Surprising Results of a Three-Week Fitness Lay-Off

Posted on January 24, 2013 | 2 comments

MP900182524[1]I’m reminded of a quote from a famous violinist: “If I don’t practice for one day, I can tell.  If I don’t practice for two days, my conductor can tell.  If I don’t practice for three days, the audience can tell.”

A few months ago, I laid off all exercise for three weeks straight, partly due to a long vacation, partly to see how much my fitness would deteriorate.

Here’s what I found:

  • My time for the one-mile run increased from 8 mins and 54 seconds to 9 mins and 30 seconds
  • My maximum number of push-ups increased from 32 to 36
  • My maximum number of sit-ups increased from 32 to 34
  • My maximum number of pull-ups increased from 8 to 9

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Strength measures increased, surprisingly.  Was it just a good day, or did my muscles need the time off to rest and re-build?  Over-training is a real problem for some folks.  At 20 minutes of weight-training twice a week, I doubt I was anywhere near what most consider over-training.  I don’t fiddle-fart around during my exercise sessions, but I’m not puking either.

So I won’t feel too bad in the future if I take a couple or three weeks off from strength training periodically.

My endurance for running deteriorated significantly.  Is it related to the lack of strength training, the lack of treadmill interval work, or both?

Your mileage will vary.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Who Is Silverlobster?

Posted on January 21, 2013 | 1 comment

My 14-year-old son is a budding artist.  His work is viewable and for sale at DeviantArt.  You can order prints of various sizes and quality, along with his art on cups and refrigerator magnets.  Thanks for taking a look.  Paul will get a kick out of the bump in page views whether you buy or not!

Some samples:

Wink!

Deadmau5 copy

Soaring eagle

Impressionist snake

REEEAOGH

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Five Tibetan Rituals for Relief of Low Back Pain

Posted on January 19, 2013 | Comments Off on Five Tibetan Rituals for Relief of Low Back Pain

A position you’ll see in the video

I was browsing at author Jerry Pournelle’s blog recently and noticed his 2006 reference to five Tibetan rituals (sometimes called rites) that relieved his back pain.  He didn’t say, but I assume Mr. Pournelle has run-of-the-mill low back pain like most middle-aged folks.

I’m not recommending or endorsing these.  I may try them someday myself.  They just look like flexibility and strengthening exercises to me.

If interested, here’s a how-to article at eHow.com.  Here’s a video demonstration (ignore the top video of Dr. Oz; view the next one down).

Ignore any references you see to Ayurvedic medicine and chakras.

Don’t worry, I’m not going woo on you.

Please share if  you’ve had experience—good or bad—with these.

—Steve

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QOTD: Adam Smith on Economic Self-Interest

Posted on January 18, 2013 | 1 comment

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.”

—Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations

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Git’R Done: Efficient Exercise For Those Who Don’t Enjoy It

Posted on January 17, 2013 | 3 comments

“Wanna arm wrestle?”

I hate exercising.

I’d rather watch TV, play Parcheesi, play my mandolin, bowl, go to a movie, sleep, blog, surf the ‘net, work on my next book, fish, visit with my wife and kids, practice shooting, work on new recipes, or even go to work.

But….

I want the health benefits of exercise.

Loren Cordain, a godfather of the modern paleo diet movement, characterizes the physical activity pattern of hunter-gatherers thusly: “periods of intense exertion generally alternated with days of rest and relaxation.”  Nevertheless, “the amount of physical activity performed by an average hunter-gatherer would have been about four times greater that that of a sedentary office worker….”

Eaton and Eaton suggest than ancient hunter-gatherers burned 490 calories a day in physical activity, which would require about an hour of modern exercise.

For much of this year I’ve been experimenting with various exercise programs that may yield the health benefits with minimal time commitment.  Like 60 minutes a week.  Not the 150 minutes recommended by some public health authorities.  In case you’re interested, here are some links that outline the programs:

If you’re tempted to try any of these programs, get your personal physician’s blessing first.  I’d love to hear about your experience with them.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Cordain quotes are from The Paleo Diet (2002).

