By Mark Young
Touted as a benchmark of fitness, the pushup is a great exercise for developing upper-body strength in the chest, shoulders and triceps. Recently the Hamilton Spectator asked me to prepare a progression of pushup variations to take you from beginner to pushup expert and I was more than happy to oblige.
Women should strive to complete at least 10-15 push ups and men should be able to complete a minimum of 20-25. Check out the article HERE to learn how to make this a reality.
Better yet, check out the whole progression in video format HERE.
April 29th, 2008
By Mark Young
Recently I was asked to answer the following question for the Health and Fitness Q&A section of the Hamilton Spectator.
I don’t exercise enough, and I’m always tempted to reach for a snack while TV watching. So I’m thinking of buying exercise equipment and planting it in front of my TV so that some of my screen time becomes my workout time. Any advice on what kind of equipment I should get?
For my complete answer check out the article on the Hamilton Spectator website HERE.
April 23rd, 2008
By Stacey Nolan Young
Each and every day we are bombarded with images, advertisements and labels that tell us what is healthy and what is not. It doesn’t matter that a lot of the information contradicts each other. “Go to a grocery store and choose Blue Menu” items.” “Want to lose weight? Why not try some Lean Cuisine?” And my favourite advancement is all of the “100 Calorie snack packs” These must be healthy. They must be good for you. I mean, imagine losing weight while eating Doritos, Oreos and mini-chocolate bars!
Advertising has such an impact on our daily lives. It can control how we feel about products. Most of us do not have the time or inclination to research everything that we hear. So we buy it hook, line and sinker. But what if we’re wrong?
This has always been the case. Check out this ad from the 1930’s which touts smoking as the “recommended” thing to do by DOCTORS!
Obviously, we now know how terrible smoking is for your health. But back then, smoking advertisements were in abundance. They even had smoking ads that featured Santa Claus! And doctors were endorsing the habit. The same doctors that were telling women that douching with Lysol would help their marriages! Seriously. Go ahead. Google it. I know you want to.
How about lard? We know that it is not the healthiest of choices. While conventional lard is mostly saturated fat, most commercial varieties can contain unhealthy trans fats. But what about then? How was it perceived?
That’s correct. Yes - they are very happy because they eat lard. Lard will make you happy. It will make your spirits soar. It will make family time that much more enjoyable. It is the answer to everything. Feel depressed? Eat Lard.
Give me a break!!!
Something very popular today is fad diets and our obsession with weight loss. People tend to want the quick fix. This has always been the case and even back then. Don’t believe me?
Yes - what you are reading is correct. This is an ad for tape worms. Ladies, good news! You don’t have to exercise. You don’t have to diet. You can eat, eat, eat whatever you want and not gain a pound. Better yet you will waste away. Nutrients? Not to worry - you don’t need those! The tape worms will take them for you. I mean the ad does say “No Ill Effects”, they are “sanitized” and for your convenience they are packed in jars. Ignore your hair falling out and your skin sagging and becoming sallow. The important thing to remember is that you will be thin with absolutely no work. Magic. This MUST be true.
Let’s take this to modern times. While we can look at these ads and find them ridiculous now, what about today’s advertisements and labels? In 70 year will we find them equally as ridiculous? Will we wonder “what were we thinking?”
That seems to be the problem. We are not thinking. We let the media and companies trying to sell their products think for us. Isn’t there a voice in the back of our minds that questions some of these claims? Perhaps we should listen to it once in awhile.
Take those 100 calorie snack packs that I spoke of above for example:
Okay so these were not “healthy” before in the larger packaging but suddenly they are because they’ve been placed in smaller packages? In an effort to try and control the ever growing population of over weight people and their “bad snacking” habits, many companies have come up with these overpriced mini-packs of the same snacks that are creating unhealthy lifestyles. And people are buying them up! These companies have no interest in seeing people healthy. They just want “in” on the “health crazed” market as well. They call it “sensible snacking.” Really? Are Chips Ahoy and Fruit Snacks REALLY good for you?
What about some of those items that tell you that they are healthy on their labels?
Last time I checked, cookies weren’t the healthiest of choices. Sure - if I planned a “cheat meal” I would definitely consider eating them. But I do know that this is not a good choice for me. This particular company claims that these are good for you and are a healthier choice. Yummy. Oatmeal Double Chocolate Cookies are good for me. Wow.
In the smaller print you will find out that each cookie is 150 calories! For 10 calories more you can eat 3 Oreo cookies! (Not that I’m recommending that)
How about those foods that label themselves as “fat free”. That cake pictured above claims to be fat free. I guess it’s alright to consume now, isn’t it? Oh but wait. What about carbohydrates? And sugars? Don’t these impact our health in a negative way?
Just because something claims to be “fat free” does not mean it’s good for you. In fact, I would argue that fats are a necessary part of our diets. It all comes down to the fats that you choose. As Mark Young wrote in this article, gas is fat free. Point proven.
The truth is that you need to actually look at the labels on your food. Not the front of the package with its splash of colours claiming that it does this or that for you. Read the ingredients. A general rule would be if you can’t pronounce the names of the ingredients, you probably shouldn’t put it into your mouth. Also - ask yourself if it is going to nourish your body if you eat it. Question things. Maybe what we think now won’t be laughed at in years to come if we do these things.
