Collection of Fitness Articles and how to stay fit.
I am now on this Fitness kick. This is my New Goal for the New Year. I know that we have months before the end of the year but I know that it is going to take me a while to actually get motivated so I have compiled articles on fitness that may be of use and encouragement to you as well. I believe that we all need to make a decision to be healthy and live healthier lives so this is my attempt at doing so. I will also include thoughts and comments and resources as I find them to help you and me on this journey as well.
Be encouraged, The Journey starts with one step at a time.
Be encouraged, The Journey starts with one step at a time.
The Ultimate Fighter Workout
Workout Plans: UFC Fighter Georges St-Pierre
The Ultimate Fighter Workout
Georges St-Pierre isn't afraid of anyone, especially not this little guy practicing judo a few feet away. We're at a Manhattan gym, talking about the value of full-body exercise, when St-Pierre spots him, walks right over, and interrupts the man's sparring. He points at the guy's legs: Sure enough, one leg is a mass of muscle while the other might as well belong to a flamingo. That's the result of relying more on one side of the body--something most fighters do.
"This," St-Pierre says, "is why I lift weights."
It's true: Only full-body training builds a physique worthy of such strong competition. You never want to work your chest more than your back, for example, even if your pecs are more fun to show off on the beach. "Muscle imbalances lead to injuries, so using individual weights keeps your body healthy and in symmetry," says St-Pierre.
And yet it's still deceptively easy to be out of balance. Every man has a dominant side with which he compensates for his weaker side. When's the last time you favored one hand as you lifted a heavy weight with both hands? You may look stronger for it, but you're harming yourself. Instead, you need to work each arm individually, determine your weaknesses, and address them until your body parts work in harmony.
Credit St-Pierre's success to insights like this. If his body is out of balance, he's in for a bruising. But he's the dominant man in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the welterweight champion, a tactical assassin who makes opponents furiously tap out before some parts of their bodies snap off.
St-Pierre, 29, is strong and quick, a machine of a man--5'11", with a 170-pound physique honed equally for force and flexibility. We followed him for his day's workout--because not every man would or should step inside the octagon, but every man can benefit from being as loose and injuryfree as St-Pierre has learned to be.
He has the motivation. St-Pierre lost his title once, in 2007, in a shocking upset of a fight. (He won it back a year later and hasn't lost since.) "When I sleep at night, sometimes I let my mind wander, and I feel afraid," he says. "I'm worried that I'm not living up to my own expectations. That my opponent might be working harder to become just a little better. Acknowledging that fear pushes me to something greater."
"When I train, I lose my mind," St-Pierre says. Then he walks up to a barbell loaded with 155 pounds and performs a snatch. He presses his shins against the bar, strangles the iron with his hands, pushes his hips back, and releases a carnal scream as he explosively lifts the bar off the ground and up to his chest. Then he hoists it above his head (deep breath) and drops the bar in front of him (loud grunt). He is otherwise wordless, which is how he'll remain for his 60-minute workout.
A fighter can be a brawler, but St-Pierre believes he's practicing an art. There's beauty in the takedown, he says. And whether you embrace that spin or not, his workout does achieve something artful: In this gym in Manhattan, populated by average guys taking mixed-martial arts 101 classes, he's working out alone in a room with a single large window that lets everyone watch him. As if he's on a wall in a museum.
And he's worth stopping to admire.
The first thing to notice: He starts with the snatch. There's a good reason for this. The snatch activates every muscle in your lower body (quads, glutes, and hamstrings) before shifting the emphasis to your upper body as you raise the bar. Do complex moves like this early when you're fresh, because perfect form is essential. Schedule them later and your performance suffers, which can lead to injury.
From the snatch, St-Pierre moves on to bench presses, weighted chinups, and alternating jump lunges. His workouts always involve circuits, bundling two to four exercises with little rest in between. It's hard as hell, but that's the point. "I push so hard that it builds the mental strength I need to keep pushing when I fight," he says. "You can't win at anything if you don't have mental toughness."
If this sounds like athlete babble, the equivalent of "giving it 110 percent," you should know that it's not. A workout that's mentally easy is a bad sign. Either the exercises are wrong, the weights are too light, or you're resting too long. When your body adjusts to the challenges you present to it, you stop building strength and muscle. And then you have to play catch-up--something St-Pierre never wants to do. "If you have to train to be in shape for a fight," he says, "then you're already out of shape."
Whatever they're doing, it looks like it hurts. St-Pierre is finished with weights for the day, and he's now in the ring with a trainer and another UFC fighter, Kenny Florian. They're working on a new takedown move that involves some gnarly twisting of the foot, but refuse to tell me more. (At one point they even confront me to make sure I'm not an opponent's spy posing as a Men's Health writer.) They take turns being the victim, which means there's always someone being slammed to the floor and wincing in very real pain.
It goes on for an hour.
This is how St-Pierre builds a regimen--adding a new move in the gym, or learning more wrestling, judo, karate, or Brazilian jiu-jitsu. "Every challenge should be handled with complete focus," he says.
In his mind, it's all connected: You master one thing and then build on it. He'd never just grab some weights and try a lift without understanding it. It's tempting to do that, especially if you're in the gym alone or feel embarrassed about asking an expert for help. But approach someone anyway. Learn the move slowly, and with light weights. Otherwise you could be asking that expert to help you off the floor.
St-Pierre asks trainers for help all the time. He did it after the foot-twisting takedowns, and he does it after almost every routine. That's how he spots his weaknesses and fixes them. Over and over. Meticulously. "You have to remind yourself that failure isn't about lack of skill," he says. "It's about passion. Those who fail don't reach greatness, because they're not willing to wait for it."
BURST THROUGH WARMUPS
First up in St-Pierre's workout: about 50 feet of walking with bands and then a quick threeexercise circuit. "Tailor your warmup to fit your workout, and you'll be able to exert more force and energy," says Erik Owings, one of St-Pierre's trainers. Start with three body-weight exercises, like pushups (upper body), planks (core), and squats (lower body). Do 10 reps each, without rest. Now you're ready.
STRETCH YOUR EQUIPMENT
Buy a few weights and you've basically bought a home gym. "Sometimes the simplest exercises done with perfect technique are the best for you," says Owings. Look at St-Pierre's setup: barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine balls, and some ropes. His training routine is based on multimuscle moves, like snatches, bench presses, and chinups--all important moves that use the most basic of weights.
TRAIN IN 3-D
If you always go in one direction-- pushing weights up but never down, for example--you're weaker than you think. St-Pierre challenges his body the same way he must use it: up and down, left and right, forward and backward. Train on a variety of planes, even when you're working your core. So in addition to planks or situps, try rotational movements, like Russian twists, and build stability with Swiss-ball rollouts.
9 Secrets for Bigger, Stronger Muscles
9 Secrets for Bigger, Stronger Muscles
By: Lou Schuler & Ian King
Your body has about 650 muscles. It doesn't matter that you only care about four or five of them. You need every one in order to perform the normal functions of everyday life—eating, breathing, walking, holding in your stomach at the beach.
Granted, you don't need to spend a lot of time thinking about most of your muscles. The 200 muscles involved in walking do the job whether you monitor them or not.
You could try to impress your friends at parties by telling them the gluteus maximus is the body's strongest muscle, or that the latissimus dorsi (in your middle back) is the largest, or that a middle-ear muscle called the stapedius is the smallest. But it probably won't work, unless you have some really unusual friends. And muscle trivia can't capture the wonder of muscles themselves—the brilliance of coordinated muscles in motion, the magnificence of well-developed muscles in isolation.
We hope, in the following story, to help you understand a little more about how your muscles work, and thus how to make them bigger, stronger, and more aesthetically pleasing (if you're into that sort of thing). You can accomplish all three, if you know what's going on beneath the surface.
Shop smarter! Know the 125 best foods at the supermarket.
Muscle Fibers Do Different Things Your skeletal muscles—the ones you check out in the mirror—have two main types of fibers.
Type I fibers, also called slow-twitch, are used mainly for endurance activities. Type II, or fast-twitch, begin to work when a task utilizes more than 25 percent of your maximum strength. A movement doesn't have to be "slow" for the slow-twitch fibers to take over; it just has to be an action that doesn't require much of your fast-twitch strength. And an effort doesn't have to be "fast" to call your fast-twitch fibers into play.
A personal-record bench press is going to use every possible fast-twitch fiber (plus all the slow-twitchers, as we'll explain below), even though the bar probably isn't moving very fast.
Most people are thought to have a more or less equal mix of slow- and fast-twitch fibers. (Elite athletes are obvious exceptions—a gifted marathoner was probably born with more slow- than fast-twitch fibers, just as an Olympic-champion sprinter or NFL running back probably started life with more fast-twitch fibers.) However, the fast-twitch fibers are twice as big as the slow ones, with the potential to get even bigger. Slow-twitch fibers can get bigger, too, although not to the same extent.
So one strategy comes immediately to mind . . .
