Making Running A Habit

Follow these 4 steps, and gradually exercise will become a no-brainer.

After a few weeks of running, you'll begin to believe that there's something to this “runner’s high” thing. Feel-good brain chemicals—like dopamine and endocannabinoids—will be released while you’re on the road, and you’ll feel so proud of what you accomplished that it will take more discipline to rest than to work out.

But until that happens, it can be hard to force yourself out the door. And relying on willpower just won’t work, experts say. “We tell ourselves we will make ourselves do it, but that puts a lot of strain on your willpower resources, and everyone’s willpower is a limited resource,” says Heidi Grant Halversorn, associate director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University’s Business School. Once your resolve gets weak—when you’re tired or stressed, and there are so many things that seem more appealing than running—willpower breaks down.

Here are some tips on how to make running a habit and make it stick from Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit. “Once exercise becomes a habit, it just feels easier,” says Duhigg, who trained for the 2012 New York City Marathon. “So when you don’t feel like doing it, it doesn’t take as much willpower.”

1. MAKE A PLAN. According to Duhigg, every habit is made up of a group of cues (e.g., time, place, mood, music, certain other people), a reward (chocolate, massage, hot shower, smoothie), and a routine (the running). So pick some cues (e.g., the most convenient time to run, the best route to take) and rewards that will incentivize you to run. Then write out a plan with the cues and rewards, and post it where you can see it. Let’s say the best time to run is morning; you’ve got an energizing music mix on your iPod; and your reward is a relaxing long, hot shower. Your plan would be: “If it’s morning, and I hear this music, I will run, because then I’ll get a long, hot shower.” Post the plan where you can see it. Try it for a week. If it doesn’t work, try changing the cues or the rewards. Get the Start Running Plan.

2. KEEP IT REGULAR. Create a prerun routine to cue your body and mind that it’s time to run, and repeat it every time you go. Always go at the same time of day. Put your workout clothes next to your bed. Put on your same workout music before you go out. “In order to make something like running into a habit, you have to have cues to trigger you, and they have to be consistent,” says Duhigg. “You’re creating neural pathways that make the activity into a habit,” he adds.

3. REWARD YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY. Right after your run, treat yourself to something you genuinely enjoy—a hot shower, a smoothie, even a small piece of dark chocolate—so your brain associates exercise with an immediate reward. “You have to get the reward right away for something to become automatic,” says Duhigg. “You can’t intellectualize your way to a reward. You have to teach the brain about reward through experience.”

4. BUILD YOUR OWN SUPPORT SYSTEM. Equip your running routine with the activities that will make you feel good about it and get you revved up to get up and go each day, says Duhigg. Meet up with friends so that the run doubles as socializing time; track your miles so that you can see the progress you’re making and the fitness improvements.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Today I headed out to the Jacksonville Forest Park trails and completed my 215th trail run/hike of 2014. Since I kind of beat myself up with yesterday's workout I didn't do much running today, but that's probably a good thing since the trails were either slick from ice or from mud where the ice had melted. So a fast paced hike was probably pushing my luck enough.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Could a fast-food dinner hurt your child's test scores?

Researchers find a link between what kids eat and their scores in reading, science and math.
Thinking about hitting the drive through to feed the kids tonight? You might want to think again. Those chicken nuggets and burgers might just be hurting your kids' test scores.

According to a new study published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, the more often your child eats fast food, the more likely he will be to have poor grades in school. For the study, researchers from Ohio State University compared the fast-food consumption and grades of thousands of students from fifth through eighth grades. The more burgers and fries the students ate, the worse they did on the tests.

Researchers looked at questionnaires from 11,470 kids who reported how often they ate fast food. They found that the kids who ate fast food four to six times per week scored 20 percent lower on tests than kids who said they never ate fast food.

The study found a link, but not a cause. In other words, just because the kids who ate more fast food also had lower test scores does not mean that it was the fast food that caused the poorer grades. Still, even after the researchers controlled for factors such as socioeconomic status, family background, and daily exercise, the link between the two remained.

"There's a lot of evidence that fast-food consumption is linked to childhood obesity, but the problems don't end there,” lead author Katy Purtell, an assistant professor of human sciences at Ohio State University, told Medical News Today. “Relying too much on fast food could hurt how well children do in the classroom. We're not saying that parents should never feed their children fast food, but these results suggest fast-food consumption should be limited as much as possible."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- YEAR END TRIBUTE TO 2014
Another annual tradition is in the books!
Today I did my patented TOPFIT ~Year End Tribute to 2014~ workout.
Except for the final 14 burpees that I finished with, all exercises were done for 100 reps (not necessarily non-stop or in the following order) before moving on to another exercise. When all was said and done, I did:

burpees x 114
KB swings (20kg) x 200
chinups x 100
suspension trainer pullups x 200
pushups x 200
squats x 200
SB leg curls x 200
SB tucks x 200
SB back extensions x 200
SB crunches x 200
alternating lunges x 200

TOTAL = 2014 reps!

~Feelin' Alive!~

The High Cost of Healthcare

Time for a little rant about the high cost of healthcare, but it's not really about why the cost is so high, it's more about those people that complain about the high cost but do absolutely nothing to keep the cost down.

It seems like everyone complains that healthcare is too expensive, but they do everything in their power to plant themselves firmly in the middle of the same system that they complain so much about.

These people base their nutrition on highly processed foods full of chemical additives and artificial sweeteners with absolutely no nutritionally redeeming values.

They will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a home entertainment system so they can sit on their fat butts drinking beer and eating chips and dip for hours while they watch someone else be active. They will pay someone else to mow their lawn, do their gardening, and even walk their dog. Then they complain about their rotten health, and the cost of healthcare. When they do finally get out for some sort of activity (ahh, the weekend warrior), they are so out of shape and their bodies are so unprepared for the stresses they're put under, they inevitably end up with an injury. Of course, since their nutrition and fitness levels are so poor, their bodies don't stand a chance of healing themselves.

These people take a reactive attitude toward their healthcare rather than a proactive and preventative attitude. They abuse their bodies and then go to their doctors for the magic pill, or even surgery, to fix the damage they've done.

Time to put your time and money in perspective.

If you think you don't have time for a fitness program, think about the time you will be spending in the doctor's office (which you will undoubtedly complain about) and the time you'll spend recovering from surgery, or just laying at home miserable because of illness and injury. If you don't find time for your health and fitness now, you’ll really come up short on time at the end of your life. Find the time now to get healthy and stay healthy, and you’ll more than make up for it by living a longer and/or more functional life.

