Fitness Rocks

Core Training with Adam Ford

This week I have an interview with Adam Ford of Ridgeline Fitness about using the Swiss Ball for core strengthening.  What is the "core?"  Check out Fitness Rocks Podcast 044 to find out.


References:

Ridgeline Fitness - Swiss Ball

Elsie Escobar - Yoga

Fitness Level and the Risk of Stroke

Can being more fit reduce your risk of having a stroke?  Check out Fitness Rocks Short Run 012 for the details.

Live Like a Cave Man

This week we review a paper entitled How to be a 21st-Century Hunter-Gatherer.  In this paper the authors contrast our modern diet and lifestyle with that of our ancient ancestors from 10,000 years ago - a time before the development of agriculture.  These changes in our eating habits and exercise patterns are out of sync with our genetic heritage and are at the root of our epidemics of obesity, and chronic diseases.

There is a one-page PDF file for this podcast.  If you want a copy just send me an e-mail through the contact button and I'll send it to you.

Diet and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

In this short run we look at whether the type of food you eat puts you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes - independently of your weight, level of physical activity, or family history.

This podcast gives new life to the old saying "you are what you eat."

Interview with Sports Performance Coach Charles Staley

This week we talk to Charles Staley, a fitness coach who has developed a unique strength training method called "Escalating Density Training."

Charles has appeared on a variety of nationally televised programs describing his fitness program.  He has also written several fitness articles for popular magazines including Men's Health.

Charles is the author of the book Muscle Logic.  He also has produced an exercise DVD that describes his training method.

And, Charles is a "celebrity trainer" for Podfitness.

I talk to Charles about how to use weight training as an effective component of a weight loss program, a running program, and a general fitness program.

There are links to Charles' website and a free e-book called The Unnatural Athlete in the reference section.

Can Good Cholesterol be Bad?

The drug company Pfizer recently halted clinical trials on a drug (torcetrapib) which raises HDL ("good") cholesterol because even though the drug was raising HDL, it was also causing higher death rates among study paticipants.

It turns out that our simplistic way of looking at cholesterol as either good or bad is not as accurate as we would like it to be.  Under some conditions HDL cholesterol may actually promote heart disease rather than prevent it.

Listen to Fitness Rocks Short Run 010 for the details.

Survival of the Sickest

In this week's program we have a telephone interview with Dr. Sharon Moalem, author of the best-selling book Survival of the Sickest. Dr. Moalem discusses the role of genetics and evolution in our current epidemics of obesity and diabetes.

Vitamin D Deficiency and Disease

Another study demonstrating the widespread prevalence of vitamin D deficiency has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  We'll discuss this study, what it means for your health, and what you should do.

Exercise in Breast Cancer Prevention and for Breast Cancer Survivors

In this episode of Fitness Rocks we have a conversation with Naomi Aronson about the role of exercise in breast cancer prevention and in the treatment of breast cancer survivors.

Naomi is an occupational therapist in New York City who works closely with breast cancer survivors.  She is a passionate advocate for women who have survived breast cancer and speaks and writes about the role of exercise in breast cancer survivors.  Her latest article on exercise for the breast cancer survivor appeared in the April 2007 edition of the IDEA Fitness Journal.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, and more than 40,000 women die each year from the disease in the USA.  Exercise has been found to have a role in preventing the cancer, and in reducing the risk of recurrence in women who have been treated for it.