Tom Nikkola | VIGOR Training

Tom Nikkola | VIGOR Training

By Tom Nikkola | VIGOR TrainingHealth & FitnessNutritionMental HealthFitness
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Tom Nikkola | VIGOR Training episodes

  • Acceptance: Let Go of Wishing Things Were Different.
    The following is an excerpt from a draft of a book I'm working on. It's about my recovery from a broken neck and spinal cord injury, but also much more than that. As I continue to work on it, I may include other writings and ramblings here on my blog. They may or may not make it into the final draft. If you're a Nikkola Newsletter subscriber, you'll be the first to know when the book is finished.
    “I’m going over the handlebars,” I thought as my front bike tire dropped off the edge of a three-foot skinny bridge. A fraction of a second later, my front tire hit the ground, causing my bike to catapult me around the tire, throwing me head-first into the ground. My head hit the ground, and then my neck absorbed the force from the rest of my body, moving in the same direction as my head. I saw darkness and then a flash of light. And then I was lying flat on my back. My hands moved. My legs did not. I had no feeling below my waist. I instantly knew this was a bad situation.
    I told our grandson Asher to get Grandma Vanessa, who was ahead of us on the trail. She heard me, threw her bike into the woods, and ran back to where I lay. She quickly sprung to action, calling 911 and flagging down other riders to help.
    As I lay there, I knew I’d sustained a serious neck injury and that there was a good chance I’d never walk again.
    I didn’t feel sad or angry, or discouraged. I didn't panic, as I knew that would only make things worse, not to mention that it would scare our grandson.
    Once Vanessa had first responders on the way, I started to ponder what life would be like if I never walked again. I'd been injured before, but not like this.
    I wondered how I'd make the most of a life without the ability to walk. Or what if I didn't have use of my legs or arms?
    How would I rig up a way to exercise? How could I use my mind alone to contribute to the world and support our family? Could I read and write more? Could I add to my education?
    I knew that the faster I accepted that life might forever look different, the faster I’d be able to make the most of that life.
    I thought about multiple possible futures and resolved to accept whichever would become reality based on the results of my injury.
    As I've learned to do throughout my life, I jumped from the reality of an unwanted situation to acceptance of that situation. As I later found out from Vanessa, she did the same.
    Neither of us spent a moment dwelling on what happened and how we'd want it to be different. Each of us, in our own minds, decided we'd make the most of our current reality.
    We accepted things as they were.
    Accepting Illness
    I’d had a lot of practice with that throughout my life, which made acceptance of my circumstances easy the day that I crashed on my bike. I began learning the value of accepting reality as it was as a child.
    I got severely sick when I was four years old. I don't remember it, but I had aches throughout my body and was extremely fatigued. I saw doctors in my hometown of Ely, Minnesota, in Duluth, and eventually at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
    The doctors didn’t immediately know what was wrong with me. They ran tests all over my body, even doing a biopsy of my testicles at one point. Though I was too young to appreciate the importance of my balls fully, I knew enough to get squeamish about that procedure.
    After much poking and prodding, the physicians finally figured out what was wrong.
    I had leukemia. Acute lymphocytic leukemia, to be precise.
    Most of my treatment took place through the Mayo Clinic, though our hometown doctor, Dr. Steve Park, played a crucial role in my treatment and recovery as well. We carried on our relationship with the Mayo Clinic for 15 years.
    Doctors cure this type of leukemia easily today, but when I had it, the cure was a new thing.
    At four years old, it’s pretty hard to comprehend what cancer means, though the doctors at the Mayo tried to explain it as best they could.
    ...
    16 min
  • How to Build the Best Home Gym For Middle-Aged Men and Women
    You're ready to build a home gym, but where do you begin? Which equipment do you need? What brands should you consider? Can you even get as good of a workout at home as you would in a commercial gym? And how much should you expect it to cost?
    Vanessa and I recently turned our lower-level family room into a home gym. Even though I had a good idea of what we'd need, sorting through all the equipment options and brands proved more difficult than I thought it would be.
    If you find yourself in a similar circumstance, remember this: Home gym companies want you to buy their equipment and make it work for your workouts. It's like a contractor building the most profitable house to sell you and then trying to convince you that their house is just what your lifestyle needs.
