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Did you ever dream that 7 deadlift muscles worked can change your life? The deadlift is only one exercise you might think, how good can it be? The truth is that the deadlift is more than a prescription for looking and feeling powerful. You can not only change your body, but even your life with the conventional barbell deadlift.
First of all, the simple deadlift, if done with proper form, can dramatically change your body. And not only if you use heavy weights. Even dead lifting lighter weights can have a profound impact on your health and fitness.
You can go from a couch potato, jelly belly donut, to lean and strong. The reason that deadlifts are so powerful, is because the deadlift works most of the muscles of your entire body. From your head to your feet. In other words, your entire upper body and lower body. Very few weight training exercises can match the muscles involved in all deadlift variations. Whether you do conventional deadlifts, sumo deadlifts, stiff leg and Romanian deadlifts.
Even the great squat.
Therefore, a progressive deadlift workout program will change your body. And changing your body is the first step to change your life. In short, deadlifts build muscle, fight obesity, build confidence and boost your mood. You would become fabulously wealthy if you could package the extensive benefits of deadlifts in a pill.
Deadlifts are greater than any antidepressant out there, I know, I used many. Deadlifting can help you fight obesity faster than you could ever imagine. The deadlift can help you rebuild your life if you are trying to recover from loss, divorce, breakups or estrangements. No matter what your age, you will benefit from deadlifts, even if you are over 70.
The deadlift is a primal and basic lifting exercise that builds muscle, strength and confidence.
A stronger you will be a greater asset to yourself and everyone you care about. This article will focus on the most important deadlift muscles activated. This article explains why the deadlift is a great tool for mental and physical fitness.
The deadlift is for which muscle groups? Here is the answer:
Upper Body Deadlift Muscles Worked
Your Entire Back
To be clear, the deadlift is not a squat. Squats will work your legs, specifically your front quadriceps. The deadlift is primarily a push floor, drive hips, pulling move, which targets your back muscles.
In fact, all of your back muscles. As a result, you build a stronger back and can prevent back pain.
Did you know that Back pain is the second most common type of pain in adults, after headaches? Therefore, use the deadlift to strengthen your back, not to injure your back. So, you must deadlift with the best form possible. Keep your back straight and neutral when you deadlift. Never deadlift with a curved back.
The Erector Spinae muscle actually consists of three columns of muscles, the Iliocostalis, Longissimus, and Spinalis, each running parallel on either outer side of the Vertebra and extending from the lower back of the skull all the way down to the Pelvis.
The Erector Spinae provides resistance that assists in the control action of bending forward at the waist as well as acting as powerful extensors to promote the return of the back to the erect position. Source Credit: http://www.musclesused.com/erector-spinae-2/
Deadlift Muscles Worked Diagram – Erector Spinae Muscles of the lower and upper back
One of the main muscles engaged in the deadlift are the erector spinae muscles. These are powerful muscles, which help you to bend forward as well as return to a standing position. The spinal erectors run down your back, from the base of your skull to the lower vertebrae.
When you deadlift, you are working your entire posterior chain, from your hips and knees up to your head.
Warning: You must maintain a neutral back, a flat back, all throughout the deadlift. From when you lower your hips to grip the barbell through your deadlift and return to the floor.
Never, ever round your back.
2. Latissimus Dorsi Muscles
Besides the erector spinae muscles, the deadlift also works your latissimus dorsi muscles. Having strong lats helps to give you the coveted V shape in your back.
The deadlift builds your latissimus dorsi muscles
See for yourself how the deadlift will transform your back muscles
The deadlifts muscles trained in the arm region include many of the muscles in your arms. For example your , flexor digitorum profundus (forearms), and finger flexors (grip).
Strengthen Your Grip
The deadlift will tax your grip muscles like no other weight training exercise. As the deadlift weight increases, your grip strength will increase as well. There are two basic ways to grip for the conventional barbell deadlift:
The pronated or overhand grip where both palms are facing you.
The alternating grip where one hand is overhand and the other is underhand.
As your deadlift weight increases, you will likely begin to use the alternating grip. This is necessary to prevent unwanted rotation of the barbell. However, you need to be careful to not injure your biceps when using the underhand grip. The best way to prevent injury to your biceps is to keep your elbows locked and arms straight.
Never, ever try to pull the bar up using your arms alone.
The deadlift starts with:
hip hinge
bending your knees
hips still higher than your knees (the deadlift is not a squat)
keep a neutral back by lifting your chest
hip width grip
leg press off the floor
bar close to your shins
hip extension and drive when the barbell reaches your knees
final pull by your entire back muscle groups.
4. Shoulder Muscles
The deadlift also targets the medial deltoid of your shoulders. You develop stronger shoulders as you continue to deadlift. You pull your shoulders back and work your trapezius muscles in the completion phase of the deadlift. World record dead lifters usually have tremendous trapezius and shoulder development.
The Deadlift also activates the Trapezius Muscles
5. Deadlift Muscles Used in Your Abdominal Core
The deadlift activates almost every muscle in your body including the abdominal muscles as well. According to Jody Braverman, a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Writer – During a deadlift, the rectus abdominis and the obliques are both hard at work.
The rectus abdominis is a pair of long muscles that extend the length of the torso. The obliques extend along either side of the torso. Therefore, you stabilize your spine in the deadlift with your abdominal muscles.
How the Deadlift Benefits Muscles in Your Lower Body
6. The Glutes
There are about 640 muscles in the body.
The largest muscle in your body is the gluteus maximus. The biggest of the three gluteal muscles, also known as the buttocks.
The deadlift is an excellent exercise to train your hamstrings and glutes.
Consequently, keep deadlifting and you will look a lot better in pants.
7. Leg Muscles
The muscle groups targeted in the legs include your quadriceps on the front of your thigh. As well as your hamstrings on the back.
While the hamstrings only act as stabilizers during the deadlift; the quadriceps are the main muscles the deadlift works in the legs.
In summary, the deadlift works all the major muscle groups of your body.
