Uncategorized

In recent years there has been some debate over whether or not it’s a good idea to microwave your vegetables. I decided to nip this nasty rumor in the bud and asked my friend Cassandra Forsythe for her insight on the matter. Apparently the source of this tomfoolery stems from a study published in 2003 in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture where Spanish researchers claimed that microwaves killed the nutrients in broccoli and presumably in other vegetables as well.

From the Washington Post, 2006:

The researchers cooked broccoli florets in four ways: microwaved, steamed, boiled and pressure-cooked. Among other things, they measured the percentage of healthful flavonoids removed from the vegetable by each cooking method. Flavonoids are phenolic compounds that are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables. In addition to giving these foods their colors, they behave as antioxidants; that is, they destroy the free radicals that can damage our DNA, possibly leading to cancer, stroke and other diseases. Flavonoids are therefore among the “good guys” in our foods.

The Spanish researchers reported that microwaving broccoli removed 97.2 percent of its flavonoids, boiling removed 66.0 percent, steaming removed 11.1 percent and pressure-cooking removed 8.8 percent.

A more thorough look at the actual study done by Robert L. Wolke, professor of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh revealed the following:

1. The researchers only measured the before and after totals of total flavonoids, as well as two flavonoid derivatives while totally neglecting the plethora of other antioxidants and vitamins and minerals found in broccoli. Generalizing these results to ALL nutrients is unfair.

2. During microwaving, the broccoli was immersed in water, while the steamed broccoli was placed on a rack above water. Flavonoids are water soluble, so it stands to reason that many of the flavonoids would be “lost” during the microwaving process and would explain the huge discrepancy between the two.

3. Microwaving was done at 1000 watts for five minutes; an arbitrary “scenario” that was chosen for the study. Whatever that means.

4. Cooking causes nutrient loss no matter what the mechanism. In other words, cooking (ie: heating) food changes its properties in ways we call “cooking.” As Wolke noted, the more heat — that is, the higher the temperature and the longer the food is held at that temperature — the more cooking changes take place. And all cooking inevitably causes a certain amount of nutrient loss.

All in all, Wolke suggested we should cook our veggies with as little heat and with as little water as possible. We can’t do away with heat while cooking, but we can control the amount of water used. Fear not people, microwaving your vegetables is totally safe and it wont cause as much nutrient loss as you think. In other words, TV Dinners are still a viable way to romance your woman. Rest assured gentlemen, nothing says “I love you” more than microwaved meatloaf with brussel sprouts (and all their “mostly” flavonoidally intact glory). Don’t forget the boxed wine. P to the IMP, son!

Normally I’m not the type of guy that will go out of his way to “call people out,” but today is a rare exception. I just learned this past weekend that the Olsen twins were asked by Hugh Hefner to pose for Playboy Magazine.

What tha……..what?!?! Shame on you Hugh! Yeah, you’re right, nothing in this world would be more sexy than to see two emaciated waifs naked. And by “sexy,” what I really mean is “make me want to throw up.” Why not just ask Paris Hilton to join them? Wait a second. You could totally stage a pillow fight between the three. Except instead of pillows, you can use a brick, a lead pipe, and an AK-47. Sign me up!

Needless to say, that news put me in a fowl mood and there just so happens to be another person I feel the urge to “call out.” Last week a reader of my blog (thanks for reading by the way) made a comment in regards to an old post I made on “5 Exercises You DO NOT Need To Be Doing.” Apparently he didn’t agree with me. I’ll just let him do the talking and post what he wrote word for word.

certified personal trainer…

heres a real life example where you use leg press…any time you jump in the air you idiot, eg a basketball player, aerobics class, etc…not only are your principles rediculous, but your assuming that there is only one way to “skin the cat” with training. Which you are completely wrong, the body adapts to many different types of stressors, if you stress it the same way every workout, your body becomes resistant to that type of exercise meaning you cant make any progress. Working at a college and a gym where bosu balls, leg presses, and arm curls are all implemented in many programs…i think i’ll stick with our training type and you can be a neanderthal in terms of training.

 

Dear “Random Gym Guy” from Bloomsburg University (in Pennsylvania),

Dude, come on! If you’re going to call me an idiot, at least have the common decency to practice proper grammar. Pssst, here’s a hint: chicks prefer guys who know how to differentiate between your/you’re. The sooner you learn that, the sooner they’ll actually want to hang out with you. You can thank me later.

To make things easier, lets break this down sentence by sentence:

“heres a real life example where you use leg press…any time you jump in the air you idiot, eg a basketball player, aerobics class, etc…not only are your principles rediculous, but your assuming that there is only one way to “skin the cat” with training.”

So this must be the reason why your men’s basketball program hasn’t won a conference title in over 25+ years; not enough leg pressing, right? I’m not even going to broach the topic of aerobic classes, because it’s clear that you’re about as intelligent as a ham sandwich.

