Newsletter

Obeistiy: The Link to Cancer

by Damien ‘Adrian’ Orozco

Cancer has become so common that even childen today have cancer. I can't recall ever hearing that some kid in my elementary school had been suffeing from any form of cancer. What I do remember is that there was always that one kid that stood out because they were considered overweight for their age and height. The kids would laugh at the student calling him names like chubby, lard....., humpty dumpty, etc. Nowadays this era has passed on and now we see a predominance of children whom suffer from obeisity and its complications. Interestingly enough these kids now make fun of the skin ones calling them names like stick, anorexic and so forth. Wow how the tables have turned. Some how being obese has become the norm and looking fit or skinny has become viewed as the problem. I have friends, colleagues and acquaintances whom tell me that there parents tell them they are getting to skinny when they see the results of healthy efforts to lose excess pounds

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), "Body weight and physical inactivity together are estimated to account for approximately one-fifth to one-third of several of the most common cancers, specifically cancers of the breast (postmenopausal), colon, endometrium, kidney and oesophagus (adenocarcinoma)".

When talking about body weight they are obviously not referring to having an idea weight. In there PDF book WHO Diet-Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Dis-eases they make sure to clarify how they define body weight by stating, "Dietary factors for which there is convincing evidence for an increase in risk are overweight and obesity, and a high consumption of alcoholic beverages, aflatoxins, and some forms of salting and fermenting fish".

Obesity in most cases and with few exceptions results from inactivity and indulging in food without thought to the quality of nutrients provided but rather the satisfaction derived from taste. WHO further established that certain foods and a 'high dietary intake of preserved meats, salt-preserved foods and salt, and very hot (thermally) drinks and food' to be another potential cause of cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute in, "In 1995, nearly one-fourth of childhood

cancer deaths were due to invasive malignancies of the central nervous system,

primarily the brain" with cancer being one of the leading causes of death in children under age 20.

Did you know that acidity had been found to be a well known promoter of cancer? When the body becomes acidic by dropping below pH 7.0, oxygen is driven out of the body thereby, according to Nobel Prize winner Otto Warburg, inducing cancer. Most of the foods that cause obesity like greasy fried foods, sugar, etc are also very acidic and the gold standard of acidity and mineral loss is non other than soda. Wow! Dr. Pepper Soda has a pH of 2.92 while Gatorade has a pH of 2.95 which means they are almost equally acidic, hmmm! Physical activity equals lactic acid and you drink acid to replenish acid? I thought we were trying to remove acid which is what the objective of post-exercise recovery supposed to be, right? An article written by Dr.Dan Peterson of Family Gentle Dental Care in Gering, Nebraska said, "People who are obese are more prone to this reflux and they have an increased risk of cancer. Carbonated drinks cause burping and some reflux. These drinks are also acidic and will bathe the lining of the oesophagus as they are swallowed". Obesity, Soda, Cancer: Do you see the message?

Some Keys to a Healthier Lifestyle and Protecting the Enviroment

by Damien ‘Adrian’ Orozco

Did you know that by trying to 'Go Green' you could actually be protecting both your health, your wealth and the enviroment. Every second someone throws trash either in the garbage can, our street or even our oceans. The impact of industrialization has had both a negative effect on our health or on the very earth that provides us with water, sun and food. Going to the supermarket could be worse to your health if you live in a low income community. A typical grocery store in South L.A. or Boyle Height has nothing but packaged products right at the entrance. Consider that if you go to Pasadena and enter a Whole Foods Market or a Trader Joe's the first thing you see is fresh fruits and vegetables. You won't see soda or sugar filled cereal boxes like you do in East LA grocery stores. Have you ever seen an empty water bottle or soda can on the floor as you walk around your neighborhood? A tree loses a leaf but it is recyled by nature and therefore enviromentally friendly. It may also give us fruit like an apple tree and the birds will enjoy a few bites themselves. An apple is also loaded with vitamins, water and not to mention fiber which are essential to our bodies overall health. If you throw the core and seeds back into your garden the plants and trees will benefit from the nutrients available but a can will rust for years and maybe dangerous to your children as it may have sharp ends that can cause infection. Consider that a canned foods also cost more and they will usually have added preservatives such as sodium to prolong the life of the product. Candy bars today have fake sugars and consider this "Methanol (wood alcohol), which makes up 10% of aspartame and is highly toxic (adult minimum lethal dose is 2 teaspoons), is also found in some fruits & vegetables like tomatoes. However, methanol is never found in natural foods without ethanol & pectin, its "antidotes" if you will (detailed facts below). Ethanol & pectin prevent methanol from being metabolized into formaldehyde (embalming fluid) & formic acid (same chemical as fire ant venom), both deadly toxins". People today are suffering from many diseases not know to be common and children today are suffering from adult dis-eases like obesity, high blood pressure and NIDDM. The marketing of these types of foods is enormous and the packaging made attractive so that we feel like we must have it.

