Anxiety 1

Something happened to a very good friend of mine yesterday, where anxiety physically stopped her from doing something she wanted to do. For her - and for anyone else out there, here is how exercise can help reduce and manage anxiety.

Anxiety can be described as "A negative emotional state which is characterised by nervousness and worry which is associated with  heightened "arousel" in the body".

You can experience "State Anxiety" which describes feelings of anxiety "right now".  And also "Trait Anxiety" which tends to be general feelings of anxiety across all situations – like a personality trait – unfortunately, those with high trait anxiety will have higher state anxiety

Both trait and state anxiety can manifest themselves in different ways.  They can be mental – or Cognitive anxiety – e.g. negative thoughts and nervousness or more physical which is Somatic anxiety – e.g. muscle tension, butterflies

The relationship that you have between you "felt arousal" – i.e. how anxious you may feel – and then the subsequent emotional response depends on your cognitive interpretation of your anxiety.  

That is to say, you can feel anxious but you may interpret this to be pleasant or unpleasant.  Some people function better in what is known as a "Telic state" where you tend to enjoy more serious behaviour, like making plans and prefer low anxiety arousal levels.  Others prefer a "Paratelic state" where behaviour is spontaneous; they are more concerned with now and prefer high arousal or enjoy anxiety as they see it as exciting.

Understanding how you function and react to anxiety will be a great step towards helping yourself deal with stressful situations.  

You can experience Tension-stress - which is the discrepancy between your preferred state of being (calm or hyper!) and your actual arousal levels.  It may bring with it unpleasant emotions.  Telic people may then see a stress situation then full of threat and anxiety, whilst partelic people may feel boredom and not enjoy the lack of threat in a situation.  

Telic people have to employ "effortful coping strategies" to help deal with the situation whilst Paratelic people might create challenge in order to face this – maybe start and argument, make themselves late, be unprepared etc.  Try to think about how you react.  Can you start to see and understand how you function in stressful situations?  This will all help to you make plans to deal with your anxiety. 

There is more to understand about anxiety and I will post again about this. We will look at some coping strategies that may work for you and examine which is the best way to reduce anxiety – Relaxation, Goal-Setting, Imagery or Self-Talk? In the mean time, here is some information about the positive effect of exercise on anxiety – regardless of which state you may be in J

• Exercise has a low to moderate anxiety reducing effect, equivalent to other non-pharmaceutical interventions
• Exercise programmes of 10 – 15 weeks can reduce trait-anxiety across a wide range of subgroups
• Single sessions of moderate aerobic rhythmic type exercise lasting at least 20 minutes is most likely to result in reduction in state anxiety
• Single session of moderate exercise can reduce short term physiological reactivity and to enhance recovery from stressors
• Higher levels of fitness are associated with less physiological reactivity to and enhance recovery from stress – a stress buffering effect.
• Mops up excess Free Fatty Acids and glucose
• Uses adrenaline, noradrenalin and Cortisol in an appropriate manner
• Reduces acute rises in BP – especially diastolic
• Reduces muscular tension
• Aids relaxation

If all else fails, at least there are minions to make you smile...

How to start...

The Beginning

Day One – ok, let us try to make a start on the whole dark art of “losing weight”.  First things first, your body is made up on many things, and the weight that you weigh on the scales is the total sum of that – so we need to be smarter in our desire to change body shape, by listing it all. Guys, please use chest measurements in the same position as the "Bust 1 and 2" :)

Date	Total Weight	Bust 1  Fullest part	Bust 2  Under bust	Waist 1  narrowest part	Waist 2 across belly button	Hips 1 on hip bones	Hips 2 widest part of bottom	Thigh 1 top	Thigh 2 middle part

So, fill in the details – you can measure and weigh either all metric or all imperial.  Repeat this every week.

Secondly, we need to remove temptation.....interestingly, a study showed that if there was a box of biscuits on your desk, you would keep eating each time you saw them, you ate less if they were on the desk across the room, and even less if they were in the cupboard out of sight.

