Victoria Wellness Professionals » exercise

A Member’s Journey Thru the Fitness Challenge

narina — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:14:40 +0000

2-3 times a year at our gym we have a 6 week Fitness Challenge. The Challenge is to help clients re-focus their nutrition and exercise program and also to help educate proper eating and encourage a little extra work outside the gym. We all know that ideally we should be doing something physical for 20-30 minutes every day. If you wish to make noticable changes to body composition it requires a plan of attack and a follow through of that plan. For those that follow through for the whole 6 weeks, they all will notice pounds lost, inches lost and body fat lost. But there is always a wide range of results.

The more diligent clients are with their nutrition (remember you can’t out train a bad diet), the more noticable the results. One client, Heidi took this Challenge to heart and was relentless is her determination to stay on track and work her butt off! It did the trick and she came through with a 1st place finish and $1050.00 to boot!

The article below is Heidi’s journey through the 6 weeks of the Fitness Challenge. Thank you very much Heidi for sharing your journey and Congratulations!

“Six weeks goes by very quickly…if you’re on vacation in Tahiti. If you’re changing the entire way you think about food – it becomes an eternity. But for someone like me who likes to do things fast and who has only ever really extreme dieted for short periods of time, it is yet another example of how slow and consistent will always outperform quick and extreme.

The first week was done the old fashioned way. Eat as little as possible and work out like a crazy person. By week two, I was basically a zombie and realized, I would be dead in a month. Which is probably why I then spent the next 4 days eating anything I could find.

My Oprah Winfrey ah-ha moment came when I seriously decided to do this thing by the book. Three small meals, two snacks a day. Where have I heard that before. Guess what – it really works. For me, 1200 calories was going to do the trick. Eating every 2 ½ hours was the most important thing in the entire process. Also realizing that when you feel hunger pangs, an entire meal does not need to be consumed. A few bites of protein, does the trick and will get you through until your next meal.

I tried eating as little carbohydrates as possible. It didn’t take long for my family to encourage me to eat just a tad more carbs since the bitch-factor was becoming a little hard to take.

I found a protein shake laden with spinach and broccoli ( I have a fantastic blender) was my best breakfast option. Lunch either became what everyone else’s breakfast looks like-one egg with one slice of toast , or it would be a protein rich (small) sandwich.

Snacks would either be a pear, peach or apple. Dinner was very difficult as I’m a true pasta girl. I’d force myself to eat things like fish and yet more vegetables but actually really enjoyed how satiated I felt and believe me – there’s no better feeling than that of being full when you’re on 1200 calories a day.

At this point, I was finally on a bit of a roll and although I go to the gym every day, I decided to actually listen to Narina (took me awhile) and do one more cardio workout a day. A lovely 30 minute, thought provoking (Ok that’s going overboard) interval session on my treadmill at 8:30 at night definitely kept me away ffrom the kitchen. It was when I added this last morsel to the equation that things really started to happen for me.

It took me the entire 6 weeks for my mind to adapt to a this new way of eating. I no longer had cravings. I felt energized and strong and hey…some money on the table always makes for added motivation! ” Heidi F.

Till next time,
Narina

Improve Your Golf Swing with TSpine Mobility

narina — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 22:39:21 +0000

In past articles, we have mobility vs flexibility and how our bodies are a collection of joints, some requiring mobility and others requiring stability. The thoracic spine or mid back area is proving to be a critical component in maintaining a healthy lumbar and cervical spine.

For the golfers out there, this is especially important. In the golf swing you need you need to be able to separate the upper body from lower body. During the backswing your pelvis needs to be stable allowing the shoulders to turn. If you are unable to separate the upper and lower body, you will be limited as to how much shoulder turn you can perform. This is where thoracic mobility is important – to allow movement through the back while keeping the pelvis stable.

One of the exercises we routinely use to help increase thoracic mobility is the diagonal plate raise. This exercise, done with a weight plate is one of the best exercises to increase movement through the thoracic spine. It is important when performing this exercise that you focus on keeping the hips straight and not allowing them to rotate with the shoulder. Watch the video of this exercise and if you practice it correctly yourself, there will be no movement through the lumbar spine at all; all the movement should be originating in the thoracic spine (or upper back). To view this exercise please visit my blog:

Last but not least is the shoulder or gleno-humeral joint. Also closely connected to the health of the shoulder is the area of the shoulder blade (the sacpulo-thoracic joint).

