Victoria Wellness Professionals

You Are What You Eat – NO, You Are What You Think

By Melonie Dodaro

We’ve all heard the phrase, “You are what you eat.” I completely disagree; you are what you THINK! What you eat is the manifestation of what you think. If your intention is to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle, you must first understand how the mind works. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool, yet few people ever stop to think about what creates our thought patterns, feelings and actions. Therefore, they have no idea what’s responsible for how they experience their lives. The answer lies in the concept of attitude. When we think of attitude, most people envision a type of positive thinking or having a bright and cheery demeanor. While that is an important aspect of attitude, it’s only partially true.

Attitude is a composite of your thoughts, feelings, and actions-not one of the three, but all of them working together in seamless combination.

These thoughts, feelings and actions are a product of our conditioned behavior, which includes how we were raised, how we’ve been educated, and who’s influenced our lives. We’re all a product of our individual experiences, and we each have a unique attitude concerning our health and fitness. To understand how these ideas and actions become ingrained in our behavior, it helps to understand how we learn.

Starting now, you’ll learn how to take responsibility, to live in the present and not the past, to work through your fears, and to stop denying and procrastinating. We’ve learnedeverything we know in four stages:

1. Unconscious Incompetence

2. Conscious Incompetence

3. Conscious Competence

4. Unconscious Competence

Here’s an example. A baby first crawls to move around, not knowing any other way and maybe not even knowing that there is any other way-unconscious incompetence. Eventually, the baby realizes another way to move, and soon develops the desire to walk; holding onto furniture and practicing-conscious incompetence. Soon, the baby learns to concentrate and take a few short steps at a time without falling-conscious competence. Finally, the baby becomes so competent that she can walk without having to think about it-unconscious competence. Once a process is learned, the mind moves that process into the subconscious, becoming a part of us that we no longer think about. This same process is at work when we learn to ride a bicycle, drive a car or use a computer.

Let’s look at this process as it relates to weight:

1. Unconscious Incompetence. This can also be described as what you don’t know you don’t know. You don’t know that you haven’t had the right diet and tools to reach your ideal weight.
2. Conscious Incompetence. What’s missing in the quest to reach you ideal weight, but what it is eludes you.
3. Conscious Competence. What you know you know; you know you have a weight problem and you know you haven’t been able to control it.
4. Unconscious Competence. What you don’t know you know; you have the power to manage your weight. It’s been with you all the time-it’s your mind.

Our mind always thinks in pictures. If I told you to think of your car, your home, or a cheeseburger, instantly pictures of these things would flash upon the screen of your mind. This is why we’re able to drive to someone’s house that we’ve been to before, yet we can’t give street names or a house number, or when following directions we use landmarks instead of streets to guide us. If someone tells us to turn left at the gas station, we see it in our mind and automatically know where it is. Our mind always thinks in images. Now let me explain a little more about the two parts of our mind: conscious and subconscious.

Conscious Mind: is the area that receives all the input and experiences from the outside world. As you’re faced with new events and ideas, your conscious mind has the ability to accept or reject any information it receives. When thoughts come to you from your surroundings, the conscious mind is the filter that allows you to choose only those ideas and events with which you want to be emotionally involved. The conscious mind is also where you create the dreams and goals you want for your life. The information age has increased the complexity of what we’re exposed to in our lives. Although in many ways this makes our lives more efficient and easy, it also means our mind must constantly choose what to process. Like most people, you probably don’t think of this as an active choice, but it is. If we’re constantly inundated with negative messages, we’re bound to choose negative thoughts and ideas that will be stored in our subconscious mind. We then become negative people with negative ideas and options-not only of the events in our lives, but also of ourselves. If we want to think, feel and act more positively, we must guard our sub-conscious with our conscious mind by carefully choosing what ideas engage our emotions and what images we view repeatedly

Subconscious Mind: is the “emotional mind” or “feeling mind.” The ancient Greeks called it “the heart of hearts.” The subconscious mind only has one answer to all commands it receives from the conscious mind, and that answer is always “YES!” The subconscious mind has no ability to accept or reject thoughts. This is why it’s important to monitor thoughts and ideas as we receive them in our conscious mind. The subconscious mind is a blank screen, and any thoughts we accept will resurface there. If we worry about something happening, then the subconscious mind will move us in the direction of having that negative thing happen. For example, if you say or think you’re clumsy, this thought may be responsible when you trip on a crack in the sidewalk.