If you don't think you can afford to eat better or start a fitness program (either on your own or with the help of a trainer), think about the lost income when you have to call in sick or injured to work, or think about the cost of your medications and doctor's visits.

There are, unfortunately, too many things in life we can't control when it comes to our health, such as our genetics, accidents, etc., but so much of our health is in our hands. Start taking a more proactive and preventative approach to your health and reap the benefits.

© 2014 TOPFIT

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run and Heavy Bag
I had a partially sunny run and hike up Lower Table Rock today, but as I turned to the north to return across the plateau, I was hit by a strong freezing wind that was nailing my face with icy snow. Invigorating to say the least!
Later I spent 30 mins on the heavy bag.

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

It's been a week of fairly high volume and intensity, including:

3 heavy bag workouts
2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
2 Table Rock runs
1 pullup workout (weighted and bodyweight)
1 bench press workout (BBs and DBs)
1 patented ~TOPFIT 12/25~ workout

What did you do this past week to maintain and improve your fitness?

~No Challenge, No Change~

Keeping That Weight Loss Resolution

If you're one of the many Americans who plan to lose weight next year, there are a number of things you can do to improve your chances of success, an expert says.

"It should be clear by now that there is no one diet that works for everyone," Jill Ashbey-Pejoves, lead dietitian at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y., said in a hospital news release.

"The best diet is the one that works for you. Don't starve yourself or eliminate entire food groups," she advised.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a healthy and well-balanced diet, she said. Deprivation diets don't work because depriving yourself of something just makes you want to eat it even more.

Plan what you'll eat each day, so you won't be forced into a quick decision and make a poor choice. Pack your own lunch and snacks. Eliminate unhealthy snacks and desserts from your home and replace them with fruit, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Track your eating habits. Doing so keeps you focused and honest and helps you plan and see what works and what doesn't.

Any weight loss effort should include exercise. A mix of aerobics, resistance training and stretching is best. Resistance workouts build muscle and muscle burns more calories. Doing only aerobics may not help you lose weight because that type of exercise stimulates appetite, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

Be sure to keep hydrated by drinking plenty of caffeine-free beverages.

Every meal should begin with a salad or broth-based vegetable soup. They help you feel full because of their high water content, but are low in calories. Many salad dressing are high in calories, so try seasoned rice vinegar instead, Ashbey-Pejoves said.

She also suggested that you use smaller plates; fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables, put out a fruit bowl, and eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
Mind and body told me it was time for a rest day, so I spent time playing with Hailey and catching up on a few chores.....and even some relaxing.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Diabetes Prevention: What You Can Do

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revealed that 40% of Americans will eventually develop type 2 diabetes. That means that out of every five Americans, two will end up with type 2 diabetes. This scary statistic is shocking, but not completely unexpected given our current unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity. It seems every decade the likelihood of developing this devastating disease continues to rise at an alarming rate. This gets even more disconcerting if you happen to be in a certain minority group -- specifically black females and all Hispanics -- as these individuals have an even higher risk of developing diabetes at 50%.

However, this unfortunate trend doesn't mean that you are doomed to get this life-altering chronic disease. While it is true that your genes play a role in your chance of getting type 2 diabetes, there are steps you can take with your lifestyle habits to help ward off this chronic disease. To help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes and the serious complications associated with this disease, including kidney failure, neuropathy (nerve damage), eye damage, skin problems (dry itchiness, fungal infections, and bacterial infections), stroke, heart disease, hearing impairment, high blood pressure and a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease, check out the tips below.

Get Active
Staying physically active improves cardiovascular health and also helps with weight control. In fact, if you are overweight or obese, losing just 10% of your current body weight can slash your odds of getting diabetes in half. Physical inactivity increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, especially if it's in the form of television watching (for every two hours of TV-watching you rack up, you raise your diabetes risk by 20%). Setting a goal of getting a minimum of 30 minutes of heart-pumping physical activity (even brisk walking counts) a day will greatly reduce your risk, and the more you exercise, the more you cut the risk of diabetes development.

Get to a Healthy Weight
Aiming for a healthy weight can significantly reduce your risk of developing diabetes because those extra pounds are the biggest cause of type 2 diabetes. Having a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 is protective. If you're overweight (BMI of 25-29.9), you're seven times more likely to get diabetes, and if you're obese (BMI of 30 or higher), multiply that risk by 20-40 compared to a normal-weight individual. BMI does have some limitations (it's not accurate for really muscular or athletic individuals). Further studies may instead look more closely at waist circumference.

Maintain a Healthy Diet
Certain dietary measures can help decrease diabetes risk as well. Eat plenty of colorful fruits and veggies, always try to choose whole grains over refined-grain foods (diets rich in whole grains have been associated with diabetes prevention), cut out sugar-laden beverages, consume healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil, canola oil, fatty fish), and cut back on processed meats and red meats, which are linked to an increased diabetes risk.

Don't Smoke
Smoking doubles your risk of getting diabetes.

Get Quality Sleep
Aim for a solid night's sleep void of interruptions. Disrupting your body's "internal clock" with irregular sleep patterns, nocturnal lighting (put away those smartphones, people), and unusual meal or snack times can increase your risk for diabetes because of the effects on your hormones.

Several things you can't control: Your genes and your age (getting older increases the risk). Genetics do have a big influence on your likelihood of developing diabetes, but you can certainly take steps to affect those factors that you can control, because lifestyle choices have a larger impact. Need some more good news? Research has found that those who do develop diabetes are living longer lives, likely due to improved treatment options.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
I had a fairly relaxing day today and only made time for a 30 minute heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

For some people, exercise could be an effective treatment for depression

We all know about the many magical effects of exercise: regularly breaking a sweat lowers your cardiovascular disease risk, staves off Alzheimer's, boosts your energy, and improves your sleep quality.

Now, there's a growing body of research that suggests exercise might help alleviate depression, working just as well for some people as medication. Here's what you need to know:

1) Exercise performs about the same as antidepressants — with some caveats
The data on exercise and depression is pretty consistent: exercise is better than no intervention, and seems to be at least as good as antidepressants.

Systematic reviews — syntheses of all the best-available research on a given topic — are considered the gold standard of medical evidence. The most exhaustive review on depression and exercise looked at 39 studies that involved 2,326 people.

Researchers found that exercise worked better than no therapy at reducing symptoms of depression. And studies also showed that exercise performed about the same as antidepressants and psychological therapies.

But these conclusions were based on small or limited studies. "There is a mild to moderate association between exercise and improvements to depression symptoms," said the review's lead author, Dr. Gary Cooney. "But when you look at the best-quality evidence alone, this association is weaker."

