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Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, and More 30 March 2019

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This Week’s Eclectic Links Collection

Another meta-analysis “linking” CHD and glycemic load/index.
Exercise shifts your body clock.
The actual study for article above: Human circadian phase-response curves for exercise.
Drink your beets: beet juice as the new performance enhancer?

Vitamin D levels linked to cardiorespiratory fitness.
Closing in on intestinal tuft cells.
Thinking about “Quick Thinkers”.
Mushrooms twice a week reduce MCI?

Social Anomalies or Shifts in Old Paradigms?

Is the sex drought real?
So is sober curious a thing now?

Food, Glorious Food

Slow Roasted and Grill Finished Cabbage
Coconut Braised Chuck Roast with Gremolata

Got a new Anova Culinary sous vide Precision Cooker for my birthday this week; what a great sous vide home unit, and I’ll be sharing sous vide tips and tricks over the upcoming months. What a fascinating tool to help manage your proteins at home.

Question of the Day: Fitness Pursuits and Longevity

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I was at an event yesterday in the DFW metro where the question came up as to “what’s the very best fitness activity to promote longevity?”

Anytime someone throws out opinions about the very best anything related to individual health, physiology, and wellness, the little man holding the red flags in my head jumps up and starts waving like mad. Why? Because the very best anything (food, nutrition plan, exercise, etc) for a given individual depends of course on their specific health, wellness, fitness, metabolism and physiology, and even their beliefs and biases at the time.

That said, I shared a two-part answer to the question…

Physical Activity and Longevity in the Copenhagen City Heart Study

It just so happens that this week I came across this study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings detailing the associations between various leisure-time physical activity pursuits and varying life expectancies in the study group.

The Copenhagen City study was a fairly robust one, following almost 9000 participants longitudinally over a span of up to 25 years for all-cause mortality.

The study was of course an observational one, meaning causality can’t be established, though in the analysis participants playing tennis gained 9.7 years of life expectancy compared to the sedentary group. Badminton aficionados gained 6.2 years, soccer players 4.7, cyclists 3.7, swimmers 3.4, with those pursuing “health club activities) following along at 1.5 years of life expectancy extension compared to sedentary folks.

The full study is behind a paywall and inaccessible for quick review; there are of course a number of questions raised by the conclusions drawn (diets, comorbidities, etc), including the authors’ inference that leisure-time sports with greater social interaction appear to be associated with greater longevity.

So should we all pick up tennis and badminton racquets after 40? Perhaps, though I’d argue there’s one fitness pursuit almost anyone can pursue at some level, and that probably offers the easiest to access longevity benefit for most of us…

Lace Up Those Walking Shoes

Count me among those prone to argue that walking, simple walking, something that most of us can readily incorporate into even a busy daily routine, may very well be “the best” fitness activity to promote longevity.

Back in July I looked at the debate of health benefits accrued from Walking vs. Jogging, and referenced a number of studies looking at health benefits from walking.

For example, even modest walking, done consistently, has been shown to invoke risk reductions for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hypercholesterolemia. Men in the 65-74 band experienced a reduction in all-cause mortality, increasing the more they walked. Even moderate walking was effective at improving glucose tolerance in a group at risk for T2DM. There are more links out to supporting data in the July post above, including several looking at injury rates in runners vs. walkers.

Bottom line, hacking longevity is a hot topic these days, and a fun one to ponder (now and then anyway). That said, unless one is willing to pick off the low-hanging fruit here – optimizing your diet, getting good sleep, managing stress, developing solid baseline fitness at least – jousting over the very best fitness pursuits via which to live long and prosper is probably barking up the wrong tree.

See you on the walking trail tomorrow…

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Older Bolder Links, Reads, and More 9 March 2019

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Top of the Fold: Exercise Related

Live longer playing tennis and badminton?
Once again – exercise improves mental health. (Free account required)
Exercise and Parkinson’s: exercise improves non-motor symptoms.
A fascinating look at how muscle memory works.

