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Pain in the Neck (or Back, or Knee)? Focus on the Muscles
Tweet Share on Facebook October 7, 2009 Comment (7)When faced with a sore knee or a back pain, the first inclination is to look to the bones and joints. And that's appropriate in some cases. But many times, the answer lies in how all of the elements of the musculoskeletal system work together, especially those often overlooked muscles, says sports chiropractor Rob DeStefano. By taking this more global perspective, you're more accurately able to treat (and prevent) nagging injuries and aches, according to Muscle Medicine (Fireside), a new book DeStefano wrote with orthopedic surgeon Bryan Kelly and health writer Joseph Hooper. It takes you on a tour of your body's trouble spots—including the lower back and the knee—and helps you tease out the roots of common problems and possibly even how to fix them yourself. I asked DeStefano about muscle medicine in a chat; here are some edited excerpts:
If you have pain in your back, knee, ankle, or other body part, whom should you turn to for help?
We're often taught to go to the top of the diagnostic chain, the orthopedist. But the truth is that most orthopedic surgeons, unless they [have some particular interest or specialty], don't want to see patients unless it's a surgical case. Otherwise, it's just evaluating and referring out. A good manual therapist who will refer out when it's necessary-whether a chiropractor, a physical therapist, or an internist who works with manual therapy—is a good port of entry. -
Family Physicians Group Announces a New Partner: Coke?
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2009 Comment (14)Nutrition and diet associations have come under fire for their relationships with food companies; most recently, the American Society for Nutrition was criticized for its role in administering the controversial Smart Choices food labeling program. Today the American Academy of Family Physicians announced its own corporate partnership program, called the Consumer Alliance, and said that the Coca-Cola Co. will be its first partner.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Coke will provide a grant—which AAFP President-elect Lori Heim says is "in the strong six figures"—annually to the group, which will develop consumer education content on beverages and sweeteners for its consumer-oriented website, FamilyDoctor.org. The AAFP, emphasized Heim, "has total control over editorial materials," which for now is the extent of the arrangement. Coke won't be using an AAFP symbol in marketing its products, for example, though the company's financial assistance will be credited on the site.
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5 Diet and Exercise Tips From The Biggest Loser’s Bob Harper
Tweet Share on Facebook October 2, 2009 Comment (5)The new season of The Biggest Loser means the popular TV show is once again a hot topic around the water cooler. Even as fans spend Wednesday morning rehashing the show, some in the fitness industry have recently criticized the show for its unrealistic depictions of weight loss. I recently caught up with Bob Harper, one of the show's trainers, to talk about what viewers should take away from the show—and what he thinks about carbs, colonics, and screaming trainers. Here are five take-aways from our chat:
- Nutrition is at least as important as exercise. People who begin a weight loss effort are often totally confused about the role of nutrition. Some think that if they work out, they can eat whatever they want. Not true! But Biggest Loser contestants often come in thinking the reverse, says Harper. "They think they'll work out a lot and won't eat at all," he says. Also not a good strategy. You need to hit the sweet spot: fueling your body enough with healthy foods to give you energy to get through the day (and your exercise routine), but not so much that you take in more than you're burning off.
[See what I wrote about diet and our 10-week workout routine.]
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Follow-Up: IDEA 'Biggest Loser' Article Now Online
Tweet Share on Facebook September 28, 2009 Comment (2)Just one more quick post about The Biggest Loser. Earlier this month, I described an article in IDEA Fitness Journal in which fitness pros criticize the hit TV show for, among other things, promoting unrealistic expectations about exercise and weight loss. That article, once restricted to IDEA members, is now accessible to the public. So have a look, and also check out my follow-up audio segment.
Please continue to comment and share your thoughts on The Biggest Loser!
[For more: Check out 5 ways a new school or job can help you get fit. Then see the 7 mistaken beliefs that prevent weight loss and have a look at our 10-week workout routine.]
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The Mediterranean Diet: Too Bad It Costs More to Eat Well
Tweet Share on Facebook September 25, 2009 Comment (21)Yes, you're not imagining it when you look at that receipt from Whole Foods: It seems to be cheaper to eat a less healthful diet. Spanish researchers recently published a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that showed that the more closely people adhered to a Mediterranean diet (associated with better health), the more money they spent on food. Those who adhered to the typical Western diet (associated with poorer measures of health) had "significantly lower daily costs," the researchers said.
[Read more about how to follow the Mediterranean and three other healthful diets.]
I decided to conduct my own admittedly extremely unscientific experiment and see if the results seen in Spain also held true in my corner of Brooklyn, N.Y. So without looking at prices, I made two meal plans, each amounting to about 2,000 calories for the day. One drew from the list of foods that the researchers used to define the typical Western diet: red meat, processed meat, eggs, sauces, precooked foods, fast food, caloric soft drinks, whole-fat dairy, and potatoes. The other plan, matched to include about the same number of calories per meal, was based on the foods that define the Mediterranean eating pattern: olive oil, poultry, fish, low-fat dairy, legumes, fruits, and veggies. Only after I created the menus—which include a variety of foods but which, since I'm not a dietitian, I won't promise are nutritionally balanced—did I go out and get prices from the local Key Food grocery store, the nearby Trader Joe's, and my closest McDonald's. Here's how things stacked up, calorie- and cost-wise.