To Grow Large, Lift Large When you begin a task, no matter if it's as simple as getting out of bed or as complex as swinging a golf club, your muscles operate on two basic principles of physiology:
1. The all-or-nothing principle states that either a muscle fiber gets into the action or it doesn't. (As Yoda said, long ago in a galaxy far away, "There is no try.") If it's in, it's all the way in. So when you get up to walk to the bathroom, incredibly enough, a small percentage of your muscle fibers are working as hard as they can to get you there. And, more important, all the other fibers are inactive.
2. The size principle requires that the smallest muscle fibers get into a task first. If the task—a biceps curl, for example—requires less than 25 percent of your biceps' strength, then the slow-twitch fibers will handle it by themselves. When the weight exceeds 25 percent of their strength, the type II, fast-twitch fibers jump in. The closer you get to the limits of your strength, the more fast-twitch fibers get involved.
Here's why this is important: One of the most pervasive myths in the muscle world is that merely exhausting a muscle will bring all its fibers into play. So, in theory, if you did a lot of repetitions with a light weight, eventually your biggest type II fibers would help out because the smaller fibers would be too tired to lift the weight.
But the size principle tells you that the biggest fibers are the Mafia hit men of your body. They don't help the underlings collect money from deadbeats. They suit up only when the work calls for their special talents, and when no one else can be trusted to do the job right.
In other words, a guy who's trying to build as much muscle as possible must eventually work with weights that require something close to an all-out effort. Otherwise, the highest-threshold fibers would never spring into action. Moreover, the smaller fibers don't need any special high-repetition program of their own, since the size principle also says that if the big fibers are pushed to the max, the small ones are getting blasted, too.
Building Muscles Saves Your Bones Many have tried to disparage the squat, framing it as an exercise that's brutal to back and knees. The charges never stick. Sure, the exercise can be tough on the knees, but no tougher than full-court basketball or other full-bore sports.
And for guys with healthy backs and knees, the squat is among the best exercises for strength, mass, sports performance, and even long-term health. The heavy loads build muscle size and strength, along with bone density, and thicker bones will serve you well when you finally break into that 401(k). So you won't be the guy who fractures his hip and ends up in a nursing home, although you'll probably pay some visits to your nonsquatting friends.
Setup: Set a bar in supports that are just below shoulder height and load the weight plates. (Be conservative with these weights if you've never squatted before. There's a learning curve.) Grab the bar with your hands just outside your shoulders, then step under the bar and rest it on your back. When you pull your shoulder blades together in back, the bar will have a nice shelf to rest on. Lift the bar off the supports and take a step back. Set your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, pull in your lower abs, squeeze your glutes, and set your head in line with your spine, keeping your eyes forward.
Descent: To begin the squat, bend your knees and hips simultaneously to lower your body. Squat as deeply as you can without allowing your trunk to move forward more than 45 degrees from vertical. Make sure your heels stay flat on the floor.
Ascent: Squeeze your glutes together and push them forward to start the ascent, which should mirror the descent. Keep your knees the same distance apart (don't let them move in or out). Your hips and shoulders need to move at the same angle--if your hips come up faster, you increase your trunk angle and risk straining your lower back. At the top, keep a slight bend in your knees.
You Can Improve Muscle Quality On the day you were conceived, the gene gods had made three decisions that you might want to quibble with as an adult, if you could:
1. Your maximum number of muscle fibers
2. Your percentages of fast- and slow-twitch fibers
3. The shapes of your muscles when fully developed
On the downside, unless you were born to anchor the 4x100 relay at next summer's Olympics, you can forget about ever reaching that goal. The athletes at the extremes—the fastest and strongest, the ones with the best-looking muscles, and the ones capable of the greatest endurance—were already at the extremes from the moment sperm swam headlong into egg.
The upside is that there's a lot of wiggle room in between. Few of us ever approach our full genetic potential. You probably will never be a freak, but with the right kind and amount of work, you can always be a little freakier than you are now.
The best way to do that is to learn to use your muscles' very own juice machine.
More Muscle Comes from More T Everyone has some testosterone—babies, little girls playing with tea sets, grandparents shuffling through the laxative aisle at CVS—but no one has hormonal increases from one year to the next like a maturing male. His level increases tenfold during puberty, starting sometime between ages 9 and 15, and he hits near-peak production in his late teens. From there, his testosterone level climbs slowly until about age 30, at which point he hits or passes a few other peaks.
His muscle mass will top out between the ages of 18 and 25, unless he intervenes with some barbell therapy. Sexual desire peaks in his early 30s. Sports performance, even among elite athletes, peaks in the late 20s and starts to decline in the early 30s.
None of this is inevitable, of course. Unless you're that elite athlete who's trained for his sport since before the short hairs sprouted, you probably have the potential to grow bigger and stronger than you've ever been. And that could also put a little of that teenage explosiveness back into your sex life.
The testosterone/muscle-mass link is pretty clear in general terms: The more you have of one, the more you get of the other. Strength training, while it doesn't necessarily make your testosterone level go up permanently, certainly makes it get a little jiggy in the short term. We know of four ways to create a temporary surge in your most important hormone.
1. Do exercises that employ the most muscle mass, such as squats, deadlifts, pullups, and dips.
2. Use heavy weights, at least 85 percent of the maximum you can lift once on any given exercise.
3. Do a lot of work during your gym time—multiple exercises, multiple sets, multiple repetitions.
4. Keep rest periods fairly short—30 to 60 seconds. Of course, you can't do all these things in the same workout. For example, when you work a lot of muscle mass with heavy weights, you can't do a high volume of exercise, nor can you work effectively with short rest periods. This is among the many reasons you should periodize your workouts, which is a polysyllabic way of saying change your workouts every few weeks, rather than do the same thing from now till the gene gods recall the merchandise.
Muscles Need More than Protein The mythology surrounding protein and muscle building could fill a book, even though the science is fairly straightforward. Your muscles are made of protein (except the four-fifths that's water), so you have to eat protein to make them grow. You also have to eat protein to keep them from shrinking, which is why men trying to lose fat without sacrificing muscle do best when they build their diets around high-quality, muscle-friendly protein from lean meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and low-fat dairy products.
But if you're young, lean, and trying to gain solid weight, a lot of extra protein may not help as much as you think. Protein has qualities that help weight loss and may curtail weight gain. First, protein is metabolically expensive for your body to process. Your body burns about 20 percent of each protein calorie just digesting it. (It burns about 8 percent of carbohydrate and 2 percent of fat during digestion.)
Second, protein creates a high level of satiety, both during meals and between them. In other words, it makes you feel fuller faster and keeps you feeling full longer between meals. (This effect does wear off as you grow accustomed to a higher-protein diet, so it may not have an impact on long-term weight gain or weight loss.)
Finally, if you eat more protein than your body needs, it will learn to use the protein for energy. You want your body to burn carbohydrates and fat for energy, obviously, so a body that's relying on protein for energy is like a car that's using pieces of its engine for fuel.
The best weight-gain strategy is to focus on calories first, protein second. You should make sure you're eating at least 2 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) of muscle mass. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so a 160-pound guy weighs about 73 kg and should take in a minimum of 146 g protein a day. But that's just 584 calories of protein, the amount you'd find in 15 ounces of chicken, two salmon fillets, or a 28-ounce steak. A protein-powder shake can amp up your totals, as well. If you need to eat more than 3,000 calories a day to gain weight, you'd better have some sweet potatoes with those steaks.
Do Deadlifts Ever watched a Strongman competition on TV? They start with large men picking something even larger up off the ground. That's a deadlift—the most basic and practical of all strength-building movements. Now, have you ever watched a Strongman competition with your wife or girlfriend? She'll notice something you probably wouldn't: Not a single one of those guys has a flat ass. So pull up a barbell: You'll be able to perform everyday feats of strength—lifting a sleeping child or a dying TV—and you'll look a lot better when she follows you upstairs to the bedroom.
Setup: Load a barbell and roll it up to your shins. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Position your shoulders over the bar as you grab it with an overhand grip, your hands just outside your knees. Keep your back in a straight line from head to pelvis. Finally, pull your shoulder blades together and down.
Just before the lift: Straighten your legs a bit to establish tension on the bar. Pull in your lower abs and squeeze your glutes.
First pull, from floor to knees: Straighten your legs while keeping your trunk and hips at or near the same angle. The bar should stay in contact with your skin at all times.
Second pull, from knees to midthighs: Stand up, driving your hips forward. Finish upright, with your shoulder blades back and down and your lower back flat.
Lowering: No need to perfectly reverse the motion; just slide the bar down your thighs and shins to the floor. Don't annoy your fellow lifters by dropping the bar.
Next repetition: Repeat the setup, letting go of the bar and regripping if necessary. You want perfect form on every repetition, and you won't get that if you bang out reps without stopping to set up properly before each lift. Remember, it's a deadlift. That means no momentum from one repetition to the next.
If you use perfect form, your lower back should give you no trouble. However, if you have preexisting back problems, your muscles may not fire properly for this exercise. Try the sumo deadlift instead. Set your feet wide apart, toes pointed slightly outward, and grip the bar overhand with your hands inside your knees. Your back will be more upright at the start, taking away some of the potential for strain.