You cannot discuss shoulder health without talking about the stability of the shoulder blades which directly reflects the health of the rotator cuff. The scapula, rotator cuff and shoulder is an area that whole exercise physiology textbooks are written about. In order to have a shoulder that allows mobility, you need to have a stable base first. Without a stable base provided by the scapular muscles, the shoulder joint can become quite immobile, causing decreased range of motion and pain.

The scapular stabilizers (lower trapezius, rhomboids, serratus, levator scapula) are responsible to hold and lock the shoulders in the right position for the shoulder to function properly. Some of the exercises that we use to strengthen these various muscles are as follows. All rowing movements will help to strengthen the trapezius and rhomboids. How often have you heard us say pinch and pull.

When you pinch your shoulder blades together, the rhomboid muscles in the middle of your upper back activate. These muscles originate along the spine (C7 and T1) and then attach themselves to the inner border of your shoulder blades. The pinching action will pull the shoulder blades together and this in turn with other muscles throughout the upper back and shoulder (rotator cuff) will cause the shoulder to sit in an anatomically correct position allowing proper function of the shoulder.

Other exercises that benefit the shoulder joint are the lat pulldown and prone trap raise. We also have variations along those exercises that we use (stiff arm pulldowns, high pulley rows). Often with these exercises we will instruct you to “pull your shoulders to your hips”. This prevents the shrugging so often seen with these exercises and once again helps to maintain the shoulder in a healthy position. The muscles primarily responsible for this are the middle and lower trapezius.

The trapezius muscle is a large muscle that originates at the skull , the spine of C7 and all the thoracic vertebrae . It then inserts along the rear of the shoulder, the scapular spine and part of the clavicle. The trapezius muscle’s main responsibility is to keep the scapula down (no shrugging) and to maintain stability to allow shoulder mobility.

So, this is starting to turn in Anatomy 101 and I may have gotten a bit off track. The scapular and shoulder, as I mentioned are worthy of a book on their own. I am sure either you personally or someone you knows has had, does have or will have shoulder problems. It is probably the most common problem we see in and out of the gym. And because of so much of what we need to do the keep healthy and strong, involves the shoulder, we much be diligent about the work necessary to keep the this joint healthy.

I hope this helps you to understand why we do what we do in the gym and why it is important that we strive for correct movement in all the exercises regardless of how insignificant and boring the exercise may be. After all, some of the most important exercises (prone trap raise, reach roll and lift, side lying windmills) don’t come attached with Country names (Bulgarian squats, Turkish Sit Ups, Russian Deadlifts).

So next time we utter “pinch, pull or “shoulders down” you will be able to picture what and why.

Till next time,
Narina

Resources:
1) National Academy of Sports Medicine – Upper Body Muscular
Anatomy (A comprehensive approach to Integrated Functional Anatomy)
2) National Strength & Conditioning Journal, Volume 25, June 2003
- A Comprehensive Approach to Shoulder-Complex Maintenance by Phil
Wagner, BS
3) A Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training by Mike Boyle

1, 2, 3 – Contract

narina — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 13:30:11 +0000

Muscle Actions
by Rhonda Jarmuth, RMT, CPT

The muscles we train and use everyday to move our bodies have three different types of contractions:

Eccentric, Isometric and Concentric

These muscle contractions enable us to manipulate gravity, react to external forces, momentum and resistance. Which all together produce efficient movement. And not one is more demanded in activities than another, eccentric is just as important as isometric and concentric and around you go.

Eccentric: You’ll hear this is a lengthening of a muscle. Yes it is, but a stretch is also a lengthening of a muscle. A better way to think of this contraction is the muscle is resisting gravity (or the weight of a dumbbell) and also decelerating or reducing forces. It’s our braking system. Walking down stairs is a good example of the quadriceps muscles (on the front of your thigh) eccentrically contracting to keep the knee bend under control. Without this you’d need pretty fast feet to remain upright.

Isometric: This contraction will keep a joint still and hold a position or guard the joint through motion. The muscle can make this type of contraction either with a resistance or against resistance. It’s our stabilizing system. When you’re down on all fours performing Superman the rotator cuff is isometrically contracting to keep the shoulder (of the hand remaining on the floor) still. While performing a dumbbell press the rotator cuff is stabilizing the shoulder joint throughout the movement of a rep.

