thyroid hormone indiscriminately for weight loss. Several athletes and fitness contestants, as well as everyday people, have abused thyroid hormones (Synthroid, Cytomel, levothyroxine) to lose a little weight or cut fat, only to end up dependent on the medication long-term as the thyroid failed to return to normal function after being suppressed by the drug therapy.
References:
1. Tibbles JA, Cohen MM Jr. The Proteus syndrome: the Elephant Man diagnosed. Br Med J, 1986;293:683-5.
2. Arrigo T, Wasniewska M, et al. Subclinical hypothyroidism: the state of the art. J Endocrinol Invest, 2008;31:79-84.
3. Loos RJ, Lindgren CM, et al. Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. Nat Genet, 2008 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]
4. Pasarica M, Mashtalir N, et al. Adipogenic human adenovirus Ad-36 induces commitment, differentiation, and lipid accumulation in human adipose-derived stem cells. Stem Cells, 2008 Apr;26(4):969-78.
5. Kim B. Thyroid hormone as a determinant of energy expenditure and the basal metabolic rate. Thyroid, 2008;18:141-4.
6. Bianco AC, Maia AL, et al. Adaptive activation of thyroid hormone and energy expenditure. Biosci Rep, 2005;25:191-208.
7. Liu Y, Redetzke RA, et al. Serum thyroid hormone levels may not accurately reflect thyroid tissue levels and cardiac function in mild hypothyroidism. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 2008 Feb 29. [Epub ahead of print].
8. Kohrle J, Brabant G, et al. Metabolism of the thyroid hormones. Horm Res, 1987;26:58-78.
9. Flamant F, Gauthier K, et al. Thyroid hormones signaling is getting more complex: STORMs are coming. Mol Endocrinol, 2007;21:321-33.
10. Martin WH 3rd. Triiodothyronine, beta-adrenergic receptors, agonist responses and exercise capacity. Ann Thorac Surg, 1993;56:S24-34.
11. Wrutniak-Cabello C, Casas F, et al. Thyroid hormone action in mitochondria. J Mol Endocrinol, 2001;26:57-77.
12. Fox CS, Pencina MJ, et al. Relations of thyroid function to bodyweight: cross-sectional and longitudinal observations in a community-based sample. Arch Int Med, 2008;168:587-92.
13. Asvold BO, Bjoro T, et al. Thyrotropin Levels and Risk of Fatal Coronary Heart Disease: The HUNT Study. Arch Int Med, 2008;168:855-60.
The post Fat Gain: Thyroid to Blame? first appeared on FitnessRX for Women.
* This article was originally published here
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