From the AUGUST 2, NEW YORK TIMES:
by Jane Brody, New York Times

When you go to the gym, do you wash your hands before and after using the equipment? Bring your own regularly cleaned mat for floor exercises? Shower with antibacterial soap and put on clean clothes immediately after your workout? Use only your own towels, razors, bar soap, water bottles?

If you plan to work out in a gym or use a locker room, Mr. Foley suggested that before choosing a facility, you quiz the management about the cleaning agents used (they should be approved by the Environmental Protection Agency) and daily cleaning schedule for all surfaces and equipment. If exercise mats are not cleaned between classes, he suggested bringing your own. Antibacterial wipes or spray bottles should be provided and used by everyone to clean equipment after a workout.

If you answered “no” to any of the above, you could wind up with one of the many skin infections that can spread like wildfire in athletic settings.

Read the rest of this entry »

As promised, here are 10 ways to improve your posture:

1. Learn what “neutral” spine feels like.

Recognize what neutral spine alignment looks and feels like (it’s that natural “S” curve of the spine that you’re familiar with seeing in pictures). When people first reform into a neutral spine position, most describe it as feeling “unnatural” – only because our muscles have become so trained to hold the spine in mis-alignment. And remember, your neck is a very important part of your spine to hold in alignment.

2. Keep reminding yourself.

When you catch a glimpse of yourself in a window reflection, or in the bathroom mirror, or even in your shadow on the sidewalk, remind yourself to become posture-conscious. Postural muscles that are responsible for holding their contraction will soon do so more easily and naturally.

3. Shift position frequently.

Science is identifying more and more negative health effects of too much sitting. Counter the damage as much as possible by standing whenever you can.  Standing with proper spine alignment is far easier than sitting with proper spine alignment.

4. Strengthen your hips.

Weak hip muscles that attach to your pelvis can affect posture. Particularly if you sit a lot, make sure you’re following an exercise program that includes flexibility and strength training for the hip flexors, extensors, abductors, adductors and rotators.

5. Do appropriate core exercises.

Learn exercises that train the abdominals to hold the pelvis in neutral alignment. Active core stabilization training (like stability ball roll-outs and planks) is really effective for postural correction. Remember to keep your scapulae retracted.

6. Extend your spine to increase its range of motion.

Learn how to correctly perform back extension exercises. On the floor, using a machine or while standing, back extension exercises can significantly reduce or eliminate back pain.

7. Remember to work front AND back sides of your upper body.

Work muscles that you can’t see in a mirror as frequently as you work those that you can. Look around the gym, you’ll easily see what I mean. You need balanced upper body strength front and back to exhibit good posture. Rear deltoids, infraspinatus, rhomboids, latissimus, lower trapezius.

8. Shift exercise style.

Don’t dismiss the occasional yoga or Pilate’s class from your overall fitness program. After all, you’re going to be working out for the rest of your life, so vary it up a bit to keep from getting bored. Full range of joint motion is a key element of good posture.

9. Visualize good posture.

Imagine a hook placed just under your sternum lifting you gently. Notice how your thoracic spine responds to that. Or a puppet string gently attached to the crown of your scalp lifting you straight up. When you walk, concentrate on your posture and imagine yourself moving with a coordinated, symmetrical alignment. Imagine Royalty. Practice your wave.

10. Get checked out.

Besides muscular weakness and muscular imbalance, postural problems can arise from other factors and conditions. Yes, I can help with muscle training. I can also put you in touch with other specialists who can help diagnose and treat any skeletal issues that may be impacting your posture.

Stay strong and upright well into your future.

Doug

MyTrainerSays.com

Using a scale to check if we’re losing or gaining weight is something that we’re all familiar with – but here are two other measurements used as indicators of health – your BMI (Body Mass Index) and your Waist-to-Hip Ratio.

The Body Mass Index uses weight and height to determine body condition – thus indicating a general level of fitness. What the Index doesn’t take into account however, is how much muscle you already have (by volume, muscle weighs more than fat), your frame size (“Hey, I’m not fat, I’m just big-boned!”) or your gender, all of which can skew the results. More importantly, it doesn’t measure how your body fat is distributed, which is the most important factor for predicting your risk of heart disease, obesity-related illnesses and death.

Here is a handy tool for calculating your BMI…

Gender:	Male Female
Height:	ft in
Weight:	pounds
BMI Calculator

Most experts agree that it is your Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Waist Circumference (along with BMI) that provides a clearer picture of your long-term health. That’s because carrying excess fat around the waist puts anybody at a higher risk for heart disease and death.

Click this link for an online tool to calculate your own Waist-to-Hip Ratio.

---

Knowing your basic numbers will give you a starting point for making the changes you need to lose weight and improve your health. Tracking your BMI and waist-to-hip ratio over time, as well as your body fat and girth measurements, can help you figure out if you’re on the right track.

---

Life-long fitness can start right now.

Doug
MyTrainerSays.com

From Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Your Office Chair is Killing You.

I would often see them at the office on Monday morning.  Sometimes limping because of a pulled groin muscle. Sometimes unable to lift a coffee cup because of a bum shoulder. Or easing into a board room chair because of sore glutes.

Ah – the plight of the Weekend Warrior!  Usually, the “I could’a been a Canuck, you know” guy from Finance.

Vigorous exercise done only occasionally – particularly for the “mature” man or woman – often results in torn or strained joints and muscles, and doesn’t do much to improve your sports performance either.