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More Debate on the Pros and Cons of 'The Biggest Loser'
Tweet Share on Facebook September 21, 2009 Comment (2)Why Fitness Pros are Criticizing 'The Biggest Loser'
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Over the weekend, I did a radio interview with WTOP in Washington, D.C., about last week's blog looking at why some fitness pros criticize NBC's The Biggest Loser. I talked about the comments on the post, which included complaints that the show gives a thoroughly unrealistic view of weight loss as well as the view that the public is smart enough to know that reality TV often bears no resemblance to reality. I was surprised to see, though, that many people took issue with the language of trainer Jillian Michaels (now a brand in her own right). "I have 4 kids ages 9, 7, 4, and 2 and I have to keep it muted just so they won't hear the bad stuff," says one commenter. Another notes, "These expletives are totally unnecessary and it give[s] NBC a black eye as far as being an inspirational, family-friendly show. If this kind of behavior is not edited out of the show—I will cease to watch it!"
They aren't the only ones counting the "F" bombs. Trainer/coach/writer Tom Venuto recently blogged about the show, listing what he sees as its pros and cons. He was shocked by Jillian's profanities but also conceded it makes for good TV. Among his other criticisms: Because the show rewards weight loss rather than body fat loss, it encourages "gaming" the final weigh-in with questionable techniques like colonics and intentionally becoming dehydrated. Ew.
[For more: Check out 5 ways a new school or job can help you get fit. Then see the 7 mistaken beliefs that prevent weight loss, and have a look at our 10-week workout routine.]
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Why Fitness Pros Criticize 'The Biggest Loser'
Tweet Share on Facebook September 17, 2009 Comment (40)Television viewers go absolutely gaga over The Biggest Loser, the NBC reality show that takes obese, out-of-shape people away from their regular lives and puts them on a punishing full-time fitness and diet regimen aimed at stripping them of pounds. The finalist who loses the biggest percentage of his or her starting weight is the winner. (Most people already know this; I'm more of a Top Chef kind of girl, so the details of the show were new to me.) But some fitness pros cringe when they watch the show, says a new article published in the September issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, the publication for members of the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, a professional association for the fitness and wellness industry. They worry that it gives people the wrong idea of what they need to do to lose weight and get fit.
The article, by fitness pro and writer Amanda Vogel, is available only to IDEA members, but here's the gist of her piece:
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Worried About the 'Freshman 15'? 5 Ways a New School or Job Can Help You Get Fit
Tweet Share on Facebook August 21, 2009 Comment (1)A new environment, different hours, nearly limitless food choices: No wonder 25 percent of college freshmen gain at least 5 percent of their body weight (10 to 15 pounds) in their very first semester of school, according to a study published this year. But a fresh start—a new school, job, schedule, or whatever—can actually shake up your eating and exercise routine for better instead of worse. Here are five tips for using a change of scene to help you get fit rather than fatter:
Embrace a fresh start. It's always easier to set new habits than to change old ones. Research suggests that when you eat or drink the same thing at the same time of day, in the same mood, or in the same place, you set up a series of cues that will bring on a craving whenever you're in that situation. In a new environment, though, some of the cues to your old behaviors are no longer present. For example, in a new job, you won't have the same work buddy asking if you want to walk down to the corner deli for a 3 o'clock snack. A clean slate is a great opportunity to erase some of the less helpful old cues.
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Hamstrung! How to Prevent and Help Heal Hamstring Injuries
Tweet Share on Facebook August 12, 2009 Comment (2)This season, hamstring injuries have benched at least four members of the New York Mets, the team whose ups and (more numerous) downs made me care about baseball for the first time in my life. Then it got personal: my boyfriend started hobbling after one of our outdoor workouts, having suffered his own mild hamstring pull.
What is this injury, anyway? And what makes everyone from pro athletes to weekend warriors susceptible to it?
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5 Lessons for Over-35 Athletes From Olympic Swimmer Dara Torres
Tweet Share on Facebook August 6, 2009 Comment (1)"They want to know about the abs and the arms," says 42-year-old swimmer Dara Torres, the five-time Olympian—most recently last summer in Beijing, where she won three silver medals. She's talking about being a role model for those who aspire to athletic success over the age of 35 (which counts as "older" in the world of elite sports); she took up that mantle during the run-up to the Olympics and still holds it a year later. As her profile rose, people clamored to know her secrets. They want to know about how she trains, what she eats, how she managed to compete in last week's world championships against people less than half her age—and, yes, how she has that body after giving birth to a child.
The answer to that last question: strength-training, mostly using her own body weight, and focusing particularly on her core stomach, back, and pelvic muscles. But she reminds people that it's her job to perform at a certain level, which means keeping her body in stellar condition. More important than inspiring people to get similarly ripped abs is motivating them to push beyond self-imposed limits based on a notion of what's age-appropriate, whether in the arena of exercise and sports or in life. "Don't put an age limit on your dreams," says Torres, who is working on a fitness book, which will be out next year, and is promoting BP's younger for longer campaign.
