Ray Cronise, a former NASA scientist who spent 15 years overseeing experiments aboard shuttles at Marshall Space Flight Center, has been conducting experiments since 2008 to see if cold temperatures have an effect on the metabolism.

In 2008 while watching a televised program on Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps, Cronise got an idea. The documentary claimed that the swimmer was consuming around 12,000 calories a day while training. That fact didn’t make sense to Cronise considering his own calorie-restricted diet allowed him to have only 12,000 calories per week.

At the time Cronise weighed 209 pounds at 5 feet 9 inches tall, and was trying to get down to 180 pounds. He thought to himself, if Phelps was really consuming that many calories daily and was in the water three hours a day, then something didn’t add up because the swimmer would become a “blob.”
Read Full Post >

This week, Men’s Health announced its list of “100 Fittest Men of All-Time,” including such fitness greats as Bruce Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the man deemed the “godfather of fitness,” Jack LaLanne.

While it must’ve been a difficult process to select only 100 bodies out of hundreds of thousands of elite athletes who’ve walked the Earth, the final cut boasts some of the most amazingly fit men of all time who will continue to inspire greatness well beyond their peak years of health. Here we review the top five picks with a brief snapshot of each, starting with the athlete who came it at number five: College Football Hall of Fame member Herschel Walker.

For those not familiar with Walker (we certainly weren’t), he’s a former NFL player who made a triumphant return to sports as an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter 13 years after retiring from football. At age 40, not only was his comeback commendable but impressive, as he performed quite well winning two pro MMA bouts to date.

Perhaps more impressive is Walker’s daily workout regimen which includes up to 3,500 sit-ups, 1,500 push-ups, and an 8 mile run. Can you imagine the amount of calories it would take to sustain such a grueling routine? Men’s Health also pointed out that the athlete is considering making a return to the gridiron at the ripe age of 50, which leads us to ask “Is there anything Herschel Walker can’t do?”  
Read Full Post >

We’re kicking off our Olympic countdown in style with a steamy look at the top 10 most enviable bodies from the 2012 Olympic team. While there were hundreds of athletes to choose from, we highlighted the ones that stuck out most whether it be from their charm, impressive bragging rights, highly-decorated career, or of course, their head-turning physiques. Check out our slideshow to see if of your favorite athletes made the hot-body list.

Subway sandwiches, Kellogg’s cereal, Speedo swimsuits and now its special post-workout drinks. Michael Phelps endorsements continue to grow.  Phelps has just put his stamp of approval on PureSport, a kind of drink that packs a protein punch and a slow-energy release fuel that keeps you from sugar-crashing like so many other sports drinks do.

Phelps swears by them as a way to refuel before, during and after the five hours he clocks in the training pool. Each drink features a 2.67:1 Carb to Whey Protein ratio and comes in four flavors: grape, banana berry, lemon lime and fruit punch. Eight 16-ounce bottles cost about $25.

But Phelps isn’t the only PureSport enthusiast, fellow 2008 Olympians, gymnast Nastia Liukin and swimmers Aaron Peirsol, Ian Crocker and Brendan Hansen and have been training with PureSport Workout and Recovery nutritional performance sports drinks with protein as part of the nutritional preparations before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

If you’re like me and miss seeing Olympic darling Michael Phelps break world records in the swimming pool, fret no more. Phelps has recently been named as sandwich-giant Subway’s new pitchman. The new campaign coined “The Champion Food Option,” will highlight Subway as a destination for all of your eating needs. From indulgent subs like meatball and steak and cheese to healthy options like grilled chicken breast, Phelps will endorse their entire line of sandwiches.

For Phelps, the array of healthy and not-so healthy fare that Subway offers is a fitting match. The world-record swimmer ate a gluttonous diet of 12,000 calories a day while in training for Beijing. Sandwiches, usually ham and cheese on white bread, were a staple part of his daily “diet.” So whether it’s a pre-swim snack of a foot-long turkey and cheese on wheat or a post-workout treat of a spicy Italian sub packed with all the fixings, Phelps may really have met his champion food with Subway.