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FITNESS DOESN'T END WHEN YOU LEAVE THE GYM

07.13.2007

Ten Simple Lifestyle Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Your Summer Fitness Routine

The reason so many people accept failure in their fitness endeavors is that life, quite simply, gets in the way. All the cardio in the world and the best workout program ever designed cannot undo your daily lifestyle. Andy Coggan, Gold's Gym personal trainer, has developed eight lifestyle tips that will allow you to get the most out of your fitness routine-after leaving the gym:

Eat Right - Diet is 75% of the battle. This means adhering to healthy foods, frequency of meals, timing of nutrients, and portion control, as well as abstaining from or limiting your intake of alcohol, sugar and saturated fats.

Get Enough Sleep - Exercise causes damage to muscle fibers which can only be healed optimally with proper recovery. Getting eight hours of sleep every night will assure you that you are getting the rest your body needs.

Don't Stop Moving - Get involved in a local adult sports league, play with your kids, walk the dog, and take the stairs when you can. Plan your vacations and outings to involve being active and outdoors. Every calorie burned adds up, and each little activity can make a big impact when combined with others.

Limit TV and Internet Time - Time spent in front of the TV or computer is time spent sitting or lying down. Try to limit this time to an hour each night, you'll be amazed at how much more you accomplish and how much better you feel.

Plan Your Meals - Make a plan ahead of time to determine what you will be eating, and then stick to it. Go to the grocery store and buy only what you need for planned meals.

Drink Water- Water is necessary for the proper function of all cells in your body and replaces other high calorie drink options from your diet. Strive for a minimum of 64 ounces per day, and more on days that you exercise.

Avoid Social Pitfalls- There is always a celebration to be had and all seem to be valid excuses to "cheat." You hit your monthly sales goal at work, today is a co-workers birthday, your team has a big game this weekend, and so on and so on. Celebrate when it's appropriate, but don't forget your fitness goals and save your "cheating" for when it's really appropriate.

Get Your Friends and Family Involved- Having a good support system for your healthy lifestyle can mean the difference between a goal met and a goal forgotten. Tell those closest to you what you want to accomplish and they will be much more likely to check in on your progress and assist you along the way.

Reduce Stress - Keeping your stress levels in check can have a profound effect on your health and wellbeing. The stress hormone cortisol has been linked to increased body fat around the waist as well as high blood pressure and blood sugar imbalances. Find ways to relax and eliminate stress on a day to day basis.

Reward Yourself - Allow yourself a day to eat the food you've been resisting all week long, to sleep in, or to take a break from working out altogether. It is these reward days that can keep a person self disciplined and motivated to stick with the program they're on, knowing that they have something to look forward to. But be careful not to overdo it on the reward days.

Tips from the Trainer: 5 Steps to Better Your Legs on the Upright Bike

07.13.2007

Lisa McClendon, Gold's Gym Personal Trainer in Kileen TX, offers simple suggestions to get the most out of your upright biking workout.

The following tips were developed by Gold's Gym Personal Trainer Lisa McClendon to help correct a few common mistakes made while riding the upright bike.

Make sure to keep your knees in. Not only will this help with your form but it will work the inside of your thighs too!
When at the bottom of the stroke rotation, flick your toes back to add power. This will help tone your calves.
Always make sure you squeeze your abs in as you pedal. An activated core is just as important as what your legs are doing.
In order to really work-off overlaying fat, make sure your routine lasts at LEAST 30-45 minutes, and focus on each and every rotation.
Vary your cycling routine with interval work. Do 30 seconds at a high intensity off of the saddle, followed by 30 seconds at a regular intensity. This will give your legs an extra push!

Boomers Must Take Extra Steps To Prevent Sports And Exercise-related Injuries

06.29.2007

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recommendations to help prevent injuries while exercising.

While exercise and playing sports can be lots of fun, aging puts some limits on the intensity and duration of that activity. Growing older also makes us more prone to injuries ourselves during physical activity. "Baby boomers" tend to be at risk, since they may just be discovering their bodies are not as young as they used to be. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) recommends that "boomers" take special cautions to help prevent injuries as they exercise to keep their bodies in top condition.

According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, in 2005:

More than 128,000 people between the ages of 45 and 64 were treated in hospital emergency rooms, doctors' offices, clinics and other medical settings for injuries related to exercise and exercise equipment.

"When you are 50, your body is more prone to injury than it was when you were 20," says Emmett McEleney, MD, orthopaedic surgeon and AAOS Leadership Fellows Program member. "Joints, tissues and muscles may not be as flexible as they used to be. So as you get older, you need to take extra steps to protect yourself from injuries when you exercise."

