Thursday 16 October 2008

Spend Less, Lose Weight!

Sounds too good to be true doesn't it? Sounds like a slogan for a late night infomercial selling magic powders guaranteed to help you lose weight for only 6 easy payments of $599.99 each doesn't it?

Well, read on - because I have a fool proof way to help you shed the pounds, whilst keeping some green in your pocket. Be forewarned that this is nothing but a strategy to help control caloric intake, so it's not rocket science. 

The Step-by-Step Guide to Losing Weight and Saving Money
1. Take a look at your grocery bill from last week - how much did you spend?

2. Assuming you are only buying for yourself, use this as a rough guide:
150lbs - spend no more that $55
175lbs -spend no more than $65-70
200lbs - spend no more than $70-75

3. Now, the next time you go to the grocery store, allow yourself to only spend that amount on food - do not go over. This amount doesn't include any supplements you might fancy. 

4. Now, in addition to monetary restrictions, you are allowed only to buy the following general items:
Lean meats
Lean dairy products
Colorful veggies
Fruits (especially berries)
Chocolate (as long as it's dark - 70% cocoa or higher should be adequate)
Tea (green tea preferred)
Bottled water
Beans and lentils

5. If you feel you are overweight, absolutely no starchy carbohydrates are allowed. That means no potatoes, pastas, breads, etc. If you are trying to put on weight, only complex carbohydrates are allowed. 

That's it. Simple isn't it? The concept here is simple - you can't eat what you don't have. Stop buying more than you need and your body will reflect this change; and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll see a difference (2-3 weeks). This works best if you're following a sound exercise program that helps you keep muscle and burn fat. Soon as I have some time, I'll post up a couple of workouts that you can use to get you started. If you're in a hurry, there's plenty here to get the ball rolling so look at some past posts. For a lot of you, spending that amount of money may seem ridiculous as you're used to spending a lot more - but give it a shot and you won't be disappointed. After that, whether you decide to stick with this is upto you. For others, the prices I've listed above may even be too high, so you'll have to individualize it. 

Let me know how it goes.

Saturday 11 October 2008

The Interim Workouts

I haven't been able to start a proper program for a while because of my move, so I've been slapping some stuff together. To give you an idea..

#1.
Weighted pull ups - 6 sets x 3 reps
Rest ~90s

Circuit (4 sets):
Step ups 10 reps/side
BW Dips 20 reps
Swiss ball crunches 12
Reverse crunches 6

#2.
Back squat 3 sets x 5 reps
Pistol squat 3 sets x 8-10 reps
Alternating plank 60s
Rest 120s 

Unilateral flat DB press 3 sets x 10 reps
Diamond push ups 3 sets x 15 reps
Dynamic Side bridges 3 sets x 15 reps/side

#3.
Rowing ergometer Tabata
5 min warmup
20s hard
10s easy
Repeat 8 times

Rest 5 mins

Repeat again.

#4.
Box jumps
Depth jumps (focus on plantar flexion - or pushing off with my toes)
Jump lunges

#5.
HIIT sprints:
60m sprint
walk back to starting line
Repeat 8-10x

Few notes:
I lifted heavy; I omitted isolation work since my major focus was just to keep muscle; I threw in some speed work here and there lest I turn into a turtle; I kept it simple.

Saturday 4 October 2008

Interview with a Physiotherapist

Oops. You did it again. You've gone and scrapped that knee - that precious knee. You're sitting at the computer reading this post as you intermittently massage away at the throbbing pain. So the question is, who do you see about this? With all the people out there claiming they can kiss your pains away with pixie dust, who's the best man for this job?


Well for those of you thinking about physiotherapy, this one's for you. During my stint at Totum Life Science, I worked with Mary-Catherine Fraser Saxena, a sharp woman with two of the most adorable kids I've ever seen and a wily husband who moonlights as a chef. In any case, I had the idea to get her voice on Gymnazein, so I shot MC an email and here's what she had to say. 


So what's your name and what do you do again?

Mary-Catherine Saxena, and I'm a physiotherapist who works in an out-patient orthopedic setting.


Has physiotherapy been around since the Dark Ages?

Pretty much...it began in earnest after the WWI and WWII, helping soldiers recover from their injuries.  Throughout the 1950's and 60's, the universities taught a combined degree of physiotherapy and occupational therapy, and then you chose which vein you wanted to focus on in your practice.  Since the late 1960's or so, physiotherapy has been a bachelor degree.  More recently, programs are requesting a bachelor degree prior to admission, and then you graduate with a master's degree in physio.  In the US, more programs are shifting to a D.P.T. program, from which you come out with a doctorate in physical therapy.


Where were you educated? How long have you been practicing?

I did a four-year bachelor degree at the University of Ottawa, which is the only bilingual program in Canada.  I graduated in 1993.  In 2005, I completed a master's in Rehabilitation Science from the U of Toronto.  I have now been practicing for , gulp, 15 years!


How important would you say physiotherapy is in the larger framework of healthcare? Does it have ties with other healthcare professions/institutions?

