The public usually feels far more comfortable with cerebrally undemanding mantra s and 'fast food' solutions

than with far more accurate, more complex methods. That is a major reason why ma ny fitness figures write as they do and market their catch phrases simplistically as they do - society has been p rocessed by the mass media to behave like that and they usually do not want to be forced to think too deeply o r to have their convenient current beliefs questioned, because that entails a serious threat to their psychological safety. Humankind has always been like that and they receive what they have been processed or educated to want. Training refers to the process of enhancing the physical and mental condition of the athlete, whereas practice refers to the process of perfecting the technical skills demanded by the particu lar sport. Traditionally, 'practice' in the West in many sports has included elements o f fitness' training in the form of jogging around the field, push-ups, sit-ups and other military type activities before game practice. This, however, wastes a coach's expertise and time. Ideally, the role of a coach is to cnhance game skills, with the fitness conditioning handled by specific conditioning coaches, as is rapidly becoming the case with the more pop ular sports in the USA. Sports preparation sessions must be devoted largely to enhancing tactical and te chnical skills, rather than to improving general physical fitness. If fitness training is to be included in pre paration sessions, then it must be done to improve the specific fitness qualities required in the actual sports event. This may take the form of practice games or contests, so that players can obtain realistic practice und er simulated competitive conditions. Ideally, athletes should acquire the necessary general fitness in their own time or preferably under the control of a specialist strength coach and not waste a technical coach's time in organising c rash courses in physical conditioning. The common belief of the more training the better or no gain without pain has persis ted since ancient times, largely as a result of the notion that increasing levels of success demand more work and pain. This often unfortunate principle sometimes continues to be imposed on misguided athletes ci ther by themselves or by uninformed coaches, since they maintain that the optimum training load is the ma ximum training load a person can endure without injury. Simply saying that protein provides four calories per gram for energy needs is l ike saying that the two-by-four studs that support the walls of your house will burn nicely if you run out of firewood. They will in that emergency situation, but you ll normally choose to burn other fuel first! Consuming ample amounts of saturated fat helps prevent oxidative damage to your cells (saturated fat is an integral part of cel

l membranes). While your eyes might bug out at this statement, it s virtually irrefu table and proven by many respected long term studies: Grain consumption offers minimal nutritional value and generates a high insulin response. The phytates in grains inhibit the absorption of minera ls. Glutens disturb healthy immune function and promote inflammation. Lectins inhibit healthy gastrointestinal function. Whole grains are no healthier than refined grains and have a worse impact on health in many cases due to the greate r prevalence of the aforementioned agents in whole grains than in refined products . The most common retort I hear on this thread is, Hey, everything in moderation. Sage advice indeed, but Mark Twain best put this proverb in perspective when he said, Everything in moderation, including moderation. Most grains contain substances called phytates that easily bind to important minerals like calcium, magnesium, and zinc in the digestive tract, making them more difficult to absorb. Ironically, the unprocessed and, therefore, supposedly healthier whole grains are typically the highest in phytates. Contrary to Conventional Wisdom, excessive fiber intake (practically automatic w hen you emphasize whole grains) can increase appetite and interfere with healthy digestion, mineral absorption, and elimination. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic or redundant on this position, we must understand that the reasonable, evolutionary voice challenging Conventional Wisdom about grains is being battled by billions of dollars in corporate and government propaganda pushing us to conform to dietary habits that we are not suited for, that do not nourish us, and that are downright destructive to human health. "More die in the United States of too much food than of too little. Kenneth Galbraith, Canadian-American economist. John

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. Lord Edward Stanley, Three-time United Kingdom Prime Minister (1799-1869) "Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far." Thomas Jefferson Generally speaking, asking a class or group of workout partners to keep pace tog ether is a recipe for failure, for all but the fittest members of the group. Sure, the camaraderie asp ect is motivating and enjoyable, but those with inferior conditioning will become overstressed. during the first half of the century, cod liver oil was the focus of a worldwide health initiative. Parents were urged to give cod liver oil to their children b y doctors, by government officials, by teachers and principals in schools, and e ven by their ministers in churches. A large portion of adults in America born be

