Online Training and Consulting

I have been helping men and women achieve their fitness, strength, appearance and fat loss goals through my online programming for years and want to extend an invitation to try it out at a big discount! Contact me through my site http://atomic-temporary-15710321.wpcomstaging.com/contact-pete/ during the month of September and get 50% THE FIRST MONTH. 

Contact me: and tell me about yourself: height, weight, age, training history (type, intensity, length of time, frequency) a list of musculoskeletal injuries, general health concerns and other relevant issues. Also describe your short and long-term goals (increased strength, fat loss, athletic performance etc.). Photo’s: Only include photos if you are comfortable doing so but know that they provide me with valuable information about your static posture, muscle tone etc. Service: I am confident that I can help the great majority of people reach or at least progress toward their goals, but I do screen applications and accept new clients on a case by case basis. If I approve you, I will email you a questionnaire to fill out and return to me.

Program: Based on your information (and photo’s), I will write you a personalized workout program that is oriented to your specific goals. I can write the program from scratch or modify your existing program, whichever your prefer. You may email me (I encourage you to) questions about the program so that I can modify the program to optimize benefit. Additionally you can send me video clips of you performing exercise’s so I can critique your biomechanics (form), tempo and overall movement quality. You can also email me your weekly workout log and I’ll give you feedback each week. If after the month you wish to continue, you simply transfer more money into my Paypal account and we will progress the program.

Ray Rice, The NFL And Privilege

The inherent on-field violence of the NFL demands that commissioner Goodell be exactingly diligent in matters of off-field violence.

The swift action of the Baltimore Ravens in terminating their star running back Ray Rice upon the release of security video showing him punching his then fiancé in February was just and appropriate. As a former player I’ve been following this case with personal interest, in particular I wondered what penalty would be meted out by the NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

The initial two game suspension imposed by commissioner Goodell was widely criticized by fans and media as too light. I too thought that a two game penalty was insufficient given the reports and testimony I read. Now that the video has been seen by virtually every NFL fan plus millions uninterested inn professional football, a tidal wave of indignation has formed. This is not a surprise. It’s one thing to read about a violent act, but to see violence of this level perpetrated on a woman, is to most a horrifying site.

The question that is burning in my mind: What was Goodell thinking when he failed (or lied about) to review the security tape of what happened inside the elevator with Rice and his fiancé? Roger Goodell, who coined the term “protect the shield” (as in NFL logo) has failed all of us who hold what the NFL shield stands to near and dear to our hearts. The inherent on-field violence of the NFL demands that commissioner Goodell be exactingly diligent in matters of off-field violence.      

The painful drama of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident should act as a cautionary tale for current and aspiring NFL players and coaches serving as a reminder that participating in NFL games is a great privilege. For now and perhaps forever that privilege, once bestowed upon Ray Rice, is gone. Let us keep forgiveness in our hearts when we think of Ray and his now wife Janay and be mindful our own blessings. PK 

  

A Call for a Low-Carb Diet That Embraces Fat

An important new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine serves up more evidence to support the theory that a low carbohydrate/high fat diet is best for reducing body fat and improving blood cholesterol profiles. PK

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR SEPT. 1, 2014

People who avoid carbohydrates and eat more fat, even saturated fat, lose more body fat and have fewer cardiovascular risks than people who follow the low-fat diet that health authorities have favored for decades, a major new study shows.

The findings are unlikely to be the final salvo in what has been a long and often contentious debate about what foods are best to eat for weight loss and overall health. The notion that dietary fat is harmful, particularly saturated fat, arose decades ago from comparisons of disease rates among large national populations.

But more recent clinical studies in which individuals and their diets were assessed over time have produced a more complex picture. Some have provided strong evidence that people can sharply reduce their heart disease risk by eating fewer carbohydrates and more dietary fat, with the exception of trans fats. The new findings suggest that this strategy more effectively reduces body fat and also lowers overall weight.

The new study was financed by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. It included a racially diverse group of 150 men and women — a rarity in clinical nutrition studies — who were assigned to follow diets for one year that limited either the amount of carbs or fat that they could eat, but not overall calories.

“To my knowledge, this is one of the first long-term trials that’s given these diets without calorie restrictions,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, the dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, who was not involved in the new study. “It shows that in a free-living setting, cutting your carbs helps you lose weight without focusing on calories. And that’s really important because someone can change what they eat more easily than trying to cut down on their calories.”

Diets low in carbohydrates and higher in fat and protein have been commonly used for weight loss since Dr. Robert Atkins popularized the approach in the 1970s. Among the longstanding criticisms is that these diets cause people to lose weight in the form of water instead of body fat, and that cholesterol and other heart disease risk factors climb because dieters invariably raise their intake of saturated fat by eating more meat and dairy.

Many nutritionists and health authorities have “actively advised against” low-carbohydrate diets, said the lead author of the new study, Dr. Lydia A. Bazzano of the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. “It’s been thought that your saturated fat is, of course, going to increase, and then your cholesterol is going to go up,” she said. “And then bad things will happen in general.”

The new study showed that was not the case.

