Banner #17- How Sweet It Is!

So I was only 7 years old last time my boys in green won banner #16 in 1986. Needless to say, I'll never forget the night they won #17. Here's a few of my favorite pics:

Napping

If you know me well, you know how big I am on rest & recovery. Acitivities such as napping, massage therapy, and acupuncture all fall udner the rest & recovery category of training. That being said, here's a fantastic chart from The Boston Globe on "How to Nap." Enjoy...

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/naps/

To cook or not to cook

The April 2008 IDEA Fitness Journal suggests it may be better to cook certain vegetables, such as tomatoes and carrots, to ensure an increased release of phytonutrients. Lycopene is the nutrient in tomatoes and beta carotene is the one in carrots.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are recommended to be eaten raw or lightly steamed to preserve their nutrients.

Now you know :-)

Delicious breakfast

http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=recipe&dbid=121

Sooooooooo good! :-)

Product recommendation

Mini band walks are a great way to warm up to engage the abductors (i.e. glute medius). I highly recommend mini bands, sold by Perform Better, for this exercise. You can order them here: http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3893_A_rnd_E_35

June Newsletter Released

Costanza gives the June newsletter a thumbs up. Let me know what you think:
http://www.pcconditioning.com/newsletters/2008Jun.pdf

Daily sun exposure

According to James Dowd, DMD, associate clinical professor of medicine at Michigan State University and author of "The Vitamin D Cure," exposing your skin to the sunlight 10 minutes a day 3x/week may make you healthier. Try to avoid mid-day sun, however. A quick walk without sunblock (except on your face and neck) will prompt your body to produce essential Vitamin D.

Proper amounts of Vitamin D help prevent breast, lung, and colon cancer. Deficiencies in Vitamin D are correlated with obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Enjoy the rays!

Two funny video clips

Click the PLAY arrow on each clip:

Post # 200: Turkey Burgers from Oprah!

Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger
Recipe courtesy of Jeff O'Neill
From the show Oprah's Top Picks for Summer
Serves 6



Oprah found a new favorite food when she tried this turkey burger at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's private club in Palm Beach. "I believe [it] may be the best turkey burger in the entire world," she says. The Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger will be permanently available at the Trump Bar and Grille in Trump Tower in New York City, open to the public for lunch and dinner. It will also be served during lunch in Chicago at Sixteen, the Trump International Hotel restaurant.


INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1/8 cup canola oil
4 pounds ground turkey breast
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. chipotle Tabasco™
1 lemon, juice and grated zest
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup Major Grey's Chutney, pureed

Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.

Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll.

Conspiracy Theory?

Advocation of barefoot training continues

Check it out here:

http://nymag.com/health/features/46213/

Nutrition Education for Inmates

Even while in customdy, these inmates receive sound nutrition advice. Check out this week's article from the Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/19/inmates_shape_up_for_their_release/

Teen Exercise May Cut Breast Cancer Risk

Courtesy of today's Boston Globe:

WASHINGTON - New research shows that exercise during the teen years - starting as young as age 12 - can help protect girls from breast cancer when they're grown.

more stories like thisMiddle-aged women have long been advised to get active to lower their risk of breast cancer after menopause and now it appears that starting young pays off, too.

"This really points to the benefit of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit," said Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study's lead author.

Researchers tracked nearly 65,000 nurses ages 24 to 42 who enrolled in a major health study. They answered detailed questionnaires about their physical activity dating back to age 12. Within six years of enrolling, 550 were diagnosed with breast cancer before menopause. A quarter of all breast cancer is diagnosed at these younger ages, when it is typically more aggressive.

Women who were physically active as teens and young adults were 23 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than women who grew up sedentary, researchers reported today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The biggest impact was regular exercise from ages 12 to 22.

"This is not the extreme athlete," Colditz cautioned.

The women at lowest risk reported doing 3 hours and 15 minutes of running or other vigorous activity a week - or, for the less athletic, 13 hours a week of walking. Typically, the teens reported more strenuous exercise, while during adulthood, walking was most common.

Why would it help? A big point of exercise in middle age and beyond is to keep off the pounds. After menopause, fat tissue is a chief source of estrogen. In youth, however, the theory is that physical activity itself lowers estrogen levels. Studies of teen athletes show that very intense exercise can delay onset of menstrual cycles and cause irregular periods.

