As reported by ABC News, President Elect Barack Obama doesn’t get in quite as much time at the gym as he would like, but he still manages to be fairly consistent. “Most of my workouts have to come before my day starts,” he said. “There’s always a trade-off between sleep and working out. Usually I get in about 45 minutes, six days a week. I’ll lift [weights] one day, do cardio the next. I wish I was getting a 90 minute workout.”

If one of the busiest men in the world can manage to get in a workout 6-days per week, what’s your excuse for not exercising?

Here is a 20-minute body weight circuit that you can do at home that will rev up your metabolism in no time:

• Body weight squat (10-20 reps)
• Push-up (10-20 reps) - do it on your knees if you must
• Reverse Lunge (10 reps per leg)
• Plank (30 second hold)
• Close-grip Push-up (10-20 reps)
• Side Plank (20 second hold per side)
• Mountain Climber (10 reps per side)

Do this with no rest between exercises.

If you are by a newsstand or bookstore this weekend you may want to pick up a copy of Oxygen Magazine’s Winter 2009 Fat Loss issue.

Catapult Fitness Blog has received our first offline recognition, being featured in an article entitled 7 Weeks To A Better You! (Page 83).

It is a thrill to be featured in one of the premier women’s fitness magazines although my niece quickly brought me down to reality by pointing out that I was not used as the fitness model in the spread.

Now I have a new goal for this upcoming year!

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

Beta-carotene risks over-stated
By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA

A recent journal article pointed out the widely-reported danger of smokers using beta-carotene, a natural source (provitamin) of vitamin A, as part of their multivitamins. 1 In this meta-analysis the researchers have neglected to consider pre-existing dietary and serum levels of this nutrient, making their claim to control by placebo inadequate to properly isolate this variable. In fact, this failure to determine the effects of beta-carotene at a dose-dependent plasma level – and by neglecting to measure total beta-carotene intake along with the relevant synergistic antioxidants associated with it, as opposed to simply measuring supplemental intake - raises serious questions about the validity of these results.

http://www.radiomartie.com/archives/2009.shtml

Find me and listen at the link shown above. It will be posted this afternoon and available for listening as an archived program.

More evidence that antioxidant “dangers” are exaggerated (especially beta-carotene)

By Neil E. Levin, CCN, DANLA

In a study published in 2006, cancer researchers tested daily supplementation of 400 IU of vitamins E as alpha-tocopherol along with 50,000 IU (39 mg) of beta-carotene on 540 head and neck cancer patients for three years after treatment with radiation therapies. Due to safety concerns in previous trials (which I have repeatedly criticized in previous writings, for various reasons), the beta-carotene component was discontinued during the trial. During a median 6 ½ years of follow up, 179 of the patients died.

Single antioxidants have far less power than mixtures of synergistic dietary nutrients, and both dietary and supplemental antioxidants should be considered to determine total antioxidant status before undertaking a well-designed clinical trial. Even the ability of most animals to synthesize their own vitamin C, which is not possible in humans, guinea pigs and some fruit-eating bats, affects one’s antioxidant status. The failure of most nutrient/supplement trails to consider these additional and critical variables casts most such studies in doubt, and is undoubtedly responsible for the conflicting and confusing results of so-called “gold standard” studies that are tarnished by the common failure to consider both nutrient sources and how nutrients interact.

This link takes you to the website of the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm

“Common substances found in vaccines include:
Aluminum gels or salts of aluminum which are added as adjuvants to help the vaccine stimulate a better response to the vaccine. Adjuvants help promote an earlier, more potent response, and more persistent immune response to the vaccine.
Antibiotics which are added to some vaccines to prevent the growth of germs (bacteria) during production and storage of the vaccine.
Egg protein is found in influenza and yellow fever vaccines, which are prepared using chicken eggs. Ordinarily, persons who are able to eat eggs or egg products safely can receive these vaccines.
Formaldehyde is used to inactivate bacterial products for toxoid vaccines, (these are vaccines that use an inactive bacterial toxin to produce immunity.) It is also used to kill unwanted viruses and bacteria that might contaminate the vaccine during production.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) and 2-phenoxy-ethanol which are used as stabilizers in a few vaccines to help the vaccine remain unchanged when the vaccine is exposed to heat, light, acidity, or humidity.
Thimerosal is a mercury-containing preservative that is added to vials of vaccine that contain more than one dose to prevent contamination and growth of potentially harmful bacteria.”

Now that we’re in the second day of the New Year, I’m certain that many of you will be heading to the gym.

If you’ve been following the advice on Catapult Fitness Blog, you’ll be doing so with a clear set of goals and plan of action. If fat loss is one of those goals, high intensity interval training (HIIT) needs to be part of that action plan!

There is no best interval training for fat loss, however, recommendations I have received from Craig Ballantyne, Founder of Turbulence Training include:

• 1 minute on, 1 - 2 minutes off, repeat 6 times
• 30 seconds on, 90 seconds off, repeat 6 times
• 45 seconds on, 90 seconds off, repeat 6 times
• 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off, repeat 8 times

Make sure to include a 5 minute warm-up and a 5 minute cool-down.

And remember, you can use all types of interval training methods for these workouts:

• Treadmill running
• Stationary cycling
• Outdoor sprints
• Rowing
• Elliptical machine (not my fave, but an acceptable alternative if you have knee problems)

Here’s a brief video of Craig explaining HIIT training:

Train hard; stay strong.

Peace.

Susan

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Happy New Year everyone!

There’s no time for any lallygagging here at Catapult Fitness Blog as we all hopefully by now have our 2009 fitness goals in place (read: written out on a piece of paper with an associated plan of action!).

You plan to work out hard this year and rest assured you are going to be sore.

Personally, I like the feeling of post-workout muscle soreness as it makes me feel as if my time working out was well spent. I’m also a firm believer that “change” and “comfort” do not belong in the same sentence when it comes to body composition.

‘ Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instil in us’. Build on yesterday’s success and learn from yesterday’s failures. Start living today !