YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING? How to Make a Love U-Turn…

(Note: The post below is from the book STOP *EFFING YOURSELF, by Dr. Sean Kenniff)

YOU’VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING?

How to Make a Love U-Turn…

By Sean Kenniff

You have fallen out of love–you are sure of it. You might still love your partner, but you are no longer “in love” with him or her. Looking back, you recall a time when your partner sent your heart and mind racing with excitement. Every moment seemed magical. But now those times have vanished, and it seems like all that passion was just smoke and mirrors, a cruel trick. You still obsess about your partner but now only in a very negative way. You ask yourself over and over, How could this have happened? How did hot and heavy become cold and lonely? Why am I staying in the relationship? Who am I fooling? Am I condemned to a passionless and pointless future?

Signs you may be falling out of love with your partner.

• 1. You are physically repulsed by your partner.
• 2. You cringe before kissing.
• 3. You constantly point out your partner’s faults.
• 4. You feel like a fraud.
• 5. You married for money, sex or security.
• 6. Your basic emotional needs are not being met.
• 7. You don’t respect your partner.
• 8. You no longer care if your partner has sex with someone else.
• 9. You avoid talking about the future.
• 10. You are never happy at home.

Unfortunately, it is easy to fall in love but hard to stay in love. As your relationship changes with time, you must change along with it–and change requires work. If you have not been adjusting and growing within your relationship, now is the time to start. Falling out of love is usually a painfully slow process. So time is on your side.

Here are some tips on how you can make a love U-turn.

Create a Love Concept.

Define what you mean by love. For most people, love is an abstract concept, and writing some thoughts on paper will help you see what you have in your relationship and what you are lacking. Write down an explicit definition of love, the actions that you consider demonstrate love, and all of your other love expectations.

Take a Reality Check.

Compare your love concept to what you read in books, watch on television, and see in the movies. If your love concept is strikingly similar to the dramatic love concept, you have been terribly misled. If books and the mainstream media accurately portrayed the amount of tedium in real-life romances, you wouldn’t read or watch. Make sure you are not holding your relationship up to a ridiculous Hollywood standard.

Identify Changes.

Think back to a happier time in your relationship, and write down ways both you and your partner have changed. Were you more attentive, seductive, and forgiving? Identify ways in which the relationship has fundamentally changed. Are there other obligations interfering with your ability to love each other? Have children entered the picture? Has one partner lost a job or received a promotion? Examine how all of these changes are related and try to figure out some simple solutions.

Time to Talk.

After creating a realistic love concept and identifying changes in your relationship, it is time to have a thoughtful and candid conversation with your partner. Your partner may have similar concerns. And when two people drift away from each other, they drift away at twice the speed. Assure your partner that you are committed to improving your love relationship and keep the conversation solution-oriented.

Act Lovingly.

Love is a feeling, but it is also an action. It is a noun and a verb–and verbs usually imply action. You cannot be passive about love. It will not magically reappear in your relationship. You must give love to get it. Make specific and unambiguous efforts to demonstrate your love for partner at least once a day. Like a bank account, you have to deposit love before you can withdraw it. You must start giving the love you want in return.

Starve Your Resentment.

Don’t focus on feelings of resentment and hostility. When people fall in love, they often develop a positive obsession for their partners, and it creates constant excitement. When falling out of love, the obsession turns negative and becomes constant resentment. You must do your best to block these negative thoughts.

Feed The Positivity.

Do your best to acknowledge the positive qualities of your partner. Identify what is right about your partner and your relationship, and then tell your friends and family about them. You might be surprised at the reaction. They might just tell you how lucky you are. Getting this kind of positive feedback will strengthen your relationship.

Let it Go.

Don’t hold onto past resentments.

Seduce Each Other.

To add some passion into your lives, make sure you are seducing each other on a regular basis. Look your best. Express desire–or fake it. If your sex life has turned boring, be open to spicing it up a bit. Have fun, make love, and hang out like you used to.

What is Missing in Passion, Make Up For With Intimacy.

While you may never recapture the passion you had with your partner in the first years of dating, you should make efforts to become increasingly intimate. Like passionate love, being understood and cherished is also a fundamental human desire. Feed your partner’s desire for intimacy–it is the glue of all long-term love relationships. Concentrate on safeguarding your partner and attending to their emotional needs.

