Highlights of The Strong Medicine Program
Introduction
- How to become a chiseled and powerful war machine… P 3
Basic Training I Central Themes in Disease and Health… P 6
- The 4 cardinal signs of inflammation… P 7
- Why long-term inflammation and chronic stress oxidative stress are the underlying causes for chronic preventable diseases… P 14
- How Strong Medicine is all about breaking the link between the enemy sources of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, thus preventing chronic disease… P 15
Central Themes Part II The Gene–Environment connection… P 16
- Understanding epigenetics… P 18
- A major way we adapt to environmental stresses… P 21
Central Themes Part III Hormesis… P 22
- Why unfit people degrade rapidly as they age... P 22
- The science and art of correct dosage in all lifestyle decisions… P 23
- How consistent exercise overdose and inadequate recovery is poison to the body… P 24
Central Themes Part IV Stress and the Response to Threat… P 30
- How stress can completely undermine your training and
nutrition… P 31
Central Themes Part V Allostasis… P 39
- The difference between allostasis and hormesis... P 40
- The 4 key ways allostasis helps us adapt to challenge… P 40
- The Stress Cup and our capacity for stress… P 41
- Allostatic overload… P 41
- How regular exercise can increase the size of the stress cup… P 43
- How to super-size your stress-cup… P 44
Basic Training II Nutrition and Metabolism 101… P 47
- A strong foundation here will protect you from being led astray by the avalanche of misinformation in the media—and insulate you from fad diets/propaganda… P 47
- What is good nutrition?... P 49
- The 4 fatal flaws with modern nutrition research and practice… P 50
- The Strong Medicine approach for healthy eating… P 53
"Strong Medicine by Chris Hardy, D.O. and Marty Gallagher is an exhaustively researched, clearly written, and practically useful guide to improving your health.
Improving health is fundamentally different than treating disease. This book represents the future of healthcare in our country. It requires the patient to assume responsibility, learn the basics, and then enhance their health through diet, exercise, sleep, and mindfulness.
If you are looking for a quick fix, this is not the book for you. If you understand that there is no quick fix, then read this book and trust what you read. The information is accurate and relevant, simple to understand, and actionable."—Patrick Roth, M.D., author of The End of Back Pain: Access Your Hidden Core to Heal Your Body, Chairman of Neurosurgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and the director of its neurosurgical residency training program.
Basic Training II Nutrition and Metabolism 101 Macronutrients… P 55
- What makes for a fatty liver?... P 58
- How protein needs change as you get older… P 65
- What You Need to Know About Fats… P 67
- The 5 major benefits of Butyrate—and the best source… P 70
- The 6 major benefits of Lauric Acid—and the best source… P 71
- The 5 major reasons to avoid Palmitate—and another reason to avoid grain-fed animals… P 73
- The 4 major reasons to embrace Stearate—and the winning argument for grass-fed beef… P 75
- Why saturated fats are NOT all bad… P 76
- Why most saturated fat is a necessary and beneficial macronutrient for optimum health… P 77
- The 2 most important benefits of Oleic Acid—and its best
sources… P 78
- Why you should NEVER cook with unsaturated fats… P 79
- Importing oxidative stress into the body… P 79
- The best fats to cook with… P 80
- The 9 great benefits of Omega 3 PUFAs—and how to optimize the best sources… P 82
- Why you do need to avoid fish-farm salmon… P 84
- The 4 great benefits of Omega-6 PUFAs… P 85
- The 3 most important Omega 6 PUFAs and where to source
them… P 86
Basic Training II Nutrition and Metabolism 101
Metabolism Basics… P 98
- How to raise your metabolic thermostat… P 99
- How to go from a snail-paced metabolism to blast furnace… P 99
- How to use intense exercise to create a large glucose "sink" in the muscle… P 101
- How to sleep your way thin… P 116
- The truth about growth hormone and ketones… P 116
- The nefarious Pentaverate of Pestilence… P 122
"Strong Medicine by Dr. Chris Hardy and the legendary Marty Gallagher is a declaration of unconventional and asymmetrical war against mortality. The authors' weapon of choice is information, relayed masterfully in the form of an easy-to-understand and richly illustrated owner’s manual of sorts. This is an owner’s manual that is chock full of insights for every level, from the seasoned physician to the absolute layman who is new to fitness.
