How to select the right shoe for your foot.

Choosing a Shoe: The Very Basics
[from Runnersworld]

There’s no single 'best shoe' – everyone has different needs. All sorts of things - your biomechanics, your weight, the surfaces you run on, and obviously, the shape of your feet - mean that one person's ideal shoe can be terrible for another person.
We divide our shoes into three main categories (cushioned, stability and motion control); and three minor ones (performance training, racing and off-road). The first three are everyday options and are categorised essentially by your biomechanical needs; the second three are more specialised and you’d often only consider them as second shoes.
The first step in finding your basic shoe needs is to try our 'Wet Test', below or, preferably, to visit a biomechanics expert or experienced shoe retailer.
The Wet Test works on the basis that the shape of your wet footprint on a dry floor or piece of paper roughly correlates with the amount of stability you might need in your shoe.

The Normal Foot
Normal feet have a normal-sized arch and will leave a wet footprint that has a flare, but shows the forefoot and heel connected by a broad band. A normal foot lands on the outside of the heel and rolls inwards slightly to absorb shock. It’s the foot of a runner who is biomechanically efficient and therefore doesn’t need a motion control shoe.
Best shoes: Stability shoes with moderate control features.



The Flat Foot
This has a low arch and leaves a print which looks like the whole sole of the foot. It usually indicates an overpronated foot – one that strikes on the outside of the heel and rolls inwards (pronates) excessively. Over time, this can cause many different types of overuse injuries.
Best shoes: Motion control shoes, or high stability shoes with firm midsoles and control features that reduce the degree of pronation. Stay away from highly cushioned, highly curved shoes, which lack stability features.


The High-Arched Foot
This leaves a print showing a very narrow band or no band at all between the forefoot and the heel. A curved, highly arched foot is generally supinated or underpronated. Because it doesn’t pronate enough, it’s not usually an effective shock absorber.
Best shoes: Cushioned (or 'neutral') shoes with plenty of flexibility to encourage foot motion. Stay away from motion control or stability shoes, which reduce foot mobility.



THE RIGHT FIT
[from footcaredirect.com]
Only you can tell if shoes fit. If they aren't comfortable, don't buy them!
Don't plan on shoes stretching with wear. If you already own shoes that are too tight, ask your shoe repair shop if they can be stretched.
Because feet spread with age, have your feet measured every time you buy shoes. Both feet should be measured as they are often different sizes. Always buy shoes for the BIGGEST foot.
Go shoe shopping late in the afternoon. Feet swell to their largest then.
Size depends on shoe make and style, too. Don't insist you always wear one size if the next feels better.
The toe box should be roomy enough so you can wiggle all your toes.
Your forefoot should NOT be wider than your shoe.
The heel should fit snugly and the instep should not gape open.
If you can't find shoes that fit, ask your doctor for advice.

Arohead Fitness Club - Nitin Mahajan

Opera House to Manly Wharf Walkathon

Would be doing this walk with a group  of 8 others, exactly 2 weeks from now. Weather promises to be on the warmer side but not too hot. Hopefully, it does not rain.
I could not map it correctly on Google Maps but the actual journey is close to 29.5kms.

Please visit, http://walking.about.com/library/cal/ucwatercalc.htm

In our case, we would probably be walking for 8 hours. So should be looking to have at least 7 to 8 L of water minimum with a couple of electrolyte drinks. You can use the calculator to get an estimate on how much water you will lose over the course of your walk/ hike. There are some other calculators which account for temperature and level of difficulty as well. When I find them I will put them up here.

Checking my deadlift technique - yet again!

I like going back to this because bad habits set in easy, especially when you have been lifting heavy., technique goes out of the window.
Had a friend video my technique in the morning..gym seems very quiet as it is around 6 in the morning.
A few points that emerge out of this video:
1. Lower back is straight which is good
2. Chest and shoulders are back which is excellent
3. Feet are positioned well and the head is focused straight ahead which is good as well
4. The not so good part is the rounding of the upper shoulders. The reason for that is my short arms. I cannot grip the weight without arching my upper back. The only better way to do it would be to place some plates under each side of the bar..but that would give a lot of advantage while lifting as the range of motion will decrease. But reasonably happy with my lifts...close to 185 kgs now..and 180kgs on the squats..could not increase on the bench which stays at 110 because of my shoulder injury.

Kid at the Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKi-fZoc9ts

Did a 14K run yesterday...8Km in the morning and then 6 in the evening..
Had this 8 or 9 year old kid on a bicycle in front of me..kept saying "Cmon you can do better than that..Cmon you are not even sweating"..Ha ha..

What is a Bonk?

