Click to Subscribe to All Ben's Fitness & Get A Free Surprise Gift from Ben. Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode. Do you have a future podcast question for Ben? Scroll down on this post to access the free "Ask Ben" form...  Is doing push-ups with kids on your back a form of fitness productivity? In this April 20, 2011 free audio episode: Fitness productivity tips from Peter Shankman, how much to eat after a big workout, how to heal the lungs after smoking, will small people cannibalize too much muscle with fasted exercise, what happens when women exercise too much, is a saltwater pool healthier than a chlorine pool, how to run faster after biking, my top indoor cycling workouts, what is a low oxalate diet, taking blood pressure medications during exercise, a supplement called d-ribose, and why I don't recommend regular multivitamins. Remember, if you have any trouble listening, downloading, or transferring to your mp3 player just e-mail [email protected]. And don't forget to leave the podcast a ranking in iTunes - it only takes 2 minutes of your time and helps grow our healthy community! Just click here to go to our iTunes page and leave feedback. Scroll down to donate anything over $15 to the show, and Ben will send you a BenGreenfieldFitness.com t-shirt...you can also conveniently donate any amount with your phone by simply clicking here.    --------------------------------------------------------------- Featured Topic: "Top Fitness Productivity Tips From Peter Shankman"R Week Magazine has described Peter Shankman as “redefining the art of networking”, and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective”. Peter is a spectacular example of what happens when you merge the power of pure creativity with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and a dose of adventure, and make it work to your advantage. An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter (pictured left) is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, and customer service. You can visit his website at http://www.shankman.com . During our discussion, Peter, who is an Ironman triathlete and fitness enthusiast, describes to you... -What is the average fitness routine look like for a busy, successful individual... -How to incorporate technology into a fitness routine... -Peter Shankman's top swim productivity tip... -Peter Shankman's top bike productivity tip... -Peter Shankman's top run productivity tip... -And much more! ----------------------------------------------------- Special Announcements: -Click here to donate $1 to keep this podcast going! -Want to create the next "BenGreenfieldFitness" t-shirt? Simply submit YOUR design to [email protected] -Ben Greenfield's Ironman Coeur D' Alene triathlon camp is May 13-15. Click here for more information, or to register! -Here’s how to win a FREE autographed copy of KC’s new book: “SuperHealth: The Last Diet You’ll Ever Need”. At http://www.facebook.com/BGFitness, send us a video in which you tell us your biggest problem with diets, nutrition, losing weight or staying healthy, and why you think the SuperHealth book could help you! For example: -Do you have trouble sticking to fad diets and want something that’s finally not a fad diet? -Do you lose weight, but then put it back again, and want a complete solution to the yo-yo weight issue? -Do you get sick all the time and want to know how to boost your immune system for life? Whatever your struggle is, we want to know about it, and why you think the book that we discuss in Episode 139 and 140 at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com will help YOU. Share your video now, and get a FREE autographed copy of the book. Only 12 copies are available, so act fast! Go to BenGreenfieldFitness on Facebook and post your video today. -BenGreenfieldFitness Inner Circle is now just $1 for a 14 Day Sneak Peek! Click here to join now. - Get insider VIP tips and discounts from Ben - conveniently delivered directly to your phone! Just complete the information below... First Name Last Name Email Cell # (1+area code)     --------------------------------------------------------------- Listener Q&A: ====================================== [contact-form 3 "AskBen"] ====================================== Eric asks: Yesterday I completed my first 130 mile weekend with 80 of those moles on Sunday. I did the best I could regarding nutrition in the saddle but I'm still super hungry today. What would be your replenishment plan after an effort like that. Garmin said I burnt up around 4500 calories. I'm 174 6'1 & male if that helps at all. Emily asks: I am a runner, and I used to be a smoker. I recently quit, but I am wondering if there are any supplements or health tricks that might help my lungs heal faster and to keep me motivated from going back to the dreaded cigarettes? I have run a marathon while smoking, and I can't wait to run one smoke free! Melanie asks: Not to keep on the whole fasted morning exercise thing that you've talked about, but I'm wondering your opinion on a very small woman with no muscle to lose on what point should I actually be concerned of "eating" muscle. I'm 5'2 and 105 and approx. 17% body fat. I want to get to 13 - 14% body fat but don't need to lose much weight or any muscle. Should I even be doing fasted exercise? Is it okay to do fasted 45 minute strength training? Susan asks: Please Help! How can I tell if I'm truly in menopause or experiencing exercise induce amenorrhea. I lost my cycle at age 42 while doing heavy volume triathlon training while following a low carb vegetarian diet (stupid, I know). I got very lean. Dr. figured it was related to low body fat. Now almost 4 years later, it has not returned - I cont. to train heavily but BOOM! put on almost 10# even though I made no changes to my regimen. Now doc says it's menopause. My FSH wa 34.8 (menopausal) but my LH was low (7.2). I've tried to research but, from what I can tell, the levels are usually either both high or both low. Do my results mean anything? Todd asks: I switched gyms and have gone from chlorine pool to saline pool. I find my times are better and swimming seems a bit easier. Is this because of saline buoyancy? Gerry asks: Hi Ben, my best half marathon time to date is 95 