For the grizzled coach who doesn't have medical training, Strong Medicine lays out crucial performance concepts like ‘hormetic dose’ in ways that are easy to understand regardless of your background. Dr. Hardy continues with insights into diet, nutrition myths, biochemistry demystified, intestinal fine-tuning, the chronic stress connection with disease, and then passes the baton to Marty Gallagher, who unleashes a plethora of exercise and training tips that are centered around five basic exercise categories. With well-shot photographs and clear diagrams to illustrate the important points of each posture, Gallagher lays out a beautiful plan of attack to combat weakness and mechanical decay, including easy-to-follow training programs.
This is a book I plan to read & re-read a number of times as both a licensed medical professional and a strength & conditioning coach."—Dr. MARK CHENG, L.Ac., Ph.D., contributing editor, Black Belt Magazine
Knowing Your Enemy I The Gut: Guardian at the Gate… P 122
- Why a basic understanding of how your gut works and what happens when its function is disrupted is extremely important to your
health… P 123
- The gut—first line of defense against outside "invaders" such as pathogenic bacteria and from our modern diet… P 123
- The gut-brain connection… P 125
- How inflammation in the gut is communicated to the brain, creating a body-wide stress response that can wreak havoc on our
metabolism… P 125
Guardian of the Gate: Triggers of Intestinal Inflammation… P 133
- The 3 principal triggers for chronic inflammation in the gut… P 133
- Exploring our addiction to gluten—and the consequences… P 140
- Stress and Intestinal Permeability… P 141
- The 7 steps to disease-causing inflammation in the gut… P 144
- Dysbiosis—Chaos in the Gut…P 145
- The 6 major health benefits of beneficial bacteria… P 148
- The 9 major diseases and disorders associated with Dysbiosis… P 151
- The worst dietary sin for promoting dysbiosis… P 152
- The double-edged sword of antibiotic use… P 155
- The 5 major benefits of lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables… P 160
- How bacteria can influence our moods, anxiety, response to
stress… P 161
- How bacteria influence our behavior… P 163
- How to break the link to chronic inflammation and the conditions resulting from it in the gut… P 165
- Why there are no benefits to including gluten in a child’s diet—and the many risks… P 166
Obesity—single biggest threat to 21st Century public health… P 170
- How obesity transforms our fat cells into an "enemy within"… P 170
- How to fight your own battle with obesity—and win… P 172
- How the Fat Cell Dr. Jekyll Becomes Mr. Hyde… P 174
- Overeating: the metamorphosis from benefactors of health into aggressive, bloated monsters spewing inflammation and oxidative stress— a "prison riot" of swollen fat cells … P 175
- The plague of diabesity… P 180
- How increased oxidative stress in the mitochondria elevates stress levels in cell energy factories… P183
- How obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes create a perfect storm for muscle wasting… P 190
- 3 ways high levels of Palmitate can wreak metabolic havoc… P192
- How low carb foods may help battle cancer… 194
- The difference between biological and chronological age… P 198
- Telomere length—and the definition of aging… P 199
- Mitohormesis—extending lifespan with oxidative stress… P 200
- The 3 warning signs for diabetes… P 203-204
- Why counting calories is a waste of time… P 207
How We Get Fat: The Brain, Hormones and Appetite… P 208
- How we are hard-wired to prefer high-energy foods… P 208
- Why we have to understand our drive to eat before we can exert control… P 209
- How the fat hormone adiponectin keeps inflammation down and insulin sensitivity high… P 209
- How to recruit fat to fight fat… P 210
- The role of leptin in regulating hunger and fat… P 210—211
- Leptin resistance—why fat people don’t get the "stop eating signal" and still feel hungry… P 212
- Why it’s not just gluttony or lack of willpower… P 213
- How to eat protein and naturally eat less—without discipline… P 214
- How the reward system has changed in obese people… P 217
Intervention: the 8-Step Program for Obesity and Diabetes… P 221
- Step 1 Determine your tolerance for starch and sugar… P 222
- How to use a blood sugar monitor… P 223
