Saturday, March 31, 2012

Fitness News #55 - Would you put petroleum in your body

Greetings, its been great to be back but I must admit that I suffered a bit, with 2 periods off, my fitness suffered a bit, but like yourself when you've had time off, I will bounce back.

Hope you liked the new release RPM54.  At each class I asked for your approval rating and at all classes except one, got almost 100% approval,  while for track 5 scary monsters all but 2 classes gave it a 50/50 rating, either you loved it or you hated it.

 


Would you put petroleum in your body

How ridiculous of course you wouldn't, but you already are, some of the artificial flavours, enhancers and so on are made from petroleum products.  Not convinced?  Google is your friend;
Artificial Food Coloring Truth
Fake Food: Petroleum and Other Dangerous Non-Food ingredients in Our Food
ARTIFICIAL FOOD COLORING (even our pets ain't safe)
Wow, didn't need to look far for those, however rather than looking at each one and deciding which one to put on the ban list, I've got a different approach.

The marketing machine over the say last 50 years has put brightly packaged products in the household that are cheaply manufactured and have little nutritional value.  Low manufacturing costs are a primary key to profitability and regrettably most people take little interest in nutritional value.  However it just doesn't finish there, its a competitive market and while finding ways to reduce manufacturing costs, you also need to ensure that the product is more appealing than the competitors.  To use an example is the use of artificial colouring, but this artificial ingredient is so cheap that its even included in canned soft drink.  How much of that product do you actually see.

Health Alternatives

But the marketing machine doesn't finish there, why not produce another product that claims to be healthy by encouraging you to consume more artificial ingredients, the example being diet soft drinks, where they produce the same product but replace the sugar with an artificial sweeteningI highly suspect that these diet drinks are cheaper to manufacture, do the maths on how much profit there would be for a major soft drink manufacturer to reduce unit cost by 1 cent, enough for you to retire on.

But lets roll back from the word Health, pick up a can of 'Diet' soft drink and look at the nutritional information.  Is there anything in it that provides you a nutritional benefit?  Yeh right, its claims come from the unhealthy product it marketed, being substituted by the a product of dubious value.  Its a bit like me claiming that I was environmentally friendly because when I drove my V6 down to the shops, it used less fuel than my neighbors Hummer :)

Avoiding Artificial Substances

This is a no brainer, read the Nutrition Information, you will find (up to) 3 types of ingredients;
  1. Things that are good for you
  2. Things that are bad for you
  3. No idea on that
Simple solution is to not purchase products that have 2 or 3

Generally your a lot safer with products with little manufacturing aka closest to the farm - fruit and vegetables, water etc etc.

The right decisions

Good decisions come from good knowledge, its really simple doing a supermarket shop, when you know what your looking for.  Do the ground work and you will reap the rewards.

I've found that over the last 2 years, that I naturally head towards better and better products.  A process of knowledge enrichment and adaption.

Weight

As promised last week, I'd give you a report on weight and report back, on time line;
Early January - 78kg
Then I had my NZ holiday and my accident
Late February - 75kg.  So I lost 3kg while I was on holiday and was off with injury
Then I had more time off with my collarbone being plated
Mid March - 77kg
Late March - 79kg

What the???? I don't exercise and loose 3kg, then I get back to exercise and then I put weight on.  I have some theories on this around muscle loose and effect latency, but probably the mirror is my best judge and to be honest, I don't see the fluctuation.  Have heard of inaccuracies in electronic scales, but  I'll leave the conspiracy theories to the tabloids.

Racing

As mentioned last week, I'm not racing yet, my return to racing is in May.  Tomorrow (Sunday), I'll do my first on road training ride, 80k so to test out the shoulder

Classes

Watch for Easter timetables next weekend


Fitness First
Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale Tue 6.30pm RPM
Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Rockdale HiPf Sat 8.15am RPM - probably not on

YMCA
Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM

SCG
Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM - not on


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Posted By Michael Clement to Mikes Fitness at 3/31/2012 04:06:00 AM



--
Michael Clement
clementmi@gmail.com
------------------------------------------------------
Sleep Ride Eat Repeat

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Fitness News #54 - The Seven Deadly [fitness] Sins

A bit of humor for you


News

Inline image 1

Hey its great to be back
at the gym and doing the new release RPM54

The Seven Deadly [fitness] Sins

The 7 deadly sins, an ancient concept, but lets transform it into the modern world of health and fitness

Diet [Gluttony]
The sin Gluttony was about over consumption, but nowadays while over consumption is the sin of some, for many the sin is poor food selection due to poor food knowledge, often fueled by mass marketing.  All of us can make an improvement to our diets and we don't need to starve ourselves to eat sensibly.  If you are unsure, then seek the advice of a dietician.

