Archive for gettingfitover50
Exercise and Heart Health
Posted by: | CommentsWe all know that regular exercise is good for us, but sometimes we feel like we have to be marathon runners to benefit from it. Let’s face it, most of us aren’t in any shape for a marathon or triathlon, but here’s the good news: I heard a news story last week about how regular, moderate exercise really benefits the heart.
I have a healthy heart now, and after seeing my dad go through treatments for an aneurysm, heart bypass and a valve replacement, I would like to do what I can now to avoid having heart disease in the future. None of that was any fun at all.
Recently I’ve been improving my physical activity routine. Last fall I was spending too much time in my desk chair and not enough on my bicycle seat, you know what I mean? Just because you fall into some bad routines doesn’t mean you can’t try to do better. Now (just about) 5 days a week I have a good morning routine: walk the dog, 20 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes on the exercise bike. It certainly won’t get me in shape for the triathlon, but it makes me feel good. When I combine it with a heart healthy diet, it’ll help prevent me from becoming overweight, which carries its own risks, and will help me prevent heart disease.
Debunking Myths: ‘More Exercise’ for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s basic physiology — when you feel sluggish, unmotivated and fatigued, getting up and doing some exercise causes changes in your body that boost your energy. Exercise also releases endorphins in the brain, and endorphins are great pain killers. So when people say those of us with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome would feel better if we got “more exercise,” there’s something to it, right?
Actually, no. In normal, healthy people, yes — exercise creates energy. Problem is, we’re not normal and healthy.
Exercise is a tough subject, whether you have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. However, it’s not the same for both groups, so let’s look at them separately.
Full Article>>http://chronicfatigue.about.com/b/2010/02/09/debunking-myths-more-exercise-for-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-syndrome.htm
Falling Temperatures Don’t Mean You Cannot Exercise Outdoors, Says Expert
Posted by: | CommentsITHACA, NY — Don’t let the temperature temper your exercise resolution. Even when the temperature drops you can still keep that New Year’s exercise resolution, and you can still do it safely outdoors. Your body can adapt to the falling temperatures, according to Gary Sforzo, an expert on the physiology of exercise.
“If you are concerned about hypothermia, you don’t need to be unless the temperatures are extreme,” says Sforzo, a professor of exercise and sport sciences at Ithaca College. “The body produces a lot of heat during exercise and when it produces heat, it pretty much diminishes any chance of hypothermia. The key is continuous exercise. If you go outdoors for a walk or a run, just move continuously. Don’t stop for five or ten minutes to talk to your neighbor. Hikers sometimes get into trouble if they stop for lunch. As long as you are moving, the muscles produce metabolic heat and that metabolic heat will keep you pretty warm, sometimes to the point where you need to remove clothing.”
What you wear in the cold plays an important role also. Sforzo suggests a synthetic fiber next to your skin that wicks away perspiration — cotton is not a good choice for that. Also be sure to have a windproof jacket.
“The danger zone is typically in the -20 to -30 windchill zone. When the ambient temperature is in the single digits or below and you have wind, you can have some problems. When the ambient temperature gets to 20 below with even the slightest wind, then obviously hypothermia is a problem if you stand around. But in those conditions you are also looking at the potential of frostbite.”
Frostbite is mainly a problem with the extremities. Vasoconstriction can decrease the amount of blood flowing to them so you have to keep those extremities covered with a hat, gloves and good footwear. The nose is a tough one and Sforzo recommends wearing a scarf as high as you can get it on your face.
If you are in doubt about the outdoor conditions, Sforzo suggests checking out a table that shows the danger zone on a wind chill chart before heading out to exercise (http://bit.ly/XtWhn). And he reminds us the chart is for exposed flesh while standing still. “We fare better when covering skin and exercising.”
Also keep in mind that your performance may go down in cold weather.” Cold is not conducive to your personal best performance. Muscles perform better when they are warm. Even Olympians will not get their best performance on the coldest day.”
The body adapts to the cold temperature so, “don’t wait until it is 5 degrees outside to have your first session. When the body adapts it will have a couple of different changes. It will shiver differently and it will more readily release hormones like epinephrine and thyroxine, which allow the body to produce heat more effectively in cold weather. Get used to the cold weather and it will be more comfortable,” said Sforzo.