Nutrition, Nutritional Ketosis, Sleep, and More

Wow, clinical guidelines for docs focusing on a low carb approach to managing T2DM? This could be the start of something big…
Colon health, fiber, and nutritional ketosis.
Weekend catch-up sleep related to weight gain? Looks like it…
How sleep protects against heart disease.
More than 1 in 10 parents are caring for another adult as well.

Food, Glorious Food

How the South does souv vide from Garden and Gun.
A nice looking Creole Jambalaya recipe that’s begging to be adapted with cauliflower rice…

New Mexico Red Spice Rub No. 1
Ginger Pecan Cauliflower Rice Pilaf (wow, this one is good…)

Inquiring Minds Want to Know (Older Bolder Links, Reads, and More) 19 January 2019

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Older Bolder Links That Caught Our Eye This Week

Is the mainstream waking up to how wrong CW guidelines on sun exposure are? More folks are beginning to step into the light (literally and figuratively).

Connecting kids to nature is a good thing. Part of me astoundingly asks do we really need university level research to see the wisdom here?

Interesting perspective on what we remember as we age. Worth a ponder…

10 animals that hunted our ancestors. Modern life has its hazards, but at least we’re not dodging saber tooth tigers.

Natural beauty and evolution via the New York Times.

True confessions: From couch potato to fitness buff.

Might want to rethink that bariatric surgery in Tijuana. (Or anywhere else for that matter…)

How to slim down in fourteen days, circa 1595.

Tired of winter? Get outside in the sun and throw some snowballs. Just not in the face as in the slow motion video below…

Our Older Bolder Recipes from the Week

Homemade Catalina Dressing

Grilled Cabbage, Jalapeno, and Onions

Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1

Today’s Question: METs and Meaningful Exercise

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Today’s question of the day comes from Sue K. in Dallas (emphasis mine) –

…a friend told me her trainer insists that all of her exercise be tracked by METs, and that if anyone doesn’t do it that way, they’re framing their entire approach to exercise wrong. When I asked her to define for me what a MET actually was, she wasn’t sure, but said they were something related to units of exercise. I’m just coming back to the workout and exercise game after 20 years of sedentary life, have things changed and I’ve totally missed out on something here?…

Sue, in a nutshell, of course the answer is no, you don’t have to frame your thinking about exercise around the concept of METs to “do it the right way”. METs do have their place in describing physical activity; for instance, you may see METs listed on various pieces of exercise equipment in a gym, though as described, the trainer’s admonition doesn’t hold water.

So Just What is a MET?

A bit of background is in order here. We all understand that muscle cells consume oxygen as they generate the energy to contract, more calories are burned as you burn more oxygen (we as humans burn approximately 5 calories of energy to consume 1 liter of oxygen).

One MET is defined as the amount of oxygen consumed while at rest; it’s roughly 3.5 ml of O2 per kg of body weight, per minute. METs are measures of metabolic cost, and have been tabulated as the ratio of metabolic rate (expressed as the rate of energy consumption) against a given physical activity – for example, walking, running, resistance exercise, housework, they’ve even calculated the METs required for sex.

More practically, one MET is for practical purposes the amount of energy produced relative to your body mass at rest; reading this blurb on your computer requires one MET of energy at rest.

The Master MET List: The Compendium of Physical Activity

The powers that be have compiled a fairly comprehensive list of the METs required to complete a host of different physical activities – it’s posted in The Compendium of Physical Activity, most recently updated in 2011. There are several apps that list the various MET values for different activities as well.

Here’s a sample list from the Compendium –

METs and Exercise for Most of Us

In defense of the (reported) trainer’s comment above, you could reasonably argue that if you know the particular MET value for a given physical activity, how long that activity is performed, and some basic metrics about the person performing the activity, you can estimate the caloric burn (consumption) that person should experience as a result.

That said, while I used the concept of METs in roughly developing rehabilitation plans for severely compromised patients (strokes, massive cardiac events, brain injuries, etc.), I’ve never framed exercise goals in terms of METs for anyone at anytime otherwise.

Why not? There are a host of reasons, though most importantly two in particular.

