August 25th, 2010 | 
Author: So What Foods Should You Avoid?
Soda
In my mind this is where most people will get the biggest payoff for the amount of effort involved. The average person consumes more than one gallon of soda per week. Reducing or eliminating soda from your diet is one of the easiest shifts to make.
While many of you are not likely consuming many sodas, it is vital to understand the importance of this simple change for your friends and family who are not as health savvy as you. Gentle persistent encouragement of this principle will have massively profound implications on their health.
Alternatives that are relatively easy to implement. The best is pure clean water. Also give green tea a shot.
Doughnuts and Pastries
Overall these foods are worse than soda as they not only contain sugar, typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup, but they also contain dangerous trans fats. The reason I did not list this one first is that they are not consumed by as many people on a regular basis.
French Fries
Oh, they taste so good, but are ever so bad for you as they are loaded with the worst types of fat on the planet — typically highly refined and genetically modified omega 6 oils, such as corn, canola, and soybean oils.
These highly processed omega-6 oils are bad enough if you eat them in the form of unheated salad dressing, but when these oils are heated to a high temperature, they transform into a potent mixture that is sure to destroy your health.
Be particularly careful when ordering hamburgers and other similar foods in a restaurant as most will include fries by default, and once they are at your table they’re hard to resist. So please be sure to order a healthier alternative.
Nearly All Breakfast Cereals
Breakfast is, without question, the single most challenging meal to eat outside of your home. Most of the typical breakfast offerings will drag your health down. The most commonly consumed breakfast are breakfast cereals, which are merely disguised forms of high fructose corn syrup loaded with genetically modified (GM) grains. But pancakes, French toast, waffles, scrambled eggs and rolls don’t do much to improve your health either.
Many may wonder about the scrambled egg concern but the high heat oxidized cholesterol in the eggs and severely damages it. Far better to have the eggs MINIMALLY cooked or better yet raw eggs.
Processed Foods and Snacks
In addition to these specific examples, processed foods in general can contribute to allergies for a number of different reasons. Most processed foods contain a variety of food colorings, flavors, preservatives, and other additives can have a major impact.
So there you go, steer clear of these types of foods and you will be taking huge leaps in being a healthy warrior.
Posted in Diet | 
Tags: badfoods, bujinkan, foods, health, soda, warrior, Warriorinshape | 
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How Does Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) Work
So how does AIS differ from the myriad of modalities available for aches, pains and greater athletic performance?
There are three main principles of AIS that will help you understand this method of flexibility.
First, active isolated stretching uses your body’s own laws to facilitate the results I am speaking of. The stretches are held for only 1.5-2 seconds, and are completed in repetitions.
The reason for this is that when a stretch is held for longer than two seconds, a protective mechanism called “myotatic stretch reflex” is triggered. This reflex happens in your body under many normal circumstances. However in elite performance, injury rehabilitation or the desire to instill lasting changes in the body, this reflex is undesirable.
The aforementioned is true because when the myotatic stretch reflex is initiated (by holding stretches for more than approx. 2.5-3 seconds), the muscle being stretched will begin to contract, creating what is known as an eccentric contraction – something we do not want to happen.
Allowing the myotatic stretch reflex to occur while stretching causes oxygen to be depleted from the tissue being stretched.
Secondly, the stretches performed in this technique are “active”– meaning the person being stretched actually helps move their own body part with their own muscles, before any assistance with a rope (if done alone) or a therapist (if treated by therapist) is initiated.
This active movement causes “reciprocal inhibition” (Sherrington’s law). Simply put, when a muscle contracts, another muscle called the “agonist” (the opposite) muscle is shut off.
The perfect environment to stretch a muscle is when it is relaxed. Active Isolated Stretching achieves this concept with every stretch.
Here are two simple exercises demonstrating external and internal rotation stretches:
Finally, breathing…
In this concept, I am speaking about optimizing the oxygen content of the muscle and surrounding fascia (connective tissue). You should always be exhaling during the “work phase” of the stretch, or while the myofascia is being stretched.
Breathing in this manner will allow the maximum amount of oxygen to be delivered to the region being treated. This is the optimal result desired, whether it is for athletic performance, rehabilitation, or just preparing yourself for your day.
Additional Benefits of AIS
There are several other benefits that occur by using AIS.
Because your brain and nervous system are engaged in every movement, there is neuromuscular re-education occurring as the repetitions are done. Every time a new range of motion is achieved, new neural pathways are produced.
For athletes, Power= Strength + Flexibility + Time.
