Motion Health & Fitness

Tag: exercise

  • Closed Chain vs. Open Chain Exercises

    Closed Chain vs. Open Chain Exercises

     

    Some of my clients have heard me refer to “closed-chain” and “open-chain” kinetic exercises (kinetic relates to movement or motion).
     
    The “chain” I’m referring to is the kinetic chain of the body. All of your bones and muscles are connected in a chain; therefore the movements you make are also part of that kinetic chain.
     
    Do you remember the song “Dem Bones” from your childhood?
     
    Toe bone connected to the foot bone
    Foot bone connected to the heel bone
    Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
    Ankle bone connected to the shin bone
    Shin bone connected to the knee bone
    Knee bone connected to the thigh bone
    Thigh bone connected to the hip bone
    Hip bone connected to the back bone
    Back bone connected to the shoulder bone
    Shoulder bone connected to the neck bone
    Neck bone connected to the head bone
    Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk around
     
    It’s true! Our bones, tendons and ligaments are just a series of connected links in our human chain, which is powered and pulled by our muscles.
     
    In a closed chain, the end of the chain farthest from the body is fixed. A good example is the squat, in which your feet are fixed on the floor and the rest of the leg chain (and torso) moves. In open-chain exercises, the end is free, such as during a seated leg extension.
     
    During open-chain exercises, your hand or foot is free to move, such as when performing a triceps extension or a hamstring curl. These types of movements tend to isolate a single muscle group and a single joint. In an open-chain movement, the end of the chain farthest from the body — usually the hand or foot, and referred to as the “distal aspect of the extremity” — moves freely and is not fixed to an object.
     
    When weight is added to an open-chain exercise, it is usually placed at the distal portion of the limb, such as the hand or foot. Examples of open-chain exercises include chest presses, biceps curls, leg curls and leg extensions.
     
    In the closed chain, movement at one segment produces movement at all the other joints. For example, during a squat, the movement at the knee joint is accompanied by movement at the hip and ankle joints. In essence, closed-chain exercises work multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at once.
     
    During closed-chain exercises, your hands or feet are in a constant, fixed position (usually on the ground), such as when performing pushups. In a closed-chain movement, the distal end of the extremity is fixed, emphasizing joint compression and, in turn, stabilizing the joints.
     
    As a result, closed-chain exercises are safer for your joints—especially the knee joint—because the force involved is compressive, meaning it actually stabilizes the joint and helps to strengthen it.
     
    In contrast, open-chain leg exercises — such as knee extensions or hamstring curls — produce shear force, which stresses the knee joint (and the ACL) and are more likely to result in injury.
     
    I typically refrain from having my clients use the knee-extension machine. This movement is performed with the thigh fixed to the machine, and the force generated by the quadriceps moves the tibia (shin bone) across the femur (thigh bone). I prefer the squat — a closed-chain exercise — in which the trunk, hip and knee extensors act as prime movers, moving the femur across the tibia, which (along with the foot) is the fixed distal segment. The squat is a safer, more real-world exercise, since it better stimulates motor recruitment patterns of the central nervous system (CNS), compared to the knee extension.
     
    This is not to say that open-chain exercises are neither safe or useful, because they often are. Some therapists will use open-chain exercises for rehabilitation and these exercises are also ideal when training for a sport that requires the use of open-chain activities, such as throwing a ball.
     
    I employ both open-chain and closed-chain exercises in my training sessions, but there is no doubt that I favor the closed-chain variety.
     
    Closed-chain exercises work many muscle groups at once, which means that you can get more return from the energy expended. Closed-chain exercises also better mimic activities of daily living, which means they improve your “functional” fitness. They’re also great for athletes because sports require the movement of multiple joints and muscles all at once. Open-chain exercises isolate joints and muscles in a way that is uncommon in many athletic movements or daily activities.
     
    Examples of closed-chain exercises include pushups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, all of which can be done with or without added weight.
     
    If an athlete, for example, uses an open-chain leg press in attempt to develop explosive strength for sprinting, they will never achieve optimal performance using this alone.
     
    However, alternating between open and closed-chain exercises serves to more fully develop both the CNS and the musculature due to the variety of recruitment patterns needed. An example would be performing both squats and leg presses, pull-ups and pull-downs, and/or pushups and chest presses, in the same workout.
     
    A variety of movements and exercises will achieve the best results, but the closed-chain exercises should comprise the bulk of your workouts.
  • Walking Has Many Benefits, Even for Runners

    Walking Has Many Benefits, Even for Runners

     

    While running is more physically demanding than walking, the latter is still a good form of exercise and a great recovery tool for runners. Running the same speed and distance each day can lead to plateauing. Walking, which is lower impact, can allow your body to recover and enable better results over the long term.
     
