…after all, how could they let this one slip by?

Atkins Dieter Develops Life-Threatening Complications.

Bottom line summary: Two in-training physicians treat a 40 year-old obese woman for what they believe to be signs of severe ketoacidosis (a potentially fatal condition where acidic ketone bodies build up in the bloodstream). They suspect ketoacidosis (partially) due to the woman’s having been on the Atkins diet for the previous month.

(Ketone bodies do build up in the bloodstream when one is on a low-carb diet, but unless the person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, ketoacidosis will not be achieved; presence of insulin “turns off” ketone body production. In other words, ketoacidosis may be a concern for Type 1 diabetics, but otherwise “normal” people on a low-carb diet? Probably not.)

Here’s a quote from a biochemistry text that condenses the previous paragraph into two neat little sentences:

However, even under starvation conditions, ketone body levels do not accumulate in sufficient levels to cause such problems. Acidosis (or keto-acidosis) can however occur in untreated diabetics.

Either way, the article doesn’t sound too promising for the low-carb crowd.

Well, Dr. Michael Eades debunks this one for us on his blog:

Low-carb diet takes one below the belt.

Bottom line summary of Dr. Eades’ defense: The woman had gastroenteritis (intestinal virus), which could easily have accounted for the symptoms she exhibited (vomiting, low blood pressure, rapid heart rate). Had the residents checked the patient’s bloodwork more thoroughly, they would have discovered her not to have been in ketoacidosis. Conclusion: Medical orthodoxy is biased against low-carb diets.

Or, as Dr. Eades so succinctly puts it,

“Buffoons misdiagnose mild gastroenteritis, costs patient thousands.”

Sigh. Well, I’m not about to go on a crazy, paranoid, Kevin Trudeau-like rant about the giant military-industrial complex holding us down and brainwashing us - but I would like to state:

We are all primarily responsible for our own health. One’s best line of defense against disease is a penetrating, logical mind and a healthy sense of optimism. It’s a sad joke that our health care system is the #3 cause of death in this country.

Just because it’s in print doesn’t mean it’s true. We must weigh the facts, examine the evidence, and determine the relevance of a so-called peer-reviewed study before accepting it as gospel. That is all. Thank you. *end rant*

Just as a disclaimer, I am not a sports fan - never have been. I suppose I was born without the gene that compels one to root for your favorite team or watch sporting events. Even now, when I watch events such as Pride FC, UFC, the X-Games, Olympic weightlifting events, etc., I watch them to see technique, or to learn something, or to compare and contrast performances based on trainng routines. So the subject of this posting is not something near and dear to my heart.

BUT…

I realize that in any given sport, there are outstanding individuals or teams. Any given person may have their favorites. For example, I greatly enjoy boxing’s featherweight superstar Manny Pacquiao and his fights. However, could he have beaten a true great of the sport, such as Willie Pep? Can one even make such an apples-to-oranges comparison?

You hear arguments like this all the time:

“When Jordan was with the Bulls, they were unstoppable.”
“Oh yeah, I bet the ‘72 Lakers could’ve beaten them.”
“No way!!!”

And so on and so forth.

Well, now there’s a clever way to “settle the scores” impartially, thanks to mathematics and a clever little matrix devised by the guys at What IF Sports - a website that allows you to create matchups between any teams in their database, from recent lineups (2004-2005 season) to the greats of yesteryear. They’ve got an easy-to-navigate site and a well-designed interface.
Their current options are limited to baseball, basketball, football, and hockey, but with the inevitable torrent of web traffic they’ll be getting soon enough, more sports may be added.

Just for fun, I simulated an NBA game between the ‘04-’05 Knicks and the legendary ‘96-’97 Bulls. Final score: Bulls 105 - Knicks 73.

Hmm. I’m surprised it was even that close. I think the program needs some tweaking.

Tonight in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class, I had the distinction of working with a complete newbie - not only had this guy never done Jiu Jitsu before, he had never even set foot in a martial arts class ever (he was a former wrestler, however). Faced with the prospect of having a complete novice as my training partner, I did what any honorable Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player would have done.

I wiped the floor with him a bit (couldn’t resist - ha ha), then taught him all the basics I could in an hour.

I taught this guy my “Old Reliable” guard pass and my “Old Reliable” side mount escape. We drilled these two moves practically the entire length of class (outside of warmups and cool-downs). I’m pretty certain that, although he didn’t have them down perfectly, he was able to pick up the important details of each move. If he continues to drill these two moves in the same manner we did, and he adds a single submission (say, an armbar) to his repetoire, I am convinced he will submit 80% of the students in Renzo’s white belt class.

