The book discusses some of the most common myths perpetuated by the exercise and nutrition industry. The book contains 483 pages and is suitable for beginning to advanced level practitioners and trainees. The book contains 9 chapters including a chapter on Popular Diets (science and my thoughts). The book is very popular among college students and professors.
Knowledge and Nonsense: the science of Nutrition and Exercise
By Jamie Hale - 6x9 483pages
Chapter 2, Popular Diets: The Science - 23
Key points from "Popular diets: A scientific review" - 23
Characterization of diets - 25
High fat, low CHO diets including the Atkins diet,Protein Power, and the carbohydrates addict diet - 29
Moderate fat balanced nutrient reduction diets including WeightWatchers, Jenny Craig, and Nutrisystems - 40
Low fat and very low fat including the Ornish diet and the Pritikin plan - 44
My thoughts on the article, "Popular diets: A scientific review" - 52
MaxCondition Nutrition - 53
XDL diet - 54
UD2 - 56
The anabolic diet - 57
Bodyopus - 58
Multiple carbohydrate leverage loading - 60
Mediterranean diet - 62
Traditional bodybuilder diet - 63
Eat right for your type - 64
Body for Life - 65
Coffee (caffeine) fast - 65
Intermittent fasting - 69
Grappler's Guide to Sports Nutrition - 74
The fat burning diet - 75
Natural hormonal enhancement - 80
Get Skinny on Fabulous Foods - 81
The velocity diet - 82
Girth Control - 83
South Beach diet - 84
Enter the zone - 85
Nutrisystem - 85
Shangri-La diet - 86
Maple syrup diet - 89
No S diet - 91
The metabolic typing diet - 91
Negative calorie diet - 95
Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution - 95
Anabolic burst cycling of diet and exercise - 96
The 5 Factor diet - 98
Bob Greene's, The Best Life Diet - 100
The ab's diet - 100
The Maker's diet - 101
The Sonoma diet - 102
Requirements for quality diets - 103
Psychology of eating - 106
Determining calorie levels - 110
Diet layoffs - 114
Designing diets - 115
Chapter 3, Bodybuilder Nutrition Roundtable - 117
Bodybuilder nutrition roundtable 1 (featuring Will Brink, Alan Aragon, Layne Norton, Jamie Hale, and Josh Beaty) - 117
Motor pathway and influence on bodybuilders - 117
Food combining theory - 120
Coffee and insulin response - 124
Most ignorant theories and philosophies promoted by bodybuilding industry - 127
The brightest minds in the world of nutrition - 131
Body fat percentage maxes before beginning lean out phase - 133
Biggest psychological barriers bodybuilders face - 135
Biggest mistakes during pre-contest and mass phases - 137
Water manipulation pre-contest - 139
Description of the perfect bodybuilder - 141
Bodybuilder nutrition roundtable 2 (featuring Bryan Haycock, Dan Moore, Justin Harris, Martin Berkhan,Alan Aragon, Layne Norton, and Jamie Hale) - 143
Pre-contest dairy consumption - 143
Pre-contest fat loading - 146
Differences in terms of physique between clean and dirty eating - 150
BCAA supplementation - 154
Casein versus whey - 158
Grapefruit and fat loss - 161
Chapter 5, Nutrition: Fact or Fiction - 210
Insulin and obesity - 210
Food combining theory - 211
Coffee affects insulin sensitivity - 213
Bodybuilders trying to get lean shouldn’t eat fruit - 214
Bodybuilders should be eating grapefruit pre-competition
(no other fruits are allowed) - 215
Cortisol blockers such as Relacore result in huge weight loss - 218
High protein intake destroys bone health - 220
High protein intake increases risks of coronary heart disease - 226
You can only digest 30 grams of protein per meal - 229
Too much protein destroys kidney function - 229
All amino acids can convert to glucose - 237
Low GI diets are superior to high GI diets - 238
You need to eat every 2–3 hours to maximize fat loss - 242
Fasted state exercise equals more fat loss - 245
You need dietary supplements to maximize performance and physique - 24
Pre-contest bodybuilder sodium depletion - 247
Pre-contest bodybuilders eliminating dairy - 247
Measuring ketosis with ketostix - 248
Ketogenic diets and ketoacidosis - 248
Ketogenic diets and brain health - 249
Ketogenic diets and cholesterol levels - 250
Ketosis means body fat loss - 251
RDA protein recommendations - 252
Sugar causes obesity - 253
