Don't forget to train your cortex!

Many, well let's face it all of the posts I have recently been writing deal with physical fitness training. However, I thought I would digress from that excursion to discuss Cortical training; i.e. brain training. This has actually become very popular lately with the advent of Nintendo's Brain Training DS game. But is this worth anything? Yes, actually, it could get you laid. (Yes we are back to the good old posts about how fitness gets you laid!)

A recent paper outlines how this works and I summarize here. OK, here goes. The English language (as just one example) has about 20,000 plus/minus words. The average human, however, only uses about 6,000-7,000 on average. In fact, only about 6,000-7,000 words are actually necessary in order to communicate with another human. So why so many words? And, how does your vocab get you laid?

Well we know that use of infrequent words and extended vocabulary is a good indicator of intellectual function (i.e. your general IQ). We also know that intellectual function is attractive to females; i.e. females prefer males with indicators of higher intelligence (e.g. educational status, lots of money, etc). Why, you might ask? Well, mating with a guy who has greater intelligence increases the probability that your offspring will inherit that greater intelligence. This serves two functions: 1) individuals with greater intelligence do better in life - they are better equipped to deal with the world, adapt, be flexible and generally attain greater social and economic statuses and 2) Individuals with greater intelligence are chosen as mates more often then individuals with lesser intelligence. It might be that, by choosing to mate with smart males, females may actually be manipulating future generations attractiveness and mate-ability (note the intellectual ability to combine and make new words... ;-)  This recent study, which was published in Evolutionary Psychology , shows that males actually employ use of lower frequency words (i.e. odd words that are not used in normal everyday language, or the words that make you sound smart!) when asked to imagine they were in a romantic situation with a picture of a young female. That is they spoke "smarter" when imaging that they were going to get lucky with the young chick. The same effect was not seen when the same males were asked to repeat the task imaging that they were in a romantic situation with an older female. Additionally, females actually decreased their use of low frequency (i.e. "smart" vocab) when asked to imagine a romantic situation with a younger male, but not with an older male. 

These findings, I think, support the idea of sex differences in behavior associated with parental certainty and the costs associated with reproduction. See, for males there are few costs. Essentially, the expenditure of sperm (say 15 minutes of fame!) For females the costs= bearing the result of impregnation. That is 10 months of gestation, child birth, rearing the offspring, oh and yes stretch marks (thanks Charlotte). So females put a premium on high quality males (i.e. intelligent males, males who use "smart" words) because they have a lot to lose. Mating with a loser, aside from the fact that you just banged a loser, may actually have longer term, potentially devastating effects - you might give birth to a loser! Then what you have is a new loser to enter teh reproductive workforce and in good conscious, could you really do that? :-)

Some food for thought? While running on the treadmill, tossing your kettle ball, or holding that handstand, don't forget to train your brain. You can do this easily by subscribing to a word-a-day feature in your email. Then while running make up as many sentences as you can using that new word. Use it in all its differing forms - noun, verb, adjective, and get creative. Try to describe your workout buddy using that term. Or trry to describe events happening at the gym using the word. It could be amusing. For example, my most recent word:



isthmus (noun): 1. A narrow strip of land with water on each side, joining two larger land masses, for example, the Isthmus of Panama. 2. A narrow strip of tissue joining two large organs or cavities.  



OK this one is kind of hard to use, however, not impossible. For example, in my new gym there is an isthmus (granted no bodies of water) connecting the ab/stretch region to the water fountain, that allows people to literally sturt their stuff in front of everyone using the cardio machines. Another example: Last tuesday at the gym, during TaiChi class, I notice that one of the older ladies had an isthmus of clothing covering her privates, ew! 



You can also keep your brain alert by counting backwards by 7, 11, 13, 3, 4, 5 etc from 100 or up the ante and start at 1000. Make it really hard and start at some god awful number like 13, 486! Changing the number and the pattern each time will help keep your brain working hard.  You can also sign-up for one of the several websites that aim to reproduce the Nintendo DS brain training rage.  Anyhow you do it, don't forget to use it, else you might lose it. And I don't mean lose your brain - chances are without neurosurgery you will always have a brain, rather I mean lose the mating race, the attractiveness game, and your potential reproductive prowess! Eeeeeeeck! (My poor wife!)

Photo credit(s): 1,

Travel Workouts: Take trainers, Clothes, and, food?

