The Basics of Bodyweight Exercise

Thought this was worth sharing.  GMB has some nice progressions for those looking to build up the basics!

Observing Rotational Instability

The deep neck flexors (longus coli, longus captius) are key to having cervical stability.  When these are injured or under tension from any type of neck injury, the muscles more superficial tend to be very tight.

Because there is no inherent stability in the neck, pure thoracic rotation is often lacking.  This can present as mid back pain without any neck pain, except perhaps the neck feeling tight.  Many times patients will come in with annoying mid back pain and often tell me they stretch the neck a lot but it doesn't seem to help.

Standing neck rotation will usually appear normal.  But here is how I've been looking at it.

1.  Arms straight out like your holding a gun.  Turn right with the neck going with the arms.  Judge both left and right a few times.  Again, the neck follows your hands.

2.  Repeat step one, but now the patients is asked to keep looking at you.  Essentially, the neck is stable, the thoracic ring is rotating.  Judge distance again.  Did it change?

If there is an unstable neck, the rotation will usually be dramatically less.  As the mid back rotates and the neck is standing still, the cervical spine still has to rotate.  Gary Gray considers this as using the arms as a "driver" for neck rotation.

Just another observational tool in your tool box to judge mid back and cervical rotation.  Enjoy!

What is Resistant Starch

You may have heard the phrase resistant starch in the news lately.  Basically, a resistant starch is a starch (carbohydrate) that doesn't get digested  (its resistant) until it hits the colon where it feeds the good bacteria.  This is why it is such a popular topic.

Some examples of resistant starch is raw potato, green bananas.  You can cook potatoes and rice and then let it cool and it will act like resistant starch by a process called retrogradation.

There are specialty flours now, such as potato flower, then can be taken raw by the tablespoon.

So these resistant starches act almost like fermented soluble fiber and feed the good bacteria in the colon.  Butyrate is formed from this process.  It is an important short chain fatty acid that is very beneficial to health.

It has potential anti inflammatory properties and may help reduce colorectal cancers.  It may be useful for digestive disorders. 

It seems that resistant starch is highly personable and that you can only know if it helps you by experimenting with it.  One easy way is a tablespoon of raw potato starch.  This has about 8 grams of resistant starch and no carbs.

A few other potential benefits are it's ability to help insulin sensitivity, increase the feeling of fullness for people trying to lose weight and help lower blood sugar levels.

It seems resistant starch may well be worth a try.  

Blood Work and My Next Steps

I had my blood work done a few weeks ago.  For the past I'd say 1/2 year or so, I was still doing Intermittent Fasting 2x a week.  One of my main dietary goals was to see what around 100-125 grams a fat a day would feel like.  I honestly have felt pretty good.  Good energy for training, my sleep has been solid, I felt my recovery was OK.  Joint discomfort was maybe a little above my normal.  I wasn't keeping track of calories or protein intake.

I've posted before about some "Fat Shakes"  that I was using, (still had lots of protein and carbs) and I've done bulletproof style coffee a few times, but mostly just shakes.  Extra avocados, grass fed butter, whole raw milk and coconut oil were some staples.  

Triglyceride:  90
Total Cholesterol:  250
HDL:  85
LDL  147
Chol/HDL ration:  2.9  (they say under 5 is a good number)

CRP (c-reactive protein)  0.1    This is under 1.0 and is low risk for cardiovascular disease.

Homocysteine:  8.4  Another coronary risk marker  They say the ideal level is under 8, but normal is 4.5-15.0

Testosterone Total:  840
Sex Hormone Bind Globulin  87    Test states 10-80 is normal.  So this was high
Testosterone Free  6.76  1.9-27 is considered normal.  I'm reading about how to raise the free levels.

Vitamin D  46   I'd actually like mine in the 55-65 range.  So at 8000iu  I'm still not getting enough.

I had Zinc RBC and Magnesium RBC and all within normal limits.

I had ordered an Hemoglobin A1C test but there was error so didn't get a reading.

No I'm going after around 175 grams of Protein a day with a caloric count of around 2700 calories.  I've added in much more cardio as I'm training for a mountain bike race as well.  We'll see how my numbers change.

Waking Up: One Do and One Don't Do

A few of the new habits that I've formally adopted for myself are making the bed, (which I've already blogged about) and never hitting the snooze button.  I used to hit the snooze once or twice on the morning I had to wake up early, but no longer.