"You are what you eat" is a phrase we have all have heard.  So stand back from the chips and soft drink

And of course the opposite of gluttony is being underweight, we need to aim at a sensible weight range.  Israel has banned skinny models

We are constantly reminded of the effectiveness of good diet, when I was at the doctors earlier in the week having stitches removed, she mentioned in our discussions that insufficient protein can cause the body to cannibalise muscle for protein.  Wow, I'm going to research that one.

Not Exercising [Sloth]

Historically Sloth was failure to utilise one's talents and gifts, in modern times it refers to laziness.

The reality is that a large percentage of the population do no exercise at all and it shows in death statistics, with 34% of deaths been associated with heart failures or the like.  But you don't need statistics to see this one, have a look at those around you in the office or at the supermarket.  You how to avoid being like them.

Seems that some don't even have enough energy to use the remote

Exercising when injured or sick [Greed]

Greed is the desire to acquire more than one needs. The reality is that we exercise to make ourselves better, but sometimes we are unable to back off when we should and instead of enhancing ourselves we enhance the problem.  Also we look silly

Failure [Wrath]

Wrath is the inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. But what we do is focus those feelings at ourselves in the face of a failure.  Failure is not the sin, the sin is letting failure defeat you.  All of us will fail at something at some point, probably several times.  The cleaver way to deal with failure is to turn it into an opportunity, reflect back at what went wrong and using that as an opportunity to improve your way forward

Different Paths [Envy]

Envy is the resentment that another person has something they perceive themselves as lacking.  Where we tend to go with that one is in seeing the paths that others take as being wrong or irreverent.  Where in reality each of us should take the path they want and wouldn't be a pretty boring world if we all took the same path.  

 No warmup, warmdown and stretch [Acedia]

Acedia is the neglect to take care of something that one should do.  I see this so often, it only takes a 5 minutes to warm up and another 5 to warmdown and stretch.  So why wouldn't you do it?  Muscles are more likely to injure if they are put under stress when they are cold Flexibility reduces injury risk

Self [Lust]
Lust is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature.  The fitness equivalent is that the focus of fitness is based on the thoughts of how others will desire them.  Exercise is much more satisfying when you are focused on what it does for you, quality of life.

But according to this => Article <= some females are getting an adult bonus at the gym.  fortunately this does not apply to males…

Letting [Pride] get in the way

Pride identified as a desire to be more important or attractive than others, failing to acknowledge the good work of others. In fitness terms your goals should be your own and not a target based on where someone else is.  There is also self pride, where you let whatever get in the way of making the most out of your workout, for example not adjusting the weight to maximise an effective workout but focusing on the quantity of weight as the success even if it comes at the cost of poor Range Of Motion (ROM).



Perhaps I should of written about those who don't put their equipment away or wipe down after themselves here, but there's more than one sin in that.

Gym Appearance [Vainglory]
Vainglory is unjustified boasting, though it doesn't matter if its justified or unjustified.  Vainglory has been partially replaced by vanity.  The fitness version of this is feeling that its mandatory to have a particular image while at the gym itself and the problem occurs when one is not happy that they are achieving that image, which is putting them at risk of not doing what is best for them.

Must admit while most go about their own work, you see some funny things in the gym and this list applies to both males and females;
  • Checking out in the mirrors
  • Dressing to gain attention and checking out  who notices

Of course the mirrors are there for a reason, so you can watch your form

Perhaps I'll be guilty of that one when my new shoes arrive


Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_deadly_sins


Bike Racing

While racing is a while away, we are already working on the line up for our NSW road Team Time Trail entrant.  Unfortunately we have lost a rider due to a health related issue so we are one short.  It ain't till late July, we will get there.


Classes
All classes are go go go

See you there

SCG
Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Fitness  First
Rockdale Mon 6.00am Ride
Five  Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale  Tue 6.30pm RPM
Walker  St Thu 6.00am RPM
Rockdale HiPf Sat 8.15am RPM

YMCA
Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM


Music

New music for RPM  release 54

1 Moves Like Jagger (Mix II)
            - January Rays Feat. Riley
2 San Francisco (Remix III)
            - Fine Tunes
3 Run To You (Hands Up
Club Mix)
            - Jan Wayne Feat. Fab
4 Every Teardrop Is A
Waterfall
            - Coldplay
5 Scary Monsters And Nice
Sprites (Dirtyphonics Remix)
            - Skrillex
6 Just Be (Antillas Club Mix)
            - Tiesto Feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw
7 Hold Me Tonight (Empyre One Remix)
            - Manian
8 Gotta
Be Wrong Sometimes
            - O.A.R.
9 It Girl
            - Jason Derülo

The PPCA free version has
a similar sound to the Original version so all good.