Dr. Sean Kenniff is the author of STOP *EFFING YOURSELF and ETRE THE COW. Click on the book cover above to purchase.

DIET ADDICTION COULD BE DRIVING U.S. OBESITY EPIDEMIC, RESEARCH SUGGESTS…

DIETING MAY BE ADDICTIVE, PACK ON POUNDS

By Sean Kenniff, MD

Healthapalooza.com

Americans spend roughly $47 million dollars each year on Twinkies, and another $32 billion on pizza. That’s a lot of dough. So it is hard to imagine the kind of food that outsells all those pizzas and Twinkies combined. According to food industry statistics, diet products do just that. Each year U.S. consumers spend more than $40 billion trying to shake off the pounds with diet shakes, pills, and programs.

But take a look around, and take a good look in the mirror. Diets don’t work well for anybody—they don’t even work for rich and famous celebrities. After losing 160 pounds in 2005, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey regained all of her weight by 2009. Actress Kirstie Alley famously lost 75 pounds by using the diet program Jenny Craig. She gained it all back within three years. Dodger ex-manager Tommy Lasorda slimmed down using Slim Fast, and so did NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. Both men saw weight loss victory quickly turn to defeat.

“While virtually all diets result in weight loss in the short term, 95-98 percent of people who go on a diet will gain the weight back,” says Judith Matz, co-author of The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self Care. “According to the research, two-thirds will end up heavier than their pre-diet weight.”

Matz says repeated phases of food deprivation, commonly called dieting, slows metabolism and makes our bodies store fat more efficiently. Recent evidence also suggests repeated dieting can alter brain chemistry in a similar fashion to drug or alcohol addiction.

“Diets give a high,” Matz says, “There is a virtuous feeling; you are on top of the world.”

So can you be addicted to dieting? And can a “diet addiction” be making you fatter?

The idea that a “diet addiction” could be driving our obesity epidemic is not a new one. Scientists have long known behaviors of yo-yo dieters—like food compulsions, obsessions, guilt, and shame, closely resemble the behaviors of relapsing addicts. What drives people to use drugs or alcohol in the first place, drives many others to extreme diets or eating disorders—genetics, emotional strain, mental illness, peer pressure and insecurity all playing important roles. Like alcoholics and drug addicts, dieters will often do destructive things to their bodies just to be thinner. Many abuse water pills, amphetamines, and laxatives to stay thin, or continue to smoke cigarettes out of fear that quitting will lead to weight gain. Still others resort to the dangerous bingeing and purging of bulimia.

But perhaps the most compelling evidence of diet addiction comes from experiments conducted by Dr. Pietro Cottone and Dr. Valentina Sabino at the Boston University School of Medicine. They studied the neurobiological responses of 155 rats. One group of rats was fed the standard, bland-tasting rat chow. Another group of rats was fed in diet cycles of standard rat chow for five days, followed by two days of a tasty, high sugar, chocolate flavored chow. The standard chow quickly became unacceptable to rats in the diet-cycled group, and they exhibited anxiety behaviors until they were able to get a fix of the chocolate chow. But when Dr. Cottone and Dr. Sabino examined the stress pathways in the brains of the rats, they found the “addictive” stress response was not caused by the tasty food, but rather by the deprivation phase. They found a key stress neurotransmitter, called CRF, was creating a negative emotional state nearly identical to that seen in animals withdrawing then bingeing on drugs or alcohol.

And it’s believed this same abnormal stress response could be one reason why so many people fail miserably on their diets, yet try and try again.

“CRF activation during abstinence from palatable foods induces a negative emotional state which is responsible for signs of anxiety and contributes to relapse to ‘forbidden foods,” Dr. Sabino said in a press release.

So how do you know if you are a diet addict?

ARE YOU A DIET ADDICT?

1.    Have you repeatedly tried and failed to control your weight with diets?

2.    Has dieting interfered with your life, social activities or employment?

3.    Do you have constant thoughts about dieting?

4.    Do you jump from diet to diet?

5.    Do you feel shame when you fail on your diet?

6.    Have you ever dieted dangerously?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions you could be a diet addict.

