Health Habits

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Posts Tagged ‘book’

Holiday Gift Guide for the Fitness Geek ver 1.0

November 23rd, 2009

Did you know that it’s only 32 days until Christmas, 23 days until Hanukkah and 30 days until that most glorious of holidays…Festivus?

Have you finished all of your holiday shopping?

Have you picked out your Festivus pole?

Have you prepared your list of grievances?

No?

Well, you came to the right place.

Over the next few days, I will be posting some of my Health Habits approved™ holiday gift giving solutions for those near and dear to your heart.

Today, I am starting with one of my favorite fitness training books.

Never Let Go by Dan John

In the world of strength training, Dan John is a breath of fresh air.

Where other strength gurus design overly complex training programs in an attempt to impress their peers, Dan writes programs that are simple enough for a beginner to understand.

But, don’t let that simplicity give you the wrong impression.

While they are easy to understand, Dan’s training programs are based upon the best combination of old-school know-how and bleeding edge exercise science.

And it’s that blending of the new & the old that sets Dan apart from his peers.

So, if there is someone on your holiday shopping list who is trying to get stronger, faster or just plain fitter…pick them up a copy of Never Let Go.

BTW, Dan was the guy that introduced Tabata training to the non-scientific world.

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Does Coffee Make You Fat?

July 28th, 2009

I just finished reading Why Diet and Exercise Fail…and I am ticked off.

Ticked off because author Daniel Matthew Korn is making me re-think my morning cup of Gold Coast.

Korn believes that long term caffeine consumption, when combined with a typical Western Diet, is akin to throwing gas on your obesity bonfire.

Or, as Daniel says, “long term caffeine use, in combination with other dietary factors can contribute to lowering our ability to use our stored body-fat and interfere with our storage of nutrients”.

Why would coffee lead to obesity?

Theory #1

Long term caffeine use can lead to elevated stress hormones (ie Cortisol)
And heightened cortisol levels is associated with obesity

Theory #2

Chronically elevated cortisol levels results in increased feelings of hunger
And obviously hunger leads to eating and drinking more coffee and eating more food and…

Theory #3

Chronic caffeine use may interfere with your sleep patterns
And sleep deprivation is associated with obesity

Korn’s Conclusion

Chronic caffeine use contributes to obesity because:

it increases your level of stress hormones
which messes with your brain chemistry
and increases your hunger
causing you to eat more crappy processed foods
while you lay in bed tossing and turning because you can’t sleep

My Conclusion

As Korn mentions, there is very little research into the direct effect caffeine has on metabolism and obesity.

This leaves his theory open to attack.

I can hear the comments already – Association and/or Correlation is not Causation.

And they are right. Korn is making some assumptions.

And good for him. Out of these assumptions, researchers can design studies to test if caffeine has a direct effect upon obesity.

Until then, you can:

Ignore his caffeine/obesity theory as unproven
Or, test the theory on yourself. Sadly, that is the route I am taking…starting tomorrow.

Note: I will be reviewing the rest of Why Diet and Exercise Fail in an upcoming post.

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Healing through Exercise

April 21st, 2009

We all know that exercise is good for our health.

Mind and body.

And yet, when we get sick, most of us reach for a bottle of pills.

Author Jorg Blech wants to change that approach to health and healing.

In his new book, Healing through Exercise, Jorg has taken on a very difficult task.

He has written a medical science text…for the masses.

He spent months and months combing through all of the medical research investigating exercise and human health. He selected the strongest studies…

And then he wrote a book that:

Makes a very strong scientific argument for an Exercise Prescription, and
Hopefully doesn’t put the average reader to sleep

I think he succeeded.

Here’s some of the science

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Exercise is the strongest known stimulus to growing new nerve cells in your brain
Children need active play in order to develop their mental abilities
Physically inactive men have reduced libidos (along with super-sized Viagra prescriptions)
Exercise has been shown to offset type 2 diabetes
Previously inactive senior citizens have been able to regain mobility and independence by following an exercise prescription
Exercise increases bone density
Aerobic exercise has been effective in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure
Exercise can induce cellular repair through the creation of stem cells
New blood vessels are created by aerobic exercise
Exercise reduces the effects of osteoarthritis
Exercise is being recommended for back pain sufferers
Children with ADHD have reduced symptoms with play therapy
Exercise therapy has been more effective than drugs in treating mild to moderate depression
Exercise protects the brain from Alzheimers
A number have cancers have responded well to exercise
Exercise plays a strong role in preventing obesity
Physical activity is common in societies known for their longevity, and
Exercise just make you feel better

My Review

I would have to give Healing through Exercise two thumbs up. (Darn that Ebert – never satisfied)

At the beginning of this post, I said that the author had taken on the difficult task of making a very technical book about exercise and health promotion accessible to the general public.

I think that he succeeded.

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If you need more info about the book:

Here is another book review, and
Here is a Podcast with the author

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Book Prize for the 100 Mile Diet

April 28th, 2008

On April 21, I wrote a review of the 100 Mile Diet.

In today’s Vancouver Sun, Rebecca Wigod reports that The 100 Mile Diet has won a British Columbia book prize. The book won the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize and was also a finalist for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize.

Congratulations to the authors, J.B. MacKinnon and Alisa Smith.

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Health Habits

Posts Tagged ‘book’

Holiday Gift Guide for the Fitness Geek ver 1.0

Never Let Go by Dan John

Related Posts

Does Coffee Make You Fat?

Why would coffee lead to obesity?

Related Posts

Healing through Exercise

Here’s some of the science

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Related Posts

Book Prize for the 100 Mile Diet