Revive PT on Bluff

Two Bays Trail Run First Time

2012-01-17T17:33:00.003+11:00

It has been a daunting task preparing for the Two Bays Trail Run. As a road runner the trail has been a revelation; a joy and a tough task master. Reading ‘Born To Run’, while a fantastic book and a much appreciated birthday present, in the lead up probably didn’t help. There I was, planning my first trail run, a weenie 28k, while reading about the madness and the beauty of the ultra long distance runner was almost overwhelming. Kinda made me want to pack up my kit and forget all this trail running nonsense.

I didn’t. I took my doubts by the throat and shook then hard till they gasped a last breathe and I stood at the start line trying to think of nothing. Like zen meditation I was determined to be only in that moment, that step and to be amazed when the next moment came and I was taking another step – running slowly and steadily enjoying the trail and the people.

Sneaked from the Two Bays website!!!

Damn it’s hilly - right from the start. Rude really! But the climb has to be done in order to enjoy the views, which are pretty spectacular. There is always talking at the beginning of a race, even road races. It keeps your mind off the difficultly of warming up and the trail was no different. I had to smile as I listened to other runners asking each other about the previous year, the next race, the best fuel belt, preferred hydration… Everyone is feeling fresh and it’s a great distraction.

The last wave to leave the start line was the 56k runners. At about 20 minutes in, the faster runners caught up with up us plodders as we struggled up the narrow and never ending climb to Arthur’s Seat. I could only envy them as they flowed passed. Everyone made room; everyone polite, shouting thank you as we shrank away from the speedy gods of the trail!

There have been a few people who have avoided eye contact with me recently. It might have someone to do with the expression of enjoyment and the phrase “three hour run”. The thing I hadn’t expected from the trail running, being a complete novice, was how much the terrain improved the experience of running. Trees, creeks, mud, dirt, birds, scampering wee beasties in the bush, it adds up to a great way to entertain yourself on a long run. So I really didn’t notice the first 10k. The next five was pretty nice too; I had great company for most of this time. Love a chat and run moment. Even the next five was feeling ok, I had to be careful of pace at this point.

The terrain had started to change and it got harder to stay upright. I was also solo now and chasing a little too hard. Had to slow down to survive. Desperate for the next aid station and the toilet, food, drink… Suddenly everyone was tripping. 20k was taking its toll on tired legs. Three people went down in a short space of time, then I almost hit the track myself soon after. But a stumble is nothing so onward and upward we all went.

Thanks to Katrina for sharing this pic on her FaceBook page

I don’t know who it was at the last aid station, but a lovely chirpy, cheery volunteer reassured me it was all easy going from here. All open trails and a few steps. STEPS!!!!! I had heard about the steps and could see through her lies! But after a thinly veiled threat to track her down after the race, she admitted her flexible us of the term steps. HELL, really awful tiring mind bending steps. It took the wind out of so many of us at that point.

Struggled the last two km. Really had to dig deep to keep the feet going at only just a touch over a walk (or at least that’s how it felt). Then to have so many of the 56k runners heading back for the return journey was inspiring, many of them with energy enough to be wishing us good luck and shouting encouragement. Someone told a guy in front of me that there were only two bends left before the finish. Can’t tell you how much I needed to hear that. Kicked up the pace to just over turtle break neck speed and YAHHHHHH! The end, large and red and oh so welcome. Oh so tired but oh so damn chuffed!

Happy to sit down and take my shoes off.... ahhhhhhh

Have to congratulate the trail runners for being who they are and the Two Bay’s Trail organisers for putting together an awesome event. It surprised me to see km markers along the track. I have been so used to road events where the organisation is so appalling they can’t manage markers even on the smooth and easy bitumen! Thumbs up, volunteers and organisers.

Already planning next year. Will do better for sure, but for now I am going to bask in my own glory.

Raw Food Diet

2011-12-08T11:54:00.002+11:00

It seems my dedication to ‘nude food’ (unprocessed food at all times!) is going to be trumped by the raw foodies. The raw food diet was popularised by Max Burcher-Brenner in the late 1800s (coincidentally his American counterpart Dr. Kellogg was doing the same). Yes, both men responsible for a popular breakfast food!

Wikipedia defines a raw food diet “as the practice of consuming uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet. Depending on the type of lifestyle and results desired, raw food diets may include a selection of raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds (including sprouted whole grains such as gaba rice), eggs, fish (such as sashimi), meat (such as carpaccio), and non-pasteurized/non-homogenized dairy products (such as raw milk, raw milk cheese, and raw milk yogurt).”

A couple of years ago I happened upon a restaurant in Port Melbourne, Le Cru, which served only raw food meals. The cold pasta has remained with me, for good reasons not bad. It was both a shock and a delight. However, I couldn't find a website for them so they not be operating. I have travelled from meat eater, to vegetarian, to vegan and back to vegetarian. The raw food experience is one I haven’t tried. So I have no experience to speak of.

However, I did find this interesting account of one man’s experience of going raw food for a month. He notes that his endurance seemed to improve and his sweet cravings dropped off also. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/02/raw-food-diet/ I guess this is even more interesting given some reading I have been doing (thanks to Mary) about long distance, ultra marathon runners. Many of them are vegetarians, and many live a nude food lifestyle. It’s not raw food but it comes pretty close for many meat eaters. The connection the book makes to nude food and a simplified diet of grains, fruits and vegetables, is that it improves endurance and leaves the digestive system ‘clear’. I would agree with that wholeheartedly and I think the writer of the blog above would also.

So the benefits professed are: number one and most convincing argument is improved nutrient intake because heating raw food generally degrades and damages the nutrients they contain. You can eat more and still lose weight. The diet encourages you to look outside the square when preparing meals so you are more likely to get variety and that makes for a healthy body. It is a more ethical way to eat (meat production isn’t a nice practice). The environmental impact is a more positive one because growing fruit and vegetables and grains emits fewer green house gases etc… than farming livestock does.

I think the raw food diet has much to offer for our health and our waist line. You may not want to go to the dark side completely but consider a few simple changes. Leave vegetables raw, broc is lovely raw, carrots are great raw, mushrooms too, and they can be added to a plate of cooked vegetables. Salads are the most obvious raw food. Get them going with the addition of seeds like chia and pepitas, and nuts like walnuts and almonds. Check out the local expert at www.kemisrawkitchen.com.au for more inspiration.

I do have some concerns that this could be hijacked by people pretending to be raw foodies, see this for a great example, http://rawpower.com.au/products.htm. When did protein powder become a raw nude food???? Uhhhh.

2011 Wrap Up

2011-12-02T16:51:00.000+11:00

Highlights often don’t do justice to a year of small victories and everyday triumphs. The consistency that has been shown by so many of you is outstanding. Niki Weeks, the Wilson sisters, Rod, Kellee, Rachael and Stuart. You have all been amazingly consistent this year and it has been a pleasure working with you.

This year’s come-back kid is Susy. After having awful surgery on her feet, with complications, she is back to training and working hard at the weights for summer muscles. Ro Moroney has shown a great effort in managing a new job and getting to training at every opportunity, which has been a real struggle some weeks.

Congratulations Clair and Jacqui, both pregnant and continuing to train. For Clair this is the second time, and she trained through her first pregnancy also. You two girls are such an inspiration. Jacqui also lost 10+kg for her wedding; she looked stunning and had managed to keep most of that weight off after the wedding. Although now…

Personal bests and triumphs have been steadily coming in this year. Shannon reached a personal best of 8 minutes straight for an isometric wall sit. A feat which actually makes my eyes water! Stuart reached the 2 minute bridge bench mark for core endurance. Natasha had a great weight loss result for her wedding. So did Lisa. Both girls have managed to keep that weight down after the festivities. Mary did a long trek on the Mont Blanc trails of Europe.

We had quite a few running triumphs this year. We had the Run Melbourne event, the Melbourne Marathon festival, Geelong Half Marathon, City to Surf, City to Sea and the last one for the year Mary will be running the 10km Sussan Women’s on Sunday 4^th Dec. I am especially excited by the efforts of Sara this year. She spent about 5 weeks in the UK visiting family while in the middle of her training for the Melbourne Marathon. Despite that, she still trained, and she competed like a champion. Hardly sore and back to training about 4 days later. Inspiring! Congrats Joelle for running the half marathon with her daughter. Belinda for tackling a first half marathon and Jen M for doing it again!!!! Sara and I are now preparing for our first trail race over 26km on the Mornington Peninsula… ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

I have to mention those who are working against the gain. Jen L has put in a great effort despite a number of set-backs and some pretty tough training. But she has fronted up and made the time. Her commitment has been impressive and I am looking forward to next year Jen!

We have had some very fun family moments this year. Nik has started training with her daughter, Amy (go Amo!!!!). We also had the three amigos, Sherille and her two boys Brendan and Andrew, attending group sessions. I got to met Tania and Rosanna’s mum for a few sessions to help with managing lower back pain.

My favourite moments from the year have also been tinged with sadness. My gorgeous dog Ted, died unexpectedly and tragically. Thank you for your kind thoughts and best wishes. However, we have had a great time this year with dog visits. It has been a delight for me to have dog time when I was feeling so sad. Thanks. Keep a look out for the gallery photos. This is a tradition I am keen on keeping going for next year. K9PT will be up and running for sure.

Thank you all for you continued support of what we do. I look forward to more challenges and triumphs in 2012!

City To Sea 2011

2011-11-13T15:56:00.000+11:00

Today was the first running of the City to Sea 14km fun run in Melbourne. Young sister race to Sydney's City to Surf. All up an enjoyable event. Still never enough toilets but at least they had pit stops arranged along the race route which is really handy.

The staggered start only slightly reduced the congestion. But that is part of the fun of the day, if you don't like it, pick another less crowded race.

Atmosphere was lacking compared to City to Surf. But given the long history of the great Sydney race I don't imagine the first running had the kind of side road entertainment it has now. Vastly different courses, with not a hill in sight winding along St Kilda Rd and Albert Park Lake.

The Beach Rd section was pretty good and Catani Gardens; a great place to finish. Loved the beach and sea on your right as you enter the finishing stretch!

However, my gripe! Well, Albert Park Lake is as boring as swan pooh! Perhaps they will change it... probably not given the City to Surf hasn't changed much in its 41 years except the start line has shifted a few times to cater to the huge numbers!

All and all, a pretty good morning.

Desk Posture Stretches For The Neck

2011-11-03T10:31:00.001+11:00

I could do this video myself but the kindly physios in North Sydney have done it for me. Special mentions - do these really slowly and very very gently. I would actually take out the head tilting backwards for most people unless your physio has suggested it.

Desk posture generally and staring at computer screens creates the forward head posture we commonly see around us. Have a look around at the people in your office or on the street. How many of them do yu think could line up say, left ear with the tip of the left shoulder? I bet not many. That is basically a recipe for neck and upper back pain.

Don't discount watching television and driving the car. These positions replicate the desk posture and add new dimensions. One arm raised when drivign the car for example. On the couch with the hips sliding forward to create a c shape of the spine and a passive forward head posture created by pillows.

These stretches can done at any time during the day, enjoy!

You Go Girl - Pregnant Marathon Runner

2011-10-13T14:43:00.000+11:00

YAHHHHH!!! Amber Miller gave birth to her second baby only hours after finishing a marathon. OMG!

Not only is the marathon itself an amazing feat but to feel well enough and be fit enough to continue to train and participate is just so impressive. Many years ago I worked with a cycle coach whose wife was an elite du-athlete (run and ride). She trained right up until the end and it didn't do any harm. Although it raised many eyebrows to see a heavily pregnant woman on a bike!

I think it is time recognise the being pregnant isn't a medical condition like a disease and that women are very capable of making choices about there own health. There has been some pretty nasty commentary on this subject.

I have worked with many mums through pregnancy. It seems the fatigue is the biggest factor and after that perhaps mobility. So to be mobile enough to carry on a training routine is obviously possible and the medical literature suggests, positive. Provided that mum doesn't try to increase current fitness levels or take on a new sport then continuing a regular and known routine is fine as long as mum feels fine.

The common cautions for mums is to remain cool. Stop when the going gets tough and remember your body is under a lot of stress. Be kind to yourself and accept that modifications to your routine will probably be necessary. Accept your weight gain but keep it healthy! Be mindful that you will struggle to lay flat on your back after about 4 months ish. TELL YOUR TRAINER.

We will look after you and be joy filled with your news.

http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16086711 To see the news article about Amber's amazing race.

Crepitus

2011-09-22T09:03:00.002+10:00

Having coco pops in your joints is called crepitus. Most commonly in the knees. When squatting or lunging the movement is audible or can be felt under the skin. It is not just a condition of old age, it can result from wear and tear related to injury and movement mechanics.

A trip into the joint will help to explain it. The joint of the knee, for example, includes the knee cap or patella and the ends of the bones of the lower limb and upper limb. These bony parts are joined to and by tendons, ligaments and shock absorbing cushions and fluid encased in the tendons that keep the joint together. Physio 101.

When the joint functions perfectly well, as nature intended, all the parts move smoothly and there is no pain or strange noises. The soft tissue within the joint is able to perform it’s purpose with minimal wear and tear. That also means the bony parts get maximum protection from wear and tear also. They remain smooth and therefore offer little resistance to movement.

If these soft structures are not working properly then they incur damage beyond the usual wear and tear expected of a joint. When the soft parts are moving out of alignment due to muscle imbalance or sports related repetitive movements, they begin to rub and bits break off over time like a well worn piece of cloth. This can happen to the smooth ends of bone also. Bony ends are meant to be super smooth and therefore reduce friction when moving. Once they are out of alignment (forced to move out of normal pattern by muscles) they begin to chip and fray on the smooth ends. This debris gets caught in the joint capsule.

So the crunch may be the rough surface of bone and soft tissues moving in the joint. Also, the debris can give rise to restricted movements, ‘locking’ sensations, sudden stabbing pain that moves with a shake of the joint.

This can be cleaned out with arthroscopic surgery. Patella’s can be scrapped smooth also. New soft tissue can be added from elsewhere in the body but is very rarely successful as the soft structures are often very specific to the function of each joint.

If you suspect arthritis check with your GP. Some types of auto immune attack responds to exercise and movement as it increases the fluid in the joint and so relieves the pain by making the joint move more freely. There are more serious causes of crepitus which are often quite painful and should be clarified with a medical practitioner.

Best way to avoid it is keep the joint healthy. Maintain good muscle balance so the force of the muscles attached to bones doesn’t pull them out of optimal alignment. For example, patella tracking problems are related to a dominant inside or outside quad (thigh) muscle. This pulls the patella out of alignment and so it moves out of its natural groove. Gets rough and starts to be crunchy and deposits debris in the joint. Poor posture in the upper back leads to the bones and soft cushions of the upper spine to move out of alignment and produce crunching sounds or creaking. In this part of the neck it is also likely to lead to disc herniations.

Also consider supplements like glucosamine (condriotan has some pretty patchy results), fish oil supplements are also great for joint health.

A well balance exercise program will help to maintain balance of the muscles. Strengthen the weaker ones and stretch the tight ones to ensure correct alignment.

Making Changes For Better Health

2011-09-08T10:52:00.002+10:00

I got this great little motivational blurb today:
"We may think there is willpower involved, but more likely change is due to want power. Wanting the new addiction more than the old one. Wanting the new me in preference to the person I am now." George Sheehan
(read about this amazing man it's inspiring! http://www.georgesheehan.com/welcome/bio.html)

What struck me about this quote was the idea of addiction. It has been said more times than I possibly count, 'I just love food'! Yep, its great stuff but it can also do you harm when you don't know the limits of consumption anymore. Like an alcohol addiction - the inability to stop and say no is an addiction. On the see food diet? You see it, so you must eat it.... all of it!!!!

Want power is an amazing thing. You want the chocolate, you have it. You want the extra white wine, you have it. So why is that such a difficult concept to turn from a negative to a positive? I want to be fitter, I want to eat better, I want to be a better me, I want to someone I can like, I want to get off this vicious cycle and start enjoying my life again? Wanting can be powerful enough to fundamentally change lives for the better.

George draws your attention to the positive 'new me'. I have spoken about this before when looking at the process of setting goals and adopting new behaviors. Focus on what you want not what you don't want. I want the new me, is a more motivating goal than, I don't want to be me anymore.

There a two things missing from this quote that I feel are fundamental to 'willpower' or 'want' when it comes to change. We have to understand that we are talking about habits. Nothing more unusual or outrageous than a series of behaviors that have been repeated endlessly which need to be altered or made redundant in order to make way for positive new behaviors. Habits are tough things to break and they take years to develop and potentially years to change. So the want has to be BIG!!!!

This is a great explanation of habits from http://zenhabits.net/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-effective-habit-change/ "You’ve heard this one before too, but it bears, err, repeating. Habits are behaviors that we do over and over again. They become almost automatic. How much thought did you put into your last habitual behavior? Not much, right? It kind of happened just by itself. Now that you have your refined plan and you have your mini-plans, it is time to make your new habit almost automatic. And the only way to do it is by repeating and repeating. And repeating. That’s because psychologists have shown that repeating a behavior over and over again means that it happens automatically or almost automatically. So, the great thing about repeating the behavior is that, eventually, you won’t really have to make yourself repeat it. The new behavior will just kind of happen on its own."

Tackling change needs help. In a research paper from 2006 looking at behavior change of people attempting to alter exercise and eating patterns revealed an interesting statistic. Only 1% sought medical help in the form of psychology, nutritionist or GP and about 15% sought the help of a fitness professional. Those that sought help had better outcomes than those that didn't. So relying on will power alone is probably not enough. Get help! I actually think a multi-pronged approach with fitness specific assistance, a dietitian and psychological help with change management is the best way to go (this depends on your specific goals of course).

The other support has to come from friends and family!

The Best Training Partner A Girl Ever Had!!!!

2011-09-02T15:57:00.000+10:00

RIP my best training partner :(

Today I washed my ancient ishuffle and Sony headphones... they have traveled many many kilometres with me and have gotten me through some very tough training sessions. I am gutted!

The things that make it possible for us to get out there and get the exercise done should never be trivialized when it could be the difference between getting your butt into gear or slacking off.

I have to have my 2xu pants to run in... ishuffle (ahhhhhhhh), sony headphones (ahhhhhhh), Brooks runners, Brooks cap.

The music keeps you going and there are lots of music options for different occasions. Online services have even developed musical scores for just about every exercise option going. Like http://www.fitmix.co.uk/, they are super hip!

Your favorite tshirt. It isn't always the coolfit, stay dry, fancy options. But they cotton tshirt they has seen you sweat a whole person can be the motivator you need. It's like a karate uniform, it puts you in the right head space. So get one that says - go get 'em tiger - when you are feeling low on motivation.

Buy something new if you are lacking the sparkle in your workout. It can be a great way to get you into the workout mindset. It makes you feel good, it makes you feel like you are the real deal. Also buy a magazine occasionally. The information can inspire and the pictures might spur you to achieve your goal.

Raise funds for a charity. I know of a couple of super fit chicks who put $5 in a jar every time they train and donate the proceeds monthly to a charity of choice. Feel good motivation just got a whole lot more warm and fuzzy.

A real live training partner is also a great idea. I have mine and I probably wouldn't get up every Sunday morning to run at 8am if it wasn't for Cindy!!! Negotiate the intensity before you start so no one feels cheated or let down. Be prepared to work together, you are there to support each other not smash each other's confidence. Be honest, have fun and be flexible with each other.

Training partners and motivators come in all shapes and sizes. Pick a mix so you have a motivator for most situations. Best of all make sure you are your greatest motivator by congratulating yourself when you have done well and kicking yourself in the butt when you are letting yourself down.

Is Your Job Contributing To Weight Gain?

2011-08-25T11:29:00.000+10:00

I want to follow on from an earlier post about the unexpected weight gain nasties. During a recent conversation with someone who has had surgery, which had an unexpectedly long recovery time and even longer term impact on mobility, we discussed the very slow weight gain she experienced.

What we concluded was that the weight gain was small over a three to four month period, as little as 200grams a day perhaps. But the biggest change was the level of incidental activity. With changes to work hours and an inability to get out an about due to persistent pain, incidental activity has significantly decreased.

So I did a little number crunching with the help of nutritional software I use for dietary assistance. Using the same profile, female, late twenties, 75kg I adjusted the level of activity. The software calculates calorie consumption based on profile information and lifestyle. So the difference between a sedentary lifestyle (desk work, very little movement, little to no exercise, leisure time is sitting (tv, movies, computers, shopping…) and light life style (desk work, housework, increase in incidental walking each day, exercising more, standing up a lot) was about 150 calories a day. Then the last category I looked at was on the go (moving around a lot, not sitting for long periods, always buzzing with activity, exercising also) was a difference of 300 calories between sedentary and active. That could be a whole meal!

To return the previous post about TV watching contributing to weight gain… well a stationary work life might be having the same impact. It would be very easy to underestimate the value of being an active person outside of the gym. I know of someone who lost the last 5kg (always the hardest!) when she changed jobs and had to do a lot more incidental walking on a large site. The job wasn’t more stressful, so it wasn’t that. The extra activity helps to burn calories at the time and contributes to a faster metabolism. Like the twitchers and the knee shakers, who research has shown burn more calories than those of us who sit still!

It also distracted her from the lolly jar in the office and the extra coffee and biscuits. So if the sweets call your name go and walk the stairs, the block, the office, and chances are the craving will pass.

Consider this: sitting around burns about 3 calories a minute; brisk walk outdoors about 5 calories a minute; stairs about 10 calories. Spend 15 minutes walking to work or at work (75 calories) then 20 minutes a day walking stairs (200 calories) then a brisk walk with the dog after work for 25 minutes (125 calories). Total of 400 calories used up per day in fairly incidental activity that doesn’t require much effort or money. If you aiming to reduce weight this could be the difference, especially if you currently not doing anything during the day at work and continue that theme at home by lounging around in the evening bored and looking for gastronomic entertainment.

City to Surf 2011

2011-08-18T12:27:00.000+10:00

The City to Surf is such an iconic Australian race that I guess it was just a matter of time before I had to run it. I had my trusty running partner, Cindy, to hold my hand and the camera and laugh and laugh...