So, step one, is to remove from your view all of the calorie-laden-no-nutritional-value stuff that we like to pick on when feeling fed up/bored/L’Oreal advert (cos I deserve it moment)........ Even more interesting is the psychological study done on “wanting” something...so, if there were 2 jars of biscuits, one with only 2 “special” biscuits in that you were not allowed to eat, the other full to the top with biscuits, us humans, would crave to have the “special” biscuits...and would sometimes even reject the normal biscuits! So, be aware. So don’t be surprised if you crave the thing “you can’t have”.  It is like being dumped by your beau ...you will be pining for them.  Be kind to yourself – distraction techniques work to a certain extent  so phone a friend, take a bath go for a walk etc etc.

Please, allow yourself a treat at least once a week, but make sure that you exercise the total quantity of the item (s) you wish to consume on that day (and in addition to your other exercise).  However, if we do eat things that are close to hand, please make sure that you have a bowl of fruit somewhere obvious where you will walk past and pick one up, that you have a bowl of chopped veg in the fridge right in front of you as you open the door (put in as many colourful veg that you can – peas in their pods, green beans, red or yellow peppers, radish, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks etc).  Nuts and seeds are also good for trace minerals, so a tub of them (with a lid on so that you don’t eat too many...) out on your kitchen top.

The third and final bit of day one will be to do some exercise. We know that even a single bout of exercise can immediately change the level of fat swimming around your body, and that repeated bouts of exercise will let you access your fat stores quicker and for a longer. So, wake up your body’s fat burning potential by doing some exercise – the good bit is that it can be anything, as long as you enjoy it – and try for at least 30 mins.

Day One Summary

• Weigh and measure
• Remove all temptation that will encourage hips from hell and replace with heavenly hips temptations...
• Kit-kat workout – work out how much exercise for a treat and burn it off before you get it.
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes

Decision Balance Sheet

A “Decision Balance Sheet” (DBS) can help you evaluate the pros and cons of making changes and can help you start to take up exercise or even take on a new exercise challenges. Sometimes, we want to make changes – such as losing weight, getting fitter, having a healthier lifestyle. But there are often “reasons” or “barriers” as to why we never seem to get around to it. These barriers are often real but can be perceptions too and understanding what our barriers are will help us overcome them. 

By using a DBS you will be able to help yourself make the changes that you want.  This is because the DBS can highlight the positive benefits of change – and no one is likely to change unless the gains are greater than the losses! 

Here is an outline of how a DBS works – and on a quiet Sunday, why not sit down for 20 mins and do your own?  It really helps.

First, you need to get 2 pieces of at least A4 paper (or more if you need!).  You can just scribble away or if you like being creative - go for it with colours, highlighter, stickers and drawings!

You will need to be 100% honest with yourself here.  No-one is going to see or read this, so there is no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed of the things you are writing down.  By being honest, you will gain good understanding to how you think and feel when you are approaching changes and you will be able to put in place things to help you overcome this.

Now, on your sheet you need draw a line down the middle.  Title one side Gains to Self and title the other side Losses to Self.  On each side you have 3 questions that you need to answer.  These are:-

• On Gains to Self
• Important to Others,
• Approval to Others
• Self-Approval

• On Losses to Self
• Important to Others,
• Disapproval to Others
• Self-disapproval

Here is an example of how this might look for someone who wants to lose weight and take up exericse:

• Gains to Self – Better Body, More Energy, Loss of weight, Clothes fit better, won’t be so embarrassed going on the beach on holiday,
• Important to Others – I will feel healthier so I can play sport with my children, I will be more attractive to my partner – OR I will be able to go to the gym with my friends and they will like that, OR my doctor will be pleased that I am brining my weight into a healthy range
• Approval to others - My children would like to see me more active, my partner would like me to lead a healthier lifestyle,
• Self-approval -   I will feel more confident
• Losses to Self – I will have less time to spend on my hobby
• Important to Others – I will have less time with my family; I will have less time to devote to my work
• Disapproval to Others – my boss thinks it will take time away from work
• Self-Disapproval – I will look silly exercising as I am not fit

