DESIGNING BETTER LIVING THROUGH STRENGTH
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EUGENIZATION
a personal training blog

Avandia Linked To Heart Attacks.

by Eugene Thong on February 20, 2010

From CNN.com.
It should surprise no one in the health or medical field that the diabetes drug Avandia is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks (at least, not after Steven Nissen’s 2007 study of Avandia).  Unfortunately, for most doctors, Plan B is to simply prescribe another drug.
“Don’t worry about the Avandia scare, Mrs. Jones; [...]

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A Quick Note.

by Eugene Thong on January 2, 2010

Hey all -
Due to some interesting changes in my personal life, I’ve let my blogging responsibilities lapse somewhat.  My sincerest apologies.  I do look to rectify this situation in 2010 (darn those New Year’s resolutions) but here’s a basic rundown of my new blogging strategy:
- I originally approached this blog as a place to collect [...]

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Forget “Used To.”

November 3, 2009

Every so often I’ll get in a client who was a jock of some sort in a former life.  Either they played ball in high school or college, or they had some experience on a professional or semi-professional level.  But the story is nearly the same in every case: Through accumulated or acute injury or [...]

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The True Role of PT for Rehab.

October 21, 2009

I recently sustained injuries to both my shoulders, probably as a result of overuse and chronic trauma (apparently, throwing someone on top of you instead of over you via Morote Seoi hurts your shoulders).  Over the past couple of months, I’ve managed to nurse at least one shoulder back to health, with the other well [...]

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Strength, Skill; Skill, Strength?

September 30, 2009

One prominent  and controversial question in strength training circles: Is training strength and demonstrating strength the same thing or different things?  In other words, what’s the best way to build strength – by “demonstrating” it through heavy maximal lifts, explosive movements, and plain-ol’ ‘lifting stuff‘, or by ‘training it’ through more measured and precise means?
This [...]

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Max Learns About Fatty Liver. And Fructose.

September 21, 2009

Last night my foster son picked my brain regarding diabetes (his birth father is a Type 2 diabetic). While the entire car-ride conversation was ripe fodder for a blog post, what I’m going to recount here is our discussion on fatty liver, fructose, and diabetes.
What is fatty liver?
Fatty liver is an excess buildup of [...]

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The Larger Picture of Weight Gain.

September 15, 2009

Chris points us to an interesting study involving circadian rhythm and weight gain (to be fair, Melissa sent it to me first, but she doesn’t have a blog).  In the study, nocturnal rats fed during what would have been their sleeping hours gained more weight than rats fed during their waking hours, despite the same [...]

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Mechanistic vs Meta-Exercise.

August 27, 2009

The surest way to lose focus during an exercise is to judge yourself on that exercise.   Instead, get “mechanistic.”  Focus on what you can actually do, as opposed to your emotional reactions to the exercise.
Don’t think, “Damn, this weight feels heavy.”  Instead, think, “Drive your heels through the floor; be patient; make it happen.”
Don’t think, [...]

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The Time Magazine Article. Does Exercise Really Help You Lose Weight or Not?

August 20, 2009

It’s probably old news to you by now, but Time Magazine recently ran an article that ruffled the feathers of most of my fitness industry brethren.
Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin.
Of course, with a title like that, it’s understandable why fitness folks would be up in arms.  It’s akin to saying, “Why Bankers Steal Your [...]

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The Problem With Bodypart Mentality.

August 11, 2009

One good thing about the rise in popularity of bodybuilding in the 60s and 70s was that it got people interested in lifting weights.
One bad thing (”One bad thing?”, the peanut gallery asks) about bodybuilding going mainstream was that it made “bodypart mentality” a part of the training consciousness – bodypart mentality being the idea [...]

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