But I have a question – why is exercise good for you?

Stress can be good for you

Most people forget that exercise is stress. I’m sure all of you who exercise regularly are well aware that exercise is stressful — at least it should be if you‘re doing it right.

I’m not talking about “you’ve been stuck in traffic for the last 3 hours on the way home from work” stressful or “watching your savings disappear in the stock market” stressful. (Sorry if I’m stressing you out by mentioning it.)

No, I’m talking about the type of stress that makes you feel better afterward — it could take a while but eventually, you feel better.

Let’s say you have a real good (aka hard) leg workout: squats, lunges and even some deadlifting. Then you try to walk down the stairs to the change room. If your workout was stressful enough, then walking down the stairs is a lot more challenging then you remember. Maybe the next day you waddle around like a penguin because your legs are sore and stiff.

Why? Because you have stressed your body and now it’s trying to recover and overcompensate.

Overcompensation is the whole basis of exercise. You body overcompensates after stress so it can handle the stress/exercise next time you go to the gym. If you work out and don’t push yourself, then you haven’t stressed your body enough so your body doesn’t need to overcompensate.

Why do I bring up the importance of stress? Because it explains why this week’s study found what it found. When you read this review, think about how stress (or response to stress) is changed because of the intervention.

Exercise and oxidative stress

Our cells continually produce free radicals, aka reactive oxygen species (ROS) as part of their normal day-to-day processes.(1) Think of it as the body’s natural “rusting” process. Free radicals cause damage in muscle as well as other tissues. The presence of higher numbers of free radicals is an indication of damage and is considered “bad”.

Normally we have a good antioxidant system for taking care of these — a regular polish with a little biological Rustoleum, so to speak. But when we exercise, we speed up certain processes, and we produce more free radicals. The body can’t keep up right away.

So the question is: would taking extra antioxidants help us recover better from the stress of exercise?

The role of vitamins C and E

In case you want to know the details, our natural system of antioxidants includes catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and numerous non-enzymatic antioxidants, including glutathione, ubiquinone, flavonoids… and the more familiar vitamin C and E.

Vitamins C and E have actually been studied for their effects on exercise performance since the 1970s. But the results have been kind of puzzling. Sometimes it seems as though vitamin C and E are helpful, sometimes not.(2)

Hope springs eternal, so the researchers are still working on it.

This week I review a study on antioxidants and how they prevent exercise benefits like increased insulin sensitivity. (Okay, I gave away the ending, but you were going to read the title of the study weren’t you? But you still want to know what antioxidants, what type of exercise and why they don’t play nice.)

Ristow M, et al. Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 May 11. [Epub ahead of print]

Methods

There were really two studies in one:

1. An open label study (the participants and researchers knew who was getting the vitamins and who wasn’t)
2. A double blinded placebo controlled study (neither the participants nor the researchers knew who was getting the vitamins)

Both studies were the same, with the exception of who knew what, with 28 days of vitamin (C and E) supplementation and exercise.  Since the two studies were the same, the researchers combined the results from the two into one bigger study.

Participants

• 20 untrained young men
  • 8 from the “open labelled study”
  • 12 from the “double blind study”
• 20 untrained young men
  • 8 from the “open labelled study”
  • 12 from the “double blind study”

They ranged in age from 25-35 and on average they had a BMI of less than 27.  And they were pretty healthy:

• No acute or chronic inflammatory disease
• No metabolic disease (including diabetes)
• No history of high blood pressure
• No cardiovascular, peripheral artery, thyroid disease
• No medications, alcohol, nicotine or drug use

Here’s one problem: Although this study looked at insulin sensitivity and has been interpreted with type II diabetics in mind, no participant actually had type II diabetes, pre-diabetes or type I diabetes.

That’s right — even though this study no doubt will be used for supplementation recommendations during exercise for diabetics, there are no diabetics in the study.

I point this out because often a study that examines one group gets applied to another group. For example, results from a study that used a group of healthy, young men gets interpreted for unhealthy, much older, people. Or studies done on older obese women get applied to fit young men. Studies of subjects with a particular disease are applied to healthy people. And so forth.

Guess what, this is pretty obvious: healthy is different than unhealthy — by definition — and so assuming everything will be the same in the two groups is crazy.

“Trained”

How did the researchers decide who was trained and who was untrained? Pretty simply: they asked the participants how much physical activity they did a week.

If a participant said he did more than 6 hours per week he was “trained”. If he said he did less than 2 hours per week, he was considered “untrained”. (No word on what happened with the people doing 2.1 – 5.9 hours per week… “undecided”?)

The trained group had a higher VO₂ max (the body’s maximal ability to use oxygen) and more lean body mass (aka fat free mass). This isn’t a surprise, but it’s always good to find data that supports generally accepted ideas. Researchers didn’t look at body fat, so no comparisons between trained and untrained could be made.

Vitamins

The vitamin group (aka antioxidant group) were given 500 mg of vitamin C (specifically, ascorbic acid) twice a day and 400 IU of vitamin E (specifically, RRR-/D-a-tocopherol) once a day. This is a total of 1000 mg of vitamin C and 400 IU of vitamin E per day, which is well above the recommended amounts of 60 mg of vitamin C and 40 IU of vitamin E by Health Canada (a fairly standard recommendation worldwide).

What was the exercise?

One of my biggest peeves with how exercise studies is how they’re reported — especially ones not in exercise focused journals. They’re studies that don’t give much details about the “exercise”. The term “physical exercise” covers a lot: weight training exercise, running exercise, stretching exercise, etc.

Researchers reported what was done in this study, but almost as an afterthought with little detail. The exercise training reported involved 20 minutes of biking or running, 45 minutes of circuit training, and 20 minutes of warming up and cooling down (85 minutes total – 5 consecutive days/week for 4 weeks).  No mention of intensity, type of circuit training or type of warm up or cool down. I’m assuming the circuit is some sort of weight training circuit, but that is unclear.

Results

Exercise causes increases in oxidative stress in muscle

Researchers looked at the participants’ muscle to compare before and after three days of exercise.  The specifics aren’t necessary but if you want to know, the researchers measured oxidative stress using TBARS (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances). The higher the TBARS the more reactive oxygen species (free radicals).

After three consecutive days of exercise with no supplementation, free radicals in muscle more than doubled. But after three consecutive days of exercise plus supplementation of vitamin C and E, free radicals didn’t increase at all!

This is pretty interesting and makes sense since vitamin C and E are antioxidants, which means they block chemical reactions (aka oxidation) by the free radicals that cause tissue damage.

Anybody taking vitamin C and E (either in food or in capsule) should be happy. The whole reason to take anti-oxidants like vitamin E and C is to stop free radical damage. And this study confirms this theory, but with a catch.

Too much of a good thing? Antioxidants prevent exercise induced increases in insulin sensitivity

Using a specific tests, glucose infusion rate (GIR) and adiponectin (a protein from fat that increases insulin sensitivity), the researchers could figure out how sensitive the participants were to insulin. The higher the GIR and adiponectin, the higher the insulin sensitivity.

In this study they found that untrained and pre-trained participants without supplementation had better insulin sensitivity after 4 weeks of exercise. No shocker there. Exercise has been found to increase insulin sensitivity, as measured by GIR and adiponectin. This is why exercise is improves type II diabetes, which is caused by insulin insensitivity.

But here is the surprise. The untrained and pre-trained participants taking vitamin C and E had no change in insulin sensitivity after 4 weeks of exercise.

In other words, exercise without extra anti-oxidants improved insulin sensitivity, but exercise with extra anti-oxidants did nothing for insulin sensitivity. No difference between the trained and untrained participants.

How can this be?

Well, the researchers looked at other proteins that are believed to trigger insulin sensitivity. Your body uses specific proteins to tell your body how to respond to different stresses. It’s like the telephone game you played in elementary school, but somewhat more accurate (thankfully, otherwise our body might be told “meat cart needle” instead of “keep heart beating”).

Different proteins trigger different responses. If there’s no change in protein, then there’s no response. Specific proteins (PGC-1a, PCG1-b, SOD1, SOD2 and GPx1) tell your body to increase insulin sensitivity. If they aren’t there, for whatever reason, your body doesn’t increase insulin sensitivity.

Normal exercise increases all of these proteins. However, in people taking vitamin C and E supplements, it didn’t. Without a change in these “signalling” proteins there is no change in insulin sensitivity.

Conclusion

Vitamin C and E supplementation prevent free radical accumulation after exercise, which is probably why there is no increase in insulin sensitivity.

Figure 1 is a summary of the chain of events that normally happens. As you can see, the presence of antioxidants (in red) blocks these events almost at the outset. Thus, by blocking the natural sequence of stress-response, antioxidants effectively prevent many of the good outcomes of exercise.

Take home message

Before you stop eating oranges and almonds (a source of vitamin E) I’ll mention a few things.

First, the amount of vitamin C used in this study is 20 times the recommended amount. And the amount of vitamin E is 10 times what is recommended. This isn’t to say that “recommended” is perfect but it does put things in perspective. So in this study there is a lot of vitamin C & E. This means that normal intake will probably not mess up your exercise program.

However, if you supplement excessively, and you’re concerned about insulin sensitivity, I’d suggest reconsidering those pills. Based on this study, if you are a type II diabetic, pre-diabetic or have a high risk of diabetes I’d recommend that you don’t supplement with vitamin C and E before you start an exercise program.

If, once you have seen the benefit of exercise on your insulin sensitivity, you feel it important to add extra vitamin C and E – try a little and see if your insulin sensitivity decreases. If it does, stop taking vitamin C and E.

Basically, use common sense. Start with just exercise and diet to see how that works for you. Then if you are really compelled to take vitamins, take some and monitor yourself.

As for the rest of you without insulin sensitivity issues, I’d wait and see if this study is replicated a few times before I worry. If you are really concerned then take your vitamin C and E an hour after you exercise. That way, the free radicals have time to do what they do before getting blocked by the vitamins.

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About Author

Helen Kollias, PhD has earned a doctoral degree in Molecular Biology from York University (2006) with a specialization in the area of Muscle Development and Regeneration. She’s been involved in fitness and weight training for over 16 years, working, at one point, as a personal trainer. Nowadays, Dr. Kollias is a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, studying Myostatin signaling and Muscular dystrophy.

In addition, she lends her considerable talents to the Precision Nutrition team as the Director of Research.In this role, she’s found a way to fuse her academic background in scientific research with ‘real world’ applications to create cool new experiments.

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References

1. Urso ML, Clarkson PM. Oxidative stress, exercise, and antioxidant supplementation. Toxicology. 2003 Jul 15;189(1-2):41-54.

2. Margaritis I, Rousseau AS. Does physical exercise modify antioxidant requirements? Nutr Res Rev. 2008 Jun;21(1):3-12.

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Active recovery allows you to keep the momentum in terms of your fitness AND can potentially decrease the lactic acid build-up that’s partially to blame for muscle soreness.

Instead of taking the day off, try following your high intensity training day with a low intensity workout. For example, if you did sprints on Saturday, you might just want to do an easy jog on Sunday.

