Shape Up Your Sexlife

I have a hard time finding ways to motivate people.  You tell them being healthy is good for you and they say “sure, but I want my ice cream!”  You tell them they’ll live longer and they say “sure but I want to watch TV.”  So I’ve been looking for ways in which to give people something more immediate as motivation.  Something that will make them think “YES! Now I want to get healthier.”  Well, I think I’ve finally figured it out.

Being healthy will lead to MORE and BETTER sex!

Got it?!?!  Does that get your attention?!?!  Good, now let’s listen to the expert.

Today’s guest post is brought to you by NYC fitness expert Jennifer Cassetty who took some time away from her busy schedule to answer a few of my questions.

Does a healthy lifestyle improve sex for both men and women?

• Yes - Studies have indicated that everything you do in life is all connected. A healthy lifestyle and regular exercise can rev up hormones, relieve stress, reduce fat and reenergize the body.  That helps increase blood flow to the certain body parts, priming men and women for a better sexual performance.

How does a healthy lifestyle improve sex for men?

• Exercise and living a healthy lifestyle, in general, can pique desire for couples and make relationships more enjoyable. The results of exercising can be one of the best gifts for yourself and your partner. It builds confidence because you physically look better and you have the energy to perform with your partner.
• For men specifically, eating right and staying active increases blood flow to that certain body part, reducing the chances of being impotent in the bedroom.
• Adding exercise adds confidence that you need to take charge and satisfy your partner. Women like men that exude that semi-aggressive trait that turn women on. In order to do that without being too cheesy, you need confidence. Having a physically fit body gives you that needed confidence some may lack.

How does a healthy lifestyle improve sex for women?

• For women, living a healthier lifestyle improves sex tremendously for them. When you take care of your body (can apply to men as well), you heal faster and with the addition of sex, it can increase speed cell repair and regeneration.
• An extra benefit of having a healthy lifestyle and active sex life is that you will have fewer migraines. Healthier women have sex more often because it actually eases headaches, says Randolph W. Evans, M.D., clinical professor of neurology at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. (Gal’s note - I find this amusing for some reason)

Does sex count as exercise?

• Yes! Having sex allows you to burn calories, reduce stress and increase your energy. Be adventurous and try different positions with your partner. Depending on your position and endurance, you can tone your glutes, abs and triceps. For more information on which positions can tone your body (or which exercises enhance your performance), you can contact me by visiting www.jennifercassetty.com.

Other than the names, do the exercises you mention have specific benefits on sexual performance or pleasure?

• It all depends on the body type. The exercises I provided were general and could be used by just about anyone (after approval from your doctor). To get a specific work out designed for your body type, feel free to contact me, and I’ll be more than happy to design one.

Are there foods you recommend to people looking to improve their libido and sexual appetites / performance?

• There are plenty of foods that are both healthy and improves sexual appetite. For instance, bananas are tasty and have a marvelous phallic shape that reminds us of something special. Bananas have potassium that helps with your sex drive.
• Chocolate was once referred to by the Aztecs as “nourishment of the Gods”. Chocolate contains antioxidants that help in reducing the risk of cancer.
• Ginger should also be used more in meals. It is a stimulant to the circulatory system. Perhaps a stir-fry with freshly grated ginger can stir something spicy up in the bedroom later.
• A glass or two of wine can greatly enhance a romantic interlude. Wine relaxes and helps to stimulate our senses. Drinking wine can be an erotic experience. Let your eyes feast on the color of the liquid. Caress the glass, savor the taste on your lips.

Do these tips apply to people of all ages? Even seniors?

• Yes – they are for every age group, however, I strongly recommend you consult with your doctor before beginning any new lifestyle change and exercise routine.

Primal Blueprint - Month 1

It’s been a month now since I started experimenting with Mark Sisson’s The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy
and I’m beginning to notice some definite changes.

Cravings

I never realized how much I craved sweets and carbs until I tried to go a few weeks without them.  Wow!  I’ve always though that smokers are weak because they are unable to stop smoking but here I am unable to stop eating candy.  It’s quite literally a compulsion to eat and it’s very difficult to overcome.  Sure, some of you may say, “I can stop eating junk food and chocolate anytime I want.”  Yes, I thought so too but the truth is that it’s a lot harder than you think.

It’s quite clear to me now that my body became addicted to cheap, easy calories in the form of sweets and refined carbohydrates and that addiction proved just as hard to kick as caffeine.  I’m making great progress but it still amazes me how habit forming sugars and carbs are.  No wonder the food industry likes to stuff us full of them, the more we get the more we want.