Sleep Ride Eat Repeat –
see ya Mike


























--
Posted By Michael Clement to Mikes Fitness at 3/25/2012 12:14:00 AM



--
Michael Clement
clementmi@gmail.com
------------------------------------------------------
Sleep Ride Eat Repeat

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Fitness News #53 - What happened to Mike



Fitness News

Inline image 1

You may of noticed that I disappeared to NZ and you never heard from me again.  What happened was that I had an accident

Mikes Accident


What happened

The day I was due to return
to Australia was the same day as the start of the NSW track championships, so
I was keen not to have 3 weeks of doing nothing and then race.  So while I was there, I continued to train,
using my sisters bike.

On Saturday 28th
January, I was riding with a group of about 15 riders in the Waitakere ranges,  on Lone Kauri rd when I
crashed.  I have no recollection of the
accident was I was knocked out, but what I was told was that I was going
around a right hand corner at about 40kph, lost the front end, tried to save
it.

I was told I was knocked out for 2 minutes and was not coherent for another 5 minutes.  Fortunately there was a doctor in the bike
group and he took great care of me. Despite the remote location, it didn't seem that long before the Ambulance came.

Injuries

In hospital, the list of
my injuries came clear;
-         Broken skull (at rear)
-         Broken face bones around right eye
-         Blood clot in my brain
-         Broken ribs
-         Broken collar bone
-         Minor grazes
-         Blood in my right eyeball
Despite having 2 blows to my head and a blow to my shoulder, I had no spinal injury at all and despite the broken ribs, did not puncture my lung.

Hospital

I spent 4 nights in Auckland's North Shore hospital, which ironically was where I was born.  For the first 2 nights they woke me up every hour and checked my eyes, they were looking for signs related to my brain. Wasn't so bad on the second night, the nurse was hot J
Thought the hospital food picture would amuse you, but I freaked a bit and instructed my relos to bring protein rich food.  In the Getting better picture, I'm pointing at the window, saying take a picture of he view, which is of lake Pupuke, which I use to sailed on as a teenager.  Talked my way out of the hospital after 4 nights, it was dead boring, no TV, no internet

Escape from NZ

I was suppose to fly back to Australia on the 4th Feb, but I missed that flight as I wasn't in good enough nick to fly back and stayed another 12 days till I was able to fly back.

Back in Australia I had another CT scan and the blood clot was gone!!!!

Brief return to the gym and transport, something goes wrong

24th February I briefly returned to gym, doing classes with my right arm in a sling, I couldn't drive a car as the seatbelt went over my right shoulder, so I used a combination of train's, taxi's and an electric bike.  But it was short lived, as a complication had  crept in… my collarbone that was in alignment after the accident had moved and the ends where now 2.5cm apart.  I was now
facing non-union and my right shoulder was an inch narrower than my left shoulder, to leave it as it was would leave me with a permanent disability, there was only one obvious choice

Collarbone operation

On the 6th March I went under the knife and had my collarbone screwed and plated.  They also did a bone graft using a substance derived from shells, no need to take a piece from your hip any more.  Best decision I ever made.  12 days later the road to full recovery is on its way!!!!!

Weigh In

In Fitness News #50, I said I had pre weighed in at 78kg (Friday 23rd December)  and I would weigh in back on Friday 13th January, when I also weighed in at 78kg.  On the 24th February I weighed in 75kg, a 3kg weight loss. I'll weigh in again on Friday the 23rd March and give you a report in the next edition on how I managed my weight while I wasn't exercising due to been injured, along with the 7 deadly sins – fitness style.


Bike Racing


Due to my injuries, I missed the NSW track championships and then the Australian track championships

At this point I'm booked for a road race in Wollongong
in May


Classes


I restart doing classes on Friday.  All classes except Rockdale Monday 6am will be the new RPM release

SCG
Stadium Fitness Centre Friday 6.15am RPM

Fitness First
Rockdale
Mon 6.00am Ride
Five Dock Mon 5.45pm RPM
Rockdale
Tue 6.30pm RPM
Walker St Thu 6.00am RPM
Rockdale HiPf Sat 8.15am RPM

YMCA
Riverwood Mon 7.30pm RPM
Riverwood Tue 6.15am RPM



Music

New music for RPM  release 54

1 Moves Like Jagger (Mix II)
            - January Rays Feat. Riley
2 San Francisco (Remix III)
            - Fine Tunes
3 Run To You (Hands Up Club Mix)
            - Jan Wayne Feat. Fab
4 Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall
            - Coldplay
5 Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites (Dirtyphonics Remix)
            - Skrillex
6 Just Be (Antillas Club Mix)
            - Tiesto Feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw
7 Hold Me Tonight (Empyre One Remix)
            - Manian
8 Gotta Be Wrong Sometimes
            - O.A.R.
9 It Girl  
          - Jason Derülo

The PPCA free version has a similar sound to the Original version so all good.


Sleep Ride Eat Repeat –
see ya Mike





--
Posted By Michael Clement to Mikes Fitness at 3/18/2012 04:00:00 AM



--
Michael Clement
clementmi@gmail.com
------------------------------------------------------
Sleep Ride Eat Repeat