Articles on Health, Fitness and Nutrition

Female Anatomy and Fitness Training 7 May 2006

Let’s for a minute remind ourselves about the differences between men’s and women’s anatomy. We all know that men’s physiques are bigger, taller, hips are narrower and the collarbone is wider. Muscle mass in men is more developed due to the higher production of the hormone testosterone and men are generally stronger than women. Due to the higher muscle mass men can store more glycogen than women, therefore men can afford to eat more carbohydrates and calories in total than women with a lower risk of storing them as body fat. Read More ...

A Few Words About Nutrition 2 July 2006

In order to survive, every living organism needs a constant supply of nutrients. Humans are not exempt. Throughout our evolution we were constantly struggling to secure enough food and in the process adapting to the living environment. Our ability to adapt to different environments has resulted in our current shape and body content. Our anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are the results of adaptation through a period of some 4 million years. Our genetic engineering is the same as it was in our ancestors some 100 thousand years ago. We are literally the same people but living in a very different environment and with very different lifestyles. Read More ...

Exercise Has Anti-Aging Effects 8 Oct 2006

Not only does exercise make most people feel better and perform physical tasks better, it now appears that exercise - specifically, resistance training - actually rejuvenates muscle tissue in healthy senior citizens. A recent study, co-led by Buck Institute faculty member Simon Melov, PhD, and Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, of McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, involved before and after analysis of gene expression profiles in tissue samples taken from 25 healthy older men and women who underwent six months of twice weekly resistance training, compared to a similar analysis of tissue samples taken from younger healthy men and women. The results of the study appear in the on-line, open access journal PLoS One. Read More ...

Resistance Training in Pregnancy 5 Feb 2007

For a majority of people weight training is still rather an opportunistic experience rather than a definite answer to getting and staying in great shape over the long run. Linking weight training to pregnancy is something that even top medical authorities and obstetricians haven’t contemplated yet. But, knowing that resistance training is the safest, most effective and most controlled physical activity available to men and women, I never had a single doubt that this kind of training would be very beneficial to pregnant women too! Read More ...

Resistance Training Versus Aerobic Exercise 03 April 2007

For years, aerobic training has been synonymous with fat loss. Once your waistline has gone over the limit and your trousers become too tight, the first thing that will come to your mind is aerobic training. How many times have you said to yourself: “I need to start jogging or do some serious aerobic training in the gym 5 times per week in order to get rid of these love handles?” So, you’ve run and run, and pedalled that bike over and over again and spent countless hours on the walking machine hoping and trying to get tighter and leaner. Every morning you’ve looked in the mirror to check how much you’ve achieved the previous evening and after months and months of going up and down in body weight you’re still confident that aerobic training will eventually give you the body you want. But, it didn’t and won’t. Read More ...

Everybody Can 03 Jan 2008

During my many long years of training and advising people in the fields of fitness, nutrition and lifestyle, I have experienced countless cases of fear, low confidence, low self-esteem and the underestimating of peoples’ own capabilities. If I had to recount the most common phrase that people use in order to defend their current unsatisfactory physical and fitness states, it would definitely be: “I’m not one of those people who can do it…” The reasons that can lead a person to think this way are many, but the most common ones are due to age, gender, fitness level, amount of fitness and nutritional understanding, professional engagement, lack of time, and lack of professional advice. Read More ...

Back Pain: Cause and Prevention 13 Jan 2008

Back pain is probably one the most common self-inflicted conditions that troubles millions of people on a regular basis. It is important to remember that the majority of back problems, both acute and chronic, are self-inflicted and caused usually by long-term bad habits in nutrition and/or physical conditions. Inactivity, bad posture, over exposure and over use of the back muscles, incorrect back movements, obesity, and poor nutrition are some of the major factors that contribute to back pain. Over a period of time, these factors disturb the synergy of the bodily systems and the synergy within the muscular system. Read More ...

Eat to Save Your Life 19 Jan 2008

On 16 January. 2008, Channel 4 presented a program in the UK entitled “Eat to Save Your Life”. Being professionally involved in nutrition, life coaching, fitness consultancy and personal training for over 20 years, I had welcomed this program with great expectations.

The fact is that we have a big health problem in our society and that problem is just getting bigger and bigger each year and the speed at which general health has deteriorated in last 20 years is astonishing! People these days are over weight more than ever before, we have more obese people than ever, diabetes rates are consistently going up, cardiovascular diseases are killing more and more people, cancer is more wide spread than ever, while allergies and tooth decay are almost normal occurrences. All the while it seems that we are powerless to change that situation towards the better. Read More ...

The Story of Carbs and Energy 22 Jan 2008

It was late 1982. My new friend, dedicated bodybuilder Dusko Popovski, and I were spending hours trying to discover the secret of muscle growth and increased strength. We would sit in my room during winter, with the heat all the way up, reading and translating bodybuilding magazines from all around the world. The dominant information and “undisputed truth” that was being broadcast in those magazines back then regarding nutrition was that energy equals carbohydrates. The message was clear: if you want to become stronger you have to eat lot of carbohydrates! And if you want to become even stronger, you will have to really get serious and try to stuff yourself with carbohydrates until they start pouring out of your nose!  Since every one in those days, and probably now as well, wanted to get as strong as possible, the outcome was easily predictable. At the end of the day, carbohydrate rich food was and still is very cheap, and if it gives you so much energy and strength, bingo! The magic answer was there, available for every one!. Read More ...