On The Other Side…

I now realize just how satisfying a good meal can be when you’re not craving carbs.  Here’s my food intake from yesterday.

• Breakfast - A bunch of blueberries and a peach.
• Lunch - Stir fried vegetables with three scrambled eggs.
• Dinner - Chopped salad and a portion of organic beef about the size of a hamburger patty.
• Snacks - A few almonds and figs.

That’s it.  That’s all I ate.  Note that I’m still getting plenty of carbs in the form of fruits and vegetables, I’ve just cut out the junk carbs.  I also haven’t gone insane with the protein intake and converted all my meals to different versions of bacon wrapped steaks.  Instead, I’m eating a nicely balanced diet of fresh ingredients.  End result? I felt great.  Even though this was actually a small amount of calories, I felt amazingly full and had no cravings for more food later on.

Aches and Pains

The aches in my legs have gone away.  I used to have regular pains in my hips and thighs which made it difficult for me to sleep.  Once I stopped jogging, the pains quickly went away and my sleep has never been better (except for last night when my overly rambunctious puppy decided to chase a moth around my bedroom).  At the same time, I’ve actually increased my weight and elliptical workouts so I don’t feel like I’m doing less exercise.  I’m also biking more although I’m still not hiking as much as I would like to.

Problems, Problems, Problems

The only problem I’m experiencing is around food.  I’m still having issues sticking to the Primal Blueprint eating plan for two reasons:

1. It’s not restaurant friendly and a lot of my social life revolves around eating out.
2. I’m not a good cook at home which means most of my meals are variations of stir fries, omelets and salads.

Actually, I suppose this is one problem and not two.  Namely, I severely overestimated my ability to find foods which match my eating plan.  Which is part of the reason I posted my five things to consider before jumping into a new eating plan last week.

I suppose this is what I’ll work on this week, finding new restaurants and new recipes to work on.

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And a big thank you to my friends, you know who you are, who support me even when it’s the middle of the night.

Review - The Primal Blueprint

Long time readers of 60 in 3 know that I greatly enjoy Mark Sisson’s articles over at Mark’s Daily Apple.  I may not always agree with him, but his posts are thought provoking, educational and informative.  So I was quite happy to hear that Mark was taking his primal blueprint for health and putting it into a book form titled appropriately enough, The Primal Blueprint.

Style

As usual, Mark’s writing is great.  The chapters are well laid out and include multiple examples which are easy to understand.  While there are some high end biology, genetics and nutrition discussions, all of them are well explained.  In other words, this isn’t just a book for fitness enthusiasts, it’s also accessible for people who are just now getting into a healthier mindset.  That said, even the best written book is useless if the content is bad, so let’s examine what the primal blueprint is all about.

Overall

Mark believes, as do I, that people need to get back to their roots.  Health wise, he sees our primitive ancestors as leading extremely healthy lifestyles from a variety of aspects.  His model, a caveman named Grok, does everything right and treats his body well.  By comparison, Mark uses chapter two of the book to show us a modern family by the name of Korg, Grok backwards, and how the modern lifestyle is extremely unhealthy.  So far so good, I like this philosophy, but is there something actionable in the book?  The answer is absolutely.

The primal blueprint is a set of rules for how to live a healthier lifestyle by emulating our ancestors.  This blueprint is laid out in chapter one and each rule is further detailed in subsequent chapters.  I’m going to list the rules out here and give a brief opinion on each.  For more information on them, visit Mark’s site or buy the book.

The Primal Blueprint Rules

1. Eat Lots of Plants, Animals and Insects - I like this rule, yes, even the insects part.  Too many of us limit our diets to just a few specific ingredients.  In the US, a majority of food seems to be beef, chicken, potatoes, wheat and corn.  That’s a bad thing and health conscious individuals will attempt to change this.
2. Avoid Poisonous Things - Well, that’s a no brainer, right?  Seems smart to avoid drinking that drain cleaner.  Except Mark isn’t just talking about obvious poisons.  He’s referring to all the modern crap that people put into their systems.  That means excess carbs, preservatives, processed sugars, caffeine and a variety of others.  I’m not sure I agree with Mark’s policies on whole wheat foods, but otherwise I think he’s spot on.
3. Move Frequently At A Slow Pace - Mark’s recommended physical activity is slow and moderate paced movement.  Things like walking, biking and hiking.  Can’t argue with him on this one, except that Mark argues against prolonged cardio like jogging and makes some very convincing arguments against it.
4. Lift Heavy Things - Makes sense.  Challenge your muscles and build a better body.  This one I agree with and I like Mark’s emphasis on natural, compound exercises like squats and lunges.  The primal blueprint recommends explosive, all out efforts rather than slow and gradual by the way, something I’m not sure I agree with.  However, that’s a minor quibble.
5. Run Really Fast Once In A While - Rather than prolonged cardio, Mark believes in the occasional all out effort.  Sprints are a great example of this.
6. Get Adequate Sleep - No argument here.  This is one of the basic rules of healthy living.
7. Play - Again, no argument.  If you can combine physical activity with fun, you’re doing great.
8. Get Plenty of Sunlight - Just not too much!
9. Avoid Stupid Mistakes - Which basically translates to “don’t walk into traffic”.  Not sure how Mark reconciles this with his snowboarding but hey, it’s definitely a good rule to follow.
10. Use Your Brain - Great last rule to finish with.  Fitness isn’t just about the body.  We need to pay attention to the most important muscle of all, their brains.  Use it or lose it folks!

