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Our Beliefs-Part 1

Brian Sipotz • October 11, 2012

We believe the human body is built to perform.  When functioning properly, our bodies are capable of some amazing things.  Consider our design… we have evolved (or were created, depending on your religious position) to walk upright, giving us an endurance advantage over our “earlier models,” and we have 6 different types of joints located in strategic areas of the body to give us strength and stability where we need it most (in our head, hands, and feet) and range of motion where we need it the most (shoulders, hips, and thumbs).  Our muscles are arranged in a way that gives us both a mechanical advantage and great control of our movements, and we have tendons and fascia that give us an elastic quality that helps us conserve our strength for the times we really need it.  The human foot is an architectural marvel, with 26 bones creating an arch capable of dissipating a force many times greater than your body weight over and over while you run.  There is a reason the hands and feet alone contain over 25% of the bones in the body.  They are pretty important.

The body is built to perform, but our modern lifestyle does not encourage it to do so.  Many people sit in their car on the way to work or school, sit at a desk all day, sit in the car on the way to the gym, sit on a machine to work out, then head home to sit down to relax after a long day of sitting.  Compare this to early humans who depended on their performance to get a meal.  We are talking about people who hunted by running after a deer until IT died of exhaustion.  These days, an abundance of accessible, sugary, highly refined food allows us to have a meal whenever we like.  Since a good meal used to require expending huge amounts of energy, the body would hold onto precious energy stores for the next hunt.  Our body still behaves the same way, storing fat for energy, except now the hunt involves driving through a fast food joint at midnight, so the energy stores stay on board as fat.  Our bodies are hardwired for performance mode, ensuring enough energy for activity.  If we don’t get active, the energy piles up (literally).  Our bodies are built to perform and fueled to perform, and our beliefs are based on this notion.  Please note, we are not recommending you take to these beliefs immediately, in fact it might be downright inappropriate.  This is simply food for thought, and the action you take will be determined by your personal situation.  We can certainly help you progress to training this way, but as with everything we do you must systematically adjust before diving in head first.

Belief #1: From the Ground Up

We see the body as being fully capable without the use of modern aids like braces, wraps, weight belts, and highly cushioned running shoes.  Beginning with the feet, we are designed to support an efficient stride and posture just as we are.  Modern running shoes, with a fat, cushioned heel tapering to thinner padding near the toes make a natural gait impossible.  This throws off alignment in the ankles, knees, hips and low back and does not allow the body to dissipate ground forces as it is designed to.  Braces, wraps, and weight belts can help in competition but should not be worn for training.  The reason these are worn is to help limit a certain weakness, which can be beneficial in competition when you are not actively thinking about stabilizing your weak ankle or knee, or protecting your touchy lower back.  However, when these aids are worn consistently, you are giving these weaknesses permission to worsen under this protective cover.  If the joints don’t have to stabilize, they won’t, leading to continuing atrophy.  This is a classic example of adding strength to a dysfunctional system.  Try training in proper movement patterns without the use of these modern “luxuries,” and you may begin to see just how capable your body can be.

 Belief #2: Function Over Fashion

We take a functional training approach to helping your body perform optimally.  This means we engage in basic, whole body, ground based movements without the use of machines to guide joints or movements.  When you are participating in sports or life, you are moving in space, using your entire body to produce force and movement.  We train the same way.  By using a training progression, we can get your whole body working for you by first establishing healthy patterns, then adding strength to those patterns.  Speaking of adding strength, part of putting function over fashion means we are concerned with taking care of your movement health before we help you pursue your bodybuilding career.  Strength and metabolic training are included in our training system, but we do our best to ensure your safety in the beginning.  Perpetuating poor movement patterns will earn you an arthritic knee, sore back, or even a new set of bright and shiny titanium hip joints before it will win you a Mr. Universe contest.  So let’s get our priorities straight.

