Question for the exercise experts about breathing

by | Mar 4, 2013 | Exercise, Weight Loss | 0 comments

You have to go back quite along way in the history of weightlifting for strength and fitnes1351493754aoal7ks to understand where the breathing method comes from.

According to some of the ancient texts it would appear that athletes were encouraged to breathe in during exertion in order to stiffen the body some what as this was though to be an aid to both lifting and exertion and also the stiffening of the body meant that muscle were held in place and injury was less likely.

Other texts point out that the mere act of breathing consciously helped the athlete concentrate on the exercise that they were doing rather than be distracted by what’s going on around them.

Fast forwarding to our present century many people exercise using machines which while they offer a much safer environment to work in they do significantly limit the benefit one can get by doing the same exercise with free weights.

From my experience focus-breathing is only really necessary when you are handling very large free weights as the extra support and the consciousness of breathing both help to make sure that the lift is carried out safely.

For those of us who lift just within our normal capacity the need for conscious breathing is obviously not as crucial although some might argue that it’s helpful.

Personally when I’m exercising at normal speed I breathe with the exercise. However if I’m doing a very very slow repetition then I just breathe as I need to.

The bottom line of all of these is that the body requires a certain amount of oxygen in order to perform the exercise and not suffer oxygen depletion.

So the important thing is to breathe. How you breathe is very much up to you.

Hope that helps,

Mark

This is a comment I made on a forum post about breathing and exercise

 

Bacon during induction

by | Mar 4, 2013 | Low carb diet | 0 comments

I certainly don’t follow the 2 to 3 slices of bacon rule.  I will regularly have anything up to 10 slices of bacon for breakfast (mind you that’s streaky bacon not the large slices that you can find in many places) along with 2 eggs.

I do however have the advantage of being able to get my bacon from a local organic source that’s naturally raised and cured by hand and I appreciate not everybody is in that position.

The great thing about Atkins of course or any low carb diet come to that is that as we become more and more accustomed to the low carb way of eating then our need for quantity is drastically diminished but it appears that for me and many of the others on this forum their bacon may well be the exception to the rule here.

So anyway the bottom line is that if you can find a good quality organic bacon then most of your fears should be allayed and within reason you should be out to eat whatever quantity of bacon you feel you need each day.

Hope that helps,

Mark

This is a copy of yet another comment I made on a forum post about low carb diet

Is it okay to only eat 2-3 slices for breakfast?

by | Mar 4, 2013 | Low carb diet, Questions about low carb | 0 comments

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Generally speaking 2 or 3 slices of bacon won’t do you any harm whatsoever. In fact it may not be enough as some of the others have pointed out.

flax seed

As for the flax seed well that does rather depend on what you’re having it for. If you’re having it because you think it’s a good idea then perhaps you could swap that out for something that gives more satiety through having a higher fat content such as cheese or that sort of thing. If it is because you think you need the fiber well that’s a personal decision. Only you can judge that particular need.

The truth of is it though the more you get in to the low carb way of eating the less you’ll find that you need to eat each day as the generally high quality food that we low carbers tend to eat means that we just need to eat less to be just as satisfied as we were on a non low carb diet.

Hope that helps,

Mark

This is a copy of the comment I made on a forum post about bacon

New dx for boyfriend

by | Mar 4, 2013 | Diabetes, Low carb diet | 0 comments

glucose meterI have been asked by diabetics in the past what they should do and my advice has always been to start on Atkins induction and then take it from there. That does have the tendency to “normalize” blood sugar levels for virtually everybody diabetics included.

Many of those who have taken that approach have found that their problem with diabetes gets dealt with very quickly and the next visit to their doctor is a far more pleasant experience for them and quite often an eye opener for the doctor in question.

Also getting a glucose meter is a sound advice and these are inexpensive and readily available. Just watch out for the price of testing strips as it may be better to buy a slightly more expensive meter that has the cheaper consumables as these quickly mount up particularly if you’re testing more than once or twice a day.

Hope that helps,

Mark

This is a comment I made on a forum post about diabetes and low carb diet 

How Much Fruit in Your Low Carb Plan?

by | Feb 26, 2013 | Low carb diet, Questions about low carb | 0 comments

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Ah yes the eternal question about fruit – how much we should have. The bottom line on that is your temptation threshold and the “just one more won’t hurt” syndrome.

There are however two things that you can do to help yourself. Stay away from temptation [maybe] and still feel like you’re eating lots of fruit and that is to choose vegetables that have a similar consistency to the fruit you want to eat and chop up smaller pieces of fruit into the roughly chopped vegetables. That way you get the sweetness and taste of the fruit without consuming high levels of fructose and remember to choose as much as possible fruits that are low in carb.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Here is another copy of a comment I made on a forum post about fruits and low carb diet