I was going back over the MDA archives this week, thinking about what went right and what went wrong with past posts. There are always going to be regrets when looking at past work, whatever its nature. That’s just how these things work.
But this is the internets, not print, and I can quickly hop in and make changes to the past with just a few keystrokes. Or, I can write an honest appraisal of my previous transgressions and come up with a post of restitution. This is that post of restitution. Today, I’m admitting that my last post on cowpooling was a bit lean. It’s not that I trimmed the fat; it’s that the fat was never even there in the first place (hmm, old Cordain might agree). Consider this post a dollop of grass fed butter in the pan that is MDA’s cowpooling content, perhaps even after deglazing all […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

I participated in a roundtable on Jamie Hale’s site a while ago. The topic was whether it mattered much if people ate clean (non-processed whole foods) or dirty (refined foods) during a diet assuming a caloric deficit was in place. Here’s my input:
—
“From a purely physiological standpoint, it probably doesn´t matter if you’re including foods in your diet that may be labeled unclean by the generic bodybuilder. As long as protein remains a constant, there won’t be any measurable differences in fat loss in the short term when comparing two diets where the rest would be made up by either “clean” or “unclean foods.”
There might be some long-term effects on body composition on a diet where fat and carbohydrate food choices are the worst possible (think trans fats and high fructose corn syrup), but these extremes aren’t relevant to the discussion in this context. I don´t think any competing […]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Berkhan)

I recently received an email question from a knowledge-hungry reader.
Mark,
I’m becoming VERY interested in learning how the body works; what happens when we eat carbohydrates, the effects of antioxidants, etc. I was given a good introduction in “Good Calories, Bad Calories” and of course the 3rd chapter in your book, where you talk about insulin, or even your article “what happens when you carb binge”. Wikipedia and Google help me to a certain point, but I soon become overwhelmed; it’s hard to put everything together… where do I go from there?

Great question. Yeah, Google is a godsend, but it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, especially when a top 10 Google search ranking doesn’t necessarily indicate quality of content so much as it indicates the effectiveness of a site’s search engine optimization (although it doesn’t hurt to have both…). And a quick peek into the […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

It has begun.
The Health Habits – Facebook Workout Group (I need to get a shorter name for this) has their first workouts up and posted on the HH Facebook Fan Page.
So, if your new Year’s Resolution was to drop 20 lbs and get into the best shape of your life, sign up for the group, print out the workout and get to transforming that bod of yours.

It’s free
It’s better than any workout you are going to find in any fitness magazine or book (guaranteed)
And it’s been melting fat off my clients like crazy

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Original post by healthhabits

I typically don't make new year's resolutions, but one thing I would love to be able to do is the one arm push up. When I first started lifting the big goal was to bench press 225 pounds for reps (because I thought it looked cool to have two 45 pound plates on each side of the bar). I reached that goal in a short period of time and it felt good, but it is not even close to impressive as doing full-range one arm push ups. In fact, I would guess there are more guys who can bench press 315 pounds (three 45's per side) than men or women who can do 5 full-range one arm push ups. I want to become one of those people.

[We will talk about steps to progressively build up strength to be able to do one arm push ups. One of the steps is […]

Original post by admin

Shortly before and after New Year’s Eve, there’s always a slew of articles and blog posts about how to train and burn off the holiday pounds. They mostly preach the same message about taking it easy and not overdoing it. It’s such a tired and boring topic, so I’ll spare you that. Last year around this time I wrote an article about how people fail their New Year’s resulotions. You might wan’t to check that out if you need some general advice about how not to approach your training and diet in 2010. This time I’ll talk about something different.
CheckpointsI never feel the need to do any post-holiday dieting. I prefer to look awesome every day and not just three months of the year like many people I know. One of my secrets to staying in shape at all times of the year is a little concept I call “checkpoints”. […]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Berkhan)

Hey people here is a good explination of the HIIT protocol which we use in our classes…hee heee but of course we also add the super secret Tabata Protocol to make for a wild ride and fun class. Enjoy Karens explination!…See you in class!

-Darrin

Author: Karen Whittaker

In recent times, there has been a lot of speculation surrounding the benefits of HIIT, also known as high intensity interval training. To begin with, HIIT refers to continuous bouts of both low and high intensity exercise done for a set period of time. The entire training session usually lasts no more than 20 minutes.

