As one of the nation’s leading corporate health and wellness program consulting companies we assist our clients in their efforts to find the best health and wellness programs for their specific needs. Where most wellness companies take a cookie cutter approach to wellness programs, Infinite Health Coach believes in tailoring health and wellness solutions to create highly personal wellness programs that fit the corporate culture of the organizations with which we work.

Infinite Health Coach is associated with more than 150 different wellness companies and can provide virtually any style of wellness coach, health coach and / or executive coach available and can deliver coaching services via virtually any delivery model available, including face-to-face coaching. Because of our association with so many different wellness companies we can provide wellness coaching and health coaching services via numerous behavioral change models including those based in the following: motivational interviewing, positive framing, Prochaska’s transtheoretical model of change, self-efficacy and more.

A Wellness Coach / Health Coach Can Assist With: Weight Management / Healthy Eating Tobacco Cessation / Smoking Cessation Fitness and Exercise Stress Management Work-Life Balance Parent – Child Assistance Assistance Managing Chronic Conditions Like: Back Pain High cholesterol Cardiovascular Disease Diabetes Asthma High Blood Pressure Metabolic Syndrome Corporate Wellness Programs and Services: Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals Online Health and Wellness Tools Employee Assistance Programs Onsite Biometric Testing / Employee Health Screening Drug Testing Services Nurseline Employee Wellness Incentive Programs Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learns Behavioral Change Programs Employee Wellness Newsletters Wellness Calendars Self Care Books and Self Care Training Gym Discounts What is health coaching?

Health coaching is a collaborative and personalized program that focuses on improving health and wellness. Health Coaching builds an individual’s capacity to achieve short- and long-term health and fitness goals. Participants in a health coaching program interact one-on-one with their health coach by telephone, instant messenger, email and online journal.

Unlike personal training or counseling, YOU, the client, are the expert when working with a health coach. Whether you’re working toward general wellness or a more specific health-related issue, a health coach will focus on enhancing your quality of life. Our health coaches guide, motivate, provide customized resources, and help you to set achievable goals. Health Coaches do not diagnose, prescribe, or give advice. Instead health coaches use their expertise to provide you with tools, not opinions.

The role of a health coach is unique. A health coach will not just ask you if you have done your crunches for the day UNLESS that is what you want your health coach to do. Instead, the health coach is there to help you identify and achieve whatever goals you set for improved vitality by coordinating the many resources available to you through this and other programs.

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Are you dreaming of a very good smile? Are your yellowish teeth are cause of embarrassment. No one wants to receive critical remarks about his/her smile. Now, you do not need to worry about it. Ideally you will get all of this. Having good smile Is very important in competitive world. A good smile is always appreciated. Without proper smile you cannot gain popularity in any field. You may often shy away from speaking in public. Problems in gum cause too much bad effect in your life. Dental problems may affect anyone, anytime. Dental problems create too much imbalance in your body. If you do not chew the food properly then it may create a lot of imbalance in your body. There is no. of treatments available in the market for their solution. But no one has such a good solution like ours. Interestingly, you can get all the Solutions at below affordable prices. Dental problems occur because of various reasons like old age, improper diet, and lack of care, accidents, diabetes, and addiction of drugs. Interestingly, you can get all the solutions at below affordable prices. If you are suffering from any dental problem then it is better for you to consult with doctor immediately. Sometimes, patients visit to those doctors who have no experience in the field of dental care? These things add fuel to the fire. Do not go on advertisement or banners by various fake dentists.  Instead of curing your problem they may increase it.

If you are going for dental surgery then it is advisable to go to an expert dental care center. The reason behind it is that good dentist with hand on experience is more capable than ordinary doctors. People who understand the importance of living healthy always visit expert doctors. Cosmodentist provides expert guidance for the upkeep of your teeth at below affordable prices. Cosmodentist will provide faster and good results to your long dental problems. All of your dental problems will be wiped out within a few days that other dental clinics cannot wipe out within months. Cosmodentist is being run by expert team of dentists and has best equipment, tools of the world that no one can provide. You are advised to first visit this care centre and then make a comparison. Whosoever has compared the results has found something extra in our centre. Apart from this you should also visit dental care centre twice in a year. Yet brushing of teeth twice in a day is a best precaution that needs to be adopted.  The above all feature of our dental clinic is that we run new method of treatment and keep our staff update about the new innovations in dentistry and use leading instruments for treatment. In final we enumerate the importance of dental care centre run by expert dentist. For More http://www.cosmodentist.in/

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Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) are tools that identify and quantify an individual’s risk of

morbidity or mortality using demographic, medical and lifestyle information. “Health Risk

Assessments (HRAs) and Medicare”, an evaluation report completed by RAND for CMS, reached the

following conclusions.