The Academy offers the following strategies to help baby boomers prevent exercise-related injuries:

Check with your doctor first. Before beginning an exercise program, a physician can make sure your heart is in good condition, and make recommendations based on your current fitness level. This is especially important if you have had a previous injury.
Always warm up and stretch before exercising. Cold muscles are more likely to get injured, so warm up with some light exercise for at least 3 to 5 minutes.
Don't be a "weekend warrior." Moderate exercise every day is healthier and less likely to result in injury than heavy activity only on weekends.
Take lessons. An instructor can help ensure that you are using the proper form, which can prevent overuse injuries such as tendonitis and stress fractures.
Develop a balanced fitness program. Incorporate cardio, strength training, and flexibility training to get a total body workout and prevent overuse injuries. Also, introduce new exercises gradually, so you don't take on too much at once.
Take calcium and vitamin D daily.
Listen to your body. As you age, you may not be able to do some of the activities that you did years ago. Pay attention to your body's needs and abilities and modify your workout accordingly.

Originally published by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Seven Best and Seven Worst Foods for Health and Longevity

06.29.2007

Dr. Joel Fuhrman on eating for your health in the long term.

Because food has the power to heal, my patients often ask me for my top list of healthy food - the anti-oxidant foods, heart healthy foods, and nutritious foods that are central to the Eat To Live program. These high nutrient foods, consumed regularly, will contribute to your health and longevity. What you eat -- now and when you were growing up -- dramatically affects the state of your health. The effect is cumulative, influencing everything from the amount of energy you have (or lack), to your emotional state, medical condition, and ultimately longevity.

Top Seven Foods for Good Health and Longevity

Black raspberries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Flax Seeds
Green Leafy Vegetables
Tomatoes
Broccoli sprouts

The healthy and nutritious foods are high antioxidant foods, primarily fruits and vegetables. I selected these healthy foods because they contain the most powerful phytochemicals and anthocyanins which illustrate strong inhibition of chemocarcinogens.

Other foods with high antioxidant and high anti-cancer potential include walnuts, sunflower seeds, pomegranates, beets, cabbage, peppers, and parsley. Make your diet strongly cancer-protective and longevity-favorable by including these highly beneficial, nutritious foods.

A good way to think about nutritious food: Produce is the most important health care your money can buy.

Food also has the potential to harm, and these are effective foods for those attempting to die younger. One of my daughters calls this list the Seven Foods of Death.

Worst Seven Foods for Health and Longevity

Butter
Cheese
Potato Chips and French Fries
Doughnuts
Salt
Sausage, hot dogs
Pickled, smoked or barbequed meat

Foods high in saturated fat and trans fat are consistently associated with high cancer rates. Cheese and butter typically contain over ten times as much saturated fat as fish and white meat chicken and turkey.

Salt has been consistently linked to stomach cancer and stroke, even in populations that eat diets low in saturated fat.

Add the carcinogenic potential from heated and overcooked oils (usually trans containing) delivered in doughnuts and fries with the powerful cancer inducing properties of carbohydrates cooked at high heat (acrylamide formation) and you have a great cancer potion.

Needless to say, I advise people to avoid the foods on my "worst list" entirely.

The best foods to eat are the healthy, nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables. By making these antioxidant foods the major portion of your diet, you can protect yourself against cancer and other serious diseases. As you extend your youthful vigor into later years, you have contributed to your longevity by Eating to Live with a healthy, nutritious diet.

Originally published on drfuhrman.com for DiseaseProof.com

Exercise: The best medicine

06.29.2007

"Walk two miles and call me in the morning." That's what doctors could soon prescribe if the new leaders of two major medical groups have their way.

"Walk two miles and call me in the morning."

That's what doctors could soon prescribe if the new leaders of two major medical groups have their way.

"We're trying to get every physician to prescribe exercise," says Robert Sallis, a California physician who recently became president of the American College of Sports Medicine. "Physicians have a moral responsibility to inform patients of the danger of inactivity and the health benefits of being more active."

That's also the message from the new head of the American Medical Association.

"We are in lockstep with them on that concept," says incoming AMA President Ronald M. Davis, who is also the director of the Henry Ford Health System's Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Detroit. "We need to get doctors to prescribe exercise more and we need to get patients to follow that advice."

More than half of Americans fail to get the 30 minutes of physical activity recommended daily to provide health benefits, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So many Americans are inactive that some experts have coined a new term for it: sedentary death syndrome. The condition helps cut short an estimated 250,000 lives annually, according to Frank Booth, professor of physiology at the University of Missouri. Research suggests that people who are sedentary spend about $1,500 more annually on medical bills than do their more active counterparts.

