Let’s take a look at what’s in the food at good ole’ McDs. I’m a big guy so I can eat quite a bit. See how many times you can spot trans fats, MSG, vegetable oils, corn, soy, and grain! Here is my order for breakfast.

1 – Hotcakes and Sausage w Syrup & Margarine
1 – Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Regular Size Biscuit)
1 – Sausage McGriddle
1 – Small Coffee with Cream and Equal

Hotcakes and Sausage w Syrup & Margarine

Hotcake Syrup:
Corn syrup, sugar, water, artificial maple flavor, potassium sorbate as a preservative, caramel color.

Whipped Margarine (1 pat):
Soybean oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, whey, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, vegetable mono- and diglycerides and soy lecithin
(emulsifiers), sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

Sausage Patty:
Pork, whey protein concentrate, water, salt, corn syrup solids, sugar, spices, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, spice extractives, caramel color, BHA and BHT and
propyl gallate and citric acid (preservatives).

Scrambled Eggs (2):
Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid
Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and
potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

Hash Brown:
Potatoes, vegetable oil (canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, natural beef flavor [wheat and milk derivatives]*, citric acid [preservative]), salt, corn flour, dehydrated
potato, dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain color), extractives of black pepper. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil,
corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent).

Hotcakes (3):
Water, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), whey powder, yellow corn flour, soybean oil, whole eggs, sugar,
high fructose corn syrup, leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), dextrose, egg whites, glycerol-oleate, emulsifier blend
(distilled monoglycerides, distilled propylene glycol monoester, sodium stearoyl lactylate), soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavor, xanthan gum, beta carotene (color), TBHQ
(preservative).

Hotcake Syrup:
Corn syrup, sugar, water, artificial maple flavor, potassium sorbate as a preservative, caramel color.

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit (Regular Size Biscuit)

Biscuit (Regular Size):
Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), cultured nonfat buttermilk, vegetable oil (palm oil, palm kernel
oil), water, leavening (baking soda, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), contains 2% or less of the following: salt, sugar, modified cellulose, wheat
protein isolate, natural flavor (botanical source), soy lecithin.

Prepared with Liquid Margarine:
Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium
benzoate and potassium sorbate (preservative), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

Bacon:
Pork bellies cured with [water, salt, sugar, natural smoke flavor (plant source), sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite].

Scrambled Eggs (2):
Pasteurized whole eggs with sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid and monosodium phosphate (added to preserve color), nisin (preservative). Prepared with Liquid
Margarine: Liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, soy lecithin, mono-and diglycerides, sodium benzoate and
potassium sorbate (preservatives), artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, beta carotene (color).

Pasteurized Process American Cheese:
Milk, water, milkfat, cheese culture, sodium citrate, salt, citric acid, sorbic acid (preservative), sodium phosphate, artificial color, lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, soy
lecithin (added for slice separation).

Sausage McGriddle

Griddle Cakes:
Water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, dextrose, palm oil, soybean
oil, brown sugar, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), natural (dairy, botanical and plant source) and artificial flavors, rice
flour, soy flour, whey powder, salt, modified tapioca starch, buttermilk, caramel color, soy lecithin, carnauba wax, corn oil, propylene glycol, TBHQ and citric acid
(preservatives).

Sausage Patty:
Pork, whey protein concentrate, water, salt, corn syrup solids, sugar, spices, dextrose, monosodium glutamate, spice extractives, caramel color, BHA and BHT and
propyl gallate and citric acid (preservatives).

Small Coffee with Cream and Equal

Coffee (Small):
Brewed coffee.

Coffee Cream:
Milk, cream, sodium phosphate, datem, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium citrate, carrageenan.

EQUAL® 0 Calorie Sweetener:
Dextrose with maltodextrin, aspartame. PHENYLKETONURICS: ASPARTAME CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE

Resources
http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/ingredientslist.pdf

Narrated by Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons, this “mockumentary” video, hammers home the stark reality of California’s plastic bag pollution situation.

Consider a reusable bag or a paper bag at the checkout.