Dip for Big Triceps Beginners almost invariably hit their triceps with light weights, limited ranges of motion, and simple, easy exercises. Which is fine . . . for beginners. For sizeaholics, the key to triceps development is lifting really, really heavy loads.
If you have time for just one triceps exercise, make it a dip. It's the big, basic movement that works all three parts of the muscle (thus the name "triceps"). And, because the bigger, stronger chest muscles are the prime movers—the ones that get your body moving from a dead-hang position—your triceps get to work against a much heavier load than they would in a triceps-isolating exercise.
How to dip: Hoist yourself up on parallel bars with your torso perpendicular to the floor; you'll maintain this posture throughout the exercise. (Leaning forward will shift emphasis to your chest and shoulders.) Bend your knees and cross your ankles. Slowly lower your body until your shoulder joints are below your elbows. (Most guys stop short of this position.) Push back up until your elbows are nearly straight but not locked.
Making progress: For most men, doing sets of dips with their own body weight is challenging enough. But when you reach a point at which you can do multiple sets of 10 dips, you want to add weight. The best way is to attach a weight plate or dumbbell to a rope or chain that's attached to a weight belt. Many gyms have belts specially designed for weighted dips and chinups. Another solution, especially if you work out at home, is to wear a backpack with weight plates inside it.
But the more weight you add, the more careful you have to be. Always lower yourself slowly—you don't ever want to pop down and up quickly on a weighted dip, unless you think you'll relish the feeling of your pectoral muscles detaching from your breastbone.
Precautions: Aside from the pec-tearing thing, you want to protect your shoulders. If you have preexisting shoulder problems, or feel pain there the first few times you try dips, you should skip them.
A comparable but more shoulder-friendly exercise is the decline close-grip bench press, using a barbell or dumbbells held together.
Run Less to Grow Faster Running doesn't build muscle mass. If it did, marathoners would have legs like defensive linemen, and workers in Boston would have to repave the streets each year following the city's signature race. But running shrinks muscle fibers to make them more metabolically efficient, thereby saving the pavement.
You'd think you could get around this by lifting weights in addition to running, but your body negates that work through a mysterious "interference effect." Your type II fibers—the biggest ones—will still grow if you run and lift. But your type I fibers won't, and even though they're smaller than the type IIs, they probably comprise 50 percent of the muscle fibers in your body that have any growth potential.
Cut back on your running program and you'll see growth in both your slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, and perhaps finally get your body to look the way you think it should.
Excerpted from The Book of Muscle (Rodale, 2003).
By: Lou Schuler & Ian King
Your body has about 650 muscles. It doesn't matter that you only care about four or five of them. You need every one in order to perform the normal functions of everyday life—eating, breathing, walking, holding in your stomach at the beach.
Granted, you don't need to spend a lot of time thinking about most of your muscles. The 200 muscles involved in walking do the job whether you monitor them or not.
You could try to impress your friends at parties by telling them the gluteus maximus is the body's strongest muscle, or that the latissimus dorsi (in your middle back) is the largest, or that a middle-ear muscle called the stapedius is the smallest. But it probably won't work, unless you have some really unusual friends. And muscle trivia can't capture the wonder of muscles themselves—the brilliance of coordinated muscles in motion, the magnificence of well-developed muscles in isolation.
We hope, in the following story, to help you understand a little more about how your muscles work, and thus how to make them bigger, stronger, and more aesthetically pleasing (if you're into that sort of thing). You can accomplish all three, if you know what's going on beneath the surface.
Shop smarter! Know the 125 best foods at the supermarket.
Muscle Fibers Do Different Things Your skeletal muscles—the ones you check out in the mirror—have two main types of fibers.
Type I fibers, also called slow-twitch, are used mainly for endurance activities. Type II, or fast-twitch, begin to work when a task utilizes more than 25 percent of your maximum strength. A movement doesn't have to be "slow" for the slow-twitch fibers to take over; it just has to be an action that doesn't require much of your fast-twitch strength. And an effort doesn't have to be "fast" to call your fast-twitch fibers into play.
A personal-record bench press is going to use every possible fast-twitch fiber (plus all the slow-twitchers, as we'll explain below), even though the bar probably isn't moving very fast.
Most people are thought to have a more or less equal mix of slow- and fast-twitch fibers. (Elite athletes are obvious exceptions—a gifted marathoner was probably born with more slow- than fast-twitch fibers, just as an Olympic-champion sprinter or NFL running back probably started life with more fast-twitch fibers.) However, the fast-twitch fibers are twice as big as the slow ones, with the potential to get even bigger. Slow-twitch fibers can get bigger, too, although not to the same extent.
So one strategy comes immediately to mind . . .
To Grow Large, Lift Large When you begin a task, no matter if it's as simple as getting out of bed or as complex as swinging a golf club, your muscles operate on two basic principles of physiology:
1. The all-or-nothing principle states that either a muscle fiber gets into the action or it doesn't. (As Yoda said, long ago in a galaxy far away, "There is no try.") If it's in, it's all the way in. So when you get up to walk to the bathroom, incredibly enough, a small percentage of your muscle fibers are working as hard as they can to get you there. And, more important, all the other fibers are inactive.
2. The size principle requires that the smallest muscle fibers get into a task first. If the task—a biceps curl, for example—requires less than 25 percent of your biceps' strength, then the slow-twitch fibers will handle it by themselves. When the weight exceeds 25 percent of their strength, the type II, fast-twitch fibers jump in. The closer you get to the limits of your strength, the more fast-twitch fibers get involved.
Here's why this is important: One of the most pervasive myths in the muscle world is that merely exhausting a muscle will bring all its fibers into play. So, in theory, if you did a lot of repetitions with a light weight, eventually your biggest type II fibers would help out because the smaller fibers would be too tired to lift the weight.
But the size principle tells you that the biggest fibers are the Mafia hit men of your body. They don't help the underlings collect money from deadbeats. They suit up only when the work calls for their special talents, and when no one else can be trusted to do the job right.
In other words, a guy who's trying to build as much muscle as possible must eventually work with weights that require something close to an all-out effort. Otherwise, the highest-threshold fibers would never spring into action. Moreover, the smaller fibers don't need any special high-repetition program of their own, since the size principle also says that if the big fibers are pushed to the max, the small ones are getting blasted, too.
Building Muscles Saves Your Bones Many have tried to disparage the squat, framing it as an exercise that's brutal to back and knees. The charges never stick. Sure, the exercise can be tough on the knees, but no tougher than full-court basketball or other full-bore sports.
And for guys with healthy backs and knees, the squat is among the best exercises for strength, mass, sports performance, and even long-term health. The heavy loads build muscle size and strength, along with bone density, and thicker bones will serve you well when you finally break into that 401(k). So you won't be the guy who fractures his hip and ends up in a nursing home, although you'll probably pay some visits to your nonsquatting friends.
Setup: Set a bar in supports that are just below shoulder height and load the weight plates. (Be conservative with these weights if you've never squatted before. There's a learning curve.) Grab the bar with your hands just outside your shoulders, then step under the bar and rest it on your back. When you pull your shoulder blades together in back, the bar will have a nice shelf to rest on. Lift the bar off the supports and take a step back. Set your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, pull in your lower abs, squeeze your glutes, and set your head in line with your spine, keeping your eyes forward.
Descent: To begin the squat, bend your knees and hips simultaneously to lower your body. Squat as deeply as you can without allowing your trunk to move forward more than 45 degrees from vertical. Make sure your heels stay flat on the floor.
Ascent: Squeeze your glutes together and push them forward to start the ascent, which should mirror the descent. Keep your knees the same distance apart (don't let them move in or out). Your hips and shoulders need to move at the same angle--if your hips come up faster, you increase your trunk angle and risk straining your lower back. At the top, keep a slight bend in your knees.
You Can Improve Muscle Quality On the day you were conceived, the gene gods had made three decisions that you might want to quibble with as an adult, if you could:
1. Your maximum number of muscle fibers
2. Your percentages of fast- and slow-twitch fibers
3. The shapes of your muscles when fully developed
On the downside, unless you were born to anchor the 4x100 relay at next summer's Olympics, you can forget about ever reaching that goal. The athletes at the extremes—the fastest and strongest, the ones with the best-looking muscles, and the ones capable of the greatest endurance—were already at the extremes from the moment sperm swam headlong into egg.
The upside is that there's a lot of wiggle room in between. Few of us ever approach our full genetic potential. You probably will never be a freak, but with the right kind and amount of work, you can always be a little freakier than you are now.
The best way to do that is to learn to use your muscles' very own juice machine.
More Muscle Comes from More T Everyone has some testosterone—babies, little girls playing with tea sets, grandparents shuffling through the laxative aisle at CVS—but no one has hormonal increases from one year to the next like a maturing male. His level increases tenfold during puberty, starting sometime between ages 9 and 15, and he hits near-peak production in his late teens. From there, his testosterone level climbs slowly until about age 30, at which point he hits or passes a few other peaks.
His muscle mass will top out between the ages of 18 and 25, unless he intervenes with some barbell therapy. Sexual desire peaks in his early 30s. Sports performance, even among elite athletes, peaks in the late 20s and starts to decline in the early 30s.
