Sports Drinks - from a student

It's been a while since I've had a student discussion post submission that I liked so much I wanted to share it on this blog - but without further ado here is a post about sports drinks from one of my Sport Nutrition students, Keriana S!  I hope you enjoy :)

Sports Drinks

          I’m sure you've all heard the story about the Florida Gators Football team and the discovery of Gatorade! If you haven’t, go check it out http://www.gatorade.com/company/heritage (it’s pretty cool!). Basically, the four researchers who led the study found that there are two major factors that play an important role in an athlete’s ability to perform at an optimal level. These factors are: Electrolytes and carbohydrates.

          So what exactly do electrolytes and carbohydrates have to do with sports drinks, and how do they help athletes perform at their highest level? Let’s start with electrolytes! If you’ve taken chemistry you know that many salts (such as NaCl) dissociate into ions when placed into an aqueous solution.  For example, if we drop a lump of NaCl into a solvent such as H2O, it will break down into Na+ and Cl-. This solution can now conduct electricity and is considered an electrolyte solution (Silberberg, 2014). The ions inside the solution are now called electrolytes! Other common electrolytes include: calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+), and magnesium (Mg2+) etc…

          The wonderful idea behind sports drinks is that you can consume readily available electrolytes and your body doesn't have to break down the salts (So clearly this is a better option than shaking table salt into your mouth!). The electrolytes can be taken directly into your system and used to replenish and balance fluids and help with muscle function. As you know, these functions (and almost every other function in our bodies) rely on concentration gradients, and ions play a huge role in this process.

          Now let’s look at carbohydrates. Many sports drinks contain a high level of carbohydrates in order to help athletes quickly refill their glycogen stores. For example, Gatorade (on average) contains 34g of carbohydrates per 20 ounces of product (Gatorade.com, 2016). It is recommended that athletes only consume sports drinks with carbs after at least 1 hour of exercise (Story, 2012).  The problem with sports drinks is that many individuals who are not engaged in physical activity for an hour or more, tend to choose them as a snack. Sports drinks are not recommended for the average population because it is not healthy to consume 34 grams of carbohydrates as a snack (that’s a lot of sugar!). The American Heart Association recommends 25-37.5 grams of added sugar per day.

          In conclusion, athletes and individuals engaged in moderate – intense exercise for at least an hours are encouraged to consume sports drinks in order to replenish fluids, glycogen stores and electrolytes. Gatorade and PowerAde are the top rated sports drinks on the market today and offer sugar free options for individuals who are not engaged in exercise. When choosing a sports drink, it is important to make sure that your choice includes potassium and sodium. It is best to choose a sports drink with 6-8% carbohydrates for optimal glycogen replenishment (Roberts, 2009). Although sports drinks can be very helpful in replacing lost electrolytes and carbohydrates, water is always the best option when it comes to properly hydrating the body.

References:

O'hare, J. (2011). Who Drinks What: Identifying International Drinks Consumption Trends. London:Euromonitor. 25(6), 27-28. Retrieved March 10, 2016.

Roberts, A. (2009). Sports Drinks Fact Sheet. Sports Dietitians Australia. Retrieved March 10, 2016.

Silberberg, M. (2014). The Molecular Nature of Matter and Change (7th ed.).

Smith, J. (1997). A Look at the Components and Effectiveness of Sports Drinks. Retrieved March 12, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Sports Drink Recommendations for Exercise in the Heat and Cooler Conditions. (2010). Retrieved March 12, 2016, from Gatorade Sports Science Institute.  

Sugars, Added Sugars and Sweeteners. (2015). Retrieved March 12, 2016, from American Heart Association. 

Who or What is Holding You Accountable?

Some of the concepts I find myself discussing the most, whether it be related to fitness goals, weight loss, school projects, office projects, time management, whatever... are setting priorities and accountability. I completely understand how motivation comes in waves, and some days we are all a little more passionate about achieving our goals than others. I think I am a perfect example of this by the fact that I took a good 6 months off of blogging. It isn't that I didn't want to blog anymore, but I let other priorities get in my way. I have stated to all of you (however many of you that are out there reading my babble) that my goal is to post once a week throughout the summer, and I certainly hope you will help to hold me accountable!

