Post-Workout Snack May Hamper Weight Loss

(HealthDay News) -- Elite athletes are advised to "fill the tank" with an energy bar or sports drink soon after a workout.

But for mere mortals -- folks who are simply trying to keep their weight in check or stave off heart disease -- adding calories right after burning them up could negate the benefits of the sweat, researchers say.

"If people are going to go out and exercise to benefit their health, they should not be eating back the calories immediately upon finishing, or within a couple of hours of finishing," said Barry S. Braun, director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "In order to maintain the benefits, you need to be in this calorie deficit."

"Athletes are always advised to do exactly the opposite," he continued. "That's great for athletes, but for the other 99.9 percent of the world, that's probably the wrong thing."

Braun is co-author of two papers appearing in the Journal of Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and one paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology that detail the findings.

Ten young, overweight men and women participated in each experiment.

For the first study, volunteers were asked to walk on a treadmill for an hour a day, burning about 500 calories each time. Half of the group were given a high-calorie carbohydrate drink immediately after their workout while the other half abstained.

Exercise increased insulin efficiency by 40 percent in those who did not eat afterwards. But the benefit was completely wiped out for those who had a high-carb drink after sweating.

These results had the researchers wondering if the type of calorie would make any difference.

For the second study, volunteers cycled for 75 minutes. Immediately after exercising, half of the participants ate a meal high in carbohydrates while the other half ate a meal low in carbohydrates but containing the same number of calories.

The ability of insulin to clear sugar from the blood was greater among people who ate the low-carb meal, the researchers found.

"It seems as though giving people back carbohydrates blunts or diminishes this exercise benefit," Braun said.

The third study was all about timing. Participants were given identical meals before, immediately after or three hours after cycling for 75 minutes.

The effectiveness of insulin was about the same no matter what the time, the study revealed.

"That really didn't make a whole lot of difference, which surprised us," Braun stated. "What did seem to matter was whether you ate back calories, and whether those calories were mostly carbohydrates."

More information
There's more on how to get the most out of your workout at the American College of Sports Medicine.

Head-First Slide a Heads-Up Play

(HealthDay News) -- As base runners weigh whether to slide head first or feet first during Wednesday's first game of the World Series, they might want to talk to a physicist instead of a coach.

The effectiveness of either approach is closely tied to the principles of physics and factors like a baseball player's center of gravity, explained David A. Peters, a professor of engineering at Washington University in St. Louis.

"If it's just down to speed, and you want to get to the bag as fast as you can, there's a slight edge to head first," he said.

Peters estimates that sliding into a base head first could shave 1/200ths of a second off the body's travel time, the equivalent of about five inches, compared to going feet first.

"Your brain tells your body what to do, but after that, physics takes over," said Peters, an aircraft engineer and longtime baseball fan who's become the St. Louis media's go-to guy for questions about the mechanics of baseball.

"Whenever I watch baseball, I think of physics all the time," he said. "That's the way my brain works."

According to Peters, statistics suggest that about 60 percent of base runners are faster when they slide head first.

But head-first slides can be dangerous, because players are exposing their heads and hands to injury. "A lot of people aren't willing to give up their body that way," Peters said.

Feet-first slides can be hazardous to the opposing team. Baseball legend Ty Cobb was reputed to have sharpened the spikes on his cleats to intimidate anyone who dared to try to tag him out during a slide.

Peters said a player's center of gravity is the key to determining which sliding approach is faster. The center of gravity is the point where half of a player's weight is above that point and half is below. Typically, the point is above the body's actual halfway point, he said.

When a player slides head first, he gains more momentum if his center of gravity is above the body's midpoint, Peters said.

The mechanics of sliding head first give players another boost by allowing them to continue pumping their legs as they start falling to the ground, he said.

There's another option, of course: Run to the base -- particularly first base -- and don't slide at all. It turns out that physics offers contradictory advice on whether to slide or stand, said Alan M. Nathan, a professor of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"On the one hand, a head-first slide gets the fingertips to the bag before the center of mass gets there," said Nathan. "On the other hand, sliding reduces your forward velocity. As with many things in physics, it is not so obvious which effect wins out."

So, should baseball players consult physicists for advice?

"I suspect they do not give much thought to the laws of physics. Nor should they," Nathan said. "In the end, the physics governing the game of baseball is often quite complex and is a highly empirical science. That is, we learn about the science of the game by watching the players play. They don't learn about playing the game by listening to us."

More information
For baseball safety tips, visit Safe USA.

Tennis Forehand - Forehand Step 1 - Pivot and Shoulder Turn

The first step of the tennis forehand is the pivot and shoulder turn. You execute this step as soon as you realize that you are hitting a tennis forehand. This step also starts your tennis racket take back. It's important to note that your arms DO NOT DO ANYTHING during this step.

It's the shoulders that start the racket take back on your tennis forehand. Simply put, your body turns sideways and the racket comes along for the ride. If you watch the video, when Frank demonstrates the pivot and shoulder turn during his tennis forehand, both hands stay on the racket.For more FREE tennis videos on how to hit a tennis forehand, as well as the other shots, please visit http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/ !

3 Powerful Ab Exercises That You Are Not Doing

I can't believe that I got to hang out in Vegas with some of the biggest names in the fitness industry!

