When it comes to running long distances, Dr. Siegel was right on the mark when he said, “Your body doesn’t know whether you’ve run a marathon, or been hit by a truck.”

And the “inflammatory storm” triggered by the stress of running a marathon creates the exact same symptoms as heart disease.

The media glosses right over this kind of stuff. But the message is clear: Your body was not designed for monotonous, continuous running.

What happens is that your body reacts to the “injury” you’re inflicting on it – running – with an adaptive emergency-repair response. Your adrenal glands and brain produce the stress hormones cortisol and vasopressin. Your damaged muscles churn out cytokines, which trigger inflammation throughout your body. Even your heart gets damaged.

In one study they tested the blood of 60 marathon finishers and found that after the race, some runners’ hearts had trouble pumping the blood back out to the lungs. They also found increased pressure in the heart, enzymes leaking through the heart’s membrane, and heart cell injury.¹

This happens because routinely forcing your body to perform the same continuous cardiovascular challenge, by repeating the same movement, at the same rate, thousands of times over, without variation, without rest, is unnatural.

Adding repeated “cardio” to our busy days and pushing for greater endurance produces the opposite result of what we need in the modern world.

We’re only supposed to be running to save our lives – a fight or flight situation where you produce astronomical amounts of hormones to either fight or escape from danger. And here we are, running when there is no need to.

Sure, you can train for endurance, but nobody ever stopped to think if you should. If they had, they would have realized that the long-term consequence is that running robs your heart and lungs of their capacity, or power, and trades that power in for efficiency.

But your body wasn’t designed to be an efficient little scooter. It’s built more like a Ferrari: powerful bursts over short distances with plenty of reserve power when you need it.

But the flip side of that is that there’s a lot of power in your adaptive response. In fact, it’s the key to rebuilding the heart power the modern world has taken from you.

www.alsearmd.com

RICO’S COMMENTS:

I get bashed from lots of long distance runners in one of my You Tube videos on this subject. I’m not making this up. I learn from several of the brightest health and fitness guys out there. They all appear to be saying the same thing. Don’t forget about the wear and tear put on your knees, back, joints and ligaments with years of long distance running too. They way to good health is doing what is natural for our bodies, like eating clean, live, raw foods and organic meats/poultry, and getting the right kind of exercise. Look at pictures of athletes that train with variations of HIIT and long distance runners. Who looks healthier? Who looks skinny and frail? Having lean muscle mass has many health benefits and is an important part of being optimally healthy.

The Times cites a study that looked at 47 people doing either traditional endurance exercise (long distance running) or brief, intense sprints. Those working out with a focus on intensity spent 85% less time exerting themselves, and still had significantly lower blood pressure, better aerobic fitness, and lower body mass index (BMI).1

That was just looking at intensity vs. endurance.

Another recent study divided 36 people into three groups. One trained for intensity, one for duration, and the other for strength. The intensity group had the most significant fitness improvement. It was the only group that had their lungs grow stronger.

Their VO2 max (the rate at which your lungs can get oxygen to your body, a measure once thought unchangeable) improved by an average of 14%. And lung strength is the number one indicator of how long you’ll live.

Reserve capacity is the store of energy your heart needs so it can pump more blood faster in times of stress. Reserve capacity for your lungs allows them to deal with high exertion like lifting, carrying, running, going up stairs, or an intense bedroom session with your partner

from www.alsearmd.com

RICO’S COMMENTS: I’ve been doing High Intensity Interval Training for years. Obviously with the information above I’m on the right track! It’s fun, simple and intense, and not boring like an hour on a treadmill like a robot. I do it after my weight training so that I have no more glycogen left and start fat burning right away and keeps my metabolism revved up for hours. It’s an intense 10 to 14 minutes. It’s over almost before it starts! You can do it on machines, sprints outside, on a bicycle, etc. The key is always to push yourself with as much intensity as you can. Out of shape people obviously need to work up to it as they get in better condition.

Here is a great test for what kind of shape your heart and lungs are in:

When you are doing some High Intensity Interval Training (such as sprints on a treadmill) check your heart rate. After your last sprint, start walking slowly and check your heart rate. Make sure you wait 10 seconds as your heart rate will continue to go up after you stop. At that time note your heart rate, then look at the timer on the machine. One minute from that time, if your heart rate slows down 30 beats per minute, you have a well conditioned heart. Lung power is another part of good health. Doing HIIT is a great way to increase the power of your lungs and stay young.

Most people are out of breath and hugging and puffing  just walking up a few flights of stairs! If you have never done HIIT, start slowly as it could cause problems if you have never done that type of  exercise. Always ease into an exercise program at your own pace.

Rico Connor

Total Health For Life. LLC

“But vigorous exercise such as marathon running [increases] our cardiac risk by seven.”

His study shows marathon runners suffer temporary heart damage because of the level of exertion when running such a long distance.

That’s because the further you run, the more stress you put on your body.

And people in the field back this up.