Why Do We Bonk or "Hit the Wall?"
By Mike Prevost
You are at mile 23 of your marathon with only 3 miles or so remaining and you feel pretty good. You feel like you are going to have a good day. All of a sudden, within the space of 100  meters or so, you go from feeling pretty good to awful. Your legs feel heavy and it becomes impossible to maintain a running pace. You are forced to walk but really feel like you need to lie down. What happened? How can you go from feeling good to feeling terrible in such a short period of time? It is what many refer to as “bonking” or "Hitting the Wall." In this article we will explore the physiology of bonking and discuss what you can do to avoid it.

Your body stores carbohydrates in muscle and liver in a form that is referred to as glycogen. During exercise, your working muscles can tap these glycogen stores for energy. The working muscles can also use circulation blood sugar, which essentially comes from liver, glycogen, and circulation fat, which comes from our body fat stores. This give your working muscles three fuel depots to draw from during exercise. Next we will discuss each depot briefly and then wrap up this article with some recommendations.

Circulating Blood Sugar: Although blood sugar can be used by working muscles during exercise, it is a secondary energy source only. This is because glycogen is located inside the muscle cells and therefore is more readily available than blood sugar. Blood sugar alone cannot provide enough carbohydrates to sustain a high power output during exercise. The liver, the primary source of blood sugar, contains only about 100 grams or so of glycogen compared to the 600 grams of more in skeletal muscle.

Body Fat Stores: Your body has enough stored fat to supply your muscles with the energy for a dozen or more marathons. So why do care about stored carbohydrates? The reason that carbohydrate burning is key is that fats burn more slowly than carbohydrates. Since fat burning is slower than carbohydrate burning, we cannon sustain as high a power output when using fats alone. If you are going to walk a marathon, you can get away with burning primarily fats because your pwer output is low. Hweever, as soon as you start running, your power output increases and you need a faster burning fuel – carbohydrates – to sustain the higher energy bur rate requirements. The optimal situation is to use a combination of fasts and carbohydrates while running a marathon, or triathlon. In fact, optimally, you would want to burn as little carbohydrate as possible to sustain your work rate. Remember, you have plenty of fat to use for energy, but carbohydrates can be limiting.

Muscle Glycogen: Well trained individuals typically have enough stored muscle glycogen to sustain 2 hours or so of moderate intensity exercise. Therefore, with a little added fat utilization, trained individuals can usually finisha typical marathon without running out of carbohydrates. Running an Ironman Distance even requires considerable fat utilizaition and carbohydrate replenishing during the event. Untrained individuals typically store ½ to 1/3 as much carbohydrates as trained athletes. Muscle glycogen stores are typically twice as high in athletes consuming a high carbohydrate diet than those on a low carbohydrate diet. The table below is adapted from “The Lore of Running” by Tim Noakes and is based on data obtained by Ahlborg and Felig (Journal of Clinical Investigation 69, 45-54, 1982).

You can see by the table above that a high carbohydrate diet (> 70% carbohydrate) has a dramatic effect on stored glycogen.

So, let’s review the physiology part briefly. When you run out of stored muscle glycogen, you bonk! The reason that you bonk is that the only sources of fuel remaining are stored fat and blood sugar. The stored fast is burned too slowly to process the necessary energy to continue running and circulation blood sugar is inadequate in terms of total amount of delivery rate to sustain a high work rate. As a result, you must revert to a lower work rate (walk) in order to continue.

So, how do we keep from bonking? You can see by the table above that a high carbohydrate diet is critical. In fact, consuming extra carbohydrates during your taper (carb loading) can really pack the muscles with glycogen. Also note, if you consume a high carbohydrate diet while training daily, you can maintain higher muscle and live glycogen levels. The best time to consume carbohydrates is right after training. The muscles soak up carbohydrates like a sponge the first two hours after training. Consuming carbohydrates right after training can speed glycogen repletion and muscle recovery. Also, you can consume carbohydrates during the event. This can help to keep blood sugar levels from dropping and can help prevent liver glycogen depletion. This is especially critical during the latter stages of the event as your body begins to rely more on stored body fat as a source of energy. Remember, your body cannot continue at race pace by burning fats alone. Consuming carbohydrates during the event can slow the rate of muscle glycogen depletion and help you sustain a higher work rate while burning stored body fat. This is especially critical during an event lasting longer than 3 hours. You simply cannot complete an Ironman distance event without replenishing carbohydrates during the event.  It is unlikely that you can consume and store carbohydrates as fast you are burning them. The trick is to slow the rate of glycogen depletion so that you can complete the event before you bonk. A good fuel consumption plan is critical. You must start the event with your muscles packed with glycogen and refuel along the way to delay glycogen depletion. In an Ironman event, you should start refueling as soon as you get on the bike and continue to refuel throughout the run. Being proactive is the key. Once you bonk, it is too late.

