Random Thoughts of a Ranting Personal Trainer - Part III

1. The Sea Salt Test

Recently salt has been totally demonized by the media.  In fact, they go as far as to blame salt consumption for the epidemic of high blood pressure in North America.  In all honesty, salt probably doesn’t help the problem, but it most definitely isn’t the sole contributor.  Could it be that being overweight from inactivity and poor diet plays a role too?  Nah…it must be the salt.  After all, North Americans need a scapegoat.

In any case, salt does play important roles in the body and it does not need to be totally eliminated.  However, the source of the salt does matter.  Most salt sold in grocery stores is completely devoid of nutritional value so you might as well use it to salt your icy driveway.  Real sea salt, which is usually grayish in colour, is packed with 84 valuable elements that are stripped from our conventional table salt.

To determine if your salt is worthy of consumption try this test I learned from personal trainer Brendan Fox.

Stir a spoonful of salt into a glass and leave it overnight.  If you find the salt settled at the bottom the next morning your salt has been processed.  If there is no salt at the bottom of your glass, your salt is unprocessed.

If your salt is processed it will accumulate in your body much as it did in the glass.  If the salt is real unprocessed sea salt it will stay in solution and your body can effectively eliminate it after it has served its purpose.

2. At some point, your parents will pass away. Treasure the times you have with them. You probably won’t appreciate this advice until it’s too late.

3. A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. - George S. Patton

Most people put off their plan until next Monday when everything will be exactly right.  The bad news is that no weight loss plan is ever exactly right.  Start the journey TODAY…no matter what day it is.

4. The value of chiropractic care is highly underrated.

For some unknown reason people fear chiropractors.  This could be partially because many medical doctors denounce the use of chiropractic care, while they continue to dole out muscle relaxants, pain killers, and even harmful cortisone injections.  I guess this shouldn’t surprise me because they actually make money each time you visit them.  Why on earth would they want you to visit someone else?

In their defense, there are many doctors who have been brainwashed (just like the public) into thinking chiropractors practice some kind of voodoo medicine or that it is dangerous.  They probably think they’re doing you a service by telling you not to go, but most are commenting on something they know very little about.

Sometimes people tell me that they’ve heard something terrible that happened when someone they knew went to a chiropractor so they’d NEVER visit one.

To me this is faulty logic.

First, medical doctors are responsible for the death of plenty of people each year.  You probably still go to a doctor don’t you?

Second, just because one chiropractor is a quack doesn’t mean they all are.  It’s like this in any profession.  There are a few who are complete garbage, most are average, and a small minority are excellent.  You just need to seek out the ones at the top of their game.

I also think most people are just a little freaked out about the idea of being “cracked”.  The truth is that while most chiropractors still offer adjustments, the best ones usually have several methods of treatment available.  Many have ultrasound, cold laser, active release therapy, and acupuncture.

I was once told by a chiropractor friend of mine that “If the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.”  This is why most old school chiropractors just did adjustments.  That’s all they had.

Having more tools allows for better treatment of soft tissue injuries and joint pain caused by soft tissue problems.   I’ve personally had several issues treated over the years where no manipulation was necessary.  If you’re uncomfortable with it, just let them know and a good chiro will respect it.

In the end, if you’re in pain give a good chiropractor a fair shake.  It probably isn’t going to be fixed in one visit, but after a few visits you should feel some relief.  Whatever the case, you need not be afraid.  Get over your chirophobia!  It might just be one of the best things you’ll ever do for your body.

5. I hate excuses.

When it comes to fitness and weight loss someone can only give you the tools.  You have to bring your own motivation.  Do it or don’t.  I don’t have time for excuses.  There is always someone who has it much worse than you do who is making it happen.

6. If your goal is to be fit and healthy your exercise program should include:

Tissue quality work
Mobility work
Resistance training
Core work
Static stretching
Cardiovascular exercise

If you don’t know what these things are or how to implement them get the help of a fitness professional.

