Listen to your body

The other day I went for a run and it felt good. It seemed effortless and I did not push it too much.  However the next morning my body felt trashed. It was coming to the end of my muscle development phase and I had one more goal to go. It happened to be a squat goal.

Now anyone who has done regular bar squats knows they are grueling. The trade off is that because they are so tough you get more results.  Well come squat day I had to make a decision. Go for it or take an extra day to recover.

My back was pretty kinked up so I was leery to go after it with legs that day. The athlete side of me was telling me to ignore the pain and get it done but the wise sage part of me told me to go to the chiropractor get my back adjusted and give it a day and see.

After some agonizing I decided to go to the chiropractor and get an adjustment and opted for some cardio and stretching.  Today I went in with a "let's see what happens" attitude. Wouldn't you know it I blew my goal away.

Now the point to this story is now that I've been working out for 23 years I am not only stronger but wiser. In the past I would have forced my way through my workout probably having a crappy workout and possibly injuring my back. Because I waited and listened to what my body was telling me I avoided possible injury and still hit my goal.

Bottom line if you are hurt you can't train. I always ask "what's the risk and what's the benefit?" If the risk far outweighs the benefit than I live to fight another day. In this case the risk was throwing out my back which really puts a cramp in my lifestyle or hitting some goal which really in the grand scheme of things is not that important compared to my overall health.

So what is your body telling you?? Are you running on bad knees even though it kills you every time. Are you forcing yourself through your workouts even though you are fatigued? Are you still training heavy even though all your joints hurt?

Whatever it is you should listen because if you look at the long term damage you can do there might come a day when you won't be able to the things you do or do them very well. All because you didn't listen to your body. Yes it is okay to take a rest you won't turn to goo or lose all your muscle in fact you will probably come back stronger, more energetic, and pain free than before.

One of my secrets to a great workout!

I've been working out a long time consistently. It's been 23 years since I first joined Priority Health And Fitness the neighborhood gym I grew up in.  I logged many hours in the gym training for football, bodybuilding, skiing etc.

How do I stay motivated?

Well, here is one of my big secrets...

Good music that pumps me up and gets me focused and motivated to get after it in gym.

Back in the 80s it was Heavy metal hair bands blaring out in Priority with all of us high schoolers lifting together.  In the 90s it was working out at the football weight room at Mankato with my teammates cranking up the Metallica and grunge music. it really set the mode.

I started working at Northwest Athletic Clubs which had elevator music so I switched to a walkman and made all kinds of work out tapes. Then it was a portable CD player and finally the greatest gift to music lovers.. The I-Pod!

Frequently I tell clients who are in a rut to download new songs make new mixes that correspond with the type of workout they are doing. It makes a huge difference.  If  I'm doing a long cardio it might be more latin music with a good rhythm like salsa or merengue.  However, if it's an intense weight day or mountain bike ride than it has to be heavy metal or hard core alternative music.

The point is that it is tough to get into the gym day in and day out. It's even harder to have consistently awesome workouts.  In order  to be successful in the long term you need to use every tool at your disposal that will help you.

Maybe you like sappy love songs or polka it doesn't matter as long as it gets you moving and motivated. So if you have an I-pod(buy one if you don't) create some killer playlists you can use and switch them often to avoid boredom. I promise you'll notice a difference in how hard you push yourself in your workouts.

Rock on!!

Erik

Make somebody’s day!

Posted By Yvonne Vanoort


“True generosity requires more of us than kindly impulse. Above all it requires imagination - the capacity to see people in all their perplexities and needs, and to know how to expend ourselves effectively for them.” - I.A.R. Wylie



I remember being in the parking lot at the grocery store when my kids were both little. It was winter, cold and windy and I was trying to put my groceries in the car quickly. Finally I got done unloading and was going to push the cart back to the corral when a lady took it from me and brought it back for me instead. She smiled at me and I was grateful for that simple act of kindness. That was years ago, and I still remember it.



There are many ways you can choose to make somebody’s day. It doesn’t take much of your time, if any at all, but it may brighten your neighbor’s glum day or make a boring workday that much better for the waitress/waiter who’s serving you.