The most visible part of the physiotherapy profession for the public at large are those of us working in out-patient clinical settings.  However, a large proportion of our profession continues to work in hospitals, in a variety of settings and varying levels of care.  You will find physios in tertiary care centers, assisting patients in the ICU with intubation and respiratory challenges.  In the neurological injury setting, physios play a large role in the post-stroke and post-spinal injury populations, from immmediate interventions to long-term rehabilitation.  As hospitals have downsized their out-patient clinics, therapists working in home care settings are creating an important bridge between the medical community and successful returns to independant living at home.

 

Physiotherapists work closely with physicians, surgeons, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists and psychologists to complete a patient's healthcare team and successfully return that person to an independant, mobile life.  We are the exercise and mobility specialists.


How is it different from what a GP does? A chiropractor? An osteopath?

A medical doctor can order radiological exams, interpret blood test results, prescribe medication and refer on to other specialists.  They are not skilled at doing differential diagnoses for musculoskeletal exams. For example, they can diagnose an ankle sprain, but are unlikely to be able to know if the talus is sitting forward in relation to the tibia as a result of the sprain.


A chiropractor can also order radiological exams, however they can not prescribe meds or refer to medical specialists.  Chiropractic medicine has it's basis in the subluxation model, and tends to use manipulation as a common approach to many ailments.  This, however, is changing...


An osteopath is also skilled in spinal and peripheral manipulation, however they have a deep belief that many ailments are due to changes in the craniosacral rhythm due to fascial and dural restrictions. 


Now let's get to the juicy bit. For those of us who have no idea, what sorts of problems do you treat?

At Totum Life Science in downtown Toronto, we see a variety of acute, sub-acute and chronic musculoskeletal injuries.

I would estimate a third of my clients have neck/shoulder issues, another third have knee issues, and the rest is a mix of lumbopelvis, TMJ, ankle, wrist and elbow.  Of these, approximately 25% are post-operative, meaning they are recovering ligament repairs, fractures, or arthroscopic surgeries.


Are your treatments based on scientific evidence or do you place a special potato on patients' heads through which you funnel your healing energy?

I am a big believer in evidence-based practice.  In fact, my master's thesis was looking at the use of clinical practice guidelines for knee osteoarthritis by physiotherapists in Ontario.  However, the dilemma in physio is that the evidence for many of the things that we do isn't there.  This is where the concept of 'clinical reasoning' must take over.  It's important to take the evidence that is available and incorporate it into your clinical decision making, and where there is no evidence, to use reason your way through why something should  or shouldn't work.  No potatoes required.


What sorts of problems don't you treat?

Due to the funding structure, I don't treat injured workers or many MVA patients. 


On average, how many treatments does it take to see noticeable difference? What does this depend on?

Unfortunately, the answer to this is 'it depends'.  The acuity of the injury, a client's history, the degree of the injury, the compliance of the client to follow through on their exercises...I would say a client should note a positive change from their treatment within the first 2 treatments.  One of the keys to successful rehab is frequent re-assessment;  if the initial approach isn't working, then a re-assessment is required to ensure that nothing was missed on the initial assessment.


What would you say are signs of a great physiotherapist - so we know what to look for?

Brown hair, 5'8"...kidding!  Look for someone who takes the time to listen to your history and takes a detailed account of factors contributing to your injury.  Be wary of someone who hands you a pre-printed exercise sheet used for all neck/low back patients without modifications for your specific condition.  Look for someone who provides 30 minute treatment sessions - this will ensure enough time for re-assessment, hands-on treatment and exercise prescription/modification/demonstration, as applicable.


And finally, would you be kind enough to divulge your training secrets to us - tell us how you keep in such incredible shape?

Haha...My own training?  Run 2-3X/week, weight-training 2-3X/ week, lots of core/medicine ball work and a yoga class thrown in when time allows.  Eat when you're hungry, avoid meat unless it's organic and of the best quality, and have a little chocolate every day.


And listen to whatever advice Varun gives me :) [I told her to say that]



If you live in the Greater Toronto Area and would like to contact Mary-Catherine, you may view her professional profile here and contact the King Street location to book your initial consultation.

Totum Life Science is a boutique gym and sports medicine facility offering a variety of services including physiotherapy, chiropractic, therapeutic massage (RMT), and acupuncture. 

Thursday 2 October 2008

The Six Pack: Part II

In order to get at a more defined midsection, we have to understand what's going on in there. That is, how do the muscles work and what general movements are they responsible for? Once this puzzle is put together, the task at hand is simple - perform those movements!

Remember that the body operates in 3 planes - front and back, side to side, and rotational.
If we were to apply that to our upper body, there must be muscles in there responsible for moving our torsos in each of those directions. So a good core training program manages to hit all planes of movement, thereby leaving out none of the muscles that give us the power of Adonis over women. Now think about what you've been doing for the past 10 years - crunches. If you notice, crunches only work one of these three planes, leaving you weak in two others. Someone's been a bad, bad boy. 