Likewise, if we create a positive idea of how we want events to unfold or how we want to respond to the unfortunate things that happen in our lives, then the subconscious mind can and will exhibit that positive result. Worrying and focusing on what you don’t want takes just as much energy and time, if not more, than focusing on what you do want. You will always attract more of the same energy that you’re in harmony with, and if it’s negative, then that’s what you’ll receive.

Remember there is an upside to this and it’s that we can monitor our conscious mind. More importantly, we can teach ourselves to increase our positive results. I call it “babysitting the mind.” You’re in control of your thoughts and what you think about, and you’re the only one who can direct your thoughts and what happens in your life! You tell your body what you’re going to eat, when, and how much; you’ve got the power!

Visit our site for more information on living a healthy and happy life at your ideal weight www.MindBodyFX.com.

About the Author

Melonie Dodaro is a weight loss expert, author and speaker. Her approach to weight loss incorporates showing people how to master their mind-body connection for lasting results. To learn more tips and techniques like the ones included in this article please click here: www.MindBodyFX.com.

©Copyright 2009 – MindBody FX Weight Management Company. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Uncategorized Health Links, nutrition, weight loss

Is breakfast important?

Yes, breakfast is important. In fact it is the most important meal of you day. As you sleep at night, your body is in a fasting state taking in nutrition. Depending on how long you sleep, and when you would normally take in your first meal, you could be in a fasting state from 6-12 hours. For example if you normally got to bed at 11 at night, get up in the morning and head to work, your first meal may be coffee break or lunch the next day. That is far too long without food.

If you think of a furnace requiring fuel or wood to burn, your metabolism is no different. Without fuel a furnace will not operate. The same holds true for your metabolism. Without food or fuel, your metabolism will not burn. The best way to kickstart a slow metabolism is by feeding it.

So, now the question – what does constitute a good breakfast. What should I eat? Well, this is a good time to clear your mind of the old standard breakfast. There is no rule that says breakfast has to contain eggs or cereal. In fact, breakfast does not need to be much different that any of your other meals throughout the day. You need to change your way of looking at breakfast. Meats such as turkey sausage, turkey bacon as well as vegetables such as spinach, broccoli or cauliflower can also be used as a kick start for the furnace.

Breakfast needs to contain three vital ingredients – protein, carbohydrates and good fats. It is your choice, as long as it is a healthy choice, what you prepare for breakfast.

If weight loss or weight control is your objective, then it is imperative that you keep your furnace or metabolism burning. The best way to stall your weight loss efforts is to skip meals and the best way to halt any weight loss is to not eat breakfast. This most important meal does not have to be a large meal as I realize that some people do not have an appetite first thing. A couple of suggestions for breakfast would be:

Smoothie or Shake: Mix 1-2 scoops protein powder with 8 -12 oz skim milk or water. Add fresh or frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries). Add 2 tbsp flax seeds, ice and put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth..

~The Anytime Smoothie~

Smoothies are something that we’ve all tinkered with…Here’s my favorite combination which is easily prepared in the morning. Simply throw in your favorite combinations & always feel free to experiment with something a little exotic… This smoothie features “mint”. A handful of Fresh Strawberries, 1 Kiwi, 1 Banana, 4 Mint Leaves, 1/3 cup of Plain Yogurt, 1 Tbs. of Essential Oil & a scoop of Protein Powder. This essentially creates an “on the go” well balanced pick me up, for breakfast, or even a pre-lunch snack, keeping your energy levels & metabolic rate regulated

Other great breakfast suggestions:

1) Omelet – Beat together 1 whole egg plus 3 egg whites (or 1/2 cup egg white from carton). Cook the egg mixture in a skillet. Add handful of fresh spinach or bout 1/3 cup frozen spinach, chopped onion and 1 slice fat free cheese.
2) 1 chicken sausage, 1 cup cooked broccoli, 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3) Hard boiled egg and yogurt mixed with real fruit
4) 2 eggs, 1 cup steamed cauliflower, 2 tsp flaxseed oil over the cauliflower

Another great meal you can use for breakfast (remember – think outside the box) is recipe from Todd:

Zucchini Pasta with Homemade Orange Pepper Tomato Sauce

Orange Pepper Tomato Sauce:
In a food processor combine, 4 Tomatoes, 2-3 cloves of Garlic, Half of an Orange Pepper, 6 or more prepared Sun dried Tomatoes, a healthy handful of Fresh Basil Leaves, a large pinch of Fresh Thyme, 3 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Fresh Cracked Pepper. Finally, mix until desired texture. After you have the texture you like, stir in a can of well-rinsed & drained Chick Peas before adding on top of your Zucchini Pasta. This Pasta Sauce can be served hot or right from the mixer?!