Belief #3: Garbage In, Garbage Out

There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of opinions regarding nutrition and performance.  Book store shelves are stacked with books debating the benefits and evils of carbs, fat, animal protein, grains, processed foods, cooked foods, raw foods, organic foods, frozen foods, vegetarianism, and so on.  On the same shelf, I have seen a book denouncing bread, and one basing an entire diet around it.  With so much research done to prove a point about nutrition, we would not dream about offering everyone specific advice.  That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions, though.  We take a garbage in, garbage out approach to nutrition.  This means to stay away from processed or refined foods, and eat food that offers solid nutrient density and offers a good nutritional “bang for your buck.” Eat real food with ingredients you can pronounce.  Enjoy vegetables at will, and mix in fruit when you need something sweet.  Spend a little extra money to buy the grass fed meat.  Shop at your local farmer’s market.  Don’t eat your meals from a box or bag.  Do 90% of your shopping around the perimeter of the grocery store.   These are all pretty much blanket statements, but that’s what we would encourage if you are coming to us for nutrition tips.  Obviously, each case would be handled individually, and we are ready and willing to discuss your nutritional needs with you.

We wanted to share this short list of beliefs with you to help introduce our community.  Whether you agree or disagree with us, we are excited to welcome you and discuss your beliefs.  Feel free to challenge us, we are lifelong learners and enjoy the perspectives of others.  We thank you for your interest in our community, and encourage you to share your beliefs with us.

Be Well,

Brian.

What They Don’t Tell You About Dieting

March 29, 2022
So far I’ve introduced a little about the “non-diet” approach , as well as the Diet Cycle , which many people find themselves stuck in when using a restrictive “diet” approach to food and health. For some of those people, the idea of eating what they love and “giving up” on diet or weight loss doesn’t seem like an option, understandably. We face a LOT of pressure, day after day, to eat “clean” and lose weight. That pressure may come from well-intentioned family, friends, and healthcare professionals who are concerned about our health (more on that later); or from fear-inducing headlines that compare sugar to poison; or from photo-shopped & face-tuned ads on Instagram of celebrities selling their flat tummy tea or shapewear. We are surrounded by Diet Culture, and are forced to engage with it- no matter if it’s coming from our loved ones, acquaintances, coworkers, or even strangers. What exactly is Diet Culture? You might have an idea just from the sound of it... Messaging that promotes diet & weight loss. Right? It’s actually more than that. Here’s a definition from Aubrey Gordon, author of “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat”: Diet Culture: “A system of cultural beliefs and practices that equates thinness not just with health, but with moral virtue, and which advocates for weight loss at any cost. Diet culture isn’t just a matter of being on a diet, but of the social forces that make dieting (or lifestyle changes or wellness) culturally mandatory for so many of us.” The key phrases are “moral virtue” and “weight loss at any cost”. Diet culture doesn’t only convince us that weight loss is necessary (to be beautiful, to demonstrate our worth, or to be healthy); but it creates this pressure that we are MORALLY obligated to do so. In order to be perceived as good, responsible people, Diet Culture urges us to pursue weight loss at any cost- which could mean sacrificing our social life, a significant amount of money on supplements or meal replacements or programs, our emotional wellbeing, and even our physical wellbeing. Maybe diet and weight loss aren’t so healthy after all… And while this may not be everyone’s experience, we have research that demonstrates the following emotional impacts of restrictive dieting: Dieting is associated with higher anxiety levels (Kwasnicka, 2020) Dieting is associated with poorer emotional and mental quality of life (Burns etal, 2001) Dieting is linked with reduced life satisfaction (Esch and Zullig, 2013) Further, restrictive dieting has actually been found to cause weight GAIN. To be clear, weight gain is nothing to be ashamed about (bodies change!); but if the multibillion dollar diet industry is selling a diet plan for weight loss, they’re not exactly being honest about the likely outcomes. 1⁄3 to 2⁄3 regained weight within 1 year, with almost all weight regained within 5 years (1992 NIH Consensus) Most weight is gained back within 2 years and most gained back all the weight by 5 years (2013 Australian Research Council) A team of UCLA researchers reviewed 31 long term studies on the effectiveness of dieting and concluded that dieting is a consistent predictor of weight gain —up to two-thirds of the people regained more weight than they lost (Mann 2007) This quote from Weight Watchers former Finance Director sums it up pretty well:

