Agility Ladder!
Agility Ladder! Great footwork practice. Great for precision training, as well as, cardiovascular conditioning. Use as a warm up or use as an activity to get your heart rate back up after weight training.
Agility Ladder! Great footwork practice. Great for precision training, as well as, cardiovascular conditioning. Use as a warm up or use as an activity to get your heart rate back up after weight training.
Posted by Pivot Holistic Health on Sunday, October 1, 2017
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Post Hurricane Irma Update
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High Blood Pressure
Welcome to a little crash course on blood pressure:
Why High Blood Pressure is bad for you:
High blood pressure can damage heart, brain, kidneys, peripheral vascular system, can cause thickening of left ventricle (due to increase resistance it has to work harder), increased risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, and vision problems. [1]
This is definitely not something to take lightly. If you have high blood pressure it is time to make some changes…
These are some of the top things you can do to help get you on the right track [1]:
- Lose weight
- Exercise 30-45 min four or more days (get DR clearance)
- Decrease sodium
- Get enough potassium
- Limit alcohol intake
- Limit saturated fat
- Limit cholesterol (choose meat free meals more often)
- Quit smoking
References
- NSCA’S Essentials of Personal Training – 2nd Edition
- Published in Eating for Health, Fitness, Public Blog
Program Design
For me the one of most rewarding parts of training is developing exercise programs. Program design is vital because we want to be sure it is varied enough to keep the muscles adapting to new stresses. The intensity must be challenging but no so much that there is an overuse or injury caused by fatigue.
Incorporating new exercises is important to prevent boredom. Thankfully, I have spent years upon years the gym, in fitness classes, on the court, and on the field. I have an unlimited amount of exercises, warm ups, strengthening protocols, agility drills, and even rehabilitation exercises in my knowledge base. Another benefit of knowing many different exercises is knowing many different ways to target the same muscle groups. What works best for one person to target a muscle group might not be the best method for another person.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
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Why Form is Important During Exercise
There are few things more important while exercising than form. Let’s define what I mean by form before we move forward. When we exercise there are several things we want to keep in mind. I always tell my clients to keep their core tight during all exercises. When we tighten our abdominal muscles we help to protect our spine from injury. Almost all exercises have a specific body positioning that is optimal for targeting certain muscles or muscle groups. Most importantly, form helps us to prevent injuries.
Another example, is when I have my clients pull their shoulder blades back while doing overhead exercises. This is because there is a very small space in between the bones of your shoulder. When you pull your shoulders back you help relieve some of the space issues at the front of your shoulder. Ligaments, nerves, arteries, tendons, bursa, and muscles of the shoulder can get impinged, or irritated from improper shoulder motion and posture. Having a trained professional teach you proper form can save you from injuries and help you get the best outcomes from your workout.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
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Lifestyle Choices and Health
Something I love is that my clients are very honest with me. I am not the judgmental type and knowing which lifestyle habits my clients partake in actually helps me form their workout for that day.
For instance, I trained a college student while she was on spring break. She was honest with me and told me she had drank heavily the nights before our workouts that week. I altered my workout from some high intensity protocols I had planned and moved to a more steady state but mildly cardiovascular taxing exercises. My strategy was to get her sweating to get out some toxins but I didn’t push her so hard she cramped or get nauseous.
I decided to write a blog about common substances people use and how they affect your body and your workouts.
Cigarettes: There is no doubt this is probably the worst one because it decreases your overall oxygen transportation while also increasing your hearts demand for oxygen. Lung capacity will not be as good as a non-smoker so you will get winded quicker, resulting in less intense workouts. Free radicals are in the smoke and free radicals damage healthy tissue. Damaged tissue from free radicals has been known to lead to cancer. This one vice I would recommend giving up or at least cutting far down as soon as possible.
Alcohol: Obviously if you are using alcohol at the time you are working out you increase risk of injury due to spatial and balance abnormalities. Also, the breaking down of alcohol post consumption competes with your body producing energy for exercise. This is certainly not recommended.
Many people however, are working out the following day after drinking. This puts our body at an increased risk for dehydration. Alcohol makes us produce more urine output and has metabolic byproducts we must break down, both can interfere with performance.