Deadlift Muscles Worked Illustrated by a Franco Columbu Deadlift
The deadlift is the best exercise for overall body strength
Deadlift Muscles Worked Results Before and After 6 Months
You cannot compare the number of deadlift muscles targeted to most other weight training exercises. Take the ever popular biceps curl for example. Think of the size of your bicep. Now, think of the size of your back. Even though you cannot see your back, you know your back muscles alone are much larger than your biceps.
If the deadlift only worked your back muscles, the deadlift would still be superior to curls. But, the deadlift works many more muscles than just your back. This is why you should not waste your time only doing curls, squeezing a handgrip or even the bench press.
Yes, the deadlift will even work the muscles of your hand, and strengthen your grip.
In conclusion, one of the most powerful exercises you can do to strengthen your entire body is to deadlift.
What Muscles Do Deadlifts Target?
The deceptively simple conventional deadlift will work the largest muscles of your body.
Bottom line, these 7 deadlift muscles worked include most of the muscles of your body!
The short answer to the question what muscles do deadlifts target is “all of them! If you only have time for one exercise, do the deadlift. Deadlifts will add a layer of metabolically active muscle that burns fat everywhere.
You will change your body. And you will change your life.
“The deadlift is unrivaled in its simplicity and impact while unique in its capacity for increasing head to toe strength.”
As far as deadlift gear goes, deadlifting requires a small area and a minimum amount of equipment. This is available in most gyms that have free weights.
Above all, deadlifts helped me improve my mental and physical health and fitness after the age of 55. They can do the same for you, no matter what your age.
Please leave a comment and share your story how deadlift muscles worked changed your body and/or life.
For more details like starting position, range of motion, hip or shoulder width grip and gear:
If you grew up on chicken pot pie, frozen chicken dinners, snickers, Oreos and ice cream like I did, then you know why. We can all use some education about the magical powers of simple vegetables.
But in this post, I zero in on the greatest broccoli benefits for people like you and me.
Why?
Because you will experience dramatic changes by eliminating ultra-processed ‘foods' from your diet. And when you eat enough real food, your cravings for junk are going to decrease sharply.
But the question is, which foods do you eat to replace all of the junk?
How the Humble Broccoli Benefits Your Health
Let's Start With the Ubiquitous Broccoli
Why have I chosen broccoli benefits to lead off? First, because broccoli is available everywhere all over the world. Broccoli is popular in America, Europe and Asia. And you can eat raw broccoli as well as cooked broccoli.
Just about any grocery store will have broccoli. If I told you how great watercress and bitter melon are, you might not find them so easily. But you can find broccoli everywhere. There is a reason that so many great natural powerlifters, fitness models and bodybuilders eat broccoli and lots of it.
Success leaves clues!
Second, because I absolutely hated broccoli. There, I said it. I would do anything not to eat broccoli.
However, after experiencing the health benefits of broccoli for myself, I am now a big broccoli fan. So I know that even if you hate broccoli today, you can also become a fan as well.
Please share these 15 amazing broccoli benefits
15 Super Health Benefits of Broccoli
What follows are some of the best broccoli benefits for you to lose weight and get fit, fast.
This collection of the greatest broccoli benefits will motivate you to make eating broccoli one of your daily healthy habits.
Whether you are trying to lose weight, reverse type 2 diabetes, look younger or build muscle, broccoli is for you!
“I have always hated broccoli which is why I am beginning with the health benefits of broccoli! Sometimes we have to do what we fear most in order to make the greatest gains.”
Here are 15 reasons broccoli will make you lean and strong faster than you think possible:
1. Nervous System
Broccoli contains a high amount of potassium, magnesium and Vitamin C.
The potassium helps you maintain a healthy nervous system and brain function. In addition, potassium promotes muscle growth. And since muscle is your great friend, you will be happy about that. Read how deadlifts change your body if you don't know why muscle is your friend, especially when you are over 50.
The magnesium and potassium in broccoli improves your blood flow.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that strengthens your blood vessels.1)https://helloheart.com/broccoli-blood-pressure/
Update December 2018: My anecdotal experience – the essential tremor in my hands reduced significantly after I started to have larger quantities of vegetables.
My entire life was devoid of vegetables, except for some token tomatoes here and there. But, for the last 5 years, most of my meals are plant powered.
Whole grain like old fashioned oats in the morning with fruit and nut butter, vegetables and beans like chickpeas in the afternoon, and several different vegetables in the evening with fish or some other lean protein.
Are you having enough vegetables every day? If you have essential tremor, think about it.
Believe it or not, there are accounts of people managing chronic autoimmune conditions like MS (multiple sclerosis) with the power of vegetables. If you or someone you know is suffering from chronic autoimmune conditions, be sure to check out the Wahls Protocol. Dr. Wahl testifies about her own experience in defeating MS.
2. Normalize Your Blood Pressure
Broccoli magically also contains magnesium and calcium which help regulate blood pressure.
Before I upped my vegetable intake significantly, I had high blood pressure. Like many of us over 50, I was moving in hypertension territory. My blood pressure was in the 135 over 90 range. No matter how much I exercised.
However, after focusing on vegetables for about four months, both raw and cooked, the blood pressure fell to normal. Would you rather eat broccoli or take blood pressure lowering medication? Pass the broccoli please!
3. Lower cholesterol
Broccoli is rich in cholesterol-reducing fiber, chromium, and potassium, which can help lower cholesterol levels.
Update 2018: My cholesterol has tested most recently at 160. That is the lowest I can remember in my life, and this is without feared statins.
I cannot say this is all the effect of broccoli, but broccoli is certainly part of it. Because for close to a year I have broccoli at least 3 times a week.
As well as many other vegetables, such as; asparagus, bok choy, cauliflower, mushrooms, watercress, okra, spinach, red/orange/yellow pepper, zucchini, corn on the cob, brussel sprouts and sometimes broccoli sprouts.
But, the main shift in my meal planning is to ramp up the vegetables.
Many times, people who are vegetarians, rarely eat vegetables.
I know, because I did that myself. As a vegetarian, I had a lot of soy chicken, soy burgers, bread, pasta, potatoes, and processed foods that were not meat based.
Where are the real vegetables?
