Wednesday, November 24, 2010

by Alex Chaple

     Here is my order of priorities when training people; health, body composition then strength and fitness. Now, whilst it is possible to address all of these at once in most cases, the most important thing to address when I work with a new trainee is to get them to the highest level of health I can. After all, what use is being able to run a marathon, bench press 100kg or work on your "inner core" musculature if you are unhealthy and at risk of horrible diseases such as cancer?? I put it to you that health is the first issue that everyone must seek to improve. Without full health you will never truly reach your potential in anything (in my opinion), let alone look good naked or improve your fitness.

     This is the paragraph that some of you will not like, but please bear in mind that I am saying this because I care. If you are not taking a dietary supplement, you are not healthy. Not even close. You might be healthier than the next guy, the one sitting next to you who eats fast food every week and never exercises, but you can't enjoy true health without supplementation. Of this, I am totally convinced. The sad fact is that our food is no longer adequate. Modern farming practice has made a large majority of the food we consume significantly less than "nutritious". We live in a world with so much pollution that newly born babies have traces of rocket fuel and styrene in their umbilical cords and the water we drink contains poisonous metals and hormone mimics. Our bodies, with our new food source can't cope with this, not by a long shot. We need help to replace the nutrients that our food should be providing and to detoxify the foreign substances that should not be in our body.

     Unfortunately, the general public have not yet caught up to modern functional medicine and supplementation is still seen very much as "unnatural" and somehow ethically questionable. Many still believe that if you eat a "balanced diet" you can obtain everything you need. I wish this were true, but there is no evidence suggesting its validity. Experts now agree that supplementation is essential. You can't achieve optimal nutrition from food alone, it is impossible. Maybe 100 years ago when food quality was better and pollution and stress were lower, but not now. One of the key aspects in fighting disease is now supplementation. The earlier you start, the better the odds are that you can live a long and healthy life and achieve everything you desire!

To find out how to individualise dietary supplementation to your needs, contact me.