Is the Primal Blueprint Worth Reading?

Absolutely.  Even if you disagree with some of what Mark says you’re still going to find a lot of worthwhile information here.  Plus the Korg chapter alone is worth the price of the book because it shows us just how unhealthy our modern lives have become.  However, there’s a more important question here.

Is the Primal Blueprint Worth Following?

That is, is this a healthy way to live?  For the most part, I think so.  I agree with Mark on 80% of what he says.  Still, there’s a lot that seems off to me.  Whole wheat is bad?  Jogging is bad?  Cavemen are healthier than modern men?  Mm…  Still, I’m an open minded person and I feel odd rejecting this idea out of hand.  After all, there’s a lot here that makes sense.  So

The 60 in 3 Primal Blueprint Challenge

For the next couple of months, June and July, I’ve decided to adopt the Primal Blueprint in its entirety and see what kind of a difference it makes in my life.  That means the following:

• No more jogging.  Trading this in for occasional sprints and more hiking and walking.
• Eliminate those poisons.  No more breads, pastas, rice, caffeine, sugar and the rest.  Yes, even whole wheat.
• Add a bit more protein to my diet.  Yes, that means eating more meat.  I’ve already found a local farmers market vendor who has great organic beef, chicken and venison plus another vendor who sells fresh fish.
• Focus on vegetables, fruits and nuts for my other nutritional requirements.
• Change my weight lifting routine to be a bit faster in line with Mark’s recommendations.

I’ll blog about my progress here in a series called The Primal Blueprint.  At the end of July, we’ll see how I feel.  That’s when I can tell you if the Primal Blueprint makes for a good lifestyle and not just a great book.

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Mark’s site can be found here: Mark’s Daily Apple

Mark’s book can be found here: The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health, and Boundless Energy

The Basic Equation of Life

I often get questions along the lines of “will this make me thin?” or “what do you think of this diet?” which make me believe that most folks don’t understand the basic mechanisms of our body.  So I decided to devote today’s post to a review of the underlying equation of life and weight.  Here it is folks, the theory of relativity for weight loss.

Calories In - Calories Out = Change In Weight.

If calories in are higher than calories out, you get a positive change in weight (you gain weight).  If calories in are lower than calories out, you get a negative change in weight (you lose weight).  That’s it, the basic equation.

A Bit More Detail

To understand how various things work, I’m going to expand the equation a bit into the following:

(Calories In * Digestive Efficiency) - (Metabolic Calories Out + Activity Calories Out) = Change in weight.

What does all this mean?

Calories In - This is an easy one.  Calories in are what you consume.  Eat a 300 calories candy bar and you’ve consumed 300 calories in.

Digestive Efficiency - Not exactly a scientific term but a good one nonetheless.  This basically represents how many calories your body actually derives from those calories in.  For example, some people are unable to digest certain foods.  So they may consume 100 calories worth of that food but their bodies don’t really get the full 100 calories worth.  For anyone thinking this is a good thing, spend some time with people who are lactose intolerant, they’ll set you straight.

Metabolic Calories Out - Your body uses a certain amount of calories per day just to stay alive.  Basic living activities such as breathing, pumping blood and maintaining temperature all require calories.  This is what goes under Metabolic Calories Out.

Activity Calorie Out - These are the calories you use on activities other than basic bodily functions.  For example, walking, running, lifting weights, dancing, hiking, having sex.  All of these activities require energy and that energy expenditure falls under activity calorie out.

So What?

So, now that we have our equation and our terms, what does this all mean?  Well, the basic lesson here is that anytime someone tells you about something that could help you lose weight, you want to make sure you understand how it’s going to affect your body.  That’s why it’s important to know this equation.

For Example:

Exercise - Well, that’s an easy one.  We exercise which means we increase Activity Calories Out.