The rumor mill had me scared witless. "It's hilly!", smug NewSouthWelsh folk warned me, "it will be warmer than Melbourne", more NSWelshy scare tactics, "the crowds are huge and you wont be able to get a good stride going", at last some truth!

It was hilly but hey, not that bad. It wasn't warm and in fact it rained. The crowd was HUGE and yes it made it hard to get a good stride but hey, it added to the drama, everyone was really polite despite the jostling; that impressed me.

The other thing that impressed me were the supportive crowds. Music along the way, cheering and colorful folk to wave at you when you grind your way passed. It is just what you need to keep you pleasantly distracted.

So next time I guess we aim to get closer to the front of the pack. Continue to enjoy the insanity and sing YMCA all over again.

This is us finishing - it was a great event! I don't suffer from Melbourne/Sydney rivalary (however Sydney confirmed itself as a culinary hole in the ground - AGAIN!).

Weight Gain Nasties

2011-08-18T09:32:00.001+10:00

Weight gain isn’t just about what you put in your stomach. It is a complex mix of lifestyle factors that generally impact on what we choose to eat. So getting to understand those factors can play a significant role in helping to manage weight. These are three of the most common lifestyle factors that contribute to weight issues.

STRESS

While some people find they lose weight when faced with regular and ongoing stress. Skipping meals, eating less when the timetable doesn’t allow it. But for most people this is often not the case. The long term exposure to stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol can lead to an increase in appetite and increase calorie consumption. Find ways to deal with the stress that doesn’t involve food or reduce the stress. Easier said than done but the weight gain tends to add to the anxiety of the situation and compounds feelings of stress… it is a vicious cycle that must be broken. Research from the University of Sussex found that reading for six minutes a day can reduce stress by 68%, listening to music by 61%, having a cup of tea or coffee by 54% and taking a walk by 42%.

LATE NIGHTS

Staying up late to get work finished or because you can’t switch your brain off affect metabolism and appetite. Research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the US, found that night owls consumed more calories than early to bedders. They ate twice as much junk food, half as many fruit and vegetables. The body has natural patterns called circadian rhythms aligned with night fall and sun rise and metabolism. When this natural pattern is out of alignment the body’s internal regulation can lead to changes in appetite and metabolism which can easily lead to weight gain. Getting into a consistent pattern for night time and morning can realign the body clock and restore the circadian rhythms. Creating a dark environment prior to going to bed helps to suggest the body it is time for sleep and can assist the fall to sleep. Reading in bed, writing down thoughts for the next day before going off to sleep can help to empty the head for sleep. Don’t eat before going to bed! Try meditation techniques. If the situation is more serious then seeking sleep disorder specialists can help.

DOWNTIME IN FRONT OF THE TV/PC

Researchers have found that those watching 2.5 hours a day were 93% more likely to be overweight compared with those who watched less than one hour daily. Most of us sit all day at a desk with short trips for toilet breaks, office chit chat and cuppa breaks. Consider your normal day; 8 hour day with an average of about 2 hours moving about the office, so 6 hours stationary a day. Add the sitting time at home and you might add that 2 hours back on. Or more if you are up late watching TV or gaming. That is a lot of time on your backside! Consider that an average calorie intake for a 60kg woman is about 1700 calories a day and then factor in lifestyle; the inactive woman has to remove about 600 calories from this average recommendation to account for the inactivity. That is the equivalent of about 1.5meals!

Diet Guidelines For Eating Out

2011-07-21T15:04:00.000+10:00

Eating out can be troublesome when watching your weight. Restaurant food and take-away food packs a bigger calorie punch than the equivalent home cooked meal. That doesn't mean you cant eat out and enjoy it, you should be able to do that and maintain a healthy weight.

Number one rule, do not eat out often!!!!

It's not what you want to hear I understand that, but stop and thing about your goal for a minute... If you have watched Masterchef, like I have, you start to get a sense of just how calorie rich those lovely meals are. Most of us are not active enough to wipe off the calories we consume eating out on a regular basis.

However, when you do eat out enjoy yourself and try some of these simple guidelines.

Limit yourself to one of the following: an entree/appetiser, a drink, a dessert.
Don’t order dessert when you order your entree and main. Only order it after you've finished your main, take time to assess how full you are. Perhaps you will feel differently about that dessert once your belly is full of vegetables.
Don't eat bread from the bread basket.
Always get toppings like butter and salad dressings, in side plates.
Switch between glasses of water and glasses of whatever else you're drinking.
Always be the last one to start eating and put down your fork after every bite. Talk between mouthfuls, drink more water and generally savor the experience rather than eating like it is a race.
Watch the person at your table who eats slowest and use them as a pacesetter throughout the meal. Can you eat slower then them?
If you're served unhealthy sides like chips, discard half as soon as you receive the meal, eat only the remaining half. (If only the Labrador would sit quietly under the table!)
Get into the habit of leaving food on the plate. A tough one if you have been raised with the "eat everything on your plate or else..." parenting. The truth is, you are not being wasteful, restaurants generally serve far above a sensible portion for a meal, so we have to make a decision for ourselves about the right portion size.
Only order dessert if someone will share it with you. (Keep in mind that the best part of dessert is the first two bites.)
Come up with "food policies": personal rules that don't allow exceptions eg: "I can only buy brekkie and lunch twice a week incl. weekends)."
Create food trade-offs- such as: "If I buy my breakfast or lunch, I must add 20 minutes to my regular workout time."

Special thanks to Women's Health Magazine for contributing to this list.

Warm Up Exercise for Runners

2011-07-15T17:27:00.000+10:00

Sometimes stretches are just plain boring and sometimes other options are available that offer more. This sequence makes for a great dynamic stretching routine while warming up the joints and muscles used when running. Thanks to the great people at Pose for these winning exercises which I have worked into a short warm up sequence I have found to be really effective.

Salty Goodness

2011-07-12T14:33:00.000+10:00

There has been a bit of press recently on the dangers of high salt consumption. As well as a link to cardio vascular disease there is also an increased risk of impotence for men. So how much? The Heart Foundation recommends consuming ideally 4g or an upper level of 6g or 1.5 teaspoons (1550mg-2,300mg) of salt a day to reduce risk of blood pressure and other associated illness. On food labels look for less than 120mg per 100gram.

Reducing salt intake is a tricky job. Most of the salt we consume arrives via the prepacked foods we purchase. For example, a bowl of corn flakes have almost as much salt as a small pack of potato chips! Bread can be loaded with it and most take away food has lashings to enhance the flavour. Given Australian’s consume about 30% more salt than is considered healthy it would be a massive change for many of us.

To help make better choices, look at the nutrition panel and aim for less than 120mg/100g. Try the no salt and low salt options for commonly consumed pre-packaged foods. Add salt to cooking and not at the table or at the table and not in the cooking. Get zesty with the use of herbs to enhance flavour without adding salt. Avoid processed meats like salami and lunch meats. Be mindful of bread choices, a slice can contain as much as 200mg. Pizza is usually loaded with salt from processed meat, cheese and the pastry base. Snacks at work like 2minute noodles and cup a soup can be salty options.

Preferably choose foods which have undergone little or no processing. Fresh fruit and vegetables (you must be sick of hearing this one!) fresh cuts of meat, low salt products, honey on the low salt toast (yahhhhh!!!!), rice and pasta, jelly type lollies and hard sugar ones, water!!! Low sodium stock cubes and garlic and ginger and mint and thyme… I think you get the idea.

Over time your taste buds adjust to the new flavour, but it can be pretty tough to begin with. However, you will be retching when you have been low salt for a couple of months and are faced with a pizza or chow down on a Lean Cuisine after a late night at work!

Exercise Your Bones

2011-07-07T12:18:00.001+10:00

Bones needs sunlight to be healthy, they need good nutrition and they need exercise. It is well established that most of our bone is laid down during adolescents when we play a vigorous sport and jump and fall about. If you missed out on this kind of activity then you may have to be extra careful as you age.

But it is recommended, regardless of your sporting history, to get weight bearing exercise to maintain and if you are lucky, improve bone density with age. The kinds of exercise recommended would be familiar to you already. The kinds of things we do at the studio all the time.

Bone is built after impact, so each time you strike your foot on the ground when walking the bones in the foot are encouraged to toughen up. High impact is far better than low impact but you do what you can!

Resistance training with body weight and added weights has been proven with research to positively improve bone health. The increased load on the skeleton from moving heavy things around is the catalyst in increasing bone density. As tendon moves on bone it also stimulates the bone to grow and a greater degree of force encourages more growth more rapidly. Perfomed more often the response is also increased. So get out the Arnold book of body building for women (yes I have a copy!!!!) and get cracking.

High intensity high impact work has also been shown to be particularly beneficial for the spine and the pelvis and the lower limbs. So that step box move you have been avoiding which has the little leap in it… it’s good for you provided you have no soft tissue reasons not to go for it. Research done about 10 years ago with tennis players showed that the dominant arm of tennis players had 10 to 20% greater bone density than the non dominant arm. So impact forces act positively on our bone health.

Getting fifteen minutes at least, four times a week of weight bearing activity is the current recommendation. Activities such as resistance training, medium impact aerobic work, skipping and jumping exercises like dancing. Some of these might not be suitable, so pick those things you can manage physically and co-ordinate into your timetable. Getting outdoor activity should also be part of your plan to increase vitamin D production. See Osteoporsis Australia for more info.

The final part of this physical puzzle is balance. I work in a nursing home with a falls prevention program and have worked with older folk in the past through the Living Longer Living Stroner program. We also incorporate balance work every week and set homework! Practice single leg movements like lunges, standing on one foot, use a fit ball regularly as part of your workouts. Having good balance relies on a number of factors including muscle strength and that relates to reactions. But these things are trainable, so use it or loose it.

Osteoporosis and Sun

2011-06-23T09:43:00.002+10:00

…your hip bones connected to your sunshine bone…

Osteoporosis affects more than 2 million Australians and is expected to increase to more than 3 million by 2012 according to Osteoporosis Australia. Keeping your bones healthy is something we generally associate with aged care facilities and walking frames. But we can do much to address bone health now.

Risk factors of lifestyle include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor nutrition, lack of sunlight, lack of physical activity over many years and being underweight.

Medical risk factors include a family history, rheumatoid arthritis, long term use of corticosteroids like asthma medication, over active thyroid, chronic gut conditions, liver or kidney disease, amenorrhea.

Calcium is a by-word for bone health. It is important to the strength of bone and is easily acquired via diet. Supplementation may be useful but check with a GP first.

Hormones also play a part in bone health. For women a decrease in oestrogen levels and can increase the loss of minerals from bone. With a loss of about 1-5% per year after menopause. So build it up before the loss and you will be a much better position.

Vitamin D is also a essential part of bone strength. It is possible to get it from diet but not in sufficient quantity. However, sunlight is on the skin is the most effective way of producing adequate vitamin D. We need the vitamin D to regulate calcium. There is quite a bit of confusion about how much sun is needed.

Osteoporosis Australia suggests “a person needs to expose their hands, face and arms (around 15% of body surface) to sunlight for about 6 - 8 minutes, 4 - 6 times per week (before 10am or after 2pm Standard Time in summer, for moderately fair people).” The Jean Hailes Foundation recommends 10 minutes in summer, 15-20 minutes in spring and autumn and 30 minutes in winter outside peak UV times (10-2pm or 11-3pm daylight savings time). There is no need for sunscreen as the exposure is short and it will interfere with the body’s ability to manufacture vitamin D.

“Older people need exposure to sunlight 5-6 times a week. Dark skinned people need longer exposure times of around 15 minutes. Exposure to sunlight between 10 am and 2 pm in the summer months (11am- 3pm in daylight saving) is not advised or recommended, due to the cancerous effects of sunlight at that time. This outweighs any possible benefits from vitamin D production.” From the Osteoporosis Australia website.

Exercise is an important part of bone health however, stay posted for more information on this.

Reading List

2011-06-16T13:59:00.001+10:00

There are a lot of books around on health and exercise, food and diet, but so few have remained worthy. However, these are a just a few I would recommend. They were great when first printed and are still worthy of a visit.

If not dieting, then what? by Dr Rick Kausman

The amazing adventures of diet girl by Shauna Reid

Strong Women series by Miriam Nelson

Muscle by Sam Fussell

Runner’s World The Runner’s Body by Ross Tucker and Jonathon Dugas

Happy Reading!!!!

Is There A Best Exercise?

2011-06-09T12:37:00.012+10:00

No! Really not possible. Exercise scientists agree with me here. There are lots of really good exercises but no one trophy winner. In an article sent to me recently by Mary this question was considered by some very impressive senior exercise scientists.
Now I know you will probably not be happy with this but the BURPEE was identified as an awesome calorie buster and muscle builder. This is the burpee in action.

Brisk walking was also identified as great for reducing lifestyle related mortality risk. It is however of limited benefit for those already exercising beyond the intensity of the walk. It does little to build muscle although it does condition the lower limbs for endurance work.

The squat, and resistance training training generally, gets a thumbs up. The muslce building capacity of resistance training is essential to reduce the inevitable muscle loss we all experience with age. Leg work is a sure fire no-brainer for a hard workout because this is the biggest muscle group in the body, so it eats up calories and push the heart rate up and up!

If you are training with us you will already know that working in an interval fashion at high to moderate intensity is a tough workout. The sports science proves this is the best way to burn calories, build muscle and improve cardio vascular fitness. Short and sharp will get great results if you can handle the pace.

Interval work doesn't always produce muscle strength like standard resistance training can. However the sciencetists suggest you should try stair work. Sprint up and recover on the way down. Ouch...

I would suggest you walk briskly to the nearest park/beach/oval and do 10 squats and 10 pushups 3 times, run the stairs/ramp/ beach, come back do your squat/pushup again, add burpees and chin ups or pullups 8 of each 3 times and do the run again, repeat and run... I think you get the idea. Allow rest breaks at the end of each run/stair/beach. That will do it I promise.

We Cater To All TYPES

2011-06-02T16:46:00.000+10:00

This is a fine example of how versatile fitball training can be. It also explains why I clean the fitballs A LOT!

Healthy Middle Age Healthy Old Age

2011-05-26T11:31:00.001+10:00

Being fit is not just about being skinny! It can be an insurance policy against illhealth as we age. I work in a nursing home with a falls prevention program and I see first hand how crippling a sedentary life can be.

In two separate studies, conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and the Cooper Institute in Dallas, the fitness levels of more than 66,000 people were tested (published last month in Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology). The research showed that fitness status at midlife is a strong predictor of long-term heart health. As reliable as more traditional risk factors like cholesterol level or high blood pressure.

The fitness test conducted for this research was to see how fast participants could run a mile (1.6km)? I would not be recommend anyone rush out today and test this theory. However, being in a state of low fitness, as the researchers put it, is a dangerous place to be if you are in your 40s already.

Jarett D. Berry, assistant professor of internal medicine and cardiology at Southwestern Medical School and a co-author of both papers suggests that from the study data the following benchmarks can be assumed. "A man in his 50s who can run a mile in 8 minutes or less, or a woman who can do it in 9 minutes or less, shows a high level of fitness. A 9-minute mile for a man and 10:30 for a woman are signs of moderate fitness; men who can't run better than a 10-minute mile and women slower than 12 minutes fall into the low-fitness category." (http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/article_f165fb2b-9124-5740-9ebb-7986db951d12.html)

Another of researcher notes that "most of the health benefits of exercise come with moving from low fitness to moderate fitness, and the challenge is finding a way to communicate with and motivate people in the low-fitness category.
"You know whether you're in the unfit category," he said. "If you're physically inactive, if you sit 18 hours a day, if you get exhausted walking up a flight of stairs. If you've got a choice between walking two blocks or taking a taxi and you wait 20 minutes to take a taxi, you're unfit." (http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fitness/article_f165fb2b-9124-5740-9ebb-7986db951d12.html)

Using this method is fraught with dangers and the researchers acknowledge that. However, having more evidence based proof of the benefits of fitness to long term health is welcome. We need to find a way to discover the level of fitness at which the long term benefits kick in so we can begin to work toward a specific goal fitness.

Protein

2011-05-19T10:05:00.001+10:00

One of three essential nutrients in our food. The basis of meals for Australians and generally abused. It is estimated that in the US most people eat 50% protein than would be recommended. I am guessing we wouldn't be far behind. Knowing how much protein we need to maintain a healthy weight and body function might surprise you.

Try this calculation:

1. Weight in kg (Weight in pounds divide by 2.2)
2. Weight in kg x 0.8-1.8 gm/kg = protein gm

For sedentary persons and those at a healthy range take the smallest number and for people training for endurance events and heavy resistance workouts, stressed or recovering from a serious illness use the larger end of the range. How do you compare?

If you have spent any time looking at supplements you will have come across the term amino acids. These are tiny chemical components of your protein sources. Amino acids are classified as essential and non essential but the definition is a little hazy. The complex relationship between these chemicals means that defining how essential they are is difficult. Basically the essential amino acids cannot be manufactured by the body through other processes. The non essentials can be produced by the body as a result of other chemical interactions. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid for a great explanation and list.

Protein sources are often categorised as complete or incomplete protein sources. Complete protein has traditionally meant foods which contain all the essential acids. Incomplete have some. But the more complex, but accurate definition is that all wholefoods have the essential aminos but in various amounts. Complete therefore refers to proteins have levels of essential acids that are considered to meet adult requirements. Incomplete have levels of amino acids which may not meet those requirements. Combining incomplete proteins generally provides the required balance.

Proteins in your body are broken down for cellular repair and sugar for energy. Protein is broken down through the digestive system so that the human body can assimilate foreign amino acids. The complex chemical process of breaking down amino acids can place undue stress on the liver where consumption is excessive and results in the animo part of the chain being eliminated in urine. This process also involves an increase in calcium excretion, no firm connection has been found between leaching of bone calcium and excess protein. The calcium however has been show to increase the incidence of kidney stones by 250%!!!

Protein sources we would all be familiar with are animal products. But consider also that vegetables have protein, pasta has it, bread has it, beans have it. So when you estimate your consumption take into account these sources also. It might be only a few grams but when your limit is 70grams it can add up quickly. That’s why many vegetarians rarely lack protein in an otherwise animal free diet.

Visit the Australian Government site for really simple and accurate information. http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/protein?open

Nutritional Supplementation

2011-05-12T09:34:00.000+10:00

Getting enough of all the macro and micro nutrients can be a challenge for many of us. Busy lifestyles mean we don’t always eat as well as we should, smoking, drinking and alcohol can effect nutrient uptake and utilisation. Stress impacts also on our requirements, training intensity can also play a part. Then biological factors which impair absorption mess with the nutrients we are getting. If you are concerned about your intake of minerals and vitamins then you need to see your GP and get blood tests. This is the only reliable way to know what you really need. Supplementation may be an option recommended by your GP.

For the most part vitamins and minerals in supplement form can be a waste of money and give you the false sense your health will improve. Many vitamins and minerals are water soluble so an excess will leave the body in urine, the B group for example. Or can build up to cause toxicity issues, vitamin A for example.

Best to take single supplements not multi. This will allow you to get just what you need, increase as you need it, like vitamin C if you are having immune system issues and want to try a megadose. If having a really stressful time then increasing the B group. This allows you to gauge if it is working.

Supplements should not replace good nutrition. There is still so much we don’t know about how the ingredients in our natural food combine to provide the health benefits we know are associated with them. Consider that the recommendations for B12 for example, has a recommended range (when tested) of about 400 points would suggest we don’t know how much our bodies actually need.

Don’t be fooled by false health claims generated by clever marketing. Research can easily be twisted for marketing purposes and it is often done with funding from the manufacturer. That is not to say all research and health claims are suspect. Next time you pay top dollar for the latest antioxidant formula; check the label! The most common antioxidant is vitamin C. Eat a kiwi fruit!!!!

Do your due diligence and check research before buying. It is not just the potential money lost, it could be harmful and it could side track you from doing what has been proven to work – good diet and exercise.

Weight Loss Short Cuts

2011-04-29T12:12:00.000+10:00

I don’t usually push for quick results or fads, health tonics, pills, supplements or crazy diets but… there are few short cuts to quick results that have worked time and again.

Reduce or eliminate alcohol for your regular eating pattern. I can hear the groan from here. It helps me relax, there are other ways to relax that will help you to control your weight and perhaps help you feel better about yourself in process, go for a short walk exercise is a great stress buster. Pick up the phone to call a friend, read a book, have a cup of tea, tell your friends you are trying to improve your health so they won’t give you a hard time for not drinking with them, buy really expensive wine so you will be less like to quaff! It’s what I do with friends; if they are going to give you a hard time them you need a reality check about who is helping you to achieve your goals and who is trying to keep you in a rut!!! I just have a few, yeah I know. That few would be double the recommended limit for a glass so you are probably getting four times above your estimate. It’s full of antioxidants, and alcohol which is a toxin. If you want the benefit of the antioxidant eat a grape and leave the poison out. Alcohol is nice, I am fond of it myself but it is empty calories for very little nutrition and associated with many health issues including weight gain. It is an addictive substance and if you can’t bear the thought of going alcohol free for two days in a row then it’s time for a little soul searching.

Be honest about your calorie intake. Most people underestimate calorie consumption by about 30%. I eat really well, I just eat four times what I actually need in a meal. A bowl of fruit salad should fit in the palm of your hand (toppings excluded) not the size of your head! Sneaking in biscuits and chocolates, munching on cheese and biscuits with a wine or two during meal preparation – oh but I only have one glass with dinner!!!! You see, honesty is going to help you to understand why you are not achieving. Don’t kid yourself about the reality of eating out. Even those things which you may think are better than others on the menu, are still higher in calories than a home cooked meal.

Are you really working hard enough on your exercise? Never break a sweat? Never feel short of breath? Always looking for the smallest weight? Never take up a challenge of a new program or exercise? Ummmmm, you are not working hard enough. If your goal is weight loss and or fitness improvements then it is slow going if you are not prepared to work hard. It’s a relative term I understand, we are all at different levels. But be realistic about what effort you are willing and able to put in and adjust your expectations of outcomes accordingly.

