It feels terrible and amazing at the same time. There isn’t much else in the world that’s as necessary and as good for you. It pumps you up, builds positive energy (not to mention muscles), and keeps you alert. Working out is nearly perfect. Nearly.
There are risks associated with exercising that can ruin the experience of staying in shape and looking your best. Let’s take a look at 5 of them.
Your Questions |
I get plenty of questions in various comments throughout the website, but I also get comments and questions via the Project Swole Contact Form.
Generally I address those questions through e-mail, but often I do not have the time to reply to each and every question personally.
From now on I want to take a more proactive approach to answering Your Health Questions by posting them separately in the blog. This way we can be sure that everyone benefits from the Q & A.
I have shin splints right now so I can’t run or bike or anything but lift weights while sitting and do core exercises… unless you can think of anything that I could do for cardio that wouldn’t require me to use my legs. What exercises [should I use] until my shin splints heal? Thanks!
If you haven’t managed to avoid shin splints, then it is obvious that you haven’t read and understood my article about How to Avoid Shins Splints, but first, if you haven’t already, you should take a couple minutes to understand What Are Shin Splints. Once you’ve become well versed on shin splints, you can now read about how heal or treat shin splints. Let’s get this problem under control so you can get back to training.
 How to Treat Shin Splints |
 You can’t sprint with shin splints |
Isn’t it obvious that we wouldn’t have to know how to recover from shin splints if we could avoid them in the first place? In order to understand how to avoid shin splints, we must first understand What Are Shin Splints. Then we can better understand how to proactively avoid them. We need to learn more about who gets shin splints, how to properly warm up and stretch the lower leg, and finally we need a method of strengthening those muscles. Assuming we can’t avoid shin splints, we will need to understand How to Treat Shin Splints.
Now, let’s examine the best ways to avoid shin splints by first understanding who is in danger of developing them.
Athletes, weekend warriors, and even military recruits often experience shin splints, especially at the beginning of the season. Sometimes treatment can be as simple as changing to softer running surface or adding extra arch support to shoes to redistribute the stress. Active rest is often recommended by doctors as a primary treatment. This means that a runner should take up non-impact exercises such as swimming or biking, which gives the injured areas time to heal, but also maintains the cardiovascular benefits of exercise.
It is also believed that people with misalignment often develop problems such as shin splints. Misalignment to the knee, pelvis, ankle, neck, and spine, can result in abnormal posture and abnormal ROM at different joints, which causes excessive wear and tear on bones, joints, and muscles.
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Maqui berry refers to a type of fruit, belonging to Elaeocarpaceae family, which is a native of Valdivian rainforests in Chile as well as adjacent areas of Argentina. Its botanical name is Aristotelia chilensis. The berries are small and purple-black in color and have a diameter of around 4-6 mm. Maqui is also known as Chilean wineberry, apart from several local names, such as maquei, koelon, queldrón, ach, and clon.
Macui is a dioecious tree, which is around 4-5 m tall, evergreen, and features smooth bark and a divided trunk. The branches are flexible, thin and abundant, whereas the leaves are pendulous, simple, opposite, glabrous, oval-lanceolate, coriaceous and have serrated edges, as well as red petioles. The flowers are white and small in size, yielding small edible fruits, which we know as Maqui berry.
With those boring details out of the way, let’s focus on the benefits of maqui berry so that you may learn how using maqui can increase your quality of life.
In part 1 of the Intermittent Fasting series, I gave you a brief overview as to what intermittent fasting is and what some of the benefits are. Now it’s time to get into the nuts and bolts of how to breakdown your meals.
I view intermittent fasting as more of a long-term lifestyle change as opposed to a quick fix, and as such it should be approached in a way that addresses health as well as body composition. Before I get into more details, I want to express to following tips that will greatly increase the likelihood of you creating an awesome physique.
 What Are Shin Splints? |
“Shin splints” is a term used to describe the pain felt between the knee and the ankle after athletic activity, and are considered a cumulative stress disorder rather than an acute injury. This painful condition occurs when muscles and tendons in the lower legs pull on the tibia bone along the shin.