The moderate exercise reported in this study was nowhere near enough for those big changes. But it probably was enough to cause slight yet still helpful hormone changes, said Dr. Alpa Patel, a cancer prevention specialist at the American Cancer Society, who praised the new research.

Worthy of a re-post

I posted this a while back and it's so powerful it's worthy of re-posting:

New article published

I'm happy to announce an article I recently wrote has published in today's Watertown Tab. The direct link for the article as follows:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/news/lifestyle/columnists/x1180658770/Connolly-Ten-foods-for-good-health

Fall Prevention

Good article in today's Health/Science section of the Globe:

http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/05/05/before_the_fall/

May Updates

May's newsletter has just been released. Check it out here:

http://www.pcconditioning.com/newsletters/2008May.pdf

All about soda

http://www.emedexpert.com/tips/soft-drinks.shtml

What if no one were fat?

Very interesting article from today's MSN Money:

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/Advice/WhatIfNoOneWereFat.aspx

Control Your Cravings

Great article from Amanda Carlson here:

http://www.coreperformance.com/article.php?p=2&s=1&id=784

Fantastic cover

Let me know what you think. I love this version:

Diary of a Celiac

Good article in today's Globe:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2008/04/23/diary_of_a_celiac/

Your NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Body Composition

According to the Diabetes Monitor, body composition is defined as the ratio of lean body mass (structural and functional elements in cells, body water, muscle, bone, heart, liver, kidneys, etc.) to body fat (essential and storage) mass. Essential fat is necessary for normal physiological functioning (e.g., nerve conduction). Storage fat constitutes the body's fat reserves, the part that people try to lose.

Here are general body-fat recommendations from the American Council on Exercise:

General Body Fat Percentage Categories
Classification Women (% fat) Men (% fat)
Essential Fat 10-12% 2-4%
Athletes 14-20% 6-13%
Fitness 21-24% 14-17%
Acceptable 25-31% 18-25%
Obese 32% plus 25% plus

Frozen versus Fresh

A client recently inquired as to the benefits of frozen fruits and veggies versus fresh. Here's a nice breakdown:


Any fruits and vegetables are better than no fruits and vegetables. For peak flavor and good value, fresh produce in season is always a good choice. But frozen or canned fruits and vegetables, without added salt or sugar, are just as good for you as fresh. Here are some easy ways to sneak more fresh and frozen fruits and veggies into your diet:

-Buy many kinds of fruits and vegetables when you shop. Buy frozen and dried, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables
-Experiment with new types of fruits and veggies
-Keep a fruit bowl, raisins or other dried fruit on the kitchen counter and in the office
-Keep a bowl of cut-up vegetables on the top shelf of the refrigerator for snacking
-Add fruit to breakfast by having fruit on cereal
-Choose fruit for dessert and use frozen fruits for smoothies
-Add fruits and vegetables to lunch by adding them in soup, salads, or cut-up raw
-Add extra varieties of frozen vegetables when you prepare soups, sauces, and casseroles


One other note worth mentioning: choose as many different COLORS as possible, as each color represents a specific nutrient that benefits your overrall health.

Playoffs start this weekend

Women athletes win equal time on injury list

Great article from today's Globe:
--------------------------------------
By Judy Foreman
April 14, 2008
A week from today, 10,375 women - and 14,737 men - are expected to run in the Boston Marathon. The presence of so many women - the most ever entered in the historic race - is a sure sign of how far women have come in athletics.

So is this: In 1972, before Title IX, the law that spurred women's athletics, fewer than 300,000 high school girls played sports, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Now it's more than 3 million.

But there's a dark side to this terrific news: The more girls and women play sports, the more they, like boys and men, get hurt. And - attention athletes, coaches, and parents - they get hurt in different ways.

Last week for instance, researchers from the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, reported on a stunning injury rate for young gymnasts, 82 percent of whom are female.

Using data from 100 hospitals across the country, the team reported in the journal Pediatrics that every year, roughly 26,600 children ages 6 to 17 get injured badly enough doing gymnastics to wind up in the emergency room. This is a "very high" injury rate, roughly equivalent to ice hockey, said public health specialist Lara McKenzie, the lead author.

And gymnastics is just the tip of the iceberg. Cheerleading is now the leading cause of direct fatal and nonfatal injuries among high school and college women, according to the Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina. "Cheerleading used to be about shaking pompoms," said the center's director, Frederick O. Mueller. "Now, it's about throwing people 20 feet in the air."

