4 Foods You Should NEVER Eat

You know what foods are good for you… but do you know what foods you should absolutely, never eat? These foods aren’t just artery-clogging… they’re horrible for your overall health and well-being. So do whatever you can to stay clear.



Trans-Fat. This is known as a complete heart killer. It’s a man made fat (hydrogenated oils) originally designed to increase the shelf-life of most foods (think peanut butter, margarine, cookies, etc.) Health organizations all agree that no more than 2 grams of trans fats should be consumed per day. Why? It’s linked to increasing LDL or “bad” cholesterol… it increases triglycerides… and causes inflammation. Basically, it’s a power-packed artery blocker. So make sure you read ALL food labels. Make sure there are no trans fats. Also, look in the ingredients. If it says “hydrogenated oil” then don’t buy it. Even though the label says it is free of trans fats, it still contains them due to the hydrogenated oils in the ingredients.

Margarine. Avoid this one, since it has trans fats and is not good for you. You’re better off eating real butter. Avoid the marketing hype that it’s good for your heart. It’s not.

“Chinese” Food. What we here in America call Chinese food is absolutely horrible for you. It’s loaded with MSG (a form of salt) and boatloads of fat. The sodium content alone will provide you with about a week’s worth of the recommended daily allowance. If you absolutely love it, I’d recommend having it no more than once a month.

Diet Soda. Believe it or not, these calorie-free concoctions can actually make you fat! A study at Purdue University found evidence that the artificial sweeteners used may mess with your body’s metabolism, inducing you to overeat! Either way, you should probably just stick to water and tea. And if you absolutely must have soda, have the sugary kind… but sparingly!

How Many Of These Toxins Are In YOUR Body?



Did you know that your body gets exposed to HUNDREDS of toxins every day?




If you’ve ever wondered where that headache came from… or why your mood sometimes swings… or why you can’t seem to think clearly, it’s probably because these toxins made their way into your bloodstream — without you even realizing it.



It’s scary, I know. The worst part is these toxins can be found everywhere. In the water you drink… the food you eat… even on the clothes you wear. Where do they come from? Practically everything — the chemicals used to make plastics… vinyl… laundry detergent… household cleaners, you name it.



Seeing how big of a problem this is, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) set out to see just how big a threat these toxins are…



And in one study, they analyzed the blood of newborns in American Hospitals. The scanned these newborn blood samples for KNOWN and hazardous metals and chemicals (some used in “heavy” industries)…



They found 287 DIFFERENT toxic metals and chemicals in the newborns’ blood.



Of course, the babies got it through their mom’s bloodstreams… which means that toxic pollutants are everywhere. What’s more, they have a very easy time getting absorbed through your skin.



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also knows how prevalent these toxins are. In one study, they took blood and urine samples of 2,400 people. They found around 215 toxic pollutants in

These pollutants include everything from lead, mercury, pesticides, to aluminum and the fire retardant BDE-47.



That’s why it’s so important to detox your body on a regular basis. Detoxing leads to increased energy, a strengthened immune system, less allergies and more efficient fat-burning.



Here are 4 ways you can detox naturally and avoid getting these toxins in your bloodstream in the first place...



1, Reduce your exposure to plastics and heavy cleaners. Heating your food in plastic containers, for example causes the release of PCBs which then leak into your food. If you’re cleaning the house, use “natural” cleaners that are not laden with heavy chemicals to do the job, as these can seep into your skin.



2. Eat cruciferous veggies. These are veggies like broccoli, kale, cauliflower and bok-choy. They contain compounds that help regulate the negative hormonal effects toxins can have on your body.



3. Milk thistle. You can find this at any health food store. It is believed to help cleanse your liver (which is highly important for great overall health.)



4. Chlorella. This usually comes in powder form. You can find it at your local health food store as well. Chlorella is special, in that it literally “grabs” onto heavy, toxic metals in your bloodstream and “flushes” them out, through a process known as chelation.



This Spring, don’t just clean your house. Clean out your body!

The straight truth and nothing but the truth about gaining muscle part 3



Here is the final piece on my gaining muscle series. 

You are eating right and hitting the gym hard but is that all there is to it??

No you also have to make sure you are doing everything possible to maximize recovery which equals maximum muscle gain. 

So here is a quick laundry list of other activities to help you improve your results.


Sleep at least 7 hours a night-Sleep is where the majority of recovery occurs. Too many Americans lack in this department.   This is where you can optimize your hormonal environment for muscle growth. Deep sleep promotes increased growth hormone production. Higher growth hormone leads to more muscle mass and less bodyfat.    Lack of sleep affects performance on the gym and increases cortisol levels which will sabotage your muscle gaining efforts.