Eat More Vegetables - This one is a little less obvious.  Vegetables are relatively low in calories.  So if we eat the same volume of food but make more of that volume vegetables, we’ll eat less calories overall.  That means less Calories In.  Note that “eat more vegetables” isn’t really the secret.  It’s “Eat Vegetables Instead Of Other Food With More Calories”.  If you ate everything you did today and then just added vegetables, you’d actually gain weight since you increased Calories In.  That’s the power of this little formula.  Once you understand, you can make sense of a lot of these diet and health tips.

Eat More Frequent Meals - Why?  Well, the theory is that our bodies spend calories more freely when they get food frequently.  Our bodies will behave like people who get 10 dollars every day instead of 300 dollars at the end of the month and they’ll be more willing to spend that 10 dollars right now.  Note that this only affects metabolic calories out.  That is, by eating more frequent but smaller meals, our Metabolic Calories Out increase.

Calorie Restrictive Diets - These are the diets that tell you to cut down your calories in drastically.  Sounds simple enough, lower calories in and you lose weight, right?  Maybe, but what other parts of the equation could these diets affect?  Well, as our bodies receive less calories, they also try to spend less calories.  Bodies do this by lowering the amount of calories spent on basic life sustaining activities.  For example, stay on a calorie restricted diet long enough and your body will shut off things like reproductive systems.  It will also start cannibalizing calorie rich tissue like muscles.  In other words, your body will compensate for the drastic decrease in Calories In by reducing Metabolic Calories Out.

Bad Ideas

As a general rule, there are a few bad things you can do:

Changes in digestive efficiency - This includes taking laxatives, forcing yourself to throw up and so on.  Most of these fall into the realm of eating disorders and if you’re doing them, please seek help.  As someone who’s struggled with healthy eating for many years, I can understand your pain, but this isn’t the way to solve the problem.

Artificial changes in your metabolic calories out - This includes things like smoking, most diet pills and other stimulants.  Sure, they cause you to burn more calories but at what cost?  Most of these things put a tremendous burden on your body and can cause many other health issues.

Drastic changes in calories in - Things like 500 calorie a day diets or week long fasts.  These aren’t healthy for you and, in the long run, they are not conducive to weight loss.  You’re just going to ruin your body by doing these.

Luckily, there are some good things you can focus on:

Increase in activity calories out - This is easy.  Move more.  Go out.  Walk, exercise, dance, swim.  Whatever it is, just keep moving.

Natural increases in metabolic calories out - This includes things like eating more frequent meals, lowering the thermostat at home (forcing your body to spend a few more calories on the proper temperature), building muscles (muscle tissue uses up a lot of calories) and so on.  There are a variety of ways in which you can tell your body “speed it up!” that are natural and good for you.

Gradual and healthy changes in calories in - For example, removing sodas and coffee from the menu.  Your body won’t notice the removal of most liquid calories so you can do this without sending your body into panic mode.  Also, doing things like replacing high calorie foods with low calorie foods like vegetables is good.  Your body will get the same volume of food but less calories overall.  That means your body still believes it’s getting a good amount of food and so it won’t start enacting emergency measures.

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Just remember that basic equation and try to figure out how various behaviors fit within it.  It will make you a smarter and more educated consumer of health activities.

Also, this was a VERY short and unscientific primer about the human metabolism.  People should educate themselves about their bodies in more detail than this.  It’s just as important as learning about your mortgage rate or how your car works.  In fact, it’s probably a lot more important than either one of those.  If you’re interested, I highly recommend YOU: The Owner’s Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger

Great Abs Workout

Disclaimer

• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to get you six pack abs.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to trim inches off your waistline.
• This abs workout is NOT guaranteed to take two sizes off your jeans within the next week

All of these things have more to do with weight loss than they do with an abs workout.  If you want to lose weight, lose inches and show more muscle definition, you need to lose weight, and that’s all about eating right and being more physically active.

What this workout is designed to do is to strengthen 50% of your core, by which I mean your abdominal muscles.  The other 50% is your back muscles and I’ll deal with those at a later date.

Why?

So if this workout doesn’t give you six pack abs, why do you care?  Well, first of all, that’s a bit misleading.  This workout does help tone the muscles that show up as part of your six pack.  However, they won’t show up until you lose weight, hence the disclaimer above.  More importantly, this workout does strengthen your core, which is a part of your body that you rely on for almost every movement.  Take a moment to really notice what muscles your body uses.

