Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer

There's a new study out that talks about ways to prevent breast cancer.

As some of you may recall, I walked in the Susan G Komen 3-Day for the Cure last year and the fight against breast cancer has kind of become my personal social cause to work with.

This article talks about how we're basically at a decent spot for early detection in order to slow the disease.

"What can be achieved with screening has been achieved. We can't do much more," Carlo La Vecchia, head of epidemiology at the University of Milan, told The Associated Press. "It's time to move onto other things."

Just some background stats on the prevalence of breast cancer in western society.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. In Europe, there were about 421,000 new cases and nearly 90,000 deaths in 2008, the latest available figures. The United States last year saw more than 190,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths. A woman's lifetime chance of getting breast cancer is about one in eight.

What's interesting is what they think fuels a lot of breast cancer cases:

Many breast cancers are fueled by estrogen, a hormone produced in fat tissue. So experts suspect that the fatter a woman is, the more estrogen she's likely to produce, which could in turn spark breast cancer. Even in slim women, exercise can help reduce the cancer risk by converting more of the body's fat into muscle.

Now granted, this isn't always true. My cousin that I walked for last year is and always has been a slender woman that exercises, eats healthy and just overall lives a healthy lifestyle. But, since the vast majority of the population is overweight or obese, I think for the most part they are right on target.

La Vecchia cited figures from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which estimated that 25 to 30 percent of breast cancer cases could be avoided if women were thinner and exercised more.

And there we have it. Another reason why we need to exercise more and eat healthier.

There's just simple things that you can do to lose weight by eating healthier and exercising that are simple and at the same time, is one of the ways to prevent breast cancer:

1. Stick with whole foods such as meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and oils.
2. Stay away from processed food (if you can't pronounce the ingredient that is listed on the box, then put it down).
3. Simple (yet intense) exercises that involve the biggest muscles in your body in order to not only burn more calories during the workout, but also after the workout.

The Home Workout Routines that I offer (that'll cost you less than $10 for a 4-week program) is a great exercise program to get you started AND it comes with a Fat Loss Nutritional Guide. Best part is that you can do the workouts right in your own home and you don't need ANY exercise equipment.

If you're trying to find ways to prevent breast cancer, this simple program is a great way to get your exercise in and get your eating in line to help reduce that risk.

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Too Much Exercise

It's great to exercise but sometimes you have to ask yourself the question "How much is too much exercise?"

We get into our fitness routines, and keep doing the same thing over and over again and then we might start feeling some pain in our lower back, maybe even in our knees or ankle joints.

Sometimes it doesn't take long to feel that pain during exercise to know that it's too much exercise.

Take for example the show that I love to hate: The Biggest Loser. You take someone that is 450 pounds and on their first day you send them out to run a mile. That's just flat out stupid and is the wrong kind of exercise for someone that size that is just asking for an injury.

This article tends to state the obvious that too much exercise can lead to overuse injuries.

"People tend to do the same thing over and over again, without varying it, without taking adequate rest, without building slowly, and they end up with an overuse injury," said Geralyn Coopersmith, national manager for the Equinox Fitness Training Institute.

"Tendonitis, bursitis, fasciitis, these kinds of inflammations are pretty much guaranteed if you don't vary your training," said Coopersmith, who oversees the training of 1,400 personal trainers in 48 Equinox clubs nationwide.Yet she concedes that even clients who complain of nagging aches and pains are loath to change their routine.

"People get terrified. They'll say, 'The treadmill made me lose weight.' Well, exercise made you lose weight. The treadmill was the modality. That doesn't mean it's the only way or the best way," she explained.

This makes absolute sense and I think everyone does this (including me). You get into a routine, but then you start to feel a little "pinch" somewhere but tend to rationalize it away. You keep at your fitness routine and then the pain becomes a little stronger, but you still just say that you'll "work through it." Finally it gets so bad that you can't do it anymore and end up having to take a break.

You've done one of two things: Taken on too much exercise too soon or keep doing the same exercise over and over again with no changes so that your body hasn't had time to build up the strength and muscle around the area that you are constantly using.

If you're starting off new to exercise, you need to start at the bottom and work your way up. Try something out a couple times a week, then after a few weeks, add in another day.

For those that have been exercising for awhile and are doing the same thing day in and day out, change what you are doing. If you're running, take some time off from it and do some strength training. If you're strength training and you've been working with heavy weights for awhile, back off and do some lighter lifting for a little bit to let everything recover.

