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- Are all Omega-3 Fatty Acids Created equal?
- Nutrient Timing
- Celiac Disease
- Caffeine And Sports Performance
- Protein And Exercise
- Diets: "They All Work When You Stick To Them"
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Assumptions are Critical
- Appetite regulation - does it exist?
Recent Blog Posts
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Assumptions are Critical
- Controlling Anxiety During Lifting
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Unusual Words, Jargon, and Journalese
- Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Quotes
- Testimonials And Supplements
- Getting in the Zone VI: Flow and Zone are Just Words
- Getting in the Zone V: Relaxation
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Caffeine And Sports Performance
by 
EricT on 1265040416|%c|agohover
Research on the physiological effects of caffeine in relation to human sport performance is extensive. In fact, investigations continue to emerge that serve to delineate and expand existing science. Caffeine research in specific areas of interest, such as endurance, strength, team sport, recovery, and hydration is vast and at times, conflicting. Therefore, the intention of this position statement is to summarize and highlight the scientific literature, and effectively guide researchers, practitioners, coaches, and athletes on the most suitable and efficient means to apply caffeine supplementation to mode of exercise, intensity, and duration….
Comments: 0
Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Assumptions are Critical
by EricT on 1264802374|%c|agohover
Assumptions are a perfect subject for this third post in the series. The first two I think held no real surprises. For this one, I wanted to write about something that would challenge your assumptions so I decided to write about assumptions themselves.
A good fitness article must make assumptions. There, I'll bet that threw at least some of you. I mean, aren't the best fitness writers omniscient?…
Comments: 0
Controlling Anxiety During Lifting
by EricT on 1264696226|%c|agohover
Much of the Getting in the Zone series of articles are focused on areas of sport psychology. Having psychologists help athletes perform better is a relatively new thing. While I have drawn from that, as I read some of the articles on this subject (controlling anxiety, etc) from sport psychologists, I wonder if many of them really "get it". Sure they understand the statistics and have a background in the psychology effecting performance, but have they ever been there? Do they know what it feels like? I read with interest an article in the "Mind Games" section of the NSCA's performance training journal by Suzie Tuffey Riewald entitled "Help, I'm Nervous". It's related, of course to my Getting in the Zone series of articles….
Comments: 0
Calorie Confusion: The History of the Calorie
by EricT on 1264378724|%c|agohover
The Calorie (kcal) of present U.S. food labels is similar to the original French definition of 1825. The original published source (now available on the internet) defined the Calorie as the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water from 0 to 1°C. The Calorie originated in studies concerning fuel efficiency for the steam engine and had entered dictionaries by 1840. It was the only energy unit in English dictionaries available to W.O. Atwater in 1887 for his popular articles on food and tables of food composition. Therefore, the Calorie became the preferred unit of potential energy in nutrition science and dietetics, but was displaced when the joule, g-calorie and kcal were introduced….
Comments: 0
Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Unusual Words, Jargon, and Journalese
by EricT on 1264372674|%c|agohover
Bad fitness articles are a nickel a dozen. True, this is only my second post on how to spot bad articles but I have enough ideas to keep this going for a long time. You may be wondering where this guy gets off talking about bad writing. Well I am not talking about bad writing per se.
Although there is much overlap between these things and bad writing in general, the spots aim to uncover bad articles, not bad writing. My writing may not always be up to even my standards for instance but while I have written articles that I would consider poorly written not very often have I written something which I consider to be bad content….
Comments: 0
Spotting Bad Fitness Articles: Quotes
by EricT on 1264109317|%c|agohover
I am starting this series of blog posts as a tongue in cheek1 way of helping you spot bullshit in fitness articles. You may know that I don't like the term fitness so I am using it purely out of convenience. These posts will be simple lists of 1 to 5 things that should signal BS to you. This does not mean the article in question is BS; only that you should be on BS alert as you consider it….
Comments: 0
Red Bull® And Reaction Time
by EricT on 1260803100|%c|agohover
In this double-blind study, the effects of consuming a single can (250 ml) of Red Bull®, Sugar Free Red Bull®, or a flavor/appearance-matched placebo on attention and reaction time were measured using a computerized continuous performance task, administered 30 minutes after drink ingestion. No significant differences in continuous performance task performance were related to ingestion of any of the drinks. Effects of Red Bull® or Sugar Free Red Bull® on continuous performance task performance are, therefore, negligible, and are no greater than potential psychomotor enhancements resulting from placebo expectancies.…
Comments: 0
Getting in the Zone VI: Flow and Zone are Just Words
by EricT on 1260662231|%c|agohover
Number six in this flow series is not about achieving flow at all. Rather it is about the words flow and zone themselves.
Words like that, when they are used in the context of psychology and related fields, need to be qualified. The last thing I want to do is insult my reader's intelligence. There's enough of that on the webernet already….
Comments: 2
Getting in the Zone V: Relaxation
by EricT on 1260567026|%c|agohover
Part IV of Getting in the Zone described arousal regulation and the effects of anxiety and anger on performance. At the end of that post I left you with this:
"There are those who will need to focus on energizing techniques. Rather than controlling excessive arousal, they will need to develop strategies to increase arousal. But in my experience, most lifters have more of a need to control anxiety, apprehension, and anger, and thus regulate excessive arousal. Therefore the next post will focus on regulating over-arousal."…
Comments: 0
Breathing Exercises for Relaxation
by EricT on 1260557850|%c|agohover
This article is a simple explanation of several breathing exercises for relaxation. It is meant as related companion to the Getting in the Zone series of blog posts or for anyone interested. However, before we get into the breathing exercises you should have already read Paradoxical and Diaphragmatic Breathing which will have introduced the basic concepts and techniques of correct diaphragmatic deep breathing. That article contains an exercise meant to help you practice deep breathing but it should also have you well on your way to achieving a relaxed state through breathing.
I also encourage you to read the Getting in the Zone series which will provide a broader context for what we are trying to achieve. The benefits of proper breathing are obvious but many strength trainees may not see the point of "relaxation". The Zone series provides that point of context and much more….
Comments: 0
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