At Victoria Wellness, we pride ourselves in providing not only safe, but science based exercise programs that address clients’ goals, their needs and hopefully have a little fun along the way. All our clients will go through a thorough assessment prior to the development of a program. Programs are constantly being reviewed and changed as needed.

I thought it would be fun to show a couple of videos of workout sessions in progress. Personal coaching sessions are done in a small group setting. Each trainer/coach will work with up to 3 clients; each one having their own individualized program. This is a very supportive and motivating environment and allows our training team to assess and teach each session.

For those that prefer the group atmosphere, we also offer group classes. All clients that attend group sessions will still go through the assessment protocols just as for personal coaching clients. However, their workouts are more circuit oriented with all members doing a similar workout. Even within the group class, the exercises are selected as per an individuals abilities. Some exercises may be substituted if an individual is unable (due to injury or other reasons) perform a specific exercise.

At Victoria Wellness, we pride ourselves on offering the best in personal training and customer service in Victoria. Thank you to all the clients who so generously gave of their time in the making of the videos. Also, thank you to some returning clients who also participated.

Till next time,
Narina

The 97th running of the Tour de France is made up of 1 prologue and 20 stages and will cover a distance of 3,642 kilometers. The official start was in Rotterdam on July 3rd and will finish in Paris on July 25th.

The varying distances of the daily rides are from an 8.9 km prologue, a 52 km time trial and various stages through flat country as well as the Alps and Pyrenees mountain stages ranging from 153 km to 227 km – per day!

Imagine spending 5-6 hours climbing through the Alps and Pyrenees mountains with probably a sprint finish, rest up the rest of the day and night and get back on your bike to repeat the same thing again and continue this for 3 straight weeks!

You can only imagine the condition of these athletes. They are known to consume in excess of 10,000 calories a day and will still probably lose weight over the course of the 3 weeks. But nothing is left to chance with these athletes. The technical aspects of the race – namely the bicycles and all their components are a whole other topic in itself. To say the technology has advanced over the 96 running of this race would be an understatement. Special metals that make the frames not only incredibly strong, but feather light is just on advancement in bike technology. Wind tunnel testing is also a common test to help make the bike and riders as aerodynamic as possible.

But, aside from the technology of the bikes, there is also the rider himself to consider. You can bet that nothing is left to chance with the riders as well. Each team will travel with their own physio therapists, massage therapists and associated personnel to ensure that every aspect of the rider’s rest and recovery is taken care of. One of the most difficult challenges of this type of event is the recovery of the athlete.

In most sporting event, once the event has taken place the athlete is free to rest, recover and train for the next event which may be days, weeks or months away. But, with this 3 week race, the rider has less than 24 hours to recover and repeat again for 21 days. Along with ensuring that their bodies get the treatments they need to recover, their nutrition is also an integral part of their recovery process. Not only must they fuel throughout the ride, they must ensure that adequate nutrition meaning the right foods in the right amounts at the right time are ingested to promote the recovery process.

So what can we take away from the Tour de France? We can start by thinking of ourselves as athletes as well. No, we are not competing for the honor of wearing the yellow jersey, but all of us have daily obligations whether it be work or home related that require us to be alert and ready to tackle whatever tasks comes our way.

We can all take a little lesson from the the pro riders and start to treat our own bodies like those of the athletes. Ensure you get the proper nutrition daily, starting with breakfast and continuing throughout the day with small meals. We also need to ensure that we are getting adequate rest to tackle the needs of the day. Without adequate rest you won’t be able to operate at your peak and your workouts at the gym will most certainly suffer.

Proper nutrition, adequate rest and training are just as important to each of us as it is to the professional bicycle racer battling it out in the mountains of France.

Till next time,
Narina

Getting older is all part of life. I gladly will take the wisdom that comes from getting older. But, the whole idea of aging gracefully is for the birds. I for one, want to be as healthy and strong as I can be as I age. I want to be able to participate in life, travel and enjoy being active for a long time to come. That means being aware of changes that occur naturally as we age and then taking steps necessary to ensure that my body remains strong, healthy and vital.

Here are just a couple of stats to get us started:

A major fraction of total daily energy demand arises from resting metabolism, and it is thus important to note that resting metabolism decreases with aging, by about 10% from early adulthood to the age of retirement, and a further 10% subsequently. Food intake must be correspondingly adjusted if body fat is not to increase further.

Strength peaks around 25 years of age, plateaus through 35 or 40 years of age, and then shows an accelerating decline, with 25% loss of peak force by the age of 65 years. Muscle strength can be greatly improved by as little as 8 weeks of resisted training

Over the span of working life, adults lose some 8-10 cm of lower-back and hip flexibility.

Now let’s take a look at some of the individual body systems to see how age affects us:

Cardiovascular system

Over time, your heart muscle becomes less efficient, working harder to pump the same amount of blood through your body. In addition, your blood vessels lose elasticity. Hardened fatty deposits may form on the inner walls of your arteries (atherosclerosis), narrowing the vessels. With both of these factors present, the arteries become stiffer. This causes your heart to work much harder and can lead to high blood pressure.

Fix: lifestyle – watch your diet. Limited saturated fats; eat plenty of lean protein and vegetables. Watch your sodium intake and ensure adequate daily exercise.

Bones, muscles and joints

Your bones reach their maximum mass between ages 25 and 35. As you age, your bones shrink in size and density. One consequence is that you might become shorter. Gradual loss of density weakens your bones and makes them more susceptible to fracture. Muscles, tendons and joints generally lose some strength and flexibility as you age.

Fix: Pick up the weights! Make sure you include exercises that are weight bearing.

Brain and nervous system

The number of cells (neurons) in your brain decreases with age, and your memory becomes less efficient. However, in some areas of your brain, the number of connections between the cells increases, perhaps helping to compensate for the aging neurons and maintain brain function. Your reflexes tend to become slower. You also tend to become less coordinated and may have difficulty with balance.

Fix: Keep your brain active – puzzles, crosswords for example are great exercises for the brain. Also, once again exercise and specifically weight training will help keep you strong, improve muscle/mind coordination and if you include a balance component in your overall exercise program, this will go a long way to preventing difficulties with balance and possibly leading to life threatening falls as you get older.

Kidneys, bladder and urinary tract

With age, your kidneys become less efficient in removing waste from your bloodstream. Chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure and some medications can damage your kidneys further.

Fix: Change your lifestyle if you haven’t already! Maintain a healthy weight. Drink plenty of water daily. As stated above, nutrition is important to prevent diseases such as diabetes or hypertension. Exercise daily.

Weight

As you age, maintaining a healthy weight — or losing weight if you’re overweight — may be more difficult. Your metabolism generally slows, meaning that your body burns fewer calories. Calories that were once used to meet your daily energy needs instead are stored as fat. Your level of activity may decrease, resulting in unwanted weight gain.

Fix: Get out there and get moving. Include a strength training workout in your overall fitness program at least 2-3 times per week. Increase your ratio of lean muscle.

Sources:
Mayo Clinic
Shephard, R.J. (1998). Aging and Exercise. In: Encyclopedia of Sports Medicine and Science, T.D.Fahey (Editor). Internet Society for Sport Science: http://sportsci.org. 7 March 1998.

Till Next Time,
Narina
“Monitoring, Mentoring, Motivation”