Zucchini pasta:
Simply, decide how many are eating & use Zucchini in place of pasta. Cut into pasta-ish strips, lightly sauté in a little Olive Oil, until desired texture 2-4 minutes “andante”. Garnish with a Tomato, Avocado, a few mint or Basil leaves; perhaps Fennel. Drizzle some Olive Oil.

Another great resource is a excellent little cookbook put out by Prograde Nutrition. It is a great breakfast section with lots of healthy, low calories recipes for breakfast. You can pick up your copy at: http://victoriawellness.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

There we have it. Now we know we all need to be eating a healthy breakfast. Let’s get that furnace charged up and ready to burn. Enjoy!

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation

Uncategorized breakfast, fat loss, Prograde Nutrition, weight loss

This JUST came to my attention.

My partners over at Prograde Nutrition are having a VERY special celebration this week for a VERY special reason.

Not only will you save 15% on ALL of their awesome products this week, but you’ll also see a really sweet reason why.

All the details about this celebration are here: Prograde Nutrition
Now, I know it’s only Monday, but you really MUST hurry. The sale ends this Friday, March 26th at 11:59pm EST, so you should stock up on all your favorites right away.

Yours in health,

Narina

PS – Everything you need, including the coupon code to save 15% on all Prograde Nutrition products is right here: Prograde Nutrition Special

PPS – If nothing else go to that page just to see the reason for this special sale. Too cute!

Uncategorized fat loss, nutrition, Prograde Lean, Prograde Nutrition, supplements

The art of burning calories – even at your desk!

The Sit-to-Walkstation is the fully integrated combination of the Series 7 Height-AdjusTable Worksurface with a specially designed commercial grade treadmill. The Sit-to-Walkstation is based on the proprietary NEAT™ (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) research of Dr. James Levine of the renowned Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. The study focused on how calories are expended through all the activities of daily living and it represents the most data-rich investigation of obesity ever undertaken over a 10 year period.

You can read more about NON-EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS

So no more sitting around staring at a computer screen. You can now walk at a leisurely pace of 1-2 mph and get some work done at the same time. For another article on the walkstation in the work place check out:

Treadmill Desk Heats Up Office Jobs

Imagine going to work and getting paid to lose weight, get leaner and feel better! I just might have to scope one out for my own office!

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Uncategorized burn fat, exercise, fat loss, Victoria Wellness Professionals, walkstation, workout

by Rick Kaselj

The knee joint is a complex joint that is often injured. When we think of knee injuries, we often think of anterior cruciate ligament injuries that athletes commonly get. Since most of us are not athletes, a more common injury many of us will face is a meniscus injury. Meniscus injuries can be a result of a fall but often occur over time with wear and tear of the knee joint. Often times it occurs hand and hand with osteoarthritis of the knee.

The menisci are two thickened, wedge-shaped cartilage pads positioned between the shin bone and the thigh bone. Each knee joint consists of two menisci: the medial meniscus, which is positioned on its inner side, and the lateral meniscus, which is located on the knees outer side. The purpose of the meniscus is to disperse force and to be a shock absorber in the knee. If the meniscus are injured, it can lean to pain and swelling of the knee joint. It can make walking and bending the knee very painful.

If you do have a meniscus injury, there are three things you need to remember when exercising in order to prevent irritating or re-injuring the meniscus.

Squat to 90 Degrees

Squats are important as strengthening the muscles in the knee. Strong knee muscles help decrease the stress on the knee and meniscus. If you are doing a squat exercise, make sure not to do a deep squat. A deep squat is when you squat down to a point that is pass 90 degrees at your knee. Performing a deep squat increases the force places on the menisci. If you are in the gym, make sure to limit your squatting to 90 degrees at your knee.