In other words, the higher quality randomized trials, for example, found less convincing results on the role exercise plays in alleviating depression. So Dr. Cooney said we know more and better data on the question.

For now, the biological mechanism by which exercise works on depressed people — if it truly works — is also unclear. Is it the changes in brain chemistry or endorphin levels from exercise that lifts depressive symptoms or the feeling that people have more control over their lives when they're exercising? "There are a variety of theories," said Dr. Cooney, "and these are speculative."

2) We may not see better evidence for exercise and depression any time soon
Exercise gets less attention and funding from the research community than drugs, which have to go through lots of study to gain FDA approval.

"The total amount of studies on exercise and depression is nowhere near how many there are on antidepressants. But antidepressants are studied by the pharmaceutical industry, which is a business," said Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a professor and researcher at UT Southwestern. "There's no comparable advocacy group for studying exercise."

To truly figure out to what exercise helps people with depression would require a big, long-term study — and lots of funding, said Dr. Trivedi.

"As a society, if we wanted to answer the question, we would need to invest in a large cohort study of people and follow them for 20 years. We'd need to find people who are at risk of depression based on family history or other risk factors, and follow them for many years." But he hasn't been able to get funding for such a study.

3) It's difficult to know how to prescribe exercise
The researchers pointed out that, while the data are promising, there are still many uncertainties in this area which make prescribing exercise tricky.

Which exercises should patients try and for how long? "Definitions of exercise can be a little controversial too. Is yoga exercise for example?" Dr. Cooney said.

Then there's the question of how you'd get depressed people to exercise. When people are depressed, they're often fatigued. Some have trouble getting out of bed. Even getting them started on a workout routine could be a challenge.

"There was a lot of skepticism about whether people who are really depressed are going to exercise," said Dr. James Blumenthal, a professor of psychiatry and researcher at Duke University. "We did two big studies at Duke and found the majority of people, at least if they thought it was going to be beneficial, would do the exercise, about three times a week for 30 to 35 minutes a session."

For now, Dr. Trivedi suggested talking to your doctor about trying exercise as a treatment option.

But, he said, "Don't do this without guidance form a physician. While sometimes effective, it doesn't work for everybody. So if you start to exercise on your own and not under guidance of a physician and it's not working, you will be in trouble."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Although I was itching to run, since I had such a high volume and high intensity day yesterday, I played it smart and had a relaxing, moderate intensity 2+ hour hike on the J-Ville Forest Park trails today.  I even stopped a few times to experience Shinrin-Yoku at its finest.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Four Nutrition Myths That Are Bad For Your Health

We all want to eat well and choose the healthiest eating plans, but separating nutrition fact from fiction can be tricky. Here are some persistent nutrition myths I often hear from friends, family and even the media, along with the facts to clear the air.

1. Raw Foods are Always Healthier than Cooked Foods
While raw foods are full of vitamins, minerals and plant compounds that promote good health, some nutrients are more bioavailable when cooked. Lycopene, the carotenoid that gives tomatoes their red color, is absorbed three to four times better when cooked. Tomato sauce, tomato paste, tomato soup and even tomato ketchup deliver more lycopene to the body than raw tomatoes. Kale is a rich source of beta-carotene and fat-soluble vitamins A and K, and all of these nutrients are more available to the body in cooked kale compared with raw kale. And the lutein in carrots, the compound that promotes healthy eyes and vision, is better absorbed in cooked carrots.

Cooking also makes proteins in meat and fish more easily digested, and let’s face it, meat or fish smells and tastes a lot better when cooked than it does in the raw state. Lastly, cooking helps destroy harmful bacteria that may lurk in foods. So, enjoy raw foods as part of a healthy eating plan, but remember that cooked foods have their merits.

2. All Processed Foods are Bad
If you think all processed foods are bad, put down your morning cup of coffee, tea or almond milk, as all of these morning favorites are processed foods. When talking about processed foods, most people think of foods that contain excessive added sugars, fats and sodium while contributing few healthful nutrients. Those types of packaged foods are not healthy, but processed foods aren’t all bad.

Baby carrots are processed, as are the kid-friendly apple slices sold in the produce section. And while bagged salads are more expensive, who hasn’t enjoyed the convenience of bagged produce when time is tight? Recent research from the American Institute for Cancer Research suggests that new methods of processing to enhance the absorption of the good stuff in plant foods could be used to fight some cancers. So, instead of painting all processed foods as “bad,” differentiate between the processed foods that supply healthful nutrients versus those that contain too much sugar, fat and sodium.

3. Natural Foods are Always Healthier
The word “natural” conjures visions of fresh-picked blueberries or juice from freshly squeezed oranges. Too bad “natural” is a marketing buzzword that is not defined by the Food and Drug Administration. Some manufacturers use the word natural to make you believe a food is more healthful when in fact it is high in calories, fat or sugar.

For example, some candy is sold as natural because it contains agave nectar or honey, but to the body sugar is sugar no matter the source, so that doesn’t make “natural” candy more healthful. Snack foods are also being touted as natural. Potato chips with the peel left on the potato before being fried into a chip are not more healthful than other chips. So, save your money on packaged foods touting to be “natural” and instead snack on truly natural foods like fruits, veggies and nuts.

4. All Sugar Should be Eliminated
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended that we cut our sugar intake from 10% of calories to 5% of calories. That equates to about 6 teaspoons of sugar or 25 grams per day. Sugar that occurs naturally, like in milk or fruit, is packaged with many other nutrients, so focus on reducing added sugars but don’t worry about the few grams of sugar in milk or fresh fruit.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- The ~TOPFIT 12/25 Workout~, an Upper Table Rock Run, and Heavy Bag
Holiday Hat Trick
I got my day started with a variation of my patented ~TOPFIT 12/25 Workout~......12 supersets x 25 reps each of jump pullups and ring pushups.  After some much needed recovery time, I followed that with a fun run on Upper Table Rock.  And later in the afternoon, since I still had some energy left, I spent 30 mins on the heavy bag.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

What 2,000 Calories Looks Like

The nation’s largest restaurant chains have made a big deal in recent years about introducing smaller portion sizes. McDonald’s eliminated the Supersize menu, while T.G.I. Friday’s and others have introduced small-plate items. Yet the restaurants have also been doing something else, with less fanfare: continuing to add dishes so rich that a single meal often contains a full day’s worth of calories.

