boomerhealthandfitness.com

Everyone is getting on the statin bandwagon after the results of the Jupiter study were recently released.  Dr. Michael Eades reveals why all the hype in the media is unwarranted.

If you believe the data from this study (we’ll get to that later), it indicates that men over 50 and women over 60 with normal LDL-cholesterol levels AND elevated C-reactive protein levels who took the very expensive ($3.50 per day) statin drug rosuvastatin (Crestor) minimally reduced their risk of developing heart disease or dying of any cause as compared to those who took placebo.

CRP (C-reactive Protein) is a marker that indicates an increased level of inflammation in the body.  Higher CRP levels are correlated with greater cardiovascular risk.  Want to reduce your CRP levels naturally?  Try a high fiber diet and supplement with magnesium, Vitamin C, and Omega 3 fatty acids.  There are also reports that digestive enzymes, such as Wobenzym, could be useful.

I wasn’t aware of the incestuous relationships rampant in the study, i.e. AztraZeneca, the maker of Crestor (the drug in the study) funded the study and the lead researcher just happens to have a patent on the test for CRP which would be used to determine who would most benefit from taking Crestor.  How conveeeenient!!

Somewhere on the list of the top ten weight loss tips is the standard “eat 5-6 meals a day to increase your metabolism”.  Mike at The IF Life explains why Eating More Meals Does NOT Speed Up Your Metabolism.

I can hear all the nutritionists and trainers around the world yelling at me at once “You’re wrong”…”You’re going to crash your metabolism”…and all the other things you hear so often. But honestly folks, where did this train of thought start? Could it be originally from the bodybuilding magazine and supplement industry (a billion dollar industry!!) that preys on the fear of going into a catabolic state and wasting away muscle….so you need to buy more protein powder, bars, etc. Or could it be from one of the many newer weight loss companies making billions selling prepared or portioned out foods/bars/shakes specifically for eating 5-6x a day? Could it be this is the greatest marketing sales pitch in the diet world today? I think so!

Goji berries, spirulina and coconut oil are included on a list of Ten Superfoods.  Lists such as this can be found all over the internet, but this looks like a good one.  It also includes cacao nibs and any list that contains chocolate, in any form, is ok with me.

What makes a healthy senior citizen? According to a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, it’s not just the usual factors of using alcohol in moderation or refraining from smoking.  Also important are a positive attitude and lower stress levels.  Although it pays to be smart when you’re younger by eating a healthy diet and getting exercise, it’s never too late to start taking steps to improve your health and fitness.

An article on the study can be found at Senior Spectrum.

This week I put Week 4 behind me and moved on to Week 5.  I also decided to extend the challenge for another week mainly because I haven’t figured out what to replace it with.

To get right to the results:

I made a couple of changes for the sake of variety, such as dropping one of my intermittent fasts this week.  I had enough points to reach my target goal without doing a second fast and I think it’s a good idea to mix them up by varying their duration and frequency.  I also did a hike that included enough hills that I felt justified including it as an additional interval training session.

It was actually an easy week.  My energy levels and mood were good and, although I had to talk myself into starting a couple of sessions, once I got going I was fine.  I increased the weight on some of my lifts and could tell the difference.  I repeated Tabata dumbbell thrusters as one of my interval training sessions.

I’ll be visiting family for nine days starting November 24^th and intend to use that time as a break from weight training although I plan on walking or doing a couple of interval training sessions.  So I may very well extend the 35 42 Day Fall Fitness Challenge to a total of 49 days.

I’m not sure what I’ll do when I return from vacation.  Maybe I’ll get some kettlebells or maybe I’ll do all bodyweight training.  There are a lot of options and I don’t have a clue at this point.

Something as simple as brisk walking can improve health and reduce body fat, according to a study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.  USA Today has the summary of the findings.  Among them are:

• Women who increased their activity level by an additional 3,500 steps a day lost 5 pounds during the year.
• Men who added that many steps lost 8½ pounds in a year.
• The exercisers who did the most - 60 minutes, six days a week - decreased their belly fat by 10% to 20%.
• Those same exercisers trimmed 10% to 15% of their overall body fat without losing muscle mass.

The participants were between the ages of 40 to 75 and were not required to follow a diet plan nor given any other exercise advice.  I imagine the addition of weight training and/or interval training would have increased the weight loss.  The reduction of belly fat is encouraging given its nasty effects on the liver and contribution to blood sugar and cholesterol problems.

Here’s a good video that speaks to the limitations of the Body Mass Index (BMI) for determining obesity.  Brad Pilon is the author of Eat Stop Eat which is a great eBook on intermittent fasting (IF).  I have a copy and recommend his book for anyone looking for information on IF or who might be considering it as part of a weight loss or health improvement plan.

Beta-alanine supplementation in elderly men and women may provide physical fitness improvements comparable to changes resulting from moderate endurance training according to a report in MedPage Today.  Beta-alanine is an amino acid which can increase carnosine levels in muscle tissue.  This has implications for increasing exercise endurance, strength and capacity.