If you would simply remove the processed foods from your diet you would start immediately to see some changes in your weight. You would also feel better as every day passed by because now you giving your body more nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables and less chemicals like aspartame. The planet has provided us a garden of which to pick our food from on a daily basis.

Corn grows in the fields and it provides us with natural sugar and itself is a good source of fiber. It has a reasonable lifespan so that we can enjoy it daily, weekly or monthly. Avocados grow year-round and are an excellent source of glutathione which is known to block 30 different carcinogens plus lower cholesterol. Did I hear Guacamole which happens to have onions in the mix know for it's ability to fight cancer like stomach cancer and good for lowering LDL and increasing HDL. Onions are also know for their anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral effects. These foods may be more expensive at times than processed foods but they will always benefit your health and bio-degrade in your garden without causing useless trash and overflowing landfills. Think health with natural foods and health to our enviroment will help us all.

Exercising Without Equipment

by Damien ‘Adrian’ Orozco

Getting fit during the summer doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym. The best thing about is that it’s a great time to do just about anything outdoors. You can go to the beach and get a great workout with a few exercises. In the previous article we had talked about squat and assessing whether or not you are ready to do such an exercise or any exercise for that matter. One of the first things you can do to get your exercise regimen going is to simply take a light jog to raise your core temperature and prepare your body to go through the motions. Why not take the dog with you while you’re at it? I’m sure your furry best friend will appreciate it too. Try to get your heart rate up to at least 100 – 120 beats per minute. Once you have adequately warmed your body up why not perform an old fashion push-up? Did you know that push-ups are more than just a chest workout? When you perform this exercise you are also working your shoulders and triceps. This exercise actually is one of the best ways to train the core as your abdominals, lower back muscles and your glutes must all fire simultaneously in order to maintain a proper push-up position. The reason for this is that all abdominal muscles must contract at the same time as your lumbar muscles to work like a brace otherwise you won’t be able to hold the top position. In order to protect your back you must squeeze your buns together so this is where the gluteus muscles become involved. Guess what? If you are performing a proper push-up you must also lockout your knees by activating the thighs in an isometric contraction. This means that the quads are also working and at the same time you are strengthening your feet muscles because they have to hold you in place just as your hands do. You probably didn’t realize all this was happening but now you have the information. You can also do a traditional crunch outdoors by either using a partner or by supporting your feet on anything stable. You could actually also lay in front of a bench and raise your legs on top of a park or beach bench. You may want to use a towel to lay if you are concerned about getting all dirty

One of the best things about using a bench to rest your legs on as you perform crunches is that it allows you to disengage your hip flexors so that your abdominal muscles are doing all the work by forcing you to keep your lower back on the ground. Some people feel back pain when they perform crunches because their back starts to spasm but most of the time the real reason is that the Iliopsoas muscle is pulling on the lumbar vertebrae. So keep in mind that if you want to perform a crunch try to keep your lower back firmly pressed into the ground by rotating your pelvis toward you and drawing in your belly button toward your spine. Hold the describe position and then start flexing at the abdominals. Another simple thing you can do is place your fingers under your lower back and try to maintain pressure on your fingers the entire time. The moment you feel that you release this pressure try and see if you can re-apply it and if you can’t it probably means your abdominals are to tired. Rest and repeat again after about 10 – 15 seconds. You can start with one set of 8 – 12 reps of each exercise and build up to 3 sets of 12 reps. When this becomes easy it’s time to move on to something more advanced. You can make push-ups more challenging by pushing up of the ground as fast as possible and then lowering your weight as slow as possible immediately after. You can make crunches harder by raising your legs straight up and trying to reach with your fingers toward your toes and when this becomes easy you can add some weight to your hands. For more free exercise tips go to www.irondogfitness.com. You may also contact me directly by e-mail: damien@irondogfintess.com or by calling (323)972-4487 for a FREE CONSULTATION.

LAPD Centurions Football team

Wins 2010 - 911 Championship at Salesian High School

Thats me on the Far left with a smile : ) and my cap

After beginning the season with strong victories in the first two games it seemed like there was no stopping the LAPD Centurions football team. Two weeks late came game four and they appeared not to be the same team when the Phoenix Thunder put some serious points on the score board. Another two weeks had gone by and now the Centurions see themselves winning a game against the San Diego Enforcers football team as they lead early in the first half. Sooner than later the score board showed a good game where both teams were contending to keep the points up on their side of the field. Half time had passed by and the Centurions were looking hungry and ready to show domination. For a while it seemed like the Centurions would take the victory home but the Enforcers had other plans as they won this game late in the 4th quarter.

