51 posts · 39,611 views

Hi. thanks for poking behind the covers. I'm a phd/Reader in Computer Science/Human Computer interaction with a strong interest in how we would design information systems like the Web to support Quality of Life deliberately - that means for me, learning more about human performance -related research. b2d is me passing along what i find for anyone else interested in this space, foo.

begin to dig (b2d)
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August 21, 2011
09:34 PM
472 views

Is 10k steps a day Really a Magic Health Bullet

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

We hear a lot about the value of getting ten thousand steps a day. Pedometers are being sold increasingly as a way to track progress towards that magic 10k. But is there any basis in this assertion of ten thousand steps that something wonderful happens at 10k that doesn't anywhere before (or after)? And are all such steps in that 10k created equal? Are all or any of these steps the same as NEPAs or non-exercise physical activity (overview here at nopain2.org)- the movement carried out over the course of a day that is outside deliberate exercis... Read more »

Tudor-Locke C, Craig CL, Aoyagi Y, Bell RC, Croteau KA, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Ewald B, Gardner AW, Hatano Y, Lutes LD.... (2011) How many steps/day are enough? For older adults and special populations. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 8(1), 80. PMID: 21798044

Tudor-Locke C, Craig CL, Beets MW, Belton S, Cardon GM, Duncan S, Hatano Y, Lubans DR, Olds TS, Raustorp A.... (2011) How Many Steps/day are Enough? For Children and Adolescents. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 8(1), 78. PMID: 21798014

Health

July 20, 2011
09:53 PM
632 views

Mick WIlkinson Part II: the sensitive sole of barefoot running

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

For Dr. Mick Wilkinson barefoot running has got to have sole. More than just moving joints cuz their designed to move is to consider the surface of the foot, and what it's designed to do, and how that actually also needs to inform movement - and how movement is changed because of this feedback.... Read more »

LIEBENBERG, L. (2008) The relevance of persistence hunting to human evolution. Journal of Human Evolution, 55(6), 1156-1159. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.07.004

Carrier, D. (1984) The Energetic Paradox of Human Running and Hominid Evolution. Current Anthropology, 25(4), 483. DOI: 10.1086/203165

Divert, C., Mornieux, G., Freychat, P., Baly, L., Mayer, F., & Belli, A. (2008) Barefoot-Shod Running Differences: Shoe or Mass Effect?. International Journal of Sports Medicine, 29(6), 512-518. DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-989233

Lieberman, D., Venkadesan, M., Werbel, W., Daoud, A., D’Andrea, S., Davis, I., Mang’Eni, R., & Pitsiladis, Y. (2010) Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners. Nature, 463(7280), 531-535. DOI: 10.1038/nature08723

Robbins SE, Gouw GJ, & Hanna AM. (1989) Running-related injury prevention through innate impact-moderating behavior. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 21(2), 130-9. PMID: 2709977

June 8, 2011
04:41 PM
363 views

Fat Tea: like guiness but tea (Including a descant on fat types like coconut oil)

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

There's an old saw about Guiness - it's the beer that drinks like a meal. If one's passion is more towards tea, and we're keen to get our protein and fats in, and also want to enhance our satiety, and maybe improve our energy expenditure, i may have a drink for you: Fat Tea, with some research on why Fat is Good... Read more »

Butler G, Stergiadis S, Seal C, Eyre M, & Leifert C. (2011) Fat composition of organic and conventional retail milk in northeast England. Journal of dairy science, 94(1), 24-36. PMID: 21183013

Clegg ME. (2010) Medium-chain triglycerides are advantageous in promoting weight loss although not beneficial to exercise performance. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 61(7), 653-79. PMID: 20367215

Choo SY, Leong SK, & Henna Lu FS. (2010) Physicochemical and sensory properties of ice-cream formulated with virgin coconut oil. Food science and technology international , 16(6), 531-41. PMID: 21339169

Ellis KA, Innocent G, Grove-White D, Cripps P, McLean WG, Howard CV, & Mihm M. (2006) Comparing the fatty acid composition of organic and conventional milk. Journal of dairy science, 89(6), 1938-50. PMID: 16702257

St-Onge MP, Ross R, Parsons WD, & Jones PJ. (2003) Medium-chain triglycerides increase energy expenditure and decrease adiposity in overweight men. Obesity research, 11(3), 395-402. PMID: 12634436

Marie-Pierre St-Onge and Aubrey Bosarge. (2008) Weight-loss diet that includes consumption of medium-chain triacylglycerol oil leads to a greater rate of weight and fat mass loss than does olive oil. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87(3), 621-626. info:other/NIHMS201761

Van Wymelbeke V, Louis-Sylvestre J, & Fantino M. (2001) Substrate oxidation and control of food intake in men after a fat-substitute meal compared with meals supplemented with an isoenergetic load of carbohydrate, long-chain triacylglycerols, or medium-chain triacylglycerols. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 74(5), 620-30. PMID: 11684530

Zelman K. (2011) The great fat debate: a closer look at the controversy-questioning the validity of age-old dietary guidance. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(5), 655-8. PMID: 21515106

June 8, 2011
11:41 AM
335 views

Fat Tea: like guiness but tea (Including a descant on fat types like coconut oil)

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

There's an old saw about Guiness - it's the beer that drinks like a meal. That can certainly be true. But if one's passion is less for beer, and say, more towards tea, and let's also say we're keen to get our protein and fats in, and also want to enhance our satiety, and maybe improve our energy expenditure, i may have a drink for you. To the best of my knowledge, i think i've concocted this, and call it Fat Tea.

Fat Tea consists of

The makings of Fat Tea: black tea, organic
whole milk, ginger and organic coconut oil
steeped Yorkshire Gold Tea (i really enjoy the taste of this bagged UK tea)
Whole Organic Milk (from happy cows - where i live that's usually a brand called Duchy) to taste 1-2 oz.
Fresh Ginger (steeped with tea to taste)
- le piéce de resistance - Organic Coconut Oil (like a gram or so per cup or mug of tea) - in the uk i get coconoil by mail order.

Oh wow, that's intensely satisfying: protein, fat, very low carbs, a bit of caffeine and other good things associated with tea.

But wait, you may be saying, isn't Fat tea, well, rather fat?
Let's see: 2 grams of cocunut oil is 18kcals of medium chain triglycerides. 2 ozs (i like a lot of milk in my tea) of whole milk is 37.5kcals, so yup, total cals are 55.5. Compared with black tea on its own (zero kcals) or with two ozs of skim milk (21.5kcals) or two oz's of 2% (31.25) - well ya, there's more fat, so sure; more calories than black tea.

The Skinny on Fat Tea Fats
So let's talk about the Fat for a sec, the coconut oil fat and the whole milk fat, and why you may want to choose these 56kcals in happy fat tea once a day (i like mine in the evening), rather than say a cookie or some starchy carby thing.

Fat Profile - reminder: fat is good.
Fat is Amazing and Good - not evil. We need fat; it's our primary source of fuel for our bodies (i've written about this before), and it serves a TON of roles in our bodies - not just for fuel, but as the wrappers of EACH AND EVERY cell in our bodies. It's the insulation on the white matter of our brains; it's the wrapping of our viscera; it's the mylenation that suports our nervous system learning; it's building blocks for hormones we need to function well.