    Running will lead to greater cardiorespiratory fitness than walking, as well as more calories burned in an equal period of time. However, walking is a better alternative for people with ankle, knee or back injuries (including recent surgeries), as well as for people who are obese. Walking puts less stress on joints and can reduce the pains associated with running.
     
    Like running, walking can improve heart health, improve circulation and improve posture. Walking can also help reduce the risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
     
    The key is to walk with a sense of purpose by engaging in at least moderate-intensity walking. Walking can even be a form of interval training. By repeatedly raising and lowering your speed and (if you are on a treadmill) the incline, you can also raise and lower your heart rate intermittently, which is a great calorie burner. You can even intersperse short runs, of say a block or two or a minute or two, into your walks. 
     
    Walking uphill or on an incline places more demand on the body, particularly the leg muscles. You’ll notice it in your heart rate, as well. The higher you set the incline on the treadmill, the more you activate your glutes, quadriceps and calves, and the more energy you use. That means more calories burned.
     
    One common mistake that people make when using a treadmill is holding onto the handrails. This takes away from muscle engagement and the energy required to walk or run at the level you set. Remember, there are no handrails when you walk outside and you manage that quite well!
     
    Like running, walking can clear your mind, improve mood,nd alleviate anxiety and depression.
     
    So, put on some comfy athletic shoes, get hydrated and get in motion.
  • Is Your Weight Training Intensity Adequate?

    Is Your Weight Training Intensity Adequate?

    Through many years at the gym, I’ve often seen women using the same 5-pound dumbbells for a variety of exercises: chess presses, shoulder presses, rows, bicep curls, lateral raises, front raises and more. Since weights should be thought of as tools, this is tantamount to using a screwdriver for every task, when sometimes you need a hammer or a wrench.
     
    For example, the weight you use for a chest press should be heavier than the weight you use for a shoulder press, which should he heavier than the weight you use for a lateral raise.
     
    As you work out consistently, you should grow stronger over time, necessitating the use of heavier weights for each exercise. This is especially true in the early stages of a workout program, when strength gains are most pronounced.
     
    It’s not just women either. I’ve often seen men using the same 25-pound dumbbells for an exercise that they’ve been performing for years. They make no progress because their program is not built on progression.
     
    Your body is a demand-based system. That is, the more you demand of it, the more it will produce. If you don’t steadily, but incrementally, increase the demand, your workouts and your results will stagnate.
     
    Aside from the fact that you shouldn’t be lifting the same exact weight for a variety of exercises, you shouldn’t be lifting the same exact weight for the same exercise, week after week, month after month.
     
    In short, weight training is meant to be progressive. You shouldn’t be lifting the same amount of weight today that you did one year ago. You should have gotten stronger; you should have progressed.
     
    However, sometimes your body needs a break from heavy lifting. Take it easy once a week and work on muscular endurance instead of just strength. Give your muscles a break, while still remaining active in the gym.
     
    How do you know if you are (or are not) using a high enough weight, aka, working out at the proper intensity?
     
    First, let’s define intensity, which is based on the maximum number of repetitions that can be performed with a given weight. The one-repetition maximum (1RM) is an ideal baseline:
     
    • High Intensity = 80–100% of your 1-rep max (1RM); typically 1-5 reps
    • Medium Intensity = 60–80% of your 1-rep max (1RM); 6-12 reps
    • Low Intensity = 10–40% of your 1-rep max (1RM); 15 or more reps
     
    The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) provides the following guidelines:
     
    • Hypertrophy (muscle growth) = 6-12 RM
    • Strength = 6, or fewer, RM
    • Power = 1-2 RM
     
    In order for your muscles to undergo an adaptation from training (i.e., to grow stronger or bigger), they must be stressed by working against a weight/load/stimulus that is greater than what they are accustomed.
     
    Don’t stop an exercise simply because you have reached 10 or 12 reps. Perform each exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, whether that’s 12, 10, eight or six reps.
     
    Increasing weight means a reduction of reps. If, for example, you can chest press 40-pound dumbbells 10 times to failure, that means you shouldn’t be able to press 50-pound dumbbells 10 times (if you can, you should be working out with the 50s, not the 40s). It’s likely that you can only press the 50s six times or eight times, or whatever it might be.
     
    If the current weight you are lifting isn’t challenging, you need to increase that weight. Strength training is meant to be challenging, because the whole point is to “overload” your muscles so they become stronger.
     
    Simply put, if you can do more than 12 repetitions, you should increase the weight. Everyone could stand to be stronger. 
     
    If you determine that it’s time to increase your resistance for a particular exercise, do this by adding no more than 10 percent at a time. For example, if you’re currently lifting 50 pounds, you’d increase that by five pounds to 55 pounds. This incremental increase should keep you safe and prevent injury. It’s important to maintain good form with a new, higher weight.
     
    Remember, if you don’t make your muscles work harder than they’re accustomed, they won’t get stronger (which is the whole point). If you train progressively, your muscles will grow stronger in order to meet the increasing demands you are placing on them.
     