Here are some examples I put together, but don’t let these suggestions limit your possibilities.



Speak up - Let somebody know that they did something well. Compliment them on their hair, their shoes, their kids.



Something unexpected - Pay for someone’s coffee or wash your neighbor’s car.



Listen - A co-worker is having a tough day, spend 10 minutes of your time to

to listen to what they have to say. I’m sure it will make for a much more productive day for them.



Bake and Share - Now this is one of my favorites, since I love to bake. Make a batch of cookies and bring them to work. Bring some banana bread over to the neighbors and put a smile on their face.



Write a snail mail letter - These days everything has to be about instant gratification: e-mails, texting, chatting, etc. Remember when people used to write letters with ink and send them in the mail? Pick up a pen and paper and write someone a snail mail letter.



Call without reason - Call a friend or family member without a reason. Catch up with them, ask about their lives, their kids, make their day.



Be goofy - When my kids are grumpy, I oftentimes start doing goofy things, pretend I don’t know any better, dance in the kitchen. It makes them laugh, and they forget whatever was bugging them before.



Say ‘thank you’ - Really one of the most simple gestures is to say “ Thank you”, may it be to the person holding the door open for you or the cashier at Target.



I know this post isn’t about the latest news on protein shakes or the hot new exercise of the week, which doesn’t mean that won’t be my topic next time, but about kindness. You don’t have to make it sappy, just simple. People live together, we cross paths, and we might as well make it worthwile.



“A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference.”

-- Pooh Bear

Don't use the F word!

One of the most frustrating things about being a personal trainer is watching people beat themselves up constantly. Many people think they have to be perfect or they are losers and they use the “F” word which is

FAILURE. I hear things like “Why do I fail so much” or “I’m such a failure at this.” The truth is you only fail when you give up. Goals are like target shooting. When you miss you aim better the next time and shoot again. If everything was easy we would be bored in life. Overcoming challenges is more rewarding than having something come too easy. It’s from those challenges we grow in character . Remember the old saying “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” That saying is so true. Ask anyone who has had a lot of success in life and they’ll tell you they also had a lot of “failures” before they hit it big. For example, Walt Disney went to he bank over 350 times before getting his business plan approved. What if he had given up? We’d be going to some big alligator farm in Florida instead of the awesome Disney resorts. My other point is we all can’t be good at everything . If we could all do everything ourselves we would have no need for businesses. Therefore our whole system would be obsolete. I often tell people if everyone was accountable and knowledgeable about exercise than I would be out of a job. Anyway, if you are struggling with something whether it’s exercise, weight loss, finances, or relationships, ask for help. Have someone design a plan for you and then execute it with pigheaded determination with the attitude that the “F” word is not an option!

Don't pass the salt please!!

90% of us are eating too much salt. Unfortunately, much of it comes from the processed foods we eat, not from our salt shakers.

In a recent report published in the Centers for Disease Control Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, stated that “nine in 10 American adults consume more salt than is recommended,” and “the foods we eat most, grains and meats, contain the most sodium.”

“The American food supply is, in a word, salty,” said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. “Roughly 80% of the sodium we consume comes not from our own salt shakers, but from additions made by the food industry. The result is an average excess of daily sodium intake measured in hundreds and hundreds of milligrams, and an annual excess of deaths from heart disease and stroke exceeding 100,000.”



Where is all this salt coming from?

Processed and prepared foods.

Natural sources. Some foods naturally contain sodium, while they don’t have an abundance of sodium, it adds up.

In the kitchen and at the table. Many recipes call for salt, and many people also salt their food at the table.



How much do you need?

According to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Healthy adults shouldn’t exceed 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day. If you have high blood pressure, kidney disease or diabetes, or are middle-aged or older, you shouldn’t exceed 1,500 mg a day.

Keep in mind that these are upper limits, and less is usually best, especially if you are sensitive to the effects of sodium.