min. However, in a 70.3 race, I've struggled to go faster. My best there is 115 min. What's the most effective way to train to improve that half marathon time during a 70.3 race? I'd like to do it under 100 min without fatigue or cramps. Janet asks: I work out 30 min. every morning six days a week. My workouts are 1 minute hard resistance/ cycling with cadence of 55 or 60 with my heart rate getting up to max 180 beats followed by recovery for 1 minute with cadence of 50 or 60 and heart rate around 150. Workout Is 30 min. Could you give me some ideas for other spinning workouts I could do? Can my body get too accustomed to this? Mike asks: I recently passed a kidney stone. My urologist had me do a 24 hr urine test, which showed high urinary calcium and oxalate. He has recommended I avoid Vitamin D supplementation (I'm currently taking 3000 IU daily), as well as decreasing coffee, cola, chocolate, nuts, spinach and green leafy vegetables. I don't drink cola and only 2 cups of coffee/day, but I really don't want to give up my big salad, handful of nuts, and small piece of dark chocolate. I've researched other "high oxalate" foods and it's a lot of otherwise very healthy foods that I love! What can you suggest for eating healthy while maintaining a "low oxalate" diet. Tony asks: I have recently finished my first 1/2 marathon, and my first Biathlon. My partner and I are signing up for a trail marathon in October. We are both in good shape and are dedicated to being better. I am a professionally diagnosed genetic hypertension person. I take two tablets each morning so that I will not stroke out. They are Procardia and Hyzaar. As I train, how should I approach supplements? What type of drug interactions do I need to be aware of? Melanie asks: Melanie asks: Hi Ben, What do you know about D-ribose? A health and fitness person that I follow sometimes said he just completed his own trial of ribose after being sent a sample and said after one week he felt a big difference in his energy level. Wondering if this is a good option to increase energy and what the drawbacks might be? Carlos calls in and asks: I am just a beginning amateur runner and am wondering if "regular" Multivitamins and Protein will be detrimental to my health. I hear you mention a lot of things about regular multivitamins and other regular supplements, but you never recommend them. Are they actually unhealthy for a beginner like me? By "regular" I mean, the more popular & affordable supplements used by a greater number of people such as products by Nature Made, GNC, and Optimum Nutrition. Are the supplements you recommend specifically for triathletes? My health is no where near a triathlete. Do I still need to take these "special" supplements or am I good taking the regular ones? I heard from another source I trust, that the differences between "special" and "regular" supplements are slim, and unless you are professionally training, the slightly higher benefit from taking special supplements is not really needed. -------------------------------------------- Remember, if you have any trouble listening, downloading, or transferring to your mp3 player just e-mail [email protected] And don't forget to leave the podcast a ranking in iTunes - it only takes 2 minutes of your time and helps grow our healthy community! Just click here to go to our iTunes page and leave feedback. Brand new - get insider VIP tips and discounts from Ben - conveniently delivered directly to your phone! Just complete the information below... First Name Last Name Email Cell # (1+area code): Scroll down to donate anything over $15 to the show, and Ben will send you a BenGreenfieldFitness.com t-shirt...you can also conveniently donate any amount with your phone by simply clicking here. ------------------------------------------------------See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  In this September 27, 2009 free audio weekend update, Ben has a special guest on the show to discuss how to grow a healthy baby. Here is the letter that accompanies this episode, written by Jessa Greenfield from Bud Organics: "For the past six months, Marta Greenfield and I have been developing a fresh, new and exciting idea.  We have been working very hard on a business plan, marketing strategy, community surveys, focus groups and many hours of due diligence – and we now feel that we are ready to unveil this business and our product to you. The organic industry has grown by over 20% in the last three years, while the commercial food industry has suffered as consumers become more aware of where and how their food is grown.  Along with this growing trend, many parents are becoming aware that commercial baby food is not the best way to feed their babies.  Every parent wants the best for their baby, and it is becoming more apparent that what is on the shelf right now is not the best, and could actually be harming a baby’s fragile body. I experienced the same feeling as I searched for the right baby food to grow healthy bodies for River and Terran. I learned that the common method of preserving baby food is canning.  The problem with this is that the food is heated to a very high temperature to kill the bacteria that cause botulism. This heating method kills much of the nutrition in the food. An inspection of the ingredients in all the commercial baby foods revealed the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s), which are crops generally made up of corn, soy, cotton and sugar beets. These have been linked to allergies, asthma, digestive ulcers, learning disabilities, cancer, low birth weight, infertility and antibiotic resistance! I didn’t want these for River and Terran, especially since most of the world has banned GMO’s based on multiple research studies. The baby food found on the shelves of most grocery stores is comprised of fruits and vegetables that were picked several months before ripeness, rendering the food tasteless and deprived of nutrients. Furthermore, harsh chemical preservatives are necessary to keep the food for many months as it is shipped around the country (typically grown hundreds or thousands of miles from the economy where it is finally purchased), and nutrient-stripped “fillers” such as corn, soy and wheat are added to thicken