AlaskaFit's Forum

Taking your Workout on Vacation

Ahhhh ... vacation.  Warm, sunny beaches, hikes in the dessert, long and lazy days.  Whatever your passion when you leave your everyday life, there is no reason to leave fitness at home.  Vacations are a great time to re-energize your workout routine.  You are in a new setting, one that is likely completely unfamiliar to you, so take advantage.  Here's how.

Go for a walk, a run, or rent a bicycle and explore your new surroundings.  Get a more intimate knowledge or the place you are visiting by exploring the immediate area.  Learn by-ways and back-roads while saving gas money to spend on other fun activities.  Check with local staff for recommended routes and get out there.

Try a new sport.  You are miles and miles away from home, none of your regular crowd are around, so why not challenge yourself? No one you know will see you fall off the surfboard.  You are never too old to try something new and who knows ... you might find a new passion.

Plan an active vacation.  Not all vacations have to be lie-around-on-the-lounge-chair vacations.  There are also backpacking vacations, ski vacations, SCUBA diving vacations.  You can plan your trip around a particular activity that you don't include in your regular workout routine.  You can also use your vacation as a reason to train harder day-to-day to be in your best shape to accomplish new challenges while you're away.

Sneak activity into every day while you're away. So you've planned the lounge-chair vacation and are looking forward to a lack of phones, fax machines and computers.  Great!  Before you hit the lounge chair, why not do a few lunges, squats and/or push-ups in your room before you begin your day.  Even working in a few yoga poses will keep you from falling behind on your fitness routine and having to start over when you return.

Enjoy your time away.  Most of all, enjoy your time off.  If you're not going to be gone for an extended period (a week or less), you may decide to completely break your workout routine.  Rest is often the most neglected piece of a training program and it is just as important as putting in the work time.  So, enjoy the time off and you can work on your training plan for when you return.  You may find you return feeling more refreshed, energized and you may even be "jones-ing" to get back to those tough workouts you were dreading before you went on vacation.

Connecting the Mind and the Body Through the Breath

In the AlaskaFit Fitness Flash! newsletter, I took a brief look at the breath and how we can use it to calm the body and reduce stress.  Space is limited in the newsletter and unlimited here in cyberspace, so I am delving a bit deeper into how we can use the breath to connect the mind with the body to reduce stress and break the cycle of being in constant overdrive.

We all hear about stress and how bad it is for us.  We constantly look for ways to "combat stress."   I propose that the simplest, easiest, cheapest and least damaging way to reduce stress is to breathe. 

At any given moment of the day our autonomic nervous system is making sure that we don't forget to breathe.  This is a matter of survival and our brain wants to make sure that when we are distracted by life and living we don't forget the important things like breathing, keeping the heart beating, etc.  The body is concerned with efficiency and not always with quality of the breath. 

When we are on autopilot and not consciously controlling our breathing our breath tends to stay in the top portion of our lungs, maybe making its way to the center portion.  Air moves in and out, oxygen circulates efficiently throughout the system, the brain is happy and we are moving through our day.

As stress begins to build...let's say you're stuck in traffic that will make you late for an important meeting...breath becomes more shallow and more rapid.  As the breath doesn't make its way deep into the lungs, we are utilizing only the alveoli (those little air sacs that facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood) in the top portion of the lungs.  When we breathe deeply, more alveoli are involved and a greater volume of oxygen is exchanged in a single breath.  As we utilize fewer alveoli with shallower breathing, we use them more often...speeding up the rate of our breath.  This in turn raises our heart rate and our blood pressure as we now need to circulate oxygen through the system more quickly because we are using a smaller portion of our respiratory system, creating lower quality breathing and increased quantity of breathing. 

This series of events is attributed to our sympathetic nervous system taking over.  It's job is protection...our fight or flight instincts.  Back in the day of the woolly mammoth, this system of reactions is what helped us to escape real, physical threats.  Kicking the body into high gear, releasing adrenaline, shunting blood flow to the muscles, giving us the ability to run away from or fight with threats.  Unfortunately, the body does not distinguish between real, physical threats and what is now the everyday stress of modern life.  So, these same reactions kick off when we are under a deadline, fighting with a loved one, or stuck in traffic and starting to stress about the meeting we are sure to be late for. 

This heightened state of being is reversed when the threat disappears and our para-sympathetic system resumes control.  Breath slows and may deepen, heart rate and blood pressure return to normal.  Think about the last time you made a mad dash to catch a bus, plane or train, or participated in some tough card work.  When you reached your goal, you probably stopped or slowed your movement, your breath slowed and became deeper and you felt calm returning to your body and your muscles as your system returned to "normal."  You didn't have to think about it, your body returned to autopilot because you completed your task.