• Effective Health Risk Assessment (HRA) plan have demonstrated beneficial effects on behavior,

physiological variables and general health status
• Interventions that combine Health Risk Assessment (HRA) feedback with the provision of Health

Plans are most likely to show beneficial effects
• To be effective, Health Risk Assessment (HRA) questionnaires should be accompanied by follow-up

interventions (e.g., information, support and referrals)

High quality Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) offer, a computation for individual risk from the

following most common diseases and risk factors.

• Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseaase (COPD)
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Major depression
• Stroke
• Overweight/Obesity
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• Mental health
• Immunizations

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) collects and reviews information to predict a member’s

likelihood of experiencing the most common diseases.

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs): Demographic characteristics

A person’s age, gender and ethnicity are indicators of elevated risk for certain diseases. At

minimum, the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) should collect information, to the extent allowed by

law, information on the member’s age, gender and ethnicity.

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) should include queries addressing the individual’s personal and

family history of diseases or risk factors for common diseases. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA)

must include queries to assess health risks related to the highly personal health characteristics

and behaviors listed below.

• Weight Management
• Nutrition
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• High Blood Pressure
• Cholesterol
• Exercise
• Alcohol consumption
• Traveling by motor vehicle
• Stress Management
• Mental health

Perceived Health Status

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) should include queries that assess A person’s self-perceived

health status. The queries should allow an individual to rate their own health status on a

relative scale.

Disclosure of use of Health Risk Assessment (HRA) information

The organization should disclose how the information obtained from the Health Risk Assessment

(HRA) will be used and to whom it’ll be disclosed. The organization may offer the disclosure and

use information within the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) tool or reports or through written

communications.

Ability to save and print Health Risk Assessment (HRA) results

Internet-based Health Risk Assessment (HRA) should give the member the ability to save and print

his or her Health Risk Assessment (HRA) results. For paper-based Health Risk Assessments (HRAs),

the organization should have a mechanism in place for the member to receive a written copy of the

results.

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) Results

Companies should offer a printed or printer-friendly internet-based report for each individual

participant. The report may emphasis on either individual risks for specified diseases or on

Health.

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) computations may emphasis on either individual risks based upon

personal risk factors or on overall risk or health. The report should offer an explanatory

information to help them understand the outcome. Reports should clearly identify behaviors that

can lower risk for each risk factor, and recommend targets for improvement. Reports should

include resources (e.g., community plan, internet-based information and materials) that can help

members change to a healthier lifestyle. At minimum, the organization should give computation for

individual risk from the following most common diseases and risk factors.

• Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseaase (COPD)
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Major depression
• Stroke
• Overweight/Obesity
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• Mental health
• Immunizations

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) report

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) should give internet-based print-friendly results and the

ability for the user to print the results. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) report should include

a profile of individual risk level for personal conditions or diseases according to age, gender,

ethnicity and risk factors that were identified in the questionnaire. The report should clearly

identify behaviors that can lower the risk for each risk factor and recommend targets for

improvements.
Available Resources

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) report should also include references to resources that can help

the member understand the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) results and assist the member in changing

to a healthier lifestyle.

The resources can include references to relevant internet-based information, materials and

community plan.

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Product Description
Daily dose squeeze packets. A delicious pudding-like alternative to capsules! Coromega provides superior bioavailability. In clinical study, the Omega-3 in Coromega was shown to enter the bloodstream faster at three time… More >>

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Home health care helps seniors live independently for as long as possible, given the limits of their medical condition. It covers a wide range of services and can often delay the need for long-term nursing home care.