A slice of tomato and onion on a tofu avocado sandwich on whole wheat bread is not enough vegetables. My experience is that you can be a vegetarian without eating even one green vegetable in a day.
The one specific health habit that has helped me tremendously, is to focus on vegetables. Real fresh vegetables that you eat both raw and cooked.
Try it out for a month and see how you feel.
4. Vitamin C
One cup of broccoli contains the Recommended Daily Amount of vitamin C. Free radicals tremble in their boots from Vitamin C. Moreover, vitamin C is an excellent way to prevent and treat the common cold.
Broccoli is also a very good detoxifier. Besides free radicals, it also eliminates toxins like uric acid from your body.
Whenever I think of vitamin C, I think of oranges and orange juice. Who would have known that a cup of broccoli contains the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C! With winter upon us in New York City, anything that can prevent or ease the common cold is more than welcome.
5. Bone Health
Broccoli also contains high levels of Vitamin K and calcium. These are both important to prevent osteoporosis and maintain your bone health.
Bring it on Broccoli, we need strong bones, especially as the years go by! You always thought milk for calcium? Now you see the huge broccoli benefits for calcium and everything else we mentioned so far.
6. Sun Damage
Broccoli contains glucoraphanin which helps your skin repair itself.
Researchers also have found that a compound called sulforaphane in broccoli may reduces the skin damage and inflammation caused by exposure to UV radiation.2)https://www.healthonlinezine.info/broccoli-health-benefits.html
7. Immune System
One cup of broccoli strengthens your immune system with a big dose of beta-carotene. Other minerals, like Vitamin C, selenium and zinc bolster your immune profile as well.
You thought only carrots are good for beta-carotene? Another surprise from Broccoli.
8. Cancer Prevention
The glucoraphanin from broccoli is turned into an anti-cancer compound. This compound called sulforaphane eliminates bacteria which increases your risk of gastric cancer.
Furthermore, broccoli contains indole-3-carbinol, an antioxidant which slows the growth of prostate, cervical and breast cancers.
Broccoli is such a big celebrity that the American Cancer Society recommends eating more broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables because of its anticancer properties.
Is this not a miracle? Broccoli not only has potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin K, beta-carotene, zinc, selenium, but even indole-3-carbinol to prevent cancer and improve liver function, and all you have to do is eat it and enjoy! What pill has these spectacular broccoli benefits?
9. How Broccoli Benefits Weight Loss
Broccoli is high in fiber, which prevents constipation, curbs your appetite, and helps you maintain low blood sugar. In addition, a cup of broccoli has as much protein as a cup of rice with half the calories. A cup of broccoli has approximately 31 calories vs a cup of rice which will give you a whopping 200 calories.
I can attest to the benefits of eating broccoli for digestive health. High in fiber also, broccoli is rocking. On top of all of that, keeping your blood sugar low and providing so much protein is amazing.
10. Eye Health
Studies have shown that the carotenoid lutein prevents macular degeneration and cataracts, as well as possesses anti-cancer effects. Additionally, broccoli is a good source of vitamin A which you need to form retinal, the light-absorbing molecule that is critical for color and dim light vision.
Is broccoli a superfood or what? Do you think you can get the same benefits of broccoli from a babe ruth bar or slice of wonder bread?
11. Heart Health
The carotenoid lutein may also slow the thickening of arteries in the human body, thus fighting against stroke and heart disease. The B6 and folate in broccoli also reduces the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.
All in all, broccoli is a mighty and powerful vegetable, a great weapon in the battle against obesity and a winning strategy to keep your fuel intake lean and green. Imagine the value of adding a cup of broccoli to your meal plan every day.
12. Control diabetes
Broccoli is rich in chromium, which is known to help regulate insulin and control diabetes.
If your A1C level is too high, try broccoli. After many months and years increasing vegetable intake, my A1C level is now normal, no longer pre-diabetic. Just about any body building diet or meal plan you read will have broccoli on the menu. Here's why:
13. Reduce Estrogen
Broccoli and other vegetables of the cruciferous family provide a hormonal advantage to building muscle by reducing estrogen. If you are a man, you want more testosterone, not estrogen.
14. Clear Toxins from your Body
Cruciferous vegetables, like cauliflower, brussel sprouts and broccoli, contain unique antioxidants like Indole-3-carbinol and glucaric acid. They sweep out excess estrogen from your body. How great is that?
15. Maximize Muscle Building Goals by Minimizing the Negative Effects of Estrogen
The combination of Indole-3 and glucaric acid clears out excess and synthetic estrogen from your body. This allows you to maximize building muscle.3)https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/15-surprising-muscle-building-foods.html
If all the benefits of broccoli that we have so far brought to your attention has not motivated you to include at least a cup of broccoli in your diet today, what will?d
Conclusion
Broccoli. It's a cruciferous vegetable, along with cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale. Research has shown that eating a lot of cruciferous vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease and cancer (14, 15). This may be related to the anti–inflammatory effects of the antioxidants they contain.4)https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-anti-inflammatory-foods
Broccoli has long been regarded as one of the superfoods that are packed with tremendous health benefits. The nutritional value of broccoli can be considered as the powerhouse of iron, protein, calcium, chromium, carbohydrates, vitamin A and vitamin C.
That is what we like to hear, a super food. If we spend time eating, doesn't it make sense to eat super foods rather than super junk? When I first thought of eating real food, I was in the middle of a super junk day, blueberry muffins, ice cream, snickers, pizza, pasta, egg sandwich, and a soda.
I made a lot of progress by just eliminating some of the worst processed food offenders, now I want to see how adding more superfoods to the mix will affect my fitness. Based on everything that we are reading, eating Broccoli should definitely be part of our daily habits.
Update December 4, 2018: When I first wrote this in 2014, I had difficulty breaking the 205 barrier. However, when I finally started to focus more on vegetables, and increase cardio programming, I went down to a normal BMI fairly easily over three months, and have been stable at 175 lbs till today in 2018.
At first glance, this site might not look like one that is dealing with depression.
Instead, it might look like one that is devoted to weight training, reducing weight, pseudo paleo nutrition, the benefits of deadlifts, squats, pushups, real food to help you lose body fat, gain muscle, transform your body.