Another home game and for that matter the final home game as well as the last game of the season. The Centurions new that this was the last game for the season and the only way to end it was by closing the season with a victory. I had a great time with these guys both during practice and throughout the season standing in the side lines with these guys during the games. I knew that this last game was very exciting for both the LAPD and the LA Fire Dept. This was the game Fire called the 'Battle of Los Angeles'. They had come to Salesian expecting to win the game. The Centurions came on the field with the same expectations. Only one team would win and during the first half the Centurions had a big lead of 27 - 2. It seemed like LA Fire had no answer and a questionable call gave them 2 points that no one agreed with.

After the second half started LA Fire seemed like a different team and now they were putting points on the board but at the end the LAPD won the 'Battle for Los Angeles', and claimed the 911 Bowl with a dominating victory of 33 - 17. The guys were very excited as well as was I. I look forward to working with these guys again next year as they prepare for another season hoping to take the season undefeated.

A championship is on everyone's mind and nothing less will be excepted. I hope to see everyone return for another season of football for the 2011 season.

Olympic Weight Lifting and Why It's Better Than Bodybuilding Workouts for Athletes

Sports performance has become a billion dollar industry. While many training methods exist a lot of programs still focus on body building methods ever since the days of Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's hard for athletes not to want to do this type of training consdering the physically appeasing benefits that can be achieved by a discplined lifter. Many coaches still use this as the way of training athletes because bodybuilding has been around so long and it's thought that if you look fit than you must be fit. Unfortuneatly it is not true that if you look the part you must be it.

Bodybuilding focuses on isolating muscles and working them on seperate days as you advance in you fitness levels. The problems with that time of training is that the muscles are trained in slow fashion and most sports require you to move fast. Football requires speed, skill and power as does baseball, basketball and so forth. It is well known in athletics that a slow athlete is a bad athlete and won't achieve much as the common saying is 'speed kills'.

Olympic Weight Lifting teaches many skills and attributes required from athletes by their coaches. This type of lifting requires an athlete to have both physical and mental skills as well as psychological strength. Being timid and slow has no place in athletics. Olympic Weightlifting requires you to be strong, powerful, flexible and mentally tuff. Any leaks in an athletes skill can easily be manipulated in sports. A perfect example of this is again football. Great coaches in the football industry seek to find the weaknesses of the other team. They look to see who is slow, lacks skill or is weak just to mention a few.

A perfect example of the many benefits achieved and required by Olympic Weightlifting is seen in the bottom position of the final stage of the Snatch. Here senior high school athlete of the Mustangs, Genaro Torres (#78 OL ) can be seen carrying 135 pounds overhead. He demonstrates both skill and most important the flexibility neccessary along with the strength and power needed to hold this position before he can stand and drop the weight.

Although me and Torres have had several discussions regarding bodybuilding and olympic weightlifting he has always been willing to learn and show case his abilities. He understands that more important than how much you lift is how you lift and that a willingness to learn will only make him a better athlete. Like any other athlete he gets frustrated when he doesn't get something right but he understands that it is a part of the process.

Olympic Weightlifting demands that an athlete learn Newton's Third Law of Motion which is 'to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'. Verkhoshansky described Power as strength speed and speed strength. A sprinter knows this concept as he knows that he or she must be able to explode out of the blocks which requires speed strength and his ability to gain speed requires strength speed. A slow start of the blocks will leave a sprinter behind but his strength speed might give the same individual another chance at winning the race. Sprinters also know that the end of the race is determined by speed endurance. These abilities can all be achieved by Olympic Weightlifting and not so by bodybuilding focused workouts. Explosive Power is thus another skill that can be learned in the weightroom by athletes because it requires tremendous rate of force development along with extreme focused mental concentration on the task of lifting weight. We all know that in order to learn something we need to concentrate so that we can understand what we are trying to make second nature. With all this being said you can realize that by putting all this together you will in the end also develop intra and inter-muscular coordination which should also be second nature if you are to achieve elite skills. Oh yes, and those physical attributes desired by all athletes are acquired because the body must adapt to the physical demands hence hypertrophy.

Need I say more? Hit the weights are start incorporating Olympic Weightlifting into your routine along with plyometrics, ladder and cone drills!

Iron Dog Fitness by Orozco Personal Training

"The 1st step to failure is not even trying"