Nuts and Bolts

From the Journals

We should be getting the message by now. A moderate fat (33% energy from fat) diet resulted in similar weight loss but a better cardiovascular risk profile than a low fat diet (18% energy from fat). Now before you reach for the fried bacon we’re talking monosaturated fat here.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 2, 204-212, February 2004 Effects of moderate-fat (from monounsaturated fat) and low-fat weight-loss diets on the serum lipid profile in overweight and obese men and women. Christine Pelkman et al.

Some expensive magnetic resonance imaging equipment put to good use. Heavy resistance training increases skeletal muscle mass more than fat free mass. Muscle hypertrophy doesn’t occur uniformly throughout a muscle region or across the body. In case, you haven’t noticed this means that muscles grow when you train them with weights but some grow faster than others.
Br J Sports Med 2003;37:543-545 Whole body muscle hypertrophy from resistance training: distribution and total mass. T Abel, et al

Before you pick up those pom poms think about this. 39 cheerleader injuries were reported to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research (USA) in the last 10 years. We’re not talking hang nails here but serious head injuries primarily as a result of doing the pyramid.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine 31:881-888 (2003) Catastrophic Cheerleading Injuries. B Boden, R Tacchetti & F Mueller

The bodies remodelling process declines with age but there is something you can do about it. In untrained subjects 45 mins of cycling 3-4 times a week increased aerobic capacity by 9% and increased mixed protein synthesis by 22% irrespective of age. The oldest participant in this study was 87 years old. Fat free mass was unchanged so imagine what a nice dose of weight training might do.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 286: E92-E101, 2004, Age and aerobic exercise training effects on whole body and muscle protein metabolism. K Short et al.

Would you buy a used car from this man?

You would! BALCO President Victor Conte, promoter of ZMA and other ‘supplements’ has been indicted on along his vice-president Jim Valente, track coach Remi Korchemny and Greg Anderson, baseball star Barry Bonds’s personal trainer, for distributing illegal steroids.

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