Had they known that engaging in regular strength-building exercise allows connective tissue, a.k.a. tendons and ligaments, to strengthen progressively. (ligaments = bone to bone / tendons = muscle to bone).

Cardio-vascular endurance also increases progressively through regular exercise. No more gasping for oxygen on the field or in the gym.

Simply put: Regular workouts always lead to better health benefits.

Now you know.

Doug

I know you’ve seen it… people everywhere hunched over their mobile devices. While walking, while sitting, while waiting, while driving… head bowed in seeming prayer to the technology gods.

I call it the “iPhone Curve”, a.k.a. Forward Head Posture.

For a moment, think back to high-school Physics  – and the lessons of Mass and Gravity.

As an experiment, imagine a 5 kilogram mass (say, a bowling ball, which is generally the weight of an adult head) placed on the end of a flexible stick (representing your cervical spine).

Keep bending it over, raising it, bending it, raising it. Note that there are INCREDIBLE FORCES  pulling down on that stick, warping it out of shape with the relatively heavy weight on top.  So much so that the stick begins to deform and to assume a forward lean even after it is returned to vertical.

Now think about the number of hours in a day that you spend with your neck tilted forward, your own “5 kg bowling ball” supported by the 7 vertebrae of your cervical spine. No wonder that Forward Head Posture is THE most common postural defect in the tech-developed world.

To counter the neck-deforming forces of “iPhone curve”, there are some neck exercises and stretches that all of us should be doing more regularly. Here is one of them:

While standing upright and flat against a wall (that means your heels, butt and shoulder blades are all touching the wall), “slide” your head back so that it is touching the wall all the while keeping your chin parallel to the floor.

Feel the contraction of the muscles in the back of your neck as you pull it back? Those are the muscles that have lengthened abnormally far forward because of gravity’s pull on your down-turned head all day; muscles that need to be strengthened and shortened to help sustain vertical alignment of the neck. In contrast, do you feel the muscles in the front of your neck being pulled longer in this exercise? That stretch you feel is evidence of abnormal shortening of those muscles, again due to forward head posture and the force of gravity.

Muscle strength in the front and back of the neck needs to be balanced to keep your head upright and centred on its base of support – your cervical spine.

If you are concerned about the effects of Forward Head posture, send me a note and I’ll return some other exercises that are very effective in countering gravity’s pull on your bowling ball.

Meanwhile, this video from a website offering sound advice about neck and back pain gets into the topic in much greater detail.

Doug

MyTRAINER says…

Thanks to: www.greenbody.com

“Most people can significantly improve their chances of staying healthy during flu season with exercise and nutrition. Unfortunately, this preventative angle hasn’t been getting much publicity.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m hearing from more and more clients, friends and peers who have been, are currently feeling, or suspect that they will be, sick from the flu this season.

I received this topical information from Mike Clausen, a trainer who I respect in San Francisco. He is co-owner of  DIAKADI Body Personal Training and Wellness Center.

1. Don’t work out when you are sick. Each year I have to send out an email warning my clients not to step foot in this gym if they are feeling the least bit sick—for my own well-being and for theirs. It will do no good to workout with a compromised immune system. That only extends the time of the illness. When you are sick, your body is fighting hard to heal and get rid of the virus. Working out (and especially cardio) will cause your body to further break down. This is when you need to take a step back and relax.  My clients often are so concerned with getting bigger or losing weight that they fail to see that by pushing themselves so hard, even when they are sick, they are only delaying their muscle gains/fat loss.
   And that’s besides the fact that contagion spreads through gyms — so really, stay home and rest up.
2. Eat well, even if you don’t want to. By eating whole, nutritious foods, you are aiding your body in keeping your immune system vital. When we eat bad food, our bodies perform badly. So does our immune system. When we ingest food that is not really meant for consumption (i.e. the white devils: flour, sugar, milk and processed foods) our body has to work harder to break them down. This causes a weakness in our immune system and makes us more susceptible to illness. The best way to avoid this is to eat organic (if possible) vegetables, fruits, meats and whole grains.
3. Get plenty of rest. Sleep is one of the most important aspects when it comes to recovery. A lack of sleep causes a decrease in your productivity and can lead to injury and illness.  We should get about eight to 10 hours of sleep each night. Your body depends on this. Also, if you have the luxury, afternoon naps can be extremely beneficial. Some benefits of sleep are:  increased blood supply to muscles, lowered metabolic rate (optimal for tissue repair), and a peak of growth hormone secretion during deep sleep.  Also, sleeping improves your overall immune function.  To help you get the proper rest you need, you need to make sleep a priority. You should try to go to bed at the same time every night (anywhere from 10 to 11 o’clock) and stick to it. Avoid caffeinated drinks and alcohol from about four to five hours before your bedtime. These drinks both impair your sleep quality and your ability to enter REM or deep sleep. The goal is to wake up rested and healthy.
4. Listen to your body. This one is easy. Think of all the times that you go into the gym, and think…damn…am I here again? We all tend to overdo it. You don’t have to workout six days a week. Resting your body is just as important as the lifting you are doing. On the days when you just don’t have it—you just shouldn’t go. You are going to end up having a lousy workout, and feel miserable while you’re there. Missing a day or two or even a week will not diminish your gains. If you have been lifitng for a long time and are eating right, you will see no difference if you take a break. We all have to get out of the mindset that more is better, when in fact, better is better.  Rest and recovery are equally if not more important when it comes to muscle gains as the heavy lifting.

There you have it. Good advice for everyone.

Doug

MyTRAINER says…