Ingredients Check the Fine Print   July 7, 2008 Dear Friends, Oh Yeah… They’re in there. Somewhere on that list of 200 ingredients on that bag of chips, about to go down your esophagus, they’re hiding and lurking around, just waiting to get you. The signs are hidden, but if you look closely enough you’ll find them. Go right to the ingredients. You’ll need a magnifying glass to read the ingredients, the evil ones are: partially hydrogenated, artificial, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and sodium nitrate. Why are these evil? The fact is that they’re bad for you no matter how you look at it, which is why learning how to read labels is vital. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is man made sugar, plain and simple. You are going to find HFCS in: cookies, crackers, cupcakes, frosting, pastries, cereals, spreads and dressings, and just about anything commercially fried containing TRANS FATS. HFCS, which is man made, is sweeter and cheaper than sugar. The 1970’s introduced us to this evil ingredient. HFCS shuts off your body’s natural appetite control switches, which causes people to eat far beyond what their bodies can handle. It also will increase fat gain because it is more readily converted to fat within the body. Other top places it’s found are: ketchup, soda, pasta sauce, syrup, and some frozen yogurt. Many ingredient lists include sugar multiple times such as: sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, dextrose, and maltose. The more of these you can find on the ingredient list, the worse the product is. The bottom line is if you see any of these in the ingredients you should avoid it because a steady diet of these foods will cause the pancreas to release large amounts of insulin, leading to fat storage and other health related problems. Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats are plain and simple TRANS FATS. TRANS FATS are vegetable oil infused with hydrogen, that are just like saturated fat, except there are man made making them more evil. The effects of these fats increase LDL cholesterol, increase risk of heart disease, weaken the immune system, cause diabetes, and increase risk of cancer. They’re found in 98% of cookies, cakes, crackers, and potato chips, any peanut butter that is not 100% natural, margarine, donuts, French fries, onion rings, some frozen waffles and foods, cheese spreads, and some microwave popcorn. When combined with HFCS, they are very physically addicting which explains the high percentage of overweight and obese people in the US. So if you see partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated, don’t buy it! Artificial colorings, blue 1, red 3, yellow 6, they are in about every color candy you can imagine. Sodas, cherry juice, fruit cocktail, and some baked goods also use food coloring. Blue 1 may contain a mild carcinogen. Red 3 is said to be linked to thyroid tumors. Yellow 6 causes allergic reactions most of the time. When children bring these into their bodies, they result in greater increases in hyperactive behavior. Monosodium glutamate is found in Chinese food and soy sauces, commercial soup stock, bouillon cubes, and canned meats and some processed meats. MSG is used as a flavor enhancer. MSG contains two flavor enhancers, which are sodium and umami (a meat or savory taste sensation). This causes you to pig out! Don’t eat or buy anything with these ingredients in them. Sodium nitrate is a preservative chemical in some lunch meats to increase the product’s shelf life. Sodium nitrate is fine until it reaches the stomach, where it mixes with the stomach acids and it forms an extremely potent carcinogen, N-nitrosamine. Our stomachs are the perfect environment for this carcinogen. It is best to stick with fresh cooked meats from the deli counter. Ask the butcher if the meat is uncured or unprocessed. Fresh cooked meats, such as turkey, also contain less saturated fat. Fresh cooked meats also don’t have any fillers such as corn syrup or potato starch in them. Avoid processed, packaged meats like the plague. Make sure you ask the butcher to read the ingredients in the meats so you know what you’re putting into your body. If you know your meat and your butcher, this can prevent you from getting colon cancer. In conclusion, going right to the ingredients on food labels will tell you right away what you need to put in your body and what you need to avoid. Knowing the ingredients will alert you to whether the product is healthy or evil. So if it has HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, TRANS FATS, ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS, MSG, or SODIUM NITRATE don’t put it into your body! You will not be wasting any money or compromising your health and minimizing your fitness potential. Instead eat lean protein: chicken breast, turkey breast, lean ground turkey, fish, buffalo, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese, natural peanut butter, and nuts. How about complex carbohydrates like: baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, steamed brown rice, 100% whole wheat bread/pasta, nuts, or whole grain oat meal. What about simple carbohydrates like fruits and fat free yogurt? How about vegetables steamed, baked, or grilled. How about unsaturated fats: fish, nuts, natural peanut butter, olive oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil.