But what about those people who are persistent and successful at dieting, like 65 year-old computer professional, Rose Lynn? She failed at Atkins, South Beach, and Weight Watchers, but recently lost fifty pounds on Nutra-System.

“I don’t believe the diets failed,” Lynn says, “I believe I failed to be ready and committed.”

Football Coach Jim Napoli lost forty pounds on the same diet program, after failing miserably on Atkins. “I lost weight, but I was mean as I’ve ever been, from the minute I woke up, until the minute I went to bed,” he says.

Funnyman and morning DJ Jeff Martin, who lost nearly thirty pounds on Quick Weight Loss, takes a more absurdist view on dieting, saying, “Try the garlic, limburger cheese, scallions, and red onion diet. From a distance, you will LOOK thinner.”

Will their success lead to long term weight loss? Matz says, slim chance—a two to five percent chance to be specific. Matz claims the secret to lifelong thinness is to break the diet addiction for good. Don’t avoid your favorite foods, because deprivation triggers overeating. Instead eat them in moderation. And honor your hunger. Hunger is your body’s natural way of telling you to eat. But be wary of emotional eating. If hunger is not your problem, then eating is not your answer.

Sean Kenniff, MD is a neurologist, television health journalist and radio host in South Florida.

To contact Judith Matz, or for more information about The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self Care, visit www.dietsurvivors.com or you can read her blog at www.dietsurvivorsgroup@blogspot.com

Dr. Pietro Cottone and Dr. Sabino Valentina can be reached by contacting the Boston University School of Medicine.

UNHEALTHY HOLLYWOOD! Healthapalooza’s Annual Report

Healthapalooza’s Annual Report

UNHEALTHY HOLLYWOOD

by Sean Kenniff, MD

Hollywood has always been a good place for bad behavior. But 2009 was especially tragic for Tinseltown, as a lot of Hollywood’s best had their worst and last moments. In June, David Carradine died under bizarre sexual circumstances in a Bangkok Hotel. Soon thereafter the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, went into cardiac arrest after receiving a deadly cocktail of potent prescription drugs. Adam Michael Goldstein, better known as DJ AM, suffered a fatal drug overdose in August. And most recently 32 year-old actress Brittany Murphy died under questionable circumstances. Forget falling stars, 2009 was a meteor shower.

All year the staff at Healthapalooza.com follows celebrity news, gossip, and tabloid rumors to bring you our annual report “Unhealthy Hollywood.” The winner of each category is dishonored with a “Healthapaloozer” award—perhaps the only award in Hollywood nobody wants to win.

In the category for SCARIEST SKINNY the nominees are…

1.    Lindsay Lohan

2.    Mishka Barton

3.    Keira Knightly

The Healthapaloozer goes to Mishka Barton! According to the British tabloid The Daily Mail, the 5’9” Barton was a curvy size 12 last year. Now she appears sickly and skeletal. Barton denies having an eating disorder, and credits her dramatic weight loss to a new obsession with pilates.

Important Fact: The eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia, are the deadliest forms of mental illness. In women, anorexia raises the risk of death 12 times.

In the category for FRIGHTENINGLY FAT the nominees are…

1.    Kirstie Alley

2.    John Goodman

3.    Aretha Franklin

The Healthapaloozer goes to Aretha Franklin! Lately the “Queen of Soul” has been looking more like the “Dairy Queen of Soul.”

Important Fact: Being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and many forms of cancer. There are more than 4 million Americans weighing over 300 pounds.  

In the category for MOST TOXIC BODY the nominees are…

1.    Amy Winehouse

2.    Artie Lange

3.    Courtney Love

The Healthapaloozer goes to Amy Winehouse! The singer claims she has been drug free since January 2009, but her erratic behavior is raising a lot of doubts. Winehouse was arrested two times in 2009 for alleged assaults, and in late December she collapsed and was treated at a hospital for “nervous exhaustion.” Amy, it looks like it might be time to say “Yes, Yes, Yes,” to rehab.

Important Fact: The most common addictions in the U.S. are to legal substances, namely alcohol and tobacco. In terms of dollar amounts, more cocaine is sold each year in the U.S. than Starbuck’s coffee.

