Fitness news, training trends and locker room gossip

Q: Can you suggest a couple of good split exercise routines to increase muscle size?

A: There’s two really effective splits you should use:

Split one:

Day one: Chest and Back

Day two: Any lower body exercises

Day three: Rest day

Day four: Shoulders and Arms

Day five: Rest day

Day six: Repeat cycle

Split Two:

Day one: Chest and biceps

Day 2: Any lower body exercises

Day 3: Rest day

Day 4: Back and triceps

Day 5: Rest day

Day 6: Repeat cycle

When you eat foods high in sugar, you’re paving the way to rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels. This is not all bad news however, as replacing sugar is surprisingly easy.

According to the British Dietetic Association, the recommended intake of added sugars – such as fruit juice, soft drinks and those in processed food, as well as the sugar you add – is 10 per cent of your total daily calorie intake.

That’s about 50g a day for those on 2,000 calories. (One level teaspoon of sugar weighs 4g and contains 16 calories.)

In the UK, the average intake of sugar is now around half a kilogram per person pr week. That’s over 26 kilos of sugar in a year!

Official figures issued by DEFRA show that we’re exceeding this target, with 12 per cent of the average British woman’s energy intake coming from added sugars – that’s about 2.5 EXTRA teaspoons a day. (Women on low incomes eat an average of four extra teaspoons.)

One of sugar’s major drawbacks is that it raises the insulin level, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system.

An influx of sugar into the bloodstream upsets the body’s blood sugar balance, triggering the release of insulin. Insulin promotes the storage of fat, so that when you eat sweets high in sugar, you’re paving the way to rapid weight gain and elevated triglyceride levels, both of which have been linked to cardiovascular disease.

We do not have to consume white, refined sugar to be consuming sugar. Sugar includes glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose and maltose. Even alcohol is a sugar. All of these sugars are problematic in many different ways.

This is not all bad news however, as replacing sugar is surprisingly easy. Two natural, organic sugar alternatives are stevia and xylitol. These substitutes are not only completely natural and safe but also have many surprising heath benefits.

Stevia is a herb that has been used as a sweetener in South America for hundreds of years. It is calorie free and 300 times sweeter than sugar.

Xylitol is a natural substance found in fibrous vegetables and fruit, as well as in corn cobs and various hardwood trees, like birch. Our bodies naturally produce up to 15 grams of the sweetener daily during normal metabolism. During consumption, much less insulin is released into the blood compared to glucose. This is obviously a very good thing for insulin-sensitive individuals or for anyone concerned with weight loss, as insulin (apart from driving the glucose into the cells) also tells the body to store even slight excess carbohydrates as fat, rather than to use them as energy.

Although xylitol is derived from fruits and vegetables, it is not the same as fructose. Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar, which means that it is anti-microbial (prevents the growth of bacteria), whereas all other forms of sugar are six-carbon sugars, which cause bacterial and fungi overgrowth.
Comment>>

A sweaty, exhausted woman stops to catch her breath in shadowy park. The tag line? “It’s all about men.”  Men’s Health. Creeepy. Is this why you exercise? Click through to see more »

Lately, everyone seems to believe in core strengthening for improved sports performance. However, new evidence suggests that too much time spent on core training could be unproductive.

What is core strength?

The body’s ‘core’ refers to region that maintains the body’s centre of gravity and provides stability for movement, consisting of skeletal, ligamentous and muscular components from the pelvis to the diaphragm. The bone structure including your spine, ribs and pelvis and the ligaments that join them, and the thoracolumbar fascia, are considered the passive elements of the core. Without the active support of the muscular components, these elements become unstable under relatively small pressures.

The muscles in the abdomen, spine, pelvis and hips contribute to your core stability. And the large, superficial muscles of the hips and abdomen are the prime movers of the trunk area.

How is core stability achieved?

The muscles that compose the core work together in a complex interaction to provide trunk stability that allows distal mobility. This stability must be active in all three planes of movement. Three mechanisms are activated through muscle contractions to achieve core stability:

• Increased intra-abdominal pressure
• Spinal compressive forces
• Hip and trunk muscle stiffness

Intra-abdominal pressure contributes to stability by increasing global trunk stiffness.

