Articles

Are Your Hormones Making You Fat?

Published in Clean Eating January 2008

It's basic body chemistry: if you consume too many calories and don't burn them off with exercise, you'll gain fat. But what if you've been following a clean diet and exercising with regularity and intensity and are gaining fat anyway? It could be your hormones, which as you'll discover, are not such basic chemistry.

Cholesterol: Big Problem, or Big Business?

Published in Clean Eating January 2008

What do you think about when you see the chemical formula C₂₇H₄₆O? Nothing, probably, except for a flashback to high school chem class. How about when you see the word cholesterol? Ah, that's much more evocative. You probably think: heart disease or heart attack. That's because over the past fifty years or so, the message has spread with almost viral-like urgency that cholesterol and heart disease are practically synonymous, and it should be a national priority to do whatever it takes to get yours down. However, a growing body of research suggests that cholesterol by itself is no more meaningful than its chemical formula, and that the drugs that are meant to lower cholesterol are over-prescribed and their side-effects, underreported.

Stretching – The Truth

Published in Oxygen August 2007

If you are unable to do the splits, there is likely only one thing standing in your way: your mind. Pavel Tsatsouline, a fitness instructor and author who holds a Master of Sports certification from the former Soviet government, says, "No muscles run from one leg to the other. No tendons, no ligaments, nothing but skin." Nothing that should prevent you from extending both legs out at the same time, assuming you are able to do one at a time. So why can't you? It's a trick of your nervous system. When you put your body into a strange position, your nervous system tells your muscles to tighten up and resist lengthening. This defensive reflex is designed to protect your connective tissues. You simply must learn the skills to override it.

Up the Ante

Published in Oxygen April 2006

IFBB Figure athlete and model Elaine Goodlad exudes an almost feline femininity, so it may come as some surprise that she likes heavy metal. I'm not talking about the aggressive, driving rhythms of guitar-and-drums-centered rock bands, but rather the heft of substantial dumbbell-centered gym equipment. She first fell in love with heavy weightlifting about the time she fell in love with her competitive powerlifter/trainer-cum-husband almost 20 years ago. But due to the shoulder injuries she's suffered since then, she now finds herself limited as to how much weight she can use. As a result, she's found some innovative ways to literally raise the bar and continue to excel beyond her previous successes.

The Mind of a Champion

Published in Oxygen April 2006

Looking at a lineup of pro fitness competitors at any major show, it's difficult to know who will walk away with the title. At an elite level in athletics, the difference in skill between competitors is minimal. So what is it that makes a champion? Sports psychologists say that the performance issues athletes struggle with are not necessarily the result of inferior physical skills, insufficient training, or sub-par technical abilities. As it turns out, it's the brain - not the brawn - that separates champions from mere winners.

Socialized into Submission

Men are taught at boyhood how to square off against opponents, but that's not true for women. In fact, it's common for women to feel the burden of trepidation or shame when they compete. We're hesitant to defeat others; we are anxious about possibly inciting revenge (remember Nancy Kerrigan's shattered knee?); we fear both success and failure; we are occasionally embarrassed when a disobliging society doesn't reward us - or rewards us too much - when we do win.

Bringing up the Rear

Published in Oxygen December 2005

The tyranny of the undernourished derriere is over! Women who have eschewed everything from food to heavy weights to shrink their bottom lines, rejoice! Thin is not in. The new image of sexiness features a strong, shapely, full behind. Ample backsides are praised in hip-hop lyrics, featured on modern mannequins, and envied by waifs everywhere. Such sensuous exuberance hasn't been celebrated this much since Renaissance master Peter Paul Rubens first applied paint to canvas in the 1500s. It makes me so happy I just want to do like rapper 50 Cent suggests and shake.. shake.. shake that a** gir!.

The Biggest Winner

Published in Oxygen September 2005

The best success stories are never about people who were born with it or had it handed to them. The best ones are about people who overcame personal challenges to achieve something meaningful in their lives. That success then becomes inspirational and motivational to others who witness it. Jillian Michaels, celebrity strength trainer and life coach on the NBC competitive weight-loss reality show, The Biggest Loser, is one of those stories.