The current western health paradigm is based upon disease care and symptom suppression using pharmaceutical agents. If you really understand how the body works, you know that pharmaceuticals as a long-term treatment of chronic disease are a dead end as they simply do not address the root cause of the dysfunction. This style of ideology is a shotgun approach to health. There is no specificity, no individualization as the effects of pharmaceuticals are not linear which is evident in the fact that the effects and side effects vary greatly from person to person.

For those that are not satisfied with such an approach, another option may work for you that is based upon a functional model. The functional methodology looks at each person as a biochemically unique and whole individual and seeks the cause or causes for his/her apparent dysfunction. The person is the center of focus not the dis-ease. With the functional mind set, the body is not a group of parts that work independently of each other but rather a system of systems that work synergistically and rely on the proper function of the other parts to make the body whole and healthy. The body is integrated, not isolated, in all functions it performs.

The four main questions that the functional mindset attempts to answers are as follows:

1. Does the client have a dysfunction? If so, where is it coming from?

2. What are the unique cause or causes of the dysfunction?

3. What individualized steps and in what order need to be taken to restore function?

4. When has function for the client been restored? When do reparative protocols stop and maintenance begin?

Armed with the above questions, we can get better answers that lead to optimal results. Because the same dis-ease process can result from a multitude of factors that vary from person to person, the steps each client needs to take to restore his/her function must be individualized. This is a bulls eye approach. The protocols are specific and unique to the person NOT the dis-ease.

The search for new health preserving options is gaining momentum by the day as more and more of the population gains awareness regarding the dangers of the shotgun approach. If you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, then consider contacting a practitioner with a functional mindset. FPS does free consultations and can be contacted at 818 926 5154 or Rob@functionalps.com.

For Your Consideration: Plyometric Olympic Lifts
Improving lifting speed with a unique weightlifting method
by Charles Poliquin

One of the interesting aspects of the sport of weightlifting is that there are many methods that have produced champions. You have the extreme of the Bulgarians, who pretty much just do the two lifts and squats; the Russians and Chinese, who do a wider variety of exercises that often include pulls and even bodybuilding exercises. The best approach may lie somewhere in between.

The Bulgarian model takes the concept of specificity to the extreme, and there are many casualties along the way, with their lifters often having relatively short careers. But it was this extreme specificity that allowed Bulgaria, a small country with minimal resources, to compete toe-to-toe with the Big Red Machine for over two decades.

My mentor in weightlifting is Pierre Roy, one of the most accomplished weightlifting coaches in the history of Canada. Pierre takes advantage of a wide variety of exercises, including eccentric exercises and special exercises for the hamstrings and lower back. This approach has enabled his athletes not only to excel in international competitions, including an Olympic silver medalist, but also to enjoy relatively long and healthy careers.

The problem, especially at higher levels, is that assistance exercises can have negative effects on the classical lifts: the snatch and the clean and jerk. Russian weightlifting coaches have studied this subject extensively, and you can find the results of these studies in articles and textbooks that have been translated by Bud Charniga, himself an elite weightlifter. In the case of pulls, one of the issues is that using weights that approach the maximum results in the snatch and clean create movement patterns that are different from those that occur during the lifts, particularly in regard to the phase of the lift where the knees shift under the bars as the barbell moves past the knees. As such, if weightlifting coaches are going to use pulls in training his or her athlete, it’s a smart idea for them to study Charniga’s translations for specific weight percentages to use during various types of pulls.

As for power cleans and power snatches, they contain a high level of specificity, but some athletes have found that the catch position can be stressful on the knees. They can also cause the athlete to use the arms improperly by contracting them in such a manner as to lift the barbell instead of pulling their body under the bar – the error often described as “pulling too long” on the barbell. The solution is to simply perform these two exercises in a limited manner, and to avoid them in the few weeks before a competition.

Plyometrics are also often avoided by lifters because they can be hard on the knees, and there is also debate about how this type of training can transfer to the lifts. The first problem may be solved by using an intelligent approach to program design, especially when working with athletes who possess a large amount of muscle mass. The second problem may be solved by applying a plyometric training method to the classical lifts. Let me explain.