So this week/weekend I am traveling for a wedding up north and to complete my move to the Atlanta Georgia USA region. My wife and I are desperate not to allow these types of excursions to derail our exercise programs. So, every time we travel - be it for pleasure, work, or family affairs - we are certain to take our trainers and workout clothes. Seeing my workout shorts and favorite tank top in the suitcase invokes a sort of exercise guilt (probably unhealthy mentally, but...) and I grab them and will do something. Sometimes we just go for run - like yesterday. We ran about 3 miles, she then did some pushups and situps. She rules! I moved boxes... LOL!

However, in our recent excursion we added something else to our traveling gym attire - food. Yes food. We brought (and or bough when we arrived) the foods we have been eating at home. Now, don't get me wrong, we are not in the orthorexic stage of things where we have to eat everything raw, or know every detail of what goes into my food or even eat all organic - shit we can't afford that! But we are actively trying not to derail our diets and exercise progress while on holiday. To this end, we brought things like high fibre muffins, purchased cottage cheese (low fat, of course), and the like. This allows us to bypass what many family member keep on stock that is high in sugar, fat, etc. It allows us to maintain some semblance of control over what goes in our bodies.

I have obviously become accustomed to odd looks. I still garner a few when I pull out my rope suspension trainer (which I (in)conveniently forgot this trip). Now I get strange looks, when I open my suitcase shortly after arriving to put food items in the refrigerator. The looks are probably in distates - people feeling like "what my/our food is not good enough?" that is not the case. Rather, it's just we watch closely what we eat. It helps us to allow ourselves to drink beer and wine at the wedding without that guilty orthorexic feeling.

At any rate, my advice if you are trying hard to keep on track - when travelling, bring food. See if you buy food at the airport, like we used too, well you are in for a caloric treat (read nightmare!) the food items at the airport are loaded with calories, sugar, sodium, all that stuff you have been trying to avoid. The problem is not so much that these things are all that bad for you in moderation. No, in fact you need all of these things for survival. The bad thing is that sugar and sodium actually have addictive qualities. Thus, by allowing yourself to eat that plate of salty chips washed down by the milkshake - because you are on holiday - is like falling off the wagon and in some cases (my own included) this can spur a downward spiral of poor eating. I can remember getting to the airport and eating like this, then on the plane scarfing the nuts/pretzels or whatever they give you and the meal, then landing and well you get the picture. I would just keep eating. I was feeding my addiction, and it can get out of control while on holiday because even if you are going to the house of a family member, you are often times encouraged to overeat. Be careful. This can be the downfall. The start of something bad. Now, I am not saying you should watch what you eat at thanksgiving, christmas, etc - damn you should eat - just watch what you eat. And if you are travelling take some snacks - trail mix, fruit, cottage cheese, etc. That the things that you keep in your kitchen and ask if you can place them somewhere that you can easily get to them. Seeing those items you eat regularly at home will cue your brain - hey, I should be eating that cottage cheese - yes I do see the plate of donuts, but the cottage chees is already here, i would not want to waste my money, etc. So I, personally am more inclined to grab what I brought.

So, i gotta run to finish packing boxes before the rehearsal dinner where I will pigout royally, but wanted to impart this little tidbit of advice that is working for Aussy and I - when travelling, bring food!

What's up with your fat?

OK, so I have been writing on this blog now for over 1 month and not only am I having a blast (even though no one reads the damn thing), but also learning loads. Most interestingly, as I learn and investigate more and more about fitness and health I find my research interests veering in this direction (really I am a evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, 1, 2). This stuff is becoming really interesting both at a personal and academic level. In fact, I am very close to co-authoring my first peer-reviewed paper on the topic of obesity. Thus, I thought it might be appropriate for me to discuss fat, or adipose, here. 

So, what's up with your fat? I think most people think fat is bad. That fat causes a plethora of metabolic disease, the most prominent being diabetes. I agree, I think fat is bad, but I also know that fat has gotten a bum wrap. Our culture has inundated us with 'fat free' this and 'low-fat' that, that many of us fall victim to the idea that eating any fat is horrible for us. Some people I know delude themselves (probably using self-deception) into thinking that the fat goes directly to their thighs within minutes after eating something fattening (e.g., and ice cream sundae... mm, that sounds really really good right now, but instead I will go make a bag of SmartPop = 100 calories and very filling, and NOT fat free). 

