Study Spotlight: Load on the Knee Joint and Vertebral Column w/ Changes in Squatting Depth and Weight Load

By: Joel Luedke

This is another literature review that is trying to glean as much truth out of previous studies as possible and it is a good one and we think it is very important.  There is a lot of misinformation on squats and squat form and we can getting deeper into the details of squat technique in another posts.  In this one we are looking at depth and the saying 'going below parallel for the squat is bad for the knee'.  Is it really that bad for you to go below parallel or is it a thing that was said and just stuck?  Check it out below.

What They Did:

Researchers took a look at the literature in regards to knee and lumbar position when squatting.  They reviewed over 164 articles  just from between 2011 and 2103.

What They Found:

Based on the review of all the biomechanical calculations and measurements they could find via cadaver knee joints they found that the highest retropatellar compression forces and stresses can be seen at 90deg.  Researchers also found that with increase knee flexion there are several forces that help to make the squat easier on their knees.  The wrapping effect* contributes to better load distribution and enhanced force transfer with lower compressive forces on the back of the patella.  There is also increases in displacement between the surfaces of the femur and tibia.

What It All Means:

The hard part about all of this there are no realistic estimations of knee-joint forces for knee-flexion angles beyond 50 deg in the deep squat.  Going to parallel (90deg) can actually put a lot more stress on your knees and especially as they found in the literature.  This presents a problem when we are told to stop at parallel and then come back out of the squat.  We are directly putting as much force as possible on the back of our patella when we do so.

There appears to be no good evidence of degenerative changes in the tendon femoral complex and nothing found in creating more long term injury or damage to the knee.  In fact due to the increases in space, the wrapping effect and decrease in retropatellar force going deeper in your squats can actually be protective of your knees.

Bottom line; when the squat is performed properly and technique is good you are safe to work below parallel (90deg) of knee flexion, in fact it is actually safer than stoping at parallel.  Keep squatting, work on getting low and save your knees.

*Wrapping Effect: With increasing flexion the additional contact between the quadriceps tendon and the intercondylar notch as the tendofemoral support surface contributes to an enhanced load distribution and enhanced force transfers.

LINK: Analysis of the Load of the Knee Joint and Vertebral Column with Changes in Squatting Depth and Weight Load

Mobility Monday: Lower Body Active Isolated Stretching

Instead of just giving you on video with a couple tidbits of information we wanted to give you a bunch of videos to help out with your potential lower body tightness.  If you're into weightlifting, running or just generally being active odds are your lower body gots sore and tight.  This is especially true if you have to sit around for a good part of the day due to your job.  This is linked up to our Optimization Rec' of the Week the Stretching Strap.  Easy to use and inexpensive and great for this type of stretching.

Things It Helps: 
-Low Back Pain
-Lower Body Soreness
-Decreased Range of Motion

Friday Food: Buffalo Chicken Cutlets w/ Cauliflower Rice

Gave the cauliflower rice a try last night and not going to lie, pretty good stuff.  Combining almost anything with buffalo chicken makes it pretty awesome and we think this recipe is no exception.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

-1/4 cup sour cream

-1/4 cup mayonnaise

-1 lemon, (additional wedges for serving)

-2 tbsp. white vinegar

-2 tbsp chopped scallions (more for garnish)

-1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Kosher Salt

-Black Pepper

-1/2 cup grated parmesan

-2 cups panko bread crumbs

-1/4 cup hot sauce

-1/4 cup butter, melted

-1 cup all-purpose flour

-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded 1/2"-thick

-2 tbsp butter

Game Plan: 

1. Make buffalo sauce: in a small bowl, mix blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, 2 tbsp lemon juice, vinegar, and scallions.  Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

2. In a food processor, pulse cauliflower until texture resembles rice. (Do not over process.)  In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat 2 tbsp olive oil.  Add cauliflower rice and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes, then stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan.