I hope that I can help you to achieve your fitness/health goals. Whether by being an encourager, sharing tidbits of information, answering your questions specifically, putting you in touch with other professionals, etc. But it certainly takes a team of supporters to obtain the best results.
Who or what is holding you accountable? Here are a few ideas you might find helpful. Please feel free to comment if you have additional suggestions!

1. Write down your goals on paper, and make sure they are SMART (see previous post)

2. Tell at least 3 people you trust (friends, family, spouse) your goals. If you are willing, give them a written copy of your goals. Be specific in asking them for help. Let me tell you, my husband [love you GymJim!] tells me all the time he wants to start doing certain exercise programs - but I have learned that he does NOT mean he wants me to remind him about them! :)
If you are actually looking for help/support, be clear about that!

3. Keep a food diary. All fitness/health results will be affected by your nutrition. As much as I advocate exercise - I'll be honest, that is a very small component of your results compared to what you are stuffing in your body 16-24 hours a day. And of course, each goal will have different nutrition needs. I do not recommend to anyone to keep a food diary every day - that is too tedious. I log my food at least one day a week to check in and see if I am eating the right amount of calories, and also if it is broken down into the proper percentages of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. There are a lot of websites that offer free and/or inexpensive food logging. I am a member of a site called DotFit (through HFPN) that I think is really great, because it uses the database from CalorieKing and you can also add in your own food items, etc. (You also start by doing a questionnaire related to your goals, and it gives nutritional recommendations based on your goal). I can give you a 14 day trial for free, and this does not include taking any credit card information from you or anything. Just comment below or email fitbritt@gmail.com if you are interested.

4. Wear a pedometer. This is a very affordable way to get an idea of whether or not you are getting an appropriate amount of activity each day. You can get pedometers for around $5 or less (of course the more you spend, the better the quality will be, plus a few additional bells and whistles). All you do is clip it to your waist band like a pager, and let it count your steps throughout the day. I would encourage you to wear it for a few days without trying to change your activity, recording your number of steps at the end of each day. Then, gradually try to work up to 10,000 steps/day. Someone set that as the magic number for health... it equates to ~5 miles of movement a day, and can be pretty challenging to reach if you have a desk job! But definitely a good number to aim for.

5. Use a heart rate monitor. Now I will go back to proclaiming how important your exercise is. It might only be 30 minutes to an hour of your day, but you better get the most bang for your buck (or calorie burn for your time)! A good heart rate monitor will have a chest strap that you wear against your bare skin, and also a watch (or waist clip) that gives you a readout of your heart rate. I personally like Polar monitors, they are a very well known brand that can be purchased in sports stores as well as online. I think I'll save the details for where your heart rate should be during your workout for another blog post... I've got to keep you coming back for more (and this post is going to get long)!

6. Wear an ExerSpy! or a BodyBugg, or a GoWearFit, or any of the other brands by BodyMedia - they seem to be the same! (But I happen to own an ExerSpy that you can use if you are local... and I also happen to sell them). If you do not know what this is, you are missing one of my favorite posts and favorite items of all times. In addition to logging your food intake, this arm band tracks your calories burned, steps taken, intensity level, and sleep efficiency around the clock. A friend of mine just got one, and she mentioned that one of the things she likes about it the most is she knows how many calories to eat each day based on her activity level (which of course, may change from day to day).

7. Share your goals on FitBritt.com. I created a new page, linked at the top of this blog titled "Hold Me Accountable!" for you to post your goals on this site! Other readers will be able to see your post, provide encouragement, and follow your progress. They will also feed off of your motivation and learn from your trials. Who knows how many individuals you will be able to help! Is anyone brave enough to be the first to share??

I hope that you will find some of these suggestions helpful. Please comment below with additional tips to share!