Basketball is not exactly benign, either: It's brutal on that most vulnerable part of the female athlete's anatomy: the knees.

And even plain old running seems to be tougher on women's legs than on men's, though it's not clear why.

This "absolutely does not mean that women should not play sports," said Dr. Lyle Micheli , a consultant to the International Olympic Committee on Women's Sports Issues and director of sports medicine at Children's Hospital Boston. After all, in two of the most popular high school sports, soccer and basketball, no significant differences existed in injury rates between boys and girls, according to figures released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the 2005-2006 school year.

But athletic activities can cause different injuries in women and girls than in men and boys. Female athletes and their coaches should pay increased attention to the anatomical differences that put girls and women at disproportionate risks for certain injuries.

The sports injuries that seem to disproportionately affect women include:


-Tears in the ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, in the knee, a problem that hits basketball and soccer players especially.

-Plantar fasciitis, in which activity can cause tiny tears in heel tissue.

-Compartment syndrome in runners, in which lower leg muscles get too tight for the surrounding space, causing severe pain.

-Shin splints in runners, in which repetitive stress can lead to pain and even fractures in the lower leg.

-Kneecap pain.

-Pain along the outside portion of the leg in the iliotibial band, between the knee and the hip, known as iliotibial band friction syndrome.

Women's knees are more vulnerable than men's because the "Q-angle" - the angle between the hip and the knee - is greater in women than in men. While wide hips are good for childbearing, they mean there is more stress on the knee in moves like landing from a jump and twisting. This torque can shred the ACL, a ligament that helps stabilize the knee. This is a major reason why female athletes have four times more ACL tears than men do, said Dr. George Theodore, a Red Sox team physician and sports medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Making matters worse for women's knees, especially among basketball players, is that women tend to "cut," or suddenly change direction, differently from men, said Micheli.

"There's more of a tendency for women to change direction on just one foot, maybe because of the width of the pelvis, while men often use two feet."

Wider hips also mean that there may be more "pull" on the kneecap, which can cause pain when running uphill. Kneecap cartilage also seems to wear down more in women than in men. And women's kneecaps slide around more from side to side, in part because women have more estrogen, which can make women's ligaments more flexible than men's.

Fortunately, solutions exist for these problems. One is better coaching for females - to teach them how to run, jump, land, and twist safely. Another is orthotics, devices that can be put in shoes to minimize stress on knee, ankle, and hip joints. And, of course, everyone should use appropriate safety equipment, such as thicker mats for gymnasts, helmets for cyclists, and headgear in soccer, which obviously benefit men as well as women.

Strength training, or weight lifting, is an absolute must for female athletes, just as for males, though the emphasis may be on different muscle groups. To help prevent knee injuries, for instance, female athletes need to work extra hard to build up a muscle on the inside of the knee called the vastus medialis and to build up hamstring muscles on the back of the thigh.

"We can't really change people's anatomy, but we can rebalance muscles with proper stretching, strength training, and orthotics," said Theodore of Mass. General.

It's clear that physical differences are not a reason to keep women from sports or from playing just as hard as men, said Laura Pappano, coauthor with Eileen McDonagh of "Playing with the Boys: Why Separate is Not Equal in Sports." Pappano said her daughter, now 13, was told that girls play nine-hole golf while boys play a full 18.

"The idea that women are doomed because of injuries is just absurd," Pappano said. "The whole 'girls will get hurt' argument has done more to limit women than anything else."

I couldn't agree more. Regardless of your gender, get out there and play hard. But train hard, too. And be sure to get the excellent coaching you need to keep you safe.

100 calorie packs

Nutritionist Chris Shugart had a nice article recently at T-Nation. My favorite part of the article was his rant on the infamous 100-calorie packs. Like him, I'm not a big fan. Here's what he had to say (pardon the cursing):
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"Shit is Shit: A Rant"

So my kiddo and I are doing some grocery shopping earlier this week, picking up some things for me to pack in her lunch. She grabs some of those 100 calorie snack packs and tells me she wants them because they're "healthy."


So, we spent the next few minutes talking about portion control and why those 100 calorie snack packs are still just candy, albeit in smaller quantities. (Since we were both on Heelies in a Super Wal-Mart, this was actually more fun than it sounds.)

And this reminded me of a pet peeve of mine — eating shit foods and justifying it because you're only eating a little shit, not a lot of shit.

Well, shit is shit.