There is some new research that is hitting the mainstreams the last few months that hitting the snooze button actually allows you to start to fall back into early sleep.  This is the worst type of sleep to be awakened from.  So when your first alarm goes off, it's waking you up, hitting snooze thinking it will allow you to slowly wake up is actually doing the opposite and making you even more groggy.  The Trouble with Snoozing.

What I really found interesting was the fact that even 45 min later after waking,  the brains cognition  isn't fully awake!  Seems crazy, but it takes almost 2 hours to allow cognition to fully wake up.  So don't make any important decisions within 2 hours of waking.

The original reason I gave up the snooze button was something to do with discipline and will power.  Hitting the snooze button was a conscience decision to allow procrastination and energy leaks in life. I heard it on a podcast or paper or something and for some reason decided it was worth doing.  I can say I'm glad I quit hitting the snooze button.  I do feel more in charge of my mornings.  N=1.

Danielle Musto Wins LumberJack 100 Miler

Congrats to Danielle Musto on winning the Lumberjack 100.  A mountain bike race that covers 100 miles.  Just to do a 100 mile bike ride is a big accomplishment in my books, but to do it over gnarly mountain bike trails in the summer heat takes it up the difficulty notch.

To win is another story.  Lots of time and dedication and LOT of hard work.

Danielle has been a finisher 10 years in a row, one of only two people to accomplish this feat.  The Lumberjack is held in the Manistee National Forest.  It attracts some of the top riders in the Midwest.

Aside from riding her bike a ton, doing long miles, doing tempo's, intervals and recovery rides, she works hard at the weights and gets stronger every year preparing her body to take the abuse of the long races.

Next big race on the docket is a big one, 24 HOUR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in Scotland.

Congratulations for consistency and excellence!

mTOR Pathway

mTOR pathway stands for mammalian target of rapamycin.  It's a pathway that creates muscles and or helps in the recovery process.  It is stimulated by protein, in particular the amino acid Leucine.  3 grams of Leucine are needed which is around the equivalent of 30 grams of protein.

If you have less protein then is needed for the mTOR pathway to be stimulated the body treats the protein just like it would carbs/fats, as energy.

Each meal then should have a target of 20-30 grams of protein.  The size of your fist or a scoop or two of protein powder.  The discrepancy in numbers varies from study to study.

The mTOR pathway is a potentially critical pathway when it comes to muscle building.  There is some disagreement in meal frequency, but going by the numbers it would take 3-6 meals to get the required protein to meet your anabolic goals.  Most research will state 1 gram of protein per pound of lean mass or target bodyweight.  So if your goal is to weigh 180lbs.  180 grams of protein is needed.  Say 30 grams per meal and that is 6 meals.  60 grams of protein and 3 meals is needed.  I would doubt you would eat more then 60 per meal comfortably.

If building muscle or preservation of muscle is important to you, the mTOR pathway must be considered.  30 grams of protein per meal will be on the safe side as you either build muscle or retain muscle.

Remember, homeostasis is a never ending process, you are never just the same.  Better or worse.  Building or losing.  Retain your muscle as you age.  Better yet, build some more.

Ketone Supplementation like EPO?

We have all heard of EPO and its importance for bikers and endurance athletes.  It is a naturally occurring hormone that is produced by altitude exposure.  It improves blood composition, but can also increase VO2 max as an acute response by letting you use more of the capacity.

Ketone supplementation may also prove to be another way.  Produced by the body as you process carbs/fats and also after fasting.  It may be able to increase the proportion of your physical capacity that you can use.

Alan Aragon Interview: ARE LOW CARB DIETS BETTER FOR FAT LOSS?

The Last Interview Omar conducted with Alan Aragon at the Move special topics seminar in Toronto.  Like I said previously, his interviews do a better job then me summarizing and always better to hear the info from the source.

Aggregation of Marginal Gains

I just started a new book entitled "Faster," by Michael Hutchinson.  It's a book about bike racing.  I'm only a few chapters in, but can tell I'm really going to enjoy this book.  Good writing, interesting topic and lots of inside knowledge.

Right off the bat, you are introduced to a concept called the Aggregation of Marginal Gains (AMG).  Marginal gains can mean different things depending on the context.  In this instance,  AMG, is about ways to go faster.

Get faster, no matter how big or small the gains may be.