So excuses begone. Avoid cabin fever, dress right, get out and stick to your resolutions. As a last bit of advice, Sforzo cautions “watch out for the ice!”
Contact: Anne Macdonald
Office: 607-274-1945
amacdonald@ithaca.edu
Reference: 2-9-10-20
Zumba ‘exercise in disguise’
Posted by: | CommentsDurango instructors offer new classes in fast, furious and sweaty ‘Latin aerobics’
The snow is still piled high, and the ice is thick, but inside Durango studios, the mood is muy caliente.
I’m 100 percent present. That’s a powerful thing people can give themselves. You can’t think about your bills or your problems while you’re dancing.
- Sara Illsley, Zumba instructor
The reason is Zumba (zoom-ba), a hot ‘n’ spicy flavor of dance fitness. Students shimmy, shake and sweat. When the energy reaches a fevered pitch, they may even yell “Ay, ay, ay!”
This is not your grandma’s aerobics class. (Or maybe it is. Does she like to dance?) Zumba is Colombian slang for “buzzing like a bee,” or going fast. The buzz is certainly spreading quickly in Durango, where four instructors – three of them newly certified – are teaching 13 classes in five different locations. Many of the classes began in January, and a new one began last Thursday
Full Article>>http://durangoherald.com/sections/Features/Health/2010/02/08/Zumba_exercise_in_disguise/
Lifestyle change can affect blood pressure, but it’s not the whole story
Posted by: | CommentsSo how much good will it do if you get more exercise, consume less salt, ramp up on potassium, eat the DASH way, give up smoking, take up meditation? Does it all add up to some impressive total that will knock your doctor’s socks off the next check-up time?
It depends a lot on where you start out. If you’re a confirmed couch potato, exercising even a little might help to bring your blood pressure down. But if you’re already a marathon runner, you’ve probably maxed out on the good that exercise can do you.
If you smoke two packs a day, quitting could make a big difference. If you’re already a nonsmoker, that option doesn’t even exist.
But it’s also really tricky to add up the effect of all these individual actions because so many of them are interconnected.
Full Article>>http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-hew-blood-pressure-interactions8-2010feb08,0,2036341.story
Exercise ‘cuts risk of developing painful gallstones’
Posted by: | CommentsDoing lots of exercise drastically cuts the risk of developing painful gallstones, UK researchers have found.
Gallstones are common but only 30% of cases have symptoms and complications.
A University of East Anglia study of 25,000 men and women found those who were the most active had a 70% reduced risk of those complaints.
The team, writing in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, said one reason might be reduced cholesterol levels in the bile.
They said exercise also raised levels of “good” cholesterol and help improves movement through the gut, all of which could contribute to the lowered risk.
Full Article>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8500827.stm
Blood pressure: exercise
Posted by: | CommentsDozens of studies have reported a link between exercise and lowered blood pressure: Some have found reductions of up to 10 mm Hg (systolic) and 6 to 10 mm Hg (diastolic) blood pressure units in people who already have hypertension.
In general, reductions are not as great for people with blood pressure in the normal range: A Belgian review of scores of studies found that for people with high blood pressure, average reductions from exercise were 6.9 mm Hg systolic and 4.9 mm Hg diastolic, and for participants who did not have high blood pressure, only 1.9 mm Hg and 1.6 mm Hg.
Age seems to matter. In one study, exercise did not reduce systolic blood pressure in older people — ages 55 to 75 — although it did reduce diastolic pressure. (Both readings are important.)
Full Article>>http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-blood-pressure-exercise8-2010feb08,0,7079242.story
Exercise to Combat Disease
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s another benefit of a proper exercise routine, prevention of disease, including cancer. A recent study that was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that risk of cancer was cut in half for people who engaged in high intensity exercise, the higher the intensity the lower the risk.
The types of exercise they refer to as high intensity would definitely not include jogging or traditional cardio. That is exercise at a more moderate even pace and not at all included when talking about high intensity.
High intensity type of exercise can be done with many different activities the key is creating an oxygen debt so at the end of a short burst of activity you are gasping for breath. It can be done with a myriad of exercises. Sprinting would be the most obvious one but not everyone can run sprints. You can adapt it to any exercise though, such as jumping jacks, push-ups, jumping rope, riding a bicycle, you name it. You just need to get creative with it. But remember the key is that after a few seconds or up to a minute or two you are gasping for breath. Then you take a short break and do it again, repeating about 5-6 times and you have completed your high intensity workout.