There is definitely truth to that.
However, the primary purpose of this site is to help you, your friend or family member discover the simple, practical and effective strategies that they can implement to get out of depression.
How to deal with depression is a subject that is very close to my heart.
You see, many years ago I wanted to end my own life due to the perpetual shock of depression from family estrangement, career loss, home loss, crime, divorce and several other events I wish had never happened.
But they did for me and my guess is that you have experienced your own situations that might have left you in your own perpetual shock of depression.
The perpetual shock of depression has had catastrophic effects on my life of which I still grapple with today.
Back then, I wish I had a mentor who could have walked me through some of the steps that I am going to suggest for you.
Maybe I would not have listened, but I would have liked the opportunity to think about alternative methods for dealing with depression with or without medications.
I want to be that mentor today that I wish I had so many years ago.
No, I do not have a perfect life.
Yes, it is much much better than anything I could have imagined over a decade ago and yes, the strategies I am going to suggest for you have all been guinea tested on me.
If I can help even one learn how to deal with depression and move towards a better life, that alone will have made all the time and effort I have spent to deliver this information worthwhile.
I know the pain and it is real.
I wish you the best and please consult with your doctor before implementing my suggestions as I am not a doctor nor pretending to be one, just a person who was drowning from wave after wave of traumatic events and am now thankfully on dry land.
How common is Depression?
More than you think.
Believe it or not, the National Institute of Health has estimated the number of Americans with Depression at close to 7% of the US population age 18 and older.
Major Depressive Disorder is the leading cause of disability in the U.S. for ages 15-44.3
Major depressive disorder affects approximately 14.8 million American adults, or about 6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.1,2
While major depressive disorder can develop at any age, the median age at onset is 32.5
Major depressive disorder is more prevalent in women than in men.6
Of course, the risks in depression are obvious, they all have one thing in common, injury to the self.
In the most destructive case, someone who needs to know how to deal with depression and is not winning the battle, might contemplate extreme measures to get relief from the pain in their mind.
Is it not ironic, that the great scourge of depression is essentially within our own mind?
Playing disabling scenes of the past, mulling over disappointments, wallowing in the troubles which are facing us in the present.
Coping methods for dealing with depression usually take the form of some type of self medication, food being a favorite as anyone can attest seeing countless movies where the victim of a romantic heartbreak is seen gorging on ice cream in the wee hours of the evening trying to dull the emotional pain.
Besides food, drugs can also become a crutch, as well as other behaviors which do not serve oneself well.
The pain is real, there is no doubt about that.
If the pain was not real, we would not have more than 30,000 americans opting out by suicide every year as is elaborated on in this list from https://save.org :
Many who attempt suicide never seek professional care.
There are twice as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS.
Between 1952 and 1995, suicide in young adults nearly tripled.
Over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25-65.
In the month prior to their suicide, 75% of elderly persons had visited a physician.
Suicide rates in the United States are highest in the spring.
For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death.
Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed.
80% of people that seek treatment how to deal with depression are treated successfully.
15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide.
There are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion.
The highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years old: 65 per 100,000 persons.
1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year.
Substance abuse is a risk factor for suicide.
The strongest risk factor for suicide is not dealing with depression.
By 2010, depression will be the #1 disability in the world. (World Health Organization)
In 2004, 32,439 people died by suicide. (CDC)
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. (homicide is 15th). (CDC)
Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans. (CDC)
It is estimated that there are at least 4.5 million survivors in this country. (AAS)
An average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes. (CDC, AAS)
There are four male suicides for every female suicide. (CDC, AAS)
Research has shown medications and therapy to be effective suicide prevention.
Suicide can be prevented through education and public awareness.
Last year SAVE educated 10,618 youth & parents how to deal with depression and suicide prevention.
Last year SAVE received 810 requests for information from 72 countries.
In 2004 it is estimated there were 811,000 suicide attempts in the US. (AAS)
There are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt. (CDC, AAS)
According to the Violent Death Reporting System, in 2004 73% of suicides also tested positive for at least one substance (alcohol, cocaine, heroin or marijuana).
So, we see that the strongest risk factor is depression.
That is because the pain of depression is a real pain.
It might not be a physical pain, but it has tremendous impact on the person who is living with it.
I speak about it, because I know what it feels like.
I also know what I have done to address that specific pain and hope that it might be useful to anyone else who is dealing with depression and struggling with trying to get out of the hole.
Here are the main tips that I would give today how to deal with depression.
For me, it has been an ongoing process, but I am thankful that I have stumbled upon a number of strategies which are most effective in fighting depression.
1. Leave the ROD, the ‘Room of Depression'
2. Lock the Door on the Room of Depression
3. Build new rooms in your metaphorical home which I will explain
4. Focus on those rooms
5. Strengthen those rooms as much as possible and do your best to not reenter the ROD
6. Eat real food
7. Get stronger with core strength exercises
8. Accept gradual improvement, progress, not perfection
9. Pick 10 – 15 healthy foods or meals that you enjoy and eat them consistently
10. Pick 3 – 5 core free weight exercises like pushups, deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses, pullups, and do them consistently
11. Eat healthy meals every 2 to 3 hours and stop eating by 7 or 8pm
I know, the room of depression might sound a bit unusual, but I think it is a metaphor that does have real life application and can work.
The metaphor is that the house, the home, the castle, this is your life, this is you.
The ROD, the room of depression is that space where you have been spending an inordinate amount of time, so much, that you might even cause distance between yourself, friends and family.
The distance that the ROD causes between you and yourself is the most severe.
By living in that room, whatever the scenes are that you are replaying, whatever the conversations are, whatever your thoughts are, that room , that space is causing you an enormous amount of pain.
And you are still sitting there?
For how long?
For how many years can you do that?
Of course, over time, if you do not leave that room, you will be saturated, marinated in depressive thoughts which could have egregious consequences.
Eleven years ago, I went through some very challenging times and out of respect for those involved, I am going to keep it private.
The experience felt like I had been hit by a virtual train, totally knocking me off of my equillibrium, as the events were very painful.
For too many years, I lived in that room. That room of depression.
