Sprinting is one of the essential elements to leading an optimally fit life. When I say sprinting, I mean brief, explosive all-out sprints.
They are the single best activity to promote rapid reduction of excess body fat, achieve fitness breakthroughs, flood the bloodstream with anti-aging hormones like testosterone and human growth hormone, and boost neuron function in the brain.
Sprinting is a powerful hormetic stressor - a short, natural fight or flight stimulation triggering that renewal signal that makes you more resilient not just for your next sprint workout, but for all other forms of life stress.

Improving your sprint game can help you make an assortment of breakthroughs, from fat loss to fitness peak performance in a variety of activities, and generally making you a more confident, energetic person.

When you conduct an all-out sprint, you’re asking your body to perform at a level of metabolic function some 30 times greater than your resting output. Numerous studies have shown that sprinting skyrockets growth hormone levels quickly and reliably and boosts protein synthesis (muscle building or toning) by 230 percent.

If you want to get into sprinting, let's connect and I'll help you figure it out. You don't have to be a super athlete, anybody can learn how to sprint.

Here a brief outline on how a sprint routine could look like:

• Warm-up: 10 minutes of brisk walking/slow jogging. Maintain a heart rate well below aerobic maximum. Use this formula: “180 minus age” in beats per minute.
  
• Dynamic Stretching and Preparatory Drills: Complete 5 to 10 dynamic stretches, probably lasting about 7-10 minutes.
  
• Wind Sprints: Do 3 to 5 wind sprints where you move for about 10 seconds, but only 2 seconds are at speed.
  
• Sprint: Pick a fixed distance such as half of a football field or running track straightaway, knowing that it will take you about 10 seconds to complete. Conduct between 4 and 10 sprints, taking at least 50 seconds between sprints. Quit as soon as you notice any muscle tightness, breakdown in form, a slower than typical time for the same distance, or an increase in effort needed to achieve the same time.
  
• Cool Down: Start a gradual cool down consisting of 7 - 10 minutes of light jogging or brisk walking, maintaining a heart rate below “180 minus age.” At the end, you should stop sweating, have a normal respiration rate and a heart rate near normal. If you have trouble spots, injury concerns or a rehab protocol (make sure to get your doctor’s and physical therapist’s okay before incorporating a sprint routine!), conduct your static stretches and/or foam rolling after your cool down.
  
• Active Recovery: In the following 24 - 48 hours after your sprint workout, make a devoted effort to be more active than usual with increased walking (especially frequent work breaks), dynamic stretching, foam rolling and flexibility/mobility drills. It’s now clear that the most powerful recovery tool is simply movement.
  

I listened to a great podcast the other day about why we're not burning fat the way we'd like. You may know this but I'll mention it here again, fat is primarily disposed of via the breath. Calories, as well as excess carbs and proteins, are converted into triglycerides and stored in lipid droplets of adipocytes.

Here are a few reasons why you may not burn fat:
 

• Chronic Inflammation: If you're body is chronically inflamed, you'll most likely have a hard time losing extra weight.
  
• Glycemic variability: Refers to the blood glucose variations during the day. If GV gets out of control, the body does one of two things: transfers sugar into muscles, or stores as body fat
  
• Cortisol and stress: Cortisol can suppress your insulin secretion, key for losing weight.
  
• Sleep deprivation: Not getting enough sleep can be very harmful. 
  
• Snacking and post-workout calories: The whole grazing or 6-8 small meals per day is a total myth. Snacking will increase your glycemic variability and eliminates all the great benefits of fasting.
  
• You're not moving enough: Self-explanatory, but you need to move during the day. Get up every 30-45 min.
  
• Too much exercise: If done too much, too extreme, it can lead to increased levels of cortisol & inflammation. Don't do too much of the same exercises. Get enough rest after workouts.
  
• Chronic cardio: If you do too much cardio, your body will catabolize your muscles and store fat. You'd be better off doing high-intensity cardio 2 days a week.
  
• The SAID Principle: It stands for "specific adaptation to imposed demands". Humans are amazing machines that can adapt to almost anything. So change it up, keep your body guessing, mix it up!
  
• Lack of cold therapy: Cold can be a strong metabolic stimulus. Do cold shows or cold baths for 2 min a day.
  
• Hormonal imbalance: Self-explanatory. You may want to get tested and find out if your hormones are ok.
  
• Toxin and chemical exposure: We live in a pretty dirty environment. Constant toxins and chemicals are pounding our bodies. Try to remove as much of these toxins as possible.
  
• Food allergies and intolerances: Pay very close attention to food allergies. You may "feel" funny an hour after dinner…pay close attention to that! What was it that you ate or drank?
  
• Micro-nutrient deficiencies: Many are deficient in Vitamin D, A, K2, Magnesium and so forth.
  
• Thyroid: Get your thyroids checked.
  
• Disordered eating: Eat at a regular time, otherwise, your metabolism will get irregular, too.
  

If you want to listen to the entire podcast, here is the source - click here.