And on top of all this, it is the primary energy system for our bodies. I read a page awhile ago that said that fat is a back up energy system when we run out of blood sugar. That's really misleading. That sounds like blood sugar is our primary fuel. Nope. It's not. Fat is our primary fuel. You sitting reading this on the couch: you're oxidising PRIMARILY fat. We'll talk about glucose some other day. Main thing: FAT is good - there are - like proteins - essential fats too (you know, the omega's).

If you're doing Dairy, Whole Milk Can be Fun
On a pure taste level, a whole fat milk is generally sweeter (it's the milk sugars in the lactose, as i understand it). The texture is also creamier. That's all from the Fat.

Fat Variety in Milk
There are all sorts of fats that we need in our diet. Milk has an intriguing range of fats, including saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated - and a mix of short and long chain fats, too. And milk has about one of the only instances of a type of trans fat, CLA, that's good for us. Transfats are generally considered evil (like margarine), but CLA in milk fats is a keeper. So it's not a bad place to get some of the fats we want. Including (in organic sources especially) Omerga 3's and the very currently trendy ALA (alpha lipoic acid - popular as a fat burner ingredient). Grass feed = apparently good for Omega 3 upping.

Indeed, organic milk is one of the most studied organic products on the planet, apparently, and studies seem to keep showing that organic milk does better with omega 3s overall than non-organic - up to 67% more omega 3's. This result has been found in several studies in the UK over several years now (Ellis 06, Butler 11)

Organic Note In the UK, organic also means lots of grass feeding and free ranging. It also means no crap (here's a listing).

More Fat types
As we've seen above, milk has a mix of fat types, saturated being about 2/3s of the fat profile of milk. But is that in and of itself a problem? Well, those cell walls of each cell in our body? They're largely made up of saturated fat. So we need saturated fats for dietary, cellular, hormonal, everything'ish function. SO why are we constantly told to get the saturated fats out of our diet? Sometimes it's easier to try the Big Hammer approach then deal with subtlety and complexity of the subtly and complexity that is Us.

And as we'll see shortly, the biggies in all of these "must nots" are RATIOS and balance. As i've said repeatedly at b2d, we're complex systems. Single factor thinking like"kill all fat" or "kill this type of fat" or "eliminate fat" - is not an answer. Balance balance balance. Balance.

Indeed, in the saturated fats of milk, are these short chain fatty acids. They're apparently anti-microbial; they stimulate some of the same pathways that the vitamin B part that's niacin does, so may help on the HDL front, too. This doesn't mean O.D. on saturated fats; but it does mean there is a role for them. WHich brings us to the other fat in Fat Tea

Coconut Oil
I am so late to the Coconut Oil party (overview of coconut oil here). Coconut oil has been getting a big nod because it's a Medium Chain Triglyceride saturated fat, and that's actually supposed to be a good way to help burn fat (and more). The idea of the chain length is that the short chain means the fat can be metabolized (converted into fuel) faster/easier, which means it's not getting deposited into adipose tissue and potentially increases satiety. One of the key early articles in this space by St Ong and Jones from 2003 is available free online, too (Ong03); St-Ong and Bosarage did a longer study in 2008 and showed again that MCTs, while not a miracle fat burner, contributed to energy expenditure and body comp improvements more so than olive oil in the same amounts (Ong08).

An excellent research review from 2010 by Clegg covers both the advantages and some of the challenges of using MCT's for fat burning. Seems the main studies have been with normal weight rather than obese folks, too, and there are gender effects.

In an interesting study sited by Clegg from 2001, Van Wymelbeke and colleagues found that satiety - the feeling of fullness was improved in the meal AFTER the one where MCTs were eaten.

All that sounds great, doesn't it? And you'll find camps that will say all vegetable oils are evil and should be replaced by butter or coconut oil, or in third place, olive oil (see the Perfect Health Diet as an reference-rich example).

THere are others - some key folks in the American Dietetic Association - who go the other way, and say vegetable oils rock; coconut oil is problematic. We want only PUFAs (polyunsaturated fats) not SaFA (saturated fats) (overview of debate by Zelman 2011).

Tempest in a Tea Pot
I saw one study that looked at replacing dairy with just coconut oil (Choo10) to make a new ice cream. So if you don't care for doing dairy for whatever reason, you may want to try Fat Tea with only coconu... Read more »

Butler G, Stergiadis S, Seal C, Eyre M, & Leifert C. (2011) Fat composition of organic and conventional retail milk in northeast England. Journal of dairy science, 94(1), 24-36. PMID: 21183013

Clegg ME. (2010) Medium-chain triglycerides are advantageous in promoting weight loss although not beneficial to exercise performance. International journal of food sciences and nutrition, 61(7), 653-79. PMID: 20367215

Choo SY, Leong SK, & Henna Lu FS. (2010) Physicochemical and sensory properties of ice-cream formulated with virgin coconut oil. Food science and technology international , 16(6), 531-41. PMID: 21339169

Ellis KA, Innocent G, Grove-White D, Cripps P, McLean WG, Howard CV, & Mihm M. (2006) Comparing the fatty acid composition of organic and conventional milk. Journal of dairy science, 89(6), 1938-50. PMID: 16702257

St-Onge MP, Ross R, Parsons WD, & Jones PJ. (2003) Medium-chain triglycerides increase energy expenditure and decrease adiposity in overweight men. Obesity research, 11(3), 395-402. PMID: 12634436

Marie-Pierre St-Onge and Aubrey Bosarge. (2008) Weight-loss diet that includes consumption of medium-chain triacylglycerol oil leads to a greater rate of weight and fat mass loss than does olive oil. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87(3), 621-626. info:other/NIHMS201761

Van Wymelbeke V, Louis-Sylvestre J, & Fantino M. (2001) Substrate oxidation and control of food intake in men after a fat-substitute meal compared with meals supplemented with an isoenergetic load of carbohydrate, long-chain triacylglycerols, or medium-chain triacylglycerols. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 74(5), 620-30. PMID: 11684530

Zelman K. (2011) The great fat debate: a closer look at the controversy-questioning the validity of age-old dietary guidance. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 111(5), 655-8. PMID: 21515106

March 19, 2011
01:50 PM
1,011 views

Got a side stich? Might be time to check your Thoracic Mobility.

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Most folks who've gone for a run - sometimes a bike or horseback ride - have had a side stich, or cramp in the side. Turns out there's a formal name for this experience: exercise related transient abdominal pain (ETAP). Numerous theories have been proposed about the cause of ETAP, from blood flowing into the diaphram (nope) to ligaments among viscera getting shaken (nope), to muscle cramp (amazingly not). These theories are reviewed in an overview of ETAP from 2009 (Muir09). Turns out, the clearest connection for ETAP is thoracic mobility - or the lack of it.