Next time we will crunch the numbers and talk about how much carbohydrate to consume during training, pre-race and during the race. We will also discuss what type of carbohydrate to consume and when. Until then, eat hearty and train hard!

10 WAYS TO GET RID OF LOVE HANDLES:

 


Those annoying love handles... why do we call them that anyway? I can't think of a single person who loves theirs. Maybe it's because, like an old lover, they're often very hard to get rid of.

I hate to break it to you, but if you're looking for a quick, easy way to obliterate those rolls around your waist, you're going to be sorely disappointed. The fact is that you simply can't spot reduce; that is, there are no miracle exercises or pills that will allow you to melt fat off specific areas of your body.

However, there are certain exercises, habits and lifestyle changes you can adopt to get rid of those unsightly fat deposits. Read on to find out the 10 best ways to lose those love handles -- as much as possible.

Number 10
Consider liposuction
Okay, so it's not a solution for everyone, but if you've tried many of the other methods described below and you just can't seem to get rid of your very prominent love handles, liposuction might be the solution. In fact, it is ideal for people who are 20 to 30 pounds overweight and who have a particularly problematic area in which they simply can't seem to lose weight.

During this surgical procedure, fat is "sucked" out of the body. Although there is very little actual weight loss, the shape of the body is improved, sometimes dramatically. To find out if this procedure is right for you, talk to your doctor.

Number 9
Strengthen your lower back
As you will see below, strengthening your abdominal muscles is a key step in reducing your love handles. But whenever you work on your abs, you should also strengthen the muscles in your lower back to "balance" the strength in your torso and reduce the fat on your back.

Try this exercise: Lie on your stomach, lift your feet and knees off the floor and "flutter kick" your legs as if you were swimming. Do this for 15 seconds, then stop for 30 seconds. Repeat twice.

Number 8
Cut sodium
Sodium -- which can be found in table salt, seasonings, soups, condiments, and many other prepared foods -- isn't just bad because it raises your risk of heart disease and stroke. It also leads to water retention, which can make problem areas like the gut and love handles seem even more prominent. Reduce your consumption of sodium-rich processed foods, and avoid adding salt to the foods you prepare yourself.

Number 7
Create a "V" shape in your upper body
Although working on your abs is a must in the quest to eliminate love handles, you can also create the illusion of having a smaller midsection by bulking up your shoulders, pectoral muscles and biceps.

There is a wide range of exercises you can perform for these different muscle groups, one of which is the lat pulldown. Sitting with your back flat against the seat, grasp the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart. Pull the bar down to your chest, pause, and extend arms back to starting position. Repeat 12 to 15 times.

Number 6
Drink water
You've probably heard it a million times before, and it's true: You should drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. Not only does it help reduce water retention caused by excess sodium, but water also helps the body metabolize stored fat into energy and suppresses the appetite. All these factors can help reduce your love handles.

Number 5
Do crunches
Although increasing the amount of muscle in your abdominal region will help reduce the appearance of love handles, keep in mind that spot reduction doesn't work. You can do all the crunches in the world, but they'll most likely be useless if you don't do any cardiovascular exercise and eat properly, as mentioned below.

That being said, there are a number of exercises that target your oblique abs and love handles more specifically. Try elbow-to-knee crunches: Cross your left leg over your right leg and twist your torso, bringing your right elbow to your left knee. Do as many reps as you can. Repeat on the other side.

Number 4
Reduce your alcohol intake
Although there is conflicting evidence as to whether or not alcohol causes weight gain, alcohol does contain a lot of "empty calories." And since men tend to deposit extra calories as fat in their bellies, drinking alcohol may contribute to those dreaded love handles. I'm not saying to pour all your beer and liquor down the sink, but drink alcohol in moderation if you're trying to lose weight, or try "light" or low-carb versions.

Number 3
Do dumbbell side bends
Dumbbell side bends are another great exercise to target the muscles under your love handles. Standing up, hold one dumbbell at your side and slowly bend your torso sideways, letting the dumbbell descend toward the floor. Slowly straighten up to the starting position using the strength of your abdominal muscles. Do 15 reps on each side.

Number 2
Cut calories
There are no two ways around it: To lose weight, you have to reduce the number of calories your body stores. Even if you work out like a psycho, you will still gain weight if the number of calories you consume is greater than the number you burn. Therefore, your diet is crucial in your quest to get rid of those wretched love handles. In a nutshell, you must consume fewer overall calories, as well as less fat and sugar, and increase your fiber intake. And of course, don't forget No. 1...

