I’ve known about HeartMath for a while but the PEMF is new to me. Thanks for that.
Is there any reason you went for Katalyst rather than any other EMS exercise suit?
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Reasons
Articulate founder, who understands the metabolism and metabolic responses of muscle to stimulus.
History in Europe, where professional athletes have used the technology for a couple of decades (albeit, prior to miniaturization of the pulse pack and controls, these things used to cost tens of thousands of dollars. Hooked up by cables to external controls and pulsing. For a long time mostly only professional soccer and olympic athletes had access, not many facilities. Very expensive machines.).
Better integrated system (works with an iPad).
Build quality.
Sophistication of the control of the sets of stimulation pads for the different muscle groups.
Fast responding support (after 16 months of use, I had a problem with my pulse pack, they sent me a new one in a flash).
Strong recommendations from the performance-biohacking community.
Wishes
I’d have liked a few things from them:
-
A users forum like this one (promised) and
-
Ability to design and run one’s own programs (essentially control, pulse timing, intervals, and intensity - also promised).
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Direct stimulation of shoulder, calf, and neck muscles - recognizing this would add considerably to the complexity and cost of such a suit.
Reverie
Andy Weir’s book, Hail Mary, describes the use of EMS to keep astronauts fit on long space journeys. Probably makes sense for the ISS.
I do have some long term concerns about bone density, which I will likely address by doing some isometric (fixed bar) squats and deadlifts a few times a week (only take a few minutes to do both).
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I know it is a little off topic, but I was just checking some things and found out that “sterol” blood test is not even available almost anywhere or am I mistaken? i found also this link which describes it STER - Overview: Sterols, Plasma but states that it is not FDA approved. I could not find any European links… has anyone done this test? what is the benefit of going that deep into cholesterol/lipid panel? Anyone got this anywhere in Europe? Something similar? I could not find even a comprehensive lipo and lipoprotein test in Europe.
I am looking more into this issue and find that even Peter Attia and some clinical studies show that desmosterol or high desmosterol plasma levels are neuroprotective and protects against vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis… Low desmosterol has been associated with cognitive impairment on the other hand.
I found a study that shows that if desmosterol is not converted to cholesterol it causes the same problems as cholesterol and in this case low overall cholesterol levels could be misleading.
So now I am in a dead end… since studies done with clomiphene mostly show same or slightly lower overall cholesterol on prolonged use and possible increase of triglycerides (which is easily detected) where exactly is the concern? Is it that less desmosterol is converted to cholesterol or there is additional production of desmosterol taking clomiphene? How big of in issue could it be…?
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Risk is always relative to alternatives. Chronic low test in men means chronic low estrogen as well, along with loss of muscle mass and poor bone density. A short duration use of Clomiphene such as post cycle therapy makes sense to me if the alternative is very low test for a year or more. Otoh how do the risks of continuous Clomiphene treatment compare to the risks of continuous exogenous testosterone treatment, or just living with low T. I am glad there are a lot of human guinea pigs out there trying out the options.
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Hi David,
Other longevity therapies & products I use & recommend are:
-
Pulsed electro-magnetic frequency therapy (PEMF). These devices substantially increase circulation in the body’s 70,000 miles of micro-capillaries. I have a PEMF brand named BEMER. I believe most people alive today have sub-optimal microvascular circulation due to poor diets, sedentary lifestyle, exposure to environmental toxins, etc. In a 3-week clinical trial with BEMER, people gained an average of 18% increase in mitochondrial ATP production. Another benefit, these devices also stimulate osteoblasts to build healthy new bone.
-
I recently wrote a paper titled The Microbiome Theory of Aging, which was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Integrative Medicine. My article explains how bacterial imbalance result in GI inflammation, which causes intestinal permeability that enables systemic inflammation & accelerated biological aging. Here is the open access link to read The Microbiome Theory of Aging
I also wrote an article titled Postbiotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science that was published in the June 2019 issue of the Townsend Letter. This article explains why compounds produced by probiotic bacteria (postbiotic metabolites) are key regulators of health. Most people do not produce adequate amounts of postbiotic metabolites, which results in health problems and accelerated aging. Here is a link to this article:
I also wrote a booklet titled Dr. Ohhira’s Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites. For a pdf copy of this booklet, go to: Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites | Ross Pelton | The Natural Pharmacist
- Boosting glutathione levels is one of the most proactive steps people can take for healthy longevity. Here is the link to my article titled Lactobacillus fermentum ME-3: A New Era in Glutathione Therapy that appeared in June 2017 issue of Townsend Letter
- Coenzyme Q10 is a life extension nutrient, but it MUST be crystal-free CoQ!0. Read my article posted on my blog titled The Importance of Crystal-Free CoQ10.
Anyone wanting more information on these topics can contact me at: rosspelton70@gmail.com
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@DrRoss - Thank you! @Alpha also suggested PEMF and a few other modalities. The balance and optimizing the microbiome, which seems to be the foundation of functional medicine doctors, is very intriguing! Appreciate your passion in longevity approaches. I will give your articles a read.
FWIW
Another good article on CoQ10, in my view the reference{there are 128 references] alone are worth reading is;
Is it better to take CoQ10 or the precursors ubiquinol? I currently take the latter due to Bryan Johnson doing the same.