In the category for MOST LIKELY TO CONTRACT AN STD the nominees are…

1.    George Michael

2.    Tiger Woods

3.    Warren Beatty

The Healthapaloozer goes to George Michael! Tiger Woods had at least 11 mistresses, and Warren Beatty is rumored to have slept with nearly 13-thousand women over his acting career, but singer George Michael appears to be the riskiest sex seeker. In 1998 the Grammy winning superstar was nabbed by police engaging in a “lewd act” in a public toilet, and he recently admitted to The Guardian that he smokes seven joints a day and engages in casual sex about twice a week with men other than his boyfriend.

Important Fact: Drug use increases the risk of contracting an STD. So does having sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or having sex with someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The more sexual partners you have, the higher your risk of an STD.

In the category for MOST FROZEN FACE the nominees are…

1.    Joan Rivers

2.    Kenny Rogers

3.    Kathy Griffen

The Healthapaloozer goes to Joan Rivers! Joan Rivers clearly suffers from the “Frozen Face Syndrome.” With her facial muscles paralyzed by Botox, and skin stretched paper thin, the funny lady can hardly crack a smile.

Important Fact: Nearly 12 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the U.S. in 2007. Two thirds of cosmetic surgery patients are repeat patients.

In the category for MOST DANGEROUS DIET the nominees are…

1.    Rihanna

2.    Britney Spears

3.    Miley Cyrus

The Healthapaloozer goes to Miley Cyrus! Sultry songstress Rihanna supposedly orders pizza, lasagna, and french fries before her concerts. Britney Spears reportedly kicked her junk food habit to slim down for her Circus tour. But Miley Cyrus is allegedly addicted to junk food. While staying at a hotel in December 2009 Life and Style reported Cyrus ordered seven burgers and cheese fries, and she washed it all down with an Oreo milkshake.

Important Fact: A study conducted in 2000 found junk food raises the risk of heart disease in TEENS!

In the category for UNHEALTHIEST MOVIE the nominees are…

1.    Taking Woodstock

2.    Paul Blart: Mall Cop

3.    The Hangover

And the Healthapaloozer goes to The Hangover! No doubt The Hangover was a comedy hit, but the bachelor party booze bonanza flick features almost every kind of unhealthy behavior—drugs, anonymous sex, over drinking, grand theft, taser demonstrations, and being punched by Mike Tyson.

Important Fact: Recently studies have found hangovers impair judgment and memory, and they are a leading cause of work absences and lost productivity. Another recent study found driving with a hangover is 4-times more dangerous than driving sober.

In the category for UNHEALTHIEST TELEVISION PROGRAM the nominees are…

1.    Rock of Love with Brett Michaels

2.    The Simpsons

3.    More to Love

And the Healthapaloozer goes to Rock of Love! Homer Simpson is a drunk-driving donut-eating dimwit who chokes his son, Bart, in fits of rage, but even he could not beat the unhealthy behaviors featured on VH1’s Rock of Love with Bret Michaels.  On the show chain-smoking boozed-up bimbos compete for the affection of Bret Michaels, the former frontman of the rock group Poison. 

Last but not least, the EVEL KNIEVEL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR DEATH DEFYING LIVING goes to…Artie Lange! Howard Stern’s hysterical sidekick, and author of the book, Too Fat to Fish, is dangerously fat, and has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. He was recently hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Get well, Artie, and stay well.

What is Worse? This or That?

What’s Worse, This or That?

by Sean Kenniff, MD 

What is worse: being obese or suffering from anorexia nervosa? 

Statistics show anorexia nervosa has the highest fatality rate of any psychological disorder. Up to twenty-percent of those affected will die from the condition if left untreated, and roughly three-percent die even with therapy. Obesity also kills, but much more slowly. The mortality rate for people suffering from anorexia nervosa is higher, and they tend to die at much younger ages when compared to an obese people of the same age. For an obese twenty-five-year old woman the risk of dying is around 0.1%.

What is worse for parents with children: Having a gun in the house, or a swimming pool in the backyard?