The Bench Press Is it Overrated?   June 23, 2008 Dear Friends, The only way to get better at anything is to learn more about the subject and send it up the flag pole and salute it. Question here, some people in society are influenced to believe that a 300 lb bench press is the mark of success when it comes to athletic performance in relation to strength training. Having such credentials will definitely make you a stronger athlete. However, as mentioned in my article “Why Our Programs will Achieve Excellence Through Functional Training,” speed wins when it comes to athletics. So what we’re getting at here is that the bench press shouldn’t be the mark for all athletic performance. It has its place in some sports, especially football, but should be used hand in hand with other appropriate training techniques. Assessing the athlete(s) general physical preparedness (GPP) is of importance. Once the assessment is done, a dynamic warm up, core training, speed drills to improve the skill of speed, agility, flexibility, plyometric exercises, hang clean, squats (different variations of the squat), the dead lift, and other strength exercises for speed are more important than just a 300 lb bench. When assessing the GPP of most teenagers, in the USA, in their early development phases (ages 5-11) most start in a particular sport such as football, baseball, basketball, field hockey, softball, soccer, lacrosse, gymnastics, karate, and wrestling to name a few. These are all very sport specific skills being developed at an early age. Along with the fitness craze in America came excellent schools such as the Parisi Speed School, Athlete’s Performance, Michael Boyle’s Strength and Conditioning, and Train 4 the Game. All of these facilities and many other functional strength and conditioning coaches look to improve the athlete’s GPP by helping the athlete become the strongest he/she possibly can be at his/her relative body weight. In the early development phase, ages 5-11, the best gymnasium or strength and conditioning facility is the playground; one with monkey bars, balance beams, ropes, climbing walls, etc. If you don’t have access to one, then you could design your own training circuit. It should include the following components: sprinting, jumping, pushing, pulling, rolling, climbing, and striking/swinging. Stick to the KISS method and use as little coaching as possible. When a child reaches mid development phase, ages 12-15, now is the time to enroll him/her in one of these schools or seek a qualified performance expert. These fitness professionals will improve GPP through speed, core stability, balance, coordination, endurance, flexibility and strength, making the athletes the strongest they can be for their relative body weight. Here are exercises the experts will use to achieve the goal of strengthening relative body weight (RBW): push ups, pull ups, rope climbing, medicine ball work, agility work, short sprints, body weight squats, and dead lifts. Coaching is a must here being that the proper technique is the key to success, and if you refer to my article “Why Our Programs will Achieve Excellence Through Functional Training,” the athlete only progresses after he/she has mastered a skill. In conclusion, when athletes’ GPP are addressed properly during early and mid development stages, they are prepared for such complex exercises such as the squat, hang clean, dead lift, and the bench press in that order. So the message here is, our young American athletes receive sport specific skills. Speed is a skill that our young athletes must also develop with proper coaching and I hope I have been able to outline this throughout the context of this article. The answer to the question is the bench press overrated when it comes to developing a young athlete, is in most cases yes. There are other important components to developing young athletes that I have mentioned throughout this article, and that are posted on my website: www.DurkinSpeedWins.com.

Power Vegetables July 16, 2008 Dear Friends, People often forget the importance of vegetables. They’re low calorie, nutrient dense foods that provide us with fiber. They also contain antioxidants, beta carotene, and other beneficial vitamins and minerals, which help the human body perform. If they came with a label, it would read ‘saturated fat free,’ but they don’t which is another reason they’re good for you because they have no added ingredients. The dark green leafy vegetables seem to be the best, they help boost your mood and have unsaturated fat. The vitamins and minerals from vegetables contribute to muscle growth and proper fat burning by regulating the metabolism and assisting elimination and excretion. Vitamins and minerals also improve your immune system. Vegetable Calories Protein Carbs Fat Vitamins Minerals 20 asparagus spears 60 6 12 0 17 11 1 can green beans 52 3 12 0 18 11 1 cup chopped broccoli 31 3 6 0 16 9 1 cup Brussels sprouts 38 3 8 0 16 10 1 medium carrot 25 1 6 0 17 12 1 cup chopped cauliflower 28 1 3 0 17 10 1 medium celery stalk 6 0 1 0 17 11 1 medium onion 46 1 11 0 13 15 1 cup peas 118 8 21 1 16 11 2 cups salad (greens) 44 3 8 0 16 10 1 medium tomato 22 1 5 0 17 14 1 cup spinach 41 5 7 3 16 10                                 In conclusion, if you are not eating at least 3 or more servings of vegetables a day, then a multivitamin may be a way to supplement your lack of vitamin and mineral intake. However, if you are eating 3 or more servings per day this will help you save money on your supplements. So when planning include these powerful vegetables in your meals.