None of this is inevitable, of course. Unless you're that elite athlete who's trained for his sport since before the short hairs sprouted, you probably have the potential to grow bigger and stronger than you've ever been. And that could also put a little of that teenage explosiveness back into your sex life.
The testosterone/muscle-mass link is pretty clear in general terms: The more you have of one, the more you get of the other. Strength training, while it doesn't necessarily make your testosterone level go up permanently, certainly makes it get a little jiggy in the short term. We know of four ways to create a temporary surge in your most important hormone.
1. Do exercises that employ the most muscle mass, such as squats, deadlifts, pullups, and dips.
2. Use heavy weights, at least 85 percent of the maximum you can lift once on any given exercise.
3. Do a lot of work during your gym time—multiple exercises, multiple sets, multiple repetitions.
4. Keep rest periods fairly short—30 to 60 seconds. Of course, you can't do all these things in the same workout. For example, when you work a lot of muscle mass with heavy weights, you can't do a high volume of exercise, nor can you work effectively with short rest periods. This is among the many reasons you should periodize your workouts, which is a polysyllabic way of saying change your workouts every few weeks, rather than do the same thing from now till the gene gods recall the merchandise.
Muscles Need More than Protein The mythology surrounding protein and muscle building could fill a book, even though the science is fairly straightforward. Your muscles are made of protein (except the four-fifths that's water), so you have to eat protein to make them grow. You also have to eat protein to keep them from shrinking, which is why men trying to lose fat without sacrificing muscle do best when they build their diets around high-quality, muscle-friendly protein from lean meat, fish, eggs, poultry, and low-fat dairy products.
But if you're young, lean, and trying to gain solid weight, a lot of extra protein may not help as much as you think. Protein has qualities that help weight loss and may curtail weight gain. First, protein is metabolically expensive for your body to process. Your body burns about 20 percent of each protein calorie just digesting it. (It burns about 8 percent of carbohydrate and 2 percent of fat during digestion.)
Second, protein creates a high level of satiety, both during meals and between them. In other words, it makes you feel fuller faster and keeps you feeling full longer between meals. (This effect does wear off as you grow accustomed to a higher-protein diet, so it may not have an impact on long-term weight gain or weight loss.)
Finally, if you eat more protein than your body needs, it will learn to use the protein for energy. You want your body to burn carbohydrates and fat for energy, obviously, so a body that's relying on protein for energy is like a car that's using pieces of its engine for fuel.
The best weight-gain strategy is to focus on calories first, protein second. You should make sure you're eating at least 2 grams (g) of protein per kilogram (kg) of muscle mass. A kilogram is 2.2 pounds, so a 160-pound guy weighs about 73 kg and should take in a minimum of 146 g protein a day. But that's just 584 calories of protein, the amount you'd find in 15 ounces of chicken, two salmon fillets, or a 28-ounce steak. A protein-powder shake can amp up your totals, as well. If you need to eat more than 3,000 calories a day to gain weight, you'd better have some sweet potatoes with those steaks.
Do Deadlifts Ever watched a Strongman competition on TV? They start with large men picking something even larger up off the ground. That's a deadlift—the most basic and practical of all strength-building movements. Now, have you ever watched a Strongman competition with your wife or girlfriend? She'll notice something you probably wouldn't: Not a single one of those guys has a flat ass. So pull up a barbell: You'll be able to perform everyday feats of strength—lifting a sleeping child or a dying TV—and you'll look a lot better when she follows you upstairs to the bedroom.
Setup: Load a barbell and roll it up to your shins. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Position your shoulders over the bar as you grab it with an overhand grip, your hands just outside your knees. Keep your back in a straight line from head to pelvis. Finally, pull your shoulder blades together and down.
Just before the lift: Straighten your legs a bit to establish tension on the bar. Pull in your lower abs and squeeze your glutes.
First pull, from floor to knees: Straighten your legs while keeping your trunk and hips at or near the same angle. The bar should stay in contact with your skin at all times.
Second pull, from knees to midthighs: Stand up, driving your hips forward. Finish upright, with your shoulder blades back and down and your lower back flat.
Lowering: No need to perfectly reverse the motion; just slide the bar down your thighs and shins to the floor. Don't annoy your fellow lifters by dropping the bar.
Next repetition: Repeat the setup, letting go of the bar and regripping if necessary. You want perfect form on every repetition, and you won't get that if you bang out reps without stopping to set up properly before each lift. Remember, it's a deadlift. That means no momentum from one repetition to the next.
If you use perfect form, your lower back should give you no trouble. However, if you have preexisting back problems, your muscles may not fire properly for this exercise. Try the sumo deadlift instead. Set your feet wide apart, toes pointed slightly outward, and grip the bar overhand with your hands inside your knees. Your back will be more upright at the start, taking away some of the potential for strain.
Dip for Big Triceps Beginners almost invariably hit their triceps with light weights, limited ranges of motion, and simple, easy exercises. Which is fine . . . for beginners. For sizeaholics, the key to triceps development is lifting really, really heavy loads.
If you have time for just one triceps exercise, make it a dip. It's the big, basic movement that works all three parts of the muscle (thus the name "triceps"). And, because the bigger, stronger chest muscles are the prime movers—the ones that get your body moving from a dead-hang position—your triceps get to work against a much heavier load than they would in a triceps-isolating exercise.
How to dip: Hoist yourself up on parallel bars with your torso perpendicular to the floor; you'll maintain this posture throughout the exercise. (Leaning forward will shift emphasis to your chest and shoulders.) Bend your knees and cross your ankles. Slowly lower your body until your shoulder joints are below your elbows. (Most guys stop short of this position.) Push back up until your elbows are nearly straight but not locked.
Making progress: For most men, doing sets of dips with their own body weight is challenging enough. But when you reach a point at which you can do multiple sets of 10 dips, you want to add weight. The best way is to attach a weight plate or dumbbell to a rope or chain that's attached to a weight belt. Many gyms have belts specially designed for weighted dips and chinups. Another solution, especially if you work out at home, is to wear a backpack with weight plates inside it.
But the more weight you add, the more careful you have to be. Always lower yourself slowly—you don't ever want to pop down and up quickly on a weighted dip, unless you think you'll relish the feeling of your pectoral muscles detaching from your breastbone.
Precautions: Aside from the pec-tearing thing, you want to protect your shoulders. If you have preexisting shoulder problems, or feel pain there the first few times you try dips, you should skip them.
A comparable but more shoulder-friendly exercise is the decline close-grip bench press, using a barbell or dumbbells held together.
Run Less to Grow Faster Running doesn't build muscle mass. If it did, marathoners would have legs like defensive linemen, and workers in Boston would have to repave the streets each year following the city's signature race. But running shrinks muscle fibers to make them more metabolically efficient, thereby saving the pavement.
You'd think you could get around this by lifting weights in addition to running, but your body negates that work through a mysterious "interference effect." Your type II fibers—the biggest ones—will still grow if you run and lift. But your type I fibers won't, and even though they're smaller than the type IIs, they probably comprise 50 percent of the muscle fibers in your body that have any growth potential.
Cut back on your running program and you'll see growth in both your slow- and fast-twitch muscle fibers, and perhaps finally get your body to look the way you think it should.
Excerpted from The Book of Muscle (Rodale, 2003).
Celebrity Weight Loss
Celebrity Weight Loss: John Goodman
How John Goodman Lost 100 Pounds
The veteran actor explains his journey and weight-loss goals
By: Paul Kita Men's Health writer Paul Kita recently talked to John Goodman about the actor's tremendous weight loss. How'd he do it? Read on for the complete interview.
I'm glad we got you on board for this, and I appreciate you talking to us. I guess the logical place to start is that for most of your life you were overweight. What was the turning point for you? When was your wake-up call?
It's been constant. It's always been in the back of my mind. It just ate at me the whole time. That may be part of the reason I shoved food in my mouth so much. That satisfaction. But what clicked was three years ago I did a Santa Clause movie. I looked at it and I was really unhappy about the way I looked. For years, at Christmas-time I'd get fed up and make a resolution, and I'd lose 60 pounds, 65 pounds. And then I was off to the races again in the summer. I'd just eat whatever I want, and the big key was drinking. I'm an alcoholic.
So I went to a man named Mackie Shilstone in New Orleans, who is our own fitness guru. He trains Serena Williams. He's trained many boxers. He brought Ozzy Smith back--gave him a few more years in his career.
I set up a program with him, medically, first.
This was three years ago, before the Santa Clause movie?
[That] was what triggered me going to Mackie. I was living in New Orleans, and I thought, I might as well try this guy because he's the best, and we worked out a good program. I lost about 70 pounds and went to Germany to do a movie, and I was still drinking. I was working out during this time. My knees are shot. I've got arthritic knees and I need to replace both of them. So I get on an elliptical machine and a recumbent bike. I was working out, but I was still drinking and everything that goes along with that, which is the food and everything else. Right after I got back from Germany, I got sober.
And that was the final key you needed to complete this--
Yeah. I had to clear out my own house first. It was built on a bad foundation.