    In this guide, we start with your workouts first. Then, I'll walk you through the right equipment to buy to get the best workouts with the least equipment.
    One other point I need to stress: If your home gym equipment isn't good enough to replace your commercial gym workouts, you'll end up still going to the gym. If that's the case, then the investment in your home gym won't be worth it. Your home gym setup has to be good enough to replace the commercial gym.
    That's where I'll begin with this guide.
    What exercises are essential in a good strength and conditioning program?
    If you're going to make the significant investment in home gym equipment, especially if you're middle-aged or older, you need equipment that allows you to do at least the following:
    Free weight movements (Barbells and Dumbbells)
    Squats
    Lunges
    Chest Press - Flat, Incline
    Shoulder Press
    Pullup / Chinup
    Dips
    Rows
    Deadlifts
    Machine movements
    Leg Press
    Leg Extension
    Leg Curl
    Pulldown
    Row
    Why do you need free weights and machines? My Crossfit buddy said you only need free weights...I can imagine some who read the list above thinking something along those lines.
    First, as you get older, you will develop aches and pains and end up with injured joints. That's just part of being an active adult. If your only option for hitting your legs hard is to do squats, you won't have much to do when you hurt your back, helping a friend move some furniture. Having the leg press available ensures you keep up with your lower body training.
    Second, movements like extensions and curls have a place in a good strength and conditioning program. They're often dismissed amongst the free weight purists, but if you want to maximize muscle as you age, as well as ensure your joints have the most protection, you'll include leg curls and extensions for your legs just as you'd include bicep curls and triceps pressdowns for your arms.
    Third, not everyone can do pull-ups, and even if they can, they might not be able to do very many reps. Also, over time, relying only on pull-ups for your back can lead to issues with your elbows and forearms. Don't get me wrong, pull-ups are a crucial part of a good program, but they're not the only way you should work your lats. Having a pulldown and row machine available allows you to train your back with a little more variety and less stress on your joints.
    You might also wonder, "Why wouldn't you just get a universal gym?" If you're 80 or older, a single, multi-exercise piece of equipment could suffice. But machines do not replace the balance and stability benefits of free weights, nor do they allow you to move through a more natural range of motion, which is important for developing posture and joint integrity. On the flip side, there are some things machines can do that free weights can't. Including both in your home gym, within a reasonable space and cost, is best.
    In Search of the Ideal Equipment Setup
    With the above in mind, I started searching for just the right solution.
    I looked at a Rogue Monster Cave and got pretty close to ordering it. It would have covered all the bases above except the leg press...
    20 min
  • How does berberine affect cardiovascular health and body weight?
    Over the 20+ years of my fitness career, I’ve seen countless supplements rise and fall in popularity. Few have proven to be effective long-term and in both animals and humans. Berberine is among the few.
    Each year, more and more research shows how effective berberine supplementation is in supporting various metabolic health issues.
    I even found a study a couple of months ago suggesting berberine may help reduce noise-induced hearing loss. That study was done in rats, so it’s hard to say whether it’ll work in humans, but I thought that was pretty interesting nonetheless.
    Here, though, I want to focus on berberine’s impact on cardiovascular health, one of the main causes of reduced quality of life and death in middle-aged and older adults.
    What is berberine?
    Berberine is a compound found in goldenseal, goldenthread, Oregon grape, barberry, prickly and Californian poppy, and Amur cork tree.
    Though you can take it today as an isolated, standardized compound, Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine practitioners have prescribed the plants above as treatments for thousands of years.
    Berberine is a bright, yellow powder with an extremely bitter taste. It’s usually taken in capsule form so you don’t have to taste it.
    Preventing Cardiovascular Disease
    Cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer, with almost one-third of annual deaths coming from it. 
    A just-published meta-analysis of 49 studies analyzed the effects of berberine on cardiovascular health. While the findings are impressive, if you’re serious about preventing, slowing, or even reversing cardiovascular disease, your diet and lifestyle choices will always make a bigger difference than a supplement or medication.
    If any of the following apply to you, you’re causing yourself to develop cardiovascular disease. Get the following fixed first, then consider using berberine.