    Lastly, recognize that some days you will feel like the Incredible Hulk, while on other days you will feel like a mere mortal. It’s okay; it’s all part of the process. Don’t beat yourself up over a bad training day. We all have them from time to time. 
  • Get Fit in the Gym; Lose Weight in the Kitchen

    Get Fit in the Gym; Lose Weight in the Kitchen

    Exercise has numerous benefits, the least of which is weight loss. Focus on the many health benefits of exercise, not just your weight. 

    Whether it’s a New Year’s resolution, a birthday, or the recommendation of a doctor, most Americans will determine to lose weight at some point during the year. It’s little surprise.
     
    In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that almost 40 percent of American adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese — the highest rates ever recorded for the U.S.
     
    In all, more than 70 percent of Americans are now either overweight or obese, meaning that an unhealthy weight has become the norm, with healthy-weight Americans — who have a BMI of less than 25 — now in the minority.
     
    However, while exercise is great for overall health in a multitude of ways, it isn’t the most effective means of weight loss.
     
    A lot of personal trainers may not want their clients to know this, but I think it’s important to set the record straight and to set a framework for reasonable expectations.
     
    The number of calories you burn when exercising account for a rather small portion of your total, daily energy expenditure.
     
    There are three main components to energy expenditure: 1.) basal metabolic rate, or the energy used for basic functioning when the body is at rest; 2.) the energy used to break down food; and 3.) the energy used in physical activity.
     
    Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the single biggest source of energy expenditure, responsible for about 70 percent of the calories burned each day. Digesting your food accounts for roughly another 10 percent. The remaining 20 percent, or so, can be burned through exercise.
     
    However, if you’ve ever walked on a treadmill, for example, you may be disappointed by just how few calories you burn.
     
    Your weight and the distance you walk are the biggest factors in how many calories you burn while walking. A rule of thumb is that about 100 calories per mile are burned for an 180-pound person and 65 calories per mile are burned for a 120-pound person.
     
    In other words, if a 180-pound person walks two miles, they would burn just 200 calories. If that person walks at a fairly brisk 4-miles-per-hour, it would take them 30 minutes to burn those 200 calories. That’s a pretty small payoff for that amount of time.
     
    In short, there’s a huge discrepancy between the number of calories you intake and the number of calories you expend while exercising.
     
    The average American consumes more than 3,600 calories daily – a 24% increase from 1961, when the average was just 2,880 calories, according to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
     
    To make matters worse, various studies have shown that people generally overestimate how much energy they burn while exercising and that they eat more when they work out.
     
    In a nutshell, if you’re trying to burn off all those excess calories at the gym, you’re going to be greatly disappointed.
     
    By far, the most critical factor for weight loss is limiting caloric consumption. It’s as plain as that.
     
    People who decide to reward themselves with food because they exercise — whether it’s larger portions, seconds, dessert, etc. — are setting themselves up for failure. They’re just taking one step forward and then two steps back. All the hard work done at the gym on any given day can be erased with just one excessive meal.
     
    Exercise has numerous benefits, aside from calorie burning: strengthening the heart (your most important muscle) and the arteries; lowering blood pressure; lowering resting heart rate; strengthening muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments; lowering resting blood sugar levels and sensitivity; lowering bad cholesterol, while raising good cholesterol; preventing many cancers; better sleep; improved mood and mental state; stress management and on and on.
     
    Weight training, in particular, is the closest thing to the fountain of youth that humanity has yet discovered. Yes, numerous studies have shown that strength training can actually reverse the aging process!
     
    None of this is to say that exercise, particularly strength training, cannot positively affect weight loss; it just shouldn’t be the primary focus.
     
    Resistance training may significantly increase resting metabolic rate (RMR) by increasing muscle mass. That’s because muscle mass alone contributes about 22 percent to RMR. An increase in RMR will result in more calories burned throughout the day, even when you’re not working out.
     
    RMR is generally depressed during caloric restriction, such as when individuals are dieting. This makes strength training especially important since it can elevate RMR, even when dieting. The problem for dieters who don’t strength train is that they not only lose body fat, they also lose muscle mass. That’s ultimately counterproductive to their long-term goal of maintianing weight loss.
     
    The important thing to remember is that exercise has many, many benefits, but weight loss is not the primary one. Reducing calories is central to weight loss.
     
    The focus of exercise should be the plethora of health benefits, both mental and physical, that can be achieved through a regular, committed workout program.
  • Sleep Vital to Muscle Recovery, Muscle Growth and Weight Management

    Sleep Vital to Muscle Recovery, Muscle Growth and Weight Management

     

    Since we were children, we’ve all heard the advice that we should get eight hours of sleep each night. With 24 hours in a day, that amounts to a third of the day and, ultimately, a third of our lives.
     