Drink water and eat vegetables. Carbs are not evil but the quantity we eat them in can be frightening. The things we add to them are often pure evil and the types of carbs can bring us undone. Lean meats in moderation are good, fish is excellent. Vegetables are the cornerstone of health and weight control. They fill us up, add spectacular levels of nutrition to our meals and all without a massive hit to the calorie bank. Water is the stuff of our bodies so keep it topped up. 1.5l a day or there abouts.

Stop the takeaway, drop the soft drinks in all forms and ditch the fruit juice for real fruit.

And sorry to disappoint you… there are no short cuts but there are things that will definately help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Runner's Narrative

2011-04-20T11:14:00.000+10:00

Do I lack imagination to say that the journey is more important than the destination?

I recently had a chat with a runner who experienced a particularly tough race. It wasn’t that the race should have presented such a big challenge but it just didn’t go according to plan. So many factors contribute to the joy or pain of a run and it doesn’t have to be race day either.

It is frustrating when the run goes to hell in a hand basket. Stitches, runner’s trots, vomit, headaches, chills, a fall [insert your own here]. But what all this adds up to is a historical narrative of running.

Your body has muscle memory, it remembers the squat, it remembers the bridge, it remembers the things you have taught it. The learning body is amazing and that’s how we get fitter and it is part of the process of writing our running biography.

The bad stuff is part of it also. Any runner who doesn’t have horror stories just hasn’t been trying hard enough. Sit around with a bunch of runners for awhile and the stories will roll on for hours. It is like the bad holiday memories that come to be more pungent over time. Why we remember the hard stuff more vibrantly I don’t know, but I think for runners it is a way to remind ourselves that we are still fallible, that we have to battle to keep running, that we are challenging and testing ourselves each time we step out.

So next time you have a bad run keep it logged in your running journal. It can be inspiration to help someone else. It can be inspiration to remind ourselves what we have conquered. It can help us laugh out loud when things are getting too serious. But above all it helps to remind us that running is not predicable and we will continue to learn from the art. Take joy in the things that test you, it makes the journey more enjoyable.

Healthy Family Habits

2011-04-07T11:12:00.000+10:00

The Australian Federal Government has developed a new campaign aimed at healthier lifestyles for kids and families. Have a look at the Swap It, Don’t Stop It website. You may even have seen the adverts appearing on TV.

I think the general gist of this campaign is based on the idea that eating a healthy diet and exercising is somehow denying ourselves something. So the idea is not to take away the thing we want but to replace it with something of greater value. Makes sense. Pop psych teachers tell us that to help achieve a goal you should think in terms of what you want (positive) rather than the thing you want to be rid of (negative). So we rephrase, i don't want to eat junk food anymore with i want to eat a healthy diet. All good stuff.

The stats on kids inactivity are just as alarming as the stats on adult inactivity. One third of children who took part in the 2007 National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey failed to meet the recommended guidelines for 1 hour of moderate to intense physical activity a day. The stats on nutrition were also appalling with many teenagers not getting enough fruit and vege for adequate nutrition.

So much of the problem seems to be lifestyle. Too busy to cook a meal, go for take away, eat late, go for heavily manufactured but easy cooking options. As an advocate of the whole foods lifestyle this makes me cringe. This is no way to treat your body or the body of your kids.

The other issues commonly sited is food marketing. Junk food is made to look very alluring. I guess that's where the swap it campaign is trying to effect change. The home made pizza for the store pizza. The DS for the walk. The junk foods are also designed to be highly desireable. They are manufactured that way. They are calorie dense, they use cheap and nasty cooking methods and ingredients which how the prices can be kept so low.

It all comes down to portions and moderation. Sugary foods and fatty meals are treats but they have surely become a staple for many families, along with quick foods and store bought foods.

In the long run the options come down to parents. It's not fair and I don't have kids, so perhaps you will claim I am dreaming. But you wouldn't let your kids get away with not saying thank you for a gift or not showing respect for elders, so why would you encourage or let them abuse the only body they have? Don't even start me on the emotional damage that could also cause.

Recommended Daily Portions
Breads & Cereals for 4-11 y.olds 5-9 serves
Breads & Cereals for 12-18 y.olds 5-11 serves
Vegetables for all ages 2-4 serves
Fruit for 4-11 y.olds 1 serve
Fruit for 12-18 y.olds 3 serves
Dairy & Alternatives for 4-11 y.olds 2 serves
Dairy & Alternatives for 12-18 y.olds 3 serves
Protein & Alternatives for 4-7 y.olds .5 serve
Protein & Alternatives for 8-18 y.olds 1 serve
Treats (half a choc bar, two scoops of icecream, 30g of potato chips)
no more than 1-2 serves for ages 4-11
no more than 1-3 serves for ages 12-18

From NHMRC

Addictive E-Behaviours

2011-04-05T12:37:00.000+10:00

I have been using a retro Garmin now for a couple of years. I love it. I don't use half the bells and whistles on it but that doesn't matter. I can see my progress, regulate my speed and ensure I go the distance.

The electronic intervention into running has been truly impressive. GPS tracking would have to be the most significant in the world of runners, or at least amongst my running team and friends and phone apps seem to be the most common form at present.

I had a look just today at one recommended by one of my running team. The app is for the Blackberry, not everyone has a bloody iphone!!!! I haven't actually been able to get past the login page for this website: http://www.endomondo.com/login. WHY?

In a series of scrolling boxes appears a list of people currently using the endomondo app. Walkers, runners, cyclists, bush walkers, mountain bikers... all out there right now doing there thing. I can hardly take my eyes of it. I find it really inspiring to think that all over the world people are running; right NOW! Some fast some slow, some probably don't care either way.

But what I really want in a running gadget is a reliable GPS and mp3 player in one - i hear you... not a phone! Something that isn't going to distract me with phone calls or incoming email. That way I wont have to be dressed like Zsa Zsa Gabor to go for a run with my retro brick shaped Garmin, mp3 player and water belt.

I will go back to Endomondo and check out the actually app now. In the mean time; run well grasshoppers!

Food Label Getting The Red Light

2011-03-31T08:38:00.000+11:00

We have probably become accustomed to the food labels on our supermarket purchases. For most of us the information means nothing because we have no way to understand if 15 grams of fat is acceptable or not. It would seem an alternative is needed.

The alternative, traffic light labelling system, has been favoured by the year long Blewett review into Australia’s labelling laws. The new system would be voluntary at first, and eventually mandatory for manufacturers of products making health claims. Government will make a final decision in December 2011.

Many health organisations are pushing for action, including the Obesity Policy Coalition who claim the new label will help reduce the confusion around the marketing of health claims.

The lights will represent high, medium and low levels of fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium in a product. Purchasing your regular snack or cereal could be an all red light experience while reduced fat cheese would be green or amber levels of fat and saturated fat with green levels of sugar, according to an article in The Age newspaper.

This system has not been embraced by food industry manufacturers as they believe it would bias certain foods. For example high fat foods like diary, which are part of a balanced diet, would probably be red light products. An earlier government funded council in Victoria, argued it doesn’t teach consumers the importance of a balanced diet and portion control.

This system has been rejected in other parts of the world. It seems this system isn’t reducing confusion for consumers but adds another layer of information to interpret. An alternative being promoted by the food and grocery council is based on Daily Consumption. Under this scheme the same ingredients are listed as the traffic light scheme. The difference is that each ingredient is listed with its daily intake value.

It has been my experience that percentage values are confusing. Portion size in grams or daily serving size would be more useful. So yogurt might be 1 serve of saturated fat out of a total of 3 in a day (totally random numbers to illustrate the point).

Using either system would offer consumers more information to assist in making healthful food choices. What I don’t see is how either of these systems will address the growing concern about marketing driven health claims? Especially the addition of vitamins and overblown health claims for special ingredients.

Running Milestones

2011-03-17T09:08:00.000+11:00

Everyone starts running with small steps. A little walk a little run, then less walking more running. Then running faster then running for longer and yahhhhhh, you are tootling along doing a regular 10km and not thinking too much about it.

There are milestones at every level of racing and running. The first full 5mins of running for my beginners is monumental. Then the 5km mark looms large, then the 10km. These represent a lot of effort and time, dedication and determination. For each of us the milestones take more or less effort but no one does it with complete ease. If you do you aren't trying hard enough or you are spilling little white lies!!!!

The half marathon slides into view once 10km has been conquered and the monumental marathon seems to loom in the distance like a limber big cat. She is beautiful and dangerous and we all want to get a little touch of her silky fur. But for most of us mortals the distance will remain out of our reach. No shame there, we all have different limits.

But the mad man of Belgain Stefaan Engels, has even the most adventurous runner looking pasty by comparison. 365 marathons in a year - yeah that's one a day!!!!!!!!!!!! You can read his story at the New Zealand Herald website. His website Marathonmand365 is also worth a visit although be warned you will need to translate it.

I am not sure if he is a hero or a madman. Truly courageous perhaps and frankly I feel weak at the knees just thinking about what he achieved. So if you need inspiration consider the super human effort of Stefaan and be assured there is always more in your reserves than you could possibly imagine.

*picture from NewZealandHerald website

Need Inspiration?

2011-03-17T08:49:00.001+11:00

The cooler months are about to descend and your motivation can take a battering. Keeping focused and on track can become the motivation itself… or thinking ahead to the warmer months… or turn that bad feeling into a positive action plan.

Cast your mind back to all the winters that have already past. Remember how after each one you scrambled to get the winter weight off? Well not this time, not again! Don’t become a victim of your past habits this year. Use these past disappointments to drive you to keep a check on your winter gain this year so you don’t go into spring with that sinking desperate though; “now I can eat salad again”…

Be proactive instead of reactive this year. Imagine this year you will unveil your hard winter’s work when the first shorts and tshirt day of spring arrives. Everyone else will be moaning about how they look while you are one step ahead of the crowd. Use this visualisation technique to put a zing in your training and a restraint on your winter comfort eating. Remember it is easier not to put it on than to take it off.

Change something. Train earlier or later. Get a training partner or try solo sessions. Ask your trainer to go indoors or outdoors. Buy some new training clothes you will be eager to try on in the cooler weather. Start a food diary to keep the winter binges under control. Try a new running or walking track.

Set specific goals and targets. Helpful in maintain a sense of direction when the dark mornings and nights encourage us to sit around more. For example, set a training target for the week. Count them off as they are achieved and then reward yourself. Don’t miss a session for a month and then have a week off! Go to the movies and see what you want to see. Aim to increase your time on your walk or run or bike or xtrainer and when you achieve it by a massage for yourself. Tell your trainer your plans and work out targets together. The act of telling someone helps to increase the likelihood of success.

Acknowledge the struggle and reward yourself accordingly. Getting up to exercise as the weather cools can be really tough. It is best to acknowledge and accept it. Embrace the challenge and remind yourself you are ready for it. When you do face the cold morning or the brisk evening for a walk or getting to the gym; be pleased with yourself. You did a great job and remember it didn’t kill you!!!! So you can do it again.

On lungs and respiration

2011-03-08T13:44:00.000+11:00

From John Jerome’s the elements of effort:

‘the lungs have no muscles of their own. In normal use, we expand the lungs by contracting the diaphragm, and the exterior layer of intercostal muscles, which lift and rotate the ribs. Contracting these various muscles increases the volume of the chest cavity, sucking air into the lungs… for the exhale no effort required.

That’s for resting respiration. To get more air we have to spend more energy; when we’re really pumping, we contract muscles of the upper chest, throat, back and even the neck in order to further expand the chest volume. Under extreme demands we have to burn energy to pump the air out again, contracting the inner layer of intercostals muscles (pulling the ribs together) and tightening the abdomen to force the diaphragm upward. During heavy exercise, these respiratory muscles may consume an amazing eight to ten percent of the total amount of oxygen we're using.” (191)

So well said I wont even try to paraphrase. It starts to explain why a hard run can hurt your ribs and upper back, especially when DOMS sets in. Also explains why muscles in and around the shoulder blades can get cramps or stitches. If they are using 8 to 10 percent of oxygen intake and the big leg muscles are drawing from the same pool the little helpers of respiration could sorely miss out on the o2 supply.

This also supports my insistence that my runner’s stretch the rib cage and the middle back. Added to the usual lower limb stretches they are a truly welcome relief and often unexpectedly so. The other upper back exercise should be thoracic rotation, think about the upper body running motion for a second… see how it makes sense to keep it soft and limber!!!

3 of the best fit ball exercises

2011-02-24T15:41:00.004+11:00

Many years ago I discovered Caroline Corning Creager’s book, Therapeutic Exercises using the Swiss Ball and it still has some of the best exercises I know and LOVE!

Lower Extremity Kip for abs and arms

Sit on the floor with your hands beside you next to your hips. Place your heels/Achilles tendon on a small ball or medicine ball or basket ball. Straighten legs and your body will push forward slightly. Lift hips off the floor and swing hips back and forward. The ball should roll up and down the calf. Your aim is to swing your hips to the start position or beyond it.

SB Bridge with Hip Extension Singles for glutes, hammies and abs

Begin in a push up position with shoe laces (harder) or shins (easier) on the ball depending on experience level. Pull the belly button toward the lower back and keep firm throughout the exercise. Keep legs straight and lift one foot off the ball, alternating sides. Use glutes and hamstrings to raise the leg. Keep belly tight and torso at the same position or height regardless of the leg’s movement. Do not lift the foot so high that the back arches excessively or causes the back to collapse toward the floor. Hold for longer periods of time to increase challenge.

Contra-lateral Shoulder Flexion and Leg Extension

Lay with your abdomen on ball. Pull the belly button in and away from the ball. Keep the head in alignment with the shoulder and don’t let the neck drop. Start in an all fours position and extend one leg back and the opposite arm raise to a position equivalent to ear height. Repeat with the other side and hold for greater lengths of time as you improve. To increase the challenge straighten both legs and lift from there. Feet closer together also increases the degree of difficulty. This is harder than it looks!

Runners Need Water Too!

2011-02-17T10:55:00.000+11:00

There variety of bike paths in and around Melbourne’s inner and outer suburbs is just fantastic. But what the designers of these lovely paths hadn't reckoned on were the runners. Springy legged bipedal animals that generally don’t carry water onboard, unlike a pushie rider. It seems reasonable to expect that a path for cyclists might not need water fountains. But did no one consider that many of these paths would be dual use???

Walkers need water, dogs too. Runner’s wilt like flowers without it. So the hydro-endowed cyclists have been given the right of use by the omission of available water. It’s so frustrating. The recent push for environmentally friendly forms of transport has created an enormous number of recreational riders! From this has sprung up a heap of riding paths to connect all sorts of green wedge areas and to bypass large roads.

This has been a boon for runner’s too who are looking for tracks that are easy to get to and off main roads, for the same reasons as cyclists. What the planners have failed to realise is that in the drive to encourage citizens to be more active (ie: obesity epidemic) they have succeed far beyond expectation.

Councils need to provide better facilities when expanding existing paths. Being a healthy society is a great project but I think there needs to be someone on the committee who actually knows what it is like to be outdoors exercising…

(not to name names but Scotchman’s Creek track is appalling despite how lovely it is to run along! The multitude of paths that lead from Jells Park in all directions are also hopelessly water deprived. And toilets...)

Some days are diamonds...

2011-02-08T09:39:00.000+11:00

A fabulous Sunday run with a good mate, a quick 5km in the early morning before a stinking humid day in Melbourne; felt great. Hard work but satisfying, like conquering a tough problem or building something from scratch. We hurtled along and found the conversation difficult but we can generally talk under water so we squeezed a few words in between short gasps.

But only a week before the run, longer and slower felt like a monumental effort of will. Legs lumpin and the breathing short and ragged, every step was tough. The weather was cooler too. So why such a difference?

I have often wondered what the causes of an ‘off day’ might be. A lack of sleep could easily account for the slow legs as coordination fails us when we become tired. Dehydration perhaps, but the research tells us that a small degree of dehydration doesn’t make that much difference to recreational runners. Or does it???????

Bad eating patterns the day before might be part of the problem. A lack of carbs to top up glycogen stores might leave a runner feeling sluggish. We know from research that being low on carbs can lead to a feeling of depression.

Which dove tails nicely into a major cause of runner’s fatigue. Mental attitude. If you are stressed, tired, upset and just feeling generally YUK. Then your perception of effort will be effected and what might be a normal run can suddenly feel unreasonably tough. Kick up your attitude and don’t let the whinge monster get a hold of you. Sure it might not be feeling 100 per cent but unleashing a tirade of negative verbiage isn’t going to help. It will almost certainly drag your running partners into the doldrums with you, which they are not going to thank you for.

Electronic Perfection

2011-01-06T09:09:00.003+11:00

Today we are all going to stop reading celebrity mags! Yup... women's day, new idea blah blah blah. STOP NOW! They are doing our heads in with the constant demand to strive for something which is totally unobtainable. If you are measuring your self worth against these images you are heading for heart ache!

The popular media is so soaked with manipulated images that much of what we see is not real. Waist lines are thinned by pixel manipulation and pecs smoothed and de-cluttered. If real live beauties can not naturally meet our expectations then how on earth can the 'average collette and colin".

This YouTube vid goes for about 5 minutes and has an annoying advert at the beginning but don't be put off. It explains some the issues around the Photoshoping of images and has a further two parts if you want more information.

This is another example of photoshop technique which offers great insight into just how much can be done with this amazing software. The changes to the eyes are worth waiting for.

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-03T11:39:00.000+11:00

I never make 'em! But if I did it would be the same as James Evershed Agate, a British diarist and critic during the 40's, whose goal was to tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time. he he he he he

I know lots of people who love making these yearly resolutions. I can see the attraction of sweeping away what didn't work out last year and starting with a clean slate. But it is never that simple and every diet starts on a Monday!

Getting started is by far the hardest part of a plan. Where to start, what to do first, do I have all the information I need to get going? Is there something that will help me to get going and then what about the future? These are all questions that will help you to get started.

1. Know what it is you are aiming to achieve. Weight loss or increase? How much to loose and over what time frame? Is this a reasonable goal? Improve cardio fitness? By how much and what for?

2. What are the steps to get this started? Do you need to do some research? Buy a book, go online? Do you need a support team? Do you need some specialised help or equipment?

3. You may know what you want to achieve but do you really know WHY you want to achieve it? You need to really really really know why you want to improve muscles mass, get fit, stop feeling lousy. When you have established an EMOTIONAL connection to the goal you have set your resolution's heart on you will be much more likely to succeed.

4. Small steps are big steps. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a six pack or a marathon runner's fitness. Plan to begin with the smallest of changes. More water on a daily basis, more fruit in a week, less cake each week. Exercising for short periods. Jumping into an hour spin class may be admirable but it is a world of pain that will probably set you back.

Your resolution for this and every year should be to be kind to yourself. Being kind means being realistic about how hard goals can be to stick to. Changing a lifestyle developed over years is going to be hard. So be gentle but carry a big stick.

You will need to be firm with yourself. This life changing gig is a tough one and it requires a will of iron to make it really work. But if i can get all sensei karate master on you for a moment. Water is a common metaphor used to highlight the power of softly working at a goal to achieve the most amazing outcomes. Gently with your efforts and the desired out come is far more likely to be achieved, but the gentle pressure must be applied without slack or it wont carve anything new from the old rock!!!

Wearing the fat goggles

2010-12-09T15:47:00.001+11:00

Yesterday a forum was held on the ‘obesity’ epidemic. The reporting prior to it suggests that the research going on for the forum has Australian’s girths growing rapidly. Not just overweight but obesity too. If the stats are to be believed 1 in 3 people currently alive; you, me, your neighbour, your husband, your lover, your wife, your daughter or son, will be overweight and likely obese in 15 years time.

That being obese is associated with serious health issues would be fool hardy to ignore. Stats that claim 80% of patients treated for diabetes and 75% of hip replacement patients were overweight or obese are compelling evidence.

However we need to consider those stats with a full dose of common sense. Being overweight does not guarantee ill health and exercise can positively impact on the risk factors already associated with increases in body fat. Being overweight does not preclude you from being strong, fit, healthy and capable. I have seen it often enough to be sure of this.

However, being overweight can lead easily to being obese and that’s the real danger here. Being complacent about your current weight can blind you to the fact that your weight may have crept up to a level considered obese. I believe it is getting increasingly easy to mistake obesity for overweight and risk your health as a consequence.

New Running Shop

2010-12-07T09:32:00.000+11:00

I recently received info about a running specific shop opening in Melbourne CBD. Well, I am partly excited and also disappointed. This was something I wanted to do, in a very different way but every time a new store opens part of my market is gobbled up... sad now.

But support the newbies and check them out http://www.runningfit.com.au/

All good news for runners who want gear specific for the art of running. I wonder if they will do workshops or offer extra services like strength training or massage. It seems they have a limited running program once a week. They have a communal area which seems to be intended for special events. I love the addition of showers in store so one can run before work and be fresh as a daisy on arrival!

I will let you know what I see when I drop in over the xmas break.

Coping with festive season weight

2010-12-02T10:44:00.002+11:00

It’s the jolly time of year, just one month to go and already the drinks have started flowing and the party food is everywhere. Trying to keep it all under control during these festive months is tough going. Here are a few tips to help out.

Be a part of the food preparation and menu design for functions. That way you can have some say about what is available to munch. Offer to bring a plate so you can eat what you have prepared.
Top up an empty champs glass with sparkling apple juice, no one will suspect it’s not the real thing. Water looks like vodka!!!!! Substitute two glasses of spirits for water.
If it is deep fried DON’T EAT IT! Mini dim sims, spring rolls, chicken wings, chips, sausages are all off the menu this xmas.
Be realistic with yourself. Don’t pretend the 8 beers are not equivalent to a main meal and think you can eat a plate of nachos without consequences.
Eat only the main meal. Leave the nibbles alone. Nachos are bad news, cheesy and creamy dips are not going to help. Filling up on bread and corn crackers is going to be enough for a meal before you face the meal.
If someone asks why are not eating or drinking like the rest of them; tell them you are making a commitment to consume less at xmas as a way to raise funds for a charitable cause, it’s a family tradition for you! No one will argue with that. Sneaky I know!!!!!!!!!!
Plan your exercise like appointments. Get someone else onboard to keep you compliant.
At your last PT session get weighed—then you get a reality check to keep you accountable.

