The Christmas Ache

Well, the season is upon us to forget all the we have worked on from the past year. Now is the time to become irresponsible, forget your diet, stop exercising, don't stretch... just fall off the wagon. A little known fact is that during the holiday season the risk of heart attacks and strokes roughly triples. The reason this occurs is that people forget to take their medications, eat foods that they don't normally eat. This causes a cascade effect of increasing blood pressure and changes in body composition, coupled with the stress of the holiday season. An unfortunate fact is that the rate of suicides also increases exponentially during the holidays. So the best advice I can give during the stressful season is that the best path to take is to continue on the path you're on. keep exercising, manage your diet carefully, avoid stressful situations, and just have a good time. If you have not begun a regular habit of diet and exercise now is absolutely the best time to start. Staying true exercise and diet program this time a year will make it much much easier to continue a healthy habit good lifestyle changes with the upcoming new year. And as I'm always fond of saying Summers comming!

Holiday INSANITY

Well, judging by the high amount of sick out calls from our clients the past few weeks the holidays must be upon us. Stress, s*&%#ty food, poor sleep, exposure to germs, strange weather (80 here yesterday while the rest of the country is frozen). This all takes a toll on the body. For some reason most folks just stop.......exercising, supplements, water, sleep etc. during the holidays. Is there a law I missed that says it's OK to fall off the proverbial wagon. And of course these are the same people that drag their butts back in after new years and wonder why they feel and look do bad. Year after year the same pattern, but expecting a different result. That sounds like insanity, doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Do your body and immune system a favor, walk the line! Keep stretching, walking, exercising. Keep taking your supplements to give your poor overworked immune system a boost ( I am referring to JUICE PLUS, vitamin C, and fish oil. Remember that just 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in the morning will do wonders to keep you in line and to allow a little splurge here and there. Also, do not forget the benefit of a good nap.

Painfully Responsible

As adults, we are supposed to be intelligent enough to understand that if we have pain, or an injury, and we have been taught how to manage that pain than deal with it. To just sit around in pain and ignore what you need to do to lessen the pain just baffles me. Now, I understand pain, it makes you forget things, it makes you angry, it changes you! but that does not absolve you from a few simple stretches, ice, massage etc. to help deal with the symptoms. To have a client come in and say that it is just getting worse never ceases to amaze me. The pain will not just go away by it's self, it is your bodies way of telling you that something is wrong, take the time to listen.

Core Fitness

Core training, core fitness, core strength, core, core, core. Do you know what the 'core' of your body really is or where it is. Does your trainer or therapist know. 'Core' fitness is the current catch phrase in the fitness industry. Hundreds of gimmicks, machines and programs have been marketed to an uneducated population all with the belief of building strong ab's.
The sad fact is that most people do not realize that the core is your entire torso, so if you have no arms or legs all that is left is your core. With that being said does it make sense to just train a single 'core' muscle? NO. To effectively and efficiently train the core (ab's, back, spine) one must engage ALL of the muscles at the same time. This is not that hard to do, simply buy My book (shameless plug) and learn all about it.

www.backtofeelinggreat.com

Eat Like a Bird

Just a few quick thoughts for the upcoming holiday. The average American will eat soooooo much food that they can actually re-set their metabolism LOWER. That's right, from now until past new years most people will consume so many calories (food, alcohol, sweets) that they send a signal to their bodies telling it to burn fewer calories, the net result is that you can actually re-set your caloric furnace lower. If this happens every year over a lifetime, do the math!.
The trick is simple, eat smaller portions. Eat what you want just eat less. Take a walk before you eat, play with the kids, throw the ball around. Become or remain active over the holiday, eat smaller portions-graze instead of binge. To end on a sobering thought, alcohol calories have the same weight and effect as fat calories, roughly double that of protein. make good choices!

Big Belly, Big Bench, Bad Shoulders

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, new employee to train and start of the holiday rush. While I was in the gym this past week I noticed a lot of new faces getting a start on the new years resolutions, good for them. There was a 'guy', you know the one, big belly and obviously out of shape. He walked in and went strait to the bench, which he lay on to exercise. One of my favorite questions to ask anyone who is dead set on bench pressing is....... "IF YOU LAYING ON YOUR BACK ON THE PLAYING FIELD OF LIFE, YOU LOST!". There is no reason to bench press-ever. The damage it does to your shoulders alone is just sick. Try to do a chest press standing, it is much better for you and much more functional.

Massage anyone?

Do you get massage?, if you are among the many that do get a regular massage than good for you! If you do not or have only had a 'spa' massage than let me tell ya' something. Missing out, left behind, too little too late....get the idea. massage is an integral modality for anyone to get on a regular basis. A good therapeutic massage (neuromuscular, deep tissue, Myofascial, ART etc) are absolutely phenomenal for relieving stress, increasing flexibility, decreasing pain and increasing blood flow. Athletes should receive a massage at least every other to every week, while others benefit from massage on a monthly basis. Massage is a great way to prevent stress and worsening of postural syndromes and it feels good. Treat your self to something that feels good and is good for you.