Dr. Arthur Siege is director of Internal Medicine at Harvard’s McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. He used to run the Boston Marathon and he says cardiac arrest is not uncommon in such long races.

“Your body doesn’t know whether you’ve run a marathon… or been hit by a truck,” says Dr. Siege.

He cites one reason why this is the case. He says long duration exercise releases chemicals that flood your body. And that leads to inflammation.

When running a marathon your body kicks into survival mode. That releases a chemical cascade inside you. Your adrenal glands release stress hormones like cortisol and vasopressin. Your muscles release a protein called cytokines. And that makes your liver produce C-reactive protein. This triggers an inflammatory response to protect you from all the havoc raging in your body.

If you have hidden heart problems, this can be seriously risky.

from http://www.healthiertalk.com/marathon-myth-quickest-way-heart-attack-3977

RICO’S COMMENTS:

Man was not meant to run marathons, He was designed for short bursts of speed to exist in the world  and survive. I have never seen ONE healthy looking marathon runner. They are all slender with very little muscle mass and look frail. Their hearts take a terrible stressful pounding every marathon they run and many develop heart scarring. Moderation is the key to good health.

Your heart is one of the most important organs in your body. Your heart is your life. How does aerobic fitness relate to it? The heart becomes strong through use, like any other muscle. If placed under stress via aerobic exercise, it responds by enlarging and becoming more powerful. As a result, your resting heart rate is lowered. This is good. If it’s relatively low, it means your heart doesn’t have to work as hard to get blood around your body and that means your heart is in pretty good shape.
The unconditioned heart requires seventy to one hundred beats per minute at rest to do its job. The average resting heart rate is about seventy-two beats per minute. The conditioned heart pumps between thirty and sixty beats per minute at rest, pumping the same amount of blood as the unconditioned heart does at seventy to one hundred beats per minute. As we can see, the conditioned heart pumps far fewer times to get the job done and therefore suffers much less wear and tear than the unconditioned heart.

Try this test to see what kind of shape your heart is in next time you hit the gym. I do HIIT on a treadmill after my workout. I sprint for 20 to 30 seconds at around 11/12 speed and then I walk at around a 2 speed for a minute. That is one set. I do 5 to 7 sets and I”m done in just 10 to 14 minutes. This FAR outweighs the benefits of that 45 minute to an hour boring, medium pace walk that people do in all the gyms (like robots, never gaining any results).

When you finish your last set, walk at a slow 1.5 pace and put your hands on the heart rate grips. When your heart rate shows up note it and look down at the time on the machine. Now subtract 30 from your heart rate and time one minute from that point. If your heart is in great shape, when the minute is up your heart rate should have slowed down by 30 beats a minute. The heart health is in how fast it can recover after being  stressed out. This will give you a starting point at which to aim for.

Rico Connor

Excerpts from Total Health For Life

He is a bit hard to understand so listen carefully. Just watch the explanation. Skip the vitamin BS at the end of the video.

I love music and always have it with me for my workouts.  Music makes the world go round and is a very motivating force.  Try watching a movie without the soundtrack—it doesn’t work.  The music is what brings out the emotion in the scenes. There are certain songs I can listen to that always make me happy. Music acts as an escape. Whether you like Sinatra, The Stones, Tupac, Bocelli, Miles Davis, Shania Twain, Metallica, or classical music doesn’t matter. Play what picks you up. Listening to your favorite music during a cardio session can make the time go faster, and during a resistance workout can help you focus on your sets and reps. Best of all, it makes it fun.

Most gyms and health clubs have several televisions that show different programs. Almost all have a jack for your earphones so you can listen to your favorite show while you perform your cardio session. This is called disassociation, whereby you draw attention away from your activity.

Rico Connor

CEO, Total Health For Life

Fasting Prior to Exercise Forces Fat Burning

You may have heard that exercising on an empty stomach will help burn more fat, and there seems to be some truth to that, although it might not be appropriate for everyone. Exercising vigorously when you’re blood sugar is low could lead to dizziness and poor performance, and exercising while hungry can also lead to overeating afterwards.

Personally, I believe the best approach is to use some common sense and listen to your body. For example, if you feel weak or nauseous while exercising on an empty stomach, you may want to at least eat a small meal before exercising.

That said, the reason why fasting before exercise seems to work is because the fat burning processes in your body are controlled by your sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The SNS is inherently activated by exercise and lack of food. The combination of fasting and exercising maximizes the impact of cellular factors and catalysts (cyclic AMP and AMP Kinases), which force the breakdown of fat and glycogen for energy. So, when you exercise on an empty stomach, you’re actually forcing your body to burn fat.

The Ideal Pre-Exercise Meal to Boost Fat Burning

A recent study found that consuming 20 grams of whey protein 30 minutes before resistance training can boost your body’s metabolism for as much as 24 hours after your workout.

It appears as though the amino acids found in high quality whey protein activate certain cellular mechanisms (mTORC-1), which in turn promote muscle protein synthesis, boost thyroid function, and also protect against declining testosterone levels after exercise.

