Most athletes and exercise enthusiasts are aware that post-training nutrition is an important factor for improving lean muscle and supporting recovery. Clients will often guzzle down a protein shake before or after training because they know its ‘good for them’ and leave it at that. Although this is a good first step in the right direction, there is more to the protein story. There a various types of protein sources from which these ‘protein shakes’ are derived; some superior for supporting training and some better between bouts of exercise. More importantly, many commercial protein brands have ‘stuff’ in them that are can negatively affect your gut, your immunity and your overall health. Heavy metals, artificial sweeteners, and fillers can all be found in many forms of protein making them detrimental to overall health. Let’s take a look.
The most significant difference among different protein supplement is the facilities in which they ...
By: Damien Cox Sports Columnist, Toronto Star Feb 21 2013.
It was a cool, damp June day on the famed lawns of Wimbledon, and Rebecca Marino suddenly seemed very alone and very vulnerable.
Two days earlier, she had dismissed her first-round opponent in straight sets, and spoke of the immense sadness she felt being overseas while rioters destroyed parts of her hometown, Vancouver, in the wake of the 2011 Stanley Cup final. She was 20, a tall, striking young woman clearly dealing with the challenges of being away, of possible stardom, of growing up.
She had a big serve and a monster forehand. She was the same age as Milos Raonic. She had cracked the top 50 in the world, gone toe-to-toe with the great Venus Williams under the lights at the U.S. Open and appeared to be as bright a prospect as Raonic.
But she lost her next match at Wimbledon on that ...
Starting the 2013 year off on the right foot means setting new health and fitness goals. Taking the time to develop SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, results based, and trackable - goals is the key to obtaining and maintaining your progress. Whether your focus is health or athletic performance, the goals must be specific to the changes you would like to see, or the success you envision yourself having. For example, many clients come into my office wanting to lose weight, however when I ask how much weight they would like to lose or in how many weeks they often aren't sure. This is a perfect example of unspecific goal. The more specific you can make your weight loss goal, the more likely you are to achieving the result. Now, it's understandable that many clients aren't sure how much they should lose or what a 'healthy' weight loss should look ...
Athletes need to consume large amounts of protein, complex and simple carbohydrates in order to meet their energy demands, rebuild lean muscle tissue, and replenish glycogen stores. While these macronutrients are necessary for performance and recovery, they can lead to an acidic body. Proteins, grains, and simple carbohydrates are typically acidifying foods, which shifts the athletes internal acid/alkaline balance toward excess acidity. This inhibits optimal cellular function and even impact performance.
Most people think that the build-up of lactic acid is what leads to muscular failure, or that 'burn' that you experience when your muscles can no longer keep working. In fact, it's the build-up of hydrogen ions (H+) that acidify the cell - and not lactic acid - that lead to muscular failure. By maximizing you vegetable and fruit intake, athletes and active people can maintain an alkaline body and avoid the pitfalls of an acidic body. If you are ...
Toronto Star Newspaper - August 2012. Perched atop the TD Waterhouse Tower, the Clinic for Sports Medicine at the Toronto Athletic Club (TAC) has a commanding view of the city. But the masters of the universe being treated here must be immune to such thrills. They are as consumed by their smart phones as any pack of teens at a bus stop.
“These guys don’t have an hour to waste,” says Marc Bubbs, a naturopathic doctor specializing in sports Medicine. The TAC clinic is just one of the locations where he offers assistance to the city’s elite executive athletes: “Type A, successful business people work hard and play just as hard. They can afford to take their athletic training to the next level, they want quantifiable results. This treatment takes an hour, and they have to be able to work through it. And believe me, they do cost-benefit analysis on everything.”
The treatment in ...