There are several reasons why athletes develop shin splints, but ultimately we can say they develop when the constant stress placed on the joints, bones, and muscles of the lower leg overwhelms the body’s natural ability to recover from trauma.
The most common cause is inflammation of the periostium, the sheath that surrounds the tibia. Traction forces on the periostium from the muscles of the lower leg cause shin pain and inflammation.
Happy New Year!
Is this guy for real? An upcoming entertainer or a flash in the pan? What’s your call?
A friend of mine is selling his health blog. You can view the auction here: https://flippa.com/auctions/116568
This is a PR4 health and fitness blog with a 446668 Alexa rank, 2006 registration date, and just under 30,000 page views per month. It has 190 pages of unique content indexed in Google and already gets 70% of its traffic from search engines.
If you are interested in making money online, or someone in the health industry that needs exposure online, consider buying Better Body Journal (BBJ). It has solid monthly revenue, and is considered an authority in the health niche. Traffic is consistent and grows every time a new article is written.
It takes a lot of work to break into the health niche online. A site like BBJ gives you an incredible head start. The site is 4 years old and there is no way someone would ever catch up to that with a brand new website. This is an affiliate marketer’s diamond in the rough.
I know the owner personally and he is very lazy with this site. This guy has a goldmine ripe for harvesting with BBJ, but he’s so busy making money other ways that he never updates the site and yet it still gets decent traffic and makes several hundred dollars a month without effort.
The Better Body Journal website has never come close to reaching its full potential. A new owner that is dedicated to it can easily increase its revenue to $1,000 or more every month. Especially with the New Years Resolutions coming up, you’ll probably make a grand in January 2011 alone!
If I only had some investment capital I would grab this site today and promote P90X and supplement offers like crazy. Just bust out some SEO strategies, start using social profiles, network with other bloggers in the niche, get some bookmarks, and you’ll probably have a sub 100,000 Alexa ranking in no time flat.
Unfortunately I’m pretty broke thanks to medical bills, student loans, and family expenses; and since my “friend” here wants at least $4000 for this site, there is no way I could buy it. In fact I know when someone buys this thing and puts like 6 months worth of effort into it, I’m going to be so pissed off because I will have missed a golden opportunity.
Therefore, if you don’t want to miss your golden opportunity go to the BBJ Flippa auction and buy BBJ today. I will be envious of you and will probably kinda hate you, but none of that will matter when you are banking a couple extra grand a month. Just please don’t remove my homepage link on the sidebar.
Oh I’m so aggravated right now.
By Shannon Clark
 The Importance of Meal Timing |
As you go about your weight loss diet or weight loss program, there are many different factors that go into the diet equation that will all influence how quickly you see results.
If you’re someone who wants to make progress as quickly as possible, one key factor that you cannot be leaving out is meal timing.
While what you eat is definitely going to have a huge impact on the progress you make, when you eat will also influence your results as well.
Let’s have a quick look at the most important reasons why meal timing is something that you absolutely must be paying attention to.
Read the rest of this entry »
I want to tell you about a pretty cool new website today. If you’ve been hanging around the health and fitness website industry for a while now, you might remember HealthRanker, a health news social voting site, where popular articles are voted to prominence and end up on page 1. Well, HealthRanker was bought and destroyed a year or so ago, my attempts to make a clone called FitWire failed miserable, and now there is a new player on the scene.
Check out these 5 Hollywood Tough Guy Workout Clips from your favorite action stars. The Rock, Stallone, Cena, and Statham all make a brief appearance. Hear from the tough guys themselves about how they prepare for their jobs through training. This post was inspired by some workout video clips I saw this morning over at Body Muscle Gain.
 Ryan Reynold Workout |
Guest post by: Chris Cannon
Is there a hotter commodity in Hollywood today than Ryan Reynolds?
