Product Reviews: PUR Filter and Belkin FastFit iPhone Case

I haven't done a product review in a while, so I thought I would highlight a few that I have been enjoying.  First, I bought a PUR 2 stage water filter for 30 bucks that just attaches to the existing kitchen faucet.  I have been very happy with this purchase.  Cleaned up the smell/taste.  I had read some reviews that it breaks, but have had mine for over 6 months with no issues.  Definitely makes my espresso taste better using filtered water.  Big win there.

The next was finding an athletic carrying case for my iPhone.  I purchased the Lifeproof case and strap.  Ended up returning after one use.  The case, guaranteed against drops and water, just felt cheap to me.  Didn't want to keep it in the case when I wasn't using it.  You have to buy the strap for your arm separately and I found that to be very uncomfortable after a few minutes.  If you have bigger guns then 14 inches, chance are you wouldn't like it very much.  All together you are going to dish out close to 100 dollars for the two of them.

After I returned them I purchased the Belkin FastFit iPhone case/strap.  This was 30 dollars and has worked awesome.  I like the fact I can take the phone out easily and the strap is very comfortable.  Rode 3 hours with it and never had any issues.

There is a great app called DownCast.  It is free.  It allows you to download podcasts to your phone without having to sync your phone to iTunes.  Pretty awesome.

Foam Roller vs The Stick vs Vibration for Mechanoreception

I'm a pretty big advocate of using a foam roller to help free up tissue, even if some people claim it's for a very small amount of time.  My views on this.  If one uses the new range of motion within this time frame, one gets stronger and gradually increases the tissue quality in that new ROM.

Is there a difference in the method one chooses?  I believe there is.

There are things called mechanoreceptors in your muscles, ligaments, joint capsules and fascia.  They respond to different pressures, frequencies and oscillations.  A few of these mechanoreceptors are called ruffini, pacini and interstitial receptors.  

Ruffini (type 2) respond to deep sustained pressure.  This would be where the foam roller would be of most value. It has the ability to inhibit the sympathetic nervous system.  When a muscle is tight or short, this is a good idea.  In the therapy world, myofacial release and massage would be of high value.  Our central nervous system receives the most input from the myofascial tissues.  (more then eyes, ears, skin)

Pacini receptors respond to vibration and rapidly changing pressure, many think a high velocity low amplitude adjustment (HVLA) common in chiropractic, stimulate this form.  This would also be where the vibration would be of value.  The biggest benefit to this is an increase in proprioception and kinesthesia.  One becomes more aware of posture and where one's body is in space.

Another home therapy tool is a popular product called The Stick.  This does the least amount in terms of therapy in my opinion.  It mostly just stimulates afferent impulses from the skin.  Similar to using a vegetable brush.  This would be something you could use to rapidly run across muscles before a lift or immediate activity.  

The interstitial receptors are the newest receptors discovered.  They are further classified into Type 3 and Type 4.  These in fact make up the majority of your muscle receptors at about 80%.  In the past they were thought to perform pain reception as they terminate in free nerve endings.  They are now accepted to be primarily mechanoreception, so they respond to pressure and mechanical tension, along with pain reception.  They also seem to have a huge influence on fluid dynamics.

The Interstitial receptors respond to slow deep sustained pressure, just like the ruffini.  So again the foam roller becomes the go to method.  It has been shown that their stimulation increases parasympathetic activity.  Global muscle relaxation is the outcome.  This is the goal for most people dealing with chronic pain, loss of ROM or increased recovery.

Choose your home therapy tool wisely.

Documentary "Strong" Cheryl Haworth

Last night I had the opportunity to see the documentary "Strong."  Thanks to Crossfit 616 for the invite.  It was premiered at the UICA in downtown Grand Rapids. This should be available for viewing sometime in late June, early July. 

 "Strong"  follows the exploits of Cheryl Haworth an American super heavyweight Olympic Lifter.  She was the bronze medalist in 2000 Sydney Olympics.  It essentially picks off after a horrific elbow injury in 2003 and ends with her 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  

Through the journey you see a young lady dealing with injury, love of the sport that vacillates, body image (she was 290lb) training and life.  She talks openly about how her weight helps with her sport, but that she doesn't want to be that big in everyday life.  So she talks about the internal conflict she had with this dilemma.  