Number 1
Get into cardiovascular exercise
Once again, it comes down to burning calories so that they aren't stored as fat. Whether it's by hitting the treadmill at the gym, playing basketball with some buddies, walking to work, or even taking the stairs instead of the elevator, every little step counts. Of course, the amount of cardio you must do all depends on how bad those handles really are. If you have a lot of weight to lose, you should probably seriously consider that gym membership. If the problem is minor, some low-intensity exercise may be sufficient.
burn, baby, burn
Although there are no "miracle" solutions to get rid of those unsightly love handles, there are definitely ways to reduce them. A combination of exercise, healthy eating habits and targeted exercises will have you looking slim and trim in no time; just be patient and don't give up. [ From askmen.com]

Some NICE deadlifting shots!

 
 

 

 

Improve your Deadlift Strength with this 7 week Deadlift program

One of the best ways to improve your deadlift strength is to perform multiple sets of single reps. Here is a sample 7 week deadlift cycle to help increase your deadlift 1 rep max. I've used this cycle several times with great results each time. With each lift focus on pulling the weights as fast and explosively as possible. The faster you lift the weight, the more stress you'll apply to the muscles, and the stronger you'll become.
7 Week Deadlift Cycle
The weights are based on a percentage of your current 1 rep max.
Week one: 70% - 15 sets of 1 - rest one minute between sets
Week two: 75% - 12 sets of 1 - rest one minute between sets
Week three: 80% - 10 sets of 1 - rest 90 seconds between sets
Week four: 85% - 6 sets of 1 - rest 90 seconds between sets
Week five: 90% - 3 sets of 1 - rest two minutes between sets
Week six: Rest (no deadlifting)
Week seven: try for a new max deadlift. Rest as long as you need in between sets (i.e. 3+ minutes)

Note: You can use this 7 week deadlift cycle for either the sumo or conventional deadlift. Do Not use this routine for the Romanian Deadlift, for this exercise it is best to use lower sets and do multiple reps (i.e. 3 sets of 10-20 reps).
To show an example with some real numbers, lets assume the lifter has a 1 rep max of 405 lbs.
Week one: 15 sets of 1 rep with 285 lbs.
Week two: 12 sets of 1 rep with 305 lbs.
Week three: 10 sets of 1 rep with 325 lbs.
Week four: 6 sets of 1 rep with 345 lbs.
Week five: 3 sets of 1 rep with 365 lbs.
Week six: rest
Week seven: work up to a new 1 rep max...
To pyramid up to a new 1 rep max the weights should go like this:
135 lbs.
185 lbs.
225 lbs.
315 lbs.
365 lbs.
405 lbs.
425 lbs.
Each set after this, add approx. 5-10 lbs. to the bar until you reach your 1 rep max.
Most folks who are used to bodybuilding type workouts will probably be quite surprised by the idea of doing multiple sets of single reps. But this is one of the most effective ways to develop strength and power. Obviously you will not be pumping out reps until failure, but rather you'll be explosive and feel strong and powerful with each single rep set. Generally, after the first few sets you'll actually feel stronger and be able to pull the bar up harder and faster. This is due to getting comfortable with the exercise and getting into your individual groove where your body position feels strongest.
By using the training tips and suggestions covered in this article, and following the 7 week deadlift workout cycle you should have no problem blowing past your personal deadlift 1 rep max.
[ From leehayward.com]

A great Slideshow on 20 worst Supplements in the market!

http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/550744-the-20-most-overrated-supplements/?utm_source=articlebottom&utm_medium=1#slide-22

Is there such a thing as good Pizza?

Average Pizza consumption for Americans is 350 slices per second! It is not that big in India, besides the urban areas, so I do not think I can get similar statistics for India.
Most nutritionists consider Pizza to be taboo food to be avoided at all costs. Some nutritionist offer a different view as long as you follow the following rules when Pizza fever hits:
1. Have thin crust over thick or pan crust. The amount of calories are almost halved and you do not need that excess refined carbs in your system.
2. Have a good amount of roasted vegetables on your pizza.
3. Remove sausages from the pizza. Ham, roast chicken/beef, shrimp is probably the best option
4. Do not have more than 2 to 4 slices depending on your body weight and amount of exercise and activity levels.
5. Ask for a low - fat Mozzarella option if available
6. Ask for a wholemeal base if available
7. Avoid stuffed bases
8. Stick with tomato based sauces over the gourmet white sauces
9. Best  Vegetable Toppings:
onions, mushrooms, capsicum, broccoli,tomatoes, spinach, pineapple.
10. Have salad as a side dish so you don't stuff yourself with just pizza.
11. Do not indulge in a pizza on a regular basis.

THICK CRUST

THIN CRUST


Check out the link to have a look at the amount of calories in a single slice of Dominos Pizza:
http://www.calorieking.com/foods/search/Dominos+Pizza

Steroid Use and Body Image in teenagers: Must listen..Quite an eyeopener.

http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2011/10/bbg_20111002.mp3

 


Ever wondered how those bulky weight lifters got so big? While some may have gotten their muscles through a strict regimen of weightlifting and diet, others may have gotten that way through the illegal use of anabolic-androgenic steroids. "Anabolic" refers to a steroid's ability to help build muscle, and "androgenic" refers to their role in promoting the development of male sexual characteristics. Other types of steroids, like cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone, do not build muscle, are not anabolic, and therefore do not have the same harmful effects.