Have a HEALTHY day!

~Fit Britt

It. Is. Get-ting. So. Hot.

Regardless of whether you live in TX and have been experiencing summer for a few months, or summer is just now finding its way to you, It's Getting Hot Out There!

Now that you are unable to hide your layers of 'natural insulation' underneath baggy clothes, you may be motivated to kick it into high gear and get bikini ready! Whatever your motivation, Fit Britt supports your workout endeavors! Here are a few tips to keep in mind when exercising in hot weather:

Heat Illness - The main concern is an increased risk of heat injuries (heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke). The first symptoms are headache and nausea, followed by muscle cramps and eventually lack of sweating, dry skin, etc. This can be avoided by making smart choices about your activities, attire, time of day, etc.

Reduced Performance - Additionally, depending on your level of competitiveness, you may be interested in learning that your endurance capacity and VO2max (efficiency of using oxygen during exercise) both decrease as you lose body weight from sweat and dehydration. These symptoms can be prolonged, if not avoided by making smart decisions and planning ahead.

Acclimatization - it is encouraging to note that you CAN acclimatize to the weather, to some degree (pun not intended). Whether you are just starting a new program and it happens to be the middle of summer, or you are competing in events that require you to travel to different climates, allow yourself 7-14 days for your body to become most efficient at working in the hot environment. You should notice that you actually begin to sweat MORE and lose less salt along the way.
Hydration - being dehydrated will decrease your body's ability to sweat as well as cool itself. Additionally, as you sweat, you decrease your blood volume by pulling water out of your body. This, in turn, makes it more difficult for your blood to circulate, deliver essential nutrients and remove waste as you continue your workout (hence the decrease in performance mentioned above).

In order to stay properly hydrated:

• Focus on staying well hydrated within the 24 hours before your exercise session (limit caffeine, consume foods that contain a lot of water such as fruits and carbohydrates).
• Drink 1-2 cups of fluid (preferably water or sports drinks) 1-2 hours before exercise.
• Typically, water is sufficient during activity for exercise sessions less than 60 minutes.
• When exercising for more than 60 minutes, and/or you are sweating a lot, incorporate a sports drink with carbohydrates (sugar = fuel!) and electrolytes (to replace the sodium you depleted while sweating). A good rule of thumb is to find a drink that has 6-8 grams of carbohydrates per 100mL of fluid.
• Consume your beverages at the coldest temperature you can tolerate - as this will help cool your body from the inside-out.
• IF YOU FEEL THIRSTY, YOU ARE ALREADY DEHYDRATED!
• After your workout, replenish with more fluids. You will know you are well hydrated when your urine is light yellow to clear.
• If your exercise session lasted for over an hour, and it was really hot, you may want to consider weighing yourself before and after exercise. You can assume any weight loss is water weight that needs to be replenished (consume 3 cups for every pound lost).

Humidity - In addition to temperature, humidity will also contribute to your body heat during a workout. Humidity will decrease the body's ability to dissipate heat (through evaporation) and will hinder the cooling process. I like this chart because it also mentions calculating the temperature to be higher if you are wearing thicker clothing or are in direct sunlight.

Target Heart Rate - If you work within a specific heart rate range during exercise, this would still be a wise suggestion while exercising in the heat. You will notice that your heart rate increases much quicker (in an effort to help cool your body). This means, you will have to decrease your intensity in order to keep your heart rate within the same zone.
Clothing - There is a reason dry wick clothes have been so popular - because they feel so much better! This is not the time of year to pull on your garbage bag sweat suit... and forget the cotton too, get some dry wick shorts and tanks in order to improve the evaporative heat loss from your body.
Sun Screen - If you have ever seen me exercise outdoors (no matter what time of year) my face is the color of a tomato when I am finished... but fortunately for me this is just temporary blood flow. Avoid any long-lasting redness or damage from the sun (ie: cancer and wrinkles) by remembering your sun screen! Here are a few reminders to make sure you get the maximum effectiveness out of your sun screen:

• Apply sunscreen liberally (should form a white film at first) 30 minutes before going in the sun to give time to absorb.
• Select an SPF between 15 and 50, depending on how prone you are to burning.
• Re-apply every 2 hours.
• Try to avoid the strongest rays of the day: between 11 am and 3 pm.
• Look for clothing that also provides UV protection.