Contraction of these muscles happens before movement is initiated in the limbs. But, only a five to 10 per cent increase in activation of these muscles is required to stiffen the spine for daily tasks, as well as vigorous activity. With this in mind, intense exercises such as Swiss ball crunches are not perhaps worth focusing on during your workout.

No single muscle contributes more to spinal stability than any other – they work as parts of an overall mechanism to stabilise the trunk during activity. Isolation techniques used in training that emphasise the function of one muscle over others to improve core stability may actually be detrimental to the low back and impair the automatic neuromuscular mechanisms.

While it makes theoretical sense that a stronger core will enhance athletic performance (and many trainers and athletes have taken advantage of this assumption), this theory is yet to be proven through scientific research.

A strong core is just one part of the body, and having a strong core doesn’t necessarily translate into any other advantages. There is no point in having a strong core and ignoring the rest of your body during training.

In a study at Indiana State University, researchers looked at the relationship between core stability, functional movement and performance. The study found that although there was some correlation between core strength and isolated strength measures, there was no correlation between core strength and functional movement.

Researchers in Greece and the United Kingdom showed that general trunk exercises were more effective in treating patients with lower back pain than isolated stabilisation exercises with specific core manoeuvres.

So while some core work may be good, classic crunches, push ups and lateral raises (requiring no equipment) may be better at improving your performance and strengthening your body.

It is useful sometimes to use core strength training to stretch and loosen tight muscles, but much larger gains in core strength come through squats and dead lifts, not Swiss ball crunches or interminable strength endurance work.

For her latest venture, the “Iron Man” star is partnering up with her personal trainer Tracy Anderson to open a gym in Tribeca, her representative tells the NY Daily News.

Watch Gwen and Tracy work out.

The Supramax fat loss training method (SP8) is an interval training programme that combines high and low-intensity training in one session: high-intensity bursts followed by endurance training intensity in the recovery phase.

Exercises that burn fat can reduce the symptoms of metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. Some of my clients like to exercise vigorously but most people prefer whatever method will be quickest and easiest. Although when it comes to shredding body fat a method that is easy and effective is most often a paradox in terms.

There are two schools of thought when it comes fat burning: low intensity over sustained periods or a short burst of a more challenging intensity. Most people believe in the former, although researchers found that fat, as a percentage of fuel burned during exercise, is greatest at 55 per cent of VO2 Max. At any intensity higher than this, more carbs are burned relative to fat.

Interval training programmes, like this one, are designed to also work with your muscle physiology. In order for the body to move during exercise, the muscles need to contract and this contraction uses ATP (Adenosine Tri-phosphate), which has to be re-synthesised through the burning of fuels such as creatine phosphate (CP),carbohydrate or fat stores. The SP8 training programme has been designed (with an 8-second burst) to use up all the available CP stores in the muscle, followed by a 52-second recovery at a level more suited to endurance training, as a way to use optimum percentage of fat store for fuel.

The length of recovery can than vary for up to two mins depending on the person, to allow for more complete replenishing of CP stores in the muscle. As much as possible, the 8-second burst of sprinting should occur every minute for 20 to 30 minutes.

The session begins with a two-minute warmup (at 55 per cent VO2 Max), followed by an eight second sprint. During the 8 seconds of sprinting at supra-maximal intensity, the power output is increased to a level three or four times that of the recovery phase by increasing the resistance whilst increasing the speed. In the recovery phase the power output returns to the equivalent of 55 per cent VO2 Max which is maintained for the recovery period.

This one speaks for itself. It is a hard workout, 8 seconds on, 50 seconds off (this time will vary according to your fitness)….for 20 minutes, but it is very effective.

A very happy new year to all of my readers, clients and friends!!!

Best wishes for 2009,

Peter Rodwell

Weight-loss supplements can help you lose weight quickly, but it is important to be aware of the potential side effects and health risks of using such supplements.

At best fad diets and products might result in a temporary weight loss in the short term and can be dangerous if followed over a longer period. Unless a person develops and maintains a better diet and physical activity habit, any weight lost (often water or muscle rather than fat) will soon return.

Most prescription diet pills suppress the appetite, which causes you to consume fewer calories. This may seem a quick solution. However, as you reduce your caloric intake, your metabolism also slows down. As your metabolism slows, the amount of weight you lose also slows down. And when you stop taking the supplement, your metabolism can be permanently altered.