Can you tell me a little about this trainer? Is he a character?
Not at all. He's a pretty solid guy, probably the smallest football player who ever played for Tulane. God, he might be 5'8". Maybe 100--hell, I'm not good at guessing weight. Or I'd be in a carnival. Hell, I am in a carnival anyway. But, man, he's just a walking encyclopedia. I don't know why he doesn't have a doctorate because he's up on everything to do with medical advancements, vitamins, nutrition. He's got it all. It's like talking to a computer when you talk to him.
So he does all the work for you and he just kicks your ass?
Hah. He doesn't do it, but he's got a system there in New Orleans in association with East Jefferson Hospital, where we have doctors at our disposal, a nutritionist and trainers. So he hooked me up with a trainer and this time I did a lot of cardio at home. Forty minutes of cardio in the morning and 40 in the afternoon.
What kind of cardio?
I can only do the elliptical and the recumbent bike. I used to walk a lot. But the knees kicked in. It's just poison. I paid for it. I loved to walk, but...
So all cardio?
This time we mixed in strength training with resistance bands. They're great for me because I can contract and release slower, and that builds up better muscle for me. And a key thing was boxing twice a week. I was doing a job in New Orleans twice a week called Treme. I was only working a couple days a week. I wanted to treat this other thing (exercise) like a job--to get healthy.
I trained with a man named Axel Murillo for boxing, and what we do is like 12 [rounds]. Right now I'm built up to 2 minutes and 15 seconds of throwing punches and a minute of rest. And that's a round. But doing that twice a week I think really helped me with the twisting, the turning and the throwing, and it gets my heart up to about 140.
Read on to find out what John Goodman eats to keep the pounds off...
It's interesting that not only did you have to lose this weight, but it seems like you can repair the damage that had been done from years of being overweight.
Yeah. It's a life of rehab. But it's a labor of love. And I think the key to the cardio was finding the rate my heart should be at to burn the most fat--which for me is 106 to 116--and staying there as long as possible.
Do you like it, or is this grueling?
I do. I'm still a sucker for highs, and I get those endorphins. It's just a feeling of well-being. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm doing what I should be doing. I feel good. I'm hopefully extending my life. Before, I didn't care.
Can you explain a little about the relationship you had between stress and these food and alcohol binges?
Alcohol is alcohol. I'm an alcoholic. I would drink no matter what. That's just part of being an alcoholic--you find any excuse. But as for the stress, I've lived a stressful life. I've made it more stressful by drinking and using drugs, and the business I have chosen is always a nail-biter. You bitch when you're not working, and when you work you bitch about the people you're working with. It was really hairy for a long time, and there was the constant threat of unemployment. For some reason I just denied what I was doing to myself. It's a miracle anyone would hire me at all, looking at me. I looked like a walking heart attack.
Why did you break those Christmas promises you made yourself every year?
It was all alcohol-related.
The alcohol would enter the picture, and food would follow?
Yeah. It took a lot of work to maintain my physique. A lot of fudgy-wudgies and krispy-krispies.
What kind of food are you eating now?
What I enjoy doing is making smoothies for myself after a workout. With some protein powder and whey powder and fruits. And I'm lactose intolerant, so I eat soy yogurt and soy milk. But also fresh vegetables, lean protein. Fourth of July I'm going to treat myself to a kosher hot dog. I'm not a real hard-on about keeping strict calorie counts. I know what's in my wheelhouse, what I can eat and what I can't. And I'm satisfied eating it. I cannot tolerate sugar. I crossed over to the diabetic side, but I can't tolerate it anyway because it creates hunger.
Do you have a total goal for this? How much weight have you lost since you started?
I'm pushing 100--I haven't weighed myself in a couple of weeks. My goal is reducing my body-fat percentage--to what's healthy--and waistline, and to see if I can get into stores where real people shop for clothes.
At your max you were about how much, would you estimate?
I would say I was hanging around 375, and when I started this time I was at 368.
John, has this always been a problem for you?
It started when I was a kid. I'd lock myself in the house and sneak food. It gave me great pleasure to eat--it's part of an alcoholism personality. And then I grew up and found football. My brother sent me to the YMCA when I was probably in 7th grade. And that helped a lot, the organized stuff and swimming. And then I kind of grew out of it. After I stopped playing football I kept eating like I was playing football. When I was playing football I couldn't gain any weight. I tried everything.
Weight to some extent is a part of your persona. Your character in The Big Lebowski is a very domineering man. I don't know if the same ferocity could have come from a skinny man. Are you at all worried about losing this weight and having people perceive you differently in the acting realm?
Hey, that's too bad. I'll scream and cry when I'm in the unemployment line, but that's really secondary. I am what I am. I can act at different weights. It's a miracle I was hired at all for a lot of these jobs.
Did you ever look to other actors around you who had similar weight issues? John Candy with his heart attack and the like--did those deaths affect your mentality?
No. I was in a world of denial--"Too bad for him." You never really think about it, but you do. It's in the back of your mind. Subconsciously you try to block it out.
So when you look in the mirror now as opposed to three years ago, what's going through your head?
I try not to look in the mirror. And I'm not that reflective--no pun intended. I am where I am now and I don't dwell on the past or pat myself on the back too much. Because this could all go away tomorrow.
How John Goodman Lost 100 Pounds
The veteran actor explains his journey and weight-loss goals
By: Paul Kita Men's Health writer Paul Kita recently talked to John Goodman about the actor's tremendous weight loss. How'd he do it? Read on for the complete interview.
I'm glad we got you on board for this, and I appreciate you talking to us. I guess the logical place to start is that for most of your life you were overweight. What was the turning point for you? When was your wake-up call?
It's been constant. It's always been in the back of my mind. It just ate at me the whole time. That may be part of the reason I shoved food in my mouth so much. That satisfaction. But what clicked was three years ago I did a Santa Clause movie. I looked at it and I was really unhappy about the way I looked. For years, at Christmas-time I'd get fed up and make a resolution, and I'd lose 60 pounds, 65 pounds. And then I was off to the races again in the summer. I'd just eat whatever I want, and the big key was drinking. I'm an alcoholic.
So I went to a man named Mackie Shilstone in New Orleans, who is our own fitness guru. He trains Serena Williams. He's trained many boxers. He brought Ozzy Smith back--gave him a few more years in his career.
I set up a program with him, medically, first.
This was three years ago, before the Santa Clause movie?
[That] was what triggered me going to Mackie. I was living in New Orleans, and I thought, I might as well try this guy because he's the best, and we worked out a good program. I lost about 70 pounds and went to Germany to do a movie, and I was still drinking. I was working out during this time. My knees are shot. I've got arthritic knees and I need to replace both of them. So I get on an elliptical machine and a recumbent bike. I was working out, but I was still drinking and everything that goes along with that, which is the food and everything else. Right after I got back from Germany, I got sober.
And that was the final key you needed to complete this--
Yeah. I had to clear out my own house first. It was built on a bad foundation.
Can you tell me a little about this trainer? Is he a character?
Not at all. He's a pretty solid guy, probably the smallest football player who ever played for Tulane. God, he might be 5'8". Maybe 100--hell, I'm not good at guessing weight. Or I'd be in a carnival. Hell, I am in a carnival anyway. But, man, he's just a walking encyclopedia. I don't know why he doesn't have a doctorate because he's up on everything to do with medical advancements, vitamins, nutrition. He's got it all. It's like talking to a computer when you talk to him.
So he does all the work for you and he just kicks your ass?
Hah. He doesn't do it, but he's got a system there in New Orleans in association with East Jefferson Hospital, where we have doctors at our disposal, a nutritionist and trainers. So he hooked me up with a trainer and this time I did a lot of cardio at home. Forty minutes of cardio in the morning and 40 in the afternoon.
What kind of cardio?
I can only do the elliptical and the recumbent bike. I used to walk a lot. But the knees kicked in. It's just poison. I paid for it. I loved to walk, but...
So all cardio?
This time we mixed in strength training with resistance bands. They're great for me because I can contract and release slower, and that builds up better muscle for me. And a key thing was boxing twice a week. I was doing a job in New Orleans twice a week called Treme. I was only working a couple days a week. I wanted to treat this other thing (exercise) like a job--to get healthy.
I trained with a man named Axel Murillo for boxing, and what we do is like 12 [rounds]. Right now I'm built up to 2 minutes and 15 seconds of throwing punches and a minute of rest. And that's a round. But doing that twice a week I think really helped me with the twisting, the turning and the throwing, and it gets my heart up to about 140.
Read on to find out what John Goodman eats to keep the pounds off...
It's interesting that not only did you have to lose this weight, but it seems like you can repair the damage that had been done from years of being overweight.
Yeah. It's a life of rehab. But it's a labor of love. And I think the key to the cardio was finding the rate my heart should be at to burn the most fat--which for me is 106 to 116--and staying there as long as possible.
Do you like it, or is this grueling?
I do. I'm still a sucker for highs, and I get those endorphins. It's just a feeling of well-being. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm doing what I should be doing. I feel good. I'm hopefully extending my life. Before, I didn't care.