Add comment March 26th, 2008

Why You Should NEVER Stretch Before Exercise

By: Mark Young 

Recently the Hamilton Spectator featured my first official article in their newspaper!  If you’re someone who still thinks stretching before exercise is a good idea then this is definitely something you’re going to want to check out.

Click the link HERE to read the full article on their website.

Add comment March 19th, 2008

Random Thoughts of a Ranting Personal Trainer - Part II

1. Omega 3 eggs are actually bad for you???

The good news is that people are finally eating eggs again.  The fear of cholesterol brought about by media hype is slowly dying down.  The bad news is that to gain ground in this newly competitive market some savvy marketer created Omega 3 eggs by adding flax to the feed of the chickens producing them.

Although I can’t say enough about the benefits of Omega 3’s in their unprocessed form, cooking them completely alters their structure and creates deadly trans fats. These are even more lethal than saturated fat was ever thought to be.  Unless you’re eating your eggs raw like Rocky Balboa you’d be best to switch back to the old fashioned variety.

2. Gasoline is “fat free”.

3. Cocaine is made with “all natural ingredients”.

4. You need to get in shape to run NOT run to get in shape.

Running is an advanced exercise.  Each time your foot hits the ground the force generated is equal to at least 2 times your bodyweight.  For a 150 pound woman this equals 300 bone jarring pounds of impact.  Since most novice runners also haven’t developed the ability to absorb force properly, the brunt is taken by the joints in the ankles, knees, hips, and lower back.  What’s worse is that during a 1 mile run there are approximately 1000-1500 of these injury inducing strides.

Does jumping from one foot to the other with 300 pounds of force 1000 times sound like a novice exercise to you?

To quote strength coach Mike Boyle, “Women who run successfully for long periods of time were made to run. They look just like male runners. Good female runners generally don’t look like plus-size models. It’s not a question of cause and effect; it’s a question of natural selection. You can’t run to get that cute little runner’s body. It’s actually reversed. You have to have that cute little runner’s body to survive running.”

5. Convenience stores are terrible.

They primarily sell cigarettes, junk food, and pop.  Don’t even get me started on lottery tickets.  All of these are probably the last things we need to be wasting our money on.

6. Core training is a gimmick.

There is a time and place for everything.  We even have core training exercises in our routines.  However, if you hear of anyone whose entire training program revolves entirely around “core training” and stability ball work they are completely uneducated as to how the muscles and nervous system function.  It is a completely unnatural movement pattern.

When was the last time you stood on an unstable surface and did squats in the real world?

7. The Biggest Loser creates unrealistic expectations for weight loss.

Let’s face it.  Everybody loves The Biggest Loser.  Almost everyone on this program loses weight and the weight loss on this program is extreme.  This is not to say that it can’t be done, but I don’t think it’s an indication of how most people lose weight in the real world.  Besides, there’s more drama than weight loss on this show anyway.

I think that the television show X Weighted with fitness expert Paul Plakas is a much better example of the trials and tribulations most people face during their weight loss journey.  I think it demonstrates the real world problems people encounter when trying to lose weight.

I like it because not everyone succeeds on this show.  You get to watch hard working people succeed and lazy excuse makers fail.  This is more in line with how it really works.

8. Ninety percent of all supplements out there don’t do anything.

9. This has nothing to do with fitness, but it will keep you busy for hours.

Three men go to a hotel room to stay. They receive a bill for $30. They each put $10 on the table, which the bellboy collects and takes to the till. The hotel manager informs the bellboy that the bill should only have been for $25 and returns $5 to the bellboy in $1 bills. On the way back to the room the bellboy realizes that he cannot divide the bills equally between the men. As they didn’t know the total of the revised bill, he dishonestly decides to put $2 in his own pocket and give each of the men $1.

Now that each man has been given a dollar back, each of the men has paid $9. Three times 9 is 27. The bellboy has $2 in his pocket. Two plus 27 is $29. The men originally handed over $30.

Where is the missing dollar?

1 comment March 12th, 2008