Have fun in the sun, but make smart decisions to help keep your body fit inside and out!

Have a HEALTHY day!

~Fit Britt

Sources used for this information:
- Sports and Exercise Nutrition, 3rd Edition, McArdle, Katch & Katch
- Exercise and Sport Nutrition, Kreider, Leutholtz, Katch & Katch
- ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 8th Edition

Workout Without Weights

As a follow up to my last post (regarding the need for strength training in a weight loss program), I wanted to provide some suggestions for resistance exercises you could do at home even if you don't have any equipment. Here are some exercises that will hit all of your major muscle groups, and a few suggestions for how you can progress them over time.
When you are working out with weights, you would most likely select a weight that you could only perform 8-15 repetitions of that exercise before tiring out. When using just your body weight, I would suggest performing as many repetitions as it takes to reach that point of fatigue. If you find yourself doing 30+, then you might want to find a way to make the exercise more challenging.

1. LEGS: lunges, bridges, squats, prisoners squats
I would suggest selecting 1-2 of these exercises per workout.

Lunges: you can move forward, side, and reverse (turning behind you at a diagonal and stepping back forward). You can keep your feet in place and continue lunging up and down, then progress to starting with your feet together and stepping out for each lunge. Try performing a full set and then holding at the bottom and pulsing to get a little more burn.
You can also progress to balancing after each lunge.

Floor bridges: One of my favorite exercises to strengthen your glutes and open your hips.
You can lift and lower on both legs or one leg, hold at the top and alternate leg lifts, and hold at the top and pulse.

Squat: Perform single repetitions, hold at the bottom and pulse, or perform jump squats landing back in the squat position.

Prisoners Squats: Squat low then press up onto your tip toes.

2. CHEST: Push ups, push ups, push ups

Progress from kneeling with your body elevated, to kneeling on the ground, to an incline push up on your toes, regular push up on the ground, and finally a decline push up with your feet elevated.

If you are up for the challenge, check out hundredpushups.com to work your way up to 100 in six weeks.

3. Back: Cobras, supermans, and YTAs

For me, the back is a difficult muscle to work without having weights (or a bar to do pull ups). These are certainly lighter weight exercises, but they would at least keep your back muscles "activated."

Cobra: Keeping your feet pressed into the ground, lift your chest and shoulders off the mat. Make sure to squeeze your shoulder blades in order to activate your upper back.

Superman: Lifting opposite arm and leg, alternate from side to side. This will focus more on your core and lower back.

YTA: This can be performed standing or with your stomach on a stability ball. From standing, come into a partial squat, bending forward at the hips. Start with your arms together in front of you (picture 1), lift your arms into a high-V (Y), back to starting position, then out into a T, back to starting position, and then out into a low-V (A). Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together each time. Picture 3 shows the balance option, performing the series standing on one leg (still in a partial squat and bent forward).

You can also transition between the Y-T-A without coming back to the starting position in between. If you have light dumbbells, you can add those as well.

4. Arms: Dips and close-arm push ups

Both of these mostly work triceps. Biceps are another difficult one to focus on without weights to do curls or a bar to do close-arm pull ups.

Dips: Find a chair, bench, or step to use for dipping. Fingers should face forward, elbows should point back (not out to the sides), and hips should drop close to the bench (instead of further forward). Increasing the height of your bench and also propping your feet on another surface will help to challenge the move.

Close-arm push ups: bringing your hands closer together (right under your shoulders) and keeping your elbows close to your sides while performing push ups with add more focus to your triceps.

