More about Mr. Kellogg …

I just got back from a great meet in creswell Oregon at Iron Works gym.  Thank you to Tom Hirtz for inviting me and helping me out with starting PDX Weightlifting.

See pictures of the event here.

Chabal impact
Don’t let this happen to you!

In a recent position paper by the International Society of Sports Nutrition, they step up to defend creatine against the myth-mongers:

Although creatine has recently been accepted as a safe and useful ergogenic aid, several myths have been purported about creatine supplementation which include:

1. All weight gained during supplementation is due to water retention.

2. Creatine supplementation causes renal distress.

3. Creatine supplementation causes cramping, dehydration, and/or altered electrolyte status.

4. Long-term effects of creatine supplementation are completely unknown.

5. Newer creatine formulations are more beneficial than creatine monohydrate and cause fewer side effects.

6. It’s unethical and/or illegal to use creatine supplements. While these myths have been refuted through scientific investigation, the general public is still primarily exposed to the mass media which may or may not have accurate information.

In the full PDF article, they go on to correct these misapprehensions:

Position Statement: The following nine points related to the use of creatine
as a nutritional supplement constitute the Position Statement of the
Society. They have been approved by the Research Committee of the
Society.
1. Creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional
supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing highintensity
exercise capacity and lean body mass during training.

2. Creatine monohydrate supplementation is not only safe, but possibly
beneficial in regard to preventing injury and/or management of select
medical conditions when taken within recommended guidelines.

3. There is no scientific evidence that the short- or long-term use of creatine
monohydrate has any detrimental effects on otherwise healthy individuals.

4. If proper precautions and supervision are provided, supplementation in
young athletes is acceptable and may provide a nutritional alternative to
potentially dangerous anabolic drugs.

5. At present, creatine monohydrate is the most extensively studied and
clinically effective form of creatine for use in nutritional supplements in
terms of muscle uptake and ability to increase high-intensity exercise
capacity.

6. The addition of carbohydrate or carbohydrate and protein to a creatine
supplement appears to increase muscular retention of creatine, although
the effect on performance measures may not be greater than using
creatine monohydrate alone.

7. The quickest method of increasing muscle creatine stores appears to be
to consume ~ 0.3 grams/kg/day of creatine monohydrate for at least 3
days followed by 3-5 g/d thereafter to maintain elevated stores. Ingesting
smaller amounts of creatine monohydrate (e.g., 2-3 g/d) will increase
muscle creatine stores over a 3-4 week period, however, the performance
effects of this method of supplementation are less supported.

8. Creatine products are readily available as a dietary supplement and are
regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Specifically,
in 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed into law the Dietary Supplement
Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA allowsmanufacturers/companies/brands to make structure-function claims;
however, the law strictly prohibits disease claims for dietary supplements.

9. Creatine monohydrate has been reported to have a number of potentially
beneficial uses in several clinical populations, and further research is
warranted in these areas.

Mark Rippetoe talks strength, training, and the new CrossFit Total, which contests the OH press, Dead, and Squat.

I’d like to see a contest which contests the OH Press, Front Squat, and Snatch.  That would be a serious test of overall athleticism … Hmmm … maybe the Dojo will have to host something like this in the future!

See:

The title above is actually quite misleading.  It presumes there is a dicotomy between the two: Diet vs. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).  There isn’t.  You need to do both.  You need a good solid diet, made up of vegatables, high quality protein sources in adequate amounts, AND you need to have a solid, tough, balls-to-the-wall exercise program.

That said, the question remains:  Which (diet or exercise) is KING and which is QUEEN.  (I’m sorry in advance for the inherently sexist categorical system I’m using).

I just read a post by Jon Benson (who I generally respect), that I have to disagree with.  In it, he prefaces (just like I did above) that REALLY you need to have both in place.  But, when pushed, he reversed Jack LaLanne’s assertion that Exercise is King, and Nutrition is Queen.  For Jon, Nutrition is King.

When it comes to sheer fat loss, when we’re not talking about ANY other health indicators, then I think Jon is correct.  But, if you care AT ALL about your strength levels, bone density, endurance, power, stamina, mental acuity, depression levels, hormone levels, or any other physical factor other than body fat %, then Exercise is KING.  Particularly High Intensity Exercise like Interval Training, Cross Training, and Weight Training.

I don’t even bother talking about diet, beyond the ultimate basics, with my clients when they first come to me.  Eventually we get into it pretty seriously, but at first, it’s just getting them off their couch.  If they aren’t moving, diet is worthless … because they’ll quit.

Diet follows from what your body needs.  If you aren’t causing your body to NEED 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight a day, then eating that much will feel weird.  If you aren’t causing damage (and that’s what exercise is, damage) to your body, then all those vegetables and vitamins and healthy foods seem like a chore, rather than a disparate need.

The harder and harder the routines get, as you progress to ever higher levels of workout intensity, the more and more you will start to WANT to eat healthier.  There is nothing like the craving for Broccoli that comes from a body that is constantly under serious physical stress.  I’m not joking!  I crave it all the time.

Of course this isn’t universal!  Bad habits are bad habits.  But, exercise creates the positive environment where a healthy diet can thrive.   And changing bad habits in diet is always easier when you are hitting the gym hard.

In the end, there is more to health than your outward appearance.  If you want to shed body fat, then you have to work your ass off in the gym, and you have to work hard on your diet.  Period.  There’s just no way around that.   But, the other reasons to exercise are so myriad that it seems silly to even consider a world where we didn’t put our all into it.

If I had to pick between a sub-par workout routine and a perfect diet, or a sub-par diet and a slammin’ workout routine, I’ll pick the latter.  (notice I didn’t say a perfect diet with NO exercise, or a perfect workout routine with all your meals all coming from Micky D’s … that’d be moronic).

The latter is more in line with how our species was psychologically designed to deal with the world.  Our species is designed to exercise.  We’re designed to climb trees (pull ups), run after our food, fish, swim, jump, build shelters, walk for miles and miles, etc.  We are NOT designed to diet.  Psychologically, a hard diet is much worse than a hard workout routine.

So, get up, start moving, eat healthy and sensibly, but don’t starve yourself.  And when you workout, don’t wimp out.   That’s the key.

This is scary.

See my rant on Good Tithings.

by Keith Scott …

High Intensity Interval Training is just what it says it is, performing very high intensity, intervals for a short period of time.

OK, he goes into more depth than that!  If you’re still doing steady state (jogging, slow pace, etc.) cardio then you NEED to read his post and learn what you can do to make a major change in your fitness levels.

Also see my Post:  Interval Training is for Everyone