    You might be giving yourself cardiovascular disease if you:
    Live with chronically high, unmanaged stress
    Are an endurance athlete or do excessive amounts of cardio
    Eat a high-carb / low-protein diet (most people eat way more carbs and way less protein than they think)
    Lack muscle mass because you don’t strength train (this is especially important for women)
    Are a man (someone born with XY chromosomes) with low testosterone
    Are a woman (someone born with XX chromosomes) with high testosterone, such as a woman with PCOS
    Have hypothyroidism (low thyroid)
    Have micronutrient deficiencies
    Live in consistent sleep debt
    Will berberine help reduce the damage of the above choices and issues? 
    It could help. Just like a group of firefighters could quell a fire while you keep pouring gasoline on it. But it would be foolish to pour the gasoline on the fire, and it’s foolish not to resolve the above issues, which are almost completely within your control.
    I've linked to several of my articles above if you'd like more information on dealing with one of the above issues.
    Findings of the Meta-Analysis
    According to the meta-analysis, berberine supplementation significantly lowers:
    Total cholesterol
    Triglycerides
    LDL cholesterol
    Fasting blood glucose
    Insulin
    HbA1c
    Insulin resistance
    Bodyweight and BMI
    Waist circumference
    At doses above 1 gram daily, berberine supplementation also raises HDL cholesterol (protective cholesterol).
    According to the reviewed studies, it’s most effective at reducing cardiovascular risk factors in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. For lipids and glucose, it’s most effective for people with HDL below 40 mg/dL, LDL above 100 mg/dL, and fasting blood glucose above 100 mg/dL. 
    Doses and Durations
    To improve insulin sensitivity and lower fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, research shows people need about 1.8 grams per day and need to take it for at least two months before they start seeing improvements. 
    Likewise,
    8 min
  • I Broke My Neck Part 4: Our Experiences With and Insights About the Healthcare System
    It's been three months since I broke my neck and sustained a spinal cord injury. I was planning to write an open letter to Regions Hospital about my experience, but after talking it through with Vanessa, decided it wouldn't be the best use of time or mental energy.
    Instead, I decided that covering the insights I've gained would add more value to others than outlining the disappointments from the hospital's post-op process. The former would empower others. The latter would only lead to unnecessary complaining.
    If you don't feel like reading any further, please just take this point to heart:
    You should expect a hospital system to fix what's broken, but it's on you as an individual to make yourself whole and well.
    I couldn't have fixed the mess I made of my neck on July 30. Only a well-trained surgeon could have done that. But from the day after surgery, going forward, I couldn't expect that the medical system would have the knowledge or experience to help me get back to my previous "normal" in the short time it was possible to do so.
    In case you missed the first three parts of this story, here they are:
    I Broke My Neck, Part 1: Injuries, Surgery, and Recovery Challenges
    I Broke My Neck Part 2: What I’m Doing to Recover And Why
    I Broke My Neck Part 3: The Mental Game of Rehab and Recovery
    A Quick Rehab & Recovery Update
    At the time of this writing, I'm 13 1/2 weeks post-injury.
    In terms of muscular strength, my chest, triceps, and serratus, used for movements like dips, bench presses, and pushups, are at about 60% of where they were pre-injury. The rest of my body is at about 80%. The weakness in my upper body pressing movements is typical of the spinal cord injury I sustained, though the expectations were that it would take much longer to regain strength. I'm sure it would have if I had followed the recommendations from the medical group.
    As for my sensory nerves, when cold water splashes on my lower body, I still feel pain instead of cold, like the water is pushing on a bruise. In my upper body, I feel cold more than pain right now, so it seems the sensory nerves are starting to respond appropriately. I also have frequent burning on the sides and palm of my index and middle fingers, though it's nowhere near the level it once was. If the sensory nerves didn't improve beyond what they have, it wouldn't disrupt normal life.
    And as for my neck itself, most mornings it's pretty stiff, but once I get up, apply some Young Living Cool Azul Pain Relief Cream or other oils and move around, the stiffness and soreness go away.
    The following are some of the milestones from the past few months. Though every spinal cord injury is unique, I thought this might give people in a similar situation a little hope. Early on, I couldn't find any examples of how people recovered from broken necks or spinal cord injuries, so I didn't have anything to compare my progress against.