Sit Up and Get Noticed

Published in Oxygen July 2005

Behold the beauty of a lean, sculpted midsection. Not only is it appealing to look at, it symbolizes the attainment of a certain level of perfection in fitness, because visible and prominent abdominal muscles are only achieved by discipline, focus, and a sobering commitment to a clean diet. Fitness icon and competitor Monica Brant-Peckham owns one of the most magnificent midriffs in the business, and here she tells how she got it - and how you can get one, too.

Reality Check

Published in Oxygen June 2005

Aren't you just the tiniest bit gleeful when you see tabloid pictures of celebrities with unsightly flab hanging out of their bikinis? A little bit of cellulite on a starlet's thighs can catalyze a collective sigh of relief: Oh thank heavens; she's got it, too. Do you ever wonder if the chiseled fitness models and competitors on these pages might also struggle to maintain their lean physiques month after month? What is it that enables them to keep their six-packs from becoming kegs? Their V-tapers, pyramids? Do they ever go back to the "before" once they achieve the "after?" Shhhh - here's a little insider secret: they don't really look like that all the time. And neither should you.

Seven Mistakes Low-Carb Dieters Make (And how to avoid them)

Published in LowCarb Living March/April 2005

According to market research firm Opinion Dynamics, 15 percent of 1,000 Americans surveyed in the beginning of 2005 claimed to be following a low-carb diet. However, the survey also projected that many of those individuals are likely to give up the diets as the year progresses. There are plenty of reasons for your good intentions and enthusiasm to subside after a while, but you can head off a plateau if you're aware of some of seven of the most common mistakes low-carb dieters make.

Shortcut to Great Glutes

Published in Oxygen December 2004

Why is it so hard for most of us to achieve a bikini-ready bottom? It's a matter of survival. Evolutionarily speaking, the female body is designed to store enough fat to provide nourishment for herself and her offspring during times of famine. Fooling Mother Nature wasn't a problem until after the sensuous exuberance of plump flesh came out of fashion somewhere in the 20th century. Now the body part that is the most difficult to change is the one that most women are obsessed with sculpting and shaping. It's the benchmark of a great body; if someone has a tight, toned tush, you know she's literally worked her butt off to get it.

Have you got what it takes?

Published in Oxygen November 2004

It's no surprise that preparing for a fitness or figure competition is difficult. But it's not just the diet, training, double daily cardio sessions, choreography and suit selection that can put the squeeze on you; the cost associated with even amateur contests may have you digging between the couch cushions. That's why some fortunate competitors have partnered with businesses to help finance their fitness careers. While very few make enough to earn a living doing what they love, sponsorships can offer these athletes funding, supplements, exposure, and an opportunity to network and even advance their careers beyond the stage. Most of the pros have done it, but amateurs can, too. For the first time, here's some instruction from both experienced competitors and the companies that support them on how to sponsor yourself to the spotlight.

Bust Your Balls

Published in Oxygen October 2004

When Jelena Djordjevic decided she wanted to pursue a career as a fitness model, she had to do something drastic. She had to leave her native country. "There was so little hope for a future in Serbia," she says. "I wanted to find opportunities and so I came to America." Well, she found them. Now an NPC Figure competitor, model and personal trainer, Jelena has met many challenges with the courage of a champion. Unable to speak any English when she moved to New Jersey in 1998, she struggled to adjust to a new culture and to the demands of a career she wasn't yet qualified to enter.

Calories Still Count - Even In Low-Carb Diets

Published in LowCarb Living July/August 2004

Remember Susan Powter, the platinum-blonde proponent of low-fat eating, who set off a manic diet craze that crashed as suddenly as someone does during a Snackwell's-induced food coma? The reason reduced-fat diets didn't work was because as the food industry introduced products labeled low-fat or fat-free, consumers thought they could eat as much as they wanted as long as they avoided most of the oily stuff. Manufacturers, overjoyed by the quantity of low-fat snacks flying off the shelves and into the mouths of millions, kept the basic physiological principle of weight loss a big, fat secret.

In the interest of keeping history from repeating itself, you should know this: calories still count.

Create Your Own Workout Space

Published in LowCarb Living May/June 2004

There is an old saying that goes; "If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, then the mountain will have to come to Mohammed." And what if Mohammed won't go to the gym, either? Then he can build one at home and save himself the trip. Whether the commute is too long after a day at work, the facilities too crowded, the music annoying or the membership over your budget, there are plenty of reasons to create your own ultimate workout environment.