"There are also studies to show that they miss more work and are not as productive," says Sallis. Research shows that regular physical activity improves health by cutting the risk of heart disease, stroke, colon cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure. Even brief bouts of activity several times a day can help control weight and relieve arthritis, anxiety and depression.

"Exercise is medicine," Sallis says. "We know that it works very well. We just don't have the proper way to administer it."

That's where the doctors come in. Sallis is leading the charge to get doctors and other health professionals to ask every patient at every office visit about their exercise habits.

It isn't just activity that doctors are being asked to encourage. Harvard Medical School and the Culinary Institute of America recently teamed up to teach physicians to cook more healthfully for their own personal consumption.

The theory is that by teaching doctors how to cook, they may be more likely to encourage their patients to do the same. Harvard also is considering establishing teaching kitchens in hospitals. The goal would be to take patients who have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, heart disease or other nutritionally related conditions, and show them how to make healthier meals.

Written by Sally Squires/The Lean Plate Club

Originally published in the Boston Herald

Fast Food Without the Fat

06.14.2007

Nancy Clark, the director of nutrition services at SportsMedicine Associates, talks about how you can eat well even less than optimal circumstances.

It's no secret that fast-food places are not the bastion of healthy eating. But you can eat at a fast-food place and fare relatively well. Almost every fast-food establishment has at least one healthy (or healthier) choice. But first, let's look at the potential problems if you enter the arena of fast food mindlessly.

When you are in the "gulp-and-go" cycle, you may not give a second thought to what you put into your body. I find that even my health-conscious clients tend to fall into the all-or-none trap the moment they enter a fast-food restaurant. They rationalize, "Since I'm eating fast food, I might as well blow it." This mind-set combined with the ease of ordering combo meals and their inexpensive supersizing can quickly spell trouble. Even if you are not supersizing, some foods by themselves exceed a day's worth of fat and sodium if you eat the whole thing.

If you want to see how your favorite fast-food order stacks up nutritionally, check out appendix A, "Fast-Food Nutritional Charts." You'll find nutrition information on 22 fast-food companies, including pizza places, sandwich shops, and take-out places.

Now let's focus on the positive, that is, how to make the best out of a fast-food situation. Keep in mind that in a pinch, fast food can be better than going too long without eating, which can lead to overeating.

Here are some guidelines to help make the best of your fast-food order.

Don't assume that because a menu item sounds healthy, it is. While a chicken sandwich sounds healthy (and it can be), if it's fried or loaded with bacon and cheese, it can be much higher in fat than a hamburger, which is particularly sad if that's what you wanted all along! For example, Arby's Market Fresh Roast Chicken Sandwich has 820 calories and 2,160 milligrams of sodium, more than one day's maximum recommended sodium.
Forget supersizing. While it's tempting to get more food for mere pennies, in the long run you may pay a bigger price with your health.
Opt for charbroiled or roasted sandwiches, especially chicken.
Hold the mayo. Try using mustard or ketchup instead, or request light mayo, available at many places.
Consider quenching your thirst with low-fat milk, orange juice, or iced tea.
Have a sweet tooth? Take advantage of the frozen yogurt offered at many fast-food places.
Opt for entree salads or side salads, but go easy on the dressing. Better yet, request the light salad dressing.
Gotta have the fries? Then choose the smallest size.
Hold the cheese. Although cheese is rich in calcium, it is loaded with saturated fat. Until the fast-food industry offers lower-fat cheeses, save your cheese eating for home or grazing times when low-fat varieties are available.
Limit anything fried. This includes the healthy-sounding alternatives chicken and fish. Once these items are fried, they are not healthier choices.

What if you are in the mood for a burger? A basic small burger is really not so bad, and it can be a good source of iron, a mineral that most women and children do not get enough of. The problem is getting a basic burger, which in most fast-food places has been relegated to the children's menu, giving you the impression that it could not be enough food for an adult. Your best bet is to request a small hamburger and round it out with a side salad (most places have them) with light dressing. If you are also in the mood for fries, order the kid's meal; you'll get a small burger and small fries.

Excerpted with permission from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, by Nancy Clark, Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Women's midlife weight key to future diabetes risk

06.14.2007

People carrying excess weight who aim to ward off diabetes should try to lose the pounds before they reach middle age, Australian researchers suggest.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People carrying excess weight who aim to ward off diabetes should try to lose the pounds before they reach middle age, Australian researchers suggest.

A woman's body mass index (BMI) in her late 40s was the strongest predictor of her risk of developing diabetes over the next eight years, Dr. Gita D. Mishra of the University of Queensland and her colleagues found.