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are usually synthetic substances similar to the male sex hormone testosterone. They do have legitimate medical uses. Sometimes doctors prescribe them to help people with certain kinds of anemia and men who don't produce enough testosterone on their own. But doctors never prescribe anabolic steroids to young, healthy people to help them build muscles. Without a prescription from a doctor, anabolic steroids are illegal.

There are many different anabolic-androgenic steroids. Here's a list of some of the most common ones taken today: Andro, oxandrin, dianabol, winstrol, deca-durabolin, and equipoise.

Do listen to the podcast.Click on the link above.

The photo on the side panels of my blog:

One of my friends who went through my blog asked me about the photo on this blog.
I had seen the photo for the first time in the Sydney suburb of Newtown. It is quite visible while travelling by train. It is captioned "THREE PROUD PEOPLE: MEXICO 68"


Here is a wiki on this :


The protest

On the morning of October 16, 1968,[2] U.S. athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 meter race in a world-record time of 19.83 seconds, with Australia's Peter Norman second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the U.S.'s John Carlos in third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to collect their medals at the podium. The two U.S. athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty.[3] Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the U.S. and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage."[4] All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals.[5] Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on October 16, 1968[2] were inspired by Edwards' arguments.[6]
Both U.S. athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove, this being the reason behind him raising his left hand, as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute.[7] When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd.[8] Smith later said "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."[3]
[edit]International Olympic Committee response

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president, Avery Brundage, deemed it to be a domestic political statement, unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games were supposed to be. In an immediate response to their actions, he ordered Smith and Carlos suspended from the U.S. team and banned from the Olympic Village. When the US Olympic Committee refused, Brundage threatened to ban the entire US track team. This threat led to the two athletes being expelled from the Games.
A spokesman for the IOC said it was "a deliberate and violent breach of the fundamental principles of the Olympic spirit."[3] Brundage, who was president of the United States Olympic Committee in 1936, had made no objections against Nazi salutes during the Berlin Olympics. The Nazi salute, being a national salute at the time, was accepted in a competition of nations, while the athletes' salute was not of a nation and so was considered unacceptable.[9]
The official IOC website states that "Over and above winning medals, the black American athletes made names for themselves by an act of racial protest."[10]
[edit]Aftermath

Smith and Carlos were largely ostracized by the U.S. sporting establishment in the following years and, in addition, were subject to criticism of their actions. Time magazine showed the five-ring Olympic logo with the words, "Angrier, Nastier, Uglier", instead of "Faster, Higher, Stronger". Back home, they were subject to abuse and they and their families received death threats.[11]
Smith continued in athletics, going on to play in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, before becoming an assistant professor of Physical Education at Oberlin College. In 1995, he went on to help coach the U.S. team at the World Indoor Championships at Barcelona. In 1999 he was awarded the California Black Sportsman of the Millennium Award. He is now a public speaker.
Carlos' career followed a similar path to Smith's. He initially continued in athletics, equalling the 100 yard dash world record the following year. Later, he played in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, before a knee injury prematurely ended his career. He fell upon hard times in the late 1970s and, in 1977, his ex-wife committed suicide, leading him to a period of depression.[12] In 1982, Carlos was employed by the Organizing Committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles to promote the games and act as liaison with the city's black community. In 1985, he became a track and field coach at Palm Springs High School, a post he still holds.
Norman, who was sympathetic to his competitors' protest, was reprimanded by his country's Olympic authorities and ostracized by the Australian media.[13] He was not picked for the 1972 Summer Olympics, despite finishing third in his trials. Smith and Carlos were pallbearers at his funeral.[14]
In 2005, San Jose State University honored former students Smith and Carlos with a 22-foot high statue of their protest.[15] A student, Erik Grotz, initiated the project: "One of my professors was talking about unsung heroes and he mentioned Tommie Smith and John Carlos. He said these men had done a courageous thing to advance civil rights, and, yet, they had never been honored by their own school." In January 2007, History San Jose opened a new exhibit called Speed City: From Civil Rights to Black Power, covering the San Jose State athletic program "from which many student athletes became globally recognized figures as the Civil Rights and Black Power movements reshaped American society."[16]

On March 3, 2008, in the Detroit Free Press editorial section, an editorial by Orin Starn entitled "Bottom line turns to hollow gold for today's Olympians" lamented the lack of social engagement of modern sports athletes, in contrast to Smith and Carlos.
Smith and Carlos received an Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2008 ESPY Awards honoring their action.[

DO NOT TRY THE MICHAEL PHELPS DIET - UNLESS YOU SWIM 10 HOURS A DAY

Most of you must have heard of Michael Phelps the swimming sensation who won several medals at the Beijeing Olympics.

