Category: Weight Loss Exercise

I have seen a few articles recently on a form of training injury that can be quite dangerous. This condition is known as Rhabdomyolysis.

If you have ever worked out hard after not doing weights in a while, or run for the first time in a long time, you are very very aware of the muscle soreness that can occur.

Sometimes though, well trained people will transition from one type of exercise to a brand new one and the possiblilty exists for them to really fry their muscles badly and get this condition called Rhabdomyolysis.

What is Rhabdomyolysis?

Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle tissue that leads to the release of muscle fiber contents into the blood. These substances are harmful to the kidney and often cause kidney damage. This means the kidneys cannot remove waste and concentrated urine. In rare cases, rhabdomyolysis can even cause death.

As you can see from the image to the right the kidneys are having trouble clearing toxins and muscle fibers and your urine would be a brownish color.

This is a very very bad thing to have happen.

If you see this make sure you go to an emergency room immediately to get your electrolytes adjusted as well as blood cleaned, possibly with dialysis.

When muscle is damaged, a protein called myoglobin is released into the bloodstream. It is then filtered out of the body by the kidneys. Myoglobin breaks down into substances that can damage kidney cells.

 

There are a lot of causes for this. Not just this idea of pushing muscles really hard but also, trauma or crush injuries, use of drugs such as cocaine and other stimulants, genetic muscle diseases, extremes of body temperature.

In fact this issue was first discovered not in athletes, but in victims of an earthquake back in the early years of the 20th century.

What Does Research Say About Rhabdomyolysis?

I first saw an article on the Today site when I heard about this issue on the radio a couple mornings ago, the article was called   Thinking about signing up for spin class? Read this warning first. I know, this is classic fear mongering but here is how that article started.

Lauren Peterson figured taking a spin class would be a great way to get in shape. But after less than 15 minutes of intense pedaling she felt nauseous and nearly passed out.

Two days later the 33-year-old Bronx schoolteacher’s urine had turned dark and the muscles in her thighs had become swollen and excruciatingly painful.

The article is shocking enough to never want to take a spin class but realistically this is not quite as common as you might think for Spinners and other people getting into shape although Rhabdomyolysis occurs in about 26,000 people a year in the United States.

The article that they were referencing on the news on the radio that I heard a couple of days ago was this one that has been published pretty widely. Intense, repetitive motion exercise can cause rhabdomyolysis

Like many doctors, I, too, have advised patients and readers to exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle. Now, Dr. Maureen Brogan, associate professor of medicine at New York Medical College, reports that intense, repetitive motion exercise can cause rhabdomyolysis. And, in rare cases, it can kill.

Brogan explains that when muscle is damaged, it dumps myoglobin, an iron and oxygen-binding muscle protein, into blood circulation. Excessive amounts of myoglobin can obstruct the kidney’s filtration system and cause serious damage.

Takeaways For Athletes To Avoid Rhabdomyolysis

So is this the kind of issue that we should be worried about now as the weather gets warmer and we are out getting more exercise? No, I don’t think so, but it is always prudent to make sure you are careful. Remember that you are one year older than last year and not only are your muscles, but also connective tissues likely weaker than back last Summer.

One other issue that came up in this research was the idea of dehydration. I know that dehydration can creep up quick and if your muscles and organs are not well hydrated you are at risk for cramping and heatstroke, as well as Rhabdomyolysis.

Finally one last thing that I think needs to again be pointed out, if you are in great shape and are looking to try a new sport or activity, remember that you can likely push your body far harder that first time out then your body would be able to recover. Try to avoid excessive soreness.

Many people ask me what the best food for losing are and I have to day that there are a few things that I like to tell people before I answer that questions.

First there is how your body uses energy and then there is how to make sure that your body does not store fat.

First of all your body is a machine that needs to use a base sugar called glycogen to function.

Glycogen is Broken Down Carbs

 

Glycogen is a broken down version of sugar and is not eaten by you but instead is broken down in your body so that you have the energy available to your muscles that they need.