In addition to the physical benefits, active recovery workouts are always a good opportunity for mindfulness practice. Jogging or cycling at an easy pace can often be a formula for distraction.  Rather than watching TV to pass the time on a cardio machine, why not venture outside and have a moment alone with nature?

When you are out on a trail run, you can focus on your breathing and your body awareness instead of just trying to get your workout over with. Be there for each step and feel your toes hitting the ground as you transition into your next stride.  It may be challenging at first to be alone with your thoughts, but over time you might find it’s much more rewarding.

The principle behind active recovery can also be applied within the context of a single workout. When used this way, active recovery refers to following an intense exercise with a less intense one.

Rather than simply resting in between sets of pull-ups, an active recovery workout might have you alternating pull-ups with a lower intensity exercise that allows your arms to rest while keeping your heart rate up, like jogging in place.

While I am a proponent of daily exercise, that doesn’t mean that every workout has to be an intensely off-the-charts effort. Varying your intensity is the key to maintaining a daily workout regimen without over-training.

…

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About Author

Al Kavadlo, CSCS has been a personal trainer to hundreds of clients from various fitness backgrounds, including an overweight 72 year old grandmother and a two time Olympic medalist. He’s also a fitness writer who holds a BA in English from Binghamton University.

Go to www.AlKavadlo.com for more info.

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No Pain, No Gain.

The Ultimate Truth?

Success with your body and in every area of your life is all about stepping outside of your comfort zone and that means embracing pain.

To reach high levels of physical and personal success you must approach your training, and your entire life, as an endeavor in constant growth. The ultimate truth is, you are either moving forward or moving backward; growing or dying. There’s no such thing as comfortably maintaining.

To grow, you must step above past achievements; beyond your perceived boundaries and limits. That means stepping out of the known, into the unknown; out of the familiar and into the unfamiliar; out of the comfortable into the uncomfortable. You must get out of your comfort zone.

The Late Cavett Robert, who was founder of the National Speakers Association, said something I’ll never forget:

“Most people are running around their whole lives with their umbilical cords in their hands and they’re looking for some place to plug it back in.”

Most people are scared of the new, unknown and unfamiliar. They prefer to stay in that womb of comfort. When the going gets tough; when the effort gets painful, when the work gets hard, they always pull back into safety. But the extraordinary people do the opposite. They know they have to get out of the comfort zone, and into new territory or they’ll stagnate and die.

Walt Disney once said that he never wanted to repeat a past success. He was always creating something new. They called it “Imagineering.” Disney’s mission was to continuously dream up and create things they had never done before, and look at what Disney has become today.

Here’s a little quote that you should post on your bulletin board, your computer desktop or somewhere you will always see it:

“Do what you always did, get what you always got.”

You can’t grow or change by doing what you’ve already done. You’ve got to train just to prevent yourself from going backwards. Maintenance doesn’t occur when you do nothing, maintenance is working to fight entropy (the tendency for things to naturally deteriorate).

Still, most people won’t leave their comfort zones. They won’t do it in business, they won’t do it in their personal lives. They won’t do it in their sport. They won’t do it for personal health and fitness. Why? The answer is simple… It hurts.

By definition, what’s it like outside the comfort zone? It’s UN-COMFORTABLE, right? Change is uncomfortable. Sometimes it’s physically painful, but it’s always mentally and emotionally painful, in the form of discipline, sacrifice, uncertainty and fear.

The maxim, “no pain no gain” gets knocked all the time as if it were bad advice. The fact of life is that you don’t grow unless you are constantly stepping outside the comfort zone, and outside the comfort zone is discomfort and pain.

How Champions and Winners Think

I find that it’s mostly the non-achievers who make out “no pain, no gain” to be a bad thing. But the winners get it. The champions understand stepping outside the comfort zone in a healthy context, so they embrace it.

When you’re talking about the Olympics, or pro bodybuilding or the Super Bowl or a world championship, you’d better believe it’s physical pain, it’s discipline, it’s sacrifice, it’s blood, sweat, and tears – literally. But for most people who simply want to go from unfit to fit, from overweight to ideal weight, it’s not so much about physical “pain”; it’s more like stretching yourself.

How do you develop flexibility? What does your trainer tell you? You stretch to the point of discomfort, but not to the point of pain, right? You get into a position of slight discomfort and you hold it just long enough, then what happens? The discomfort goes away, because the muscle becomes more pliable, and the range of motion is increased.

Each time, you stretch a little further, just barely into the range you’ve never been in before, and eventually, you’re doing the splits. And why do you approach it like that? Because you don’t want to injure yourself. Stretch too far, too fast and your muscle tears.

The elite athletes and high achievers really have to push themselves; they’re going to push their boundaries and test their limits. But if you’re not an elite athlete or seasoned bodybuilder, and you take the advice, “no pain, no gain” too literally, you’re going to end up getting injured.

I always say to my training partner when I watch him cringing during a set and he finishes up with that pained look on his face, “Are you injured, or just hurt?” He knows what I’m talking about. If he says he’s hurt, I say, “OK, good. As long as you’re not injured. Let’s get on with it. Next set.”

Good Pain vs Bad Pain

It’s not about injury. That is bad pain. Pushing yourself through that is stupidity. But do stretch yourself. You can’t improve unless you stretch yourself. If someone just wants too “stay fit” – OK fine. It actually doesn’t take that much to stay fit, once you’ve already achieved it.

But what if you want to improve? What if you want a new body? What if you want to change? If that’s what you want, you’ve got to push yourself a little. You’ve got to break comfort zones. And if your body is not changing, then I don’t care how hard you think you’re working, whatever you’re doing right now is inside your comfort zone.

The statement “no pain, no gain” has been misinterpreted, criticized and labeled a fallacy by many. However, the people doing the criticizing are almost always comfort zoners who haven’t achieved much. Don’t listen to them. Instead, follow the small percentage of people who step out and achieve great things.

Embrace the “good pain” of growth like the champions do. Soon it subsides, you enjoy the benefits of the change and the pain is forgotten. You’ve reached a new, higher plateau of achievement. Enjoy the view for a short while. But be on guard because it’s not long before that higher level becomes your new comfort zone and then its time to press on again.

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About the Author

Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT) and a certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS). Tom is the author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using the secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models.

Learn how to get rid of stubborn body fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: www.burnthefat.com. To learn more about Tom’s Fat Loss Support Community, visit: www.burnthefatinnercircle.com Natasha Lepore of UCLA; and Christian Gaser of the University of Jena in Germany.

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Throughout its long history, coffee has endured both accolades and opposition.

Some governments have subsidized coffee crops; others have imposed steep taxes and duties on them. Doctors vali­date coffee’s health benefits yet worry about its contribution to cardiovascu­lar disease, diabetes, and even cancer.

Coffee is more popular than ever, which contributes to its contradictory status. In moderation, coffee poses minimal health risks for most people. In some cases, coffee even appears to be protective. But many North Ameri­cans now consume coffee in large quantities, which can significantly damage our neuroendocrineimmune system over the long term.

Neuro-What?

The neuroendocrineimmune system consists of the processes and structures that form our central nervous systems, our hormonal systems, and our immune systems, all of which are linked in complex relationships.

For example, many of us know that when we are stressed, we get sick more easily. Emotional and mental demands, especially if prolonged, cause our stress hormones to increase, which means our immune systems don’t work as well.

The complicated interplay of our neuroendocrineimmune systems suggests that there is no clear division between mind and body. What we think and experience is as much “us” as what our body does.

How Do We Know What We Know?

It’s hard to get a clear picture of coffee’s health effects. Epidemiological studies, which try to find relationships between multiple lifestyle factors, can be hard to interpret.

For one thing, coffee drinking is correlated with other dietary and lifestyle behaviours such as alcohol and nicotine consumption and a sedentary lifestyle. In other words, people who drink a lot of coffee also tend to drink and smoke, and be out of shape. On the other hand, people who avoid coffee often do so for health-related reasons. They’re also more likely to be health-conscious in other ways, making health-promoting lifestyle choices such as exercise. Comparing coffee drinkers with non-coffee drinkers thus misses a number of important variables.

Second, there are vast differences in coffee’s pharmacological constituents depending on the type of bean used in the study, the methods of roasting, and the varying ways of preparing coffee, not to mention the differences between commercially available instant coffee versus freshly roasted organic coffee.

There are also differences in individual sensitivity to caffeine, likely due to the genetic traits related to caffeine metabolism (see “Coded for Caffeine”, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue), as well as lifestyle influences. For example, the half-life of caffeine is shorter in smokers than non-smokers, while the half-life of caffeine is doubled in women taking oral contraceptives.

Finally, most research studies observe and measure the effects of a single dose of caffeine rather than the effects of chronic ingestion. Yet most coffee drinkers drink coffee daily.

As a number of studies have shown, single-dose experiments don’t necessarily reflect the effects of our regular routines. For example, researchers have shown that we can build tolerance to the cardiovascular effects of caffeine within two to three days. Therefore, research studies that show a given effect on the body from an acute single dose bear little relevance to the chronic ingestion of caffeine.

In my naturopathic practice, I use evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies. But I also draw on experience and a systematic understanding of how our nervous, endocrine, and immune systems interact in order to make educated guesses about coffee’s potential effects on my patients.

Caffeine and Your Brain

Caffeine is one of coffee’s primary constituents with psychoactive activities. It’s part of a group of substances collectively referred to as methylxanthines. These alkaloids are well known for their ability to increase cognitive abilities, improve energy, enhance well-being, and increase arousal and alertness.

As mentioned elsewhere in the Spezzatino Coffee issue (see “Lab to Lunch”), these effects occur largely because of caffeine’s ability to block adenosine receptor sites throughout the body. However, there are other neurochemical effects that are worth noting.

Once again, studies demonstrating the effects of caffeine on neurotransmitters (chemicals that allow the cells of our nervous system to communicate) don’t always give us a realistic picture.

First, the dose used in neurochemical studies generally exceeds quantities ingested during normal everyday life. When animals are used, they are non-coffee drinkers. (It’s hard to make mugs that small, and without opposable thumbs… well, let’s just say there’ve been some unfortunate spills of hot liquid. Luckily, no legal cases against McDonalds are pending.) Therefore, researchers use a single dose of caffeine, which may not reflect the neurochemical effects of chronic consumption of caffeine.

Second, neurotransmitters are produced in different amounts in different areas of the brain simultaneously, and have very different effects on mood and personality depending on where in the brain they’re used. Quick overview: serotonin is involved in mood and appetite regulation; gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) typically inhibits neuronal activity to cause relaxation and sleep; and acetylcholine is involved in muscle contraction.

Chronic caffeine intake has been shown to increase the receptors of serotonin (26-30% increase), GABA (65% increase), and acetylcholine (40-50%). This may contribute to the elevated mood and perceived increase in energy we feel after a coffee (which makes espresso a handy pre-workout drink). Despite increasing receptors, caffeine also inhibits the release of GABA, which contributes to our feeling of alertness.

