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Though my primal journey isn’t one of losing hundreds of pounds or overcoming disabling digestion issues, it is one where my life has unquestionably improved from the sweets-loving, chronic cardio lifestyle in which I was buried a few years ago.

As a three-sport athlete in high school, I was desperate for activity after not playing any sports in college. My sister, who is an avid runner, convinced me to take up the sport, and I loved it. I ran a marathon my senior year of college, and worked and worked to improve my half marathon time. Addicted to running, I ignored the small injuries that kept cropping up. My I.T. bands were tight to the point of disabling pain, my lower back was tired, and my knees ached consistently.

My girlfriend (now wife) and I took a cross-country bicycle trip where I hit my not-very-deep rock bottom. After a pre-dinner snack of an entire pack of Oreos (not an exaggeration) one or two times a week on the trip, I came back a pound heavier than when I left. My body composition had changed, but it seemed ridiculous to me to have worked that hard and gained fat. That was July, 2011, and I haven’t eaten any SAD desserts again (though thanks to Danielle Walker, I’ve enjoyed some paleo treats).

Chronic cardio was the only way that I knew to fight the slow, insidious weight gain of the SAD, and, as I now know, you can’t slowly outrun an unhealthy diet. Though I wasn’t terribly overweight, I was certainly gaining a pound or two a year because of my insatiable appetite for food and beer.

As my wedding approached, I went to talk to a personal trainer, and he recommended the paleo diet, some resistance training, and tabatas. After doing a bit of research, I found MDA. I began to nibble away (pun intended) at my bad habits. I would do a paleo month, and then I would revert to the SAD. Then I would live primally for a couple more months to see how it felt. I was able to see the benefits of going paleo, but I wasn’t ready to make a full commitment yet.

Finally, in July 2014 at 219 pounds and drinking a borderline ridiculous amount of IPAs, I decided to go primal for a longer stretch. My wife and I were about to leave on a trip to Iceland and the U.K., and I decided to eat thoughtfully on that whole trip. That iteration was more ketogenic than paleo, with lots of full fat dairy products and not many vegetables or fruits. Six days into the new lifestyle, my wife and I both noticed a physical difference. Although I had no specific sickness to overcome, my face was definitely thinner, and I was losing fat quickly. When we got home from the trip, I realized that I felt better and that sticking to this “diet” was what I wanted to do. The fat loss continued as the beginnings of some abs started to appear for the first time in my life.

More interesting, however, was a mental acuity that I hadn’t even known was absent. I was better able to focus on whatever task was at hand, I began making the choice to meditate and play guitar every day, and I drank (and, more importantly, wanted to drink) less.

Another byproduct of the lifestyle is I have become obsessed with cooking and sourcing my food. My college roommate operates a livestock farm in Rhode Island called Wild Harmony Farm, and his meat and eggs are (in my humble opinion) the best in New England. Rather than hummus, whole grains, and fruit, the mainstays of my diet are leafy greens, whatever other vegetables I can get my hands on, bacon, beef, and pork chops straight from the farm. My kitchen has become a place to express creativity and partake in a borderline meditative practice. Wild Harmony Farm has given me the chance to butcher a slaughtered pig, and I have a chest freezer in the basement full of the healthiest food I can imagine.

Admittedly, I began living primally with the goal of LGN. Whatever it takes, right? However, in retrospect, it has infiltrated every part of my life, as I feel more present and happier. I am gratefully in a cycle where making healthy choices begets making more healthy choices.

My last physical revealed that my cholesterol ratios are fantastic, my doctor (who, miraculously, is also paleo) was pleased with my choices, and I had dropped 30 pounds without starving myself or even feeling hungry.

I still don’t have a six pack (a two pack maybe?), but I can tell there are muscles there now. I am not tempted to eat sugary foods or desserts anymore, and though I occasionally want a beer, and even less occasionally indulge, those cravings have largely gone away, because I have broken my sugar addiction.

Even more importantly, the lure of addictive substances has decreased as my sense of well-being has increased. I am not denying myself instant gratification. I simply no longer find “cheat” foods gratifying.

The primal lifestyle hasn’t been a hugely dramatic story for me. I felt okay before, and I feel better now. I was heavy but not obese before, and I am lighter and healthier now. Simply put, this lifestyle has made me eat, exercise, and live with a bit more joy and purpose. Can’t ask for too much more than that!

Sam

http://www.thekitchn.com/feedburnermain

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Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

You may well be familiar with training regimes that mix a timetable of lower intensity endurance sessions with higher intensity intervals. But how do you choose what length intervals and rest periods you should use?

I will show you a very simple way of creating an interval-based turbo session that will simulate your favorite (or least favorite) race course.

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Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

You may well be familiar with training regimes that mix a timetable of lower intensity endurance sessions with higher intensity intervals. But how do you choose what length intervals and rest periods you should use?