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Paleo Pioneer S. Boyd Eaton’s Personal Lifestyle

Posted on January 14, 2013 | Comments Off on Paleo Pioneer S. Boyd Eaton’s Personal Lifestyle
African Savanna

African Savanna

Dr. Eaton (M.D.) spoke at the last Ancestral Health Symposium about his own diet and exercise program.  He’s 74-years-old and has been following his paleo lifestyle for 30 years.  In this video, Dr. Eaton looks quite fit and is obviously mentally sharp.

He talks about a “weak form” of the paleo diet that would include relatively small amounts of whole grains (e.g., shredded wheat) and dairy (e.g., skim milk).  He doesn’t proscribe beans.  He limits saturated fat, but enjoys red wine.

Dr. Eaton also discusses a “strong form” diet that would cut out the dairy, grains, and probably alcohol.  This is for those with certain diseases of modern civilization, such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, metabolic syndrome, adverse blood lipids, etc.  He didn’t mention diabetes specifically, but I bet he would include it in the list.

He has an impressive daily exercise program that probably takes at least an hour, with weight training on machines plus an aerobics (stationary bike and swimming).

Dr. Eaton supplments with a multivitamin/multimineral (showed a picture of Centrum), EPA/DHA, and fiber (especially soluble fiber).

The video is only 20 minutes long and well worth a look.

Steve Parker, M.D.

h/t Melissa McEwen. (Melissa has the impression the Eaton partakes of whole grains and dairy.  I didn’t hear that in the video but may have missed it.)

 

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Paleo Diet is the Most Sought After

Posted on January 11, 2013 | 1 comment

According to Janet Helm, RD.

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Are You Afraid of the Night(shades)?

Posted on January 8, 2013 | 4 comments
Rosemary Chicken (garnished with pico de gallo) and Rosemary Potatoes

Rosemary Chicken (garnished with pico de gallo) and Rosemary Potatoes

The nightshade family includes potatoes (not sweet potatoes or yams), tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, goji berries, and even tobacco.  Anecdotal reports indicate that consumption of these either cause or aggravate certain chronic medical conditions, such as arthritis, chronic fatigue, or irritable bowel syndrome.

Georgia Ede, M.D., has an article on medical effects of nightshades at her website.  The potentially offensive chemicals in nightshades are called glycoalkaloids.  I looked into this issue when deciding whether to include potatoes in my version of the paleo diet.  (They’re included).

Dr. Ede’s writes:

As with any food sensitivity, the only way to find out is to remove nightshades from your diet for a couple of weeks or so to see if you feel better.  There are ZERO scientific articles about nightshade sensitivity, chronic pain, or arthritis in the literature, however, the internet is full of anecdotal reports of people who have found that nightshades aggravate arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other chronic pain syndromes.

I bet I could eat a couple potatoes and tomatoes every day without ill effect.  And there’s Chris Voigt, head of the Washington State Potato Commission, famous for his 60-day potato diet.  As they say, your mileage may vary.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Carbohydrates and Sugar Increase Risk of Elderly Cognitive Impairment

Posted on January 6, 2013 | 1 comment

 

How many brain cells with this roll kill?

How many brain cells with this roll kill?

The Mayo Clinic recently reported that diets high in carbohydrates and sugar increase the odds of developing cognitive impairment in the elderly years.

Mild cognitive impairment is often a precursor to incurable dementia.  Many authorities think dementia develops more often in people with diabetes, although some studies refute the linkage.

Researchers followed 940 patients with normal baseline cognitive functioning over the course of four years. Diet was assessed via questionnaire. Study participants were ages 70 to 89. As the years passed, 200 of them developed mild cognitive impairment.

Compared with those eating at the lowest level of carbohydrate consumption, those eating at the highest levels were almost twice as likely to go to develop mild cognitive impairment.

The scientists note that those eating lower on the carbohydrate continuum were eating more fats and proteins.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Denmark’s Paleolithic Diet

Posted on January 5, 2013 | Comments Off on Denmark’s Paleolithic Diet

ScienceNordic has an article about the diet of Paleolithic humans who lived in what is now Denmark.  It’s brief and written for the general public.  The author mistakenly characterizes the “modern paleo” diet as no- or very-low-carb.  It’s lower in carb content than the standard American diet, but by no means no-carb.

—Steve

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