Let’s say you wanted to lose weight and improve your overall fitness, what would be your first step?

My guess is it would involve dusting off your old runners, hitting the treadmill (or stationary bike, stair-master etc) for 45-60min 3-5x/wk.  After all, keeping your heart rate in the ‘fat burning zone’ is a sure-bet to quick weight loss and strong ‘cardio’… right?

What if I told you that spending hours pounding the pavement each week isn’t the best strategy to get lean, strong and fit?

In fact, it can be downright dangerous.

Thankfully, some of these myths are dying but if you read, watch or listen to most popular magazines, TV shows or podcasts most of the information you are being fed is still just plain wrong.

Please know that I don’t think these industries are full of unethical liars who are out to hurt people.  I don’t think they are misleading you purposefully.  I do think they are sharing what they learned from others who came before them (I did the same thing for years!).

Unfortunately, they’ve never thought to question what they learned, and they too have dogmatically accepted the exercise myths that pervade our culture.

Let’s be clear:  Health does NOT come from a bottle.

No matter how compelling the advertising or convincing the stories, there are no magic pills or super potions that magically make you healthy.

In a perfect world, the best source for all your nutrient requirements is from real food.  Whether its macro-nutrients (protein, fat, carbs) or micro-nutrients (vitamins & minerals) you are always going to be better off satisfying those requirements with real food.

But…

By now we’ve all heard at some point that good spinal posture is important – from our parents, teachers, and coaches, there seems to be a general consensus that having ‘proper’ posture is good for us.

What you may not have heard before is WHY having a slumped over posture is a serious health problem.

At the core of our bodies is a forgotten organ called the spine. Made up of 24 moveable bones and 23 spongy discs, it is held together by over 220 specialized ligaments, made moveable by 120 muscles and, most importantly, it protects the most vital system in the human body – your Nervous System.