Your body does need some sodium to function properly because it:

Helps maintain the right balance of fluids in your body

Helps transmit nerve impulses

Influences the contraction and relaxation of muscle

Your kidneys naturally balance the amount of sodium stored in your body for optimal health. When your sodium levels are too low, your kidneys essentially hold on to the sodium.

But if for some reason your kidneys can’t eliminate enough sodium, it starts to build up in your blood. Because sodium attracts and holds water, your blood volume increases. Increased blood volume makes your heart work harder to move more blood through your blood vessels, which increases pressure in your arteries. Such diseases as congestive heart failure, cirrhosis, and chronic kidney disease can make it hard for your kidneys to keep sodium levels balanced.




How to tame the salt habit

Taste alone may not tell you which foods are high in sodium. For example, you may not think a bagel tastes salty, but a typical oat-bran bagel has about 532 mg of sodium.

So how can you tell which foods are high in sodium? Read the labels. Nutrition Facts labels lists the amount of sodium in each serving, they also list whether the ingredients include salt or sodium-containing compounds, such as: monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, baking powder, disodium phosphate, sodium alginate, and sodium nitrate or nitrite.

Many food packages include sodium-related terms. Here’s what they mean:

Sodium-free or salt-free. Each serving in this product contains less than 5 mg of sodium.

Very low sodium. Each serving contains 35 mg of sodium or less.

Low sodium. Each serving contains 140 mg of sodium or less.

Reduced or less sodium. The product contains at least 25 percent less sodium than the regular version.

Lite or light in sodium. The sodium content has been reduced by at least 50% from the regular version.

Unsalted or no salt added. No salt is added during processing of a food that normally contains salt. However, some foods with these labels may still be high in sodium.

But watch out—foods labeled “reduced sodium” or “light in sodium” may still contain a lot of salt. The bottom line? Avoid products with more than 200mg of sodium per serving. And check the Nutrition Facts label closely for the serving size—and consider how many servings you actually eat.

Tips to cut back

Eat more fresh foods and fewer processed foods.

Opt for low-sodium products.

Remove salt from recipes whenever possible.

Limit use of sodium-laden condiments. Soy sauce, salad dressings, sauces, dips, etc.

Use herbs, spices and other flavorings to enhance foods. And remember sea salt has about amount of sodium as table salt.

Use salt substitutes wisely, many contain other potential problem ingredients.

SLEEP-The Missing Link

Hi everyone,

Does this sound like you??

You’ve been working hard to get in your exercise sessions and eat a healthy balanced diet, but are you still feeling a bit sluggish? Don’t have the energy to greet the day with enthusiasm? Hit a plateau on dropping those last few pounds? What are you missing?




Diet, Exercise...And SLEEP



It may be as simple as having a regular schedule of good nights’ sleep. Adequate sleep is necessary for healthy functioning. Research shows that sleep regulates mood and is related to learning and memory functions. When we sleep well, we wake up feeling refreshed and alert for our daily activities. Sleep affects how we look, feel and perform on a daily basis, and can have a major impact on our overall quality of life.



What happens when you sleep?



To get the most our of our sleep, both quantity and quality are important. When we are sleeping, our bodies follow a pattern of alternating REM (rapid eye movement) and NREN (non-rapid eye movement) sleep throughout a typical night, in a cycle that repeats about every 90 minutes.



NREM is about 75% of the night; during this stage we are relaxing, our breathing and heart rate slow, our body temperature drops, we begin to fall asleep and move toward the deeper sleep. During this stage, the blood supply to the muscles increases, hormones are released, such as growth hormones, allowing for tissue growth, repair, and development (especially in the muscles). Also happening during this stage is our energy levels are restoring.



REM sleep accounts for about 25% of the night. During this stage, we are in deep sleep, where our body becomes fully relaxed and our muscles are shut off. While the brain is active (and typically dreaming) during this stage, this is the sleep stage that will support our daytime performance and function.




If our sleep is cut short, the body doesn’t have time to complete all of the phases it needs for muscle repair, memory consolidation, and release of hormones regulating growth and appetite.



Here are a few key benefits of regular good night’s sleep:



Learning and memory. Sleep helps the brain to commit new information to memory.

Metabolism and weight. Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

Safety. A lack of sleep contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.