Here, we show you what roughly 2,000 calories looks like at some large chains. (Depending on age and gender, most adults should eat between 1,600 and 2,400 calories a day.) Researchers have long understood that people are more likely to finish what’s on their plate than to stop eating because they've consumed a given amount of food. It’s “the completion compulsion,” a phrase coined in the 1950s by the psychologist Paul S. Siegel. Combine that compulsion with the rising number of restaurant meals Americans eat and the substance of those meals, and you start to understand why we've put on so much weight. But there is some good news: As you’ll see below, it’s not so hard to eat bountifully and stay under 2,000 calories. It’s just hard to do so at most restaurants.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
After a couple days of high/med volume and intensity, I kept things fairly simple today with a 30 min heavy bag workout.

Gymboss Interval Timer

The GYMBOSS can be used as a repeating interval timer, countdown timer or a stopwatch.  I use it myself and with clients for an endless number of workouts including timing rounds on the heavy bag, Tabatas, and for my patented ~Turkey Burn~ and ~RAT~ workouts.

~Feelin' Alive!~

5 Healthy Winter Vegetables

Do you know which vegetables are best to eat? There's no right or wrong answer as ALL vegetables are nutritional superstars. They are rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytochemicals and antioxidants, and it’s best to eat a wide range of vegetables that cover a wide spectrum of colors—red, orange, yellow, green and purple. More colors equals more antioxidants, each one working to reduce inflammation, support detoxification pathways, and reduce your risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But the very best vegetables are the ones that are in season. Choosing these vegetables is better for the planet (locally grown) and for your wallet (less expensive), and is more nutritious.

The winter season is all about warm, dense, comforting foods that support your immune system. In the cold months, our bodies naturally crave heartier foods—soups, stews and chili. Incorporating winter vegetables into these dishes is easy and we recommend making large batches of whatever you are cooking so it can last you the whole week.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike and Pullups
Since yesterday was a fairly high volume and intensity day, I reduced the intensity a bit today (pretty much kept the volume up though).  I started with a 2 hr hike on the J-Ville Forest Park trails and followed that with a workout of weighted and bodyweight pullups (standard and with the suspension trainer).

~Feelin' Alive!~

The 10-Second Trick That Can Help You Lose Weight

There are plenty of arguments that advocate throwing away the bathroom scale, but a new study suggests daily weigh-ins may be a key component to weight loss.

The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE and conducted by Elina Helander and co-authors from Tampere Univeristy of Technology in Finland, sampled 2,838 weight observations from 40 people attending a health program and found that when people weighed themselves daily they tended to lose weight, while taking breaks from daily weigh-ins for longer than one month led to weight gain in certain cases.

This isn't the first time the odds have been in favor of the bathroom scale.

"Get out of bed, use the bathroom, then step on the scale. Every day," personal trainer Marshall Roy advised in an article for Be Well Philly earlier this year. "It will give you a very reliable baseline and daily data point. It will fluctuate a little bit day to day, but when you look at all the numbers over the course of a week or month, trends will be obvious."

And a University of Minnesota study, cited by Prevention magazine, surveyed 1,800 dieting adults and found that people who weighed themselves every day lost about 12 pounds over the course of two years, while people who weighed themselves every week lost only 6 pounds.

So if weight loss is one of your New Year's resolutions, be advised: The scale may be a better friend than you thought.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run and Bench Press
Today I picked up the volume and intensity a bit and started with a Lower Table Rock run, followed by a workout of BB bench presses and DB alternating bench presses.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

I kind of kept things a bit lighter this past week and only made time for aerobic/cardio based activities.  I had a fairly even mix of low, medium and high intensity activities which included:

4 trail runs/hikes (divided fairly evenly between running and hiking)
2 heavy bag workouts
1 x-trainer workout

What did you do this past week for your health and fitness?

~No Challenge, No Change~

7 Ways to Get Fit in Half the Time

Don’t have time for the gym? You’re probably not the only one. Lack of time is one of the top reasons most individuals skip out on their sweat session. Despite the numerous benefits like reduced stress and improved mood, workouts often get moved to the backburner, replaced by chores and errands. Between packing a bag, driving to the gym, and actually getting moving, workouts seem to take a large chunk of time. But with the proper tactics, it’s more than possible to get an effective workout in a short amount of time. Rather than skipping out on a workout when running short on time, use the following tips to get in and out of the gym in 45 minutes or less.

Time-Saving Workout Tips

1. Superset exercises.
Supersets are one of the oldest tricks in the book — because they work. By performing two exercises back-to-back, lifters can not only get a workout done in a shorter amount of time, but they can also bump up the amount of calories they burn. To maintain a high intensity and get the most out of pairing exercises back-to-back, alternate between upper and lower body movements. That way, one muscle group is always recovering while the other is working.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
In keeping with the lighter, aerobic/cardio based workouts of the week, today I only made time for a 30 min heavy bag workout.

Gymboss Interval Timer

The GYMBOSS can be used as a repeating interval timer, countdown timer or a stopwatch.  I use it myself and with clients for an endless number of workouts including timing rounds on the heavy bag, Tabatas, and for my patented ~Turkey Burn~ and ~RAT~ workouts.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Obesity May Cause Nearly Half a Million Cancer Cases Each Year

The obesity epidemic may be responsible for a spike in cancer cases — especially in women.
You know that excess weight is hard on your heart, and that obesity and Type 2 diabetes go hand in hand. Now, a new study in The Lancet Oncology adds cancer to the growing list of problems we can blame on our ballooning waistlines.

For the study, researchers gathered body mass index (BMI) data from 2002 for thousands of people in 184 countries. They then examined cancer rates in 2012, focusing on those previously linked to obesity (called high-BMI-related cancers), such as colon, kidney, pancreatic, and postmenopausal breast cancers. Since obesity isn’t thought to directly cause the Big C — only to promote it — the scientists assumed that there’d be a 10-year lag time between being diagnosed with obesity and developing cancer.

Their frightening finding: 3.6 percent of new cancer cases in 2012 (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) could be attributed to obesity. That translates to about half a million new diagnoses worldwide — and that’s in just a one-year period.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- X-Trainer
I stayed home and off the trail today, but I couldn't just be sedentary.  So, I spent 30 mins on the x-trainer.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelihn' Alive!~

The 25 Golden Rules of Running

25 of the most universally accepted rules of running.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Runner's World a few years ago. The article remains popular online, and the rules are as good now as they were when first published.

In most cases, these rules started out as a lightbulb over one runner's head. After a while, that runner told a few running buddies (probably during a long run), word spread, and before you know it, coaches were testing it, sports scientists were studying it, and it evolved from idea to theory to accepted wisdom. Along with each of the rules we present, however, we list the exception. Why? Because, as you also learned in grade school, there's an exception to every rule.

1. The Specificity Rule

The most effective training mimics the event for which you're training.

