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Want Lance Armstrong’s endurance? Just sleep in a bubble…

February 13, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

A correspondent from Men’s Journal recently experimented with a high-altitude simulator to gage its effectiveness. For those unaware, a high-altitude simulator is a tent that engulfs your bed to help increase red blood cell production while you sleep. Why the hell would you want to do that? Well, red blood cells fuel endurance for when we run, swim, bike or do any other fast-paced exercise. Athletes like cyclist Lance Armstrong use it while training for a race because it helps simulate the altitude at which your red blood cells need to increase. Coupled with regular training, it’s like gaining all the benefits from weekly cardio…but while you sleep.

The product is intriguing, because according to the Men’s Journal correspondent, the tent works:

After three weeks, I felt as if I had a third lung. I blazed through a three-mile time trial 5 percent faster than I ever had, and I finished top-15 in my category in a hill climb. During the race I quickly caught my breath on the flat spots, then felt ready to pound away again. The tent worked — but I still had to train hard.

Two questions:

1) Is it worth $1,000-plus and sleeping in a bubble nightly to improve endurance?

For millionaire athletes, a thousand dollars for one of these puppies seems like a bargain, but what about for the common triathlon athlete or endurance enthusiast? Before dismissing the theory, how much do you spend yearly on food, supplements and training equipment to enhance your physique?

2) Are athletes like Armstrong cheating?

We as a society hate the fact that Barry Bonds could break a home run record he unfairly achieved, but are we being hypocritical? If these tents do work, did Armstrong have an unfair advantage? Steroids help testosterone growth, which therefore aids strength and muscle development through exercise. These tents are designed to increase red blood cell production, which therefore aids in endurance through exercise. The connection between these simulators and steroids might be on a different level, but it does raise an interesting debate.

Endurance, Equipment and Gear, Exercise, Magazine Hype, Men's Health and Wellness, Running, Swimming

More sun, less cancer.

February 8, 2007 / Mike Furci

We heard it for years, “sunlight causes cancer”.? Well, in an article by William Douglas, MD. In the Fall 2006 edition of Wise Traditions, you learn that this may not be necessarily true.? In fact, two studies in the Journal of National Cancer Institute show that increased sun exposure not only reduces the incidence of one cancer, it increases the survival rate of another.

What is it about sunlight that’s so beneficial? Vitamin D production.

Among whites in the U.S. there is a striking difference in the number of cases of many types of cancer-breast, prostate and colon, for example-between the northern latitudes and the southern latitudes.? The higher the latitude in which you live, the more likely you are to die of cancer.? In other words, New York bad, Birmingham good.? And what’s the major difference between New York and Birmingham?? New York gets a whole lot less sunshine.
What excessive sun exposure does do is cause injury to the inner layer of the skin, the dermis, which in turn, leads to wrinkling of the outer layer, the epidermis.? If you’re thinking that that happens with age (regardless of the sun), you’re right.? But sun exposure can speed up the process, causing the skin to age prematurely and to become loose and leathery.? This is called solar elastosis.
When researchers at the University of New Mexico investigated melanoma, they found a marked decrease in the disease in patients with solar elastosis.? (This information is from one of the two studies talked about in the article.)

I guess this starts to explain why melanomas are usually found on the body, “where the sun doesn’t shine”.????

Cancer, Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness, Vitamin D

Diagnosing a migraine

February 6, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

Everyone gets headaches. But is it a stress or sinus headache or a migraine? Men’s Health.com recently posted a three-question quiz to help determine if you may be experiencing a migraine:

1. In the past 3 months, have headaches limited your activities?
2. Does headache pain make you sick to your stomach?
3. Does light bother you? “If you answer ‘yes’ to two questions, there’s a 93 percent chance you are suffering from migraines,” says Dr. Lipton. Many men are unaware of the availability of treatment.

I personally suffer from migraines, and let me tell you, they are nasty. It takes sleeping it off in a noise and light-free room for several hours to rid of them. Here are some common triggers for migraines: red wine, nuts, bright lights, chocolate, smoke, stress, lack of sleep, irregular exercise, climate changes and alcohol. Unfortunately for some of us, migraines are unavoidable. But if the proper precautions aren’t taken to lessen attacks, migraines can seriously render us from even doing everyday activities.

Don’t be fooled by over-the-counter drugs that have “migraine” written on the front of the bottle, either. In most cases, any over-the-counter drug that says “migraine” is usually no different than regular Advil, Tylenol or Excedrin. Check with a doctor if you’re experiencing migraines on a reoccurring basis, so that he or she can prescribe something that is custom to you.

Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness

As if exercising wasn’t already important…

February 1, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

A recent article in the Salt Lake Tribune cited a publishing in the American Journal of Medicine that calculated more than 18 million American men over age 20 are affected by erectile dysfunction.

One common link to ED? Poor eating and not enough exercise:

Almost 90 percent of the studied men with dysfunction had at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as diabetes, hypertension, poor cholesterol levels or smoking. They also were less likely to have had strenuous exercise within the month prior to the study.
“This may be a powerful motivator for male patients who may be at risk for cardiovascular disease or who have diabetes,” said Elizabeth Selvin, lead author and a faculty member in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology. “It’s another reason to get off the couch and exercise and eat well.”

Within that same article, it notes how men tend to put things off. Maybe hearing about potential sexual issues will start waking some of us up to a healthier lifestyle. I don’t know about anybody else, but having sexual problems down the road is nothing I want to contend with. If eating right and weekly exercise will keep my heart ticking and sexual life active, I’m game.

Exercise, Magazine Hype, Medical Issues for Men, Men's Health and Wellness, Sexual Health

Fight the quit

January 30, 2007 / Anthony Stalter

So, I’m a few chapters into this book by Richard J. Machowicz called “Unleash the Warrior Within” and I stumble on something he refers to as “Verbal Command Request”.

Machowicz is a former SEAL member and the creator of Bukido, which is a training system designed to get over fears or obstacles that stand in the way of accomplishing what your really want in life. I’m always looking for books or articles that help me stay focused in life, and this one seems decent.??

Anyway, Machowicz refers to VCR as ‘a command you use on yourself or another that is structured in a specific way to elicit a known result’. Basically, a short phrase that you use to help you focus, relax or possibly build adrenaline.

I thought it was a little corny, but I’m at the gym yesterday busting out some dead lifts and my mind starts to quit. I’m fatiguing and I’m thinking of just moving on to something else. Just then, a phrase (maybe from a movie?) pops into my head: “Can’t quit, won’t quit”. Suddenly, my focus came back, I was rejuvenated and I finished out the rest of the set. I kept repeating the phrase throughout my workout and ended up having a great day at the gym. It’s like the phrase wouldn’t allow me to shut it down without finishing what I came to do.?

I thought I would share this, because we all battle mental demons on a daily basis. Our bodies are capable of so much if our minds are right. And you never know what will get you through a tough workout, a hard day at work or any other obstacle. So try the VCR method, you might be surprised. I know I was.??

Book Reviews, Exercise, Uncategorized, Weight training