Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - a new explanation

Sixty-seven percent of 101 patients diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) were found to be infected with a retrovirus called XMRV (Science, published online October 8, 2009). One hundred percent of those with CFS who subsequently developed lymphomas or leukemias were infected with the XMRV virus. If further studies confirm this finding, doctors will soon have a test to diagnose this horrible condition and possibly a vaccine to prevent it.

More than a million Americans are seriously ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as Myalgic encephalomyelitis. CFS symptoms include severe weakness, exhaustion after any activity, loss of memory, and chronic recurrent infections. Patients rarely recover.

The retrovirus XMRV was first found in humans in 2006, in prostate cancer cells. It has been shown to cause nerve damage, immune deficiency, lymphoma and leukemia in animals. Retroviruses do not have their own DNA; they use the DNA of the host cells they invade. Retroviruses include HIV that causes AIDS, and Human Lymphotropic Viruses that cause leukemia and lymphoma. Just as some people infected with HIV do not develop AIDS, not everyone infected with XMRV will develop CFS. XMRV has been found in 3.7 percent of healthy Americans tested, adding up to an estimated 10 million Americans carrying this virus.

Although not proven yet, there is every reason to believe that XMRV is spread by exposure to body fluids (saliva, blood, semen). Having an infection with one of these retroviruses impairs your immunity so that you are more likely to become infected when exposured to any other germ.

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Top 5 Butt Blaster Cardio Exercises

Every one needs butt blaster exercises to either tone your butt or keep your butt toned! You can use cardio to blast the butt fat and overall body fat----just do the right type and intensity...top cardio exercises to blast butt, hips and thighs fat are:



1. Sprint Intervals: Sprinting activates and shapes the bulkier, shapely fast-twitch muscle fibers. Just check out the sprinters at the next track meet you attend and see how toned their butt, hips and thighs are. You may not go to that extreme, but you get the idea! Do your sprints:

--on grass (incline)
--on grass (flat surface)
--on sand
--on astroplay
--DO NOT RUN ON CONCRETE, ASPHALT OR OTHER HARD SURFACES

If you play soccer, it is a great change-of-pace exercise activity.....basically, all you do is sprint and jog the whole game.

2. Leg Circuits (also a strength and/or power exercise).

3. Intervals on Stepmill or Stadium Steps

4. Intervals on Treadmill

5. Intervals on Bike (preferably outside)

6. Forget about doing cardio on elliptical machines. There's just not enough benefit when it comes to burning fat---especially butt, hips and thighs fat.

When you have a choice, choose non-machine cardio. That way, you won't have a machine generating momentum for you. Don't go beyond 30 minutes on a cardio session---20 minutes is better because you can push yourself harder.

Leg circuit cardio is great because you can incorporate exercises like squats, lunges, step ups and jumps. And, to get even more fat burn, do some of these exercises as full speed power exercises. Make sure you have mastered proper jumping and landing techniques before incorporating power exercises into your cardio routine. Again, all it takes is 20 minutes per session.

Its pretty simple. Just do 3-4 days per week of intense cardio and you will tone and sculpt your butt, hips and thighs!

Get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Top 5 Weight Loss Plateau Busters

A weight loss plateau will happen to you at some point in your "exercise career!" If you're frustrated with having "no progress" in your weight loss and fat loss, then you're not alone!

Usually, its easier to lose weight at the beginning of your exercise program. This is especially true if you are, let's say, 120 pounds overweight. At this point, your metabolism is "running high" because of the excess weight. And, if you have not been active, your body will respond quickly to any new exercise program.

As time moves on, you have to make frequent changes (like weekly or bi-weekly) to your exercise routine/eating habits or your body will adapt. That's when you reach a weight loss plateau and your progress begins to stall.

So, here are my Top 5 Weight Loss Plateau Busters (Note: make sure you are following your meal plan or make needed changes):

1. Get off of the weight machines and bust through your weight loss plateau! Machines do too much of the work for you and many of the exercises are done sitting down. Many times, you're not engaging enough muscle groups when you work out on machines.....so it means less calories burned, less muscles developed and less weight loss/fat loss. Don't be afraid to try new exercises (bodyweight, dumbbell and barbell exercises)!

2. Do as many compound strength exercises (with weights or bodyweight) standing up as possible. These types of exercises work major muscle groups and many times are full-body strength exercises. This helps you workout with more intensity and burn more calories. You will also build more muscle and speed up your metabolism.

Squats, deadlift, lunges, standing bentover rows, squat-to curl-to press and bench press are great examples. Full-body core exercises like planks and side planks work well also. Spend less time posing on "mirror exercises" like bicep curls, calf raises and tricep extensions.

3. You have to work with enough weight to overload your muscles and build muscle! In other words, working out with 5 pound dumbbells won't get the job done (unless you are a beginner). You don't have to "max out" during your workouts but you need to challenge your body and ramp up the intensity.

4. Full-body medicine ball exercises like chops and throws are great for busting through your weight loss plateau. These exercises are also very intense, especially if done at full speed.

5. Train your muscles in all 3 planes of motion. Your body is 3-D so you need to train it that way. It will also help your dynamic balance to train in all 3 planes. Challenging your body in all planes of motion increases difficulty and helps you burn more calories.

Make needed changes and bust through your weight loss plateau!

Get My Fitness Hut's 7-Day Weight Loss And Fat Loss e-Course! The e-Course is FREE!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Fat Loss Frequently Asked Questions

There's 2 things about fat loss frequently asked questions, 1) you need to ask the right fat loss questions and 2) you need to recognize the right fat loss answers when you see them! Why?

