www.MichaelReid.ca

Leg Extensions SUCK! or why not just learn how to squat?

If I am your coach then you know I am not a big fan of this exercise known as the leg extension machine.

Why?  you might ask.

First, it is a machine based exercise and no machine will EVER be made that will out perform what can be done with free weights. 

I generally find that athletes who gravitate towards machines like leg extensions, smith machines and leg presses either have really crappy movement patterns and/or are just too lazy and unfocused to put in the necessary energy to learn and perfect basic movement skills like squatting, lunging and bending (i.e. dead lifts).  They take the easy way out and hop onto a machine.  This goes for coaches and therapists as well who prescribe machine based exercises for their athletes or patients.  I see it all the time here in Sweden.  I have been to what is apparently the best rehabilition clinic in the city and they have all machines.  Am I missing something?  I really don't understand how they can go on training their patients like this.

Secondly, check out the below key points which are taken from an article called The Truth About Leg Extensions by Eric Cressey (note: also read the article!). 

For the geeks out there, the article has a complete list of references.

Leg Extension Risks:

1. Increased patellofemoral joint reaction force, knee movement, and joint stress in the most commonly used range of motion.

2. Reduced hamstrings activity.

3. Reduced VMO activity and late onset of firing.

4. Non-existent hip adductor and abductor contribution.

5. Increased rectus femoris firing.

6. Constant ACL tension.

7. Higher patellar ligament, quadriceps tendon, and patellofemoral and tibiofemoral forces with the most commonly utilized loading parameters.

8. Increased lateral patellar deviation.

9. Insufficient involvement of surrounding joints to ensure optimal functioning.

10. Poor training economy (no carryover to closed-chain performance from open-chain exercises).

Leg Extension Benefits:

1. Will give you a good pump, but not even close to the benefits you'll get from squatting and single-leg movements.

2. Uh, wait, there's really only one benefit — and it's pretty weak.

I must ask, are you still going to do leg extensions?

Be Well,

Mike Reid

Raw Egg Shakes

Talking about raw eggs from my previous post has made me hungry for 2 of my favorite recipes. 

Both are so simple to make and can be used as a great snack or even a meal at home. 

Remember what I have recommended regarding raw eggs, one of them being to eat them immediately. 

So this is not really something I would bring to the gym or to school and have sit in my locker all day before eating it.

I usually will have it as a breakfast, especially when I am short on time.

Here are my favorite 2 recipes:

Strawberry Shake

• frozen strawberries
• raw eggs (I usually use 4 med-large eggs)
• water

Banana Chocolate

• 1-2 Bananas (I prefer to use really ripe ones)
• Cocoa Powder (1-3 tbsp)
• raw eggs (I usually use 4 med-large eggs)
• water

For both of these recipes, put all the ingredients in a blender and mix.  How much of each ingredient is up to you, so for example if you like it thicker then use less water or add ice.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Raw Eggs ... yummy!

I got the below question from a reader:

Hey Mike!

 

I'm getting trashed at the Christmas table when I tell people I eat raw eggs (well I also get sighed at when I try to avoid the white devil). My aunt says it's dangerous and that 50% of the protein goes to waste. Is that true?

My Answer:

In my opinion, raw eggs are good, healthy and very safe.  But to be on the safe side, inspect the egg to check for any cracks since this is where Salmonella can get inside the egg and can cause you problems when you eat it raw.  Also, if you eat raw eggs consume them right away since if harmful bacteria is present it doesn't have time to reproduce and increase it's concentration. 

Below are some more key points on eating raw eggs safely from Dr. Mercola.

Guidelines To Ensure That You Are Consuming Fresh High- Quality Eggs (whole article here)

1. You can go to the American Egg board for a great overview of eggs.

2. Always check the freshness of the egg right before you consume the yolk.

3. If you are uncertain about the freshness of an egg, don't eat it. This is one of the best safeguards against salmonella infection.

4. If there is a crack in the shell, don't eat it. You can easily check for this by immersing the egg in a pan of cool, salted water. If the egg emits a tiny stream of bubbles, don't consume it as the shell is porous/contains a hole.

5. If you are getting your eggs fresh from a farmer it is best to not refrigerate them. This is the way most of the world stores their eggs; they do not refrigerate them. To properly judge the freshness of an egg, its contents need to be at room temperature. Eggs that are stored in the fridge and opened immediately after taking them out will seem fresher than they actually are. Eggs that you want to check the freshness of should be kept outside the fridge for at least an hour prior to opening them.