Here are some tips to help you enjoy a more restful sleep

• Not TV or computer near bed time they stimulate your brain to relax it.  Try reading before bed instead.
•  Eliminate noise and light
• Take in some protein before bed to keep blood sugar stable. When blood sugar drops it can cause you to wake up.
•   Use a ZMA supplement which will research show induces deep sleep and increases natural testosterone production.  I recommend Adovocare's nighttime recovery.
• Create a ritual nightly and try to go to bed and rise at similar times each day

Do static stretching post workout-After an intense workout muscles it is essential to get muscles into a relaxed state so they can begin to recover. An easy way to do this is throughly stretch the muscles you worked out holding each stretch in for 30 seconds or until the muscles relax. This will help improve circulation to the muscles that will basically help blood get rid of metabolic waste in the tissue and pump in nutrients for recovery.

Post Workout Hot Cold Shower Technique-This is an old eatern bloc technique used create a natural pump in the blood. Similar to contrasting which is used in sports medicine.  It helps get your body into a relaxed state as well.  Here is the sequence Cold-Hot-Cold-Hot-Cold do cold for 30 seconds and hot for 1 minute. Sounds silly but it really works I've done it and felt super relaxed afterwards. That is one of the keys to recovery is getting your body into a relaxed state ASAP after an intense workout.

Take a good multivitamin/mineral and fish oil supplement- I hear it all the time "I can get all I need from my diet." Well the truth is most people don't have time or put the effort in it takes to do this optimunally.  So taking good supplements is a good insurance policy that makes sure your body is getting everything it needs for optimum health, recovery and muscle growth. I won't go into all the science but these should be foundational supplements everyone should take.  Vitamins and minerals help your body use nutrients much like spark plugs help your engine run.  They also alleviate free radical damge that occurs from intense exercise as well.   So in a nutshell by taking these you are focused on keeping all the cells in your body healthy. A healthy body is one that doesn't hurt or breakdown and is one that performs well in the gym.

One quick sidenote. Make sure you use supplements that are USP Pharmaceutical grade. Don't just grab some botte off the shelf at Wal Mart.  Look on the label and make sure that it is a supplement with this grade to ensure it is made at the same quality as our pharmaceuticals. That way you know you will be absorbing high quality nutrients and not peeing them into the toilet.



So there is a three part blog to get you going. Now you can sit and ponder it or like Yoda said in Star Wars there is no try just DO."  No paralysis by analysis please.  Get going and be consistent. Give yourself 2-3 months and if you implement these strategies you will see a bigger, more muscular you.

The straight truth and nothing but the truth about gaining muscle part 2



When it comes to training let's face it there are a lot of weenies out there.  They make a lot of noise and draw a lot of attention but their training is weak. 

I've talked to many so called hard gainers but really the other problem aside from poor nutrition is a weak training plan. 

So here are some fundamentals you need to have in place if you want to see muscle gain.

Train your legs. Make them a priority.
Doing the leg extension machine supersetting with leg curls does not count.  That's the poser workout.  Do you want to be the stereotypical guy with a big upper body and tooth pick legs.  This means you do squats and I mean real squats not smith machine squats and or hack squats. Real get under the bar , gut buster squats.  No they won't hurt your back and knees if you do them right.  A good flexibility and mobility warm up will make you squat better and safer.

When I was first lifting weights I was 150 pounds soaking wet. My first year I tried to do leg extensions and leg curls with leg press. Yeah I know pathetic. Anyway I gained 15 pounds mostly in my upper body and still had toothpick legs.  I got smart and added squats in my second year of training. I gained 4 inches on my thighs and 25 pounds of solid muscle. 

Squats also stoke up your anabolic hormones in your body.  So you promote muscle growth all over.  Also throw in some unilateral leg work such as single leg- leg press or split squats.  Stiff leg deadlifts are good for hamstring and glute development as well.  I also like to do some plyometrics like hops on one leg holding  a dumbbell along or box jumps for calf development.  After all those things then you can throw in some leg extensions and leg curls as icing on the cake.   Train your legs hard and you'll see your whole body change you will also be able to wear shorts without looking like an asymmetrical freak.

Use split days that promote recovery not overtraining
Another thing that is counterproductive is training back one day and then biceps the next or chest one day and shoulders the next day.  Really your delts get taxed with chest work as do your triceps do so do them all on one day so that they can recover together. 