Break the Diet Cycle with Intuitive Eating

March 7, 2022
Good morning! Thank you to everyone who came out to Break the Diet Cycle presentation. I hope you’re starting today feeling curious about Intuitive Eating and eager to rediscover your favorite foods in a fresh, positive way. I attached the PDFs of the presentation for you to reference, as well as the “HAES (Health at Every Size) Manifesto”, by Dr. Lindo Bacon, author of Health at Every Size. This provides a snapshot of the science behind the weight neutral approach, Health at Every Size, which Intuitive Eating is aligned with. For those of you who couldn’t attend, you may be wondering- what exactly is Intuitive Eating? As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to food and health. The framework consists of 10 principles to help you examine and reevaluate your beliefs & attitudes about your body, your food, physical activity, health, and more. While practicing Intuitive Eating, individuals relearn how to eat in accordance to their natural hunger and fullness cues; food cravings; energy needs, and so on. They begin to trust their body to tell them when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat. The Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating are: 1. Reject the Diet Mentality 2. Honor Your Hunger 3. Make Peace with Food 4. Challenge the Food Police 5. Feel Your Fullness 6. Discover the Satisfaction actor 7. Cope with Your Feelings without Using Food 8. Respect Your Body 9. Exercise to Feel the Difference 10. Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition Intuitive Eating may seem like a straightforward concept, but in a culture that heavily promotes dieting and weight loss as a path to health, happiness, and even moral virtue, it can be hard to break out of the Diet Cycle (seen below). Also known as the “Restrict-Binge Cycle”, this eating pattern is typically kicked off by some diet thought, like “I need to lose weight” or “I need to start eating better”.

Snack Break with Mary

January 25, 2022
Snack Break with Mary Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist & Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor at Advantage Strength

Build Your Own Soup- WITHOUT a recipe

By Brian Sipotz • December 10, 2020
It’s winter, and sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than enjoying a warm bowl of soup. Sure, you can look up any recipe online or follow the recipes on this site to a T, but at some point you’re going to find yourself standing in your kitchen with little time, a bunch of random ingredients, and […]

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By Brian Sipotz • November 24, 2020
Today I’m joined by Eva Solomon, Founder and CEO of Epic Races in Ann Arbor. Of course, an Epic Race looks different today than it did 8 months ago. With COVID-19, there is no opportunity to get 3,000 people together for the Ann Arbor marathon, so Eva and her staff have had to be creative. […]

Growing Food and Community with Tom and Vicki Zilke

By Brian Sipotz • November 24, 2020
Farmers markets and farm stands are growing in popularity as people start to see the value in fresh, local foods that support good health, good people (the farmers), and good communities. Today I enjoy a conversation with Tom and Vicki Zilke of Zilke Farm Stand (zilkevegetablefarm.com) and Zilke Farm Kitchen (zilkefarmkitchen.com), both located in Milan, […]

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By Brian Sipotz • September 28, 2020
I’m embarrassed to admit I got lost this morning.   Picture this. Me standing in the middle of a corn maze, looking around at 8 different openings. I had absolutely no idea which way to go.   I stood there for 10 minutes, looking at all these different “doors” and trying to figure out which […]

Advantage Word of the Year 2018

By Brian Sipotz • December 30, 2018
Hard to believe, but 2018 is coming to a close and it’s time to pick another Word of the Year! This tradition started back in 2013 with the word Mindset, and it’s something I’ve done every year as a way to look back at what was most important for the last 12 months. Every year, […]

Pesto Power

By Brian Sipotz • May 20, 2018
So you’re doing your best to eat better. You have the basic idea-  lean protein, veggies, and maybe a smart carb choice with every meal- but now it’s Thursday night and you are staring down the barrel of a 4th night in a row of eating chicken breasts with broccoli (because you prepped a bunch […]

Deb’s Energy Bites

By Brian Sipotz • May 3, 2018
Planning on heading out to use up some energy this weekend? Going out for a hike or a bike? Got long day of gardening ahead of you? Heading into Advantage for an action packed workout maybe? 🙂 Whatever you are planning on doing, plan on making a batch of these to take with you. Last […]
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