Sweet potatoes are healthier than white potatoes - 255
When eating eggs, get rid of the yolk - 256
Sucralose is bad for health and causes obesity - 257
Saturated fat is bad for your health - 259
To be really lean, you need to eat clean foods - 259
Eating a bunch of protein will make me more muscular quickly - 260
Organic food is healthier - 260
Bottled water is healthier than tap water - 265
Oxygenated water benefits for athletes - 268
High fiber is good for everyone - 269
Soy protein: The good and the bad - 270
Endurance athletes and dietary protein - 274
Sugar alcohols effect on blood glucose - 275
Glycogen supercompensation (carb loading) - 276
Excessive carbohydrates convert to fat (de novo lipogenesis) - 285
Calcium and weight loss - 288
Drink at least eight glasses of water per day - 293
Water content of foods chart - 294
Athletes need to drink as much water as they can tolerate - 298
Low glycemic index foods means low insulin response - 303
High antioxidant levels good health indicators - 304
You should not eat past 6:00 pm if you are trying to lose weight - 307
Not eating enough slows weight loss - 308
Alcohol consumption makes you fat - 309
Unit 2: Exercise - 311
Chapter 7, Kinesiology and Biomechanics - 317
General movements of major body segments - 317
Movement planes - 318
Anatomical locations - 319
Muscle attachments - 319
Muscles role during movement - 320
Levers - 320
Newton’s laws of motion - 321
Chapter 8, Training for Skeletal Muscle Growth - 322
Basics - 322
Load - 322
Work - 324
Frequency - 326
Duration - 328
Skeletal muscle composition - 329
Protein synthesis - 329
Chapter 9, Exercise: Fact or Fiction - 331
Muscle tissue burns way more calories than fat tissue - 331
Sit-ups will help you lose your stomach - 331
Spot reduction - 331
Getting rid of cellulite - 333
Six second abs allow the perfect crunch and perfect mid-section - 334
Muscle will turn to fat if you stop weight training - 335
If you take enough drugs, you will look like a professional bodybuilder - 336
Hanging leg raises dynamically activate the abs - 336
Weight training stunts growth - 337
Muscle isolation exercises - 337
Seated resistance exercise is safer than standing resistance exercise - 337
Wearing lifting belts weakens trunk muscles - 338
Knee extensions are more effective than squats for knee rehab - 338
The best exercise for fat loss is low intensity, long duration aerobics - 339
Wearing strength shoes can increase strength and flexibility - 343
You need to do three sets of ten reps to gain muscle - 343
Bodybuilders need to perform high reps pre-contest - 343
Never lock the knee while performing standing exercises - 344
Avoid back exercises if your back is injured - 344
Performing aerobic exercise is excellent for all athletes - 345
Circuit training is the best way to maximize all around fitness - 346
Janda sit-ups eliminate hip flexor activation - 349
Heavy weight training makes you bulky - 350
Heavy weight training makes you slow and inflexible - 351
Strength-speed and speed-strength - 352
Big muscles equal strength - 352
Light weight training is always safer than heavy weight training - 352
Muscle toning exercises - 354
Don't let the knees project ahead of the toes while exercising - 354
Pull in the stomach during exercise - 355
Standing dumbbell flyes are a good exercise for the chest - 355
Good mornings are dangerous for the back - 355
To lessen glute development, perform lunges instead of squats - 356
Performing sports movements with weights - 356
Suspended walking machines are safer than walking or running - 357
Lying leg press machines train the legs without stressing the back - 359
Machine exercises provide stress in the same way as their free weight equivalents - 359
Lean people are fit - 360
Pilates magic - 360
Research tells us - 363
Exercise testing - 367
Types of muscle activation - 369
Aerobics are superior for cardiac health - 370
Heart rate and cardiovascular fitness - 372
Muscle tension and strength training - 373
Plyometrics in aerobic classes - 374
Warming up - 375
Designing sport-specific programs - 376
Slow training - 378
No pain, no gain - 379
Exercise safety - 380
Ab mania - 381
Sit-up testing - 384