- Appropriate blood glucose levels… P 225
- Individual Glucose Tolerance (IGT)… P 226
- Step 2 Stop eating foods that contain gluten… P 229
- Step 3 Eliminate processed seed oils from your diet—some of the largest contributors to inflammation and oxidative stress… P 229
- Why you should use coconut oil for cooking… P 232
- Step 4 Eat at least 20-30 grams of protein at every meal… P 232
- The Easy Protein Estimator… P 233
- Step 5 Increase plant-based foods… P 234
- The benefits of Butyrate… P 234
- Good sources of fermentable fiber… P 236
- Sulforaphane—Broccoli’s bounty… P 237
- The extreme anti-cancer benefits of broccoli sprouts, #1 source, 20 times the sulforaphane content… P 241
- Step 6 Cut out high fructose corn syrup and sugar…P 242
- Why corn syrup is bad…P 243
- How advance glycation end products (AGE) contribute to aging—and what to do about it… P 244
- How deep frying can elevate AGE formation by up to 100x… P 245
- How to reduce AGE production in cooking… P 245
- Low-AGE cooking methods… P 246
- How to accelerate disease and aging: the nuclear option… P 246
- Why fried chicken and French fries are inflammation/oxidative stress nuclear weapons in your body… P 246
- Tastes great—deadly to your health… P 246
- Why soft drinks, energy drinks and fruit drinks are health-killing smart bombs… P 247
- Step 7 Increase insulin sensitivity with exercise… P 249
- Formulas for determining your HR max… P 251
- Investing in the right heart monitor… P 252
- The High Intensity Interval Training protocol… P 252—253
- How you lose fat with HIIT… P 257
- Step 8 Fix your sleep and use stress reduction techniques… P 258
- Recommended amount of sleep per night… P 259
- The effects of 1-2 nights of poor sleep… P 259
"Strong Medicine demonstrates the paradigm shift that we currently have in the world of physical development. We cannot put our fitness goals above our health goals. Health provides the foundation for fitness to start the process. Fitness in turn pays back health through maintenance and sustainability. The takeaway for this book: learn as much about your health as you do about your fitness and you'll do just fine."—GRAY COOK, author, Movement, co-creator, FMS
Knowing Your Enemy III Chronic Stress, The Silent Killer…P 265
- The 8 major diseases associated with chronic stress… P 266
- The 5 obstacles to chronic stress being addressed between patient and physician… P 266
- Brain neuroplasticity—the hard evidence… P 268
- How short-term, low-intensity stress builds resilience… P 271
- Chronic stress and high-intensity stress… P 272
- What determines if the HPA axis activates to produce the threat response?... P 275
- The difference between internal and external threats… P 275
- How chronic stress rewires "threat-stress circuitry"… P 278
- The shrinking of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex and the enlarging of the amygdala… P 280
- Stress and Health… P 282
- Chronic stress linked to these 7 major diseases… P 285
- Cortisol receptor resistance… P 287-288
- Don’t feed the beast—eating when a threat has passed… P 287
- Chronic stress and premature aging… P 288
- Why rumination and worry are so health damaging and age-accelerating … P 289
- Stress from "nothing"… P 289
- How rumination and worry amplify the negativity bias… P 289
- The anticipatory threat response… P 291
Chronic Stress II Mind Intervention… P 293
- A mental strategy/approach to relieve stress, minimize projection, reflection, rumination and worry… P 293
- How to transform your mind from your worst enemy into your best friend… P 294
- How to intervene on your mind… P 294
- The dangers of chest breathing… P 295
- The 3 benefits of rebuilding the brain with mindful breathing… P 297
- Stop the stress response better… P 298
- Why low heart variability is a marker of poor health—and what to do about it… P 302
- HRV biofeedback machine… P 303
- How exercise stimulates Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor—and why that is a very good thing… P 303
- How to regrow the stress-shrunken brain structures such as the hippocampus… P 303
- Why not all exercise is optimal when targeting brain training—and what kind is best, hands down… P 304
"In the last 40-50 years we have experienced a huge rise in the chronic diseases affecting affluent societies across the world. We are generally fatter and less healthy than we were in the past.