    Day 1: Walked the morning after surgery, with a physical therapist by my side in case I fell. I believe it was later that afternoon that I also walked up the stairs at the end of the hall.
    Day 3: Was discharged and walked out of the hospital.
    Day 5: Stopped taking oxycodone. I had plenty of pills left, but will not take pain killers unless it's absolutely necessary. It wasn't absolutely necessary.
    Day 5: Got my first gym workout in, with the help of my friend Victor Straw. At this point, I needed straps to hold onto anything as my hands weren't yet working.
    Day 15: First push-up, after trying to complete one for the previous seven days.
    Day 39: Completed first (and second) pull-up.
    Week 5: Weaned off of Gabapentin and extra-strength Tylenol completely. Unfortunately, the Physician's Assistant at Regions Hospital wouldn't discuss weaning off of Gabapentin, so we researched how to do it and followed a specific timeline and process. This is not a drug that you stop cold turkey,
    16 min
  • Instead of trying to eat less, eat less often.
    Unless you’re an athlete who trains for hours every day or one of the few people in the population with an extreme metabolic rate, eating more than three meals per day will likely cause massive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, low energy levels, and poor gut health.
    Does that mean I’m anti-sweets or anti-dessert? Not at all. Just last night, I ate three servings of apple crisp. But I ate it as part of my dinner, not as a late-night snack.
    With the holidays upon us, I thought it was a good time to remind you of the health benefits of intermittent fasting.
    What is intermittent fasting?
    Intermittent fasting is the habitaul practice of food avoidance during part of your daily or weekly schedule.
    In some forms of intermittent fasting, people avoid food for 24 hours on one or two days of each week.
    More popular, and in my opinion, easier to follow, you have time-restricted eating. In this form of intermittent fasting, you eat within a defined time window each day. 
    Studies have been done using 4, 8, 10, or 12-hour eating windows, which means that study participants fast for 20, 16, 14, or 12-hour periods each day.
    From experience and experimentation, an 8-hour eating / 16-hour fasting schedule is most practical, where you eat from lunch through dinner each day. This is especially the case for men. 
    I recommend some female clients, such as those dealing with adrenal fatigue, shorten their fasting period to 14 hours and eat during a 10-hour window.
    Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
    The list of intermittent fasting health benefits is long and continues to grow as more research emerges. Benefits include:
    Higher levels of sustainability because it doesn’t feel like you’re on a restrictive diet
    Improved body composition or lower body fat levels
    Reduced blood sugar and lipid levels
    Improved mental energy and cognitive function
    Lower insulin and higher growth hormone levels
    Reduced blood pressure
    Lower systemic inflammation
    Better balance of healthy gut bacteria
    The following images are found in the paper Time-restricted Eating for the Prevention and Management of Metabolic Diseases, published in Endocrine Reviews. They offer a compelling visual case for time-restricted eating.
    Conditions that benefit from time-restricted eating
    The Problems with Snacking
    I’ve come to realize that showcasing the health benefits of something like intermittent fasting doesn’t always motivate someone to change. 
    But consider the opposite. If eating less often does all of the good stuff above, then eating too often:
    Makes you fatter
    Raises blood sugar and lipid levels
    Exacerbates conditions like PCOS and metabolic syndrome
    Increases inflammation and blood pressure
    Makes you sluggish and foggy-headed
    Increases your risk of developing a variety of health conditions and diseases
    Why would you knowingly do that to yourself?
    A Few Final Thoughts
    As you’ve probably seen from previous writings, the first step I take with clients is not to get them on an intermittent fasting schedule. It is to get them on a high-protein diet.
    If you eat enough protein, it’ll be easier first to stop snacking and then skip breakfast. The higher protein diet will help keep your appetite under control.
    Also, by eating less often, it allows your digestive tract to completely empty. That takes about four hours following a meal. After your digestive tract is empty, growth hormone levels rise, increasing fat metabolism, enhancing tissue repair, and supporting muscle growth. That’s an often underappreciated benefit of eating less often.
    Oh, and if you were wondering how you can still eat your sweets and treats, especially with the holidays upon us, you eat them right after your meals. 