More specifically, home health care may include occupational and physical therapy, speech therapy, and even skilled nursing. It may involve helping the elderly with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, and eating. Or it may include assistance with cooking, cleaning, other housekeeping jobs, and monitoring one’s daily regimen of prescription and over-the-counter medications.

At this point, it is important to understand the difference between home health care and home care services. Although they sound the same (and home health care may include some home care services), home health care is more medically oriented. While home care typically includes chore and housecleaning services, home health care usually involves helping seniors recover from an illness or injury. That is why the people who provide home health care are often licensed practical nurses, therapists, or home health aides. Most work for home health agencies, hospitals, or public health departments that are licensed by the state.

How Do I Make Sure That Home Health Care Is Quality Care?
As with any important purchase, it is always a good idea to talk with friends, neighbors, and your local area agency on aging to learn more about the home health care agencies in your community.
In looking for a home health care agency, the following 20 questions can be used to help guide your search:

How long has the agency been serving this community? Does the agency have any printed brochures describing the services it offers and how much they cost? If so, get one. Is the agency an approved Medicare provider? Is the quality of care certified by a national accrediting body such as the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations? Does the agency have a current license to practice (if required in the state where you live)? Does the agency offer seniors a “Patients’ Bill of Rights” that describes the rights and responsibilities of both the agency and the senior being cared for? Does the agency write a plan of care for the patient (with input from the patient, his or her doctor and family), and update the plan as necessary? Does the care plan outline the patient’s course of treatment, describing the specific tasks to be performed by each caregiver? How closely do supervisors oversee care to ensure quality? Will agency caregivers keep family members informed about the kind of care their loved one is getting? Are agency staff members available around the clock, seven days a week, if necessary? Does the agency have a nursing supervisor available to provide on-call assistance 24 hours a day? How does the agency ensure patient confidentiality? How are agency caregivers hired and trained? What is the procedure for resolving problems when they occur, and who can I call with questions or complaints? How does the agency handle billing? Is there a sliding fee schedule based on ability to pay, and is financial assistance available to pay for services? Will the agency provide a list of references for its caregivers? Who does the agency call if the home health care worker cannot come when scheduled? What type of employee screening is done?

When purchasing home health care directly from an individual provider (instead of through an agency), it is even more important to screen the person thoroughly. This should include an interview with the home health caregiver to make sure that he or she is qualified for the job. You should request references. Also, prepare for the interview by making a list if any special needs the senior might have. For example, you would want to note whether the elderly patient needs help getting into or out of a wheelchair. Clearly, if this is the case, the home health caregiver must be able to provide that assistance. The screening process will go easier if you have a better idea of what you are looking for first.

Another thing to remember is that it always helps to look ahead, anticipate changing needs, and have a backup plan for special situations. Since every employee occasionally needs time off (or a vacation), it is unrealistic to assume that one home health care worker will always be around to provide care. Seniors or family members who hire home health workers directly may want to consider interviewing a second part-time or on-call person who can be available when the primary caregiver cannot be. Calling an agency for temporary respite care also may help to solve this problem (see the Respite Care fact sheet for more information about these services).

In any event, whether you arrange for home health care through an agency or hire an independent home health care aide on an individual basis, it helps to spend some time preparing for the person who will be doing the work. Ideally, you could spend a day with him or her, before the job formally begins, to discuss what will be involved in the daily routine. If nothing else, tell the home health care provider (both verbally and in writing) the following things that he or she should know about the senior:

Illnesses/injuries, and signs of an emergency medical situation Likes and dislikes Medications, and how and when they should be taken Need for dentures, eyeglasses, canes, walkers, etc. Possible behavior problems and how best to deal with them Problems getting around (in or out of a wheelchair, for example, or trouble walking) Special diets or nutritional needs Therapeutic exercises.

In addition, you should give the home health care provider more information about:

Clothing the senior may need (if/when it gets too hot or too cold) How you can be contacted (and who else should be contacted in an emergency) How to find and use medical supplies and medications When to lock up the apartment/house and where to find the keys Where to find food, cooking utensils, and serving items Where to find cleaning supplies Where to find light bulbs and flash lights, and where the fuse box is located (in case of a power failure) Where to find the washer, dryer, and other household appliances (as well as instructions for how to use them).