A muscle cannot be trained to its end range if maximum range of motion is not achieved. By using repetitions, great amounts of lymph are moved through your body. This is of great benefit in wound and injury healing, as well as detoxification of your body.
Additionally, the benefits of AIS can result in an enhanced immune system, as well as improved feeling of well-being because of increased flexibility.
There are many reasons to be, or become flexible. Your daily activities will be enhanced by having a more supple, movable body. Personally, I find it to be the most critical aspect of well-being. If you cannot move well, all activities, fitness endeavors, strength training, and general health can be compromised.
If you want to learn more about this technique check out Aaron Matte’s site, www.stretchingUSA.com.
So keep the Warrior You, flexible both in mind and body!
Dan
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Tags: ais, bujinkan, Fitness, flexibility, stretching, taijutsu, training |
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I am a believer in the right intensity of training at the right time. Minimum training for maximum results.
I also use my diet (Primal Way of Eating) and using Intermittent Fasting aka Leangains.com to get results. Just a healthy warrior lifestyle.
Check out these results…. Click Here and the before and after pictures below.
Just because you are doing more working out doesn’t mean better results….
Here is a great Warrior-Workout, no gym needed.
Fitness can be rewarding and fun too. Here is a great workout you can do out your front door. It is great for making fitness Functional, Fun and Fulfilling. The three “F’s”. A great way to make it part of your life. It is also a great fat burning exercise.
Try and do this in a fasted state for more of a fat burning reward. Even adding a cup of coffee before the workout to help you get pumped up. The best time to do this is in the morning before breakfast. You may even want to wait for an hour or so after-wards to eat in order to reap even more benefits. Workouts like these help give you that “Spartan” look.
Start out with a nice brisk walk adding a few joint mobility rotations in…. Get the blood and joints moving.
During the walk do pick ups and perhaps some sprints here and there.
Now here is where the Warrior fun begins. During the walks add in:
Cartwheels
Handsprings
Jump up on park benches
Roll onto park benches
Balance walk on curbs and logs
Climb a tree
Knock out a few pull ups
Do some push ups
Roll on the grass
Jump fences
Just add in variate of things….
The idea is to make it fun, explore how your body moves and functions with functional movements.
Make it “play-time” not workout time.
The workout or better coined “play-time”, can be anywhere from 20 minutes up to 90 minutes. The idea is to get outdoors and move.
So are you up for it! Will you do it This WEEK?
Keep on going!
Dan
Posted in Fitness, Martial Arts |
Tags: abs, bujinkan, bujinkanlife, Fitness, functional, health, ninja, spartan, warrior, workout |
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Here is an updated picture of me getting lean using the “Warrior In Shape” concepts. In this picture taken about 2 weeks ago I am sitting at around 8% or a little less body fat.
I do make my workouts intense but brief. A lot of body composition is through ones diet. about 80-90% of it. Of course working out is a must but to much can set you back as well. It is easier to control calories through diet rather than exercise. Eat that Snickers bar and you need to workout for 40-50 minutes to work it off.
Here is a fat burning trick that I have incorporated in my training to help burn fat. In the morning before breakfast, for me it is before lunch as I skip breakfast aka Intermittent Fasting, do a slow effort cardio workout. I prefer to do a long walk, easy bike ride, swim or even a joint rotation/ yoga workout. You will be doing this in a fasted state while the body is adjusted to using fat as the primary source of energy. If you are a coffee drinker have a cup or two before the workout. And to prolong the fat burning zone, skip or have a late breakfast.
There you go…. Good luck and burn the fat away…..
PS The meal following the workout should be a good protein source with veggies. An egg and egg white omelet would fit the bill.
Ganbatte
Fish Oil (Omega 3′s)
Why do you need fish oil?
Fish oil is really just code for “Omega 3 fatty acids.”
But what are those?
Simply put, it’s just a type of good fat that helps your body fight inflammation, create healthy skin and hair, help brain function, etc.
We *used* to get a good deal of omega 3 into our diet before the invention of modern day oils, but now that most of our fats are centered around vegetable oil, soybean oil, etc, we get too much omega 6 instead of omega 3.
Omega 6 is good, but too much leads to inflammation, and other possible health issues.
The truth is that you should get a healthy balance of omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids. They actually balance each other out, and if you have too much omega 6 and not enough omega 3, then the omega 6 actually “eats up” the omega 3 and your body can’t use it very well.