5 Workout Boosters For Your Headspace

2010-11-18T16:38:00.003+11:00

Getting physically active is about being in the right frame of mind to tackle the challenge. Maintaining the enthusiasm requires another mind set altogether. As we get fitter and stronger so does our mental attitude. But sometimes even the most dedicated have bad days. Try these mind benders to boost your intensity and keep your mind on the task!

Try one new piece of equipment for an exercise you already do. It stimulates you physically but also mentally. You have to pay more attention to your efforts and much of the increase in strength and coordination comes from challenging your mind to work your body in new ways. Build a strong neuromuscular pathway and you are building a better body.

Be an athlete! Just for that workout imagine you are an Olympic athlete. Focus and work the way you imagine an athlete would!

Buy a new tshirt. Your workout gear is like a uniform. A solider behaves a certain way because of a mindset that is tied to the uniform. A karate black belt wears the uniform as sign of a warrior’s mindset. Getting a new shirt may not make you lethal, but it can make you feel serious. The latest look can make you feel good while you workout and “babe you look gorgeous” never hurt anyone’s enthusiasm to hike it to the gym!

Vary your location. If you usually train indoors go out. If you haven’t done a beach run in a while then head to the sand. A change of location can offer a distraction from a tough workout or a chance to vague out and enjoy the view. Mental fatigue is as much a problem as physical burnout.

Change your sound track. Research has proven that perception of effort is altered when listening to a sound track with heavy percussion. Plugging in the mp3 player with a loud drum solo might help you get over the flagging middle section of your workout.

POSE Method

2010-11-16T13:49:00.000+11:00

Dr. Nicholas Romanov is the man behind the Pose Method of Running. The basic premise of this revolutionary running technique is that running is a learnt skill.

Most people start running with the assumption that the body will just know what to do. Romanov says no, running is a skill to be learnt. He compares it to martial arts (something I am familiar with) as a highly developed system of learnt movements with drills and endless repetition to attain perfect technique.

The Pose method, developed from many many years experience coaching and running, encourages a forefoot strike and a vertical heel lift. A very different movement from the tradition heel strike and long leg stride with an emphasis on pushing off the back foot. Posers fall forward and use gravity as they lift lightly off the ground. This YouTube vid takes a while to get going but it gives a good idea of Pose looks like.

I had an introduction with a local Pose teacher about a month ago. I understand drills and cajoling the body into new patterns of movement after years of karate training. But this has proven seriously difficult to ‘get’. Conceptually it is not difficult to understand and the evidence to back up the biomechanical principals is convincing and for that alone it is worth persevering with.

One of the things I like about this technique is the doctor’s insistence that you have to do resistance training and be strong to run. With the active heel lift of the Pose method there is plenty of work for the hammies to do. I suppose this fits with my theory that injuries come from poor hip and glute control.

Pose has been taken up by the barefoot running community in a big way. Which is how I came to it. So my barefoot Vibram’s were an epic fail and I hope this will be more successful.

For more information, books, dvds and course material see the Pose website.

Spalding's Red Cover Series

2010-11-01T11:09:00.000+11:00

I have had a couple of delectable book finds recently. This is from the Spalding sports companies early "Red Cover" Series of Athletic Handbooks about 1910-1915.

The series is extensive with 300 seperate publications making up the Spalding's Athletic Library. There were official annuals from baskeball to ice hockey and football as well as baseball which is what Spalding built a business on. "Specially bound Series of Athletic Handbooks" priced from 10 cents to 50 cents in a "flexible binding". Classed as red cover, green and blue cover books.

I love the categories! How about Manly Sports??? Including boxing, jiu jitsu and wrestling. Home exercising is another category I am definately going to look out for with "How to live 100 years", "Indigestion Treated by Gymnatics" and "Ten Minutes' Exercise for Busy Men". I haven't found any yet...

Another treat I am going to keep a look out for is Mary C Morgan's Girls & Athletics edition from around 1915.

The author of this edition, George Orton, was a sensational one mile runner whose record stood for 30 years. He competed in the 1900 Olympic Games with great success and wrote books as well as this little pamplet.

This is the second edition, the first being published in the early 1900's. There is a history of sorts of American running success which is highly nationalist. Included also are tips on technique including references to cross training. "Even though the track athlete had a good body to begin with, he should take a little exercise every day, say with dumb bells, the punching bag or with the chest weights, so that this part of his anatomy will be retained in a high state of vigor." He suggests the upper body should compliment the lower to help drive the body to power and speed. That's sound advice from 100 years ago.

Chapters on developing fitness for the various official distances, the quarter mile, half mile and mile end the handbook. To top it off are the best runners you will see anywhere! sorry this pic is so bad it was hard to photograph :(

Vibram Shibram

2010-10-28T10:16:00.000+11:00

I thought I was fairly savvy when it came to the virtual world. But now I realise how easy it is to be fooled by a professional website and a good price!

I went to a website claiming to be Vibram FiveFingers Australia. They were having a sale and I was very keen to try the bare foot running experience. So I parted with my hard earned cash and the shoes arrived fairly promptly.

They looked the part completely. Packaging and tags; all as I would have expected. Excitement bubbling I slipped them on around my reculatnat little toes. TOO BIG! But I checked the sizing so carefully… so I emailed them as the returns policy suggested I could get a replacemeent.

Life got in the way and it took me three weeks to realise I hadn’t gotten a response. Suspicious now I emailed them again and called a local stockist in the hope of getting my replacement. But it was wasted effort. The email that came back was in broken English and all my fears were confirmed. FAKES!!!!!

I called the official Vibram distributor – no answer no message bank… nothing! So I emailed. Got a response that effectively said suck it up princess you got scammed and yes we know about the fakes they are problem… At no point has Vibram offered to ease my heartache and empty wallet with a gift voucher or a special offer of some sort. The last reply I had from them was about 5 words long.

It is unreasonable of me to expect MORE! Ok, it is not the fault of the importer that fakes exist but clearly I was keen to buy Vibram products and this could have gone very differently for them. Now I don’t want to buy Vibram products and I am going to tell everyone I know about my experience. I am going to buy a pair of Nike’s and wear my fake Vibram’s around the house ONLY!

Exercise For The Over 80s

2010-10-28T10:04:00.001+11:00

Once a week I visit an aged care hostel to oversee a falls prevention program. Many years ago I worked with the Council on the Ageing’s Living Longer Living Stronger Program but everyone there was about 50 to 70. Dealing with the over 80’s is a whole new experience. I get war stories (love that) and I also get a reality check. It is one thing to read research that tells us the benefits of being active as we age. The theory of doing exercise every day for half an hour sounds fabulous, I will worry about it tomorrow! Tomorrow you will be 80 and you will be sorry you didn’t start earlier! Trust me on this one. I see it every week. The oldies in the group who has sustained some level of exercise throughout life are the people who can still walk around the table without puffing, they are not reliant on walkers either. They are also a lot sharper mentally. If in doubt go and spend an hour as a volunteer at your local nursing home; they are screaming out for it. Then see for yourself the sobering truth!

To Race or Not To Race?

2010-10-14T15:14:00.000+11:00

The St.George Melbourne Marathon event has just passed. This is the second time I have ran this event and each time I have enjoyed myself hugely! They need more toilets and they need more entertainment along the course for the longer distances. But having said that I love the run into the MCG and I am not an AFL fan (go STORM!).

However great the run felt I actually did a very average time compared to my last effort and I know I can do better. However, I have been torn between my competitive nature and my desire to have fun. I know enough runners to be aware that for some it is race day pain they work for.

I understand that desire to go hard or go home. But at the same time most of us are recreational runners not athletes and the injury risk from hard racing seems to out-weigh the benefits. Running slower than I might be capable of is the trade off for being fairly injury free.

I also figure if your training hasn’t prepared you for the hell of race day you need to improve your training regime. Isn’t that what weeks of build up are for? I had a patchy couple of months leading to the race and so I knew my training hadn’t prepared me for much more than what I had achieved on the day. I did it comfortably and pulled up without injury or incident.

Sure it’s fun to be sore occasionally but for me it all comes down to preparation. If you have done the ground work for race day then your race day attitude has to change. Sometimes the race goes to hell in a hand basket and there is no preparation for that. But in terms of race day expectations, that should be informed by your training runs and sprint work beforehand.

Thanks to good training partners, yeah Cindy and Meg (who was out due to illness), I can keep fit and relatively injury free because my training is modified by sensible expectations and awesome conversation along the way.

Older & Wiser

2010-09-30T17:27:00.003+10:00

The Brisbane Times has weighed in on a subject I am passionate about. Education; or more precisely learning. Back in Feb an article was printed with the title 'Physioterapists Call For Better Regulation In Personal Training'.

A call for better education for personal trainers is not an outrageous suggestion. It would certainly help trainers perform better to be provided with a high standard of education. From my experience (9 years of it!) I learnt only a fraction of what I needed to be a good trainer through formal education. I am older and wiser - but not as old smiley over there!

The rest I learnt on the job, from great mentors and from a desire to learn to do my job better. It is a requirement of the job that to keep my industry qualifications I must attend a number of approved educational workshops. This can be done fairly easily but I doesn't always help to attend yet another seminar on core stability or fit ball exercises or sports nutrition.

Self guided education has taught me more about my job than formal education has. Mainly because it allows the trainer to pursue areas of interest specific to current needs. You have a lot of clients with lower back pain so you research the topic. Then you develop a base knowledge and then you are fit to pursue more formal education or start asking the right questions of the right people.

So we come back to physios! Until I found John Humphreys at Bluff Rd Physio I had many unhappy interactions with physios. Most thought I had failed the physio exam and this was my lowly status as a result. Um no! Most physios need to get off the pedestal and become part of the solution.

But once I had gathered more information and could show I was better informed than most it became easier to gain respect. John has encouraged and helped my understanding of body mechanics and specifically lower back pain.

The Brissie Times article attacks trainers for prescribing exercise intensity well above what is safe. I would agree that at times that's an easy trap to fall into. Some clients come in claiming they love to train till they throw up! Well ok, but I don't do that and I think it increases your risk of injury. Then you watch the client walk out the door. As a young trainer it is easy to get caught up in the testosterone.

The attitude has to change. Trainers need to understand the responsibility that goes beyond just giving a hard core workout. We have to care about the long term management of our clients. Without that we haven't got anyone to care about. So keep on doing your macho routine- every client you break comes to me to be fixed. Every client who thinks you are a complete idiot for your lack of knowledge and high testosterone levels comes to me! So keep up the good work!

Coach Magazine

2010-09-23T11:23:00.000+10:00

Runner’s World magazine has found a new outlet for the enormous knowledge they have by releasing the one off Coach magazine. In question and answer style format it looks lovely with a matt finish and nice layout, it looks better than the Runner’s World mag I am used to reading.

Chapter one basic info for new runners, chapter 2 weight loss tips, chapter 3 tips for motivation, chapter 4 running and the health benefits, chapter 5 from jogger to runner- motivation, chapter 6 the gear, chapter 7 injuries, chapter 8 first race preparation and chapter 9 training plans for beginners.

That’s a lot of information but in the usual Runner’s World style it is communicated in a casual and easy to understand style.

I have a few issues… of course. The advice to beginner runners regarding hydration contradicts one of their own publications, The Runner’s Body (an excellent read!). The Q&A starts out sounding reasonable, “humans have a reliable, biological way to determine whether they’re drinking enough. It’s called thirst.” However, Coach then goes on to suggest runners weigh themselves pre and post a hard one hour run (this advice for beginners????????) and aim to drink the amount lost. “…going forward, you would try to replenish fluids at a rate of about one litre per hour.” For just how long should the beginning runner continue to replace at that rate? Until the loss has been replaced? Or simply as a general hydration strategy? It’s no clear enough. That kind of regime would probably overfill the water tank and make a runner feel uncomfortable and may even lead to hyponatremia (over hydration).

Another bone of contention I have is the answer to “Do runners need to stretch?” This is my hobby horse so it makes sense I would have an opinion here. It seems they are looking for research to back up the advice and I applaud that. However, I wonder what research they are looking at? They identify the “muscle groups at the back of the legs – the hamstrings and calf muscles “as those in most urgent need of stretching. “Several reports link poor hamstring and hip-flexor flexibility with “larger knee joint loads”.” However, I have read a number of research papers that argue that a lack of strength in the hamstrings and glutes with tight hip flexor and quads increase loads on the knee and a further increase comes from running technique. See almost any article on patellar femoral pain or PFS to discover the role of hammies in knee health. Tight calves however are generally an issue for runners and more stretching of the top and tail of the calf group is a high priority. There are other stretches that I insist are essential for runners. Hitting piriformis and tensor fascia latae and including seated thoracic spine twists.

There is a really interesting graph to illustrate how quickly the body adapts to running. The blood vessels adapt earliest, muscles and tendons take about 10 to 12 weeks to adapt as fitness improves. Ligaments take 17 to 18 weeks to adapt to the running stress and the brain 24 plus weeks to show improvements in cognition and mood. On the chart is listed “knees” but it isn’t all that clear what it refers to. But with a little more reading it seems to be about improvements in bone. Increase in bone mass happens as a result of the impact and movement of muscle on bone.

In chapter 5; from jogger to runner (a distinction I don’t make!), the Coach encourages strength training. A couple of times a week, they claim, can show improvements in efficiency and better form. I give that advice the thumbs up. What runner’s need to focus on are legs, single and double leg work. Dynamic lumbar stability using things like fitballs and TRX, medicine ball work and Bosu balls. Attention to the upper body is best focused on the stabilisers of the shoulder girdle. Special attention needs to be paid to glute and hamstring strength to stabilise the pelvis as it rocks from side to side when each foot leaves the ground. What program is developed or used it should condition the body for running stress in fairly generic terms unless you start out with specific injuries or direction from a physio. With observation and time the program should become more specialised as you get to understand your weaknesses, strengths and injury states.

All up this is a great resource if you are in need of support at the beginning of a running adventure. For more experienced runners it might be a little light on detail. Some really nifty info like: how long do running shoes last… depends! 500 to 1000km. Can you sweat out a cold? NO. Why do I always have to blow my nose when running? “Caused by cold air, stress and pollution, and it’s more common as you get older.” So I noticed!!!!

Body fat percentage isn’t just about weight control

2010-09-21T13:53:00.000+10:00

Getting to grips with weight management can be a tough journey. Understanding where you are is essential in knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there. But the tests used to measure these starting points have pros and cons.

Methods, like BMI, hip to waist ratio and girth measurements, along with before and after photos and body fat percentages, and scales, are the most commonly used measuring tools. Useful yes, but they must be used in conjunction. While these tools are great for weight control they can also be used as a health assessment.

The point of taking body measurements should be, to create a picture of your composition. How much muscle mass compared to body fat do you carry? The phrase “fat skinny” is a reference to this comparison. Being skinny does not mean fit or healthy – it just means a BMI of a certain range and a socially valid body shape it doesn’t reflect body fat.

The World Health Organisation and the National Institutes of Health (USA) define obesity as more than 25 per cent body fat in men and more than 35 per cent body fat in women. These are ranges which I see fairly often. These people look fairly healthy and are more often than not, in the high end of the healthy BMI range or just in the overweight category, but not obese. So the degree of fatness has a significant impact on indictors of health. Remember the BMI does not take into account body composition and relies on a set of assumptions about basic body make up which doesn’t allow for heavily muscled people or those carrying a lot of body fat. The WHO is taking the level of fatness more seriously the BMI indicator does when it identifies obesity where the BMI sees overweight.

Girth measurements allow for another layer of understanding. Using hip and waist ratios we can assess another of the tricky body fat issues. Some fat is ok, it just depends on where it is. Hips for girls are fine. We might not like it, but it doesn’t represent a health risk like abdominal fat does. The hip to waist ratio for men it should be no higher than 0.90, and for women, 0.83. So a waist of 100 divided by hips of 116 gives a ratio of .86 which would put this individual at greater risk of lifestyle related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.

The waist measurement has become an increasingly valid measure of health. A man's waist should be less than 101.6 centimetres and a woman's less than 89 centimetres. Although Australian measurements are 94cm plus for men and 80cm plus for women being the danger zones.

If the focus is on weight loss then you need to know your body fat and muscle mass ratio to ensure you are losing body fat and not muscle. The most reliable body fat measure is using calipers. The scales which use bio-impedance are ok. They can be affected by hydration status and the specific calculations each machine uses to give a body fat percentage. As with most things, the less reliable a machine is generally the cheapest one. However, if you are just looking for trends over time and don’t care so much about the absolute value then go for it. So if you just want to know you have removed 3% then it doesn’t matter if the real value is 35% body fat or 32% if you can see you have lost your 3%! It should not however be used to batter your self esteem with! The saying goes; don’t weigh your self esteem. If there is something you don’t like about what you see in these results – THEN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Using a combination of these measures (I would also include blood pressure here) is your best option when it comes to understanding your health. It will help you set goals and it will assist in assessing your progress.

If you aren’t bothered by your jeans then consider this. In an editorial in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the authors compared the BMI of 140 heart failure patients with a more accurate, although more involved, measure of fat and lean body mass using a DEXA scan (for dual energy X-ray absorptiometry). They found that BMI value alone misclassified the degree of body fatness in 41 per cent of the patients. The findings? Having more lean tissue and less fat may more accurately predict a patient's survival chances. Thus, among patients with heart failure, the authors say, "BMI may not be a good indicator of adiposity".

Dr Carl Lavie, a cardiologist at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, said during an interview with the The New York Times, that “Exercise is the best way to minimise an age-related rise in body fat, the doctor said. Aerobic exercise is not enough. You must also do weight training to build and maintain muscle.” YAHHHH - get into your weight training and snaffle down a load of omega 6 with a splash of omega 3.

Clever Marketing

2010-09-14T10:56:00.000+10:00

I was surprised to see last week that Coles has banned the sale of meat grown with growth hormones. Citing a degradation of meat quality as the reason. The solution: hang your meat longer... so glad I am a vegetarian!

I am pleased, not because I care about the tenderness of my t-bone. Fewer unnecessary chemicals playing around with our body’s functioning is a good thing. Secondly, have you seen a cow who has been effected by growth hormone? Really not a good thing to add 100kg extra to a skeleton not designed to carry it! Thirdly, other animals and plants are adverserly affected by these additional sex hormones and the irony is the impact these have on reproduction. Fourth reason is research on some types of cancers which has established a link between oestrogen and tumor development in humans; but strangely no one at Coles is talking about this!

This issue has been around since the 70s. The birth of the modern environmental movement raised concerns about the growth hormones almost 40 years ago. But these issues took a long time to gain creditability and raise public concern. Originally concerns extended beyond the carcinogenic effect of these hormones on humans, which was fairly well agreed upon, but also included the impact on the environment. Many species, frogs being a popularly cited one, where having reproductive issues associated with an increase exposure to oestrogen. Also adnormal cell growth from embyros exposed to these chemicals were producing infertile adults often with extreme deformities. This is the kind of change that results in extinction. These hormones were not found to occur in nature and were linked to the use of growth hormone in cattle whose run off was finding its way into water systems.

But the bans placed on the use of the chemical enhancers had been about the human impact. The EU’s ban on growth hormones in the 80’s was controversial and still is amongst scientists and farmers. However, the US had banned them about 10 years earlier. Both of these bans were due to concerns about what couldn’t be proven. Safe levels of consumption of the hormones for humans could not be reliably estimated and the cancer risk associated with the chemicals was too great to risk, so the US banned it. This was eventually overturned when the unreliable science didn’t stand up to the scrutiny of powerful corporations.

The EU, on the other hand, has withstood pressure to reintroduce the hormones’ use. That pressure has been immense and it is a commendable thing the EU has done. However they are being economically king hit by large trading partners and I think they will crumble eventually.

Given that much of the research has been largely about establishing a safe level of consumption for humans it seems that the basic premise must be that consumption isn’t safe! So why are we still having this argument? The EU didn’t take into account issues of environmental damage when banning these chemicals but this where the greatest evidence in support of a ban is. If this stuff has enormous impacts on the health and long term future of frogs, bats and birds in an environment where cattle urinate, die, give birth, generally live, it has to give us pause for thought. I am not the only animal on this planet worth protecting. Ban it for the environment if this is the strongest argument going at present and do more research.

When this news hit I read many indignant replies from shoppers (blog exchange) furious that Coles had been selling this chemically enhanced product. Well, DERRRRR! The meat industry is a multi-million dollar industry and it quite frankly hasn’t traditionally cared about much else but the money. That is until consumers started to wake up. Part of responsibility rests with us as consumers to check what we eat because most Governments are not in the business of controlling business. See privatised rail services for a good example of a hands-off policy. SO GET INFORMED.

The argument for a whole foods lifestyle grows stronger all the time. Each time a new chemical is banned from food production I cheer, we should all cheer because it impacts us and our environment. If you are not sure of what you are eating or concerned about some part of it then these might be useful resources to check. Online resource like DrsRef is one I like mainly because it sites research based evidence, but be warned it is very technical. The Additive Code Breaker book is fabulous. It has been around for a long time and gone through many editions so make sure you get a recent one. It will keep you awake at night like a good horror story should… understanding mass food production is not for the squeamish.

Make choices based on a best practice policy – good for me, good for my environment and good for the manufacturer. Money talks, buy the right stuff and there will soon be more of it. Coles could see the tide of public opinion turning and it has capitalised on it; this is not an exercise in good will just clever marketing.

Birds Land Reserve - Tecoma

2010-09-10T17:33:00.000+10:00

I have been checking out the running options in my local area since moving a couple of weeks ago. I have found it difficult to find info online about where to run and what tracks go where so I have decided to keep a bit of a journal of my adventures.

Ten years ago when I first lived in this area, Birdsland Reserve was one of my favourite locations to walk my Newfoundland, Mr.B. But I didn’t know then, that this gorgeous parkland is a bit of a haunt for runners. Many of them with dogs (sigh…. ).

I also don’t remember the track from the start of the park being quite so well maintained, but it is just lovely! The pic below should convince you!

