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4A – Daily News – Monday, March 29, 2010 Vitality & health From farm to fitness COSTA MESA (MCT) — Brad Davidson teaches people how to get strong by bringing some of his childhood experiences on an Oregon dairy farm to his gym on in Costa Mesa.. Milking cows and car- rying 50-pound sacks of powdered milk, as well as watching his grandfather and uncles perform gruel- ing tasks every day, inspired a lifelong passion for studying the science of strength. His conclusion: The most effective tech- niques were invented between the end of the Civil War and the 1930s, many of them in Eastern Europe. Some of the exer- cises he uses in the park- ing lot of his gym, Syner- gy Training Centers, are borrowed straight from the farm, or a 19th-century logging camp: Clients tip over 475-pound tractor tires, swing sledgeham- mers or use a thick rope to pull slabs of weights stacked on a sled that grinds against the asphalt. "We call it Country Strong or Farm Strong," Davidson says. "That's real-world strength." "You can't beat what works," he adds. "Nothing great has been invented the last 70, 80 years. There's been no new ideas. Just the same old ideas renamed or repackaged." Davidson, 34, who played football at Golden West College in Hunting- ton Beach, and took a shot at making the U.S. Olympic bobsled team four years ago, is 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds. He pulls half a dozen books from his bookshelf in his office. They're all thin and mostly old and obscure, loaded with black and white pho- tos featuring barrel-chest- ed men in too-tight shorts, hoisting massive weights straight out of a cartoon — matching cannonballs with a bar in between. Their trail blazer is Arthur Saxon, the handle- bar-mustachioed German billed as the world's strongest man in the early 20th century. He is said to have been able to raise a plank carrying 12 men. And he once lifted a 315- pound barbell over his head, with one hand, and tossed it to the other hand. "Look at this guy," Davidson says, pointing to Saxon's bulging biceps. "Every man wants to look like him, and every woman wants a man to look like him. He was unbelievably strong. No steroids, no supplements, fitness Tweak your taste buds (MCT) It really is possible to develop a taste for healthy foods you've avoided for years, nutritionists say: Go slow. Make one small change at a time over a period of weeks. As your taste buds adapt, gradually add in more vegetables, fruit and seafood. Stay away from plain. Don't start off with a plate of raw broccoli. Instead, mix pureed or diced vegetables into foods you already like, such as macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, chili, seasoned noodles, sauces, soups or baked goods. Use flavoring. Vegetables can taste much better with some herbs and spices, Cajun seasoning and healthy dips such as hummus _ or simply grilled with a little salt, pepper and garlic. Go for a known favorite; if you like Asian cuisine, for example, cook with a teriyaki glaze. Experiment with cooking time ... You may remem- ber your childhood vegetables as a mushy heap. Tex- ture can matter as much as taste: if the same food is firmer or cut into smaller pieces, it may be much more appealing. ... and fresh, frozen or canned. Frozen or canned vegetables can be just as healthy as fresh but taste bet- ter to you. Just watch the salt and sugar content. Be adventurous. Every time you go to the grocery store, buy one fruit or vegetable you've never tried before. You're likely to stumble on a new favorite. Give fish a chance. Different types of fish don't taste the same; some are much less "fishy" than others. Milder forms include tilapia, cod and flounder. Ask your store's seafood department for recommendations. Be patient. Children often won't accept a new food until they've tried it eight or nine times, and the same may be true of grown-ups. MCT photo Brian Barss, of Newport Beach, pulls a 250-pound sled. A workout enthusiast who is used to long workouts, Barss likes the less time- consuming "Farm Strong" approach. just ate well and used training protocols. It's just insane. He makes us look like a bunch of pansies these days." In his 1906 book "The Development of Physical Power," Saxon wrote that "the usual idea about strength _ I mean the idea of the average reader of health magazines _ is gen- erally a wrong one. Gen- uine strength should include not only momen- tary strength, as proved by the ability to lift a heavy weight once, but also the far more valuable kind of strength known as strength for endurance." Much of what Saxon and others preached has been vetted, tested and expanded on by research