In this impressive new book Chris Hardy and Marty Gallagher take the roles of doctor and fitness coach to provide us with in-depth understanding about why this is happening and the steps we need to take to turn this around. This includes a comprehensive review of the latest scientific research—which is presented in an easy to understand format. The solution is presented as an integrated ‘Battle Plan’ which includes a detailed and well-explained training regime along with excellent nutritional advice, which will combine to provide a transformation to a fitter, stronger, and healthier body. Most importantly they show us the best way to measure the progress we are making towards this goal.
I would consider this as the most comprehensive and readable book I have seen on this large topic, and it provides a thorough discussion of evidence to support the nutritional and exercise advice. Some of the research is very new, and may be considered controversial. However, this is all presented for the reader to evaluate. What we have been doing as a society has not been working and this book—with its many exciting new ideas—may provide the plan to reduce the problems created by these chronic diseases."—Dr. Peter Gootjes, Public Health Medicine Specialist, New Zealand
Knowing Your Enemy IV Circadian Disruption:
Thief in the Night… P 312
- How failure to follow the circadian rhythms creates dissonance and disruption in the internal workings of our body with profound consequences to our health… P 312
- Our internal timekeeper… P 313
- Distinguishing between activity and regeneration modes… P316
- How dysfunctional clocks lead to chronic disease… P 316
- The 9 main clocks… P 316—317
- Why light is the most important environmental clue to reset the master clock… P 319
- The 5 main benefits of melatonin… P 321
Sleep Architecture: Building a Good Night’s Sleep… P 322
- Most of daily growth hormone released during slow wave sleep—DNA and cellular repair happens here… P 323
- Sleep Drive #1 The Chemical System, clearing the credit debt… P 325
- Sleep Drive #2 The Circadian System… P 326
- Sleep system Synergy… P 328
- Before we can fix anything, we have to know the cause of the problem… P 328
Circadian Disruption, The Consequences of a Broken Clock… P 329
- Blue light: primary stimulator of the circadian cycle… P 331
- How high intensity natural light is the best way to reset the circadian system and enter into activity mode… P 333
- How caffeine works—and its potential drawbacks… P 333
- Longterm inadequate sleep is strongly associated with the following 9 conditions… P 334
- Why exercising while the organ clocks are in regeneration mode or sleeping during activity may place harmful stress on the body… P 335
- The massive benefits of melatonin… P 338
- Metabolic derangement and physiologic stress… P 339
- How poor sleep wreaks metabolic havoc on the obese… P 340
- How circadian disruption tears away the carefully structured sleep architecture—resulting in light, non-regenerative, non-recuperative restless sleep… P 340
- Reduced slow wave sleep—your one-way ticket to body fat gain and muscle wasting… P 341
- Why you will not meet your body composition goals unless you fix your sleep… P 341
- The impact on depression… P 341
- How circadian disruption and sleep loss stimulate the drive to eat—and puts the food reward system into overdrive… P 341
- Fix: THIS will put the reins on food cravings… P 341
- Modern solutions to a modern problem… P. 344
- Fixing Your Clock… P 345
- Light as a "circadian trainer"… P 345
- Light as the Master Trainer… P346
- Use of high CCT bulbs—for activity… P 347
- "Bug" lights for regeneration… P 348
- Blue light filters for television and computer screens… 349
- 3 top tactics for the bedroom to ensure good sleep… P 351
- Exercise and the circadian rhythm… P 351
- Why muscle is able to generate the most force at the end of activity mode… P 352
- Why late afternoon/early evening exercise works very well… P 352
"Given the sad state of our society's health and wellness literacy, Strong Medicine is just what the doctor should order. Chris and Marty come together to provide the reader with sound information addressing health and wellness from all angles. Whether it's the impact of genetics, the use of biomarkers, proper physical training, the importance of sleep, and/or nutritional information, Strong Medicine has it covered.