    Unfortunately, most of us are missing the mark.
     
    The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, it says that around 40 percent of us get less than 7 hours. Moreover, a survey by Gallup finds that Americans currently average 6.8 hours of sleep at night, down more than an hour from 1942.
     
    Life has gotten faster and more hectic at the expense of our sleep and, ultimately, our health.
     
    Scientists are still discovering the myriad of reasons we need sleep and just how valuable it is. For example, in studies on rats deprived of sleep for just five days, the end result was death. Sleep was found to be as essential as food because the rats died just about as quickly from sleep deprivation as from food deprivation.
     
    For athletes and exercise enthusiasts, sleep is vital to athletic performance, as well as muscle growth and recovery.
     
    Protein synthesis occurs when we sleep, provided that protein is ingested prior to sleep. This is why it’s useful to eat some protein, or drink a protein shake, before bed.
     
    Sleep is also the time when our bodies produce growth hormone. In men, 60% to 70% of daily growth hormone secretion occurs during the early stages of sleep, which is typically when the deepest sleep cycles occur. Consequently, poor quality sleep can negatively effect human growth hormone levels.
     
    Additionally, the total amount of growth hormone secreted by men in their 30s and 40s deceases significantly, meaning that sleep becomes even more vital as we age.
     
    Yet, sleep is vital at every age. Research shows that sleep deprivation in otherwise healthy young men can result in decreased testosterone levels and increased spikes of cortisol, a stress hormone.
     
    Furthermore, lean muscle is regenerated in the final couple of hours of sleep each night. During REM (late-stage) sleep, the body undergoes several critical processes, including: restoring organs, bones and other tissues; replenishing immune cells; and circulating human growth hormone. For these reasons, sleep has a significant effect on muscle growth and recovery.
     
    Research shows that being sleep-deprived can actually encourage loss of muscle mass and hinder muscle recovery after a tough workout. Ultimately, sleep is vital in order for the body to grow and repair muscle.
     
    Then there’s the issue of weight management.
     
    Research shows that people who don’t sleep for 7-8 hours a night are more prone to weight gain.
     
    When you’re sleep deprived, leptin (the hormone that signals satiety) falls, while ghrelin (which signals hunger) rises. This combination leads to an increase in appetite. Additionally, sleep deprivation tends to lead to food cravings, particularly for sweet and starchy foods.
     
    Researchers have suggested that these sugar cravings stem from the fact that your brain is fueled by glucose (blood sugar). Therefore, when you lack sleep your brain is unable to properly respond to insulin (which drives glucose into brain cells), so it becomes desperate for carbohydrates to keep going. If you’re chronically sleep deprived, consistently giving in to these sugar cravings will virtually guarantee that you’ll gain weight.
     
    Getting too little sleep also dramatically decreases the sensitivity of your insulin receptors, which will raise your insulin levels. This, too, is a surefire way to gain weight, as the insulin will seriously impair your body’s ability to burn and digest fat. Getting proper sleep is therefore crucial for maintaining a healthy weight.
     
    Several large-scale studies from all over the world have reported a link between short sleep times and obesity, as well as heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. This indicates that we are not biologically designed for sleep deprivation. In fact, other than humans, there is no other mammal that deprives itself of sleep. This deprivation puts great stress on the mind and body.
     
    Sleep deprived subjects are found to be hungrier, less alert and, most importantly, unable to metabolize sugar effectively, putting them at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes. In one study, in which sleep was restricted to four hours per night for six nights, the subjects ended up in a pre-diabetic state. Consequently, in addition to aging, overweight/obesity and family history, sleep deprivation may be a new risk factor for diabetes.
     
    Research indicates that, aside from proper diet and exercise, sleep must now be viewed as essential to good health. Ultimately, lack of sleep impacts our appetite, our metabolism, our memory and even how we age.
     
    The good news is that napping can help too. Brand new research is showing that long naps, including REM sleep, can even improve emotional outlook, making people less sensitive to negative experiences and more receptive to positive ones.
     
    So, make sure you get about eight hours of restful sleep each night, and don’t worry about sleeping a third of your life away.
     
    Go on, get some sleep.
  • Making Exercise a Habit

    Making Exercise a Habit

    It’s said that old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form. This is especially true with exercise. If you are not in the habit of exercising, maintaining that habit is effortless. To begin the habit of exercising, however, takes a lot of resolve, determination and effort.

    The behavioral patterns that are most often repeated become etched into our neural pathways. For this same reason, the process of repetition allows us to form—and maintain—new habits.
     
    Behaviors eventually become routine, which is what happens for people who exercise regularly. For these people, going to the gym or for a run, for example, become routine behaviors, which in time become habits.
     
    Habits are typically governed by reward. In essence, a habit is something your brain likes. Exercise makes people feel good physically and emotionally. After exercising, people usually feel accomplished and proud. Exercise can make you feel that you’ve done something constructive and beneficial for yourself.
     