3. Prepare station to bread chicken cutlets with three medium bowls: one with bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan, another with a mixture of hot sauce and melted butter, and the last bowl with flour.  Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.  Add each piece of chicken to flour to fully coat, shaking off excess, then dip into hot sauce mixture, and lately coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat.

4. In a large skillet, hat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add two pieces chicken and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper.  Add remaining tbsp butter and olive oil and add remaining chicken.  Serve chicken over cauliflower rice and a squeeze of lemon topped with buffalo sauce and scallions.

Study Spotlight: How Much Time is Needed to Change Fascia?

By: Joel Luedke

Every Monday we post about mobility.  We don't always have it be foam rolling and it can be stretches but we wanted to dive deeper into the research of actually facilitating change with myofascial work.  We take a look at how long your really need to work on your tissues and those tight spots before you actually can get change.

What They Did:

In this study the researchers took 40 subjects with low back pain and utilized Fascial Manipulation technique in order to change the state of the fascia and 'release' it.  What the researchers were looking at is the time it took to modify a placatory sensation of fibrosis of the fascia in correlation with changes in levels of discomfort in the patient.

What They Found:

This was/is one of the first studies that took a look at this ability to change fascia via this form of measurement.  What they found was that the time required to modify an apparent fascial density differs in accordance with differences in characteristics of the subjects and of their symptoms.

The specific details were that the mean time to halve the pain was 3.24 minutes.  An interesting finding along with that is that subjects with symptoms that presented for less than 3 months ('sub-acute') the mean time was 2.58 minutes and for those patients with chronic pain it was 3.29.

What It All Means:

The results of this study show that the time required to affect change in fascia is somewhat significant.  As referenced above we talk about the minimal effective dose being between 1-2 minutes and that still might be true for tissue that isn't 'injured'.  The results very much bring to light though that you can't just roll back and forth over the foam roller and expect to create lasting change in the underlying fascia and tissues.  You may very well feel better after the rolling either with a stick or the foam roller but the changes are not lasting.

At some point to actually change what you're feeling and avoiding constant reoccurrence you have to spend some good time on a spot that requires it.  That can be working by just sitting on that spot or working very close to that area and using a 'contract/relax', rolling side to side or small oscillations over that tight spot.

Happy rolling and spend that time to resolve the issues.

Resource: How much time is required to modify a fascial fibrosis?

My Biggest Misconceptions Growing Up: Nutrition Edition

By: Joel Luedke

I often wish I could go back to my days of trying to be a relatively decent high school athlete with any part of the knowledge I have gained in my career and do it all over.  So many things I have learned through college, grad school and just from working in the field that make me think back and wonder what I was doing then.

I didn't have the chance to take classes in high school so my knowledge of working out and training came from muscle magazines and if I happened to stumble across anything else.  I didn't

know where to look online and the thought of trying to find a book on the topic, well that just wasn't in the cards.

This mini series is going to cover nutrition, performance and general care and mobility misconceptions that I personally fell into when I was coming along in my own working out.

Any Calorie is a Good Calorie

I wanted to get big and strong.  From what I could find you needed to go into a bulking phase and that meant eat anything and everything that you can to put in the calories so they would benefit the workouts.  That ended up working out in multiple chocolate milks which weren't a bad choice but the extra donuts and not just doing school lunch but doing curly fries and cheese curds.

In hindsight this seems pretty obvious that it wasn't the best way to go.  While yes I needed the extra calories they aren't all created equal.  When going into a phase of trying to add muscle or just trying to maintain body composition the types of calories you eat do matter.  You can't just throw in random calories as its going to have so effects that you won't quite appreciate.  A calorie isn't always a calories and your body responds very different to 100g of carbs vs. 100g of protein and you have to take that into consideration.