These are of course just guidelines.  You now need to do your own – they can be as short or as long as you like

We know that increased awareness of the benefits of exercise and gains to you for both physical and mental health can help you overcome barriers you may have and be more receptive to change.  So, much to gain and nothing to lose – this is just a paper exercise; the next step is of course doing it...! Have a look at other people and see what they do, get a friend to come along with you, give yourself a treat or reward and maybe pin your balance sheet up on the wall to remind yourself as to what you are aiming for xx

Osteoporosis - 1

As you know, I am often telling you that weight training should be an essesntial element of your workout – and mostly people do this or think about this to help them lose weight or to maintain a taught and trim body. However, there are alos some more serious implications to bone health and investing the time in your body now will pay dividends as you get older.  I will post again about osteoporosis, but here is a general outline and how exercise can help – later posts will look at calcium enriched diet.

Our body is able to continuously recycle its bone mass throughout our life.  However, the rate of bone recycling tends to peak during our youth and decreases after the age of 30. Your bones are formed and re-formed through the processing of certain cells in your body called osteoblasts and osteoclasts.

Osteoblasts originate in the bone marrow and are responsible for the slow process of laying down new bone through mineralisation of calcium. On the other hand, the osteoclasts are then responsible for the demineralisation of old bone cells, performing an important job of eliminating damaged tissue, such as broken bones and dying cells.

These processes are age-related and once peak bone mass has been reached at about the age of 30 we can start to see that the degeneration of bones starts to outstrips mineralisation or bone building effect. So we need to introduce weight bearing exercise at a young age – but this is still important as you get older so that you continue to strengthen the bones within you body.

This picture shows healthy bone on the left and the right shows a bone starting with osteoporosis and showing the start of the "gaps" which makes the bone more fragile and susceptible to breaking. There are other risk factors that can also start to a fragile bone structure – this initial stage is called Osteopenia (meaning loss of bone mass). Without some kind of exercise and dietary intervention, this condition or early stages will most probably progress to Osteoporosis. The loss of bone density loss is gradual and can occur without you noticing any evident symptoms – and the first time you might be aware is when the conditions are well advanced.  You might only be aware that you have osteoporosis with you break a bone by falling or even have a spontaneous break for no reason.  The table belows outlines some of the risk factors for osteoporosis.

Primary Risk Factors - Female, Age, Slight Build, Asian or Caucasian Race

Secondary Risk Factors - Premature menopause,Primary or secondary amenorrhoea, Primary or secondary hypogonadisum, Previous fragility fracture, Maternal history of hip fracture, Low body weight, Smoking,  High Alcohol consumption, Prolonged immobilisation, Low calcium intake, Vitamin D deficiency

            We know that exercise can benefit the body in many ways and luckily, it can help with osteoporosis too.  You will need to take into account the following. 

•  Bone loading - to improve and maintain bone mass
•   Weight training
•  Running – especially up hills
•   Posture - to protect the spine from distortion and help with respiration
• Pilates
•  Yoga
• Core Stability
• Plus, more dynamic exercises
• Balance – to lessen the chances of falls
• Pilates
• Yoga
• Dance
•  Dynamic exercises

This is the first of 3 articles on osteoporosis and I will give you more detailed advice on exercise and diet in later posts.

Insulin response

 A short but sweet (lol!) post today...more to follow tomorrow..

Insulin is a hormone which has an effect on our body’s metabolic system.  It helps to regulate how the body stores and uses fat and glucose. The amount of insulin released is dependant on the level of glucose within food – see the article on GI (Glyceamic Index).

Insulin helps the muscle and fat tissue to take on board glucose so that we can use it for energy when we exercise. There is a spike in insulin just after we have eaten, but there is also a steady flow in the blood stream to control glucose levels.  

The spikes stimulate the cells and liver to take up the glucose when it is plentiful.  If you have high levels of glucose anyway, then the body will convert this into fatty acids and store as fat.  The other thing that happens is that when insulin spikes, it stops the metabolism of fat (i.e. stops you fat burning) and encourages fat to be stored in fat cells. 

