SHR

Every time I read someone stating that acidic foods cause acid reflux it makes me cringe. Let’s get something straight here. Acid reflux is a result of the mechanical failure of the esophageal sphincter and not the content of acidic foods you’re eating. None of the foods you’re eating are higher in acidity than the normal content of hydrochloric acid in your stomach when you are in-between meals. The PH of your stomach, assuming its working properly, is between 1.5 and 3.5. That’s because hydrochloric acid by itself has a PH of 2.0. Some would have you believe that acidic food consumption is what creates the burning sensation in your stomach area. I say area for a reason. You’re NOT feeling the burning sensation in your stomach. Your stomach is designed to handle hydrochloric acid without any sensations. Your esophagus on the other hand is not and this is where the...

I have lots of friends who tell me they like to have a glass of bourbon or a couple glasses of wine in the evening because it helps them "wind down" and they sleep better. I even know a physician whom I have a lot of respect for who told me he's been doing this for years. We very rarely drink alcohol any more. Last night Alisa and I entertained a team member, Jeff Thompson, here in Louisville and then we went to the Kentucky Muscle event. We each had a couple glasses of wine and then I had a cup of decaf coffee with a shot of Sambuca after my meal (hey.. I'm Italian.. It's our thing). We stayed out later than I'm accustomed to since I'm in bed as a rule by 9:00PM. We didn't get home until around 10:30PM. I sleep with my FitBit so it tracks my...

So while taking my morning stroll through the internet’s stories and social media post;  I decided to stop by the world of vegan bodybuilding.  I wasn’t looking to pick a fight, but I just wanted to know more of them, and what they talk about.  I was a vegetarian myself for 5 years but I wasn’t’ into bodybuilding (I was actually into distance running).  Here some take-aways. Folks confuse building a physique with losing weight.  I saw several before and after photos that were simply, “good cuts.”  The guys/girls were ripped but had no more muscle than they started out with.If you eat enough plant protein- you “must” be able to maintain some sort of muscle.  Though this is far from optimal – if you’re not trying to build much; something is working right (sort of).  Some use soy protein, pea protein, hemp protein, or a combination of them all.Genetics, Genetics,...

My recent lumbar spine compression has me thinking about a new era of training. I've proven that I can be strong. At 57 years old I'm hungry for some new challenges. So while I was training today I thought hard about how I would like to see my new style of training shape me as a Physical Culturist. What person could I look to for a model of physique but more importantly performance that I want to epitomize?  We all remember that opening scene of the movie Troy. The Greeks invade the country of Thessaly. The two kings, King Agamemnon of the Greeks and King Triopas of the Thessalayians decide to let the victory be decided by a battle between their best men. Triopas calls for his best warrior, a near 7 foot beast made of muscle and scars named Boagrius. The Thessalayian army cheers as they part like the Red...

Last week, a press release regarding the sleep duration of our ancestors was abound on numerous media outlets, all of which seemed to focus on sleep duration and use headlines that give the impression that modern sleep behaviors are not so different from pre-industrial populations. The actual study was a multi-center collaboration by researchers from the University of New Mexico, the University of California, Yale University, Hunter College, and the University of the Witwatersrand. They stayed with three different modern hunter-gatherer tribes (the Hadza, the San, and the Tsimane) and collected data on their sleep behaviors around the clock by having the tribesmen wear Actiwatch-2 devices on their wrists for 4-28 days. This collected data on movement, light exposure, and temperature that were then statistically compared to temperature, solar, and seasonal variables of the environment. The researchers did indeed find that sleep durations were similar to modern society, with the time...