I replayed many scenes and conversations in my mind.
Many should have, could have, would have scenarios.
The end result was that I lived in that room, focused on events that I had little to no control of, and grew more distant from myself.
I could not even recognize myself, I was just in that room, I felt no identity at all, other than being an occupant of the room of depression.
How did I deal with that depression, at least to leave the room long enough to make some progress to where the future became brighter and continues to do so now?
1. How to Deal with Depression Step 1 –
Leave the ROD. How do you do that?
In two ways, the first is to visually leave it, leave that room, close the door, let all the memories, videos, conversations, remain there.
For years, you have had no other room but that place. You have to move out.
The other way is physically. Stop sitting, stop moping, stop sulking. Physically, start walking, start moving, start taking action.
2. How to Deal with Depression Step 2 –
Lock the Door. It is tempting, especially after years of living there, to want to go back, to be accustomed to going back, that is natural. But you must lock the door. When you do lock it in your mind, you will have some space to create anew, which will enable you to do step 3.
3. How to Deal with Depression Step 3 –
Build new Rooms. What type of room?
Any room that will make you more productive.
Any room that will let you focus on yourself and what you can do to improve yourself.
For me, it was to focus on learning additional technical skills.
For you, it might be a language, music, losing weight, building strength, all are productive and valuable ‘home improvement projects'.
4. How to Deal with Depression Step 4 –
Focus on those rooms.
Now that you have left and locked the door of the ROD, now you can focus on building your new home.
Make it a palace, make it a mansion, make it spectacular, make it a paradise.
I know that at some point in this process, you will feel excited by whatever you are creating.
People want to be productive, by nature.
Just as the earth produces, we also want to produce, we also want to contribute to ourselves, our families, the world.
Once you get out of that ROD, you are going to be able to focus on your new home and love living in it.
5. How to Deal with Depression Step 5 –
Strengthen those rooms, do not go back to the ROD.
The more you strengthen your new rooms, the less likely it will be that you reenter the ROD.
6. How to Deal with Depression Step 6 –
Eat real food – you know, the good stuff, real food that grows, as unprocessed as possible, vegetables, berries, nuts, nutrient dense protein.
7. How to Deal with Depression Step 7 –
Get stronger with core strength exercises – squats, deadlifts, pushups, pullups, shoulder presses, rows.
Accept gradual improvement, progress, not perfection – little by little, day by day, make gradual improvements, and over the long course of time, you will become a master of whatever you set your mind to accomplish
9. How to Deal with Depression Step 9 –
Pick 10 – 15 healthy foods or meals that you enjoy and eat them consistently
10. How to Deal with Depression Step 10 –
Pick 3 – 5 core free weight exercises like pushups, deadlifts, squats, shoulder presses, pullups, and do them consistently
11. How to Deal with Depression Step 11 –
Eat healthy meals every 2 to 3 hours and stop eating by 7 or 8pm
12. How to Deal with Depression Step 12 –
Go to Sleep on Time – staying up late, churning over your problems, will not solve them, get a good night sleep so you can be refreshed for a new day
What do you think?
Does this make sense to you?
Have you wondered how to deal with depression?
Do you know of anyone who is affected by depression?
I hope that these words and ideas can be helpful.
How to Fight Depression Without Pills
How to deal with depression was a goal of mine from my youth without knowing it and from my very dark days in 2002 and 2003 when I knew that I needed to find a way out of the abyss, otherwise I felt that my obsessive self flagellation would go beyond suicidal ideation.
From early childhood, pretty much as far back as I could remember, I always felt an undercurrent of depression, which I do not believe rose to the level of dysthymia, which as noted in wikipedia “has a number of typical characteristics: low energy and drive, low self-esteem, and a low capacity for pleasure in everyday life. Mild degrees of dysthymia may result in people withdrawing from stress and avoiding opportunities for failure. In more severe cases of dysthymia, people may even withdraw from daily activities.They will usually find little pleasure in usual activities and pastimes.”
When I was a kid, the concept or word of dysthymia had not yet been coined by Dr. Robert Spitzer. That would happen after I was already an adult in the late 1970s.
Is Depression Genetic or Environmental?
Depression is said to afflict close to 30 million people in the United States. Of that number, approximately 40% is believed to be genetic and 60% environmental. As reported in Healthline.com “in 2011, a British team isolated a gene that appears to be prevalent in multiple family members suffering from depression. The chromosome, 3p25-26, was found in more than 800 families with recurrent depression in the study. Scientists have said as many as 40 percent of those suffering from depression can be traced back to a genetic link, with environmental and other factors comprising the remaining 60 percent.”
In my case, I believe that my depression is rooted in enviromment.
About.com reports that “according to studies, the long-term effects of the Holocaust on the children of survivors suggest a ‘psychological profile.'
Their parents’ suffering may have affected their upbringing, personal relationships and perspective on life.
Eva Fogelman, a psychologist who treats Holocaust survivors and their children, suggests a second generation ‘complex' characterized by processes that affect identity, self-esteem, interpersonal interactions and worldview.
Psychological Vulnerability
Literature suggests that after the war many survivors quickly entered into loveless marriages in their desire to rebuild their family life as quickly as possible. And these survivors remained married even though the marriages may have lacked emotional intimacy. Children of these types of marriages may not have been given the nurturance needed to develop positive self-images.”
My parents were in the largest geographic concentration camp known as Transnistria. Over 800,000 Jews were murdered there with approximately 3,000 survivors. That would explain the palpable sense of fear, anxiety and insecurity that I sensed in my home environment. I am sure that one of the most precious memories of adults is how safe their home felt when they were children. I never felt that safety. I felt the guilt of the survivor and the dread of ominous events taking place, especially in the face of separation. In the concentration camps, separation from your family almost always meant certain death.
When I was about 12, I discovered that if I worked out really hard, then I would feel a sense of relief. I did not know much about depression, never heard the word mentioned and never wondered how to fight depression without pills. I did not know about endorphins, I just thought it was because I was so physically exhausted that I could not focus on the dread in my head. As a result, I began to exercise even harder, trying out for tennis, swimming, gymnastics and football, anything that would give me that surge of feeling even tempered, anything that pulled me out of the shallow pit of despair that I laid in for so long, without knowing why. I had intuitively realized how to fight depression without pills through being a kid and playing games and sports.
