It was a great weekend at the Ultimate Health and Fitness Show.  Although the weather did not cooperate there was still a great turn out.  As well, it was fun to meet many different people and answer numerous questions.  As many of you would know, I love educating people and this weekend was a great opportunity to do just that.  However when we go to trade shows a couple of things happen.  One, we get to connect with some amazing people.  I was able to meet a chiropractic group that I am going to meet with, in a week or so.  Dr. Karen Quinn has an interesting philosophy and is very knowledgeable.  Two, we get to see what some of the “snake oils” that are being promoted.  We all would like a quick answer to fitness but a cold laser that increases the mitochondria’s ability to generate ATP… I would need to see some peer reviewed articles on that one.  Down the aisle from that booth was the guy selling the Shake Weight, a group demonstrating the pole dancing classes, and someone with the vibration platforms.  So here I am thinking, if I can get one of those vibration platforms into the base of the pole, and toss in a couple of shake weights… let’s just leave that thought alone right now.

Anyways, at this particular show there were stage presentations.   Now Peak Power was a presenter, as were many of the exhibitors.  However, the egos in the profession never cease to amaze me.  One of the presenters said that “Power is using gravity to your advantage!”  WHAT?  Mechanical Power is often defined as work that is equal to the force acting on an object times its displacement (how far the object moves while the force acts on it) where the force is the mass x acceleration.  You must produce a force to overcome gravitational effects.  I got a chuckle out of that one.   But the day was young.  Near the end of the day we were all tired, ready to call it an end and one of the last few speakers were about to go.  In between talking to the last few people who where around we were able to hear this gentleman speak.  Three comments in particular from the presentation have had me laughing for the last three days.

Comment 1: “The text books are wrong.” Really, they are wrong?  Yes new research may at some point in the future change our understanding and perceptions but the text books are not wrong.  Thousands of Universities would not have students purchase them in order to teach incorrect information.  More so, these texts challenge your understanding of the training of science and since they do not conform to his method of teaching and explanation, they must surely be wrong.  Tell that to McArdle, Katch and Katch.  They would bludgeon him with the very text book they wrote.

Comment 2: “It is all about training the ATP-CP system not the aerobic system.  If that system is not trained and you do something that is explosive (using the ATP-CP system) you could have a heart attack.”  Seriously?  The ATP-CP system utilizes immediate energy supply provided almost exclusively from the intramuscular high-energy phosphates, or phosphagens, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr).  It would allow one to walk briskly for 1 minute, run at marathon pace for 20 to 30 seconds, or sprint run for 5 to 8 seconds.  This information was taken from McArdle, Katch and Katch’s text book, “Exercise Physiology – Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance.” I am personally convinced that just because you do not train the ATP – CP system, this is not the sole reason one would have a heart attack, I would suspect there will be many other factors that would have to play a role.  But since I took the information from a text book, according to this person’s first comment, the information is wrong.

But the final Comment 3 was my favourite.  To this very moment, I cannot understand how someone could stand in front of a group of people, peers, and other professionals and say these very words… “I am very excited to be here at the Ultimate Health and Fitness Show.  This show is the second best thing to happen to the Calgary fitness industry since the opening of [his facility name here].”   That very comment, with its arrogance was so utterly egotistical that I actually threw my hands in the air.   If this would have been at a conference, he would have been booed off the stage.   If there would have been more of the strength and conditioning community there, I can think of one person right now who would have gotten up on stage and literally fought him.  I am still floored.  I told my boss if that would have been him, and he said that I would quit on the spot.  There are people in this city who have forgotten more than I know.  There are people doing things out there trump the opening of his facility.  I am still just in shock that I was there to hear that.  But I am glad to have been there to hear it, because if I ever get to the point where I would say something like that, I want one of you, my readers to call me on it, and I will quit this profession immediately.  I would never want to be in the same category as him.  What little credibility this guy had in my mind is now erased.  He may as well be on a late night infomercial selling shake weights.

But with the long explanation of a very interesting weekend, I come to the point of the post… credibility.  This was brought to my attention by a good friend and colleague of mine, Ryan Van Asten.  He is an extremely smart guy with a great blog as well (you can find it in my links section).  He is very much based in the science, and it must be proven by research.  We have been debating a previous post that I talked about Raw Milk.  He stated, “To me it is bad practice to recommend something or say something is better with no evidence/justification to support the claim. Do you agree with that?”  I do agree with that, and I realized that although there are 100’s of articles that are against Raw Milk, to post the benefits of Raw Milk, and to remain credible I need to find articles that are in support of  Raw Milk.  As I told Ryan, my aim of the post are not to tell everyone what they need to do, but rather give them the resources to make an educated decision.

So here I present a list of references so that an educated decision can be made.  Now once again, I am not telling people to go out and seek Raw Milk, I am merely providing the second side to a story.  Some of these references show the risks of raw milk, as well as the benefits.  And thank you Ryan, for calling me out and keeping me on my toes.

Cow’s Milk Allergy A Complex Disorder

Effects of Processing on Pesticide Residues in Milk

Massive Outbreak of Antimicrobial-Resistant Salmonellosis Traced to Pasteurized Milk

Crewe, J. R. (1929, January). “Raw Milk Cures Many Diseases”. Certified Milk Magazine, pp.3-6.

Darlington, J. B. (1947, March 15). “Why MIlk Pasteurization, Part 1: Sowing the Seeds of Fear”. The Rural New Yorker,

Darlington, J. B. (1947, May 3). “Why Milk Pasteurization, Part II: Plowing Under the Truth.” The Rural New Yorker, P. 4-5.

“EU Scientific Committee Warns of Human Health & Caner Hazards of Monsanto’s Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rGBGH)”. (1999, March 15-16). Scientific Committee of European Union of Veterinary Measures Relating to Public Health Outcome”.

Ferrer, F. P., & Boyd, L. J. (1955, September). “Effect of Yogurt with Prune Whip on Constipation”. “American Journal of Digestive Diseases”, Vol.22(9), pp.272-273.

Frost, W. D. (1929, January). “Some Bacteriological Problems of Milk Control”. Certified Milk Magazine, pp.6-10.

Harrison, G. (1975, ). “Primary Adult Lactase Deficiency; A Problem in Anthropological Genetics”. American Anthropologist, Vol.77, pp.812-835.

Kretchmer, N. (1972, ). “Lactose and Lactase”. Scientific American Journal, Vol.227, pp.70-78.

Pottenger, F. M. (1938, July). “Clinical Evidences of the Value of Raw Milk”. Certified Milk Magazine, Vol.3, pp.17-22.

Ryan, C. A. (1987, ). “Massive Outbreak of Antimicrobial-Resistant Salmonellosis Traced to Pasteurized Milk”. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol.258, pp.3269.

Schmid, Ronald. (2003). “The Untold story of milk.” New Trends Pub Inc.

Thomson, J. C. (1943, ). “Pasteurized Milk, A National Menace: A Plea for Cleanliness”. The Kingston Chronicle, Edinburgh, Scotland,

Woodford, K. (2007). “Devil in the milk.” Chelsea Green Pub Co.