If a Supplement Says it Works, It Does

In general I believe in supplements but after many years of learning and more money spent than I care to think about I don't believe in all supplements.  There was a lot of money I spent on things that claimed big results and well, not much happened.  This ranged from very expensive, fancy, up and coming combinations that promised unlocking hidden genes you hadn't reached yet....that apparently doesn't happen with a pill.  Other things like L-Glutamine that can be very beneficial maybe shouldn't be high on this list of immediate priorities.  It can have a good effects but shouldn't be option 2 or 3.

What I should have done is clean up my diet, stick to the basics of supplementation and focus on those areas.  No need to chase a short cut that doesn't exist.

Fat is the Enemy-Stay Away, Far, Far Away

This is one of these topics we have talked a lot about on TAT and the research coming out on ketogenic diets is extremely promising.  Not all fat is created equal so you can't just go after it all and think things are going to work.  That being said you don't have to be afraid of the word either. Putting in more options like coconut oil, avocados and eating more nuts can be hugely beneficial for your diet and your health.  Getting high doses of Omega-3s is a good thing and makes for a better operating body and some potential repairing of nervous tissues is too good to pass up.

Not all fat is created equal and not all fat is bad.

Gatorade is Best For Replenishing Your Body (Propel as well)

AJ talked about Gatorade in the article below and I wish I would have known more about this growing up. While it can be helpful in certain situations just because it is a 'sport drink' does not make it healthy.  Therefore you should not be drinking it all day everyday because of the high levels of sugar and acid in the drink.  This can cause so many problems over the long term that you just don't need.  There are many other solid options for rehydrating and refueling your body such as old school water.  Looking back I would not drink my calories as much as I did and stick to the basics.

Article: Gatorade: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

You Need Caffeine (RedBull, Mountain Dew, Etc... to Get Ready for Your Game)

There are a lot of studies out there showing the beneficial effects of caffeine on performance, that part I'm not arguing and saying I may have messed up back in the day.  The part I messed up was the path in how I took it and the timing of it all.   Slamming RedBull and other caffeinated drinks right before a competition a) wasn't smart because of the GI problems it can produce and b) the effects weren't coming online until much later than I wanted them to.

Just utilizing basic caffeine supplements prior to warm up without the excess sugar would have set me up to have the effects kicking in right at game time.  This would have kept me from any GI problems and spared me the excess sugar I didn't really need.

Article: Caffeine and Timing

While none of these things probably really hindered me in the long run I could have done much better with not so little things that would have made a huge difference.  I also think there are a lot of things that could have saved me time and money which is never a bad thing either.

Next topic up, My Biggest Misconceptions in Performance.

Mobility Monday: Adductor Smash

"I think my groin is tight".  Chances are you're right.  Unless you're a gymnast or just very fortunate to have good mobility through your hips (given or earned) I bet your adductors (aka groin) is glued down and extremely tight.  We can attest to this so when we send this out we are doing it just as much for our own.

Our lives of sitting down and not always moving laterally have been a huge reason why these muscles get so tight and lock down.  It may not feel great getting them moving but it is well worth it when you do.

What It Helps:
-Restricted Hip Mobility
-Upper Hamstring Pain
-Anterior Hip Pain

Friday Food: No Bread Grilled Cheese. Cauliflower Please!

Via: Corissa Conard 

Many with gluten intolerances will appreciate this mock grilled cheese sandwich. The addition of other veggies such as spinach, tomatoes, and basil, and/or salsa will give it bulk as well as an extra nutrient boost.

Ingredients:

-1 Head Cauliflower

-3 Whole Eggs

-1 Package Sliced Cheddar Cheese

-Palm Full Parmesan Cheese

-~5 tbsp Italian Seasoning

Directions:

-Cut cauliflower head into chunks, put pieces into food processor or blender and blend until

coarse.  NOTE: If using a blender, start with small portions and add in an egg or liquid to make the process smoother.  Shake and stir if chunks stick to bottom.

-After cauliflower is finely coarse, put in a large bowl.

-Add in eggs and seasoning.