Can you explain a little about the relationship you had between stress and these food and alcohol binges?
Alcohol is alcohol. I'm an alcoholic. I would drink no matter what. That's just part of being an alcoholic--you find any excuse. But as for the stress, I've lived a stressful life. I've made it more stressful by drinking and using drugs, and the business I have chosen is always a nail-biter. You bitch when you're not working, and when you work you bitch about the people you're working with. It was really hairy for a long time, and there was the constant threat of unemployment. For some reason I just denied what I was doing to myself. It's a miracle anyone would hire me at all, looking at me. I looked like a walking heart attack.
Why did you break those Christmas promises you made yourself every year?
It was all alcohol-related.
The alcohol would enter the picture, and food would follow?
Yeah. It took a lot of work to maintain my physique. A lot of fudgy-wudgies and krispy-krispies.
What kind of food are you eating now?
What I enjoy doing is making smoothies for myself after a workout. With some protein powder and whey powder and fruits. And I'm lactose intolerant, so I eat soy yogurt and soy milk. But also fresh vegetables, lean protein. Fourth of July I'm going to treat myself to a kosher hot dog. I'm not a real hard-on about keeping strict calorie counts. I know what's in my wheelhouse, what I can eat and what I can't. And I'm satisfied eating it. I cannot tolerate sugar. I crossed over to the diabetic side, but I can't tolerate it anyway because it creates hunger.
Do you have a total goal for this? How much weight have you lost since you started?
I'm pushing 100--I haven't weighed myself in a couple of weeks. My goal is reducing my body-fat percentage--to what's healthy--and waistline, and to see if I can get into stores where real people shop for clothes.
At your max you were about how much, would you estimate?
I would say I was hanging around 375, and when I started this time I was at 368.
John, has this always been a problem for you?
It started when I was a kid. I'd lock myself in the house and sneak food. It gave me great pleasure to eat--it's part of an alcoholism personality. And then I grew up and found football. My brother sent me to the YMCA when I was probably in 7th grade. And that helped a lot, the organized stuff and swimming. And then I kind of grew out of it. After I stopped playing football I kept eating like I was playing football. When I was playing football I couldn't gain any weight. I tried everything.
Weight to some extent is a part of your persona. Your character in The Big Lebowski is a very domineering man. I don't know if the same ferocity could have come from a skinny man. Are you at all worried about losing this weight and having people perceive you differently in the acting realm?
Hey, that's too bad. I'll scream and cry when I'm in the unemployment line, but that's really secondary. I am what I am. I can act at different weights. It's a miracle I was hired at all for a lot of these jobs.
Did you ever look to other actors around you who had similar weight issues? John Candy with his heart attack and the like--did those deaths affect your mentality?
No. I was in a world of denial--"Too bad for him." You never really think about it, but you do. It's in the back of your mind. Subconsciously you try to block it out.
So when you look in the mirror now as opposed to three years ago, what's going through your head?
I try not to look in the mirror. And I'm not that reflective--no pun intended. I am where I am now and I don't dwell on the past or pat myself on the back too much. Because this could all go away tomorrow.
5 Myths About Antioxidants
5 Myths About Antioxidants
It's billed as an epic story of good versus evil—biology in comic-book form. The villains: free radicals, those nefarious DNA-attacking poisons of modern life. Our fearless defenders: antioxidants, poised to protect us from—well, everything, right? You've heard the claims:
They cure cancer!
They prevent aging!
They supercharge your immune system!
But while we think we know what antioxidants do, few of us know what antioxidants actually are. And food manufacturers are fine with that; the less you know, the more likely you are to swallow the hype. " Antioxidants have a health aura around them," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "They are supposed to fight something bad in your body. Who wouldn't want to consume more of a helper like that?"
There's no doubt that antioxidants can be good for you. But to maximize their benefit, we first have to strip away some assumptions.
Free Radicals Must Be Destroyed Not so fast.
The basics: Antioxidants fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules in the body that can cause DNA mutation. Even though free radicals have been linked to serious conditions like heart disease, Parkinson's, and cancer, they aren't necessarily villains--they're by-products of a basic metabolic process called oxidation. "They're absolutely essential to life," says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the antioxidants lab at Tufts University. "For example, immune cells will shoot free radicals onto invading bacteria in order to kill them. They're an important part of the body's defenses."
Too many free radicals, on the other hand, are harmful. Pollutants, cigarette smoke, and sun overexposure can generate so many free radicals that your normal antioxidant defenses become overwhelmed, leaving you vulnerable to cell damage and disease. Some researchers also link free-radical oxidation with aging.
That's where antioxidants come in. "We need to make sure we have adequate antioxidant defenses to combat all the excess free radicals," says Blumberg.
Do this: Assuming you've curbed bad habits such as smoking and excessive tanning, turn to your diet. If you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, your diet is naturally rich in thousands of antioxidants. Studies suggest eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reap the most health benefits.
All Antioxidants Are Created Equal Not even close.
Any molecule that protects your cells against oxidation is technically an antioxidant, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. "They're anti-oxidation." This includes familiar nutrients, like vitamins, as well as more unfamiliar types of antioxidants, like flavonoids and polyphenols—about 8,000 varieties in all.
But don't assume that all antioxidants operate the same way, Blumberg warns. "You can't say, 'Well, I'm not going to worry about taking in enough vitamin E, because I take lots of vitamin C.' All the vitamin C in the world won't substitute for vitamin E," says Blumberg. Some antioxidants excel at fighting certain types of free radicals (yep, there are different varieties of those, too) while others are effective only in specific parts of a cell. Still others can battle free radicals only under the right conditions.
"Think of antioxidants as an army," he says. "You need generals, lieutenants, corporals, privates, and others with specific duties. You can't fight an enemy with only generals." So how do you create an effective defense system in the battle for your life? By building a multipronged counteroffensive—er, diet.
Do this: Branch out and try something new in the produce aisle. In a 2006 study, researchers at Colorado State University found that people who ate the widest variety of fruits and vegetables had the most DNA protection.
All Antioxidants Come from Fruits and Vegetables Nope.
The entire plant kingdom—including beans, nuts, seeds, and grains—is awash in antioxidants, according to a recent study from the University of Scranton. That's because all plants produce antioxidants to fight against predators and UV rays, says Vinson. It's important to steer clear of refined grains, though; they've been stripped of most of their antioxidant benefits.
Even meat, dairy products, and eggs contain some antioxidants, which mainly come from the nutrient-rich plants the animals fed on.
Do this: Eat whole-grain foods, beans, nuts, and seeds regularly. When animals are on the menu, make sure they've been grass-fed; meat and dairy products from these better-fed beasts have been shown to contain higher levels of antioxidants. Eggs from pastured hens also rank higher in antioxidants—look for them at farmers' markets.
Antioxidant-Fortified Foods Are Healthier Not really.
The ink was barely dry on early antioxidant studies when food companies started slapping the A-word on their packaging. You can even chug an antioxidant-fortified version of Cherry 7UP. The FDA requires food manufacturers to list the variety of antioxidant in a product; that part is often in fine print. Look closely, and the label reveals that you're receiving a tiny helping of vitamin E. Perhaps "Cherry 7UP Vitamin E" didn't sound as impressive.
If you're relying on processed foods to supplement your antioxidant intake, you may be surprised to find that many processed foods have relatively small amounts of just one or two kinds. Since variety is critical, you probably aren't making up for lost ground.
Do this: Ignore the hype—there's no research to prove that packaged products provide the same health benefits that whole foods do. Instead, focus on the ingredient list. If a food product contains mostly plant foods, it's likely to be rich in antioxidants.
If I Exercise and Take Supplements, I'll Be Superfit Maybe not.
Working out leads to more oxidation and an increase in free radicals. That's not a bad thing. "Since free-radical production is a normal response to exercise, taking a large dose of antioxidants right after a workout could interfere with the natural, beneficial response to exercise," says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S., a Men's Health weight-loss expert. The logic is unexpected but clear: Scientists speculate that the oxidative stress triggered by exercise promotes insulin sensitivity and weight loss, and possibly reduces your risk of diabetes.
Case in point: A 2009 German study found that when exercisers took antioxidant supplements (vitamins C and E), they weren't rewarded with the typical postexercise boost in insulin sensitivity. So much for that well-intentioned antioxidant-fortified recovery drink. Michael Ristow, M.D., an author of the study and chairman of the department of human nutrition at the University of Jena, Germany, speculates that other antioxidant supplements might have similar negative effects, though more study is needed.
Supplements can even sap your power: A 2006 British study found that runners who took 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily for a week lost muscle strength.
Do this: If you're exercising to lose weight, your antioxidants should come from whole foods, not from supplements or antioxidant-enhanced food products. When it comes to antioxidants, more isn't always better.
How Antioxidants Work
Normal cellular processes—as well as stressors like cigarette smoke and sunburn—trigger your body to produce excessive amounts of cell-damaging molecules called free radicals. Here's how antioxidants can come to the defense.