A WORD OF CAUTION . . .
Although most states require that home health care agencies perform criminal background checks on their workers and carefully screen job applicants for these positions, the actual regulations will vary depending on where you live. Therefore, before contacting a home health care agency, you may want to call your local area agency on aging or department of public health to learn what laws apply in your state.

HOW CAN I PAY FOR HOME HEALTH CARE?
The cost of home health care varies across states and within states. In addition, costs will fluctuate depending on the type of health care professional required. Home care services can be paid for directly by the patient and his or her family members, or through a variety of public and private sources. Sources for home health care funding include Medicare, Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, the Veterans’ Administration, and private insurance.

Medicare is the largest single payer of home care services. The Medicare program will pay for home health care if all of the following conditions are met:

The patient must be homebound and under a doctor’s care; The patient must need skilled nursing care, or occupational, physical, or speech therapy, on at least an intermittent basis (that is, regularly but not continuously) The services provided must be under a doctor’s supervision and performed as part of a home health care plan written specifically for that patient The patient must be eligible for the Medicare program and the services ordered must be “medically reasonable and necessary” The home health care agency providing the services must be certified by the Medicare program.

To get help with your Medicare questions, call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY/TDD: 1-877-486-2048 for the speech and hearing impaired) or look on the Internet at http://www.medicare.gov.

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT HOME HEALTH CARE?
There are several national organizations that can provide additional consumer information about home health care services. These include the following:

The National Association for Home Care, which can be reached at 202-547-7424 or by visiting its website at www.nahc.org. The postal address is: 228 7th St., SE; Washington, DC 20003. The Visiting Nurse Associations of America, which can be reached at 617-737-3200 or by visiting its website at http://www.vnaa.org. The postal addresses are: 99 Summer St., Suite 1700; Boston, MA 02110.

To find out more about home health care programs where you live, you will want to contact your local aging information and assistance provider or area agency on aging (AAA). The Eldercare Locator, a public service of the Administration on Aging (at 1-800-677-1116 or http://www.eldercare.gov  can help connect you to these agencies.

Case Study

WHEN IS HOME HEALTH CARE APPROPRIATE?
Because it is not always clear to the average person when an ailing senior needs home health care and when he or she needs nursing home care, it is usually best to consult a medical professional for advice. The following case study describes one situation in which home health care proved to be the right choice.
Francis is 84 years old and recently had a stroke. She was hospitalized briefly and then discharged to continue recovering at home. To enable her to return home, her doctor called a home health care agency, and the agency gave Francis a complete home health care plan for six weeks. Since the doctor ordered the home care for Francis, Medicare paid for it.

For the first week after Francis went home, a nurse visited her every day. The nurse met with Francis’s family to discuss her special dietary needs and to arrange for exercise therapy to help Francis regain her strength. Once that was done, the nurse visited Francis twice a week to check on how well she was recovering. The home health care agency also sent a homemaker, a personal care attendant, and a physical therapist to visit Francis several times during the week. The homemaker would do the shopping and cook light meals. The personal care attendant would help Francis bathe, get dressed, and walk. The physical therapist would keep Francis moving and see to it that she got some exercise to aid in her recovery.

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Health Risk Appraisals are tools that identify and quantify an individual’s risk of morbidity or mortality using demographic, medical and lifestyle information. “Health Risk Appraisals and Medicare”, an evaluation report completed by RAND for CMS, reached the following conclusions.

• Effective Health Risk Assessment (HRA) programs have demonstrated beneficial effects on behavior, physiological variables and general health status
• Interventions that combine Health Risk Assessment (HRA) feedback with the provision of Wellness Plans are most likely to show beneficial effects
• To be effective, Health Risk Assessment (HRA) questionnaires ought to be accompanied by follow-up interventions (e.g., information, support and referrals)

High quality Health Risk Appraisals offer, a computation for individual risk from the following most common diseases and health risk factors.

• Chronic Asthma
• COPD
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Major depression
• Stroke
• Overweight and obesity
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• Mental health
• Immunizations

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) collects and analyzes data to predict a individual’s likelihood of experiencing the most common diseases.