Chronic caffeine intake also increases the sensitivity of serotonin receptors. In other words, receptors specific to serotonin are more responsive to serotonin present in the synaptic cleft — it’s sort of like installing a bigger satellite dish to catch more of an existing signal. One study showed a decrease in serotonin release, but an increase in serotonin reuptake, leading to an overall increase in serotonin levels. (Think of it as the brain’s natural recycling.)

In the human body, when neurotransmitter receptors increase in number, or if they increase their sensitivity, it generally suggests a reduction in functional capacity and activity of neurons associated with those receptors. Either the brain needs more chemicals to do the job, or the neurons involved aren’t working as hard. This might mean that a certain neurotransmitter is in short supply, or that its activity needs to increase. In the case of caffeine and serotonin, this can partly explain the mood-enhancing effects of drinking coffee.

Caffeine has also been shown to increase serotonin levels in the limbic system, a relatively primitive part of our brain involved in regulating basic functions such as hormonal secretions, emotional responses, mood regulation and pain/pleasure sensations. This has a similar mode of action as some antidepressant medications.

The increase in serotonin levels, combined with the increase in serotonin receptors, cause the characteristic withdrawal symptoms (such as agitation and irritability) when coffee intake is stopped. The brain has come to expect more action in its serotonin receptors, and when its abundant supply of happy chemicals is abruptly cut off, it gets crabby.

Indirectly, chronic caffeine intake may impact neurochemistry by reducing cofactors – chemical partners – necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis. For example, coffee inhibits the absorption of iron, a key mineral involved with the synthesis of serotonin and dopamine. Additionally, we need the activated form of vitamin B6, pyridoxal-5-phosphate, to synthesize serotonin, dopamine and GABA. Coffee consumption can decrease amounts of circulating B-vitamins, which could affect neurotransmitter synthesis in another way.

Thus, caffeine impacts whether certain chemicals are available; how receptive our brains are to them; and whether we’re even making those chemicals in the first place.

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Free Stuff – Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

Brought to you by the creators of Precision Nutrition, Spezzatino Magazine is an encyclopedia of food, with each issue focusing on a single food such as: basil, grapes, wild game, tomatoes, fish, coffee, chocolate, and more.

In volume 8, our biggest and best issue yet, we focus on coffee. (And this article comes directly from the magazine.)

Because you’re a Mindful Muscle reader, we’d like to share with you some additional goodies, including another article on how to roast your own coffee at home, which may be healthier than drinking the commercial varieties.  So click the link above, check out volume 8, and get your free stuff.

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Caffeine and Your Hormones

Both scientists and lay people know the effects of caffeine consumption on hormones relatively well. For example, quickly perusing the internet brings up numerous sites claiming that caffeine “wears out the adrenal glands”. But not surprisingly, this may not be entirely accurate. While we know many things about the impact caffeine has on human’s stress physiology, certain mechanisms of how it occurs are still relatively mysterious.

Caffeine strongly affects the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: the linked system of hypothalamus and pituitary glands in the brain, and the adrenal glands that sit atop the kidneys. The HPA axis influences the body’s ability to manage and deal with stress, both at rest and during activity.

The adrenal glands secrete two key hormones: epinephrine and cortisol. Epinephrine, or adrenaline, increases respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure; while cortisol frees up stored glucose, which we need in greater amounts during times of perceived stress.

As you can imagine, for our early hominid ancestors, the ability to quickly access and use stored energy was a helpful feature. However, while this is an excellent acute response to an immediate stress (such as being chased by a bear), it’s a damaging response when the stress is chronic (such as the cumulative demands of our daily modern lives).

Studies in humans have shown that caffeine increases cortisol and epinephrine at rest, and that levels of cortisol after caffeine consumption are similar to those experienced during an acute stress. Drinking coffee, in other words, re-creates stress conditions for the body. While scientists have some ideas about how caffeine increases HPA hormones, the exact mechanism still remains unclear.

Compounding the problem, people tend to consume more caffeine during stressful periods (as nearly every student during exam season knows well). They add stress to stress, potentially making things even worse. Rat studies have shown that caffeine consumption during chronic stress increased cortisol, blood pressure, and other negative hormonal events. Chronically stressed rats who consumed caffeine ended up sicker, and died sooner, than rats experiencing chronic stress without caffeine consumption.

However, again, chronic caffeine consumption leads to a degree of physiological tolerance and thus among people who drink coffee regularly, blood pressure, heart rate, excessive urination, epinephrine production, and even anxiety and stimulation may not be as strongly affected.

Other hormonal effects of caffeine appear to be related to competitive actions for metabolism in the liver. Like a gridlocked city, the liver only has so many “roads”, or metabolic pathways, available. More “cars” (i.e. chemicals) on the “roads” slow things down.

For instance, the liver detoxifies caffeine using the CYP1A2 enzyme system, which is also responsible for initial metabolism of estrogen during Phase I clearance by the liver. This is one reason caffeine is likely metabolized more slowly in women taking oral contraceptives or postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy.

While research showing the effects of chronic caffeine consumption on circulating levels of estrogen isn’t yet available, researchers have suggested that caffeine consumption may lower the risk of breast cancer by upregulating the CYP1A2 isoenzyme and thus improving estrogen metabolism.

Caffeine and Your Immune System

The immune system is a vast and complex system that communicates extensively with itself and connects to every other system of the body.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll separate the immune system into two sections: the Th1 side (T-cell mediated system) and the Th2 side (B-cell mediated antibody system). The Th1 side is our innate immune system – the system that develops early in life – and is our first line of defense against pathogens such as viruses and bacteria.

On the other hand, the Th2 system is acquired: as we are exposed to pathogens throughout our lives, we produce antibodies to them. Antibodies recognize foreign invaders if exposed to them repeatedly, and will launch a stronger and swifter attack if a second invasion takes place. Because of this system, someone will experience a reaction to poison ivy only after their second exposure.

The two sides of this system act as a teeter totter: when one side is dominant, the other side is suppressed. Research suggests that chronic caffeine exposure shifts the immune system to a Th2 dominance. This may help the treatment of Th1 dominant autoimmune conditions, but in the average person, it may elevate the Th2 system excessively, creating an overzealous Th2 immune response. A dominant Th2 system predisposes individuals to hypersensitivity reactions such as asthma and allergies. To date, there have not been any correlations between chronic caffeine consumption and increased prevalence of Th2 associated conditions, but based on existing knowledge of caffeine and the immune system, the link seems plausible.

In my clinical naturopathic practice, we have seen certain autoimmune conditions improve with caffeine consumption, while others get worse. If someone with rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune condition that causes joint pain and inflammation) says they get significantly more joint pain when they drink coffee, one could hypothesize that their Th2 system is dominant, and the caffeine is promoting destruction of their joints by further stimulating this already overzealous Th2 system.

Putting It All Together

No known studies demonstrate statistically significant correlations between coffee over-consumption and the unwinding of the neuroendocrineimmune system. We just don’t know for sure yet how all the puzzle pieces fit together.

However, certain theoretical pathways can be created, and have been observed clinically. We can also make some informed speculation based on what we already know of the neuroendocrineimmune system’s interrelationships.

Effects on the Metabolism

Chronic coffee consumption increases insulin resistance, a situation in which the body cannot effectively deliver glucose into the cells of the body. In this situation, insulin, which helps transport glucose into the cells, cannot do its job well because the body’s cells are less receptive. This typically occurs with a diet high in refined sugars and starches. Thus, the body must release ever-larger amounts of insulin to do the job. Like parents tuning out their screaming toddler, the body becomes less and less sensitive to insulin’s effects, which means more circulating glucose, which means more insulin release… and so on.

It’s a vicious cycle. And, unfortunately, it’s a cycle that currently occurs in the majority of North Americans. Combine the standard Western diet high in refined carbohydrates with stress and a high caffeine intake, and you have a potential recipe for metabolic disaster.

Insulin stimulates the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), which is a Th2 cytokine (a cell signaling molecule). If IL-6 is chronically elevated (in this case, from high insulin levels), it may lead to a Th2 dominance and potential hypersensitivity from an overzealous antibody response. This can result in acquired sensitivities to foods and chemicals.

Interleukin-6 also stimulates the release of cortisol, which, as a glucocorticoid hormone, increases the body’s glucose level. This leads to an increased demand for insulin, which is problematic because of the insulin resistance that started the cascade in the first place.

Let’s recap: a diet high in refined sugars and starches leads to more circulating glucose. More glucose means more insulin needed to dispose of it. More insulin means cells tune out, which means even more insulin dumped into the bloodstream (especially if people continue to eat this high-carbohydrate diet). More insulin means insulin resistance — possibly aggravated by high caffeine consumption. More insulin means more IL-6 and more inflammation and hypersensitivity. More IL-6 means more cortisol, which means more glucose… and here we are, back at the beginning of a very nasty cycle.

Consider this as you cradle your extra-large coffee and glazed donut this morning during your white-knuckle commute to work.

Effects on Brain Function and Mood

The elevated blood sugar and insulin don’t just stop at inflammation. They can create imbalances in the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and GABA, which can lead to sub-clinical mood problems such as mild depression (aka “the blues”), low motivation, irritability, and impaired cognition. People with chronically high glucose, insulin resistance, systemic inflammation, and stress typically have “fuzzy brain”, memory loss, lethargy, and/or a short fuse.

Coupled with the potential iron and B-vitamin deficiencies created by coffee, which, again, cause impaired synthesis of key neurotransmitters, this may result in mood states where people feel the need for coffee to keep themselves functioning properly. Have you ever felt that you desperately needed coffee for a pick-me-up? Do you tell people, “I’m a grouch until I get my coffee?” If so, you may be experiencing this situation.

Caffeine in moderation is likely not an issue for most people. Indeed, it may actually have health benefits. (See the article on traditional Chinese medicine and coffee, in the Spezzatino Coffee issue) Problems occur when we drink coffee all day long and combine it with sedentary lifestyles, poor diets, and chronically elevated stress.

We drink much more caffeine than our great-grandparents did. Not only has our coffee consumption increased, but the market is saturated (pardon the pun) with other sources of caffeine. There is much more refined sugar available to us, and our lives move at a much faster pace. The industry standard size for a cup of coffee is six ounces. If you’re North American and under 40, I bet you don’t even own a six-ounce glass of anything – never mind finding a cup that size at the local coffee shop!

It’s the perfect storm: caffeine, stress, sugar, and sedentary living. This combination and its complex relationships with your neuroendocrineimmune system may be affecting you more than you realize.

Systems in our body are closely interconnected. Stimulation of one area can have far-reaching effects, especially if the stimulation is dramatic and/or prolonged. Large amounts of caffeine likely have numerous negative impacts on the body that research has not yet elucidated, but if we piece the available studies together, such impacts appear to be very real possibilities.