Have a look at a sample daily eating plan for this swimming legend:

MICHAEL PHELPS' DIET

Breakfast: Three fried egg sandwiches; cheese; tomatoes; lettuce; fried onions; mayonnaise; three chocolate-chip pancakes; five-egg omelette; three sugar-coated slices of French toast; bowl of grits; two cups of coffee

Lunch: Half-kilogram (one pound) of enriched pasta; two large ham and cheese sandwiches with mayonnaise on white bread; energy drinks

Dinner: Half-kilogram of pasta, with carbonara sauce; large pizza; 3 to 4 energy drinks

This diet would normally be filling for 5 average men. Is it really good to have this sort of a diet.

Judging by the amount he eats and swims, that is not altogether surprising.

Fruit and veg

Even though the 23-year-old spends a solid five hours of each day burning off those calories, the diet still seems excessive. Is he following some sort of dietician guru's programme?

Barbara Lewin, a nutritionist who has advised international athletes on their dietary health for almost two decades, thinks not.

(From the BBC website)

A light snack for a record-breaking Olympian swimmer?

"Health-wise, if he were eating like this long-term, he'd probably be having to see a cardiologist regularly," Mrs Lewin told the BBC.

She recommended cutting out the egg yolks, replacing the white bread with whole-wheat, throwing some fruit and vegetables into the mix, and spreading the food out over the day with regular snacking.

But while the quality of the calories consumed by the six-foot four-inch (1.93m) swimmer may not seem healthy, Ms Lewin suggested there are good reasons behind Mr Phelps' diet.

"I've worked with more than 1,000 endurance athletes - swimmers and runners - and one of the most common problems they have is glycogen depletion - the result of not getting enough carbohydrates," she said.

"Nine out of 10 times the reason an athlete doesn't reach their personal best is because they're not getting enough carbohydrates and that's what your muscles need for food."

Carb counting

Phelps won his sixth gold medal in Beijing in the 200m medley on Friday, and will be aiming to equal fellow American Mark Spitz's record of winning seven gold medals in a single Olympic games when he takes to the pool for Saturday's 100m fly.

 He burns more calories sitting at a desk than a lot of people burn walking  

Jeff Kotterman

Director of the US National Association of Sports Nutrition

He will break Spitz's 36-year record if his team qualify, and go on to win, Sunday's 4x100m relay.

The very process of challenging that record entails a hectic schedule of heats, semi-finals and finals.

Between winning his 10th gold medal in the 200m butterfly - which made him history's most successful Olympian - and his 11th in the men's 4x200m relay, Phelps had just an hour between races.

With that kind of turn-around, topping up his carbohydrate count is key, Ms Lewin suggested. The copious amount of refined carbohydrates consumed in the bread and pasta he eats will digest quickly and give the swimmer instant energy.

Phelps, who weighs around 85kg (187lbs), understands this. Asked what was needed to continue his gold-medal winning streak, he said simply: "Get some calories into my system and try to recover the best I can."

Keeping his carbohydrates topped up between races, said Ms Lewin, is important for avoiding what athletes call "hitting the wall" - that stage in an endurance competition when the body has used up all its carbohydrate fuel (sometimes known as muscle glycogen) and instead starts the much less efficient process of burning fat for energy.

Fat pile-on

The Phelps diet is not recommended for everyone. Due to his muscle-intensive physique, the swimmer's metabolism - the process of converting food into energy - far exceeds that of a more average man, said Jeff Kotterman, director of the US National Association of Sports Nutrition.

"It's a combination of peak performance coupled with the fact that he has an enormous metabolism - he burns more calories sitting at a desk than a lot of people burn walking," Mr Kotterman told the BBC.

He suggested Phelps, with an estimated 8% body fat, probably burns 1,000 calories per hour during his swimming training, compared to the equivalent exercise for an average person - vigorous walking - that would burn between 170 and 240 calories.

Consequently, trying to emulate the Phelps diet by consuming up to 12,000 calories a day in order to attain his physique would more than likely come to a wobbly end.

One pound of fat has roughly 3,500 calories, so an ordinary man could put on almost three pounds of fat a day.

But then again, Michael Phelps - who has now won the 400m medley, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 4x100m free relay, 4x200m free relay and the 200m medley in world record times - is clearly no ordinary man. 

Breathing technique while running

The craze with running seems to stay constant despite a lot of other cardio equipment like bikes, ellipticals and rowers taking over the gym. Personally I prefer outdoor running as you can look things rather than just stare at someone's bum at the gym. While doing my running, lately I was running out of breath after around 6kms. So started looking into some articles to improve lung efficiency and realised there are several correct breathing techniques associated with running!