Throughout the movie you get a nice feel for what Olympic athletes have to deal with and how it's not always the physical side that is the hardest to overcome after a setback like an injury.  There are mental and emotional hurdles that have to be vanquished for the purest form of athletic expression to be achieved.

As with every injury and setback, the sacrifice you put into the goal comes into question.  Is this worth it?  Is a question that looms in the back of your head.  The director did a great job of letting us follow this incredible athlete and Cheryl did an awesome job of letting us into the psyche of an elite athlete.  

"It's a lot easier talking yourself into doubting,  that this weight is to heavy to lift, then I can lift this."

Anyone that's ever picked up a barbell can relate.  Anyone that has had to deal with injury or setback will enjoy this.  Anyone that has had to come to the grips with the notion that you have to move on to the next stage of life will find this well worth their time.

DVD REVIEW: Womens Sprinting: Therapeutic Considerations for Speed and Power Development

Last night I watched the DVD:  Women's Sprinting:  Therapeutic Considerations for Speed and Power Development."

It was a presentation by Track and Field coach Kebba Tolbert coach for Texas El Paso.  He has trained some pretty fast track athletes.  I'm just going to list some of my take away points.  For only 25 dollars, I thought it was actually a pretty good buy.  It's an interesting perspective hearing a coach talk about the high value they put on therapy and the important clues he looks for.

Hamstring issues in his sprinters, he always checks the psoas first, piriformis second, adductors third, quads last.  Usually it is not the hamstring.  Levitt's old law, he who treats the site of pain is lost!

Peroneals that are tight kill the elasticity of the athlete.  Probably the most important take away point for myself.

Athletes need to drink a gallon of water a day.  Dehydration can kill an athlete.  (not literally)  Most don't even come close to this.  Those that do, bounce back from injury up to 50% faster.

Deep lateral rotators are tight, the foot will land externally rotated.  This will transmit tension either into the back or into the hamstrings.

When the quadratus lumborum is healthy you will see a nice oscillation/undulation in sprinters.  When they are tight, you won't.

He did a lot of drills, not for warm up or sprint mechanics, but to see how the athlete is moving.  I found this very interesting.  One drill he performed was the slow backwards walk with hip extension to evaluate the psoas.  I will try to make a video of this in the future.

All in all, a pretty nice little resource.

The Latest Service at Train Out Pain Chiropractic: The Watt Bike

After months and months of debate, I decided to go ahead and purchase The Watt Bike.  In a few weeks it will be another service offered.  You will be able to test your peak power.  How many watts can you generate?

Why is this important?  If you are trying to improve as a power athlete you should be able to improve your power score.  If your training program is going well, your scores should increase.  If your training program doesn't improve, you need to switch up your training!

Insanity, by definition, is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

You will also be able to see which leg is doing more work.  Do you pedal more with your right leg vs your  left leg?  This is vital information.  The overworked leg is the leg that will over time develop more tightness and potentially more injury.

You will see this with a graph that is running right as you pedal.

You can try different positions and see what decrease or increases your power.  Real time results.

The picture I took was after my first 1000 meter time trial.  1 min 15.24 seconds.  Power avg was 423 watts.  Left leg was 51%, not to bad.  Cadence was 87 revolutions/per minute.  Not shown, was my peak power test that I did before this.  I maxed out at 1370 watts.

The Watt Bike, I believe, will become a vital training partner for cyclists.  I think it will also be able to measure important variables for non cyclists as well.  It's endorsed by UK Cycling and has just started to hit the United States.  Crossfit is actually starting to use them for some testing and competitions.

Aerobic capacity, max power, average power and pedaling technique, test yourself.  Simply put, are you getting better?  Measure it.  I always hear the old line by Peter Drucker, "What gets measured gets done."

Product Review: Functional Performance DVD

Craig Liebenson is one of the smartest guys in the manual therapy industry.  His book Rehabilitation of The Spine is a must own.  His revised edition is even better.  I highly recommend owning this book.  (for therapists, not really laymen).

