I don’t own an iPhone, but maybe you do. If you do, you should totally check out some of these healthy iPhone apps. The more reminders we have, the more likely we will be to stick to the plan.
You’ve got your nutrition apps – menus and meal planners, indoor and outdoor workout apps, health info apps – think Web MD, a couple social networking apps – who uses SparkPeople(?), apps for brain health, and a bunch of other random apps.
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.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
EKansas wrote:
“I am at 168lbs, down from 232. I’m female and 5’6. I work out with a trainer twice a week and do weights and cardio kickboxing and other cardio on off days. I work out 5-6 days per week.
I’ve been trying to get below 160 for months. My trainer says to bump my protein from 80grams to 160. I’m afraid of the extra calories. I try to stick to 1500. Is this correct?”
In the spirit of Project Swole’s recent focus on HIIT training, Jim Stoppani, PhD, Senior Science Editor for Muscle & Fitness Magazine and author of Encyclopedia of Muscle & Strength teaches you how to maximize the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT).
Some of his ideas differ from what my research and experience has turned up in my post describing how to use HIIT, but the video is still a great tutorial with some exercise examples.
One difference you might notice, is that Stoppani advocates a 2:1 interval to rest ratio, while my research shows a 1:9, 1:6, and 1:3 interval to rest ratios are optimal.
His ratio would mean 2 minutes of sprints to 1 minute of rest, while my ratio would mean 20 seconds of sprints to 60 seconds of rest for an intermediate HIIT routine.
While I am sure Stoppani is an intelligent guy, I still definitely favor more rest as it helps your energy systems to recover when you are truly training at maximal intensity.
I was reading some food blogs today and I was reminded of a meal I used to eat all the time in my early 20s. I call it Spicy Tuna Cottage Cheese and it can be eaten plain, on whole wheat crackers, on avocado slices, on tomato slices, or on whole grain sandwich thins.
This is a high protein snack that offers quickly digesting protein in the form of tuna, and slowly digesting protein in the form of cottage cheese. The salsa offers us some additional flavor and all of the great benefits of tomatoes.
Yury Tikhonovich, a circus performer can. This is an example of the sweet stunts you can pull off with a background in gymnastics. Man oh man, do I wish my parents got me into gymnastics when I was but a kid.
Heck, I just wish I could do a backflip. I suppose it is possible for a 31 year old man to learn how to do a backflip… isn’t it?
I don’t have much time to post today, but I wanted to direct you to two news articles I found while browsing at lunch, which by the way consisted of tuna, Sun Chips, and diet Nestea. Good times.
There are just a couple quick news pieces about the wonders of popcorn and the increasing danger of swine flu.
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.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Jim wrote:
“I wanted to know about how much protein my 14 year old should be having.
He is playing football and weightlifting at school. (Freshman). He is 5’8 and 112 lbs.
He wants to add some weight and muscle but we heard that you should not give your teen protein because they will start to grow outward instead of height-wise.
Here are some great ideas for putting together some serious conditioning workouts in your backyard:
Tire / Sled Drags – You can run backward and forwards; you can use your legs, arms, back, or chest to pull.
Tire Flips – Use large heavy tires.
Tire Throws – Use smaller tires. You can throw the tires forward or toss them over your head like a strongman keg toss.
Sledgehammer – Pick a heavy one and hit the tire with it.
Tire Jumps – Jump over the tire, jump into the tire, jump through the tire… be creative and just jump.
Various Shoulder Exercises – Press and rotate various objects above, behind, and in front of your head.
That is a very limited list of the things you can do in your backyard, but gives you some great ideas to start with. Variations of these ideas can be seen in the two demonstrational videos below.
I came across this video, which depicts the type of training I do in my thai kickboxing class and in the MMA class held right after my class. You can use these ideas to create your own conditioning program.
Dan Osman scales the side of a mountain in like a minute. This is one most excellent feat of strength and conditioning.
Unfortunately Dan Osman died when he jumped off a cliff and his rope broke, but it would be sweet if he was still alive, still helping to teach us to test our limits. RIP Dan-O.