This is the cardinal rule of training for any activity. If you want to run a 10-K at seven-minute-per-mile pace, you need to do some running at that pace. "Runners are best served by running at goal pace and in the expected environment of that race," says Ann Snyder, Ph.D., director of the human performance lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The Exception: It's impractical to wholly mimic a race–particularly longer distances–in training because it would require extended recovery. So, when doing race-specific training, keep the total distance covered shorter than the goal race, or run at your race pace in shorter segments with rest breaks (interval training).

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Run/Hike
Today I spent some time running and hiking the trails in J-Ville Forest Park.  I had intended on primarily running, but things kept grabbing my attention and slowing me down.  So, it turned into an interval training session, I guess.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Winter Weight Gain: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It

With the outdoors potentially less inviting and the days darker, the stage is set for winter weight gain. But don’t give up hope and dive into a bulky sweater just yet. A few simple shifts in behavior can make it easier to prevent the typical winter weight gain.

Problem: It’s cold and miserable outside.

Solution 1: It’s not cold and miserable; it’s just cold. Make a promise to yourself (and everyone else around you) to stop complaining about the weather. If you go into anything believing it will suck, then I guarantee you it will. I don’t love freezing and I live in a cold climate. I find that people often complain about the cold because they are poorly dressed for the conditions—and then blame the conditions. When I do something outside for any length of time, I dress properly for it. The times when I don’t, I feel miserable, too. But that’s due to my lack of preparation, not because weather hates me.

Solution 2: The winter sky and air are more refreshing and clear, and with no leaves on the trees, you can get a better sense of the curves of the terrain. Hiking trails and beaches that are free from annoying crowds or taking a walk in snow can be a peaceful, serene experience. When you decide to find positive things to focus on, you’ll be less miserable. Just try it once. Go outside and for 10 minutes, commit to not being miserable and instead finding something positive to enjoy about the outdoors in winter.

Problem: We get less vitamin D in winter.

Solution: Eat fatty fish, nuts and other foods high in vitamin D and/or supplement with vitamin D. Your body needs sunlight to synthesize vitamin D, but in winter there are fewer daylight hours. Plus, the daylight is less strong because the sun doesn’t rise as high in the sky.

Preliminary studies suggest that people with low levels of vitamin D store more fat, though the precise mechanism has yet to be identified. It appears that lack of vitamin D reduces fat breakdown and triggers fat storage, so the calories you consume are stored in fat cells rather than used for energy.

Problem: Winter makes you feel “blah.”

Solution: In winter, we can develop a general lower level of happiness. This is basically low-level dissatisfaction—not depression—that we can get when it’s cold and dark.

When this occurs, we are twice as likely to use comfort foods as a pick-me-up than we would under more temperate conditions. In winter, we go for energy-dense, calorific foods, which tend to be sweet or have high fat content. We know that food itself is a comfort as far as mood goes, because it actually impacts the same circuitry of the brain as drugs do.

Instead, we can plan social gatherings with friends and schedule time doing activities we enjoy, using natural and true mood enhancers rather than food-based mood enhancement as a quick-fix. The sense of true enjoyment and connection we derive from these activities will last longer and help us avoid the health-eroding effects of junk foods.

Problem: Our physiology can make it potentially more likely to gain body fat in winter.

Solution: Make your fitness and health plan mistake-proof by planning workouts, trying new fitness classes or sports, and planning meals when necessary to make it easier to make healthier choices when the environment might make it harder.

For ancient humans, the winter months were associated with famine. One theory is that we’re genetically programmed to increase fat stores in autumn to help us survive winters with fewer available food sources.

The problem is that we no longer need to store fat because we have an abundance of food available all year round. The famine never comes, so our extra stores stay stored.

Melatonin, the hormone triggered by darkness that makes us feel sleepy, increases in the winter so it can be harder to find our get-up-and-go during the winter. This is where implementing routines and scheduling can help you avoid using willpower constantly to stick with what should be a regular behavior. Willpower is for doing the occasional hard thing, not the daily thing.

This last one is one of my personal challenges during the winter. If I have a day that isn’t scheduled around teaching classes or working with clients—a home-office “creative work” day—I find it harder to get into the right physical rhythm for a workout, especially if it’s cold and dark. If I let it, this can drive me to stay indoors and cozy. Fight this tendency with the power of routine and scheduling to make it easier!

Win This Winter

With a little understanding of the subtle shifts that can add up to winter weight gain, you can stop blaming yourself and instead start working against the factors that promote it. Don’t just survive the winter—get fitter, make progress and start spring with a physical and mental head start.

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
After several days of higher activity, it was time for a low activity day.  But, I couldn't just be a couch potato, so I made time for a 30 min heavy bag workout.

~Feelin' Alive!~

6 Diets With Serious Flaws

From Atkins to low-fat to paleo, there's always some sort of fad diet making waves. To the millions of Americans wanting to drop pounds and get healthier, these rigid, eat-this-not-that plans often seem like the hot ticket to a better body. But they usually backfire. Sometimes it's because they are bogus to begin with -- even if doctors at one time backed them. Other times it's because trendy diets get misconstrued, followed for the wrong reasons, or taken too far -- or they're simply just too strict to keep up.

"In general, most fad diets have a trace of truth to them," says Heather Mangieri, a registered dietitian in Pittsburgh and an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson. "They stem from some rationale, but the problem is people cherry-pick what to follow. They like that the diet doesn't include X, Y or Z food. But they fail to, for example, eat enough vegetables and fruits to get the vitamins and minerals they're missing from the foods they cut out."

Even people who do drop a lot of weight on a fad diet are probably giving that diet too much credit. "You'll hear about people who go on one of these diets and have all this success," Mangieri says. "But oftentimes, these are people who used to eat cookies and candy all day long. Their results stem mostly from eliminating all the extra junk, rather than this particular eating plan being so magical."

Here's a look at six diets that all hold a grain (or gluten-free alternative) of good advice in them, but are either taken too far, not followed properly, or holding on to ideas that just aren't backed by science.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Upper Table Rock Run
Even though it was a busy day, I still made time for a run on Upper Table Rock.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to also make time to spend in my gym for some resistance training....hopefully tomorrow.

~Feelin' Alive!~

The Easiest Thing You Can Do for Weight Loss and Longevity

I had a patient not too long ago who struggled to lose weight. A quick look at her food journal revealed why. To save calories, she skipped breakfast and simply sipped on coffee or one of those "skinny lattes" that actually contain a good bit of sugar.

She's not alone. "I hate breakfast," many patients candidly reply. That's unfortunate, since studies show breakfast can reduce hunger and cravings, improve cognition, and reduce your risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Eating upon waking brings your blood sugar levels back to normal, kick starts your metabolism, and sets you up to be on an even metabolic keel for the rest of the day. So break your fast every morning. It will make you healthier, give you more energy through the day, and help you lose weight.