The best option would be to look into getting subscribing to my fitness routines program. If you're a beginner, you'll have programs available where you can start from the very basics to make sure you don't overdo it too quickly.

If you're a more seasoned exerciser, these fitness routines will give you the variety from month to month to make sure you aren't overusing a certain area on your body that could lead to injury.

All the while, the routines are designed to help you get the body that you strive for without prescribing you too much exercise. It only costs $4.95 for the first month so it's well worth a try to see if it's something for you.

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Misleading Food Labels

Misleading Food Labels are...well...misleading.

But we're not talking about the actual nutritional label that lists out the amount of each nutrient and gives you the calories per serving size like this:



We're actually talking about the front of the product. You know, where the producer says things like "Reduced Fat" or "Low Sodium" etc.

According to this article, a lot of manufacturers are pushing the line on how accurate those statements are.

Seems that it all came to a head in September of 2009:

The situation reached something of a head when in September of last year, The New York Times wrote an article about the Smart Choices program — a voluntary labeling program used by several companies in collaboration — and how the label that was supposed to indicate foods that were healthy choices ended up appearing on a box of Fruit Loops, among other less-than-healthy options.

That's actually funny. I wish I would have saw that in the grocery store at the time. I would have bought 5 boxes just to have a record that they were actually pushing Fruit Loops as "healthy" (what I think would have been interesting though is to see if sales of Fruit Loops went up because of the misleading food label).

The overall problem with front of the box food claims is that it doesn't tell the whole story. Okay fine, a product claims that it's "reduced fat." But when you look at the actual food label, you see that it's loaded with sugar, thus not as "healthy" as it would appear from what is listed on the front.

The goal that the FDA is striving for is to find out what information consumers are going to find helpful on the front of the product to make an accurate assessment of whether it's going to be healthy or not:

Various labeling schemes have been used and proposed: Some list just a couple key points of nutrition, such as calories, accompanied by a check mark or other symbol; some are a truncated version of the Nutrition Facts label that show key points, such as calories, fat, sugar and sodium; others include on top of that information a "traffic light" symbol (something that has been used with success in the United Kingdom) by each nutrient that indicates whether that nutrient is in the acceptable range (green) or not (red).

I'll be honest, I don't see this ever happening. There's no way the food manufacturer lobby would ever let this go through. If they all of a sudden put out a "traffic light" symbol on a product, who would ever buy that? You'd see sales and that company fall into an immediate crash.

Besides, the idea of originally putting the current nutritional label on products was to give people a better concept of the ingredients in them so that they can determine whether a product is "healthy" or "not healthy." That was supposed to help people make healthier choices. Well, I'm not sure that worked since our waistlines have gotten larger and larger by the day since they starting requiring that on foods in 1994.

In other words, people have the ability to read the current food label on the side or the back of the product, might even actually look at it, and are STILL buying the unhealthy products. What are the chances that if you put on the front of the product that it's bad for you that people are STILL not going to buy it?

There's a warning on cigarette packages warning against the risks of smoking, but does that seem to stop someone from buying them?

My suggestion? Stay away from foods that are in boxes. Meaning, buy fruits, vegetables, meats and nuts, and that's really all you need.

You don't need to worry about misleading food labels with my fitness routines that I offer that come with a nutritional guide that lays out the very simple process you need to take to lose body fat that doesn't have you worrying about whether a product is healthy or not healthy and it's incredibly affordable to try this program out at just $4.95 for the first month. Give it a shot.

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Baldness and Testosterone

We've known for awhile that baldness and testosterone levels are linked.

I've had a receding hairline for as long as I can remember. Looking back at my senior pictures in high school, it's clear as day. A few years ago, I caught myself in a two-way mirror and saw a nice thinning spot right on the back of my head. So, I just decided to take the plunge and shave it all off instead of trying to do the "comb over" that doesn't really fool anybody.

But there's some good news for us bald guys, especially the ones that can remember if they started going bald before the age of 30.

According to this article, men who go bald earlier in life, tend to show lower levels of prostrate cancer later in life.

Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine studied 2,000 men aged between 40 and 47.

They were able to link high levels of the male hormone testosterone in those who lose their hair earlier with a lower risk of tumours.

Researchers compared the rate of tumours in those who said their hair had thinned by the age of 30 with those who did not suffer hair loss.