the product. Many of the pesticides found in non-organic commercial baby foods contain probable human carcinogens, neurotoxins and pesticides that disrupt the normal functioning of the hormone system, and some of the pesticides are considered “Category One”, which is the highest designation of oral toxicitiy. A 2003 Washington University study found that babies who were fed organically had six times fewer pesticides in their urine than those that were not fed organically! I learned that A) much of an infant’s digestive and neurological development happens in the first 2 years of life; B) an infant’s body is less efficient in eliminating toxins; and C) an infant’s digestive tract absorbs much more than an adult’s. This was the final straw. Our goal for River and Terran was to raise them in as healthy a manner as possible, and commercial baby food was obviously not the solution, for their well-being, for our local farmers, or for any of the other mothers in Spokane, Coeur D’ Alene and across the United States. So after countless hours spent in the kitchen, on farms, in the library, in grocery stores and with mothers from across the region Marta and I have established a solution: Bud Organics. In sum, Bud Organics will be a producer of frozen organic baby food. But what is most important to Marta and I is to provide an affordable, quality alternative to commercial baby food to as many babies as possible.  We want to give these vulnerable young bodies the best possible start they can get.  That means that their food should be incredibly fresh and 100% free of pesticides and GMO’s, with zero “nutrient-void” fillers, preservatives, and chemicals. How are we going to ensure this? We have established a relationship with farmers within a 200 mile radius of the Spokane and Coeur D’ Alene area. A majority of our produce will be bought locally from these farmers.  The reason for this is two-fold; 1) it helps with our local economy and our money stays in the area, supporting a sustainable region; 2) our food will not be picked months before ripeness, and shipped across the world, which would leave it tasteless and nutrient deplete. To ensure freshness, our food will be picked at the peak of ripeness and processed immediately in our certified organic kitchen in Spokane.  All the produce used will be “certified organic”, which ensures that there are no pesticide or herbicides sprayed on the produce that goes into our product. Not only will none of the common “filler” ingredients like flour, soy and corn appear in our food, but because our produce is organic, there will be no GMO's. We have also established a relationship with several local grocery stores (both commercial and organic), farmer’s markets, mother’s groups and baby stores who are anxiously waiting for the first line of Bud Organics to hit the market. And the unique method of preservation? We can ensure our product is more nutritious to our counterpart because we freeze our product. Freezing still gives a six month shelf life, but doesn't kill any of the food components, and instead locks in the valuable nutrients until the product is naturally thawed and ready for the baby to eat! The combination of frozen, fresh and organic baby food is a unique concept with a massive market, as the numbers in our business plan and market analysis have proven to us. We want to ensure that we fund farms that are growing and helping the local environment that we are leaving to our children.  Organically grown produce is a sustainable method of farming.  Rather than stripping the land of nutrients, organic farming grows soil by composting and applying natural matters (not chemical), planting poly-culture crops and letting their land “rest”. “But,” you may say, “My mom fed me non-organic food when I was raised and look at me!” That is very true, but today many weeds and pests have built up a resistance to the growing use of herbicides and pesticides, so more sprays have to be applied than what was needed 10, 20 or 30 years ago.  Also the FDA has said that the levels of pesticides and herbicides on commercially grown produce is OK for the adult consumer, but they have not taken in to account young children and infants.  Ultimately, there is a growing need for an alternative to commercial baby foods, and Bud Organics can be that alternative that parents are desperately searching for, exactly as I did. Despite knowing the danger that their baby faces, not every parent will be able experience what I experienced: spending hours at local farmer’s markets and then in their own kitchen, preparing, mixing and freezing their own organic, frozen baby food. And Bud Organics is the solution. Marta and I hope that you all find this as important as we do.  We have discovered that we find no better calling in life than to help our future generations grow up healthy and in a better, cleaner environment and economy. That is why we are asking for your help.  Currently, this idea only exists “on paper”, and to the small batches that we have provided to local mothers, who are calling us for more! To make Bud Organics a physical, tangible, vibrant living business, we will need funding. We would rather go to our friends and family first, because you are the people that we know and who have shaped us into what we are now. This letter is our plea for a little assistance to begin helping America grow healthy babies. In launching Bud Organics, the cost of commercial kitchen, produce contracts, marketing materials, certifications and licensing, production and delivery methods can add up quickly, and this is our primary hurdle to turning this viable idea into a growing enterprise. Rather than overwhelming you with our 27 page business plan, we would simply like to know if you are interested in helping, and we can provide you with any of the business, marketing and revenue details at that point. Thanks for all your love, your support and your hope that we can make a lasting positive impact in this world." Bud Organics is currently raising capital to launch the first line of organic frozen baby food! Just call Jessa Greenfield at 208-301-4732 or e-mail [email protected] if you are interested in investing in America's future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.