Now we bring this all together.  In times of stress, whether it's the stuck in traffic scenario or whatever it is that kicks your system into high gear, you can consciously and deliberately regain control of yourself by returning to your breath.  Take a moment (and this requires practice) to perhaps close your eyes, and breathe deeply through your nose.  Go ahead and do it right now as you are reading this.  Take as long and as deep a breath as you can.  Feel your belly expand as your diaphragm drops and opens space in the lungs.  Inhale until you can't take in any more breath because the lungs are full.  Hold for a second and then slowly release the breath.  The release can be either through  the nose or the mouth, providing that you are controlling its release. 

Feel better? Feel your mind slowing down?  You have just taken the first step to relieving stress.  You have consciously connected your mind (which is kicking off stress reactions) to your body through your breath.  That moment of controlled inhale and exhale brings an awareness to what you're experiencing that cannot be achieved any other way.  Practicing this over time can reduce blood pressure and break the cycle of constant overdrive.

The best part is that everyone from kids stressing over a test to adults stressing over everything can make this mind-body connection.  All it takes is a little practice.  Breathing:  it’s simple,  controllable, and doesn’t require a prescription!

Using Exercise as Medicine

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has launched a new campaign called "Exercise is Medicine."  This campaign kicked off in November and is making its way into the public consciousness.  I think the message is brilliant!  Study after study shows the benefits of exercise in combating everything from high blood pressure to Diabetes to bone loss and depression and just about every other disease of modern living.  Professionals involved in the fitness industry have touted a similar message for years as have physical education teachers, physicians and other medical professionals.  And, we have been largely ignored by the general public.  ACSM is now working along with the American Medical Association to bring the idea that "Exercise is Medicine" to the public and to the medical community.

Robert E. Sallis, M.D., FACSM, ACSM President notes, "If we had a pill that conferred all the proven health benefits of exercise, physicians would widely prescribe it to their patients and our healthcare system would see to it that every patient had access to this wonder drug."  Ahhh, and that is, I believe, the reason that more people do not exercise.  It is not available in pill form and it requires about 30 minutes per day.  We have so over-scheduled ourselves that just the thought of taking a precious 30 minutes out of our day causes increases in stress levels and blood pressure readings. 

Perhaps what we need is a change in perspective.  Rather than looking at exercise as "time out of our day," we should begin looking at it as our wellness prescription.  After all, if our doctor is "prescribing" exercise for us, what choice do we have?  It must be done. 

Let's keep in mind that the ACSM guidelines for exercise (http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home_Page&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7764) do not require 30 minutes of gym time.  Thirty minutes can be accumulated in simple movement throughout the day, so we don't have to take time "out" of our day, we do what we modern folks do best...we multi-task.  Reading a memo sitting at your desk?  How about standing up and walking in place while you read?  No time to walk outside at lunch?  Add a 1-liter bottle of water to your delivery order and use it for bicep curls before you drink it.  Do you live in a home that has an upstairs?  Walk up and down the flight of stairs 5-10 times in a row...it will definitely increase your heart rate and test your legs.  We can work activity into any day and every day.  Exercise...the one prescription you CAN afford and the one you cannot afford to live without. 

 

A Word About Nutrition

It's a new year and a time when many of us take stock of what worked for us last year and what didn't.   This very often leads to an examination of our eating habits, which prompts questions for personal trainers, friends and neighbors.  The questions I hear most frequently tend to center around protein and carbs...should I eat them?  Should I eliminate them?  Are carbs bad for me?  Should I be drinking a protein shake every day?

I am not a  nutritionist, but in my role as a perosnal trainer, I am qualified to give general nutrition guidelines and advice.  I will not prescribe supplements, nor will I give diet plans to any of my clients or anyone else for that matter.

So, what are "healthy eating habits?"  What can you eat that truly is good for you?  In the interest of keeping it simple, I've listed what I consider to be the 4 most important nutrition tips that I give to my clients on a regular basis.  Obviously, not an exhaustive list of nutrition tips, but these are the 4 most-often repeated pieces of advice that I give to my clients.

1.  If it comes in a box, don't eat it.  Avoid processed foods period.  Yes, they are convenient but so what?  In my opinion, "manufactured" and "food" should never be in the same sentence.  Whole, basic foods are by far the best option.  And, while the manufactured food people will have you believe that the convenience factor is the most important, there are many ways to shorten cooking time for whole foods and many meal options that are just as quick and easy and more satisfying than something that comes in a box.