The park can be accessed via a dirt road which leads to a BBQ area and toilet facilities. The park then extends beyond that parking area. This leads along a water course, which in this weather is fairly muddy but the scenery more than makes up for it. The water course pictured right is the point at which my Newfie would lunge on his lead. There was nothing I could do to stop him, and plunge headfirst into the duck pooh infested pond… with me trailing behind arms flailing. The park is an on lead area for dogs, presumably to stop then getting in the water courses and annoying the ducks, which I am all in favour of, but try telling a Newf he can’t get in the water…

Back to the running! The track takes you passed this first large pond after running beside a well hidden creek. This then comes to an intersection which is the beginning of a loop around the second and larger water feature. It has a healthy heaping of ducks and strange long legged water foul, that show no signs of fear at all! You can do a full loop and head back to the carpark and return to the car. I have tried this for a couple of loops and it is quite pleasant. It's so nice to be running around the greenery, with cow moo interrupting my 80’s soundtrack every so often and the occasional dog running free who scoots along beside you! The pit stop at the carpark allows for a drink and loo break if you need it. I am not sure how long the loop would be, I didn’t time it and didn’t try the Garmin the first time. This could get very boring after two laps, but it could be great for speed work. Racing a lap and then resting at the BBQ area for a break before heading off on at a fast pace to see if you keep or beat your previous time. It is also quite flat which is uncommon in this area!

But, today I am coming off the loop track around the top of the billabong and heading left to Lysterfield Park. Adjacent to Birdsland Reserve is a more rugged place and the start of the track is a warning! That’s ankle deep mud!

These are my fancy Brooks running shoes that I keep pristine just for running… this is only half as bad as they ended up. On the return trek I had kind of stopped worrying and made a few bad choices through what looked like patchy grass but turned out to be just sludge!

The track gave two choices and I look the right; it looked safer. So the track was rough but nothing outrageous, runnable except for the need to stop and negotiate flooding. It has been very wet here in Melbourne and this is a water catchment region, being low laying and flat! So suck it up princess!

The view is lovely though:

Quite rural with a few houses dotted along the ridge line and the cows off in the distance. This beats the Duncan McKinnon Reserve hands down! So glad to be away from East Bentleigh.

The track cleared up really well shortly after the pic above was taken and the scenery changed to more woodland. Unfortunately that meant a climb out of the flat muddy plane. OMG! I am not used to hill training and this is tough. But one foot in front of the other and at the top I am quite pleased with myself. The tracks are fairly well posted, this one being at the top of hill I slogged up out of the wet. Off in the distance is an interesting grassy track that I noticed when I started, that now joins this track. I’ll give that a go when the area is drier!

I am feeling pretty good after the hill. But of course the funny freewheeling feeling means a decline and that means an incline on the return trip… The main track is well maintained and wide enough for vehicle access with about 5 or so smaller grassed tracks branching off.

The scenery is fabulous. I look off the headphones to check out the native noises, but there are large roads all around this bushland so the magpies calls and sweet twittering of birds has a 4wd soundtrack that kind of ruins it for me, however eye of the tiger makes it all very cinematic!

From there it is down hill; mostly! Yes that means ups will be the return journey… The track crosses busy Wellington Rd and continues onwards for some time on a really well maintained track. At this end there are more people and cyclists who are mud covered (looks seriously fun). The track leads to a picinic area which I miss by about 1km. Next run I will go the extra now I have a better idea of what is in store. But be warned, this is really nice going because it’s very slightly downhill.

So the out journey teaches you to be conservative and prepare yourself for the return. I can feel my hammies actually working for a change. Again, lots of little tracks are available, some flagged for equestirian use which made me smile wide - horseback in this park sounds like heaven. SO this could be quite an adverturous summer coming up for me.

I think I almost cheered outloud at the top of the track as it come up to meet Wellington Rd. It meant I could stop and wait as the traffic zoomed along. I waited gratefully, for a break in the traffic. Once across the road it was back to a hill… Fortunately there was no one on the track at this end so my wheezing was only frightening the local wildlife and I assiduously kept the music loud so I couldn’t hear myself!

Burning legs and I had a little walk at the top for 30 seconds then pulled myself together and off again. This gorgeous downhill is only lovely cause I have already ran up it; the first real challenge of the run on the way out. The track undulates from here until you reach the entrance to Bird Land and then it returns to flat.

Yeah, back to the car. Feeling recovered but tired. The Garmin seemed to work for the entire distance which really surprised me. 12.3km for the trip, would be a nice 15km following the track to the Lysterfield Park BBQ area. There is a track the leads to a lake track on the Lysterfield side of Wellington Rd that I would like to try. Should be posted in the coming months.

This is hard going for a suburban runner who is used to flat surfaces and regular water stops. So be prepared to walk it, have water on you because taps are not an option and neither are toilets. Enjoy the scenery. It beats the hell out of city running.

To Stretch or Not To Stretch?

2010-08-10T16:42:00.000+10:00

As kids we are like rubber bands. Our bodies not yet tortured by hours in the veal fattening crate or slumped over the wheel of the car. Or girlie hips not ravaged by the rigors of childbirth and the subsequent one sided hip and shoulder squeeze of cradling infants. Neither have the inappropriate gym workouts and circuit class that work the front of the body only (because that's easy) tightens our pecs and shortens our abs. Long past are the days when like kitty - we could be pretzel shaped without need of a physio and an ambulance!

We probably all understand that muscles and tendons shorten and become distorted with time and use. It just happens, even if your life is sedentary! So stretching is generally prescribed to improve muscle length. That then reduces the impact of postural imbalance which is the result of tight muscles pulling on bones. These bones are also not adequately supported by opposing muscles which are generally weak (although they can still be tight!). This constant antagonism between imbalanced muscles pulling on bones causes pain.

However I am sure most of us start stretching because we believe it will reduce post exercise soreness. Opps, researchers Robert Herbert, Ph.D., and Marcos de Noronha, Ph.D. of the University of Sydney conducted a systematic review of 10 previously published studies of stretching either before or after athletic activity . They concluded that stretching before exercise doesn't prevent post-exercise muscle soreness. That's because the cause of muscle soreness would probably be best left to heal than to be jostled by more stretching which places the muscle under more stress.

They also found little support for the theory that stretching immediately before exercise can prevent either overuse or acute sports injuries. Many years ago I went to a sports med conference which discussed this point and produced really compelling data to back up this idea. However the effect of stretching to improve flexibility and mobility were of greater benefit to injury reduction. This is a really important point in understanding why we should be stretching at all. When the body is in balance the chances of injury are reduced. Most bodies are not in balance and so we need to rectify this by STRETCHING AND STRENGTHENING.

Most of us are familiar with the round shoulders of a gym addict who does nothing but chest press and bicep curls. These are not bad exercises but a constant diet of them with no attempt to stretch the ever strengthening chest and biceps, can greatly increase shoulder injuries, neck pain, disc herniation, elbow pain, wrist pain, headaches...

The research doesn't look at what happens if you do nothing? Just train like a giant and allow your body to do its stuff. Likewise there is no research that I know of that looks at those people who have a stretching program designed for individual postural and exercise needs, who don't stretch for warm up or warm down.

If you train with me you know I like to stretch while training. I like to reduce the tension in the muscle group that is most likely to be inhibiting the current range of motion. It allows for more fluid movement through a reduction in the stress applied to the joints. Having a regular stretching program that is done independently of training is a must and self administered myofascial massage is an essential skill for anyone doing any kind of training.

The best stretches for a generically happy desk body:
Chest and shoulders
Neck and top of traps (shoulders)
Quadriceps and hip flexors
Back arches
Calves and Achilles

Health Snap Shot

2010-07-28T14:20:00.002+10:00

In 2008 the Victorian state government launched a $218 million program to test the health of 2.6 million workers. The voluntary ‘tick test’ would be followed up with a health practitioner if a moderate to high risk was identified. The program aimed to cut absenteeism and the number of works suffering from chronic disease by 10%.

Those risks, while not well identified in the newspaper article, seem to be diabetes and cardio vascular disease. Both of these have strong correlations to lifestyle factors, like physical activity levels, eating habits and weight. Age and family history are also risks, although unchangeable factors in these diseases.

Government data from 2008 suggested that more the 75% of adults and a third of children in Victoria could be overweight or obese by 2025 and over 190,000 Victorian’s have type 2 diabetes with 15,000 diagnosed per year! With these sorts of statistics it becomes clear that a scheme like this is essential in identifying those at risk. I have seen many people shocked by BMI and girth measurements because they don’t imagine themselves to be overweight or at risk of lifestyle related illness like diabetes.

The results of these health tests were released in July 2010 based on 100,000 responses:

• 832 Victorian workers tested were found to have a very high risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes and advised to see a doctor within 24 hours of their WorkHealth check,

•39% of workers tested were found to have a high risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes,
• 48% of male workers were found to have a high or very high risk of developing type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease, as compared with 32% females,
• 93% eat less than the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables, and
• 73% reported inadequate exercise.
From http://nabenet.com.au/category/health/

OMG! 93% of participants got inadequate fruit and vege intake… speechless…

These tests are a great idea, but what support and information are being given to those who have had the tests? Without the back up to assist in lifestyle changes the information is pretty useless. Support would be required to assist in dietary changes, exercise prescription, medical advice and ongoing testing.

There are also other factors at play here which require more than an individual effort but can be affected by a collective change in habits. Professor Swinburn of the Obesity Policy Coalition noted that “unless the environment is changed that is driving obesity” the screening program would have little effect. Part of that backup program he suggested should include policies making it easier to cycle, walk, or take public transport to work, as well as reducing the promotion of junk food.

While it may be possible to make cycling and walking safer and therefore more attractive, the resistance to increasing cycle lanes has been fierce. Public transport isn’t an attractive option at present either. That leaves us with restrictions on junk food promotion and if it can be done with cigarettes I don’t see why it can’t be done with food.

But at the end of the day it comes down to the individual to make lifestyle changes. Getting exercise on a regular basis, choosing fresh produce and refusing to eat junk can all be done without the intervention of governments and in the interest of our own health.

Below is a simple test to help you assess your current risk of lifestyle related diseases.

TICK TEST

Circle one answer for each question and add up your points

Your Age
Under 45            0 points
45-54 years       2 points
55-64 years       3 points
Over 64 years    4 points

Your Body Mass Index (not sure ask me!)
Lower than 25     0 points
Greater than 30   1 point
Over 30                3 points

Your Waist Measurement (at the belly button)
MEN    94cm less       0points
             94-102cm       3 points
            102cm plus      4 points

WOMEN    80cm less     0points
                    80-88cm       3 points
                    88cm plus     4 points

On average would you say you did at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day?
Yes 0 points
No 2 points

How often do you eat vegetables or fruits?
Every day            0 points
Not every day     1 point

Have you ever taken medication for high blood pressure on a regular basis?

No 0 points
Yes 2 points

Have you ever been diagnosed with high blood glucose?

No           0 points
Yes         5 points

Have any of the members of your immediate family or other relatives been diagnosed with diabetes (type 1 or 2)?
No                                                                                0 points
Yes; grandparent, uncle, aunt or first cousin            3 points
Yes; parent, brother, sister or own child                  5 points

TOTAL SCORE

Less than 7 low risk; continue healthy lifestyle and get regular check-ups to monitor good progress.
7 to 14 intermediate risk: It is time to make an appointment for a health check. For scores of 7-11 approximately one in every 25 people develop diabetes and scores of 12-13 approximately one in every six develops diabetes
15 plus high risk; make an appointment with your GP today! Scores of 15-20 approximately 1 in 3 develop diabetes and for scores of more than 20 represents a diabetes risk of 1 in every 2 people.

If you have found yourself to be in that high risk category - GO TO YOUR GP NOW!

partly sourced from The Age March 19, 2008

Strategies When Eating Out

2010-07-22T15:18:00.000+10:00

The Preventing Chronic Disease journal has looked at 140 men and women to find out what strategies they use to control weight gain.

Both men and women in the study avoided sugar sweetened beverages. Soft drinks would be the most obvious. But fruit juices would fall into this category too, or at least as far as I am concerned. Even the low joule no sugar varieties (like low fat products) have made no impact on the rising incidence of overweight amongst soft drink consumers. So artificial sweeteners may be zero sugar but they are not zero impact.

Men and women in the study both chose steamed vegetables when eating out. Well I hardly need to explain this!

They both stopped eating when full. It sounds really obvious but this is a tough one for many people. After years of over consumption it can be almost impossible to recognise a healthy level of hunger. That BLAH feeling becomes the default sensation for satisfaction when the “satiety reflex” is impaired. In young children research has shown that when youngsters eat a particularly calorie rich meal they will automatically consume less at a subsequent meal. This phenomenon however has been declining in its effectiveness amongst younger and younger kids. So by the time we reach adulthood the ‘satiety reflex’ or our ability to discern a reasonable fullness is totally out of whack.

The study also found men and women selected wholegrain foods over processed foods. The wholegrain food makes us feel fuller for longer (see GI). They are also much richer in nutritional value.

Women in the study had some really great strategies for dealing with social eating. Take home a doggy bag and reduce the meal size. Share with your dinner partner. Eat a starter as a main or a salad as a main. They also requested salad dressing on the side.

The next time the girls have a dinner night, try some of these strategies to help you feel good about your indulgence knowing you haven’t wasted your training efforts that week with just one meal out.

Running On Coffee

2010-07-19T14:45:00.000+10:00

Sunday long run now at 15km! We are in the realms of the believable now. I think this is the point at which you start to believe the 21.1km half marathon is actually doable. It’s only a little bit to go and the distance is done…

We did an electrolyte drop at a little over the half way mark. Which I know from past experience has made a huge difference to energy levels on the return trip. The Tamashii crew haven’t felt the need for refuelling even at this distance, despite my insistence that they should be. See everyone is so different and strict rules are not always helpful. Of course the marketing of these products would have us believe you need it walking to the letter box!

I have always used Endura powder; Gatorade only when I am caught short. It has been gentle on the digestive system and provided a much needed boost, noticeably on many occasions! However, I tried an Endura gel on this long run and I have to say I felt good on the second half of the 15km. I am not entirely sure this can be entirely the result of the gel because I haven't felt the lethargy that came with training last year. OMG am I fitter this time??????

The gel was like sucking on clag – the old school style stuff that we used in art classes as a kid, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant to taste. However my team mate pointed out the caffeine in the gel. Her body is a temple and she keeps it caffeine and alcohol free - I seriously envy her self control.

I can’t say I like the idea of a boosting my heart rate with caffeine when I am already placing a considerable stress on it just running. I also don’t have the PR people to cover up my health complications like some high profile sports persons… (Aussie rules reference that is probably lost in translation – sorry).

Research conducted a few years ago suggested that the benefit of caffeine to sports performance was minimal. So what’s the benefit? I am struggling to see it. I used to have a coffee about 40minutes before a run or a dojo session to boost my focus and performance. But I gave it up when I read the research and I honestly feel no difference.

The Endura website says, “ While caffeine is not a suitable substitute to real glycogen producing energy sources such as carbohydrates, it can be used for an additional boost”. In response to the idea that caffeine may have negative side effects they claim the “Endura Sports Gels only contains 8mg of caffeine, which is a small amount. It is enough to give a quick increase in energy during training, but shouldn't affect individuals who are sensitive to the side effects of caffeine. To put it in perspective, Typical espresso coffee contains 100-150 mg of caffeine per shot; Caffeinated soft drink contains around 40mg of caffeine per 375mL serve; and Decaf coffee contains around 5mg of caffeine per cup.”

The Australian Institute of Sport’s website has the following information on caffeine and performance.

• There is sound evidence that caffeine enhances endurance and provides a small but worthwhile enhancement of performance over a range of exercise protocols. These include short-duration high-intensity events (1-5 min), prolonged high-intensity events (20-60 min), endurance events (90 min + continuous exercise), ultra-endurance events (4 hours +), and prolonged intermittent high-intensity protocols (team and racquet sports). The effect on strength/power and brief sprints (10-20 sec) is unclear.

• The mechanism underpinning performance benefits is unclear, but it is likely to involve alterations to the perception of effort or fatigue, as well as direct effects on the muscle.

• There is new evidence, at least from studies involving prolonged exercise lasting longer than 60 minutes, that a variety of protocols of caffeine use can enhance performance. In particular, benefits have been seen with small-moderate levels of caffeine (1-3 mg/kg BM or 70-200 mg caffeine) taken before and/or throughout exercise, or towards the end of exercise when the athlete is becoming fatigued).

• Furthermore, these studies show that performance benefits do not increase with increases in the caffeine dose above 3 mg/kg. The use of larger doses of caffeine increases the risk of side-effects.

So in small doses the caffeine will boost my performance if I am unaccustomed to the stimulant or I can be duped into believing the boost is gonna work for me man. I wont fight it but I am not totally convinced that a stimulant like coffee is going to benefit my performance significantly as a recreational runner. Perhaps I will stick to the boring gels and drinks and keep my coffee consumption strictly with my bagels!

However, taking an electrolyte replacement is definitely something I would recommend. It’s useful for long training and intense training and for recovery immediately afterward. I would argue that the main benefit of sports drinks (not gels) post workout is the fluid replacement. The flavoured drink encourages you to have more and the salt makes you want more fluid also. It is too often the case that headaches and a feeling of profound tiredness which accompanies training, could be avoided with proper hydration.

Food is the best recovery aid we have and by getting quality carbs, proteins and fats into your system within half an hour of finishing training you give your body the best nutritional aid for recovery. Why? It has stuff in it we still don’t understand and there is plenty of research that suggests itemising elements of food from it’s context reduces the effectiveness of those elements. (see Revive Personal Training blog entry). Our bodies are still a mystery even to the clever cloggs doing the research!

Summer Buns

2010-07-14T16:47:00.001+10:00

I love working the summer buns - guys don't pay it enough attention while women are always happy to work the butt for a lovely perky posterior! So what are the muscles we are actually trying to target?

It gets complicated but essentially the gluteus maximus, the gluteus medius and to a lesser extent the gluteus minimus. They are arranged in a fan like layer on the large posterior side of the pelvic bone. The deepest is minimus then medius and the largest and most obvious is maximus; I am lead to believe it is the largest muscle in the body.

A the most basic level the glutes function as a group to move the leg behind the hips and to rotate the femur (big thigh bone) away from the midline of the body. However the more important function of this group is the stability and control they provide to the pelvis/lower back complex and the knee.

Each movement of the leg in a walking motion requires you to stand on one leg for a short time. The glutes should be able to stabilise your hips and therefore protect your knee joint with each step. Next time you see someone with a great mincing walk - the are probably weak in the glutes. It is a very simplistic explanation but basically the hip/pelvis drops side to side with every step and it pulls the muscles around the pelvis/lower back complex out of correct alignment. This then follows, usually, with a collapsing knee.

It seems odd then that most people have pretty wobbly bums and most guys have a bum that isn't holding up anyones pants! It seems the glutes have taken to the job of cushion rather well. Our largely sedentary desk bound, car bound lives encourages a disconnection from the glutes and we often don't use them even when they should be firing. I wont go into the reasons why a muscle connection does or does not happen; that's another blog entry.

So a lack of connection means the muscle is under functioning when it should be working. Just as harmful are the glutes that aren't getting any work at all because they haven't seen any real exercise since the made contact with careers and couches.

My personal favorite glute workouts are:

Glute Bridge:
Note that when he says extending the back I think he means arching - your back should not change shape at any point in the movement. Contract glutes before you move and then rise slowly feeling for any changes in the lower back and restrictions on movement. Stop when you feel the contraction and the range of motion is in balance. You may find this has an impact on your quads; this is a stretch or you may be trying to use other muscles to help out. Stop, reset and try again with a smaller range of motion. KEEP PRACTISING!

Curtsy Lunge:
The addition here of an upper body exercise I like but don't pay too much attention to it. We are working legs! This is a nice example of technique and her legs speak for the benefit of this kind of exercise. The sliding disc is in no way a part of the exercise I use, I simply raise the foot of the ground and swing. Be sure to stay within a range of motion that feels strong and allows your torso to be straight and you can engage those long lost glutes.

Single Leg Romanian Deadlift:
I love this one!!!!!! So much pain... This is a great example, only one point to make here about the technique. It is really important to swing the body back to an upright posture. Remaining slightly bent over for 20 or so repetitions is going to have painful consequences. So straight up and make sure you are making a connection the glutes and hammies as you move through a safe and strong range of motion.

Week 4 - Spending Frenzy

2010-07-13T17:10:00.000+10:00

It seems that for a sport that really only requires a decent pair of shoes The Tomashii team have been positively shopping till they drop!

This week we were all rugged up against the increasingly cold mornings here in Melbourne. I noticed Pete had gloves on - almost fingerless but not quite with the tips of a few fingers poking through, seems Pete embraced the running simplicity message - but wait there was a Garmin GPS (http://www.garmin.com/garmin/cms/site/au) purchase last week I believe!

Meg and Meg went clothes shopping for long sleeve tops and wind protection jackets. I have given up on the polar fleece I was running in because it was making me too hot and the increased sweat was just making me cold. So I splashed out on a couple of wind cheater type jackets.

Most of us have been running with compression tights. The latest fan of the tights is Cindy who just took off like a rocket last weekend on her first test drive of said tights. As the weather cools, having them becomes a necessity not a luxury in my view.

There have also been many a new shoe purchased in the last couple of weeks and a few more to come.

Runners save Australia from GFC!!!!

There are so many gadgets you can buy, above and beyond the fundamental shoes, shorts and tshirts. When I was doing triathlons I had a number of near death experiences with head down focusing on my cyclometer and not the road ahead! My first run with a heart rate monitor had me wondering if it had a flat line function. Then I graduated to a Garmin GPS and ended up with a sore elbow from the constant twisting of my forearm to peer at the constantly changing digital display...

I have to say the HR monitor hasn't been seen in years. I am not doing triathlon anymore cause I have a phobia of sharks and stuff I cant see!!! But I have a glorious one lady driver Giant racing bike in go fast red covered in a patina of dust. It's all fun, but it is practical and useful?