Mood. Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

Cardiovascular health. Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

Disease. Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body's killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.



How much sleep do you need?



There’s no ‘magic number’ here. Different age groups need different amounts of sleep and sleep needs vary by individual. Here are the recommended ‘rule-of-thumb’ ranges:

Teens (11-17) 8.5-9.25 hours

Adults 7-9 hours

Older Adults 7-9 hours



To determine how much sleep you need, it’s important to assess your own individual needs and habits. See how you respond to different amounts of sleep, pay close attention to your mood, energy levels, and health after a poor nights sleep, versus a good one. Determine how often you get a good night’s sleep, if it’s not often, then you may need to consider changing your sleep habits.



Check out the Quick Tips for ways to get better:
 
Quick Tips To A Good Night’s Sleep


8 Tips to Get Better Zzzzzz’s….



1. Cut Caffeine. The effects of caffeine can take as long as eight hours to wear off. So if you drink a cup of coffee or soda in the afternoon and are still tossing at night, caffeine might be the reason. Cutting out caffeine at least four to six hours before bedtime can help you fall asleep easier.

2. Avoid alcohol as a sleep aid. Alcohol may initially help you fall asleep, but it also causes disturbances in sleep resulting in less restful sleep.

3. Relax before bedtime. Stress not only makes you miserable it wreaks havoc on your sleep. Develop some kind of pre-sleep ritual to break the connection between all the day’s stress and bedtime. These rituals can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as an hour.

4.Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and comfortable. Use earplugs, window blinds or curtains, set the temperature between 68-72 degrees—everything possible to create the ideal sleep environment.

5. Eat right, sleep tight. Try not to go to bed hungry, but avoid heavy meals just before bedtime. And avoid any specific foods that you know cause you trouble, such as spicy foods that cause heartburn.

6. Avoid napping. While a nap sounds like a good idea after a long day, napping can only make matters worse if you usually have trouble falling asleep. If you do, keep it brief, between 15-20 minutes.

7. Keep pets off the bed. Allowing pets to sleep with you can cause you to wake during the night, either from pet movements or allergies.

8. Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed. These activities can wire up your brain, making it difficult for you to fall asleep.



(WebMD.com “Sleep Guide”)

Clean Eating

Hello my name is Kim Weiher and I have been working at Puravida Fitness as an intern. I recently completed my A.S. degree in Exercise and Sports Science and will be transferring to Concordia University to finish up my bachelors degree in Physical Education and Health.

I just wanted to talk about how to stay on track with eating a clean diet. What is considered clean eating anyways?

6 Steps to a clean diet

1.) Go organic

Going organic will reduce the amount of chemical additives, pesticides, insecticides and genetically modified ingredients in your food.

2.) Go seasonal

Seasonal foods will not have to travel as far to get to the super markets and will also have greater nutritional value.

Shop for whatever is in season, for instance shopping the farmers markets for the freshest home grow foods will have the greatest nutritional benifits.

3.) Make it fresh

Fresh is always the best and has the greatest amount of nutrient content. Vitamins degrade over a period of time after foods are exposed to oxygen light and heat.

4.) Aim for minimally processed and lightly cooked or raw

Bad cooking methods– deep frying creating free radicals that may cause cancer.

Good cooking methods- steaming food does not lose as much vitamins and minerals. Dry-frying, stir-frying, oven roasting, grilling and raw are the best ways to cook your food with the most nutritional benefit.

5.) Make food additive –FREE

If you look at a food label don’t eat it if you can’t even pronounce what is in it. Once again, going fresh with produce, fruits. veggies and nuts reduce the problem of processed package foods that contain these types of ingredients.

6.) Eat Whole Grains

Skip on the refined, white flour products and switch to 100% whole grain varieties like brown rice, pastas and breads.

These are just a few ways to clean up your diet and change the way that you look at clean eating. Throwing out all the processed foods can make a huge impact on your overall health by trimming you waist line and making you feel your very best! Pure foods provides healthy body systems, fights illnesses and keeps you slim and young .