"...it works by breaking everything down into its component elements to see if you can make any improvement to any one of them."

Having a good diet is a positive thing when training.  Marginal gains is looking at diet before, during and after training.  Prerace, postrace consumption.   Ease of use on the bike.  It becomes the study of the exact right nutrients, in the exact right amounts, from the exact right foods at the exact right time for that individual.

Sleep is important.  What effects the quality of the sleep?  What are the best temperature to sleep, what are the best noise canceling headphones, whats the best background ambient noise.

One of the examples given to marginal gains was the importance to a warm down after a hard ride.  It may have been a sprint at the end of a stage or a hard hill climb.  Instead of just going back to hotel they would jump on a stationary bike and do a cool down.

Aggregation of Marginal Gains is about exploring the nooks and crannies of routine and sport to eek out the extra 1%.  Because if you find enough of them, you can make some nice improvements and ultimately go faster.  Faster in this sense is about biking, but faster can mean a variety of purposes.

How could you apply marginal gains in your work, your workout, your life?  Interesting to think about.

Alan Aragon Takes On Carbs

Again, instead of writing a review, I think another video will give you better answers right from the mans mouth himself.  I will also enclose a link to the wheat belly review by Julie Jones.
An Analysis of Selected Issues from Wheat Belly.

Navy Seal Says Make Your Bed

I finally have a legitimate reason to make my bed.  It's a habit.  Even though it's a menial task it creates momentum of accomplishment.  Takes less then a minute but sets up a pattern of success for your day.  Someone described it as a morning anchor habit, that when accomplished sets the tone.  I think it works.  I like the term anchor habits.  I'm going to look around and find more anchor habits.  Simple things that will lead to more important accomplishments.

Walking for Fitness

I've recently started to add walking with a weighted vest as part of my off day programming.  Walking in and of itself is a nice way to recover from heavy CNS type workouts.  Adding in the weighted vest makes it a little more challenging but not enough to hinder recovery.  

I'm currently doing 20lb, the max in my vest, for 30 minutes.  The goal is to get to 60 min and pick up a 50 or 60lb vest.  

There are some studies that show that walking with a vest burns more calories and its effect on a few other variables, like ground reaction forces.  Effect of Weighted Vest. 

My goals for adding this in was to incorporate some more low intensity but constant activity.  Strengthen up the foot/calf muscles.  I'm wearing a more minimalist style shoe, not vibrams, but not tanks.  Burn a few more calories during the week.  

Does anyone have any suggestions on a brand for weighted vest in the 50-60lb range?

Alan Aragon Interview: Why You Can't Lose Weight

I guess this guy that sat in front of me in Toronto is an internet sensation!  Who knew!  Either way this was a nice interview of Alan talking about why you may not be losing weight.  This sums up the reasons in the body composition portion.

Finding Your Caloric Needs

I drove over to Toronto to attend Alan Aragon Nutritional special topics seminar over the weekend.  I'll be working on a more complete review but thought I'd share his Caloric needs calculator as I believe not many people actually realize how much they should be eating.

Target Weight x (9-11 + Hours you train per week)

The 9-11 means 9 for easy gainers,  11 for real hard gainers.  So if you look at food or are trying to lose weight give yourself a 9.  If your a hard gainer or gaining weight give yourself an 11.

Target weight is what you want to weigh.

Hours per week is how many hours you are actually training.

So if I'm a 200lb man that wants to weight 190lbs.  I want to lose weight and I workout 5 hours per week, it will look like this.

190 x (9+5) = 2,660 calories a day.

Alan recommends 1 gram per lb of target bodyweight so in this example 190 grams of protein.

Fat grams are 1/2g for target bodyweight.  So in this example of 190lb man, would be 95 grams.

Carbs are the remaining.

190x4 for protein calories =  760
95x9 for fat calories = 855
Adding those together we get 1615 calories.
This leaves us 1045 calories from carbs or 261 grams of carbs.

So now you know your daily caloric needs and how to break down the macronutrients.

Fathers Day Lessons

It's Fathers Day today.  My second one where I actually count having a kid.  You could say it's my 2nd year on the job.  Like all jobs, you learn some things about yourself.  You come to appreciate other things and value things more or less.  Here's some random thoughts that I think can apply to other things as well.

Acceptance: The biggest thing with having a kid, is you quickly you learn you are not in charge.  Coming from a personality that has compelled me to have my own business so that I never have to deal with people telling me what to do, this was something I fought long and hard against.  Learn to accept the things you will never change.