Avoid Narrow Stance leg press

Another excellent exercise to strengthen the legs is the leg press. Just like like squats, it is important to do the leg press in order to keep the muscles strong around the knee. If you do have a new or old meniscus injury, make sure to avoid a narrow stance leg press. Have your feet closer together when doing the leg press leads to great stress on the meniscus.

Do Hip Width Apart Squats

If you are in a group fitness class or bootcamp, do not do squats with your feet wide apart. This wide stance puts great stress on the meniscus. Keep your legs a hip width apart. Having your feet a hip width apart will still lead to strengthening the muscles around your knees but decrease the stress and irriation on your meniscus.

Wrap Up Meniscus and Exercise Tips

We all have old injuries that we need to live with. The last thing we want to do is irriate them or reinjure them. If you have a meniscus injury and exercising regulary, remember to squat to 90 degrees, keep the feet a hip width apart if you are using the leg press and avoid wide stance squats. I hope these tip will keep your meniscus injury pain-free.

Rick Kaselj is a practicing Kinesiologist and specializes in helping clients use exercise to overcome their injuries. To learn more about Rick Kaselj you can check out his exercise and injury blog at http://www.ExercisesForInjuries.com

Uncategorized exercise, knee injuries, meniscus, Rick Kaselj, squats

This is EXACTLY why I love partnering with Prograde Nutrition.   They want what’s best for you.   Unlike supplement companies that feed you blatant lies and exaggerations, these guys just tell you the truth.

They know that supplements have their place in health and fitness.   But they also know – and preach – that eating whole foods is the center piece of your nutrition plan.

And to prove it they just came out with this awesome little ebook called “197 Healthy And Delicious Phat Burning Recipes” that will make your life a whole lot easier.

The best part? It’s only $4.95 because they think – and so do I – that it’s just too important for you not to get your hands on.

Look, I know most people think eating healthy means bland and boring meals.   That is absolutely, positively FALSE.

Get a copy of Prograde’s “197 Healthy And Delicious Phat Burning Recipes” and taste for yourself.

http://victoriawellness.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

Till next time,
Narina

PS – You’re literally just moments away from discovering some of the most delicious…easy-to-make…phat burning recipes you can imagine. And it’s less than 5 bucks. Grab your copy RIGHT NOW at:

http://victoriawellness.getprograde.com/prograderecipebook.html

Uncategorized nutrition, Prograde Nutrition, recipes, weight loss

The rotator cuff – just what is it? The rotator cuff is not singular. It actually is a group of 4 muscles.

The four muscles of the rotator cuff group are a group of muscles that work in the shoulder to keep the humerus in place. These four muscles are critical for shoulder stability, and along with their tendons allow for the wide range of motion in the shoulder. These muscles arise from the scapular and connect to the head of the humerus forming a cuff at the shoulder joint.

The four muscles that make up the rotator cuff are: the Infraspinatus, the Supraspinatus, the Teres Minor and the Subscapularis.

Let’s take a look at each one of the rotator cuff muscles:

Supraspinatus:

The supraspinatus originates above the spine of the scapular and inserts on the greater tuberosity of the humerus.

Its main function is to stabilize the upper arm by holding the head of the humerus in position. It is important in throwing motions. Daily uses: holding shopping bags away from the body.

Infraspinatus:

The infraspinatus muscle originates below the spine of the scapula and inserts on the posterior aspect of the greater tuberosity of the humerus.

This rotator cuff muscle crosses the shoulder joint and is commonly injured. It is the main external rotator of the shoulder and the most commonly injured of the four.

Daily uses: brushing your hair.

Teres Minor:

The teres minor originates on the lateral scapula border and inserts on the inferior aspect of the greater tuberosity of the humerus. The teres minor surrounds the shoulder. It’s main action in conjunction with the infraspinatus is to externally rotate the shoulder.

Daily uses: brushing your hair.

Subscapularis:

The subscapularis muscle originates on the anterior surface of the scapula, sitting directly over the ribs, and inserts on the lesser tuberosity of the humerus. It acts to depress the head of the humerus allowing it to move freely in the joint during elevation of the arm.

Daily uses: tucking the back of your shirt in your pants.