1. When a molecule loses an electron, it becomes a reactive free radical with an extra, unpaired electron.
2. The free radical tries to steal an electron from a nearby molecule to regain balance.
3. This can create another free radical, causing a chain reaction that can damage cell components, including DNA. This can lead to possible health problems ranging from a weakened immune system to cancer.
4. An antioxidant molecule can neutralize a free radical by giving up one of its own electrons. Unlike a free radical, it's able to maintain stability by redistributing its electrons.
It's billed as an epic story of good versus evil—biology in comic-book form. The villains: free radicals, those nefarious DNA-attacking poisons of modern life. Our fearless defenders: antioxidants, poised to protect us from—well, everything, right? You've heard the claims:
They cure cancer!
They prevent aging!
They supercharge your immune system!
But while we think we know what antioxidants do, few of us know what antioxidants actually are. And food manufacturers are fine with that; the less you know, the more likely you are to swallow the hype. " Antioxidants have a health aura around them," says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. "They are supposed to fight something bad in your body. Who wouldn't want to consume more of a helper like that?"
There's no doubt that antioxidants can be good for you. But to maximize their benefit, we first have to strip away some assumptions.
Free Radicals Must Be Destroyed Not so fast.
The basics: Antioxidants fight free radicals, which are unstable molecules in the body that can cause DNA mutation. Even though free radicals have been linked to serious conditions like heart disease, Parkinson's, and cancer, they aren't necessarily villains--they're by-products of a basic metabolic process called oxidation. "They're absolutely essential to life," says Jeffrey Blumberg, Ph.D., director of the antioxidants lab at Tufts University. "For example, immune cells will shoot free radicals onto invading bacteria in order to kill them. They're an important part of the body's defenses."
Too many free radicals, on the other hand, are harmful. Pollutants, cigarette smoke, and sun overexposure can generate so many free radicals that your normal antioxidant defenses become overwhelmed, leaving you vulnerable to cell damage and disease. Some researchers also link free-radical oxidation with aging.
That's where antioxidants come in. "We need to make sure we have adequate antioxidant defenses to combat all the excess free radicals," says Blumberg.
Do this: Assuming you've curbed bad habits such as smoking and excessive tanning, turn to your diet. If you eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, your diet is naturally rich in thousands of antioxidants. Studies suggest eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to reap the most health benefits.
All Antioxidants Are Created Equal Not even close.
Any molecule that protects your cells against oxidation is technically an antioxidant, says Joe Vinson, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. "They're anti-oxidation." This includes familiar nutrients, like vitamins, as well as more unfamiliar types of antioxidants, like flavonoids and polyphenols—about 8,000 varieties in all.
But don't assume that all antioxidants operate the same way, Blumberg warns. "You can't say, 'Well, I'm not going to worry about taking in enough vitamin E, because I take lots of vitamin C.' All the vitamin C in the world won't substitute for vitamin E," says Blumberg. Some antioxidants excel at fighting certain types of free radicals (yep, there are different varieties of those, too) while others are effective only in specific parts of a cell. Still others can battle free radicals only under the right conditions.
"Think of antioxidants as an army," he says. "You need generals, lieutenants, corporals, privates, and others with specific duties. You can't fight an enemy with only generals." So how do you create an effective defense system in the battle for your life? By building a multipronged counteroffensive—er, diet.
Do this: Branch out and try something new in the produce aisle. In a 2006 study, researchers at Colorado State University found that people who ate the widest variety of fruits and vegetables had the most DNA protection.
All Antioxidants Come from Fruits and Vegetables Nope.
The entire plant kingdom—including beans, nuts, seeds, and grains—is awash in antioxidants, according to a recent study from the University of Scranton. That's because all plants produce antioxidants to fight against predators and UV rays, says Vinson. It's important to steer clear of refined grains, though; they've been stripped of most of their antioxidant benefits.
Even meat, dairy products, and eggs contain some antioxidants, which mainly come from the nutrient-rich plants the animals fed on.
Do this: Eat whole-grain foods, beans, nuts, and seeds regularly. When animals are on the menu, make sure they've been grass-fed; meat and dairy products from these better-fed beasts have been shown to contain higher levels of antioxidants. Eggs from pastured hens also rank higher in antioxidants—look for them at farmers' markets.
Antioxidant-Fortified Foods Are Healthier Not really.
The ink was barely dry on early antioxidant studies when food companies started slapping the A-word on their packaging. You can even chug an antioxidant-fortified version of Cherry 7UP. The FDA requires food manufacturers to list the variety of antioxidant in a product; that part is often in fine print. Look closely, and the label reveals that you're receiving a tiny helping of vitamin E. Perhaps "Cherry 7UP Vitamin E" didn't sound as impressive.
If you're relying on processed foods to supplement your antioxidant intake, you may be surprised to find that many processed foods have relatively small amounts of just one or two kinds. Since variety is critical, you probably aren't making up for lost ground.
Do this: Ignore the hype—there's no research to prove that packaged products provide the same health benefits that whole foods do. Instead, focus on the ingredient list. If a food product contains mostly plant foods, it's likely to be rich in antioxidants.
If I Exercise and Take Supplements, I'll Be Superfit Maybe not.
Working out leads to more oxidation and an increase in free radicals. That's not a bad thing. "Since free-radical production is a normal response to exercise, taking a large dose of antioxidants right after a workout could interfere with the natural, beneficial response to exercise," says nutritionist Alan Aragon, M.S., a Men's Health weight-loss expert. The logic is unexpected but clear: Scientists speculate that the oxidative stress triggered by exercise promotes insulin sensitivity and weight loss, and possibly reduces your risk of diabetes.
Case in point: A 2009 German study found that when exercisers took antioxidant supplements (vitamins C and E), they weren't rewarded with the typical postexercise boost in insulin sensitivity. So much for that well-intentioned antioxidant-fortified recovery drink. Michael Ristow, M.D., an author of the study and chairman of the department of human nutrition at the University of Jena, Germany, speculates that other antioxidant supplements might have similar negative effects, though more study is needed.
Supplements can even sap your power: A 2006 British study found that runners who took 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily for a week lost muscle strength.
Do this: If you're exercising to lose weight, your antioxidants should come from whole foods, not from supplements or antioxidant-enhanced food products. When it comes to antioxidants, more isn't always better.
How Antioxidants Work
Normal cellular processes—as well as stressors like cigarette smoke and sunburn—trigger your body to produce excessive amounts of cell-damaging molecules called free radicals. Here's how antioxidants can come to the defense.
1. When a molecule loses an electron, it becomes a reactive free radical with an extra, unpaired electron.
2. The free radical tries to steal an electron from a nearby molecule to regain balance.
3. This can create another free radical, causing a chain reaction that can damage cell components, including DNA. This can lead to possible health problems ranging from a weakened immune system to cancer.
4. An antioxidant molecule can neutralize a free radical by giving up one of its own electrons. Unlike a free radical, it's able to maintain stability by redistributing its electrons.
Identify What's Stopping You from Losing Weight
Identify What's Stopping You from Losing Weight
By: Allison Winn Scotch
When your boss says, "We're not here to assign blame," duck. When we say you're not entirely to blame for your paunch, you're not off the hook. Nobody is the innocent victim of a drive-thru feeding. But there are sneaky factors—your friends, your family, your mindset—that can sabotage the best weight-loss plan. Your strategy: Identify the saboteurs, then adjust.
Your Wife We do not suggest blaming her for your belly. This would be (a) wrong and (b) a reasonable defense at her trial. But know this: Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that men and women usually gain 6 to 8 pounds in the first 2 years of marriage. "Once you're married, that need to impress is gone," says Edward Abramson, Ph.D., author of Marriage Made Me Fat. "You may go to the gym less often, go out for meals or to parties more frequently, and develop new rituals, such as sitting on the couch with your wife and snacking."
Fix your head: Regain that need to impress. Imagine what that girl at the gym thinks of your gut—or what she'd think if you had abs. (Just don't hit on her.) As for that bowl of popcorn with your wife, Abramson says, ask yourself, Why am I eating? Boredom? Habit? Better yet, ask her to stop bringing those binge foods into the house.
Fix your routine: Establish healthful rituals. Instead of Access Hollywood after dinner, take regular walks, or play H-O-R-S-E in the driveway. (P-I-G might work better.) Exercise suppresses appetite. Cool down with Italian ice (120 calories per cup) instead of ice cream (290 calories per cup).
Her Belly Dads-to-be gain almost 5 pounds from the end of their partner's pregnancy to the baby's first birthday, Australian researchers report. It's especially common in young, stressed-out fathers, says Lawrence Schwartz, author of Fat Daddy/Fit Daddy. And the cycle repeats with each kid.
Fix your head: Be a heroic provider, not a sympathetic eater. Prepare as if fatherhood were a sport—because it will be.
Fix your routine: Read her pregnancy books—they're full of excellent nutritional advice. As for her binge snacking and ice-cream jags, adopt a simple policy, says Schwartz: "She can have it, but you shouldn't." Maintain your exercise routine, especially weight lifting. "It's only going to be that much harder to get back into an exercise routine once the baby's here," says Schwartz.