Adapt:  I loved to stay up late reading and wake up when my body says it was time to get up.  Take my time in the morning, workout, then head to work.  It was my routine.  Obviously with a kid, that lifestyle is no longer possible.  At first it felt like I was giving up my time to read and workout.  I had my routine that I didn't want to change.  Ultimately, I realized I can read anytime, sneak in 15 min here and there.  Workouts are the same.  Have a few set blocks, but find ways to workout that don't take up 1.5 hours.

Appreciate:  I think I appreciate what my dad has done for me more now that I have had a kid.

Assessment:  I think I was a pretty selfish individual.  Having a kid has helped me make me less so.  This I think has helped me be a better therapist and person.

Having a kid has been the best gift I never really wanted.  I was never the guy that thought having a kid was going to be awesome, just thought it was going to be work.  My wife wanted kids, so it was an afterthought for me.  There are times when my daughter asks me a question or laughs that I can't imagine why I would ever not want to be there in that moment.  Those times are well worth the trivial inconveniences that I had perceived would be life changers for me.

Your Varied Movement is Healthy

A conversation yesterday brought up the Dynamic Systems Theory.  When you move, for example a squat, your next squat will be slightly different.  There is no exact repeated pattern.

Reading a PRI conversation with Bill Hartman this was again addressed with the idea the variability in movement is good.  A study showed that in people with low back pain the paravertebral muscles in only one spot moved doing a repetitive task, the pain free backs had variable areas of movement.  Back Pain.

Heart Rate Variability measures the R wave to R wave.  The more variability there is, the greater the health.

A study that I couldn't find, showed that runners that varied their cadence and strike pattern had less percentage of injury.  More trail running perhaps.

It seems we are hard wired to have variation in our systems.  This is a good thing.  The more variation we have, the less dysfunction.

Perhaps the only thing we really need to do is to work on the joint mechanics so that our joints have full pain free ROM.  This then gives the brain and body more options to produce the particular squat you are attempting to do or attempting to analyze.

Variation is a good thing.

Driving Becomes Continued Education

I used to hate spending any time in the car.  20 min or 20 hours.  I hated car rides.  Longer rides were looked at with dread.  Enter the Podcast.

The Podcast for me has changed my attitude, from hatred to annoyance to, eh...not so bad.  Dare I say at sometime enjoyable.  I'm driving to Toronto today to attend Alan Argon Nutrition seminar.  It's about 6 hours away.  There and back will be close to 12 hours of continuing education.  Learning from some interesting people.  Bonus, it's all free.  Here's my lineup.

1.  Tim Ferris:  Guest is Rhonda Patrick.  I've been listening to everything she has been on.  Very smart in her field.

2.  Joe Rogan Podcast:  Guest is Enson Inoue a Japanese American MMA.   Joe Rogan podcasts are hit and miss for me.  Some are amazing.  Some I don't have any interest in the subject.

3.  Bulletproof Exec:  Guest is Terry Wahls.  The Wahls diet is supposed to increase mitochondrial health and is used to combat Multiple Sclerosis.

4. The James Altucher Show:  Guest Robert Greene.  Talks about Mastery and mastering what you love.

5.  The James Altucher Show:  Guest Steve Scott:  Sounds like it will be on blogging, business and creating a better business.

6.  Ben Greenfield Show:  Guest Nick Delgado:   5 most Potent Age Defying Secrets.

7.

Learning More About the Diaphragm

A lot of information in this paper.  I really found the info on the influence of the diaphragm on the lymphatic system interesting.  Enjoy the read.

Anatomic Connections of the Diaphragm Influence of Respiration on Body Systems.

Jim Carrey on how his late father inspired him to follow his dreams

Definitely worth the minute of your time.  Start the midweek right!

Circles of Health

One of the concepts I was exposed to in Functional Range Conditioning was called CAR's.  Controlled Articular Rotations.  Without going into tremendous detail, joints should be able to do circular motions pain free and can be trained within the system.

Dr. Spina talks about a morning routine that is done where these CAR's are used to use and explore daily motions.  If a joint can move pain free through a circular motion it can essentially be validated healthy.

Joints that can rotate in full ROM pain free are by definition pretty healthy.  How often do we take a shoulder or neck into full circular ROM daily?  How about a wrist or ankle?