On the other hand, there was no link between weight change in subsequent years and the likelihood of becoming diabetic.

While excess weight is understood to boost the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the effects of shorter-term weight gain or loss are not as clear, Mishra and her team note in the journal Diabetes Care. To investigate, the researchers followed 7,239 women for 8 years. Study participants were 45 to 50 years old when the study began, and they completed surveys on their health at the study's outset in 1996 and in 1998, 2001 and 2004.

Those with BMIs of 25 or greater, indicating they were overweight or obese, in 1996 were at the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 2004, the researchers found. Very obese women with BMIs of 35 or above were 12 times more likely than their normal-weight peers to become diabetic.

Weight gain or loss during the course of the study had no influence on a woman's risk of developing diabetes, while physical activity only reduced risk for the most active women.

"Because women's risk of developing type 2 diabetes in midlife is more closely related to their initial BMI (when aged 45-50 years) than to subsequent short-term weight-change, public health initiatives should target the prevention of weight gain before and during early adulthood," the researchers conclude.

They note that only small changes in physical activity and calorie intake are needed to stop from becoming overweight or obese, and that it is particularly important to "inspire people" to make those changes while they are young adults.

Originally published in Diabetes Care, June 2007 and reproduced by Reuters Health.

Tips from the trainer: SIMPLE FITNESS TIPS TO HELP YOU LOOK AND FEEL YOUR PERSONAL BEST

06.14.2007

Expert advice from Gold's Gym Senior Fitness Manager Karyna Elizondo

Did you know that proper hydration can help you burn fat? Or that lifting weights can help you lose weight? Gold's Gym Senior Fitness Manager, Karyna Elizondo, provides seven simple tips and facts to help clarify some of the basics of working out and losing weight.

Set Goals - Be sure to set specific, clear and concise goals. Proper goal setting is the key to success when starting a fitness program.

Variation - Program design and exercise variation is a key component to getting results. Change up your workout routine every three to four weeks to get better results.

Lift to Lose - Lifting weights helps you lose weight. Resistance training increases lean muscle; lean muscle burns more calories.

Know When to Stop - Too much cardio can burn lean muscle and slow down your metabolism.

Eating to be Thin - Eat five to six small meals a day to keep your metabolism going and avoid hunger pains.

Proper Nutrition - Following the right meal plan is 70%-80% of accomplishing your fitness goals. Your body adapts to any diet just as it would a workout program.

Water it Down - The proper amount of daily water intake will help burn more fat.

Learning How to Eat

05.31.2007

Nancy Clark, the director of nutrition services at SportsMedicine Associates, offers real-world advice on eating and nutrition.

If diets worked, then everyone who has ever gone on a diet would be thin. That's not what happens. Most dieters are heavy. Hence, the way to lose weight for the long haul is to learn how to eat healthfully and appropriately. In chapter 1 I talked about using the Food Guide Pyramid to guide healthful food choices. In this chapter I'll build on that information to help you choose the right portions at the right times so that you can lose weight without feeling denied or deprived. I'll teach you nutrition skill power, which is more powerful than the willpower you might yearn for. Such was the case with Roberta, a 42-year-old computer programmer, mother of two teenagers, and fitness runner.

"If only I had more willpower, I could lose weight," Roberta complained. "I've been trying to lose these same 8 to 10 pounds for 12, yes 12! years. I'm the diet queen!" Feeling completely helpless, Roberta came to me as a last resort to help her achieve her weight goals.

When reviewing her dieting history, I noticed that Roberta would diet by trying to exist on fruit for breakfast, salads for lunch, yogurt for a snack, and fish with vegetables for dinner. Her intake was spartan, to say the least, and it included a limited variety of food. I asked, "When you are not dieting, what do you eat?" She quickly listed her favorite foods (what she fed her children): cereal for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, spaghetti for dinner. Every time she went on her diet to lose weight, she denied herself these favorite foods. She went to extremes to keep cereal and peanut butter out of her sight so that she wouldn't eat them. She deemed them too much temptation for her weak willpower, so she had her kids hide them from her.

I encouraged Roberta to stop looking at food as being fattening and instead enjoy satisfying meals. Eating good food, after all, is one of life's pleasures. Given that she had liked cereal, breads, and pasta since childhood, she was naive to think she could stop liking them. Instead of trying to keep these foods out of her life, I encouraged her to eat them more often. I pointed out that her standard diet foods (fruit, salad, and fish) had no power over her because she gave herself permission to eat them whenever she wanted. I encouraged her to eat cereal every day for breakfast (and even lunch, dinner, and snacks) to take the power away from that food, and I simultaneously taught her how to manage eating cereal in an appropriate portion.