    The more consistent an action is, the more likely it is to become a habit. This means that exercising every day is more likely to result in habit formation.
     
    One useful idea is to schedule your exercise for a given time each day, as you would with a personal trainer. Accountability is critical to maintaining your schedule and forming a habit.
     
    If you are planning to begin exercising, start modestly. Don’t take on too much, too soon. In other words, don’t set yourself up for failure. Make it easy for yourself to repeat the behavior. Don’t make exercise so strenuous in the initial stages that it gives you good reason not to do it. Make it easy enough that you set yourself up to succeed. Exercise can become progressively more challenging, or difficult, over time.
     
    Don’t become obsessed with results. Just exercising is the only result you should focus on in the beginning. Don’t concern yourself with high intensities or long durations at the outset. The only result that you should be concerned with at the outset is making exercise habitual.
     
    If your goal is to lose weight, don’t obsess on that. Consider the myriad of health benefits that result from exercise; weight loss is merely one of them, even if it comes slowly.
     
    Be aware of any progress that you’re making. Do your clothes fit better? Can you lift heavier weights? Is your endurance or stamina improving? Are you sleeping better? Do you have more energy? Are your muscles becoming less sore after you’ve been working out for a while?
     
    If you’re a morning person, work out in the morning. Stay true to your nature. If you’re not a morning person, don’t try to force yourself to be one. However, if you plan to exercise after work, bring your gear and go straight to the gym. Don’t go home first because it can only give you reasons to stay home and not work out at all.
     
    Alternating your workouts each day between different exercises (running, swimming, biking and strength training, for example) can be invigorating and motivational. At the least, it can fight boredom and repetition. We’ve all heard the saying, variety is the spice of life. So, spice things up by varying your workouts.
     
    Missing a workout does not mean you have broken the habit formation process or that you have ruined your momentum or rhythm. If you miss a day, don’t go on a guilt trip. Just get going again the next day.
     
    The oft-cited assertion that it takes 21 days to form a habit comes from Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s 1960 best-selling book “Psycho-Cybernetics.” Maltz, who noticed that patients tended to grow accustomed to their surgical outcomes in about 21 days, wrote that, “… it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”
     
    Since then, the 21-day adjustment period has been continually repeated as fact. In reality, Maltz wrote that it took a minimum of 21 days for people to adjust. Yet, research suggests that it usually takes significantly longer than that.
     
    For example, in a 2009 European Journal of Social Psychology study, researchers asked 96 people to attempt to forge a single healthy habit.
     
    They found that it took participants anywhere from 18 to a whopping 254 days to fully form their habit of choice; exactly how long it took depended on how big or lifestyle-changing the habit was. However, the researchers concluded that, on average, it takes 66 days to form a single healthy habit.
     
    So, if you can stick to your exercise plan for roughly two months, your consistent behavior should become engrained as habit.
     
    Remember this: Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.
     
    The beauty of habits is that they hold up even when motivation wanes, according to a scientific review from the University College London’s Health Behaviour Research Centre.
     
    Newton’s law of motion is a good metaphor for the habit of exercise:
     
    “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion.”
  • Exercise Can Strengthen and Protect Your Arteries

    Exercise Can Strengthen and Protect Your Arteries

     

    Through time and neglect (such as smoking and not exercising, for example), your arteries can become clogged, brittle and otherwise damaged. Healthy arteries are flexible and elastic, which help them to push blood to and from the heart. However, over time, the walls in your arteries can become rigid and inflexible, which is known as hardening of the arteries.
     
    Arteriosclerosis occurs when arteries become thick and stiff, which can restrict blood flow to your organs and tissues.
     
    Atherosclerosis refers to the buildup of plaques — such as fats, cholesterol, calcium and other substances in and on your artery walls — which can also restrict blood flow. These plaques can trigger blood clots. Consequently, atherosclerosis can lead to serious problems, including heart attack, stroke, or even death.
     
    Atherosclerosis may start with damage or injury inside an artery, which can be caused by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes and smoking. Blood cells and plaques can lump together at the injury site, building up inside the artery. This causes the arteries to harden and narrow, restricting blood flow.
     
    The good news is that atherosclerosis is treatable and may even be preventable. Exercise, a healthy diet and weight management can all treat atherosclerosis and help prevent it. Of course, exercise is known to aid weight loss, but it has numerous additional benefits for the heart and arteries, as well.
     
    As you age, your arteries become stiffer, stickier and narrower. But scientists in Italy found that in people who exercised regularly, age had a much smaller effect on their arteries.
     
    Exercise keeps arteries healthy by lowering bad cholesterol and boosting good cholesterol. Regular low or moderate-intensity exercise can reduce levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and fat in your blood and arteries. More intense levels of exercise can raise HDL (good) cholesterol, which protects your heart.
     