By the end of the yearlong trial, people in the low-carbohydrate group had lost about eight pounds more on average than those in the low-fat group. They had significantly greater reductions in body fat than the low-fat group, and improvements in lean muscle mass — even though neither group changed their levels of physical activity.

While the low-fat group did lose weight, they appeared to lose more muscle than fat.

“They actually lost lean muscle mass, which is a bad thing,” Dr. Mozaffarian said. “Your balance of lean mass versus fat mass is much more important than weight. And that’s a very important finding that shows why the low-carb, high- fat group did so metabolically well.”

The high-fat group followed something of a modified Atkins diet. They were told to eat mostly protein and fat, and to choose foods with primarily unsaturated fats, like fish, olive oil and nuts. But they were allowed to eat foods higher in saturated fat as well, including cheese and red meat.

A typical day’s diet was not onerous: It might consist of eggs for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, and some kind of protein for dinner — like red meat, chicken, fish, pork or tofu — along with vegetables. Low-carb participants were encouraged to cook with olive and canola oils, but butter was allowed, too.

Over all, they took in a little more than 13 percent of their daily calories from saturated fat, more than double the 5 to 6 percent limit recommended by the American Heart Association. The majority of their fat intake, however, was unsaturated fats.

The low-fat group included more grains, cereals and starches in their diet. They reduced their total fat intake to less than 30 percent of their daily calories, which is in line with the federal government’s dietary guidelines. The other group increased their total fat intake to more than 40 percent of daily calories.

Both groups were encouraged to eat vegetables, and the low-carbohydrate group was told that eating some beans and fresh fruit was fine as well.

In the end, people in the low-carbohydrate group saw markers of inflammation and triglycerides — a type of fat that circulates in the blood — plunge. Their HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, rose more sharply than it did for people in the low-fat group.

Blood pressure, total cholesterol and LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, stayed about the same for people in each group.

Nonetheless, those on the low-carbohydrate diet ultimately did so well that they managed to lower their Framingham risk scores, which calculate the likelihood of a heart attack within the next 10 years. The low-fat group on average had no improvement in their scores.

The decrease in risk on the low-carbohydrate diet “should translate into a substantial benefit,” said Dr. Allan Sniderman, a professor of cardiology at McGill University in Montreal.

One important predictor of heart disease that the study did not assess, Dr. Sniderman said, was the relative size and number of LDL particles in the bloodstream. Two people can have the same overall LDL concentration, but very different levels of risk depending on whether they have a lot of small, dense LDL particles or a small number of large and fluffy particles.

Eating refined carbohydrates tends to raise the overall number of LDL particles and shift them toward the small, dense variety, which contributes to atherosclerosis. Saturated fat tends to make LDL particles larger, more buoyant and less likely to clog arteries, at least when carbohydrate intake is not high, said Dr. Ronald M. Krauss, the former chairman of the American Heart Association’s dietary guidelines committee.

Small, dense LDL is the kind typically found in heart patients and in people who have high triglycerides, central obesity and other aspects of the so-called metabolic syndrome, said Dr. Krauss, who is also the director of atherosclerosis research at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

“I’ve been a strong advocate of moving saturated fat down the list of priorities in dietary recommendations for one reason: because of the increasing importance of metabolic syndrome and the role that carbohydrates play,” Dr. Krauss said.

Dr. Mozaffarian said the research suggested that health authorities should pivot away from fat restrictions and encourage people to eat fewer processed foods, particularly those with refined carbohydrates.

The average person may not pay much attention to the federal dietary guidelines, but their influence can be seen, for example, in school lunch programs, which is why many schools forbid whole milk but serve their students fat-free chocolate milk loaded with sugar, Dr. Mozaffarian said.

Working With World Renown Weight Loss Expert “Dr H”

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My life changed a year ago when I began working closely with TV’s Biggest Loser  physician Robert “Dr H” Huizenga at his incredible mountaintop retreat, overlooking the blue Pacific ocean in Malibu, CA. He asked me to head his Clinics fitness department and it has been nothing short of an incredible experience. To work directly with Dr Huizenga, a leading expert on fat loss, optimal wellness and physical fitness is both challenging and stimulating. Hs spectacular facility has set the standard in not only fat loss and health but total well-being.

I have known Dr Huizenga since 1989 when I was playing for the LA Raiders. Dr Huizenga was the Raiders team doctor, hand picked by owner Al Davis to ensure that the entire roster had the best medical care. That 1989 Raiders team included several future Hall of Fame players including Howie Long and  Marcus Allen. Rob Huizenga had the respect of all the Raiders – not always the case with NFL players – as he was identified as “one of us” as in a fellow combatant. Rob was an All- American wrestler at the University of Michigan and that is serious street cred with guys in the locker room. Rob earned his MD from Harvard and relocated to Los Angeles setting up his practice in Internal medicine where he continues today.

Helping people realize their fullest potential is a passion of mine and working with the folks at Dr H’s property is a blessing. It reminds me of how fortunate I am to be in the field of fitness and well-being. I wish my readers well in their unique journeys and am available to help those who may reach out to me. PK