Health Risk Appraisals: Demographic characteristics

An individual’s age, sex and ethnicity are indicators of increased risk for certain diseases or conditions. At minimum, the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) ought to collect information, to the extent allowed by law, information on the individual’s age, sex and ethnicity.

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) ought to include questions addressing the individual’s personal and family history of diseases or risk factors for common diseases or conditions. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) must include questions to assess health risks related to the personal health characteristics and behaviors listed below.

• Weight
• Diet and Nutrition
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• High Blood Pressure
• Cholesterol
• Physical Fitness
• Alcohol Use
• Traveling by motor vehicle
• Stress Management
• Mental health

Perceived Health Status

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) ought to include questions that assess An individual’s self-perceived health status. The questions ought to allow an individual to rate their own health status on a relative scale.

Disclosure of use of Health Risk Assessment (HRA) information

The business ought to disclose how the information obtained from the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) will be used and to whom it’ll be disclosed. The business may offer the disclosure and use information within the Health Risk Assessment (HRA) tool or reports or through written communications.

Ability to save/print Health Risk Assessment (HRA) results

Internet-based Health Risk Assessment (HRA) ought to give the individual the ability to save/print his/her Health Risk Assessment (HRA) results. For paper-based Health Risk Appraisals, the business ought to have a mechanism in place for the individual to receive a written copy of the results.

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) Results

Companies ought to offer a printed/printer-friendly web-based report for each individual participant. The report may emphasis on either individual risks for specified diseases or on Wellness.

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) computations may emphasis on either individual risks based on personal risk factors or on overall risk or health. The report ought to offer an explanatory information to assist them understand the outcome. Reports ought to clearly identify specific behaviors that can lower risk for each risk factor, and recommend targets for improvement. Reports ought to include resources (e.g., community programs, web-based resources and materials) that can assist individuals change to a healthier lifestyle. At minimum, the business ought to offer computation for individual risk from the following most common diseases and health risk factors.

• Chronic Asthma
• COPD
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure
• Ischemic heart disease
• Major depression
• Stroke
• Overweight and obesity
• Use of Tobaccos Products
• Mental health
• Immunizations

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) report

The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) ought to offer web-based print-friendly results and the ability for the user to print the results. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) report ought to include a profile of individual risk level for personal diseases or conditions according to age, sex, ethnicity and health risk factors that were identified in the questionnaire. The report ought to clearly identify specific behaviors that can lower the risk for each risk factor and recommend targets for improvements.

Resource Avaiability

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These days in the fast moving life where everyone is so busy there is hardly anytime left to take care of our body, teeth, etc. Even if we take good care of ourselves, it is important that we do not overlook the dental care of our kids.

It is extremely important that you understand the basics of children’s dental and oral care, because at this stage of dental care you are going to lay down a healthy and a strong dental care for the future. One best way which can help you to familiarize with the oral care needs of your child so that they have strong dental habits in the future is that you can educate yourself with the various fundamentals of children’s dentistry.

Oral Hygiene

It is important that the children’s brush your teeth twice and regular dental check ups are important in building good oral hygiene at an early age. It is important hat you brush your child’s teeth until they are big enough to do so. Brush your child’s teeth the right way. Select a small and a soft brush and pea size tooth paste is enough as it will not interfere in your brushing and it will not form much foam also.

Preventing Tooth decays by Cavities

Tooth cavities can be easily be prevented by good oral health, however some additional steps can be incurred to maintain your child’s tooth against the attack of cavities. You can use toothpaste which contains fluoride. As soon as your child’s permanent teeth have erupted it is important that you speak to the dentists about the application of sealants. Sealants are clear and a protective coating applied on the biting surfaces of the back teeth. The sealant protects against the cavity from shielding against the bacteria and plague. They are mostly placed on the back teeth, because these are the areas where there are more chances of being attacked by cavities.

Dental Habits

Although the children can develop good oral habits at an early age it is equally important that they break the bad habits like going to bed with a bottle, this is an extremely bad practice drinking any fluid which has sugar in it can cause the tooth decay very fast as the sugar substances react on the teeth throughout the night which in turn can cause the tooth decay as early as possible. Another habit which is considered as bad is the thumb sucking or the finger sucking habit. It is also a very bad practice to swallow the tooth paste.