Back in 2004 (Morton04), a letter in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggested that the stich effect could be induced by palpating vertebrae T8-T12 (lower part of the thoracic spine - pretty much middle of the back and connected to abdominal muscles). Trying to figure out why thoracic issues might be the cause, the authors write
The extent to which the thoracic intercostal nerves may contribute to the experience of ETAP is worthy of further investigation. It seems plausible that, in some cases mechanical compression of the nerve root may refer pain distally, resulting in abdominal pain. Alternatively, irritation of the nerve may sensitise it to stimuli such that the threshold required for activation is lessened. Hence, in this study, palpation after the pain had been relieved may have allowed tissues innervated by the intercostal nerves, such as the abdominal musculature or parietal peritoneum, to recreate sensations of pain.More recently in 2010, the issue of a possible spinal connection with ETAP resurfaced (Morton10). Two factors were considered: posture and body type. No correlation was found between body type (somatotype like mesomorph, ectomorph, etc). Where there was a connection, again, seems to be with the throracic spine. Indeed, the authors found what seems to be a correlation between incidents of reported ETAP and measures of kyphosis. As they note:
From a mechanistic viewpoint, increased curvature of the thoracic spine could influence the experience of ETAP either functionally and/or neurally. Functionally, kyphosis could affect rib cage mechanics, as asserted by Kugelmass,10 conceivably placing atypical stresses upon other abdominal structures. Kugelmass made this assertion to support his theory that ETAP was caused by compromised diaphragm function, which has since been convincingly discredited.[1], [5] and [6] From a neural perspective, the abdominal region is innervated by spinal nerves arising from thoracic vertebrae T712.19 Notably, abdominal pain similar in nature to ETAP has been evoked by lesions and compression of these spinal nerves.[12], [20] and [21] Further, we have been able to reproduce symptoms of ETAP by palpating sites adjacent to T7 through T12.4 So what's the Fix? Breath deep and Move the Spine
The authors note that in previous work by I.N. Kugelmass (1937), kids ... Read more »

Morton, D., & Callister, R. (2010) Influence of posture and body type on the experience of exercise-related transient abdominal pain. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13(5), 485-488. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.487

Morton, D. (2004) Runner's stitch and the thoracic spine. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 38(2), 240-240. DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2003.009308

MORTON, D., & CALLISTER, R. (2002) Factors influencing exercise-related transient abdominal pain. Medicine , 34(5), 745-749. DOI: 10.1097/00005768-200205000-00003

Muir B. (2009) Exercise related transient abdominal pain: a case report and review of the literature. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, 53(4), 251-60. PMID: 20037690

March 13, 2011
11:38 AM
919 views

Different Speeds have Different Meanings in our Bodies' Performance in Pain

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Every little thing in the complex systems that are us seems to impact every other thing - or at least a whole lot of other things. Take speed. Have you ever tried to do a familiar movement either really fast or really slow? Say whipping an egg in a bowl, making a shoulder circle, lifting a knee up and down. Speed changes performance, doesn't it? Something else we've seen change performance is pain: pain will change event what muscles get recruited,when performing an action. Recent resaerch has put pain and speed together to see what happens in normal walking mechanics.

I'm fascinated by the study because of how it reinforces how quickly we see systemic adapatations to the new demands of a change in the system: in this case, two changes: pain and various speeds.

The researchers used a standard protocol to induce DOMS at the knee. Perhaps not surprisingly, they found that with the DOMS effect up, different speeds showed different kinds of compromise.

Here's the abstract:
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Nov;110(5):977-88. Epub 2010 Jul 29.
The effects of muscle damage on walking biomechanics are speed-dependent.
Tsatalas T, Giakas G, Spyropoulos G, Paschalis V, Nikolaidis MG, Tsaopoulos DE, Theodorou AA, Jamurtas AZ, Koutedakis Y.

Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation, Center for Research and Technology, Trikala, Thessaly, Greece.
Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of muscle damage on walking biomechanics at different speeds. Seventeen young women completed a muscle damage protocol of 5 × 15 maximal eccentric actions of the knee extensors and flexors of both legs at 60°/s. Lower body kinematics and swing-phase kinetics were assessed on a horizontal treadmill pre- and 48 h post-muscle damaging exercise at four walking speeds. Evaluated muscle damage indices included isometric torque, delayed onset muscle soreness, and serum creatine kinase. All muscle damage indices changed significantly after exercise, indicating muscle injury. Kinematic results indicated that post-exercise knee joint was significantly more flexed (31-260%) during stance-phase and knee range of motion was reduced at certain phases of the gait cycle at all speeds. Walking post-exercise at the two lower speeds revealed a more extended knee joint (3.1-3.6%) during the swing-phase, but no differences were found between pre- and post-exercise conditions at the two higher speeds. As speed increased, maximum dorsiflexion angle during stance-phase significantly decreased pre-exercise (5.7-11.8%), but remained unaltered post-exercise across all speeds (p > 0.05). Moreover, post-exercise maximum hip extension decreased (3.6-18.8%), pelvic tilt increased (5.5-10.6%), and tempo-spatial differences were found across all speeds (p < 0.05). Limited effects of muscle damage were observed regarding swing-phase kinetics. In conclusion, walking biomechanics following muscle damage are affected differently at relatively higher walking speeds, especially with respect to knee and ankle joint motion. The importance of speed in evaluating walking biomechanics following muscle damage is highlighted.In other words, different speeds, but especially punching up the tempo in a walk a wee bit seriously effected ankle joint ROM (it decreased) knee joint flexion (bigger), hip extension (leg going back) got smaller, pelvic tilt (more strain on the lower back) also increased, and just general tempo was also buggered up: participants were taking a wider stance while walking.

In the Discussion section of the article, the authors speculate about what might be happening at say the hip or knee or ankle such that the gait changes in different parts of the gait cycle, and even what may be happening with pain messaging.

Just for context, here's a look at the walking gait cycle:

Main thing: the cycle has two phases: stance and swing. Swing phase is where the action is: toes are cleared; limbs move forward.

Some Observations by the Authors:
Less knee flexion in the swing phase was observed in slow speeds. The authors speculate that this is as a result of less desire to call upon the hamstrings to work to pull up the knee/clear the foot due to pain. At faster speeds though, the ankle goes wonky - destabilizing at the ankle. THe authors wonder if fear of falling from walking fast on a narrow treadmill is why this is happening. In other words, the knees look "normal" at faster speeds, but the ankles pay for it.

Also, hip flexion is shrunk as speed goes up: greater hip flexion means more involvement of the quads and they're sore: so compensation is more steps; tinier range of motion. Another compensation here is that to keep the stride length more or less up (tho compromised), without involving the hip flexors, the authors suggest a kind of psuedo hip extension by getting anterior pelvic tilt to compensate for missing hip flexion. Indeed, the authors note, there's a well observed pattern of positive correlation from other studies between reduced hip extension and anterior pelvic tilt. So a little bit of DOMS brings on a variety of gait pattern changes and systemic effects depending on speed.

It's just the Knee muscles? And that's screwing up Ankle Flexion, hip flexion and pelivic tilt?One of the things that really strikes me about this is that the only muscles worked into the DOMS state were the knee extensors and flexors (we talked about these when we discussed the ottoman pistol: extensors; flexors). In other words, all these effects from giving one DOMS in the knees.

To induce the muscle damage and hence DOMS, the resaerchers have the participants do finely set up leg extensions from 100 degrees to 0 degrees (knee fully extended, getting the quads) and then knee flexions of 0 to 100 degrees (getting the hamstrings). 5 sets 15 reps each set; 3 min break btwn sets on an isokinetic dynamometer. As hard as possible with the dyno set at 60o/s. (If you're really intrigued, here's a video of the cybex; if you'd like to learn about active dynomometry and overview is here).

