LegendaryLife Blog

No matter your personal views on how bodybuilders achieve their astonishing physiques, you can’t help but be amazed at how they are able to continually push the outer limits of the human body.

Better Living Through Chemistry

Bodybuilding is one of those few sports where experimentation in drug compounds is a requirement, suffice it to say that you need to take more then your daily multi-vitamin to even touch the top ranks of the sport No matter how hard Joe Weider has tried through the years to turn bodybuilding into an Olympic event, the use of drugs ensure it will never happen. I still consider bodybuilding among the toughest and most grueling physically, mentally and socially sports out there – from the exact nutrient timing to hours spent in the gym – bodybuilding is not a sport but a lifestyle that very few can adhere to, much less excel in.

What can we learn from bodybuilders?

Quite a lot actually, for instance, take a look at 50 year old Vince Taylor who has been living the bodybuilding lifestyle and competing for over two decades (http://www.vincetaylor.com). His skin looks free of wrinkles, the muscle mass and definition are not only beyond belief but put into question the entire concept that we “depreciate” with age. His external physical attributes put most of the young bodybuilders half his age to shame – he also competed directly against 31 year old Jay Cutler (http://www.jaycutler.com/) for the Mr. Universe title on September 30th 2006. The internal imagery we all have of getting older doesn’t need to happen – with an active and closely watched lifestyle you CAN make a very large difference in how you age.

Bodybuilders influence on sport development

I find this the most difficult aspect of bodybuilding, in the past few decades, as sport and chemical knowledge have increased, so has the level of athleticism in just about every sport. Are you a swimmer? A tennis player or even a basketball player – the push of bodybuilders into physique development has played a role in the evolution of your sport (and just about all the others). They are responsible for turning what use to be frown upon such as muscle development with high intensity training and diet into something not only mainstream but a requirement to compete at the higher levels. Just about any sport nowadays where the difference between a medal is sometimes only milliseconds has benefited greatly from their sacrifices.

When to draw the line

I do believe that bodybuilders are beyond the cutting edge at the moment though, they achieve phenomenal results but oddly enough, at the cost of their own health. The human body just isn’t engineered for constant, balls-out punishment year after year, decade after decade… no matter how good the nutrition or training, adaptation is a slow process that requires breaks. Yes, bodybuilders have passed the natural plateau but they pay a very high price for this achievement that won’t begin to be seen later in life. When you consider the heart of a 150lbs teenage boy is the same heart as the one found in a 300+ pound bodybuilder, you begin to realize how much our bodies are able to cope with stress, but like anything, cracks will appear.

Double Standards: Bodybuilders vs Couch Potatoes

What is worse for your body, being a bodybuilder or a couch potato? Well, if you go the drug free (or moderate) route, bodybuilding is fantastic for your body but like anything… you need to go slow and build on past success. What I have yet to understand is why governments around the world are hell bent on keeping steroid use underground (by banning them) and barring certain beneficial supplements (ei: creatine, ephedrine… ) yet have no problem with people smoking, drinking and purchasing incredibly unhealthy fast foods. Banning potentially beneficial products but keeping blatantly detrimental ones legal. This is a double standard which I believe is completely unfair. What bodybuilders are showing us is the potential for a true fountain of youth, if studied further by the scientific community.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I am a great fan of bodybuilding because it’s the extreme opposite of how most North Americans live their lives – don’t get me wrong – you wouldn’t want to be “in” neither of these bodies for any extended period of time – but they are great examples of how little we know about our own body… and how much we can learn if we allow the politics behind our very own health not get in the way. I believe a life of moderation, tough physical activities with proper diet BUT with adequate breaks to allow the body to fully recover is the best route to a long, healthy life.

The Bottom Line

Bodybuilders have a lot to teach all of us… if we allow our biases to pass.

I read an article from Forbes about the problems @ Pfizer for their new anti-heart-attack drug called Torcetrapib and it got me thinking… why are these companies spending BILLIONS of dollars annually to solve problems that are mostly preventable? Wouldn’t that money be better spent on prevention and education?