That was the first time that I have been to Vegas and I must admit that it was pretty wild.

I even got to workout with a couple guys and see what they are made of. luckily for you, I brought my camera to capture it all (by the way, we almost got kicked out of the hotel gym for it).

I was taking to my new friend Nathan Hopkins and he showed me his unique training style called the 3x method.

The 3x method simply means that all it takes is these 3 movements, for 3 minutes just 3 times a week, to get the body you've always wanted.

You must watch Nathan's Vegas workout below:

Effective Workout Routine Using Only 3 Movements

3 Powerful Ab Exercises That You Are Not Doing

This program is perfect for busy men who just don't have the time to commit to longer workouts. Make sure to check it out http://www.the3xmethod.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRX5-3aBtw

Treadmill Workouts Help Stroke Survivors

(HealthDay News) -- Working out on a treadmill improves brain function and fitness for people who have survived a stroke and gone through the usual rehabilitation program, a new study found.

"You address two problems these patients have," said study researcher Dr. Andreas Luft, a professor of clinical neurology and neurorehabilitation at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. "One is that they don't know how to walk. Not walking, they become deconditioned and lose cardiovascular fitness. With the treadmill type of training, you improve walking and also increase fitness."

Luft worked with physicians at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center on the study. It compared the brain and physical function of 37 people who had had strokes and worked on a treadmill three times a week, with 34 people who were given traditional stretching exercises.

After six months, peak walking velocity increased by 51 percent in the treadmill group and just 11 percent in the stretching group. Cardiovascular fitness increased by 18 percent with the treadmill routine, but decreased by 3 percent in the group limited to stretching.

And magnetic resonance imaging showed an increase of blood flow carrying more oxygen to the brainstem and cerebellum for those who worked on the treadmill.

"The most important clinical aspect of the study is that it is saying recovery can occur long after a stroke and can occur even after all the routine therapies have been tried," said Dr. Daniel Hanley, professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins. "Scientifically, the most important point appears to be that rewiring of the brain may be involved in this process, not just body conditioning."

The average age of study participants was 63, and the average time they began the treadmill program was 50 months after the stroke, Hanley noted.

"The average stroke patient now has about eight physical therapy sessions over six to 12 weeks," Hanley said.

The study, published in the Aug. 29 issue of the journal Stroke, shows that treadmill work "should be part of standard treatment for every stroke survivor who has a walking habit," Luft said.

That may not be an easily achievable goal, Luft acknowledged. "Most physical therapy departments have treadmills, but they don't use them to the extent that we used them in the study," he said.

And stroke survivors can't just climb on a treadmill and start walking, Luft said. "Because this is exhausting, it should always be done under supervision," he said. "There is always the risk of running into heart problems and falling. We used special treadmills with handrails and also monitored the heart rate to achieve the level of exertion we needed."

Nevertheless, Hanley said, "the study defies current practice."

More information
Learn more about stroke rehabilitation from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Are You a Candidate for Obesity Surgery? Part 1

The option of surgery to treat obesity has gained in popularity over the past several years. As the techniques and knowledge regarding the subject have improved, so too have the results. However, not everyone is... Read more

Getting buff without the sweat is cheating

By Mark Leyner and Dr. Billy Goldberg
What if you could simply swallow a pill and become a buff, shredded, aerobic dynamo all without having to spend one sweaty second in the gym? Wouldn’t an instant fitness drug be great? Maybe not.

We were both mighty intrigued to learn that scientists had developed not one, but two “Mighty Mouse Drugs” that endow mice with all the benefits of having worked out furiously, without the effort of actual exercise. Researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego reported that a drug called Aicar increased mice’s endurance on a treadmill by 44 percent after just four weeks of treatment and helped them burn more calories and have less fat than untreated mice. A second drug with the catchy name “GW1516,” when combined with exercise, boosted the mice’s endurance by a whopping 75 percent!

Both drugs activate PPAR-delta protein which produces more high-endurance Type 1 muscle fibers in the body. Aicar actually mimics the effects of exercise, convincing cells that they’ve burned off energy and need to generate more. As one of the researchers said: “It’s pretty much pharmacological exercise.” The researchers contend that it’s reasonable to assume that these results will apply to people.



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Training Video 2

Sometimes we all need to be beaten into shape, because we're too lazy to get in shape ourselves. Here's a fun way to beat the flab, and look good in a bikini!Jab/Crosses (Do 4 rounds of 30, aiming to get gradually faster)Jab with your left handCross with your right

Make sure your wrists go straight out from your arm and your arm goes straight out at chin height, aiming for your opponent's mitt, protecting your jaw and your ribs at all timesRotate your hips with each jab and cross Jab/Cross/Push-ups (Good cardio workout, do 10 rounds)Jab/Cross as above twiceDrop to the floor for 4 push-upsJab/Cross/Duck (Repeat for about 2 minutes)

Jab/Cross for four and then duck (Ducking: keep your feet apart -- the aim is to avoid the punch coming from an opponent above your head by using your legs to squat down under your opponent's swing. Keep your eyes on the mitt and do not move your upper body.)Remember, no slacking or you're off to Siberia! Girls, you won't need your bikinis there...