Concentric: Now this is the muscle contraction most of us think as the cream of the crop when we’re working out. It’s that bulging bicep you see with arm curls. But remember that even though this is the exciting contraction it’s no more important than Eccentric and Isometric. If you want technical this is the shortening of a muscle that brings one bone closer to another and decreases the angle of a joint. It works against force (raising your heels off the ground), produces force (a jump squat) and creates acceleration (a golf swing). This is the engine.

This may seem like we a have a different muscle for each type of contraction or that one muscle is only capable of one type of contraction. Not so. One muscle can do each of these three contractions.

Here’s an example of what the Gastrocnemius muscle (the calf muscle) does:

Concentrically it’s the main muscle responsible for you lifting your heels off the ground to stand on your toes. Then it’s working eccentrically to lower your heels back to the ground. And when your holding a standing position with heels on or off the floor it’s working isometrically to stabilize the foot and ankle.

Our muscular sytem is very dynamic and capable of moving our bodies in many ways. Knowing this makes it more important to ensure your training regiment works all three of these types of contractions. If you do, you’ll notice not only your every day activities are seemingly effortless, but your chosen sporting activities will be as well. Seriously. Take action, and all aspects of your active lifestyle will improve.

Till next time,
Rhonda

Quick Reads from Victoria Gym Bulletin Board

narina — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:19:10 +0000

Thanks to Meaghan for providing some great short articles for our bulletin board at the gym. Here are just a few gems for you to consider. Enjoy!

POSTURE

Most of us spend a large amount of time at a desk, in front of a computer. This can lead to a lot of postural imbalances.

Muscles that tend to get short and tight:

Pectoral muscles – tight chest muscles pull the shoulders forward
Iliopsoas – tight hip flexors from being in a seated position
Upper neck extensors – tight extensor muscles can lead to head forward posture

Muscles that tend to get over stretched and tight:

Rhomboids and Mid/low Trapezius – between the shoulder blades
Gluteus Maximum – your glute muscles were meant to be perky, not flat!
Erectors – the two long groups of muscles on either side of your spine. These help to keep your trunk and neck upright

Best Stretches:

Pec stretch
Hip flexor stretch
Chin tucks

Focus on good posture while you’re working or playing

HIGH INTENSITY INTERVALS – WHY DO WE MAKE YOU DO THEM?

Finishers are intense bouts of cardiovascular exercise with short rest periods are designed to get you the most bang for your buck!

Benefits:

- burn fat
- short in duration
- burn high amounts of calories
- improvements in both anaerobic and aerobic fitness
- afterburn effect by increasing metabolism (you’ll burn more calories throughout the day!!)

How to Incorporate Intervals into your day:

Choose one or a few intense exercises to do at a high speed, for a short amount of time (20-30 seconds), followed by a rest period. Exercises can be running, biking, fast squats, pushups, burpees…just about anything! Repeat several times!! Enjoy!

BREAKFAST

Importance of eating breakfast:

- After fasting throughout your sleep you need energy to start the day
- Boosts and maintains your metabolism
- Weight control – studies show if you eat breakfast you will consume less calories throughout the day

What is there to eat!

1. Try to include protein – this will keep you full longer
eg. Eggs, Whey Protein, Cottage Cheese, Greek Yogurt, Natural Nut Butter

2. Enjoy Fiber – fiber has been shown to reduce your risk of certain cancers, diabetes and other diseases. Fiber also will keep you feeling full!
eg. Berries, Oatmeal, Fruit, Sprouted Breads

3. Add Vegetables – veggies are low in calories and high in nutrients
- try adding veggies to your omelet tomorrow, or try blending some spinach into your smoothie!

Thanks Meaghan for providing some great little snippets of knowledge. Remember, watch your posture both sitting and walking, get some aerobic work in the way of intervals and last but not least, start your day with a well balanced breakfast to get that furnace burning!

Till next time,
Narina

Whoa Canuck Fever Hits the Gym

narina — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:01:32 +0000

This is a bit of a departure for me with respect to the blog. Usually, I am writing something technical or exercise related. But, today I am feeling in a bit of a lighter mood so a little jaunt down a side path is in order.

Our little gym is humming this morning with talk of the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight. Naturally being from Vancouver, my husband and I are pulling for the Canucks to take the Cup back to Canada. Even myself and the staff at the gym got in the mood today. Of course, that got all the clients chatting and it was indeed fun times (along with the hard work) of course!

Meaghan, Narina and Rhonda getting in the Canuck mood!