Because there is alot of bad information out there about fat loss and weight loss! Some of that bad information will give you short-term solutions (such as rapid weight loss) but long-term failure!

If you want the right answers, you've come to the right place! First, you need to know my belief statement about fitness:

“Make a lifetime commitment to health and fitness. This commitment trumps all other fitness commitments. Without it, you will always fall prey to the inevitable obstacles and pitfalls along the way.”

With this statement as background, here are answers to my top fat loss frequently asked questions.

1. Do you need fat loss supplements? You don't need fat loss supplements to burn fat and lose weight! A combination of strength training, cardio training and good nutrition will give you the lean and toned body you want. Save your money!

2. What about fat loss surgery? Some surgeries such as liposuction and mesotherapy may give you some TEMPORARY relief from your subcutaneous (just underneath the skin) body fat.

Liposuction is actually meant to remove deep fat tissue (visceral fat). Again, a combination of strength training, cardio training and good nutrition will give you the lean and toned body you want.

3. Is there specific fat loss exercise? High intensity circuit weight training and high intensity interval cardio (HIIT) have been proven to be effective for long-term fat loss and weight loss provided you have a good fat loss meal plan.

4. What about fat loss vs. muscle loss? You will burn fat while building muscle if you combine strength training, cardio training and good nutrition. That's all there is to it! No shortcuts!

5. Are there any fat loss secrets? No secrets! Just hard, smart workouts, a good nutrition plan and perseverance. See #4 above.

Read the rest of my fat loss frequently asked questions!

"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

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Tone Ab Obliques With Side Plank

Tone your ab oblique muscles and strengthen your deep core muscles with the side plank. You will also burn your belly fat!

External Oblique - these muscles are on the side and front of the abdomen and wrap around your waist.

Internal Oblique - these muscles lie under the external oblique and run in the opposite direction.





--Lie sideways on your left side.

--Raise your body, resting on your forearm and side of foot. Keep your right leg on top of the left leg. Keep your body stiff and brace your torso (as if taking a punch). Keep your head in line with your torso (don't let your head drop or jut out).

--Hold for the required count. Relax and repeat again. Do all repetitions on one side and then switch to the other side.

You can do exercises like planks, side planks, bridges and cobras up to 4 times a week. They will sculpt your abs and protect your low back from injury!

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

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The Potassium Deficiency Myth

Sports drink promoters have convinced many athletes that they need special drinks to replace potassium during exercise. A recent study of female soccer players confirms that this is a myth (International Journal of Sports Medicine, June 2009). When body levels of potassium are low, the kidneys and sweat glands conserve potassium so effectively that potassium deficiency rarely occurs.

Tiredness in healthy athletes can have many causes, but low potassium is not one of them. Many years ago, Dave Costill of Ball State University tried to create potassium deficiency in healthy national champion runners. He couldn't do it because potassium is found in all foods except refined sugar, and his athletes would not stay on a diet that consisted only of hard candy. Even with prolonged exercise in very hot weather, potassium needs can be met by eating virtually any food.

Potassium deficiency CAN be caused by certain drugs, such as diuretics or corticosteroids, or by severe diarrhea or repeated vomiting. One of the best female long-distance runners in the country came to me to find a cause for her sudden drop in performance. All tests I ordered were normal except for a low blood level of potassium. I knew that hard exercise does not cause potassium deficiency and that the most common cause of potassium deficiency is vomiting, but she repeatedly denied doing this. I then requested that she collect her urine for one day and the laboratory reported that it contained three times as much potassium as normal. This proved that she was bulemic. To control her weight, she was sticking her finger down her throat to makie herself throw up. After she was able to accept the diagnosis, she got help, stopped vomiting and went on to win several national long distance running titles.

With vomiting, you throw up the stomach's acid (hydrogen) and the blood becomes alkaline. This causes the kidneys to retain hydrogen and consequently lose huge amounts of potassium in the urine. In both athletes and non-athletes, the most common cause of low potassium blood levels and high potassium urine levels is vomiting.

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Burn Abdominal Fat With Medicine Ball Front Chop

Burn more of the dreaded abdominal fat with the medicine ball front chop! This exercise is also a great full body exercise that you can do as a regular strength exercise or power (full-speed) exercise. Because of speed and intensity, power exercises help you burn more fat during and after your workout.

Besides burning abdominal fat and helping sculpt your six pack abs, medicine ball front chops are great for improving your flexibility. Medicine ball exercises help you to exercise with natural movements. Your training needs to give you a body that you can use in every day life. Tight, rigid muscles will lead you to many injuries!



Grab a medicine ball about 10% of your body weight. You might need a lighter ball if you are a beginner or have been inactive. Shoot for 3-4 sets of 20 repetitions (if doing this as a power exercise, then do 8-10 repetitions).

--Stand with your feet slightly greater than shoulder width apart.

--Keep your arms straight but don't lock your elbows.

--Hold the medicine ball above your head.

--Bend forward at the waist (into a squat position) and mimic throwing the ball between your legs (don't throw ball). Keep your back straight and your head in line with your torso (don't let head drop down or rise up)

--Reverse the movement and stand with the ball above your head. That's 1 repetition.

Try this exercise at home!

Get FREE Training and Nutrition Insider Secrets for a Lean-Body with Six Pack Abs! This ebook, created by Certified Nutrition Specialist & Certified Personal Trainer, Mike Geary, details over 27 specific metabolism-boosting secrets that you can use to strip off your stubborn body fat faster and easier and get your six-pack abs! Contains unique workout methods and nutritional strategies to slash body fat and take your body to a whole new level of leanness. Get Your FREE Book Now!

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