Health and Strength Links - 17th October

~ Most Adult Steroid Users Seek Muscles, Not Medals – “The majority of non-medical anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) users are not cheating athletes or risk-taking teenagers. According to a recent survey, containing the largest sample to date and published in the online open access publication, Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the typical male user is about 30 years old, well-educated, and earning an above-average income in a white-collar occupation.”
~ The Round-Up Interviews: Eric Cressey – “In honor of the League Championships that start tonight, we present a look at how baseball has pretty much abused weight training and sports preparation in general. Hell, listening to Eric Cressey, it's a wonder any of them can throw a ball.”
~ Exercise of the Week: Blitzkrieg Triple Dumbbell Press – “To win the war on der chest, we must attack it, Blitzkrieg style! We shall crush the pectoral enemy, see it driven before us, and listen to the lamentation of the vimmen!”
~ Breast Cancer and Your Diet – “Does diet affect breast cancer treatment?”
~ How much is a life worth? – “Fighting cancer has always been one of the most expensive prospects in medicine — in part because the drugs that treat it are among the most costly on the market. But biotechnology treatments such as Herceptin are pushing prices into a whole other realm — one that may be out of reach for many people.”
Training for Newbies, Part 2 – “What you've got here, newbies, is something most of us crusty veterans would have killed to have had when we were starting out. Now pay attention to this article so Christian won't have to rap you on your knuckles with an EZ curl bar!”
~ Big Bang-For-Your-Buck Exercises – “Want to build great abs? Forget sit-ups. Want great biceps? Forget all those curls. Want a great chest? Forget the bench press. According to Chad, isolation movements are a waste of time. He's either nuts or a great visionary.”
~ Interval Training to Improve Performance in Sports – “The faster an athlete moves in training, the faster he or she will be able to move during competition. So athletes use a training technique called interval training in which they run, cycle, skate, ski or swim very fast for a short time. When they become severely short of breath, they slow down until they recover, and then move very fast again.”
~ Gauging leg strength – “One of the best ways to determine how you are progressing on your fitness program and how good of leg strength you have in general is with a wall squat test.”
~ 50 Ways to Increase Your Squat – “How do you increase your Squat? I recently searched the internet for ways to increase my Squat, but couldn’t find one article which had all different ways to increase your Squat.”
~ 3 Minutes a Day to Keep Back Pain Away – “Simple exercises and lifestyle changes go a long way in warding off back pain.”
~ Eating Garlic Boosts Hydrogen Sulfide Which Relaxes Arteries – “Eating garlic is one of the best ways to lower high blood pressure and protect yourself from cardiovascular disease. A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) shows this protective effect is closely linked to how much hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is produced from garlic compounds interacting with red blood cells.”
~ Fruit compound can fight some cancers – “Lupeol, a compound in fruits like mangoes, grapes and strawberries, appears to be effective in killing and curbing the spread of cancer cells in the head and neck, a study in Hong Kong has found.” Mmmm … mangoes.
~ Getting The Truth About The Sugar Busters Diet – “In this decade sugar has become the new evil and more and more individuals are starting to remove it from their diets. Learn more about the benefits of this diet and see how moderation plays a key role!”
~ Training for Newbies, Part 1 – “If you're new to bodybuilding, print out a dozen copies of this article and stick a copy on the fridge, in the can, on your girlfriend's heinie, everywhere! Memorize it. It could literally save you years of frustration!”
~ Testing your shoulder flexibility – “The shoulder joint is probably one of the most injury prone parts of the body. Because there are so many smaller ligaments, muscles and tendons involved in this area, it can be really quite easily to strain, tear or throw the bone completely out of socket.”
~ Eat 8, Feel Great – “Find out the eight foods you should be eating every day.”
~ Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic – “For better health, bring on the garlic — and the mouthwash.” Yeah, but mouthwash doesn't help – garlic comes out in sweat. And that's no reason not to eat your garlic.
~ New Hardee’s burrito packs 920 calories – “Hardee’s on Monday rolled out its new Country Breakfast Burrito — two egg omelets filled with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy, all wrapped inside a flour tortilla. The burrito contains 920 calories and 60 grams of fat.” A heart-attack on a plate.
~ Can New Diet Help Kids With Autism? – “Some parents say a wheat- and gluten-free diet alleviates autistic symptoms.” There's clinical support for this idea.
~ Yoga can give women with breast cancer a boost – “Special yoga classes can significantly improve the quality of life and well being of women with breast cancer patients – particularly those who are not taking chemotherapy – a new study shows.”
~ Making fitness fit– “People are always on their way to something and in thisenvironment, it’s hard to strike a balance between work, school,internships and a social life, let alone find the time to sneak in aworkout.”
~ Link Discovered Between Enzyme, Fat Formation And Appetite– “The enzyme TPPII may contribute to obesity by stimulating theformation of fat cells, suggests a study in EMBO reports this week. Theenzyme, TPPII, has previously been linked to making people feel hungry,but Jonathan Graff and colleagues now show that it may be even moredeeply involved in causing obesity.The team found that TPPII actuallystimulated the formation of fat cells in worms and mammalian cells andthat by reducing it, fat stores decreased.”
~ Pricey Running Shoes Not Worth It: Study Confirms– “When it comes to picking footwear, runners should follow PrinceCharming's lead and consider a shoe's fit, not its price tag, newresearch suggests. Using high-tech methods, a team of Scottishscientists found no differences in either comfort or shock absorptionbetween $80 pairs of running shoes and pairs made by the same companiescosting more than $150.”
~ Meditation a Quick Fix for Stress– “Meditating for just 20 minutes a day for five days helped toincrease energy and decrease anxiety and stress, as measured by levelsof stress hormones, a small study found. Using the so-calledintegrative body-mind training method, which comes from traditionalChinese medicine, the study participants reported better attention andcontrol of stress than those relying on relaxation training, which ispopular in the West.”
~ Bacteria Cause Chocolate Cravings – “Dying for some chocolate? Blame colonies of bacteria in your gut.”
~ Skip household chores — for your health!– “Housework might be bad for your health, according to a studysuggesting that tidying up as little as once a week with commoncleaning sprays and air fresheners could raise the risk of asthma inadults.”
~ Commentary: There's hope in alternative healing– “In a recent column, Emily Breidbart, a second-year medical studentat New York University School of Medicine, expressed concerns about hermedical education and the frustrating health-care system she will soonenter.”
~ Statins reduce loss of function, keeping old lungs young - even in smokers– “Statins are known to be good for lowering cholesterol and maybeeven fighting dementia, and now they have another reported benefit:they appear to slow decline in lung function in the elderly— even inthose who smoke. According to researchers in Boston, it may be statins'anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help achieve thiseffect.”