From here, at different times after these exercises, a standard set of muscle damage / doms tests were run via bloodwork and other measures. They were really thorough (review of doms measuring here).

The researchers pre and post tested the participants using a treadmill set at different speeds, including letting participants choose their own comfortable walking speeds/transition speeds.

Pain changes everything?
Perhaps it's not novel at all to suggest that pain changes everything when it comes to movement.

I guess why this study is so striking to me is that it looked in a very controlled way at inducing and measuring a particular level of actual damage and correlated pain and muscular limitations to investigate specifically what pain does to problably our most basic movement pattern, walking. It focued on typical measures of lower body involvement in the gait cylce, and saw that especially when changing speed, gait mechanics change, but even when not changing speed, spatio-temporal movements changed: widened base of support, different tempo of gait. None of these changes is positive. More anterior pelvic tilt is not a happy compensation for reduced hip ROM as anyone with chronic low back pain may attest.

Speed of Adaptation/Compensation: It's Immediate. Look at how quickly the body begins to compensate to this single joint pain: Compensations are seen at the hip, pelvis ankle and the knees as well. They're different at different speeds. This study only looked at gait; it would be interesting to have seen shoulder and head involvement in these altered patterns as well.

What happens when we move from an acute pain bout to something more chronic, and those adaptations become more chronic too? Those adaptations are going to stick around and cause their own compensations.

Training at Speeds: High... Read more »

Tsatalas, T., Giakas, G., Spyropoulos, G., Paschalis, V., Nikolaidis, M., Tsaopoulos, D., Theodorou, A., Jamurtas, A., & Koutedakis, Y. (2010) The effects of muscle damage on walking biomechanics are speed-dependent. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 110(5), 977-988. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-010-1589-1

November 20, 2010
01:03 PM
735 views

Flu Fighting: Just Wash Your Hands - Often?

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

There's a lot of information out there suggesting that we should get a flu shot.
But is that being proposed as a bigger single factor solution than it really may be? Are we perhaps getting distracted into thinking this is a better solution than something cheaper and simpler - like getting more rest, eating better, and in particular during flu season, washing our hands frequently? Here's a bit of an overview on why where and how getting some new habits around hands may be a pretty healthy happy thing.... Read more »

Cannell, J., Zasloff, M., Garland, C., Scragg, R., & Giovannucci, E. (2008) On the epidemiology of influenza. Virology Journal, 5(1), 29. DOI: 10.1186/1743-422X-5-29

Ginde, A., Mansbach, J., & Camargo, C. (2009) Association Between Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Level and Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(4), 384-390. DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2008.560

Kaboli, F., Astrakianakis, G., Li, G., Guzman, J., Naus, M., & Donovan, T. (2010) Influenza Vaccination and Intention to Receive the Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Vaccine among Healthcare Workers of British Columbia, Canada: A Cross‐Sectional Study. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, 31(10), 1017-1024. DOI: 10.1086/655465

Jefferson T, Del Mar C, Dooley L, Ferroni E, Al-Ansary LA, Bawazeer GA, van Driel ML, Nair S, Foxlee R, & Rivetti A. (2010) Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: a Cochrane review. Health technology assessment (Winchester, England), 14(34), 347-476. PMID: 20648717

Park, J., Cheong, H., Son, D., Kim, S., & Ha, C. (2010) Perceptions and behaviors related to hand hygiene for the prevention of H1N1 influenza transmission among Korean university students during the peak pandemic period. BMC Infectious Diseases, 10(1), 222. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-10-222

Savolainen-Kopra, C., Haapakoski, J., Peltola, P., Ziegler, T., Korpela, T., Anttila, P., Amiryousefi, A., Huovinen, P., Huvinen, M., Noronen, H.... (2010) STOPFLU: is it possible to reduce the number of days off in office work by improved hand-hygiene?. Trials, 11(1), 69. DOI: 10.1186/1745-6215-11-69

Sander, B., Bauch, C., Fisman, D., Fowler, R., Kwong, J., Maetzel, A., McGeer, A., Raboud, J., Scales, D., & Gojovic, M. (2010) Is a mass immunization program for pandemic (H1N1) 2009 good value for money? Evidence from the Canadian Experience☆. Vaccine, 28(38), 6210-6220. DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.07.010

White, J. (2008) Vitamin D Signaling, Infectious Diseases, and Regulation of Innate Immunity. Infection and Immunity, 76(9), 3837-3843. DOI: 10.1128/IAI.00353-08