Portion control is about as effective of a fat loss method as the "I'll only put it in a little" method of teenage virginity preservation. Most human beings, especially those who are clearly over-fat, can't eat just a little of a delectable food. No fat person eats a single Oreo and walks away. They ought to list the serving size as per row of cookies, rather than per cookie. That would be more realistic.

Now we have this nonsensical "100 calorie" switcharoo going on. My gripe is twofold:

1) It's still shit. It's still bad for you. It'll still wreck your health, shorten your life, and turn you into an ugly naked person. It's not healthy just because it's served by the tiny handful.

My daughter gets it now, but do fat adults? Do they want to get it, or will they willingly suspend their dietary disbelief and convince themselves they're not eating shit so that they can enjoy said shit even more?

2) Wouldn't you rather eat a whole bunch of nutritious, healthy, great-tasting food rather than a handful of shit?

Well, you can. You can whip up your own meals that are nutrient dense and calorie sparse: plenty of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and other good stuff, but not that many calories. That way you can eat a lot, get full, and still have abs. Better than a handful of Oreo "crisps," huh?

Why Free Weights?

Just wrote this piece for my health club. Hope you enjoy:

1. Mimic Daily Movement Patterns- Show me a machine that can mimic carrying grocery bags, picking up your little ones, or putting an object onto a shelf in your pantry. Simply put, machines don’t mimic activities of daily living (ADLs) as well as their free weight counterparts. Machines are less like real-life activities, since they typically provide a great amount of support in a coordinated fashion and don’t challenge you the same way free weights (dumbbells, barbells) do.

2. Body Position- Take a look around at the strength training machines in the gym. Do you see the same thing I see? Almost everyone it SITTING DOWN! We know we’re too sedentary as a society and need to get off our butts and start engaging them. The best exercises (squats, push-ups, pull-ups to name a few) are all done without sitting and offer incredible benefits. One of the reasons we lose so much of our glute (buttocks muscles) function as we age is because we’re sitting on something we should be using. You sit all day at work, in the car on the way here, and at home on the couch. Why are you sitting at the gym?!?!

3. Diversity- Free weights take up less space, are A LOT less expensive, and require minimal maintenance. In addition, machines are typically specific to one exercise. For example, too many people flock to the seated chest press machine. Sure it may improve upper body pushing strength, but not nearly as much as dumbbell bench presses. Furthermore, I can create a routine of over 100 exercises performed with those dumbbells. How many exercises can you do on that chest press machine- one! ‘Nuff said. Ditch the machine and pick up a pair of dumbbells for a more challenging, diverse routine.

How NOT to use a Swiss Ball

I gotta admit- I love the loud SMACK as he hits the floor. Serves him right.

Great message

You have no way of knowing how or when all the things you do will come back to you. What you can know is that they will.
Some obscure and seemingly useless fact you learn today could end up playing a major role in your life next week, or five years from now. Some small favor that you do tomorrow may come back to you in a few months as a grand opportunity.
You never know exactly how life will reflect back the face you present to it. Yet eventually, and quite faithfully, it does come back to you.
The value that you put into life becomes the value that you experience from life. The more love you give, the more love you are able to know.
Your words do not end when you speak them, and your actions do not stop when you've completed them. They go out into life and begin connecting you with the people, circumstances and things that resonate with those words and actions of yours.
Live as though the things you do, in one way or another, will come back to you. For you can be certain that they will.

-- Ralph Marston

Randy Pausch: "The Last Lecture"

I posted Randy Pausch's famous "The Last Lecture" speech a while ago when he was Oprah, but I felt it was a link worthy of re-posting. In addition, he is also on the cover of this week's Parade Magazine. The link for the Parade story and corresponding powerful lecture is as follows:

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2008/edition_04-06-2008/1My_Last_Lecture

Air Dyne link

After reading my recommendation, a lot of people asked me where to go to pick up an Air Dyne bike. The link is as follows:

http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4937_A_CategoryID_E_414

PBS Special

On April 16th, PBS will be airing "The Truth About Cancer." Having plenty of Kleenex on hand is a no brainer for this one. Here's a sneak preview:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/cancer/video-preview_vid.html?bandwidth=_hi&filetype=wmv

Major CPR change

Solid article in today's Wall Street Journal below:

No Mouth-to-Mouth Is Needed With CPR, Heart Association Says

Associated PressMarch 31, 2008 7:48 p.m.