I continued to the tune of 8 – 10 hours a day, until I got injured at 18 and had to stop. Almost immediately after, my fears were realized when I was a cashier in a bakery for a summer job and ended up pistol whipped and face down on the smelly linoleum floor, being told that I was going to be shot because the robbers were pissed off that they did not find enough money in the register. I thought how it sucked that at only 18 years of age, I would be shot just like my entire family of over 100 human beings were slaughtered only 30 years earlier. After the robbery ended and I found myself still alive, I cried and sweated and swore not to tell my parents, which was not a great idea in retrospect. I did not want to worry them, but at the same time, they did not understand why I became somewhat of a recluse. I preferred to stay indoors and study, rather than risk walking or being outside in New York City, especially in a store. I was traumatized from the actual experience of being threatened to be killed, which only fed into the narrative I had sensed in my home my whole youth, which is the fear of being killed, the fear of starvation and the fear of separation.
The fear of venturing out into the City became so intense that I actually left the country. I felt that I would be safer in a war torn country than in the US. How sad was that. Even worse, my father suffered for many years the fear of separation from me. Any day that I did not call, he was terrified that something bad had happened. Only 10 years later from when I left the US, I myself experienced the same fear of separation from him on a pleasant weekend afternoon, sunny and mild. I kept missing a phone call and started to think it was from him, I did not have caller id. I imagined that if I called my mother, that she would be crying that he was hurt, which is exactly what happened. I called my mother and she told me that daddy had been in a car accident and was in critical condition in the Hospital.
Despite all our prayers and tears, he died.
I thought that was the biggest shock of my life, and it was up till that point. At that time though, I never thought about how to fight depression without pills or with pills, I thought it was natural to feel morose and down.
It was not until 15 years later that I needed to know how to fight depression without pills.
Those were the dark days of 2002 – 2003. Suffice it to say that a good diet and exercise program as well as support from family might have salvaged some remnant of my life. It was not to be and the only answer that medical professionals had for me was in a bottle of prozac, zoloff, effexor, neurontin and many others which just left me dazed and with very unwelcome side affects.
If you are suffering from trauma, if you have dysthymia, if you are battling events which are leaving you down, of course, follow the advice of your chosen medical professional. But, also consider that there are methods how to fight depression without pills which might enable you to climb out of your rut.
Too bad that as an adult of 45 , I did not have the intuition that I had when I was 12. Exercise and a good diet can do as much and possibly even more to give you the strength to fight depression and without the terrible side affects. For this reason, I am publishing this infographic mentioned below on how to fight depression without pills. I hope that it can help those in need.
HOW TO DEAL WITH DEPRESSION (WITHOUT THE MEDICATIONS)
Exercise is better than antidepressants.
● 1 in 10 Americans now takes antidepressant medication
But there are other ways to fight depression:
■ Regular exercise can improve mood in people with mild to moderate depression
■ Exercise can also help treat severe depression
■ Results:
● After 16 weeks 65% of people in all 3 groups no longer had major depression
● Exercise and antidepressant results were essentially the same
■ Follow up:
● Exercise’s effects lasted longer than those of antidepressants.
HOW DOES EXERCISE RELIEVE DEPRESSION?
○ Exercise enhances the action of endorphins
■ Endorphins improve natural immunity
■ Reduce the perception of pain.
■ They may also serve to improve mood
○ Another theory is that exercise stimulates the neurotransmitter norepinephrine
■ This may directly improve mood
○ Besides lifting your mood exercise:
■ Lowers blood pressure
■ Protects against heart disease and cancer
■ Boosts self esteem
WHAT EXERCISES ARE THE BEST FOR DEALING WITH DEPRESSION?
○ Get runners high
■ When it comes to fighting depression, aerobic exercises have the edge
● 20-30 minutes most days a week
○ (Intensity level doesn’t matter, just get moving!)
■ When you cross a threshold while running, you get “runners high”
● A release of endorphins
○ Endorphins are the body’s natural morphine
○ Produce joy and decrease pain levels
○ Boost strength to boost your mood
■ Study of 45 stroke survivors with depression found that a 10-week strength training program helped reduced symptoms of depression
■ Benefits of strength training:
● Mastery and control
● Visible results
● Focus
○ Inhale, Exhale
■ Study of 65 women with depression
● 34 women who took a yoga class twice a week for two months showed a significant decrease in depression
○ Compared to the 31 women who were not in the class
○ Take a hike
■ Simply walking his numerous benefits
● In one study, walking fast for about 35 minutes a day five times has a significant influence on mild to moderate depression symptoms
● Just getting outside can boost mood
○ Sunshine stimulates our serotonin levels
○ Many researchers believe that an imbalance in serotonin levels may influence mood in a way that leads to depression.
■ Benefits of walking include:
● Lowers disease risk
● Strengthening heart
● Gives you energy
Life threatening obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, with 711 million overweight around the globe led by French fry loving Americans.
A detailed report in the latest New England Journal of Medicine is winning alarmed attention in Washington because it finds that American children and adults are leading the obesity parade.
“The highest level of age-standardized childhood obesity was observed in the United States, 12.7 percent,” said the report.
“The United States and China had the highest numbers of obese adults,” added the authoritative study.
Obesity is no secret in the U.S., but the continued domestic epidemic, especially after the former Obama administration declared war on it, is alarming officials.
While the Journal looked at the global situation, a Harvard University analysis of the new report highlighted the U.S. problem based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Their analysis said, “About 38 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and older are obese as are more than 17 percent of children aged 6 to 11, federal data shows.”
It also pulled out the key global findings:
In 2015, an estimated 603.7 million adults and 107.7 million children worldwide were obese. That represents about 12 percent of all adults and 5 percent of all children.
The prevalence of obesity doubled in 73 countries between 1980 and 2015 and continuously increased in most of the other countries.
China and India had the highest number of obese children. China and the U.S. had the highest number of obese adults.
