"Runner's high" Good for Your Heart:
It turns out that endorphins, those natural feel good chemicals produced during exercise, may be good for your heart health. They are usually associated with the "runner's high" or bodybuilders' "pump."
Recent research suggests that endorphins may also protect you from heart attacks. It is known that regular, vigorous exercise decreases your risk of hardening of the arteries, stroke, osteoporosis and even depression.
Yet, the mechanisms behind this has been unclear. Researchers at the University of Iowa studied rats undergoing exercise. When they blocked the endorphin receptors, the heart benefits of exercise seemed to be blocked, as well.
While this left the researchers with more work to be done on this subject, the lead researcher stated that in the future, it would be nice if they could harness the power of these chemicals for those with limited mobility, who have difficulty exercising.
You can read the original article at the right of this column or read the rest of my comments in my article Runner's high is good for your heart.
I have also recently written new articles Indian club exercises for golf fitness and Exercise helps women with fibromyalgia.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Exercising After an Injury:
If you have had past injuries or have been sedentary for a while, you may need some additional help when starting an exercise program. Common gym exercises that may be fine for someone in their twenties, may cause discomfort or injury for someone in their forties or beyond.
The first thing you should look for is a trainer who is experienced in working with injuries or has had several post-rehab clients. You will probably have some muscle imbalances that need to be addressed first, to keep from causing an injury or to keep you from hitting a plateau too soon.
After starting an exercise program you will usually see some progress in the first three or four months and then your body adapts to this new stimulus. Then you will need a new stimulus to see additional results. This could include increasing the length of time you exercise, the amount of resistance, or shortening the rest periods.
With those with past injuries or imbalances, if you don't correct these right away, this exercise plateau could occur sooner than normal, if injury doesn't occur first. So finding a trainer who is knowledgeable in posture and corrective exercise is important.
Often times after an injury or being sedentary, the muscles that help stabilize your joints are weak. To not address these important stabilizers would be like putting a souped up engine in a car with worn out tires and shocks - you won't be able to use this additional power and may wreck the car.
So how do you address these important areas? Glad you asked. You first have to make sure that your body is balanced. Your muscles should be balanced front to back, side to side, and top to bottom. You need to work on your posture, making sure that your body is properly aligned with gravity, to make your movements more efficient.
One way to do this is by using whole body vibration platforms, such as the Power Plate. These platforms place you in positions where several muscles and joints are used at the same time, such as standing in a squat position. The vibrations cause your muscles to contract reflexively 25-50 times per second, beyond your conscious control.
This is a lot of stimulation to your nervous system and this can also stimulate and strengthen these important stabilizing muscles, muscles that often are weak and inefficient after injury. For example, one of my clients is looking to lose some weight. She also has past knee problems which need to be addressed.
The vibrations help stimulate her weak knee muscles and turn them back "on", so that they are contracting correctly. Obviously, this contributes to a more stable knee and allows her to exercise in a somewhat controlled manner, as many of these positions occur in a static position.
Meaning she stands on the platform and squats down to a comfortable position and stays there, while the vibrations occur. Initially, these exercises are done without moving.
We have also added in different standing and floor exercises to help strengthen her "core" muscles. By combining these different exercises she can now feel her knee muscles contracting, as well as her glutes (hips), which are vital to providing stability to her pelvis, and thus her low back.
So in addition to increasing her metabolism, burning some fat, she also has greater stability in muscles that were lacking strength, prior. By building this foundation of a balanced body first, we can now build the rest, knowing that we will get further results without hitting a plateau or reinjuring weak muscles.
By the way, this 30ish mother of three and part-time student had tried the traditional healthclub routine with little to show for it. The kicker is, her workouts last only 20 minutes! After about 8 sessions, she has seen results and has greater strength, stability, and endurance.
Don't think that she isn't working hard, though. She is - but we're also working more efficiently. Getting more done in a shorter amount of time.
For more information on these type of workouts, go to Gravity Fx Fitness.com
If you have had past injuries or have been sedentary for a while, you may need some additional help when starting an exercise program. Common gym exercises that may be fine for someone in their twenties, may cause discomfort or injury for someone in their forties or beyond.
The first thing you should look for is a trainer who is experienced in working with injuries or has had several post-rehab clients. You will probably have some muscle imbalances that need to be addressed first, to keep from causing an injury or to keep you from hitting a plateau too soon.
After starting an exercise program you will usually see some progress in the first three or four months and then your body adapts to this new stimulus. Then you will need a new stimulus to see additional results. This could include increasing the length of time you exercise, the amount of resistance, or shortening the rest periods.