The Plyometric Solution
The Russians did much of the original research on the subject of plyometrics, and in fact Russian sport scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky is considered the founder of modern-day plyometrics. Verkhoshshansky contended that a true plyometric activity is one that involves a “mechanical shock stimulation” that through various neuromechanical responses enables the muscles to produce as much muscle tension as rapidly as possible. Stepping off a box, let’s say 12 inches high, with the leg muscles relaxed, and then jumping as quickly as possible after landing is an example of a classical plyometric activity. The quad muscles are rapidly stretched upon landing and then powerfully contracted during the jump, and mechanical shock is provided by the floor.

One variation of Olympic lifting exercises that a colleague introduced to me involves developing a mechanical shock while performing the lifts. He has been doing it since the late ’70s; he came up with it on his own, but believes that most likely some lifter, somewhere, had done it before him. Also, as I will explain, the technique can also be used for the lifts themselves, for power versions of the lifts, and for pulls.

Essentially, what you do with this exercise variation is to start the movement from a fully standing position, and then create a mechanical shock by lowering the barbell to below the knees and then rapidly reversing direction. By switching direction (rather than starting at a dead stop), you get a reflex response and can use the stored energy from the eccentric movement. The result is that, according to plyometric theory, you should be able move faster than you normally would, creating an over-speed effect.

Want to see this exercise in action? If you go to the link below, you’ll see Russian strongman and super heavyweight weightlifter Mikhail Koklyaev performing this method with the snatch, going all the way down to a full squat position after the pull. The weight on the barbell is 200 kilos (440 pounds).

Koklyaev’s best official snatch is 210 kilos, so from a specificity standpoint incorporating this exercise into his training has not had an adverse affect on his technique.

Although shifting the knees forward during the pull may be considered a plyometric movement (as the quadriceps are shortened, stretched, and then shortened again), no such activity occurs at the start of the lifts. Because the barbell rests on the floor at the start of the snatch and clean, you have to begin these lifts from a dead stop and overcome inertia. As Isaac Newton said, a body (in this case the barbell) at rest tends to stay at rest. This process takes time and effort, and affects the overall speed of the lift. An analogy could be sprinting. Usain Bolt runs 9.58 in the 100 meters. The world record in the 4 x 100 is 37.10 seconds by the Jamaicans, which is faster than 4 x 9.58 (38.32) because three of the athletes (despite not being able to match Bolt’s 100-meter best) don’t have to overcome inertia by starting from the blocks.

With this type of exercise, you should lower the barbell below the knees – do not start from the hang position in which the knees are slightly bent. The problem with lifting from the hang is that often the athlete tends to use their lower back excessively, creating bad movement patterns and reducing the transference to the classical lifts. Also, because the quads are almost completely shortened in the hang position, they do not contribute much to the movement.

Let’s use the power clean to show how to perform this training method. Start by deadlifting the bar to a full upright position. Now lower the bar to just below the knee, and then immediately reverse direction and do a power clean. From here you lower the bar to mid-thigh to stop the weight, then lower it again below the knee and do another rep – as you fatigue (or when using especially heavy weights), you will find that you can compensate by increasing the distance you lower the bar. By switching direction (rather than starting at a dead stop), you get a reflex response and can use the stored energy from the eccentric movement. The result is that you move faster than you normally would, creating an overspeed effect.

What you find when you perform this exercise is that you are able to go faster on each rep, especially when you perform it with pulls. This may be due to a disinhibition of the Golgi tendon reflex or simply due to a learning curve. Whatever the physical cause, the result is that you are pulling the barbell in the same manner as you would in the classical lifts at a very high rate of speed. As General George S. Patton would say, in the sport of weightlifting “you can never be too fast!”

Because the range of motion is shorter than with the full lifts, you can perform more repetitions with these exercises than with conventional versions of this exercise. With pulls, for example, a lifter with sound technique can easily perform 10 reps in under 10 seconds. This means that the method can fit into accumulation phases as well as intensification phases of training, whereas high-intensity classical lifts should generally be restricted to intensification phases.