-Stir until cauliflower is well moistened.  

-Turn on grill or stove top to medium/medium-high heat and add a dab of olive oil to the pan.

-Scoop a portion of the cauliflower mixture, shape into two bread slices and grill both sides before doing desired cheese slices to one "slice". 

-Stack, let cheese melt, and enjoy!

Study Spotlight: Use of Dx Ultrasound to Quantify Tissue Changes After Dry Needling of Myofascial Trigger Points

By: Joel Luedke

Well if I haven't lost you already due to the name of the blog post I promise it is worth your while. Dry needling has been a relatively new and very rapidly upcoming treatment for a multitude of pathologies.  There has been great promise being shown in the treatment of soft tissue/musculoskeletal injury as well as tendinopathies.  Utilizing this technique along with diagnostic ultrasound for exact treatment takes it to another level and this article takes a look at a new way to get more out of a dry needling treatment.

What They Did: 

Researchers in this study used a newer scale of measuring muscle tissue properties called the mechanical heterogeneity index.  This index is measured utilizing vibration elastography which can give a mechanical reading of the quality of the muscle tissue that you are observing.  

In this study they utilized patients that were having myofascial pain in their upper trapezius.  The trigger points that are thought to be causing the pain were evaluated on the mechanical heterogeneity scale, via pressure-pain threshold and palpation.  Patients were then in an interventional treatment of 3 weekly dry-needling treatments for the active myofascial trigger points.

What They Found:

The basics of what the researchers found was with dry needling treatments the trigger points did response and they were able to see with with the mechanical heterogeneity index.  They also saw improvements with palpation and with the pressure-pain threshold with a majority of the trigger points they measured.

What It All Means:

The cool thing that comes out of this study is not that dry needling works, most people could have told you that prior to any studies from their own personal experience, but that there is an objective way to quantitatively measure the resolution of trigger points.  While utilizing vibration elastography is new and still kind expensive you may wonder why we need it.  I think these results give way to a much bigger potential of utilization of the technology not just for trigger points that are commonly felt and when treated can also been seen as resolved.  I think this opens up a door for very complex pain pathologies such as complex regional pain syndrome and fibromyalgia.  If there can be an objective way to find and quantify the trigger points that could be underlying these pathologies it may hold a new hope for conservative treatment.

Either way it is really cool to be able to compare the subjective feeling of relief with true change in tissue quality.  Check out a full demonstration below.

Clinically Pressed Clinical Insight-Cait Larsen: Dry Needling

Making Intermittent Fasting Work for You

By: Joel Luedke

Intermittent fasting (IF) has become a very good option for people when it comes to a diet (or a lifestyle choice).  There are many significant benefits to intermittent fasting and as more research keeps coming out it only looks to be getting better.  There are many adaptations to intermittent fasting that can be utilized and that is the goal of this article, to summarize some of the basics and

certain adaptations you can make to intermittent fasting based on your lifestyle.  This is not all inclusive, its not meant to be, but hopefully will help outline the benefits and ideas behind intermittent fasting.

The Basics

Why it works and Benefits:

The main goal of IF it to help control your blood sugar and insulin levels throughout the day and getting your body to work its energy use from your fat stores.  Having a fasting window of between 14-20 hours allows your body tow work into this state.  Utilizing fat and running off of ketones as your energy source can be highly beneficial not only for body composition but also your performance (for more look into Ketogenic diets)

Another big benefit to IF is the killing off of cells (autophagy) that are already working through that process.   Our body does this naturally by cleaning up toxins and damaged cells.  This can be a huge benefit, even though it doesn't sound appealing on the surface.  As cells mutate and slowly start dying naturally they are exposed to the potential changes and going down a dangerous path (potential long term disease).  Having the ability to make sure these cells continue to their inevitable demise is good in that it can help prevent some of these potentially dangerous diseases later on.

Now on to the how.