2.  Eat your veggies.  Vegetables pack more nutrition per ounce than any other food.  Chock full of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, protien, carbs and "good" fats, these powerhouses of nutrition will cost less than an equivalent portion of processed foods.  And, they make your meal look good.  Add some red pepper, orange carrots or green spinach to your plate and you now have an edible rainbow.  Additionally, eating these veggies as whole foods ensures that everything is there for your body to digest and absorb the nutrients.  Vitamin supplements don't do that.  They limit which vitamins you get and strip them down...so rather than vitamin C with it's attendant flavanoids and anti-oxidants, you get vitamin C.  Does this help or harm you?  The research just can't tell us at this point.  And, crunching a carrot is by far more satisfying than swallowing a vitamin pill.

3.  Don't forget the fruit.  Fruit is the other powerhouse of the nutrition world.  Again, vitamins are intact and available with all of their attendant micro-nutrients.  Just be careful not to overindulge as many fruits have high sugar content, which can throw off moods, energy levels and calorie counts.  Eating both fruits and vegetables should be the base of your diet, with heavier emphasis on the veggies.  Use fruits as the sweet treat following a meal and you'll get the nutrition without the overindulgence.

4.  Read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.  I found this book to be the most powerful, thought-provoking, insightful publication on nutrition that I have ever read.  Dr. Campbell tuly is a nutrition guru, though he does not claim the title in the book and he is not a "pop" author with the latest and greatest diet book.  The China Study summarizes his 40+ years of nutrition research, cuts through all of the nutrition misinformation and presents you, the reader, with concise, sound nutrition information.  He does not offer a diet plan, he doesn't offer to sell you supplements or promise you will drop pounds in days.  He presents what he found out about nutrition, gives you the naked truth and lets you make decisions about how to apply the information to your life and your eating habits.  The book is incredibly well-written and I have found it to be invaluable to myself and my clients.

Keep in mind that nutrition is not a quick fix to all of the problems in your life.  Many of us think that "if I can just get my eating under control, everything else will fall into place."  That is probably not true.  Eating is just one aspect of our lives.  Yes, it is a powerful tool in our wellness arsenal, but it's not the only tool.  Take all nutrition changes one step at a time.  As soon as we feel deprived, we sabatoge ourselves by over-indulging in foods that don't make us feel good or offer us long-term energy to power through our day.  But, if I add one piece of fruit and a couple of veggies to what I'm already eating, I find more energy, I don't crave lots of sugar and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything because I've actually added to my daily intake.  So, go ahead, take step one...it leads to step two, three and eventually to just where you want to be.

A Holiday Gift

We are all familiar with “the holiday 15.”  It’s the 10-15 pounds that mysteriously appears on the scale between now and January.  Starting with Halloween and continuing the binge until we make our  New Year’s Resolution to “lose weight and be healthy.”  This year can be different.  All you have to do is decide that it will be so.  Call it the power of positive thinking, call it “the Secret.”  I like to call it a holiday gift to yourself.  What better gift can you give yourself this holiday season than the gift of good health?  We accept holiday weight gain because we read that, “everybody does it.” 

What really happens when we gain 15 pounds?  After all, it doesn’t sound like much.  If you weight 150 pounds, you are talking about adding on 10% of your body weight.  If your body mass index (BMI) is normal today, 15 pounds can put you into the obese category.  Fifteen pounds is also the median weight for a 5-month old baby.  This weight gain also increases the risk for diabetes and high blood pressure.  In fact, it can be the difference between taking medication to control high blood pressure and not.  I have a client who recently was taken off of her blood pressure meds by simply incorporating exercise into her life and losing 15 pounds. 

We all know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  So how do we prevent what so many of us see as “inevitable” holiday weight gain?

§    Sign a contract with yourself or someone you love.  Make a pact to get yourself through the holidays.  Just write it up and sign it…we agree to balance one holiday sweet with 15 minutes of exercise.  We agree to indulging at only one party per week.  We agree to exercise 3-4 times per week every week of the holiday season.

§    Set a reward for completing your contract.  If you make it through the season and do what you agree to in the contract, buy yourself an extra holiday gift, spend extra time with your contract partner, you decide. 

§    Set tough penalties for violating the contract.  I find cold, hard, cash is great for these types of contracts.  Miss a workout, overindulge, agree to a fine.  We generally spend to a fault during the holidays, so set a steep enough fine to keep you on track.

§    Step away from the food.  When standing and chatting at a holiday party, avoid standing near the food area.  It’s much more difficult to walk away from a conversation to go get another cookie than it is to simply reach for one while standing next to the buffet table.

§    Drink water.  Always have a glass in hand and make sure it isn’t always filled with “holiday cheer.”  This accomplishes two things—at least one hand is too busy to grab a pastry and water fills you up, making the cookies, etc. that much less appealing. 

