bodyperformancetv.com

by Brandon Keim

Know anybody who’s using steroids and just won’t stop, despite all your good advice? Then show them this picture. (Potentially NSFW, and gross — hence its after-the-jump position.) Depicted is a 21-year-old amateur bodybuilder who arrived at a  clinic in Dusseldorf, Germany with severe acne on his chest and upper back.  He was a constant user of anabolic-androgenic steroids, of which acne is a side effect — as is damaged sperm and shrunken testicles, both of which he also possessed.

Doctors ordered the patient to quit steroids and start taking antibiotics. Two months later, the acne was gone. So was the muscle.
Only gruesome scarring remained — and as his doctors wrote last week in the Lancet, that "is likely to remain with the young man for the rest of his life."

Clinical Picture: The Dire Consequences of Doping [Lancet] Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/graphic-evidenc#ixzz0iHJyfSpo

Stephanie Pappas
LiveScience Contributor
LiveScience.com 

NBC's "The Biggest Loser" is all about records. In the past seasons, the weight-loss reality show has repeatedly set new benchmarks for heaviest contestant (454, 476 and 526 pounds), fastest 100-pound weight loss (seven weeks), and most weight lost in one week (34 pounds).

The show, which takes obese Americans and pits them against each other in a battle to lose the most weight and win $250,000, thrives on extreme numbers. But physicians and nutritionists worry the show's focus on competitive weight loss is, at best, counterproductive and, at worst, dangerous.

"They're taking people who have been inactive and are not in good shape and boom, automatically subjecting them to this stress," Carol Wolin-Riklin, the bariatric nutrition coordinator for the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, told LiveScience. "Things are going to happen."

And indeed, things have. Two patients were hospitalized after collapsing during a one-mile (1.6 km) foot race for the season 8 premiere. This year's season 9 opened with another strenuous challenge in which contestants raced 26.2 miles (42 km) on stationary bikes. Show medical consultant and UCLA professor Rob Huizenga had to drag one protesting contestant off her bike when she was stricken with severe cramps. A second contestant, 526-pound Michael Ventrella, was treated for exhaustion.

The show's producers point out that contestants are under medical supervision and say the extreme nature of the competition is inspirational for viewers.

And of course, there are serious health risks to being as obese as the Biggest Loser contestants. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer. The risks become more pronounced as the obesity becomes more severe, and losing weight is a very good idea, said Wolin-Riklin ¬- if done right.

"The way I go about encouraging healthful weight loss is by working on changes one at a time," she said. "By making these changes bit-by-bit I think you have a better shot at having long-lasting lifestyle changes."

But weight loss on "The Biggest Loser" is far removed from weight loss in the real world.

For one thing, contestants start out in worse shape than most. Seventeen of the 22 contestants have a body mass index (BMI) over 40, meaning they are severely obese. In the "real world," more than one-third of U.S. adults, or 72 million people, are considered obese with a BMI of 30 or higher, according to the CDC. But research published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the number of Americans with a BMI over 40 is just under 6 percent. In other words, the show's claim that the contestants are the "epitome" of American obesity is a bit like saying that VH1's "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels" epitomizes the American dating scene.

And then there's the exercise program. Contestants work out five to six hours a day, eating strictly supervised diets. They routinely drop double-digit pounds each week. The contestant who loses the smallest percentage of body weight can be sent home.

In reality, said physician Robert Kushner, the clinical director of the Northwestern University Comprehensive Center on Obesity, a safe rate of weight loss is about one to two pounds per week.

"I think a lot of people can feel quite defeated that they're losing weight in what we would call a recommended amount, but they would have been voted off the show immediately," Kushner told LiveScience. "So the message, to me, is just all wrong."

So is the science. Losing weight rapidly can be risky, according to Virginia Tech professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise Janet Walberg Rankin. Patients who lose weight quickly run the risk of gallstones, mineral deficiencies, loss of muscle tissue and reduced bone density.

Beginning strenuous exercise suddenly can cause problems with hydration, electrolyte balance and cardiac function. High impact workouts can put an extra load on already-stressed bones. At least two contestants in Biggest Loser history have struggled with stress fractures.

