Muscle Relaxation

Aaah Nice!

Muscle relaxation Technique:

This may take you ten to fifteen minutes once you have found a quiet calm place and have no distractions. Ultimately, you will be able to notice the difference between tense and relaxed without doing this exercise.

The following is a way to help find tight and tense muscles throughout your body. The technique uses breathing, muscle contraction, body awareness and self talk(mantra) starting from your head and working down to your toes.

Find a quiet place and shut off all devices that may break your silence(cell phone, computer, TV, radio). Ideally lie down or sit in a calm and peaceful place with uncrossed and unfolded arms, hands, fingers and toes. Breath in and out...slow and controlled. Try to let all thoughts go.

Starting with your brow; breath-in while squeezing your eyebrows together and saying to yourself 'feel the tension'. Slowly build the tension between your brow and reach the most amount of tension at your maximum inhalation. Once you fully tense your brow muscles and get a full inhalation. Slowly begin to release your brow muscles, starting to exhale, say to yourself 'release the tension' as you complete the exhalation. Take a slow and deep inhalation and exhalation recognizing the difference of muscle tension between contracted and relaxed. Even notice how your body is positioned differently.

Typical muscles that tend to get tight and tense are: brow, jaw, trapezius(upper neck), forearms, hands, hamstrings, soles of the feet and the lower back.

Release these muscles by doing the following motion matched to the breathing technique above.

The following exercise should be matched to the inhalation, reverse the description for your exhalation:

Brow-Inhalation-squeeze your eyebrows together like you are concerned. Exhalation-relax your brow back to normal.
Jaw-Inhalation-bite down clenching your teeth together. Exhalation-relax your jaw back to normal.
Trapezius-Inhalation-shrug your shoulders to your ears. Exhalation-drop your shoulders away from your ears.
Forearms-Inhalation-flex your wrist by curling your hand into your forearm. Exhalation-slowly straighten your hand.
Hand-Inhalation-make a fist. Exhalation-slowly extend and straighten your fingers.
Hamstrings-Inhalation-lie face down and curl your foot up to your backside. Exhalation-slowly straighten your leg.
Sole of the foot-Inhalation-curl your toes under your foot. Exhalation-straighten your toes and slowly pull them into your shin.
Lower Back- Inhalation-arch your lower back by sticking your tailbone behind you and slowly looking up to the sky. Exhalation-tuck your tail bone under, draw your belly in and tuck your chin to your chest rounding your back (every vertebrae).

Muscles that are at a normal length have greater power and strength potential, less chance of injury and decrease stress by allowing blood to flow freely throughout your body. Please try this technique on any tight muscles in your body. Email me if you have questions on how to contract any muscle.

Thank you:)
Ryan

Iodine and Thyroid

Thyroid Function!

Are you having trouble losing weight? Has your doctor said you have an enlarged thyroid? Is your metabolism slowing or are you losing your hair?

Maybe you have a lack of iodine in your diet.

Iodine can be found in coastal areas or from the ocean. Seafood is a great source of iodine, breathing in sea mist if you live near the ocean and even drinking water near coastal cities have iodine. Two servings of seafood is recommended per week. Only 'iodized' salt has iodine added.

Low levels of iodine can cause goiter(lump on the neck), sluggishness, weight gain, and can have low IQ's for the fetus in pregnant women.

Taken from Whitney and Rolfes, Understanding Nutrition (p445), 2002

Sodium

Do you have hypertension or do you retain water (edema)?

The RDA of sodium is 500mg. In Canada the RDA of sodium is 115mg. The difference in recommendations is based on climate and physical activity. Physically active people or hotter climates may need 500mg. Otherwise if we are sedentary or living in moderate/cool climates 115mg is enough. The amount of sodium taken in is equivalent to the exact amount urinated out of the body. Excessive sodium intake can lead to hypertension.

1g of salt contributes 400mg of sodium
5g salt = 1 tsp
1 tsp salt contributes 2000mg sodium

I was using a salt shaker, until I did this experiment: I would do about six shakes of salt per meal (three times a day.) I used a paper plate and shook 18 times, then funneled the salt into a 1/4 teaspoon. I was consuming about 500mg of sodium from the added table salt alone.

Then I added the sodium from foods already in my diet:
2c Milk = 230mg
1.5c Cheerios = 400mg
Without added table salt I was already at 630mg of sodium/day... Just after eating breakfast. Man!

Take a look at your diet. Are you low or high in sodium intake? Typically processed foods have more salt.

**Note: There needs to be a high level of potassium within cells and a low level of sodium outside of cells. If the levels of sodium become elevated it can cause irregular heartbeats, muscular weakness, kidney failure and even death. Protein helps to keep this balance. This is another reason to eat a well balanced diet low in sodium-higher in potassium (ie. potatoes/bananas).