So now the important question is what does your body need to create this glycogen stuff? The answer is that your body can use anything, protein, carbohydrates or fat to create glycogen but it uses the items in the most efficient form possible.

Your body will use simple sugars first, then carbohydrates, then fats or protein. This single fact is why the Atkins diet works best over the short term but now in the long term.

If your body does not have access to carbohydrates it will in a pinch use the fats in your body to create glycogen for your muscles and at the same time your body will start slowing your metabolism as it will think it is going into a starvation mode.

Diet Confusion – Why Atkins Doesn’t Work Long Term

So now we know why Atkins works in losing for the first couple of weeks but after this usually people have trouble losing on Atkins and that is because your body thinks that it is starving and slows down.

There is an alternative and that is to stop your diet after a few days and then move to another diet a few days after going off of that diet.

If you use this cycling method of dieting you will be able to lose consistently and not have to go through the expense, and vitamin needs of Atkins.

Eating a higher protein diet as well as having the fruits and vegetables needed to stay healthy is the best fat loss diet possible

The two diets that I know of that use this cycling method of changing your diet after a few days is the Body for life system which has six days on the diet and one day off the diet.

The most important thing here as you can see is to use confusion to your body in your diet.

The craze of weight loss is not just affecting those who are either obese or overweight. Even people of normal bodyweight are looking forward to dropping a few pounds, for they “feel” that they are overweight. The funnier part is how most people start their weight loss journey.

They would go around hunting for the latest and best weight loss and fat burning tips available out there. However, once they find those tips, they would do nothing and hope to find another, better way. It is as if they believe that merely finding the best weight loss tips and then just the act of knowing it is going to help them get rid of fat.

Folks, weight loss can happen only when you wake up from your inaction and take ACTION. Taking action doesn’t mean hunting for the latest fat burning tips or fad diets; rather, it means making a few simple changes to your current lifestyle. This means that you should stay away from bad foods – bad carbs, bad fats, etc., and focus on good carbs and good fats.

So What Are Bad Foods?

Chips, cookies, biscuits, cakes, candies, aerated drinks, colas, sodas, beer, alcohol, packaged fruit juice, fast foods, burgers, pizzas, white bread, sugar, white rice, white pasta, etc. They are called “bad” foods because they are:

a) High on calorie

b) Low on nutrition

c) Rich in saturated fats (a.k.a. “bad” fats)

d) Rich in simple carbs (a.k.a. “bad carbs)

Now What Are Good Foods?

Good foods are foods which are generally rich in nutrients like iron, calcium, vitamins, zinc, protein, etc. They are also rich in complex carbs and unsaturated fats, and low on calories. Generally speaking, your diet should consist of:

a) Protein: Basically, protein builds our body. The more protein you consume, the more muscle you are able to build. More muscle not only means a stronger but also flatter body, since muscles burn fat.

Foods such as eggs, lean chicken meat, etc., are rich in protein. As a rule of thumb, you should have these foods either in roasted or steamed form. Never fry them with fatty oil or all the nutrition would fly out of the window and what you would gain is fat.

Apart from these foods, you can also have protein shakes and protein supplements.

b) Unsaturated fats: These fats would provide ample nutrition to your body and unlike fast foods, won’t make you over either. Fishes (esp. oily fishes), a few types of nuts, etc., are rich in unsaturated fats. Some people prefer to have a fish oil supplement in addition to these foods, which is fine as well. Just make sure that the oil supplement is free from toxins and other poisonous substances.

c) Complex carbohydrates: Unlike simple carbohydrates (as available from junk foods) which get converted into glucose quickly and raise your blood sugar as well as fat level, complex carbohydrates take time to digest and as such, don’t make you fat. Foods such as whole grains, chicken, sea foods, tuna fishes, natural fruits and vegetables, etc., are all rich in complex carbs.

As you can see, you don’t eat to cut down on your food intake for the purpose of weight loss; instead, you need to cut down on the “bad” foods and focus on the “good” foods.