Intermittent Fasting Options

Straight Up Intermittent Fasting

There are several options in terms of how you can break down your fasting vs. feeding windows with intermittent fasting (IF).  The most common break down is a 16 hour fast followed by a 8 hour feeding window.  The most common times for this is eating between 12:00pm and 8:00pm and then starting your fast after your last meal.  You can take this further and extend your fasting window to whatever you'd like and can sustain whether it be 18-20 hours if you function well and can still get calorie requirements in during the feeding window.

Per Dr. Jim Stoppani's recommendation the more you can make your first meal as pure protein as you can the better results yielded moving into your feeding window.  Save your biggest meal for last in the night and try very hard to not snack or have any calories outside of your feeding window.

Athletes

This area gets a little tricky as athletes are going to need to be in a constant state of refueling and repairing.  IF might not be the best option especially if an athlete is looking to maintain and potentially increase body weight.  I would most likely recommend another 'diet' for them.  Anyway, if you would choose to go this route this is how I would go about it and tweak it.  Following both Dr. Stoppani's idea of your first meal being protein and stealing Tim Ferriss's idea of 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking up (via Slow Carb Diet) this is what I'd suggest.

Cut your feeding window as early as you can at night, 6:00-7:00pm and then in the morning utilize an entirely protein meal as early as possible.  Think pure protein as much as possible with mild fat (eggs, bacon/sausage (turkey if able)).  Then try and push back the start of your feeding window to 2:00-3:00pm.  This will allow bouts of fasting and not a spike in insulin with that morning meal.  This should help out with fat loss but not losing the lean muscle mass you are working hard to keep and/or gain because of the repairing process and the access to protein in the morning.

Keto Adjusted IF

This has become my new personal go to and it is also based around the Bulletproof Diet.  I personally need something in the morning to be in my stomach or else my stomach reacts not well and hence I get "hangry".  In order to rectify that I go with the Bulletproof Style coffee and adding butter and MCT oil to the coffee.  This is enough energy and fulfillment for me that it keeps me going through the morning and does a good job or not breaking the 'fast' too much.  The fat is a

good energy source and does not spike your blood sugar as adding sugar, creamer or other typical breakfast foods would.  The whole goal of the fat in the morning is to stay into a mild state of 'ketosis' that you get from IF.

You follow the other aspects of IF but going high protein for lunch (me either a protein shake or steak and eggs).  The feeding window also remains the same but I save as many of the carbs as i can for dinner.  Helps with recovery and also gives you the good feeling of being full at the end of the day.

Intermittent Fasting can be a very solid way to lose and maintain weight.  You can still eat and have the food you want but it has to be within your feeding window.  This allows freedom of food choice but also the results.  It might be something worth giving a try and we hope this article was helpful in getting you started.

Study Spotlight: The Limit to Exercise Tolerance in Humans: Mind over Muscle

By: Joel Luedke

Exhaustive exercise and competition is not fun, its really hard.  It always feels that your body is going to give up on you and that everything fatigues out and thats the end of it.  That idea has been challenged by the 'Central Governors Theory'.  This theory states that your mind will shut down your body plenty before it will hit levels of full exhaustion.  This is a function of trying to protect

your body from damage.  This study takes a look at that same idea and if it is truly your body that shuts you down at exhaustion or your mind.  

What They Did:

In this experiment they measured maximal voluntary cycling power before and immediately after exhaustive cycling exercise (at 80% of peak aerobic power measured during a preliminary incremental exercise test).  Perceived Exertion was also measured during the cycling.

What They Found:

What was found was a very strong correlation between perceived exertion during exhaustive cycling exercise was strongly correlated with the time to exhaustion.

What It All Means:

This one took me a little while to figure out how to exactly explain but I think I got it and have some other areas to back it up.  What they authors of the study found was that the long-standing assumption that muscle fatigue causes exhaustion during high-intensity aerobic exercise isn't quite right and that exercise tolerance in highly motivated subjects is ultimately limited by perception of effort.