Client Commitment:

I have been blessed with an amazing group of people to train over the past 10 years that the Studio has been open. Not only are these clients incredibly dedicated to the healthy lifestyle, they continue to work hard each and every time they come into the gym. Most of these clients have trained religiously 3x week for 5 years and more now. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful clients at Victoria Wellness and a special recognition to the clients that have been with us 5 years and more:

5 years

Max, Heidi, Doug, Marilyn, Lin, John P., Kathy J., Anne M.

6 Years

Allison, Kim, Mary P., Greg, Shellie, Marla, Maureen, Christine, Bill

7 Years

Dianne A., Teresa, Jill S.

8 Years

Rada, Gerald, Lisa

And the 10 Year Award goes to: Dale F. and Paulette

Thank you so much to all of you for making my dream a reality!

Our New Smoothie Bar Has Arrived!

We have come a long way from our humble beginnings on Johnson Street and we will continue to grow and offer the very best in personal fitness coaching in Victoria. Thank you to all who have supported and trusted us over the past 10 years. And thank you to my wonderful training team – Rhonda, Meaghan and Denise for keeping the spirit going!

Till next time,
Narina

Hollowing vs Bracing

narina — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:01:25 +0000

by Rhonda Jarmuth

Hollowing vs Bracing

Pretty much all of us have experienced back pain at some point in our life or at least will. Without a doubt you’ve learned in order to deal with low back pain you need a strong core. But what does that really mean and how does sucking your belly in and doing a hundred crunches help? Really it doesn’t. A 6 pack does not equal a strong and stable core.

What is Core Stabilization?

It is the ability to contract the muscles surrounding the spine creating a stiffness. This stiffness won’t allow “energy leaks” during static and dynamic activities which ensures optimal power with minimal force loads on the spine.

Core Stabilization Techniques

1) Hollowing – drawing in the abdomen

2) Bracing – widening the trunk. Not pulling in or pushing out, think of what you would do if someone was to punch you in the stomach.

So which one creates that ideal stiffness around the spine – bracing.

Hollowing was a technique developed in 1999 by a group of Australian scientists doing a study on muscle motor patterning following a back injury. This technique has it’s place and it’s best used in treatments with physiotherapists and for people dealing with a current injury.

To hollow during a workout would actually inhibit the potential for optimal stiffness because it only isolates the transverse abdominals. If you took a cardboard box on its side and loaded it from the top, the box would crumble. If an athlete drew in their stomach while attempting heavy lifts, they too would crumble. There is no mechanical rationale for hollowing to enhance stability.

Bracing is for those individuals not undergoing treatments from physio or uninjured people working to get stronger.

In a 2007 study done by Stuart McGill, PhD & S. G. Grenier it was found the brace technique improved stability by 32%. The transverse abdominals contributed 14% of stability to the brace pattern.

The takeway from this study shows that hollowing offers minimal stability to the core stability compared to the bracing technique.

Unless you have a back injury, do not perform isolation transverse (hollowing) exercises for core stability. (Crunches and Sit ups are a whole other realm of why nots). Go for exercises which involve bracing the whole stomach and include the obliques. Eg. Pallof Press, Farmer Walks, prone plank, side plank and supermans (birddogs) are a good start to developing a strong and stable core.

Grenier, S.G & McGill S.M. 2007 Quantification of Lumbar Stability by Using 2 different abdominal activation strategies: hollowing vs full abdominal muscle contraction = bracing.

Hints to Incorporate Fitness & Increase Results

narina — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:07:22 +0000

What are you doing to ensure that you are getting in your exercise every day? Yes, I do mean every day. For our clients at VWP who are attending their workouts 2-3 times per week, congratulations! But, what are you doing the other days? It is important to be getting some form of exercise every day. It doesn’t have to be hour long workouts. It can be as little as 15 minutes.

Remember, as well, that not all your workouts need to be in a gym. There are plenty of ways to get in extra exercise by just putting some thought into your day. Where can you make life just a little more work and to a point, less efficient.

Some other ways to incorporate exercise into your daily life is:

Use stairs instead of elevator – such a little thing, but counts big time. In fact, do a couple of laps up and down the stairs before you get to your destination.

Finish lunch 10 minutes early and go for a walk – helps to stretch out the ole body and get a few calories burned. Get the heart rate up now…..

If you are not getting in your aerobic work, get up 15 minutes early and do a quick little workout: BW Squats, Push ups (against a counter if need be), Floor Bridges. Repeat 4 x and you are good to go!