Remember muscle gain is about putting the hurt on your muscles and allowing them to recover.  Work your biceps with your upper back and delts and triceps with your chest so you are not tearing them down the next day.

Here is a split I like to use:

Day 1- Push(Chest, Delts, Triceps)
Day 2-Legs(Remember make them a priority so give them their own day)
Day 3-Pull(Back, Biceps, Throw in abs as well)


Prioritize Compound Movements Over Isolation Movements
Always start with multi joint movements such as squats, presses, rows and finish with single joint isolation exercises like bicep curls, tricep pushdowns, leg extensions etc.

Increase Training Volume Workout To Workout
Volume is the key to muscle growth to accomplish this use 3-4 sets and 6-12 reps for each exercise.  Keep a training log so you make sure you are always increasing the total volume of the workout.

Here is how you figure out volume for each exercise
Sets x reps x reps= volume for that exercise

Example  Bench press 200 lbs 3 sets of 10=  6,000(total volume)

Add up the total exercises so you can figure out the total volume per exercise. Every workout you should see this number increase.


Limit Cardio
Keep focus on what the goal is. Muscle gain. Don't rob Peter to pay Paul. Too much cardio will work against your muscle development efforts.  If you must do cardio limit it to 3x/week for 20-30 minutes keeping the heart rate under 120 beats per minute.  Intense cardio will break you down and interfere with your body's ability to recover


There you go those are some solid tips to get started. If you need more guidance on setting up this type of  phase you can email me at info@puravidafitness.com  I'll be happy to lay out a routine for you. 

The bottom line is train hard,  allow time for recovery and don't try to skate around the tough exercises. The hardest exercises yield the best results.

Next week I will go over the X-factors in part three of this blog series.

The straight truth and nothing but the truth about gaining muscle part 1

So often run into other guys who want to put on muscle. They express their frustration about lack of progress and use lame phrases like "I'm a hard gainer" , "I have bad genetics" or my favorite "I've tried everything and am about ready to get on steroids.

After listening to them rant on why they can't gain weight I usually ask two things:

1. Give me an overview of your training program
2. Give an overview of how you are eating

100 percent of the time when they lay these things out for me there are more holes in their methods than swiss cheese.  Their methodology for gaining muscle just plain sucks and here is why:

They aren't willing to put in the work with their eating and training necessary to add lean mass.

So I'm going to lay it on the line here. What makes me such an expert? You might say. Back when I first started lifting weights I was 150 pounds soaking wet at 6 feet tall.  Basically a pencil neck you might say.

Anyway through proper eating and training I went from that as a sophomore in high school to a 270 pound offensive lineman in college.  Now I wasn't ripped not too many offensive lineman are but I did put on a lot of lean mass in the process.  And when I peeled off the bulk after football for bodybuilding there was a lot of muscle there.

So no I'm not a physiology professor and I don't have PHD in exercise science but I do have real life experience combined with the science of the human body.  I also made enough mistakes to tell you what doesn't work too. 


So here are some fundamental concepts needed to truly add muscle. This week I'm going to cover nutrition and next week I will cover training.


#1 -Eat enough to gain mass. Too many guys want to stay really lean and aren't willing to gain a some bodyfat. Higher calories help your body stay in a positive nitrogen balance, raises anabolic hormone levels(insulin, IGf-1, testosterone).  Generally you want to shoot for around 30% more calories than your maintenance level. So if you need 2,000 calories to maintain you need 2,600 to get this effect.  You cannot I repeat cannot be worried about gaining a little fat. It goes with the territory.  Generally about 60-65% of the weight you gain will be lean mass and you can peel the fat off by adjusting your diet and cardio.  So if you gain 10 pounds after a mass building phase 6-6.5 pounds will be solid lean mass. 

As with cutting you do not wan to skip meals. You have to keep your body in an anabolic state at all times to maximize recovery which equals more muscle gain.


As far as food goes I love to eat things like pancakes/waffles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, beef, and throw in some fat as well(butter, nuts).   By doing this you will create a great anabolic environment fore growth.   This doesn't mean eat fast food all the time. Focus on eating quality with your quantity. 

Once again don't worry about maintaining washboard abs. That isn't the focus of this phase. The focus is adding lean mass so stick to the focus. We'll talk about the abs later.

