You are viewing a back issue of FitTips for One and All email newsletter.

Subscribe to receive future issues. Click here to view additional back issues.

FitTips for One and All - Vol. VI, No. 4

FitTips for One and All
Volume VI, Number 4
2008

Presented by Fitness for One and All

Director: Gary F. Zeolla

You are currently registered to receive the Fitness for One and All newsletter. This newsletter is published about once a month. To change your email address or to unsubscribe, use the link at the end of the newsletter.

God-given Foods Eating Plan - The approach of this book is to study different foods and food groups, with a chapter devoted to each major classification of foods. First the Biblical evidence is considered, then the modern-day scientific research is reviewed. Foods are then classified as "God-given foods" and "non-God-given foods." The main point will be a healthy eating plan is composed of a variety of God-given foods and avoids non-God-given foods.

Health Hypocrisy: An American Crisis

By Kristen Lamb

I grew up a child of the eighties, a witness to the beginning of the War on Drugs and America's newfound obsession with dismantling the cigarette industry. In our zeal to make America a healthier place we raised the drinking age, created seatbelt laws, and demonized red meat and butter.

Sometimes, when I think back to my childhood, I stand in awe at all the changes. In eighth grade, ecstasy and products containing ephedrine were available over the counter at health food stores and gas stations, and one didn't get a background check from the government if they bought more than one box of Sudafed. Tempting stacks of colorfully packaged cigarettes graced the checkout lines in grocery stores much like the displays of M&Ms and Snickers Bars. In fact, many kids such as myself probably can recall being sent into the store with a handful of ones to buy a pack for an adult who waited in the car.

Yet, we fast-forward twenty years and ecstasy is illegal, ephedrine is highly regulated, Sudafed requires an I.D. to purchase, and smokers have been banished from public buildings, restaurants and yes, surprisingly enough, even bars and clubs. We are bombarded with commercials to inform us about the dangers of drugs, sex and smoking. Companies test for use of illegal substances and penalize those who smoke. Police officers write hefty tickets for those who fail to conform and buckle up.

And we all gracefully comply because it is for our own good.

Now, I am not saying that any of these changes are bad. However, I find myself stunned at the parent who admonishes smoking or drugs while stocking the pantry with Pop Tarts, Doritos, and Hamburger Helper. "Alcohol is bad, but go get me a Coke." America cheered the underdogs who took on Big Bad Tobacco, yet laughed at those who tried to sue McDonalds for allegedly lacing the food with chemicals to stimulate appetite.

Winston Salem lost billions when it was revealed they'd deliberately added chemicals to make cigarettes more addictive, and yet snack companies operate with impunity. They load their products with refined sugar and wheat and saturate them with ingredients one needs a chemistry degree to understand, labeling it, "More Intense Flavor!"

One has to be at least eighteen years old to purchase cigarettes, yet a six-year-old can buy a bottle of soda that leeches calcium from the bones, causes tooth decay and that paves the way to diabetes. Every package of cigarettes comes with a grim warning from the Surgeon General about disease and death, but I have yet to see a box of Twinkies with any similar counsel.

This product, if eaten in excess can cause your butt to expand and your pants to become tight. In recent clinical studies, Twinkies have been shown to cause obesity which can lead to public ridicule, lower paying jobs and no sex life. Call 1-800-IAM-AFATTY if you need help with your addiction to eating crap.

The government spends billions of dollars educating children about drugs and, while the average high school kid could probably tell you the difference between cocaine and heroin, they'd be at a loss to tell you the difference between Type I and Type II Diabetes.

America is fatter than ever, and yet we are failing to go after the issue of obesity with the same bulldog ferocity we have others. Have a smoker light up in a school and they'd be treated like a terrorist and yet airlines and stadiums are being forced to put in bigger seats to accommodate the larger and larger sizes of Americans. Adult clothing has been resized so as not to damage delicate egos, and increasing numbers of stores carry plus-size clothing for kids.

Tabloids skewered Brittany Spears for driving with her infant son in her lap, and yet little heed is paid to the parent who buys their ten-year-old a 375-calorie Frappucino at Starbucks. Most of us would fall over from shock if we witnessed a child sucking down a Miller Beer. Yet, we don't even bat an eye when a kid walks by drinking a Red Bull that is loaded with sugar, caffeine and suspect herbs powerful enough to stop an adult's heart.

If this isn't the epitome of insanity, I don't know what is.

America doesn't want to acknowledge the pink elephant in the room. Why? What is the difference between marijuana and Moon-Pies? Tobacco and Taco Bell? Seatbelts and Snickers? What made it so much easier to tackle these other topics and yet poor nutrition and obesity seem to get off scot-free?

Is it because most of us struggle with our own temptations along with our waistlines? It's easy to criticize a smoker when you don't smoke, a druggie when you're clean, a boozer when you're sober, or the promiscuous when you're celibate/monogamous. But, how do we criticize a fat person with a doughnut, when our own pants went on a little too snugly that day? Do we, as Americans, fail to go after Ruffles Potato Chips because we, ourselves, indulge? Like the churchgoer caught rattling off a stream of profanity in traffic, do we fail to get serious about nutrition because, if we remain ambivalent, it makes it less embarrassing when we're seen eating French fries?

Honestly, I don't know the answer.

