You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December, 2008.
Here’s the time of year we truly enjoy; food, fun, family and friends…and more food. It is challenging to be mindful of a healthy balanced diet when tempted by the oodles of sweets, meals, parties and beverage. A small piece of fudge here, a sliver of pie there and it’s easy how quickly those extra calories add up.
Here are some basic tips to help you remain healthy through the holidays.
Portions: Be mindful of correct portion sizes. For example, a serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, vegetables can be five pieces of celery, fruits about half an apple, grains = 1 cup cereal or pasta or 1/4 of a bagel.
Timing: Eating on a regular basis is a good habit to have year-round so don’t stop now! Small meals taken throughout the day help keep blood sugar stabilized. Include plenty of whole-grain foods and limit simple carbs (like sugar).
Exercise: Keep your exercise routine intact to help burn off extra calories, reduce stress and to encourage a good night’s rest. We all know that Santa won’t come if you’re awake!
Eat Before the Party: Fasting in anticipation of a meal or party is unhealthy. Eat a small meal or have a protein shake before going and when you get there, find a seat. Don’t hang out near the buffet.
Alcohol: Moderation. Moderation. Moderation. Alcohol alone contains a boatload of calories, not to mention the mixes.
No, this isn’t going to delve into the old Styx album of the same name, or anything music related for that matter. Today’s topic will focus on the use of your exercise program design to create the look, or illusion, you would like.
How Can I Make the Jiggle Go Away?
Our skeletal system is a stack of bones connected together with muscles, tendons and ligaments. The muscles provide us the ability to locomote, move mass and generally keep from being a rock. Muscle tissue can be easily changed, including size, length and shape, through a thoughtful exercise plan. As we take less exercise due to work, family or personal choice, our fat storage increases. This fat overlays the muscle covering up the raw, sinewy tissue. Muscle does not turn into fat! Nor does fat transform into muscle. The addition of more fat covers the well-defined muscular tissue.
Spot reduction of the hips, thighs, buttocks, abdomen or arms is not an option through exercise, pills or other non-invasive means. By reducing the overall bodyfat one can create their own illusion by mixing a few of the items here.
1) The body will adapt quite nicely thank you to the demands placed upon it. Sometimes the demands need to change frequently. Alternating days of longer duration/lower intensity exercise with shorter duration/higher intensity; this is called interval training and will continuously challenge the body to adapt.
2) Aerobic training must be included to reduce overall bodyfat among other obvious health benefits.
3) Mix in strength training with the cardio a few days each week. Good stuff for our muscular system and to keep us fit. Women who focus weight training on areas such as the upper back and shoulders see dramatic results as the muscle tissue becomes well defined and appears more shapely.
4) Include very basic bodyweight exercises as part of a home-based program. Multi-plane or mult-joint exercises such as a lunge walk or squats are nice changes to the routine. Add the use of handweights to certain exercises. There’s also room for the good old fashioned push-ups, rope climbing, pull-ups and dips.
Making the jiggle go away is about an overall reduction of bodyfat allowing the lean, shapely muscles that lie beneath the fat to be more visible. For a more dramatic effect, weight training will help define the shape and increase the size of the muscle, adding to the grand illusion.
Edsel Ford High School will host the Michael Guido City Basketball Tournament on December 22-23, 2008.
Boy’s and girl’s varsity basketball teams from Dearborn High School, Edsel Ford High School, Fordson High School and Divine Child High School will be participating.
The schedule is as follows:
12-22-08: 2pm: Fordson vs Deaborn (girls)
4pm: Edsel Ford vs. Divine Child (girls)
5:30pm: Dearborn vs. Divine Child (boys)
7:00pm: Fordson vs. Edsel Ford (boys)
12-23-08: 2pm: Consolation game (girls)
4pm: Consolation game (boys)
6pm: Championship game (girls)
8pm: Championship game (boys)
Admission is $5.00 per person. One dollar from every ticket sold will be donated to the Karmanos Cancer Institute in honor of Michael Guido.
The evolution of sport science continues to improve upon old theory and the explosion of applied science has changed how athletes and people approach their exercise regimen. Let’s get into some of the current thoughts around stretching and its role in a program.
Stretching prior to exercise was once thought to prevent injury. Inordinate time was committed to a warm-up period or stretching routine. Recent research indicates there is no proof of injury prevention based solely on a stretching routine. In fact, a warm-up period followed by a specific muscle stretch may actually increase the range of motion of that muscle group.
So the misconception of a warm-up period and stretching was born.