 

Avoiding the holiday 15 will make the holidays much more enjoyable.  You will have more energy, not have to deal with sugar withdrawal and you will feel good about yourself at the end of the year. 

Whatever you decide to do, have fun, enjoy being with friends and family and remember that you are the most important person in your life, so be good to you!

Powder Daze

Special contribution by Angus MacLeod

The snow’s here.  Ski season is so close you can taste it.  Here’s a few ideas to get your body ready for the fun. 

Understand that smooth is in!  All your pre-ski-season training should focus on smooth movements.  Imagine you’re skiing every time you work out.  Keep your upper body quiet, it’s just along for the ride.  The head doesn’t move, it enjoys the view.  Remember that for skiing … stop looking at your skis! Enjoy the 2,000+ vertical view!  Envision the best track stars.  When they run, their heads don’t move, it’s all from the hips down … same on your skis. 

One of the best training exercises for skiing is jumping with a leather jump rope.  It all starts from the foot and moves up.  Stand in front of a mirror, start jumping.  Work on timing movements and eye-hand-foot coordination.  Start slow.  Increase your speed as your ability improves.  Start with two feet together, then move to alternating feet.  As you get better, you can include double jumping (two complete revolutions of the rope in one jump).  Move onto more intense movements … jump higher, tuck your knees up when you jump (this will also help with double jumps). 

Another exercise for the lower body is stair running.  Start easy … single stairs running up (keep your head up, look where you’re going, not where you are.  Apply this to all movements in life).  As you get stronger, move onto double and triple stairs at a time.  When coming down, imagine you’re on an escalator … touch every stair with your feet.  Imagine your feet are wheels, keep your upper body quiet, think smooth.  Feel like you’re on an escalator.  You will also feel tremendous fatigue in your thighs, knees, calves and ankles ... this means you’re doing it right.  Remember the more you feel now, the less you’ll feel later.  And that’s what we all want.  To ski longer and harder without feeling it.  Don’t think of it as getting into shape, think of it as getting into life.

Ski ya!

Angus MacLeod has been a professional in the ski industry for over 22 years and in 3 countries.  He has double-artificial hips thanks to Anchorage Fracture and Orthopedic and is currently skiing over 100 days per year.

Welcome to AlaskaFit!

Welcome to AlaskaFit!  I am Ginny and I will be discussing fitness topics of all kinds.  I am a personal trainer and yoga instructor (200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance), and recently completed an MS in Exercise Science and Health Promotion.  I completed my ACE personal trainer certification in 2003 and have been working full-time in fitness since.  I've been going to gyms and have been interested in fitness as long as I can remember.  I ran the NYC marathon in 2006 and have participated in numerous road races before and since, recently trying out mountain running here in Alaska.

My goal for this blog is to inspire people to incorporate movment into their lives.  This doesn't always mean hitting the gym or running a marathon.  It could mean that someone out there takes the stairs today instead of the elevator/escalator.  Maybe you walk to the corner store instead of driving.  Or maybe you decide to set a goal of running a marathon, hiking a mountain, whatever.  Movement is what the human body is made for, not sitting for hours on end.  So, if I can help one person out there get up off the couch and take those first few steps towards a healthier today, I'm happy.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends we, "Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week and do eight to 10 strength-training exercises, eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week (ACSM Physical Actvity and Public Health Guidelines 2007).    Does this sound tough to impossible to work into your busy schedule?  After all, who has an extra 30 minutes in their day? 

There's nothing in the guidelines recommending 30 minutes all at once.  So, why not break it up?  You know that 10-minute coffee or cigarette break?  Why not make it an activity break...walk up and down the stairs in your office for 10 minutes, walk around the block for 10 minutes, stand up and walk in place while you are watching television for 10 minutes.  Why not stand at your desk and read that memo while moving your feet?  It may not sound like much, but over time, these activities can make a huge difference in your health and fitness levels.  You may even find the inspiration to try for a 5k race in the spring.

Then there's the strength-training recommendation.  What if you don't have dumbbells or belong to a gym?  Can you still find some way to do strength-training exercises.  The gym can be anywhere and everywhere.  Look in your pantry...can you find a 5-lb. bag of rice to lift for 8-12 repetitions?  Push-ups are a great strength-trainer that requires no equipment.  Squats and lunges require only your legs and you can do them anywhere.

What I'm saying is we can move at any time in so many different ways.  Look at your kids (or your friends' kids).  They are in constant motion and they require no equipment.  Add movement in one minute at a time.  Even a marathon begins with one foot taking one step.