The Foam Roller Might Just Get Rid of Your Pain

Before I tell you the benefits of a foam roller I should probably explain what a foam roller is for those of you who have no idea what I am talking about.  A foam roller is exactly what it sounds like- a roller made out foam. Some pain can be alleviated by laying a part of the body (usually the legs) on top of the foam roller and allowing the body weight to gently add pressure and roll up and down or side to side. It's the same principle as a self massage.  Rolling the muscles will make then more pliable and stretch them better than any massage can. It may be uncomfortable in the beginning but over time the the muscles will begin to release more and more. It takes very little time but it does require a lot of consistency. Eventually there will be less over all tension in the muscles if you continue to use the roller. Releasing tension in the muscles reduces scar tissue and in certain situations can help rid you of back pain, knee pain and much more. There are many places you can purchase a foam roller. I get mine from www.performbetter.com. Some local sporting goods stores and physical therapy offices offer the foam rollers for sale. If you have been living with pain and it's not a joint, bone, disk, connective tissue,etc...issue, the foam roller just might help you. It is my opinion the foam roller should be a part of everyone's exercise program. Just a few minutes four or five times a week will increase flexibility and decrease tension in the muscles leading to a better quality of life.

Source:
Fitlink.com

How do you know as a parent if your child is being trained right?

I began working out back in 1976 at the age of 12. There wasn't a lot of information available on working out at that time but luckily my good friend Dan Lewis had his big brother's weight training book written by Franco Columbo. Franco is not only a former world record holder in the bench press but he is also a former Mr. Olympia and Arnold Schwarzenegger's close friend and biggest rival in bodybuilding. So at the age of 12, armed only with Franco's book and what little bit of knowledge Dan's 17 year old brother had passed down to us, we began weight training. The Internet has now changed all that for kids  who are looking to begin weight training. I don't think one person could read every article on weight training that comes up in a Google search if they started at birth and read until they were 100 years old. The problem with too much information is there are far too many conflicting views. It is so easy for a child (or even a parent) to get bad information from the Internet when it come to fitness. If you are not in the fitness business you don't have any philosophies established to know good information from bad. You may think your kid is in good hands because you have hired a trainer but just like any other profession in the world there are good trainers and bad trainers. Is every mechanic you have been to in your life good? Of course not. Just because the trainer your kids are working with has fancy letters after their name like PHD, MD, MS, or ME doesn't necessarily make them a good trainer. I have a masters in kinesiology and that qualifies me to train and coach kids in weight training and performance training as much as it would qualify me to perform surgery on someone. What does qualify me is years of experience and education specifically geared towards young people. I have seen trainers with REALLY fancy letters at the end of their name do exercises with young teenagers that could cause problems in their development and could have caused serious injury. Kids' bodies are constantly developing and due to this their spines and joints are not ready for some exercises and movements. I realize that if a trainer is certified or has fancy degrees you should be able to trust them working with your kids but please don't make that mistake. Not all certifications are equal in what they really teach. Getting certified as a trainer is not hard as one might think. I wish I had a formula I could give to parents that would tell you how to determine if a trainer or performance coach is good or bad, but I don't. I know this causes a dilemma for those of you who are parents because you want to do what's best for your kids. While I don't have that magic formula I do have a couple of suggestions that will make it a little bit easier for you to make good decisions. Organizations like the National Strength and Conditioning Association, or NSCA have seminars all over the country. Many of these types of organizations also offer webinars. Webinars are more cost effective than the traditional seminar and don't require investing the same amount of time.You can watch from the comfort of your home and there are webinars offered regularly that deal just with training young people. I will give a couple of examples of these organizations at the end of this article. I would like to note that I have no affiliation with either group other than some continuing education hours I have received. It will only take a few hours of your time to contact one of these organizations and /or participate in a seminar or webinar. Doing this type of research will not only give you a better understanding of performance training and weight training but it just might prevent an injury from happening that could affect your child  for the rest of their life .Using the information these organizations have to offer will aid you in making better choices for your children when it comes to trainers and training. The NSCA and www.performbetter.com are just two reputable organizations that I would recommend but there are many more out there. These are the two I have had personal experience with and have found their information helpful. I encourage you to learn as much as possible, but remember that even a little bit of knowledge can go a long way when choosing the right trainer/coach for your child.

NSCA Youth Training Symposium 
http://www.nsca-lift.org/Youth2011/
www.performbetter.com

HCG Diet

Before the reader goes any further I want it to be known that the following article is based upon my observations, and  experiences the past 26 years. I have not done any kind of scientific research to back my opinions. I find it amusing that something bodybuilders have been using for years to give their body's natural testoterone production a boost after a cycle of anabolic steroids is suddenly a weight loss miracle. HCG is clinically used to induce ovulation and treat ovarian disorders in women.  Being in the gym business for 26 years I have seen fads come and go. I couldn't tell you how many fad diets and supplements I have see over that period but I can tell you the HCG diet is a fad. The fact that a person on the HCG diet has to start taking in only 500 calories a day the first week or two is enough for me to raise an eyebrow, but being in the gym business I will usually keep an open mind. I have yet to see anyone on the HCG diet take off weight because they are taking HCG. There will be some initial body fat loss until the body thinks it is being starved, and then the lean body mass will start coming off. This is just an observation but the only people I have seen harden up on HCG are people I knew for a fact were on a proper nutrition plan and never did the 500 calorie a day part of the program. This leads me to believe it was their exercise and nutrition program and not the HCG. I think Cher put it best way back in the late 80's and early 90's when she coined the phrase, "If it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body". Does it not make sense if there was a miracle diet, nobody would be over weight? The best way to lose body fat and get the body you want is proper nutrition and a good exercise program. Don't be taken in by fad diets. I can help you with a good nutrition plan, you just have to put the exercise time in.

