Cramping your style

You were lying there perfectly sound asleep when out of the blue you were suddenly, and rudely I might add, awakened with an intense pain in one of your calves.

Or, maybe you were in the middle of your weekend long run and just hitting your stride when you were suddenly gripped by a pain in one of your hamstrings.

What you've experienced, my friend, is muscle cramping and it can leave you down for the count and totally incapacitated until it goes away.

The Mayo Clinic describes a muscle cramp, or muscle spasm, as "a sudden and involuntary contraction of one or more of your muscles." Muscle cramping can be brought on by dehydration, muscle fatigue, inadequate blood supply, nerve compression, and certain medications.

What can you do to rid yourself of these sudden intrusions?

1. Drink more water. Dehydration can cause your circuits to "misfire" causing your muscles to receive poor signaling. The general recommendation is 6-8 eight ounce glasses per day, though some dietitians recommend half your body weight in ounces.

2. Stretch. If your muscles are not at a normal resting length they can over react to protect themselves from injury with sudden movements. Stretching can help to return your muscles to their normal range of motion especially after exercise.

3. Watch your intake of minerals. Low potassium can be a main culprit in causing muscle cramping so you'll want to make sure your getting enough. Good sources of potassium include bananas, raisins, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, pumpkin, and root vegetables. As you may have guessed, generally the more processed the food, the less potassium along with many other nutrition essentials.

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Read more on potassium...

Gardening Gives Older Adults Benefits Like Hand Strength And Self Esteem

ScienceDaily (2009-02-17) -- Researchers already have shown that gardening can offer enough moderate physical activity to keep older adults in shape. The researchers also discovered that among the other health benefits of gardening is keeping older hands strong and nimble.

Read more...

What is a calorie?

There's been talk in the news lately about requiring restaurants to list the caloric content of foods on the menu to help consumers make wise meal choices. Without some coaching, however, in our age of information overload it may be confusing to understand what it all means other than the fact that eating "a lot" of them is "not good".

Thermodynamically, a calorie is actually known as a "kilocalorie" and is the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C from a standard initial temperature.

In layman's terms, the calorie is referred to as the way scientists express how much energy is produced by food, specifically the macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein, and fat.

The energy breakdown is as follows:

Carbohydrate - 4 calories per gram
Protein - 4 calories per gram
Fat - 9 calories per gram

Calories are the currency of movement. Physiologically, no movement can occur without them. As long as you live, your body uses calories every moment of every day whether you're sleeping or awake, running or lying still.

How? Basal metabolism.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the minimal amount of energy necessary to maintain respiration, circulation, and other vital body functions while fasting and at total rest. As you may have guessed by now, this includes breathing, breaking down food, and keeping your heart and brain working. BMR is directly effected by your age, gender, weight, and physical activity.

Fortunately, there are things that you can do to increase your BMR, and therefore the number of calories you burn, even while doing "nothing".

Next time: how many calories do you need?

Mummified burgers and petrified fries? Mmm.

If you've seen the 2004 movie "Super Size Me" you know all about independent film maker Morgan Spurlock's unfortunate journey from trim and seemingly healthy to plump and on the brink of liver failure in just thirty days. How? By limiting himself to eating only McDonald's food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To make matters worse, he reportedly only allowed himself the same amount of physical activity as the average American: little to none. He gained 24.5 pounds, his body fat increased to 13.5%, and he experienced mood swings and sexual dysfunction. AND, even though it only took thirty days to gain that weight, it took him fourteen months to lose it.

To quote Guy Kawasaki, "holy kaw"!

If that movie didn't convince you that you might want to motor on by the fast food joints, check out this video for a little more evidence:

Bottoms Up Circuit

One of my favorite morning clients jokingly told me that she changes her Facebook setting based on how she feels after I leave each session.

Hmm. . . wonder what she'll say after today's workout. . . ;)

One of the benefits of this routine is that half of the body "rests" while the other half works. Contact me if you need info on any of the exercises.

Here's a sample variation:

Warm up 5-10 minutes first. Use dumbbells or, as in her case, weight plates (Newbies, use no weights).

Squats
Bulgarian split squat
Sumo squat
One-leg squat Modified: hold onto kitchen counter(or other stable surface), trail free leg in back instead of front, standing knee over ankle, push through heel and drive body straight up not forward

Bicycle abs, 40x
Egg rolls, 12x
2 situps/5 ab crunches x 5

T-stand pushups
Shoulder press w/alternating knee lifts
Lateral raises
Triceps kickbacks
Reverse flye

Do 8-12 of each exercise unless otherwise noted. Go down the list of exercises 2-3 times, circuit style.

She jumped in the jacuzzi afterward, but the shower works good, too.
Have fun!

'Go Red for Women' day

You may have noticed the plethora of women in red today. No, Valentine's day did not come early. It's Go Red for Women day to bring awareness to women and heart disease.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, as in Dr. Oz from the Oprah Show, was on GMA this morning with 5 great healthy tips for women. In honor of Go Red for Women day, I thought I'd repeat them for your here with my two cents added in:

Tip 1: Ease Up on the Stress to Control Eating.
Yes! Many a client has shared that they ate "bad" in response to an intense situation at home or at work, large or small. They ate more than they intended, made poor and emotional choices, or starved and then binged. All not good! Take care of yourself by staying aware. Help yourself by keeping quick healthy foods handy in case you're pressed for time. And, don't forget the water!

Tip 2: Don't Just Count Calories, Count Exercise
This is a good one. Many women are afraid of gaining muscle mass, but I guarantee you that MOST women will not gain massive body building physiques simply by doing resistance training. Further, not only can added muscle mass decrease the incidence of osteoporosis, more muscle mass equals a higher metabolism. A higher metabolism equals more calories burned, and therefore better weight management overall. This is especially important since as we age we lose muscle mass with each decade while gaining more fat.

Tip 3: Sleep Is the Key to Building Muscle
Not only do the growth hormones released during sleep help us to make the most of our workouts physiologically, sleep also regulates the hormones released (or not) that make us want to EAT at night.

Tip 4: Forgive Yourself for Mistakes and Learn to Feel Better
In other words, get over it! If you miss a workout or eat poorly, speed bump over it and pick up where you left off. Dwelling on it may only lead to a downward spiral that takes you longer to recover from. Focus on positive affirmations and move on!

Tip 5: Make Long-Term Changes You Can Sustain
Healthy habits for a healthy lifestyle. People who yo-yo diet or binge workout really haven't made choices they could live with as a part of their "normal" lives, so their results are less than stellar. And think, you don't miss days of brushing your teeth . . . I hope, or skip the shower for long periods, do you? That's because those habits are a part of who you are. Eating healthy and exercising has to be the same way. Find things that you enjoy both in terms of activity and eating styles, and you'll stick to it. And, do allow yourself the less healthy treats you like, but do it thoughtfully and occassionally.

Go here for Dr. Oz's advice.