When I heard he was putting out a Functional Performance Training DVD, I ordered it.  I had high expectations.  I was greatly disappointed.  This is information for someone that is coming off exclusive lifting with weight machines.  I honestly felt I was watching information I had watched in the late 90's with Paul Chek stuff.

This is not a product for therapists or strength coaches.  This is great stuff for your mom or grandparents that your trying to get back into the fitness game.  Final verdict, own the book, skip this DVD.

My Thoughts on Muscle Activation Seminar

A few weeks ago I finally had the opportunity to go to a Muscle Activation seminar in Chicago.  I'm not really sure how much I'm allowed to say as I was made to sign a waiver limiting information release .  I did ask what it was for and the instructor said it was simply a way for them not to be liable if I was injured as it was partially a hands on instruction.  I believe they just don't want the specific tests published as this would pretty much hinder their ability to get more attendees.

I was pretty excited to go and learn about muscle activation.  I had started to do some bastardized work a little while ago after working with a tremendous massage therapist from Toronto named Jeremy Grahm.  He had highly recommended it.  I had seen some strength coaches doing it with their athletes as well (not M.A.T.) and it makes sense to me philosophically.

The general basis is you take a person through joint ranges of motion looking for asymmetries.  When you find one you muscle test certain muscles.  The test is more sensitive then general muscle break tests. This method of gentleness you are really testing the ability to quickly contract and stabilize, not hold against a large force.  After finding weakness or instability, you use isometrics to "activate" the muscle.  Move on and repeat.  The basis is that "tight" muscles come from something else being inhibited.

You can't make an inhibited muscle strong.  Get an inhibited muscle activated, then make it strong.  I've always believed in those two sentences.

I'm just going to list the stuff I liked and the stuff I didn't like, so please excuse my randomness.

 I thought it was priced pretty fairly for a two day seminar.  I've seen so many seminars these days getting into the 2-3000 dollar range.  At this point, I think it limits students and professionals from exploring different modalities and tools.

My instructor really knew the technique and was engaging.  I've been to some, where they just were not good teachers.   He was able to fully communicate the information.

For better or worse, you don't need any type of license to take the seminar.  The seminar I was at, I was the only one with a license of any sort.  Everyone else were personal trainers and Pilate's instructors.  (on a side note, I wonder what would happen to the fitness industry if every personal trainer needed a college degree)  While this is neither good nor bad, for me it was a bit tedious.  The first half of day one was going over some basic science.  4 hours not wasted, but not learning anything.

I felt it was a bit slow paced.  I like feeling overwhelmed with information.  I want to feel like I'm barely staying afloat, not thinking, let's move on.  I honestly think with some motivation we could have done the course in 5 hours.  This was probably my biggest negative to the seminar.  I value my free time more then anything these days.  So to give up a weekend away from family, friends and nice Michigan weather (it was 80 degrees and sunny and I was in a windowless classroom for two 9 hour days) is pretty hard.

There are three modules with M.A.T.  I have taken the lower.  I have not decided if I will take the upper.  I went out of my way to take lower, I will probably only take upper if it fits into my schedule.

They also offer a 3 day, 8 weekend course where you will become M.A.T. certified.  I have no use for this.  This would end up costing close to 10,000 dollars.  I don't need more letters after my name.   When asked the difference between the courses we take and the internship program, was told that the internship go over every specific muscle that can be tested.

Like many, many systems out there.  This is a combination of many older modalities that have come before it.  Read Thomas Hanna's works with Somatics and you will understand the science M.A.T. uses.  Alpha and Gamma coactivation and testing the muscle in a shortened state.  Isometrics have been used for who knows how long to bring about strength gains.

This though isn't a knock on on M.A.T.  They have put it together in a nice flowing way.  I practice Active Release Technique a ton in my practice.  I went through all their modules and have spent well over 12,000 dollars to get accredited and keep the accreditation.  Even A.R.T. though was based on things that came before it.  Trust me, people were doing specific soft tissue work before A.R.T. was invented.  But, what I like about A.R.T was that there is a very nice flow and thought process to it.  They have also marketed it extremely well.  So I don't have to market as much.  It sells itself.