Want to Gain Weight? Skip Breakfast

The old proverb "eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pauper" now has some scientific muscle behind it. Many of us think that if we skip breakfast we will reduce our overall calorie intake for the day and lose weight.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Not eating breakfast means you will eat more the rest of the day. One study among healthy lean women found skipping breakfast impairs insulin sensitivity and leads to weight gain.

If you want further proof, look at sumo wrestlers, who never eat breakfast. They wake up, and the first thing they do is start exercising vigorously. This combination of skipping breakfast and then training really hard for five hours means that by the time they get to eat, they are starving. As a consequence, they overeat.

Something very similar happens when you skip breakfast, work through lunch, and finally return home in the evening: You eat everything in sight. You feel stuffed, sick, guilty, and regret ever entering the kitchen in the first place. I see a definite pattern among patients who skip breakfast and then experience evening hunger and cravings.

A recent study found that almost 3,000 people who lost an average of 70 pounds and kept it off for six years ate breakfast regularly. Only 4 percent of people who never ate breakfast kept the weight off.

The only difference between the two groups was that the group who lost weight ate breakfast and the other group did not. They both consumed the same number of calories and the same types of food. It turns out that it's not only the type of calories you consume that determines losing weight and maintaining weight loss, but the time of day you eat as well.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike/Shinrin-Yoku Experience
This afternoon I spent some time hiking about 7 miles on the J-Ville Forest Park trails....of course, with breaks to experience Shinrin-Yoku at its finest.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Do you like instant gratification? Exercise now

On Fitness

Humans, by nature, seek instant gratification. Giving into the “now” is what causes many to gain weight in the first place. (Example: I know this candy bar will hurt my weight-loss efforts in the long run, but I want it now.) It’s also what causes many to quit an exercise program.

Seeing physical results takes some time, right? While that’s true for outward, aesthetic changes, each workout also has immediate benefits, some within minutes of your workout. And if you focus on those immediate benefits, it makes starting each workout, and sticking to it, that much easier.

Increased metabolism

Exercise boosts metabolism almost instantaneously. When you raise your heart rate you tell your brain that you’re working, so it starts producing neurochemicals. These neurochemicals boost your mood (more on that later) and they also improve your metabolism, meaning you burn calories even after your workout is over. The effects can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days, but it does wear off, so you need to keep exercising for that metabolism spike to stick (although the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolism is around the clock — so strength train!).

Improved mood

Those same neurochemicals that increase your metabolism also improve mood. Exercise floods your body with feel-good endorphins, and the harder you work the more you get, which is often referred to as a runner’s high, making exercise a great way to battle depression, fatigue, insomnia or a regular case of the “blahs.” Studies have also shown people feel more energetic and have lower stress levels after even one workout.

Lower blood pressure

Moderate cardiovascular training can lower blood pressure for 24-48 hours after each workout. With age (as well as poor diet, smoking or hereditary reasons), the blood vessels harden, which raises blood pressure. The hormones that are released during exercise make blood vessels more flexible, lessening the pressure, similar to the effects of blood-pressure prescriptions. By no means should you exercise instead of taking your prescriptions, but if you do take medication to lower your blood pressure, talk with your doctor about using cardio exercise to supplement or lower your dosage.

Regulate blood sugar

When we exercise, our body first uses our blood sugar, or glucose, for fuel. Insulin is the hormone we produce that regulates the amount of glucose that is in our bloodstream. Diabetics have trouble regulating their own insulin, so regular exercise can be helpful and can even lower the amount of medications some diabetics need to take (again, only in consultation with a physician). That’s great if you’re a diabetic — or if you’re not, your blood sugar also regulates your appetite, which means it is suppressed for a significant amount of time after exercise.

source

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run
This afternoon I headed out into the windy weather for a fun run on Lower Table Rock.
Later I spent a few hours on long neglected chores around the house......not the most fun thing to do, but it was a bit of a workout.

www.topfitonline.com

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

It's been another great week of activity which included plenty of active time with both grandkids.
The week's activities included:

1 Jacksonville Woodlands run
2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
2 Table Rock runs
1 heavy bag workout
1 bench press/weighted pullup workout
1 snatch workout
1 deadlift workout

What did you do to improve or maintain your health and fitness this past week?

~No Challenge, No Change~

You Can't Outrun Bad Nutrition

I hear it all the time, "You can eat anything you want because you hike, run and workout all of the time."
But the fact is, I can't outrun bad nutrition.
I could easily burn the calories in soda, sugary cereals, white bread, or any of the other poisons so common to most people's diets, but I can't outrun the detrimental effects poor nutritional choices will have on my health....and neither can you.

Contact me now to learn how you can take control of your health and fitness in the new year.

www.topfitonline.com

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Deadlifts
After a few active hours this morning with Mason, I spent some time in my gym doing standard and sumo deadlifts.
All in all, both great ways to end the week!

~Feelin' Alive!~

How Does Exercise Beat Stress?

Exercise not only shapes our bodies, it also shapes our minds. With the ability to calm, elevate mood and counter anxiety and depression, exercise is a valuable tool for combating stress. But how does it work?

Chemical Reactions

One of the most well-known ways that exercise provides mental benefit is through chemical reactions brought about in the brain. During exercise, the body's stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, are reduced, while endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, are stimulated. Endorphins have also been associated with providing a sense of euphoria, but according to the review article, "The Antidepressive Effects of Exercise," published in Sports Medicine, it is unclear if the endorphins are directly responsible for these feelings or if they simply block pain while allowing the pleasure chemicals, dopamine and serotonin, to be more apparent.

Brain Reconstruction and Resilience

Currently, the National Institutes of Mental Health are studying the effects of exercise on mice and results suggest that regular physical activity can actually reshape the brain circuitry involved with emotional processing while protecting against stress. Other studies, published in The Journal of Neuroscience and Behavioral Neuroscience, have found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), involved in protecting and producing neurons, was higher in active mice than in those who were sedentary. Additionally, the active mice developed new neurons that appeared to be more resilient; when faced with stress, they displayed more controlled reactions than the inactive mice.

Total Body Communication

The American Psychological Association describes the benefits of exercise as total body communication, "Biologically, exercise seems to give the body a chance to practice dealing with stress. It forces the body's physiological systems -- all of which are involved in the stress response -- to communicate much more closely than usual...And all of these are controlled by the central and sympathetic nervous systems, which also must communicate with each other. This workout of the body's communication system may be the true value of exercise..." By regularly activating these communication pathways, the better the body becomes at handling stress. The less often this happens, the less efficient the body is with coping.