Machine training is safe - 385
Strength and power - 388
Women's fitness - 389
Fitnessquackery - 390
Are you a weightlifter? - 393
Coaching the right way - 394
Fancy devices increase sprint speed - 395
Practice makes perfect - 398
You have to exercise to lose weight - 399
Body fat levels less than three percent - 400
Bowflex - 403
Kettlebells to replace dumbbells and barbells - 405
The X-vest is the best weighted vest on the market - 412
This book is something more than your run-of-the-mill catharsis, it's a testament to the complexity of science and the simplicity of common sense, and how they often overlap. And to understate things, Jamie is not your run-of-the-mill fitness author.
I consider Jamie both a friend and a colleague - in the sense that we share many of the same personal and professional goals. We share the same dissatisfaction (read: disgust) with the state of affairs in the fitness industry, particularly the propagation of what I call nonscience. We belong to an industry that is for the most part, emotionally driven. Get more muscle, lose more fat, become beautiful, stomp the competition, fulfill your dreams... That's the message, but where's the meat behind the claims and promises?
In a sea of opinion, hunch, hearsay, gossip, and good old-fashioned guesswork, there's only one thing that can rise above it all, and that's a little thing called science. Jamie has embraced the idea that nature can indeed be deciphered by the scientific method of closing in on cause-and-effect relationships. The best rummaging ground for this is the battery of published peer-reviewed trials. But nothing is taken on faith, without scrutiny, since bias abounds, even in the scientific realm. The quality of research is as important as the research itself. The strength of the study conclusions rests on the strength of the study designs.
One of the great, unique things about the book you hold in your hands is that it's not an imaginative amalgamation of Jamie's opinions. Rather, it's a compilation of hundreds - if not thousands - of hours of digging through the primary published research. No claim is made on a whim or groundless belief. All of the topics have been put through the crucible of science. One of the unique aspects of this book is that Jamie lays out the research, but then he drops his personal take on the situation. So, you get the lab results cross-checked by real-world practice - something Jamie has 2 decade's worth to draw upon.
When Jamie was in the beginning stages of writing Knowledge & Nonsense, I encouraged him to cover as many misunderstood & uninvestigated topics as possible. What resulted was an amazing brainstorm of ideas that could barely be contained within a manuscript more lengthy then many college texts. There are many topics in this book that I've always pondered but never had the time to investigate. I encouraged Jamie to make this book a mind-bending opus of breadth & depth, something that's never been done before in our fickle, superficial industry... And he did.
I'm honored to be introducing you to what's likely to be one of the most valuable resources to ever grace your bookshelf. Knowing Jamie, he wouldn't want you to read this book with blind faith and indiscriminate belief. He'd want you to question everything, and so would I... So buckle up, and get ready to drop your ego for the sake of becoming a student again.
Thanks,
Alan Aragon- Author of Girth Control
www.alanaragon.com
Professional Reviews
Biochemist reviews Knowledge and Nonsense
Do you really need to drink 8 glasses of water per day? Is caffeine really dehydrating? If you want to know the truth about hundreds of nutrition claims and fad diets, and whether scientific findings back them or not, just go to Jamie Hale’s latest book, “Knowledge and Nonsense”. As a scientist, I am amazed by Mr. Hale’s knowledge of the scientific literature- it is not merely encyclopedic, it is also discriminating. He has sorted out useful findings from a sometimes overwhelming body of research publications. I keep “Knowledge and Nonsense” handy, so that if I want a quick answer about almost any popular diet, I can look it up and get the bottom line.