Excess body weight accounted for about 4 million deaths — or 7.1 percent of all deaths — in 2015.
Almost 70 percent of deaths related to a high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease.
The study finds evidence that having a high BMI causes leukemia and several types of cancer, including cancers of the esophagus, liver, breast, uterus, ovary, kidney and thyroid.
In rich and poor countries, obesity rates increased, indicating “the problem is not simply a function of income or wealth. Changes in the food environment and food systems are probably major drivers. Increased availability, accessibility, and affordability of energy-dense foods, along with intense marketing of such foods, could explain excess energy intake and weight gain among different populations. The reduced opportunities for physical activity that have followed urbanization and other changes in the built environment have also been considered as potential drivers; however, these changes generally preceded the global increase in obesity and are less likely to be major contributors.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com
It is time to swing the tide.
Clearly, more diets are not going to help.
You do not need another diet.
We need more sanity in learning how to eat real food.
Believe it or not, even if you are an exclusive member of the fattest country in the world right now.
Even if you are 30 pounds above your ideal weight.
Or your BMI is over 25 (which makes you overweight), or over 30 (which is officially obese).
Do not give up hope if you are overweight or obese.
You are in the right place.
Stick with me and I will help you escape the scourge of obesity.
If I could get to a normal weight, I know you can.
I know all about the binges, the cravings, the addiction to processed food.
Save yourself, your family and friends from having to watch you sabotage your health.
Take this one day at a time, one day at a time.
It all starts with your next meal.
Read this to learn how to lose weight fast, in a sane and healthy way.
One day soon, we will no longer be the fattest country in the world, we will be the fittest!
Glad you are joining in for this 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body we can all support each other to improve ourselves emotionally and physically.
Typically, you might see information that only relates to a 10 day detox diet plan for the body. I cannot recall ever seeing a 10 day detox diet plan for the mind. Can you? We are interested in more than nourishing our bodies. Originally, hashimashi.com was purely about weight loss and getting into shape. I called it hashi mashi because of a breakfast recipe I had created (no big deal, basically an egg omelette with lots of greens, hummus, avocado and olives but no bread, boo hoo, I love bread) for a large part of my 75lb weight loss a couple of years ago. But I know that weight loss and body fat was never my total arch nemesis. It has always been depression.
So recently, I decided that I am going to adjust the purpose of my site. If you asked me which would I prefer, to help someone lose weight, or to help someone get relief from depression, I am so clear on the answer. If I can help another person get even a minute relief from depression, I would feel extremely productive. Like I had really accomplished something big. I know how much depression hurts and in the past my only coping techniques were to think of suicide or becoming catatonic, neither which are very productive.
So I am gradually adjusting my site to be geared specifically for a person who wants to know how to fight depression without medications via diet, exercise and positive affirmations. I figured there are plenty of weight loss gurus. I would love if my contribution to the world is to help others get relief from depression. That is what is different about this 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body. It is not just about food and weight loss. It is about healing our minds as well, relief from depression, being able to enjoy life.
I have set up this article to be a meeting place for us to support each other, share our thoughts, ideas, experiences during this 10 day detox diet plan for both mental and physical health. The easiest way for us to stay in contact is by using the comments below.
Here is a proposed rough draft of suggestions/guidelines. Please feel free to modify, add and/or delete to or from this list. Thanks!
10 day detox diet plan for mind and body – thoughts, speech
1. First of all.
Say “Zehhu! (That's it, I have had enough!)”. Say to yourself that you have had enough. Tell yourself to stop it. Tell yourself that you want to enjoy your day and that you will accept small victories, whatever those might be.
2. Never Give Up, Do not Lose Hope, Be Optimistic.
Just as you change, other people can change too. Be hopeful and give yourself a break from mourning over family estrangement or the action of another person that you cannot control. Remember that just one moment of joy is like the light shining on a very dark room. All the darkness of 12 years that I lived in became much more illuminated from just a few kind words and moments. However, we have to be the light for ourselves and become more independently happy. We cannot leave it in the hands of another. How to do that? Next:
3. Change yourself.
Stop thinking about how other people, even relatives, should be different. I always wondered why should and should er have essentially the same letters except for “er”. I came to think of it as this, all of the “shoulds” that I say others should do, I will shoulder it, I will put them on my shoulders. There is great amazing relief in stopping pushing against a brick wall. If the wall is brick and you tried several times to knock it over, most likely it is not going to budge, so stop beating your head against that wall. Instead, find exciting , fun, projects for yourself to do, because you can change yourself. You can control what you say, what you eat, what you drink, how you move, so you can start to rack up small victories for yourself. As you are successful, you will be hungrier for more and keep becoming more confident. Yes, you will see some curve balls, but so what? That is part of this game. Keep getting up to bat and you will eventually be hitting home runs.
Thought, Speech and Action
4. You must get control of your thoughts. Take out the video tape that plays in your head showing you as the victim, as the one who has been wronged. Replace it with the good affirmations, think of every success that you have had in your life, whatever it might be. You have to walk out of the room of estrangement, out of the room where someone else is controlling your mood, close the door, lock it and open up new doors, build new rooms, go back to the scenes in your mind of the past where you did right, where things were good. Heck, I even patted myself on the back for stopping biting my nails. I know, a gross habit, but I throw it in there too. I lost 75lbs. I slimmed down from a 48″ waist to a 32″ waist. I know, I did not invent the polio vaccine, but I improved myself. If we can support each other and that leads to even a minute of relief from depression, how great is that? I think that anyone who has experienced depression, for whatever reason, situational, genetic, would be ecstatic to have a minute of relief, so I am not going to minimize the importance of what we are doing here. We have to come up with a ‘depression vaccine', which will protect us and others from wallowing in the dark places of our minds which prevents us and others who care about us from enjoying life. I am sure that you have your own successes to look at, you have your own interests, art, music, dance, reading, gardening, walking, running. Start to tell yourself positive thoughts only. Good stuff about you. If someone is only telling you bad, ignore them, turn them off. Think good about yourself.
