Form and Challenge : Finding the Correct Balance

There is a precipice that we must try to balance on with weight lifting, and all other forms of exercise. What is this hilltop that we must straddle? It's finding the right amount for you. With weight lifting it is being able to have good form while challenging yourself. If you have good form, but feel that you could go on doing reps for hours, then the weight is probably not heavy enough. If you feel exhausted at the end of three sets, but can only make it through by sacrificing your form, then you are trying to lift too heavy a weight. The right amount of weight is the one that can be performed for three sets with good form and feel as though you couldn't lift it any more by the end of the third set.
Running has a similar balance. How far can you run and how fast without sacrificing your form? If you are able to keep good form, but feel that it is not challenging, you are probably not running far enough or fast enough. If you can run a long distance at a good clip, but your form is very sloppy, you are putting yourself at risk for injuries. The right way to run for best results is to run at a challenging pace and distance that you can perform with the correct form.
The balance of form and challenge is also seen with yoga. If you can attain an asana, but only after sacrificing your breathing rhythm you are trying to do too much. On the other hand if you can keep the rhythm of your breath, but don't feel any stretch, you are not challenging yourself enough. The right balance is the one which is challenging for you, but not so challenging that you can't breathe properly. It's never a good idea to hold your breath while exercising, it may lead to the embarrassment of passing out.
Healthy moderation in exercise is finding the balance of form and challenge. You know your body better than anyone and can fine tune this over time until it is easy because it becomes habitual. Making a concerted effort to balance these two elements will lead to a healthier body with less injuries in the long run.

Get Better Sleep Now

In our hyper-stimulated world, the quest for a good nights sleep has become our holy grail. Humans generally don't function well without sleep. They make mistakes. The mistakes could be as minor as locking yourself out of your car, or as major as having an accident with a plane full of passengers. We need good sleep, but how do we accomplish this?

• Don't watch disturbing or stressful programs late at night. It has always surprised me that shows like ER and Law and Order are on later in the evening when you should be preparing yourself for bed. It probably has something to do with children's bedtimes. Watching shows where there is a crisis situation causes the adrenaline to course through your body, making it harder to calm down.
• Make a list of the things you need to accomplish for the next day, then put it away and don't think about it. I know this may be hard to do, but it can help.
• Make your bedroom an argument free zone, then use that time to practice relaxation exercises. Just doing relaxation exercises before bed can induce a better quality of sleep. One that I find helpful is to slow my breath down, counting down from 50, paying attention to the rise and fall of my belly, breathing deep.
• Don't drink before bed. You can probably have a drink and it won't affect your sleep much, in fact recent studies suggest that a glass of wine could be good for your melatonin levels. Drinking so much that you induce sleep is bad, because it doesn't allow you to go through all of the stages of sleep, which are all beneficial.
  
• Physically exhaust yourself. If you are active throughout the day you will be more likely to fall into a deep sleep. Don't do anything too close to bedtime as this might keep you up.
  
• Early to bed, Early to rise. It really helps if you can set up a regimented sleep schedule. Setting your internal clock to sleep at a specific time will help you fall asleep. Try to even keep some semblance of your schedule on the weekends too. The more you habituate your sleep times, the easier it will be to fall asleep.
• Don't Worry. Bedtime is not the time to think about deadlines, or anything else that stresses you out. Once you get your adrenaline going it will be tougher to calm down.
• Listen to Relaxing music. Relaxing music before bed can lead to an easier time falling asleep.
• Trade massages with your partner. The right type of touch can ease you into a relaxed state which is more conducive for sleep.
  

This wasn't meant to be a complete list of methods to find that goal of a good night's rest. If you have any more ideas related to this leave them in the comments section. For more ideas read here.

The Dangers of Detox Diets.

It seems that every few years, people latch onto fasting as a diet plan. Since fasting has some negative connotations, Diet hucksters have renamed fasts Detoxification Diets. When it is for religious purposes it is considered a form of corporal mortification. Fasting can bring on a number of unwanted side effects.
The Dangers of Fasting:

• Mild side effects include diarrhea, dehydration, and the flushing out of digestive enzymes that are needed for proper digestion.

• Without the proper amount of carbohydrates your brain functioning is hindered. That's probably fine if you can sit around all week, but if you are driving a car it can be downright dangerous.

• If someone goes on several fasts in their lifetime, they increase their risk of insulin resistance, which leads to Type 2 diabetes.

• Fasts can also lead to a sodium or potassium imbalance, which can lead to loss of muscular control, or complete nervous shut down, which could result in death.
  