Follow the evidence that your body offers you. Pay attention to how you feel when you drink coffee. Do you feel good for a short period, then shaky and irritable? Do you notice more pain or other kinds of physical distress? If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms I’ve mentioned above, ranging from anxiety to inflammation, consider bringing a little decaf into your life.

To get your nutrition program straight, click here…

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About Author

Dr. Bryan P. Walsh is a Precision Nutrition advisor. PN consists of some of the top experts in the fields of health, fitness, and human performance. They provide books, videos, nutrition and lifestyle courses, coaching services, and online support community.

Dr. Walsh graduated from the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. He combines a passion for nutritional biochemistry and science-based therapies, yet maintains a broad view of wellness, believing in the infinite capacity for the body to heal itself given the appropriate conditions and environment.

To check out his web site, visit www.drbryanpwalsh.com

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Mindfulness meditation is not yet hailed as a creditable therapeutic technique, although it is currently tested by many therapists as a beneficial practice for everything from depression to chronic pain. And while all sorts of different psychologists are experimenting with it, they know that without more evidence of benefits, mindfulness meditation will be discarded like so many other holistic techniques often have been in the past. To be certain mindfulness meditation retains credibility, psychologists are making sure that all tests and experiments keep up, if not ahead, of any hype that may develop from whatever success stories it produces.

I’ve come across some variations for the definition of mindfulness meditation, but the gist is the allowance of emotions to come and go while meditating. It is the practice of being in the moment, without getting lost in one moment, or one emotion. Attention is kept on the breath and, as usual, if attention wanders, is to be brought back. Instead of wallowing in bad emotions, one is to acknowledge them, and then let it go, and bring awareness back to breathing. Courtesy of a guy called Buddha, and thousands of years and followers, we already know meditation has its benefits. So what’s with the sudden interest in mindfulness meditation in particular?

It seems some therapists are excited about what’s been happening for their patients who practice it. They see it as a new tool for helping patients, one that doesn’t involve trying to change your thought process, or push bad emotions away, but instead allowing yourself to feel any and all emotions in an accepting mindset. These people found that mindfulness meditation allowed them to let go of worries and stress not only during the meditation, but also throughout the day.

As far as statistics go, one study showed that after weeks of mindfulness meditation, suicidal tendencies¹ in patients decreased drastically. Another study showed that patients with chronic pain² found the meditation technique helpful in dealing with the pain.

Jon Kabat-Zinn is one of the figureheads of mindfulness mediation, having created the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a practice that has helped people cope with a variety of problems like stress, anxiety, and depression. The MBSR was developed over ten years, and Kabat-Zinn has written dozens of articles and books on mindfulness meditation and his studies.

And while it’s good to have evidence to back up these claims of reduced stress and less pain in patients, skepticism is always around the corner. Some of Kabat-Zinn’s research was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, an organization that has drawn criticism for lack of concrete evidence of any of its research, either for or against alternative medicine. There are people who feel this organization is a waste of money and resources because it hasn’t proven anything in any holistic field.

I don’t necessarily think it’s a waste of money—my own opinion is that alternative medicines often are only as effective as the mindset of the patient trying it. Like hypnosis—if you’re skeptical or cynical, then you’ve already shot it down. And there are always going to be skeptics. Mind over matter can be critical; unless a patient is willing and open for the experience, inconclusive results in any holistic field are to be expected.

But with so many good vibes out there about mindfulness meditation itself, it seems a shot worth taking, either in conjunction with another form of therapy or on its own. I know how hard it is to try and completely ignore some emotions, and a meditation that encourages it instead of attempting to banish, is a meditation worth trying.

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About Author

Maura Stackpoole is an advocate for yoga and other mindful practices, and is a graduate from Michigan State University. She is also the editor and publicist for Mindful Muscle (http://www.mindfulmuscle.com).

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References

[1] Williams, J.M.G., Duggan, D.S., Crane, C., and Fennell, M.J.V. (2006). “Mindfulnessness-Based cognitive therapy for prevention of recurrence of suicidal behavior”, J Clin Psychol 62:201-210.

[2] McCracken, L., Gauntlett-Gilbert, J., and Vowles K.E. (2007). “The role of mindfulnessness in a contextual cognitive-behavioral analysis of chronic pain-related suffering and disability”, Pain 131.1:63-69.

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In the foreword to The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism, Daniel C. Matt, one of the world’s leading Kabbalah scholars, and the author of a multi-volume English translation of The Zohar, the summa mystica of this ancient tradition, states: “Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, is precious and well hidden. Its symbolism, and multiple layers of meaning have attracted and confounded readers for centuries. Having studied Kabbalah for some twenty-five years, my attraction has not abated, my confoundedness has not been eliminated, but seasoned with wonder.”

What is Kabbalah, and what makes it so mysterious to the uninitiated, and constantly endearing to those who delve into its secrets for years?

In Hebrew, “kabbalah” means several things: “tradition” or “receiving” or “that which has been received,” and also “reception” as in the welcoming sign that greets the tourist arriving in Israel when entering hotels. The spiritual seeker will likely ignore this mundane meaning of the word, and train his eager thoughts instead on the mystical sites of the country where the sages of this tradition are buried, and where thousands of contemporary students of Kabbalah pilgrim yearly. For it is in the north of the country where two important mystical foci are located: Tzvat, one of the four holy cities of Israel most closely associated with Kabbalah, and Meron, the burial site of Shimon bar Yochai, the alleged author of the Zohar, attract tens of thousands of local and international spiritual seekers, making Israel one of the world’s top mystical destination.

Such a large following means one thing: the study and practice of Kabbalah are no longer restricted to the land that endangered it as a tradition. Presently, major American universities offer courses in Jewish mysticism, classes ranging from beginner’s level to advanced study of the original works in Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew open to students from various backgrounds and faiths. Similarly, European universities have recently expanded their curriculum to include such topics, and several advanced programs are being offered in highly respected programs throughout the world. Moreover, the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles, and its national and international satellites are offering a plethora of lectures and programs, both on location and through its online Kabbalah University programs.

So, what did/does it mean to be a student of this ancient mystical system originating millennia ago in Israel and making headlines today as the spiritual practice of choice for major entertainment and business household names?

In the past, the study of the literary and mystical corpora that made the body of the Kabbalist teachings was restricted to married male Jews, over forty, with children and a considerable familiarity with the mitzvoth (rules/commandments) of the Jewish faith, as well as with the Torah (basically the first five books from the Old Testament), and the Talmud (a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history). This esoteric knowledge, delivered in highly metaphorical language, and explaining complex cosmological and psychological concepts in equally categorical terms was believed to be dangerous for the uninitiated, who could fail to rise to the high state of consciousness necessary to “receive” these teachings and greatly misinterpret and misconstrue them. However, when the most advanced Kabbalist teachings made their way into the hands of learned men like Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein among many others, they allegedly helped push the boundaries of scientific inquiry and participated in the production of some of the world’s most revolutionary theories, including the laws of motion and gravitation, relativity laws, the zero point energy concept, and the wave-particle duality concept of energy. It is no surprise then that the recent import of the last two theories in particular prompted renewed interest in Kabbalist studies for scientists, mystics, and laymen alike.

For the latter, the most inclusive source of learning is the Kabbalah Center in Los Angeles. This school emphasizes the practical aspects and rewards of the Kabbalah system, which it highlights in courses and lectures open to all peoples, regardless of gender, age, marital status, or ethnic origin. Bilingual study guides, graduated courses, and lectures are available at the several national and international sites of the center, and on line through the Kabbalah University (www.ukabbalah.com). As with any other school of thought and practice, individual results are contiguous with personal effort and persistence, which are greatly encouraged by the readily available personal teachers of the center.

One of the most commonly recognized symbols of this practice is the red string worn on the left wrist. The applied Kabbalah student is wearing the red string around the left wrist for several reasons: because the left hand, arm and side of the body are most receptive to outside influences, to prevent his/her reactive judgments towards others, and to protect against any such towards himself/herself. Every morning and as many times throughout the day as possible, the student will tap into higher levels of consciousness by restricting immediate reactions and observing the Kabablistic precept of “cause and effect”: there is a cause for all effects/results in our life. Just because we cannot see, or failed to see this cause/causal seed does not mean that no such thing existed/exists beyond our realm of perception.

By way of explanation, imagine yourself in South America, felicitously (and safely) placed above the breathtaking canopy of the Amazonian forest. From your vantage point, you can see, in the heavy mist imbued with heady fragrance and myriad sounds, the tips of many branches and can guess from a distance, and witness the muffled undergoings of the life show below. As the sun rises and the mist evaporates, your eyes follow down those branch tips to the thicker arms of a majestic tree, and you realize that those spearing tips that in the veiled morn seemed to be far away and independent from each other, are actually part of the same arboreal system, with sturdy roots firmly planted in the ground. So, “somewhere in time,” a seed fulfilled its mission and produced the splendor now enchanting your eye. Moreover, the interconnectedness of something that appears to be separate and unrelated, i.e., the branch tips, are visible as intricate parts of the same unit, the tree, and everything that surrounds it.

As a Kabbalist you take this same concept of causality and effect and apply it to your every action, i.e.: plant some “good seeds.” So, how does this spiritual/horticultural activity manifest in our 21^st century daily lives?

The serious Kabbalist starts his day by reciting the Ana Bechoah, or the “prayer of the Kabbalist” (see diagram below). In itself, the prayer is a compilation of the “42 names of God” or letters believed to help human consciousness tune in with the pure energy of cosmic consciousness.

Line by line, consciousness is up-tuned to higher levels of understanding and appropriation: each line corresponds to various energy levels present in the body, and the manifestations/corrections they produce roughly mirror those resulting from uptuning the chakras in the Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practices. Here, the work is done at the sefirot level, i.e., the Kabbalist centers of energy placed as follows (diagram below):

Through daily, continuous practice, the student gradually brings his/her consciousness to ever-higher levels of functioning and balance. S/he then walks into the mundane carrying this knowledge and brings mindfulness into everything s/he does, says, or believes, as the individual self has been attuned to the perfect consciousness of the universe. Paramount is the idea that as earthlings, we are all, by cosmic design, drawn to finding answers to our existence, but that we are doing so, in different ways. Kabbalists and others pursuing spiritual enlightenment can help speed up this process by focusing on the bettering of the self and being mindful at all things and actions, at all times.

One way of maintaining this high level of consciousness is to always revisit the concept of “the big picture,” in our case, that epiphany moment above the Amazon forest. All is connected, everything that surrounds us is the manifested effect of a causal action we (all) did in the past. A seed, literal or metaphoric might rest comfortably on a shelf for years. With the right consciousness, in the right conditions, with proper care in the right soil, might create a fruitful tree with myriad other seeds, which through sharing, will feed, shelter, shade and multiply myriad times over, ad infinitum. All of this, from the same seed that could have lazed forever in dark shadows… The concept of the seed, is of course, in other forms, present in all spiritual traditions, most famously, as Jesus’ “parable of the talents” or in more contemporary takes, for those of us into Science Fiction, in Octavia Butler’s phenomenal “Parable of the Sower” novel.