“Which you are completely wrong, the body adapts to many different types of stressors, if you stress it the same way every workout, your body becomes resistant to that type of exercise meaning you cant make any progress.”

How many ways can you alter the leg press? What, change an individual’s foot position from a narrow stance to a wide stance? Wow, I really think you’re on to something. Never mind the fact that you’re completely ignoring basic functional anatomy and forcing one to lift a weight in a fixed plane of motion while at the same time placing tons of compressive and shear force on their lower back. I thought the main goal as fitness professionals was to keep people healthy?

Now lets look at the squat and all the various ways we can alter it so as not to, as you would say, “become resistant to it.”

Free Back Squats: using various bars (olympic bar, safety squat bar, cambered bar, etc).

Box Squats: again using various bars and now we can add varying box heights.

Front Squats: with varying bars and boxes.

Single Leg Squat variations: Split Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats, Pistols, etc.

We can also add chains, bands, etc which undoubtedly place a different stress on the movement. We can also change foot positions on certain forms of squats to “tweak” the stress. Not to mention I haven’t even discussed the plethora of different set/rep schemes we can use, or tempos for that matter. There are endless ways to train the squat compared to a leg press. An athlete could go all four years through college and never have the same squat variation programmed twice in a row. Leg presses will do nothing but make them great at pushing a weight up an incline and messing up their back. Point. Blank. Period.

“Working at a college and a gym where bosu balls, leg presses, and arm curls are all implemented in many programs…i think i’ll stick with our training type and you can be a neanderthal in terms of training.”

1. Wow, you actually work in a college gym? We all know that people who work at college gyms are highly trained (special note: I’m being sarcastic here). They get hired because they don’t have class at a particular time – and they spend their days wiping down equipment. Congrats.

2. Arm curls are great. It gives you and your frat boy friends an opportunity to cut the sleeves off all those shirts you bought at Baby Gap and show off those 14 inch guns.

3. Outside of rehabilitation, BOSU balls are useless. Unless of course you’re in the the business of producing inferior athletes.

Kind Personal Regards,

Tony

This is a picture I came across last week of actress Lisa Rinna. Many will recognize her as a past participant of “Dancing With the Stars.” To be honest I’ve never watched an episode of that show. However, back in the day I did watch “Melrose Place” religiously every week where she played a character called Taylor McBride. While some may think it’s silly that I would ever admit to watching that show, I’ll have it be on the record that everything I know as far as how to treat women I learned from “Melrose Place.”

For instance, sleep with as many as possible within a one block radius. If one happens to get knocked up and starts asking for alimony, all you have to do is come up with a diabolical scheme such as blow up her apartment; preferably with her in it. Another option would be to remove the breaks from her car so she drives off a cliff. Either way, problem solved. WHEW! That was close. Hey did you happen to catch the episode where Billy and Allison end up together? I totally called that from the start. They’re so cute together.

Anyways, I don’t know what disturbed me more about the picture above. The fact that she looks like the Queen of the MerPeople (hello Botox) or that she’s running with pink dumbbells in her hands. I’d ask her where her leg warmers are, but she already succeeded in bringing back women’s fitness about 20 years. $10 says she listening to “Let’s Get Physical” on her iPod.

Major League star, and first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder stated last week that he is now a vegetarian.

From the Milwaukee Sentinel:

“It wasn’t always this way. Fielder used to enjoy a stacked burger or a juicy steak as much as any carnivore, but a few weeks ago he received a book from his wife, Chanel, that changed his outlook on what he puts in his massive frame. The book described how certain animals are treated and slaughtered for food.

“After reading that, (meat) just didn’t sound good to me anymore,” Fielder said. “It grossed me out a little bit. It’s not a diet thing or anything like that. I don’t miss it at all.”

All I have to say is men love to eat meat. The statement, “I don’t like to eat meat” is a more verbose way of saying, “I have a vagina.” Figuratively speaking of course. For the record, I know plenty of women who love to eat a variety of small, furry animals. Lets just say Prince has been asked to kindly leave the “man” table where he can join the others like him who probably drink Zima and watch musicals with their girlfriends. Don’t forget your Jazz hands!

Alright, that was kind of mean. I can respect Prince’s decision to stop eating meat. More power to him. But it does raise an interesting question: is it worth it?

Without getting into a discussion on the moral issue of vegetarianism, I want to briefly discuss the different types. On one end, you have the less “extreme” individuals who will still eat things such as fish, chicken, eggs, cottage cheese, and other types of dairy. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are those who consume milk and eggs, but no fish, chicken or red meat. The most radical are Vegans, who won’t allow any animal source into their diet what-so-ever.