6. First, check all the eggs by rolling them across a flat surface. Only consume them if they roll wobbly.

7. Open the egg. If the egg white is watery instead of gel-like, don't consume the egg. If the egg yolk is not convex and firm, don't consume the egg. If the egg yolk easily bursts, don't consume the egg.

8. After opening the egg you can put it up to your nose and smell it. If it smells foul you will certainly not want to consume it.

"When you carefully analyze the risk of contracting salmonella from raw eggs, you will find that it is actually quite low.  A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year (Risk Analysis April 2002 22(2):203-18) showed that of the 69 billion eggs produced annually, only 2.3 million of them are contaminated with salmonella.

So simple math suggests that only 0.003 percent of eggs are infected.  The translation is that only one in every 30,000 eggs is contaminated with salmonella.  This gives you an idea of how uncommon this problem actually is." (Raw Eggs for Your Health: Major Update)

Why would 50% of the protein go to waste?  I really thought that this was a completely bogus claim until  I did a little research.  Although there is not much research on raw vs cooked egg digestion, I did find two articles that showed that a higher percentage of cooked egg protein is digested when compared to raw egg protein.  Both experiments had a small sample size of 5 and 10 subjects (you can download the whole articles from the links provided in the reference list).  This is not true for all foods as some are better to eat raw then cooked and vice versa (read these two research articles Heat Effects on Food Protein & Raw vs Cooked Starches).

Don't worry about the sighs regarding the White Devils, it is common for all people who are leading a  life different from the "normal" routine, I get it all the time.  Keep in mind that if you are eating a clean diet and training regularly 80-90% of the time, then having one meal where you consume some white devils once in a while is not a bad thing.  Like I said in a previous post, "it was just one meal but if I ate like this every day I would be in big trouble fast."

You can also plan your "white devil" meal around your training.  As an example, if you know you are going to be getting a good dose of the white stuff at Christmas brunch or dinner just go train 1-3 hours before the meal so that your body will be able to more readily use all of those sugars in a constructive way.  For me I was planning on going to the gym to train on Christmas morning before my brunch but I had to cancel that plan due to being a bit under the weather.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

References:

Raw Eggs for Your Health: Major Update.  www.merocla.com

Evenepoel P, Geypens B, Luypaerts A, Hiele M, Ghoos Y & Rutgeerts P.  Digestibility of Cooked and Raw Egg Protein in Humans as Assessed by Stable Isotope Techniques.  The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 10 October 1998, pp. 1716-1722.  Article PDF

Evenepoel P, Claus D, Geypens B, Hiele M, Geboes K, Rutgeerts P & Ghoos Y.   Amount and Fate of Egg Protein Escaping Assimilation in the Small Intestine of Humans.  Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 277:935-943, 1999.  Article PDF

The Nutritional Effects of heat on Food Proteins...

Digestibility of Raw and Cooked Starches from Legume Seeds Using the Laboratory Rat

(sorry, I got lazy and didn't write out the whole citation for the last 2 references.)

"I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas ..."

Well, actually a "white devils" Christmas. 

Let me explain, the White Devils is a term coined by Paul Chek who adapted the term from nutrition researcher Dr. Weston A. Price (a short video about Dr. Price).  

Dr. Price did extensive studies on aboriginal cultures from all over the world and found that the tribes that ate their traditional diets were much healthier then members who began eating an industrialized diet (i.e. processed foods).  He coined the term "displacement foods" for all these "new" foods that the industrial world was manufacturing.  They were called displacement foods because they displaced the traditional foods that these cultures have thrived on for centuries.

The White Devils or Displacement Foods are:

• Sugar
• Processed White Flour
• Table Salt
• Pasteurized Milk

To be able to achieve optimal health and performance you need to have minimal and for many individuals no exposure to these foods.

My own personal diet is largely based on avoiding these foods.  It is essentially made up of meat, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables.  But on this Christmas day I took a turn for the worse, well not really because it was just one meal but if I ate like this every day I would be in big trouble fast.  I ate 4 of these Waffles loaded with fruit and whipping cream.  A perfect example of the white devils at play in what many people may consider an ordinary everyday healthy meal. 

I ate enough sugar to put the whole south of Sweden into a diabetic coma!

I will admit it was tasty but very shortly after, before I even left the table, I was not feeling too good.

Was your holiday a white one to?

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Watch This video & Nutrition in a box

Next time you go and eat anything from a package read the label first.  You would be amazed at what kind of junk they put in packaged food products. 

For the sportsman out there, take a look at that sports drink you have for every game.

One of my nutritional rules is that if you cannot pronounce it or you need a PhD in biochemistry to understand the ingredients in a packaged food then do not eat it.