One, the concept of using METs to track exercise often tends to be framed in the context of “calories in, calories out” (and its kissing cousin – “a calorie is a calorie is a calorie”), which as we now understand, particularly in the context of someone above their ideal body weight and metabolically compromised, probably doesn’t hold water and can lead one down the wrong path.

And two, for most of us, tracking METs, really tracking your METs for both exercise and all activities during a given day, can end up being a handful (to say the least), and can smack of (at least in some contexts) compulsive behaviors and orthorexia. It’s critical to remember that for almost everyone, your food plan determines 80% of your body composition, with exercise (again, for most of us) impacting roughly 10%.

Your approach to activity simply doesn’t have to be that complicated; move, move, move (at aerobic levels of exertion) + lift heavy things occasionally + sprint now and again wins the day for just about everyone.

Foundation Series: When It Comes to Exercise, There are Times When Less is More

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In the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual worldwide survey of current fitness trends (the 2018 edition), they ranked high-intensity interval training (HIIT) at the very top as per the image/list from the article to the right.

That’s of course no surprise to many, though it seems I run into people just about every day who aren’t sure what to think about HIIT, presume that it’s too extreme for those of us over 40, particularly if we’re significantly deconditioned and/or overweight. There’s another cadre of HIIT skeptics who fall into the “chronic cardio lifer” category.

Yet the pull of HIIT is inescapable.

HIIT offers for most identical – or greater – fitness benefits compared to much longer, historically traditional cardio-focused workouts. High-intensity interval training can be completed much more quickly, is damned efficient at producing its benefits, induces less physical (and quite possible biomechanical stress, pending your workout choices) stresses on your system, saves joint wear and tear, and provides a great change-up in your routine.

A Quick Glance at HIIT in the Literature

I know, I know, almost everybody you read these days reaches back to one of the first (landmark) studies published looking at HIIT vs moderate-intensity cardio – the 1996 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. HIIT completed five days per week was clearly more effective than traditional cardio in measures of both aerobic and anaerobic fitness; of note, the workout program in the study was eventually described as the Tabata protocol (20 second sprints, 10 second rests, 7-8 reps).

But wait, five days of HIIT per week? This study from the International Journal of Obesity in 2008 showed impressive benefits from only three times per week HIIT over 15 weeks, with body changes impressively better than the moderate-intensity cardio group.

This study from 2007 showed low-volume HIIT (sprint training) physiologic improvements were basically the same as (for the day) typical endurance training regimens. Another study from 2006 again demonstrated similar benefits in a low-volume sprint group compared to a high-volume endurance group in exercise tolerance/capacity and a detailed skeletal muscle analysis.

And despite chronic cardio’s dominant position for decades as the purported cornerstone of improving cardiac function and health, this study (2008) clearly demonstrated that HIIT was as effective as traditional endurance training in measures of arterial stiffness and flow-mediated arterial dilation. Even my own specialty (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) has recently published a study on HIIT in cardiac patients, with a good review of workout intensity recommendations as well.

A Few Quick Thoughts on Starting Your Own HIIT Program

Without a doubt those with significant cardiopulmonary disease such ischemic or other heart disease, valvular disease, history of MI (heart attack), or cerebrovascular disease (stroke) should clear a HIIT program with their physician. For that matter, if you have any major medical or orthopaedic issue (T2 or T1 diabetes, hypertension, any arthropathy whether it’s degenerative/osteoarthritis, gout, or others, or perhaps osteoporosis), it’s worth clearing HIIT with your doc.

Don’t forget that you can accomplish a very effective HIIT workout with lower-impact exercise; the HIIT game is all about intensity, briefly pushing to 85 (up to 100) percent of your age-adjusted maximal target heart rate with short bursts of more intense effort, combined with/alternating with brief (yet still moving) recovery periods.

For the more mature among us, I often suggest starting with common-sense, fairly simple, whole-body/at least multi-joint movements/exercise for your HIIT program. Think of simple stuff like swimming, walking lunges, walking up an incline/hill, hill jogging/running, simple sprints (i.e., running, stationary bike, elliptical). Even squats, pushups, or jumping jacks will work.

