Author: Mike Furci (Page 49 of 65)

Mike Furci graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelors of Science in Health Education. His curriculum laid the foundation for his future in fitness and sports specific training. He owned and operated Club Olympia Fitness Center in Westlake, Ohio for more than 10 years, and was voted “Best Personal Trainer” by Cleveland Magazine. In 2009 he decided to expand his knowledge of the human body and attained his license as a Registered Nurse in 2011.

Mike specializes in improving athletic performance through strength, conditioning and nutrition. He uses his education and knowledge to train clients according to their specific goals, i.e., increased fitness, strength, weight loss, health or sports performance. Mike started training 30 years ago, and was a competitive bodybuilder with several overall titles, including the 1999 Mr. Ohio. He continues to train with 100% intensity to this day, which has helped him excel as a firefighter for the city of Lorain Ohio. His experience has also allowed him to train and consult with many competitive powerlifters and bodybuilders.

Mike has appeared on many news stations as a fitness consultant. His qualifications allow him to offer expert information on all aspects of health, fitness and sports specific training.

Interview with trainer to the pros, Ed Downs.

Ed developed the patented Downs Disc Fitness System, a training and exercise system. It is used and endorsed by professional athletes, the University of Miami basketball team, high schools around the country, rehab centers, pregnant women, and thousands of people with weight, type 2 diabetes and respiratory problems. Without corporate funding, Ed realizing his dream through self-financing (by asking clients to pay him in advance), taking out a second mortgage and the sweat equity of 14-hour days.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

BE: You?re actually training the natural form and function of how the body works.

ED: How the body works. How the body works my man. I love talking to somebody that understands what I?m talking about. Because sometimes it sounds so technical but it?s not really that technical.

BE: That?s kind of what attracted?you know when Stephanie gave me the e-mails and I started looking into your stuff, that?s what really attracted to me to your style of training. And there are some other coaches out there, not the same obviously but they have similar?they?re trying to accomplish the same goal. You?re taking, which actually in the lab is a fairly complex subject, and you?re making it very simple. You?re just doing what the body does.

ED: What it does. I mean, thank you. When we walk, you take your right foot forward and your left arm goes out. We don?t walk with your right foot forward and your right arm going at the same time; you would look goofy as hell. So we want to work in patterns of our natural movement. So I don?t care if I?m working with a lady or a man. A lady carrying a baby and getting ready to put it in her car seat; she?s kind of awkward when she?s reaching and bending down and they wonder why they twist their back. So I?ve got to be able to train their bodies to be able to move in unexpected movement, right?

Read the rest of the interview, HERE.

Baggy eye lids

Numerous theories have been proposed seeking to explain what causes the baggy lower eyelids that come with aging. Now, researchers from UCLA have determined that fat expansion in the eye socket is the primary culprit.

The study is the first to examine the anatomy of multiple subjects to determine what happens to the lower eyelid with age. It is also the first face-aging study that uses high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The study looked at MRIs of 40 subjects (17 males and 23 females) between the ages of 12 and 80. The findings showed that the lower eyelid tissue increased with age, and that the largest contributor to this size increase was fat increase.

A common treatment performed is eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty. This treatment repairs droopy eyelids by surgical excision of excess fat in the eye socket. Blepharoplasty is usually done on an outpatient basis. Currently many plastic surgeons performing blepharoplasty do not remove any fat. They reposition the fat or conduct a more invasive tightening of the muscle that surrounds the eye or tighten the actual ligament that holds the eyeball in place. Surgeons perform these more invasive procedures despite the fact there is no data showing these structures change with age.

If surgery is an option for you, choose your doctor wisely.

(eurekalert.org)

The reverse lunge.

The major muscles involved are the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. The knee and hip joints are flexed on the eccentric (downward) portion of the exercise and extended during the concentric (upward) portion. The abdominals and erector spinea are isometrically contracted throughout the exercise for stabilization.

Much more than the squat, this exercise is an excellent choice for athletes. The biggest advantage for athletes and fitness buffs alike is its ability to strengthen and stretch the muscles surrounding the hip joint. The action strengthened by performing this exercise is imperative for sports like basketball, soccer, football, gymnastics, wrestling and fencing.

Read the rest HERE.

Men who drink have better sex!

Rather than damaging a man?s sexual performance, a good, stiff drink actually improves a man?s sexual prowess in the bedroom. Australian researchers found that men who drink report as many as 30 percent fewer problems than those who didn?t drink at all.

Dr. Kew-Kim Chew, of Western Australia?s Keogh Institute for Medical Research told London?s Sunday Telegraph that men who drank within safe, moderate guidelines seemed to have the best erectile function. In Chew?s study of 1,580 Australian men, even binge drinkers functioned better sexually than those who never drank.

?We found that, compared to those who have never touched alcohol, many people do benefit from some alcohol, including some people who drink outside the guidelines,? Chew said.

The study found that low risk drinkers – those who consumed up to twenty drinks a week spread over five days – had the fewest sexual problems. Those who drank on weekends only and those who were binge drinkers suffered lower rates of erectile dysfunction than those who drank only one day a week or drank none at all. Men who performed the poorest were heavy drinkers who had stopped drinking and those who smoked or had heart disease.

Newsmax.com HealthAlert Feb.3,2009

Bacteria waste in your gut could help weight loss.

A single molecule in your intestinal wall, activated by the waste products from gut bacteria, plays a large role in controlling whether you are lean or fatty. When activated, the molecule slows the movement of food through the intestine, allowing you to absorb more nutrients and thus gain weight.

Bacterial byproducts are a source of nutrients, but now it appears that they can also be chemical signals used to regulate body functions.

Humans have a large and varied population of beneficial bacteria that live in their intestines. The bacteria break up large molecules that the host cannot digest, and the host in turn absorbs many of the resulting small molecules for energy and nutrients.

Researchers focused on two species of bacteria that break up dietary fibers from food into small molecules called short-chain fatty acids. They found that short-chain fatty acids can bind to and activate a receptor molecule in the gut wall called Gpr41.

When researchers disrupted communication between the bacteria and the receptor in mice, they found that their intestines passed food more quickly, and the mice weighed less and had a leaner build, even though they ate no less than other mice.

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