Soul fitness

The Dark Side of Caffeine

2007-06-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

My first experience with Caffeine is one where it would not have happened if it was not my local Tim Horton’s. Back then I was a notorious high schooler, skipping classes just because I felt tired and eyelid heavy from my late nights. Entering my last year, I knew skipping classes just because I wanted some shut eye would not cut it. So the Coffee begins.

I was absolutely amazed at the alerted state I found myself in. Able to concentrate my mind even though I was tired, able to keep on writing even though my body knew there was about half of me still awake. The focus grew so sharp, I felt like it was spear piercing through all my work. But of course, the rush didn’t last the whole session of homework, it didn’t last a whole day of school, where lectures seemed to be more designed for lullabies. So what was my answer?

Simple, drink more. Drink more coffee in the morning, more coffee at lunch, more coffee while doing homework, more, more, more. I found myself drinking Coffee about 3-4 times a day. Morning..nescafe, lunch…café down the street, afterschool….Tim Horton’s, getting home….nescafe.

It was safe to say I was a Caffeine addict. Even I despised the bitter taste as a kid, caffeine gave me such mental alertness I was willing to sacrifice the taste. I inevitably started to notice a lot of changes. Even though I was mentally alert, I knew I was tired, at moments I would experience such drowsiness, but the caffeine would not let me sleep.

I felt my hands shaking….but only to find when I looked down they weren’t. It shrunk my bladder to literally a peanut. I had to go at least every half an hour. No matter what I drank it would go right through me in literally half and hour. Large drinks at the movies was a horror for me.

Perhaps the most dangerous effect that made me change my consumption is that it blurs your sense of reality. In terms of your body rest, caffeine gives you the feeling you’re awake and alert when really you need to be in bed and close your eyes. It kind of numbs your need for rest while it’s in effect and as a result you could make dangerous misjudgments in your own limits. I have several experiences where I had felt strong and alert only to find that when I actually took part in the activity I almost collapsed feeling weak and cold sweat. One time I did and fainted on the ground for a few minutes.

Too much Caffeine masked your ability to judge your real alertness. I’m not saying ban caffeine from your cabinets and coffee tables, in fact I’m drinking caffeine right now, only its tea with sunflower extract. In my next post I will review the positives of Caffeine and Caffeine consumption.

Muscle Magazines & Supplements

2007-06-14T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sitting here with my Flex magazine, I can see Ronnie Coleman staring back at me, with his bulging snake-like veins, lifting weight that is unheard and unmatched by any other human being. His recent titles as Mr. Olympia is shown on his massive weightlifting belt and his shoulders resemble two good sized watermelons. He is standing tall and proud as a man at the top of his sport, as the alpha male of the bodybuilding pack, and beside him is a well placed, stylized red bottle. He’s endorsing a product.

The N.O.-XPLODE, a name that seems like a cross between something scientific and something an advertiser would come up with. “What It’s All About” is printed above a sweating Ronnie. And as I flip through a couple more pages, that seems exactly the case. Supplements, supplements and more supplements. The New N.O.-XPLODE, explosive energy in minutes! CELLMASS- Creatine Product of the Year 2006.

These magazines are tremendously populated with these ads, as every three pages I see Ronnie sweating it out…..beside a product. Now when I started to workout, I did not know about supplements, about Creatine or any product that gave me instant strength. I flip through these magazines knowing that I am going to be bombarded with ads but yet there is some hope to find those traditional (or revolutionary) fitness tips. But almost every time I go to search for the answer; they shove a bottle of pills at my face.

But surprisingly, I have to owe a bit of my physique to the ads that captivated me about whey protein. Learning about how you need to amass almost hulking amounts of protein while you recover got me excited about buying my first ever supplement.

And it wasn’t half bad. I had purchased a Soy based Whey protein and for a first timer and I was quite surprised. It gave me noticeable gains during my experiment and currently I'm on a whey supplement made by Carb watchers. I have to admit, that I was taken in by the ads, but it also made a lot of sense to me that after a grueling workout you need a little extra to help you repair and re-grow your muscles. But it doesn’t make sense to me to burn fat by eating pills. It’s a matter of digesting what makes sense and what doesn’t. For you it could be Creatine, but for my personal goals, Whey was my way for me. If you're from the UK Fitsense.co.uk is a great supplement provider and they will offer you free postage if you spend over a particular amount. If you have time, check out there deals.

Trying new products and supplements is not where most harm is done, its' not educating yourself enough and in a lot of cases that's what really hurts you.

Infomercials: Friend or Foe?

2007-06-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

It is hard not to be swayed by the media today since there is so much concentration on the ideal figure of a man or a woman. Whether you’re a guy or a girl, I’m sure you’ve looked at a magazine or a T.V. commercial of a ripped or slim model fantasizing it was your face on those bodies rather than theirs. This is healthy but only to a certain degree, as too tight of an attachment to those figures will undoubtedly blur your line of fantasy and reality. Infatuated people start their workout with aims of the bodies they see on T.V. or magazines and are discouraged that their initial gains or results seem so minuscule compared to those portrayed in the media.

