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Dining Out With Your Personal Trainer

Jon Fennell — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:05:59 +0000

Installment #4 – T.G.I. Friday’s

Appetizer
Buffalo Flavor Chicken Strip Snacks
Caloric Value – 70 calories

Entrée
Mexican Style Chicken Quesadillas
Tender white meat chicken, pepper jack, mozzarella and cheddar cheese with salsa in fresh flour tortillas
Caloric Value – 290 calories

Beverage
Margarita Strawberry Daiquiri
Caloric Value – 156 calories

Total Caloric Value – 516 calories

By Jon

Functional Foods

NateM — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:19:07 +0000

Functional foods are an exciting new take on foods that you might already be eating. A functional food is a food that is eaten for benefits to cardiovascual health. You might already be eating things such as fruits and vegetables, but did you know that eating dark chocolate will actually lessen your likelihood for cardiovascular disease? And now you know that grabbing a handful of nuts is good not only for protein, but also for preventing heart attacks. These are foods that you might have around as a healthy snack option, but you also are keeping that heart as healthy as the day you were born. So enjoy that Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kiss and let your loved ones know that you are doing it for your heart.

New ACSM Exercise Intervention Statement

Jon Fennell — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:53:30 +0000

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is one of the foremost resources exercise and health professionals consult for the most current information regarding health and wellness. In the late nineties, the organization released a statement which established that weight maintenance and disease prevention can be achieved by including thirty minutes of moderately intense activity on most days of the week. Since then, many research studies have examined the effectiveness of this amount of exercise on weight loss. Most have found that thirty minutes of activity a day helped to offset some cardiovascular and blood profile (triglycerides, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.) problems which are associated with inactivity. Even with the support for this data advertised at the gym, in magazines, on television, and even on our cereal boxes, approximately sixty percent of Americans still do not meet this daily thirty minutes of moderate exercise; coincidently (or perhaps not so coincidentally), about the same percentage of the American population is classified as overweight and/or obese. However, even if the majority of the U.S. population suddenly began to fulfill the ACSM physical activity recommendation, this factor would not be the key to effective weight loss, but rather to weight maintenance as well as disease prevention. The earlier exercise prescription gives an average weekly volume of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, while in the past ten years studies have shown that to get the added benefits of weight loss one must engage in the range of 250-300 minutes of moderate intensity activity. Another addition to the prescription was the addition of more vigorous activity on 2-3 days a week. If exercise is done at a higher level, less actual time is needed in order to burn the same amount of calories and thus lose the same amount of weight. High Intensity Training (HIT) is a fantastic method for diminishing the amount of time dedicated to exercising while still reaping all of the desired health benefits. One hour of HIT training three days a week adds up to 180 minutes per week. Although this is a good start to improving overall physical health, an additional two hours a week are critical in order to achieve desired weight loss. This equates to about 30 minutes of moderate intensity on the other days of the week. In general, the more exercise that is achieved during the week, the greater the health benefits in the short and long term.

By Jacob

Calcium for Weight Loss

KristenC — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:38:17 +0000

According to a study published by the British Journal of Nutrition, boosting calcium consumption spurs weight loss in people if they are calcium deficient. The researchers theory behind this is that the brain can detect their lack of calcium and seeks to compensate by spurring food intake.

This same research team also discovered in an earlier study that women who consumed diets low in calcium had more body fat, bigger waistlines and higher cholesterol levels than those who consumed the recommended amount of calcium each day. If that’s not a reason to drink milk I don’t know what is…. just remember if you’re looking for weight loss pick up the SKIM milk!

Overtraining Syndrome

trevorg — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:54:08 +0000

Overtraining syndrome frequently occurs in athletes who are training for their chosen competition or event and train beyond what their ability to recover is. They tend to train longer and harder to improve performance, however, performance actually decreases as a result of sleep pattern disruptions, decreased focus and intensity, and other signs of doing too much. This same phenomenon can happen to you as well. The common thread here is a lack of adequate rest and recovery. There needs to be a balance between overload and recovery, the net result being conditioning.

Some of the more common signs of overtraining may include:

compulsive need to exercise, increased incidence of injuries, loss of enthusiasm, moodiness/irritability, decreased intensity, insomnia, sudden drop in performance and tired, drained or lack of energy.