November 3, 2010
09:13 AM
867 views

Cola Drinking Frequency Associated with Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a condition we hear about increasingly that relates usually to pre-diabetes (type II), obesity and other factors that create a perfect storm of mainly lifestyle-oriented disease.A recent report that looked at a survey of near 18000 people in Norway shows a pretty strong correlation between something as simple as cola consumption and MetS.The simple take away is: drinking more than one glass of cola a day, coupled with ANY of the risk factors associated with MetS means the likelihood of getting MetS goes up significantly. The post discusses the study and concludes with a few possible strategies & resources.The abstract of the study follows:Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2010 Oct;35(5):635-42.The Oslo Health Study: Soft drink intake is associated with the metabolic syndrome.Høstmark AT.Section of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Oslo, Box 1130, Blindern, 0318 Oslo, Norway (e-mail: a.t.hostmark@medisin.uio.no). AbstractIt has been reported that the frequency of cola intake (COLA) is positively associated with serum triglycerides and negatively associated with high-density-lioprotein (HDL) cholesterol, both components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). The question now is whether noncola soft drink intake (NCOLA) is associated with MetS. Among the 18 770 participants in the Oslo Health Study, 5373 men and 6181 women had data on COLA and NCOLA and risk factors for MetS (except fasting glucose). Main MetS requirements are central obesity and 2 of the following: increased triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, increased systolic or diastolic blood pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose. The MetSRisk index was calculated to estimate many MetS components. Using regression analyses, the association between COLA (NCOLA) and MetS (MetSRisk) was studied. In young (aged 30 years), middle-aged (aged 40 and 45 years), and senior (aged 59 and 60 years) men and women, there was, in general, a positive correlation between COLA and MetSRisk, and between COLA and single MetS risk factors, except HDL cholesterol, which was negatively correlated. A less consistent picture was found for NCOLA. By regression analyses, after adjustment for sex, age, time since last meal, and use of sugar-sweetened soft drinks, a positive association between COLA (NCOLA) and MetSRisk (MetS) was still found. However, when also controlling for cheese, fatty fish, coffee, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, education, and birthplace, only the association with COLA remained significant, irrespective of the presence or absence of sugar. In conclusion, the self-reported intake frequency of soft drinks can be positively associated with MetS.What does this result mean? The authors looked at two measures of Metabolic Syndrome. First, they used the MetSRisk requirements whicn = obesity + any 2 of the following: increased triglycerides (fatty acids ), low HDL cholesterol (usually refered to as the good stuff cholesterol - but really it's ratios of high and low that are important), increased blood pressure, high fasting blood glucose (this latter as i understand it can happen when insulin (a hormone) is out of whack trying to its job to get the glucose from consumed carbs shoved into the cells for use as energy, and it's not working very well).The authors note that they could not measure fasting glucose rates in the study, so they suggest that the strength of the association they see may well be UNDERestimated, based on reality.What does Frequency Mean?Here's how the study measured frequency of intake by creating three main groups:For beverages, there were 5 levels: 1, rarely–never; 2, 1 to 6 glasses per week; 3, 1 glass per day; 4, 2 to 3 glasses per day; and 5, 4 or more glasses per day. For the intake frequency of colas and noncolas, the midpoint in each frequency interval was used to calculate a rough approximation of intake per week. To obtain a reasonable number of subjects, the population was divided into 3 intake groups: never–rarely (1999 men; 3302 women); 1 to 6 glasses per week (2302 men; 2086 women); and ≥1 glass per day (1072 men; 793 women).Results on Risk MatchingThe authors show that "the frequency of cola intake in model 1 was significantly (p < 0.001 for most) associated with all of the single MetS-related risk factors, with the compound risk estimate of MetSRisk, and with the complete MetS." Right - but how much does that risk go up?The authors find that the differences bewteen group 1 (rarely/never) and group three (more than 1 glass of cola a day) go up a lot, across all ages and genders:going from group 1 (intake never–rarely) to group 3 (intake ≥1 glass per day), there was a mean increase in SumRisk points of 16.5% in young men (p < 0.001, 1-way ANOVA, with Bonferroni correction), 11.9% in middle-aged men (p < 0.001), and 11.1% in senior men (p = 0.006). Corresponding percentage increases in the 3 age groups of women were 11.1% (p < 0.001), 12.2% (p < 0.001), and 10.8% (p < 0.001).Also, intriguingly, the study makes clear that whether or not the cola had real sugar or not didn't make a difference. Diet cola in other words doesn't change the association. Fig. 1. Relationship between the frequency of cola intake and MetSRisk. Group 1, intake never–rarely; group 2, intake of 1 to 6 glasses per week; group 3, intake of ≥1 glass per day. Number of subjects in cola intake groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, was, for young (30 y) men, 368, 836, and 433; for middle-aged (40 + 45 y) men, 884, 1009, and 465; and for senior men (59–60 y), 747, 457, and 174. Corresponding numbers in women were 770, 814, and 314 (30 y); 1511, 959, and 370 (40 + 45 y); and 1021, 313, and 109 (59–60 y); mean values, with SE, are indicated. Note the broken axes and the variation in range for the MetSRisk score between age groups.Waist Circumference and Cola. The authors also actually saw that waist circumference is more strongly associated with cola than BMI. This finding is a rather nice one since so many of us rather question the whole BMI measure. Waist circumference seems a much clearer one to assess.Take AwayThe authors make clear that what they have seen is evidence of an association between cola frequency and MetSRisk. That doesn't show (yet) that there is a causal relationship. That is, they're not saying that someone who kicks back a can of coke daily will be at risk of MetS. What it does suggest however is that the presence of a daily cola intake greater than a glass, along with any of the other MetSRisk factors is a pretty good indicator of trouble ahead. As the authors put it in their discussion of results:It seems reasonable to assume that the complete MetS takes a long time to develop, presumably several years. Accordingly, preceding the appearance of the complete MetS, metabolic disturbances, reflected in the level of 1 or more MetS-related factors, such as waist circumference, body mass index, serum lipids, and blood pressure, are likely. In keeping with this assumption, the results of this study show a direct relationship between cola intake and many single MetS-related risk factors, as well as the compound variable MetSRisk.What may also be deducible is that, if at risk of MetS, to un-cola oneself may be a great start at backing away from MetS. How do this? how about one really tiny super guaranteed not to fail one step at a time? Practice: Awhile ago i proposed mc's change one thing sure fire diet based on the z-health sustena... Read more »

Høstmark, A. (2010) The Oslo Health Study: Soft drink intake is associated with the metabolic syndrome. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 35(5), 635-642. DOI: 10.1139/H10-059

October 25, 2010
08:48 AM
706 views

50% Lower cal MIXED carb with Moderate Protein better than Higher Carb alone for Endurance

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Want to stay out on your bike longer? There's a nice new study that has entered the energy drink fray, returning to the question of what's a ratio of protein to carbs that's optimal? In this case one measure of optimal is Time to Exhaustion or TTE. Also checked is optimal for what level of effort (below or near ventilatory threshold or VT). Turns out that half the calories (of the right blend of... Read more »

CURRELL, K., & JEUKENDRUP, A. (2008) Superior Endurance Performance with Ingestion of Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates. Medicine , 40(2), 275-281. DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19

Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave EL, Ding Z, Kammer LM, Wang B, Doerner PG, Liu Y, & Ivy JL. (2010) The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(10), 2577-86. PMID: 20733521

Martínez-Lagunas V, Ding Z, Bernard JR, Wang B, & Ivy JL. (2010) Added protein maintains efficacy of a low-carbohydrate sports drink. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(1), 48-59. PMID: 19924010

Saunders MJ, Luden ND, & Herrick JE. (2007) Consumption of an oral carbohydrate-protein gel improves cycling endurance and prevents postexercise muscle damage. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 21(3), 678-84. PMID: 17685703

Thomas K, Morris P, & Stevenson E. (2009) Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism , 34(1), 78-82. PMID: 19234590

October 25, 2010
08:46 AM
638 views

50% Lower cal MIXED carb with Moderate Protein better than Higher Carb alone for Greater Endurance

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Want to stay out on your bike longer? There's a nice new study that has entered the energy drink fray, returning to the question of what's a ratio of protein to carbs that's optimal? In this case one measure of optimal is Time to Exhaustion or TTE. Also checked is optimal for what level of effort (below or near ventilatory threshold or VT). Turns out that half the calories (of the right blend of carb types with protein) can give greater, go longer, harder results.

The authors of this study manipulate a couple of variables in interesting ways. First, they decide they want to reduce the total amount of calories in the beverage - so lower the carbs in particular. But then, they want to look at a carb blend rather than just one carb type. So their target is a maltodextrin-dextrose-fructose blend. And then they want to add in some protein, since many studies have shown previously that throwing in some protein seems to have a better endurance effect than carb alone (a few recent examples cited below)

The authors say they were motivated by the desires of cyclists who actually want a lower cal beverage for restoration while on a ride. That makes the question simple: can a better blend of the basics achieve the same or better effect than a higher cal beverage for endurance?

That these authors are asking this question at two distinct ventelatory threshold percentages is also pretty unique.

Here's the abstract:
J Strength Cond Res. 2010 Oct;24(10):2577-86.
The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes.

Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave EL, Ding Z, Kammer LM, Wang B, Doerner PG, Liu Y, Ivy JL.