Dental Problems

Incase your child does develop cavities in his baby teeth that it is important that you visit a dentist and get his cavities filled. Do not be in the assumption that there is no requirement of the cavities to be removed because the baby teeth would inevitably fall down, many kids do retain their baby kids for a long time and the cavities can be very painful at times.

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I’ll start with the bottom line: you don’t NEED supplements to burn fat or build muscle. The human body can function and make excellent athletic progress on nothing but quality food and proper training.

But you CAN use supplements to help the process along faster. The real key is knowing what works, what is garbage, and when an advertiser is simply trying to take your money.

Let me put it this way…in a recent muscle magazine, I counted 120 pages of full-page (in some cases 3 to 6 page), high-powered supplement ads. If you were to buy all these products, you’d be laughing all the way to the bank…laughing maniacally, because you’d have to rob it in order to pay for all those supplements!

There ARE good supplement manufacturers who make good products…they put in what they say they’re putting in and don’t try to fool you with advertising. But this article is about the BAD ones and it’s more fun to talk about them…

So what sneaky tricks do advertisers use to separate you from your money?

1. Unprovable Testimonials

How many times have you seen testimonials like “I lost 10 pounds in a week” or “I gained 20 pounds of muscle in a month.” These testimonials prey upon the desire in all of us for fast and easy results. Who wouldn’t want results this quickly? After all, if this person did it, I should get those same results too, right?

To me, this is like a car commercial that uses special effects to catch your attention then has an official disclaimer like “car should not be driven underwater” or “does not imply resistance to meteor strikes.” It looks and sounds cool but you know it’s just not real – you want to believe but…

And believe me, I would LOVE to think that results like this are possible with just a supplement. But how do you prove that those results even happened? You can’t. How do you prove it was due to that supplement? You can’t. How do you know the person wasn’t “on” something? You can’t. And how do you get your money back when it doesn’t work? You can’t.

About 10 years ago, I did an experiment on myself to see just how much weight I could gain in a week (keep in mind, I was just aiming for total bodyweight, which includes muscle, water and fat). By going on a very strict diet and training program for 2 weeks then completely reversing everything and loading up, I was able to gain 25 pounds of bodyweight in 7 days. And I owed it all to the incredible new supplement I was taking called Hydrogen Dioxide (a.k.a. H2O).

2. Before and After Photos

Before and after photos can be very inspiring and offer proof that a product works. Or they can fool you like the time Homer Simpson opened a can of beer that had just been in a paint shaking machine.

Here’s a before and after picture technique you can try at home:

Your Before Picture:

- slouch as much as you can

- let your gut hang out and down, push it out if you can

- bow your shoulders in, hunch your back over, and bow your knees in

- stand directly square to the camera so you look as wide as possible

- frown or look miserable

- have a messy, unflattering hairdo

- wear the most unflattering clothing you can find – make sure the clothes highlight every bulge

- don’t flex or tighten up anything – make yourself feel as flabby as possible

Your After Picture:

- stand up straight and tall

- suck in your gut and flex your abdominals

- keep your shoulders back

- look happy and wear a big smile

- stand slightly sideways (tilting your body at angle makes it look thinner)

- wear flattering clothing and have your hair neat

- flex all your muscles and keep everything tight

You can make quite a change in yourself pretty quickly!

3. Pay An Athlete To Get Fat Then Pay Them To Get Back In Shape

It is a little-known fact that some supplement companies have been known to actually pay well-trained athletes to stop training and get fat. Why? To get a really awful-looking “before” picture.

Then, when the athlete starts training hard again, eating right and, of course, taking their magic supplement, they get into great shape very quickly. The goal is to convince you that it was the supplement that was the key to the transformation, not the fact that it was a well-trained athlete in the first place. But an average person is NOT going to be able to make a transformation like this, no matter how good the supplement is.

When you’re already a well-trained athlete, you can make dramatic changes to your body extremely quickly (as evidenced by my own 25 pounds in a week weight gain I talked about above). To me, it’s like telling a professional boxer that he can only punch with his face for a few rounds. When he starts up with the fists again, he’s going to make a pretty rapid improvement!

