MACAFit Life on Blogspot (the old blog)

Wellness

Awesome UFC Spinning Session

Got a good spin in while watching UFC Chicago.  Will do it again soon so stay tuned.  The numbers don't lie!!

Dave

1425 calories!

Post workout nutrition....and yes...those ARE Buffalo Wild Wings!!

The Official MACAFitLife UFC Fight Night Spinning Workout in Observance of the Tour de France

Tour de France and Triathlon/Cycling Junkies: hone your cycling skills while watching one of the most exciting sports on the planet.

Main Card Starts at 5pm PST.  Join me!!!

I'll be doing a spin workout while watching tonight's UFC Main Card.  Kick your own ass while watching some serious ass kicking!!

Equipment Required:

• Bicycle
• Stationary Trainer: Magnet, Fluid, or Wind Resistance
• Stretch Band for Rows
  

Instructions:

• Pick at least 2 fights
• EZ warm-up spinning with little resistance during the media (commercials, commentary, etc.) before the first fight
• Spin with light to moderate resistance at 90-95 RPM during odd rounds (1,3,5)
• Mash a moderate to heavy gear while seated to simulate seated climbing during even rounds (2,4)
• Stand-Up and mash your heaviest gears between rounds. 

During the commentary and build-up between your first and second fight, perform this technique sequence and repeat until the next fight starts:

• 45 revolutions light to moderate resistance, single leg pedaling with R leg clipped in
• 45 revolutions light to moderate resistance, single leg pedaling with L leg clipped in
• 2 minutes light resistance, high cadence spinning (95-105 RPM) 
• 1 minute moderate resistance with high cadence while on drops (sprint simulation)

At the end of the fights when you're done riding and cooling down for 5 minutes, do the following resistance movements:

• 50 push-ups for knockouts
• 50 resistance band rows for submissions
• 25 push-ups, 25 rows, and 25 crunches for decisions  (you want finishes!!)
• 
  
• 

I'll be posting my total caloric expenditure at the end of the night so stay tuned!!!

DAVE

15-minute blog: Before you add that artificial sweetener...

Thousands of people use non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS) to ad a little flavor to their drinks but studies show they may want to use a more natural sweetener such as Stevia.

Lemme tell you why...

The gut is filled with bacteria that process much of the foods we eat.  These bacteria create byproducts that are absorbed through our gut and make their way into our bloodstream.  Some bacteria create byproducts that are good for us, and others create toxic byproducts that hurt us.  The foods we consume play a large role in determining which bacteria, good or bad, thrive in our guts.  The more bad bacteria we have in our guts, the more our bodies suffer from their harmful byproducts.

Apparently, NASs  changes the balance of bacteria in our guts and promote some pretty bad things.  A study published in the September 2014 Nature journal demonstrated how the intestinal microbiota (the variety of bacteria living in the intestines) of mice that consumed NASs was altered resulting in glucose intolerance.  Glucose intolerance is a pre-diabetic state of high blood sugar and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The book Brain Maker by Dr. David Perlmutter goes pretty deep into detail about what foods are good and bad for our microbiota so if this stuff interests you, I suggest you go out and purchase his book.

I've been using Stevia to sweeten my foods for the past 12 years.  I think it took a little getting used to but now I can't even taste the difference between Stevia and sugar.  A 2010 Systematic Review of Stevia published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition stated the following:

"Stevia is likely to become a major source of high-potency sweetener for the growing natural food market in the future. Although Stevia can be helpful to anyone, there are certain groups who are more likely to benefit from its remarkable sweetening potential. These include diabetic patients, those interested in decreasing caloric intake, and children. Stevia is a small perennial shrub that has been used for centuries as a bio-sweetener and for other medicinal uses such as to lower blood sugar. Its white crystalline compound (stevioside) is the natural herbal sweetener with no calories and is over 100−300 times sweeter than table sugar."

A Stevia Plant: All Natural Sweetener

 The bottom line is that you should stay away from artificial sweeteners but if you can't, make it a point to ingest probiotics to promote the proliferation of 'GOOD' bacteria in your gut.  It blows my mind because many use these sweeteners to prevent glucose intolerance while ironically increasing their risk by using NASs.  Crazy, eh?


Happy eating and hope this helps,

DAVE

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Ketogenic Diet Day 34: FAT is key.....

Calories Down and So Is Appetite...

Today's Breakfast:  2x eggs over easy (hidden under the salad)- 160, shrimp sauteed in whole butter- 220, salmon-187, Avocado-111, and Ceasar Dressing-90 calories.  Just under 800 calories total.

...and STILL pink!

I shifted from All-You-Can-Eat to a Calorie-Conscious Ketogenic diet 4 days ago; the numbers on the weight scale are changing and I'm not feeling any different.  In all the studies I've read (search Ketogenic diet on the side bar for relevant posts), the ratio of fat calories to protein and carbohydrates is what's responsible for increased levels of satiety.  The amount of fat I consume in the morning keeps me satisfied for the next 6-10 hours and I can do physical work without craving anything but fluids.  My morning calories are between 700 and 1000 calories when they originally varied between 1300-1500 calories.  Dinner, my second meal, has the same macronutrient ratios and calories as breakfast (70% fat-20% protein-10% carbs) to address my macronutrient needs; I don't want neglect my daily protein requirements or shift my body into a state of starvation.