Your Kids The presence of children in a household sharply increases the likelihood of tempting junk food in the cupboard. Some of it ends up in adult mouths. Same goes for stray nuggets and fries left over by finicky kids. "I call this 'trolling,' " Schwartz says. "If you're prone to troll, the easiest thing to do is to avoid the Happy Meal altogether."
Fix your head: Grow up. Think: The sugary snack that a child will burn off with an hour of fidgeting will haunt you as a fat deposit. Read the nutrition label on any snack before unwrapping it. Realize the importance of setting a good food-and-exercise example.
Fix your routine: Make junk food a once-a-week thing. Designate Friday as Twinkie day. And instead of standing on the sidelines to watch your son's game, volunteer to coach, ump, or ref. Make fitness a family thing.
Craig Ferguson Not getting enough deep, non-REM sleep inhibits production of growth hormone, which might lead to premature middle-age symptoms—abdominal obesity, reduced muscle mass and strength, and diminished exercise capacity. You become Homer.
Fix your head: "Mentally disengage yourself before you hit the sack," says Jim Karas, author of The Business Plan for Your Body. Don't plot a staffing reorg before bed.
Fix your routine: Exercise in the morning or afternoon, says Eric Nofzinger, M.D., director of sleep neuroimaging research at the Western Psychiatric Institute. Evening workouts may leave you too stimulated to sleep. Establish a ritual that signals your body that the day is over 30 minutes before bedtime—turn off the computer, read, stretch, or set the TV volume low, says Karas.
Your Shift Workers gain 7 pounds on average when they switch from a day to a night shift, according to the New York Obesity Research Center. Men working the graveyard shift tend to eat a big evening meal and go to work, says Jim Waterhouse, Ph.D., author of Keeping in Time with Your Body Clock. "Then they come home to another 'supper' in the morning."
Fix your head: Adjust your concept of mealtime, says Waterhouse.
Fix your routine: Eat your biggest meal when you get home from your shift, Waterhouse says, then relax or exercise in the morning. Get 8 hours of sleep in the afternoon, then wake up and have breakfast. Kicking off your workday (even if it starts in the evening) with a light meal that's high in protein or fiber is crucial for weight loss.
Your Stress Stress will spike levels of the hormone cortisol, which tells your body to store fat. "Unfortunately, some people appease their anxiety by reaching for fatty foods," says Elissa Epel, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco. Eating boosts insulin levels; combining that with cortisol leads to greater fat deposits. More stress, bigger belly.
Fix your head: First, identify the type of stress you're under, Karas says. "Is it temporary, like a bar exam, or more permanent, like your job?" Short-term stress will pass. Long-term stress may require a permanent solution, like a new job.
Fix your routine: Make healthy eating effortless, Karas says. Buy snacks that won't send insulin levels soaring: high-fiber energy bars or single-serving bags of almonds or cashews. Fifteen minutes of explosive activity—hitting a speed bag or jumping rope—can alleviate anxieties after work. "It's about getting the tension out," Karas says.
Your Friends Buddies can make or break a diet or workout plan, whether it's unconscious scarfing of nachos during the game or the lure of pumping beers instead of iron. Worse, some guys will deliberately try to sabotage your diet, just for sport. Want a cookie?
Fix your head: Admit you need support. "Let people know how to help you, and many will," says Beth Kitchin, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Fix your routine: Eat a protein bar before meeting friends, so you?ll feel fuller. Drink a glass of water for every glass of beer. A time-tested strategy: Recruit a friend to diet or work out with you. Having someone to answer to is the best enforcement plan.
By: Allison Winn Scotch
When your boss says, "We're not here to assign blame," duck. When we say you're not entirely to blame for your paunch, you're not off the hook. Nobody is the innocent victim of a drive-thru feeding. But there are sneaky factors—your friends, your family, your mindset—that can sabotage the best weight-loss plan. Your strategy: Identify the saboteurs, then adjust.
Your Wife We do not suggest blaming her for your belly. This would be (a) wrong and (b) a reasonable defense at her trial. But know this: Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that men and women usually gain 6 to 8 pounds in the first 2 years of marriage. "Once you're married, that need to impress is gone," says Edward Abramson, Ph.D., author of Marriage Made Me Fat. "You may go to the gym less often, go out for meals or to parties more frequently, and develop new rituals, such as sitting on the couch with your wife and snacking."
Fix your head: Regain that need to impress. Imagine what that girl at the gym thinks of your gut—or what she'd think if you had abs. (Just don't hit on her.) As for that bowl of popcorn with your wife, Abramson says, ask yourself, Why am I eating? Boredom? Habit? Better yet, ask her to stop bringing those binge foods into the house.
Fix your routine: Establish healthful rituals. Instead of Access Hollywood after dinner, take regular walks, or play H-O-R-S-E in the driveway. (P-I-G might work better.) Exercise suppresses appetite. Cool down with Italian ice (120 calories per cup) instead of ice cream (290 calories per cup).
Her Belly Dads-to-be gain almost 5 pounds from the end of their partner's pregnancy to the baby's first birthday, Australian researchers report. It's especially common in young, stressed-out fathers, says Lawrence Schwartz, author of Fat Daddy/Fit Daddy. And the cycle repeats with each kid.
Fix your head: Be a heroic provider, not a sympathetic eater. Prepare as if fatherhood were a sport—because it will be.
Fix your routine: Read her pregnancy books—they're full of excellent nutritional advice. As for her binge snacking and ice-cream jags, adopt a simple policy, says Schwartz: "She can have it, but you shouldn't." Maintain your exercise routine, especially weight lifting. "It's only going to be that much harder to get back into an exercise routine once the baby's here," says Schwartz.
Your Kids The presence of children in a household sharply increases the likelihood of tempting junk food in the cupboard. Some of it ends up in adult mouths. Same goes for stray nuggets and fries left over by finicky kids. "I call this 'trolling,' " Schwartz says. "If you're prone to troll, the easiest thing to do is to avoid the Happy Meal altogether."
Fix your head: Grow up. Think: The sugary snack that a child will burn off with an hour of fidgeting will haunt you as a fat deposit. Read the nutrition label on any snack before unwrapping it. Realize the importance of setting a good food-and-exercise example.
Fix your routine: Make junk food a once-a-week thing. Designate Friday as Twinkie day. And instead of standing on the sidelines to watch your son's game, volunteer to coach, ump, or ref. Make fitness a family thing.
Craig Ferguson Not getting enough deep, non-REM sleep inhibits production of growth hormone, which might lead to premature middle-age symptoms—abdominal obesity, reduced muscle mass and strength, and diminished exercise capacity. You become Homer.
Fix your head: "Mentally disengage yourself before you hit the sack," says Jim Karas, author of The Business Plan for Your Body. Don't plot a staffing reorg before bed.
Fix your routine: Exercise in the morning or afternoon, says Eric Nofzinger, M.D., director of sleep neuroimaging research at the Western Psychiatric Institute. Evening workouts may leave you too stimulated to sleep. Establish a ritual that signals your body that the day is over 30 minutes before bedtime—turn off the computer, read, stretch, or set the TV volume low, says Karas.
Your Shift Workers gain 7 pounds on average when they switch from a day to a night shift, according to the New York Obesity Research Center. Men working the graveyard shift tend to eat a big evening meal and go to work, says Jim Waterhouse, Ph.D., author of Keeping in Time with Your Body Clock. "Then they come home to another 'supper' in the morning."
Fix your head: Adjust your concept of mealtime, says Waterhouse.
Fix your routine: Eat your biggest meal when you get home from your shift, Waterhouse says, then relax or exercise in the morning. Get 8 hours of sleep in the afternoon, then wake up and have breakfast. Kicking off your workday (even if it starts in the evening) with a light meal that's high in protein or fiber is crucial for weight loss.
Your Stress Stress will spike levels of the hormone cortisol, which tells your body to store fat. "Unfortunately, some people appease their anxiety by reaching for fatty foods," says Elissa Epel, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco. Eating boosts insulin levels; combining that with cortisol leads to greater fat deposits. More stress, bigger belly.
Fix your head: First, identify the type of stress you're under, Karas says. "Is it temporary, like a bar exam, or more permanent, like your job?" Short-term stress will pass. Long-term stress may require a permanent solution, like a new job.
Fix your routine: Make healthy eating effortless, Karas says. Buy snacks that won't send insulin levels soaring: high-fiber energy bars or single-serving bags of almonds or cashews. Fifteen minutes of explosive activity—hitting a speed bag or jumping rope—can alleviate anxieties after work. "It's about getting the tension out," Karas says.
Your Friends Buddies can make or break a diet or workout plan, whether it's unconscious scarfing of nachos during the game or the lure of pumping beers instead of iron. Worse, some guys will deliberately try to sabotage your diet, just for sport. Want a cookie?
Fix your head: Admit you need support. "Let people know how to help you, and many will," says Beth Kitchin, an assistant professor of nutritional sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Fix your routine: Eat a protein bar before meeting friends, so you?ll feel fuller. Drink a glass of water for every glass of beer. A time-tested strategy: Recruit a friend to diet or work out with you. Having someone to answer to is the best enforcement plan.