Risks aside, weight-loss experts say that the biggest problem with the Biggest Loser is that extreme methods of dropping pounds are less likely to work in the long run. Several former Biggest Loser contestants have regained some or all of the weight, which doesn't surprise Kushner.

"They're not working with a trainer every day, they're not on national TV every day, they're back to life," he said. "It's very difficult to sustain."

While researchers aren't sure if repeated cycles of weight lost and weight gained are more dangerous than staying overweight or obese, the psychological toll of failing to keep weight off can be grim, said Kushner. People often feel like failures and become hopeless about their health.

Those looking for a safe way to lose weight or get healthier permanently should make small changes, Kushner said, like gradually increasing exercise or substituting healthy foods for unhealthy ones. In the real world, slow, steady and committed wins the race.

"We're not looking for extreme makeovers in someone's lifestyle," Kushner said. "We're looking for changes that they can sustain long-term."

Casein and Whey Protein – Both are the primary proteins found in milk. About 20% of the protein in milk is whey and the other 80% is casein.  Both are high quality proteins but whey is known as a fast protein.  That’s because it’s quickly broken down into amino acids and absorbed into your bloodstream.   This makes it a good protein to drink after your workouts.  Casein, on the other hand, is digested more slowly, so it’s ideal for providing your body with a steady supply of small amounts of protein for longer periods of time.   

Which is best?  Either will provide your body (and muscles) with the raw materials for growth.

Protein Concentrate – The cheapest form of most proteins. It contains slightly higher amounts of fats and carbohydrates than more pure versions and can become clumpy and hard to mix by hand.   However, it provides the same muscle-building benefits. In the case of casein it’s referred to as “caseinate.”

Protein Isolate – A protein that’s more pure than concentrate. Meaning it contains less fat and carbohydrates, and is also easier to mix.

Hydrolyzed or Hydrosylate Protein – A protein that’s been broken down into smaller fractions than are in a concentrate or isolate, allowing it to be absorbed into your bloodstream more quickly.  However, when it comes to casein hydrosylate this defeats the purpose since the benefit of consuming casein is that it’s absorbed slowly.

Micellar Casein or Isolated Casein Peptide – An expensive protein composed almost entirely of pure casein ensuring slow and steady absorption.

~But if you're not geting as big or as strong as you'd like, it's probably not your protein intake. It's mostly your workout or possibly your carbohydrate intake!

A member asked me, “If it’s just calories in and calories out, do we have to worry about fats?”  Here was my answer.

Example: Person's A and B are the same weight, do the same things, and eat the same amounts. But A seems to be losing weight faster than B.  WHY?   A is in better shape so his body uses calories easier AND uses more FAT calories than B.  What can B do?

Two things. He can start exercising more (not just to burn more calories which will help) but to get in better shape so his body is more willing to utilize calories AND use more fat calories. AND he can eat foods that have less fat.  This is because RIGHT NOW his body is more likely to store the fat AS fat and less likely to use it as energy.

This is where real understand of the body comes in but just cutting calories WILL cause weight loss.  I also want people to realize by eating fewer fats they can eat more without taking in as many calories helping to fill them up.

Everybody wants great abdominals or a flat stomach but nobody is sure how to get them. A nice looking stomach looks nice because 1) it has little fat and 2) because it’s toned. Therefore, the first thing we need to do is remove as much excess fat from the body as possible. The most effective way to do this is diet and cardio, not sit-ups or crunches. It’s diet and cardio that burn the greatest amount of fat. By creating a consistent calorie deficit fat loss will occur helping the abdominal muscles to be more visible. If people have a significant amount of body fat I don’t suggest they perform abdominal exercises until they’ve lost weight because the fat actually adds additional weight when performing the exercise and creates a physical impediment. It gets in the way. Once the fat has been removed then I suggest starting an abdominal exercise program. And this can be as simple as working up to 100 crunches 3-4 times week. Many people do 20-30 minute “ab” classes thinking this will give them a great six pack, but it won’t because this type of activity burns very calories. It would be better to do a few sets of crunches (2 x 50) and then go for a 30 minute walk!