My Garmin GPS, 2xu compression tights, Brooks runners and cap have all lasted many seasons! Money well spent if you ask me. But I seriously lack a decent pair of running gloves - looks like another spending spree is in order.

This weekend we face 15km!!!!!!! ALMOST THERE.

Just because it is in a book...

2010-07-07T13:40:00.000+10:00

The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training For Running
by Robert G Price CPT (2nd ed) published by Sportsworkout.com

Robert, really what were you thinking? Firstly you borrow the bulk of the useful information from other authors (John Cissik and Brian Zehetner) who contribute an article each to the beginning of your book. After this the information dives into a generic weight training program that doesn’t even try to justify its selections for runners!

Apart from the typos and bad footnoting in the first two articles it does improve after that and the book’s layout is quite good. However I have serious issues with some of the suggestions made for runners. For example, boxed text implores the reader to “train your abs prior to each training session”. Guidance comes later on with some of the most standard abs we all know, and mostly love, but he doesn’t justify why doing abs before each session is necessary or why doing 5 to 10 minutes worth as part of a warm up is a good idea... No! Really? Abs are usually done to death by most trainers because they can’t think of anything else to do and can’t justify to clients why they should do an alternative. Lower back pain is very often exacerbated by traditional abdominal work so “having a tight stomach, strong lower back, and incredible six-pack is important…” maybe, but I was looking for advice relevant to running. He is right in asserting that a strong midrift allows for a greater generation of power and a more stable base for fast moving limbs, but that fact that he makes no attempt to explain his description of upper and lower abs and obliques is more worrying.

The outer layer of muscle on your abs, the six pack is one sheet of muscle with a few fibrous bands running across and down the middle, it gives that classic six pack look. But it acts as one unit. Lower abs might be more helpfully referred to as pelvic floor or transverse, but that is still over simplifying things. Obliques consist of an internal and external set. He also asserts that abs need to be trained for muscle endurance and should be trained with “many many repetitions that can be preformed daily”. Hello lower back pain!!!!! It is my understanding that the questionable benefit of doing lots and lots of traditional ab work to your running would probably be outweighed by the increasing risk it poses to back health. Also you don’t run and do a crunch movement at the same time so the attempt at specific training for long distance running is misguided. Learning to run with your abs engaged makes sense and learning to keep them switched on while maintaining good body posture, particularly when legs are moving, makes so much more sense. Muscles need to be trained for both endurance and strength but there are so many more helpful options for runners than Mr. Price’s recommendations.

The next most alarming section is stretching. Standing hands to floor hamstring stretches – sit and reach – neck rolls ! Arrrrr. Sit and reach has been well and truly ditched as a way to stretch hammies and standing hands to floor is a recipe for disaster for anyone with lower back disc related issues. I would expect these in a book written 15 years ago but this is the second edition (?) published 2005. Neck rolls are another one to avoid due to the shape of the vertebrae in the neck and the reduced space between the bony protruberances at the back, this stretch can have bone crunching on bone and really it’s just not pleasant or necessary! What is missing from this list is a hip flexor, piriformis, tensor fascia latae, illiotibial band and Achilles stretch. These are, to my mind, some of the essential stretches for runners!

The workout itself is troubling. The resistance exercises are not wrong, they are all fine but are the appropriate to runners? He makes no attempt to justify the choices recommended and it would seem that this is just a general fitness program that would suit anybody looking to get started in the gym. There is no mention of the major muscle groups involved in the running action and how best to train these. He doesn’t address the main training aim which should be about leg training, posture, stretching and myofascial techniques of self massage, balance, pelvic stability and strengthening the posterior chain. Any gym head could have written this without ever having run for even a coffee.

His choice of upright row and shrugs… for runners… most runners need shoulder stabilisation not great big traps to impress friends when they don a running tank! Most people have upper back and shoulder issues that are usually lifestyle/work related, shrugs and upright rows are not a great choice under these conditions and for runners I fail to see the point. Being strong in your upper body is certainly important for runners, even more so for sprinters and agility based sports. But for the average weekend roadster or middle distance runner there are so many other things to think about before tackling shrugs.

I should be kind and say that his general weight training principals are fine and I applaud the inclusion of rotator cuff exercises for runners! He also includes jump squats which are great power boosters for runners. It seems to me this book is based on a generic program published with sport specific information from experts to make it appear legitimate but it’s a mass produced product simply to promote the sportsworkout.com website and products. It has nothing to do with any real running specific training and is probably more hindrance than help.

Be careful out there, get trustworthy advice and ask why all the time!

Training Insanity

2010-06-29T15:54:00.007+10:00

Several episodes ago, on my favourite TV show Bones, my favourite TV character Dr. Temperance Brennan defined insanity as: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

She could well be talking about getting fit, trying to reduce body fat, trying to improve muscle mass, getting stronger, all of which require a change in current practices to elicit a different result. So wondering why you haven’t improved your weight on the scales when you haven’t stopped eating a tub of ice cream every week and you are still watching 5 hours of television every night – well that’s just a crazy expectation. If you are not increasing your weights in the gym or trying to do just a little bit more each time you are faced with a time challenge or you are giving up too soon when faced with a difficult exercise; you are not encouraging your body to change! The principal of stress is at play.

There is a scientific fact, researched and fairly well accepted, that our bodies need stress, of the right kind, in order to change or adapt. Basically our bodies are pretty good at adapting, so a gradual level of stress is needed to kick it out of the current rut and into adaption again and again. Fitness is a response to the physical stress of training. That training needs to be specific to the result desired and the intensity needs to match ability and outcomes, but it needs to be applied in a way that is basically stressful to the body.

So when you pick up the 5kg dumbbell for the 8th time in as many weeks, you are not applying enough stress to encourage change in the muscles or burn a little more energy to perform the task. But pick up the 7kg and you are on the way to encouraging the muscle to grow and improve under a new type of stress, you will burn more energy in the effort of coping with the new stress, and eventually you will adapt to a new level of stress – ie improved fitness and better muscle tone.

Eat a smaller meal and your body will ache for more. The stress of hunger is very primal, it demands to be listened to – it’s your survival mechanism. But most of us are not in survival mode and we have plenty (most of the time too much) food on hand. So we can manage the stress and our body, but importantly our mind, will learn to deal with the stress of a smaller amount of food. Suddenly you will wonder how you crammed that extra steak in when one is now more than enough. This is what people experience when they claim; “my stomach shrunk”.

IDEAS
So to get that extra boost and start working toward improvements consider a few of these tips for outdoors if you are a walker or runner. Walk/run to the train station; choose a station one away from the most convenient; walk/run further than usual on your regular walk, add an extra session in the week or just get STARTED! Try a walk/run up a hill or find stairs or ramps or sand or grass to vary your terrain. Go for a walk/run with someone faster than you. Add a back pack with an extra bottle of water or two. Add some body weight exercises into your walking/running route. Try stopping for step ups and squats, or do walking lunges across the oval. Vary your pace as you go, bursts of power walking and sprints for runners, really kicks your metabolism along and any increase in intensity will increase calorie burn and fitness gains.

At the gym trying selecting a new weight or intensity for an old exercise, add a dumbbell when you wouldn’t usually, for squats as an example. Go faster than the last time on the cardio equipment or try interval training which we know produces great fitness gains and increases intensity with less time spent – all means more calories burnt. Try a new variation on an old exercise, so switch lunges instead of traditional lunges for example. Try a fit ball variation over a bench variation. Do something for time when you are used to going for repetitions. Increase or decrease the repetition range for exercises you know well. Remember short rep range increase the resistance, long rep range decrease the resistance. Vary your recovery time. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. There are lots of great exercises out there but with just the foundation movements of push pull squat – you can cover all your bases with a few variations on the classics.

I would suggest you speak to your local trainer (either us or someone in your gym) if you are looking for new ideas for self training in the gym, as the variables can be daunted without assistance. Otherwise, you need to engage with your trainer and find out what is working and what isn’t. Trust me on this one, if you actually ask your trainer for more, if you want them to challenge you more and you are engaging with the process then they will love you for it! Get together and look for new ideas and get stuck into it. At the end of the day all the exercises in the world aren’t going to produce that magical result if you keep at your same old level of intensity.

Excellent cartoon from http://basalt.deviantart.com/art/Workout-Fail-138027848

Breakfast

2010-06-19T09:55:00.004+10:00

If you never have time for breakfast or you don't feel hungry in the morning and sometimes the idea of food that early makes you feel nauseous well it is time to reconsider your breakfast aversion. When it comes to weight gain breakfast can play a significant long term role in weight management and those regular breakfast eaters have on average a lower BMI and better nutritional more generally.

Research was conducted by The University of Sydney National Children's Nutrition and Physical Activity Study way back in 2003 (a sponsored by Kellogg!) resulted in a national campaign by the Dietitians Association of Australia to educate parents on the impacts of skipping breakfast. The research concluded that:

• Children who skip breakfast or drink only fluids were significantly heavier than children who eat breakfast.
• Female children who skip breakfast were significantly heavier than female children who eat breakfast.
• Male children who skip breakfast were significantly heavier than male children who eat breakfast.
• One in four children who are overweight did not eat a proper breakfast.
• One in five primary school children who were overweight were not eating a proper breakfast.
• Two in five high school students who were overweight were not eating a proper breakfast.
• One in two female high school students who were overweight were not eating a proper breakfast.
• One in three children from low socioeconomic backgrounds who were overweight were not eating a proper breakfast.
The study also suggested that one in four children go to school hungry and female high school students were more likely to skip breakfast than males. The research makes no suggestions as to why this is the case however I would suggest that body image issues encourage girls to miss meals in an attempt to reduce overall calorie consumption and keep weight down. As parents it is clear that our kids suffer from our lack of attention to nutrition and that as role models it is important to practice what we preach. Setting good habits in childhood sets a strong foundation for eating habits into adulthood.

There is an abundance of research regarding childhood and adolescent eating habits but for adults the research into the relationship between breakfast consumption and weight gain is a little murky. In 2007 Obesity; a research journal, published A Prospective Study of Breakfast Consumption and Weight Gain among U.S. Men (Amber A.W.A. van der Heijden, Frank B. Hu, Eric B. Rimm and Rob M. van Dam). The findings supported the idea that breakfast consumption helped to reduce weight gain in adult men but concluded that more research was needed. Anecdotally, The National (American) Weight Control Registry claims that for those people who have maintained significant weight loss over a 1 to 6 year period, breakfast was a regular meal. "Most -- 78% -- reported eating breakfast every day, and almost 90% reported eating breakfast at least five days a week - which suggests that starting the day with breakfast is an important strategy to lose weight and keep it off," says James O. Hill, PhD, the Registry's co-founder and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. I would agree with that from my own experience in assisting weight loss clients.

More interestingly is the research that concludes there is a connection between eating breakfast and weight management with breakfast but also highlights lifestyle factors. Recently published research (Revive PT Blog for details ) suggested a connection between burger consumption and weight gain and asthma in kids did suggest it was more likely about lifestyle issues associated with fast food consumption than entirely the fault of the burger. Research was conducted by the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2003 titled, Association between Eating Patterns and Obesity in a Free-living US Adult Population, which concluded the following; “…that a greater number of eating episodes each day was associated with a lower risk of obesity (four or more eating episodes vs. three or fewer). In contrast, skipping breakfast was associated with increased prevalence of obesity, as was greater frequency of eating breakfast or dinner away from home. Further investigation of these associations in prospective studies is warranted.” From WebMD which claims “Another research group (they don’t state who this group is) analyzed government data on 4,200 adults. They found that regular breakfast eaters were more likely to exercise regularly. And women who ate breakfast regularly tended to eat fewer calories overall during the day. Those men and women who ate breakfast cereal had lower overall fat intake -- compared to those who ate other breakfast foods. It makes sense: Eating early in the day keeps us from "starvation eating" later on. But it also jump-starts your metabolism, says Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager for the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School. When you don't eat breakfast, you're actually fasting for 15 to 20 hours, so you're not producing the enzymes needed to metabolize fat to lose weight." All of this seems reasonable and plausible to me, but without knowing who did the research we are left to speculate on its validity. Even more telling was research conducted by the University of California; Berkeley a couple of years ago suggested a range of odd findings that couldn’t be explained. Breakfasts of protein such as eggs and meat were associated with an overall increased daily calorie consumption and high BMI. However, search online today and you will find plenty of research that suggests egg breakfasts are great in helping to reduce and manage weight! Personally, I am hungry an hour after and egg and a slice of toast but I can go 3 hours on a bowl of muesli. ScienceDaily reviewed the research in 2003 asking, “So which category (of breakfast options) topped the list with the lowest average BMIs? According to the study, funded by Kellogg Company, the cereal manufacturer, people who ate ready-to-eat cereal, cooked cereal or quick breads (which includes pastries, cookies and waffles) for breakfast had significantly lower body mass index measurements than those who ate meat and eggs or nothing at all. While Kellogg reviewed the paper, the company had no editorial control over its contents.” One of researchers, Dr. Brown, commented on this unexpected result saying "One possible explanation is that many of the people in the quick bread category were actually eating a formal breakfast with pancakes and waffles rather than a pastry on the run. Having breakfast is associated with a more organized meal pattern. Prior studies have suggested that people who follow more organized meal patterns are less likely to be obese because they are less likely to impulsively overeat or grab something quick and fatty at other times of the day. However, that is just a theory.” Overall the research concluded that breakfast did contribute to weight control however it concluded the reason for it was not clear, one possibility is those skipping breakfast ate the bulk of their calories later in the day. Prior studies have shown that eating large meals in the evening rather than distributing calorie consumption throughout the day contributes significantly to weight gain. "Overall, our findings support the theory that a low-fat, high fiber breakfast is associated with less weight," said Brown. "It could also point to the significance of organized meals. Foods that are eaten 'on-the-run' are typically high in fat and can lead to weight gain."

In 2008 the big breakfast of carbs and proteins was given a big thumbs up after research conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond USA released its findings. Basically have a hearty breakfast and follow a sensible calorie controlled eating plan for the rest of the day and you will be more likely to maintain weight loss in the longer term compared to those who skipped breakfast or had a restrictive calorie and carbohydrate breakfast (see ScienceDaily).

The evidence is hard to ignore – BREAKFAST helps to reduce weight gain in the long term!

So have a glass of water when you get up and while you prepare your breakfast. Without water our bodies don’t function well so start as you intend to continue throughout your day. Avoid juices; too many calories from a simple food source will not help your weight. Be adventurous with your food choices. Be unconventional with your choices. Have your breakfast as soon as reasonable after getting up. Don’t wait until you have reached your desk at work to chow down on a shake and go or a bowl of cereal while you start the computer! Your metabolism will thank you for both the water consumption and the food!

Burgers Asthma and Wholefood

2010-06-07T14:45:00.006+10:00

Researchers from Germany, Spain and Britain who studied data on 50,000 children across the world found the link between burgers and asthma was strongest in rich nations where diets with high levels of junk food are more common. This they claim is not a direct link between meat eating and asthma but it does hint at other lifestyle factors like obesity, lack of exercise and a lack of fresh fruit, vegetables and fish.

Lead researcher of the study, Gabriele Nagel, of the Institute of Epidemiology at Ulm University, Germany, wrote; "Overall, more frequent consumption of fruit, vegetables and fish was associated with a lower lifetime prevalence of asthma, whereas high burger consumption was associated with higher lifetime asthma prevalence". The study was published in Thorax, a British Medical Journal title. For the full details see Reuters online.

The fundamental message of this research is that our eating habits are indicative of our lifestyle choices. Those lifestyle choices are having a decidedly negative impact. Being unwilling to address those issues is going to lead to health issues.

So we bounce back to that old favourite of mine – fresh fruit and vegetables are good for us because… antioxidants? Fibre? Fluid? Flavanoids? All of the above and more probably, it would seem that most of us are still not getting enough of them.

Now I am sure this study was looking at take away burgers, with chips and soft drinks. But the burger you make at home can be a real health treat. Made with lean mince, plenty of fresh herbs and spices to marinade the meat and cook on a grill to allow the excess fat to drain away, would be a fine addition to a burger. Add large chunks of tomato and lettuce, a bit of cucumber and some fancy pickled relish! Leave off the cheesy bits and definitely no margarine on the bun. Go for a wholemeal bun too. Salad on the side not chips or freshly blanched green beans with a squirt of lemon juice and a small handful of roughly chopped almonds for crunch and you would have an antioxidant party!!!! So what is stopping you from creating this dish?

The most common reason I hear for bad eating habits is that we are time poor. Yep I hear you, I really do. But we are all time poor and that probably means, a little or a lot stressed, and that means heaps of free radicals will be doing lots of damage to our bodies and placing us at risk of lifestyle related health issues - like it would seem asthma in young kids.

Without the addition of good food I am allowing that damage, done by stress and environment, to go unchecked. Stress can be incredibly damaging to our well being and it can take many forms. Traditionally we have thought of stress as being work related, long hours and too much work to do. But simply being in a job you don’t like is a form of stress also, whether you are busy or not. Having to get up early and prepare kid’s meals and get them out the door on 5 hours sleep is also stress. Simply not feeling you are at your best emotionally and or physically is enough to produce stress like symptoms.

The more stress grips you the further you slip into the common cold that never seems to go away, headaches that sit in your eyes, short temper, lack of focus and a desire to sleep ALL the time. Being teary and angry in turn, are also symptoms of stress. Rashes and poor skin and hair condition can be some of the lesser evils of stress. While the more serious ones are life threatening!

Without the good food your body will not cope with the damage being done
SO take time to consume wholefood meals.

1. GET ADVENTUROUS! You will have to try things you may never have had before, things you don’t think you will like, even things you don’t like but you are not sure why!! Think outside the square for inspiration and don’t be afraid of the sometimes weird stuff that makes up wholefoods inspiration.

2. Prepare additional meals when you have time. Freeze them and take it to work.

3. Prepare raw materials, for example always have a basic salad mix in the fridge. Always have muesli ready-made (don’t buy it!!!! Put it together yourself.) Make up nut mixes so you can add then to salads for extra crunch and they can be eaten as a snack. Basic tomato base for pastas, curries and meat dishes. Freeze it and add the extra ingredients when you need to cook up a storm. Have miso soup and eggs on hand at all times; the ultimate in power food are these two!

4. Get some cook books. Seriously, this is the most underrated and absolutely necessary part of changing food habits. You can’t change to something new if you don’t know what new looks like. There are plenty of healthy heart cook books and easy meals cookbooks – Asian, Mediterranean and modern Australian are all available, so go shopping.

5. ENLIST HELP. This is fundamental to successfully improving your eating habits. If your family isn’t on board with you then quite honestly you are going to have to work really hard to achieve your whole foods goal. Ask them why are not on board if you meet resistance, and try to resolve those issues being sure to let them know why you want to make lifestyle changes; it will help them to see you have made a conscious choice to do this and that it is REALLY important to you. Often eating the new options will be enough to melt away that fear of change.

6. Get informed – read and ask questions. Ask the professionals you have around you. If you know a friend who seems to have a good grasp on their nutrition and embraces a whole foods lifestyle then ask them what they do for dinners, snacks, breakfasts…

7. Read labels so you can make informed choices. If the label has stuff on it you can't identify without a lab coat then put it BACK!

Anti-oxidants

2010-06-02T15:18:00.008+10:00

They are all the rage!!! Help fight cancer and live longer with the help of nature's superfood vegetables and fruits. Well, that's not quite how it goes; marketing and science collide to produce supplements. Real food is broken down so that the elements which make it good for us are seperated and repackaged into tablets and drinks, shakes and food enhancers (enriched with...).

A recent study (Physiological Levels of Reactive Oxygen Species are Required to Maintain Genomic Stability in Stem Cells, Tao-Sheng Li, Eduardo Marbán, Stem Cells, AlphaMed Press, 2010) however has suggested this process of repackaging the antioxidants could be more harmfull than good. Eduardo Marban, MD, PhD, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, discovered that the addition of high levels of antioxidants to human cardiac stem cells produce exactly the result he wasn't looking for. His research was to discover ways to reduce naturally occuring genetic abnormalities and instead he found an agent that caused mutation.

The suggestion from this research has been that large does of supplemental antioxidants in other words vitamins may not be having the positive effect you are hoping for. There is mounting evidence giong back some 10 or so years which supports this latest finding, however the general advice is confused at best. Most advice is pretty weak with moderation in supplementation being ok but mega dosing isn't recommended and the best option is to eat your vegies and fruits.

I had to ask myself after reading a recent article in The Jean Hailes Foundation for women's health national magazine, that folate was artificially added to processed foods because women were not getting enough of it from natural sources. Natural sources include dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach and collard greens), cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, green beans, root vegetables, asparagus, corn, brussel sprouts,strawberries, oranges, other citrus fruits and citrus fruit juices, tomatoes, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, raspberries, avocados, bananas, watermelon, dried beans and peas, nuts, seeds, lentils, wheat germ, whole grains, liver, organ meats, yogurt, cheese. Now I don't see how anybody could fail to get a dose of folate with many options to choose from.

So the only answer is too many people are reaching for tablets and quick fixes instead of eating REAL WHOLEFOODS!

Some time ago I investigated antioxidant supplements from an unnamed manufacturer, I sat and listened to the speil which was incredibly well presented and very convincing. Included in this sales pitch was a tonne of evidence that proved we still don't have the science to understand how whole foods are good for us, but we know they are. Essentially we still don't understand how the minerals and vitamins, fibre and amino acids and all sorts of phyoestrogens and other goodies in real food interact with each other to produce the wonderful effect of wellbeing.

While I was only hearing what I already knew, the supplement maker promised to supply us with a product that adhered to those principals of whole food by creating a complex mix of nutrients and vitamins within it's powders. UM - just go eat an apple, why reienvent the wheel when the wheel works really really well???????????

We eat too many processed food options as it is without adding a false hope of vitality with supplemetation and quick fixes - have a look at these tips from MedicineNet on how and why you should be eating whole foods. Enjoy your eating experience and get as much vegetable on your plate as your vitamin deprived stomach can handle!

