Did You Know
Most muscles are arranged in pairs, because although muscles can shorten themselves, they cannot make themselves longer. So the flexor muscle that bends a joint is paired with an extensor muscle to straighten it again. Biceps and triceps are a great example.
Muscle Facts: Did you know it takes 462 different muscles to dig a hole deep enough that the police will never out what you did?
Human DNA sequences are over 95% identical to chimpanzee sequences and around 50% identical to banana sequences.
Most of our energy comes from powerhouses within our cells called mitochondria. Cells can contain hundreds to thousands of mitochondria and they are so efficient they produce 95% of our cells’ energy. Because mitochondria have their own DNA, it is theorized that it was originally a bacteria that was ingested by larger cells in the human body and has evolved into the powerhouses that energize our body today.
Fish have all of the essential amino acids that humans need to survive. However, we could not live on fish alone. This is because fish do not contain any Vitamin C, which is crucial for human survival. Even today we use a few drops of lemon juice when eating cooked fish to provide us with the essential vitamin.
We are born with 300 bones in our body. However, when we reach adulthood we only have 206 bones. This occurs because many of them join together to make a single bone. Extra fact: Over half of the body’s bones are in the hands and feet.
The aroma of peppermint has been shown to boost memory, focus, and concentration.
One human hair can support 3.5 ounces. That is about the weight of one Hostess Snowball and, with hundreds of thousands of hairs on the human head, it makes the tale of Rapunzel more plausible.
Scientists have found over 500 different liver functions. You may not think often about your liver except after a long night of drinking, but the liver is one of the body’s largest and hardest working organs. Some of the functions your liver performs are production of bile, decomposition of red blood cells, plasma protein synthesis, sugar storage, fructose metabolism, and detoxification.
Ever notice blood’s metallic taste? This is due to the high level of iron in hemoglobin–a protein that transports oxygen throughout the body. The average person contains as much iron as a three-inch nail. Good sources of iron include: animal proteins, leafy green veggies, and peppers.
It takes twice as long to lose muscle if you stop working out then it did to gain it. So relax, there is no need to stress when you go on vacation.
The notion that eating carrots improves eyesight sounds like a story your mother made up to get you to eat your vegetables, but she was actually right. The Vitamin A within the carrots is very important for eye health, including protecting the cornea and improving color and low-light vision. Other foods that contain high levels of Vitamin A are: liver and other organ meats, paprika, red pepper, cayenne, chili powder, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and dried herbs.
A study conducted in 2010 found that 40 percent of retail receipts were coated with BPA — a synthetic estrogen that, even in small amounts, has been linked to a wide variety of illnesses. The chemical can rub off onto hands or food items or may be absorbed through the skin. Therefore:- Decline receipts when possible and wash your hands when handling them. -Thermally treated paper is most likely to contain BPA
If the thyroid isn’t producing enough hormones it can slow down your metabolic rate, but only by a nominal amount (10 percent or less). Unless your thyroid is extremely underactive – in which case there would be other clues such as hair loss, chronic fatigue, depression, and dry skin – it’s an unlikely culprit for weight gain. Moreover, once treated for the under activity, your metabolism will return to normal.
Our fingers do not have any muscles in them. The muscles in the forearm and palm are connected to the finger bones by tendons and control the finger’s movements somewhat like strings on a marionette.
If you are that special individual that can burn 500 calories an hour while exercising, it would still take you about six and one half hours to burn off one pound of fat. It is just too hard to exercise your way out of a poor diet.
Food plays a big role in New Year’s traditions. Eating black-eyed peas, ham, or cabbage are thought to bring prosperity. However, stay away from bad luck foods like lobsters, because they move backwards, and chicken, because they scratch in reverse. It is believed that eating these on New Year’s Day might cause a reversal of fortune.
You have all the muscle fiber you will ever have at birth. Once they die they cannot be replaced. As you get stronger your existing muscle fibers thicken.
Getting in your fruits and veggies can help the body produce its own form of Aspirin. After a study done by the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, participants who ate fruit and vegetables containing benzoic acid, could produce their own salicyclic acid. This is the main ingredient in aspirin that makes aspirin an anti-inflammatory pain reliever.
The stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve metal. Fortunately for us, the cells of the stomach lining secrete a viscous mucus which prevents the acid from penetrating the cells’ walls.
Human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tons – four times as much as concrete.
There are about 60 muscles in the face. And it’s less effort needed for smiling than for frowning. It takes 20 muscles to smile and over 40 to frown.
Coconut oil is a special breed of saturated fat (primarily composed of MEDIUM chain tri-glycerides – MCT’s) and don’t deserve to be lumped together with the ‘bad’ (trans) saturated fats. Coconut oil, baby formula’s secret ingredient, improves nutrient absorption and is easily metabolized for energy. It is also great cooking oil because it doesn’t break down in high heat.
Winter squash (including pumpkins, spaghetti, and acorn) develop a thick hard skin. At maturity, they have a long storage life and will keep for months. Pumpkins are low in calories, sodium and high in fiber. The seeds are high in protein, iron, and the B vitamins. Pumpkins are very high in beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is an antioxidant that converts into Vitamin A.
-The largest bone is the pelvis, or hip bone. In fact, it is made of six bones joined firmly together. -The longest bone is the ‘femur’, in the thigh. It makes up almost one quarter of the body’s total height – The smallest bone is the ‘stirrup’, in the ear. It is hardly larger than a grain of rice.
Of the approximately 600 muscles in the human body, our tongue is the only one that is attached at only one end.
When we burn fat as our primary fuel source (optimized by a low carb diet), waste products build up and need to be eliminated from our body. If you are well hydrated, these waste products are easily eliminated by our kidneys, while our liver happily burns fat. Chronic dehydration, however, shifts the burden of eliminating the waste products to the liver thus impeding its role for burning fat. Recommendation – Drink 2-3 liters of non-carbonated water a day.
Treatments for obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, chronic joint pain, asthma, heart disease, and several types of cancer account for an estimated $147 billion annually, or roughly 10 percent of the nation’s total health care outlay. That’s 50 percent more than the cost of smoking-related treatments.
Contrary to popular belief, strength training does NOT build new muscle cells. A muscle gets stronger when the existing fibers become thicker, enabling it to generate more contractile force.
The word ‘gymnasium’, aka gym, comes from the Greek word ‘gymnos’ meaning naked. In Ancient Greece, athletes competed in the nude to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body and as a tribute to the gods.
Legendary trainer and inventor, Arthur Jones once said, “If the population as a whole would stop exercising, the general health of that population would rise”. The point being that most people’s exercise programs do more harm than good.
Avocados have more protein, potassium, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin E and fiber content per ounce than any other fruit. They are cholesterol free AND are the closest food nutritionally to breast milk!
Sarcopenia – or age related muscle loss – begins to rapidly increase around the age of 40. Consequently, our metabolism slows, our bodies burn fewer calories, and we gain more fat. Strength training is the ideal way to build or keep muscle as we age.
Longest muscle – Sartorius (stretches from the pelvis to the knee) Largest muscle (by mass) – Gluteus Maximus (butt) Largest muscle (by surface area) – Latissimus Dorsi (back muscle) Smallest muscle – Stapedius (inner ear muscle) Strongest muscle – (in terms of force applied per unit area) the Masseter or Jaw muscle
Spot reduction is the false idea that if you exercise a specific muscle group you will decrease the amount of fat in that area. In actuality, fat is stored and burned in patterns that are genetically determined.
Unless you strength train and build muscle while dieting, the body will instinctively cannibalize its muscle stores as compensation for the reduction in calories. As a result, your progression of fat loss will be much slower.
Muscle fibers fatigue sequentially, from slow twitch to fast twitch, as the intensity increases. It’s the intensity of the exercise, not the speed of movement, which determines the muscle-fiber involvement.
In 1971 Arthur Jones, the father of High-Intensity Training, helped Casey Viator win the Mr. America competition. Casey would frequently train for just 25 minutes only 6 times a month.
One of the liver’s primary functions is to metabolize fat for energy. If you are dehydrated, however, the liver becomes overburdened with new responsibilities compromising its ability to breakdown fatty acids. Moral: Stay hydrated, burn more fat.
From the start of adulthood the length of our muscles is established and cannot change. No specific activity can elongate muscles…for that to happen the length of our bones would have to increase.