April 16th, 2008
By: Mark Young
Last month I announced my very own personal challenge called Project Lean in 16. Now, after spending just over a month on the plan it’s time to assess, troubleshoot, and update on how things are going with the goals I set out to achieve.
Goal #1 - Get ridiculously lean by June 23rd, 2008.
I’d like to report the use of my brand new, cutting edge fat loss system here…but I can’t. Despite the media hype, there really is no magic solution to fat loss. A simple plan followed consistently is the key. This is exactly the approach we used with Sherry, Sue, Paola, and Jeff.
I eat frequently. I eat protein at regular intervals. My carbs come primarily from fruits and vegetables. And when I do eat starches they are usually cleaner options like brown rice and quinoa.
From an exercise standpoint I’ve been steadily getting in 6 hours of exercise per week. My wife and I also make it a point to do something active (i.e, hiking or walking) every Sunday, but I don’t count that as part of my weekly exercise output.
The most difficult thing I’ve encountered so far is that I haven’t been able to run as much as I’d planned (see Goal #2 below) so the intensity of the output has been a little lower than I would have liked. Nonetheless, if I can bump it up I should be able to do laundry on my abs in time for June.
As the months tick away I’ll probably tighten it up and use a few more little tricks, but for now the goal is to just stay the course and bump up the intensity a bit.
Goal #2 - Run 10 kilometers in under 1 hour.
I posted the initial Lean in 16 article on a Friday. On the weekend that followed (the weekend before I was to officially start this challenge) my wife and I went hiking in the snow on the Hamilton Rail Trail. At one point, being the genius that I am, I also decided that doing some sprints up the steep icy underside of a bridge would be a brilliant way to get in some extra exercise.
At the time I didn’t notice anything unusual, but the next day my left Achilles tendon felt like it was going to explode. I tried some stretching initially, but later decided to visit my chiropractor for some Active Release. I figured that getting it treated right away would be the only hope I had of healing up in time to complete my 10K by the end of June.
During the visit my chiropractor discovered that my left calf had a pretty serious knot, but that my right calf was also quite tight and that I’d need to pay some extra attention to stretching that side as well.
My best guess is that a small part of the muscle inside my left calf had been injured during my bridge sprinting activities and that another part of the calf had contracted into a cramp to prevent it from further damage. The only recipe for healing would be to leave it alone for a while and use foam rolling, massage, and stretching to help loosen the cramp.
Long story short, I pretty much laid off the running and resorted to walking and riding the stationary bike up until Monday of last week. All seemed fine until I started to run again and the Achilles got sore for days on both ankles.
Although I’m still trying to get the calves healthy so I can complete this goal, I want to make it clear that I don’t really enjoy running very much. I’m not going to beat up my body to accomplish something I’m not really passionate about in the first place.
Instead, my wife and I decided to purchase some bikes last weekend so I’m going to start riding to get in my cardiovascular activity that way. If the calves aren’t where I need them to be in about a month from now I’ll just revise the goal to a cycling goal instead.
3. 20 consecutive pull-ups.
Not bad. Not great. I’m almost half way there, but I have good days and bad days. Some days I get 8. Other days I get 9. My guess is that this goal might end up being one of the toughest ones.
At this point I’m not totally optimistic that I’ll hit 20, but I should be able to get pretty close. The best part is that my back is developing very well as a result of the frequent pull ups so these will definitely remain a mainstay in my routine.
4. 10 consecutive pistols.
The surprising thing about these is that I don’t have much of an issue with the leg strength at all. I can do over 25 reps easily with support, but as soon as that goes away my butt gets more of a workout from my landings than my legs do. Apparently balance is required for a single legged squat. Go figure.
Normally when you perform a pistol your weight shifts backwards making it difficult not to fall onto your rump. When you have long legs you have more weight out in front which makes it a little easier. Unfortunately, I am not of the long legged variety. After doing some reading it appears that vertically challenged people like myself need to have a significant forward lean to keep some of the body weight forward and prevent the body from toppling backward.
The only problem is that this requires a considerable rounding of the lower back and that is something I just don’t do while training. Flexing the lumbar spine under load (i.e, rounding your back to tie your shoes) is a major no-no so I had to find another way.
My only solution was to get more weight out in front of me while squatting that allowed me to keep a neutral spine. So…I’m revising my goal to do 10 WEIGHTED pistols by the end of the challenge instead of doing them with just my body weight. Holding dumbbells out in front might make the squatting part more difficult, but it should prevent me from falling backwards AND I won’t blow a disk either.
5. Do the front splits
All I have to say about this goal is OUCH! Apparently learning to do the splits at 31 isn’t as easy as I’d hoped. Initially I’d started doing these several times per day, but found that my hip joints were getting pretty sore and that the muscles are actually tightening up to guard against the pain. I’ve found more success with stretching every 2-3 days instead of every day.
Regardless, the front splits may be attainable by June. I’m not making any promises, but it might actually happen.
6. Do “The Flag”
I honestly started out thinking that this might be one of the most difficult goals to achieve. I actually thought it might be impossible but, believe it or not, it appears that it might end up being one of the easiest. I managed to get the bent legged version pretty quickly and I’m now working on doing it with straight legs.
Granted, I’m only able to hold the position for a second or so, but I think I’ll be able to nail this goal pretty easily within the next couple months.
The Wrap Up
All in all, I think it’s going okay so far, but it’s never very exciting in the beginning. The thrill intensifies as the goals appear to be within your grasp.
I can’t wait!
April 9th, 2008