Example of HIIT

An example of a HIIT workout would be to start off with a 3 to 4 minute warm-up. This warm-up would be followed by 30 seconds of running hard at the fastest pace you can attain and then 60 – 90 seconds of light jogging or walking for recovery. This is called the interval. The interval is repeated for an average of 6 – 10 times (depending on your level of fitness). The workout ends with a 3 to 4 minute cool-down.

Maximum Cardio Benefit in Minimal Time

Several studies have found that the benefits of HIIT are far reaching and long lasting when compared to other cardio workouts, including long distance sprinting. According to one study, 2.5 hours of rigorous HIIT training extends the same benefits that are found after 10.5 hours of long distance training.

Turn Your Body Into a Fat Burning Furnace

In a study done at the University of Guelph in Canada, participants were monitored over a 2 week period to determine the affect of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on the body’s ability to burn fat. The study found that this sort of training dramatically improved the fat and carbohydrate burning process within the body. Results were seen during and after exercising. This has a direct impact on your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which is a measurement of how many calories your body burns while you are resting. In other words, HIIT significantly increases your metabolism. Compared to steady paced cardio, your body will burn more fat during a HIIT session and will continue burning at this high rate for up to 24 hours afterwards. So, in the hours following your workout, while you are watching your favorite reality television show, your body will still be in fat burning overdrive. This is one of my favorite benefits of HIIT.

Improve Your Endurance and Stamina

A HIIT (high intensity interval training) session also significantly improves your endurance and stamina. The maximum oxygen amount that one can take in during an exercise session or during sports is called the VO2 max. High intensity interval training (HIIT) has the ability to drastically increase an individual’s VO2 peak, which enables the person to perform all sorts of physical activities for a longer span of time. Someone who may struggle to run on a treadmill for more than 5 minutes will notice a huge improvement after engaging in HIIT for a few weeks. In a study published by the Journal of Applied Physiology, participants doubled their endurance after just 2 weeks of engaging in HIIT. When one of my nephews first tried running, he was convinced that he could last for at least 15 minutes. After 5 minutes, he was ready to collapse. After a few months of high intensity interval training, whereby he alternated sprinting and walking on the treadmill, he can now run for approx. 20 minutes straight. This is another one of the key benefits of HIIT.

No More Boring Steady Paced Cardio

Another one of the core benefits of HIIT is that it breaks the monotony of typical, steady-paced cardio workouts. Some of us struggle to workout on a regular basis. When we finally drag ourselves into the gym to squeeze in a workout, we read, listen to music, cover the timer with a towel, or find other creative ways to help those agonizing and boring 30 minutes pass. High intensity interval training sessions require you to spend much less time exercising. Additionally, there is an element of excitement that is introduced when you are going back and forth between running and walking or jumping jacks and squat thrusts, or whatever combination you choose. You are also constantly pushing and challenging yourself throughout the workout so that you make it through the various intervals. Before you know it, you are done. Upon finishing, you feel a strong sense of pride because you have just completed the kind of workout that some hardcore athletes perform. Your body will love you for this.

Whether you want to lose weight, maintain your existing weight, or improve your cardiovascular fitness, high intensity interval training will definitely get you closer to your goals. The benefits of HIIT are many and have long term desirable effects. Be sure to consult a physician before beginning any exercise program.

You can view more examples of HIIT sessions here.

About the Author:

Additional diet and exercise articles by Karen Whittaker can be found on the FatBlastZone website.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Many Benefits of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

Yesterday I challenged you to estimate my body fat percentage by looking at a recent picture. To be scientific about this little exercise I chose to reference as the correct answer the results of the “gold standard” hydrostatic weighing I had subjected myself to at the Malibu gym (it was actually a specialized truck that shows up once a year and performs the intricate and expensive underwater weighing tests for $60 each). 317 of you took a stab at guessing from the photo of me. It’s clear to me that many of you are quite good at estimating actual body fat levels (the average guess was 6.7%), but Gwen, anticipating the tenor of today’s post, took the prize with the closest guess at 12.5%… Ironically, that was also the highest guess of all and yet it was still a full 4 percentage points lower than what the actual “gold standard” […]

Original post by Mark Sisson