Going back to Leonardo's Vetruvian man where a circle represents perfection, there is some underlying human anatomy that is truly only explored through rotations.

Listening to Charlie Weingroff talk about circles and rotations was very interesting in the Lateralizations/Regressions DVD.

It's interesting that rotating the ankles clockwise/counterclockwise several times will improve hamstring flexibility.  Rotating the thumb improves wrist dorsiflexion.  These are just a few examples.

Rotations allow you explore movement that you might not normally go into.  This may be the key to it all.  Driving synovial fluid into spaces that don't normally get used.

Scott Sonnon has a very interesting strength and conditioning technique called Circular Strength.  Some of these I've adapted into my own practice with Clubs.

For a few days practice moving your joints in circles/rotations, explore movement and pay attention to where you feel less tension.

Exercise and Immunity

Have you ever wondered if your exercise program makes you healthier or does it lead you to get more colds or sickness?

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that after hard training cycles, marathons or periods of intensity or volume that the risk of getting an upper respiratory tract  infection (URTI) goes up.
Regular moderate exercise keeps the risk of getting an URTI down much better then a person that has a sedentary lifestyle, but high intensity actually doubles the rate. (anecdotal)

There isn't a ton of research on this because many people don't report having a cold to their doctor.  Self question profiles often ask people to remember if they have had a cold in the last 6 months.  Sitting here writing this I can't recall if I have had one currently this year, but I know if I do get one, it feels like I just got over one.  Ironic.

Some research demonstrates that the severity of the colds (days with it) go down with moderate intensity but no change on the frequency.   One study demonstrates that running over 1388 miles in a year had a 3x more increase in URTI.

Open Window Theory:  This states that the recovery period after exercise the immune system is suppressed giving pathogens a chance to gain a foothold.

High Intensity exercise does create a decrease in oxidative burst of neutrophils.  This is not seen at moderate intensity.  Natural Killer Cells has a decrease in activity around 2 hours into recovery.  Lymphocytes as a whole have a decrease in below baseline 1 hour into recovery.

Carbohydrate research has shown that glucose ingestion retards the rise in cortisol and adrenaline but doesn't restore full immune function.  It does show some improvement in post exercise immune suppression but no improvement in incidence of URTI.

Leukocytes use glutamine as an energy source as well as the carbs so it was hypothesized that supplementing with protein/glutamine should help.  The glutamine part has been dismissed, but lack of protein in a diet has been shown to increase incidence of URTI.  So athletes on a low calorie or restricted diet should be wary.

Fat has also been investigated.  Exercise increases prostaglandins (PGE-2).  This suppresses certain lymphocytes, natural killer cells and some cytokines.  Things that drop after exercise.  Studies have shown that when given anti-inflammatory drugs to stop PGE-2 the natural killer cells were restored to normal.  This suggests that PGE-2 could be a big deal.  One of the natural ways to block PGE-2 was with fish oil supplementation.  This has been shown to work in the sense that NKC and some of the cytokines are improved in recovery.  There hasn't been much research to see if this actually improves the incidence of URTI's though.

If exercise stays the same and the diet is dropped from 40-50% percent to 25-30% percent fat the persons lymphocytes and NKC activity is enhanced.  (What I don't know is what the carb levels/protein levels were with the high fat.  High fat/high protein low carb, I believe would be much different then high fat, high carb, low protein.)

One cool supplement worth mentioning is Quercetin.  12 weeks supplementing with this reduced the number and frequency of sick days in middle aged through elderly volunteers.  Capers have the highest quercetin values in a food.  I believe there are a few companies that sell a sports drink with quercetin as the main antioxidant.

Probiotics have been shown to potentially have a 50% reduction in the number of URTI's and improvements in the ability to train when URTI's are present.  They say 80-90% of our immune function runs through our "gut's" so this makes sense.

In summary,  I would recommend a diet that is high in protein includes fermented foods, fat is within the percentages and fish oil and probiotics are supplemented with.

The Game Before The Game

I know this is for a product, but this is a pretty cool commercial to get you ready for the World Cup this Week.

EMG Studies

You can sift through EMG studies and find that a very high EMG study on a muscle is often correlated with a better exercise.  For example, if I do exercise A and compare it to exercise B in regards to abdominal activity and exercise A is higher, exercise A is regarded as better.