With those with past injuries or imbalances, if you don't correct these right away, this exercise plateau could occur sooner than normal, if injury doesn't occur first. So finding a trainer who is knowledgeable in posture and corrective exercise is important.
Often times after an injury or being sedentary, the muscles that help stabilize your joints are weak. To not address these important stabilizers would be like putting a souped up engine in a car with worn out tires and shocks - you won't be able to use this additional power and may wreck the car.
So how do you address these important areas? Glad you asked. You first have to make sure that your body is balanced. Your muscles should be balanced front to back, side to side, and top to bottom. You need to work on your posture, making sure that your body is properly aligned with gravity, to make your movements more efficient.
One way to do this is by using whole body vibration platforms, such as the Power Plate. These platforms place you in positions where several muscles and joints are used at the same time, such as standing in a squat position. The vibrations cause your muscles to contract reflexively 25-50 times per second, beyond your conscious control.
This is a lot of stimulation to your nervous system and this can also stimulate and strengthen these important stabilizing muscles, muscles that often are weak and inefficient after injury. For example, one of my clients is looking to lose some weight. She also has past knee problems which need to be addressed.
The vibrations help stimulate her weak knee muscles and turn them back "on", so that they are contracting correctly. Obviously, this contributes to a more stable knee and allows her to exercise in a somewhat controlled manner, as many of these positions occur in a static position.
Meaning she stands on the platform and squats down to a comfortable position and stays there, while the vibrations occur. Initially, these exercises are done without moving.
We have also added in different standing and floor exercises to help strengthen her "core" muscles. By combining these different exercises she can now feel her knee muscles contracting, as well as her glutes (hips), which are vital to providing stability to her pelvis, and thus her low back.
So in addition to increasing her metabolism, burning some fat, she also has greater stability in muscles that were lacking strength, prior. By building this foundation of a balanced body first, we can now build the rest, knowing that we will get further results without hitting a plateau or reinjuring weak muscles.
By the way, this 30ish mother of three and part-time student had tried the traditional healthclub routine with little to show for it. The kicker is, her workouts last only 20 minutes! After about 8 sessions, she has seen results and has greater strength, stability, and endurance.
Don't think that she isn't working hard, though. She is - but we're also working more efficiently. Getting more done in a shorter amount of time.
For more information on these type of workouts, go to Gravity Fx Fitness.com
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Move It Or Lose It - Your Mobility!
A recent study has backed up what I have said before - that if you are looking to keep your mobility as you age, you need to move it or lose it. Except for cases of disease or severe injury, we all should be able to stay mobile for life....
if we just work at it!
A study done at the Peninsula College of Medicine in the UK, looked at US and British subjects and their activity patterns in middle life.
The researchers concluded that there was a direct link between the activity level in middle age and the ability to be physically active and maintain mobility, later in life. Many times we see seniors who have poor posture and limited mobility and assume that it's just a normal part of aging.
Not according to this study. Those who maintained reasonable levels of physical activity in middle age were less likely to have trouble walking distances, climbing stairs, maintaining their sense of balance or getting up out of a chair.
The researchers further found that regardless of weight, those who engaged in heavy housework or gardening, played sports or had physically demanding jobs, were more likely to remain mobile later in life.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? If you have read my articles before, I can seem to sound like a broken record at times, but for most of us, it really is that simple - move it or lose it.
This article was first posted online by Science Daily and I have provided a link on the right side of this blog.
To read more of my articles, you can go to Brian Morgan Fitness.com. For those who may have trouble with normal exercise, you should check out my new studio that uses a Power Plate whole body vibration platform. Click here for Gravity Fx Fitness.
You might want to find a Power Plate near you if this is the case.
A recent study has backed up what I have said before - that if you are looking to keep your mobility as you age, you need to move it or lose it. Except for cases of disease or severe injury, we all should be able to stay mobile for life....
if we just work at it!
A study done at the Peninsula College of Medicine in the UK, looked at US and British subjects and their activity patterns in middle life.
The researchers concluded that there was a direct link between the activity level in middle age and the ability to be physically active and maintain mobility, later in life. Many times we see seniors who have poor posture and limited mobility and assume that it's just a normal part of aging.
Not according to this study. Those who maintained reasonable levels of physical activity in middle age were less likely to have trouble walking distances, climbing stairs, maintaining their sense of balance or getting up out of a chair.
The researchers further found that regardless of weight, those who engaged in heavy housework or gardening, played sports or had physically demanding jobs, were more likely to remain mobile later in life.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? If you have read my articles before, I can seem to sound like a broken record at times, but for most of us, it really is that simple - move it or lose it.
This article was first posted online by Science Daily and I have provided a link on the right side of this blog.