In the book Freakonomics by economist Steven Leavitt, statistical analysis reveals that having a swimming pool is roughly 100-times more risky than having a gun in the house. According to Leavitt there are 6-million residential swimming pools in the U.S., and more than 500 children drown in them each year-so roughly one child drowns for every 11,000 swimming pools. Meanwhile there are more than 200-million guns in the U.S., but fewer than 200 deaths in children under the age of ten are due to firearms. Simple math tells you that the risk of having a gun in the home is just 1-child death for every 1-million guns.

What is worse: smoking marijuana cigarettes, or smoking tobacco cigarettes?

This question appeared in an editorial in the British Medical Journal in 2003. From a legal point of view marijuana is certainly worse. But when it comes to your health tobacco cigarettes are a much bigger risk. Two large studies failed to find an increased risk of death associated with cannabis use. While there are plenty of carcinogens in marijuana smoke, people do not tend to chain-smoke the drug-so the overall exposure to those carcinogens is much less. And most marijuana smokers cease smoking the drug in early adulthood. Cigarettes pose a much larger personal and public health risk. However this conclusion comes with a caveat: perhaps the main reason people stop smoking marijuana after a certain age is because of its illegality. As we age we are less likely to commit these kinds of criminal activities. Decriminalization of marijuana may lead to more prolonged smoking and perhaps more deaths. But overall cigarettes are much worse. In the United States tobacco use contributes to roughly 1-in-5 deaths.

What is worse: being married and miserable, or happy and single? 

Research shows happily married couples live longer than singles, and the health benefit of being in a happy marriage is more profound for men than it is for women. People in positive marital relationships have lower blood pressures and reduced levels of stress hormones when compared to unhappily married couples. And a recent study from BYU researchers found unhappily married people have a higher blood pressure, and higher stress hormones than happy singles and happily married folks. So being unhappily married appears to pose the biggest risk to your health. But before you think about heading to divorce court, several studies have shown divorce can increase the risk of death. So try to make your marriage a happy one. 

It’s also important to mention that overall never-married people face the highest risk of death (unhappy and happy singles combined). A study published in 2006 found never-married people faced 5-times the risk of dying from infectious diseases, were 38-percent more likely to die from heart disease, and faced twice the risk of dying from an accident, homicide, or suicide.

What is worse: air pollution or being exposed to second-hand smoke?

Air pollution from industrial pollutants and motor vehicles accounts for 3% of all U.S. deaths according to an article in the European Respiratory Journal. A study from University of Southern California in 2007 found children living near a major highway (within 500 meters) were more likely to have asthma, other respiratory diseases, and were more likely to have reduced lung function and reduced lung growth. Living close to a busy highway has also been associated with an increased risk of heart disease and some cancers. Air pollution alone causes between 22,000 and 55,000 deaths each year in the U.S. according to government statistics, but the National Resources Defenses Council says air pollution is responsible for 64,000 deaths each year. Particulate matter and benzene are thought to be playing the largest role in causing the health problems. 20-million Americans live under air pollution that contains more than 32 toxins at levels 100 times higher than the EPA deems acceptable. The World Health Organization says worldwide there are 2-million deaths due to air pollution each year. So how does second-hand smoke compare? The American Cancer Society estimates exposure to second-hand smoke causes roughly 3400 lung cancer deaths and between 22,000 and 69,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease each year in the U.S. There are approximately 21-million American children (35%) living in homes where they are exposed to second-hand smoke. So the numbers turn out to be roughly the same.

Prescription for More Sex, More Often

More Sex, More Often

by Sean Kenniff, MD

   For many couples sex that used to sizzle starts to fizzle. In the U.S. the average married couple has sex fifty-eight times a year-that’s just a little bit more than once a week-and many couples have much less than that. Good communication is essential for all healthy relationships, but seduction may be as important-and many long-term lovers have simply forgotten all about the art of seduction. 

These are the Seven Surefire Secrets to Seduction that promise to cure that bedroom boredom.

#1 Tell your lover a sexy bedtime story

Experts often say the brain is the most powerful sexual organ in the body and one good way to engage it is with fantasy. So conjure up a story and share it with your lover at bedtime. It can be about a princess, a pirate, or a real person. Tell your lover how you want to be pleased or how you intend to please them. Just don’t hold back! Getting graphic really gets the brain going. 