Exercise Physiology and Metabolism Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Abstract

Ingesting carbohydrate plus protein during prolonged variable intensity exercise has demonstrated improved aerobic endurance performance beyond that of a carbohydrate supplement alone. The purpose of the present study was to determine if a supplement containing a mixture of different carbohydrates (glucose, maltodextrin, and fructose) and a moderate amount of protein given during endurance exercise would increase time to exhaustion (TTE), despite containing 50% less total carbohydrate than a carbohydrate-only supplement. We also sought post priori to determine if there was a difference in effect based on percentage of ventilatory threshold (VT) at which the subjects cycled to exhaustion. Fifteen trained male and female cyclists exercised on 2 separate occasions at intensities alternating between 45 and 70% VO2max for 3 hours, after which the workload increased to ∼74-85% VO2max until exhaustion. Supplements (275 mL) were provided every 20 minutes during exercise, and these consisted of a 3% carbohydrate/1.2% protein supplement (MCP) and a 6% carbohydrate supplement (CHO). For the combined group (n = 15), TTE in MCP did not differ from CHO (31.06 ± 5.76 vs. 26.03 ± 4.27 minutes, respectively, p = 0.064). However, for subjects cycling at or below VT (n = 8), TTE in MCP was significantly greater than for CHO (45.64 ± 7.38 vs. 35.47 ± 5.94 minutes, respectively, p = 0.006). There were no significant differences in TTE for the above VT group (n = 7). Our results suggest that, compared to a traditional 6% CHO supplement, a mixture of carbohydrates plus a moderate amount of protein can improve aerobic endurance at exercise intensities near the VT, despite containing lower total carbohydrate and caloric content.So, great, a lower cal (50% lower) blend of carbs and protein (about 2:1) of their mixed carb +pro beverage does just as well as a higher cal protein drink when moseying along, BUT it kicks statistically significant butt when going near or at VT.

What's rather interesting to me is not only the lower calories but the carb/protein ratio. Previously, it was asserted that a 4 to 1 ratio of carbs to protein was best for endurance types doing post exercise recovery. Now, these folks aren't really assessing recovery; they're looking at being able to go longer and greater intensity on the bike. And for that a 2:1 ratio of their mixed carb blend is doing the job.

There was speculation back in a 2009 chocolate milk study (thomas09) that checking similar markers, the reason that choclate milk and just plain carb (gatorade) beverage did better than a 4:1 custom drink (endurox) is that chocolate milk has a diverse mix of carbs. Indeed, the authors site another relatively recent study by Currell and Jeukendrup (currell08) that looked at the role of blending carb types and saw an 8% boost in using blended rather than single source carbs for cycling time trials. Similarly a carb/protein blend seems to mean better muscle protection (saunders07).

So, that's good evidence to say let's just go with a blend rather than re-validating that carb blends are better.

One might ask why there were only two treatment conditions in the study: a CHO only drink at 6%, a mixed carb plus protein drink at half the calories. What about the mixed carb drink at half the calories, since we see from related research that mixed is better than straight carbs? The researchers had already done the related studies. They state:
Martinez-Lagunas et al. recently compared the effects of a 4.5% CHO plus 1.15% PRO, and a 3% CHO plus 0.75% PRO beverage, to a traditional 6% CHO beverage and found that there was no difference in the times to exhaustion between the treatments. This suggests that the efficacy of the supplements was maintained despite the reduction in total CHO and total energy content with the substitution of a small amount of protein (ml). Based on these findings, we sought to determine if a lower CHO, lower calorie beverage containing a moderate amount of protein could be optimized using a mixture of CHO sources (glucose [dextrose], maltodextrin, and fructose) rather than a single CHO (dextrose).Another nice thing about the study is that the researchers used trained athletes, which means that we're not having to account for level of fitness as a variable. Even food logs for the three days leading up to the trial were assessed. The finding - 50% fewer calories - for extended time to exhaustion when working hard is compelling. As the authors note:
The present investigation demonstrates that consuming a beverage containing a mixture of different carbohydrates, a moderate amount of protein and fewer calories than a traditional, higher single-carbohydrate supplement during endurance exercise can extend exercise TTE, especially when exercising at or below the VT.Sometimes less really is more.

Citations

CURRELL, K., & JEUKENDRUP, A. (2008). Superior Endurance Performance with Ingestion of Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 40 (2), 275-281 DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19 ... Read more »

CURRELL, K., & JEUKENDRUP, A. (2008) Superior Endurance Performance with Ingestion of Multiple Transportable Carbohydrates. Medicine , 40(2), 275-281. DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31815adf19

Ferguson-Stegall L, McCleave EL, Ding Z, Kammer LM, Wang B, Doerner PG, Liu Y, & Ivy JL. (2010) The effect of a low carbohydrate beverage with added protein on cycling endurance performance in trained athletes. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(10), 2577-86. PMID: 20733521

Martínez-Lagunas V, Ding Z, Bernard JR, Wang B, & Ivy JL. (2010) Added protein maintains efficacy of a low-carbohydrate sports drink. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(1), 48-59. PMID: 19924010

Saunders MJ, Luden ND, & Herrick JE. (2007) Consumption of an oral carbohydrate-protein gel improves cycling endurance and prevents postexercise muscle damage. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 21(3), 678-84. PMID: 17685703

Thomas K, Morris P, & Stevenson E. (2009) Improved endurance capacity following chocolate milk consumption compared with 2 commercially available sport drinks. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism , 34(1), 78-82. PMID: 19234590

October 20, 2010
09:50 AM
724 views

We're Walking Here - and feeling much better as a result: walking to rep in performance improvements

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Walking is an action most of us take for granted. It's such an automatic, effortless, thoughtless practice that we tend to forget it's actually a learned, practiced, skill. But it's this natural effortlessness of this deeply rep'ed & acquired practice that makes it so valuable for locking in better movement practice - what we practice when say working with a coach to tune dynamic joint movements... Read more »

Frost HM. (2001) From Wolff's law to the Utah paradigm: insights about bone physiology and its clinical applications. The Anatomical record, 262(4), 398-419. PMID: 11275971

Garwicz, M., Christensson, M., & Psouni, E. (2009) A unifying model for timing of walking onset in humans and other mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(51), 21889-21893. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0905777106

Karasik LB, Adolph KE, Tamis-Lemonda CS, & Bornstein MH. (2010) WEIRD walking: cross-cultural research on motor development. The Behavioral and brain sciences, 33(2-3), 95-6. PMID: 20546664

Noehren, B., Scholz, J., & Davis, I. (2010) The effect of real-time gait retraining on hip kinematics, pain and function in subjects with patellofemoral pain syndrome. British Journal of Sports Medicine. DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2009.069112

October 13, 2010
02:59 PM
729 views

Caffeine makes us Crazy - or at least messes with our sleep

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

i *love* good coffee. You? Do you know how you react to coffee? Do you find caffeine keeps you awake/alert? Yes? or maybe you find it doesn't affect your getting to sleep? We know that the magic in coffee is caffeine. Guess what? apparently whether or not we can fall asleep with caffeine is less of an issue than what it does to our sleep quality, in particular, our deep sleep state. That is, it ... Read more »

Gore RK, Webb TS, & Hermes ED. (2010) Fatigue and stimulant use in military fighter aircrew during combat operations. Aviation, space, and environmental medicine, 81(8), 719-27. PMID: 20681231

Ferré S. (2010) Role of the central ascending neurotransmitter systems in the psychostimulant effects of caffeine. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. PMID: 20182056

Yang, A., Palmer, A., & Wit, H. (2010) Genetics of caffeine consumption and responses to caffeine. Psychopharmacology, 211(3), 245-257. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-010-1900-1

September 18, 2010
01:16 PM
987 views

Pick it Up. Again. Research poses correlation of resistance training reps to motivation type.