Now don’t freak – this is important if you are doing lots of exercise, but can be a real pain if you are trying to lose body fat. So, we want to limit the “spike” by choosing low GI food, and reducing the number of spikes that we have in a day. Hence the move towards less carbs etc... But if you are exercising and training hard, then you will need to have the carbs in your diet. Plus, eating wholegrain will help lower cholesterol and keep the gut healthy.

Ideally, eat low GI foods, take regular exercise, increase your daily activity and enjoy your life. There is nothing evil in carbs -  much of it is to do with our lifestyle and portion size...

40 Day Challenge...

Yesterday was the first day of Lent and I was listening to a radio programme where people were talking about what they were going to “give up” for the next 6 weeks.  The idea behind Lent is based in Christianity and is one of penance and self-denial, leading up to Easter weekend – lasting around 6 weeks.  Although Lent is strongly connected to religion and the 40 days the Iesu spent in the desert enduring the “temptations of the devil”, much of today’s society use it as a way of collectively abstaining from an item or items that are perceived to be “bad” for us.  There are other ways that this is done in many other religions and maybe there is something good in human nature that drives us to a time of self-denial of the thing that we want the most that we think if we give up we become a “better” person. 

So, regardless of your religious or non-religious beliefs, are you considering giving things up?

Here are some of my suggestions that you could try for a six week period that will touch the elements of self-denial in the face of temptation....and if your will power is not what you hoped it would be, then I also have a reverse Lent idea where I will suggest things to take up over the next 40 days.

Sugar - seriously, the easiest way to feel better, reduce weight, reduce bloating, etc is to give up sugar – in particular processed sugar.  No added sugar in tea or coffee, nothing with sugar in it biscuits, cakes, chocolate, sugary cereals, etc. 

Alcohol - give your liver a holiday...

Internet – only 30 mins a day (outside of work of course) – includes, phone, ipads etc as well as pc....use the spare time it to do something useful

Take up

5k Challenge – run, walk or cycle 5K EVERY day.  Wear a Fitbit or pedometer or walk for about an hour, run for 30 mins.

New exercise – find something that challenges you or take up a sport you did as a child – even roller skating....!

Pay it Forward – mental health is as important as physical health so every day for the next 40 days be kind to someone, give someone a compliment, help someone out...

How to do the Plank:

Those of you who come to my Pilates classes will tell you how fussy I am about this exercise – because when it is done correctly, it is awesome and will noticeably flatten your abs in a very short space of time.

The plank engages all of the Core Muscles (see previous posts) as well as having some good toning effect on the shoulders and Tricep muscles.

Lie on the floor face down and slide your elbows close to your chest with both of your hands placed under your chin.

Keep your knees slightly wider than your hips and tuck your toes underneath.

Press downwards through the elbows and lift up onto knees – even if you can do a full plank, it is worthwhile going through to this stage first as it will help engage the deep abdominals and decrease the initial hard engagement of the legs.

Pull your abs away from your t-shirt, tuck your tailbone in and lift the pubic bone towards the ribs. Flatten the ribs and tighten through the shoulder blades, bringing them closer together.

Lengthen the neck and pull your chin in – keep looking down but you can sort of “peep” forwards as if you are looking over the top of your sunglasses – it helps to keep the upper back engaged.

Actively brace or hold the abdominals in and breathe slowly through your mouth.

When straightening the legs, lift the knees off the floor gently and keep pressing the heels away from you. Stay on the balls of your feet.  The thighs will be engaged but not the glutes.

 6 seconds will sometimes be enough (!) you will feel the abs engaging – they may even tremble, but it is important that you grit your teeth a little and not give in on the first bit of perceived hard work.  

A standard time to hold the plank is an awesome 3 minutes 40 seconds...but it will take some time to build up to this.

You can do the plank every day, and even more than once a day. It does feel hard, but it will get easier J

Bootilicious to the Max

Bootylicious To the Max - Gluteus Maximus that is – along with Gluteus Medius and Minimus make up the muscles of your butt. Like all muscles in the body they don’t work in isolation but they are the prime movers in the major action of the body. So if you are looking for ways to tone your butt, increase your running speed or the weight that you lift or even increase your metabolic potential – then read on.