Warm-Up
The use of a warm-up period prior to going out for run remains important. A warm-up should be designed to increase blood flow, increase heart rate and prepare the body for further exertion. Movement patterns such as calesthenics, stationary biking, jumping rope or brisk walking can be part of a warm-up. Sport or activity specific activities are most appropriate as part of the warm-up period. Remember, the goal is to generally increase blood flow, heart rate and prepare the body for further exertion. You should build the warm-up to a point where you begin to sweat. The warm-up period is important towards preventing injury.
Stretching
Stretching is most commonly applied in a static position, meaning you place the muscle fiber under tension and hold that position for a specified length of time. Most people will experience an increase in range of motion in about 4-6 weeks from stretching a muscle for 30 seconds each day. There does not appear to be any difference whether you stretch once a day or 3-4 times a day for each muscle. Holding a stretch longer (60 seconds) does not appear to improve results over a 30 second hold.
A dynamic approach, or ballastic stretching (bouncing) is not recommended as the sudden increase in muscle fiber length can be injurious.
Stretch a muscle until you feel a pull and hold that position. As you feel less tension, increase the stretch until you feel the pulling again and hold. Some studies indicate holding a stretch position will provide greater gains in flexibility than a hold-relax-stretch. Use the method that best suits you. The most advantagous time to stretch is immediately following the warm-up.
A warm-up period before exercise is key towards injury prevention. Use a stretching routine in your program to improve flexibility in specific muscle groups.
For those of us that simply cannot remain indoors all winter, getting out to exercise, work or just enjoy the winter weather is a wonderful change. Along with exertion in cold weather come a few pointers about nutrition. This post is designed with the competitive or year-round athlete in mind but the information is valuable for everyone.
Exercising outdoors has impications on the way our body responds. For instance, energy expenditure is nearly 2 times higher when walking on a snow covered trail compared to a regular surface, even at the same speed. The use of heavier clothing to protect from the elements also increases energy expenditure. Physiologically, a necessary vasoconstriction occurs in cold weather which means a decreased blood flow to the peripheries and less fat utilzation as an energy source.
Here’s how it works:
Our body temperature will be maintained at the onset of an exercise bout but will drop as the duration increases = risk of hypothermia.
A prolonged exercise session will deplete glycogen stores, resulting in a condition similar to “bonking”. During cold weather exertion, glycogen stores are utilized at a much higher rate than during warmer temperatures. This increased use of glycogen can bring on fatigue sooner than expected.
Exercise intensity and muscular activity then decreases. As muscular activity goes down, so does body temperature.
The resulting lower body temperature is followed by hypothermia, a serious condition.
Cold Weather Nutrition
Maintaining adequate nutrition during cold weather exercise is challenging at best. The need to keep food and drinks from freezing seems like an obvious dilemma as well as carrying food that is palatable out in the cold. Remember, you are running, skiing, doing whatever. No time to stop and fire up the stove!
Taking a meal (1-4 gm/kg of body weight) about 2-3 hours before cold weather exercise is recommended to help replenish liver glycogen used during the session. During exercise, take in about 30-60 gms of carbohydrates each hour of session to replenish blood glucose.
Remember to prepare for outside exercise by taking in a small meal prior. Replenish food/beverage during prolonged sessions for optimal performance and plan ahead for the challenges of keeping food and drink from freezing.
Happy trails!
Water is an essential component for all processes the body completes each day. Most of these processes take place behind the scenes and we are not aware of them. Our bodies are made of 70% water and with a 2% loss of bodyweight, our performance decreases. Water loss can occur during normal respiration, through perspiration, elimination and of course, exercise. It is possible to lose as much as 2 liters of water during exercise.
Dehydration during outdoor exertion is easy to miss for the following reasons. Cold weather decreases the thirst mechanism in most people. This means you don’t notice you are thirsty and we know that thirst is NOT an accurate indicator in measuring hyrdration. Secondly, the technical gear or clothing worn to protect us from the elements is so efficient that we are not able to appreciate sweat rate or water loss. Lastly, most people walk around everyday in a state of slight dehydration unless you are drinking water continuously throughout the day to balance out.
Signs of dehydration include low urine output (volume), high specific gravity (a more dense solution), dark urine color, irratibilty, headache, nausea and fatigue.
Some of the performance changes due to dehydration are: increased exercise heart rate, increased plasma osmolality, decreased blood flow to the skin and increased core temperature. For more information on performance changes in cold weather or dehydration contact Oakwood Sports Medicine. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 125 ml or 5 ounces every 20 minutes during cold weather exertion or exercise. You will have to plan strategically so the fluids don’t freeze while outdoors.
Staying properly hydrated in a cold weather environment is all about awareness, recognition and education. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you are dehydrated and learn to recognized some of the indicators of dehydration. Know how to prepare and handle the task of keeping yourself hydrated in order to get the most out of your exercise session.