The Vancouver, Canada-born actor (b.1976) has built an impressive T.V. and movie portfolio over a two-decade career. Best known for his roles in romantic comedies (“Rom-Coms”) like “Just Friends” (2005), “Definitely Maybe” (2008), and the blockbuster “The Proposal” (2009), Reynolds has also quietly built an impressive action hero portfolio.
Many of us recall his portrayal of Hannibal King in “Blade: Trinity” (2004), where his chiseled “six-pack” physique was prominently featured. More recently, Ryan played the swordsman-mercenary Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) opposite Hugh Jackman, and is slated for the title role in Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ “Green Lantern“, due out in summer 2011.
Other personal accomplishments include being named People Magazine’s “Sexist Man Alive” for 2010, and the new face for Hugo Boss fragrances.
Ryan Reynolds also happens to be married to actor Scarlett Johansson, GQ’s 2010 “Babe of the Year”.
Some guys have all the luck…
Read the rest of this entry »
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Justin Woltering of JustinWoltering.com writes today’s guest post. Justin has years of experience perfecting his exercise and nutrition program. He has spent countless hours mastering training flexibility, core strength, power and speed, cardiovascular fitness, and meditation. Having trained, and trained with, powerlifters, martial artists, bodybuilders, and various athletes, Justin knows what it takes to gain muscle, lose fat, or get into peak physical condition.
I just finished a cleansing program, and I am feeling better than ever!
The meals were delicious, and these supplements allowed me to do this as naturally and efficiently as possible. This seven-day plan will cleanse your body so that you can more easily shred unwanted body fat and increase lean muscle mass.
If you are feeling lethargic, slow, bloated, or ill; or if you are experiencing problems with your digestive system, then a 7-day detox might be just what you need.
Attention men! This just in: you don’t need to gain 30 pounds of muscle in order for women to find you attractive.
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I found this post from back in the year 2000 about a Harvard study in which college-aged men were asked to pick their ideal body from a group of images. Most men chose the body with 30 pounds more muscle mass than what they currently had.
A group of college females were then asked to choose which of the body images they were most attracted to. The majority of the women picked a body with 15-30 pounds less muscle than the men picked.
What a conundrum!
Read the rest of this entry »
 Daria Holcomb |
Some of you may remember the guest post by Daria Holcomb about her sweet lines of workout clothes for women. Daria was so happy with her guest post, that she done gone and provided a coupon code that y’all can use to save some dough when you order workout clothes from her site.
Go ahead and reread her post now:
3 Features Women Should Look For in Performance Athletic Wear
Then visit her website here: Fit Girl Gear and order some clothes for yourself, your wife, your daughter, or your girlfriend.
Christmas is fast approaching!
Use the following coupon code at checkout to save 20% off any order until the end of the year.
Coupon code: ProjectSwole
Visit Fit Girl Gear today!
Today’s guest post was written by Matt Papa, Ph.D. Having worked in biology labs for more than a decade, Matt devotes much of his time reading and researching the scientific literature pertaining to diets and natural weight loss programs. He blogs about research findings in obesity-treatment and gives away a Medifast discount coupon and a Nutrisystem coupon, two leading portion-controlled meal replacement diet plans.
Botanical-rich diets have been shown to have numerous health benefits, and acai is one botanical product that is garnering a great deal of attention. The acai berry, the fruit of a palm tree indigenous to the Amazon River area of South America, has been praised by experts for its health benefits.
The purple fruit is considered a superfood and is widely consumed as a dietary supplement because of the many therapeutic properties it is believed to possess. Marketed mostly as an effective supplement to induce weight loss, scientific studies are now recognizing other significant health benefits of the acai berry.
Berries, including the acai berry, receive their vibrant red, blue, and purple colors from a phytonutrient known as anthocyanin. In clinical trials, biochemical analysis, and animal and cell-based studies, anthocyanins have been shown to possess several important biomedical functions.