Squats are usually the best way to work the glutes. They are suitable for all fitness levels with some modifications. Squatting not only works the butt, but also the hamstrings and spine and will help improve your posture, strengthen your back and abs (core) as well as giving you a great backside J

The position of the squat depends on your fitness, any injuries etc. But here are the basics.

Like in everything else I tell you – get the bones lined up correctly first. So, stand in front of a full length mirror and check it out. There are 2 positions that you can use for the squat. 

1. Narrow Stance  where the knee cap is in line with your hip bone (ASIS)   - this is the bony part of your hip that sticks out in the front of your body. The knee cap is also in line with the second toe. 

2. Wide stance (can be known as the sumo position) – the knees are placed twice as wide as the hip bones.  You can either have your feet parallel or turned out to 30deg – there is little evidence that either position creates better force, so this is your choice.

Once you have your preferred position the lowering of the squat now is determined by you fitness – but dropping any amount of the way down will have good training effect on the muscle, so don’t worry if you can only go a short distance down. Get used to the range that you have and then try to increase it. Please don't force downwards until you have sufficient core strength to hold the back in a strong position for when you get back up to standing.  A few weeks of squatting will help!

You can do a half squat (hips to knees) or full squat (hips lower than knees or even thighs and calves touch) but the half squat is considered to be the safer option for knees and a must for anyone with knee problems.

You will need to take care of your back by keeping it in neutral position (i.e. the same position when you are standing) and at a 45deg angle.  This can be modified if you are taller.  Imagine that you have sunglasses on and peep over the top of them to get your head in the right position.

Open chest, heels pressed down and your knees stay in the same place and don’t move forward. Press from the floor (imagine you are pushing the floor down) and stand UP – don’t stop half way through – your hips should end up back under your shoulders.

You can squat with your own body weight (often known as an “air squat”) - arms out in front to help you with balance or add some dumbbells in your hands. You can do a back squat with the weight on your shoulders or a deadlift (sumo stance here is considered more mechanically efficient) where the weight is picked up from the floor.

Do as many reps as you can with good technique – the more weight you have will reduce the amount of reps.  Don’t forget a strong out breath when using heavy weights to engage core and reduce internal pressure.  For more info come to Bodyfit or book a session with a Personal Trainer at the gym – but at the end of the day, the human body was meant to squat.

Finally, as an extra motivation, a recent study showed that sitting on your butt squashed the fat cells and encouraged more to grow in the awkward spaces (think of crumpled paper) – so get off your ass and into the gym!!

Core Workout - Gym or Home

Please find below  a core workout that you can do when you are pushed for time.  The workout is split into Gym and Home – although the main thrust of any core workout is balance and therefore this is heavily based on body weight, gravity and free weights.  You can do the workout below in order, or you can mix and match this with your upper body workout to fit in with the time that you have in the gym.  This workout is slightly shorter – but that is because it is more intense.  Please do not sacrifice technique at any time – if you are losing shape, take some time out and begin again. Always have good posture. Be injury free.

Gym - usually the gym will have a range of equipment to challenge the core, but don’t be worried if they don’t have these – simply add some of the home workout exercises to your session.

Crossover Cable – chop. Have the handle at a high level. Stand side on to the machine in a wide stance. Hold the handle with your right hand above head height if possible with palm towards ceiling. Pull the cable across your body towards your left knee, rotating as you go so that you end up looking towards the floor. It will help to bend your right knee inwards and turn hips slightly. Return to the starting position slowly and under control – however a deep out breath and little shout will help as you pull the cable across your body. Repeat 10 times and then change sides.

Lunge – use dumbbells that are heavy enough to feel slight stress in your body but not so heavy that you are unable to hold them at shoulder height.  Start with feet hip distance apart and step forward with your right leg to a larger than normal walking pace – lift both arms out in front to shoulder height with palms facing towards each other. As you lower the back knee towards the floor swing the straight arms across the body until the hands are in line with the left shoulder. Breathe out. Step back and repeat on the other side until you can do no more – if you have got up to 50 for goodness sakes increase your weight!