We can see that because the testing was at 80% of peak aerobic power and that peak power was tested again after the exhaustive bout of exercise.  Peak power rates were found to be the same if not higher even after the hard bout of exercise.

This is what leads to the idea that it isn't central or peripheral muscle fatigue that is the ultimate cause of exhaustion in exercise and it might be the mind that makes you give up first.  This opens up a lot of things to improve your performance or potentially cause you some problems along the way if you try and push your body too far (super motivated).  Overall I believe that it tells you that

you can push your body to a higher level but you need to have the mental capacity and motivation to do so.  Remember, you might have more in the tank than you believe.  

LINK: The Limit to Exercise in Humans: Mind Over Muscle

Self Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM)

By: Joel Luedke

We post every Monday some great mobility exercises (usually compliments of Kelly Starrett) where you use a foam roller, med ball, lacrosse ball, band or some other apparatus to help increase the pliability of your tissues and increase range of motion (ROM) at your joints.  These tools are great but sometimes you need to get after the tissues a little more.  If you've gone to an athletic trainer, chiropractor, physical therapist, or massage therapist they may have used some sort of instrument to help mobilize the tissue.  That is what we are going to talk about and how you can utilize it yourself to get your tissues moving.

First, a little background.  The general origin story (at least the one I know) started back in eastern medicine with the type of treatment call gua sha or 'sand scarping'.  The initial instrument they used to treat the soft tissue was a traditional soup ladle. Practitioners would use the bigger bowl end of the ladle to hit the bigger areas of tissue restriction and then work down to the smaller handle in order to hit more specific areas and also to work the smaller areas of the body.  Since then things have evolved.

While that is a great story it doesn't explain what instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) actually does for you.  The goal of the treatment is two-fold (probably more but we will cover the main ones here).  The first is the mechanical changes you are looking to create by utilizing a tool across the skin and soft tissue.  Here you are trying to physically break up restrictions and adhesions that can form by general healing from working out and also when recovering from injury.  This is the 'grittiness' you will feel with the scan and broad strokes below. Also what you are trying to accomplish is from the physiological side.  That comes from creating micro-trauma.  The goal of this is to create enough injury that it helps force the healing of the area but not create to much injury that it can't heal.  This is a fine line of the treatment.

After the history lesson and general background lets talk about how you can utilize this technique to take care of your own soft tissues.

Step 1: Scanning

These strokes are the lightest that you will use.  You're using this to figure out what areas you might want to focus on throughout the soft tissue/tendon areas.  This should be light and not be over a 1-2/10 on the pain scale.  This is highly effective to target your treatment and also might just feel good if you're a little sore and tight.

Step 2: Broad Strokes

This is where we are trying to get the bigger areas of adhesions and restrictions that occur in the muscles belly.  Not often will we use these for smaller areas and tendons.  There are differing opinions on which direction you should focus these strokes.  Either working towards the heart and back to the main part of your body or work away from the main part of the body.  These broad stokes can be utilized with potential swelling in the area and should for the most part be worked back to the body.

LINK: Scanning Video

Step 3: Specific Strokes

These are specialized strokes to help work through more specific areas of restriction and adhesion. Use these after your broad strokes so you know where to focus your more detailed work.  These strokes can be as simple as quick strokes over the areas of restriction to reduce the tightness.  You can also work perpendicular across the tight area to also free up the tissue.  One of the last types of strokes you can add in is the J-Stroke (LINK: Massage J-Stroke-Use tool instead) which will allow you to work around and through the adhesions and free up the tissue.

Step 4: Post Treatment

As with any soft tissue work such as massage or foam rolling you should rehydrate as much as you can and get your body filled back up with water.  You will also want to do some sort of rehab or activity to help your body realign the fibers in your body that you have just been working on.  This

could include biking for lower body work, going out for a quick run or utilizing a couple simple and easy rehab exercises utilizing the muscles you just worked.  This will help you get everything moving correctly and set up for healing.