5. Core: Plank with knees and "the dead bug"

Plank with knees: Hold a push up position and pull one knee to the same elbow or opposite elbow.

Dead bug: Lift your arms and legs up toward the ceiling and then alternate lowering opposite arm and leg - don't let them touch the ground. Make sure to press your lower back into the mat. Bending your knees and limiting your range of motion will make this exercise easier, straightening your legs and dropping them closer to the ground will make it more challenging.

So there you have it! I would suggest performing 2-3 sets of each of the exercises you chose to do. Keep your heart rate up by performing 30-60 second cardio spurts in between each set.
Do your strength training exercises 2-3 days a week to make sure you maintain (and hopefully increase) your muscle mass and your metabolism! It should only take you ~30 minutes.

Let me know how it goes, if you have any questions, and if you have any other great exercises to add to the list.

Have a HEALTHY day!

~ Fit Britt

PS - the 'model' in this post is sporting the ExerSpy arm band with counts how many calories you burn each day (as well as your steps, physical activity, and sleep efficiency) - a great tool for managing your weight loss that can be purchased here (as well as any other fitness equipment needs!)

It Watches Every Movement... and Lack Thereof

Sooooo, I broke down and bought an Exerspy. I've mentioned it before (mostly talked about the previous brand called the BodyBugg). This is the device that you wear all day and night on your arm, and it measures your caloric burn, your number of steps, your amount of physical activity (breaking it down into both moderate and vigorous), and even your sleep efficiency.
IT IS SO GREAT!
You can sync it to the computer throughout the day and it is most helpful if you log your food intake as well. It will show you your caloric deficit (or gain) each day, and at the end of the week there will be no surprises when you step on the scale!
It can be used no matter your goal: weight loss, weight maintenance, muscle gain, etc.

I find it helpful to sync around dinner time so I can see how many calories I can still eat and what I still need to burn for the rest of the day. It lets me know if I need to go for an after dinner walk (or something more intense), and if I'm allowed to have dessert and still stay on track.

This post may become long, as I start to add some pictures and descriptions from the website, so I'll mention a few more things first:

- There are a few similar devices out there... the BodyBugg, the GoWearFit, etc. They are all relatively the same, but I can say that the ExerSpy is created by the maker of the BodyBugg, with added features and efficiency (according to a webinar I participated in with the creator). The ExerSpy is the only one I can personally speak of and walk you through the process, but I have friends that have utilized the other brands as well.

- If you live near me, I would be more than happy to let you borrow mine for a week to learn more about your metabolism and get an idea for your daily nutrition and activity plan.

- I have to say, I always thought I'd just want to wear it for a few days and get an idea of what's going on... but now that I've passed it along for another to borrow, I miss it! I want to know how many calories I burned in an intense spin class! I want to know if I am continuing to stay on track with my goal.

- I won't hide the cost from you. The Exerspy is $220.00, additionally you need to have a $10/month membership to the DotFit website in order to sync your device and follow your progress. (I can give you a 14 day free trial to the site.)

- If you are interested in making a purchase, please contact me. It appears you can only purchase through DotFit (believe me, I tried to find one on eBay, etc.) and I have a DotFit account, so I can help set you up. Also, at no additional cost to you, I make a small profit off of everything I sell through my site and would certainly appreciate your support :)

So let's look at the details:

This first picture shows how many calories I burned in a day. You can see my goal was 2093 calories, but I actually burned 2465, woohoo! You can also see many periods of low activity and one big peak when I went to a cycling class.

You can also zoom in and see calories by the minute, and if you block a time period off, you can see how many calories were burned during your exercise, etc. During my cycling class, I burned 227 calories.

Then, if you click on "physical activity" you can get a good idea of how many minutes you've been active each day, as well as if you have had any moments of more vigorous activity. (During my cycling class I performed 34 minutes of moderate activity and 24 minutes of vigorous)

You can also monitor how many steps you have taken each day... with the goal being 10,000 steps a day. You can see that I only walked 5,201 steps... which isn't as many as I should get, but since my workout was a cycling class, this number is a little more understandable.