Key Contributors to Inflammation

Inflammation is a vital part of our immune response. It is the body’s way of healing itself after an injury, repairing damaged tissue, and defending itself against pathogens. Looking at is from that way, inflammation is advantageous. But, inflammation can also be damaging to your health. Learning what causes inflammation can help you protect yourself.

There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic.

• Acute inflammation is your body’s natural defense against damaged cells, viruses and other harmful invaders. It starts quickly and helps the body heal itself.
• Chronic inflammation is systemic, low-grade inflammation that lasts for months or years. It is the common cause of many health issues.

An inflammatory diet, blood sugar imbalances, and leaky gut syndrome can cause chronic inflammation. Sleep loss, chronic stress, environmental toxins, and chronic infections are added factors that can lead to chronic inflammation. It is vital to understand and address these factors to attain optimal health.

8 WAYS CHRONIC INFLAMMATION CAN DAMAGE YOUR BODY

1. Memory loss & cognitive decline
2. Increased cardiovascular risk
3. Abnormal growth of healthy cells
4. Compromised digestive function
5. Loss of muscle tone
6. Weight gain
7. Accelerated skin aging
8. Joint pain and loss of mobility

Here are seven leading factors that can cause inflammation in the body. Many of these causes are related to diet and lifestyle and can be modified.

1. Eating inflammatory foods
   1. Sugar
   2. Refined carbs (white flour, white rice, white potatoes)
   3. Gluten
   4. Conventionally-raised meat and dairy
   5. Farm-raised fish
   6. Processed meats
   7. Trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils)
   8. MSG and other food additives and preservatives
   9. Highly processed vegetable and seed oils (canola, corn, sunflower, peanut, grapeseed, and safflower)
   10. Artificial Sweeteners
       
       
2. Blood sugar imbalances
   Consuming high glycemic foods, such as refined sugars and carbohydrates, causes our blood sugar to rise rapidly. When blood sugar rises, insulin is released from the pancreas to move the sugar from the blood into the cells. This spike in insulin leads to a quick drop in blood sugar and a rise in cortisol. This rapidly fluctuating pattern causes inflammation by producing inflammatory cytokines.
   
   
3. Leaky gut syndrome
   Leaky gut syndrome is a condition in which the cell lining of your gut is damaged and loses its ability to regulate what does and does not pass through. This damage is due to many different stressors, often including the consumption of GMO foods, pesticides, chlorinated water, antibiotics, and processed foods. As a result, the tight junctions become loose and larger, undigested food molecules can enter the bloodstream.
   
   
4. Chronic stress
   Chronic stress causes inflammation by modulating key inflammatory pathways. These pathways include oxidative stress, sympathetic activity, transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
   
   
5. Poor sleep habits
   Numerous studies on the effects of sleep loss have shown that mediators of inflammation are altered by sleep loss. Sleep loss induces a systemic, low-grade inflammation characterized by the release of several molecules, including cytokines and acute-phase proteins
   
   
6. Environmental toxins
   We live in a very toxic world. Environmental toxins are found in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the products we use, and the water we drink. Personal care products, household cleaners, medications, heavy metals, smoke, and mold exposure are all environmental toxins.
   
   
7. Chronic infections
   Chronic infections result from a variety of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi . They are either persistent or latent infections with a host. Pathogens escape from our immune system by modulating, or regulating, our immune response. This causes inflammation that can persist if the infection goes unresolved.
   
   

Here some healthy options that can be anti-inflammatory:

For a complete list of references and more in-depth details, go to the article source - Click Here

SSB - Sugar-Sweetened Beverage

Have you ever wondered what that sugary beverage can do to you and your health? This study published at JAMA (link below) is very interesting. Titled "Association of Sugary Beverage Consumption With Mortality Risk in US Adults".

Here some details from the study:
The research has linked sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk, but the role of nutritionally similar fruit juice and the association of these beverages with mortality risk is unknown.

Study's Objective:
To assess the association of SSBs and 100% fruit juices, alone and in combination (sugary beverages), with mortality.

Study's Results:
The findings of this study suggest that higher consumption of sugary beverages, including fruit juices, among older adults is associated with increased all-cause mortality. The metabolism of fructose, which is unique from all other sugars, occurs unregulated and almost exclusively in the liver. Fructose consumption is known to alter blood lipid levels, markers of inflammation and blood pressure, while high glucose consumption has been associated with insulin resistance and diabetes, independent of weight status. Fructose consumption may also stimulate a hormonal response that promotes fat deposition centrally. Greater central adiposity is a long-recognized cardiovascular disease risk factor. In addition, research suggests that calories consumed in liquid form can increase obesity risk owing to an incomplete compensation for the calories they contain.

Source: Jama Network

How Exposure to Blue Light Affect Your Brain & Body
 
By disrupting melatonin, smartphone light, TV screens and computer monitors can ruin sleep schedules. This can lead to all kinds of health issues.

Among these issues are:

• Disrupted sleep can impair your memory
• Poor sleep can make it hard to learn
• Overtime, not sleeping enough can lead to neurotoxin buildup
• Suppressed melatonin levels can cause depression
• Disrupted melatonin & sleep can potentially increase obesity risk

Check out the image below for more potential risks of blue light.

Source: Harvard Health Publication