Ultimately, what Kabbalah could provide for the avid seeker of spirituality is of course, subjective and proportional with the time invested in study and practice.

Personally, I cannot praise it enough!

Back in 2004, Anton Shamas, one of my professors at the time suggested that:

“I am a Kabbalist who doesn’t know it yet” and with this incendiary statement sent me “go and read!” So, I did: Barry W. Holtz’s Back to the Sources, Editor Lawrence Fine’s Essentials Papers on Kabbalah, Moshe Idel’s Absorbing Perfection: Kabbalah and Interpretation, Daniel Matt’s Zohar, the Bergs’ extensive collections on the applicability of Kabbalah to daily life, etc. I also took several amazing courses on Jewish Mysticism at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, taught by professor Eliot Ginsburg (many other universities offer such courses these days). I wanted to learn Aramaic and Biblical Hebrew, so in the summer of 2006 went to Israel and did so…joined the Kabbalah Center (www.kabbalah.com) same year and been studying ever since, happily living a “fruit-full” Kabbalist life.

Here is to you, those who wonder about Kabbalah, and all of us who search: to being kind to others, to learning endlessly, to living life in Light, let’s go and read…

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About Author

Corina Kesler is currently pursuing a Phd in Comparative Literature at University of Michigan (since 2003). Her present utopian interests have been shaped by her growing up in a communist country self-declared “utopian,” and from spending extended time in a Romanian Orthodox monastery.

Her dissertation project’s premise is that the utopian impulse has disguised itself in late forming nations of the world and that in these cases, the utopian impulse took mystical, mythological and temporal form much more often than in the case of the canonical tradition that favors rational constructs, dialectical approaches and spatial forms. To test her hypothesis Corina has read extensively on various utopian traditions, participated actively in national and international utopian conferences, visited and volunteered at several international utopian projects in England, Romania and Israel.

www.corinakesler.com

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Many believe that conscious awareness originates in the brain alone. Recent scientific research suggests that consciousness actually emerges from the brain and body acting together. A growing body of evidence suggests that the heart plays a particularly significant role in this process.

Far more than a simple pump, as was once believed, the heart is now recognized by scientists as a highly complex system with its own functional “brain.”

Research in the new discipline of neurocardiology shows that the heart is a sensory organ and a sophisticated center for receiving and processing information. The nervous system within the heart (or “heart brain”) enables it to learn, remember, and make functional decisions independent of the brain’s cerebral cortex. Moreover, numerous experiments have demonstrated that the signals the heart continuously sends to the brain influence the function of higher brain centers involved in perception, cognition, and emotional processing.

In addition to the extensive neural communication network linking the heart with the brain and body, the heart also communicates information to the brain and throughout the body via electromagnetic field interactions. The heart generates the body’s most powerful and most extensive rhythmic electromagnetic field. Compared to the electromagnetic field produced by the brain, the electrical component of the heart’s field is about 60 times greater in amplitude, and permeates every cell in the body. The magnetic component is approximately 5000 times stronger than the brain’s magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with sensitive magnetometers.

The heart generates a continuous series of electromagnetic pulses in which the time interval between each beat varies in a dynamic and complex manner. The heart’s ever-present rhythmic field has a powerful influence on processes throughout the body. We have demonstrated, for example, that brain rhythms naturally synchronize to the heart’s rhythmic activity, and also that during sustained feelings of love or appreciation, the blood pressure and respiratory rhythms, among other oscillatory systems, entrain to the heart’s rhythm.

We propose that the heart’s field acts as a carrier wave for information that provides a global synchronizing signal for the entire body. Specifically, we suggest that as pulsing waves of energy radiate out from the heart, they interact with organs and other structures. The waves encode or record the features and dynamic activity of these structures in patterns of energy waveforms that are distributed throughout the body. In this way, the encoded information acts to in-form (literally, give shape to) the activity of all bodily functions—to coordinate and synchronize processes in the body as a whole. This perspective requires an energetic concept of information, in which patterns of organization are enfolded into waves of energy of system activity distributed throughout the system as a whole.

Basic research at the Institute of HeartMath shows that information pertaining to a person’s emotional state is also communicated throughout the body via the heart’s electromagnetic field. The rhythmic beating patterns of the heart change significantly as we experience different emotions. Negative emotions, such as anger or frustration, are associated with an erratic, disordered, incoherent pattern in the heart’s rhythms. In contrast, positive emotions, such as love or appreciation, are associated with a smooth, ordered, coherent pattern in the heart’s rhythmic activity. In turn, these changes in the heart’s beating patterns create corresponding changes in the structure of the electromagnetic field radiated by the heart, measurable by a technique called spectral analysis.

More specifically, we have demonstrated that sustained positive emotions appear to give rise to a distinct mode of functioning, which we call psychophysiological coherence. During this mode, heart rhythms exhibit a sine wave-like pattern and the heart’s electromagnetic field becomes correspondingly more organized.

• At the physiological level, this mode is characterized by increased efficiency and harmony in the activity and interactions of the body’s systems. [1]

• Psychologically, this mode is linked with a notable reduction in internal mental dialogue, reduced perceptions of stress, increased emotional balance, and enhanced mental clarity, intuitive discernment, and cognitive performance.

In sum, our research suggests that psychophysiological coherence is important in enhancing consciousness—both for the body’s sensory awareness of the information required to execute and coordinate physiological function, and also to optimize emotional stability, mental function, and intentional action. Furthermore, as we see next, there is experimental evidence that psychophysiological coherence may increase our awareness of and sensitivity to others around us. The Institute of HeartMath has created practical technologies and tools that all people can use to increase coherence.

Heart Field Interactions Between Individuals

Most people think of social communication solely in terms of overt signals expressed through language, voice qualities, gestures, facial expressions, and body movements. However, there is now evidence that a subtle yet influential electromagnetic or “energetic” communication system operates just below our conscious awareness. Energetic interactions likely contribute to the “magnetic” attractions or repulsions that occur between individuals, and also affect social exchanges and relationships. Moreover, it appears that the heart’s field plays an important role in communicating physiological, psychological, and social information between individuals.

Experiments conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have found remarkable evidence that the heart’s electromagnetic field can transmit information between people. We have been able to measure an exchange of heart energy between individuals up to 5 feet apart. We have also found that one person’s brain waves can actually synchronize to another person’s heart. Furthermore, when an individual is generating a coherent heart rhythm, synchronization between that person’s brain waves and another person’s heartbeat is more likely to occur. These findings have intriguing implications, suggesting that individuals in a psychophysiologically coherent state become more aware of the information encoded in the heart fields of those around them.

The results of these experiments have led us to infer that the nervous system acts as an “antenna,” which is tuned to and responds to the electromagnetic fields produced by the hearts of other individuals. We believe this capacity for exchange of energetic information is an innate ability that heightens awareness and mediates important aspects of true empathy and sensitivity to others Furthermore, we have observed that this energetic communication ability can be intentionally enhanced, producing a much deeper level of nonverbal communication, understanding, and connection between people. There is also intriguing evidence that heart field interactions can occur between people and animals.

In short, energetic communication via the heart field facilitates development of an expanded consciousness in relation to our social world.

The Heart’s Field and Intuition

There are also new data suggesting that the heart’s field is directly involved in intuitive perception, through its coupling to an energetic information field outside the bounds of space and time. Using a rigorous experimental design, we found compelling evidence that both the heart and brain receive and respond to information about a future event before the event actually happens. Even more surprising was our finding that the heart appears to receive this “intuitive” information before the brain. This suggests that the heart’s field may be linked to a more subtle energetic field that contains information on objects and events remote in space or ahead in time. Called by Karl Pribram and others the “spectral domain,” this is a fundamental order of potential energy that enfolds space and time, and is thought to be the basis for our consciousness of “the whole.” (See heartmath.org for further detail.)

Social Fields

In the same way that the heart generates energy in the body, we propose that the social collective is the activator and regulator of the energy in social systems.

A body of groundbreaking work shows how the field of socioemotional interaction between a mother and her infant is essential to brain development, the emergence of consciousness, and the formation of a healthy self-concept. These interactions are organized along two relational dimensions—stimulation of the baby’s emotions, and regulation of shared emotional energy. Together they form a socioemotional field through which enormous quantities of psychobiological and psychosocial information are exchanged. Coherent organization of the mother-child relations that make up this field is critical. This occurs when interactions are charged, most importantly, with positive emotions (love, joy, happiness, excitement, appreciation, etc.), and are patterned as highly synchronized, reciprocal exchanges between these two individuals. These patterns are imprinted in the child’s brain and thus influence psychosocial function throughout life. (See Allan Schore, Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self.)

Moreover in a longitudinal study of 46 social groups, one of us (RTB) documented how information about the global organization of a group—the group’s collective consciousness—appears to be transmitted to all members by an energetic field of socio-emotional connection. Data on the relationships between each pair of members was found to provide an accurate image of the social structure of the group as a whole. Coherent organization of the group’s social structure is associated with a network of positively charged emotions (love, excitement, and optimism) connecting all members. This network of positive emotions appears to constitute a field of energetic connection into which information about the group’s social structure is encoded and distributed throughout the group. Remarkably, an accurate picture of the group’s overall social structure was obtained from information only about relationships between pairs of individuals. We believe the only way this is possible is if information about the organization of the whole group is distributed to all members of the group via an energetic field. Such correspondence in information between parts and the whole is consistent with the principle of holographic organization. [2]

Synthesis and Implications

Some organizing features of the heart field, identified in numerous studies at HeartMath, may also be shared by those of our hypothesized social field. Each is a field of energy in which the waveforms of energy encode the features of objects and events as energy moves throughout the system. This creates a nonlocal order of energetic information in which each location in the field contains an enfolded image of the organization of the whole system at that moment. The organization and processing of information in these energy fields can best be understood in terms of quantum holographic principles. [3]

Another commonality is the role of positive emotions, such as love and appreciation, in generating coherence both in the heart field and in social fields. When the movement of energy is intentionally regulated to form a coherent, harmonious order, information integrity and flow are optimized. This, in turn, produces stable, effective system function, which enhances health, psychosocial well-being, and intentional action in the individual or social group.

Heart coherence and social coherence may also act to mutually reinforce each other. As individuals within a group increase psychophysiological coherence, psychosocial attunement may be increased, thereby increasing the coherence of social relations. Similarly, the creation of a coherent social field by a group may help support the generation and maintenance of psychophysiological coherence in its individual members. An expanded, deepened awareness and consciousness results—of the body’s internal physiological, emotional, and mental processes, and also of the deeper, latent orders enfolded into the energy fields that surround us. This is the basis of self-awareness, social sensitivity, creativity, intuition, spiritual insight, and understanding of ourselves and all that we are connected to. It is through the intentional generation of coherence in both heart and social fields that a critical shift to the next level of planetary consciousness can occur—one that brings us into harmony with the movement of the whole.

For more information on the Institute of HeartMath’s research and publications, please visit www.heartmath.org.

