The Vlog

I was asked recently if you should increase your reps every workout? This is a good question. Let me explain what happens to the body when you lift weights. When you lift, you are using two relevant systems – the muscular system and the nervous system. The muscular system breaks down muscle when you lift. Then, you supercompensate and build more muscle or you get a better quality of muscle (i.e. harder muscle or tonus). The nervous system improves by recruiting more of the available muscle to lift. So everytime you lift, your body should supercompensate for both systems and you should be stronger when you lift. Then why do you see so many people doing the same amount of reps every workout with the same weight? I don’t know. You must express your true strength by either increasing your reps or weight or both! This should be done every workout.

If you are diabetic or think you may be in danger of being diabetic, there is one “new” solution which is also finally getting the approval of the American Diabetic Association. It beats moderate and higher carb diets in lowering blood sugar, reducing weight, and reducing cholestrol. It is a powerful option and you may wish to talk to your doctor about it. Even if you want to lose weight, the low-carb approach is the most powerful diet tool you can use.

Von

I was talking with a gentlemen who stated he “wanted to get back in shape to work again.” I assumed he was on workers comp and asked him if he got injured. He stated that he had diabetes and had a prosthetic limb. I inquired further and found out that for a period, he didn’t have enough money for his meds. After eight months without meds, he was playing with his grandchild and she jumped onto his food which got infected. The infection turned his middle toe black. He went to the hospital and they amputated it. After a short while, his whole foot turned black. They had to amputate right below the knee. I was amazed as he told me his story because he had no sadness or regret. He had his prosthetic on and was eager to get back into shape. His attitude was such an inspiration to me, that I had to tell his story.

Von

Speaking of steroids, check out “www.precisionnutrition.com/tainted-supplements” which focuses on tainted supplements. Were not talking about “tainted” as in contaminants like cyanide or rat poison. We’re talking about anabolic steroids. In two studies conducted in 2001 and 2005, over 150 companies had “banned” substances in them. If you compete in any sport which requirse testing, make sure the company you use your supplements from are reputable. Check out this site to see which supplements are safe so far:

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/products/supplements

Von

If you have kids, have a job, and go to school, how do you find time for exercise? Should you is probably a good question. But you walk, don’t you? Do you take your kids out to play? Do you see what I’m getting at. If you carry your kids a little while, let them walk, and carry them again, this is kind of like interval training. And if you take your kids to the playground, you can do some games with them like who can do more push-ups, squats, and dips. What about walking to the grocery store and carrying your groceries home with you? There are many opportunities to increase your exercise outside of the gym, you just have to know that your going to work hard and have some fun.

Von

I was helping out with a fifth grader’s math and Health homework the other day. Being a nutrition and exercise guy, I thought I would be just adept at health as I was in math (since I have a degree in math). I “corrected” his worksheet and recommended peanut butter be listed as a fat. I was wrong! For all you health teachers out there, let’s get somethings straight, peanut butter is a fat. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that grade school teaches us (and still does) that peanut butter is a protein, but let’s do the math. Peanut butter possesses 32 calories of protein and 144 calories of fat per serving. The math speaks for itself. Although I didn’t want to disparage his Health teacher by telling him she was wrong, I politely told him she was misinformed and that while peanut butter does have some protein, it has a lot of fat. We did the math together and he was just happy to know the teacher wasn’t completely right.

Von

I’m just kiddong about the title. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. Do steroids work? Absolutely. Are steroids safe? They can be. Why would anyone use steroids? Steroids can definitely give an advantage in many areas including strength, speed, endurance, and recovery. Athletes will risk using them simply because the performance enhancement outweighs the risk of not getting caught. If someone (like a doctor) who administered steroids told you the steroid you would be using would not be tested for and you could potentially earn millions more, would you?

Von