The basic premise of Detox diets is that the digestive system does not completely remove waste from your system. Toxins accumulate in your digestive tract that harm your physical well being. This is absolutely false as well as absurd. A healthy individual's digestive tract is very efficient at eliminating waste and toxins from the body. The best way to make sure that your body is eliminating efficiently is by getting enough soluble and insoluble fiber in your diet regularly. See here.
Detox diets are an extreme measure which don't figure into moderation. They lead to very dangerous situations, which should be avoided. As with all extreme diets they should be avoided.

Diets Create Forbidden Fruits.

The reason that most diets fail is that they work on the elimination of a food group. That food group then takes on emotional value within your mind, and it becomes the forbidden fruit. The forbidden food will always taste better, because of the desire behind it. Diets set short term goals that once achieved, allows the dieter to binge on the formerly forbidden food. It's best to look forward in the long run: if I eat well I can avoid many of the weaknesses that I associate with old age. I have a 77 year old father who eats well, and rides his bike voraciously. Aside from the occasional joint pain, he is in very good health for his age.
There are many long term goals that one could have to encourage healthy eating at any age. When someone doesn't achieve their short term goal with a diet, it results in guilt. That guilt cycles until it results in binge eating or another eating disorder. Eating moderately means being able to enjoy your occasional steak, your occasional piece of chocolate cake, or you can eat a little bit of those things daily. Deprivation is not the way to long lasting health goals.
It's best to eat well in general, not in the specific. What I mean is that if you eat well generally, but occasionally indulge, you will be more satisfied in the long run.
Here's a metaphor for crash dieting: cramming before a test. Does anyone honestly do well on a test after cramming the night before. I can guarantee that they will not have as firm a grasp on the material as someone who studied constantly throughout the semester. When the material links to a class later, the crammer is going to have a hard time comprehending the new material since they didn't know the basics all that well in the first place. Crash dieting works in the same way, it takes what should be a long term health goal and crams it down into a short period of time, but does little for health later on.
Diets that work on elimination usually fail, because the dieter doesn't have the energy to continue, elimination diets leave the person lacking vitamins and nutrients, and so they never gain the energy boost that comes with healthy eating in the long run. Taking a vitamin pill may help, but without fiber and other nutrients it does little. You could combine a fiber pill with the multivitamin, but then you'd end up living on pills. Who really wants to live on pills and meal replacement shakes. The best option is to eat real foods, but to generally choose healthy foods.
It is also important to remember genes have a role in our size and shape. Not everyone can fit into a size 0. Your goals shouldn't be based on size or shape, but on feeling better by becoming more healthy. The longer you live a healthy lifestyle, the more it will be habituated, and the easier it will get.
A good site that tackles these same topics is http://www.starling-fitness.com/.
Remember try to gain health through moderation and you will end up happier in the long run.

Health, Moderation, & Illnesses

An area in fitness which I have traditionally not been too moderate is exercising when I'm sick. Exercising when in the beginning stages of an illness may be okay, but if you are starting to feel really run down it's probably best to just let it go. Don't feel guilty for skipping a workout if you are feeling ill. If you are feeling run down, you probably will end up cheating with your form. If you are cheating with your form, you may be doing more harm than good. Anecdotal evidence suggests that working out is okay if the symptoms are only above your neck. See here. The theory that if you have body aches you shouldn't be working out until they've resolved themselves. I would suggest that you go with knowing yourself. Ask yourself the question: is working out now going to make me feel worse? If you are exhausted you probably should take the day off. Rest and fluids are always a good idea when you are coming down with something.
Others have suggested modifying your workout so that it's less intense while you are ill. I believe that our fast paced world often hinders our rest. The one time that you most need your rest is when you are coming down with something. Extra rest and fluids can make the difference between something that lasts only a day or two and full blown walking pneumonia. I've learned over time that the benefits of taking a little time off are far greater than the benefits that come from your workout in a weakened state. I am still always reluctant to call in sick from work, but I feel I've become more moderate, by not working out through an illness. If your illness is lengthened then you may not be able to pick up where you left off, but that's better than making yourself worse or risk passing out in the gym. When I was working and in college I would push myself through the sickness, and end up coming down with something worse. Moderation is knowing when to be driven. For me, being moderate means taking a day or two off to recoup before resuming your workout routine.

Can you be moderate with supplements?

Whatever your fitness goals are, whether they be losing weight, gaining muscle, or fitting into a 32" waist again, you may be tempted to use supplements. Supplements don't fit into fitness through moderation, because they are an extreme measure. Here I will explain the basics and categories for the most common supplements.
Weight Loss: There are two main classifications of weight loss pills: appetite suppressants and drugs that block fat absorption.