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About Authors

Rollin McCraty, Ph.D.
Rollin is the Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Institute of Heart Math. He has been with IHM since its inception in 1991 and has worked with founder Doc Childre to formulate the organization’s research goals and create its Scientific Advisory Board. Rollin is a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress, holds memberships with the International Neurocardiology Network, American Autonomic Society, Pavlovian Society and Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback and is an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University.

Raymond Trevor Bradley, Ph.D.
Adjunct Associate Research Professor, Center for Brain Research and Informational Sciences, Radford University; Director, Institute for Whole Social Science; Author – Charisma and Social Structure, Carmel, CA.

Dana Tomasino, BA
Researcher and scientific writer at the Institute of HeartMath since 1995.

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Footnotes

1. Correlates of physiological coherence include: increased synchronization between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system, a shift in autonomic balance toward increased parasympathetic activity, increased heart-brain synchronization, increased vascular resonance, and entrainment between diverse physiological oscillatory systems.
2. Holographic organization is based on a field concept of order, in which information about the organization of an object as a whole is encoded as an interference pattern in energy waveforms distributed throughout the field. This makes it possible to retrieve information about the object as a whole from any location within the field.
3. The term “quantum,” as used in quantum holography, does not mean that this kind of energetic information processing is understood in terms of the principles of quantum physics. Rather, quantum holography is a special, nondeterministic form of holographic organization based on a discrete unit of energetic information called a logon or a “quantum” of information.

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As the duration of the event or skill becomes reduced, the need for speed strength (I’ll abbreviate it as “SS” from this point on) increases. However, even triathletes rely heavily upon explosive strength as they sprint to the finish line. It’s not a matter of whether or not you need to develop SS, but to what degree you need to prioritize it in your training.

SS is also a vital quality during emergency situations, such as when it becomes necessary to quickly dodge a car when walking across the street, or duck to avoid being hit by a stray ball. In fact, SS is the body’s preferred method of force generation— the last time you had to lift a heavy object from the floor to a high shelf, did you accelerate the load to make the task easier, or did you make a concerted effort to lift the object with a constant speed?!

For bodybuilders, SS training methods are immensely valuable for their ability to improve intramuscular coordination (the ability to recruit high threshold motor units), which has significant payoffs during later training phases utilizing lower intensity loads. In other words, a two week training phase emphasizing accelerative training techniques will potentiate the ability to lift greater loads during a subsequent phase utilizing more “traditional” bodybuilding lifting technique (i.e., constant tension, avoiding joint lock-outs, etc).

Strength: the Multi-faceted Motor Quality

Of course, SS is simply one expression of force output, and strength as a bio-motor ability has many expressions. The following list briefly describes the types of strength available to athletes:

Absolute Strength (maximal strength)

Absolute strength is defined as the amount of musculoskeletal force you can generate for one all-out effort, irrespective of time or bodyweight.

This form of strength can be demonstrated or tested in the weight room during the performance of a maximal, single repetition lift. While only powerlifters need to maximize and demonstrate this type of strength in competition, all athletes need to develop absolute strength as a foundation for other bio-motor abilities such as SS, strength endurance, agility, and others.¹ For this reason, absolute strength is brought to high levels in the preparatory period, and then “converted” to more event-specific forms of strength later in the macrocycle. Absolute strength can be displayed through three types of muscular actions:

1) Concentric Strength: the ability to overcome a resistance through muscular contraction, i.e., the muscle shortens as it develops tension.

2) Eccentric Strength: displayed when a muscle lengthens as it yields to a resistance. Eccentric strength is normally 30-50% greater than concentric strength, meaning that you can lower significantly more weight in good control than you can actually lift. This may be the result of increased intra-muscular friction (a concept not yet validated by science) during the eccentric portion of a lift. In eccentric muscular encounters with external resistances, there are two possible scenarios which can occur:²

a) The resistance encountered is less than one’s maximal isometric strength. In weight training applications, this applies to any load less than 1RM.

b) The resistance encountered is more than one’s maximal isometric strength. In weight training applications, this applies to any load more than 1RM (commonly called “eccentric training”).

3) Static Strength: muscular contraction which does not cause external movement of the resistance, either because the athlete has chosen to produce exactly enough force to prevent the resistance from lowering, but not enough to lift it; or because the external resistance is immovable. Static strength is also observed during the momentary pause between the eccentric and concentric portions of a movement.

Absolute Strength Forms the Basis for Speed Strength

Despite the current preoccupation with plyometrics, specialized shoes, and the like, improving absolute strength remains the most efficient way to improve SS.³

In fact, Romanian strength & periodization specialist Tudor Bompa suggests that “No visible increments of power are possible without clear gains in maximal (absolute) strength.”⁴

To appreciate the importance of absolute strength on SS, imagine a rocket weighing 1000 pounds, with an engine capable of 1200 pounds of thrust.

This rocket has only 200 pounds of reserve force to propel itself. The same rocket, when equipped with an engine rated at 3000 pounds of thrust, will have 2000 pounds of reserve thrust that can be used for propulsion.

Now back to the gym: a 200 pound man capable of squatting 250 pounds for a single rep will have a mere 50 pounds of reserve strength available to propel his body upward during a vertical jump. Contrast this with a 200 pound elite-class powerlifter capable of squatting 600 pounds. Now we’ve got 400 pounds of strength reserve available, and all things being equal, will have a vastly superior vertical jump compared to the novice squatter.

Relative Strength

Whereas absolute strength refers to strength irrespective of bodyweight, relative strength is a term used to denote an athlete’s strength per unit of bodyweight (his or her “pound for pound strength”). It can be used as a modifier for other categories of strength, such as speed strength or strength endurance. So, if two athletes of different bodyweights can power clean (a display of SS) 275 pounds, they have equal speed strength for that lift, but the lighter athlete has greater relative speed strength.

Athletes who compete in weight-class events depend heavily on relative strength, as do athletes who must overcome their bodyweight to accomplish a motor task (i.e., long jump, sprinting, etc.). Further, sports which have aesthetic requirements (figure skating, gymnastics, etc.) demand the development of strength without a commensurate gain in bodyweight.

As a side note, in the World of sport, lighter athletes have better relative strength than heavier athletes, whereas the heavier athletes get the nod for absolute strength. In Olympic weightlifting for example, elite-level athletes in light weight classes have lifted triple-bodyweight from the floor to an overhead position. World-class competitors in the superheavyweight division are unable to lift even double-bodyweight; however, the absolute poundages they lift are far greater than that of their lighter peers.

Since strength training targets the neuro-muscular system, strength can be developed through two very different means— by applying stress either to the muscular or to the neural aspect of the system. The former method is usually accomplished through the application of “bodybuilding” methods (repetitions between 6-12 to exhaustion, using continuous tension techniques), and results in strength gains through an increase in muscle cross-section. The latter method employs higher intensity training (repetitions between 1 and 5 using accelerative technique and full recoveries between sets), and increases in strength are the result of the body’s improved ability to recruit more of its existing motor unit pool.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, athletes who depend upon relative strength or SS should not completely avoid bodybuilding methods, which, when used judiciously, can be used to facilitate recovery between periods of intensive nervous system training. And, as you might expect, I strongly recommend that bodybuilders keep an open mind with regards to SS methods as well.

Speed Strength

Now to the topic du jour: SS is defined as work divided by time, where work is defined as force x distance. Therefore, SS is defined as force x distance, divided by time. SS is characterized by three distinct components:

• Starting strength: Defined as the ability to recruit as many motor units (MU’s) as possible instantaneously at the start of a movement.⁴ Common examples include the lunge in fencing, coming off the line in football, and the start in short sprints.
• Explosive strength: This quality refers to acceleration or rate of force development. In other words, once you’ve recruited a maximal number of MU’s, how long can you keep them recruited? In his seminars, Dr Fred Hatfield, co-founder of the International Sports Sciences Association and the first man to officially squat 1000 pounds, compares starting strength to the flash bulb of a camera, and explosive strength as a flash that stays on and becomes brighter and brighter the longer it stays on.

With regards to above distinctions, different sporting skills and events can be classified as either starting or explosive strength events, depending on the relative proportion of speed and strength required. The javelin event in track and field would be classified as a starting strength event because the implement is very light, which permits the athlete to impart a great degree of speed during the throw. Conversely, the shot is relatively heavy, which means that less speed can be achieved. This makes the shot put an explosive strength event. Thus, it logically follows that starting strength athletes emphasize relatively lighter weightloads in strength training than do explosive strength athletes.

• Stretch Shortening Cycle (Reactive Strength): Although traditionally classified as a component of SS, reactive strength is more accurately thought of as an independent motor quality.⁵ It involves the storage of potential kinetic energy during the eccentric portion of a movement, which is then converted to actual kinetic energy during the subsequent concentric phase— much like stretching and releasing an elastic band.

During many skills (jumping rope, for example), the working muscles attempt to maintain static contraction, with force output being provided by the storing and release of elastic energy through the tendons. Since static muscular activity requires less energy than dynamic muscular activity, reactive strength is an extremely energy-efficient way of moving— you can do more work with less calories. This is why novice exercisers can always be seen doing exercises in the easiest possible manner, using quick, choppy movements, whether it’s on the bench press or the stair climber. Reactive strength is also the method of choice when someone who is tired and/or weak gets up out of a chair: instead of simply standing up, they will actually lean back first, and then quickly reverse this action, springing out of the chair. If you ask someone to rise out of a chair using pure concentric movement, it looks very unusual.  To appreciate the effect of reactive strength on force production, perform a vertical jump in a normal manner, where you first crouch, and then rapidly switch and jump upwards as explosively as possible. Next, crouch, but pause for five seconds (this pause will dissipate most if not all of the stored potential kinetic energy), and then jump upward. You’ll find that the jump where the crouch (or eccentric phase) was IMMEDIATELY followed by the jump results in a more successful attempt. The key to preserving as much potential kinetic energy as possible is to switch from eccentric to concentric as rapidly as possible.

How Muscles Produce Force

1) MU recruitment (intramuscular coordination): All muscle fibers are one component of what physiologists call “motor units.” A MU is defined as a motor neuron (or nerve cell) and all the muscle fibers it innervates or “recruits.” Without going into excruciating detail, there are several essential bits of information that athletes and coaches should understand about the functioning of MU’s:

• All the fibers of a MU tend to have the same characteristics.⁵ When all the fibers are type II, the motor unit is said to be a high threshold or “fast” MU. If the fibers are Type I, it is a low threshold or “slow” MU. See Table 1 for an in-depth description of fiber types.
• The all or none principle: When an action potential is sent from the cell body to the muscle fibers, one of two events will occur. If the action potential is strong enough, all the fibers of that motor unit will contract maximally. If the action potential is not strong enough, nothing will happen. In a nutshell, muscle fibers either contract all the way, or not at all. When the body needs to apply more force, it simply recruits more MU’s. Generally, untrained people have limited ability to recruit high threshold MU’s because they are unfamiliar with high-tension efforts.
• The size principle: MU’s are recruited in order of size— small to large. This explains why we can use the muscle to pick up something light (a pencil) or heavy (a dumbbell). As resistance increases, the body recruits more MU’s.