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Do you think someone who is extrinsically motivated (i want to win a gold medal) vs intrinsically motivated (i want to be the best i can be) is more or less likely to do more or less resistance work?

Yes, that's a question that's been asked in a recently published study on who uses fitness centers. The authors' abstract reads:

There is a need to better understand the behavior and sense of ... Read more »

Kathrins BP, & Turbow DJ. (2010) Motivation of fitness center participants toward resistance training. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(9), 2483-90. PMID: 20802286

. (1997) Paffenbarger Physical Activity Questionnaire. Medicine, 29(Supplement), 83-88. DOI: 10.1097/00005768-199706001-00017

Cox CL. (1985) The Health Self-Determinism Index. Nursing research, 34(3), 177-83. PMID: 3846926

August 20, 2010
10:33 AM
831 views

Cocoa drink reduces DOMS. Really? Well, Maybe...

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

What if cocoa in a drink of protein and carbs could mitigate DOMS - delayed onset muscle soreness? This is what researchers in a newly published Aug 2010 study have explored. And thank goodness, since most of us have struggled with DOMS at one time or another - new routine and next day or next few days our muscles pay for it. We walk like cowboys coming off a long jaunt in the saddle. Could ... Read more »

McBrier NM, Vairo GL, Bagshaw D, Lekan JM, Bordi PL, & Kris-Etherton PM. (2010) Cocoa-based protein and carbohydrate drink decreases perceived soreness after exhaustive aerobic exercise: a pragmatic preliminary analysis. Journal of strength and conditioning research / National Strength , 24(8), 2203-10. PMID: 20634742

Karp JR, Johnston JD, Tecklenburg S, Mickleborough TD, Fly AD, & Stager JM. (2006) Chocolate milk as a post-exercise recovery aid. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 16(1), 78-91. PMID: 16676705

Mathur S, Devaraj S, Grundy SM, & Jialal I. (2002) Cocoa products decrease low density lipoprotein oxidative susceptibility but do not affect biomarkers of inflammation in humans. The Journal of nutrition, 132(12), 3663-7. PMID: 12468604

Wiswedel, I., Hirsch, D., Kropf, S., Gruening, M., Pfister, E., Schewe, T., & Sies, H. (2004) Flavanol-rich cocoa drink lowers plasma F2-isoprostane concentrations in humans. Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 37(3), 411-421. DOI: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2004.05.013

Green MS, Corona BT, Doyle JA, & Ingalls CP. (2008) Carbohydrate-protein drinks do not enhance recovery from exercise-induced muscle injury. International journal of sport nutrition and exercise metabolism, 18(1), 1-18. PMID: 18272930

August 12, 2010
01:15 PM
773 views

The Eyes Have It - sometimes: using eye position to enhance strength

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

I was fascinated by Geoff Neupert's article in the latest Power by Pavel Newsletter about his experience using eye position in the kettlebell press. Absolutely awesome to see eye position highlighted in relation to how that action can support movement practice, but also how that support is variable depending on rather a lot else going on in our sensory-motor system, or where the issues are in a complex movement. So let's look at eye position and postural reflexes and how they support muscle action.... Read more »

Morningstar, M., Pettibon, B., Schlappi, H., Schlappi, M., & Ireland, T. (2005) Reflex control of the spine and posture: a review of the literature from a chiropractic perspective. Chiropractic , 13(1), 16. DOI: 10.1186/1746-1340-13-16

Riemann BL, & Lephart SM. (2002) The Sensorimotor System, Part II: The Role of Proprioception in Motor Control and Functional Joint Stability. Journal of athletic training, 37(1), 80-4. PMID: 16558671

Rougier P, & Garin M. (2007) Performing saccadic eye movements or blinking improves postural control. Motor control, 11(3), 213-23. PMID: 17715456

August 12, 2010
10:21 AM
507 views

The Eyes Have It - sometimes: using eye position to enhance strength

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

I was fascinated by Geoff Neupert's article in the latest Power by Pavel Newsletter (issue 209, 08/09/10) about his experience using eye position in the press. Geoff is the author of Kettlebell Muscle. Absolutely awesome to see eye position highlighted in relation to how that action can support movement practice. That support is rather dependent on where and how in a compound move it's being used, and also what else may be happening in our somato-sensory systems. So let's look at eye position and postural reflexes and how they support muscle action a little more.

Geoff writes:
For the last four years, until recently, I promoted a neutral head, eyes down posture for presses and jerks, thinking that this would increase flexion at the shoulder and therefore increase shoulder mobility and allow for the weight to go up easier.
Geoff reports that this didn't work for him. When we understand the roll of vision in position, that result is not surprising, so we'll come onto why. He then proposes a revised move with a different head, jaw and eye position: the neck back a bit, chin up a bit and eyes slightly up.

Geoff says of this approach:
I then corroborated my findings with what the absolute best in the world do, confirmed my position, applied my "new" techniques, and started making progress once again. This is excellent: Geoff tested the move to see if it worked better for him, today. Testing a technique is critical as adaptation is pretty individual; testing that neutral head / eyes down thing sooner might have been a good idea too for addressing four years of press frustration.

For more ideas on how to train these eye muscles,
see Eye Heatlh: How Fast can you switch focus?

Test Early; Test Often The key thing to me in this article is that Geoff did "test" his new approach: did it improve his press? he says so an i believe him. Yet while he proposes a new technique for his press, and has some interesting theory to support it, whether or not that approach will be universally successful may be as likely as eyes down through the lift was successful for Geoff. May be. Dunno, maybe.

The take away from this story, at least for me, is less about a new technique that will work for everyone and more about: test it, because what works for you mayn't work for me, or for you later today, no matter how well we hypothesize why something works after the fact.

Let me step back a bit and say here's why i'm not surprised by GN reporting that eyes looking down *through the whole press* would likely/potentially not be a good idea: there's more going on than shoulder flexion in the press.

Eye Position and Reflexes when Reflexes work. Let me back up even further and say that the eyes are tied to reflexes that support extension, flexion, adduction, abduction, rotation. By reflex we mean involuntary automatic and near immediate response to a stimulus. Intriguingly, sometimes these reflexive responses can get buggered up, (and with the eyes, have particular effects on posture, among other things) but more on that anon.

When things are working right, we see looking down triggers flexion, looking up triggers extension looking in one direction triggers complementary adduction/abduction/rotation in the direction viewed.

Eye position is then used to complement/strengthen what can most benefit from that reflex. That may change throughout a lift. And what if while one thing is extending something else is flexing? What do we need help with the most? We'll look at an example to try in a sec.

Strengthening what needs to be strengthened throughout a lift
As an example of how eye position might change in a lift, let's take a look at the example from Geoff's article, the kettlebell press. The press is a rich movement: one may need eyes down to support shoulder flexion at the beginning of the lift coming out of the rack, then eyes towards the horizon and looking at the bell when the delts are at the weakest point, so strengthening rotator cuff movements, and post sticking point, eyes up to support the triceps extending (thanks to conversations last year with Zachariah Salazar Z-Health Master Trainer and RKC on these multiple positions in the press). In Pavel's pressing, as RKC Ken Froese pointed out to me, his eyes seem to follow the bell throughout, which may be great for someone with even strength, but not for someone with say a shoulder issue.

