Mental Health Awareness.

                    2.25.12
A healthy mind, a healthy body.

Mental Health is internal and starts with an attitude to be happy, because really who decides if they smile or not?  A brains reaction (s) to outcomes of our choices are all about how our mental state decides it is going to be.  So if you do want to have a better experience you have to make a different choice?  Think about it.....yeah I’m happy only if I want to be (no one else decides that for me) and can’t we all make new choices day to day?  Are we really in control of our habits & decisions...

My experience is about being in the know and now (present moment).  Continuing forward with improved choices for even better outcomes is possible.  It is a new day so people make simple, small changes that vibe with our daily habits, but allow a more positive balance to exist by being aware of what that decision may be.  Mental health is about accepting and understanding new ideas and concepts.  With knowing that it is an individual choice to be proactive and take your smile to the masses and see how just that simple choice of always smiling changes everything about a better continuation during the present moment. 

So go ahead and just do it, smile for the next, well you decide how long you want to be happy for.  Hey, I’m not going to put a gun to your head to make you smile.....:-)

Balance your life with practicing how you think.  An open mind can only exist with the ability for a person to be able to change the way they actual think; think about it, it really the brain thinking about the brain, but applying a new way of making choices, but it is for different outcomes, ones that make us happier :~)

Walk into a fitness center, now what?

In the Gym options                        2.20.12

The analogy I use when people ask me this question, “what should I do when I get to the gym/fitness center?” or “what is the best way to get me in shape?” is simply this, look at me as a personal trainer/fitness specialist in a gym more like a librarian at a library.  A librarian does not say go read this or only stay in that area.  What you do & how how you do it should be based off of many factors, so what are these important guidelines that should dictate what to do with all the gym options out there?

First a person should understand your 5 components of health related fitness because this is what makes up all the parts of physical health.  An assessment should be performed to see where you rank within each category, some of the answers you might already know, like you need to lose weight, but truly knowing your actual body fat percentage is a powerful guide not only as a measurement of progress, but it is one of those 5 major components of your physical health.  Flexibility, Muscular Strength & Endurance, and finally Cardio-Vascular Endurance are the other four fitness components.  Simple test can reveal results that will be guiding principles for your physical activity.

Each component plays a vital role in your success at both the gym and at home.  I always say training yourself is a lifestyle, not something you do at just a fitness center.  The idea is to combine as many components into a workout as possible.  Never truly repeat a workout, but make small modifications to movement to increase resistance.  Full body is the way to go with an emphasis on never really taking a break, but perform what I call an “active rest” (walk to get water, stretch, perform small simple one joint movements, breakdown or set up next movement (exercise)).  It is common to always see people around the gym beings social butterflies, taking long excessive breaks, and only performing simple one task movements that only work one part of your body within one component of fitness at a time.  All that takes LONG & is a waist of time with yielding very little results.  Getting on one piece of cardio equipment (like an elliptical) for 45 min. consecutively will not burn fat off your body in an effective way, that is totally utilizing your bodies energy systems in a “slow motion” way. 

The basic principle of knowing what to do at a gym should be totally driven by how you want to live your life, more specifically your goals.  What should you accomplish, how long will it take to get there, does my ability limit my options, how do I actually exercise effectively in the shortest amount of time?  Well, if you have any of those questions, that is exactly what a quality personal trainer can answer for you!

Counting your daily steps has benefits!

The Pedometer Challenge                        2.19.12


If  you took time to read my blog about lifestyle choices verses organized exercise, this one goes a step deeper on how to apply a pedometer to your life.  This is a great opportunity to purchase (dirt cheap) a cool piece of technology that can help document your physical activity progress as you walk about your daily routine.  Totally not selling you something, but giving a strong recommendation for a recorder of valuable info on your health & fitness. 

Pedometers (if you did not know) are step counters that allow an individual to record several parts of vital data (depending on the model) to the health of the individual.  Basically their are guidelines to a healthy lifestyle, just to maintain health a person health.  To document progress and see real time results can also assist as a motivational tool as well.  My son just loves seeing the numbers go up, well so does daddy too!  Thats motivation enough!

The Surgeon General recommends that the average adult (to just maintain health) should accumulate 10,000 steps a day (while walking) and the gov’t has set up (www.fitness.gov) a website for a person to keep track of what they have accomplished.  Children & older adults have separate goals, but the bottom line is, how do you know unless you count?

Whether you are a seasoned veteran of fitness or a novice, I would encourage everyone to take advantage of this health enhancing opportunity.  I wear mine daily and love to constantly look down to see where I’m at for the day, plus several of my clients ask me how many steps I have taken.  I move to learn and learn to move!

What to eat when your done Working Out

I want to stress that Carbohydrates are SUPER important to maintaining our health with a balanced diet.  The difference, complex (good) verses simple (bad) carbohydrates, eat the good, don’t eat the bad, but this blog is more about the science of eating after your are done with your physical activity.

Recovery Nutrition Science 101
The body continues to burn calories after a workout, called exercise post oxygen consumption (EPOC), which lasts 15 minutes to 48 hours after training. EPOC causes an additional calorie burn and higher metabolism beyond the workout--a benefit for weight and fat management. The amount of EPOC calories burned depends on gender, training status, training intensity and duration, and fitness level-- accounting for a few to several hundred calories. Why are extra calories burned?
EPOC calories are burned because:
• The body replenishes sugar in muscles and replaces the simplest energy form called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) at the cellular level; 
• Lactate--responsible for post exercise muscle soreness needs removal.
• Normal breathing, heart rate and body temperature needs restoration to pre-exercise levels
• Blood needs re-oxygenation after muscles cease working out.
Recovery Fuel 
Depending on training type and timing of the next workout, the composition and amount can vary while keeping in mind the golden recovery rule; getting something--anything as long as it's within the window of refueling opportunity, about 15 minutes to two hours after training for adequate replenishment.
The best foods to eat are those high in carbohydrates. Planning ahead by storing a sports drink, bar, or snack in the gym bag or stopping for a smoothie on the way home is one way to ensure adequate replenishment within the recovery window. Meals/snacks with 65% carbohydrates or more, about 0.8g to 1 gram/kg bodyweight / hour have been shown to replenish muscle stores best. For the 150 pound athlete (68 kg) (kg=pounds / 2.2), a snack or beverage with about 54 grams -68 grams carbohydrates. Visit the Recovery Fuel Chart for snacks that meet this requirement.
It's just as important to refuel after shorter high intensity workouts as it is for longer workouts. The difference between the recommended foods depends on whether or not it is the last workout of the day.
As for hydration, replacing fluids at a rate of 1-1½ times, about 16-24 oz for every pound lost in sweat. Weighing before and after a training session can provide a good guestimate of fluids lost during exercise. And while it's not necessary to weigh daily, seasonal weightings are recommended since ambient temperature affects fluid losses.
Urine color is the simplest and one of the most accurate measures of hydration. If the urine is pale yellow, that's good, while dark urine means dehydration. Completely clear urine is a concern since it suggests overhydration--the overconsumption of water and potential loss of electrolytes. Therefore, recovery fluids should include water, electrolyte rich sport drinks, and recovery fuels with sugar and protein (depending on the intensity of the workout) to cover all bases and replace all losses. When food doesn't work, a sport shake is an easy, portable way to replace carbohydrates and protein needed for maintaining muscle gains and strength accomplished during workouts.