2) Intermuscular coordination: the ability of different muscles to cooperate during the performance of a motor task. Muscles can function in several different ways depending on the task at hand. The most fundamental roles that muscles assume are listed below:

• Prime Mover: The primary muscle responsible for a movement around a joint at any given point in time. For example, during the bench press exercise, the pectoralis major is the biggest and strongest muscle involved, and as such it provides the most force during most of the exercise.
• Synergist: A synergist is a muscle which dynamically assists the prime mover. Going back to the bench press example, the front deltoid muscle and triceps would be considered synergists in this exercise.
• Stabilizer: Stabilizers are muscles which anchor or stabilize one part of the body (through static activity), allowing another part to move. In other words, they assist the prime mover and synergists through static or “isometric” muscular contraction. The stabilizer role of muscles can be trained with exercises conducted in an unstable environment, which might involve dumbbells, Swiss balls, wobble boards, or other devices designed for this purpose.

For clarification, be aware that prime movers, synergists, and stabilizers are not different types of muscles— they are ways in which muscles perform. A single muscle might be a prime mover in one situation, and a stabilizer in another situation.

• Agonist/antagonist relationship: (Not to be confused with the roles described above). For every muscle in the body, there is another muscle capable of resisting its force. If this were not the case, controlled human movement would not be possible. When you throw a punch for example, your tricep is one of the primary agonists (you can distinguish between these two terms by remembering that “the agonist is the one inagony”), as it is the muscle which extends the elbow. The primary antagonist during punching is the biceps, which acts eccentrically to control the extension force created by the triceps so that you don’t hyper-extend your elbow at the end of the movement.

3) Rate Coding: The nervous system can vary the strength of muscular contraction not only by varying the number of MU’s recruited, but also by varying the firing rate of each MU, called rate coding. The tension that a MU develops in response to a single action potential from the nervous system is called a “twitch.” As the stimulus from the nervous system becomes stronger and stronger, the twitches per millisecond become more and more frequent until they begin to overlap, causing greater amounts of tension to be generated by the muscle fiber. The mechanism behind rate coding is very similar to the way in which increased vibrational frequency of a sound increases it’s pitch.

As an example, a muscle comprised of 100 MU’s would have 100 graded increments available to it. In addition, each MU can vary it’s force output over about a 10-fold range by varying its firing rate (e.g., from 10 to 50 impulses per second). For any set of conditions, the force of contraction is maximal when all MU’s have been recruited and all are firing at the optimal rate for force production.

The size of a given muscle may in part determines the relative role of rate coding to total muscular force development.⁶

In small muscles, most MU’s are recruited at a level of force less than 50% of maximal force capacity.  Forces requiring greater tensions are generated primarily through rate coding. In large proximal muscles (such as the pectoralis and lats), the recruitment of additional MUs appears to be the main mechanism for increasing force development up to 80% of absolute strength and even higher. In the force range between 80% and 100% of absolute strength, force is increased almost exclusively by intensification of the MU firing rate.

Training Methods for Speed Strength

Since SS is comprised of speed and strength, it becomes important to consider what can be done to improve these two qualities independently, since an improvement in either aspect will improve the whole.

“Traditional” Strength Training

Since speed is primarily a genetically-inherited characteristic of the nervous system, it responds poorly to training, as compared to strength, which is perhaps the easiest motor quality to improve. For this reason, and because safer methods should be considered before more risky ones, the starting point for all athletes who wish to promote SS is traditional strength training. (I use the term “traditional” to refer to common weight room exercises performed in a traditional bodybuilding manner using a variety of intensities).

Compensatory Acceleration Training (CAT)

CAT training is a distinct form of accelerative lifting coined by Dr. Fred Hatfield. It refers to compensatorily speeding up your movement in such a way that improved leverages are compensated for. For example, when ascending out of a deep squat position, mechanical leverage begins to improve once you pass the “sticking point.” This improving leverage reduces the tension on the working muscles, and in turn, the training stimulus is compromised. Deliberately accelerating through this movement path serves to increase muscular tensions. CAT technique takes time to master, because the acceleration must continue past the sticking point, yet end before the antagonist muscles are triggered into decelerating the movement in an effort to prevent joint hyperextension or loss of control. This “braking” action would be detrimental to normal coordination patterns involved with common athletic skills such as hitting, throwing, jumping, and kicking.

Ballistic Training

William Kraemer, perhaps this country’s most respected and prolific strength researcher, uses the term “ballistic training” to describe movements that are “accelerative, of high velocity, and with projection into free space.”⁷ Ballistic training involves plyometrics, modified Olympic lifting, jumping, throwing, and striking movements (such as punching or kicking a heavy bag).

Kraemer argues that, in traditional barbell training, a significant portion of the movement path (specifically, the end of the concentric phase) is spent decelerating the bar— a protective measure assumed by the antagonists to maintain joint integrity (in upper body movements such as bench pressing), or to prevent the athlete from leaving the ground in exercises such as the squat. If Kraemer’s contention is correct, one would choose to gradually reduce the volume of traditional barbell drills as the training cycle progresses, in favor of ballistic exercises which lack this deceleration phase, making them easier to learn and much more coordination-specific for most athletes.

The Modified Olympic Lifts

The sport of Olympic weightlifting (sometimes called “weightlifting”) contests two separate lifts: the snatch, where the barbell is grasped with a wide grip, and explosively pulled to an overhead position in a single movement; and the clean and jerk, where the barbell is grasped with a narrower grip, “cleaned” to the shoulders, and finally “jerked” to an overhead position.

Competitive lifters reach very deep squat positions as they struggle to get under ponderous weights prior to achieving the overhead position. But when slightly lighter weights are used, the lifter can manage to get under the weight without going below parallel, meaning that the top of the thighs never goes past the point of being parallel to the floor. When a lifter can accomplish this, the lift is called a power clean (or power snatch). The term “power” indicates that the load was not maximal, since the lifter didn’t have to squat to rock bottom to get under it. Thus, a power clean has less of a force component and more of a speed component than a competitive “squat clean.”

Arthur Dreshler, MSS, author of The Weightlifting Encyclopedia, eloquently describes the benefits of Olympic lifting and its derivatives for athletes:⁸

1) Olympic lifts teach an athlete how to explode (to activate a maximum number of motor units rapidly and simultaneously).

2) Olympic lifts teach the ability to apply force with his or her muscle groups in the proper sequence (i.e., from the center of the body to the extremities). This is a valuable technical lesson for any athlete who needs to impart force to another person or object.

3) Olympic lifts teach how to accelerate objects (including other people) under varying degrees of resistance.

4) Olympic lifts teach how to effectively receive forces from another moving body.

5) The actual movements performed while executing the Olympic lifts are among the most common and fundamental in sport.

6) The Olympic lifts are commonly used to measure an athlete’s force output capabilities.

If you are unfamiliar with the Olympic lifts and their derivatives. I strongly suggest that you find either an ISSA-Certified Specialist in Sports Conditioning, or a USA Weightlifting Certified Coach in your area who can assist you with these exercises. These lifts, though not beyond the capabilities of most athletes, are more complex than the majority of strength training exercises.

Plyometric Training

Although “plyos” are overused by many athletes in their quest for the “magic pill” solution to their training problems, plyometric drills performed with bodyweight, weighted jackets, light resistances such as medicine balls, logs, sand sacks and gymnastic equipment can be a valuable component of a SS development program.

Plyometric training programs must be designed with sufficient recovery periods to ensure that fatigue does not take the “elasticity” out of the athlete’s movements, since it is this repeated elastic neuromuscular control of impact which provides the training effect.

Testing Your Speed Strength: The Max Jones Quadrathlon.⁹

Few athletes are aware of this unique and very useful testing implement created by the English track & field coach of the same name. The MJQ can be used to regularly monitor your level of speed strength, and can also used as a fun competition several times a year. This test is very easy to administer (you’ll need to do this at your local high school or college track) and involves only a tape measure and a stop-watch. One note of caution, however: The four test drills, although relatively simple, will take a toll on your body (particularly your hip flexors) if you have never done them before, or if it’s been years since you’ve done them. If you fall into this category, I strongly suggest you practice these drills for before going at them “full bore.” Start with very low volume (just a few repetitions of each drill) and progress gradually over a series of 4-6 sessions.

The test drills are as follows:

Three Jumps: Feet together, hop three times and land in a long jump pit. Measure from your starting position to the closest disturbance of the sand where you landed.

Standing Long Jump: Standing at the edge of a long jump pit, with toes slightly over the edge of the board, perform a standing long jump into the pit. Measure from the lip of the board to the closest disturbance of the sand where you landed.

Thirty Meter Sprint: Using starting blocks (you may also have a partner place his or her foot behind your lead foot to simulate a block), start on the command of a timer at the finish line. The timer starts the watch when your back foot makes contact with the ground on the first step, and stops it when you break the finish line.

16lb Overhead Shot: Standing on top of a shot put stopboard (your back to the pit), dip down (much like the preparatory crouch for a vertical jump), swing the shot between the legs, and then extend and throw the shot overhead backwards. It is not necessary to remain on the stopboard. Measure from the lip of the stopboard to the first point of impact.

Please see Table 2 for the quadrathlon scoring tables. Simply convert your scores into the numerical scores provided, and total for your MJQ rating.

A Periodized Training Program for SS Development: The Rule of Thirds

Since fatigue is specific to the motor quality being trained, when microcycles with different objectives and varying demands follow each other, it promotes enhanced recovery, allows for maintenance of maximal strength and body composition during periods devoted to SS (and vice versa), and protects against “overuse” types of injury. The “rule of thirds” is a planning concept which partitions each mesocycle into thirds— the first two thirds are spent training the targeted motor ability; the final third is spent training a complementary motor ability to provide recovery and balance to the program.

In this program, maximal strength is the targeted motor ability for the first six weeks, while SS is the focus of the final six weeks.

Note: Before initiating this training program, complete the MJQ and record your score. At the completion of the program, re-take the quadrathlon to assess the effects of the training.

Citius, Altius, Fortius! A Periodized Training Cycle for SS Development

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About Author

“One of the signs of a great teacher is the ability to make the subject matter seem simple. Charles Staley is one of these rare teachers. After listening and talking to him, you suddenly achieve a new awareness of training. You go to the gym and, suddenly, everything makes sense, and you wonder why you haven’t been doing it his way since day one.” – Muscle Media 2000 magazine August, 1999

His colleagues call him an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results. His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show and The CBS Early Show. Sign up for Charles’ online newsletter and receive a FREE copy of “The Unnatural Athlete” ($29.95 value!), Charles Staley’s most politically-incorrect views on training, nutrition, fat loss, muscle-building and more!