“7 Ways to Maximize your Gym Workout”

Monitor your rest periods. Use a stop watch or watch the clock at the gym. Most people will rest far too long as they head to the water cooler, chat with friends. Limit your rest periods to 30-45 seconds and be ready to start back onto your next exercise as soon as the watch denotes.

Consolidate and pack your workout time. In other words, group exercises together into mini circuits. Combine 3-4 exercises together alternating upper body, lower body, core and complete 3-4 times through and then move onto the other circuits.

When using mini circuits, use your core exercise as “active rest”. In other words, most times you won’t need much rest after the core exercise before you start back on the first exercise of that circuit.

Don’t waste time on machines or isolation exercises. These burn very little calories resulting in little if any changes in weight loss or body composition. Least effective machines are leg extension/leg curl. Least effective exercise is standing bicep curls. Replace leg extensions with squats and lunges for quadriceps. Replace leg curl with romanian deadlifts for hamstrings. And, any rowing movements will effectively work your biceps and burn more calories to boot!

Pick 3-5 complex exercises (total body exercises) combine with 2-3 core exercises and workout completed. Fast and quick. Big bang for your buck when it comes to weight loss and fat burning.

Monitor your reps and weights. Don’t waste time doing 20-25 reps. This has little, if any effect on weight loss or fat burning. Pick a weight that you need to work hard at for 8-10 reps max.

Keep your intensity high. Intensity high; volume low. Work out hard, work out short.

In a nutshell – increase your intensity; decrease your time. Combine exercises into circuits. Use complex exercises (totalbody). Stay off machine and away from isolation exercises.

Okay, there you have it. Some good hints to incorporate into both your gym workouts and time away from the gym. Spring is here (isn’t it?) and that means Summer, shorts, sleeveless shirts and bathing suits are not far behind. Better get hopping!

Till next time,
Narina

Steps to Success

narina — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:01:54 +0000

Most people start a fitness program because of two reasons: to lose weight or “tone up”. There are those that will be successful in achieving their goals and for others it is a struggle. I often find myself thinking about what determines a persons’ ability to succeed in reaching their goals. When we have the Fitness Challenges at the gym, it is very obvious what the successful Challengers’ do to achieve weight loss, inches lost and body fat reduction.

The #1 reason is: commitment to the task at hand and unwavering consistency in both their nutrition plan and their workouts. You simply cannot make significant changes to your body without hard work – it is that simple and that hard! There is a saying, “You can’t out train a bad diet”

And that is so true. It doesn’t matter how hard you work in the gym, or how often you work out. But, if you follow up your workouts with bad nutrition or no nutrtion at all (starvation diets), then you are doomed to fail.

Let’s take a look at some other tips for success that I feel are the backbone of necessary if you hope to become fit and fabulous:

Nutrition Tips:

Eat breakfast every day! Do not skip this meal. You must start the furnace burning (your metabolism)
Eat protein at every meal and rotate your protein sources
Eat a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal and snack
Eliminate all processed foods period!
Do not drink fruit juices – water, water and more water!

Workout Tips:

Do not miss workouts. Consistency is the key.
Make time for your workouts. Yes, we are all busy. But, the ones who are successful in making changes to their body make the time to workout instead of coming up with excuse after excuse why they can’t.
“I don’t have time to exercise” – just doesn’t cut it. Make the time! This is your life! This is your health!
Learn to priorize – fitting in your workout is essential and paramount to your success – no excuses – make it happen!

How To Workout:

Include strength training in your program at least 3 days a week
Lose the aerobic classes – they are not only inefficient but useless for weight loss – we want the EPOC effect.
Increase the intensity – get out of your comfort zone – learn to work hard!
It is not going to be easy but it will get results – what do you want – easy or fit and fabulous – your choice!
Make every workout count every single time – otherwise you just wasted an opportunity!

Making change is always a struggle; some changes more than others. But first and foremost you must decide if you want the change. If you want it bad enough, you will make it happen. If you are really ready to take charge, then now is the time. Do not let anyone or anything sway you from your path. This is your life – take charge, be accountable. Surround yourself with positive people; seek out help. Make it happen – now!

Till next time,
Narina

Notes from Nutrition Lecture

narina — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:16:05 +0000

March 15th, Victoria Wellness had the pleasure of hosting another great nutrition lecture from Anneke of Dani Health The lecture was entitled ‘Starving Yourself Fat’ and focussed on dieting, metabolism and how starvation diets have a detrimental effect on not only your overall health, but your weight loss efforts as well. Thank you Meaghan for taking some notes for us.