To read more of my articles, you can go to Brian Morgan Fitness.com. For those who may have trouble with normal exercise, you should check out my new studio that uses a Power Plate whole body vibration platform. Click here for Gravity Fx Fitness.
You might want to find a Power Plate near you if this is the case.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
How to Save your Back from Injury:
Last time I talked about how situps were bad for your spine and can possibly lead to a back injury. I wanted to follow up with some more information from the Stuart McGill spine stability seminar.
Dr. McGill is a noted spine researcher who measures various forces on the back to see what causes injuries. He also knows how to apply this knowledge first hand.
Following up on how situps are not the best thing for the spine, side crunches and situp variations aren't any better and may be even worse.
Let's look at some of the infomercials and the message they try to portray.
In an effort to show you with scientific proof that their ab device is effective, you will sometimes see some college professor talk about how they measured the muscle activity, and how well their device works the abs.
Well, some of them may work the obliques, the side muscles pretty well, but they never bother to measure the pressure on the spine in these positions. Dr. McGill says that these side crunches are absolutely terrible on your back.
This is another reason to dislike many of these items, besides the fact that they strongly infer that if you just use their machine you will get six pack abs. They never say anything about the fact that you can't spot reduce.
Meaning, no matter how many crunches you do, you won't burn the fat away from your stomach. But since that's what you want they try to sell it to you.
Another obvious back saver - don't bend over and twist simultaneously - bad for your back, but you probably knew that already.
Back again with the posture, Dr. McGill brought up it's importance in prevention and correction of low back pain. He demonstrated this by having people stand while placing their hands on their back muscles.
Then he had us lean forward a little bit and you could feel the muscles working. Lean back into good posture and the muscles stopped working. The point is that with poor posture, your back muscles are constantly working when they don't have to be.
Being stuck in the "on" position all the time will cause your muscles to fatigue and possibly lead to some painful muscles, over time.
And lastly, after sitting for a long time, don't put a lot of pressure on the spine right away. For example, and shipping and receiving clerk who spends some time sitting and then gets up to unload a truck, may put his back at risk.
After being seated a while, take your time before lifting anything heavy, as your ligaments may have relaxed somewhat while seated.
Last time I talked about how situps were bad for your spine and can possibly lead to a back injury. I wanted to follow up with some more information from the Stuart McGill spine stability seminar.
Dr. McGill is a noted spine researcher who measures various forces on the back to see what causes injuries. He also knows how to apply this knowledge first hand.
Following up on how situps are not the best thing for the spine, side crunches and situp variations aren't any better and may be even worse.
Let's look at some of the infomercials and the message they try to portray.
In an effort to show you with scientific proof that their ab device is effective, you will sometimes see some college professor talk about how they measured the muscle activity, and how well their device works the abs.
Well, some of them may work the obliques, the side muscles pretty well, but they never bother to measure the pressure on the spine in these positions. Dr. McGill says that these side crunches are absolutely terrible on your back.
This is another reason to dislike many of these items, besides the fact that they strongly infer that if you just use their machine you will get six pack abs. They never say anything about the fact that you can't spot reduce.
Meaning, no matter how many crunches you do, you won't burn the fat away from your stomach. But since that's what you want they try to sell it to you.
Another obvious back saver - don't bend over and twist simultaneously - bad for your back, but you probably knew that already.
Back again with the posture, Dr. McGill brought up it's importance in prevention and correction of low back pain. He demonstrated this by having people stand while placing their hands on their back muscles.
Then he had us lean forward a little bit and you could feel the muscles working. Lean back into good posture and the muscles stopped working. The point is that with poor posture, your back muscles are constantly working when they don't have to be.
Being stuck in the "on" position all the time will cause your muscles to fatigue and possibly lead to some painful muscles, over time.
And lastly, after sitting for a long time, don't put a lot of pressure on the spine right away. For example, and shipping and receiving clerk who spends some time sitting and then gets up to unload a truck, may put his back at risk.
After being seated a while, take your time before lifting anything heavy, as your ligaments may have relaxed somewhat while seated.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Is Excess Muscle Tension Causing Your Pain?
Can having too much tension in your muscles cause pain? Most definitely!
I recently received a massage from a colleague. One of the benefits of teaching/working in a massage therapy school, is access to massage.
Because I know that if I just lie there and totally relax and enter a deeply relaxed state, that makes it so much easier for the massage therapist.
So many times, we have so much stress in our lives, that our muscles become tense, frequently causing pain. More than once, I have worked on someone in a clinical setting where they wanted me to "use more pressure" thinking thats what their body needed.
Being a large person, giving enough pressure isn't the issue. But almost always, these people have held too much tension in their muscles, due to excess stress in their lives and lack of proper movement.