It is time that we restore and strengthen the fabric of our society by arming its citizens with the understanding of ‘why, instead of allowing them to meander around in ignorance from one fad to the next. Strong Medicine should be on the bookshelf of anyone serious about their health and wellness. Gratitude, Chris and Marty for such a fine reference." —Dr. Mike Davis, DPT
Part III Battle Plan Physical Training: Unlocking Your Body’s Potential… P 361
- Optimum feeding of the flesh machine… P 361
- How regular, mindful, intense physical training is central to the Strong Medicine transformational plan… P 361
- How the absence of exercise leads to physical and mental deterioration over time… P 361
- The 9 primal benefits of exercise… P 361
- How Strong Medicine does not require gym membership, huge time investment, or fancy equipment… P 362
- Strong Medicine: a scientifically-based training program… P 362
- Strong Medicine Resistance Training Intro… P 364
- How to be muscular, ripped and functional… P 364
- How to retain a magnificent readiness to lift, run, carry, jump and hunt… P 364
- Understanding Sarcopenia… P 365
- How maintaining muscle mass is the best defense against insulin resistance and diabetes… P 365
- Understanding Osteoporosis… P 366
- Why resistance training is not optional… P 366
- How Strong Medicine techniques use relatively light weights to maximum benefit, by making light weights heavy… P 367
- Why Strong Medicine is a strength program for everyone… P 367
Physical Training II King Squat… P 368
- Why the squat the king of all progressive resistance exercises... P 368
- Why Olympic lifters have one of the lowest rates of knee injuries in any sport… P 369
- How the Squat triggers the most primal "fight or flight" response of any exercise… P 369
- How to get the most potent neurological stimulus… P 370
- How to take away the turbo-boost effect of the SSC reflex… P 370
- The 14 keys to mastering the bodyweight squat… P 373
- The 13 keys to mastering the Goblet Squat… P 375
- The 13 keys to mastering the Front Squat… P 375
- How to help beginners whose knees shoot forward… P 378
- How to avoid knee collapse… P 380
Physical Training III The Deadlift, Healthful Crown Prince of the Posterior… P 383
- Why, from a medical perspective, no other exercise translates better to protecting the back and preventing injury in everyday life… P 384
- Why the Sumo Deadlift is all we need for this program… P 384
- Drawbacks of the conventional deadlift over the Sumo… P 385
- The 10 keys to mastering the Sumo Deadlift… P 386
- Strong Medicine Deadlift Tactics—a signature technique rooted in structural architecture, physics and safety… P 388
- Breaking the "negative"… P 388
- Why those who think the hip hinge trumps the legs are missing the point… P 388
- Why you must embrace the sticking point… P 389
- The dangers of abusing the hip hinge… P 393
- Common flaws in deadlift form… P 393
Physical Training IV Bench Press and Overhead Press… P 396
- When it comes to building front torso muscles no other progressive resistance exercise even comes close to flat bench pressing… P 396
- Avoid these ego-inflating techniques that degrade strength and hinder results… P 397
- Dumbbell Bench Press Technique—Relax, Pause, Grind… P 398
- The most difficult bench press technique you’ll ever encounter… P 398
- The 11 keys to mastering the Dumbbell Bench Press… P 398
- Dumbbell Bench Press Phase II Beyond Pause, relax, Grind… P 401
- Master the theme first… P 401
- The Overhead Dumbbell Press… P 402
- How and why overhead pressing translates better into real-life applied strength… P 402
- Coiled energy from bottom to top… P 402
- The perfect press starts with the lower not the upper body… P 402
- The pinnacle of upper body pushing movements… P 404
Physical Training V… P 405
- Making light weights heavier.