But, I'd imagine a lot of you are wondering where your precious planks fit into this little scheme. After all, everyone (including the great Stuart McGill himself) touts the benefit of the all-powerful plank for low back health. Well, planks are a form of core exercise that requires you to stabilize yourself against a resistance - in this case gravity. Stabilization exercises are extremely important because it teaches you to fire several muscles in the body in order to prevent the spine from collapsing. Some of the most strenuous (and effective) core exercises require this ability.

Enough Talk - Gimme Some'n to Do!
To be honest, I'm always a bit hesitant to put up exercise routines for the general public. I have no way of knowing your injury status, so before you start this, it would be advisable to consult a physical therapist or chiropractor to make sure none of these exercises are going to hurt you. 

"Bah!" you say? Then at the very least, attempt the following exercises; if you're able to complete them with no problem, go ahead and give the core workout a shot.

Plank - 2 mins (place a small water bottle or pilates ball on the small of your back - if it rolls off, you've failed the exercise and must start again)
Side plank - 1 min on each side
Bird-dog - 8 per side (again, with a bottle or ball on the small of your back; focus on keeping the hips stable)

Core workout - A
Perform 3 sets in a circuit fashion
Unilateral Overhead Lunge - this is a regular lunge, with a twist; with one hand, hold a weight overhead as you lunge 10 meters (per leg)






Inch Worm - 10 repetitions; begin with feet together, fingers in front of the toes, and legs almost locked out; walk out with your hands, keeping them in front of you; walk the legs in to meet the hands and repeat

Side planks or Dynamic Side bends (perform with upper body supported on bench and lower body on the floor); 12-15 repetitions per side

Reverse crunch - 12-15 repetitions per sidealways keep the knees bent at around 90°; while lowering the legs, keep the lower back flat on the ground as long as possible; reverse the motion when the feet almost touch the ground, or you feel your lower back arch - whichever comes first

Rest 90s between circuits

Perform this in conjunction with your regular workout (before or after is up to you - long as you finish it!).

Core Workout - B
Plank (place your elbows on a bosu/stability ball) - 1 min
Crunch with twist (bring elbow to opposite knee) - 1 min

Rest 60-90s and repeat for 4 sets; perform in a circuit fashion with no/minimal rest between exercises.

Final Words
You'll want to alternate between A and B workouts, performing it everytime you go in for a regular workout. However, if your workout takes 2 hours (in which case, we have to talk), it wouldn't be appropriate for you to add this in. Best idea would be to take a few hours (6-8) off and come back to finish it off. 

Breathing is of utmost importance during these exercises. Generally, try to (forcefully) breathe out all the air from your lungs during the muscle-shortening phase of the exercise. This exaggerates the contraction and elevates the amount of tension produced over the course of the set. That would be a good thing. So try it out, and let me know how it goes.

Good night and good luck.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

The Six-Pack: Part 1

One of the few things the male and female species seem to have in common is the need to forge that ever elusive, chiseled mid-section. A perfectly toned torso that makes your ex regret s/he ever left you for that multi-millionaire who saves Africa in his spare time. Yet when I look around the gym, I rarely see any exercises that truly impress me. For the past few years, all I've really seen are crunches, swiss ball crunches, sit ups, a few planks here and there, and finally some ridiculous bosu ball balancing nonsense.

So how do you train to tone the torso? What exercises do you use? What do you do differently from the rest of the flock to accelerate your progress?

Read on.

The Sit-Up
The traditional sit-up involves lying face up on the floor and drawing the chest up to the knees whilst keeping the feet on the ground (ideally); and on first glimpse this seems a perfectly appropriate exercise to train the rectus abdominis. But low back pain guru, Stuart McGill, put out a book a few years ago that explained the folly of the sit-up. Until this time, it was axiomatic that the sit-up stimulated the abdominals over any other muscle. Instead, it appeared that it was the hip flexors (iliacus and psoas) that seemed to perform the most work to move the subject from initial position to the...sit-upped...position.

Now, let's assume that you're quite motivated to get that six-pack and you're performing around 100-150 situps a day (on the low end I'm sure for a lot of people). Chronic contraction of a 'postural' muscle results in a shortened muscle. Let's compound this with the fact that most of you sit at a desk all day with your hips..you guessed it - flexed! Common sense will tell you that over time, you're going to get some serious problems in that area.

But McGill's argument wasn't even this. He said that during the sit-up, the hip flexors actually use the spine as leverage to heave the upper extremity into the upright position. I don't know much, but I know I don't want my spine used like that.

So the bottom line is this - the risk to benefit ratio for the sit-up exercise is high enough to scratch it from your arsenal. It doesn't target the muscles you want to and it actually hurts you at the same time.

In the next article, we'll go over exactly what you need to do and how you need to do it.

An Aside on Diet
For best results, follow healthy eating habits. If you have no idea what that might be, check out this article, or this site.
No supplements are required, but a proper whey protein powder is optional.