You can also measure your sleep efficiency. In one of the webinars, the company said that 85% or higher is a good efficiency. Mine certainly varies from night to night, but on the particular night showcased here, I was 93% efficient in my sleep, hurray!

In addition to the feedback given directly through linking the ExerSpy, you can log your food and compare the amount of calories in to the calories out to make sure that you stay on track with your daily caloric goals. This first picture shows a day that I ate pretty close to my goal, but then I performed more physical activity than my goal, thus having a greater caloric debt which would put me on the fast track to weight loss. (My caloric deficit was 938 calories. If I maintained this every day, I would lose close to 2 lbs in one week)

And because we all have them, I will share with you a day where my caloric expenditure was WAY over my plan. I consumed 2727 calories when I was only supposed to consume 1568. Fortunately for me, I had also exceeded my activity needs for the day, and still managed to have a daily caloric deficit of 247 calories.

You can see how this information could be helpful regardless of whether your goal is to lose, maintain, or gain weight. For me, it is helpful to see the visual balance... if I eat too much, then I have to do more physical activity to stay on track.

I think it's clear to say, I'm a big fan!

Let me know if you have any questions :)

Have a HEALTHY day!

~ Fit Britt

Fit Britt Now Has Your Fitness Needs!

It has arrived! My online fitness store is up and running!

http://www.myhfpn.com/1073

Check it out if you are in need of any equipment for strength training, flexibility, yoga, weight management, supplementation, etc.
Everything you need to start a home gym!
I'd be happy to make recommendations and get you started with a free program (specific to your needs and goals), based on the equipment you own and purchase (resistance ball, dumbbells, medicine balls, BOSU ball, resistance tubing, kettle bells, etc!).
No matter where you live, I can set you up with a free 14 day trial to the DotFit website, where I can create exercise programs for you, send you videos and articles, and even skype to check your form and your progress!

Indeed, I make a small profit off of every sale on my site, so I certainly appreciate the support!
I hope to highlight certain products for you over the weeks. Many of you know I have been wearing (and LOVING) the ExerSpy arm band so stay tuned for my praise about that soon!

Have a HEALTHY day!
~Fit Britt

Are you doing ENOUGH?

Certainly the amount of physical activity we do is dependent on our fitness/health goals. The American College of Sports Medicine, which sets the guidelines that all other fitness organizations follow, has updated their guidelines for 2010. Here, I share them with you:

For Physical Activity and Health
The recommendation is now 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times per week, or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity three times per week.
Currently, more than 66% of adults are overweight and 32% are obese in the US.
For Cardiorespiratory Training
The intensity should be a combo of moderate (40 - 60% Heart Rate Reserve [HRR]) and vigorous (>60 - 85% HRR). However, if you are extremely deconditioned, start at an intensity of 30 - 40% HRR.
The duration should be at least 30 minutes for moderate intensity, sessions totaling 150 minutes a week. When using a more vigorous intensity, go for at least 20-25 minutes a session, totaling 75 minutes a week.
To promote or maintain weight loss, perform moderate exercise for 50-60 minutes per day with a total of 300 minutes a week.
For Muscular Strength/Endurance Training
2-4 sets are recommended for each muscle group (you can do the same exercise multiple times or do various exercises for that specific body part).
Strength training should be challenging, and you should work to the point of exhaustion with each set. Therefore, a 2-3 minute rest period is suggested between sets. (I still like to alternate body parts so I am working out another group instead of sitting on a bench for a 2 minute break between each exercise).
For older and/or deconditioned adults, start with only one set.
It is important to add in "neuromuscular training:" activities such as balance, agility, and proprioceptive training for at least 2-3 days per week. *this is great to work on your "functional fitness" and become more efficient at performing ADLs (activities of daily living).
For Flexibility Training
Static stretches should be held for 15-60 seconds.
For Special Populations
Pregnant Women: exercise at least 3, preferably all, days of the week. Use an intensity of 40 - 60% HRR, or a RPE (rate of perceived exertion) of 12-14 (on a scale from 6-20). Have our sessions last at least 15-30 minutes per day, for a total of 150 minutes a week.
Hypertensive Clients: There is concern with raising the blood pressure too high while doing vigorous exercise. Utilize an intensity of 40 - 60% HRR. Always remember to continue breathing (don't hold your breath) and limit going from lying to standing quickly (or vice versa) and minimize lifting weight over your head.

