Can You Be Fit and Fat?

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You don’t have to be thin to be fit. A number of the people I work with in my practice are both fat and fit. They work out and don’t always lose weight but they are reaping the health benefits that regular moderate exercise can bring to everyone.

According to Dr. Steven Blair in a study from University of South Carolina report published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association. (2007)

“There is a great benefit to being fit” Blair noted, “even if you are, in fact obese…across every category of body composition, unfit individuals have a much higher death rate than those who are fit…Our follow-up has shown that the death rate for women and men who are thin but unfit is at least twice as high as their obese counterparts who are fit…Fitness appears to provide protection against early mortality no matter how much you weigh”

So if you’ve got a few extra pounds on that you are finding impossible to shed, don’t obsess and don’t use it as an excuse not to exercise. Get yourself on a pleasurable and sustainable fitness program. You’ll feel and be healthier and you may eventually end up thinner too.

Here are some safety guidelines for exercising while carrying some extra weight:

Do low impact cardio activities like walking, biking, swimming or low impact aerobics. High impact exercise like jumping or running while carrying extra weight can over-stress your joints.

Stay in your target heart zone. If you’re a normal, healthy person, here’s the formula for finding yours:

220

– Your Age

Your Max Heart Rate in Beats Per Minute

Your should exercise at between 55 – 85% of your Max heart rate.

A good rule of thumb is you should be just barely able to carry on a conversation while exercising.

Here are a few tips for making your exercise program Pleasurable and Sustainable.

  • Find something you like or at least don’t hate!
  • It helps to exercise with a friend or loved one.
  • Use your favorite music to help motivate you.
  • Find a regular time in the day and make it a habit.
  • Try to do at least something 5 days a week.
  • Don’t over do it. Stay in your comfort zone.

Enjoy! And remember, fat or thin Fitness = Longevity!

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Best Exercises For Cancer Survivors

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Q: I am recovering from breast cancer. I finished my chemotherapy a few weeks ago and though I still feel weak, I was wondering if I should start exercising again?

A: If your doctor says you’re up to it, you can get started. Easy aerobic exercise for cancer patients, has been shown to increase hemoglobin levels, reduce inflammation, lessen fatigue, keep muscles in shape for better every day activities, increase self confidence, reduce depression and aid in recovery of surgery.

Other research has shown strength and flexibility exercises have helped patients return to a normal activity level sooner.

Exercise and social support seem to increase the life expectancy of breast cancer survivors, preventing recurrence.

At the beginning, gentle move a few minutes at a time, and build up at your own pace. Try walking, light aerobics or swimming. As you get stronger, add a couple of days a week of light resistance training. On days you feel more tired, try doing a few stretches.

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Exercises To Improve Your Golf Game

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“An Ounce of Prehab is Worth a Pound of Rehab”

Exercises To Improve Your Golf Game
Q: My husband and I both love golf and we are finally finding the time to play together. Last month we played about three times a week. Now, I am complaining to him about my shoulder hurting and he is complaining about his back. Are there any exercises we can do to get rid of these aches and pains?

A: There are over 20 million golfers in the United States alone. And those who play frequently, including the pros, are often plagued by over-use injuries.

It’s the repetitive motion of the golf swing that’s the culprit. And if your form is less than perfect you can hurt yourself on a single swing.

It uses the same muscles every time: mainly shoulder (rotator cuff) core (side of the waist, abdominals), and arms (elbow, forearm and wrist)

Also, like any other physical activity, it’s good to warm-up your body at least 5-10 minutes before starting to play. A brisk walk, a few arm circles and practice swings with a towel will help to elevate your body temperature, lubricate joints and increase blood flow to your working muscles.

As for the current aches and pains, you probably have to rest those muscles until they heal.
The good news is, there are Prehab exercises to help you play injury-free in the future and they will also help improve your game.

“An ounce of Prehab is worth a pound of Rehab.”

Here are some essential exercises.

Towel warm-up

Roll up a towel lengthwise and take a few practice swings to warm-up the muscles you’ll use when you add the weight of the club.

Side Bend

If you have hand weights, great. Otherwise, grab some cans from your pantry.  Stand feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, arms at your sides. Without bending forward or back, bend directly to one side, while sliding the weight in your opposite hand up the side of your body to your armpit. Do the same on the other side. 8-12 reps on each side, alternating side to side.   Areas Worked: Side of the Waist

Core Strength & Stretch
Start on your hands and knees in a tabletop position.  Gently stretch your right arm out in front of you till it’s level with your torso. At the same time raise your left leg and straighten it behind you. Hold for 10-20 counts and slowly return to starting position. Switch sides and repeat. Areas Worked: Abdominals, shoulder, hip and back of leg

Oblique Twist

Lie down, knees bent, feet hip width apart. Place your hands behind your head.  Lift and turn your torso to point your right elbow towards your left knee (keep your elbow back in line with your shoulder) and return to start. Do 8 reps. Switch sides and repeat.  Areas Worked: Ab, particularly the side abs.