An “ideal” ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 is below:
For every 5 grams of omega 6 you eat, you should eat 1 gram of omega 3. (If that’s confusing to you, no biggie, just get some high quality fish oil pills, take the recommended dosage, and you should be fine.)
Right now, the average American gets 14 times more omega 6 than omega 3, and this causes all kinds of unwanted health problems.
Health dangers associated with increased Omega 6
-General inflammation
-Cancer
-Heart disease
-Arthritis
-Skin damage
-Accelerated aging
-Decreased sex drive
Health advantages to increased omega 3 (or balancing your omega 6 to omega 3 ratio)
-Improved heart health
-Improved brain function
-Improved skin
-Decelerated aging
-Anti-inflamatory
-Increased sexual drive/performance
-Many more
But how do you get omega 3 into your diet?
You can simply eat more fish like wild caught salmon every day, (emphasis on the *wild* because “Atlantic salmon” is code for farm raised, and farm raised does not have the same omega 3 quantity as wild caught) or you can get some fish oil tablets instead.
Fish oil tablets allow you to get a better omega 3 to omega 6 balance, and it allows you to spend less money, and lets you eat what you want instead of chowing down on salmon every day.
Summary
If it were a perfect world, you wouldn’t need to supplement with fish oil, but in our current environment we get way too much omega 6, and we need to balance it out to be optimally healthy. We can do that by eating much less omega 6 (which is very hard to do) or we can simply take fish oil supplements (which is much easier and less expensive.)
The truth is that fish oil tablets aren’t magic pills, they work on real measurable science, and it basically has everything to do with restoring balance to your omega 3 to 6 ratio.
So start taking that fish oil….. Daily!
Dan
Only 7% of men, and 3% of women exercise consistently nationwide. Why is that? Why is it that something that so many people know will only enhance their health and lifestyle is totally ignored? Because they hate it; it’s true. They don’t like getting off the couch, and they definitely don’t like getting off the couch to go lift weights. But that can all be fixed with little motivation and the best type of exercise there is out there. Well how do we do that?
The best type of exercise that will get you training, regardless of your goals, is the type of exercise you love to do best.
Do you ever think about why or how athletes can workout for so long everyday? Hours and hours a day. relentless devotion and motivation….. Because they are doing what they love. They are doing their favorite type of exercise, whether it is swimming, football, running or basketball. I’m not saying you need to workout hours a day, but I am saying that if you do your favorite type of exercise or activity, you will stay consistent and you will get results. Do what you love or would love to do and make it a fun workout.
So maybe you like martial art classes, do one or two a week. Maybe you like hiking or running, perhaps Yoga or even dancing. Find what will get you up in the morning excited to do and make that your workout. In this way can take the “work, out” and put the “play, in”. Isn’t that how as kids we would stay healthy and fit, we would play and do something that brought us joy. Keep it in balance, if it is something you enjoy you get a workout in and something to relieve stress. I truly believe that if you supplement your workouts with passionate training in something you love, you will get results.
I love my martial arts….. So I find a way to practice things in my art as a warrior workout….. I can get a great cardio warm-up or workout swinging around a 6 foot bo and doing kicks and rolls. I’m just saying find find something you would love to do and be active in it.
It’s time to Start LIVING, PLAYING & GET FIT!
Super Sets to break through!
Here in this clip Miguel pre-exhausts his biceps with a compound movement, pull ups, before the main set of incline curls. Try this out on your next workout to break through a plateau.
Keep going!
Give me five minutes and I will give you a couple of workout suggestions to prevent weakening of bones
About ten mil Americans have osteoporosis, and another 34 million have low bone mass, (osteopenia).
A disease without any symptoms, osteoporosis affects about 20 percent of men and 80 % of women.
While the bones gradually become weaker, they are more likely to break due to a minor fall or, if left untreated, even from simple things like a sneeze.
The commonest fracture sites can be hip, wrist and spine, although any bone in the body may be affected.
A diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis can be scary, leading a number of people to avoid exercisse due to fear it will cause fractures.
The simple truth is that those with low bone mass should try to exercise frequently.
Being active may not just assist in preventing osteoporosis, but slow bone loss once it has already begun.
Before beginning an exercising program, you will need to consult your doctor for guidelines, as level of bone loss determines exactly what workout is best.
Physicians can assess bone density and fracture risk by scanning your body by using a special kind of X-ray machine.
In conjunction with exercise, treatment may include dietary modifications and/or estrogen replacement therapy.
The more knowledge you have concerning this condition, the more you can do to help prevent its onset.