The supraspinatus and infraspinatus are the most commonly injured rotator cuff muscles.

Sports that involve a lot of shoulder rotation (pitching, swimming, kayaking) often put the rotator cuff muscles under a lot of stress.

As you can see the rotator cuff group of muscles are small muscles on an individual basis, but together they provide stability while allowing tremendous mobility to the shoulder. A strain or injury to any one of these vtial muscles will have an impact on scapular position, humeral head position and overall function of the shoulder and scapular.

In a future newsletter we will talk about common injuries to these muscles and their treatments. One of the most common causes of injuries – for you ladies out there – reaching behind you in the car to grab your purse from the back seat of the car. From this day forward, put your purse in the seat beside you or refrain from trying to reach behind you.

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Uncategorized infraspinatus, rotator cuff, shoulder joint, subscapularis, supraspinatus, teres minor

By Melonie Dodaro

Sometimes you just have to get real with yourself and take a closer look at why you do the things you do…like overeating or eating when you’re emotional. What’s that all about? Let’s take a close look at overeating and emotional eating, focusing on what you can do to recognize these negative habits and overcome them. Take note that overeating and emotional eating can be tied together or stand on their own.

Overeating is simply the act of taking in more food than your body requires to sustain the weight that’s best for you. It can be a result of beliefs instilled in you since childhood or a result of modern-day progress. Parents are notorious for demanding that children clean their plates. Social gatherings, festive events, special celebrations and even sporting events are all designed around… you got it…FOOD. There are buffet tables, holiday baking, birthday cakes, the Super Bowl and more; you name the occasion and it usually involves eating!

Some doctors and dentists give kids candy for being good. Schools have hot dogs and pizza days and hallways lined with vending machines. We even use enticing names such as “happy hour” and “Happy Meal.” We’re bombarded with images of food on TV and on the street, in magazines and newspapers. It’s all about food. The drive-through, a modern addition to food service, makes eating fast and easy in our busy lives.

Overeating can actually be considered a simple matter of supply and demand. We have lots of choices and are given large portions, so no wonder it’s so prevalent. Throw in emotions, and the chance of overeating skyrockets; 75 percent of the time, a person’s emotional state causes overeating.

We eat to soothe our troubles. Again, this is something we’ve been conditioned to do since childhood. Macaroni and cheese is a great comfort food for supposedly helping you feel better. When you have a problem and you’re stressed out, a chocolate bar or cocktail or two look like a good way to help you feel better.

Emotional eating can be triggered by:

* Loneliness, stress, physiological pain, feeling sorry for yourself
* Trauma, guilt, anger, tragedy, anxiety, fatigue, psychological hurt
* Depression, boredom or deep-seated psychological issues

When emotional eating is triggered, reaching for a huge piece of cake may seem the best solution at the time, but we all know that it’s not!

Tools to Overcome Emotional Eating and Overeating

Evaluate whether you’re really hungry. You must learn to differentiate between real and perceived hunger. Overeaters will say they’re hungry even if they truly aren’t. Ask yourself:

* Am I hungry or is the urge to eat a response to an emotion I’m feeling?
* When was the last time I ate?
* Did this hunger come on all of a sudden or gradually?
(If it was suddenly, then an emotion has been triggered.)

By answering these questions each time you reach for food, you’ll begin to gain control of the triggers that cause you to overeat.

Reminder: You need to eat every three to four hours. If you’re “hungry” within that time frame, then stop and do one of these things:

1. Find something else to do. You may be bored.
2. Drink water. Dehydration can mimic hunger.

There you have it, a closer look at two very important factors to consider when you’re on a weight loss/management program. Now that you know the symptoms, you’re the only one who can take action, putting a halt to those behaviors and changing your habits. You don’t have to do it alone; you can create your own MindBody FX Support Group, see www.MindBodyFX.com for more details. You can do it!

Visit our site for more information on living a healthy and happy life at your ideal weight www.MindBodyFX.com.