and by modern-day experts like Canadian Charles Poliquin, who has coached Olympic and pro- fessional athletes and is a mentor of Davidson's. To get stronger without get- ting bigger, Davidson says, reduce repetitions, increase the weight and keep the "time under ten- sion" below 20 seconds. "You have to be using 70 percent of your 1RM (one- rep maximum) or heavier to get a strength response." He says deep squats (bending the knees so that the rear touches the heels) has proved far more effec- tive at building strength and preventing injuries to lower legs than just going parallel. While a quarter of Davidson's clients are elite athletes, the rest are regu- lar people who want to get stronger to live better lives _ to be able to pick up their children or grandchildren without pain or make it through a workday with- out tiring out. Davidson does intensive assessment early on and develops workouts to suit whatever they want to achieve. Saxon wrote that bicy- clists should be able to "jump on your machine and ride 100 miles at any time without undue fatigue." But in the real world, a "business man" should be able to work "morning, afternoon and night with unflagging energy, holding tightly in his grasp the reins of busi- ness, retaining all the while a clear mind and untiring energy, both of body and brain." That notion appeals to Bert Selva, CEO of Shea Homes, the nation's largest privately owned home- builder. Selva, 48, who lives in Newport Beach, Calif., had back problems for years because of herni- ated discs. He has worked with Davidson for about five years and says "I've never felt better." "I run a big company, so I've got to have energy all day," he says. "Now I don't really feel a lapse in energy." Another Newport Beach client, Brian Barss, just likes the challenge of the farm gear out back. "I love taking a beating, so this is a good workout for me," says Barss, 31. "It's not for the meager or the timid, that's for sure." Davidson says one rea- son for his obsessive emphasis on strength training is that his father, Mike, who is 54, has myotonic dystrophy, a dis- ease that slowly attacks the muscles. "He's wasting away, and he falls multiple times a week," Brad says. "If he gets in a car wreck, he's not going to be able to prevent bones from breaking. He gets sick a lot. You and I, we get bronchitis, we get antibiotics and it's gone in a week. He's had it for three weeks and can't get rid of it. "So strength matters. The more muscle mass you have, the greater your chance to live long." Andrea’s Therapeutic Massage Andrea Strege C.M.T. Deep Tissue • Relaxation Pain & Stress Relief 1 Hour massage Only $ 15 minutes $15.00 30 minutes $25.00 Now Offering 45.00 Red Bluff Health & Fitness walk-ins welcome 530-776-8201 GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE Nutrition quiz: On choline (MCT) Dietitians tell us choline is an "essential nutrient," which we have no reason to doubt. But why is it that not many of us know about choline? Take our quiz to learn more. 1. Choline is found in specialized fat molecules called phospholipids, which are important, in part, for doing what? a) Inhibiting excess serotonin b) Stimulating nerve impulse transmission c) Enabling the clotting of blood 2. What is considered the most severe symptom of a lack of choline? a) A buildup of fat and cholesterol leading to "fatty liver" b) A higher incidence of tissue inflammation and arthritis c) Dangerously low enzyme levels that lead to kidney failure 3. What is the "adequate intake" for choline for an adult, according to the Food and Nutrition Board of the Rio Skin & Body Works Spa Deana Owens and Kelsey Maeder Now Offering Welcomes Corning Calif. One hour Massage and One hour Facial Package Only $ 99 Open: Monday-Saturday Call 527-7762 810 Rio Street, Red Bluff Gift Certificates Available expires: 4/30/10 Largest Selection In Tri-County • Herbal Medicines • Edibles (Foods) • Clones 1317 Solano St. (530) 824-4811 www.tehamaherbalcollective.vpweb.com Institute of Medicine? a) 100 milligrams a day for men, 75 mg for women b) 300 mg for men, 250 mg for women for women c) 550 for men, 425 mg 4. Which food provides the highest level of choline? a) Red meat b) Whole eggs c) Mashed yeast 5. If you're a vegan and do not ingest animal prod- ucts, what's the best choline-rich food for you at 172 mg per serving? a) Toasted wheat germ b) Braised tofu c) Green beans 6. Too much choline (10 to 16 grams per day) can result in what condition? a) Fishy body odor b) Increased salivation c) Both Sources: Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University (lpi.oregon- state.edu); www.nutrition- data.com ANSWERS: 1: b; 2: a; 3: c; 4: b; 5: a; 6: c