If you suspect you might be overtraining, stop or at least decrease the amount of exercise and allow for adequate rest. Consider working out with a personal trainer (mesa personal training) to monitor progress and possibly avoid the risk of overtraining. Make sure to drink plenty of water (fluids) and possibly alter your diet if necessary. Schedule yourself a sports massage to help recharge those overused muscles. Most importantly, rest than have fun with your training!

Snowboarding Workout

NateM — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:42:02 +0000

With the Winter Olympics upon us, you can’t help but get wrapped up in the coverage of all the events. I, personally, love to watch the snowboarding half-pipe competition. The USA’s own Gretchen Bleiler uses the BOSU ball in her workouts to strengthen core muscles. Many of you have had the joy of using the BOSU ball and know how important it is to balance and coordination. There are very few people in the world who can not use an improvement in balance and coordination. When you are sweating through your twelve reps of leg-shaking goodness, remember, if it’s good enough for a world class snowboarder, it’s good enough for you.

Celebrity Diet Tricks

KristenC — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:39:46 +0000

1.) Eat Breakfast–It ramps up your metabolism and prevents overeating for the rest of the day.

2.) Cut out white foods–These foods are high in sugar so your body burns this off instead of fat

3.) Focus on watery veggies and fruit like lettuce, celery, cucumber, melons, oranges and grapes–banishes bloating by flushing out your system

4.) Eat Spicy–A Canadian study found that people who consumed hot red pepper ate less food and burned more calories (pepper increased their metabolism)

5.) Snack–Eat 150 calorie snacks every three hours, don’t let your blood sugar drop or you will overeat

6.) Count Backwards 3,2,1– Eat three meals, two snacks and drink a minimum of 1 liter of water per day. This trick will keep your metabolism up and avoid feeling hungry throughout each day.

Distance Runners

Tim Oneil — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:01:15 +0000

Distance Running Program

Have a heart (cardiac rehab)

NateM — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:36:52 +0000

A recent NY times article spoke about the new link that has been made between people who have had heart attacks and the frequency that they partcipate in cardiac rehabilitation. After a major cardiovascular event, people who partcipated more often in cardiac rehab sessions lived longer and had fewer re-occurences. What does this mean for those who have not had any sort of heart problems? It means that exercising frequently, in addition to dietary changes, can lead to a signifcantly lower chance of heart problems. Not only that, but your quality of life will be much higher. You will find that you have more energy, and will save money on your health care over the long haul.

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/for-seniors-an-underused-heart-therapy-the-gym/

Vitamin C

trevorg — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:58:46 +0000

Ascorbic acid, better known as vitamin C, is a water soluble vitamin with many responsibilities in the human body. One of those responsibilities is to act like an anti-oxidant which can protect the body against damage caused by free-radicals. Free radicals are the culprits that contribute to disease processes such as cancer and heart disease. In the musculoskeletal system, vitamin C acts at the cellular level by contributing hydrogen and oxygen to amino acids so that they may do their part in collagen production. Collagen is found in the connective tissue of skin, teeth, bones, organs and cartilage. It is the substance that keeps our skin firm and resilient, thus protecting it from wrinkling.

For the immune system, it helps fight colds and flus, scrapes and bruises, as well as keeping those gums healthy. Many of our clients at Mesa Personal Training supplement vitamin C not only preventatively, but also to counter the physiological demands placed upon them after their training is completed. Individuals deficient in vitamin C will often present with swollen gums, wounds that do not heal in a timely manner, easy bruising and in general, sub-optimal immune functioning. Classic deficiency is related to scurvy, a condition in which the individual has gum disease, pain in the muscles and joints, skin lesions, fatigue and bleeding. Vitamin C works by stimulating the activity of antibodies and immune system cells. This is very evident in why some individuals can get over a cold in two days while others it may take seven to eight to restore health. Vitamin C is easily consumed through oranges, tangerines and grapefruits, while tomatoes, peppers, broccali and even potatoes will provide significant amounts. For those wishing to protect against disease processes and others who are immunocompromised, a general rule of thumb is to take as many milligrams as possible up to bowel tolerance and then back down by 500 mg.