- Chin ups and pull ups the very best but best replacement is the "frozen statue" Row… P 405
- 8 steps to master the single supported row… P 407
- Build incredibly strong and dense lats, rhomboids, lower traps, posterior deltoids—with minimal weight… P 408
- The 4 main reasons why most free-weight rows are worthless… P 409
- 8 keys to mastering the Fozen Statue Row… P 410
Physical Training VI Strong Medicine Abs… P 412
- The truth about what will give you 6-pack abs… P 412
- Why sit ups are low back poison… P 413
- Abs Training Phase I The Basic Plank… P 414
- 6 keys to mastery… P 414
- Abs Training Phase II The High Plank… P 415
- Abs Training Phase III The One-Hand Plank—extra layer of challenging instability… P 416
- "Anti-rotation"—extremely important function… P 416
- Abs Training Phase IV The Plank Row… P 417—418
- Build an iron core and prevent back injuries… P 418
- 6 sections. Primer on SM resistance training, foundation for weight training… P 419
Physical Training VII Strong Medicine Basic Cardio… P 420
- Why HIIT is the preferred way to maximize the adaptive response and lose fat in the shortest amount of time when exercising… P 420
- But not everyone is immediately ready for HIIT from both a fitness and psychological basis… P 420
- The Basic Cardio ramp up for the deconditioned… P 420
- Preparation—all you need to start: basic heart rate monitor and your HR Max… P 420
- Benefits of power walking… P 421
- Sample 10-week basic cardio ramp up… P 422
Physical Training VIII Strong Medicine High Intensity Cardio… P 424
- Why 50% of people who start an exercise program quit within the first 6 months…
- How HIIT addresses time and boredom issues … P 424
- Why modern medicine approves HIIT as appropriate for people with heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity… P 425
- How one session of HIIT improves blood glucose in diabetics 1-3 days after the session… P 425
- The 5 main benefits of HIIT-based cardio… P 425
- The 7-Step HIIT protocol… P 426
Burst Cardio Individualized HIIT—that ensures you get the right dose every time, whoever you are… P 428
- Why Burst Cardio is great for people of different fitness levels training together… P 430
- Training the Recovery, Balancing Your Fitness… P 433
- How to use the recovery period as a trainable event… P 433
- How to recover faster using these techniques… P 433
- How to balance the Yang by enhancing the Yin… P 433
- Most injuries happen when the nervous system is fatigued and exercise form breaks down. How this protocol will help prevent injury from poor form… P 434
"Strong Medicine is one of the most informative books recently published in the area of human health and fitness. The book not only explains bare-bone principles of human biology and wellness, it actually translates this knowledge into a practical strategy—hence ‘The Strong Medicine Lifestyle.’ Well written and backed by science, Strong Medicine presents important yet controversial and perhaps arguable concepts in the area of stress response, nutrition and mental/physical conditioning. Highly recommended to anyone interested in ‘better survival in today’s world’." —Ori Hofmekler, author, The Warrior Diet
Physical Training IX Exercise Programming… P 431
- Transformational Fitness… P 432
- The 6-Week Tactical template… P 437—441
- What is a superset? … P 438
- Advanced Programing: Seasonal Primordial Cycling… P 442
- Why the optimal time to peak the human body for athletic competition is 12 weeks… P 442
- The perils of fundamentalist thinking and the "reverse engineering" of training methods… P 442
- Seasonal Training Cycles… P 443-444
Battle Plan II Strong Medicine Nutrition: Individualized Strategies Food Sources and Quality… P 447
- Why the Strong Medicine trainee must insist on more potency… P 449
- Why local is best… P 449
- Why animal-based foods are the best bet… P 449
- The template for an optimum, high-quality omnivorous diet… P 450
- Why wild caught oily fish are your DHA superstars… P 451
- Is the fat in animal-based foods cause for concern?... P 455
- Food quality guidelines for the vegetarian… P 457
- How B12 is crucial to health and hard to find in vegetarian diets. Deficiency causes neurological problems, anemia and higher risk of heart disease… P 457