Rotator Cuff
Holding cans or hand weights bend arms at the elbows to 90 degrees in front of you. Keep your elbows bent and bring your arms out to your sides.  Repeat 8-12 reps.  Areas Worked: Shoulders
Wrist Curls
Hold hand weights at your sides, elbows at 90-degree angles, palms down. Keep arms stationary, and using only your wrists, slowly curl the weights towards you until your knuckles are facing the ceiling. Repeat 8-15 reps.  Flip weights palms up. Do 8-15 reps in this position.  Areas Worked: Forearms and wrists.
Diamond Stretch
Raise arms over-head, linking hands together. Slightly bend elbows and gently move them back.  Hold for 10-20 counts.  Areas worked: Shoulders, chest and upper back.

Send your Moving Free® with Mirabai questions to: exercise@movingfree.com

 

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Holiday Moderation

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Every year at this time people watching their weight and trying to stay fit start to panic. I’ve begun to get those emails saying “I feel like I might really have trouble on Thanksgiving and I don’t want the holidays to be a total disaster.” Most people ask me “what do you do to stay on track”?

Unfortunately there’s no one-size-fits-all, silver bullet solution.

But for me, the trick is moderating my moderation. I’m already eating healthy moderate meals and exercising regularly.

So the key for me is not to try to treat a holiday, like any other day.

All my favorite stuff will be there and everyone will be encouraging me to eat it. I’ll have to try my sister-in-law’s new pie recipe, and I’ll be asked to taste that great stuffing. The thought of it makes me not want to eat for a week beforehand, or at least all day that day. Bad idea.

Rather than skip meals I eat a low calorie, high-energy-delivery breakfast, and a next-to-no-calorie, but filling, lunch like a veggie salad. So when dinnertime comes, I’m not starving and I can remember that I can taste everything and get plenty full just tasting. Every time I’ve come to a holiday dinner too hungry I forget how pleasantly full I get, just tasting and I end up uncomfortably full, and angry with myself.

I’ll probably eat more calories than normal that day, but it’ll only be a million not a gazillion.

Test my food moderation technique on a day when you know you’re going out to dinner and see if it works for you. If you like it, give it a shot on a holiday.

Of course there’s more to fitness and weight management than just food.

I’ll be traveling for the holidays and we all know how convenient it is to exercise when we’re traveling.

Well, this year I’m going to have a better plan. I booked a flight that leaves an hour later, so I can exercise at home in the morning. And I’m going to try to stick to my normal exercise schedule when I get there. That’ll be tough enough with all the distractions. I know I won’t have time for extra exercise. But even if my schedule gets really full, I’m determined to do at least a half hour of moderate exercise a day. And this year I’m bringing an exercise band and a video along with my sneakers and sweats. It snowed last year and my sneakers and sweats sat idle.

So that’s what I’m doing. It’s not rocket science but it is science. And if I can stick to it it’ll work for me.

If you formulate a similar moderation plan of your own, I’ll bet you’ll have more fun, get to taste everything and maybe not gain a pound.

 

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Aerobic Rant: Dust Off Your Sneakers

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Exercise has always been trendy. From Jack LaLanne to the latest Wii technology, I’m sure you can fill in the blanks decade by decade. I’m not particularly upset by that. Trends drive the industry.

Some of them are downright wonderful as is the case towards softer workouts like yoga and pilates. One thing that does bug me though is the trend towards doing only yoga and pilates. They do little or nothing for your heart.

I love these forms of exercise but not at the expense of the basics.Remember Aerobics? (It’s trendier to call it cardio now)
But if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get fit, you simply ain’t gonna be fit unless you get a regular dose of cardio. In case you forgot, aerobics is any exercise using your large muscle groups to increase the body’s need for oxygen over an extended period of time. Low impact Cardio Dance, Brisk Walking, Jogging, Biking and Swimming, are all good forms of aerobic exercise.According to the National Institutes of Health a half hour of moderate aerobic exercise a day can reduce risk of heart attack by 50% and have a positive effect on most of the problems associated with aging.