Taken from Understanding Nutrition, Whitney and Rolfes, 2002, p178

Take Your Life into Your Hands!

The quality of life is deteriorating for many Americans. Why? We lack the balance between mind, spirit and body.

In the US, our lifestyles focus on the mind. Lifestyle disease is the number one cause of death and sickness in the US today. 'Lifestyle' means the style we live our lives. Typically, Americans are much more sedentary and dependent on technology. Instead of using the stairs, we use elevators; instead of walking to the corner store, we drive; instead of washing dishes, we use the dishwasher. Our 'style' of life has made us lazier than ever, causing us to deteriorate physically.

This causes us to have an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, impotence, back pain, joint pain, asthma, allergies and many other diseases.

We need to venture into our bodies and spirits every now and again to allow our mind to silence and recover from all the worry and 'thinking' we do throughout the day. Stay healthy: modify your lifestyle if it is sedentary or even sickening your spirit. For example, meditate or play a recreational sport to get you to stop thinking so much. Ten minutes may be all you need to rejuvenate your spirit;)

When are we going to take our life into our hands? We need to realize we can not always depend on doctors for the answers. Our bodies are not meant to live the lifestyles of today. Sometimes we need to look within and try to figure if there is anything we can do to increase the quality of our own lives.

Is it going for more walks, cutting back on alcohol, quitting smoking or to have more vacation/meditation time? Make it a priority and do it. It may save you a lifetime of dollars, or just your life.

FAT part 3 :: How to Burn it!

Fat is one of the three Macronutrients our bodies can use as energy (the other two macronutrients are carbohydrates and protein). You can actually train your body to use fat as the primary energy source. Fat is what accumulates around our waist, hips or thighs. If we can utilize this same fat as energy, we will have much less of it.

As you may already know, we burn more calories moving than by sitting all day. Find an activity you like and do it on a regular basis. The regularity (at least 1x/week) and familiarity of an exercise is what will allow you to get more efficient using fat as energy. The following are tips to help you understand how our bodies access fat:

1. Become good at burning fat! Practice burning calories and get a good aerobic base by doing some sort of cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis/most days of the week (start out slow and build up). Lance Armstrong is particularly good at this. His aerobic base is really high---he can cycle at 170bpm and burn 70-80% of his energy sources from fat (instead of carbohydrates or lean muscle tissue/protein). I suggest starting with 20 minutes at 50-60% of your maximum and working your way up to 45-60 minutes at 65-75% of your maximum. Focus on your posture. If you are unable to keep your posture, there is a good chance you are not burning primarily fat.
   
2. Interval train! Interval training has an affect on the endocrine system that low intensity training does not. Higher intensity bouts of exercise (70 to 85/95% of your max) will help you to burn more calories and fat. Try equal work:to:recovery cardio bouts. Start with 30 seconds of exercise to 30 seconds of recovery. Work your way up to 5 minutes of exercise and 5 minutes of recovery. Then repeat for 20-30 minutes :)
   
3. Strength Train! Lift some weights, that's right... Increase your lean body tissue/muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. The best way to burn calories during and after a workout is to lift heavy... Yeah, that's right, it will do the most for your metabolism. More than yoga, more than pilates, and you bet; more than Tai-Chi ;) I suggest getting comfortable with your weight training program and lifting for 10-15 reps the first 2 weeks, then progressively working down to 6-8 repetitions with exercises that you have mastered.
   
4. Do not eat so often! Haha... Its true though. Why is everyone trying to eat 5-6 meals/day? Fitness Models do this, but do you know what they eat? Chicken breast, dry brown rice and broccoli, is that what you are eating 5-6x's/day? I think not. We need not do that! It is OK to teach ourselves to learn how to run off of fat storage. This happens after our sugars run low. We all burn a mix of carbohydrate and fat. The less food we have in our system the better chance we have to burn fat. Three meals a day or 2000 calories is more than enough food for most of the sedentary population.

In summary, if you have one hour to workout and you would like to lose fat, do the following: lift for 30 minutes, follow that with 30 minutes of cardio. Or interval train for 20-30 minutes and follow that by weight lifting. Everyone is different. So please find what works best for you and go with it. The above are just suggestions based on years of science.

FAT part 2

The following is about nutritional fat that will help your health. But PLEASE REMEMBER: if you are not moving all day, fat will accumulate in unwanted places. So try to move for 30 minutes daily to battle the bulge. Now that we realize movement is important, I won't go into detail again about trying to figure out numbers and percentages of diet that should or should not be eaten. Because honestly, how many of you will pay close attention to numbers? Just remember the one thing that does matter for sure:

• Create a balance of ENERGY IN to ENERGY OUT
  
  

If too much goes into our bodies... We may become toxic and overweight.