If you, too, struggle with weight issues, you need to learn how to manage your favorite foods, not how to deny yourself of them. By enjoying appropriate portions of whatever you'd like to eat, as often as you'd like, you no longer need willpower to avoid them. Nutrition skill power, not willpower, enhances permanent weight loss without denial and deprivation.

One skill that enhances your ability to eat appropriate food portions is to eat mindfully (not mindlessly). That is, chew the food s-l-o-w-l-y, taste it, and savor each mouthful. By doing so, you'll need far less quantity to be satisfied, and you'll be content to eat a smaller portion. By mindfully eating your favorite foods, you will also diffuse the urge to do last-chance eating. (You know, "Last chance to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before I go back on my diet. I'd better have another one!") You can enjoy more peanut butter (or whatever) when your body becomes hungry again. Nutrition skill power wins in the end.

A second skill that enhances weight loss is to choose more fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains, and fiber-rich foods that have low glycemic response, that is, that have the smallest effect on blood glucose (see chapter 7). Carbs with a low glycemic index (GI) promote weight loss by promoting satiety and delaying a return of hunger, which contributes to eating less in subsequent meals. High-glycemic carbs (that is, sugary sweets) produce the opposite effect. They trigger the release of more insulin, which can induce hunger and favor storage of fat.

Calorie for calorie, low-glycemic fruits, veggies, and whole grains are more satiating than are high-glycemic sodas, lollipops, and gummy bears. You still need to limit calories, but you can feel fuller on calories from low-glycemic foods. By regularly choosing low-GI carbs, you'll not only lose weight more easily but also maintain that weight loss more easily. Furthermore, the diet is rich in the foods that can reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and hypertension and are consistent with the U.S. dietary guidelines for healthy eating.

Excerpted with permission from Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook, by Nancy Clark, Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Just 10 Minutes of Daily Exercise Boosts Heart Health

05.31.2007

Study finds a little exercise provides cardiovascular benefits, and more is even better

A new study has good news for those who've been avoiding exercise because they don't think they have enough time: Even 10 minutes a day can improve your cardiovascular fitness.

The research found that when overweight or obese, sedentary women started to exercise an average of 72 minutes a week, they increased their peak oxygen consumption -- a measure of cardiovascular fitness -- by 4.2 percent compared to women who stayed on the sidelines.

"For people who've been really sedentary, you're getting a benefit almost immediately. Just get off the couch," advised the study's lead author, Dr. Timothy Church, director of the Laboratory of Preventive Medicine Research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University.

"It was surprising to us, the idea that as little as 10 to 15 minutes of exercise a day could provide benefit in terms of fitness," he added.

The researchers also found that while a little bit of exercise was beneficial, more exercise boosted cardiorespiratory fitness even higher.

Church noted that the intensity of exercise the women in the study engaged in was very low, probably equivalent to walking at a speed of about 2 to 3 miles an hour.

The findings are published in the May 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Physical activity is clearly beneficial for your health. This study shows that any activity is good, and more is better," said Dr. I-Min Lee, an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston. Lee wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal.

Church and his colleagues undertook the research, because there have been few studies that have looked at the dose-response effect of exercise -- that is, how much exercise do you need to see a benefit and will more exercise continue to produce additional benefits?

To answer those questions, the researchers recruited 464 postmenopausal women who were considered overweight or obese. All of the women had some degree of high blood pressure, and none was exercising at all at the start of the study.

The women were randomly assigned to one of four groups: the control group that would remain sedentary; a light exercise group that averaged 72 minutes a week of exercise; a moderate exercise group that averaged about 136 minutes a week; and a high exercise group that completed nearly 192 minutes of exercise each week.

Current recommendations call for 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. Church said the three exercise groups roughly translate to 50 percent, 100 percent and 150 percent of the exercise guideline.

The researchers measured the women's peak oxygen consumption at the start of the study, and then again after six months of exercise. They found that the women in the light exercise group increased their peak oxygen consumption levels by 4.2 percent. The moderate exercise group saw a 6 percent rise, while the heavy exercise group upped their cardiorespiratory fitness by 8.2 percent.

"This is great news for couch potatoes and for the aging," said Church. "There are people that can't obtain the recommendations for exercise, but now, we see if you can't get 150 minutes a week, you stand to benefit even if you get half that."

Lee said: "These findings suggest that different outcomes may show different responses. Even with a little bit of physical activity, there was a significant improvement in physical fitness. And, this study showed that as the dose increased, you saw commensurate increases in fitness.

"With a very doable dose of physical activity, you can start seeing health benefits," Lee added.

Written by Serena Gordon

Originally published at HealthDay News