Fat is really not all that bad for you. In fact, if you are not supplied with fat in utero and during development your nervous system is severely negatively affected. Primarily the casing that protects the axon of neurons (the part that allows neurons, or brain cells, to talk to one another) does not develop properly and children born to "fat free" fanatical moms can experience a number of psychological, neurological, and neuropsychiatric disorders. In fact, the extent of that relationship is well under investigated and I would hypothesize it is partly involved in the sudden appearance of many "new" disorders (think AD/HD, for example). 

Fat also helps us old farts (I say at the ripe old age of 34, ouch!). Fat can actually help you lose weight. Fattening foods are more full-filling then low fat substitutes, which generally work to try and dupe your nervous system into thinking you are full, only to be back munching in an hour or so. If you are like me then fattening foods also make you "feeeeeel" good, too. Like, how do you feel after you down that cod and chips, ice cream sundae (there I go again), or hot wings.... mmmMMM. I feel psychologically wonderful after eating these foods. That is, until the guilt about eating all that fattening food set in and I realize how much fucking exercise I need to do to burn off all the calories (yes I have mental illness related to eating and working out too). 

But, there is hope. You can be fat and healthy. Seriously. A recent study (3) suggests that it is not how fat you are that matters in terms of developing obesity related illnesses, but how you utilize that fat. Take or example, the Sumo wrestler pictured above. Fat bastard, right? Wrong! Well wrong in our colloquial use of the term fat bastard. Yes he is fatter than the average  middle American. He is one big mother fucker. However, He utilizes his fat in a fundamentally different manner. Sumo wrestlers through rigorous eating regimes and exercise regimes (yes they exercise, about 8 hours per day! They eat the rest of the day), they actually assist their body to store fat subcutaneously (under the skin). This keeps the fat away from the vital organs - heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, etc - which are involved in obesity-related disorders. Neat eh? 

Now chances are you won't have this luck as Sumo's start their training very young and thus their body actually develops like this. This recent study suggests that for each of us, we have a fat "set point". Yes this is a new take on an old idea. The old idea, that everyone has a set point weight and if you go too far above (or below ) this individual set point you can get sick. The new idea relates the weight directly to the storage of adipose (fat) tissue. It states, succinctly, that each individual has a fat set point, or what might be called a "metabolic" set point. This is the point at which you effectively utilize fat stored in our body. Too little and you can develop diseases. Too much and you can develop diseases. The latter, the authors suggest, is related to a storage issue. Think if it this way: you have a determined amount of fat your body can store with little effect on your health. If you exceed this limit then the fat stores (of which you might be continuing to ingest) need to go somewhere. The hypothesis suggests that this extra fat, since it has no place to go in the individuals normal storage places, starts to find and store itself on major organ systems. Think of it like pouring yourself a drink. You set out a glass. The volume of the glass is your fat store limit. Now your pour a little liquid in, let's say beer for shits and giggles (and because it's about my favorite liquid beverage on the planet). If you pour that brewski down the center chancing are you will get a large head on your beer. If you keep pouring into that glass eventually that head needs to go somewhere. First it slowly moves upward toward the top of the glass (i.e. the top of your fat limit). Keep pouring and what happens? The head and maybe some beer spill over the top of the glass and onto the countertop, into your hand, etc. That is how I think of the fat spilling out over your fat store limit and the countertop or your hand is the rest of your body, the major organ systems. 

Now when this happens and people get sick (i.e. the beer is all over the countertop) we get all worked up and decide that this person needs to lose all the weight. This is where the idea of a metabolic set point comes into play. See, if we adopt the position that there are normal limits of fat store (under the skin) that vary individually then we can begin to design weight loss programs to target the set point instead of the ideal. That is, we can wipe the counter enough so that there's no beer visible (it might still be sticky, but shit we've got beer to drink and who has time to clean up that mess?) So rather than forcing people into weight loss programs that hold for them the ideal portrait of healthiness and fitness (e.g., a supermodel, or men's health magazine cover model) we hold for them an ideal that is personally tailored to their individual set point. This is the point at which, while still over weight in appearance, is actually a healthy point at which the major organ systems are not impacted by the fat. At this point the weight loss program may be further tailored to a longer term (as opposed to an acute - lose weight now or die) program. The authors suggest that this could increase the efficacy of such weight loss programs because psychologically you are giving patients 1) realistic goals to reach and 2) using individually tailored data.

So, can you determine what your fat/metabolic set point is? Well, not exactly. This is where more science is needed. See to determine your metabolic set point scientists need to understand the genetic mechanisms involved (currently underway in mice) as well as the individualistic, developmental experiences of that individual. So in the end, more science is needed and the likelihood of a "take this pill" to get think approach is not going to be as effective for long-term health. 