Diet Girl

2010-05-20T12:42:00.003+10:00

The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl

by Shauna Reid

I don’t get much time to read, but Shauna Reid’s book I ripped through it in no time. Her story begins in January 2001 with a committed to overcoming crippling obesity, with Weight Watchers, and the support of her sister. Her story is both exhilarating and saddening. She achieves her goal and discovers that “The true reward is finding peace and acceptance and embracing my own skin, with all its quirks and charms” (p396).

Starting at 165kg in 2001 and finishing at 79.8kg in 2007, having lost basically half her body weight, the journey has so many highs and lows that it becomes difficult to read at times, you want to shake her and tell her to get back on track… don’t do it; things will only get harder if you fail now… oh Shauna don’t eat it just move on… But the lessons have to be lived and learned. From Shauna’s lessons I want to share some of what I think are the most striking revelations from Diet Girl’s journey.

p.49 – “another thing I keep hearing is, just take it one day at a time. I may have strung together a few healthy weeks and lost a few pounds, but what if it’s all too good to be true? I worry my old bad habits are lurking behind a tree, waiting to pounce and take over again.” They probably are lurking, waiting to sabotage your efforts and yes one day at a time is helpful. But I have to say that the long term goal should NEVER be forgotten. What you do today will influence what happens in a year’s time. Long term change is about where you are going and that final goal is only achievable if you don’t let the bad habits get you today, tomorrow or next week.
p.53 – “I was also extremely depressed by then and could barely cope with getting out of bed, let alone tracking my food, planning meals or filling the house with healthy foods. Nor did I have any goals. All I had was a vague desire for my fat to go away. But this time my mind is in a better place. I want to succeed with every flabby cell of my body. Unlike my previous attempts, this time I’ve figured out exactly what success looks like, so I know what I’m aiming for…" It is essential that the desire to succeed is completely overwhelming and heart-felt.
p.55 – “this time I have let people in on my secret… I always thought sharing my problems would mean judgement and disapproval, but instead its’ brought wonderful support and much needed accountability.” Once you have a support crew there are fewer people around to undermine your efforts. Those who know your struggle should (if they are truly support crew, some people may not want you to succeed!) be prepared to assist and understand by not offering you temptations and allowing you to have grumpy days when it all feels too much.
p.55 – “…rearranged our eating habits so it’s just easier to take the healthier option than not.” Don’t allow yourself or others to sabotage your efforts. Be prepared to change your habits and create new routines, you will need to be flexible and patient as you work out what suits you in this time of transition.
p.62 – “Every time I lose another pound it feels as if I’m another pound closer to escaping that miserable 25 stone girl crying on the scale in giant knickers. I have to keep moving away from her. I have to convince myself that the brief thrill of a chocolate bar doesn’t compare to the thrill of taking control of my life.” Yahhhhh, the thrill of taking control when for so long it has controlled you!!!!! This is a really big step – all of the self help motivational gurus suggest that real long term change comes when we stop away from something (I don’t want to be fat) and start moving toward something (I want to feel good about myself and control my food addiction).
p.103 – “Exercise gives me a genuine sense of purpose and achievement. I’m euphoric every time I put a heavier weight on my barbell, or do a lunge without falling over… Each tiny change spurs me on. And it’s such a healthy approach too – I’m focusing on getting fitter and stronger, rather than obsessing about Points and numbers (Weight Watchers). Nuff said!
p.171 – “… my body feels better with less processed food so I know try to eat food that’s full of nutrition, rather than fretting about calories.” See, I told ya whole foods are best the rest is rubbish.
p.262 – “I actually stomped on the scale in fury. But then I remembered out of those four weeks (of being back on the wagon), I’ve only really been eating properly for one of them. Somehow, I thought seven days of perfection would make up for the months and months of half-hearted effort.” Reality check anyone, be honest about your efforts. When you have that chat with your conscience you know a lie when you hear it.
p.355 – After doing a 5km fun run, “From now on I’m focusing on getting fitter and stronger. I don’t loathe my body any more, I’m intensely proud of it. Over the past four years we’ve progressed from couch potato to Vampire walking to weight lifting to running, and I’m desperate to find out what else we can do. I want to be a woman of action and sweat my way to a slinkier body.” Again with the nuff said.
p.367 – “That horrible phrase Lifestyle Change is really true. This is not going to end when I get my goal weight. I will have to keep reading labels. I will have to keep thinking about what I eat. I will have to assess each situation individually and try to make the healthiest choice. All these little events that crop up will keep on cropping up. They’re just life happening, not opportunities for wild, abandoned eating.”

Amen

Mother's Day Fun Run 2010

2010-05-10T14:29:00.004+10:00

This event would have to be amongst the biggest in Melbourne, with smaller events held regionally and in other major cities around Australia. So check out the website of the Mother's Day Classic and as they suggest in this image - join us!

Due the large crowd we had to park some distance away and take a 10 minute hike to get to the start line. While we had organised a meeting place we found Mary walking our way so we hooked up with her for the lengthy warm up walk along Swan St. We didn't find our other team mate Heidi so we took to the start line.
We jostled in the crowd for a couple of minutes waiting for the start. Mike went to the front of the group to give him some room. The starter's hooter went and Mike took off like a rocket and we lost him in the crowd almost instantly, although we couldn’t find Heidi at all before the race I found out later she had a good run and will hopefully look to compete at a longer distance. Ro ran earlier for the 4km and did a great time with the support of her husband, Sean.

Our little group of troopers, myself, Lowell and Cindy stuck together for support and conversation while our other team members Pete and Leonie were ahead of us but never out of sight. The Anderson street hill came up quickly on the first lap and I am not sure if it helped to have fresh legs or would have been better to have been a little warmer. But it doesn’t matter really, we got through it and the rest of the course was well marked, with plenty of water stops and lots of cheering supporting to keep us going. There was a gorilla running and a couple of brave lads in super hero pink costumes, as well as tiaras and a sea of pink t-shirts. Second view of the hill was certainly more of a challenge, but we had caught up with the full team and began the ascent together. Once up the hill the 2km or so to the finish line seemed to take a while but once we had the end in sight the sprint began!!! Lowell and I hurtled through the crowded finishing area screaming ‘coming through’ to avoid knocking anyone over! Mike beat us home but about 10mins and was instantly swallowed by the crowd. Mary was about 10 minutes behind us so we missed her getting over the finishing line too!

We headed out for breakfast afterward to reward us for our hard efforts and a commitment was made to compete in the half marathon in October 2010!!!!!

Thanks Mary, Mike, Cindy, Leonie, Pete and Lowell, Ro and Sean and Heidi for taking time out to push the limits of what they think is possible for themselves. thanks especially to Cindy and Pete and Leonie for supporting me on Sunday mornings as my running companions and chatter buddies. I should also mention the mutts, Chopper and Neville for being four legged furry and cute!

Your efforts are awesome and I look forward to pushing to the next challenge and being able to share it with you!

Eco-Atkins

2010-05-05T16:46:00.007+10:00

The new high protein option
Having been a vegetarian for about 15 years I can’t tell you how often I have been asked WHY? The number one reason is for animal welfare issues and secondly environmental concerns. Being a vegetarian has had nothing to do with weight loss or weight control.

I work with meat eaters everyday when talking about nutritional choices and weight control issues so I am not out to convert anyone. But I do get frustrated when I hear people rabbiting on about low carb diets and how fabulous they are for weight loss. Well they might be; but consider for a moment the fact that I have a high carb diet and I don’t have a weight problem and I have never had an iron deficiency, I work long hours and I train hard; going without animal protein doesn’t seem to be having a detrimental impact.

Let’s consider good old Atkins, the moral enemy of anyone like me, has had the product rebadged to Eco-Atkins! It now seems I am actually an Eco-Atkins girl. Yup go figure. Strange that it took someone so long to figure this one out, really all they had to do was ask me. " The newly released Eco-Atkins diet (2009) was developed by academics at the University of Toronto. The diet uses the high protein formula of popular meat based diets but replaces the meat with plant protein and healthy fats. Not only did the diet result in significant weight loss – around 1 kilogram a week – but did it by 20% in people with elevated cholesterol. The other significant benefit of the Eco-Atkins approach is its potential for protecting the environment. The difference between 14 serves of meat a week as recommended by the CSIRO diet, and no serves of red meat as recommended in the Eco- Atkins diet, is 5.7 tonnes of methane emissions annually, which is more than those from building and running a large four-wheel drive vehicle." Can I draw your attention to the environmental pay off mentioned here by the Sanitarium Corporation’s website? Makes the carbon trading scheme seem like tinkering at the edges of a very big problem. Thinking about our food choices should extend beyond the tips of our tongues and engage with our global responsibilities!

Ethical issues aside for a moment, this regime also had huge payoffs for cholesterol and blood sugar levels. But the controversy surrounding the Atkins regime is still raging; check out the American ABC site for a heated debate.

I am not arguing the efficacy of the original Atkins diet. Anything that reduces your calorie intake to a sufficient degree should produce weight loss. But the thing I like about this Eco-Atkins is that the menu plan is the kind of eating regime that I have been using for years and would advocate for any sensible vegetarian regime.

Women’s Health and Fitness magazine, issue May 2010, warns that the plan involves removing dairy from your diet. It’s not as bad as it sounds honestly! I would alter this regime to include small serves of diary only once a day, yogurt is good for us so a little isn’t going to bust the scales when used in moderation with a sensible eating plan. What the Eco-Atkins does include is lots of nuts and seeds, olive oil of the virgin kind, avocado (YAHHH), legumes like chick peas, kidney beans and borlotti beans, soy products like tofu and meat substitutes, which are becoming increasingly common in supermarkets. The only problem I have with the regime is that while Atkins in its original form advocates eating foods in as unprocessed a form as you can, the meat substitutes in this new regime make that hard to follow. I agree with Akins on this point so I would use the substitutes sparingly and stick to legumes for a meaty addition. There is currently no meal plan available from this research but I imagine it is just a matter of time before a book hits the shelves.

The Forgotten Exercise

2010-04-22T17:01:00.010+10:00

The Deadlift
I have steered clear of this exercise for years. Partly because my first experience with deadlifts was in a rather scary gym (I happened to be working in and really enjoyed!) which had a lot of professional or semi-professional weight lifters. I guess it looked intimidating and my weight lifting was puny compared to the other girls (ummmm competitive much?). Also the technique is a challenging one. It is tough to teach something you don’t have a handle on yourself so it has been out of the exercise prescription bag for a long time.

So why am I now raving about it?

With a karate dan level testing coming up and a sore knee that wasn’t getting any better I have choosen to give deadlifts a try to improve my leg strength. The plan has been to improve my hamstring and glute strength rather than quad strength, which is what deadlifts are supposed to tackle as no other exercise can. My physio, who is usually spot on with treatment, diagnosed a patella tracking problem. Right he was. But the way to correct it wasn’t working. Trying to isolate the lazy muscle, Vastus Medialis, to get it working properly made my knee worse. Doing the quad stretches and the hip flexor stretches have been significantly helpful in relieving the tension on the patella tendon. The foam roller works on the knots in my quads (that is vastus medialis, vastus lateralis and rectus femoris), the illiotibial band, tensor fascia latae and sartorius as it curls around the patella. This has enabled the patella tendon to let go its vice like grip on my knee cap and give me some relief. Check out the pic above to understand the terms. All these things however stem from poorly functioning hamstrings (that is semitendinosus, semimembranosus and biceps femoris see picture below) and glutes, or the posterior chain as it is commonly described. To fully describe the problem would take more time than either of us have, but ask me if you want a full explanation. Basically without the support of the glutes and there are three of them, the hips move around too much.

Especially noticable when performing dynamic movements. Other muscles try to step in for the failure of the glutes to do the job and that then there is a long list of knock on effects along the biomechanical chain. So knee pain, hip pain, nerve impingement in the hip joint (strangely no lower back pain but that would be consistent with this sort of issue). I was facing the prospect of not running another half marathon and producing wimpy kicks at my dan grading!!! Not going to happen…

So deadlift I did and HEY IT WORKED!!! My knee is feeling the best it has been for 12months and I actually have hamstrings now – I can see’em.

The guru, Paul Reid and his American buddy Mike Robertson, convinced me to try deadlifts after attending a course and doing further study with them. The deadlift was going to be the answer to my knee pain and lack of stability (karate needs a really strong base of support for single leg work and the explosive forward moving blows and blocks). It has taken the best part of three months but it has certainly been a big part of the improvement. There are other things I have done to help myself but the deadlift has been the one thing I have added to the list of measures I was already taking.
To get a better understanding of what the hell a deadlift is check out the following vid:

Because boys hate lunges!!!!

2010-04-12T15:13:00.006+10:00

I have recently added to my collection of Physical Culture magazines, produced and edited by the crazy old buzzard, Bernarr Macfadden. In a copy from 1921 I came across the most gorgeous editorial written by Macfadden on one of my pet topics (ummm the list is kinda long!!) Inequality in the gym - it has been around since the industry started. The strong men were lifting logs and boulders and performing in circus troops encouraging willing audience members to take a seat so they could hoisted over the gnarly necks of bouldering men wearing loins clothes and Roman sandals. The spectacle; sorry I missed it. So the assumption has been the women are not interested or capable of being strong - well I am here to tell you that is bull crap and it would seem that Bernarr agrees with me. He believed that women were capable and that they stood to gain enormously from participating in vigorous and tomboyish activity. Yippee - I will dance around for joy that someone was thinking this way back in 1921, think about how long ago that actually is and the time in which he was writing. Social upheaval of war, no women's movement to scream "go sister kick his arse", and while his views on women often run counter to my own, it is in his praise of women's physicality that I find myself warming to this mad man of so many many decades ago.

I NEVER train women like they are poor facsimiles of men! I NEVER underestimate how hard I can push a female client! There are NEVER girls exercises and boys exercises. Women's bodies are just as tough as male bodies and they are just as capable of doing all the movements and all the exertions of any man I have ever trained! Now women have to start believing it!

Below is my edited version (for the sake of brevity) of Bernarr Macfadden's own editorial in 1921.

Train Girls Same As Boys
(Physical Culture Magazine January 1921)
Dr. H. E. Lewis [I haven't been able to glean any info about the good Dr] is an ardent advocate of robust girlhood. He believes in putting girls through a military training which would give them the vitality possessed by the average young man…
Girls should be trained the same as boys. The right sort of girl is a tom-boy. She enjoys running, wrestling, climbing trees, and other sorts of active games. It is girls of this sort who develop into real women. They come into their own in a physical way. They develop the instincts and emotions which are part of real womanhood. Most of our girls do not grow up. They have not taken enough physical work to develop their bodies. Consequently they are not in possession of that keen instinct of femininity which is the inalienable right of every member of their sex. Every girl must look forward to the fulfilment of her sphere in life and she cannot accomplish this unless she becomes a splendid specimen of womankind. Every girl can be strong and self-reliant if she is given a proper training with this end in view. There is but little difference in the strength of the sexes among lower animals. The female horse, for example, can run about as fast the male. And there should no more difference in the physical strength of humankind.
A girl should have the strength to deliver a smashing blow to a man who might insult her. And if she has failed to develop this physical power, her education has been neglected. The clinging vine style of womanhood, so called, has been left in the distant past…
Encourage you girl to be a tom-boy. Give her physical instincts every opportunity to manifest themselves in the most strenuous sort of activities. There is absolutely no reason why a girl should not indulge in any sport or recreation or work in which her brothers may be interested.
The cry of this age is for real women, and not make believes… Sweethearts, wives and mothers who are vitally alive to the call of their feminine instincts and not pampered beauties are the real need of this pulsating strenuous age.

The Message Is Not Getting Through

2010-04-02T11:59:00.013+11:00

I wondered out loud last weekend; did anybody notice the obesity epidemic? Why was I asking this? Because I was at a loss to understand the criticism levelled at Tony Abbott, re: Is Tony Abbott a man of iron, a fool, or a freak? The Sunday Age, March 28, 2010. Sure, his preparation for the Ironman Triathlon could have been better. However, the reaction to his budgie smugglers and cycling outfits would suggest that being fit and active beyond the occasional walk is something to be scoffed at. He should be applauded for his determination to stay fit. The research that supports the theory that exercise keeps the mind alert and helps improve mood is mountainous, this could only add to workplace efficiency rather than detract from it. Then consider that one of, if not the biggest killer, of Australian’s today is cardio vascular disease; a lifestyle ailment caused by sedentary living, stress and poor nutrition. As a personal trainer of 9 years I have seen first-hand the deleterious effects of too much work and not enough exercise. The number one excuse I hear for habitual inactivity resulting in increasing waist lines, elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels is: No Time. Abbott should be applauded for taking time to look after himself given his busy schedule. Hey Tony, Kev, what about recreational leave for employees? The Federal government may be pumping millions into the health care system right now and encouraging healthy lifestyles but the reaction to Tony Abbott’s ‘healthy lifestlye’ would suggest that the message is definitely not getting through to people and I wonder if his openly fit attitude makes some of us a tad defensive about our own bulging waistlines. (This a letter that was sent to The Sunday Age Letters section.)

As a result of these disturbing thoughts I had a think about a study in contrasts - meet Joe Hockey! (for the full image check out Revive's website).

Emotional Weight Loss

2010-03-25T14:05:00.007+11:00

Weight loss is tough – physically it is easier to put weight on than to take it off. Emotionally it is also easier to put it on than take it off. But in the long run the emotional toll on your self esteem can be just as dangerous as the health impacts of being overweight.

The role of food is, obviously, a big factor in weight management. But ask anyone who has struggled with weight control and suddenly the food doesn’t seem such a major issue, it is the emotional or mental attitude that is the area that is in need of an overhaul.

There is a great book called, If Not Dieting, Then What by Dr Rick Kausman, an old book now but still so relevant. He discusses the emotional games associated with our eating habits and how to deal with them in a positive way with a long term view. I highly recommend it! Another book which I came across recently, The End Of Overeating, by has similarly powerful strategies for dealing with the mind games of overeating. The really interesting part of this book is that the patterns of food obsession don’t only present in people with weight issues. Even skinny chicks go through the same thought patterns but the response is different and so the outcome may look positive ie skinny, but the emotional torture is the same.

The other really enlightening aspect of The End Of Overeating is the first half of the book which delves into the changes to our food and food production, especially the advent of pre-prepared foods and eating out; take away and restaurants. He argues that a steak isn’t a steak anymore and that food production has changed to encourage massive overeating on hyper calorie dense foods.

Despite this assertion, which I totally agree with, he doesn’t allow it to become a get out of jail free card. That is where the second half of the book (a much more readable section and more applicable) deals with the emotional battle with hyper palatable foods.

From these books and from experience I have compiled the following tips. These might be familiar to some of my regulars. But if this is new to you; these are really really helpful! This series of questions can be used like a script to remind yourself when you are feeling tempted and your resolve is shaky. I would encourage you to try these out loud – hearing it reinforces the messages and writing it down dramatically improves goal attainment.

Am I really actually hungry? If not;
Am I eating because I am bored, tired, stressed, depressed, lonely? If yes;
What could I do that would be better than continuing this unhelpful eating behaviour?
Drink a glass of water, go for a walk, pick up the phone and call someone, work in the garden, read a book, attend to a hobby or get a hobby.
Last really important question!!!! Is this going to make me feel better or worse? Is eating this food going to help or hinder my progress on the way to losing weight? If the answer is ‘this is unhelpful’ then don’t do it!!!!!! If you go with the food anyway, accept you have done it, commit to doing better next time and acknowledge it is not helpful!

Learn to say no, walk away and congratulate yourself on having said no. Praise yourself lavishly for it. One of the hardest things is getting to enjoy the intangible reward of loosing weight, which may not have happened yet or enough or soon enough, versus the immediate gratification of the food - grasp really strongly to the way the former old habits make you feel after the act, remind yourself of the self loathing and the negativity that overeating brings with it. Once you can reproduce that emotion when confronted with old temptations, they slowly begin to look less appealing and the positive rewards of reducing weight which makes you look GOOD and feel GOOD more rewarding. Feeling good about the new you who can handle a plate of biscuits without feeling out of control has got to become a stronger emotional force than the one that always gives in and has no will power.

Remember this is a journey and nothing changes overnight. But it is up to you – your trainer can support you and encourage you, all the advice in the world is useless unless you take control of what goes on at home, at work and in your own head. A failure to address these issues will mean the goal will take longer to achieve and probably be harder than it needs to be. It also means that long term change is unlikely to take place and I am not at all interested in short term quick fixes.

Weight versus fitness

2010-03-15T15:05:00.005+11:00

Last week I had an interesting conversation with Nik who was commenting on the fitness of someone who really didn't appear to be fit. In fact this person appeared to be overweight. This raised the issue of whether fitness equals thinness and I guess does being slim mean being fit and therefore healthy, likewise does being overweight reduce the benefits of being fit.

With such strong social pressures to be thin it is not at surprising that being lean doesn't mean being healthy at all. There are many ways to achieve thinness and they don't have to involve exercise or healthy eating habits. Eating disorders may make us thin but they do long term damage to our bodies. But bad eating habits and no exercise mean the balance between muscle mass and body fat tips toward a greater fat percentage and that in itself can be problematic. I am sure the skinny fat person idea has reached your ears by now where a socially acceptable level of leanness is achieved at the expense of muscles mass and health. Muscles give us shape, give us strength, they hold us upright and make it safe for us to all sorts of daily activities and they keep us healthy as we age. So get some muscles on you!!!!!

But what of all the people I see out on fun runs who wouldn't fit the standard definition of 'athletic build' or even thin? But it shouldn't be surprising given a study done in 2008 which suggested that 62% of Australian adults are overweight or obese (Jean Hailes Foundation newsletter Summer 2009). The weight doesn't seem to stop people from running 10km, but does that reduce the disease effects of being overweight? A complicated answer is coming... firstly consider what is actually overweight. There are several accepted methods for testing weight, Body Mass Index (Check out Monash University's calculator) and waist circumference taken at the belly button. Below is a rough guide to the risks associated with these measures. This image is pretty fuzzy, sorry! Basically for every measurement of weight that gets nearer to being obese the greater the likelyhood of diabetes, cardio vascular disease and hypertension.

Classification of Overweight and Obesity by BMI, Waist Circumference, and Associated Disease Risks*

* Disease risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and CVD.
+ Increased waist circumference can also be a marker for increased risk even in persons of normal weight.