4. 6 Page Special Ad Reports

Have you ever started reading an article in a magazine only to realize partway through that you’re being sold a supplement? These styles of ads are VERY common – informative enough to make you believe it’s the magazine itself writing the article but, lo and behold, the best solution to the topic in the “special report” is the supplement they’re trying to get you to buy.

Note to supplement companies: even a good product can be wrecked with too much slick advertising.

5. Misrepresenting Legitimate Scientific Studies

Here’s the set-up: take an ingredient that showed some positive results in an isolated scientific study that has nothing to do with actual weight training, e.g. malnourished toddlers in Lithuania showed an increase in lean tissue when given nutrient “X”.

Now assume that the same results will also happen in a 200 lb healthy male athlete. Tell people that nutrient “X” is backed by scientific studies. They know that you’re not going to actually READ those studies!

Here’s the kicker… now include 10 mg of it in your product when the effective dose in the toddlers was actually 1000 mg!

And here’s a fun way to kill an afternoon: call up these companies and ask them to send you copies of the studies they’ve used to prove their supplements are effective. I’ve done that…they don’t stay on the line very long. Oh, they’ve sent me “studies,” but where I went to school, legitimate scientific studies don’t generally include price lists.

6. Name Your Product Similar to a Drug and Claim It’s “Almost Illegal”

Luckily for them, it’s not illegal to be useless. If the only thing a product has going for it is a mashed-up name similar to a drug, pack up your underwater car and go driving through a meteor shower. It’s going to be a long day.

7. Proprietary Formulas

I have no problem with people keeping the lid on the specifics of an effective formula to keep others from copying it. But when that is used an excuse to include next to nothing of the active ingredients that actually do anything…

You see, I don’t want to pay for a pill that is 95% methylbullcrapsomethingorother and 5% active ingredient. When the phrase “proprietary formula” is used, the manufacturer doesn’t legally have to say exactly how much of each of the ingredients is in the formula.

The best part is when the scientific study they used to prove their product works shows a dose of 5 grams is needed to be effective and their serving size/pill size is only 1 gram…AND they have 10 other ingredients listed as being in the pill.

8. Professional Bodybuilder Testimonials

Because I’m quite sure that a pro bodybuilder weighing 280lb at 4% bodyfat really gained all that muscle from a couple of scoops of some fruity powder that is supposed to give you a better pump.

9. The “Latest” Supplement

There was a time when the AMC Pacer and the Gremlin were the “latest” cars to come off the assembly line. Just because something is the “latest” doesn’t mean that it actually works.

The current craze: Nitric Oxide (a product that is supposed to increase circulation to muscles, resulting in a greater “pump”/blood flow to the muscles for increasing muscle growth). Let me put it this way…I’ve tried it, I’ve researched it and don’t waste your money on it.

The only way it’ll work is if you mix it with something else that DOES work (like creatine, for instance). Then you’re just paying extra for the privelege of combining the two supplements.

You want a better pump? Drink more water – that’s what blood primarily is. The better hydrated you are, the greater your blood volume will be. Need proof? One of the primary dangers of diuretic use for reducing water levels to show muscles better is thickening of the blood, which basically is reduced blood volume. The more water you have in your body, the greater your blood volume will be and the stronger your pumps will be.

Heck, if you REALLY want to build muscle, half your day should be spent sloshing around because you’ve drank so much water!

10. “Eat What You Want And Still Lose Weight”

Chances are, a product like this contains something to speed up your metabolism (most likely a herbal stimulant) and/or something to block the absorption of fat or carbs. You will probably lose weight but you may be a nervous insomniac with debilitating cramps and greasy diarrhea. What a great way to promote good health!

Conclusion:

Bottom line, I have no problem with supplements or supplement ads that are legitimate. What I do have a problem with (and you probably gathered this from the article) is the way people are manipulated through clever advertising into spending their hard-earned money on useless products. It gives weight training a bad name makes even good products look suspicious.

You see, a supplement can only do so much – it can only SUPPORT what you’re doing with your weight training and nutrition. If your training program or nutrition don’t work without supplementation, no supplement is going to fix that.

I use supplements every single day. They can help tremendously in your training, especially when you use supplements that are effective and have proven to be so! There are plenty of good supplements and good manufacturers out there (more on that below)!

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