The most commonly used is the 2:2 where you breathe in for 2 steps and breathe out for 2 steps. A 4:4 technique is also followed where you take in a breath over 4 steps and breathe out over 4 steps.
A still better technique though harder to get it into rhythm is a 3:2 pattern where you breathe out over 3 steps and breathe in for 2 steps. The principle here is that when you breathe out the carbon dioxide it helps you clear out the accumalated lactic acid much faster. I tried it over the weekend and it works really well.


3:2 Pattern
Some people find more success with a 3:2 breathing pattern. This allows you to take a big breath, but forces you to expel every last drop of carbon dioxide in a strong, quick gust. Less carbon dioxide will remain in your body, which leaves more room for new oxygen. New oxygen travels to your muscles, which use it for fuel, allowing you to last longer before lactic acid begins building up. This technique may take some practice at a slower pace to master, but once it comes naturally, it can help you achieve more distance.

Also tested my VO2max over a 2.4km run and clocked 12 min and 35 seconds. Was really bummed at the end of it. VO2 was around 40 which is not bad, but should break the 11 min barrier next. Sub-11, it's your turn next!

Find answers for these:

Several interesting conversations with a bunch of fitness crazies that I keep meeting at the gym. Raised a few excellent questions:
1. What is best way to observe talent in kids to harness their ability for a particular sport?Are there any tests.
2. What is the best food to carry on an Antartica expedition and why?
3. Is an arm ergometer in a gym a better piece of equipment than a bicycle?
4. What are waist : hip ratios and what do they indicate?

And some more:
1. Breathing out and lactic acid system
2. General Adaptation Syndrome - GAS
3. Hypokinesis
4. Body Fat and Swimming
5. Obesity and Malnourishment -- seems unlikely but it is true.
6. Hawthorne effect
7. Origins of the push - up
8. Training through different decades of life for women.


There are a few more, but will try to put up posts for these over the next week, when I get more time. Hope you find them as interesting as I do ;)

Role of Fat and Carbohydrates during Long distance events

Which fuels are primarily utilised during long distance events such as cycling and marathon running?This paper looks at it in detail.

Here are some extracts from a paper by Craig S. Atwood, Richard L. Bowen that examined the metabolic performance of an élite cyclist, Lance Armstrong, before and after his treatment for testicular cancer. What the authors are saying is that the improvements in Armstrong’s performance were caused largely because the treatment allowed his 
body to use fat as a fuel more efficiently.

There are two primary sources of energy available to athletes: fat and carbohydrate. Muscle and liver store most of the body’s carbohydrate, enough fuel ( 400–600 g) for about 90– 120 min of high-intensity exercise. Fat stores on the other hand could supply energy needs for 60–100 h due to its higher energy content and abundance throughout the body compared with carbohydrates. Endurance athletes use a mixture of both fuels and when the carbohydrate becomes fatigued they ‘hit the wall’, which is characterised by a drop in speed as a direct result of decreased carbohydrate use which in turn is as a result of a fall in blood glucose levels due to depletion of muscle and liver glycogen stores and blood glucose stores.

Atwood and Bowen state:

Fatty acid utilization is unchanged during fatigue, indicating that lipid is the preferred fuel of muscles, but is rate limiting, and that carbohydrate utilization is required for optimal performance. Therefore, those athletes that can use a higher FFA/glucose ratio at any given speed (i.e. _V O2 ) for their overall energy needs will endure longer than those with a lower FFA/glucose ratio. Furthermore, athletes that do not utilize all their carbohydrate stores during an exercise period will have a greater chance of replenishing their carbohydrate stores to maximal levels compared to those that start with lower carbohydrate stores. This means exercise of a similar or greater intensity and duration can be achieved on subsequent days, and is perhaps the key to understanding the remarkable day-to-day endurance of Lance Armstrong compared with other cyclists1.

So whilst carbohydrate is necessary for high output, one way to improve performance is to make the racers use of fat for fuel more efficient and so slow down the rate that the precious carbohydrate is consumed during the race. In this way the time/distance a racer can keep up optimum performance is increase and at the same time because the carbohydrate stores in the muscles are less depleted at the end of a race, the recovery post race is quicker.

So how do you improve your body’s ability to metabolize fat? Certainly exercise has a big role to play:

Atwood and Bowen go on to say:

These changes indicate an adaptive response to endurance training that decreases glycogenolysis in muscles and spares glycogen reserves. Conversely, detraining leads to an increased reliance on carbohydrate metabolism during exercise, as shown by a higher exercise respiratory exchange ratio, and lowered lipase activity, GLUT-4 content, glycogen level and lactate threshold [48]. Hence, well-trained individuals using a higher proportion of FFA for energy will spare more muscle and liver glycogen, and together with their higher basal glycogen reserves, can therefore maintain a similar level of intensity for a longer period of time compared with untrained individuals1.

