The Dalai Lama was once asked what he is most surprised about in the world, and below is his response. “Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.” Now, I’m not trying to get into some sort of philosophical debate or even tell you how to live your life. But one point I would like to highlight is that your health goes with you everywhere. It’s with you when you wake up. It’s with you when you go to work, and it’s with you when you come home. Your health is always with you. I’m a fan of money. But I know that no matter how much money I make in my life, it is my health that will allow me to enjoy the things money purchases. I’m a fan of being lazy, but I know that the only way to enjoy being [...]
July, 2011:
The Tabata Protocol for Fat Loss
What is the tabata protcol? If you’re experienced in the health and fitness world, you’ve likely heard the term tabata or tabata workout. And if you were anything like me when I began, you probably haven’t looked up what it actually means or stands for. The tabata workout is an advanced workout routine developed by the head coach of the Japanese speed skating team. The coach who developed the tabata routine is Izuma Tabata. Some may compare it to high intensity interval training or sprint training, but in my opinion, it is a shorter, but more intense and advanced version of something like sprint training. [A tabata routine can be done in many different environments and in many different types of ways, including on the stairs] How to complete a Tabata workout: A tabata style workout follows a certain structure, but is not limited to any specific exercise or specific method. The structure goes as follows: 20 Seconds of intense work on a specific exercise 10 seconds of rest Repeat 20 second work period, followed by 10 second rest period, for 3-4 minutes I also like to warm-up before this advanced routine, and highly recommend all even thinking of participating in a [...]
Correlation and Causation Examples in Health
I was looking at a few pieces of health and fitness research yesterday and I came across an interesting article detailing correlation and causation examples in health research. Now, this specific article, “More Bad Science: Cereal for Breakfast“, discussed the perils of eating cereal for breakfast and whether it was a healthy choice for inducing certain health effects. It’s a very good article and I suggest you read it, the link can be found above. The discussion was on what could cause a research study from the U.S. News and World Report to claim that eating grains for breakfast lead to decreases in risk for heart failure. Obviously, the writer of the article believes grains aren’t the healthiest choice for breakfast. Two interesting points that came from this article went as follows: 1. The participants in the study could have been eating a higher carbohydrate (assuming that it’s unhealthier) diet prior to engaging in the research. This means that the switch from eating unhealthy food before the research study, to eating some type of healthy food, or less unhealthy food, would obviously result in health improvements. I’m not sure why I was so interested by this point, other than the fact [...]