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References

1. Hatfield, F.C. (Ed.)(1998). Fitness: The Complete Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: International Sports Sciences Association.
2. Dick, F.W. (1997). Sports Training Principles. London: A&C Black.
3. Komi, P.V., (Ed.) (1992) Strength and Power in Sport. London: Blackwell Scientific Publications
4. Bompa, T. O. (1993). Periodization of Strength. Toronto: Veritas Publishing, Inc.
5. Hatfield, F.C. (1989). Power: A Scientific Approach. Chicago: Contemporary Books.
6. Zatsiorsky, V.M. (1995). Science and Practice of Strength Training. Champaign: Human Kinetics Publishers.
7. Kraemer, W.J., & Newton, R.U. Muscle Power. Muscular Development, March, 1995
8. Drechsler, A. (1998). The Weightlifting Encyclopedia. Flushing, NY: A is A Communications.
9. Dunn, G.D., & McGill, K. (1994). The Throws Manual (2nd. Ed.), Mountain View, CA: Tafnews Press

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Exercise doesn’t work.

Now that might sound shocking coming from a guy with big biceps and 8% body fat; from a guy that recommends lots of exercise, at least 5 hours per week. So if this all seems incongruent, I guess I should qualify the statement above. I guess I should have probably said:

Exercise, ALONE, doesn’t work.

My Wake-Up Call
My coming to this realization wasn’t an easy process. I’ve been working with clients for over 15 years now and although I always knew that diet was an important part of the training equation, I also always harbored some subconscious notion that if I worked my clients hard enough, their lack of dietary effort would be overcome by my super-effective training programs. Sure, I wanted them to eat well. But if they didn’t (more like, wouldn’t), somewhere deep inside it seemed ok. I figured in the battle of training vs. diet, training would win. Now, I never said this aloud. However, somewhere I’m sure I felt it. So it wasn’t until I was slapped in the face with some cold, hard, objective data that I realized how wrong I’d been.

The Texas Study These data came in the form of a study I recently worked on at the University of Texas. In this study, nearly 100 initially sedentary participants either stayed sedentary (about half of them) OR began exercising (the other half). They exercisers were given a program to follow that added up to about 5 1/2 to 6 hours of activity per week and that lasted for a total of 12 weeks. The non-exercisers did nothing for the 12 weeks except show up for measurement sessions. These individuals, as stated above, did no exercise before the study began. As a result of this sedentary lifestyle, they averaged between 35% and 40% body fat (according to DEXA scans). Once the study began, the training group gathered together for 3 weight training sessions per week and 2 group exercise / interval sessions per week. All the training was designed by myself and overseen by a weightlifting coach and group exercise coach. So there was a pretty high level of quality control there. Now, it’s important to note that we didn’t alter the participant’s eating at all. And we did this on purpose. We wanted to test the effects of exercise alone – without diet. In other words, the question became:

“Without a dietary intervention, can exercise alone reshape a person’s body?”

At the end of the 12 week study, we got our answer:

“Not so much…”

That’s right, when analyzing the data, I was shocked to find that even with 3+ hours of training per week with a weightlifting coach and 2+ hours of training per week with a body-weight circuit instructor didn’t really work. The formerly sedentary participants didn’t do much better than their couch-sitting counterparts. Without dietary control, 12 weeks of high intensity training produced a fairly disappointing 1% loss of body fat. In terms of raw data, the participants lost only 1 pound of fat and gained 2 pounds of lean vs. the placebo group. Frankly, that sucks. The Machete Perspective Now, imagine you’re overweight (about 38% body fat) and you decide to take the plunge, to hire a personal trainer, and to get in shape for perhaps the first time in your life. So, you decide to buy a training package, one that contains 60 sessions (5 sessions per week for 12 weeks). The cost, per session, is 50 bucks, the going rate. So you plunk down 3 grand and start your initial 12 week fitness journey. You don’t expect big things…you just expect to start moving in the right direction. So you’re patient. You attend all your training sessions, you get to know your trainer really well, spending over 60 hours with him or her. You stay off the scale, not wanting to jinx yourself. Then, at the end of the 12 weeks, you weigh-in.

Body weight – You were overweight, obese in fact, to start with. Well, if you simply exercised (without changing your diet and following the protocol above) you now weigh one pound more! About to go crazy, your trainer talks you down off the cliff. You probably gained a lot of muscle while losing a lot of fat, he or she says. So it’s time to do a body comp test.

Fat weight – Ok, here’s the moment of truth. You’re sure there must have been some fat loss. Drumroll please…If you followed the protocol from above, you’re down one, uninspiring, unnoticable pound of fat. “What the heck!? Can I NOW be pissed?”

Lean weight – Because you weigh one pound more, and lost one pound of fat, that means that your formerly sedentary butt put on 2 lbs of lean mass. That’s nice and all. But that wasn’t the goal! You wanted to lose fat. This is when your anger kicks in.

So, you spent 3000 bucks and 60 hours working your ass off in the gym. And your ass didn’t change one bit! Is it time to grab a machete and take that good for nothing trainer’s head clean off? It’s Not A Fluke Now, when I first saw these data, I thought they were a fluke. I got the research team together on the phone and chewed them out. There must have been a data mix-up. I mean, seriously, 12 weeks of hard training and only one pound of fat lost vs. no training at all. Was this some sort joke? Did they screw up the data collection? Did the research participants skip out on sessions? What was the deal?!? Despite my insistence, there were no errors. The participants showed up. They trained hard. The data were collected properly. The participants just didn’t progress. And, for the first time, I started asking the question honestly.

Can a solid training program alone get people into great shape?

Note I said “solid” training program. In the past I figured people weren’t getting results because their training program was awful and perhaps so was their diet. But, as a result of this new study, a study in which the training protocol was solid, the answer appeared to be no. A solid training program alone wasn’t enough to get people into great shape. Other Research Support With a new sense of purpose, I started digging around in the research. And I quickly found another recent study suggesting the exact same thing. This study, published in the April 2008 issue of Nutrition and Metabolism, demonstrated that after 10 weeks of training (3 endurance sessions and 2 strength sessions per week – the flip flop of our study), 38 previously overweight, sedentary subjects also saw minimal changes in body composition with training.

Body Weight – In this study, neither the control (no exercise) group or the exercise group significantly changed their body weight. Both groups saw about a 0.6lb loss in body weight on average. But again, neither change was significant. Fat Mass - When it came to fat mass, the exercise group lost 2.4lbs while the control group lost 0.9lbs. This means that the 50 exercise sessions lead to a mere 1.5lb fat loss vs doing nothing. Better than a kick in the teeth, I guess. But not all that stellar. Lean Mass - The exercise group grained 1.7lbs of lean mass while the control group gained 0.2lbs of lean mass. This means that the 50 exercise sessions led to a 1.5lb gain in lean mass vs doing nothing at all. Again, not bad. But not great either.

Different vs. Important Sure, in both studies, the changes were “statistically significant.” In other words, participants did lose more fat and gain more lean mass when training vs. not training. However, let’s not confuse different with important. After all, these changes are small, really small. And I would suggest, unimportant. I mean, come on now, people exercise to actually change their bodies in noticeable, measurable ways. They want to fit better into their clothes. They want to go from overweight to normal weight. They want to be able to walk up the stairs without getting winded. They want to lower their cholesterol. In my estimation, and it might just be me, they’re just not all that interested in dumping big dollars and lots of time into something that leads to a one pound fat loss. Seriously, that’s not all that good. The Lesson – No, It’s Not To Stop Exercising! At this point you might be wondering if it’s my advice to stop exercising. Of course not! Exercise is critically important to looking better, feeling better, and performing better every single day. And don’t you forget it! However, my point is that exercise ALONE just doesn’t cut it. What you really need is exercise PLUS a sound nutritional program. Now that’s just what the doctor ordered. Consider what happens when people actually eat well… In our recent Precision Nutrition Body Transformation Challenge, the average fat loss for all of our participants was 1/2% (or 1lb) lost per week! Remember, in the studies above, they lost about 1 to 1.5lbs in 10-12 weeks! That’s almost at 10-fold increase in effectiveness when people added the Precision Nutrition plan to their training system. Further, our finalists (the top performers) saw the following results:

• Finalist #1 lost about 30lbs in 16 weeks – losing 23lbs of fat, or about 1.4lbs of fat per week.

• Finalist #2 – lost about 16lbs in 16 weeks – losing 23lbs of fat, or about 1.4lbs of fat per week.

• Finalist #3 – lost 37lbs in 16 weeks – losing 27lbs of fat, or about 1.7 lbs of fat per week.

• Finalist #4 – lost 25lbs during 16 weeks – losing 35lbs of fat, or about 2.2lbs of fat per week.

• Finalist #5 – lost 37lbs during 16 weeks – losing 31lbs of fat, or about 1.9lbs of fat.

Note: each of our finalists followed one of the training programs and our nutritional guidelines outlined in the Precision Nutrition System.

Also consider the research study discussed above, the one published in Nutrition and Metabolism. In this study, there was actually a 3rd group. And this group, in addition to exercising, supplemented each day with 2 nutrient-dense meal replacement supplements. Each supplement contained 300 calories, 5g fat, 25g carbs, and 40g protein and a host of vitamins and minerals. And while the exercise-only group saw small fat losses and muscle gains, the exercise plus supplement group, was a different story.

Body Weight – The exercise+supplement group lost 4lbs of total body weight. This compared to the 0.6lbs lost in the exercise alone group. Fat Mass - The exercise+supplement group also lost 6lbs of total body fat. This compared to the 2.4lbs lost in the exercise alone group. Lean Mass - The exercise+supplement group gained about 1.8lbs of total lean body mass. This compared to the 1.7lb gained in the exercise alone group.

So, as you can see, even something as simple as adding a high quality protein drink or MRP can improve fat loss vs. exercise alone. But, again, nothing is as effective as following a solid nutrition program while exercising properly. Trainers Take Note At this point, I’ve gotta serve notice to trainers. Folks, if you’re not providing nutrition advice to your clients, that’s a real problem. A trainer selling a client exercise alone is equivalent to a car salesman selling a car with no engine. As you’ve already seen, the thing just won’t go. Now, I don’t want to seem as if I’m taking shots at ALL trainers because I love the service many of them provide. However, I do have something to say to those trainers who don’t have a nutrition system in place. Take my advice…incorporating nutrition isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a “need to have”. So don’t miss the boat. Start thinking about how you can get your clients training hard AND eating better right away. Exercisers, Also Take Note For you folks who aren’t trainers yet who are looking to look better, feel better, and perform at the top of your game, the lesson should be obvious. You can train as hard as you want. However, without some attention to your nutritional intake, you simply can’t expect inspiring, noticeable results.

To get your nutrition program straight, click here…

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About Author

John M Berardi, Ph.D. is the founder and chief scientific officer of Precision Nutrition. PN started with a single question: what exactly should people eat to: 1.) look fit, 2.) be healthy, and 3.) perform to their highest potential?

To answer that question, we condensed 8 years of research, both from the lab and from the field, and the experiences of nearly 50,000 PN members from around the world, including both everyday folk and Olympic gold medalists, all into one system — the Precision Nutrition System.

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