If you have any questions regarding the information below please contact Anneke or Danielle at Dani Health

Notes from DaniHealth’s presentation:
‘Starving Yourself Fat’

Common Diet’s plans:
- Dr. Bernsteins – only allowed 800 calories/day
- Jenny Craig – 1300-1600 calories/day
- Nutrisystem – 1300-1800 calroies/day

How many calories does the average male/female need?
- males
o sedentary – 1900 calories/day
o very active – 2500 + calories/day

- females
o sedentary – 1500 calories/day
o very active – 2200 calories/day

Basal Metabolic Rate – how many calories your body burns at rest
- for example, if you were lying in bed all day you would burn this amount
- Meaghan found this website which calculates your BMR:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

- BMR differs person to person. Depends on age, sex, amount of lean tissue mass (muscle)
Every pound of muscle you have increases your metabolism by 50 calories. This is why we need to weight train!
- once you have calculated your BMR, you can find your daily caloric needs, based on your activity level
- use the Harris-Benedict Equation:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

eg. Meaghan’s BMR = 1478 calories
Daily caloric needs based on active to very active
active = BMR x 1.55 = 2290 calories/day
very active = BMR x 1.725 = 2550 calories/day

How do I lose fat then?
- create a caloric deficiency, but don’t go below your BMR value. Once you dip below your BMR, any intake of food is stored as fat because your body thinks you are starving it.
- Best to create a caloric deficiency by decreasing calories by 100 per day or through exercise
- To lose pound you must create a caloric deficiency of 3,500

How to Increase Metabolism:

1. Eat regularly – every 2-4 hours
2. Eat Breakfast – within one hour of waking
- Try to include a good mixture of protein and high fibre carbs. Eg. Peanut butter on whole grain toast (with at least 4 grams of fibre) and a banana
3. Increase your muscle mass – strength training
4. Sleep – try to get 7-9 hours/night. Muscle mass is regenerated during the last few hours of sleep
5. Water – drink at least 2L/day
- Caffeinated products don’t count towards your water intake
6. Foods that naturally increase your metabolism:
- Green tea (4 satchels/day)
- Hot peppers
- Grapefruit
- Oatmeal – soluble fibre. (note – try to choose slow cooking oats)
- Salmon
- Almonds – 12 at a time, don’t overdo it as they are high in calories

DaniHealth:
www.danihealth.com

Till next time,
Narina
.

What Gets You Moving?

narina — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:30:31 +0000

I sometimes wonder what gets and keeps people involved in exercise programs. At my studio, clients comes from all walks of life with a varied exercise history. Some have exercised their whole lives in various forms, whether it be sports when they were in school or activities taken up later in life. Some have a passion for exercise and do not feel complete unless they have done something physical that day.

Others are embarking on an exercise program for the first time and wonder what or how they are going to feel. Will they be able to participate? Will they enjoy their new chosen activity? What are the benefits?

I think we all have our own reasons for exercising and working out and they may not be the same, but that is ok.

Exercise helps to develop a good body image, increase self esteem and confidence as well as adding a social component to one’s life. Exercise also helps to alleviate stress and often our clients view our gym as their own private sanctuary where outside stressors are left behind. Physical work helps to free the mind and gives you a much needed rest from the demands of work and life.

Physically the list of benefits of exercise is a long one. We know that as you gain strength, joints and muscles work much more efficiently. Balance, flexibility, stamina and injury prevention are all added benefits of a strength training program. Muscle decline or muscle wasting that so often accompanies aging is not as inevitable as it once was.

Cardiac health is also improved with strength training. Decreased blood pressure, increase blood flow due to increase in capillary beds as well as an increase in stroke volume and cardiac output all help to our cardiac system healthy, leading to a decrease in cardiovascular disease including heart attacks, stroke, artery disease and heart failure.

Other benefits of a regular strength training program are control of a cluster of symptoms often referred to as metabolic syndrome which can include weight gain, hypertension, glucose intolerance and high cholesterol. Metabolic syndrome can lead to a myriad of diseases and illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and decrease in life expectancy.

The list of benefits of exercise or specifically weight training is endless, but also are the risks of not participating. If you wish to lead a healthy and productive life into your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond then it is essential that strength training be an integral part of your exercise life. If you want to be “part of life” rather than watching life go by, then now is the time to get busy.

It doesn’t matter what your reasons are for starting or maintaining, it just matters that you do. What are you waiting for?

Till next time,
Narina