Lab mice given large doses of quercetin were able to run as much as 37 percent longer on a wheel or treadmill while those given a placebo showed no such improvement. The muscles and brains of the mice given quercetin also showed new mitochondria, the part of the cell which helps produce energy.

FRS, the makers of a sports drink containing quercetin, bankrolled a small study in 2006 which featured top-level cyclists who “significantly improved high-intensity cycling time-trial performance through enhancement of power output,” after drinking the quercetin-containing beverage.

Other studies, however, did not provide encouraging results. Runners who used quercetin before the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run in California, did not place better than those who didn’t take the supplement.

The largest and most comprehensive study on quercetin and athletic performance was conducted on a group of 30 healthy but untrained young men at the University of Georgia. This was reported in August in The Journal of Applied Physiology. The researchers hypothesized that quercetin might not work for trained athletes because regular aerobic exercise had already maxed out their mitochondrial production, but it might stimulate mitochondrial production in the untrained and boost their athletic performance.

The results were disappointing because there was no difference between the quercetin group and the placebo group. This study is not definitive but it also means that researchers can’t generalize from mouse studies to humans. It also stressed the point that improved performance cannot be delivered by supplements alone – athletes still need to exercise, train and eat right.

Physical preparation is just one step. Some athletes also have to deal with performance anxiety. Whether you’re shooting hoops, cycling or running a marathon, the mental battle is also crucial.

The Meridian Tapping Technique or MTT (also known as the Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT) can help balance an athlete’s body energy to help him/her perform in the most pressure-packed situations.

MTT is a simple do-it-yourself tapping procedure gently done with the fingertips on key acupuncture points and takes less than a minute. This minute could spell the difference between an average showing and an elite performance

A new study conducted at the University of Nottingham Schools of Graduate Entry Medicine and Biomedical Sciences showed that it gets harder for people aged over 65 to suppress muscle wasting or breakdown.

When older people eat, their ability to build muscle with the protein they consume is hampered and the insulin in their bodies fail to prevent the muscle wasting that occurs overnight and between meals.

A follow-up study showed that poor blood flow may be an important factor because it prevents the optimal delivery of hormones and nutrients to the muscles.

Researchers discovered that regular weight training helps rejuvenate blood flow to the extremities of people in their late 60s, to the point that they were almost identical to those of 25-year-olds.

Osteopathic physician Dr. Joseph Mercola believes that exercise, including weight training, is a natural remedy for poor blood circulation. Many exercisers, however, give little or no time for weight training because they think it’s too strenuous and will cause them to “bulk up.”

But weight training isn’t about looking like an underwear model. Weight-bearing exercises can help produce beneficial changes in your body, on the chemical, enzymatic, hormonal and molecular levels. These changes will help prevent or slow down many diseases caused by a sedentary lifestyle, such as diabetes, heart disease, muscle wasting and osteoporosis, Dr. Mercola explains.

So unless you plan to be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, there’s no need to worry about overly bulking up when you do weights.

When you gain more muscle, you’re also burning more calories, which are consumed even when you are at rest or asleep, and this helps you get rid of body fat.

Weight training does more than tone your muscles and induces weight loss. Weight-bearing exercises are among the most effective treatment strategies against osteoporosis. Taking drugs to improve your bone density is a big no-no for Dr. Mercola, because this is more likely to give you more harm in the long run.

Your bones become more brittle as you age, especially if you’re leading a sedentary lifestyle. Resistance training can help prevent this effect because putting more tension on your muscles also applies more pressure on your bones, which then react by creating fresh, new bone. Also, as you put on more muscle and strengthen your existing mass, you’re also applying constant pressure to your bones.

Weight lifting can also help reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease by lowering inflammation in your body to help keep off visceral fat (commonly known as belly fat), which is deposited in your abdomen to surround your vital organs. Visceral fat has been linked to serious chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke, among many other chronic diseases.

Exercise can provide you with an assortment of health benefits but it is just one component of a healthy lifestyle. To fully experience the benefits of exercise, you should also start eating healthy and managing your stress levels.

However, eating is not something that should be rushed because it leads to stressful, unhealthy living.

Nutrition and fitness expert Marc David, founder and director of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating, points out that Americans tend to eat under a state of stress and anxiety. You could be eating the healthiest food available but you won’t necessarily be digesting and assimilating it properly because eating under stress puts your body in the opposite condition of where it should be in order to digest and assimilate food.

Eating under stress causes dramatic changes in your body’s metabolism, including:

• Slower nutrient absorption
• Excretion of nutrients, particularly water soluble vitamins, macrominerals and microminerals
• Spike in blood cholesterol
• Increased food sensitivity
• Decreased gut flora population
• Heartburn
• Increase in cortisol and insulin

The hormones cortisol and insulin track each other. When cortisol increases, insulin decreases. The two hormones signal your body to store fat and stop building muscle, effectively causing weight gain.