Naturally those five to six sets of exercise don’t have to be the same, for example, you could start with a set of push-ups until you got winded, then jump into the pool and swim 2 laps at full speed. Then after a two minute rest do a set of jumping jacks, etc. You can get as creative as you want. It makes for a fast workout and it takes the boredom out of just doing the same activity like jogging. Besides that, it’s way more effective in terms of weight loss and for your overall health.
The reason that high intensity workouts help to prevent cancer and other diseases is that it floods the cells with life-giving oxygen. Oxygen is the basic fuel for cell metabolism. If you don’t have it, energy production drops and the cells lose their ability to repair DNA. Low oxygen levels in the cells – chronic hypoxia – is a cause of chronic disease, especially cancer.
Unfortunately, in the modern world, we are a society of couch potatoes. So the level of oxygen rich blood for most people is very low. This makes us more susceptible to disease. Most people when they do exercise do cardio, such as jogging. That doesn’t raise the oxygen levels enough to help prevent disease. The key is a high intensity workout.
We all have known for a very long time that exercise improves the cardiovascular system. And many in the world of sports and sports medicine and naturopathic medicine have suspected that the same was true for cancer prevention and other diseases. But now it is nice to have it confirmed for others with a study published in a respected medical journal.
So get busy and have fun with your high intensity workout and cut your cancer risk in half!
KEEPING FIT: Mix it up to avoid overuse injuries
Posted by: | CommentsDuring warm weather, activities are typically performed outdoors where a variety of factors make each exercise a little different. For example, when you walk or run outside, the terrain changes throughout your course. This is especially true if you walk or run on athletic fields or dirt paths, where each step is different than the others because of uneven surfaces. Even outdoor cycling offers various speeds, gear ratios and pedal frequencies as you travel uphill, downhill and on flat sections.
This is not true of most indoor aerobic activities, at least not the way they are typically performed. Most indoor exercisers spend their training session doing one mode of activity at the same pace or intensity. For example, they may set the treadmill at 4.0 miles per hour at 2 percent incline and walk in exactly the same manner for 30 minutes. Likewise, they may program the stationary cycle for 150 watts and pedal consistently at 70 revolutions per minute for an hour.
Full Article>>http://www.patriotledger.com/lifestyle/x1124761618/KEEPING-FIT-Mix-it-up-to-avoid-overuse-injuries
Marathon Mama:How I Went From 250 lbs To Being A Marathon Runner
Posted by: | CommentsBy Barbara Roberson
I know that feeling of being 4 pounds away from a goal. I remember it like yesterday, sitting at the beginning of one of my many spinning classes and telling the instructor and classmates, “I just need to lose these last 4 pounds!” I was 204 pounds that the time, from an all time high of 250 pounds. I had been spinning for months and the weight loss was happening slowly. The instructor looked at me funny as I told her, “I know it sounds silly to all of you, but if I can lose these last 4 pounds then I’ll finally see 199 and then that means it is all in the bag! All downhill from there!” They looked at me smiling, sort of shaking their heads and that is when I realized I was with the wrong group! Not one word of encouragement or of advice, so that night I decided to make some changes. I reactivated my dormant Peertrainer account, switched from spinning 2 days a week and weight training 1 day a week, to the Couch to 5K program and weight training 2 days a week. I also refined the Weight Watchers program into my deluxe version in which I used Flex Points but only eating the daily points, used the weekly points as a safety net. I kept at it with the modest goal of running my first 5K in October 2007. I arrived at the race and was terrified but at the safe time felt so alive. I ran the whole thing with a grin from ear to ear! Folks must have thought I was crazy, but good golly it felt so great to be able to run again, and run in public! I had done it! I had ran the whole thing and my hubby and kids were at the finish line cheering me on! Then I signed up for another 5K to see if I can do it faster, did more weightlifting (these months concentrating on heavier weights, so I could get stronger, build more muscle and burn more calories). To my surprise, I did the Jingle Bell for Arthritis 5K even faster, then the New Year’s Resolution Run 5K also faster, and as I got more comfortable with my running, I found myself asking…what is next?
Full Article>>http://bit.ly/97VEsJ