So there is good evidence that disease and weight gain are linked and this doesn't take into account issues like muscular aches and pain associated with increased pressure from weight and a lack of mobility or fitness.

From research done in the UK and published in the British Medical Journal found that for every kilo gained from age 18, reduced the odds of a woman surviving healthily until old age decreased by 5%, "middle aged women with a BMI of over 25 were nearly 80% less likely to reach old age without major health problems". Jean Hailes Foundation Summer 2009.

But the news is not all doom and gloom. There are many studies that support exercise as a way to manage diabetes and heart disease, both as a preventive and a management tool. Also increasing survival rates amongst women with breast cancer has been clearly related to exercise and good diet.

The obsession with thinness isn't the only reason to exercise and i am glad for it. The dents to our self esteem are deep when it comes to issues of body image, but there is no mistaking the damage that being overweight does to our physical selves and to a great extend our self esteem. It is a tight rope trick, keeping a healthy weight without falling into the "i want to look like a supermodel" balanced against what is possible for your body, for your physical health and your sense of self worth. It is your choice always - you have to learn to love what you have, nurture what is essential and do whatever you need to do to secure your health but not at the expense of your self esteem.

2010 IAAF Melbourne Track Classic

2010-03-05T15:38:00.002+11:00

I haven't been to an athletics meet before but I have watched plenty of athletics on TV. But the real thing is just spectacular. So last night, at the soon to be replaced Olympic Park, I sat watching the real thing, up close and personal. It wasn't quite the boxing ring with the smell of sweat and testosterone but it was certainly full of guts and eventful moments.

The sand pit was right in front of us which allowed us to see the long and triple jump competitions within arm’s reach. Sand flew and the jumpers let fly like they were being shot from cannons! It is something really special to see the human body propel itself through the air like that. The TV doesn't convey the strain and the perception of distance that made the long jump a compelling watch. Pic Mitchell Watt impressive Australian competitor in the Long Jump who has also tried his hand at AFL and Rugby.

Amongst the athletes were a number of Olympians. Including a New Zealander who just makes me smile! Valarie Villi is just an awesome woman, shot put hero with a Gold Medal to her name. She is a giantess of a woman and strong and powerful and totally gorgeous! She works with young kids in NZ to encourage athletics participation and has taken a strong stance against drugs in sports. The shot put competition was being held in the middle of the field and so was a little tough to see from our seats but Valerie was not to be missed even from our distance. Of course she won her competition for the night with a lead of about 5 metres from her nearest rival.

I guess I was there mainly to see the track events and I had hoped to see a show down between local hero Craig 'Buster' Mottram, Collis Birmingham and Andy Baddely in the 5000 metres. However Buster was a no show! But the 5000 metres was won by the Englishman Andy Baddeley and Australian Collis Birmingham came in at 5th. Birmingham ran the distance in 13mins and 20sec, that's 2min40sec per kilometre or a speed of 22km per hour. OUCH! Hurting just thinking about it.

The other highlights were the men's 100m, won by Bola Lawal a Nigerian runner in 10.35sec and in second place was Australian Patrick Johnson in 10.42sec. The women's 100m was taken out in 11.41sec by Melissa Breen a young and promising Australian runner, touted for her glamour as much as for her skills on the track.

The 1500metres women's event was finished in 4min14sec or 2min49sec per kilometre pace! It looks slow on the track but when you do the maths you realise they are sprinting! Lisa Corrigan an awesome middle distance athlete who a couple of years ago spoke openly about battling an eating disorder. The winner of the event Bridey Delany is a young athlete who looks to be a future superstar! Pic is triumphant Lisa Corrigan.

The other awesome event of the evening was the women's 5,000 metres. Won in 15min27sec, an average of 3min kilometres, by Irish competitor Mary Cullen. Second place was taken by Australian runner Lara Tamset in 15min28sec. So it was a close race and a hard race. The finish saw one of the competitors collapse but she was, thankfully, well enough to walk from the track.

Great night! Amazing display of human strength and mental toughness. It is heartening to see the end of a race when a competitor's legs are tired and winding down; the exertion taking its toll on the working muscles and they look like they are travelling through mud. You scream them on and cheer for a victory whether it is first place or just a finish. The knowledge that I too have felt that deadening strength sapping exertion makes the effort seem more real. It helps to cross the barrier between spectator and participant by adding a level of understanding. But I am still not able to imagine what it feels like to be that fast and that good and to perform under that pressure; it must be immense.

For more information check out the Australian Athletics website for athelete profiles and to check out where I got some of the pics from.

Treadmills

2010-02-25T15:14:00.000+11:00

In any gym in any country you will find treadmills. The amazing moving but not moving ground that leaves you feeling a little like a Thunderbird once you dash from it's conver belt. I started my running career on a treadmill and that may explain why I cant bare much more than a 20minute run. However i found some great ideas for treadmills that I think should really catch on.

Treadmill Dance Classes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTAAsCNK7RA

The OmiDirectional Treadmill OR That Special I'm Gonna Hurl Feeling:

Sit At Your Desk No More:
Check out how to make your desk and treadmill a seamless multitasking station at http://www.instructables.com/id/Treadmill-Desk/

Ice Treadmill!
For a really intense workout only

A Dog Toy:

A Cat Toy:

The Biggest Disaster

2010-02-23T16:06:00.000+11:00

Finally a few dissenting voices have gotten enough media coverage for the message to be getting out. The Biggest Loser is a sham! And potentially dangerous. While it might be great viewing, and I wouldn't argue it isn't, there are serious problems with the quick fix message.

Firstly there are two court cases lodged against the American trainer Jillian Michaels for a dodgy weight loss pill. Then she is counter suing the attorney who lodged the first claim and blah blah blah - he said she said... Just prove the pill works with solid non biased research and stop trying to trick people with snake oils! And by the way, a disclaimer on the bottle of your pills recommending use in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise plan does not get you off the hook. People buy these products because they don't want to follow a sensible eating plan and exercise! Derrrrrrr.

Over the weekend in The Age there was an article expressing concerns about the health of contestants in the latest series of The Biggest Loser Australia. The tricks employed by the show's producers reveal why this style of dieting doesn't work outside of the TV studio. Dehydration is not weight loss! It is potentially dangerous. A severely restricted calorie intake and training for 6 hours is also dangerous. In reality the kind of stress and metabolic disturbance that creates will just add another dimension to the health issues the contestants are already plagued with.

Also the show's produces trick viewers into believing that the weight loss is achieved weekly. However, former contestants have revealed the weigh-ins maybe several weeks apart not weekly. That does not make the weight loss more reasonable, even 3 kilo a week would be considered unsustainable.

The medically recommended weight loss is 500grams to 1kg a week. That is considered sustainable and safe weight loss.

The most recent article in The Age and elsewhere, damning the show, are concerned with the marathon being planned for the latter weeks of program. I will add my voice to this chorus. There is no good to be gained here. Training for such an event is a long term project and most runners won’t face on without first have conquered many years of running. It seems to be the result of a runner's meditation on the process of running and not often used as a quick fix weight loss tool.

So we can count on a greater than average possibility of stress fractures in the lower limbs. Then the knees and the ankles which are carrying a great load then add impact and decondition will give way! The possibility of heart attack is probably very real also. But I think the most likely dangers are going to be the soft kind, joints and ligaments and tendons, the deterioration of muscle and the resulting stress on the kidneys.

So again I throw my hands up in the air. When is the public going to get real information on weight loss? When is the message that weight increases slows and decreases slowly going to get through? Why is it so hard for the weight loss product manufactures to get honest about what the products can do and if they don't why isn't the Government setting tougher standards?

The final insult has come in the form of this little quote from Jillian Michaels "I'm passionate about helping people rebuild their lives," she says. "When someone feels strong physically, they feel strong in every aspect of their existence. If they have endurance and achieve in the gym, then I can redefine their entire self image. I can wipe away years of negativity." I agree totally, 100% yup all good!

I just hope her pills turn out to be the great answer to weight loss. Because if it is any other outcome she is just abusing the trust of many many desperate people.

Couch Potato Part Two: Your Skeleton and Muscles

2010-02-17T16:23:00.000+11:00

A couple of weeks ago Mary sent me a great quote from a chiropractor who said, “sitting is to posture what sugar is to your teeth” and it sums up the problem really well. Most of us sit for work and for many hours, we watch TV and movies to unwind and probably spend time in front of a computer for leisure also. The opportunities to sit down are endless and the opportunities to get up and moving can be far less compelling.

However, consider the following picture. If this is ideal posture (image thanks to Chiropractors Association), then how far from ideal is your posture?

Having good posture is not something only fusty old matrons should be worried about. The majority of muscle aches and pains that see us in regular need of a physiotherapist or osteopath are from poor posture and lack of appropriate movement. I see it – CONSTANTLY! The muscular system and skeletal system are a unified system. Through the pull and hold of muscles our skeleton is kept in good working order and our muscles working with the least amount of effort to do the job. When this alignment or balance is impaired we experience a greater muscular load than is necessary and we begin to get pain, impaired movement and eventually this can lead to bony changes like heels spurs and calcification. The movement of muscle on bone, when appropriate, actually causes the bone to thicken in helpful ways, but pressure from inappropriate tension and the bone can grow in a way it shouldn’t.

So sitting down all day, which is what this two part series is all about, begins to create imbalances. Firstly in the hip flexors which become stiff and tight. Then the upper back from a forward leaning head posture. Followed then by imbalance from left to right through the shoulders as you slump either to relax on one elbow or hold the mouse or nurse the phone while your type. Then you may cross your legs and reduce circulation to your lower limb and stretch one side of the hip which then kicks your lower back into an unnatural curve and the likely outcome is pain. This is by no means an exhaustive list but these are some of the most common issues I see. (this picture is from a great article on ergonomics http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article_print.php?L=95&C=371)

However, getting back to sitting still! The joints of our body work on a pumping system to maintain the fluid within them. Moving a joint regularly and with full range allows for the exchange of new fluid in a joint which flushes out old fluid and the toxins that build up there. This fluid provides nutrients to the joint; it carries toxins away and provides a lubricant for smooth movement of the joint.

The spine has discs full of fluid and strong fibrous bands that rest between each bony joint and they work on the same principal as other joints. When the body is stationary these discs are compressed. Without movement the discs become flatter and flatter, eventually changing the way the spine is shaped and therefore the way it functions. So the muscles around it start working differently to compensate. Other structures like nerves can then come in contact with muscles and bone that would normally have been too far away to cause a problem but as the discs compress the spine is altered. Moving around increases the fluid in the discs and can help to counter this compression.

Muscles also respond to movement by lengthening and letting go of tension. It also helps to break postural habits like sitting with the head too far forward looking at a computer screen, slumping forward and rounding out the back thus increasing the tension of the abs and shortening them as well as the hip flexors. Slumping changes the upper back and can contribute to elbow pain and wrist problems as the chest cavity is closed in and the biceps shorten also. Many of these problems and pain can be avoided by moving around more often and stretching regularly.

Research published in 2005 in the Annals of Internal Medicine concludes that for suffers of low to moderate back pain; improvements in pain management and functioning can certainly be achieved with a graded exercise program. There is also research being conducted in the UK at present which has yet to finish, which acknowledges that “the evidence to support the use of any individual physiotherapy technique in those with back pain is scant. There is some weak evidence to support the use of intensive extensor strengthening exercises (like trunk lifts). There is better evidence for the effectiveness of a progressive exercise program based on cognitive behavioral principles (get posture sorted out!) and for the benefits of exercise programs aimed at endurance, muscular strength and normal use of the back” from Biomed Central.com. I agree with these conclusions from my own experience. Physio alone is not usual enough, but with massage, exercise and a degree of self awareness, I believe you have the magic bullet.

Tips to help with moving around more on a daily basis above and beyond a moderate to intense exercise program:

1. Set a reminder on your computer to get up every 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Have a glass at your desk you have to refill at a tap rather having a jug.

3. When you see the smoker in the office go out for a break, go too and do a couple of laps of the building or the floor or the stairs.

4. Get up and walk to the printer.

5. Stand up to make and receive phone calls.

6. Stand at your desk to work occasionally.

7. Drink lots of water/fluid it make you pee more and you have to get up and moving around for that.

8. Get to know a few stretches you can do at the office that won’t have people pointing and laughing at you. (ask me for advice on this one)

9. Encourage the kids at home to play games that earn them rewards for moving around. Hide and seek; the winner gets to avoid dishes that day!!!

10. Don’t have a bin under your desk, use one that requires you to get up to dump your trash.

Couch Potato Part One: Your Health

2010-02-09T12:46:00.001+11:00

I am totally, 100% convinced that the ancient and amazing design that is the human body is built for work. The spine doesn’t take well to sitting down for long periods which causes compression of the discs and it certainly doesn’t like to be stationary for long. Our circulatory system relies partly on muscle movement to pump fluid and our joints need constant movement to remain well hydrated. Our joints have amazing ranges of motion and the muscles are attached in such a way to allow movement in all sorts of directions. It would also suggest that being able to move in a variety of different directions and in many different ways enables us to remain fully functional. Making use of the variety of movements our body can perform reduces the chances of one group of muscles coming to dominate another and result in pain and injury. But we don’t take advantage of this and end up moving on one plane or in one direction; forward with all our energy in front of us and often in a relatively stationary pose. But it would seem that our muscles and bones are not the only aspect of our health that suffers from prolonged inactivity. There is a mountain of research that has revealed the health benefits of exercise and movement. It improves heart function, increases happy hormones, decreases stress, and can reduce blood pressure. Movement makes our bodies and minds happy!

In this two part special, I want to explore briefly a few general health issues and common muscular dysfunction associated with living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

I was both delighted and horrified by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute of Melbourne research findings, released early in 2010, on the effects on prolonged sitting.

The upshot of this research which was conducted by “Australian researchers, who tracked 8,800 people for an average of six years found that those who said they watched TV for more than four hours a day were 46% more likely to die of any cause and 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than people who reported spending less than two hours a day in front of the tube”. This is a direct quote from the IDI website. “Participants in the study were 50 years old on average when they enrolled in 1999 and 2000. After an average six years of follow-up, 284 of the participants died, including 87 from cardiovascular causes and 125 from cancer. A heightened risk for death from cancer wasn't statistically significant, but the other findings held up even after adjusting not only for exercise, but for such risk factors as age, gender and waist circumference”, says the IDI website: http://www.bakeridi.edu.au/news/watching_tv_linked_higher_RiskofDeath/

The IDI website also states that “the results are supported by an emerging field of research that shows how prolonged periods of inactivity can affect the body's processing of fats and other substances that contribute to heart risk. And they suggest that people can help mitigate such risk simply by avoiding extended periods of sitting. Dr. Hamilton says, studies suggest that after just one day of inactivity, levels of HDL, or good cholesterol, which helps transport LDL or bad cholesterol out of the blood stream, can fall by as much as 20%".

There would be very few of us who don’t sit for prolonged periods either at a computer or a TV screen. So the importance of this research is significant, if as a community we are going to tackle this country’s number one health problem, cardio vascular disease.

How about more difficult to define wellbeing issues like mental health? In 1999 (ages ago) Dr Kenneth Fox of the Department of Exercise and Health Sciences at Bristol University concluded “sufficient evidence now exists for the effectiveness of exercise in the treatment of clinical depression. Additionally, exercise has a moderate reducing effect on state and trait anxiety and can improve physical self-perceptions and in some cases global self-esteem. Also there is now good evidence that aerobic and resistance exercise enhances mood states, and weaker evidence that exercise can improve cognitive function (primarily assessed by reaction time) in older adults. Conversely, there is little evidence to suggest that exercise addiction is identifiable in no more than a very small percentage of exercisers. Together, this body of research suggests that moderate regular exercise should be considered as a viable means of treating depression and anxiety and improving mental well-being in the general public” (research published in Public Health Nutrition (1999), 2:411-418 Cambridge University Press). This quote from the Cambridge Journals website.

What about diabetes, another of the big medical issues facing Australia like heart disease? In September 2002, the American Diabetes Association published the results of research which set out to determine the effect of high intensity progressive resistance training (PRT) on glycemic control in older adults with type 2 diabetes. The conclusion was that “Progressive Resistance Training as an adjunct to standard of care is feasible and effective in improving glycemic control and some of the abnormalities associated with the metabolic syndrome among high-risk older adults with type 2 diabetes”, quoted from Diabetes Journal.org.

There are numerous strategies for increasing time spent moving in small ways throughout the day that are not a substitute for regular moderate to vigorous exercise but help to prolong the health benefits. If I haven’t convinced you yet that everyone stands to benefit from regular movement then I probably never will!

1. Walk to the shop for groceries and small items.

2. Walk to a work mates desk rather than call or email.

3. Don’t pay expensive parking fees by parking further away and walking to your destination.

4. Walk a neighbor’s dog when they don’t have time.

5. Ride a stationary bike, treadmill, cross trainer while watching your favorite TV programs.

6. Misplace the remote control; you will have to walk the house looking for it!

7. Send your documents to print on the next floor or the office farthest away.

8. Don’t catch the tram; walk it.

9. Count the number of steps you go up and down in a day at work and aim for a certain number; work to increase it over time and reward yourself with a massage or a new item of clothing (not FOOD!)

10. Stand up in the train or tram (you probably don’t have a choice here).

11. Get a pedometer and really scare yourself with just how little you do move around in a day!

12. Walk the kids to and from school and talk about school, sports, friends… have a conversation.

Exercise Stimulates Brain Function

2010-01-27T15:02:00.007+11:00

I don't know about you, but I know I think clearer, sleep better and function at a much higher level when I exercise regularly. Now science is coming on board with my views with more research that supports my anecdotal evidence.
In the article "Jog Your Memory", The Age online January 20 (thanks to Meg C for bringing this to my attention), it is reported that reseachers have discovered a link between exercise and brain cell growth. The researchers from Cambridge Uni working in conjunction with the US National Institute on Ageing, found that rats who had access to running mills performed better in memory and spacial tests than the couch potato rats.

Aerobic exercise has been linked to growth of brain cells although the reasons why are unknown. The scientists suggested it may be "linked to increased blood flow or higher levels of hormones that are released while exercising. Exercise might also reduce stress, which inhibits new brain cells through a hormone called cortisol" as quoted in The Age Online article.

Whatever the reason there was clear evidence of cell growth that improved by almost double the ability of running rats to perform tasks that required memory recall. The cell growth was most evident in areas of the brain related to memory formation and recall which may explain why the rats performed so well.

Back in 1999 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute reported a similar outcome from similar research. Again a bunch of couch potato mice took longer on a long term memory test compared to the leggie running mice. When the brains of the mice where examined they discovered that the exercising mice had 2.5 times more new nerve cells, and like the Cambridge Uni researchers, they found most of the growth in the area of the brain related to memory.

So now we want to know if more is better; if I run longer will the increase in memory also be greater? What about other forms of aerobic exercise? Does the exercise have to be at a certain intensity to produce results?

If all you have to do is walk a little faster for a little longer and you could slow the degeneration of brain function related to age then it looks like a win win situation. Exercise is good for our bodies and now we know it is good for our mental health!

Plastic Fantastic

2010-01-18T12:26:00.008+11:00

Late last year I attended a course on nutrition during which the issue of water consumption was raised. That then led to a few comments about water vessels, the presenter then went on to suggest that certain types of plastics are not to be trusted for long term use. Then only last week the mainstream media highlighted growing concerns about plastic wrap on food products purchased in supermarkets and green grocers. What is going on here?

The concern is that certain types of plastic products leach something called phthalate into foods and beverages. Phthalates are endocrine distributors. They act like human hormones and upset the balance of our bodies. There is some pretty scary research on the effects of phthalates, including abnormal development of sexual organs in infants and a connection has also been made to metabolic disruptions that may be linked to increasing rates of obesity. Phthalates are of such great concern that kid’s toys made with plastics of a with an increased risk of leaching these endocrine disruptors (PVC & Polycarbonate) are banned in the European Union and as of 2009 will be banned in the US also. Not sure about Australia’s status on this one. But given that a 2009 study by The Endocrine Society prompted them to make an official statement expressing concerns about the exposure to BPA (Butyl decyl phthalate) from polycarbonate plastics on human health, surely changes are coming. Most recent the contamination of fatty food products like butter, milk and meat has hit the headlines here in Australia, I assume in response to this research, with concerns about BPA contamination.

So for your water consumption consider the following. Most bottled water comes in plastic of a PET/PETE type which has some pretty convincing research to attest to its safety. However, most of what I looked at didn’t mention long term repeat use of PET plastics which are manufactured with the purpose of being single use only, then recycled. There is a well established fact that as plastic gets old and breaks down they are more likely to release chemicals into the food they are in contact with and the air. So even the PET bottle may be fine for a little while but long term use is questionable. Also as plastic heats up, as in the case of microwave PET containers which are strictly one use only, the plastic breaks down quicker. So don’t leave your water bottle in the car and allow it to get hot.

The plastics of serious concern are PVC (#3 on your recycle symbol) which has been connected with DEHP (di 2 ethyl nexyl phthalate) seeping into food products. Also Polycarbonate (#7) which gives off BPA (Butyl decyl phthalate). Both of these plastics give off endocrine disruptors and should be avoided.

There are other concerns about bottled water consumption which are related to the environmental impact and are worth considering also when choosing a permanent bottle over single consumption options. Although they are recyclable many are not actually recycled and end up in landfill and there is a growing concern among environmental groups that has seen a number of towns around the world, including Australia, banning bottled water.

The other main health concern for reusing water bottles of all kinds, is hygiene. Buy a stash of 3 or 4 and wash and rotate them on a 2 or 3 day basis. Don’t put them in the dishwater, don’t bleach them as this degrades the plastic and leave them open in the cupboard to air ready for immediate use. There has also been a suggestion, admittedly from a pretend current affairs program, that the guy's habit of squirting water into the mouth leaves behind fewer nasty bacteria than the lady's habit of raising the bottle to the lips. Make of that what you will…

Your options are go for glass water containers, steel and even aluminium. Past concerns about aluminium being connected with age related brain dysfunction has been disproved.