There was a study done long ago that showed that squats/deadlifts had very high EMG scores in the abdominals.  Hence the advice, "just deadlift and squat and your core strength is fine."

One of the things I've taken away from the "Lateralizations and Regressions" DVD by Charlie Weingroff is that perhaps the fitness of person is different.  If two people are squatting and one person's EMG is through the roof in the abs and the other person's are not, both squatting same speed/weight, the person with less EMG is in better shape, they have more left in the tank.

"EMG doesn't lie, but it doesn't tell the whole truth."  Charlie Weingroff.

So EMG isn't the definition of better exercise.

Keep Thinking!

Cool Stuff

I can't wait to see what this documentary will be like.



A nice infographic.



The hamstrings also have some rotational component at times.  This cool exercise from Stu McMillan adds a little variety to the standard back extension.



A pretty good video from Eric Cressey about how it may not always be your ankle thats is limiting your squat ability.

A Revisit to the Bunkie Test

I had previously put a video out describing a limited use of the Bunkie test a few years ago.  I hadn't been doing much with it in the last few years as I didn't find that it correlated with a decrease in leg problems.




Going over some other stuff this week, I came across this research paper.  Relationship of Bunkie Test and Select Biomotor Abilities. While the findings didn't correlate the Bunkie test to injury prevention, there was a strong prediction for better performance to a few standard athletic tests.  10m, 40 meter sprint, repeated sprint test, vertical jump etc...

The study was done with I believe 120 rugby athletes.  One thing I didn't realize is that the test is held for 40 Seconds.

An interesting side note was that the left lateral stability line did show a significant difference in performance while the right did not.  I find this interesting as the PRI system has a little more significance for left leg stability.

Lowering System Load and Keeping Fitness

You may be seeing a few posts that go back to an idea that I'm thinking about that come from Charlie Weingroff's "Lateralizations and Regressions" DVD as I'm working my way through them currently.

One of the messages that struck home was the idea of load.

"If I have a way of lowering system load...you win."

Say you back squat 405lb, but you front squat 225lb.  Both are equally hard.  If you choose to front squat, you get equal fitness but have almost cut your system load in 1/2.  Now you can front squat 225lb but you can only front squat with two 50lb kettlebells held in the rack position.   Both are equally tough for you, but if you choose the kettlebell, you have essentially cut system load in 1/2 again.  Now, instead of holding the kettlebells in the rack you hold them in a bottom up position and can only hold 25lb kettlebells.  Again, equally hard, but you have once again cut the system load in 1/2.

Very interesting concept to keep fitness, but slash system load.

It's up to you to decide how to implement in your own athletes/patients programming, but it is a cool way to manipulate a few variables.

Watch This for A Shot in the Arm

This is a small compilation of Joe Rogans Podcast.  Swearing.  NSFW.  The message I think is pretty awesome.  I'm starting to think Joe is a modern day philosopher.  Kinda weird how someone you think of evolves, long gone are the "Fear Factor" days.  Pretty powerful message.  Take chances.  Live a life like you are the super hero in your own movie.  How would you live?

A Case for Indian Clubs

I first heard of Indian Clubs when I was in Chiro School over 10 years ago.  I purchased a pair from a collector.  1896 Spaulding 2lb clubs.  The history of the club is pretty interesting.  You can find them being used in the military and in schools over 150 years ago.

Originally used in India, the British Military started to use them and the trend was carried over to the US.

Charlie Weingroff describes them as a relaxed movement.  Much of what we do is braced or high tension.

Shoulder mobility, body coordination and grip are just a few of the highlights that can be gained by playing with the Indian Clubs.

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Photo of my dog Rocco and my 2lb clubs.

Weekend Coffee

Here are some topics/links that I've thought were pretty cool this week.  Grab your coffee and enjoy.

Could are muscles be capable of being just as strong as chimpanzee's.  This article talks about how we have similar capabilities but we shunt energy from the muscle to our brain.  Interesting.
Intertwined evolution of Human brain and brawn.

Research showing that melatonin supplementation could help with bone density in the aging population.  Melatonin makes old bones stronger.

I've been reading more articles by Alan Argon preparing for my seminar in a few weeks.  Dirt on Clean Eating, is an older but excellent article.

I'm a fan of James Altucher.  The Ultimate Guide for Becoming an Idea Machine.  It's something I've been trying to do for awhile.  Pretty fun actually.