Chains & Bands, Viagra, L-Carnitine, Supervised Training

The results are in: people who workout with supervision get better results. A group of researchers in the Netherlands recently concluded in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness that” Stimulation of physical activity alone seems to result in a slight short term body mass and fat mass reduction in obese adults…Supervised exercise under supervision of a qualified fitness instructor leads to a larger decrease.”

This conclusion was based on comparing the results of a group of exercisers who had supervision against one who didn’t. Neither group received any dietary advice. In the end, there was a significant difference between the two sets of exercisers, with the supervised group losing 13.4lbs of fat versus 3.7lbs in the non-supervised group.

(J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2009 Mar;49(1):85-90.)

What do powerlifters do to get so strong? A 20-item questionnaire was distributed to 32 elite British powerlifters at an international competition. The majority of them reported that they train to explosively lift both maximal and submaximal loads, 39% of  them regularly used elastic bands and 57% incorporated chains in their training. Over two thirds (69%) of them also reported using Olympic lifts (or derivatives) as part of their routines.

The take home lesson? Incorporate bands, chains, Olympic lifts, and both maximal & submaximal loads into your strength training.

(J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Mar;23(2):380-384.)

L-carnitine is well known to assist in fat loss, but did you know it can help you recover from having one too many beers? The Medical University of Bialystok recently finished up a study examining the effects of l-carnitine on alcohol toxicity. The results? Administration of l-carnitine to intoxicated rats significantly protected lipids and proteins against oxidation in the liver. So order yourself another beer, but don’t forget the l-carnitine chaser.

(Alcohol. 2009 Feb 26. [Epub ahead of print])

Erectile dysfunction medication may work better with Vitamin E. A Japanese study examined nine patients who were unable to obtain a full response to a popular erectile dysfunction medication. By combining it with 300mg per day of Vitamin E for a month, eight of the nine experienced increased results from the medication.

(Aging Male. 2008 Dec;11(4):167-70.)