A company called DynaFlex International has apparently used gyroscopes to create some grip training devices and now I guess they have a core training device.
After browsing to the company website and reading up on some of their products, I’m still not sure what to make of it. It appears to be a grip trainer of some sort, although now they have a core trainer too. Interesting.
Have any Project Swole readers tried this thing? If so, please leave a comment.
I don’t quite get it. If anyone from DynaFlex is reading this, send me a free sample so I can figure out exactly what the heck you are selling. I will review the product in a separate post if you do.
Here is an exercise from the Diesel Crew that you’ve probably never heard of. They call it the Diesel Row. Give it a try.
This movement is a combination of a pull-up and inverted row. The goal is to build strength through a greater ROM of the shoulders thereby increasing their integrity and strength.
Mary Ward is a blogger and enjoys writing about medical career topics, such as how to obtain a Master of Health Administration degree, job and education tips, and more.
The Myth of Spot Reduction: Why Crunches Don’t Work
So many of us are on a constant quest to lose weight, it’s just a natural part of life. We tend to put on the weight without realizing it and before we know it, we’re clinging to any diet or fitness regimen that we can find.
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.
The category, Your Health Questions is a more proactive approach to answering your questions so that everyone can benefit from the Q & A.
Raina wrote:
“Thanks for your guidance and insight. I recently joined Gold’s Gym and they have a lot of cable and other kind of machines.
Why do u recommend free weights vs using cable machines?
For example, a machine to do tricep extension or seated dips or even seated barbell curls does focus on the particular muscle group and i feel the burn.
So why are they not effective?
Also, can you please comment on my routine: (Mon, Wed and Fri)
Bench, Dumbbell Press and Incline/decline press for chest
Military press, Barbell upright rows and dumbbell side raise for shoulders
Bent over barbell, pull ups and seated rows for back
Barbell curls, Dumbbell curls and close grip chin up for biceps
Skull crusher, Dips and Push down cable machine for triceps
dumbbell wrist curl, reverse curl and wrist curl again for forearms
Hanging leg raises, floor crunches and crunches on exercise ball for abs
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.
Tracy wrote:
“I was wondering if some of the things that i normally eat on a regular basis are healthy or not.. I’m 19 years old and do not get good home-cooked meals anymore.. I’m now living on my own so I try and make things that are fast and easy.
Here is a list of some of things that I take in:
Special K strawberry cereal
salad mix (packaged) with non-fat thousand island dressing
unsweetened luzianne tea with 2 pkgs. of sweet n lo
100% orange juice (Tropicana)
grapefruit juice ( do not want to give up)
lean cuisine meals (all)
granola and Nutri-Grain bars
What should I be substituting these with?
And also are rice cakes and real fruit smoothies good for you?”
I am far too busy writing an article that is tentatively titled “The 10 Best Ab Exercises” to draft a post of decent length or content for you today. Instead I will leave you with these four moderately interesting, if not time leaching, links.
Skip the nutrition fluff stories and go right to the most important story of the day: Mark Buehrle’s Perfect Game
Scientists and drug companies are still hard at work searching for a magic weight loss pill. So far they have had about as much success as a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest, but they have made some headway.
A product called Contrave has been introduced by Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. as the best and brightest future star of new prescription weight loss products.
Contrave is the first weight loss drug to combine an anti-depression and smoking cessation drug called bupropion with naltrexone, which is prescribed to fight alcohol and opiate addiction.
Sorry for the absence everyone, I spent two days in the hospital thanks to over-thin blood. My kidney swelled up and stopped working, and I had blood in the urine for a couple days. Fun stuff, right? Sorry if it’s TMI, but it’s my reality.
No, I can’t do a backflip. In fact I’ve never really tried. But honestly I wish I could. I’d throw down backflips all day long if I could. Hell, I wouldn’t even walk anywhere, I’d just backflip to wherever I had to go.
Not sure if you can do a backflip, but I found someone who can. This dude will teach you step by step how to do the backflip. I might eventually try this at home. If you try it, please do NOT hurt yourself. It might be a good idea to have someone spotting you.