Sometimes, they have had past injuries and some scar tissue has formed. This can add some chronic tension to their muscles, but still, they should be able to move and stretch their muscles enough to keep this scar tissue from causing so much pain.
My point is, we all need to move our bodies enough that they don't become stiff and painful, especially if you have had past injuries such as low back pain.
Joint mobility movements are one way to provide movement for your joints. Taking classes such as Tai Chi or Nia can also help. Moving your joints through their intended motions on a regular basis, is needed.
So you may need to see a massage therapist to help with past injuries or excess stress. Deep tissue massage can help quite a bit, but if you are that person who always requires
maximum pressure or pain, maybe you need to think about moving your muscles and joints more often to help relieve pressure.
Since many people can't get massage therapy as often as needed, I have some helpful tips for self-massage on my website. Click here for info on self massage and pain relief.
Can having too much tension in your muscles cause pain? Most definitely!
I recently received a massage from a colleague. One of the benefits of teaching/working in a massage therapy school, is access to massage.
Because I know that if I just lie there and totally relax and enter a deeply relaxed state, that makes it so much easier for the massage therapist.
So many times, we have so much stress in our lives, that our muscles become tense, frequently causing pain. More than once, I have worked on someone in a clinical setting where they wanted me to "use more pressure" thinking thats what their body needed.
Being a large person, giving enough pressure isn't the issue. But almost always, these people have held too much tension in their muscles, due to excess stress in their lives and lack of proper movement.
Sometimes, they have had past injuries and some scar tissue has formed. This can add some chronic tension to their muscles, but still, they should be able to move and stretch their muscles enough to keep this scar tissue from causing so much pain.
My point is, we all need to move our bodies enough that they don't become stiff and painful, especially if you have had past injuries such as low back pain.
Joint mobility movements are one way to provide movement for your joints. Taking classes such as Tai Chi or Nia can also help. Moving your joints through their intended motions on a regular basis, is needed.
So you may need to see a massage therapist to help with past injuries or excess stress. Deep tissue massage can help quite a bit, but if you are that person who always requires
maximum pressure or pain, maybe you need to think about moving your muscles and joints more often to help relieve pressure.
Since many people can't get massage therapy as often as needed, I have some helpful tips for self-massage on my website. Click here for info on self massage and pain relief.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Can Omega 3 Fatty Acids Prevent Disease?
A recent study looked at the influence of Omega 3 fatty acids on Parkinson's disease. This study suggested that these essential fats can provide some protection against this disease.
Omega 3's are usually consumed in fish oil supplements, but is this the best way to get them. What about other sources?
Omega threes are an important part of healthy brain tissue and are very lacking in the typical Western diet. One source states that you should have a ratio of 3 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.
For many of us, that ratio is more like 10 or 20 to 1. Maybe we should get back to grass fed beef and forget all the hormones that are used to fatten the cattle.
In any case, if you would like to read my recent article on how Omega 3's can help with stiff, inflamed joints, click here.
For those who have problems with posture and back pain, a few weeks ago I wrote about a new device called the True Back. I ordered one and have tried it a few times before giving it to my parents to use.
My initial response is that I like it and believe that it may help many who have back pain, get some relief. Its not going to fix your low back pain, but it can help manage it.
And for many, that would be a welcome sight. It works by providing a mild traction effect, while stretching your spine, taking pressure off it.
In some cases, this can be due to poor posture and lack of mobility in the thoracic spine. Remember, correcting your posture and getting adequate movement, is very important to your health.
A recent study looked at the influence of Omega 3 fatty acids on Parkinson's disease. This study suggested that these essential fats can provide some protection against this disease.
Omega 3's are usually consumed in fish oil supplements, but is this the best way to get them. What about other sources?
Omega threes are an important part of healthy brain tissue and are very lacking in the typical Western diet. One source states that you should have a ratio of 3 to 1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.
For many of us, that ratio is more like 10 or 20 to 1. Maybe we should get back to grass fed beef and forget all the hormones that are used to fatten the cattle.
In any case, if you would like to read my recent article on how Omega 3's can help with stiff, inflamed joints, click here.
For those who have problems with posture and back pain, a few weeks ago I wrote about a new device called the True Back. I ordered one and have tried it a few times before giving it to my parents to use.
My initial response is that I like it and believe that it may help many who have back pain, get some relief. Its not going to fix your low back pain, but it can help manage it.
And for many, that would be a welcome sight. It works by providing a mild traction effect, while stretching your spine, taking pressure off it.
In some cases, this can be due to poor posture and lack of mobility in the thoracic spine. Remember, correcting your posture and getting adequate movement, is very important to your health.
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