Uncategorized fat loss, nutrition, over eating

The Academy Awards are over for another year. I rarely sit through the whole awards ceremony, but like most women I love to watch the Red Carpet. It is fun to see the beautiful gowns and jewels worn by the Hollywood stars. I remember a few years ago watching a special filmed the day of the Academy awards. One of the nominees had agreed to allow cameras into her world for the day as she prepared for the event. Her day started with the cameras rolling at 7 am. The day was a constant stream of people – her assistant, her publicist, manicurist – you know you have to have perfect fingers and toes for the day; make ups artist, hair stylists – all coming and going throughout the day to make sure she looked perfect. Her dress and jewels arrived later in the day and that started a whole other parade of people to help her dress, put on her diamonds loaned to her and naturally to touch up her hair and makeup. There was also a shoe lady there who came with several pairs of evening shoes so just the perfect shoe could be selected.

Once all that had taken place, she was finally ready to make her way out her front door to the waiting limousine and off to the Red Carpet. It was quite the day! So just remember ladies when you are feeling less than glamourous watching these stars that their whole lives revolve around looking good. Not feeling good necessarily, but looking good! They don’t have jobs to contend with – that is their job. For the most part they are not dealing with the demands of running a household – they have cooks, nannys, housekeepers. They don’t have to worry about driving kids to school in the morning, then going off to work or appointments for the day – then to rush off at the end of the work day to take kids to sports activities or dance classes, etc.

So let’s all keep the Academy Awards and the Hollywood stars in perspective. I think it is the men and women that have all the demands of real life and still make time to take care of their physical and mental well being that are the real stars – and that is you! So my hat is off to you – you are the real stars in my book.

Today’s topic came around because of a blog post I read last week from a strength coach in the U.S. The blog post was entitled, “Are You Making Your Clients Better or Just Making Them Tired?” That naturally got me thinking – oh oh……. So please excuse me as I step up on the soapbox for a moment or two.

This has always been an issue in this industry and one I have worked hard to change. I have also written articles about the issues within the fitness industry and my own stand on raising the bar on standards of excellence. With the explosion the last year especially, of bootcamps, training studios and the number of personal trainers in this City, you need to ask the question asked by the blog post – are they helping their clients or just making them tired?

It isn’t difficult to make people tired. Anyone can put together a circuit of exercises that tire people out, make them sweat and say uncle. It isn’t hard to make people experience extreme muscle soreness the next day. You often hear people comment about what a great workout that was, about how sore they are after or how close they came to throwing up during a workout. In fact, there is one gym chain with a couple of locations in Victoria, that pride itself on doing just that.

But, how are they actually helping people? And do the trainers even know why they are doing a specific exercise or using a specific piece of equipment? Is the exercise or program based on science or is it the latest exercise off the internet. With the rapid growth of various “tools” of strength and conditioning such as kettlebells, ropes, sleds, TRX suspension training; is there the knowledge by the trainers to support these tools. With Youtube being so popular, anyone can watch a couple of videos on kettlebells or ropes and call themselves an expert. The same can be sled about TRX training, sleds, complexes – almost anything.

Certain “tools” of the trade have requirements that the body must meet before they are ready to be incorporated into a training program. And when and how often they are used, is a whole other topic of discussion. And all of this will come back to assessment and judgement. If there is no physical assessment done prior to a workout regime being implemented then how do you know it is safe for the individual to participate. Bootcamps, group fitness classes, circuit training – they all should be carrying out proper assessments on all their clients.

Kettlebells for example require certain things to be in place before someone is ready to train with them. Assessment is #1 which involves a proper medical history, physical/muscle testing, ROM testing. A simple Par Q is not enough in my opinion. A “sit and reach test” tells nothing about the bodies ability to stabilize during movement, asymmmetries, ROM issues or all the other physical limitations that may or may not be present.

Whether it is kettlebells, sleds, ropes, dumbells/barbells or any other training there needs to be proper assessment, proper teaching and a system of regressions/progressions in place. With any of these forms of training you can make someone tired. You can make someone sweat and you can certainly make them sore. But, that doesn’t mean you are helping them.

Speaking of helping rather than just making you tired, we will be starting our new warm up protocols today at the gym. Please bear with us as we start to take everyone through the new warm up regime. The new warm up requires several new exercises to be learned, so some of the warm ups will be done on a one-to-one basis. Some may be staying on the current warm up for another day or two as we work through the group. Because a lot of these new protcols are put in place specifically to deal with hip and thoracic mobility in more depth, it is important that we learn the exercises correctly. To that end, we will be moving slowing with each individual to make sure that each movement is done correctly and to the best of your ability.

