Six Unhealthy Trends to Avoid

The pursuit of a healthy lifestyle is often filled with wacky attempts to make results while avoiding hard work. Everyone wants the results but no one really wants to work for it. Sound familiar? But instead of calling things what they are: misguided and unrelatable to anything remotely scientific, we call them Trends. The vast majority of trends, dietary- or exercise- related, are a load; so let us take a look at six so-called healthy trends that not validated by science.

1.       Meatless Monday this has become so popular that some schools now have a Meatless Monday menu in elementary schools.[i]  Apparently protein is now the dietary devil despite the fact that there is overwhelming evidence that high protein diets aid in weight loss. Now why is this? Dietary protein is chemically different than dietary fat or carbohydrates in that it contains a nitrogen molecule as a part of the amine group that gives rise to the amino acids. Do not worry if that went over your head. The important part of this is that the breaking of the amine group during the digestion requires greater energy expenditure than the digestion of fats or carbs. How much more? About 30%, depending on the source of the protein. Animal proteins require more energy to digest than vegetable proteins. So if a person wants to lose weight restricting calories to a healthy level combined with having those calories come from predominantly high protein sources is an easy way to lose weight. Good luck doing that without eating meat. As a personal trainer, I have never met anyone who ever said, “Can you help me look like that vegetarian over there?” Beyond weight loss, protein is a key component in building and maintaining healthy cells in every part of the body: skin, hair, internal organs, bones, and muscles. Without protein these cells cannot function properly or, when needed, be replaced. I am all for eating a healthy dose of fruit and veggies but strict vegetarians are not the healthiest people in the world.

2.       Juice Cleanses Fruit and vegetables are great; as a part of a healthy nutrition program. But not as the entire program. Everything in moderation. Juice cleanses start out feeling great during the first 24-48 hours. This is due to increased presence of all the good nutrition in fruit and vegetables including high amounts of fiber. However, once that fiber catches up with you; good luck getting out of the bathroom. Extend that juice cleanse out to a four or five days, maybe a week and things quickly change. It is hard to stay hydrated when you are dealing with IBS. Severe dehydration may become a problem. If a person sticks with a juice cleanse long enough, and in severe cases, a person may begin losing hair, seeing discoloration of the nails, experience weakness and fatigue. Juice cleanses are an unhealthy extreme that eliminates needed nutrition that comes from protein and dietary fats. By all means, eat fruits and vegetables. Eat a lot of them. But do not eat fruits and vegetables exclusively.

3.       Planet Fitness I rarely call out any specific entity but when the word “Fitness” is in the name of the company and the company serves pizza to its members on the first Monday night of the month; frowns upon and has an obnoxious “lunk alarm” that goes off when people show the slightest bit of intensity; and does not allow certain fantastic exercises like squats or deadlifts then at the very least there is no truth in branding. I get the business concept; Planet Fitness wants to create an environment where people feel comfortable. It is appealing to a specific demographic: those want to be comfortable. That is commendable. However, by its very nature, fitness cannot be improved if ones primary concern is comfort. Intensity is the instigator of change and it is not welcome here.

4.       Hot Classes I have theory about these:  the instructor turns the thermostat way up to induce a sweat because the intensity of the exercise is not high enough to make people sweat. Hot yoga or any other physical activity performed in high heat puts the body at serious risk for dehydration. Staying properly hydrated during exercise is just as important as working up a decent sweat. Keep in mind, that if you attend these classes the sweat is more due to the heat than the effort.

5.       Sauna Suits Before the trend of hot classes there was the hot suits. Those sweat suits that look like something that an astronaut might wear. The idea here is that the extra sweat increases weight loss. Let me be clear; the sauna suit does not cause weight loss by increasing metabolism and creating greater calorie burning.[ii] Any weight loss associated with the use of a sauna suit is strictly due to water loss. The weight will return as soon as a person starting rehydrating.

6.       Anything that offers weight loss without effort Outside of a few specialized-physician supervised weight loss programs there is very little that will work to create weight loss without solid sweat equity. Life and health are performance-based only great effort will yield great results.

QUICK EXERCISE TIP OF THE WEEK
How tot Improve Shrugs

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meatless_Monday

[ii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna_suit

You Don’t Know (how to) Squat

Squatting is a natural human motion. Quite soon after a toddler is able to walk unaided, the young child will begin executing perfect squat form every time the child gets down to pick something up off the floor. However, as humans age, and frankly as we spend more and more of our days sitting on our backsides, muscles begin to lose strength and flexibility that enables us to perform this natural movement pattern. If a person is unable to squat properly then that person will be unable to follow OSHA guidelines of “lift with your legs, not your back.” Elderly people who lack the physical strength to properly squat will have difficulty getting up and down out of a chair or off the couch. People do not stop moving because they grow old. People grow old because they stop moving. A properly executed squat will not cause bad knees. Not squatting, or, squatting with poor technique will cause a person to have knee problems. Squatting and deadlifting are two vital components of being able to safely and effectively move heavy loads as well as maintaining the strength to perform simple daily tasks.

There is far more to properly executing a squat than simply bending the knees and lowering the body. Before properly executing a squat under the load of weights, proper form must be mastered. Proper form begins with the width of foot positioning and the angle of the toes. Once this is established the hips must be place into a position known as the “hip-hinge.”  This allows for maximizing the depth of the squat, but more importantly, it keeps the spine in proper alignment to ensure that the squat is performed safely. Once this has been done the position of the knee in relation to the foot must be monitored all the way through the squat.

Squat Intro

There are three basic problems that arise from poor squat form. The first is the loss of the hip hinge position. At whatever point in the depth of the squat that this position is lost, the squat should be stopped. This is incredibly important when executing the squat with any kind of resistance. The loss of the hip hinge allows the backside to tuck underneath the hips. This position is referred to as “butt-wink” and the result is a rounding of the lower back. Under a heavy load, this rounding of the lower back places an incredibly dangerous stress on the spine which may lead to an injury such as a bulging disc or crushed vertebrae. The cause of this is usually weak muscles in the lower back and glutes combined with tight hamstrings. The best strengthening exercise for this is a Reverse Hyper Extension used in conjunction with the Standing Hamstring Stretch.

The "Butt-Wink" results in a rounded back. Very unsafe when squatting under load.

The second problem with squat form is a lifting of the heels off of the floor. This is a direct result of tight hamstrings and calves. Under no circumstances should the heels ever come off the floor. The heels should remain flat with the body weight over them; when standing out of the squat, visualized driving the heels through the floor to help maintain proper contact with the ground.

The final technique problem with squatting related to the position of the knees over the feet. The knees should remain directly over the feet throughout the squat. If the knees start to cave inward at any point it indicates weakness in the glute medius and minimis, which are the primary muscles responsible for holding the hips out from the body, allowing the hips and legs to stay in proper alignment during the squat.  If this is a problem two exercises must be done to correct it.

Banded Side Step and Isometric External Rotation ofthe Hip

A properly executed squat is a fantastic method of developing total body strength and mobility. However, failing to properly master the technique, or using weight that is too heavy to allow proper technique is a set up for pain and, potentially, a debilitating injury. Master a proper squat and get some life back in those legs!