#2 Say it, before you do it

Like professional athletes who visualize victories, the brain must be primed before the body can perform. It could be a breathy phone call at work, a dirty note left inside a purse or a briefcase, or just a racy text message. For some people the anticipation of sex can be nearly as rewarding as the act itself. So build anticipation and let the momentum take care of the rest. 

#3 Bedtime is adult playtime

There are plenty of toys and adult themed games on the market, but sometimes it’s better to get creative with the games you might already have around the home-plus they’re a lot more discreet. So try playing a few hands of strip poker, give naked Twister a spin, or just tickle your funny-bone with a game of erotic Operation. Just roll the dice and use your imagination.

#4 Set the scene and look the part

If you want an Oscar-worthy performance set a scene that engages as many of the five senses as possible. So try some dim lighting, scented candles, delicious finger foods, wine, feathers, satin sheets, fluffy pillows, rose petals or romantic music. Use many of these sense stimulators in combination. And don’t forget to touch your lover often. Touch is perhaps the most primal of the five senses. Shower, shave, and dress the part.

#5 Just do it

Call it the ‘Nike Philosophy’: even if it seems monotonous experts say making love on a regular basis is critical to sustaining a healthy sexual relationship. Once couples stop having regular romps it is often difficult to get back to previous levels of activity. It’s like going to the gym: the hard part is getting there, but once you start sweating it is always well worth the trouble.

#6 Have a naughty night out

Forget date night! Instead try a naughty night out. Maybe take your partner to a striptease, an adult toy store, a theme room at a motel, or even the back seat of your car. Pretend to meet in a bar and pick each other up all over again. Basically if it feels like you are doing something wrong you probably have the right idea.

#7 Novelty

Break life’s monotony by adding everyday novelty. The brain responds to novel situations with increased awareness and heightened senses. Changing your routine by doing different things throughout the day also raises levels of feel good neurochemicals in both men and women.

It’s important to remember that a lack of sexual desire or inability to perform sexual activity can sometimes be a sign of a serious psychological or medical condition. So if you want to have more sex, more often, but are physically unable to do so, make sure you discuss the problems candidly with your doctor.

Does I.Q. Decline with Age?

   Though there is some evidence that the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) can increase during early childhood, it is supposed to remain relatively constant during adulthood. But the reason for this constancy is purely statistical and not biological.

   There are several different kinds of IQ tests and all of them are imperfect, but they are believed to provide a rough measure of a person’s reasoning ability. An IQ of 90-110 is considered average. After testing for verbal skills, visual-spatial abilities, mathematical reasoning and memory, a person’s raw score is calculated.

   This raw score is corrected for age, and then plotted on a bell curve against the scores of similarly aged people in the general population. In other words, IQ is not only a calculation, it is a comparison to other people of the same age. So, theoretically, a person of any age should always fall into the same percentile when compared with their peers.

   While one’s IQ may stay the same, most people do show a modest decline in mental performance on IQ testing as they age. Verbal skills seem to be retained the longest, but memory, mathematical ability and visual-spatial reasoning start to decline slowly around and 35, and more considerably after age 65. -Sean Kenniff, MD

Positively Poppy? Can Poppy Seeds Sway a Drug Test…

   People who are required to undergo random on-the-job drug testing often avoid poppy seeds because they fear they could lead to a positive drug test result. Though most poppy seeds sold commercially in the United States pose no risk during a routine drug test, some poppy seeds can contain trace amounts of opiates. If ingested your urine could test positive for drugs like morphine, codeine and heroin.

   Several studies have shown opiate levels in the urine rise within two hours of poppy seed ingestion, and can remain elevated for a day or two afterwards. If eaten with geat regularity the presence of opiates can be a bit higher and a bit more persistent. But since the levels found in poppy seed ingestion are generally lower than those found in drug use, many governmental groups and private corporations have simply increased the opiate level that is needed to be declared positive. This has eliminated a lot of the false positives due to poppy seeds.  