One of the things that I feel is essential to our ability to provide the best training services to you, our clients, is ongoing education. We have the opportunity the attend a weekend workshop with one of the most sought after speakers/presenters in the Industry. Eric Cressey from Massachusetts is a national and international speaker on corrective exercise and athletic performance. Kevin and I had the opportunity to hear him speak in California last year. He is the “go to guy” for anything shoulder related. Eric Cressey will be presenting a workshop “The Nuts and Bolts of Corrective Exercise – from Assessment to High Performance” in Vancouver. The workshop will be March 27 and 28. This will not affect the March 27 schedule at the gym, but March 28 (Saturday) the gym will be closed. For the Saturday sessions, please talk to me so we may reschedule that session for you. Thank you for your understanding.

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Uncategorized assessment, corrective exercise, kettlebells, strength training, workout

Hypertension or high blood pressure has often been referred to as The Silent Killer. It is possible to have high blood pressure and not realize it until symptoms of other disease have shown up. Hypertension is persistently high blood pressure. A diagnosis of hypertension is not made after just one reading, but several. It is a good idea for all of us to be aware of our normal blood pressure. There are blood pressure cuffs in all pharmacies now and we should take advantage of using these at regular intervals. The other alternative is to have an automatic blood pressure cuff at home.

“Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood against a vessel wall. During a normal cardiac cycle, blood pressure reaches a peak that is followed by a trough. The peak or maximum pressure occurs during systole as the left ventricle pumps blood into the aorta. Normal systolic pressure is 120 mm Hg. The trough occurs during diastole as the ventricles relax. This is the time when minimal pressure is exerted against the arterial walls at all times. Normal diastolic pressure is 80 mm Hg.” (Source: Fundamentals of Nursing, Potter and Perry)

Pressure exerted on arterial walls

“Hypertension is not a single disease entity in the usual sense, but rather a major indicator of the prognosis for future dvelopment of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and renal disease.” (Source: Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine Nursing and Allied Health, Miller and Keane)

Hypertension causes thickening and loss of elasticity in the arterial walls. Blood flow to vital organs such as the heart, brain and kidneys decreases. High blood pressure is often asymptomatic which is the problem because with no symptoms there is no reason to seek medical attention. Even if symptoms are present they are often felt to be insignificant and ignored.

Factos that have been linked to essential hypertension include heredity, smoking, high cholesterol, obesity, stress and excess alcohol consumption. Hypertension can be controlled and it’s resulting disease processes can also be controlled.

Exercise can help to control blood pressure, promote relaxation and control body weight. An excellent resource for more information is www.heartandstroke.com If you go to the “National Site” you will find a button for blood pressure.

The chart below is from the Canadian Heart and Stroke web site. Please refer to it for more in depth information.

“Lifestyle changes to manage your high blood pressure. There are two ways to control and manage your blood pressure: medication and lifestyle habits.

Medication can help you control your blood pressure, but it cannot cure it. That’s why it’s important to make sure your lifestyle habits are healthy, too. Smoking, eating salty, fatty foods, drinking alcohol and being inactive are harmful to your heart and may also raise your blood pressure. Thankfully, making changes to your lifestyle habits are within your control, unlike your family medical history. Studies show that each lifestyle change you make has the potential to lower your blood pressure readings. Look at the chart below to see where you can make a difference.” For more information on the DASH diet, please check out: Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Physical Activity – Engaging in moderate or vigorous physical activity 30-60 minutes per week = lowers blood pressure by 4.9/3.7 points (systolic/diastolic)

Weight control – For losing weight, per kilogram lost = lowers blood pressure by 1.1/0.9 points

Diet – By following a DASH diet = lowers blood pressure by 11.4/5/5 points

Sodium (salt) intake - By reducing sodium intake by 1,800 mg = lower blood pressure by 5.12/7 points.

Alcohol consumption - By reducing intake by 3.6 drinks per day = lowers blood pressure by 3.9/2.4 points.

There you have it, the ups and downs on blood pressure. It is the one disease within our control, so if you have a family history of hypertension or have any of the risk factors associated with high blood pressure, please see what you can do to make the changes necessary to maintain a healthy blood pressure.

Till next time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”

Uncategorized blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, exercise, heart and stroke, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, workouts