Thank you Dr Ross.
Could you provide the reference or describe that study a bit more, do you know if it was manufacturer sponsored or independent?
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Here is the reference: Spodaryk K (2001) Red blood metabolism and hemoglobin-haemoglobin oxygen
affinity: Effect of electromagnetic fields on electromagnetic field in healthy
adults. In: Wolf A Kafka (editor) 2nd Int. World Congress Bio-Electro-MagneticEnergy-Regulation, Emphyspace 200l; 2:15-9
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FWIW
I looked up the paper/study/document stated by DrRoss - posting
It is funded and preformed by the manufacturer/seller of the equipment BEMER.
From BEMER own web site;
“Note: The successes documented here refer exclusively to use of the BEMER Therapy System and cannot therefore just be transposed to other magnetic field therapies without question.”
The above quote is from ;
My view{and some people will not like this) is this is self produced PR/advertising.
This reference is NOT independent research that is non bias.
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Thank you and Dr Ross for sharing and the perspective.
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My doctor prescribed 12.5 mg daily of Clomid for 100 days. It raised my T from 500 to 950. No side effects. I’ve been off for 100 days and will begin another cycle if my next blood test shows that T has dropped below 600.
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Can you comment a bit more on this, is the idea that whole muscle build with EMS there is less of “resistance and weight” on the actual bones and hence one does not get the bone strengthening of normal weigh-bearing training?
I haven’t discussed this with Katalyst yet, so by rights they should have a chance to comment. The EMS stimulation could put demand on bones and muscles, I just don’t know yet.
Until I learn otherwise, I’ll proceed on the conjecture that EMS puts little to no demands (e.g., mimicking the compression demands of heavy weights) on bones.
For that matter, most “weight training” doesn’t put nearly enough load on your bones to make a difference. To maximize your bone density one needs to lift and push very heavy things. This can prove a challenge or even dangerous if you don’t have the right equipment.
I use timed static contraction training for this. Ken Hutchinson (developer of Super Slow training) describes the method in this paper. Timed Static Contractions
I don’t think one needs much of this. Maybe 3 to 5 exercises. One set of each. Once per week. Example exercise:
- Dead lift
- Squat
- Shoulder shrug
- Over head press
These kinds of things put maximum load on your skeleton.
One can do this sort of thing on stall bars, a chin-up bar that you can move to different positions in a door way, or a platform with straps or chains connected to a bar.
I don’t recommend the following, I just added the picture to illustrate the idea.
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May not be as good as going to the gym for a workout, but it may be a reasonable substitute for those looking to get benefits with little effort. I have a whole-body vibration platform and find it useful as an adjunct to going to the gym.
In addition to increasing or a least maintaining bone density, it has some other surprising benefits:
“Our previous studies have shown that vibratory training is an effective strategy to improve brain health and cognitive functions, as well as to counteract muscle atrophy and motor decline related to aging and/or a sedentary lifestyle [9,16]. In agreement, numerous studies over the last decades report among the main benefits of mechanical vibrations those affecting the musculoskeletal system, such as increased bone mass and muscle strength, as well as increased hormonal responses and improved cognitive abilities, anxious and depressive behavior, and neuromuscular adaptation”
“A study by McGee-Lawrence et. al, 2017 compared exercise versus WBV, and found that WBV produced similar effects as treadmill exercise with respect to improved insulin sensitivity, better glycemic control, decreased muscle atrophying, and increased cortical bone mass from increased osteocalcin.”
“Systematic review and meta-analyses on the effects of whole-body vibration on bone health”
“High frequency-low magnitude mechanical strains also effectively increases bone structure and density in postmenopausal women.22 Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a form of non-invasive, passively induced mechanical stimulation that increases the mechanical load on bone tissues through the production of strain and modulating muscular force contractions.”
This is the machine I use: It works great, but I don’t recommend it because it has the most aggressive Bluetooth capture I have ever seen. I have to unplug it from the wall, not merely turn the machine off because it will automatically connect with any Bluetooth device I turn on.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229922000139
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Investigating the association of testosterone with survival in men and women using a Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93360-z
Interesting…
Consistent, with well-established theory, testosterone reduced longevity.
Several aspects of a healthy lifestyle (such as a low animal fat diet) and several widely used medications (such as statins, metformin, dexamethasone and possibly aspirin) happen to modulate testosterone.
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Very helpful - and it looks from the supplementary table that this effect is a bit larger for men than in the number you quote above for both men and women.
Did not know this:
Testosterone is also increasingly acknowledged to be an immune-suppressant44, potentially increasing susceptibility to cancer45, as well as to infectious diseases44, such as coronavirus disease 19. Testosterone may also induce impulsive behaviour46.
Also founds this interesting:
Our findings differ from previous observational studies which suggest that endogenous testosterone might improve health and lifespan10,11,12,13,14. However, these studies are open to both confounding by health status18,19 and selection bias from inevitably only recruiting survivors32. Our findings are more consistent with previous MR studies suggesting exogenous testosterone increases cardiovascular disease37,38,
And
Our findings are also consistent with the observation that in one of the few primate species with no age or sex difference in testosterone levels, there is also no sex difference in age-dependant survival.
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