Interestingly, according to Dr. Emmanuel Stamatakis, if you are a drinker, moderate exercise can help prevent the increased risk of developing cancer and other increases in mortality that is associated with alcohol use. [1] It is also possible that light drinking (not every week) may help reduce risk of cardiovascular disease. [1] What about drinking after a workout? Sorry, it looks like alcohol might hamper muscle recovery. [2]
Marijuana: With widespread legalization of cannabis for recreational use, I think it is appropriate to evaluate cannabis along side with tobacco and alcohol. Additionally, it is no secret some of the world’s most elite athletes claim it helps them, either therapeutically, by reducing anxiety, or improving their performance. These are highly subjective measurements and surely varies person to person.
There is some evidence that cannabis can help bronchospasm, something that affects asthmatics and those who suffer from bouts of panic attacks “2.0 percent marijuana and isoproterenol caused an immediate reversal of exercise-induced asthma and hyperinflation.” [3] Long term cannabis use might present a downside however. Ingesting any smoke is hard on your body, period. “A recent review reported that marijuana smoking was associated with airway inflammation, acute bronchospasm, airflow obstruction, diffusion impairment, and emphysema.” [4] Keep in mind there are alternate ways of ingesting cannabis such as vaporizing, edibles, etc.
Additionally, there are some studies that claim marijuana activates our endocannabinoid system in interesting ways. The endocannabinoid system influences energy metabolism, sleep, mood, memory, even appetite. Plant cannabinoids may have an affect on this system.
According to Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, ” current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers”. Also, “their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level”.
I think it is fair to say there is a lot we don’t know about cannabis and with the legalization, it would be prudent to conduct more studies to get the facts we just don’t currently have.
The overall walk away message from this post is to find a trainer you are comfortable talking with. A trainer that understands and respects your unique circumstances will only benefit you in innumerable ways. By customizing a protocol that is appropriate for you, you can progress safely towards a goal of health. Remember there is no good and bad, there is only improvement.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
Resources:
- http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/07/health/exercise-alcohol-and-death-risk/index.html
- http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0088384
- http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1164/arrd.1975.112.3.377
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2720277/
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Can Exercise Slow Your Aging?!
Exercise can slow your aging…that’s a very big claim but it turns out there is evidence coming out of Brigham Young University to back it up!
To begin, we must understand what a telomere is. We can think of our DNA sequence as a shoelace. DNA is made of two shoes laces, they are paired strands of DNA. At the ends of the DNA strands there is an end cap called a telomere. Just like shoelaces have protective tips, so does DNA. When the cells divide, the DNA gets replicated. Every time a cell divides, the telomere ends get a little shorter. Therefore, as we age our cells have divided many times resulting in the shortening of length of the telomeres. Eventually, we run out of telomere and the cell can no longer divide and becomes inactive, declines in function, or dies.
So, now we understand that telomere length is important and as we age it shrinks. However, the most astonishing thing we are finding out is that your physical activity level directly correlates to how long your telomeres are!
According to exercise science professor Larry Tucker at Brigham Young University, those individuals who exercised at a high intensity at least five days out of the week (30 min per session for women and 40 minutes for men) had telomeres that suggested they were nine years younger than those the same age but with sedentary lifestyles!
“Just because you’re 40, doesn’t mean you’re 40 years old biologically,” Tucker said. “We all know people that seem younger than their actual age. The more physically active we are, the less biological aging takes place in our bodies.”
High intensity interval training needed to get these results is at a level that is very demanding on the body. I would recommend that anyone who has not consistently trained at high intensity levels recently get guidance and supervision from a personal trainer in order to increase to the conditioning levels needed for high intensity training and avoid injury.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
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Exercise for Seniors
There is no doubt that exercise is important at any age but we have found out it especially important for seniors. As we age we tend to add body fat, while simultaneously losing lean muscle mass. As we lose muscle mass, it causes our metabolism to slow down. Also, moving our joints helps keep them lubricated by circulating the synovial fluid inside the joint. Additionally, weight bearing exercise and weight training provide a type of stress on the bones that can increase bone density. That is important in fighting osteoporosis.