Here is an example of what I do

Breakfast: 4:30am
8 eggs 4 whole 4 whites
1-2 large bowls of cereal or oatmeal
1 piece of fruit

Post-Workout 7:30am :  Recovery shake from advocare

Snack  9:30am
2 Meal Replacement Bars

Lunch  12:30pm

Omelet with cheese
3-4 pancakes with butter and syrup
Potatoes or hash browns

Snack  3pm

Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich
1 Protein Bar

Dinner  6:30pm
8 oz beef
pasta
salad
nuts


Evening snack  9pm

Greek yogurt
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich


#1- Take a good post-workout recover shake within 30 minutes of finishing your workout-
After giving your body the beat down it is screaming for nutrients and is in a primed state to absorb them. Kind of like a dry sponge in the middle of a bath tub.  So you need to take full advantage of this short window of time which is essential for your body to switch from catabolic(breaking down) to anabolic(building up).  You should take in a good post workout shake which contains high quality whey protein which has a full spectrum of amino acids as well as carbohydrates to refill taxed glycogen stores and prevent your body from breaking down protein(muscle) for energy.   The protein provides branch chain amino acids leucine, valine and isoleucine as well as glutamine to help enhance growth and repair of muscles damage from intense training.     Carbohydrates can be higher on the glycemic index to spike insulin which will increase of nutrients into the muscles cells an enhance absorption.   

A few products I recommend are Max ARM from max muscle or Adovcare's post recover mix.  You can also throw together your own mix using whey protein powder with fruit and juice or yogurt blended up.  I choose liquid because it gets into the system faster.  Timing is crucial when it comes to nutrition.

Take protein in just before bed
At night it essential to get quality sleep as well as stay in an anabolic environment where muscles grow and recover so it just makes sense to take in protein before turning in for the night.  This is for two reasons.

1. Give your body something to digest throughout the night which will prevent it from going into a catabolic state. If you don't eat after 6pm like a lot of "experts" preach and you get up at 6 am then you have gone 12 hours without feeding your body forcing it into a starvation mode which will cause it to break down protein and is counter productive to muscle growth.

2. Keep blood sugar stable so you stay in deep REM sleep cycles where growth and repair occurs.  One of the big reasons people wake up is low blood sugar which can interrupt sleep patterns that are essential to you recovering from training.  Carbs tend to break down quickly(20-45 minutes) but protein takes much longer(1-4 hours) thus holding blood sugar stable for much longer than carbs would.


There are three solid eating tips that will put you on the way to gaining muscle. Whether you are eating to gain muscle or lean out 70-80% of the battle is eating to match your goals so take this part seriously and you will see serious results.



Next week I will discuss training concepts for putting on muscle mass.

 So your first assignment is to stockpile your fridge with food an you will need a lot of it as well as get yourself a good protein supplement for night time and post workout formula for optimize recovery.

Three exercises you should never do.

To me going to the gym many times is like watching a car accident about to happen. I see so many people doing exercises that put themselves at risk for injury.  I have to admit I used to o these exercises but haven't for years because I  know train smarter than I did back then. 

So here are three of the biggest offenders in my opinion.

#1-Smith Squats
People think by doing squats on this machine that they are safer from back injuries which can't be further from the truth. The smith machine creates more compression on the spine by limiting your ability to flex your hips back and adjust your body underneath the bar. You're better off doing regular bar squats which allow you to adjust your hips and spine to take on the stress from the weights much like shock absorption system. Plus regular squats force you to fire up your core and balance which is something you don't get from smith squats. I had a friend who tore a disc in his back doing these a couple of summers ago.

                                                                         

 #2-Upright Rows

People use this exercise all the time to build up their shoulders.  This exercise is puts your shoulder in an impinged position that basically cranks on the glenohumeral joint which is your ball and socket joint of the shoulder.  By throwing your shoulder into impingement you are asking for shoulder problems down the road. Impingement many times leads to rotator cuff problems.  If you want to build up your shoulders stick to overhead presses(to the front) front and lateral raises with dumbbells.  Always weigh out risk to benefit. The risk of doing these far outweighs the benefit. One quick side note.  They are useful as a progression to Olympic lifts like cleans but these type of upright row don't require you to pull so high which is where the joint impingement occurs.

#3- Behind the neck military press

This is another popular exercise for shoulders. Here are the two reasons why they make the list. Number one this exercise forces the neck forward into a protracted position which places undo strain on the cervical spine and neck. Number two it places the shoulders in a close pack position which puts a ton of strain on your glenohumeral joint which can lead to an AC joint sprain on the shoulder.  Also by sitting straight up you compress the discs in the spine.  You are better off doing presses to the front on a slightly angled back bench which will greatly reduce the stress on the spine and shoulder joints.  Standing in a stride stance and pressing to the front is also a better option. These variations allow you to blast the shoulders without putting your spine, neck , and shoulder joint at great risk.