    Exercise also reduces other risk factors for atherosclerosis and blood clots, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and stress.
     
    Additionally, exercise has been shown to reduce inflammation in the arteries and to help keep blood vessels flexible and open. Flexible arteries are elastic and able to stretch, allowing more blood to flow when it’s needed.
     
    This enables your body to maintain its blood pressure level at normal levels, even during exercise or stressful events, which eases the pressure on your cardiovascular system.
     
    The American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend at least 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise almost every day to make sure that your body remains healthy.
     
    Find exercises that you enjoy and then commit to a long term, regular program. Whatever you do, just get in motion and stay in motion.
  • Regular Exercise Can Help Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes

    Regular Exercise Can Help Insulin Resistance and Type 2 Diabetes

    According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), diabetes is a growing epidemic. The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in the U.S. increased by 382% from 1988 to 2014.

    The organization says urgent action is needed because, as of 2015, more than 30 million American children and adults now have diabetes, and another 84 million Americans are at high risk of developing the disease (pre-diabetic).
     
    Each year, an additional 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes and the expense is burdensome. As of 2012, the total annual diabetes-related costs had reached $245 billion.
     
    Since 1987, the death rate from diabetes has increased by 45% while the death rates from cancer, heart disease, and stroke have all declined. Diabetes kills more Americans every year than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
     
    Two out of every three people with diabetes will die from heart disease or stroke. If current trends continue, one-third of all children born in the United States (and half of all minority children) will face a future with diabetes.
     
    People who suffer from diabetes have a disorder in which their blood sugar (glucose) levels rise higher than normal. Insulin helps keeps your blood sugar level from getting too high (hyperglycemia) or too low (hypoglycemia).
     
    While those with Type 2 diabetes — the most common form of the disease — can produce insulin, they cannot use it properly. This is called insulin resistance. Over time, their pancreas isn’t able to make enough insulin to keep their blood glucose at normal levels.
     
    When glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells, the cells are unable to store energy. Glucose is the body’s primary, and most efficient, energy source. The long term problem for diabetics is that high blood glucose levels can harm the eyes, kidneys, nerves and even the heart.
     
    Some things can increase the chances for developing Type 2 diabetes, such as high blood pressure (even if it’s treated and under control), low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and high triglycerides (blood fats).
     
    The “Diabesity” epidemic (obesity and Type 2 diabetes) is likely to be the biggest epidemic in human history, according to a research paper titled, “Clinical Diabetes and Endocrinology,” which was published in 2017.
     
    This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that almost 40 percent of American adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese — the highest rates ever recorded for the U.S. More than 70 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese, meaning that an unhealthy weight has become the norm.
     
    Being overweight or obese can cause insulin resistance, especially if you carry your extra pounds around the middle. Remarkably, more than 85% of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese, according to the CDC. Dropping just 7% to 10% of your weight can cut your risk of Type 2 diabetes in half.
     
    Exercise can help with weight loss/management and insulin resistance, as well as treating Type 2 diabetes. That’s because active muscles feed on glucose. During exercise, the active muscles use up glucose as a source of energy. So, regular physical activity helps to prevent glucose from building up in your blood.
     
    Consequently, regular exercise can help prevent or delay Type 2 diabetes from developing. Frequent physical activity improves your body’s sensitivity to insulin and helps manage your blood glucose levels.
     
    Exercise makes insulin more effective for those who are insulin resistant. In other words, insulin resistance goes down when you exercise, and your cells can use the glucose more effectively.
     
    Exercise can also help people with Type 2 diabetes avoid long-term complications, especially heart problems. People with diabetes are susceptible to developing blocked arteries (atherosclerosis), which can lead to a heart attack. Exercise helps keep your heart healthy and strong. Plus, exercise helps you maintain good cholesterol, which helps you avoid atherosclerosis.
     
    Research links resistance training with improved insulin sensitivity among people with diabetes and pre-diabetes. During a bout of resistance training, your muscles rapidly use glucose and this energy consumption continues even after you’ve finished exercising. For anyone at risk for metabolic conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes — as well as high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels and other symptoms of metabolic syndrome — strength training is among the most-effective remedies.
     
    To improve overall cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association, the Surgeon General and the CDC all suggest at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity exercise, or an equivalent combination of both. The easiest way to think of it is 30 minutes per day, at least five days per week.
     
    The important thing is to find activities that you enjoy. Then get in motion and stay in motion.
  • Exercise Can Help Prevent and Treat High Blood Pressure

    Exercise Can Help Prevent and Treat High Blood Pressure

    Hypertension (aka, high blood pressure) is an epidemic in the United States, with nearly half of us affected by it.

    For decades, high blood pressure has been determined by a top reading of at least 140 and/or a bottom one of 90.
     