- The dangers of lectin poisoning from beans… P 458
- 4 main (potentially dangerous) deficiencies and inadequacies in vegetarian diet… P 457—459
- The most important variable to monitor for nutritional value… P 461
- The top 5 Strong Medicine herbs and spices for maximum health-power… P 462—463
Individualized Strategies II "Carbohydrate Tolerance"… P 465
- The case for "low carb" eating… P 466
- Why a low starch/sugar (LSS) eating pattern can be amazingly effective for the obese/diabetic/insulin resistant population to restore metabolism health, increase fat loss and in some cases put type 2 diabetes into remission… P 466
- The 7 key principles for a successful LSS diet… P 467
- Nutrient timing around exercise that will keep your body fat low, performance levels high and stoke your metabolic furnace to white-hot levels… P 468
Individualized Strategies III Feed Your Activity… P 469
- How to optimize your metabolic blast furnace and prevent muscle wasting… P 469
- How eating too little glucose can result in muscle wasting… P 469
- Problem: How does the Strong Medicine trainee get enough glucose to the brain to avoid a stress response without consistently eating too much glucose and increasing their body fat? … P 470
- Solution: "Feed your activity" correctly… P 470
- I Non-Training Days (Recovery)… P 470
- 4 general rules for optimizing nutritional intake… P 470-471
- II Training Days… P 471
- Post-workout: why, to prevent the stress-threat system from inducing a catabolic state, we need to feed the flesh machine… P 471
- How the higher the intensity of the exercise, the more glucose for muscle will be used… P 472
- How HIIT exercise turns muscles into "glucose sponges"… P 473
- The 4-point training day strategy for optimal eating… P 473
Caloric Restriction and "Low Carb" Diets… P 474
- Why caloric restriction has no place in a wellness plan that involves regular, intense exercise… P 474
- Why long-term diets that are very low in starchy carbs do not mix well with HIIT… P 475
Individualized Strategies IV One Week of Food… P 477-491
- Examples of easy to prepare meals, which emphasize food quality
- Putting it all together into a cohesive strategy…
"Strong Medicine is a rare gem that is a must-have for anyone who wants to take control of their health. Chris and Marty have organized an extremely thorough yet easy to understand encyclopedia on how to maximize your health, fitness and genetic potential. In a day and age where we have never been more confused about how to eat, when to eat, how to exercise and what is right vs wrong, as well as more unfit than ever before, this is the new Bible for taking control of your life.
Why do I say controlling your life? Because this book is about your health, from the inside out. No fads, no gimmicks, no "diets" to follow, just the truth about what you need to do to truly be healthy and fit. Without your health, you have nothing to enjoy in life. This book is an essential resource for any fitness enthusiast, health practitioner or coach."—Zach Even-Esh, author, The Encyclopedia of Underground Strength and Conditioning
Battle Plan III Putting It All Together Lifestyle Change—"The neck of Roy Buchanan’s guitar"… P 493
- Why virtuosity comes with a price, and lifestyle change doesn’t happen overnight… P 495
- How physiological quantum leaps happen in direct proportion to the amount of quality time invested in lifestyle change… P 495
- Why the Strong Medicine system relies on the expert use of basic tools with simplistic methods—with periods of enforced rest and the support of nutritionally dense and seasonally appropriate food… P 495
Putting It All Together II Strong Medicine Lifestyle Change
Strategic Planning… P 496
- How to pummel the "Pentaverate" of circadian disruption, chronic stress, obesity, gut inflammation and inactivity… P 496
- How any of the 5 sources left unchecked will overflow your stress cup (allostatic overload) and over time result in destruction of your health… P 496
- How to strategically plan your own assault on chronic disease, achieving victory with optimal health… P 497
- Step 1: Self Assessment… P 498
- Step 2: Targeted Assault… P 498