Do Your Forearms Or Elbows Hurt When You Lift Weights?

Do you sometimes have pain in your forearms or elbows during or after an upper body workout? The forearm pain feels similar to a shin splint except it's in the forearm. More often than not this pain is caused when a person lifting weights moves their wrists while lifting. The most common exercises that cause this type of pain are bicep curls and back rowing movements. When most people do curls they tend to curl their wrists up when they curl the weight and bend their wrist down on the negative movement. When rowing the problem usually occurs when the person tries to row the weight to far back and and bend their wrist just before the negative movement. The can easily be corrected by either making sure your wrists stay in a neutral position or on curls you can actually keep your wrists turned up when you curl the weight and during the negative movement. Moving your wrists during weight training will wear your forearms and elbows out and can eventually cause severe pain. If you are already having pain make sure to correct your form and ice your arms down 15-20 minutes right after your workout. The length of time it takes to feel better can vary depending on the wear and tear. If you are moving your wrists during your workouts correct it now before you have a problem. If you are already hurting and the problem persists, please consult a physician.

Source:
ME 

400 pound Sumo Champion Finishes LA Marathon

Kelly Gneiting is a three time " U.S. National Sumo Champion", who placed fifth at the 2006 world championships in Japan. He is now the world record holder as heaviest person to ever run a marathon and finish. In fact at 400 pounds he blew the former record holder of 275 pounds away. Gneiting who never doubted his ability to finish said, "I honestly think I'm one of the best athletes in the world," according to the LA Times. Gneiting had run a marathon in 2008 and finished in a time of 11 hours 52 seconds. He managed to beat that time by more than 2 hours running a time of 9 hours 48 minutes in the L.A. marathon. Gneiting said he became delirious from about the 10 mile marker on and had decided he would crawl to the finish if he had to.

Sources
LA Times

I Work Out For Hours But My Body Doesn't Change!

Maybe this sounds like you or maybe you know someone who works out all the time yet their body never seems to change. While it can be a problem with hormones, thyroid or other physical issues, more times than not it is a nutrition problem. That does not always mean you are overeating. Most everyone knows if you are taking in more calories than your body is expending you will gain body fat. What most people do not understand is if you are not taking in enough calories you can gain body fat. Every function in the body requires calories including burning calories. If you are not getting enough calories your body will store fat because it thinks it is being starved and will not burn calories as efficiently as a person taking in enough calories. One of the first thing I tell my clients is "diet is 90% of the puzzle to looking the way you want". You can try and do hours and hours of exercise but more than likely you will end up injured long before you look the way you want. This is because "every" function in your body needs calories. If the body isn't getting enough calories it will not function properly, which in turn leads to injuries. Are you one of these people who just cannot get rid of that last little bit of fat no matter how few calories you take in? That is probably the problem. Your body has gone into starvation mode slowing the metabolism down and storing fat. Everybody is different when it comes to calorie needs. Factors such as age, weight, sex, activity level, and more play a part in how many calories you need. This may sound complicated but I have made it easy for you to figure out your caloric needs with a link to a calorie calculator at the bottom of the page. Make sure your diet consists of lean protein, fiberous vegetables, and complex carbohydrates. Junk food is still junk food and is usually filled with empty calories like sugar. Your total caloric intake still needs to be filled with nutritious food. Try to cut your complex carbohydrates back after 6pm because they are not digested as easy and are more likely stored during sleep when your metabolism slows down. Egg whites and protein shakes are a good choice later in the evening when you are looking for a good snack.  Try to eat healthy six days a week and take one cheat day. If you make eating healthy part of your daily routine your body will adapt to it. By taking a cheat day it shocks your metabolism, and speeds it up using the food you put into your body more effectively.  Don't sabotage your workout program with not enough calories. You will feel better and look better when your nutrition plan includes the number of calories you need.

http://calorieneedscalculator.com/

Why Women Wont Bulk Up From Weight Training

One of the many myths of weight training is that women will bulk up like a man if they weight train. There are numerous reasons this cannot happen but today I'm going to focus on the most obvious reason. Women simply do not have enough testosterone to bulk up and build huge muscles. Think about how hard it is for some men to build muscle. Those men have much more testosterone than a woman. So what about all those muscled up woman you have seen at the gym, or in the magazines? A woman can build muscle by increasing their caloric intake, primarily by increasing the amount of protein in their diet.  This is because amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Amino acids are needed to repair and build new cells. Muscles are just a bunch of cells so that makes protein important in building muscle. Increasing protein and calories do not build those freakish physiques you are scared of looking like. Have no fear because unless you have plans to do your first cycle of anabolic steroids you are not going to build anywhere near the muscle mass they have. I have been in gyms since 1978 and have worked in the gym business since 1986. Over that period of time I have trained with quite a few women. I have trained with women who never had any intention of competing.  I have also trained with woman who competed in amateur bodybuilding as well as a top 5 woman professional body builder. Some of the amateurs who could have been fitness competitors if they had that category in the early 90's, trained just as hard as any professional. The major difference was testosterone. If a woman or a man for that matter looks freakishly big they are on anabolic steroids. Please remember the word "freakishly". I know quite a few woman body builders and fitness competitors who don't use anabolic steroids. The weight and number of repetitions during weight training do not have as much bearing as the number of calories when building muscle. Women should not worry about bulking up. Weight training combined with cardio, and a good nutrition program will give you the lean hard look you are looking for.

Suurce:Me