Yet, like they say in rehab, the first step to recovery is admitting the problem. We cannot change that which we won't face. America is obese and unhealthy and no longer has the luxury of denial. Rates of childhood obesity are staggering as we rear a new unhealthy, sedentary, fat generation. As adults, we have to accept responsibility for our own behavior. If we stop buying the chemically-laced, unhealthy food, the market will accommodate. If Americans refuse to keep being poisoned, companies will be forced to change or face extinction.

We need to put our foot down and say no to larger seats on airlines. If you are too fat to fit in one seat, you need to purchase two. Skinny people don't get a 50% discount because they have room to spare. If an airline is going to make seats larger, it is for comfort and customer service, not to accommodate fat, lazy people who make poor choices and don't want any of the consequences.

Criticize those who push unhealthy food with the same fanaticism we unleashed on smoking. Treat morbidly obese children with the same public concern given to a child who is beaten or molested.

Otherwise, America's tombstone will read:

This country once so bold and free stretched from sea to shining sea.
A people proud, they valued choice, and against injustice raised their voice.
They fought for peace and walked the moon . . .
Yet dug their grave with a serving spoon.

Health Hypocrisy: An American Crisis. Copyright © 2008 by Kristen Lamb.

All product and company names are registered trademarks of the respective companies.

Forum Posts

by Gary F. Zeolla

The following messages were posted in the Weight Trainer's United forum.

Blood Pressure and Resting Heart Rate Comparison

For the first couple of years after I set up my home gym in September of 2005, I used a basic pattern of lifting weights three times a week, and then walking on three off days. My lifting workouts lasted about an hour and a half, sometimes longer when using powerlifting gear. My walks were for 30 minutes at about a 3-1/2 mph pace. But after a while, that got to be too much for me, so for a while last fall (2007) I tried only lifting and walking each twice a week.

But when December came, I decided to cut out the walking and lift four times a week. But I reduced my workouts so that they only take an hour or so. But that includes doing what I call "short intense cardio" at the end of the workouts.

I do step-ups on my squat box (11" high) on squat days as they work the quads like squats. I hit a heavy bag on bench days as that works the same muscles as benches do. I feel it mainly in the pressing muscles (pecs, anterior delts, and triceps). On deadlift days I jump rope as I mainly feel that in my upper back, forearms, hamstrings, and calves, again, muscles worked in deadlifts.

I started at just a couple of minutes but have now worked up to six minutes on all three exercises, and that is as long as I intend to go. I will now work on increasing the intensity rather than the time. The first and last 30 seconds are done at a slower pace for warm-up and cool-down. That leaves a full five minutes at a high intensity.

But my concern was if the shorter workout times and much shorter cardio would be sufficient for cardiovascular health. So when I made the change in December I took my blood pressure and resting heart rate with my dad's monitor. And now, almost four months later, I just took it again. Below are the numbers:

12/2/07 – BP: 108/ 79, RHR: 57 bpm (beats per minute)

3/28/08 – BP: 101/ 71, RHR: 54 bpm

Normal blood pressure is 120/80 and a normal RHR is 60-80 bpm. But it is even better for the blood pressure to be below 120/80, and the lower the RHR is the stronger the heart is. The reason is, a stronger heart is able to pump more blood with each pump, so it doesn't have to pump as often. I heard that when Lance Armstrong was in shape for his Tour de France wins, his RHR was 16.

In any case, it seems that what I am doing now is working out even better than my previous program. This makes sense as I saw a study a while back that found just six minutes of cardio done at a very high intensity provides the same cardiovascular benefits as TWO HOURS of cardio done at a moderate intensity. And doing the cardio after the weightlifting workouts only adds to the benefits.

Best Four Day a Week Weight Training Schedule

When lifting weights four days a week, two basic schedules can be used. The first would be to lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. With this schedule, you would only have to lift two days in a row once a week.

The other basic schedule would be: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. With this schedule, you would lift two days in a row twice a week. However, you would also get a two break.

The most important factor as to which pattern is best would be which fits best into your own personal schedule. But if both are doable, then it would be good to experiment and see which works best for you.

When I powerlifted in college, I usually used the latter format. But when I first started powerlifting again five years ago, I used the former. I figured that only lifting two days in a row once a week would be the most important point. But more recently I tried the latter pattern and found it worked better.

I think the reason is that the two day break really is a break. In other words, after the two days off, on the first day back, it just seems like it has been a while since I lifted. And that psychological break can be as important as the physical break. But on the physical level, two days off in a row gives the body time to recover. With the first schedule, there is never that sense of having taken a break, and the body never has a chance to get caught up on recovery. At least, that's been my experience.

I basically look at the two days in a row as two halves of a full body workout. Day one is squats (which is lower body work) and day two is benches and upper back (which is upper body work). So those two workouts together are a full body workout. Similarly, day thee is deadlifts, which work almost all the muscles of the body except the pressing muscles and biceps, but those muscles are then worked on day four via bench assistance and upper back and arm work.

Of course, the exact days a week can vary, as long as the pattern is the same. Most importantly, never lift three days in a row. Personally, I lift Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This way, I have Friday and Saturday off.

The following pages have been updated:

Strength Training Routines

Powerlifting Training Routines
 

Full Workout Logs: Starting 2/17/08: Off-Season; Weeks 6 - 10 of 10 has been completed for all of my "off-season" workouts.

Full Workout Logs: Starting 3/21/08: In-Season; Weeks 1 - 5 of 10 will record the first half of my "in-season" workouts leading up to my contest June 7.

All material in this newsletter is copyrighted © 2008 by Gary F. Zeolla or as indicated otherwise.

4/1/08