The participants received 800mg of beta-alanine three times per day for three months.  At the end of the study they were re-tested for physical working capacity improvement on an exercise bike.  Over two thirds of those supplemented demonstrated significant improvement.

Do I think supplementing with beta-alanine is a substitute for exercise?  No, I don’t.  We know that exercise has additional benefits such as enhancing insulin sensitivity, improving body composition and reducing stress.  But here’s the important point.  Seniors and elderly people who exercise are less prone to falls and more able to live independently.  If supplementing with beta-alanine is able to mimic some of the benefits of exercise for this age group, it could very well be useful for that reason alone.

Pick the Brain has a great article on the power of limiting beliefs (How to Beat the Plague of Limiting Beliefs).  Too often we use self-limiting beliefs that have no basis in fact or are remnants of childhood to prevent us from trying new things or improving our lives.  And, yes, these self-limiting beliefs can even have an impact on our health and fitness.

Have you ever heard someone say they’re too old, too overweight, too out of shape, too tired, too busy to exercise?  How about too addicted to nicotine or sugar to make lifestyle changes that would positively affect them?

Physical limitations are not usually the culprit in making positive changes in our lives.  The limiting factor is that tape that’s playing in your head.  The one that says “I can’t” or “maybe” or “someday”.  There is no someday.  There is only today.

I mentioned in my last post that I had received the results of my latest blood test.  If you’ve read Time to Get Serious, Part 1, you’ll know that back in the summer a routine blood test revealed that my triglycerides, cholesterol and blood glucose were extremely out of whack.  That’s indicative of metabolic syndrome and not a good thing.

My doctor decided to raise my Lipitor from 10mg/day to 20mg and added another medication for my high triglycerides.  My fasting blood sugar was in the low 150’s and, since my blood glucose results had been in the pre-diabetic or impaired range for a couple of years, this was a concern to her.

These results forced me to re-evaluate my diet and exercise and I’ve adhered really well to the revisions I made to both.  I’ve had a couple of slip ups.  Halloween candy for one.  One week where I didn’t meet my exercise goals for another.  Overall, however, I’m pleased with my progress and my ability to stick with the program.

Those efforts have paid off as the results of my October blood test demonstrate.  There was a wholesale improvement across the board.  My cholesterol and triglycerides are now within the normal range even though I never took that additional medication for the triglycerides that the doctor prescribed.  My blood glucose is much better although it’s still registering slightly into the impaired range.

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Week 4 officially sucked.  There’s no other way to put it.  I was grumpy, depressed and cranky most of the week and I still don’t know why.  Work was stressful.  I’m sure that had something to do with it.  I worked very late Friday and missed my interval training because of it.

In addition to the Friday interval training session, I skipped a weight training session on Saturday.  I had the time to do it, I just didn’t have the inclination.

I drank a Diet Coke on four straight days.  I felt hungrier than normal on my intermittent fasting days.  With the mood I was in, I didn’t have much mental reserve to deal with the hunger.  I managed a 21 and an 18 hour fast, but was very tempted to throw in the towel on both of them.

After doing really well with my eating choices for weeks, I fell prey to the temptation of Halloween candy.  Of course, to make matters worse, I beat myself up over it.

Here are the results for the week.  I didn’t meet my goal of 24 points and by the end of the week I didn’t really care if I did.

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We start off today with an interesting post about fat oxidation from Sam at the KC Kettlebell Club .  He reports on several studies that indicate that high intensity interval training (HIIT) is more effective for improving VO2max, fat oxidation and body composition than lower intensity endurance training.  This held true even when the endurance training group burned more calories overall.

“A keystone study in the debate of endurance training (ET) versus high intensity interval training (HIIT) where two groups, one endurance training [ET] group (men and women alike) trained for 20 weeks at 78% heart rate max, the other, a HIIT group (men and women) trained for 15 weeks. It was noted that the ET group burned around twice as many calories as the HIIT group overall. However, the HIIT group had a 9 TIMES greater reduction in adipose tissue (fat) than the ET group.”

I wish he had provided a link to the studies so I could read them directly.  There’s always something interesting and geeky about reading the results straight from the researchers’ report. He has a picture of those cool colored kettlebells on his home page so I’ll forgive him for not including the links.

Speaking of kettlebells, I found a nice site run by personal trainer Lauren Brooks. The self described Kettlebell Queen has demonstration videos you can view at YouTube. Like this one:

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Friday:  I knocked out a hike which also counted as my interval training.  I hadn’t gone on a strenuous hike in a few weeks and thought I was up to tackling a local peak, Mission Peak in Fremont, CA.

Mission Peak rises steeply for 2200 feet and there is no easy way to the top.  The official park brochure recommends a five hour round trip for the 5.6 mile hike.  I made it up in two hours.  Once I reached the summit, I spent a little time resting, having a snack and swatting gnats before I started back down.  If it weren’t for the gnats, I probably would have stayed longer.