Thoughts welcome....

Photo credits (1)

Iron cross progression

Today I worked again toward the suspended iron cross using my suspension rope. Here's how I did it: 

I first tightened the ropes up so that they were above shoulder height. I then kneeled on a swiss ball. Grabbing the ropes now and balancing on the Swiss ball, my arms are out at my side slightly higher than my shoulders. Then I push down into the cross - only the tips of my knees touching the Swiss ball. I held that for about 20 - 20 seconds, then I finished off with a press down of my arms so that I raised myself up. I was now suspended with the ropes and my arms at my body's side. I then let myself down slowly. I repeated this sequence for about 3 sets of between 6 -12 reps. 

It's a very unusual feeling to be suspended with arms out straight. It is also really hard. Even with the Swiss ball, you find yourself not concentrating and losing focus. I found that in order to maintain focus and strength I had to maintain a very strong core. I think I am getting close... Slowly but surely. I will try to post some pictures or a video to demonstrate the progression.

Fitness fads or new trends in exercise?

Like everything else in life, fitness is subject to faddish developments in the hopes of making money. In fact, because millions of people are looking for the get fit quick fix device, fitness may be more susceptible to such fads than many other disciplines.  So how is one supposed to separate the good from the bad; what works from what does not; what you might SQUANDER your hard earned money on and what you SHOULD spend your hard earned money on? Well I don't know if I have the answers, but I will try to think it out, out loud, so to speak here.

First up: Diet.There are about a hundred different diet regimes on the market these days from the "juice only diet" to nutri system to weight watchers to the Atkins and Zone diets. Shit, there is even a diet called the South Beach diet! Do any of these work? Do any of them make physiological sense? Well, when I ask such question, almost invariably the answer leads me to what our physiology has been selected to do by evolution. That is, what our ancestors ate is probably what we should be eating. See, our ancestors did not have McDonalds, Burger King, Steak & Shake, etc. They also did not have sweets - candy bars, chocolate, and refined sugar. Guess what? Our ancestors weren't fat either! If they were than they would not be able to do a number of important things for their survival: evade predators, catch prey, maintain respiratory health to effectively collect tubors, roots, etc, and most importantly they would be unable to attract a mate. So what did our ancestors eat? Well that is an archeological and anthropological mystery that will never really be solved without that good old invention - the time machine. But science has uncovered a few clues about what our ancestors most likely ate by excavating archaic site of residence. It appears that our ancestors were a combination of hunters and gathers. We, our ancestors that is, most likely ate ground roots, leaves, and other 'wild' crops. We also probably hunted, at least small mammals, the occasional bird and most interestingly we also appear to have been meat scavengers. See, without nasty claws, teeth and the means to fend off other predators, our ancestors may have been left to ravage what was left by those big predators (think tigers, lions and bears (OH MY!)) Some evidence suggests that our ancestors learned (i.e. big brains are useful for something) to crack bones open using rocks to dig out the protein rich bone marrow. 

So, the point of this little archeological excursion - our ancetor ate a variety of foods - not just protein, not just fruit and veg, but a healthy (albeit availability might have also played a role) mix. I think that's what makes a healthy modern diet.  A good mix of fat, protein and yes carbohydrates! Carbs are good! They fuel you. The key is to not eat bad carbs - you know sugar and such. Instead replace with high-grain, multi grain and high fibre low sugar carbs. My wife and I recently found Thomas' English muffins that are actually fortified with extra fibre - they are fantastic in taste and the fibre is great for us. In fact, fibre is one of those things that is hard for your body to digest so you actually burn calories while digesting it. So high fibre and high protein is what I would recommend.

OK so all that sounds pretty good, but there is a down side: food that is good for you usually costs much much much more! Bite the bullet and buy it; it is worth it!

Second: Cardiovascular training.