    Just last night, I ate three servings of apple crisp after dinner. The idea is that once you get up from the table, mealtime is over. You don’t start again just before bedtime.
    8 min
  • Could Berberine Help With Covid-like Conditions?
    Berberine is a compound found in goldenseal, yellow root, Amur cork tree, Chinese goldthread, prickly poppy, and Californian poppy.
    I’ve taken berberine daily for years now. While it doesn’t make my Foundational 5 list of the five most essential supplements for health, it would be on my list of the top 10 .
    This past week, I got a notice for a new paper published in Inflammopharmacology, titled The role of berberine in Covid-19: potential adjunct therapy.
    The average case of Covid-19 is little more than a strong cold now, but other novel viruses will come along, so I thought it would be helpful to share some of the highlights from this paper.
    General Health Benefits of Berberine
    Before addressing the potential effects of berberine in infections like Covid-19, I want to recap its general health benefits. I go into greater detail on these in my article Berberine: Blood Sugar, Body Fat and Other Health Benefits.
    Research shows berberine:
    Improves the heart’s performance by increasing ejection fraction and left ventricle function in cases of congestive heart failure
    Supports normal blood pressure
    Increases cholesterol excretion and helps improve blood lipid levels
    Supports normal blood sugar levels and helps increase glucose transport into muscle cells by acting on Glut-4, which improves insulin sensitivity
    Supports normal androgen levels in women with PCOS
    Suppresses the growth of existing fat cells or the development of new fat cells
    May support cognitive health by keeping blood sugar levels in check, thereby reducing the risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease (often dubbed Type III diabetes)
    Enhances the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), stimulating brain cell production and potentially reducing symptoms of depression
    Inhibits the brain’s reward center after using certain drugs and alcohol
    Improves diversity of good gut bacteria
    That’s quite a list of health benefits. Now you know why I take berberine every day.
    Read also: Curcumin: Health Benefits of Turmeric’s Key Compound.
    Berberine and Covid-like Conditions
    The authors of the new paper summarized berberine’s role in COVID-19 as follows:
    The potential role of BBR in Covid-19 is related to improving the immune response in the early phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with suppression of SARS-CoV-2-induced hyper-inflammation in the late phase. Therefore, BBR could be a preventive and therapeutic agent in Covid-19 by targeting inflammatory signaling pathways with suppression of entry/infectivity of SARS-CoV-2.
    Babalghith AO, et al.
    Berberine inhibits viral infection early on and may reduce the inflammation-related damage for someone already infected.
    Such viral infections cause a significant increase in free radicals. With its research-supporter antioxidant effects, berberine may help reduce or prevent free radical damage.
    The following images come directly from the paper. As you can see, berberine plays multiple roles when tackling inflammation, infection, and free radical damage.
    Read also: N-acetylcysteine (NAC): Benefits, Usage, and Side Effects.
    Beyond Covid
    Covid is no longer seen as the threat it was once was. Most of the public now realizes that it isn’t as dangerous as it was made out to be, though there are still a small percentage of people worried enough to wear their masks in public still.
    I’ve already seen propaganda promoting the flu’s return as this fall’s public health threat. Animal research shows that berberine may reduce influenza infection as well.
    Like any other natural therapy, berberine isn’t a miracle cure. If you don’t get enough sleep, drink too much alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or are obese, you’ll have a much harder time protecting your body from infections. 
    As I often say, 
    No supplement is so good it offsets the effects of a poor diet. No diet is so good it won’t benefit from supplementation.
    8 min
  • Protein First: Why “Eat More Protein” is Diet Change #1
    I’m often amused by how nutrition and fitness professionals complicate nutrition, especially for those who are looking to lose weight or get leaner. Some will recommend cutting carbs, others cutting coffee, and still others, surprisingly, cutting fat.
    For many years I was on the side of cutting carbs. It works very well for a while, but eventually, people want to eat the food they like to eat. Many of those include carbs and sugar. I don’t blame them. I like to eat sweets and other starch as well.
    My main point, though, is that most nutrition and fitness professionals, when counseling clients, start with restricting their clients from certain foods or beverages. Those with super willpower may be able to live in a state of restriction for a while, but eventually, they go back to their old way of eating. The body fat creeps back on shortly thereafter.