Juan Carlso Santana a popular presenter in the fitness field once said something years ago that stuck with me.  Always weigh out risk to benefit. Does the risk of doing this exercise outweigh the benefit. Ask yourself this question. Many times you will find yourself saying it does not. We all get emotionally attached to certain exercises but reality is we can't really justify why we do them other than we think they are the necessary when really there are other safer exercises that will get the job done just as well without the added risk.

10 Reasons Why Most Exercise Programs Fail

Has this ever happened to you?



Every year around this time millions flock to the

health club, join a diet center, or make a pledge to

get fit this year.



Yet by February 1, 90% have failed in their resolution

and have returned to their old ways.



Sure they're frustrated, discouraged, and miserable

with their current condition... but feeling that way

about your health and your body does not determine

whether or not you will be successful this year in

making a real change.



Why?



Well, there are many reasons for fitness failure. And

as a fitness professional I see them all the time.



Here's my Top 10 list of why fitness programs fail:



1. Incomplete programs- starting a strength training

program, with no attention paid to nutrition. Or

beginning a cardio program without addressing strength

training, etc. I could go on and on. But chances are

you can identify with one of these scenarios.



2. Failure to address nutrition first- starting an

exercise program, and failing to address nutrition

FIRST is just plain dumb. You've got to feed your body

the right "fuel" to exercise, have energy, keep up with

the increase in activity, and furthermore really get

your metabolism movin'.



3. Incomplete nutrition- with all the wacko diets and

'well-meaning' but 'uneducated' friends giving you

advice in this area, it's no wonder there is so much

confusion. All protein. No protein. All organic. Low

glycemic. High glycemic. Good fats. Bad fats. If you're

confused when it comes to how to really put together a

nutrition program that will get you to your goals,

you're not alone.



4. Avoiding endurance- mostly a mistake made by men.

You know the guys I'm talkin about. They're over 40+

and get back to the gym to work on their "big arms"

when they really need to be working on gettin' rid of

their "big gut". That means making cardio a priority!



5. Push too hard, too soon- this one is really sad, and

it happens because most folks begin exercising with no

instruction. And also because most folks are IMPATIENT,

and they have nobody to help them establish realistic

goals on a timetable, with a plan to accomplish them.

So they workout like an animal for a week, then can't

move their body for three, and lose all the motivation

they had when they started. Totally unnecessary.



6. No warm-up, cool down- Whether you haven't worked

out in a while. Or you've been exercising regularly.

MOST folks do not put anytime into preparing their body

for exercise. And this is essential... especially as

you get older! You've got to warm up the car, before

you put the 'petal to the metal'. Otherwise you're just

asking to break somethin' and be in the repair shop...

and trust me, you DON'T want to go there.



7. No stretching- not stretching is asking for injury.

And it's not "if", it's "when." Stretching and

attention to flexibility must be part of your warm-up

and cool-down routine. And the more you exercise, the

more you have to stretch. I preach this all the time,

but some folks just don't listen until it's too late.

Don't let this happen to you.



8. No post workout nutrition- why is it important to

feed your body a certain way after exercise? Because

the right nutrition after exercise will accelerate your

recovery dramatically, refuel glycogen (gas in your

tank) and reduce soreness dramatically. Anytime you

perform intense exercise, or strength training,

attention MUST be paid to nutrition after the workout.

And there is a VERY specific formula for maximizing

this. Use it and succeed, ignore it and suffer.



9. Lack of professional guidance- go into any health

club this week and you'll see it all over the place.

The "blind leading the blind." Often well-meaning and

intentioned, but incredibly misinformed and uneducated

folks will sink your fitness ship faster than you can

say "Titanic." You wouldn't ask just anybody to give

you financial advice, nor would you have just anybody

just you legal advice. You invest in experts to get

expert guidance. That's why anyone serious about

getting results from a fitness program should invest in

working with a professional coach. As the saying goes,

"you get what you pay for."



10. Lack of accountability- you cannot be accountable

to yourself. Read that statement again. No matter how

good your intentions are, if left to your own devices

you will almost always revert to old lifestyle

patterns. I call it the "rubber band effect." You start

to stretch out, make changes, then before you know it

you're pulled right back to your old form. And that

ain't where you want to be. You've got to work hard to

break free and adopt new lifestyle patterns. Having a

coach hold you accountable to your plan and

IMPLEMENTATION is essential. Without somebody to hold

you accountable, you results will almost always be

little to nil.