What’s in it for the big pharma

Profits, the sole focus of a corporation is to generate profits, the more, the better… the most efficient way for big pharma to generate profits is to create drugs that must be taken for the rest of the patients life – mortality is the ultimate motivator. Remember, their focus is on profits, not the health of the individual. I repeat, if its more profitable to treat a condition then to prevent it… the big pharma will focus on treatment. They ARE NOT in the business of altruism no matter how much marketing they do portraying otherwise. I acknowledge their efforts and applaud them – I am not anti-pharmaceutical, they have their place.

What’s is in it for the government

The role of government is to make sure we are all on an equal footing and can enjoy life in a stable environment. In my world, the easiest way to achieve this is through perfect health, rich or poor – if everybody was in the best shape of their lives throughout all their lives, the world would be a far better place. When people can focus on their dreams instead of finding money for a gym membership or even fixing a root canal – you have created an environment of not only stability but exuberantly positive self-esteem, curing many social ills and diseases that plague us today. If you choose to be unhappy in this environment, then it’s the governments role to ship you to a remote island to be with others of your unhappy kind.

Drugs aren’t the answer

Let’s see, obesity 99% of the time is directly related to poor diet and exercise habits. It’s no secret that the diabetes epidemic is directly related to the obesity epidemic that is spreading throughout the world. What is big pharma doing to solve the problem, they are pouring billions of dollars into anti-obesity, anti-cancer, anti-diabetes etc. drugs that as their patient get sick, they can generate revenues to extend their lives. Again, I am fine with that, but where is the government in all this? NOWHERE! I see more self-congratulatory public service announcements during non-election season about how good the party you didn’t vote is doing then I do about how to prevent obesity, diabetes, cancer etc… what do I take from this? The government doesn’t care – and if they don’t care about me, then I don’t care about them. No wonder they are increasing irrelevant.

Drugs have BAD side effects – habits do not

If something works, it generally has both positive and negative effects. All drugs, by their nature have side effects. Drugs are made public when their positive effects are perceived to exceed their negative ones. Good habits on the other hand, don’t generally have bad side effects when correctly performed – if you choose not to brush your teeth, you get cavities, if you don’t have money, then you pop pills to dull the pain but if you brushed your teeth correctly to begin with, the need for drugs would have been eliminated. The same goes with many other diseases that plague western culture.

Drugs cost money, habits save money

Using the above example, if you invested in a good toothpaste and toothbrush and spent TIME correctly cleaning your teeth, you wouldn’t need to spend money going to a dentist to fix your cavities, nor would you need to spend money on pain pills NOR would you suffer from the side-effects that poor oral hygene bring into your life – social, economic, health and opportunities lost.

Drugs have their place

I think drugs have their place, when I got my appendix removed, I was happy a pharmaceutical company developed Demerol to keep me unconscious during the proceeding days to heal properly – but when it comes to treating preventable conditions, the focus of government should not be on ignorance.

The Bottom Line

If you are looking for a magic pill to cure what you have done to yourself on purpose through a lifetime of poor habits – you are fooling yourself into an early grave.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Diabetes/dh/3135

I was watching a very interesting documentary about electric vehicles on the Discovery channel that really opened my eyes. It helped me understand a few of the fundamentals about why our “leaders” seem so out of touch with the people they are suppose to fight for.

Electric Vehicles Background

Electric vehicle (zero emissions) where actually around before the internal combustion engine, they where cheap to run, required little maintenance and best of all, produced no pollution (sound or exhaust). The reason why internal combustion won out back in the late 1800s is because people where trying to get rid of gas, it was a waste by-product that nobody knew what to do with and was essentially being burned and dumped all over the place. Henry Ford built all of his vehicles using internal combustion engines even though his wife had an electric vehicle because he saw more profits to come from the complexities involved with internal combustion engines.