The simple act of taking time to eat a meal can have a profound effect on your health. Here are the reasons why you should start eating slower:

1. Weight loss – It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to realize that your stomach is full. David explains that if you eat too fast, your brain will often interpret that missed experience of nuances and pleasure in taste and aroma as hunger, which will lead to you eating more. If you eat a big meal but don’t pay attention to it and just devour it, you’ll notice that your belly feels full but your mouth still feels hungry. Eating slowly will give you time to realize that you’re full and signal you to stop on time.
2. Relaxation – Ever wonder why Europeans, who consume more wine and fat in their diet, manage to stay slimmer than Americans? That’s because they take their time while eating and treat meals as a celebration. They shut down work and take two-hour lunches. Eating with friends and family helps lower stress and allows people to relax and enjoy food as a gastronomic pleasure.
3. Better digestion – Digestion starts in your mouth; the more work you do there, the less work your stomach has to put in to effectively digest your food. Eating slower means chewing your food properly, which helps you break down your food better.
4. Breaking free from the fast food culture and fast-paced lifestyle – Americans are crazy about all things fast – fast cars, fast computers, fast mobile phones, and fast food, which unfortunately, is a fast route towards obesity. Break free from the on-the-go lifestyle that is dehumanizing America, making people unhealthy, stressed out and unhappy. You deserve better.

Eating is not just something to do but something to experience. The simple act of eating slower will lead to a healthier and happier you.

Americans tend to eat under a state of stress and anxiety, says Marc David, director of the Institute for the Psychology of Eating. When you are eating under the physiological stress response, you could be eating the healthiest food but you won’t necessarily be digesting, assimilating and burning the calories from that food.

When under the physiological stress response, your heart rate goes up and your blood pressure rises. Blood is shunted away from your midsection and goes to your arms, legs, and head. Your digestion also completely shuts down.

In relation to digestion, stress causes:

• cortisol and insulin levels to rise
• as much as four times less blood flow to your digestive system, leading to decreased metabolism
• decreased flow of oxygen and decreased enzyme production (up to 20,000-fold) to your gut
• decreased nutrient absorption
• water soluble vitamins, macrominerals, microminerals and calcium to be excreted and wasted
• a spike in your cholesterol and triglyceride levels
• an increased risk of food sensitivity or heartburn
• decreased gut flora population

Corisol and insulin are two hormones that tend to track each other. When your cortisol levels consistently rise under a chronic low-level stress response, you’ll likely have problems losing weight and building muscle.

The worse part is, with rising cortisol, you’ll tend to gain weight around your midsection. Body fat, particlularly visceral fat (fat around your midsection that gathers around your internal organs), increases your risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Eating under stress puts your body in the opposite state of where it needs to be so it can digest food, assimilate nutrients and burn calories. In short, eating under stress is a recipe for weight gain!

So what can you do to avoid eating under stress?

Stress management is an important part of optimizing your overall health. Though it is not possible to completely eliminate stress, there are several ways that will help you minimize the stressors that seriously disrupt your digestion and other important bodily functions.

Here are some stress-busting strategies:

• Use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Meridian tapping helps restore your mind and body’s balance by clearing emotional blockages from your system.
• Exercise is another effective and natural way of providing your body with relief from stress. Endorphins, your body’s “feel good” chemicals are released into your brain during exercise.
• Get proper sleep.
• Meditate.

Exercise benefits include weight loss, improving your brainpower, fighting depression, lowering your blood pressure, increasing your energy levels and slowing down the aging process.

But if exercise is so good for you, why isn’t everyone doing it?

Well, most people actually say they don’t have time; this is more of a psychological resistance rather than poor time management. For those who do manage to exercise, one of the main reasons why they quit exercising is because they don’t get the results that they want.

Your body has the remarkable ability to adapt and learn, so if you do the same types of exercises every day, you’ll be able to master them in no time.

When exercise becomes easy for you, it means your muscles are getting used to the same activity. These muscles need a level of muscle confusion for them to continue improving and growing stronger.

If you don’t raise your level a notch higher, work harder and give your body a new challenge, chances are you end up abandoning your workout regimen because of the monotony and lack of results.

Dr. Joseph Mercola believes that the key to good exercise is having variety in your program or routine. Dr. Mercola started exercising as a teenager and was inspired to work out after reading the fitness book Aerobics. He has never stopped ever since and has been regularly exercising for 40 years.

If you’re planning to start sweating it out or want to resume your workouts, here are Dr. Mercola’s …

Four Principles of Good Exercise

1. Aerobic – Examples of aerobic exercises include jogging, using an elliptical machine and fast walking. Aerobic exercise activates your immune system, helps increase your stamina and, gets your heart pumping more efficiently, increasing oxygen circulation and releases endorphins – natural ‘feel good’ chemicals in your body.
2. Interval Training (Anaerobic Exercise) – Studies show that the best way to condition your heart and burn fat is by doing alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods. Interval training, also called burst type training, can dramatically improve your cardiovascular fitness and ability to burn fat. It also greatly reduces the amount of time you spend on exercise while giving you more benefits. For example, when you sprint intermittently, your body produces high levels of chemical compounds called catecholamines, which allow more fat to be burned from under your skin within the exercising muscles, thereby increasing your weight loss.
3. Strength Training – Round out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine to optimize the possible health benefits. Do enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough for a maximum of 12 repetitions but at the same time, light enough for a minimum of four repetitions. But remember: don’t exercise the same muscle groups every day because your muscles need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild.
4. Core Exercises – Your have 29 core muscles located mostly in your back, abdomen and pelvis. This group of muscles form the foundation for movement for your entire body, so strengthening them can help protect and support your back, reduce the risk of injury to your spine and body, and help enhance your balance and stability. Pilates and yoga are great exercises for your core muscles, as well as specific exercises you can learn from a personal trainer.

A common mistake is thinking that exercise alone can achieve weight loss and that there is no need to stick to a healthy diet. One of the most important factors in weight management is eating according to your Nutritional Type.