Cardio energizes your body from the inside out. Your heart is pumping like mad. Your lungs and arteries are hard at work delivering the oxygen that you need to keep going.
Your muscles are getting a great workout carrying your body around. You’re burning a bunch of calories and if you keep it up for 30 minutes or more your natural mood enhancers the endorphins kick in and you get the exerciser’s high.

You can see why you’d want to get a daily dose of aerobic exercise.It goes a long way toward reducing our risk for disease, managing our weight, and lightening our mood to help us stay fabulous forever.

So dust off your sneakers.

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Dance Yourself Fit: The Magic of Movement

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America is experiencing a dance renaissance. Thanks to the success of TV shows like “Dancing With The Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance”, people are starting to dance again.
In this era of personal trainers and hi-tech exercise equipment, dance exercise classes and videos are resurging to new heights of popularity.
From ancient times people enjoyed coming together to move and communicate non-verbally. Looking back at the history of dance virtually every community gained togetherness by dancing to insure a good harvest, asking for rain, or celebrating a season. There are folk dances representing movement styles from every part of the world.

Expressive movement comes from a natural place within us. We’re all born knowing how to move. It’s innate, part of our humanity. As kids, we stamp our feet when angry, flail our bodies when frustrated and jump for joy. Humans have been expressing themselves through movement since the beginning of time. That movement has a purpose. It was never supposed to go away. But somehow, our so-called modern culture saw that release of tension, that form of human expression as primitive. So we have been repressing it for hundreds of years.

Our technology has brought us some great things. But it negates that part of who we are. We hardly have to move anymore and so we don’t-until we see ourselves falling apart at middle age. Turns out, movement was never primitive at all!
It’s primal! Primal is natural. Primal is good. It’s part of who we are, what we’re meant to be.

Studies show that expressive movement can help heal physical ailments and relieve psychological trauma. It can also get you fit, and Fitness=Longevity.

Get back in touch with that part of yourself that knows how to move, and feel better because of it. Tap into that mind-body connection that’s been there waiting for you. Release yourself from the conventional hard-body exercise experience.

Get back to your roots at this important time in your life. It’s as simple as turning on some music and dancing to the beat. Go ahead. Dance yourself fit.

Send your Moving Free with Mirabai questions to:askmirabai@movingfree.com

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Orthopedic Issues: Prehab To Avoid Rehab

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Orthopedic problems are a major health issue worldwide. This is a growing problem particularly among baby boomers. Both women and men are both at risk. Job-related conditions like standing all day or performing repetitive motions can lead to overuse injuries. And being out of shape and overweight are leading contributors to orthopedic injuries and chronic orthopedic problems. But active adults are not immune. Pushing too hard when you workout or play sports instead of staying in your comfort zone can do you more harm than good. In fact there are about 28 million reported orthopedic injuries each year in the USA alone. Accidents happen and excellent rehab is available. But a lot of orthopedic problems are preventable. Muscles and tendons are connected to the brain by a complex system of sensors called proprioceptors, capable of detecting the slightest difference in muscle length, or tension on a tendon. The proprioceptors exist to help your body avoid injury. Those little strains and pains you begin to feel when you push too hard are telling you “Back off” you need more conditioning before you can perform at this level. Pushing through the pain is flirting with serious injury.

The proprioceptors also, tell the brain just where a limb is in space at any given time. A well-trained proprioceptive sense helps a tennis player get to a ball and return it without having to think through each step. The body knows the way.
Prehab is one of the best ways to avoid Rehab. Developing your proprioceptive sense- awareness of where your body is in space — is a good start. There are exercise programs that focus on proprioception like my own Moving Free® technique, Tai Chi and certain yoga exercises. It helps you avoid awkward movements that can cause injury and perform daily tasks with ease and grace. And it improves your sense of balance to help prevent falls.Here’s an exampleClose your eyes. Hold out your arm in front of you. Your brain knows your arm is in front of you without you having to see it. Keep your eyes closed. Now circle your index finger. Your brain knows where your finger is through the full range of motion without looking. That’s your proprioceptive sense at work.

Strengthening areas at risk for orthopedic injury is another component of Prehab. This kind of Prehab comes in two forms:
  1. ·General Prehab for daily living as part of a personal wellness program, looks at the body as a whole, and develops it as a whole to maximize quality of life. This often includes strength training, cardio conditioning and core training, as well as some proprioceptive exercises.
  2. ·Activity Specific Prehab designed to get you ready for the rigors of a particular sport or physical endeavor. Good Activity Specific exercises pay special attention to the body parts most involved in that activity without ignoring the concept of training the body as a whole.
Send your Moving Free with Mirabai questions to:askmirabai@movingfree.com
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