In addition to anti-inflammatory and anti-cardiovascular properties, anthocyanins have been demonstrated to decrease cancer cell growth by more than 50%. They also have significant potential as an anti-aging supplement, as they can reduce the oxidative stress associated with aging, improve neuronal and cognitive brain function, and repair and protect DNA – all of which are associated with aging, especially the accumulation of DNA damage or mutation.
The free radical theory addresses the issues of DNA mutation accumulation and oxidative stress mentioned above. This theory postulates that free radicals cause oxidative damage, which results in aging. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules responsible for cell damage, including oxidative harm to macromolecules like DNA. As organism ages, this oxidative stress accumulates in the cell. Based on this theory, treatments that reduce oxidative damage should be effective aging interventions. This has been supported through animal experiments that have shown reducing oxidative damage increases lifespan.
A study recently published in the January 2010 issue of Experimental Gerontology examined acai berry’s potential as an aging intervention. This groundbreaking animal study looked at the anti-aging effect of acai in Drosophila melanogaster, otherwise known as the fruit fly. Acai’s anti-aging effect was evaluated under two different conditions.
Condition 1. Flies fed a high fat diet.
Condition 2. Flies pre-conditioned to experience extreme oxidative stress.
Conjecturing that acai’s beneficial phytonutrients and its robust anti-oxidant activity would reverse the harmful effects of a diet high in fat, researchers manipulated the diet of fruit flies. All flies in the experiment were placed on a diet high in saturated fat; compared to a standard diet, one high in saturated fat is known to shorten lifespan by 19%. The flies were divided into two groups, one of which had their high-fat diet supplemented at 2% with acai pulp.
Compared to the flies who did not receive the acai supplement, those in the supplementation group saw a 22% increase in lifespan. In effect, supplementing with acai restored lifespan to a normal length, counteracting the damaging impact of a high fat diet. The researchers’ search for the mechanism responsible for this positive effect on longevity found that the acai diet resulted in increased activity of anti-aging genes.
In addition to a shortened lifespan, high fat diets are associated with a heightened risk for a variety of health problems. One common result of a chronic high fat diet is the development of insulin resistance, which eventually leads to type 2 diabetes. Dr. Sun, the study’s primary investigator, is hopeful “that acai pulp may be effective in prevention and control of type 2 diabetes,” as the findings seem to suggest. Acai pulp has demonstrated promise as a medicinal food that can inhibit a high fat diet’s detrimental health effects.
The researchers also proposed that the survival of flies in oxidative stress would be improved by the administration of acai pulp. They tested this by using a model of oxidative stress commonly used in the biological study of aging. The model relies on fruit flies which, as a result of genetic modification, contain a dysfunctional Superoxide Dismutase enzyme (SOD). This enzyme is essential to the flies’ ability to reduce the cellular damage done by free radicals as well as to repair cells that do sustain damage. The genetically modified (SOD-mutated) flies live under constant oxidative stress because they do not have the ability to repair oxidative damage.
The SOD-mutated flies were placed in two groups. One group received 2% acai pulp for the duration of their adult life, while the control group received no supplementation. Comparison of the groups showed that flies who had received the acai supplement lived approximately 18% longer than those in the control group, suggesting that acai alleviates oxidative stress and thereby improves survival.
According to the researchers, the anti-aging properties demonstrated by acai may be due to its high level of polyphenolics, which give it the ability to function as a hunter of free radicals. Another polyphenolic compound shown to have similar anti-aging benefits is resveratrol. Supplementation with resveratrol increased longevity in mice fed a diet high in fat.
This study, the first to examine the effects of acai’s anti-aging properties in an animal population, joins over 20 other peer-reviewed studies that refer to acai berry’s antioxidant properties and potential benefits to human health. In addition to these benefits, acai is currently being tested for its effectiveness as a weight-loss tool. Although research in this area is still ongoing, the inclusion of berries and other fruits is known to be an important component of any healthy weight loss diet.
Even though research on the weight loss effect of acai is not complete, anecdotal evidence and reports from real-life experiences suggest that it may help shed unwanted weight. The popular fruit is being recognized as a superfood with health benefits that include increased longevity, possible disease prevention, and the potential to aid in weight loss. Read Steve’s article where he clearly explains how the Acai berry speeds up weight loss.