Have you ever considered logging your activity to calculate how much you perform in a week? I hope sharing these guidelines will encourage you to evaluate your program and make sure you are doing enough, whatever your goal may be!

Thanks to the May/June 2010 issue of American FITNESS, published by the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America for bringing the new guidelines to our attention, as well as to the American College of Sports Medicine for updating their guidelines and helping us stay on top of our game.

Have a HEALTHY day!
~Fit Britt

Aging, Exercise, and Knowledge

I went to an interesting seminar tonight regarding "The role of muscle strength and function in aging." While I realize that (at least to my knowledge) I probably do not have many followers that fit into the "elderly" category, this will still impact each of us personally some day, and we certainly all have family members that can benefit from this information now.
The audience was an interesting mix of graduate students who study exercise for a living and elderly members from the university and surrounding community. I felt like there were some great points mentioned in the talk, which I will summarize briefly, but what was most eye opening to me was the reaction to the talk by the elderly participants.
Let me start by summarizing some of the key points that I was able to pick up from the presentation:

• As we age, our muscle mass decreases and our fat mass increases
• A lack of muscle mass can certainly lead to debilitation and lack of functionality in activities of daily living
• However, it is not just the amount of muscle we have, but the strength of the muscles that impacts not only our function, but also our health, including the risk of fatality from cancers and other diseases.
• Individuals are able to gain strength at ANY age
• While some [doctors, etc] may recommend supplementing/injecting human growth hormone, this has not shown to increase muscle mass, in fact it has shown a decrease from the control group.
• Testosterone has shown to be effective (in helping to increase muscle strength), but should only be used for men.
• Therefore we are back to the "eat right and exercise" mentality.
• Everyone should be performing resistance training exercises and also getting plenty of protein in their diet (around 1 g of protein per kg of your body weight per day).

So, some of this may be common knowledge... or perhaps it is just common knowledge to those of us who study this for a living. My main take-home message from today's talk comes from the questions that the elderly individuals asked after the presentation. I think they were certainly all convinced that they need to be doing resistance training in order to delay degeneration and extend their lives (and quality of life). However, the first question that was asked was, "Well, what is resistance exercise?" Followed by many questions to include, "what machines should I use, are there certain muscle groups I need to focus on, how many days a week should I do this, and how hard do I need to work?"
I felt that if I were working as an independent personal trainer right now, I probably could have walked out of there with 20+ new clients. There is now a captive group who have no idea what to do. Their questions kept coming, and while I felt that a lot of the exercise students may have been rolling their eyes a bit, to me this was an eye opener. It was interesting for me to realize that this lack of knowledge may be an additional reason why individuals are not exercising. Because it is my lifestyle, sometimes I forget that it may not be common knowledge.
Well the good news is that I am passionate about teaching others what to do, and I'm not the only one. Please know that I am here if you need help designing a program for yourself or for any of your family members (I do have a SeniorFit training certification).
Don't wait until you have lost muscle mass (and gained fat mass) to fix the situation... start today! I would highly advise that when you are putting a new program together or setting a new health goal, you consult a team of health professionals. Consult with your doctor to make sure you are cleared to exercise, and see if you have any limitations. Get at least one personal training session to learn how to safely use the equipment and have a program designed for your interests. And finally, consult a nutritionist to get an individualized nutrition plan for your specific needs (that fits both health concerns and fitness goals).
More than anything, don't be afraid to ask questions! I would be more than happy to answer your questions individually, or write a post for everyone to read about your topic of question.