Just as A.R.T isn't pin and stretch as some people think.  Their is an art to the ART.  M.A.T. isn't just find a weak muscle and do an isometric.  Their is an art to all manual therapy.  The key is in the practitioners delivery.  In then end, I see M.A.T as a nice tool to add to my tool box.  I'm glad I went.

Power Wheel Review

Here is a sample workout I like to do with the Power Wheel. It's a fun accessory to add to your home gym. This sample routine I find very effective to get some upper body repetitions in while forcing a little core work.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Thoughts, Tips and Ideas from Train Out Pain in Grand Rapids, MI

 This is just stuff I've read, am doing/observing or thinking about.

Weak VMO's contribute to calf problems.  Runners that continually have tight calves check the VMO for adhesion's and strength deficits.

Invest in a heart rate monitor if you're interested in your own fitness or conditioning levels.  I think knowing your resting heart and knowing if it's improving from your own training is vital.  I've been using the Polar RS100.  No complaints so for.

The name Joel Jamieson kept creeping up in my seminar in Boston when energy systems were mentioned.  I am reading through his book Ultimate MMA Conditioning.  Great book, I highly recommend it in terms of understanding the energy systems.  Don't let the title fool you, it can be applied to all sports. A more complete understanding of the energy systems is my goal for the last 6 months of this year.  He has an awesome video post on his blog 8weekout.com.  I was really impressed he put it up on his site.  Basically, you can watch him give a lecture on energy system development and philosophy from a seminar he did in Virginia.  Here is the link. ENERGY SYSTEM

With runners and sprinters, make sure the t9-t11 area is free to rotate, when this is fixated, they will get much more arm crossover trying to create the rotation.

Two other books I'm just starting are Special Strength Training For Coaches by Verkhoshansky. It's a long awaited item by many strength coaches as it was in Russian for a long time.
The other is Adaptation in Sports Training by Viru.  It's my goal like I stated early to really, really understand whats going on in terms of adaptation physiologically in the body with different training styles and how it can be manipulated.  Energy system for patients and athletes is vital for performance and health.

Here's a hint,what were taught in school about different times correlating with the creatine phosphate, anaerobic and aerobic system is quite wrong.  The aerobic system is more important then we ever thought.

Cal Dietz strength coach at University of Minnesota has started using time periods instead of Reps.  Cool concept.  You do as much work as you can in a time.  So each rep is fast.  He may use 3 seconds, 5 seconds, 20 or 40 sec.  It all makes sense in time under tension, speed of movement and intensity.

Product Review: Weighted Jump Rope

 I recently purchased a 4lb orange weighted jump rope through Power Systems.  Wow, talk about a big disappointment.  It actually hurt my wrists.  Not like muscular sore, like this will hurt my wrists if I keep doing this.  I did about 30 revolutions and decided it would cause joint problems.  The ball bearing in the handle was complete garbage.

I had a buddy of mine try it without telling him anything about it.  First thing he said after doing a few reps was that it hurt his wrists.  The good thing was Power Systems said I could return it.

So without a doubt, pass on the weighted jump rope.

NFL Combine and New Technology in Under Armour E39 Sensor

Watching a little of the NFL combine this past weekend I saw a very interesting new piece of technology being used.  It was called the Under Armour E39.  It was basically a center computer chip (think Ironman) embedded in a skin tight jersey.  It measured heart rate and acceleration.  Heart rate is cool, but acceleration, VERY COOL!

They measure it in G forces.  The Tight End that was being used as an example,  had a G force rating of 8.9 in his first 10 yards in the 40 yard dash.  He had an identical G force rating in the Vertical Leap test.  There has been a strong correlation in Vert test and 40 time.  So this seems pretty accurate.

For strength coaches this seems like it may have some awesome potential.  The data can all be uploaded to your computer for analysis.  It was made by a company called Zephyr out of New Zealand.  Under Armour has stated that it will be available for athletes and schools after this combine.  I know I want one!

Interesting Video from Tim Ferris on the Human Body and Health Care

I have to admit I'm falling for all the marketing hype.  I've already ordered my copy from Amazon.  Anyways here is an interesting video interview Tim did for Tech TV.  If you've never heard of Mr. Ferris he is the author of "The Four Hour Workweek."  It's not exactly about working four hours so don't let it fool you.  It's about being productive and getting rid of unessential clutter and how to do it.  Very good read.

