Move It Monday – The Fountain of Youth

Interested in reducing your risk for cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, and dementia?

Study after study is concluding that regular exercise is the only well-established fountain of youth, and it’s free.

Today’s Personal Health column in the NYT has a really nicely researched article about the many, many health benefits of exercise to defend against both physical and cognitive deterioration.

My Move It Monday for this week is short and sweet. I want you to read about how you can use consistent exercise program reduce your odds of breast cancer 16%, reduce your odds of a stroke by 40%, and significantly cut your chances of developing diabetes, osteoporosis, and dementia.

To get Move It Monday delivered to your inbox each week, sign up for  … read more

Move it Monday – Back Pain? Quit Your Job

Several years ago a wellness study of individuals with back pain was done at a Fortune 100 company. The one factor they all had in common? They were all unhappy with their jobs!

Do I really advocate you quit your job to eliminate you back pain? No.

But, what I do suggest that you move. Many people who develop back pain stop moving that area because it’s painful, or they become fearful that they will hurt themselves again. I know, I was one of them.

But, when you stop moving a body part, you lose awareness in that part of the body (we call that sensory motor amnesia, or SMA). Once you lose the awareness in one part of your body, you are  … read more

Also posted in Wellness & Fitness

Move It Monday – Do you know what a serving size is?

Pre-packaged muffins: 2 servings per muffin

Pint of ice cream: 4 servings

Double-stuff Oreos: ~2 cookies

Did you have ANY idea that that is the FDA-approved serving size for those items? I mean really, who stops at half a muffin? Or two Oreos?

While the US is making huge strides in its nutritional labeling, it still has a long way to go. It’s really easy to quickly glance at a label, note that the calories “aren’t too bad” and rip open the package or throw it in the shopping cart. What fewer people do is bother to see how many servings are in that same package and then consider how it’s likely to be eaten in their household.

Serving sizes came about in the  … read more

Also posted in Nutrition

Move It Monday – American Heart Month

Do you know the numbers you should have to minimize your risk of heart disease?

February is American Heart Month, and the American Heart Association is looking for help with their amazing and ambitious goal:

“Today, our near-term goal is nothing less than a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk by the year 2010.”

Heart disease is the #1 killer in women, something that surprises many people. Unfortunately, it’s not a surprise to me. 18 years ago, my Mom died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at the age of 47. She had all of the numbers working against her, but the heart disease in women wasn’t a public health issue in the early 1990s. Heart disease was still a  … read more

Move it Monday – Play Outside

As Seattle wrapped its warmest January ever, I have been taking advantage of the warmer than usual temps to take my clients to one of the many neighborhood parks for training.

Not only is it a great change of pace, but the novelty creates more of a challenge for the nervous system, the slightly cooler weather keeps you moving a bit faster, and being outside just makes you HAPPIER and MORE KIDLIKE.

I think we have a great park system here, but only recently did I discover the Park Finder feature on the city of Seattle web site. You can search by feature, zip code, or see all area parks. I love it to find out where there are ball parks for  … read more

Also posted in Wellness & Fitness

Move It Monday – Move More, Move Often

“Too much sitting is bad for health.”

This is from a recent study that you may have already seen, but it certainly bears repeating.

In short, for each hour we spend in front of the TV:

11% increase in death (from all causes)
9% increase in cancer death
18% increase in cardiovascular death

“Compared with people who watched less than two hours of television daily, those who watched more than four hours a day had a 46 percent higher risk of death from all causes and an 80 percent increased risk for cardiovascular-related death.”

While the study focused primarily on TV, you can logically extend the study to any prolonged sedentary behavior (and yes, that includes the computer). We simply aren’t meant to sit in one place  … read more

Move It Monday – Be a Kid Again

I just spent the weekend with my brother and two and a half year old niece, and there is nothing like 4 days with a toddler to remind you how much FUN moving and playing once were.

We played for 4 days straight, horsey, and airplane, and catch, and jumping, and crawling. She was completely fearless, learning about her body and what she is capable of. Her Dad and I always made sure she was safe (although she is a pretty smart cookie).

That is what training should be. Fun!

This week I want you to take a childlike approach to your training. I’m not saying to run like Phoebe in Friends, but find something completely unstructured to do that you absolutely love  … read more

Move It Monday – Seeing is Doing

We are in the midst of the holiday season, when the imaginations of young and old alike come alive.

Not just a new-agey concept, visualization is an important part of moving well. When we take the time to visualize our movements, the nervous system remembers what we visualize in order to assist us the next time we go to make the motion.

I recently used this to help me with my shoulder rolls — I was really good on one side, but the other was really loud and the form was awkward. I knew what I needed to do, but my body wouldn’t do it. Then I went on a business trip, and while I was gone I’d regularly take a few  … read more

Also posted in Z-Health & the Nervous System

Move It Monday – What Are You Thankful For?

Thought, emotion, and movement are all tied together. Our brains literally tie them together neuronally when the activity happens.

This week we are going to move your emotional center.

When you do something that makes you happy, the next time you go it there is a good chance you will have a positive experience. Likewise, when you have a bad experience, the repeat of it is likely to be bad — just because you have this negative memory already associated with it.

For example, when I was 16 I had a terrible car accident on a rural WI road near my house. I ended up in the hospital, temporarily paralyzed, broken spine, spent Christmas in the hospital, and 20 subsequent years of low  … read more

Move It Monday – Variety

There is an old adage, “variety is the spice of life.”

It is not only the spice of life, but also a critical component of a successful training program.

It keeps you from getting bored.
It keeps your body from adapting too much to what it is doing, leading to plateaus. While practice makes perfect, fooling around speeds, reps, sets, and environment keeps the body challenged while still allowing it to excel at what it’s doing.
It keeps you from getting hurt (repetitive use syndrome, anyone).
It keeps your kids from getting hurt. Too much specialized (single-sport) training too young in life is more likely to lead to injury, burn-out, and inability to compete than just letting your kid play and learn the basics of  … read more