Category: Fitness (Page 3 of 13)

A chat with UFC fighter Dan Hardy: Part One

September 24, 2013 / Mike Furci

Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy, who started martial arts as a kid, began training for competitive fighting in 2002 after 14 years of traditional marital arts. He joined the UFC in 2008 and made his debut at UFC 89, winning by split decision.

Dan hardy is a very hard working, outspoken person that personifies a great attitude. In part one of this interview, I had the opportunity to talk to Dan about his artistry, his experience training with the Shaolin monks, the GSP fight, the possibility of losing his contract with the UFC, being diagnosed with a heart condition WPW and the reaction by Dana White.

Mike Furci: First, I’d like to thank you for taking the time today to talk with me Dan.

Dan Hardy: No worries Mike, no worries.

MF: Fans of Bullz-Eye and MMA, today we’re talking with Dan Hardy, one of the most recognizable MMA fighters of today, a UFC welterweight crowd pleasure who fought Georges St-Pierre for the title in 2010. In that fight, he escaped two submission attempts that would have easily forced the vast majority of fighters to tap out, which I believe, Dan, is not only a testament to you, the fighter, but also Dan Hardy the person – as the audience will see as we proceed through this interview. And though you’re not currently fighting, you definitely have not been sidelined.

And before we get into what you’ve been doing recently, I’d like to take the Bullz-Eye readership back somewhat to get to know you a little better and discuss your career as a fighter, if you don’t mind.

DH: Sure.

MF: One thing I didn’t know myself as much as I follow MMA is that you’re an artist.

DH: Yeah, that always comes as a surprise to people.

MF: As most artists, I’m sure you discovered your talents when you were very young, and I understand you were also doing MMA at a very young age. What pulled you into the direction of MMA as a career?

DH: Really, just the drive at the time. I mean, I’ve always been an artist. As a kid, I always had a sketchbook in my hand, so even my parents thought I was going to follow that path. But when I was at university studying art, it occurred to me that this was my athletic peak and I needed to explore it right now. I could always return to art in the future.

Fitness, Interviews, Sports

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Did You Know… with Mike Furci

September 17, 2013 / Mike Furci

A column by Mike Furci that brings you research, trends and other info to help you with your fitness, health and nutritional needs.

…the United States is the only developed country in the world that still fluoridates its citizens’ drinking water?

10 facts you need to know about fluoride:

1. More people in the U.S. drink fluoridated water than the rest of the world combined.
2. Fluoridated countries do not have less tooth decay than non-fluoridated countries.
3. According to a 500-page scientific review, fluoride is an endocrine disruptor that can affect your bones, brain, thyroid gland, pineal gland and even your blood sugar levels.
4. Fluoride is naturally occurring in some areas, leading to high levels in certain water supplies “naturally.” Fluoridation advocates often use this to support its safety, however naturally occurring substances are not automatically safe (think of arsenic, for instance).
5. About 40 percent of American teens have dental fluorosis, a condition that refers to changes in the appearance of tooth enamel that are caused by long-term ingestion of fluoride during the time teeth are forming.
6. Infants who consume formula made with fluoridated tap water may consume up to 1,200 micrograms of fluoride, or about 100 times more than the recommended amounts.
7. The fluoride supplements sometimes prescribed to those who are not drinking fluoridated water have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of tooth decay.
8. Water fluoridation is a form of mass medication that denies you the right to informed consent.
Many European nations have rejected fluoride for the very reason that delivering medication via the water supply would be inappropriate.
9. It is now widely recognized that fluoride’s only justifiable benefit comes from topical contact with teeth, which even the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has acknowledged. Adding it to water and pills, which are swallowed, offers little, if any, benefit to your teeth.
10. Fluoride toxicity is exacerbated by conditions that occur much more frequently in low-income areas.
Mercola.com

…Fructose, not fat, has a linear relationship with the U.S. obesity epidemic.