Are you breathing?  Well, you’re using your core muscles.  Walking?  You’re using your core muscles to stabalize your upper body.  Doing push ups?  You’re using your core muscles to keep your body rigid.  Running?  You’re using your core muscles to stay upright and balanced.  There’s almost no complex movement that your body does which does not use the core muscles, which is probably why they’re called your core.  That means that you need to strengthen these muscles or else suffer poor performance in pretty much every thing else you do.

Sounds like an exxageration?  It really isn’t.  Your abs and lower back are your foundation.  They are quite literally the core of every complex movement your body makes.  It all starts right there at the center of your body and you need to pay a bit more attention to it than just doing some crunches.

Let’s Start

Start with the basics.

This is called a V up.  It can be done with an exercise ball, with weights on either legs and / or arms or with just body weight.  Either way, you need good form.  Look at how this woman does her V ups.  She’s really controlled in her motion and takes her time.  She pauses all the way at the top to allow some strain to build and then slowly releases it as she moves back down to the resting position.  Excellent form all the way around.

Work the Sides

We’ve worked the center, now we work the sides with some trunk twists.  Again, check out the form.  This guy is doing them a bit faster than I would recommend but notice how controlled he is.  Also note the slight pause at the end of each movement.  Great way of working out the obliques and staying in that crunched position means your whole abs muscle group is being worked out.

Let’s Get Creative

Why stick with regular crunches when you can do reverse ones?

You can do this one with straight legs too if you want, but it’s slightly easier on the joints to do it this way, with legs folding as you raise them.  I like this one a lot better than regular crunches since it puts less strain on my neck and works out more of my abs.

Yoga Finish

And finally, if you have a bit of time, yoga can be a great way to finish out an abs workout with a bit of stretching.  This video is umm… slightly more artistic than your usual workout videos, but it’s a great example of a yoga abs workout.  Note that this workout can actually be quite challenging if you do it slowly.  Also, this is a great example of amazing form and muscle control.  Even if you’re not interested in the spiritual aspects of yoga, this is a great example of abs in action.

10 New Ab Exercises

I’ve been looking for some new ab exercises for a while now to vary up my weight routine.  Most of my current ab exercises are body weight based and I was hoping to add at least 1 or 2 more dumbbell ones.  I went through a lot of books, magazines and videos before I finally found the following:

If you cannot see the video, the link to it is HERE.

I love the exercises shown here.  They really add a range of motion to my ab exercises that it was lacking before.  Plus I like the use of the exercise balls.  These are great, low impact items that are a great addition to any home gym.

My plan is to try all the exercises shown in this video over the next week or two and pick out the three or four that I like best.  That’s going to be my new ab workout.  If anyone has any feedback or comments on these, please feel free to add it in the comments.

Freeweights or Machines, Which Is Better?

Colin writes in:

I started working out about 6 months ago and I’m feeling great.  I have a question, which is better, freeweights or machines?  Also, is it true that people who use freeweights get injured more?

Hello Colin, congratulations on your 6 months of working out.  You’re past the hardest parts.

I think I answered a similar question a few months ago but since I couldn’t find that article myself, I guess I’ll answer this again.  If any reader manages to find the original post, please link it in the comments.

As for your question.  Let me handle the second question first.  Yes, free weights do pose a greater injury risk.  First of all, it’s easier to injure yourself through simple mishaps such as dropping a weight on your foot or falling down, things that are nearly impossible when using a machine.  In fact, my only gym injury in 6 years happened because I dropped a dumbbell on my head.  Second, because your body isn’t confined to a limited range of motion, there is a greater chance to stress muscles and joints in an inappropriate manner while working out with free weights.  For example, if you try to do dead lifts incorrectly with free weights, you can strain your back or your legs.  Doing back exercises with a machine is much safer since your range of motion is limited.

However, that said, I am still a big proponent of free weights and believe that they are superior to machines in a number of ways.  When you work out with machines, you are limited to a very specific set of motions and muscles.  For example, when you do a back exercise on a machine you are only working out the back muscles, nothing else.  When you do a similar back exercise with free weights (dead lifts for example) you are working out the back but you are also recruiting the leg muscles, shoulders and upper arms in a variety of ways.  Yes, the back muscles are still the ones being worked out, but you’re also seeing benefits all over your body.  In other words, working out with free weights is a more “natural” way of working out.  You’re doing motions that your body does normally, only with weights.  Where as machines limit you to a very narrow motion.

The key is good form.  If you have good form, you will minimize your injury risk and maximize your free weight workout.  Good form means control and isolation of muscles.  It means you lift the weights with the muscles you’re trying to work out, recruiting other muscles only for stability, and you control both the speed and the range of the lifting motion.  If you don’t have good form and you have no desire to learn good form, you should stick to machines.  You’ll get a better workout and you won’t injure yourself.

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