Consider this, a 30 second infomercial, is not going to spend its airtime speaking of how much labor and work it took their models to gain their amazing physiques. Workout infomercials follow the three E’s when it comes to marketing towards you. By this I mean they market there products as Efficient, , and Effortless. They want to endorse their products as the most EFFECTIVE way to workout, showing and boasting results by showing ripped and slim models using their products. They want to portray it as most EFFICIENT because they want to convince you that the workout time for an amazing body can be achieved by using their products 10-15 minutes a day. And their last strategy, showing EFFORTLESS models performing exercises with the greatest of ease with no grimace of a grueling workout to ever grace their faces during the infomercial. No matter what fitness infomercial you encounter(ab slide, ab lounge,Total Gym, or BowFlex) they follow the same formula while targeting eager and desperate consumers. And it works.

Why? Well because naturally we all look for the easy way out. An easy way out of our fitness woes and into the rock solid bodies on the screen. People become infatuated by the bodies on screen, infatuated by the products beside them whether if it's a ripped guy on the Bowflex or toned and slim chick showing how easy it is to use the Ab Lounge. It's the fact that they use them so effortlessly, so efficiently and so effectively that it mesmerizes us. After the infomercial is done telling you about the extra BowFlex DVD's or the extra fitness guides for the Total gym its’ going to toss in, people are already seeing the product as the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not until after they buy it that they see that the tunnel only gets darker from there.

I'm not bashing fitness products all together. In fact, I will have another blog to review the usefulness of some of these products such as Bowflex. But the way these things are marketed, I cannot help but poke some useful holes in these infomercials that you may or may not realize.

You may have seen the models claiming they achieved their bodies by following the product’s simple (and ridiculous) guidelines for workouts. Yes, the model could have used the product for 15 minutes a day, 3-4 days a week, but little is emphasized on what activities they are doing during the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of their day. Bowflex's 6 week challenge is a great example, it says directly from their page that the two subjects worked out for "20 minutes a day, 3 times a week" and the claims are almost as equally wonderful, losing from 16.15 lbs of fat to 27.49lbs of fat.
For all we know, the model could very well follow other programs, much more painful and grueling programs. Infomercials never say their models do partake in more intense programs, but they never say they don’t, which leaves it up for speculation. To lose that much fat simply by using their patented Bowflex system is simply laughable. To any person that's been around the fat loss corner they know the only way to go is cardio. That's the simple truth.

The idea that professional help could have assisted in their transformation should also not be ruled out. They could have very well had a health nutritionist, a personal trainer, a dietitian a fitness consultant, all supplied by the company endorsing the product.

I do not think all these speculations escape people’s minds when their picking up the phone and dialing the number on the screen,I believe that if people want to be physically active and physically fit, they should train their brain first, and although it’s not scientifically a muscle, it’s a good place to start.

Motivation is key

2007-06-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Whether you’re trying to gain a six pack for your lover or trying to slim down for that smaller sized jeans you’ve had your eyes on for weeks, the hardest part of all these endeavors is actually getting off the couch. We can all agree that making excuses is a lot easier than making your way down to the gym to endure a hard day’s workout. But the reality is that most of us spend more time fantasizing about ourselves ten workouts down the line instead of actually sweating all those workouts in the gym. We undoubtedly procrastinate about our own fitness and stall our way to better personal health and in order to overcome this hurdle, the motivation card must be played.

I cannot stress enough, or then again I can try that in order to commit yourself to a long term fitness goal, you must have that drive to make you perform. Without an internal will, there is no push to perform. Without this mental element in your workouts you will find yourself giving up too soon and too often. Not only can motivation get you off the couch, motivation can push you for the much needed extra rep, or extra minute on the treadmill. Motivation is what hardens your mental ability to become immune to negative thoughts. Some tips are:
1) visualize: like any artist has been trained to do, they visualize what they draw BEFORE they draw it. Visualize what you want to accomplish, see your self doing it, and visualize yourself getting those perfect six-packs, or that perfect waist. Nothing can push you harder in fitness workouts than clear motivational mental pictures. Visualize yourself going over the hurdle then go over it, visualize yourself lifting then lift it.

2) Staying positive: workouts are all too often associated with such a negative light because your body aches, you’re practically drenched in sweat and you’re struggling to restore some oxygen in your body. But even considering those staples in workouts, I am serious when I say you must ENJOY your workout. Yes, I said it, ENJOY. Creating a positive aura when thinking about your personal fitness is as crucial as the workout itself. Picture it as an opportunity to improve yourself every time your workout comes along instead of another thing you have to do. Without positive thinking, you’ll just procrastinate and delay your own personal health.

3) Train your Brain: when you’re not working out, read up on articles that might help your next workout. Digest any material that can help you get over your workout hurdles. Read up on any new exercises that may be incorporated in your workouts. TRAIN your BRAIN to live, to learn and to love your fitness lifestyle.

4) Music: any kind of music can help you get pumped up for your workouts. It doesn’t necessarily have to be rock or any other stereotypical “pump up” music. Personally, I cannot stand a full workout with loud bashing metal. Sure it gives me a pump but it wears off because there is no variety. Whatever music that inspires you or gets you into workout mode, you should use. I use to workout with Japanese music, and because I could not understand a word it helped me focus more on the lifting. I use to have a song called “Happy People” in the middle of my workouts. And like the saying itself…. whatever works.