fore the Second World War received cod liver oil as children and this practice c ontributed to a high level of health, intelligence and physical development in t hose lucky enough to receive it. In many European countries, children received a daily ration of cod liver oil, especially during the war years. In the UK, for example, the government issued cod liver oil to all growing children until the e arly 1950s. What has led to the demise of this obviously beneficial practice? Cod liver oil is a food; it can t be patented, it can t be created in a laboratory; it can t create millions for the drug companies. So interest in this wonderful superfood has nat urally waned. But if you are basing your dietary habits on the principles of hea lthy nutritional diets, don t hesitate to include cod liver oil-our recommended br ands of cod liver oil as a healthy and natural food source of critical vitamins so lacking in modern diets. A 2007 Taiwanese study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine revealed that a single intense sustained workout (working at 85 percent of maximum effort for at least 30 minutes) disrupted immune system function, destroyed some white blood cells, and triggered whole body inflammation for up to 72 hours. In contrast, there are literally hundreds of scientific studies confirming the benefits of conducting occasional short-duration, intense workout s (such as interval workouts spacing work efforts by a particular rest interval). Intervals and sprints quickly and time-efficiently improve key performance factors including VO2 Max (how efficiently you process oxygen during peak exercise effort), competitive performance, and body composition. "You have to stay in shape. My grandmother, she started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She s 97 today and we don t know where the hell she is." Ellen DeGeneres The promo message for Dr. Sara Mednick s book Take a Nap! Change Your Life reads: Imagine a product that increases alertness, boosts creativity, reduces stress, improves perception, stamina, motor skills, and accuracy, enhances your sex life , helps you make better decisions, keeps you looking younger, aids in weight loss, reduces the risk of heart attack, elevates your mood, and strengthens memory. Now imagine that this product is nontoxic, has no dangerous side effects, and, best of all, is absolutely free. Notable nappers throughout history include Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Napoleon, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, and Paris Hilton We must admit that doctors, despite their extensive knowledge, training, and loyalty to the Hippocratic Oath, are focused on treatment rather than prevention . As with drugs, it s wonderful to have extensively trained and prepared doctors standing ready when we need them. The sad reality is that most of their business comes from dealing with symptoms not causes of easily preventable conditions (as evidenced by the remarkable comment from a solo family practice doc I know, who lamented that his business was down due to America s 2008 economic recession!). The fact that doctors receive little or no training in nut rition is nothing short of abysmal. The imagined safety net of government, modern

medicine, or the food or pharmaceutical industries looking after your health is a faade. Oh sure, you ll be cared for very, very well if something catastrophic happens (that is, if you have good medical insurance), whether it s a high-risk childbirth, serious injuries from a car accident, or one of the small fraction o f cancers that are not lifestyle related. But when it comes to eating healthy, get ting in shape, avoiding stupid mistakes even building a career and a nest egg the world can lead you astray and separate you from your cash (and other assets, suc h as health, sanity, etc.) in the blink of an eye, la Matt Damon s deft pickpocket character inOcean s Eleven. You can lose 10 pounds very quickly via any number of ill-advised methods (remember that skeletal guy at the Boston Marathon?). The true joy from changing your physique comes not from a surgeon s knife, a brutal calorie-restriction diet coupled with an exhaustive workout routine, nor even accolades from the cocktail party crowd. The most lasting rewards come from the positive, fun lifestyle changes you implemented to make it happen. All-round sports training must include the capability of coping with unexpected and sub-optimal c onditions. In certain sports where accidents or unexpected situations often occur, such as the martial arts, parach uting and motor racing, participants are taught how to cope with events that can have serious consequenc es. This type of preparation needs to be adopted far more extensively in all sports so that the athlete is ab le to anticipate threatening situations, react much more rapidly to unexpected circumstances, take action to avoid or minimise injury, and cope with sub-optimal conditions by practising with imperfectly executed movemen ts. Shoe manufacturers would have athletes believe that the primary solution to most athletic injuries is the wearing of expensive footwear. Ailments such as shin splints, iliotibial band syndrome a nd peripatellar pain are attributed variously to excessive shock loading of the limbs, pronation or supination. Research, however, reveals that fewer injuries occur among those who wear thin s oled shoes and that current athletic footwear may even be injurious (Robbins et al, 1988). The paradoxical observation of a much lower incidence of running injuries reported in barefoot populations implies that mode m running shoes may produce injuries that normally would not occur without their use (Robbins & Hanna, 1987) . It is commonly believed that gymnasium machines are intrinsically safer than fre e weights and require far less skill in using them. This fallacy is one reason why injuries ar e still regularly sustained by those who rely solely on machines for training.