    About eight years ago, I started to realize that helping people get healthier and fitter, and leaner doesn’t need to start with dietary restrictions at all. In fact, it works better when the focus is on eating more of one thing: protein.
    And this is especially important: the older you are, the more important that protein becomes.
    Here’s why my nutrition recommendations start with protein first.
    One exception: Those with preexisting kidney disease need to limit their protein intake. Protein consumption does not cause kidney disease, but for those who already have it, protein may exacerbate the issue.
    You Can’t Overeat Protein
    The average American eats between 50 and 80 grams of protein per day. It isn’t very much. Research continues to show that a protein intake of one gram per pound of ideal body weight is closer to an optimal amount.
    That’s what I have clients eat.
    For example, if a guy is at 260 pounds today but should be closer to 200 pounds, then 200 grams of protein will suffice.
    However, if he really loves protein and wants to eat 400 grams per day, more power to him. The extra protein probably won’t improve his body composition more than 200 grams would, but if he’s eating that much, he’ll probably eat less of other foods that aren’t as good for him.
    Overeating protein does not make you fatter.
    An old fashion registered dietitian will tell you that that’s the case, but research shows it’s simply untrue.
    Jose Antonio led a group of researchers to study the effects of eating way more protein than most people can handle. Their study participants ate twice their body weight in grams of protein each day. Much of the extra protein came from protein powders because it would be virtually impossible to eat that much from whole food.
    At the end of the study, after those participants had eaten an average of 500 calories more per day than they burned, guess what happened? Nothing. They didn’t gain any body fat at all. Overeating protein will not make you fat or unhealthy or any of the other nonsense that a "calories in calories out" registered dietitian will tell you it does.
    So, if you’re going to overeat any of the macronutrients, protein is the one to overeat.
    Read also: 5 Reasons Low-Calorie Diets Don’t Work Long-Term.
    Reduced Desire for Sugar and Starch
    A high protein diet significantly reduces cravings for junk.
    The protein triggers your satiety signals for much longer than other types of foods.
    If you are satiated, it’s less likely that you’ll go searching for junk food. More than likely, you won’t even feel like snacking, so you end up eating less often during the day, which has numerous blood sugar and metabolic benefits.
    Read also: Eat Meals, Not Snacks. Why you shouldn’t eat every few hours.
    Better Blood Sugar Control 
    A high-protein meal helps you regulate blood sugar better even if you do end up eating extra sugar or starch.
    Another guideline that I recommend for clients who’ve been working with me for a while is that whenever they eat dessert, they eat it right after their meal. That way,
    12 min
  • How does your home’s humidity impact your health?
    The temperatures dropped just enough this past week that I had to adjust our thermostats, which means the heat will start running at night.
    Running the heat leads to drier air in our home, and drier air can lead to an increased risk of colds and the flu.
    That got me wondering a few things: What humidity level is best for your health? Is it possible to increase your home’s humidity with an essential oil diffuser? And if the diffuser helps, could the oils help too?
    Since I started reading research papers to satisfy my own curiosity, I figured I’d share what I found in case these questions made you curious, too.
    How does humidity affect your risk of getting a cold or the flu?
    No doubt, you’ve been told to “Put a hat on so you don’t catch a cold” when going outside in colder temperatures.
    However, you getting or not getting sick might have nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the humidity. 
    Cold winter air is dry. So is heated indoor air.
    As scientists have known for decades,
    influenza infection rates are highest in environments with relative humidity below 40% and decrease rapidly as the relative humidity exceeds 40-50%.
    Indirect Health Effects of Relative Humidity in Indoor Environments
    For example, school classrooms in northern climates during colder months are often dry. Heating systems dry the air and can increase the risk of kids getting infections.
    A Minnesota study found the following:
    This study monitored presence, genomic copy number, and infectivity of influenza A virus in preschool classrooms during the dry winter months (low indoor humidity), which correspond with peak respiratory virus infections in Minnesota. An increase in average AH from 6.33 mb in control rooms to 9.89 mb in humidified rooms (RH ~42–45%) was associated with a significant decrease in influenza A virus presence in fomite and air samples in humidified rooms compared to control rooms.