    However, a dozen medical groups have now dropped the threshold to 120 over 80.  Under these new guidelines, 46 percent of American adults have high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
     
    The change has tripled the number of men under 45 and doubled the number of women under 45 with the diagnosis.
     
    Hypertension quietly damages blood vessels and leads to serious health problems. Left untreated, hypertension increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the US.
     
    Aside from heart attack/failure and stroke, high blood pressure can also lead to vision loss, kidney disease or failure, peripheral artery disease and sexual dysfunction.
     
    Symptoms of high blood pressure include dizziness, blurred/double vision, headache and neck pain. Some people also experience drowsiness and difficulty breathing. These problems often arise when the blood pressure is too high.
     
    However, since high blood pressure is a largely symptomless disease, millions of people are unaware that they have the condition. This is why hypertension is referred to as the “silent killer.” Many people with high blood pressure don’t even know they have it, according to the AHA.
     
    The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure tested. Though you can test your blood pressure at home with a store-bought arm cuff/monitor, a diagnosis of high blood pressure must be confirmed by a medical professional.
     
    Your blood pressure is recorded as two numbers. Systolic blood pressure (the upper number) indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls when your heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) indicates how much pressure your blood is exerting against your artery walls while your heart is resting between beats. These numbers measure millimeters of mercury, shown as mm Hg.
     
    Health professionals generally pay more attention to systolic blood pressure (the top number) as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease for people over 50. In most people, systolic blood pressure rises steadily with age due to the increasing stiffness of large arteries, the long-term build-up of plaque and an increased incidence of cardiac and vascular disease.
     
    However, according to the AHA, elevated systolic or diastolic blood pressure alone may be used to make a diagnosis of high blood pressure. And, according to recent studies, the risk of death from ischemic heart disease and stroke doubles with every 20 mm Hg increase in systolic pressure or 10 mm Hg increase in diastolic pressure among people from age 40 to 89.
     
    The guidelines set new categories and get rid of “prehypertension”:
     
    • Normal: Under 120 / 80
     
    • Elevated: Top number 120-129 and bottom less than 80
     
    • Hypertension Stage 1: Top of 130-139 or bottom of 80-89
     
    • Hypertension Stage 2: Top at least 140 or bottom at least 90
     
    These new guidelines mean that 46 percent of U.S. adults have high pressure (stages 1 or 2).
     
    High blood pressure interacts with other major risk factors, such as diabetes and high levels of cholesterol, to amplify the risk of heart attack and stroke. Treatment for hypertension must begin early to prevent organ damage.
     
    High blood pressure develops slowly over time and can progressively worsen with age. Roughly half the people with untreated hypertension die of heart disease related to poor blood flow (ischemic heart disease) and another third die of stroke, according to the Mayo Clinic.
     
    While there is no cure for hypertension, changes in lifestyle can help you lower your blood pressure and keep it down.
     
    Remember that drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol can raise blood pressure by several points, while also reducing the effectiveness of blood pressure medications.
     
    Using tobacco can also cause your blood pressure to increase and can contribute to damaged arteries. Too much stress may also contribute to increased blood pressure.
     
    Carrying too much weight puts an extra strain on your heart and circulatory system, which can cause serious health problems. Excess weight also increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Losing just 10 pounds can help reduce your blood pressure.
     
    Maintain a healthy weight by eating a nutritious diet, rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, but low in salt, saturated fat and cholesterol.
     
    Consistent exercise is also vital to lowering blood pressure and maintaining good health. Physical activity not only helps control high blood pressure and manage your weight, it also helps you strengthen your heart and lower your stress level. A healthy weight, a strong heart and general emotional health are all good for your blood pressure.
     
    Regular physical activity makes your heart stronger. If your heart works less to pump blood, the force on your arteries decreases, lowering your blood pressure. Exercise also lowers blood pressure by alleviating blood vessel stiffness so that blood flows more freely. Regular exercise can lower your systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
     
    On the other hand, inadequate physical activity increases your risk of developing high blood pressure. It can’t be overstated that physical activity is great for your heart and circulatory system, including blood pressure. It’s important to be consistent because if you stop exercising, your blood pressure can rise again.
     
    If you have slightly high blood pressure (prehypertension), exercise can help you avoid developing full-blown hypertension. If you already have hypertension, regular physical activity can bring your blood pressure down to safer levels.
     
    To improve overall cardiovascular health, the American Heart Association, the Surgeon General and the CDC all suggest at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity exercise, or an equivalent combination of both. The easiest way to think of it is 30 minutes per day, at least five days per week.
     
    The best types of exercise for lowering blood pressure include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or even dancing. Strength training can also help reduce blood pressure.
     
    The important thing is to find activities that you enjoy. Then get in motion and stay in motion.
  • What are Your Resting, Maximum and Target Exercise Heart Rates?

    What are Your Resting, Maximum and Target Exercise Heart Rates?