5. Speak good about yourself. Stop maligning yourself. Zehhu! Is it not enough that another has maligned you, us? We cannot speak ill of ourselves as well. There is alot to write about this point alone, how egregious speech can be, especially when it is about ourselves. Only say good things. Words are powerful. Nobody builds anything without first thinking about it and speaking about it. Start speaking about what you want to build, not what you want to destroy, because both are true by our thought and speech.
10 day detox diet plan for the mind and body -physical cleanse, which will help improve the mind as well
6. Get more physically fit for a better functioning brain, as a stronger mind will be the result of a stronger body. Do this 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body with me, and with the others who have mentioned that they are interested. Why a 10 day cleanse? Why not a 5 day, why not an 11 day? Honestly, I do not think that there is much magic to doing a 10 day cleanse over an 11 day cleanse. I already mentioned that I thought about 10 because I wanted to atone for my years of depression, one day for every year of depression.
Do not focus on losing weight during a 10 day cleanse, rather focus on eating the healthiest foods possible with an overdose of green vegetables and low glycemic fruits, pure water.
Even without focusing on weight loss, you can safely expect to drop a good 10 pounds. I know that sounds impossible, but remember that you are going to be giving your body a huge break, a break from your regular food days as well as a break from your diets. The bottom line is that you will be allowing your internal organs to recuperate and reboot by restraining the amounts and type of food that they have to digest.
I think that we all can agree that just about every health professional out there, despite all of their arguments as to whether one food or another is good for you, will not be arguing about fruit and vegetables. Some say to have grain, others say grains are off limits. Even George Costanza went on an “off bread” diet which he used as the excuse for using his index finger to scoop out peanut butter from Seinfeld's jar! Some say meat is great, others say it is the plague, same with eggs, fish, dairy, just about any ingredient besides fruits and vegetables is subject to debate.
Fruits and Vegetables are not. All health professionals, whether they are low carb or high carb, low fat or high fat, macro or paleo, pro poultry or vegan, everyone agrees that fruits and vegetables are the holy grail.
What do we learn from this? The best way to rest our body is to make sure that we can get a good dose of fruits and vegetables every day.
Granted, there are those who will say to minimize very sugary fruits like bananas, mangos, pineapple in order to lower triglycerides, blood sugar levels and as a result, when I say fruits, I am mainly referring to low glycemic index fruits, the types of fruit that all health professionals give a big thumbs up to, like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, apple, pear and acai berries.
A bagels and lox sandwich with a thin slice of tomato is not a big dose of fruit and vegetables. It is a big dose of bagel, cream cheese, lox and munster cheese, maybe a slice of tomato and maybe a slice of onion. That is not overdosing on fruit and vegetables. That is how I ended up with a belly hanging over my belt. Only eating real food is what finally cured me of the belly hang and gave me a flat stomach.
The idea then is to flip the script. We want to bombard our bodies with fruits and vegetables as the foundation to allow our bodies the maximum amount of rest and recovery. Everyone in their right mind knows without doubt that berries and vegetables are good for you. No worries.
7. The question is then, for a society like ours where berries and vegetables play third, fourth or even fifth fiddle to meat, buns, pies, yoo hoo, cheese, cookies, you name it, how can we turn the tables and make low glycemic fruits and green vegetables number one?
So, how do we do a 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body with low glycemic fruits and green vegetables playing the star leading role?
Here is one answer that I want to suggest to you for your 10 day detox diet plan.
All you need are
number one, green vegetables, such as spinach, argula, lettuce, kale or collard greens. These days, getting green vegetables pre washed and packaged is fairly easy at your local grocery.
Number two, get yourself some pouches of frozen fruit, you can find frozen cherries, strawberries, blueberries, peach and even mango. Fresh fruit is fine as well, but the advantage of frozen fruit is it's availability year round as well as it being a great substitute for ice once I tell you what to do with all of these green vegetables and frozen fruit.
Number three is cold pure water, either filter it yourself in a brita pitcher or get pure bottled water like Evian.
Fourth is to have some raw stevia packets on hand, a natural sugar substitute which does not have much calories and also will not spike your blood sugar.
Last is you will need a blender. I use a nutribullet which works fine for me. I have not tried using a standard home blender, but I imagine that they should work fine as well.
That is it, 5 ingredients:
1. Green Vegetables
2. Low glycemic Fruits
3. Pure Water
4. Raw Stevia
5. A Blender
8. What you will do for the next 10 days of your 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body is this:
Have three meals a day and shoot to have two of them be a meal replacement created fresh by you with your blender.
How?
It is so ridiculously simple that even I can do it.
Put 2 cups of cold water in your blender.
Add a couple of handfuls of your greens. Blend it down.
Add a cup or so of fruit like blueberries, strawberries or cherries. You can add half an apple too if you want, but I have found that these smoothies do not need the apple.
Add 1 – 2 packets of raw stevia.
Pow, presto, you have a delicious and refreshing meal replacement which is chock full of green energy and low glycemic fruit. If you want to add protein powder, go for it.
Your third meal, go for simplicity with some salad, vegetables and protein, the less cooking done the better.
A great meal would be wild salmon grilled along with salad. Avoid having a heavy meal of chicken chow mein and fried rice. You understand, you want to feed your body the most nutritious food possible during this 10 day detox diet plan for mind and body.
9. Some other examples of light meals,preferably organic free range protein sources, fish and vegetables, chicken and vegetables, vegetables and tofu, the lighter the better.
In between meals, you can snack on you know who, vegetables like celery, mini cucumbers, apples, raw nuts, hard boiled egg. Do not forget to snack, do not go hungry, please!
Drink alot of water on top of the above, get alot of sleep.
10. We want to cleanse our minds as well from everything that has been gnawing at us. Whether it is depression, whether it is estrangements, whatever the movies are that have been playing in our heads for one or ten years, how about putting them under the 10 day detox diet plan for mind and bodyas well? No, they will not disappear, but we might feel better, and isn't that the point?
If we do not do everything possible to heal our bodies and minds, who else will?
Please let me know how this 10 day detox diet plan to refresh your mind and body is going…
that I used to trim 18 inches off my waist in 6 months. This free guide is a roadmap for your own fat to fit transformation. What do you have to lose, other than your belly?