    Humidity as a non-pharmaceutical intervention for influenza A
    Higher humidity reduced the concentrations of influenza A in classroom air.
    Interestingly, the authors of a recent paper published in Biophysical Journal explained that a face mask's benefit, if there is one, could be more to do with its impact on humidifying the air of the wearer than it has to do with keeping viral particles out of their nose or mouth.
    The increased humidity of inspired air associated with wearing a face cover is perhaps well recognized by the public and contributes to the general feeling of mugginess, in particular when the weather is humid. Our measurements confirm that the increased humidity of inspired air is real and quite large.
    They go on to say:
    We propose that the increased humidity of air inspired through face masks is responsible for the lower disease severity of mask wearers.
    Hydrating the respiratory tract: An alternative explanation why masks lower severity of COVID-19
    If that’s the case, a ski mask or gator in winter weather could help as well, as they also humidify the air you breathe. Keep in mind that if your mask is too damp for too long, it’ll become a breeding ground for mold and some bacteria.
    It’s probably better to save the mask-wearing for the cold outdoors, and find a different way to increase the humidity indoors. 
    Though we run multiple diffusers every day, which adds some humidity to our home's air, I've never paid attention to exactly what the relative humidity is in our home. After reading about it to prepare for this blog post, I plan to purchase a hygrometer this fall and make sure our home stays humid enough.
    On another note, higher vitamin D levels are also associated with lower rates of seasonal illness. I covered that in this article: Vitamin D: Deficiency Symptoms And Benefits Of Supplementation.
    Isn't high humidity bad, too?
    You’ve no doubt seen the effect of high humidity in your bathroom. It grows mold.
    14 min
  • Boost Testosterone, Growth Hormone, and DHEA. Lift Weights.
    What supplements should I take to boost testosterone or enhance libido? I frequently come across a question like this from middle-aged men. Although a supplement or drug therapy may help, if it’s the first solution guys go for, they’ll undoubtedly be disappointed by the results.
    To ensure a guy produces optimal hormones throughout middle age and his older years, he needs to address a few lifestyle choices first. They’re simple, but they require a little more effort than popping a pill or getting a pellet in his butt.
    Aging and Hormonal Decline for the “Average” Guy
    The average (overweight, not strength training, getting insufficient sleep) guy experiences a hormonal, strength, and muscular decline around age 30. 
    By age 50, he experiences declines in strength and muscle mass of 15% per decade, until they’re 30% of what they were in his 30s.
    Total testosterone declines 1% per year, starting around age 30 as well, affecting his neuromuscular performance, bone density, muscle mass, libido, and cardiovascular health.
    Free testosterone, which makes up about 2% of total testosterone, actually affects target tissues. The rest is bound to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). As SHBG rises with age, free or bioavailable testosterone becomes even more limited for androgenic effects. 
    Testosterone limits the secretion of cortisol, so as his testosterone levels decline, cortisol rises, causing more muscle tissue breakdown.
    Human growth hormone decreases by 14% per decade after age 20. Growth hormone stimulates fat metabolism, enhances tissue growth and repair, and supports brain function.
    Remember, though, these sad statistics are for the average guy. He’s sedentary, doesn’t eat nearly enough protein, eats way too much junk, often drinks too much alcohol, and doesn’t get enough sleep.
    You don’t want to be average, which is why you’re reading this.
    While ageing per se may not cause endocrinological dysregulation, age-associated increases in sedentary behaviour could. Exercise is a nonpharmacological strategy to counteract some of the physiological changes that occur with age, including endocrine changes.
    Effects of Exercise Training on Anabolic and Catabolic Hormones with Advanced Age: A Systematic Review
    Read also: 9 Causes of Low Testosterone.
    Strength Training: The Natural Hormone Booster For Men Over 40
    Let me be clear: Hormone-supporting drugs and supplements do help, but if you’re taking or using them without changing your your diet and lifestyle choices, you’re kind of throwing your money away.
    Get your diet and lifestyle in order. Get the most benefit there, and then add on the supplements or drugs if you need to. It really doesn’t take much to see a massive hormonal change.
    Eat a high-protein diet.
    Get enough quality sleep.
    Follow a professionally-designed strength and conditioning program.