Anyways his new book is called "The Four Hour Body."  Like I said before, I haven't read it yet, but the hype seems interesting and I like the idea of doing mini experiments on your body.   In Wired magazine he did an interview where he supposedly manipulated his testosterone (raise3x)  dropped his Cholesterol and some other cool stuff.  Here is Tim talking about it.

Product Review: Fat Gripz

I bought a pair of Fat Gripz a few weeks ago and have really enjoyed using them.  I always think of a great product as one that is simple, effective and makes me wish I had invented it.  These fit the bill perfectly.

There are a lot of great reasons to develop grip strength.  As your grip strength improves, your upper body strength will follow.  Using a larger diameter bar or dumbell for exercises will help keep your elbows and shoulders healthy.  It forces irradiation, by making you squeeze everything to lift the weight.  

Perhaps an even more important reason, it has been shown that guys with stronger grip have less chance of disability as they grow older.  Here is the link to the study from Pubmed.

I've put them on barbells, my old school globe dumbells, chin up bar in the squat rack, I've even put them around jump stretch bands to do some cool stuff with them.  These things work great.  I highly recommend them.  

Intravenous Multiple Vitamin Usage in Grand Rapids

A few weeks ago I tried out a IV of a multi vitamin in a health clinic here in Grand Rapids.  They were selling it as a way to boost the immune system.  I've always wanted to try this since reading about how David Boston use to receive IV multi after workouts.  Supposedly it helped speed recovery.  We all know he was on the special sauce too, so can't go by that.  But still, it's an interesting concept.  For athletes its pretty interesting.  I definitely think it would be a better option then regular vitamins if you can afford it.  The cost prohibits it from being an everyday use though.  For Olympic athletes it is illegal to receive an IV unless you are in a life threatening situation.

My cocktail consisted of:

B5  750mg
B6  200mg
B12  1000mcg
Magnesium Sulfate  1.5g
Vit C 1500mg
B Complex 150mg
Calcium Gluconate  300mg

It was quite an interesting feeling, you can actually feel it enter your bloodstream.  You get a certain taste in your mouth.  I didn't come in with a cold or feel tired, so I can't say if it helped or not.  Dealing with stressful situation or knowing your coming down with something, this may be a helpful prevention strategy.  I think this is where the big benefit might lay.  If you are training months for a run or race and feel a cold coming down, besides doing some smart things like, hydrate, sleep, garlic, getting an IV of Multi Vitamins may indeed be a smart choice.

My notes on the movie "FOOD MATTERS"

These are my notes for the movie Food Matters.  I was going to put my notes in some type of order.  But in actuality, I think the best thing to do is just watch the movie and make your own impressions.  Here are the notes I took on the fly.  I recommend watching the movie.

let thy food be thy medicine, thy medicine be thy food
  hypocrites

he believed the human body had an innate capacity for self healing.  (funny same thing as chiropractors)

First, do no harm.  It is still the hippocratic oath taken by modern doctors

Modern doctors have little to no nutritional education.

Modern medicine revolves around a "pill for every ill"

Sickness industry.

Financial industry says the biggest way to save money is to get healthy stay healthy.

39,000 people die due to unnecessary surgery and other errors in hospitals.

80,000 people die due to other infections in hospitals.

106,000 people die due to adverse drug reactions

The message, you are what you eat!

Pesticides, herbacides, larvacide, fungicides,  We're putting chemicals on everything!  ..big problem is the soil.  No nutrients in it anymore.   average distance of our food is 1500-2000 miles away.  week old food, how much nutritional value are we losing?

Soils become the new dessert when crops aren't rotated or just used up.

Fertalisers,  NPK  (nitrogen, phosphorous, potasium)  problem is the soil needs 52 minerals.

Soil is deficient, plants are deficient and weak.  Bugs can attack and destroy, so you reach for the pesticide.

Live enzymes in raw food, that help with body digestion.  When you cook your food, even steaming, you start to kill the live enzymes.

when you cook food the immune system acts to it as a toxin, digestive leukocytosis is the process
starts to generate white cell activity against the cooked food you've just eaten.

