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a personal training blog

From the category archives:

Exercise Science

I Deal in Absolutes. So Should You.

March 25, 2008

One of my clients this morning was particularly interested in his bodyfat percentage.  While taking it I reminded him that the percentages are misleading and that a much more useful number is the absolute value of lean body mass (read: muscle) and fat mass, and that it’s much more useful to look at 2.4 pounds more [...]

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To Stretch or Not To Stretch?

March 18, 2008

This is probably one of the most common questions I get from clients. Or, more likely, it’ll come in the form of a statement, as in:  “I know I should probably stretch after our sessions.  Right?”
Not surprisingly, the answer is: It depends on the context (betcha weren’t expecting that one). 
If this were the 1970s, extortations [...]

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Why Lift Weights?

February 8, 2008

Because it’s enjoyable and rewarding, if not downright fun (once in a while.  A long while).
It decreases your chances of sports injury (and other acute, accidental injuries as well).
It’s the only exercise that can appreciably build muscle tissue.
It’s the most efficient way of maintaining muscle mass as we age, staving off premature decline and death.
It [...]

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What Rocky IV Can Teach You About Exercise.

January 8, 2008

Ignore the use of isokinetic (read: useless) equipment. Ignore Dolph Lundgren’s atrocious form (especially on those power cleans – yuk). Ignore the behind-neck pullups (ouch).What’s truly interesting about this montage is this:
While both men are using vastly different methods and equipment (can snow be considered “equipment?”), both have two common things with their training methodology:
1. [...]

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Calories Don’t Count. Not in Exerciseland.

December 20, 2007

Today’s New York Times:
Putting Very Little Weight in Calorie Counting Methods.
Gina Kolata goes on to describe how the so-called science of assessing your caloric expenditure (or more precisely, how the hamster wheels at your local New York Sports Club calculate calories burned) is far from scientific.
From my days as an undergrad in the Exercise Science [...]

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Exercise is Good For Your Brain.

December 6, 2007

Dr. Larry McCleary describes (arguably) one of the best reasons for a person to engage in an exercise program.
It’s important to note that exercise, carried out for too long, can cause a stress reaction of its own accord.  After roughly 60 minutes or so serum levels of cortisol (which had been held in check by [...]

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Trench Warfare – Studies vs. “Results.”

November 17, 2007

What’s more important – theory or practice?
Just because it “works on paper”, does it “work?” And just because “it works”, does it “work?”
Just what the heck am I talking about?
I’m referring to the so-called Diet Debate on CNN’s The Larry King Show that Gary Taubes, Mehmet Oz, Jillian Michaels, and Andrew Weil engaged in. [...]

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"Why Do I Want To Hold My Breath During a Set?"

August 16, 2007

Why breathe when weight training? I mean, why not just hold your breath for the entire set and pass out at the en….oh. Guess I answered my own question.
Ask a fitness professional why you breathe during a set, and you’ll get a number of great reasons, like:

Your blood pressure will rise sky-high.
You’ll sustain [...]

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"Tight" Hamstrings.

August 15, 2007

You’ll often hear someone complain of “tight muscles” – most commonly, the hamstrings.
“Holy crap, are my hamstrings tight”, she said as she touched her palms to the floor. Or did something like the pose to the left.
Ummm…yeah.
You know, if you can touch your entire palm to the floor, your hamstrings aren’t really “tight” – [...]

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Can You Outsmart Your Genetics?

August 10, 2007

The next time someone tells you they’re fat because of their genetics, tell ‘em about Otto and Ewald.
And just who in the heck are Otto and Ewald?
Otto and Ewald are two identical German twins, but you’d never know it by looking at them.
From this comparison shot (from 1969, when both were 23 years old), you [...]

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