NEW YORK -- You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life.
In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR -- rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives -- works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.
Hands-only CPR represents a major change.
Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing.
"You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Michael Sayre, an emergency medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation.
Hands-only CPR calls for uninterrupted chest presses -- 100 a minute -- until paramedics take over or an automated external defibrillator is available to restore a normal heart rhythm.
This action should be taken only for adults who unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing and are unresponsive. The odds are that the person is having cardiac arrest -- the heart suddenly stops -- which can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems. In such a case, the victim still has ample air in the lungs and blood and compressions keep blood flowing to the brain, heart and other organs.
A child who collapses is more likely to primarily have breathing problems -- and in that case, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be used. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from a near-drowning, drug overdose, or carbon monoxide poisoning. In these cases, people need mouth-to-mouth to get air into their lungs and bloodstream.
But in either case, "Something is better than nothing," Dr. Sayre said.
The CPR guidelines had been inching toward compression-only. The last update, in 2005, put more emphasis on chest pushes by alternating 30 presses with two quick breaths; those "unable or unwilling" to do the breaths could do presses alone.
Now the heart association has given equal standing to hands-only CPR. Those who have been trained in traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation can still opt to use it.
Dr. Sayre said the association took the unusual step of making the changes now -- the next update wasn't due until 2010 -- because three studies last year showed hands-only was as good as traditional CPR. Hands-only will be added to CPR training.
An estimated 310,000 Americans die each year of cardiac arrest. Only about 6% of those who are stricken outside a hospital survive, although rates vary by location. People who quickly get hands-only CPR while awaiting medical treatment have double or triple the chance of surviving. But less than a third of victims get this essential help.
Gordon Ewy, who has been pushing for hands-only CPR for 15 years, said he was "dancing in the streets" over the heart association's change even though he doesn't think it goes far enough. Dr. Ewy is director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center in Tucson, where the compression-only technique was pioneered.
Dr. Ewy said there's no point to giving early breaths in the case of sudden cardiac arrest, and it takes too long to stop compressions to give two breaths -- 16 seconds for the average person. He noted that victims often gasp periodically anyway, drawing in a little air on their own.
Anonymous surveys show that people are reluctant to do mouth-to-mouth, Dr. Ewy said, partly because of fear of infections. "When people are honest, they're not going to do it," he said. "It's not only the yuck factor."
In recent years, emergency service dispatchers have been coaching callers in hands-only CPR rather than telling them how to alternate breaths and compressions. "They love it. It's less complicated and the outcomes are better," said Dallas emergency medical services chief Paul Pepe, who also chairs emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
One person who's been spreading the word about hands-only CPR is Temecula, Calif., chiropractor Jared Hjelmstad, who helped save the life of a fellow health club member in Southern California
Mr. Hjelmstad, 40, had read about it in a medical journal and used it on Garth Goodall, who collapsed while working out at their gym in February. Mr. Hjelmstad's 15-year-old son Josh called 911 in the meantime.
Mr. Hjelmstad said he pumped on Mr. Goodall's chest for more than 12 minutes -- encouraged by Mr. Goodall's intermittent gasps -- until paramedics arrived. He was thrilled to find out the next day that Mr. Goodall had survived.
On Sunday, he visited Mr. Goodall in the hospital where he is recovering from triple bypass surgery.
"After this whole thing happened, I was on cloud nine," said Mr. Hjelmstad. "I was just fortunate enough to be there."
Mr. Goodall, a 49-year-old construction contractor, said he had been healthy and fit before the collapse, and there'd been no hint that he had clogged heart arteries. "I was lucky," he said. Had the situation been reversed, "I wouldn't have known what to do."
"It's a second lease on life," he added.

The Pareto Principle

I've come across several versions and explanations of the Pareto Principle, but I like how strength coach Alwyn Cosgrove explained it best on his blog a few weeks ago:

"The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule and the 'law of the vital few') states that in many things, 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes.Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist is credited with it's discovery. He observed that 80 percent of the wealth in Italy (and every country he subsequently studied) was owned by 20 percent of the population. After Pareto made his observation and created his formula, many others observed similar phenomena in their own areas of expertise. Quality Management pioneer, Dr. Joseph Juran, working in the US recognized a universal principle he called the "vital few and trivial many" and reduced it to writing. These two studies have generally been combined and become nown as the Pareto Principle.
Over the years, many others observed this rule in action in very different areas - yet the 80-20 rule appeared to hold true.
The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many(80 percent) are trivial. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world.
Some examples:
Relationships: Twenty percent of the people you know (friends, colleagues, family) provide you with 80 percent of nurturing support and satisfaction.
Productivity: Twenty percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your success.
Business: Twenty percent of customers will account for 80 percent of profit (and 20% of your customers will also cause 80% of your problems!
Gardening: Eighty percent of garden peas are produced by 20 percent of the peapods.How can we use the Pareto Principle?
The Pareto principle is great to increase focus. Don't try to do more. Just do more of the right things.
For example, out of all of your negative behaviors, twenty percent of them will contribute to 80 percent of all of your hardship and misery. So working on just these 20 percent can greatly contribute to our personal growth.
Time management is another area where the rule can be very effective. If you have a lot of work to do, break it down to specific activities and figure out what twenty percent of the tasks listed contributes to eighty percent of the results you seek. Second, give your maximum concentration to those 20 percent tasks.
Also recognize that the numbers don’t have to be “20%” and “80%” exactly. The key point is that most things in life (effort, reward, output) are not distributed evenly - some contribute more than others. In fact most things are not 1:1, where each unit of “input” (effort, time) contributes exactly the same amount of output. But what about fitness training? How can we use the Pareto Principle?
Understand that training methods and exercise selection fall under the same rules - 20% of your activities are responsible for 80% of your results.In other words - if you did ten sets of deadlifts - it's likely that you would get 80% of that benefit with only two sets - the law of diminishing returns.
Big, compound exercises recruit more muscle, allow you to use more load and burn more calories than isolation exercises - build your program around them. Identify the effective 20%. For example - Rep for rep - a deadlift or a squat out-performs most other exercises - make sure they are in your program first.
A 30 minute full-body workout performed three times per week - that includes squats, deadlifts, presses and rows will easily be 80% as effective as any other routine that you can think of.
If you keep rest periods short during resistance training- the body doesn't really know that you're not doing cardio. 60s rest periods with full body workouts can reduce the need for direct cardio work.
If you do want to add cardio -minute for minute - interval training burns more calories, increases masimum oxygen uptake and increases EPOC more than steady state work- build your cardio program around interval work.
Lastly however, don’t think the Pareto Principle means only do 20% of the work needed and be happy with 80% of the result.
It may be true that 80% of a bridge is built in the first 20% of the time, but you still need the rest of the bridge in order for it to work--The Pareto Principle is an observation of effectiveness, not a law.
When you are seeking top quality, you need all 100%. When you are trying to optimize your bang for the buck however, focusing on the critical 20% is an excellent tool. See what activities generate the most results and give them your appropriate attention. With a little effort, and the application of the 80-20 rule, we can save a lot of our emotional and physical energy and concentrate on stuff that really matters."

Recommended conditioning equipment

So few use them but I'd rate the Step Mill and Air Dyne bikes as my top 2 choices for "cardio" equioment. Most gyms have the former and you'll notice NO ONE uses them because they are challenging. Imagine that! Many gyms don't have the latter, but should.

So I was of course psyched to see a couple diff. fitness articles in Thursday's Globe. One (http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/weddings/articles/2008/03/27/and_the_bride_said_ughhh/) was about bridal boot camps. They're such a hot item especially now that spring (wedding season) is officially upon us. I knew of a couple places (Sports Club LA and Total Sports Performance) who offered these programs, but didn't know Yolanda's marketed one as well. Anyway, so I'm on the computer tonight finishing a few things for tomorrow and I decide to check out the photos (http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/weddings/gallery/bootcamp/) at all the places that do the bridal programs. Is it me, or is Yolanda's a complete "fluff" workout?!?! All I see is girls doing crunches on Swiss Balls with ridiculously light weights. If you know me and my training philosophy, you know that my biggest pet peeve is when girls/women use weights that are too light. We know challenging weights don't build huge muscles, they build strength and bring out the muscle tone we're all after. Long story short, stick to the challenging workouts I prescribe and avoid the pink dumbbells I always curse:(http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/archive/x1998361725).

The Yin Yang Angle

Scott Peltin is a nationally recognized wellness and performance coach whose work I thoroughly enjoy. Here is a piece of a recent article of his I liked a lot about the Yin and the Yang:

"In tai-chi, Yin is the feminine energy and is what you receive. Yang is the masculine energy and is what you give. The belief is that both must be in balance in order for you to find harmony and prosper. In practical terms, this could mean you need to give compliments to others but you must also be able to receive compliments. You must speak your truth but you must also listen to the truth of others. You must work but you must also rest. These are some of the key concepts we have shared with you at this site, and it is amazing to see how they are universally true. The next time you think of high performance think of the Yin and Yang -- and be sure you're in balance."