Improved Overall Well Being

By performing regular physical activity, the body typically becomes healthier and stronger which can reduce stress associated with other health issues that may be worsened, or brought on, by inactivity. Lost work and lost wages, doctor's visits, and expensive medications can lead to worry, insomnia, and irritability. According to Harvard University Health Publications, during the stress response, mind and body can amplify each other's distress signals, creating a vicious cycle.

Although they can work against each other, the mind and body are also capable of working together to provide tremendous benefits. Regular exercise provides improved health, better sleep, and more energy. This can lead to improved self-confidence and a sense of command over body and life, which can help an individual feel more equipped and confident when faced with stress.

Whether it's a needed escape, meditation or playtime, exercise can provide a way to get away from it all, either in solitude or with friends or family. Harvard University Health Publications state, "...when your body is busy, your mind will be distracted from the worries of daily life and will be free to think creatively."

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TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Bench Press & Weighted Chinups and a Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
I got my day of activity started with a workout of BB bench presses and weighted chinups.  I followed this with a hike on the Jacksonville Forest Park trails with Hailey.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Obesity May Cause Nearly Half a Million Cancer Cases Each Year

You know that excess weight is hard on your heart, and that obesity and Type 2 diabetes go hand in hand. Now, a new study in The Lancet Oncology adds cancer to the growing list of problems we can blame on our ballooning waistlines.

For the study, researchers gathered body mass index (BMI) data from 2002 for thousands of people in 184 countries. They then examined cancer rates in 2012, focusing on those previously linked to obesity (called high-BMI-related cancers), such as colon, kidney, pancreatic, and postmenopausal breast cancers. Since obesity isn’t thought to directly cause the Big C — only to promote it — the scientists assumed that there’d be a 10-year lag time between being diagnosed with obesity and developing cancer.

Their frightening finding: 3.6 percent of new cancer cases in 2012 (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers) could be attributed to obesity. That translates to about half a million new diagnoses worldwide — and that’s in just a one-year period.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Upper Table Rock Run
I headed out in the rain today for a fun and muddy run on Upper Table Rock.
The week has been a little light on heavy lifting, so hopefully I'll get to some of that this weekend.

~Feelin' Alive!~

7 Ways to Get Fit in Half the Time

Don’t have time for the gym? You’re probably not the only one. Lack of time is one of the top reasons most individuals skip out on their sweat session. Despite the numerous benefits like reduced stress and improved mood, workouts often get moved to the backburner, replaced by chores and errands. Between packing a bag, driving to the gym, and actually getting moving, workouts seem to take a large chunk of time. But with the proper tactics, it’s more than possible to get an effective workout in a short amount of time. Rather than skipping out on a workout when running short on time, use the following tips to get in and out of the gym in 45 minutes or less.

Time-Saving Workout Tips

1. Superset exercises.
Supersets are one of the oldest tricks in the book — because they work. By performing two exercises back-to-back, lifters can not only get a workout done in a shorter amount of time, but they can also bump up the amount of calories they burn. To maintain a high intensity and get the most out of pairing exercises back-to-back, alternate between upper and lower body movements. That way, one muscle group is always recovering while the other is working.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Snatches
I kept things close to home today and spent some time in my gym doing snatches and power snatches.  I really need to do these more often.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Detox Diets? Why You Should Avoid Them

Nowadays it's tempting to try to lose weight and improve health with a "detox" or "cleanse". But these approaches might do more harm than good. Read on to find out why.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pie. Not to mention eggnog, mulled wine, and a beer (or three) during the game.

It’s tough to say no in a season of holiday indulgence. No wonder so many of us wake up a few pounds heavier come January 1st.

When you’re having trouble zipping up your jeans, it can be tempting to look for a quick solution. Something like a “cleanse” or a “detox.” Just to “reset” your system and jump-start a renewed fitness routine.

But don’t kid yourself. A detox diet may sound promising. But it won’t have lasting benefits. Worse, it might even do you some harm.

Here’s why – and what you should do instead.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike
Two days in a row I've headed out in warm, dry, unusually balmy weather, only to get caught in the rain.  Yesterday I went to the J-Ville Woodlands trails for a run and the rain was light, but today I did the J-Ville Forest Park trails and got rather soaked.....totally worth it!

~Feelin' Alive!~

Older adults: Build muscle and you'll live longer

New UCLA research suggests that the more muscle mass older Americans have, the less likely they are to die prematurely. The findings add to the growing evidence that overall body composition -- and not the widely used body mass index, or BMI -- is a better predictor of all-cause mortality.

The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, is the culmination of previous UCLA research led by Dr. Preethi Srikanthan, an assistant clinical professor in the endocrinology division at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, that found that building muscle mass is important in decreasing metabolic risk.

"As there is no gold-standard measure of body composition, several studies have addressed this question using different measurement techniques and have obtained different results," Srikanthan said. "So many studies on the mortality impact of obesity focus on BMI. Our study indicates that clinicians need to be focusing on ways to improve body composition, rather than on BMI alone, when counseling older adults on preventative health behaviors."

The researchers analyzed data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III, conducted between 1988 and 1994. They focused on a group of 3,659 individuals that included men who were 55 or older and women who were 65 or older at the time of the survey. The authors then determined how many of those individuals had died from natural causes based on a follow-up survey done in 2004.

The body composition of the study subjects was measured using bioelectrical impedance, which involves running an electrical current through the body. Muscle allows the current to pass more easily than fat does, due to muscle's water content. In this way, the researchers could determine a muscle mass index -- the amount of muscle relative to height -- similar to a body mass index. They looked at how this muscle mass index was related to the risk of death. They found that all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the fourth quartile of muscle mass index compared with the first quartile.

"In other words, the greater your muscle mass, the lower your risk of death," said Dr. Arun Karlamangla, an associate professor in the geriatrics division at the Geffen School and the study's co-author. "Thus, rather than worrying about weight or body mass index, we should be trying to maximize and maintain muscle mass."

This study does have some limitations. For instance, one cannot definitively establish a cause-and-effect relationship between muscle mass and survival using a cohort study such as NHANES III. "But we can say that muscle mass seems to be an important predictor of risk of death," Srikanthan said. In addition, bioelectrical impedance is not the most advanced measurement technique, though the NHANES III measurements were conducted in a very rigorous fashion "and practically, this is the best situation possible in a study of this size," she noted.