The descent is almost as bad as the ascent because of the steepness.  It’s really a killer on the legs and I felt some hot spots developing on my feet.  After about another 1.5 hours, I was back at my car in the parking lot, but my legs were toast and I knew they’d be sore later.

When I got home, I iced my feet and didn’t see any blisters.  Yeah!  But my legs were already starting to tell me they were not happy about all the activity.  Boooooo!  I sat in the tub for a while before bed hoping the Epsom salts and baking soda would act as a magic potion.

Saturday:  OMG!!!  My calves were killing me.  They didn’t bother me at ALL on the hike yesterday so this was a total surprise.  Instead I expected my quads and hamstrings to be hurting.  My quads were a little sore and stiff, but manageable and the hammies felt fine. Continue Reading »

How did I miss it? I just found out that October is National Apple Month.  Out of all the absolutely ridiculous holidays and special days, months, whatever (did you know that October 26^th, when I actually started writing this, is/was Mule Day?), why didn’t the apple growers of the good, old USA do a little advertising?  I would have celebrated National Apple Month in style if I had known.  Instead, I munched on my almost daily apple in decidedly uncelebratory fashion.  Damn!

Enjoy the rest of National Apple Month and don’t say no one told you that October 28^th is both Plush Animal Lover’s Day AND National Chocolate Day.  Now that’s a day to look forward to!

From the Duhhhhh Category, being overweight or obese can be detrimental to your hips and knees.  A news release from the American College of Rheumatology reveals some of the findings from a decade long study in Sweden.

“Being overweight, particularly if you have a higher than average body mass index, may increase your risk for developing severe osteoarthritis (OA) in your hips and knees…

In this study, which is the largest and the first that compares the effect of different measures of body mass on the risk of severe OA over time in the knees and hips of both men and women in the same population, investigators also demonstrated that the risk increase of developing severe OA is more strongly related to increased joint loading due to being overweight than to the metabolic changes associated with being overweight or obese (such as, increased CRP and metabolic syndrome).”

The development of OA can lead to knee and hip replacement surgery.  Yet another reason to stay fit and maintain a healthy body weight, but I think we already knew this one.

I’m all for multitasking, but I draw the line at working out WHILE I’m in a meeting.  Others, however, do not appear to share my disillusionment.  The Buffalo News reports on Innovations In Fitness, including a walking conference at the Nativity of Mary School.  The teachers actually participate in their staff meetings while chugging away on ellipticals and treadmills.

I especially like the Healthy Living Support Center that features a Bike Room Movie night where exercisers can watch movies and eat popcorn while pedaling a bike.  While some exercise is better than none, there’s something inherently wrong about eating popcorn while using an exercise bike.

Personally, I don’t want to be distracted during my workout which is why I primarily work out alone at home or run by myself.  The only company I want is music and sometimes not even that.  I don’t want to just go through the motions.  I want to concentrate on what I’m doing.  Multitasking while exercising is an “innovation” I just don’t find that appealing. Continue Reading »

Week Two was another great week!  It’s difficult to believe it’s only week two.  I feel like I’ve been doing this for a month already.  I hope that’s not a bad sign that I’m doing too much and am about to flame out.

Tonight I almost skipped my weight training circuits because I felt worn down.  Not really tired, just out of energy.  I had a cup of coffee, but I don’t think it made much difference.  I made it through the workout ok and felt that it was intense.  I increased the amount of weight I used.  I did bench pushups instead of kneeling pushups.  I just felt that I wasn’t in the game mentally and that all the exercises were harder than they should have been.

I had four really intense workouts the previous four days so I think I’ll take tomorrow off.  Maybe I’ll do some stretching or light yoga, but I’m going to reschedule my intervals for the day after tomorrow.

Now on to my results from last week, Week 2.  Here they are.

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It’s Weekly Roundup time!!

I’m starting off first with this article from the Boston Globe entitled Baby boomer deaths could fuel funeral industry. As a Boomer, that headline pisses me off.  Funeral directors expect us to be a windfall for their industry.  I know that everyone has to make a living and funeral directors provide a valuable service, but it feels a little ghoulish knowing that they’re waiting for us to die off.  I don’t know about you, but I intend to make them wait as long as I possibly can.  That means eating right, exercising, reducing stress and having fun.  So take that you funeral directors!

On a more positive note, there’s this article from MedicineNet.com, Aerobics Can Reverse Mental Decline in Older Adults.

“As people age, a deterioration of white and gray matter in certain areas of the brain can cause cognitive decline, Kramer explained. He reviewed published research and found that several studies showed that regular moderate exercise that makes a person breathless increases the speed and sharpness of thought, the actual volume of brain tissue, and the way in which the brain functions.

These benefits have been noted in people with Alzheimer’s disease as well as in those with no signs of progressive brain disease, Kramer wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Some studies found that six months of aerobic exercise reversed age-related decline and that older adults’ brains retained plasticity — the capacity to grow and develop. Other studies showed that adults with higher levels of physical fitness had less evidence of deterioration in gray matter (involved in thinking) than less fit peers.”

So if you needed another excuse to get and stay fit, there it is. Continue Reading »