- Step 3: Reassess the Battlefield… P 499
- How assaulting one member of the Pentaverate often causes collateral damage to the others… P 500
- How to become a Strong Medicine Warrior—ready to recruit new trainees for the war against chronic disease… P 501
- The Strong Medicine Ranking: Gold Silver and Bronze… P 500—502
- The 4 biomarkers most useful and meaningful for tracking physical improvement during lifestyle change… P 502
Battle Plan IV Analytics "Stuff You Can Measure"… P 503
- Biomechanics and the "Holy Grail" of Correlation and
Causation… P 504
- Why biomarker correlation does not necessarily cause health and disease, but is associated with it… P 505
- Understanding biomarkers as "engine warning lights"—indicating that you may be going in the wrong direction with your choices… P 506
- The best way to make use of biomarkers for your health and strength program… P 508
Stuff You Can Measure I Cholesterol: What Are We Measuring?... P 509
- The truth about cholesterol… P 510
- The 6 huge health benefits of cholesterol… P 510-512
- Why you can’t significantly alter cholesterol levels by changing dietary intake… P512
- How artificially lowering cholesterol with drugs can result in memory loss, muscle damage and erectile dysfunction… P 513
- Lipoproteins 101… P 514
- The nature and role of chylomicrons… P 514-515
- The nature and role of VLDL… P 516
- The truth about LDL… P 516
- The truth about HDL… P 516
- The role of Small-Dense LDL and Large-Buoyant LDL… P 517
- The mechanics of cholesterol transportation… P 517-523
- Why it is not cholesterol that leads to the build up of plaques and narrowing of the arteries—and the real culprit… P 523
- Testing cholesterol… P 524
- What test results you really need to get to truly predict your risk of developing heart and vascular disease… P 525
- What affects your LDL particle size?... P 527
- The real villains that are responsible for the formation of small-dense LDL… P 528
- The beneficial actions you can take to generate healthy amounts of large-buoyant LDL… P 528-529
- Is standard cholesterol testing useless?... P 529
- Why the HLD/triglyceride ratio is a better predictor of heart disease and diabetes than standard LDL cholesterol levels… P 530
- What numbers are "good" on the standard lipid panel?... P 530
- Digging deeper into the topic of cholesterol and lipoproteins—5 key findings for a more complete picture… P 532-533
- Summary: the 7 top take-home messages and considerations for an effective approach to cholesterol… P 534
"I have had the pleasure of being with Marty Gallagher when he delivered the ‘Beta’ version of this book—and I flew home and realized that I needed to start from zero with my coaching of the basic movements. Combine Marty's great insights with the clearest explanation I have ever read that ‘Food is Medicine’ and you have a one-two punch that changes lives. An amazing book and well worth the time to read it and digest it (pun intended)."—Dan John, author, Never Let Go
Stuff You Can Measure II Physical Measurements… P 534
- Why focusing on "weight loss" can be an unhealthy obsession… P 535
- The new, unfortunate phenomenon of "normal weight obesity"… P 536
- Why you need to toss your scale… P 536
- Why the Waist to Height Ratio (WHR) is your single best physical measurement for managing your health… P 537
Stuff You Can Measure III Markers of Inflammation… P 541
- Why C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is the best current marker to use for chronic inflammation… P 541
- Why CPR is the single best predictor for heart disease… P 542
- Why testing for high-sensitivity CPR is so valuable… P543
- What is a good level of hsCPR?... P 544
- The 5 major ways to lower your hsCPR… P545
Stuff You Can Measure IV Heart Rate Variability (HRV)… P 541
- Why HRV is your "desert island" biomarker for health… P 546
- HRV as a window into your stress cup… P 548
- How measuring HRV lets us see the current state of our autonomic nervous system—and what we want to see… P 548
- How HRV levels can predict high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and longevity… P 549
- 8 major (and dangerous) triggers of low HRV… P 550
- When and how to best measure your HRV… P 551-552