Reference- Max Tomlinson.Cleanupyourdiet

Great recipe to bring to your next family get together –In season , fresh and clean!


Balsamic Strawberry Salsa

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

1 pint fresh strawberries

8 green onions chopped

2 pints grape tomatoes

½ cup fresh cilantro

Mix all ingredients together to make a great yummy salsa

CHIPS

100% whole grain tortillas or pitas cut into pie slices

spray tortillas with water or olive oil

Place on a pan in the oven for 8 to 10 min at 400 degrees

ENJOY!

Neck size and childhood obesity

Posted by Maurice McDew Personal Trainer Puravida Fitness

(Checkout his cute pic above, what happened??)

I remember back when I was a kid, getting enough exercise wasn't something we would ever have to worry about. We got plenty of exercise every day by running around, playing all kinds of sports, and using our bikes or our feet to get us to where we needed to be. Today's kids have grown accustomed to sitting for hours at a time in front of televisions and computers with little to no physical activity. The threat of childhood obesity has become a dangerous reality, but could easily be solved with at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Or as I like to think, getting back to the basics of having every day fun in the sun.




I found an interesting article online describing how the BMI Index for children may be inaccurate, and that we should instead be measuring the neck circumference to screen for obesity. Although the article listed below describes an interesting way to screen children for this problem, I keep wondering if time is better spent trying to get in front of the obesity epidemic by focusing on the preventive measures instead of having to find new ways to detect the problem.



The bottom line is childhood obesity is a problem that affects the entire family . So as parents and children let's get out there and beat this problem.

Neck size could help ID childhood obesity

Tue, Jul 06, 2010

Measuring children's neck circumference could provide a quick, simple way to screen them for weight problems, a new study suggests.

Such screening is recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an influential panel sponsored by the government's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, starting at the age of 6. Right now, doctors usually use body mass index, or BMI, to gauge whether a child (or adult) is overweight or obese. But BMI, which is a ratio of weight to height, is not a good indicator of how much body fat a person has.


Because pounds due to excess body fat -- rather than larger bones or greater muscle mass -- are the health concern, researchers have been looking for more precise ways to gauge fat levels. One way is to measure waist circumference, which studies suggest is better than BMI alone in assessing abdominal fat and health risks, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, in adults.

Another tactic is to measure neck circumference -- which, although less studied, seems to be a potential marker of obesity and health risks in adults.

The new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, looked at whether measuring neck circumference has any value in screening children for excess pounds and obesity.


Since BMI is not a precise indicator of body fat, adding a neck circumference measurement could improve childhood obesity screening, lead researcher Dr. Olubukola Nafiu, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told Reuters Health.

And compared with waistline measurements, measuring the neck would also be quicker and more comfortable for children, Nafiu said, since they can keep all their clothes on for the latter.

Neck circumference is also more consistent in comparison to waist size -- which can swell after a big lunch, for instance.

For their study, Nafiu and his colleagues measured weight, height, waist circumference and neck circumference in 1,102 children and teenagers ages 6 to 18 who were undergoing surgery at their center.


They found that neck circumference correlated well with both BMI and waist size in boys and girls, as well as younger children and teenagers.


The researchers also pinpointed "optimal" cutoff points for neck circumference that identified a majority of kids with a high BMI. For example, a 6-year-old boy with a neck circumference of greater than 28.5 centimeters - about 11.2 inches -- was nearly four times more likely to be overweight or obese, based on BMI, as a 6-year-old boy with a smaller neck circumference.


In addition to helping screen for obesity, the researchers note, neck measurements might also be useful for spotting kids at risk of sleep apnea, a disorder in which tissues at the back the throat temporarily collapse during sleep to create repeated stops and starts in breathing. Obesity, particularly excess weight in the upper body, is a risk factor.

Nafiu said that in earlier studies, he and his colleagues found that children with a high BMI were at relatively greater risk of certain post-surgery problems; they tend, for instance, to take longer to wake up from anesthesia because the drugs concentrate in body fat.

In the future, Nafiu said, the researchers want to look at whether measuring neck circumference before surgery can identify children at greater risk of such problems.