Depending on which type of vegetarian we’re talking about, it’s safe to say that most can still get sufficient protein in their diets from various other food groups. Those who just eliminate red meat from their diet, can still easily acquire protein from other animal sources such as chicken, fish, etc. Lacto-ovo vegetarians are still ingesting milk and eggs, which is “doable.” Not to mention utilizing various sources protein powder (whey, casein, soy, milk, pea, hemp, rice) helps tremendously. Vegans on the other hand are often going to have to consume massive amounts of “bulk” in order to obtain the protein required in their diet (this is especially true for those who are athletes or live an active lifestyle).

Additionally, as several highly respected authorities in the fitness industry have noted time and time again, it’s been well documented that those who are non-meat eaters tend to have a lower body weight and less lean mass than those who eat meat. Not necessarily an ideal situation for a professional athlete who needs to perform at an elite level day after day. That’s not to say that it can’t be done, it just throws a monkey wrench in the grand scheme of things.

As well, when referring to vegetarians, there are other “issues” that have to be dealt with. Mainly the fact that when you go out of your way to eliminate a macro-nutrient from the diet (in this case, protein), you’re going to encounter what Susan Kleiner, author of “Power Eating,” calls nutritional danger zones- namely, iron, zinc, and B12 deficiencies. These deficiencies can hurt exercise performance. So what can one do? Again, I reiterate that this will all depend on what “degree” of vegetarian someone is.

1. Include more Heme Iron sources in your diet: all animal protein sources contain the more easily absorbed form of iron, heme iron. Red meat is by far the most abundant source of heme iron. However, for those that don’t eat red mean, chicken and fish also contains heme iron, albeit to a lesser extent.

2. Consider Iron and Zinc Supplements: unfortunately, our bodies do not absorb the iron that comes from vegetables as well as the iron that comes from animal foods. Nonmeat eaters (especially the more active you are) would be wise to include an iron supplement daily. The same can be said for Zinc

3. B12 deficiency can lead to irreversible nerve damage, due to the fact that the body needs trace amounts daily in order to manufacture red blood cells and nerves. Including more foods with fortified B12 or supplementing with a B12 vitamin would bode well for many vegetarians (especially vegans).

4. Another thing to note is creatine. Creatine is typically low in vegetarians. Supplementation for those who are athletes and compete in strength/power sports and/or activities is definitely recommended.

I think from a performance and/or body composition standpoint, oftentimes (read: not all) vegetarians shoot themselves in the foot. In the case of Prince Fielder, clearly body composition is not at the top of the list. But performance is, and I give him two months before he reverts back to his old ways. Matter of fact, I think his wife even mentioned that if she notices any decrease in his power production, she’s going to feed him a steak.

This is Steph, a client of Cressey Performance who is in the midst of preparing for her 2nd Boston Marathon. As our resident Fashionista, it’s safe to say that Steph has an impeccable fashion sense based on the types of shirts she wears when she comes to train during the week.

While most people preparing for a marathon would gasp at the thought of strength training, Steph has embraced it as an integral part of her programming. In the past, she would do nothing but log endless miles on the road or treadmill thinking that the only way to improve was to run till the cows came home. For those of you not from Upstate New York like myself, that’s a long time.

As I blogged about a few weeks ago, the majority of endurance athletes tend to follow a particular cycle:

Train (run)………..Get Injured……….Rehab/Physical Therapy. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Before she started training with us at Cressey Performance, Steph was no different. She would typically run 4-5 times per week, only to re-injure herself not long thereafter. You can imagine her frustration.

Being the trooper that she is, she started training with my good friend Eric Cressey prior to her first Boston Marathon in 2007. With only a few months to prepare, he was able to fix her up and she completed her first marathon in memory of her mother who tragically died during the attacks of 9/11. Afterwards she vowed she would never run another marathon.

That lasted all of a couple of months, and Steph decided that she wanted to do it all over again. However this time, she’s doing it the right way. While she still gets her tempo and distance work in, she cut down her overall mileage considerably and replaced it with lifting heavy stuff and other tomfoolery:

The above video is Steph the day AFTER running 18 miles performing glute ham raises at our satellite facility in Saxonville, MA. How bad ass is that?

Coincidentally, the last time I ran 18 miles, the city of Boston held a ticker tape parade in my honor and I totally made out with Giselle Bundchen afterwards. True story…………………………………………..in my dreams. PS: I hate you Tom Brady.

All in all, Steph has never felt better (she’s injury free) and she’s a perfect example of what hard work and dedication can do. She works her tail off and always does it with a smile. She’s totally going to dominate her time from last year.

Side Note: This year Steph is running in the spirit of things that her mother dedicated her life towards. She’s raising money for the Boston Medical Center. You can visit her donation page here

Any help would be immensely appreciated.

Are your ears bleeding yet? Cause mine do every time I hear a woman utter those words whenever someone mentions strength training.