Dr. Paul Kouchakoff  showed that your immune system acts with cooked food over 51%, under 50% you will not show white cell activity.   The study was done in 1930.

Think of it as chronic malnutrition.

Leads to the discover of superfoods.

Spirulina is the highest protein content food in the world.  Was consumed for 5000 years in Mexico.
50% of protein is destroyed by heat.  So the future liquid protein will be important.  Spirulina is 75% protein.  A steak after cooking will get 25%.

Cacao beans stack up against anything in the world in terms of minerals.  It's the highest natural source of magnesium.  Highest natural source of chromium.  Very likely the highest natural source of iron.  Very likely the highest manganese.  One of the highest contents of zinc.  One of the highest in copper. One of the highest in Vit C, but chocolate has none, because heat destroys Vitamin C.
ALL THE COFACTORS NEEDED FOR METABOLISM  is in the cacao bean.

Big idea is that we have inverted what we pay for, what we value. Pay for rent and cars but won't pay for food.

You can take vitamins to stay healthy, you can take vitamins to treat illness.  Why don't you hear of this?
How can that be?  News reports say you shouldn't take too much.  (wheres evidence)  Not belief but facts.  Over the last 23 years, according to poison control, there have been 10 deaths attributed to vitamin consumption.    Lists some of the evidence vs the "negative propoganda" that is being thrown around.
No evidence for vitamin C and kidney stone.  MYTH

Less then 6% of graduating physicians in the USA receive any formal training in nutrition.

Reading papers by WIlliam J McCormack, Frederick Rober Klenner, they were curing viral conditions with high dose Vit C in the 1940's.

Linus Pauling the first to suggest that vit C could be useful to fight colds.

Problem is one nutrient is good at many things??  Vit E.  Good for heart disease, good for healing burns, good for epilepsy.  Pretty diverse.
Vit C:  anti-toxin, anti-histamine, anti-viral, blood sugar regulation, mood elevator,
Why can one thing be so important, because one deficiency can cause so many different things.  There are only about two dozen nutrients, but in the body there are countless thousands of chemical reactions.

You cannot heal selectively, if you truly heal, everything heals.

When you take vitamins, the vitamins aren't healing you, the body is healing you, they enable to the body to do it, to heal itself.

"its the doctors duty to activate and reactivate the body's own healing mechanism"  Max Gershon,  Founder of Gershon therapy.

We've tried many models.  How about healthy boost!

Problems with many vitamin studies is they are very low dose,  so you get conflicting results, one says vit help a little, others say vit doesn't help

The RDA is the recommended daily allowance so that you don't get a disease such as rickets.
If you have High Stress job you're need for vit c goes up, you are producing more adrenaline, therefor your vit C levels are going way down.  Cardiovascular system is under attack.  Link between stress and heart attack.

Cardiovascular disease is a disease of civilization.  Not eating the right things or doing the right things.
Modern medicine says cardiovascular disease is irriversable.

Dr Dean Ornish has gotten amazing results with people with cardio disease.  He puts them on a strict diet which is basically a vegetarian diet. Plant based, high fiber, loaded with vit, minerals.  He also has them do a stress reduction.

1/2 of cardiovascular disease the first symptom is death.

Enter drug therapy.  In the UK about 10,000 people die from adverse drug reactions.  3,300 from motor vehicle accidents.  Prostate cancer 9000

Pharmaceutical companies aren't designed to make drugs, they are to designed to make money.
Drug companies actually are the ones that pay the drug regulators and those that control the drug research.

Some research articles that show high dosage of vitamins cures disease have been black listed.

There is no money in health.

For a drug to get approved it has to shown to be more effective than a placebo in two trials.  That doesn't mean it can't run several several trials until it gets what it wants.  It doesn't have to show the regulators that we ran 100 trials, 98 were worse, but these two were better.


Drugs: Short term, life saving perfectly fine.  The problem is the long term drug prescription.  These are the problems that they don't really work great for.

B3 (3000mg)  niacin has shown to help depression.  Alcholics Annonymous.

Two handfuls of cashews give you the therapeutic equivalent of one dosage of prozoc.