And especially if what goes in is bad fat.
Americans tend to eat too much Omega-6 and not enough Omega-3 fatty acids. Processed foods have a higher amount of Omega-6. To keep from eating too much Omega-6, we must AVOID industrial fats, processed or junk foods. Trans fats are the result of industrial or processed foods. Trans fats are also known as partially hydrogenated oil. They alter blood cholesterol negatively. Trans fats are similar to saturated fat (both decrease HDL and increase LDL). Man created trans-fats to create a longer shelf-life for processed foods (like margarine) and baked goods. But this is not healthy for our bodies.

So you should ENJOY good fat.
Good fats are made from REAL FOOD (check out Nina Planck's book of this title for more detailed information). Fats that are found naturally in the diet (especially seafood) are higher in Omega-3. Omega-3 helps to prevent depression. Eating more fish (even one or two 3oz servings/week) will improve your heart health because it has this good fat. Nina Planck goes further, stating the imbalance of Omega-3s to Omega-6s can cause inflammation, obesity, diabetes, and cancer.

It is especially important to eat good fat when consuming the vitamins A, D, E, and K because they are necessary fat-soluble vitamins that are better digested when eaten with fat. This is why it is ok to use a little butter or olive oil (or a combination of both) on your carrots or broccoli : ) Not only does it taste good and fill you up, it will help your body absorb the vitamins and nutrients you need. So here's the bottom line: When it comes to eating McNuggets or getting a Broiler in a Bag... Go for the broiler in a bag (just make sure it is a real food!) and enjoy foods that have not been messed with by man! Adapted from: Real Food by Nina Planck and Understanding Nutrition, 9th ed. by Witney & Rolfes

FAT Part 1

Why is fat good for you?

Four FAT purposes

1-Energy: Fat supplies energy almost all of the time.

2-Warmth: Fat surrounds the organs and lies beneath the skin to keep our body warm.

3-Shock absorption: Fat prevents our vital organs from bruising while moving.

4-Spares Protein: Fat helps to keep protein (muscle) from being harmed. Fat also helps to metabolize carbohydrates.

For these reasons Men need a minimum of 3-5% body fat and women need at least 10-12% body fat. This shows that mother nature wants women to have more body fat. Plus, studies show men lose body fat faster than women. Women have a tendency to eat just as much as they burn, making it harder for women to lose body fat. Whereas, men have a tendency to eat less than what they burn, causing men to have lower body fat.

The RDA recommends 10-30% (65grams) of fat per day on a 2000 calorie diet. Most people in the US eat 40-50% of their calories from fat. Dr. Maoshing Ni in his book Secrets of Longevity writes people that eat high-fat animal-derived foods every day have a higher risk of disease.

Our bodies need fat, so treat yourself to the good kind on a regular basis. Good fats can be found in these foods: seafood, nuts, beans, seeds, vegetables, legumes, eggs and oils. Moderate red-meat intake and saturated fats. Avoid trans-fats.

In summary, if you stay active or exercise most days of the week, you will not have to worry about the types of food you eat as much. BUT, if you are sedentary, limit fat to 20-65grams per day to decrease your chances of disease and obesity.

Adapted from: Whitney and Rolfes, Understanding Nutrition 9th ed., 2002
Clark, Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook 4th ed., 2008

Get Lean in '09

Ryan can help you reach your goals! Contact him to set up an orientation: ryanregensburg@gmail.com

New Year's Resolutions 2009

Have you not set any New Years resolutions? It is not too late! Even though New Years passed, look at your life and consider what areas may need improvement. Plus, it is a good time to look back and congratulate yourself on your accomplishments. When setting goals look at all aspects of your life: physical, spiritual, psychological, social, emotional, financial, and professional.

When you set your goals-pretend there is nothing stopping you. If there were no obstructions, what would you do with your life? Who do you want to be? How do you want to spend your days on earth?

If you have trouble staying on a fitness program. Try starting with small steps. Maybe shoot to workout once/week every week for sixth months. Once you accomplish that maybe you will be ready and motivated to try 2-3 times/week. The body responds well to consistency and progression. If you are someone who works out for two weeks then does not get to the gym for months-this is not very good. You may want to reconsider your efforts. You will accomplish a lot more in the long run if you go one step at a time. The advantage of working out consistently is that you can improve and sustain your health and fitness. When you wait more than 10 days you will lose the strength and endurance you have gained.

Or

Instead of ordering the Double Quarter Pounder with cheese, try ordering a single Quarter Pounder with Cheese. Another way of saying this, is to cut your calories in small increments. Try cutting 500 calories per day, this works a lot better than starving yourself.

Small steps like these go a long way and we actually respond a lot better to the healthy improvements, because we can adjust easily, without putting stress on our well-being:)

To a Healthy and Successful New Year.