Start slowly, listen to your body, and don’t push for more than one HIIT workout per week or even every ten days to start. You may need to experiment with several different specific workout versions to find what fits your capacity, tolerance, current level of overall fitness, and interests today (remember, this is supposed to be fun).

More on HIIT to come shortly.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know (Links and Stuff) 28 July 2018

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Top of the Fold: Nutritional Ketosis

Crossfitters in Ketosis Lost Fat (tiny study, but interesting)

Nutritional Ketosis and Mitohormesis

Odds and Ends Worth a Glance from the Week

Low Carb Diets Improve Arterial Flexibility in Women

So Full Fat Dairy Isn’t the Boogie Man After All?

Walk it off, 280 pounds in 6000 miles

Blood Glucose Spikes in “Healthy” People

(European) football is medicine. Another suggestion to move, move, move…

Raising Kids Who Read

Interesting OpEd in the BMJ: Pills are Not the Answer

Our Recipes for the Week

Ring the Bell (Pepper) Salad
Versatile Vegetable Kimchi
Judy’s Grilled Salmon

Foundation Series: Functional Fitness Is Where It’s At

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Way back when starting my residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Utah (Salt Lake was a great place to live back in the mid-80s), the term functional fitness wasn’t a popular buzzword in the everyday fitness world.

Functional fitness (as a term) was really used primarily in a medical arena, most often as we worked as a team to restore injured and compromised individuals’ mobility as well as their ability to do what are loosely termed “activities of daily living” – all those things we do to manage ourselves, our households, and most often our work in a given day.

A great deal of what the members of the rehab team did in this functional training was very practical, geared toward equipping a person to perform useful tasks with greater ease, efficiency, and proficiency. (To this day I’m deeply inspired by some of the transformations in function I witnessed during those years.)

Functional Fitness is a hot topic these days it seems, and for good reason. I’m all about the functional fitness movement (no pun intended), particularly for those of us over 40 (you could really easily argue that could be 30) who are beginning to feel some of the symptoms of joint wear and tear (aching, stiffness, etc), aren’t as fit as we used to be, are a bit too sedentary, are beginning to pack on extra pounds, or are just overwhelmed with the urgent life tasks that seem to dominate some (if not most) days.

Getting a Grip on Functional Fitness

Like most involved in the wellness and health worlds today, it seems like I’m singing the praises of and talking details about functional fitness just about every day.

I like to keep things direct and simple, and define (more or less) functional fitness as movement and exercise that’s geared toward improving our body’s ability to complete often complex life tasks we face routinely, as opposed to building, for example, the biggest biceps or triceps possible, or trimming seconds off a timed run or swim.

Functional fitness implies personalization. We’re all unique in terms of our specific physical construct, metabolism, and psyche; the tasks we complete as part of our home and work days are different and unique to us, as is our play.

Why wouldn’t we optimally build out an exercise routine that is designed to peak our performance of both these daily tasks and our play?

Yet so often we try and force our bodies to grind through training routines that aren’t necessarily functionally targeted, that might isolate and build impressive individual muscles yet leave us woefully unconditioned and unprepared for various challenges we face in the real world every day.

[I’m always reminded of an interview I read years ago back in the infancy of triathlon competitions; one of the earliest heroes of the sport, Mark Allen, noted in an interview that despite his being a champion swimmer at the collegiate level, he found himself woefully unprepared early in his career to meet the challenges of cycling and running.]

Functional fitness focuses on core strength, balance and stability, functional strength, solid cardio (without overtraining), and multi-planar, multi-muscle (often arm, trunk, and leg together) movements and exercise.

There’s no magic program to simply plug into; as noted above, functional fitness implies personalization to the demands your life puts on you. At the most basic level, Mark Sisson’s 4 Essential Movements of the Primal Blueprint could be a great place to start, though we’ll be talking a great deal more about functional fitness over the next months.

It’s time to get moving, and start building up your functional capacity and reserve. Life is all about function.