Slumber Like Lumber

Published in Muscle & Fitness May 2004

It's funny: the guy who made it possible for us to work all day and night only needed to sleep 3-5 hours. Ever since Thomas Edison introduced the first practical lightbulb, everyone has felt compelled to cram more hours of living into each 24-hour day. However, since most of us lack Edison's "genius for sleep" (he napped anytime, anywhere) our days are bursting with fatigue while he merrily patented 1093 inventions with his extra daylight and announced, "There is time enough for everything." If sleep is the casualty of our compulsive, competitive, round-the-clock culture, is there a way to get by with less?

Arresting Legs

Published in Oxygen May 2004

Within 24 hours of being released from prison, a convicted felon reports to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to meet his parole officer. With the responsibility to transition him back into society and the ability, if necessary, to reincarcerate him if he chooses to disregard his parole conditions, he might expect to meet someone large, imposing, even mean. Instead, he is shown to the office of Valarie Brown-Stephens, who stands just five feet tall and weighs less than 130 lbs. Though she wears a badge and a Glock 9mm semi-automatic pistol, the first things he sees on her are an extended hand-and a smile.

"My size is irrelevant if I can disarm them with honesty and courtesy," says Valarie, who has been with the Board since 1997. Which isn't to say that she couldn't get tough if she had to. As part of her job, she is thoroughly trained in defensive tactics and handgun use. "I've only had to escalate things verbally, and my parolees don't like to see me get like that. If I have to, I reprimand them and let them know what they have to do." Valarie says she would only draw her Glock if she were going to place someone under arrest, and getting physical is the absolute last resort.

Go Green to Get Lean

Published in Oxygen February 2004

Anyone who has ever dieted down for a competition knows what it's like to pack a day's worth of food to haul around, minimizing the risk of drive-thru dementia when the hunger pangs strike. It's a challenge, but at least there's the variety of lean meats from which to choose to wash down all that steamed broccoli. Except if you're an herbivore like Cathy Nordyke, a vegetarian for a decade, who has fewer options to meet her daily protein requirement of 130-140g. As Kermit the Frog noted, "It ain't easy being green." To some, her pre-contest diet may appear to be restrictive twice over, but Cathy wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, she believes that her ultra-clean dietary choices have given her a health boost that most meat-eaters don't get, such as a healthier heart and a daily dose of Omega-3 fatty acid which is linked to a high HDL to LDL cholesterol ratio. Since vegetarians normally eat more vegetables, fiber and sometime fish than carnivores, they are more likely to consume Omega-3 while avoiding the unhealthy fat and cholesterol found in red meat. What follows is Cathy's typical weekday, and some basic advice on combining a vegetarian lifestyle with success as a competitive fitness athlete.

Venus de Muscle

Published in Oxygen March 2002

Have you ever seen the statue of David in Florence? It is an enormous sculpture that Michelangelo carved out of two tons of marble in the sixteenth century. David's hard, physical stamina is demonstrated in the fixed points: the waist, wrists, his right hand at the shoulder. What the sculptor knew was that in order to support the composition's weight, he had to be very careful handling the marble in these critical areas, and to do so, he had to learn about anatomy.

Michelangelo spent weeks dissecting cadavers in a monastery to discover the vital structure of a human body that lies beneath the surface. He studied the organs, joints, cartilage, and muscles - every working component of the body - to understand what function it served. What surprised him was how so many small, invisible parts were necessary to keep our bodies erect and in motion. And he learned that by ignoring any of these parts, his sculptures might collapse.

It is perhaps because of their supporting roles that we fitness enthusiasts tend to overlook some of these small but vital parts in favor of the more obvious ones during our training. When we decide to sculpt and chisel our bodies, we usually focus on such aspects as the strong roundness of our shoulders and how they gently dip into the triceps. Or a strong, flared back balancing on the narrow taper of our waists. But Michelangelo knew that every fiber and substance of the body was necessary to shape a surface that is strong, balanced and symmetrical. To achieve the same effects on ourselves, we must follow the artist's example and pay attention to the causes underneath. Otherwise, we risk not only an unbalanced physique, but also weakened muscle function, extended recovery time, longer plateaus, and even acute injuries and chronic pain.