I will show you a very simple way of creating an interval-based turbo session that will simulate your favorite (or least favorite) race course.

read more

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Shaving reps and doing incomplete movements is common in CrossFit WODs. Cumulating evidence suggests that we have a “fudge factor” – the level where we feel comfortable in bending the rules. Let’s look at what type of situations influence our fudge factor, and what we can do to promote more honest behavior.
 

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Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Shaving reps and doing incomplete movements is common in CrossFit WODs. Cumulating evidence suggests that we have a “fudge factor” – the level where we feel comfortable in bending the rules. Let’s look at what type of situations influence our fudge factor, and what we can do to promote more honest behavior.
 

read more

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https://www.girlsgonestrong.com/

Hi Ann! I have a question for you. My hamstrings are always so tight. I stretch them every day, but I don’t seem to be making any progress. They seem to be much tighter since I had my first baby last year. Sometimes I even get pain that feels like a pulled muscle. What do you think I should do?

Thanks!

Amy

Hi Amy! Thanks for your question. I get this question a lot from folks who are concerned about hamstring strains and low back pain with hamstring “tightness.” Before we talk about what is happening and what to do about it, let’s review the anatomy of the hamstrings.

The hamstrings are actually made up of three muscles, the semimembranosis, semitendinosis, and the long and short head of the biceps femoris. The hamstrings cross two joints, the hip and the knee. They originate at the ischial tuberosity (sit bones) and insert onto the two lower leg bones, the tibia and fibula.

These muscles flex (bend) the knee, and all but the short head of the biceps femoris extend (straighten) the hip. Semitendinosis and semimembranosis also medially (inwardly) rotate the lower leg when the knee is bent.

Both the short and long heads of the biceps femoris laterally (outwardly) rotate the lower leg when the knee is bent.

We know that muscles that cross two joints are often at higher risk of injury. When the hamstrings contract eccentrically (contract while lengthening), they slow down the rate of knee extension. Some evidence suggests that the hamstrings are most vulnerable during late swing phase of running, when hamstring function changes from eccentric to concentric activation (have you ever seen a sprinter sustain a hamstring injury and immediately have to stop running?)

Causes of hamstring injuries are as individual as the person who sustains the injury. They can include sprinting hard, trying to slow down rapidly, kicking a ball, overstretch tears (such as slipping on something on the floor and landing with your leg outstretched), and lack of stability in the muscles around the pelvis.

It is important to differentiate between a truly short muscle and a “tight” muscle. A true shortening of the muscle fibers is a structural issue, often caused by prolonged immobilization or lack of movement (think of how muscles are shortened when you get out of a cast). I see this sometimes in my patients who are non-weight bearing for several weeks after an injury or surgery. After walking around with their knee flexed, the hamstrings have actually shortened a bit, and we refer to this as a contracture.

On the other hand, “tightness” is a neuromusculoskeletal issue. When the brain perceives a lack of stability elsewhere, it sends a message through the nervous system to increase tone in the hamstrings as a protective response. This increased tone often makes us believe that we need to stretch the muscle, when in reality, your nervous system may just be seeking more stability in the joints around the hamstrings.

As always, it’s best to see a local physical therapist for an evaluation if you are having pain. Your physical therapist will examine you to determine the possible causes of your pain and dysfunction, and work with you to develop an appropriate treatment plan. Since you mentioned that you recently had a baby, I would be inclined to fully evaluate your abdomen, low back, and pelvic floor to determine if a lack of strength or motor timing in those muscles might be contributing to the increased tone in your hamstrings.

In your case, in addition to my evaluation of your hamstrings, I would assess:

• Your abdomen for rectus diastasis (a gap between the abdominal muscles or a decrease in the quality of the connective tissue joining the two halves of the rectus abdominus).
• Your ability to properly engage your pelvic floor muscles without relying on overflow of muscle contraction from the glutes, hamstrings and adductors.
• Your ability to integrate the diaphragm, deep abdominals, and pelvic floor muscles.
• The movement of your thoracic and lumbar spine.

The information I gather from the evaluation listed above would help me to develop an appropriate treatment plan for you. This may include stretching such as the following:

Thomas Stretch, Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch, Supine Hamstring Stretch

 

And strengthening exercises such as the following:

Stability Ball Leg Curls, Single-Leg Romanian Deadlifts, Nordic Hamstring Curls

 

Additionally, we would work to integrate your breathing and pelvic floor function with each of the exercises, in order to improve the function of your deep central stability system.

I hope this information is helpful, and if you would like to find a physical therapist near you, you can do so here.

What’s Next

We strongly recommend including injury prevention strategies in your training program to address mobility, stability, and overall movement.

If you’d like to learn more, check out our Modern Woman’s Injury Prevention Handbook, which includes exercises you can do in less than 10 minutes, before your workout or any time.

Originally Posted At: https://breakingmuscle.com/feed/rss

Note: Charles is here on a weekly basis to help you cut through the B.S. and get to the bottom of the biggest questions in health and training. Post your questions directly to Charles in the comments below this article.

Question #1: Should I Use a Scale?

READER: What’s your take on using the scale to monitor body composition? In other words, do you use it at all, and if so, how frequently do you recommend?

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