Can you say Chicken, Orange, Apple ... I knew you could!

There will never be a food built in a lab that can ever beat the nutrition that mother nature can provide.

Just eat whole foods and you will be fine. 

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Watch this video

Water Polo Science: part X - Dryland Warm Up

As an athlete I could never understand how my teammates could just sit around waiting for practice to start.  I have always done some kind of warm up activity to get myself ready for the pool session so that when I hit the water, I am already feeling good.

With this in mind I have designed this 15 minute Water Polo Dryland Warm Up.  It is a great resource for the coach or athlete to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their pool session.  By doing this dryland warm up you will be able to spend less time on your warm up in the pool and be able to get into the nitty gritty of your practice much sooner.

Many of the exercises are crucial for keeping the shoulder healthy which just so happens to be the #1 site of injury in Water Polo players.

Below is a PDF download of the program.  Please feel free to distribute this in its entirety to your athletes or coaches.

Download Water Polo Warm Up

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Video Demo of all the exercises in the warm up.

They are trying to kill my Baby!

My partner, works and lives in Denmark while I do the same but in Sweden.  A few weeks ago our baby boy Istvan was born in Denmark because that is where the mother is registered.

So, my son is born and everything is great.  Of course I am in Denmark for the birth and after about 2 weeks I go back to Sweden to work while my partner stays in Denmark for one more week with Istvan.

During this week, Istvan gets an infection in his finger that does not seem to want to heal so being a good mother my partner takes him to the doctor.  The doctor looks at it and prescribes antibiotics.  No big deal I thought.

The following week when we are all back in Sweden I was looking at this bottle of antibiotics and I was shocked!  Fructose and Aspartame were on the ingredient list!

We might as well have been feeding little Istvan rat poison! 

The bottle immediately goes into the garbage and that is the end of his "treatment". 

For the record, artificial sweeteners are not good and that goes for adults and infants.  Infants should only be consuming breast milk which does not have fructose or Aspartame.  An infants digestive and immune system are not fully developed at 2 weeks old.

Moral of the story: check the ingredient list on all the foods you eat.  Know what you and your children are eating.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

Kettlebells and Water Polo

I got the following question from a Water Polo coach about my last post (just do this).

----------

Mike,

I love the Turkish Get Up and I would really appreciate the proper space at Pan Am to use the Kettlebell. I've wanted to use these and Indian Clubs for the past few years, just no facility space to do the swinging. I think the clubs would help with grip strength and tricep power for shooting with limited stress on the shoulder. Do you have any experience with these?

Dave

----------

Yes, I do have experience with Kettlebells but I have never used the clubs.  The Turkish Get Up is a great exercise for keeping your shoulders healthy when done right.  To get the best results, the load needs to be heavy enough for your nervous system to take it seriously so that all the key stabilizers of the shoulder (e.g. rotator cuff muscles) kick into action.  Plus you must stabilize the load in various positions as you go from lying down to standing.  I think it would be a great addition to a Water Polo players strength routine.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

Just Do This

I was in the gym the other day watching a fellow coach doing a really good job of teaching some athletes the Turkish Get Up.  I walked by and and commented to the athletes, "just do this".

What the heck does this mean?  Well, I meant literally to just do this one exercise and you will be fine.  You must understand that these athletes have asked this strength coach to look over a program they were doing because they could not understand why it took so long to complete.  The coach tells me that the program in question had 15+ different exercises with most of them being isolation, single joint or machine exercises.

It got me thinking that there are many exercises that fall into this "just do this" category like Dead Lifts, Squats, all the Olympic lifts and Kettlebell Swings.  These are exercises that work multiple joints and muscles, require high energy demands and train foundational movements that commonly occur in sports and everyday life. 

The biggest mistake I see athletes doing is not focusing on the "just do this" exercises but instead they are doing all these supplemental exercises like biceps curls and sit ups!  If you are not doing at least 70-80% of your training on "just do this" exercises then you are not using your time in the gym effectively.

As an example, yesterday after warming up I did:

1. Turkish Get Ups - 5 x 1 rep/side

2. Back Squats - 1 x 5 reps; 4 x 3 reps

3. Pull Ups - 5 x 5 reps

4. Kettlebell Swings - 2 x 20 reps

Be Well,

Mike Reid

More about Mobile Phones

This is a follow up to my recent post on Mobile Phone Use and Cancer.

It is an interview of  Dr. Olle Johansson of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.  Dr. Johansson is an expert in electromagnetic radiation field (EMR/EMF) research. 

This is the first part of 15 and you can find the rest of the videos here.

Very interesting stuff.

Be Well,
Mike Reid