Stop obsessing over your body weight

Rather, focus on things like:

-how you feel mentally
-how your clothes fit
-improving the quantity and quality of sleep
-optimizing your body composition (via gains in lean muscle and fat loss)


I hate hearing when people (yes I've had clients who do this) weigh themselves every day. It's not worth obsessing over.

Live life as it comes

Life has a beautiful rhythm and pace. Live it as it comes.
If you try to outrun life, you miss much of its beauty. Instead of racing ahead to cover more ground, see the treasures that are right here and now.

Rather than resenting or regretting what has already happened, focus your thoughts on the good you can do in this moment. There are plenty of opportunities when you choose to see them.

If you're constantly chasing life, the best of it eludes you. Decide to do a little less pursuing and a lot more enjoying.

You cannot do all of this week's breathing, or eating, or sleeping in just one day. There's plenty of time to get everything done if you'll just stop wasting so much effort on jumping ahead.

Seek to live in harmony with the rhythm and flow of life. Live life as it comes, and it will come to you in great abundance.

-- Ralph Marston

Ak Mak crackers

Only $1.99 @ Trader Joe's! They're delicious with a light spread of almond butter. Here's the nutrition profile:


Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 5 crackers = 1 oz.(28.35g)
Serving per Container 4 (4.15 oz = 20 crackers)
Calories per Serving = 16 Calories from Fat = 20
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% Daily Value*

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Total Fat 2.27g 3%
Saturated Fat 0.48g 2%
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 213.55mg (0.21355g) 9%
Total Carbohydrate 19g 6%
Dietary Fiber 3.50g 14%
Sugars 2.28g
Protein 4.61g

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Iron 6%

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Ingredients: 100% stone ground "Whole of the Wheat" flour, water clover honey, sesame oil, dairy butter, sesame seeds, yeast and salt.


Check 'em out and let me know what you think!

Buffalo burgers

I HIGHLY recommend Trader Joe's "Buffalo Steak Burgers." They are less than 5 bucks, and come in a package of 4 frozen patties. A local place I get take-out from charges $6 for ONE. Buffalo meat is leaner than ground beef, has less fat, and more protein. Try 'em out and let me know what you think.

50 Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

Good article here woth checking out:

http://www.thriftymommy.com/50-ways-save-money-on-your-grocery-bill/

Good cool-down song from the Foo Fighters

Recommended snack

My new fav. snack is the following concoction I make whenever I have a sweet craving. It's a GREAT alternative to ice cream or any other unhealthy treats. In a cereal or small salad bowl, mix the following:

• 1C Trader Joe's Greek Style plain yogurt
  
• 1C blueberries
  
• 1/4C sliced almonds


• Pinch of Stevia Extract

Total nutrient breakdown is as follows: 476 calories, 18g protein, 23,5g sugar [14.4 coming from blueberries], 6.5g fiber. *Note, for lower caloric needs, simply reduce size of yogurt to 1/2C and almonds to 1/8C*

Surging cost of groceries

Good article in today's Globe on the rising costs of frocery shopping. Check it out here:
http://www.boston.com/business/personalfinance/articles/2008/03/09/surging_costs_of_groceries_hit_home/

Juno

Finally got to see "Juno" this weekend. Great flick. Here are two songs from the movie I really liked:

Jeff Healey

In case you missed it (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obit_healey), Jeff Healey passed away last Sunday in Toronto after a lifelong battle with retinal cancer. One of my all-time favorite songs was "Angel Eyes" by his band. Check it out here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=QYz_LHKrgDY

March Nutrition Choice of the Month

Haven't read my Nutrition Choice for this month yet? Check it out here: http://www.pcconditioning.com/nutrition.php

Great win for my Celtics tonight

Nice pre-game shots of KG and Bill Russell:

Food is not the enemy

Great article from nutritonist Amanda Carlson of Core Performance I wanted to share with you. Enjoy:

FOOD IS NOT THE ENEMY

It is, in fact, our very good friend

By Amanda Carlson

Food is not the enemy. In fact, you should view nutrition as your training partner. Proper nutrition not only fuels your body for every training session; it also ensures proper recovery.Don't look at food as something that adds pounds onto your frame and seconds onto your time. If you think you need enormous amounts of food to maintain your size, think again. Others of you may think nutrition has nothing to do with your training or performance.Fueling your body optimally will increase your energy levels, enhance the quality of your training, help you to get the most out of each of your training days, improve your hormone profile, decrease inflammation, and decrease your chance of overuse injury.It is worth reiterating. You must begin to view nutrition as your training partner, your essential tool to optimizing your health, your training, and your performance.We spend so much time strengthening, stretching, and training to achieve a body that is in balance. But, what does a body is in balance look like on the inside? There are many amazing athletes who, on the outside look like they have the ultimate body in balance. They train hard day in and day out, they are lean and they are competitive. However, with one look inside, you may find that this picture of perfection is actually on the brink of a complete meltdown. By not fueling the body properly, the environment created on the inside is one of chaos. By not giving the body the correct fuel that it needs, it becomes catabolic or in breakdown mode.When the body becomes catabolic, it begins mobilizing fuel from inefficient sources like muscle. When the body is not fueled properly it is also in a constant state of stress. Your cortisol:testosterone ratio is out of whack as a result of increased cortisol (nasty stress hormone) and decreased testosterone (building hormone). The microscopic damage to the muscle never really gets a chance to fully heal. Your resting heart rate may increase and you may have decreased endurance and power. This unbalanced state sets the body up for a greater risk for sickness, fatigue, depression, inflammation, injury, loss of competitive drive, and ultimately underperformance.Proper nutrition is one of the tools that can be used to put the body back into balance after training and prevent the chaos that can occur with prolonged insufficient nutritional habits. Ensuring you are getting enough calories and all of your nutrients each day will allow the body to run efficiently and energy stores to be full.Engaging in a pre- and/or post-workout nutrition routine after each workout will help to restore your body's hormone profiles to normal, refuel your body, and jumpstart the recovery and repair of the body. Proper nutrition day in and day is one way to prevent the body from slipping into a spiral of overtraining and injury risk. Proper nutrition is one way that you can control to enhance your health and performance.Below you will find some simple rules to live by to ensure you are on the road to optimal nutrition, optimal health, and optimal performance.

10 NUTRITION RULES TO LIVE BY

1. COME BACK TO EARTH!!! Try to choose the least processed forms of food. Fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

2. Eat BREAKFAST every day!

3. Eat smaller portions more often, spread evenly across the day. No excuses -- you should be eating 5-8 meals/day!

4. Stay HYDRATED (.6 x body weight = ounces of water per day) by drinking only non-caloric beverages (water/green tea).

5. Include a LEAN protein source with each meal.

6. Choose foods, especially carbs, rich in FIBER (25-35g/day).

7. Add a multivitamin with anti-oxidant complex and an omega 3/omega 6 blend into your daily routine.

8. Eat fruits or vegetables with each meal. Green vegetables are key!!!

9. Drink a mixture of carbohydrate and protein before and/or after your workout.

10. Last, but not least. Get some rest. The body recovers and repairs when it is sleeping.

Random Fitness Tips

My suggestions/random thoughts for today include the following:

• Perform a Total Body Workout 3 Times Per Week- I hate when I ask people what they did at the gym for their workout and they answer with "chest, back, and biceps." Rather, when I ask what you worked, your answer should be something like "Everything." Total body workouts are more fun, I've found, and challenge you more than isolative-type workouts.


• Consume 5-6 meals per day and eat protein and vegetables at each meal.


• Get 7-9 hours sleep EVERY night. There's nothing worse than feeling sluggish during the day or worse yet, right when you are about to work out. Rest and recovery, in my mind, still remain the most overlooked and underappreciated components of a successful fitness plan.


• Keep records of all your workouts. It's encouraging to look back and see the progress you've made whether it be the amount of weight you can lift, your % of body fat decreasing, or even the intensity of conditioning you can now handle.

The Magic of Compounding

Yes I know this blog entry has nothing to do with fitness or nutrition, but if you know me well, you know I like reading about investing/finance. Anyway, here's an awesome stat I found in Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine:

If you start saving $100/month at age 22 and earn an 8% rate of return until you're 65, you'll have...$450,478.

If you wait only 10 years later and begin the same approach above, but start at age 32, you'll only amass $194,654!

Incredible stuff. Now stop reading my blog and go fund your IRA! :-)