As one of the primary goals of this exercise is to develop speed, one way to incorporate it into your training is to use it as a warm-up. Let’s say your workout calls for the performance of heavy power cleans. You might start with 3-4 sets of plyometric power cleans, and then switch to the conventional method of performing the power clean.

Another great advantage about this exercise is that from a muscular standpoint, it is less stressful on the lower back than pulling from the floor. As such, it can be performed after squats and when a lifter’s lower back is tired.

It may always be a matter of debate as to what country has the best weightlifting program, but doing plyometric Olympic lifts may be an effective training method that will fit into any system. Give it a try.

Resources
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/454/For_Your_Consideration_Plyometric_Olympic_Lifts.aspx

Degenerative disease just doesn’t spring up out of nowhere without any warning. There are stages that the body goes through in the attempt to retain normal function prior to submitting the pressures of the disease processes. Let’s take a brief look at the five stages of disease.

Stage 0 – Homeostasis
Homeostasis is a state of optimal function for the body, a state of ease, a state of balance. Ultimately, throughout the entire progression to disease the body is always attempting to return to this stage.

Stage 1 – Deviation from Homeostasis
External and/or internal stressors place strain on the some cells or body systems causing them to fall our of balance. If the stressor goes away, the body will be able to return to a state of normal function. If the the stressor continues to be present, the body may move towards the second stage of disorder over time.

Stage 2 – Pathophysiology
The second stages represents a marked deviation from homeostasis. Stage 2 is a stage of malfunction. The body attempts to return to stage 1 or back to normal function; but if it is unable to, compensatory, catabolic mechanisms will continue leading to function changes and an abnormal state of physiology.

Stage 3 – Pathmomorphology
Continued stressors lead to continued compensation which produces a dis-eased state where there are physical changes to the structures of the body (a morphing so to speak). Despite difficulty, the body is will still attempt to get back to the previous stage or all the way back to homeostasis. If stage 3 continues to progress, the presence of symptoms will begin to arise.

Stage 4 – Symptomatology
During this stage, the existing malfunction that now exists manifests itself as noticeable symptoms that the host can no longer ignore. The compensatory actions that have come about in stages 1 through 3 are now becoming very evident and presenting themselves as a clear deviation from optimal physiological function.

This stage is where many in the Western world start to head to the doctor to see what’s going on but unbeknownst to them they are already in the fourth stage of disease out of five. Failure to address the underlying cause of the dysfunction at this time can result in a full blown degenerative disease or death.

Stage 5 – Death
When the body’s compensatory actions can no longer hold up, the death of a organ, bodily system, or the entire person will result. The chronic stressors cause a progression of physiological changes and force adaptations that the body cannot handle. At this stage, we see the permanent cessation of vital function that maintains life leading a death of some kind.

The message that I’d like to get across with this blog is that disease doesn’t happen over night. All diseases start from a stressor or stressors of some kind. Recognition of these stressors is paramount in preventing the disease process from occurring. Let’s start to switch the paradigm to disease prevention instead of treating disease when the dysfunction has momentum and is already in stage 4.

The ability to tune into Self is also to help you recognize when you have deviated from Stage 0 and have entered Stage 1 or 2. This awareness of how we are feeling is sadly missing in the western world from my experience. There are so many distractions (work, TV, Facebook, cell phones, internet, etc) that demand our attention and take it away from tuning into how we really feel. Bottom line is how you’re feeling at the present moment matters. If you’re not feeling optimal, find out why and then make the necessary changes to return to Stage 0 – Homeostasis.

Manipulating training variables is at the heart of program design. Different rep ranges can have different training effects. There is a rep range that elicits muscular endurance (15+ reps per set), hypertrophy (8-12 reps per set) , functional hypertrophy (6-8 reps per set), and relative strength (1-5 reps per set).

The intensity/load/weight chosen should bring you at or near muscular failure during the last rep of each set. The trainee’s training age and predominant muscle fiber composition (fast twitch vs slow twitch) may skew these rep ranges. A knowledgeable professional can guide your fitness or sport performance program to elicit the desired training result during each of your training phases. Personal training should be personalized!