Articles

Put Yourself To "The Test" - How Fit Are You?


When's the last time you put your fitness to the test? If you're a competitive athlete or someone who's really up on preventive health care, maybe recently. But if you're like the vast majority of Canadians, the answer is...you never have. At least not since elementary school and I'll tell you why. Fitness is not a priority in this country.

Performance Nutrition for the Active Lifestyle


As a naturopath and health consultant specializing in human performance and clinical sports nutrition, I routinely engage with a wide variety of clients who express enormous variation in body chemistry, origin of descent, body composition and knowledge in health, fitness and nutrition. On a one to one basis, my initial goal is to determine their present functional health status and physical condition.

Looking Out for #1


They say that time is the fire in which we burn. "They" also say that our life belongs to no one except ourselves. Not so. In the end our life force terminates, disappears or departs from our physical body without our consent and there is absolutely nothing we or anyone else can do about it.

Lactic Acid: Friend or Foe?


It’s not uncommon to think of lactic acid as an enemy. For decades we've been conditioned by teachers, coaches and personal experience to think of it as some kind of useless waste product; the cause of that “burning” sensation when you run fast or pump iron to complete failure. Of course almost everyone associates lactic acid with next-day muscle soreness, fatigue and stiffness.

Twelve Training Principles



This year (2012) I celebrate 43 consecutive years of weight training. I began lifting at age 12 (1959) when many believed that weight training at that age stunted your growth, enlarged your heart and made you inflexible. We now know this isn't true. Pumping iron is like magic.

Kids Need Exercise too


Quick, in ten seconds or less, name the number one cause of stress. Smoking? No. Drugs and alcohol? Guess again. Divorce, aging or public speaking? Wrong. The most common cause of stress known is INACTIVITY… responsible for more disease and premature death than any other factor.

eTraining Doing What Cannot Be Done


eTraining is a specialized method of exercise training I began teaching at Chi Camp Hawaii on Oahu. The idea began in 1969 when I received my first mail order lesson on Dynamic Tension from Charles Atlas. Little did I know at age 12 how such a simple, basic exercise program based on isometrics would evolve over time in my own life into my own dynamic method.

Do You Look Like You Train?


Ask a hundred gym members why they train and guess what they'll say? The overwhelming majority do it for the look. Sure, some will say it's for health; others will say it's because of how it makes them feel. A few even do it to improve their performance in sport or out of necessity for rehab or medical therapy. Others do it to burn off their habits of indulgence.

Body Athletic



Rest is critical to recovery and healing. Adequate sleep is a must. But sitting for long periods when you’re well is counterproductive to good health. Our joints and lower back stiffen, circulation is impaired and metabolic waste slowly pools up causing fatigue and chronic pain.

Biological Bodybuilding



There are two forms of bodybuilding. The first is called Biological. It is the best, the original and commonly known as "natural". It is the form advocated by all bodybuilding associations, but seldom practiced by the world's best bodybuilders; in fact, there are NO natural bodybuilders at the very top of the competitive bodybuilding ladder, as in Zip, Notta, Zero, Diddly-Squat, NONE!

Back to the Gym


Fitness is for everybody. Depicted as The Incredible Machine by the National Geographic Society, the human body has the capacity for remarkable achievements in strength and endurance. We are considered the most dangerous predator on earth and if well conditioned, we are built for stamina and designed beautifully for adaptation.

A Stitch in Time...Hurts!!



Almost everyone at one time or another has either experienced for themselves, heard of or seen someone else experience what is commonly known as a “side-ache”. It’s certainly well known to many parents who grew up with the same warning they now give their own children, "Wait an hour after eating before you go swimming, so you don’t get a cramp and drown."

When Natural isn't Better


The word “natural” has gotten out of hand. In fact, it’s become a downright misnomer (a name used incorrectly). In the health business we overuse the term to emphasize the perceived goodness or purity of something, like a dietary supplement or a food product. And it certainly adds marketing value to our buying and selling activity. NATURAL SELLS.

What is Sports Nutrition?


Good question!!!! The term “Sports Nutrition” is social misnomer, because it implies a special kind of nutrition only for people who play sports. Granted, anyone engaged in sport is a candidate for such a reference but ‘sports’ in this context is generic and much broader in its definition.

The Super Antioxidants

The multiple and extraordinary benefits of antioxidant nutrients have been well defined in both exercise physiology and functional medicine for many decades now. In a nutshell, antioxidants protect healthy cells from the oxidizing or damaging effects of oxygen free radicals — from which no one can escape.

The Power of Chi



Chi is the active principle of anything alive. Some call it "prana", the "force" or "Gaia", the underlying life force shared by all biological organisms. In orthodox biology what animates living things is perceived as nothing more than digitized complex information technology. Chi is the Chinese word used to describe "the natural energy of the Universe".

The Importance of Protein


The subject of protein consumption often stirs up public controversy and heated debate. Some immediately think of "excess" and relegate protein consumption to kidney or liver damage, cancer and osteoporosis.

The Glycemic Index of Carbs


Knowing the glycemic response of food is just as important as knowing its micronutrient content, its caloric value and its acid to alkaline ratio. Successful body composition management relies on this knowledge, and for athletes, it is crucial to performance.

The Battle of the Bulge: Resistance is Futile


As a society we are getting fatter and fatter with each passing year. To some an extra role around the gut or a double chin is just a joke. To others it's a sign of gluttony. But in the eyes of medical science it is serious business. Obesity is costing society hundreds of billions in medical treatment and lost revenue. Excess fat is a liability. Experts say it's at least as bad as smoking now.

The True Wealth of Health

Exercise and nutrition... the ultimate prescription for optimum health and long life. But the exercise must be correct and the nutrition must be biologically compatible with our human genome complex. Fall short and you can expect deleterious consequences more reliable than rising gas prices. Obey the laws that dictate optimum health and that is exactly what you get.

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