Daily caloric expenditure is a steady 3000 calories on my non-workout days and 3600 on the days I train therefore I am at a consistent deficit.

I continue to remain in a state of ketosis despite having some Mexican Albondigas and an 11 oz. Stella Artois; the Albondigas had white rice mixed into it and for a moment I thought the carbs might take me out of ketosis.  This morning's urine test showed pink and I am happy.

A 2008 study showed how a diet rich in long chain Omega-3 fatty acids controlled appetites among obese subjects.  I take my fish-oil and flaxseed (fat pills) supplements every morning and am sure they may contribute to my satiety.

The bottom line: Go Keto, Eat Fat, and Get Skinny

Hapy Eating,

DAVE

15-minute Blog: SMART High Intensity Training

I had my time on the high-intensity training wagon, preaching TABATA and telling my endurance buddies to stop wasting their time with their distance training.  And then I stepped back and saw the big picture: there's a time to do high intensity, a time for low intensity, and life is better when you do BOTH in moderation.

I jumped on the  High-Intensity wagon initially because of it's success for fat reduction and time efficiency.  The only downside to high intensity training is fatigue and discomfort.  I recently saw a forum thread entitled HIIT (high-intensity interval training) burns 9-times more fat than regular cardio.  This thread cited the infamous TABATA protocol of 7-8 bouts of 20 seconds of high intensity work followed by 10 seconds of recovery.  It blew my mind when I saw some of the subsequent forum posts suggesting the WORST modes of exercise for this protocol.

FACT: Most if not ALL the studies on  high intensity interval training and its dramatic rate of fat loss and cardiovascular gains were performed on ergometers A.K.A. STATIONARY BICYCLES.

• The TABATA protocol required one to push at 120% of their VO2 max. for 20 seconds at a time.  Remember that VO2max is the maximum work output one can do aerobically, and 120% of it means that one is going significantly anaerobic.  120% of one's VO2 max is pretty damn exhausting and the national caliber speed skaters in the original TABATA study were wiped out after the 20 minute protocol (includes warm-up and cool-down).  My point is that these people generated ridiculous amounts of fatigue to perform the protocol correctly and that the bicycle ergometers  allowed for high levels of fatigue without increased chance of injury.  There were idiots on the forum thread bragging about doing the protocol with heavy and technical lifts!  Try and do a technical or heavy lift (snatch, clean, deadlift, etc.) under tremendous fatigue and I guarantee form will suffer.  Try and push through such exercises with compromised form and the likelihood of injury goes through the roof!

The moral of this post is to be smart when selecting your mode of high intensity interval training.  Pick an exercise where the likelihood of injury remains low even if your form goes to shit.  I would recommend the stationary bike, the elliptical machine, a rower or any other exercise machine that allows one to bail out quickly, and that doesn't require a whole lot of technique.  Get fit, save time, but don't get hurt.

Happy Training,

DAVE

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Exercise: Forget Training Core, Train Posture

My Favorite Therapist to Patient Dialogue

Physical therapist:  So the doctor recommended we do core training to alleviate your back pain. 

Patient:    Core training?  Whaddya mean core training?  I train my core every day in the gym.  I do crunches, hanging leg raises, twists,... shit,...I even do the kipping pull-ups that my coach says are more core than anything else!  Look at these abs!!! 

"Look at these abs!!"

Most injuries to the lower back occur because of poor movement and/or lack of stabilization.  Healthcare professionals often recommend core strengthening for injury prevention and to treat back issues.  Unfortunately, many attempt to train the core with exercises that involve spinal movement when really, core training is more about conditioning the spine NOT to move.

My clients easily grasp the concept of core stabilization when I tell them that they're really training postures and conditioning the body to maintain them against external forces.

A Little About Neutral Spine (posture)

A neutral posture is one that can absorb, generate, and support the most amount of force possible (in most cases).  As a result, a neutral spine allows for optimal power, injury prevention, and decreased wear on vertebral joints.  So who wouldn't want to practice maintaining neutral?

Click on Image for Extensive Description of Neutral Spine

The following are some posture training exercises along with questions I tell clients to ask themselves while performing them.  

The Prone Plank

• can I hold neutral posture while gravity attempts to pull my belly and head down?  I often reinforce the idea that the neck is part of the body's 'SYSTEM' so its positioning is as important as what's happening about the trunk and pelvis.
  

The Side Plank

• can I hold neutral posture while gravity works to bend me laterally?
  

Supine Leg Lifts

• Can I hold neutral posture from my head to my tailbone without allowing gravity's force on my legs to arch my back?
  

Running (now things are getting complicated!)

• Can I maintain neutral posture and minimize any rotation or lateral sway while moving my arms and hips in opposition?
  

I could post a ton more pics but I figure you get the point.  The moral of the story is that core (stability) training makes more sense if you go from the perspective of training to maintain certain postures rather than focusing on building specific muscles.

Happy training and hope this gives you some perspective,

DAVE

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