To make strength and bone mass, both weight-bearing and strength training exercises are ideal.
Weight-bearing work outs are the ones that require the bones to fully support your weight against gravity.
Examples are walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or using an elliptical machine.
Non-weight bearing exercises include biking, swimming, water aerobics and rowing.
Weight-bearing activities such as walking less than 3 times weekly will benefit the bones.
Resistance training places mechanical force (stress) on our bodies, which increases bone mineral density.
Start by lifting light weights, moving in a slow and controlled manner, increasing resistance as you become stronger.
It’s always strongly suggested that people with osteoporosis avoid the following types of activity:
* Step aerobics and high-impact activities such as running, jumping, tennis.
* Activities that involve rounding, bending and twisting on the spine.
* Moving the legs sideways or across the body, especially when performed against resistance.
* Rowing machines, trampolines.
* Any kind of movement that involves pulling on the head and neck.
Exercise Tips:
* Even if you do not have osteoporosis, you need to consult your health care provider before you begin an exercise program.
* Be sure you warm-up prior to starting and cool-down at the end of each exercise session.
* For the best benefit to your bone health, combine a number of different weight-bearing exercises.
* When you build strength, increase resistance, or weights, rather than repetitions.
* Make sure to drink a lot of water whenever exercising.
* Vary the types of exercise that you try weekly.
* Combine weight bearing and resistance exercise with aerobic exercises to help improve your general health.
* Bring your friend along to help you keep going or in addition to this, bring your family and encourage them to be healthy.
* Add more physical activity in your day; take the stairs vs. the elevator, park further way, and walk to your co-worker’s office rather than emailing.
Put LIVE into action!
L – Load or weight-bearing exercises make a difference to your bones
I – Intensity builds stronger bones.
V – Vary the kinds of exercise and your routine to keep interested.
E – Enjoy your exercises. Make exercise fun so you will continue in the future!
Certain factors increase the likelihood of developing osteoporosis.
While many of these risk factors are controllable, others are not.
Risk factors that may be controlled are: Sedentary lifestyle, excess intake of protein, sodium,
caffeine and/or alcohol, smoking, calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies and taking certain medicines.
Body size (small frame), gender, family history and ethnicity are risk factors that cannot be controlled.
Women can lose approximately 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause,
causing them to be more susceptible to osteoporosis.
It is never too soon to begin thinking about bone density.
About 85-90 % of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and 20 in boys.
Nutrition and Exercise for Healthy Bones in childhood and Adolescence
Much of the reserve of healthy bone is built in youth and before the age of 30.
Women may be more vunerable to an inadequate foundation process at this time than men.
Sufficient calcium intake,a balanced diet with a lot of fruit and veggies and
load-bearing exercise are the keys to solid bone growth when you’re young.
Then, with continued exercise into old age –- which goes for men as well — bone density decline can be kept to a minimum.
Although women will be the main focus of information about osteoporosis and low bone density (osteopenia),
some men are also seriously afflicted by this problem.
In case you do all of the right things while becoming an adult and into adulthood, your inherited characteristics –- your genes -–
can present you with bones that are susceptible to osteoporosis. This is even greater reason to maximize your lifestyle to prevent poor bone health.
About me – Michelle Aultman writes for the elliptical workout for weight loss blog, her personal hobby blog dedicated to tips to prevent osteoporosis trough fitness at home.
Writer’s note: The information provided on this document are designed to support, not substitute, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.
Michelle Aultman has not commercial intent and does not accept direct source of promotion coming from health or pharmaceutical businesses, doctors or clinics and websites.
All content provided by her is based on her editorial common sense and it’s not driven by an advertising and marketing purpose.
Thank you!
Michelle
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Tags: activities, Aultman, bones, exercise, Fitness, LIVE, osteopenia, osteoporosis, shape, warrior |
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Thanks for the feed back……. Let us hear how things are going while using the suggested concepts we write about. Here are a few that came in:
The advice I received for my month of using the warrior in shape program enabled me to achieve a half an inch in size on both arms and a quarter inch in size on my calves. I also felt that I gained more strength from the diet advice in order to achieve more muscle mass. Warriorinshape.com can meet the needs anyone desires as in my case was to gain more size and muscle. It worked!!!
- David Ruiz
So keep going and get the results you want….. A Key ingredient in getting the results you want is being consistent and making it a lifestyle…. A “Warrior In Shape” Lifestyle.
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Tags: bujinkan, Fitness, health, muscles, nutrition, results, warrior, Warriorinshape |
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