You can fix a lot of stuff on your own if you take the time and really work at the tissues.  As always check with someone before you get to far into self-treatment and double check with professionals if questions or concerns come up.  If things are getting better on your own, find a soft tissue specialist, set an appointment, learn a few things and the maybe give it a try again.

There are many things you can use for IASTM.  I've used different edges of a pair of medical shears, a spoon and also a butter knife.  Here are some more professional options:
-Gua Sha Set (Jade)
-Gua Sha Set (Titanium)
-The Edge

Mobility Monday: Barbell Quickies

When is a barbell for more than lifting weights?  When you can use it as a mobilization tool to help getting missing motions back and improve your lifts that way.  This video shows a couple great examples to help out your shoulder tightness and improve ROM.  It also shows you how adding a ball to the barbell takes those mobilizations to the next level.  Give these a try.

Things it Helps:
-First Rib Mobilization
-Decreases on Shoulder Range of Motion
-Shoulder Impingement

Friday Food: Lemon Dill Shrimp

Shrimp always seems like it would be a treat, not something you eat everyday because well sometimes at least for me it feels overwhelming to cook them.  Than I found this recipe and am not going to lie, was a little embarrassed of how easy this is and then asked myself "why don't I eat more shrimp?"  Solid seafood item with good protein and some extra omegas.  Try this one if you're wanting to fancy it up a little bit without stretching your cooking skills too far.

Ingredients: 

            3 cloves garlic, minced

            1/3 cup olive oil (I'd switch to coconut oil for cooking, better for you in the long run)

            1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

            2 tbsp lemon juice

            1/3 cup fresh dill, minced

The Game Plan

-In a large skillet, cook the garlic in the oil until soft, stirring frequently.  

-Stir in the shrimp and cook until just pink.  

-Add the lemon juice and dill and blend well. 

Serves 4.

Study Spotlight: A Smartphone Application for Personal Assessments of Body Composition and Phenotying

By: Joel Luedke

"The scale doesn't lie" isn't exactly a true statement.  While yes it tells you how much overall weight you are losing it takes into no account what type of weight and it also doesn't account for the fact that if you're working out you are potentially adding muscle which will add weight.  This combination can make for great frustration as things might be going very well but the scale does not say so.

This is where body composition is vital to your success.  While we are tracking our body

composition we are able to make sure things are going in the right direction even if the scale doesn't show you as much results as you might want.  Testing body composition can be tough if you don't have access to the gold standards of testing but in this Study Spotlight we take a look at a potential alternative.

What They Did: 

Researchers in this study compared two options for looking at personal assessments of body phenotype.  The two types they compared were a smartphone application of digital photography vs. dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA, the gold standard).  How the smartphone application worked was by utilizing the percent (%) occupancy of an individual lateral whole body digital image and regions indicative of adipose accumulation associated with increased risk of cardio-metabolic disease.

In the study they measured 117 healthy adults (63 females and 54 males aged 19 to 65).

What They Found:

The results they found were very promising.  On one end the variability of difference between testers was only 0.02%.  This tells us it can work for multiple different people to use and still be accurate.

Researchers found that the differences between predicted and measure fat mass values were very small ranging between 0.02kg and 0.07kg for females and males respectively.

What It All Means:

As we stated above know your body composition is one of the best ways to track your actual progress when it comes to working out, dieting and losing weight.  The scale can sometimes lie to you and give you false results that you aren't really losing that much.  The hard part about getting your body fat checked is finding one of the more reliable ways to get it measure, namely the BodPod and the DEXA Scan.  If this smartphone app is actually as accurate as these initial findings indicate then it would be a very inexpensive way to track your body fat and get a great idea of what your progress it.

We hope to see this continue to improve.

LINK: A Smartphone Application for Personal Assessments of Body Composition and Phenotyping