Why everybody wants them…

As mentioned earlier, electric vehicles are incredibly cheap to run for various reasons. The main one is the engine only has one moving part, have a problem with the vehicle, you don’t need to be a mechanic to figure out where it is coming from They produce no exhaust, sure nuclear and coal plants produce waste but with alternative energy coming online, this will start to hopefully be replaced with cleaner energy. They also produce little sound, imagine being able to walk next to a busy road and actually be able to have an intelligent conversation with your friend without having to yell. Electric vehicles are also very cheap to produce and mileage is equivalent to that of internal combustion (up to 300 miles range per charge). Electricity is also cheaper then gas.

Why we can’t get them…

Simply put, money. You see, because an electric vehicle has only one moving part, a very large part of an automakers business (replacement parts) would quickly dry out. All the “regular maintenance” that is needed for an internal combustion engine wouldn’t be needed, you have no fluids to replenishment, no highly corrosive agents nor any “engineered obsolete parts” that need replacing. Service departments would become huge empty rooms. This is just the tip of the ice berg, imagine all those third party distributors, manufacturers and investors who would be shut down over night. Politics and money are huge influences on government policy… JOBS!

But we got “hybrids”?

We got hybrids don’t we? You bet we do, but what are they actually buying? Automakers are selling the problems (profits) that come from an internal combustion engine without giving consumers the true benefits of electric vehicles. It is a very reluctant, half-assed “give-in” to customer demand without going all the way. They do this to protect their profits and the “combustion engine” industry. Have you ever looked at how complex those hybrids are? They need full time computers figuring out what mixture of electric vs gas is needed, the engineering is incredibly complex and the number of highly specialized parts needed to keep it all together is mind blowing. They could get rid of all this with a simple electric only engine but of course, there is no money to be made in simplicity.

Electric cars are not as good as internal combustion engine… BS!

Hate to say this but this is completely untrue, you have been brainwashed! Take for instance the GM EV1 that was introduced in California, it did 0-60 mpg in about 9 seconds, had a range of about 300 miles and GM took it off the road as soon as laws where changed. There is “The Maya” by Electrovaya which is a SUV with a range of 230 miles (top regulated speed of 80 mph) and a host of other vehicles on the road RIGHT NOW but unavailable to consumers.

Why do I not have a choice?

The technology is there, the demand is over flowing and yet, governments are unable to see the writing on the wall, we do not need this Internal Combustion —> hybrid —> electric/hydrogen transition! We want full electrics NOW.

What does this have to do with HEALTH?

Everything and anything… we have an epidemic of cancer in our society which is mostly caused by environmental factors, an epidemic of asthmas in children due to breathing polluted air, an epidemic of diabetes caused by inactivity and unhealthy habits. Tobacco products are still being sold even though it is a known carcinogen, internal combustion vehicles are still being sold although their exhaust is also a known carcinogen and we keep being forced to waste so many resources within our garbage that we are always searching for new landfills.

The Bottom Line

We need to change our mentality from one fearing change to one that welcomes the challenges that come with demographic shifts. If I had only one wish, it would be to make the word “stability” the new four letter word of the 21st century.

http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

As the effects of tobacco use in North America are leading to a slow but steady decline in their use, the opposite is true throughout the rest of the world. The big tobacco companies really don’t care too much about all the lawsuits etc in a shrinking market, they are already well ahead of the game in places like China and India – although the profits are not as high, having a strangle hold over more then half of the worlds population without having to worry about regulations more then offsets this.

Prohibition doesn’t work

Prohibition leads to increased value of banned products so here are some of my ideas that I think would play a significant role in reducing tobacco (and their related products) by being used globally.

Let us begin with tobacco

I also believe the above should also be adopted for beverages that contain over 30% alcohol to start as they also provide no benefit to society. If you govern a population where a moderate percentage needs to get drunk to get through another week – there is something wrong.

Long term effects of a healthy population

Study have outlined how a healthy people becomes less of a burden on health care, are more productive and generally see things in a brighter light. Getting rid of products that are counter to improving health should be strictly regulated. I doubt very much this will happen in my lifetime, there is simply too much pressure to keep things at their current status quo – but I can share my dream of a healthier society.

The Bottom Line

I think if the above was implemented and enforced, the leading causes of preventable death in this world today could be stamped out in a generation.