Plank – run.  On elbows and knees/straight legs. Chin tucked in. Lift knee off the floor and bring to the side of the body. Repeat with other leg in rhythmical fashion until technique wavers. Repeat this 3 times with a stretch back in between.

Rows.  Remaining in plank position but with straight arms and holding dumbbells in your hands. Row the dumbbell off the floor to shoulder height. Repeat as many times as possible without losing form.

Squat and Press/kick back – In squat position (See previous post) with dumbbells you can swing forwards – so heavier than your normal arm weight. Squat down and swing hands downwards (and slightly under) and between legs.  Use the power of the legs and hips to stand up and allow the weight to swing up to shoulder or head height (do not force this). For added core work then as you come up stand on one leg. You should aim for about 20-30 reps.

Overhead Pull – knee on floor with feet towards the cable machine. Narrow grip on handle above head, with narrow elbow like a Tricep press. Curl forwards pulling the cable with you and over head towards chest. Return slowly with good control. Breathe out as you come down and make sure you have good posture when you finish.

Oblique Twist – sit on bum with knees bent and feet flat on floor. Hold dumbbells in both hands. Twist to side and touch dumbbell to the floor – you may lean back a bit. To make harder do this with one leg off the floor – or both legs for a killer abs session.

Fold up – lie flat on back in star shape. Breathe out hard and roll up into a ball then return to star shape with control. To make harder, roll up into ball shape but balance in a sitting position with feet off the floor.

Home Workout

100s – Pilates exercise. Lie on back. Lift feet to knee height, keep knees over hips. Lift head and shoulder off floor – hold if cramping. Tap floor with hands 100 times....or less! Breathe throughout this exercise.

Moving Plank – on side. Elbow bent, ribs lifted and then on knee or straight leg. Lift other leg off the floor in line with hip and straighten other arm overhead, palm towards floor and arm in line with ear. Bring elbow and knee together 15 times then hold in extended position for 15 seconds. Do the next exercise and then repeat on the other side.

Swimming – on hands and knees, slowly extend opposite arm and leg away from body keeping bas held away from stomach. Take arm and leg slightly away from body, return to centre and then bring opposite hand and knee to touch under body. Return to start position and repeat 6 times. Stretch in-between and repeat on the other side. See Core Workout 1

Squat, press, lunge – squat and press arms down and back, as you stand, lift both arms above head and one knee off the floor. Step forward with the lifted knee into a lunge position brining arms in line with shoulders and then pull back. Now push arms forward and up over your head whilst lifting knee back to balance. Place foot back down into wide squat and sit back with arms down.  Repeat on other leg. 20 – 30 times. Will take practice...!

Jumps – have a line (can be imaginary) or object you can safely jump over on floor. Skip over line/object 10 times with arms shoulder height, and 10 times arms overhead. Jump to make it harder. You can repeat more than 10 times if you wish, or for an awesome workout, do this between each of the exercises.... x

Running sit-up – Don’t worry if you are out of breath from the previous exercise – just get cracking. Do sit up with op elbow to knee, moving shoulder across rather than pulling on head. Cycle the legs, with the opp leg moving away from the body. To make harder, do this from lying position where you lift up and across to opposite knee or ankle.

Press Crawl – in press up position of your choice – knee, thighs or straight legs, Press up and move in a crawling fashion across the floor. Move to the other side of the room. Do the next exercise and then crawl back. Repeat for 4 times.

Hip Circles – in sitting position, place arms wide behind you and lift knees off the floor – move hands to comfy position and keep chest open. Lift both legs towards ceiling and keep pressed together. Draw a circle with the feet, starting small and working towards a full circle with feet sweeping the floor as you get stronger. Repeat 4 times and change direction.  Then crawl back and repeat.

For those of you who know me well, I don’t believe in doing a workout that stays within your comfort zone...however, I really believe it should be done well, so if you are losing form then gather your thoughts and begin again. Take your time to go to learn the moves and don’t compromise your back.  Enjoy J xx