   Additionally the compound thebaine is found in the urine of people who have consumed poppy seeds but is not found in those who have been using opiate drugs. And more sophisticated drug testing techniques can now detect specific opiate drug byproducts.-Sean Kenniff, MD

The Ten Most Effective Abdominal Exercises: #5 The Torso Track

  You can turn flabby into fabulous with these top ten abdominal exercises. Dr. Peter Francis and his team from the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University measured abdominal muscle activity by using electromyography (EMG) devices. They then rated the most commonly performed abdominal exercises from most effective to least effective. The study was sanctioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

#5 The Torso Track

  Dr. Francis found the most effective abdominal exercises combined continuous abdominal contraction and rotation of the torso. So adding a twist will always help work your oblique muscles. Overall the Bicycle Maneuver ranked #1, the Captain’s Chair ranked #2, and the Exercise Ball Crunch ranked #3, and the Vertical Leg Crunch came in at #4 for working the abs (see below). In fifth place came Fitness Quest’s ‘The Torso Track’ a piece of equipment sold on infomercials. But the Torso Track faired only slightly better than a regular crunch. Many gyms have a Torso Track. Here’s how to perform the exercise properly according to the manufacturer.

• 1. Grip the handrails of the device and hold in your abs without holding your breath.
• 2. Exhale as you glide forward as far as you can without straining.
• 3. If you fall or collapse, you have gone too far forward.
• 4. Contract your abdominals as you pull back up.
• 5. Complete three sets of then repetitions.
• 6. Always use smooth motion while performing this exercise.

Check the Healthapalooza.com Special Reports section tomorrow when we will reveal the exercises that ranked #6 thru #10 in the study. -Sean Kenniff, MD

The Ten Most Effective Abdominal Exercises: #4 The Vertical Leg Crunch

  There are ten top abdominal exercises that can help your tummy go from flabulous to fabulous. Dr. Peter Francis and his team from the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University measured abdominal muscle activity with electromyography. They then rated the most commonly performed abdominal exercises from most effective to least effective. The study was sanctioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE).

#4 The Vertical Leg Crunch

  Dr. Francis found the most effective abdominal exercises combined continuous abdominal contraction and rotation of the torso. So adding a twist helps work your obliques. Overall the Bicycle Maneuver ranked #1, the Captain’s Chair ranked #2, and the Exercise Ball Crunch ranked #3 (see below). The Vertical Leg Crunch came in at #4 for working the abs, and at #5 for working the oblique muscles. Here’s how to perform the Vertical Leg Crunch properly according to the ACE.

• 1. Lie flat on floor with lower back pressed against the ground.
• 2. Put hands behind your head, but do not pull on your neck.
• 3. Extend your legs straight up in the air and cross your ankles.
• 4. Your knees should be slightly bent.
• 5. Contract your abdominals bringing your torso towards your feet.
• 6. Keep your chin off your chest, and exhale with each contraction.

 Check the Healthapalooza.com Special Reports section tomorrow when we will reveal the exercise that ranked #5 in the study. -Sean Kenniff, MD

The Ten Most Effective Abdominal Exercises: #3 The Exercise Ball Crunch

  If you’re trying to tone your tummy, and want that washboard look, try these top ten abdominal exercises. Using electromyography (EMG) Dr. Peter Francis and his team from the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University measured abdominal muscle activity, and put some of the most commonly performed exercises to the test. They ranked them from most effective to least effective. The study was sanctioned by the American Council on Exercise (ACE). 

#3 The Exercise Ball Crunch 

  Dr. Francis found the most effective abdominal exercises combined continuous abdominal contraction and rotation of the torso. Overall the Bicycle Maneuver ranked #1 and the Captain’s Chair ranked #2 (see below). The Exercise Ball Crunch was the third most effective exercise for working the abs (it also finished #6 for working the oblique muscles). Here’s how to perform the Exercise Ball Crunch properly according to the ACE.

1. Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor.

2. Lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel to the floor.

3. Cross your arms over your chest, or place them lightly behind your head. Do not pull on your neck.

4. Contract your abdominals raising your torso no more than 45 degrees.

5. Move your feet closer together to work your obliques.

6. Repeat sets of 12-20 repetitions.

  Check the Healthapalooza.com Special Reports section tomorrow when we will reveal the exercise that ranked #4 in the study. -Sean Kenniff, MD