Whatever is going on in the mind, can be influenced by what goes on in the body.

Drink 1 liter of water first thing in the morning.  Must detoxify.  Get the stuff out, to get the good stuff in.

Paradigm shift.  Tumor is not the cancer.  Medicine is still attacking the wrong thing.  Cancer cure isn't around the corner.

Gershon in the 1940's fought cancer with fresh fruit, vegetable juice.  He had about 50% success with terminal cancer.

Shows some impressive before and after photos of fighting cancer with foods.

They (drug companies) have manipulated the statistics.  They have changed the word survivor.  Survivor now means 5 years.  If you die from cancer 5 years 6 months after treatment.  You are still considered a cancer survivor!

It is illegal in most countries to treat cancer with nutritional therapies.  The only legal treatments in these countries are surgery, radiation therapy and chemo therapy.

One of the supreme choices you have is what you will or will not eat.

Gives examples of high dose vit C intravenously 30-100,000mg a day.  Vit C selectively kills cancer cells.
If this were so good how come no one does it?  No one knows about it?  Where is it?

Orthomolecular is nutritional medicine.

Thoughts of my own.  Cacao is something that should be added to my diet.  Stick more with my vitamin regiment.  Drink more water.  Going to try drinking 20 ounces of water on waking.  I got a sweet new juicer from my wife as a present and should use it a heck of a lot more.  I too have had a backward view of the cost of food.  I have been willing to pay for the best computer (apple) but I will pass on blueberries when they get to be 3.00 a pint, or will have no problem forking over 4.00 for my cappucino.  I too have to shift my food priorities.  Health is priceless.  You are what you eat.  Cells are made from food.  You are made of cells.  What are you using as building blocks?

I recommend this movie for the simple fact that maybe it will inspire one more good habit.  It will cause you to think.  I think the bad thing is that sometime you can become paralized with information.  Is this food local? organic? what was the soil like?  ect.  Pick a few good habits and go after them.

Like Dave Ramsey and his snow ball debt effect, look at your health as the same thing.  Start with one habit and go after it, then the next one.  Don't try to do everything at once.  Good luck.

Product Review for September: Gymboss

I had been hesitant for awhile to order the Gymboss, for the simple fact that I have a digital watch and I wear it constantly when I work out. But, a few weeks ago, I went ahead an bought it for 20 bucks. It was worth it. It's amazing how much more on point my metabolic workouts have become. That beep that you hear, for however long you set it for, keeps you brutally honest. Was that really 20 seconds already? It has to be at least in the 4th round right? It just removes excuses. Do x amount of work, rest x amount. Repeat x times. Just work and don't worry about the time. I full heartedly endorse it.  It was much smaller then what I thought it would be for some reason.  Here's a link to get yours if you find yourself so inclined.  Gymboss   My favorite uses are 10 seconds on the airdyne, 20 sec rest.  Repeat 8x.  20 seconds with the battling ropes, 10 seconds rest.  Repeat 8x.  Kettlebell swings.  20 seconds on, 20 seconds rest.  Repeat for 5 minutes.  Enjoy

Recap of Performance Enhancement Seminar Indianapolis 2010

This past weekend I was down in Indianapolis for the 3rd annual Performance Enhancement Seminar. I was there for the first one and out of the country for the second. I was a little disappointed in the fact that I thought it would be held at the IFAST gym, but was held in the Hilton. Mens Health ranked it a top 10 gym in the country recently.

First up was Mike Robertson with a topic about Single leg training. Mike broke down single leg training, some progressions that you can employ and also explained why you still need to do double leg training, ie. don't give up your deads and squats. Truth is everyone should be doing some type of single leg work. Your stabilizers will never get as strong as they can without them and it's also a valuable tool in balancing out strength discrepancies in each leg.

2nd up was Lee Taft. Lee is a speed coach and presented a topic on lateral conditioning. Proper form, looking at different cues for your athletes to use. His favorite saying is "load to explode." Simply put, proper foot and ankle will load the knee, which loads the hip, which propels the athlete. He has some interesting low box (4ich) drills. I'm not completely sold on the carryover aspect for actual sport. I think much of what he talks about would have application for combine testing, 40 yard dash, pro shuttle. Where you practice over and over exact steps to maximize performance. But in a chaos situation, an actual game, I'm not sure.