The list of cardio machines that are in existence and that have been marketed for quick fix fitness is innumerable and far too great to list hear. Instead of listing all those crazy machines I will just impart a few recommendations that have worked for me:

1) Get your heart rate up to where it feels like your heart is going to explode and/or pop out of your body, then slightly decrease the intensity until you can catch your breath. Once you have caught your breath increase that intensity again to the heart exploding feeling. Yeah that's it. The whole 50-80% max heart rate - throw that lousy advice out with your Turbo Track and get that heart pumping (advice: if you have heart probs, then don't follow my advice). The key is really to get your hear moving. It increases your cardiovascular endurance and strength and your respiratory ability; i.e. your ability to utilize oxygen effectively. Here I turn to my martial arts training (which can hardly be called training at all, actually). In martial arts you have to withstand 3-5 minutes of pounding and being pounded. So not only are you jumping around and increasing your heart rate, but you are being beaten on and delivering it back (hopefully!) The thing is when you are fit like a proper martial artist you are fit as a fiddle! One of my students back in Liverpool is an amateur mixed martial artist who had been training for about 12 years. One day, literally, one morning he decided he was going to run a half marathon. I think it was to impress a gal, but that might also be rumor. At any rate, he showed up, paid the late regist

ration fee and ran the entire thing. The reason I know this. He showed up after the race to train; i.e. to train martial arts as if he had taken a drive for 13 some fucking miles. If that does not convince you of the interval training, high tempo, kill your heart rate training, then go fuck yourself and be fat! It sold me, mind you I am not going to rush out and run for 13 miles ANYWHERE!

Third: resistance training.

Need I really say more. Again, from my rather academic evolutionary perspective the thing you want out of a resistance training program, I would hope, is the ability to actually use your muscles. Pretty mirror muscles have no purposes, they have no place in today's day and age. So yeah there are loads of faddish machines from bow flex (which seems to be pretty good actually) to the Total gym, another one I kind of liked. However, at the end of the day, I think you want to use what works for you. Our ancestors did not have weights. Sure they carried around a club to beat you with, and they probably did scoop up women like in the cartoon. They might also have carried stones and animal carcasses. Note any similarity in all of these activities? They all seem to incorporate some very large muscles and a lot of total body strength (think dead lift, squat, etc). 

Now stop reading and go eat and train like a caveman!

Photo credit: 1)http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/images/homo_habilis_img5.jpg

2) http://www.red-spirit-energy-healing.com/images/caveman-diet.gif

3) http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowres/jlvn337l.jpg

Mirror muscles, from the wast up, that is....

This afternoon at the gym I saw a dude working out. OK, I was riding the bike and could only see his top half. And he was admirable in size - one huge mother fucker. He was solid, ripped, just a giant. Then he walked out from behind a machine and started to calf raises. Well it must have been his first day doing calf raises, but no, it looked like today was "legs day." Must have been that one day this year. My wife said he looked like a caricature of a man, a cartoon picture - Jonny Bravo style. All big up top, little bird legs below.

Why does this happen? Well the number 1 reason this probably happens is because training legs is hard and not done by these guys for fear of not being able to train those damn biceps, pecs, or triceps. The other reason I think this happens is because females, chick, girls, don't did legs on a man. Women, correct me if I am wrong. But I can count, on one mangled hand the number of times I have heard a girl look at a guy and say, damn, he has nice legs. On the others hand, I don't know if I can count high enough to indicate how many times I have heard: he has such great arms, huge chest, v-shape, etc. Quite frankly, it's an insult to the term "fitness training." I don't see these guys as being fit at all. Granted, they do look good. But that is not what fitness is supposed to be about. Maybe it demands another term - I know body building is the term, but that does not quite capture it, does it? I mean, my definition of fitness (outside of my evolutionary one, which means to reproduce) is to be physically fit. That means being able to do some athletic stuff. Maybe we should call it: Flirtness. I mean that is kind of what their training is for - to flirt.

So a little rant, but it irritates me because these guys walk around like they own the gym. It irritates me that other people look to them for fitness advice. They actually ask these dudes questions like: How'd you get so big? What's your training program? Etc. I mean, don't get me wrong I don't want anyone asking me about my training regime although I'd be glad to let them know. It just seems plain wrong.

So what about not training legs. I cannot even imagine not training legs. Here's a good link about leg training, which I summarize here. Legs are the very essence of your existence, assuming you walk on two legs and are not wheelchair bound. They stabilize everything from your movement to your bench press. Your legs are your roots. Imagine a tree with no roots. Now imagine trying to kick or push that tree over. It'd be pretty easy right. Now imagine your typical tree, with roots. Go try and push over a tree. If you succeed, I bow down to you, however, chances are you were unsuccessful. Tree roots are powerful. They are the essence of the existence of trees. Like your legs. I am not saying that I could have walked over and pushed over Flirtness Trainer mirror muscle max, but I bet I could have come pretty darn close if not for the sheer fact that he was top heavy.

Trees are hard!

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