Men who had started to develop bald spots on the top of their heads as well as receding hairlines had a 29% to 45% reduction in the risk of prostate cancer.

Just to give some background on what they think causes baldness:

Baldness is caused when hair follicles become exposed to too much dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This is a chemical produced by the male hormone testosterone.

Experts believe that men with high levels of testosterone are more likely to lose their hair, especially if baldness runs in the family.

Seems that normally men who have prostrate cancer are given drugs to REDUCE their testosterone levels but this study is showing that that might not be the best route to take.

I think we all know someone that has or has had prostate cancer and the treatments they have to go through and being a guy, I can say it really makes me uneasy.

So guys, if you start to see that hair starting to thin, don't freak out. It just might be helping you out over the long haul.

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Army Bootcamp

I've never gone through Army Bootcamp and can only base opinions on it when I watch things on television (with one of my all time favorite mini-series being Band of Brothers). You see the other goofy movies like Stripes too and Private Benjamin but, I never took it to show what it's really like.

But one thing that I noticed on more of the serious documentaries and films on going through Army Bootcamp was all the running. Since becoming a Strength a Conditioning Specialist a number of years ago, I always wondered "Why do they make them run so much? When would a soldier ever run in a straight line, at a sub-maximal level, for 10 miles?"

I came across this article that talks about how basic training in the Army is getting it's first major makeover in 30 years. It looks like they're coming up with some good stuff and trying to make what they are training from a physical standpoint more like what a soldier would face in combat.

Adapting to battlefield experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Army is revamping its basic training regimen for the first time in three decades by nixing five-mile runs and bayonet drills in favor of zigzag sprints and honing core muscles.

Trainers hope the switch will better prepare soldiers physically for the pace of combat, with its sudden dashes and rolling gun battles. They also want to toughen recruits who are often more familiar with Facebook than fistfights.

I don't mean to criticize our Armed Forces but, makes me wonder why it took so long for them to get to this point. Even before Afghanistan and Iraq, you still didn't see situations in Vietnam or WWII where soldiers were running 5 miles in a straight line.

Seems that when a soldier is out on patrol, there's walking, and walking, and walking (with a lot of extra weight from the gear on you), and then all of a sudden bursts of speed needed, along with zig zag movements. And that would appear to be the rule, not the exception.

The new training also uses "more calisthenics to build core body power, strength and agility," Palkoska said in an office bedecked with 60-year-old black and white photos of World War II-era mass exercise drills. Over the 10 weeks of basic, a strict schedule of exercises is done on a varied sequence of days so muscles rest, recover and strengthen.

Again, this sounds just like how it would be in combat. You're going to have times where you need quick power and speed, but other times where you'll have time to recover (even if that time is very short).

It's also interesting to see that they are taking the fact that Army Bootcamp isn't immune to the obesity epidemic (which I talked about once in this post):

Another aim is to toughen recruits from a more obese and sedentary generation, trainers said.

Many recruits didn't have physical education in elementary, middle or high school and therefore tend to lack bone and muscle strength. When they ditch diets replete with soda and fast food for healthier meals and physical training, they drop excess weight and build stronger muscles and denser bones, Palkoska said.

Continues near the end of the article:

Fleming said those who had some sort of sports in high school can easily pick up on the training, while those who didn't have to be brought along. One hefty soldier in a recent company he trained dropped 45 pounds and learned to blast out 100 push-ups and 70 sit-ups, he said.

"We just have to take the soldier who's used to sitting on the couch playing video games and get them out there to do it," Fleming said.

This is going to be real interesting to see how it all plays out but I think if anything, it makes Army Bootcamp closer to an anaerobic "activity" rather than an aerobic one and that's going to go a long way.

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A Simple Diet Plan

I'm all about simple solutions and finding a simple diet plan for people to follow AND that works.

I came across this article that gives out a eating plan that claims you can lose weight while staying full.

I like the concept because I think for a lot of people, they snack on junk food because they get what they consider "hungry."

But when you look at the diet itself that it has listed out, it's not a very simple diet plan.

Example from Day 2 Breakfast:

5.3 oz 2% Greek yogurt with honey, 1 sliced banana, 1 Tbsp chopped walnuts

So you mean you have to measure that out? Not 5.1 oz, not 5.5 ounces, but 5.3...