Gerda Endemann, Ph.D.
Fitness Model Reviews Knowledge and Nonsense
I finished reading Knowledge and Nonsense last night. In my humble opinion, it was an excellent read; very imformative, full of scientific research and it is definitely an appropriate read for the fitness enthusist to those with advanced science backgrounds. As thorough as it was, it left me wanting to know even more!
My review is rather self-serving. I concentrated on the areas of the text that applied to me personally. I have been misinformed from quite a few "reliable" sources! I was told to fear fasting since my body would catabolize all my hard-earned muscle in a matter of hours - please! Ifelt like I got rather obsessive about having to eat every few hours when prepping for a show. It is such a relief to know that I won't destroy my metabolism. I conducted my own 36 hour coffee/water fast since Thursday night- I feel terrific. Complete mental clarity, lots of energy this morning, and leaner looking. I have about 15 pounds to lose, so this seemed like a good jump start for me. I have also been told that coffee is terrible for my blood type O+. I worked with an ND over the past 2 years and he's a huge advocate of blood type dieting. I haven't seen any amazing results over what I did in the past for dieting.
I appreciate the thoroughness of your review of specific types of popular diets - ultimately it comes down to what you stated throughout the text - less calories in than expended equals weight loss - pretty simple. Which leads me to your XDL diet: why is it no longer available? I would love to purchase a copy of it. It sounds incredibly interesting and to get results like that in under 7 days is a huge motivator for anyone.
I enjoyed the section of your book on "hunger hormones". It was very thorough and science based. I cheered when you stated "most people don't gain weight simply because they are stressed..." It is overeating and inactivity that cause weight gain. It has been frustrating to continuously read that elevated cortisol levels will cause people to get fat. Not the case!
One area I would like to see you address is female hormonal issues. I swear, every month, about 10 days before my cycle I see a significant change in my personality (moodiness) and in my cravings. It's not like I sit there and stare at the calendar. It comes on and I realize that I am about 10 days out. I have spoken with many women about this who experience similar symptoms. I know that when I'm close to a contest and following an impeccable diet, many of these symptoms are alleviated. Lower body fat equals lower estrogen levels: So I may have answered my own question. Do you know of any science that supports this?
One other area you address is plyos - you mention that box jumping for 90 seconds isn't plyos, which I agree with. However, I think that along with providing the definition of plyos, including some examples of plyos as you did with the kettlebell segment would have been helpful. I am also a huge advocate of interval aerobic/anaerobic training -much faster results and more efficient use of training time.
I hope this rudimentary review is at least positive feedback, if nothing else. I appreciated that you presented the science surrounding each topic and then relayed your concluding thoughts in layman's terms. I think you have a brilliant mind and I look forward to reading more work from you.
Best,
Sara Morin
Fitness Model/ National Figure Competitor
Alwyn Cosgrove Reviews Knowledge and Nonsense
Jamie Hale recently sent me a copy of his new book - Knowledge and nonsense - The Science of Nutrition and Exercise. It's a thick book coming in at 483 pages (including 30+ pages of references) -- covering an absolute TON of information about training and nutrition. In fact - Jamie goes through the science behind most claims and establishes which are valid and which are nothing more than "facts" from advertising executives!
I think it's fair to describe Jamie as a bit of a Fitness Skeptic. He wants to see scientific evidence and real world proof to back up any claims before he's convinced. However - he's definitely not a complete cynic - you know - the kind of guy who constantly bashes everything regardless. He knows what works and doesn't and isn't afraid to tell you the difference.
If you are serious about training and get fed up with the infomercial hype - get this publication as your reference.
Re-Release! No longer back-listed. Return to the Olde Ways. The hustle and bustle of modern day life has brought many of us to a quick fix attitude.This book is for those of you who are fed up; have looked at your life and your loved ones and realize