"Despite these limitations, this study establishes the independent survival prediction ability of muscle mass as measured by bioelectrical impedance in older adults, using data from a large, nationally representative cohort," Srikanthan and Karlamangla write, adding that BMI's association with mortality in older adults has proven inconsistent. "We conclude that measurement of muscle mass relative to body height should be added to the toolbox of clinicians caring for older adults. Future research should determine the type and duration of exercise interventions that improve muscle mass and potentially increase survival in (healthy), older adults."

source

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag and a Jacksonville Woodlands Trail Run
I got my day started with an early 30 min heavy bag workout, and when I was done with sessions for the day, I spent some time running the trails in the Jacksonville Woodlands.

~Feelin' Alive!~

Obesity Can Knock 8 Years Off Your Life

If you haven't yet grasped the danger of obesity, Canadian researchers have attempted to quantify it: Being obese can slash as many as eight years off your life—and leave you in ill health for up to 19 years before that death. Researchers compiled data from roughly 4,000 people of varying body weights, then created a computer model that estimates the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease and assesses how weight affects life expectancy. They found that severely obese men between 20 and 39 years of age lost 8.4 years of life compared to their healthy-weight counterparts. Women lost 6.1 years, the BBC reports. Further, those men experienced 18.8 more years of ill heath; the figure for women was 19.1.

Obese people could lose up to six years and people who are overweight could lose up to three years, per findings published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology. The younger the individual the worse the potential impact: Those in their 60s and 70s who are severely obese were found to have lost one year, but dealt with 7 more years of ill health. "In terms of life-expectancy, we feel being overweight is as bad as cigarette smoking," says lead author Dr. Steven Grover in a press release. He next wants to personalize the findings: "What may be interesting for patients are the 'what if?' questions. What if they lose 10 to 15 pounds? Or, what if they are more active? How will this change the numbers?"

source

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Lower Table Rock Run
File this one under "It seemed like a good idea at the time".......
I decided to go for a run on Lower Table Rock the day after a squat workout.
Ouch!

~Feelin' Alive!~

TOPFIT Daily Activities Review

I had to be creative on some days to make time for my workouts, but I managed to piece together a pretty good week of activity.  In addition to one rest day, I made time for:

2 Table Rock runs
2 Jacksonville Forest Park hikes
1 bench press workout
1 pullup workout
1 squat workout
1 delt/bi/tri workout
2 heavy bag workouts

Did you make time to maintain or improve your fitness this week?

~No Challenge, No Change~

20 Filling Foods That Help You Lose Weight

If the theme song for every diet you've tried would be “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” you should keep reading. “One of the biggest challenges when you’re trying to lose weight is combating hunger and the desire to eat,” says Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, and Health’s contributing nutrition editor. The simple solution: eat filling foods that stick with you. “Foods that contain fiber, protein, and plant-based fat tend to be the most satiating,” Sass says. These nutrients slow down digestion and the absorption of nutrients, a process that helps you feel physically full for longer, and also means no blood sugar or insulin spikes.

While you might find some of the research that follows surprising, there are no magic potions or super bars on this list. They’re all nutrient-rich whole foods, which a recent study revealed increase calorie burning by roughly 50% compared to processed foods, adds Sass. Eating less without feeling like you’re on a diet and burning more calories? We’ll take it.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Jacksonville Forest Park Hike (#200 trail run/hike in 2014) and Squats
Today I completed my 200th hike/trail run of 2014.
I usually do something crazy like a backwards run up a Table Rock for an occasion like this, but today I took it a bit slower and easier by introducing Mason to the Jacksonville Forest Park trails. He found a dozen different types of mushrooms, learned about moss and ferns, and saw lots of waterfalls.....in addition to many puddles to jump in when we were up on the road.
Afterward I spent about 30 mins in my gym doing BB squats, DB split squats, and jump squats.

~Feelin' Alive!~

The Unhappy Truth About Soda -- The Real Bears

Just a few of the problems you will encounter when ingesting too much sugar.  With one third of America overweight and another third obese, it's a wonder anyone is still swallowing what the soda companies are selling.

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Heavy Bag
After a client session and far too much business related computer time in the morning, I made time this afternoon for a 30 min heavy bag workout.
I finished my day with a few active hours with the grandkids.

~Feelin' Alive!~

9 Things We Learned About Health and Fitness in 2014

The end of the year is a great time to review and reflect on areas of growth or achievement. For those of us interested in fitness, whether as professionals helping others achieve their goals or as die-hard enthusiasts who enjoy working out, this is a chance to see if we've actually achieved the objectives we've been working toward all year long.
Centuries ago, Greek philosopher Heraclitus stated that “the only thing that is constant is change.” This is especially true of our understanding of the human body and how it is affected by exercise. As 2014 draws to a close, it is worth taking a few minutes to review the research to see what we have learned about how exercise and physical activity can help us stay healthy and achieve our fitness goals.
Following are nine pieces of information that were either realized or validated during 2014. While some of these items are simply research-based evidence of what is common gym folklore, others are important findings that may cause us to fundamentally change how we use physical activity in our daily lives.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Rest Day
It was a busy day, and since the week had already been fairly full of activity, I decided to meke it a rest day.....well, other than a few hectic hours with the grandkids in the evening.

~Feelin' Alive!~

The Importance of Fluid Replacement During Exercise

Your body is so efficient at many processes, but needs water to do most of them. One of the greatest ways we lose fluid from our bodies is through sweat. Our bodies try to cool themselves by dissipating heat during exercise in warm or hot weather in the form of sweat. This causes changes in the amount of water and electrolytes a person has and can affect athletic performance and health.

To maintain optimal fluid balance, you need to replenish the fluid losses. The rate of fluid loss during exercise is affected by duration, intensity, temperature, wind, humidity and how much or types of clothing you are wearing. Between different sports the difference in losses can be significant, as well as the differences between people with varying fitness levels. Due to this fact, there are not specific guidelines for fluid replacement.

As your muscles become more active, metabolic heat is transferred from the muscles to the blood and then to the body's core. This causes physiological adjustments that transfer heat from the core to the skin to be released and cool the body. When the weather is colder, or less humid, the amount of sweat your body loses is small in comparison to when there is a higher heat stress. If sweat is not able to evaporate from the body and drips, your body is signaling that a higher sweat rate is needed to achieve the necessary evaporative cooling. Increased air motion (wind) can assist the evaporation and minimize the amount of sweat being dripped.

read the full article here

TOPFIT Daily Activities --- Upper Table Rock Run and a Delt/Bi/Tri Workout
This morning after taking care of business early, I headed out to Upper Table Rock for a run, and a bit later spent some time in my gym doing supersets of DB shoulder presses and DB curls, plus DB lateral raises and cable pressdowns.

~Feelin' Alive!~