According to the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and the American College of Sports Medicine, aerobic fitness lowers risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis, certain types of cancers, decreases stress, and also improves sleep, digestion, and elimination.
If that is not enough reasons to get moving, The Journal of Gerontology Series reports that after six months of regular aerobic activity increases grey and white matter in various regions of the brain !
Balance is another place where exercise can benefit older adults. This is important because this population is at risk of injuries that result from falling. Exercise in general improves balance and a trained professional will have activities that focus on increasing your balance and strength in all joints from shoulders to ankles. The activities will be fun, challenging, and monitored for safety.
Exercise can positively impact many of the diseases that plague the elderly such as high LDL, diabetes, high blood pressure and poor circulation.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 senior exercise program protocol.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
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Children and Exercise
There is no doubt that children (age 6-11) have become the unexpected victims of the technological advances and technological dependence. We are truly in the middle of an epidemic of childhood obesity, unfortunately obesity comes with increased risk of diseases such as type II diabetes and heart disease, among others. The medical community is truly worried that this generation my be the first generation that will not outlive their parents. These are scary revelations. Not only is sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits hurting the adult population but children seem to be falling in line with these poor lifestyle habits.
What can we do???
The Journal of Pediatrics recommends children get 60 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous exercise daily. Be sure your children are walking, playing, participating in sports, riding bikes, doing physical chores….anything to get them moving. Limit time in front of the computer, TV, or on the phone. Trainers also work with children. We make sure the workouts are fun. We have a looser style protocol for children. We create stations that challenge and engage the children, while preventing boredom. We make sure the activity level varies from moderate to vigorous and are sure to provide sufficient rest.
Trainers can also focus on helping children become better coordinated and increase their balance. It is now known that supervised resistance training is recommended for children. Resistance training helps with bone mineral density, aerobic fitness, meeting ideal weight, and most importantly helps increase children’s confidence.
The best part of having someone like me, who has worked in high school sports and youth summer camps for years is not only that I have an ease with interaction of this age group but as an Athletic Trainer, I have extensive experience with evaluating, preventing, and rehabilitating athletic injuries.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 youth exercise program protocol.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
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Why Variation in Exercise is Essential
Something that trainers specialize in is knowing when to alter training protocols. We help prevent you from plateauing, over-training, and becoming bored with your workout. Trainers have years of experience, they know countless exercises, they know countless methods to advance towards your training goals. Trainers know how to ramp up and ramp down protocols for optimal results and outcomes. Most importantly, they help safe guard you from going too intense too fast or having bad form during exercise- both are top ways of getting injured from working out. Having a sports medicine background, I am able to spot injuries before they happen. I strengthen joints and muscles prior to advancing to demanding activities and also help you rehabilitate or work around current injuries. Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complementary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.Call or text: 407-205-7488
Posted by Pivot Holistic Health on Saturday, April 29, 2017
Our bodies are made to function as efficiently as possible. Once a person trains long enough doing the same exercise the body adapts and becomes more efficient at that exercise. For instance, lets say you do squats on a weighted machine every week, twice a week, at the same weight. Eventually, your body will adapt and you will have to increase the weight. Your muscles have adapted and became stronger.
Another example, lets say you jog at the same pace, same distance, three times a week. Eventually, you will have to increase the distance or speed if you want to keep increasing your cardiovascular conditioning.
Something that trainers specialize in is knowing when to alter training protocols. We help prevent you from plateauing, over-training, or becoming bored with your workout. Trainers have years of experience, they know countless exercises, they know countless methods to advance towards your training goals. Trainers know how to ramp up and ramp down protocols for optimal results and outcomes. Most importantly, they safe guard you from going too intense too fast or having bad form during exercise- both are top ways of getting injured from working out. Having a sports medicine background, I am able to spot injuries before they happen. I strengthen joints and muscles prior to advancing to demanding activities and also help you rehabilitate or work around current injuries.
Every pivot towards good health is a step in the right direction, no matter how big or how small. Please call to schedule your complimentary initial consultation and sample 1 on 1 training session.
Call or text: 407-205-7488
- Published in Fitness, Public Blog
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