I can say that with confidence, not because I’m an awesome teacher, but because at white belt level, most BJJ players are consumed with the need to “beat” the other guy, rather than to excel at the game of Jiu Jitsu. They resort to using strength and power, rather than to get pulped refining their technique. As a result, one who cultivates their techniques can simply neutralize an opponent’s aggressiveness and strength and walk all over them. If that newbie can get those 2 techniques ingrained in his body, and add a good submission to his skill set, because his fundamentals are sound, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Which brings me to the point of this post: fundamentals are important. Fundamentals are the base from which you potentially excel, or from which you potentially fall. Build a weak base, and the overlying structure, no matter how well designed, is destined to fall. Build a strong base, and the overlying structure will never be toppled.

This applies to one’s training and one’s nutrition within the context of a fitness program. One should endeavor to build a strong base (read: powerful legs and strong core) before working on other aspects of fitness and conditioning (speed, skills, etc.). Without a sound nutritional base, one’s body cannot be expected to deliver optimal results, whether that be fat loss, sports performance, or pain-free living.

There is a reason why the powerlifts (bench press, squat, and deadlift) are at the core of most training programs out there.

The top performers in all sports are those individuals who have so mastered the fundamentals of their chosen sport that they make things look easy. The mark of the true master is that he makes the fundamentals look so natural, it seems anybody could do them.

Enough talk. Let’s all go out and rework our fundamentals. That makes doing those fancy black belt Jiu Jitsu moves that much easier to pull off.

Above: Literally, a “black belt” move - the triangle choke that allowed Eddie Bravo to tap out Royler Gracie (earning Bravo a black belt and the respect of Jiu Jitsu practitioners everywhere) was a “fundamental” move in his game (although he did set it up from Rubber Guard - most certainly not a “fundamental” setup/flow).

Imagine my surprise when I picked up the WSJ this morning:

A Fast, Brutal Sport Deals a Blow to Boxing

(Incidentally, the link takes you a reprint of the article on the UFC site, not the original on the Wall Street Journal website. You will not be able to view the full article on the WSJ site unless you’re a Wall Street Journal subscriber. Sorry, neither am I).

So Rorion Gracie can rest happily, his “vehicle to present the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the world”, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, has at long last hit it big in America.

It’s even legal in several states now. One might have forgotten that the first UFC almost didn’t happen due to the authorities in Colorado threatening to shut everything down and to arrest all the fighters. Funny, how ten years and hundreds of millions of dollars changes the political and cultural landscape. It almost seems like becoming an Ultimate Fighter bestows upon the victor accolades similar to that of a Mike Tyson or a Muhammed Ali in boxing’s heyday: the title of “rockstar.”

Of course, not everything goes so smoothly. Everybody wants a piece of the action, it seems.

I must say that seeing a front-page story on the UFC in the pre-eminent conservative newspaper in NYC really goes to show how “mainstream” UFC has become. What’s next I wonder…

…I know - “extreme fighting” certifications from ACE and IDEA - become an “Ultimate Fighting Trainer” by taking a 6 week certification course, 1.5 CEUs!

At the very least, when people ask me what martial art(s) I study, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu no longer draws a blank stare. The problem now is that everybody wants to fight me.

I know I’ll be crucified for this, but I’m about to write about a study I haven’t read yet (gasp).

A client told me about a study she saw in amNew York (a free daily we get here in NYC) regarding muscle activation - specifically, which exercise activates the glute muscles the most. According to the study, glute kickbacks (or mule kicks, or butt blasters, or whatever else you want to call them) caused the greatest muscle activation. She used this article as evidence that she should be doing said exercise for the greatest possible glute development.

***Insert tirade here***

Well, here’s the skinny on muscle activation studies:

To test muscle activation, what researchers do is stick electrodes either on the surface of the skin overlying a given muscle group or (less frequently) a needle electrode is used and the researchers will stick the needle under the skin, into the muscle group. What the researchers intend to measure is the electrical activity of the muscle group - the size of the action potential that causes the muscular contraction. The greater the action potential, the greater the “activation” of the muscle group (how well it is being recruited to perform the work).

Sounds pretty reasonable, and it is. Here are the confounding factors:

1) Researchers will typically use the non-invasive EKG-style electrodes (the kind that do not break the skin), which introduces error into the measurements.

2) The aforementioned electrodes (as well as the subcutaneous ones) will tend to pick up any activity and reflect it as “noise” (a wave on the oscilloscope), further obscuring the reading. In other words, the movement of your skin over and around the electrode can and does get picked up as “activity.”

3) Muscle groups have different areas of activation in different areas of a given movement (known as differentiation). As a purely hypothetical example, in a lat pulldown, the top portion may be preferentially recruited in the first 40 degrees of movement, while the bottom portion closer to the insertion point may be preferentially recruited in the final 50 degrees of movement.

Given these shortcomings, I find it hard to swallow claims based on EMG studies. Which is not to say that all EMG studies are performed poorly, but given the impreciseness of the testing tools, I would regard all results from EMG studies with caution. Read the Procedures section of the study and decide for yourself.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that more glute development would occur from butt blasters than a properly performed set of stiff-legged deadlifts. But that’s just me.