    For the remainder of this post, I’ll focus on how exercise affects your hormones as you age.
    This systematic review indicates that exercise training increases basal total testosterone, IGF-1, SHBG, hGH, DHEA and DHEA-S in males and females ≥40 years of age.
    Effects of Exercise Training on Anabolic and Catabolic Hormones with Advanced Age: A Systematic Review
    Research shows that most forms of exercise increase testosterone when men or women begin an exercise program.
    However, endurance training can suppress testosterone levels, especially in men. This is one of many reasons I do not recommend running as a solution for weight loss or general health.
    Read also: How Too Much Cardio or Endurance Training Is Bad For You.
    Over time, muscle-building resistance training is a much superior form of testosterone-boosting exercise.
    Exercise also increases DHEA, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels, which improve body composition, enhance tissue repair, and stimulate fat loss. Again, resistance training would produce the greatest benefits in the long-...
    9 min
  • Why Building Muscle Should Be Your Number One Priority for Health and Longevity
    We protect your nervous and skeletal systems. 
    We provide storage space for carbs and increase your metabolic rate so you won’t get as fat. 
    We are a great indication of your bone density since the same activities that build us build your bones. Those activities are also like all-natural hormone therapy.
    We help you move, give you strength, so you don’t fall as easily, and when you do fall or get in an accident, we tense up, protecting the tissues beneath us.
    Oh, and we make you look healthier too.
    Unfortunately, most of the medical community talks little about us. They’ve forgotten how essential we are for your health. Maybe they never really knew.
    Sadly, many "fitness professionals" don't even make us a priority in their programming.
    We are muscles.
    Make us bigger and stronger as long as you can. When you reach old age, hold onto us as long as possible. If you do, you’ll look and feel younger than most people half your age, and according to the research, you'll live longer as well.
    This systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies found that muscle-strengthening activities were inversely associated with the risk of CVD, total cancer, diabetes, lung cancer and all-cause mortality independent of aerobic activities among adults aged ≥18 years without severe health conditions.
    Muscle-strengthening activities are associated with lower risk and mortality in major non-communicable diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies
    The Health Benefits of Muscle Mass
    I've written about the health benefits of muscle mass for years. As I've reached middle age and seen so many men and women my age getting weaker, gaining body fat, and becoming more sedentary, I've become more and more outspoken about building muscle.
    My recent bike accident only reinforced my drive to push men and women to build muscle. Here's why I believe building muscle is the most important thing you can do for your longevity, health, and quality of life.
    Building muscle...
    Adds to your quality of life savings account
    At some point, you’ll likely face a significant injury, illness, other trauma, or age-related muscle loss. At that point, your body will use up a significant portion of your available muscle mass. The more you have when this process begins, the more you’ll be able to lose before really bad things start happening.
    The stressed state, such as that associated with sepsis, advanced cancer, and traumatic injury, imposes greater demands for amino acids from muscle protein breakdown than does fasting.
    The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease
    Stores carbs, keeping blood sugar levels in check
    The more muscle you have, the more carbs you can eat without dealing with insulin resistance, diabetes, or metabolic syndrome.
    Muscle-building exercise not only increases the storage space you have for carbs in your diet, it also makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin. You end up secreting less insulin to shuttle carbs, or glucose, into your muscle cells. If you produce less insulin, you can rely on fat more for energy. If you burn more fat during the day, you'll tap into the fat on your arms, legs, and belly.
    alterations in the metabolic function of muscle are central to the development of insulin resistance and ultimately diabetes
    The underappreciated role of muscle in health and disease
    Protects your joints
    Muscles move bones around your joints. When they get weak, or you lose muscle mass, you make your joints more vulnerable to injury and the effects of degeneration.
    I’m all about using nutrition and supplements to support your joint health (for example, I use AgilEase from Young Living regularly), but I’d never expect a supplement to solve all my joint aches and pains without building muscle size and strength around that joint.
    I believe wholeheartedly that the muscle mass I developed around my neck kept me from experiencing an injury and outco...
    17 min

About Tom Nikkola | VIGOR Training

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Tune into the audio version of my written articles found at tomnikkola.com, read by yours truly. I candidly cover health and fitness,…