So keeping eyes down throughout the movement may be less productive for some people if where the weak link in the move shifts, and changing eye position will enhance that.

Try this at Home: A chin up (hands supinated) uses extension of the shoulder/lats firing, but it also uses elbow flexion (biceps coming into a curl). So what needs more help for you in a chin? Best way to find out: test either/or positions, depending if one's weaker link is shoulder extension/lats (eyes up) or biceps flexing (eyes down). Try both: what works better for you -when? Which is which may change as training progresses, or for just about any other reason, as we'll see below.

When reflexes seemingly aren't firing normally
Why would a doctor whack a knee if a reflex always fired as it was supposed to? We wouldn't need to test something that always works one way. Same thing with eye responses as demonstrated in what are referred to as postural reflexes, richly informed by the visual (and vestibular and proprioceptive) system(s):
Visual and vestibular input, as well as joint and soft tissue mechanoreceptors, are major players in the regulation of static upright posture. Each of these input sources detects and responds to specific types of postural stimulus and perturbations, and each region has specific pathways by which it communicates with other postural reflexes, as well as higher central nervous system structures.There's even work to suggest that blinking or performing visual sacades may improve postural stability.

Sometimes due to trauma or sometimes a long flight and jet lag, one's postural reflexes get really muted or actually cause the inverse effect reflexively in the body. There are tests for this (if you visit with a z-health certified coach who's done i-phase, for instance, they'll know these position/vision tests). The important thing to get is that our muscular responses - things as seemingly simple and immutable as flexion and extension - are intertwined with the somato-sensory system (visual, vestibular and proprioceptive function), and that these intertwined systems are constantly dealing with various stimuli. As Reiman and Lephart found in 2002:
Motor control for even simple tasks is a plastic process that undergoes constant review and modification based upon the integration and analysis of sensory input, efferent motor
commands, and resultant movements.We occaisionally really get how intertwined these actions are if we ever have an inner ear infection, or find ourselves experiencing sea sickness or dizziness.

Obviously, if one's visual responses to a direction are screwed up (say looking down doesn't strengthen your bicep curl, or cue an appropriate postural reflex), then using your eyes in a movement in that direction is also likely not going to help - in some cases it may seem to work against you if your body doesn't like that eye position, performance is going to suffer - until the thing gets fixed... Read more »

Morningstar, M., Pettibon, B., Schlappi, H., Schlappi, M., & Ireland, T. (2005) Reflex control of the spine and posture: a review of the literature from a chiropractic perspective. Chiropractic , 13(1), 16. DOI: 10.1186/1746-1340-13-16

Riemann BL, & Lephart SM. (2002) The Sensorimotor System, Part II: The Role of Proprioception in Motor Control and Functional Joint Stability. Journal of athletic training, 37(1), 80-4. PMID: 16558671

Rougier P, & Garin M. (2007) Performing saccadic eye movements or blinking improves postural control. Motor control, 11(3), 213-23. PMID: 17715456

July 27, 2010
08:46 AM
810 views

Head Shift: Why not look for More Time to Move rather than as Little as Possible?

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

Maybe we should seek to move more rather than the least amount possible in a week. Maybe that's a much better place to be. Let's consider why that might help us out in so many parts of our lives, and the research that supports it. This proposal is set against popular approaches to fitness. Lots of folks celebrate ways for us to "take less time" to work out. After all, there's more to life than ... Read more »

Castelli DM, Hillman CH, Buck SM, & Erwin HE. (2007) Physical fitness and academic achievement in third- and fifth-grade students. Journal of sport , 29(2), 239-52. PMID: 17568069

Eveland-Sayers BM, Farley RS, Fuller DK, Morgan DW, & Caputo JL. (2009) Physical fitness and academic achievement in elementary school children. Journal of physical activity , 6(1), 99-104. PMID: 19211963

Chomitz, V., Slining, M., McGowan, R., Mitchell, S., Dawson, G., & Hacker, K. (2009) Is There a Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement? Positive Results From Public School Children in the Northeastern United States. Journal of School Health, 79(1), 30-37. DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2008.00371.x

Baker LD, Frank LL, Foster-Schubert K, Green PS, Wilkinson CW, McTiernan A, Plymate SR, Fishel MA, Watson GS, Cholerton BA.... (2010) Effects of aerobic exercise on mild cognitive impairment: a controlled trial. Archives of neurology, 67(1), 71-9. PMID: 20065132

Berchtold, N., Castello, N., & Cotman, C. (2010) Exercise and time-dependent benefits to learning and memory. Neuroscience, 167(3), 588-597. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.02.050

July 22, 2010
12:31 PM
740 views

Hormones - what are they really? upper level managers for the body's state.

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

What do you think of when someone says Hormones? Maybe muscle oriented folks think about testosterone. Women tending towards a certain age think about estrogen. Athletes may think about adrenelein. Diet conscious may think about Insulin. Someone totally stressed may not know what to think about but that's epinepherine and cortisol. In the sesame street way of what goes together, all of these are... Read more »

HERMANS, E., PUTMAN, P., BAAS, J., KOPPESCHAAR, H., & VANHONK, J. (2006) A Single Administration of Testosterone Reduces Fear-Potentiated Startle in Humans. Biological Psychiatry, 59(9), 872-874. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2005.11.015

Van den Buuse, M. (2001) Estrogen increases prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle in rats. European Journal of Pharmacology, 425(1), 33-41. DOI: 10.1016/S0014-2999(01)01139-6

Toufexis, D. (2005) Sex Differences in Hormonal Modulation of Anxiety Measured with Light-Enhanced Startle: Possible Role for Arginine Vasopressin in the Male. Journal of Neuroscience, 25(39), 9010-9016. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0127-05.2005

Zouhal, H., Jacob, C., Delamarche, P., & Gratas-Delamarche, A. (2008) Catecholamines and the Effects of Exercise, Training and Gender. Sports Medicine, 38(5), 401-423. DOI: 10.2165/00007256-200838050-00004

June 3, 2010
02:50 PM
787 views

660 seconds (11 mins) of minimal resistance training = a HUGE difference for fat burning

by mc in begin to dig (b2d)

We know pretty unequivocally that the biggest part of a fat loss program is nutrition. That's first. BUT we also know that exercise can really help with keeping that program going. If we look at work on obesity and the role of exercise, we're looking at 5 hours of exercise a week (along with diet and expert support).

5 hours may be a good and healthy norm, but do you know any geeks who will say ... Read more »

KIRK, E., DONNELLY, J., SMITH, B., HONAS, J., LeCHEMINANT, J., BAILEY, B., JACOBSEN, D., & WASHBURN, R. (2009) Minimal Resistance Training Improves Daily Energy Expenditure and Fat Oxidation. Medicine , 41(5), 1122-1129. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318193c64e

Miller, W., Koceja, D., & Hamilton, E. (1997) A meta-analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research using diet, exercise or diet plus exercise intervention. International Journal of Obesity, 21(10), 941-947. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0800499

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