Note: much of the post below was part of an article I originally wrote for t-nation.com last year titled “4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know.”

Newsflash, ladies: You will not get “big and bulky” just because you’re strength training. That statement is akin to me saying, “Eh, I don’t want to do any sprints today because I don’t want to win the 100m gold medal next week.” Getting big and bulky isn’t easy, just like winning the 100m gold medal isn’t easy.

If anything, it’s an insult to all those people who’ve spent years in the gym to look the way they do. It didn’t happen overnight, which is what you’re assuming by saying something so absurd.

Besides, getting “big and bulky” actually entails lifting appreciable weight. Or in the case of J-Lo, looking like you’re going to give birth to two twin 747’s.

Let’s be honest, most people (men and women) won’t work hard enough to get “big and bulky” in the first place. It’s hard enough for a man to put on any significant amount of muscle, let alone a woman. Women are physiologically at a disadvantage for putting on muscle due to the fact that they have ten times less free Testosterone in their bodies compared to men.

That being said, you still need to get the most bang out of your training buck, and that includes ditching the glute-buster machine and focusing more on the compound movements. Joe Dowdell, owner of Peak Performance in NYC, trains many of the top female models in the city and their programming includes squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, bench variations, sled dragging, and tons of energy system work.

Yes, Victoria’s Secret models are doing squats and deadlifts. And yes, that’s completely hot. Guess what they’re not doing? Watching Oprah every day while walking on the treadmill for 60 minutes.

Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you can’t train like a man and lift some serious weight. I never bought into this whole mindset that women are these delicate creatures that can’t hang with the boys.

UPDATE: Apparently J-Lo’s uterus doesn’t defy the laws of human nature and she actually gave birth to two twins (one boy and one girl) last night instead of two 747’s. Bummer, I was totally going to try to use up my frequent flyer miles.

As a scholarship athlete, Jon works a few hours per week at the facility doing odd jobs for us. Some of his duties include cleaning equipment, picking up weights, and building stuff like our “crash wall” for the sprint track. Each day that he comes to work, there’s a list of “things to do” for the day. One day last week, one of his tasks was to go to the local Subway and finally ask the girl behind the counter for her number. You see, Jon had been going to Subway everyday for two straight weeks just to see this girl in action. And for two straight weeks all we would hear is “she’s perfect. I’ve never seen a girl handle roast beef like that before. It’s amazing.”

Needless to say, we took matters into our own hands and told him to go down to Subway and ask for her number. We even gave him money to buy his sub. I secretly recorded the conversation as it went down:

Hot Subway Girl: “May I take your order?”

Jon: “Yeah, I’m really hungry today. I just spent all day rescuing kittens from trees and helping old ladies cross the street. I’ll take my usual. I’ll also have a side order of your phone number.”

Hot Subway Girl: “Extra pickles?”

Jon: “That’s how I roll.”

10 minutes later we took this picture:

In Jon’s right hand is hot Subway girl’s number. Not only do we build strong athletes at Cressey Performance, but we mold them into charming bastards as well.

Lets be honest. People tend to gravitate towards the leg press because, well, it’s easy.

Warning: the video below is 32 seconds of your life that you will never get back and you may have a strong urge to pour battery acid over your eyes.

I don’t know which made me laugh more. The fact that the woman performing the leg press was wearing an ankle weight or that she was using a six inch ROM on each repetition. Either way, it’s downright absurd and just solidifies why I haven’t included the leg press in any of my client’s programming in over three years.

While the leg press does allow for certain individuals who “think” they’re strong to stroke their ego a bit, it also serves as a great tool for those training to become efficient at pushing a weight up an incline. Which as we all know, has a plethora of “real world” carry over to everyday life events. I used the word plethora, so you know I’m being totally serious here. See mom, I used my big boy words!

While many will state that the leg press is a safer alternative to squat variations, I will counter that argument by quoting Dr. Stuart McGill, who in his book “Low Back Disorders,” states: “the leg press sometimes causes the pelvis to rotate away from the back rest when the weight is lowered. The resultant lumbar flexion produces herniating conditions for the disc!” Translation: you’ll end up with an oowie.

Why anyone would want to go out of their way to reinforce a faulty motor pattern that will more than likely end up promoting disc herniations is beyond me. It makes about as much sense as Tom Selleck shaving off his mustache.

Personally I’m not a big fan of mustaches. However, recent research indicates that global warming can be attributed solely to the effects Tom Sellecks’s mustache has on women. I think I read that on Wikipedia. Either way, no man should ever give up that kind of power. Ever.

Long story short, from a cost-benefit perspective, I feel that leg presses just aren’t worth it. A trainee’s time would be much better spent learning how to squat properly. Not only will you have greater strength gains, improved bone health, and lean muscle gain….but squats will carry over very nicely in terms of everyday life events.