• Appetite suppressants work by tricking you hunger signals into thinking that they don't need food. Commonly they contain some type of stimulant, thus they are basically legal speed. These can be used to achieve rapid weight loss. Take it from a former tweaker: if you are fueling your body with speed instead of healthy foods you will eventually crash. Once you stop taking these supplements you will have to work much harder to maintain your weight. With healthy eating and exercise, once you reach your goal weight, you can actually eat a few more calories or exercise a little less to maintain your weight. Another bad side effect of using stimulants to lose weight is DEATH. Stimulants weaken the heart muscles and can lead to heart attacks or strokes. Cigarettes are sometimes used as appetite suppressants, and many smokers fear weight gain. Is it better to be a little chubby and healthy or thin with weak lung function. Also quitting smoking would be a good time to begin a healthy eating exercise program.
• Fat Blockers work by affecting the way that your body processes fat. The primary organ for processing fat is the liver. Liver failure has been associated with a number of fat blocker supplements. Again once you go off of the supplement, you will have to work harder to maintain your weight.
  

There are a wide variety of supplements available for gaining muscle: the two I will cover here are amino acids and creatine supplements.

• Amino Acids come in a wide variety of packaging. They can be called whey protein, muscle boost, or they could even just be called amino acids. Amino acids are the basic building blocks of protein. A healthy diet with eggs and dairy will get you the same amount of amino acids, and so they are not really necessary if you eat well. Anecdotal evidence has shown that amino acids decrease muscle pain after working out, but a little soreness is good as it reflects the micro-tears that are needed to strengthen muscle, and if the pain is too great adjust your workout, instead of pushing through. Bottom line: if you eat healthy there is no reason to take amino acid supplements.
• Creatine is another supplement that has promises of boosting muscle mass. It works by making the muscles retain more water, thus it doesn't increase muscle mass but merely creates an illusion of muscle mass. The muscles will be bulky, but you will sacrifice muscle tone for the added bulkiness. Creatine has also been associated with an increased risk for kidney stones. Since Creatine doesn't increase muscle mass, it is not a very effective supplement for muscle development.

Taking Supplements are not a real option for fitness through moderation. They are extreme measures, that should only be taken under the guidance of a trusted physician. Supplements are only for extreme cases, and they don't work in the long run. The best advice is to eat moderately, exercise moderately, and have moderate goals.

Avoiding Extremes

Many of the ills that our society faces health wise are directly linked to the fact that we shoot for the extremes. In many cases an obese person has become so through wholly seeking pleasure, through food, rest, and entertainment. These things are not good in themselves, they are goods that are dependent upon some other good. The anorexic seeks to be thin, not seeing that this is also not a true good. Fitness should be the end goal, though it is not a goal that ends. Fitness is the good that is a good in itself. I realize that it is tough to be moderate. I especially have a hard time with this one. I tend to go overboard with anything new that I discover. I have the propensity towards an addictive personality, thus it is very difficult for me to try to be moderate. I used to be a vegetarian, but once I started eating meat, my diet suffered horribly. It was all burgers and juicy steaks, the fattier the better. I work in a place where dough-nuts are plentiful and so once I started working there I would indulge in one or two a day, this led to a six a day habit approximately this last December. Around the time that I began eating red meat again I began another unhealthy habit- smoking. I had quit when I was 22, and didn't smoke again until I was 27. from 27-29 I went through periods of quitting and starting again. I generally drink moderately, but once I graduated from college I accelerated my nightly drinking to the point that I was drinking 3-4 beers a night. My health suffered. I was chronically tired, my weight had surged to 250 lb. I generally felt like crap. I was living to an extreme.
When I became a vegetarian at 22 I lived at the end of another vicious extreme. I began exercising a lot. I was lifting weights 7 days a week, running 5 miles every morning without fail, I was doing yoga 5 times a week, I took up Taekwondo, kick boxing, Hapkido, Judo. It was to the point that I was in the Dojo 3 hours a night 4 nights a week. In the daytime I was riding my bike 70 miles round trip to swim in the river. What was the end result of all this exercise? I was physically exhausted. If I missed any part of my routine I would feel intense guilt about it. I was unable to help friends move as my muscles would give out midway through the day. My typical workout consisted of 2 hours of heavy weight lifting. Where now I would count helping someone move as a workout, then I would just workout early in the day so that I would still get my workout in before the moving.
You can't reach fitness goals if you live in the extreme. You should not look at reaching fitness goals as being torn between extremes, you should look at it as practicing to hit a target. Being torn between extremes does nothing to achieve actual health. You should aim not to overeat, nor under eat. You should aim not to over exercise, not under exercise. There is no plan that works for everyone, so you should try to find one that works for you. The most important rule of thumb, it to not beat yourself up if you slip, just get back on the horse as soon as you can. If you are just beginning start slow, if you are continuing look at a way to re tune your workout.