But it’s not the only way. As part of their research they conducted the following experiment:

The advantages of increased fat utilization on performance are highlighted by the results of a chronic (4 week) eucaloric ketogenic diet (high fat) on submaximal exercise performance in trained cyclists. The mean ergometer endurance time for continuous exercise to exhaustion at 62–64% _V O2 max on this diet was 151 min compared to 147 min prior to the ketogenic diet [79]. Despite a drop in RQ (from 0.83 to 0.72), a 3-fold drop in glycogen oxidation and a 4-fold reduction in muscle glycogen, the endurance of these well-trained cyclists was slightly better. These results indicate that aerobic endurance exercise by well-trained cyclists is not compromised by 4 weeks of ketosis. Thus, physiological adaptations to a high fat diet conserve limited carbohydrate stores (glucose and muscle glycogen) and make fat the predominant muscle substrate at submaximal exercise.

Now I’m not suggesting that élite endurance athletes adopt a ketogenic diet, but very high carbohydrate diets reduce the body’s ability to utilise fat for fuel so perhaps there are benefits to a low carbohydrate diet for endurance athletes.

1. Metabolic clues regarding the enhanced performance of elite endurance athletes from orchiectomy-induced hormonal changes. Craig S. Atwood, Richard L. Bowen

Mr India 2010 - Suhas Khamkar

Competition Name : 50th Senior National Bodybuilding Championship
Venue : Madgaon, Goa. Date : 09th to 11th April 2010

55 KG.				60 KG.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
27	Jai Singh	Punjab	1	49	Ramchandra Bhat	Goa (B)	1
5	Sunil Sakapal	Maharashtra	2	41	Kh. Pradip Kumar	Manipur	2
8	Manoj Kumar Majumdar	Gorkhaland	3	45	R.T.Mane	Services	3
20	Aman P	Kerala	4	50	Haripam	C.R.P.F	4
7	Navin Bhagat	Maharashtra	5	52	Ganannavel	Karnataka	5
65 KG.				70 KG.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
86	Romi Singh T	Services	1	145	Sachin Patil	Maharashtra	1
87	L.Irabanta	Manipur	2	111	Alok Behra	Maharashtra	2
90	Abdulla	Karnataka	3	143	Prahlad Singh	Delhi	3
91	Pramod Meetel	C.R.P.F	4	132	Vipin Peter	Services	4
93	Prashant Gaurav	Maharashtra	5	144	Jag Mohan Singh	Punjab	5
75 KG.				80 KG.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
176	Parvesh Kumar	Punjab	1	204	Suhas Khamkar	Maharashtra	1
183	Mohd.Ashraf	Delhi	2	195	N. Randhir	C.R.P.F	2
177	Y.Pakpa Singh	C.R.P.F	3	194	A Monotomba	C.R.P.F	3
165	Pritam Singh	Maharashtra	4	197	T.Saravanan	Tamilnadu	4
164	I.Roshi Kumar	C.R.P.F	5	207	S.K.Tiwari	Services	5
85 KG.				90 KG.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
236	Sangram Chougule	Maharashtra	1	255	M.Rajendra	Services	1
280	Amit Choudhary	U.P.	2	241	Pawan Kumar	Services	2
230	Satya Narayana	Karnataka	3	247	Pravin Aregela	Vidharba	3
226	Mohd. Ashraf K	Karnataka	4	249	N.Khogendrajit	Manipur	4
217	Satish Kumar	Services	5	246	Arun Kumar	Delhi	5
100 KG.				100 + KG.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
265	S. Anup	Services	1	274	V.C. Rojas	Services	1
257	Sunil Kumar	Services	2	277	G.Nanda Gopal	Vidharba	2
264	Narindir Singh	Punjab	3	272	Niyan Nishan M	M.P.	3
261	Dhiren	C.R.P.F.	4	275	Vinay Kumar	Delhi	4
258	Ganesh Urankar	Maharashtra	5	278	Prilam Singh	C.R.P.F.	5
Champion Of Champions :		Suhas Khamkar		Maharashtra
Best Poser :		Abdulla Karnataka
Most Improved :		N. Randhir C. R. P. F.
Team Championship :		Services - 125 Point
Team Championship Runner Up :		Maharashtra - 109
Womens Height 163 CM.				Womens Height 163 CM.
T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank	T. NO.	COMPETITORS NAME	UNIT	Rank
181	Y Suchitra	Manipur	1	185	Kamalika Mukherjee	West Bengal	1
183	Diprina Bhatiachaya	West Bengal	2	184	S.Joysini	Manipur	2
182	Th. Nongthangle	Manipur	3