The incidence of overweight and obese individuals, shown by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), has a striking relationship to fructose consumption in the United States. According to a USDA’s data below, total sugar and fructose consumption started to increase sharply in 1985, and reached a peak in 1999, which is congruent with the incidence of obesity. During 2000 through 2005, we see a slight drop in total sugar and fructose consumption, which is consistent with the leveling off of obesity rates during that same period. This drop in sugar ads up to 10 pounds of total sugar, with fructose contributing six of those pounds.

Fitness, Food & Drink, Lifestyle

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Exercises you haven’t done but probably should, Part Two

August 22, 2013 / Mike Furci

Ask anyone who’s been in the iron game that’s had any type of success and they’ll tell you, “stick to the basics and don’t try and reinvent the wheel.” I couldn’t agree more from a coach/competitor stand point. However, one needs to throw a wrench in their workouts in order to prevent or break through plateaus. Variation is a universal principle that, when applied correctly, can yield incredible results.

One of the most obvious and easiest ways to add variation is to incorporate different exercises into one’s program. Following the first installment in the series, here’s another list of recommended exercises that I’ve rarely seen used.

Band push-ups

Even though training with bands has been around for a while, and used successfully in conjunction with strength training and power lifting, most people who weight train have never been exposed to, let alone used, this outstanding tool.

The laws of physics dictate the specific characteristics of strength curves while performing exercises. The force of movement is more or less dependent on the joint angle during an exercise. For example, in the barbell squat, you may be able to quarter squat 500 pounds, but can only full squat, ass to the floor, 300 pounds. Another common example is the exercise I’m highlighting today: the band push-up. The force at the top of the movement is much greater than the force at the bottom.

In a nutshell, bands work by applying more resistance where you’re strong and less where you’re weak. Bands accommodate that natural strength curve; this type of training is referred to as accommodating resistance. Researchers addressed strength curves in training as early as 1900 by putting a cam on selectorized machines. The cam on these machines is what accommodates the ability to apply force according to the strength curve. Nautilus equipment is a prime example of this type of equipment.

Fitness

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Know your nuts!

July 30, 2013 / Bullz-Eye Staff

Here’s some important information regarding testicular cancer.

Fitness

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HMB and Fitness

July 15, 2013 / Bullz-Eye Staff

A healthy diet and regular workouts are the two key ingredients to developing fitness, but to push your body that extra level by building serious muscle many top athletes use supplements such as HMB.

HMB (beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutryate) is a branch of the amino acid Leucine: a substance found in protein-based food like fish and chicken. However, HMB is in short supply and so the body cannot feel its benefits as much as it could do if given a larger dose.

An Ironmagazine.com report in 2010 discusses how the supplement helps protect the breakdown of muscle proteins and actively stimulates tissue growth, so you can take it either before or after exercise and you’ll get the best of both worlds. Studies have shown that leucine contributes to protein synthesis, especially the small amounts of HMB already in the body. Any addition, therefore, is beneficial when building muscle and you only need a small dosage – three grams per day – to boost your recovery and enlarge skeletal muscles.

Combine this dosage with regular exercise and a good diet or protein and vegetables – plus carbohydrate intake before you work out to fuel the body through intense periods – and you’ll soon discover you’re getting fitter and stronger.

According to Bodybuilding.com, those who take HMB over a three-week period are more likely to bench-press greater weights than others taking a placebo. The supplement is also used to increase fatigue endurance during long bouts of physical exercise, so you can work out for longer and push through previously unreachable targets.

Remember, HMB services all muscle protein so you should set targets in both the lower and upper body to reap the supplements full benefit. Try setting a simple timed 100 press-up target alongside a reasonably weighted leg-press target and see if you can beat it each day. The more you exercise and take the supplement the stronger you should become and that time will drop off the clock.

Achieving your physical peak is difficult without the aid of supplements such as HMB, which have proven beneficial for both men and women over long periods of time.

Fitness

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