    People often ask me what a normal heart rate is. In adults, resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute (BPM). Heart rate varies with age, the amount of physical activity a person engages (fitness level) and/or the presence of heart disease.
     
    Generally, a lower heart rate at rest implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness. For example, a well-trained athlete might have a resting heart rate closer to 40 BPM.
     
    Regular exercise improves the heart’s ability to pump the same amount of blood with less effort, which naturally decreases the resting heart rate.
     
    A sedentary adult may have a resting heart rate of 70 to 80 BPM, while an adult who performs regular physical activity might have a resting heart rate of 50 to 60 BPM.
     
    The following table shows the normal resting heart rate for men:
      
    between 18 and 25 years between 26 and 35 years between 36 and 45 years
    Excellent 49-55 bpm 49-54 bpm 54-59 bpm
    Good 57-61 bpm 57-61 bpm 60 to 62 bpm
    Below average 71 to 73 bpm 72 to 74 bpm 73-76 bpm

    The following table shows the normal resting heart rate for women:

    between 18 and 25 years between 26 and 35 years between 36 and 45 years
    Excellent 54 to 60 bpm 54-59 bpm 54-59 bpm
    Good 61 to 56 bpm 60 to 64 bpm 62 to 64 bpm
    Below average 74 to 78 bpm 75 to 76 bpm 74 to 78 bpm
    Your maximum heart rate (MHR) is genetically fixed and declines over time, as you age. It does not change as you become more or less fit.
     
    Maximum heart rate does not determine your fitness level; being able to sustain your MHR for longer and longer periods does.
     
    Only a highly motivated and very fit individual is able to reach their maximum heart rate while exercising, and even they can only do it for for a couple of minutes at a time — tops. These individuals have the ability to tolerate great discomfort and even pain.
     
    An untrained, unfit individual may find that basic tasks, such as walking, are highly taxing. These people are unfamiliar with the notion of exercising at, or near, maximum heart rate. As a result, they may find that exercising at even 75 percent of maximum is very strenuous and might confuse that with their maximum.
     
    A fit person is able to tolerate longer periods of exercise at their maximum heart rate than an unfit person, and he/she also requires a higher intensity of exercise to achieve their MHR than an unfit person.
     
    So, how do you calculate your maximum heart rate? The equation that has long been used is 220 – age = maximum heart rate (MHR). However, that formula has long been known to be inaccurate since it was derived from young athletes, who do not represent the general population. A revised formula for MHR is 208 – 0.7 (age).
     
    For example:
     
    • The MHR a 30-year-old is 208 – 0.7 x 30 = 187 beats per minute.
     
    • The MHR for a 40-year-old is 208 – 0.7 x 40 = 180 beats per minute.
     
    • The MHR for a 50-year-old is 208 – 0.7 x 50 = 173 beats per minute.
    Determining your target training heart rate also varies according to age and fitness level. Most people will exercise at a target heart rate that ranges from 50 percent to 85 percent of their maximum heart rate.
     
    For example, if you want to exercise at 80 percent of your maximum heart rate, multiply your maximum by .80. For a 40-year-old, the target heart rate would be 180 x .80, or 144 beats per minute.
     
    The American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend the following target heart rate guidelines:
     
    • Moderate exercise intensity: 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate
    • Vigorous exercise intensity: 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate

    The American College of Sports Medicine provides its own guidelines: 

     

    • Beginners — 50 to 65 percent of maximum heart rate
    • Intermediate level exercisers — 60 to 75 percent of maximum heart rate
    • Established aerobic exercisers — 70 to 85 percent of maximum heart rate
    It should be noted that maximum heart rate is a predicted number and many people (more than 40 percent of patients, according to one cardiologist, who spoke to the NY Times) can get their heart rates to more than 100 percent of their predicted maximum. Some people’s maximum heart rate can be as much as 15 to 20 beats per minute higher than the predicted maximum.
     
    Using a heart rate monitor (which has become quite prevalent) is a great way to gauge your heart rate while exercising.
     
    If you don’t have a heart monitor, you can simply use Rated Perceived Exertion. The RPE scale, which ranges from 0 – 10, is used to measure the intensity of your exercise.
     
    For example, 0 equates to no exertion at all, or how you feel when sitting in a chair; 10 is very, very intense, or how you feel at the end of an exercise stress test or after a very strenuous activity.
     
    The Cleveland Clinic offers this explanation:
     
    2 – Light
    3 – Moderate
    4 – Somewhat heavy
    5 – Heavy
    6 – Heavy 
    7 – Very heavy
     
    In most cases, you should exercise at a level perceived as 3 (moderate) to 4 (somewhat heavy). If you’re doing interval training, an RPE of at least 7 would be appropriate. 
     
    No matter what you do or how you measure it…. Get in Motion. Stay in Motion.