Day 2 snacks:

1 cup cantaloupe chunks and 1 cup pineapple chunks, topped with ¼ tsp chopped mint

Are these from a can, or do you have to take the time to cut all that up almost every day(and if it's in a can, that's a lot of sodium to go along with it)?

And probably my favorite snack they listed on the last day:

Two 2¼-in. homemade chocolate chip cookies; 8 oz coffee with 1% milk

2 1/4 inch....HOMEMADE...not store bought...talk about getting technical.

And I'll admit, I had to google what a Babybel was.

The problem is, there's not too many people that are going to last on this diet for long. All the measuring, chopping, eyeballing, and weighing of food is going to make it to complex for people to stick with.

My fitness routines comes with a fat loss nutritional guide that I think is basic a simple diet plan.

You eat twice a day, and you eat all you want of the foods I have listed. The foods are very simple: meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, and various oils.

There's no measuring, there's no weighing, there's no calorie counting. You follow the diet plan and the workouts and you WILL lose weight.

This stuff doesn't have to be complex. A simple diet plan is all you need and the fitness routines that I offer are just what you need to lose that weight and get the body that you want and at just $4.95 for the first month's workout (just 16 cents a day), you can give it a try for a month. You've got nothing to lose.

Fitness Routines

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Muscle Fiber Recruitment

One thing that tends to get lost when it comes to different training techniques is an understanding of muscle fiber recruitment.

I had a client of mine that is in my Fat Loss class come up to me this past week telling me how great she felt when she was out in Colorado and hiking around and how the class really prepared her for the endurance that she was going to need.

My class doesn't focus on slow steady cardio or aerobics. The focus is on fat loss and increasing strength and muscle.

So why did her endurance increase when she wasn't training for endurance?

It's because indirectly she was and it comes down to the types of muscle fibers that are used and recruited.

There are three different kind muscle fibers:

1. Type I muscle fibers (aka slow twitch muscle fibers) – These fibers develop force very slowly and at the same time, relax slowly and can withstand fatigue for long periods of time. These types of muscle fibers have a high capacity for activities such as a marathon, soccer and distance cycling. Basically, you are going at a sub maximal pace for a long period of time. These fibers are used in what is classically called “endurance” exercises and activities.

2. Type IIa muscle fibers (aka fast twitch muscle fibers) – These fibers can develop force faster than the type I fibers but, also get fatigued faster. These fibers involve activities that are a little more quicker and powerful with intensity than the type I fibers, such as an 800 meter run, some strength training workouts like in the Lean Body Fat Loss Training class, interval training, and what I like to call, metaval training.

3. Type IIb muscle fibers (aka fast twitch muscle fibers) – These are the most powerful muscle fibers that we have. These are the fibers that are able to develop force very rapidly, but, at the same time, they fatigue very rapidly. These include activities such as a 100-m sprint, a maximal lift of a weight, or a vertical jump.

No matter what type of activity you are doing (for the most part), your muscles are recruited in a particular order: First the Type I's are recruited, then if needed your Type IIa's are recruited, and finally if necessary your Type IIb's are recruited.

So if you're doing just a normal walk, you'll recruit your Type I muscle fibers but that will be about it. If you are doing some bodyweight squats or lunges, you'll first recruit your Type I muscle fibers, then you'll more than likely recruit your Type II muscle fibers. If you added a barbell full of weights onto your shoulders and completed more squats that was incredibly intense, you would first recruit the type I fibers, then the Type IIa muscle fibers, and finally you'd probably recruit Type IIb muscle fibers.

When you start to increase the maximal strength of your Type IIa and Type IIb muscle fibers, you are also at the same time increasing the strength of your Type I muscle fibers, because those have to be recruited as part of the mix when you are lifting things to strengthen the Type IIa and Type IIb muscle fibers.

So in essence, you are increasing your maximum abilities when training your Type IIa and Type IIb muscle fibers, and also increasing your SUB-MAXIMAL abilities of the Type I muscle fibers.

That's why my client had an easier time out hiking with the strength training she did in Lean Body Fat Loss class then if she simply did low, sub-maximal walking.

You can follow the same type training with the monthly fitness routines that I offer. It's a great way to train not only for gaining strength and building muscle but will also help you build up endurance for a 5K, 10K, a full marathon, as well as a hiking trip.

So don't be afraid to train at a higher intensity level than what you are going to use for. In the end, the order muscle fiber recruitment can be used to cover all increases in strength at all levels.

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