3rd was Evan Osar. Evan is a really smart chiropractor and trainer out of Chicago. I don't buy a lot of peoples products, but I bought Evan's Lower Extremity Conditioning manual. He had some really interesting information on the hip. His topic covered bracing the corset, top of diaphragm to pelvic floor, to free up the hips. His views were stabilize the lumbar spine and the hips free up. A little opposite of working so much on hip mobility to achieve lumbar stability.

4th was Pat Rigbsy. Pat is a business guy and had a few pointers on how to get better coin for your time. Bootcamps, networking group training. The one thing I took away was spend your time doing what your good at.

5th was Bill Hartman. I thought this was the most interesting talk of the day. Bill has been called the smartest man in Fitness. His talk was on energy development for field athletes. He had some really controversial points that makes you stop and think. One was slow twitch hypertrophy will help explosive athletes. Hmmm....never thought of that. The other was incorporating some training in the sub 120bpm training. Glycolitic training can be reached in around 3 weeks. Tabatta isn't as effective as you think, and went on to break down the original tabatta study. Overall an awesome presentation.

Last was Brent Jones. Brent is a kettlebell guy. The one thing I took away was an arm bar for mobility. I will try to get a video posted up of this exercise as I think it will be helpful for glenohumeral stability and thoracic mobility. He also reawoken my desire to get better with my Indian clubs. I bought some 1890 original Spaulding Indian clubs when I was in chiropractic school. They are some of the first "weights" and they train using circular patterns. Pretty cool stuff.

Overall, this was a pretty good seminar. I look at things this way. Did I learn at least one thing that will change the way I treat patients? Did I learn one thing that will change the way I train athletes? If I did, my tool box got bigger, which means I get better, which means it was a success.

Val Slide vs EZ Sliders

After playing around with the Val Slide this last month, I've become a fan.  You can do a lot of different moves with it and can travel with it real easy.  A patient tipped me off that he got a knock off thing to help move furniture after seeing some of the video's I put up.  I looked around and picked up these EZ Sliders from Bed Bath and Beyond.  You can get a pack of 4 for 15 dollars as opposed to the Val Slide (green in the picture) for 38 dollars.  I put them to the test yesterday and they work perfect.  So save yourself a few bucks.  But definitely a great tool to have in your home gym or workout travel bag

Product Review: TRX

Last month I went ahead and purchased a TRX. If you haven't seen them, they are becoming somewhat of an "in thing." I already own Elites Blast Straps that I found to be useful for doing pushups and inverted rows, but not a lot else. What I was seeking with the TRX was a more versatile and portable piece of equipment. I liked TRX's ability to put your feet into them and do things like supine leg curls and glute bridging. The other thing I really liked was that you can adjust the length on the straps really, really quickly. I'm not convinced there worth the price tag quite yet though. I honestly wish I knew how to sew nylon webbing as I think you could make your own for super cheap. But it's lightweight and you can do quite a few bodyweight exercises with it. I will be travelling with it this winter with the bobsled team and I plan on sneaking in some workouts in my hotel rooms with there door adaptation kit, so I will see if my opinion changes. Overall, I'm not disappointed with my purchase, but it hasn't blown me away either. I hear jungle gym offers a very similar product for about half the price, but I have not used it. If your really into bodyweight culture or travel quite a bit and never know what type of hotel gym your going to have, I would say it's worth it. If your looking to add something to your budding garage gym, I would say pass.

My Favorite Training Tool

I've used the Vibram Five Fingers for the last two years. They've held up really well under the regular wear and tear that I've put them through. It's a way of training barefoot, without worrying about slivers, animal excrement or glass. I use them for everything from deadlifts and squats to walking my dogs and short sprint workouts. You really do get a feel for the floor, regaining that connection with the earth. Running on an open grass field with these is so much fun. I do feel that the small muscles in my feet have gotten stronger since I first started training in them. If you do decide to purchase a pair, I would just suggest you ease into training with them. As with any new variant in your training you will get sore. So slow and steady is the slogan, but this is a great and fun tool to own.