In practical terms, consuming 20 grams of whey protein before exercise and another serving afterward will most likely yield the double benefit of increasing both fat burning and muscle build-up at the same time.

One of the worst foods you can eat prior to exercising is carbohydrates, as carbs will inhibit the SNS and reduce the fat burning effect of your exercise. Instead, this type of meal will activate your parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), which promotes energy storage—the complete opposite of what you’re aiming for.

Personally I do strength training three times a week and will typically consume a whey protein meal one hour before, one hour after, and three hours after, to provide the fuel for muscle growth. This is not as necessary for non-strength training exercises, however.

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RICO’S COMMENTS:

I’m training for my 3rd Bodybuilding competition November 6th, the NPC Nevada Classic in the 50+ Masters Division. I’m in the process of getting down to 3% body fat for the competition. As Dr. Mercola says exercising on an empty stomach forces your body to burn fat. When you wake up you don’t have any glycogen (carbs) so the body uses fat for fuel immediately. I am doing one hour OF CARDIO first thing in the morning to burn fat.  I always consume 40 grams of high quality protein about 30 minutes before working out (weight lifting) along with a nitric oxide product, which as pointed out helps for optimal muscle building and fat burning.

The Many Health Benefits of Exercise

Just as there are at least 20 diseases and conditions directly attributable to being overweight, there are a large number of health benefits that are directly attributable to exercise.

By improving your physical fitness, you can effectively:

• Lower your triglyceride levels
• Increase your levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL)
• Lower your blood glucose levels
• Normalize your insulin levels

All of these factors are indicators of “metabolic fitness,” which is a cornerstone of optimal health. Even older people who do endurance exercise training end up with metabolically younger hearts.

Additional health benefits, many of which are the direct result of normalizing your insulin levels, include:

Building strong bones, Losing weight, Increasing your energy levels, Slowing down your aging process

In addition, exercise has been associated with preventing telomere shortening, making it a very powerful anti-aging strategy. (For more information on telomeres, please see this previous article.) And, if you exercise properly, which I’ll discuss in a moment, you can reap even greater anti-aging benefits.

With nearly 7 out of 10 Americans being overweight, and 1 in 4 being affected with diabetes or pre-diabetes, the American diet is clearly in dire need of a radical overhaul. Drugs won’t fix these dismal health statistics. Only a return to sane, healthy eating habits will.

Further, knowledge truly is power, and the more people become informed, the faster it will prompt real change to come about. Several wonderful movies that will give you an excellent overview of the problems with modern agriculture and the need for a food revolution, which I highly recommend you watch and share with your friends and family, are:

• Food, Inc.
• The Future of Food
• Food Matters
• Fast Food Nation
• The World According To Monsanto
• Cornography

WWW.MERCOLA.COM

RICO’S COMMENTS:

When I’m in a grocery store, which isn’t very often, I am boggled by the junk in people’s shopping carts at the checkout counter. I want to say something to let these people know what terrible things they are putting into their bodies and being horribly bad role models for their children! ….. Carts full of whole milk, 2 liter soda bottles, processed meats and cold cuts, white bread, sugary cereal, processed snacks, etc. Obesity is an epidemic in the US and it keeps getting worse! Is it because people just don’t care? I think it’s because people need good role models in their lives and they need inspiration and motivation. I know if I could hang out with any person for one month I could dramatically change their health and their life. I can give you the information without being next to you but then the most important part for success is up to you.

Do you know what that is? It’s MIND-BODY CONNECTION. You think and then you do. You are what you think you are. Taking action. Visualization. The mind controls the body. What stops you from going to the gym, playing some tennis, going out for a jog, etc.? It’s not because your legs are paralyzed…..it’s because your mind isn’t strong enough. You have to practice Mind-body connection skills to be successful at it and incorporate it into your daily lifestyle. Once you do, and have the knowledge on nutrition, exercise and avoiding the many health risks of the modern era, you will be successful at your journey to optimal health.

Anyone with a brain exercises these days, but did you know exercise can return the favor and train your brain? Not only is exercise smart for your heart and weight, but it can make you smarter and better at what you do.

Exercise is really for the brain, not the body. It affects mood, vitality, alertness, and feelings of well-being.

How Exercise Trains the Brain

Christin Anderson, MS, wellness and fitness coordinator of the University of San Francisco, explains that exercise affects many sites within the nervous system and sets off pleasure chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that make us feel calm, happy, and euphoric.

In other words, if you don’t want to wait for those good feelings to come by accident (if they do), you can bring them on by exercising.

“When one exercises,” Anderson says, “you can think more clearly, perform better, and your morale is better. This is pure science — stimulate your nervous system and function at a higher level.”

SOURCE: WEB MD

To read the whole article click on the link below:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/train-your-brain-with-exercise

OUR COMMENTS:

Exercise has long been known to affect the brain in very positive ways. Without incorporating a lifestyle of consistent exercise (aerobic and weight training) you are inviting a variety of diseases and health problems into your life.