Useful Literature
– Açai palm fruit (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pulp improves survival of flies on a high fat diet. Sun X, Seeberger J, Alberico T, Wang C, Wheeler CT, Schauss AG, Zou S. Exp Gerontol. 2010 Mar;45(3):243-51.
– What is the açaí berry and are there health benefits? Marcason W. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Nov;109(11):1968
 Matt Paley |
Today’s guest post was written by Matt Paley, the founder and CEO of Share It Fitness, which provides us with a revolutionary new approach to health and fitness. The old model of paying a trainer, or yoga instructor, or golf pro, or you name it, 50, 60, 70 dollars an hour to simply count or re-use a generic workout routine on you isn’t effective nor cost-efficient. What if you could have a dedicated professional with you, not just a few hours a week, but EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE. Motivating, guiding, advising, and supporting you in all your fitness needs. The time has come for a change in the way fitness, health, and sport instruction is delivered.
ShareItFitness.com is the answer. The ShareItFitness blog, has a wide range of health and fitness news. The information found on the blog is only going to be the tip of the iceberg in terms of what ShareItFitness will be able to offer. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook for additional fitness tips. Thanks for checking us out and keep on living well.
While not a “diet” in the sense you may be thinking, the American Diet is one that millions of people follow, mostly unaware, for the majority of their lives. The bad part is, this easily followed “diet” isn’t doing us any good. If anything, it’s contribution to the high rates of obesity and mortality that we are experiencing in this country.
The American Diet has large amounts of sodium, sugar, simple carbs, and bad fats, which include the worst offender, trans fat. We consume these by the plateful almost every time we go out to eat. Unfortunately as Americans, we eat out a lot.
These four things are the major barriers that stand between us and a long, healthy life. If we can learn how to eat less of these bad nutrients, and more of the healthy ones, we will unlock the largest component to a healthy lifestyle. This section is going to break down the health consequences of each of the above offenders so you may have a more practical idea of what’ s going on inside your body.
Read the rest of this entry »
 Josie Maurer |
Josie Maurer of YumYucky.com writes today’s guest post. Josie is a woman who eats and then talks about it. She and her “Greedy Taste Testers” tell us all about the different kinds of foods they eat in an attempt to find a way of life that balances fitness and a taste for great cuisine.
Josie wants you to ditch the weight loss gimmicks, deprivation of so-called “forbidden foods”, and severe calorie deprivation, in favor of Moderation, Discipline, Portion Control, and Commitment to exercising and eating healthy.
Visit Yum Yucky or Connect with Josie on Twitter.
If foods filled with sugary sludge aren’t quite your thing, beware the death grip of Halloween! This one day, in particular, is extra fueled with the kind of zombie power that just might be strong enough to slap the protein bar out of your mouth in favor of a Snickers. Just maybe?
Your co-workers are bringing candy to the office, your kid is getting sweets from the teacher, and the snot nosed neighbor-child expects you to have some candy when they bang on your door in their gorilla costume.
So you see that. The sugary fright fest is all around you. But if you want an escape hatch for Halloween done healthy, try these anti-sugar sludge tips.
Read the rest of this entry »
 Cranberry Crunch |
At Project Swole I receive all kinds of offers to try free samples and then review them on my blog. Some successful reviews in the past have been for Zola Acai, Sobe Lifewater, and the Venom Energy Drink. There have also been some pretty horrible free samples sent to me; someone once sent me some kind of lemonade ice cube diet product that was totally lame.
Fortunately some free samples work out great! I recently got to experience a free sample delight when the Wings of Nature folks recently sent me their 3 organic snack bars and I must say they are straight yummy.
Wings of Nature has this great new line of certified organic fruit, nut, and coffee bars. They are made using a cold process rather than baking or cooking, which allows them to retain the wholesome taste, texture, and nutritional properties of their all-natural whole food ingredients.