Have a HEALTHY day!
~ Fit Britt

Put Your Best Foot[wear] Forward

As Spring makes an appearance and we spend more time being active, there is one piece of fitness equipment more important than all others... proper footwear!

We all know the foot bone is connected to the leg bone which is connected to the hip bone... but we often fail to realize that the pain we are having in our knees or lower back is due to our footwear and improper body positioning.

There is more to picking proper footwear than just picking out the most stylish, pair of sneaks at your local athletic store. It is very important to select footwear that is geared towards your body movement, the height (or lack there of) of your arches, and also your planned activity.

Gait Analysis

It would be best to go to a running store where the staff are knowledgeable in performing gait analysis - watching you walk, run, and checking the wear on your old tennis shoes in order to determine if you pronate or supinate.

Pronating involves your feet/ankles turning inward with each step, and is fairly common with low and flat arches. Pronators need stabilizer shoes that have more support on the insole.

Supinating involves rolling your foot outward, with the majority of the weight on the outside of your foot. There are also special shoes for supination with more support on the outer edge of the shoe.

When you go to an actual running store, the shoes should be labeled as stabilizers, neutral shoes, etc. However if you just go to a basic tennis shoe store, they may not label the shoes by type, but you can tell what type of shoe it is by where the darker, more supportive base is, like so:

Additionally, regardless of what type or brand of shoes your purchase, you should also get more supportive inserts. Two types that I use and enjoy are SuperFeet and Lynco orthotics. Both come in different styles for different activities and shoe types (athletic, casual, dress, etc.)

I would encourage you to either purchase your shoes and inserts together, or purchase the inserts in advance and take them with you to try on shoes.Also, remember that your tennis shoes should be replaced every SIX MONTHS or 500 miles. Most individuals complain of knee pain when the shoes are too old and no longer supportive. One rule of thumb for tennis shoes or any of your shoes is to try and bend them backwards. If the toe and the heel wrap around towards each other, there is no support left in your shoe!

These were my favorite shoes, which used to be very comfortable and supportive. But last December when I started having a lot of foot pain, I went to both an orthotic shoe store and a podiatrist and both of them commented on the lack of support of these shoes.Alas, we need to be making smart decisions about supportive footwear all the time, not just when doing activity. Don't buy shoes that are uncomfortable, unsupportive, and your toes don't have space to wiggle. And ladies, remember that when wearing heels all day long, you are keeping your ankle in "plantar flexion," which tightens the calves. Therefore, upon taking off your heels, make sure that you warm up slowly and stretch your calves thoroughly before taking off on your activity of choice.
We often don't make the connection that our knee, hip, back pain is coming from the footwear we've selected. I challenge you to check the shoes in your closet and make a commitment to make smart and healthy decisions for your feet and body with future purchases.

Finally, just a few suggested stores to check out:

- If you are in the DC area, look up a Pacers Running Store

- College Station friends check out Shoe Daze (they have casual shoes as well as running).

- All others - do your best to find a running store and specifically ask them if they perform gait analysis. (Let me know if you find a good one!)

Good luck and may your future steps be light :)

Have a HEALTHY day!

~Fit Britt

Online Personal Training by Fit Britt!

While the website is not at 100% yet, nor do I have it linked from my blog quite how I'd like yet, the fact is my HFPN Pro site is up and running for Online Personal Training! And, as promised, all training and consultations for the month of January will be FREE!

Click here to check out the site!

Inquire by filling out the 'contact me' box in the bottom left corner.
I have a 2-page questionnaire for you to fill out, and then I can work on designing your individualized program, complete with pictures and descriptions of each exercise!
Coming soon, there will also be opportunities to purchase fitness equipment at a discounted price!
Already you can purchase various supplements as well as an exerspy arm band device similar to the bodybugg that I've blogged about (scroll down to item #1).

Let Fit Britt help you achieve your 2010 resolutions and cross them off your list once and for all!

Have a HEALTHY day!
~Fit Britt