Captain Obvious would not say no to a kayak, though...

It is time for a bulletin from Captain Obvious.  The captain would like to remind everyone that, in this season of giving, we do NOT give fitness gifts to other people unless they specifically request them.  Even if we have the very best intentions, this is not helpful, useful, or kind.  Do not do it.

Minding our own business is a pretty good principle generally and it is essential when it comes to fitness.  We can only do our own work.  Frankly, most of us have plenty of our own work to do, so we really should not be looking around at what everyone else is doing or not doing.

 

Committing to fitness is not always an easy process.  It is not going to happen from the outside.  We have to want it ourselves.  It is certainly helpful to have supportive family and friends, but the big desire has to come from within.

 

Breathe

Want to improve your HRV and your cognitive function?  Try breathing.

I know it sounds like a joke.  In fact, it is a joke my kids’ grandma used to tell my kids (How do you avoid dying?  Keep breathing!)  (They might be genetically inclined to dark humor.)

 

However, The People Who Do Research say it works, at least in this study.

 

The takeaway from the study, in my opinion, is that it would probably be good for us if we spent some time breathing at a rate of about six breaths per minute.  There are tons of breathing apps out there that can measure that for us.  In the study, the participants spent 20 minutes doing it in the morning before caffeine.  (I know that last bit might be a deal-breaker for some of us, but maybe it’s worth a try?)

 

Worst case?  We have relaxed for a bit.  No down side.

Amino

Yesterday I suggested that those of us who are getting older (which is all of us, unless we happen to be dead…) might need to eat a bit more protein in order to maintain our muscle mass.  There is a certain amount of evidence that focusing on the amino acid leucine might be particularly beneficial.

I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t have an amino acid sensor that lets me look at a food and know that it’s a good source of any particular one.  Fortunately, we have the internet.

 

Leucine-rich foods for vegetarians include chickpeas, brown rice, soybeans, peanuts, and tree nuts like Brazil nuts, almonds, and cashews.  Eggs are also a good source for those who eat them.  Fish lovers can get leucine in salmon and the omnivores can find it in beef.  There you go:  an ingredient list for weight-day dinner!

Use it.

There are plenty of good things about getting older (I can buy as many books as I want, for one!), but then there’s the other stuff.  One of the less good things about getting older is that we lose muscle mass.

Over time, our muscle units remodel.  That’s a normal process in the body, but with aging, some of those remodels are essentially tear-downs.  We lose mostly fast-twitch motor units, which are responsible for strength and power.  Slight bright side:  our endurance motor units enlarge a bit to compensate, so we lose endurance more slowly than straight strength.

 

In the same way, our muscles are constantly breaking down and rebuilding as part of the general maintenance processes of our bodies.  As we get older, though, we don’t replace all the muscle proteins that we break down.  Some of this has to do with how we process dietary protein.  To some extent, we get less results from our resistance training.  We have to lift heavy to overcome this effect.

 

Then there are the hormones.  We all experience a rise in cortisol as we age, as well as an increase in inflammation.  Both of those contribute to the breakdown of muscle tissue.  Women, additionally, experience the hormonal shifts of menopause, which are not the kindest to our muscle tissue.

 

Pretty tempting just to give up and hold down the couch, right?  Nope.  Physical inactivity makes the whole enchilada worse.  In fact, we need to focus on more high-intensity, low-volume work than we did when we were younger in order to keep the muscle-eaters at bay.

 

So:  eat your protein and lift your iron.  Then get some sleep to solidify the gains.

Lift Weights, Get Smart

Yesterday we talked about anatomy.  Today:  physics!  I know a lot less about physics than I do about anatomy, so maybe I’ll be brief?  We can hope.

Force, as we all recall from physics, is mass multiplied by acceleration.  When we do strength training, we are essentially doing a physics lab on ourselves.  How cool is that?  No dorky lab coat required, unless you want to wear one, in which case, do you!

 

In this instance, the mass part is the easy bit.  It’s right there, on the dumbbell rack.  Whichever one we choose, it will remain constant throughout our endeavor.  (Unless we approach light speed.  Then the workout will probably become irrelevant.)  The other two parts of the equation will vary.  When we lift the weight, we have to accelerate it from a standstill into motion.  That initial acceleration against gravity results in a different amount of force than, say, at the top of the motion when we want to slow the movement down, stop it, and start the descent.  As the acceleration of the motion changes, so does the amount of force we use.

 

The good news is that we don’t actually have to do the math on this.  We have very smart bodies and brains that do the work for us.  Motor units, the functional groups that do the work for us, consist of motor neurons and their muscle fibers.  Those are plugged in to the central nervous system.

 

Bottom line:  strength and strength training are a function of the central nervous system.  It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that we get smarter when we lift weights.

 

Go play.

You Lousy Metronome, You!

Let’s talk anatomy for a moment or two.  In the classical conception, we have muscles that attach to bones via tendons.  (Nowadays, we talk about the myofascial system and it’s a lot more connected than previously thought, but for the current purpose, the old way works well enough.)  Tendons are thick pieces of connective tissue and they are less elastic than our muscles.  When we do weight training, we are of course strengthening our muscles, but we can also strengthen our tendons.

 

Why would we want to do that?  Hypermobile people need strong tendons to keep their bodies together.  The rest of us also need our muscles to stay attached.

 

The People Who Do Research have done some and what they learned is that isokinetic exercises are great for strengthening tendons.  That five-dollar word there?  It means exercises in which the movement takes place with an even cadence over the same distance.  What we need in order to do this work is a simple metronome app, or an actual metronome if one happens to be lying around from the days when we took music lessons.

 

(In theory, we could just count evenly as we did our reps.  It turns out that we all make lousy metronomes and it is worth getting a free app and letting it handle that for us.)

 

Even if we’re not super excited about the idea of getting strong tendons, it’s a new way to play with our exercises, and who doesn’t want that? 

Month of Gratitude: Clients

November is a month of gratitude.

No month of gratitude would be complete without a shout out to my clients.  I am privileged to work with and for some truly remarkable people.

 

As I watch them get stronger, I am inspired.  When they have setbacks, they trust me to figure out how to get them back on track.  They teach me so much.

 

Thanks, y’all, for putting up with me!

Month of Gratitude: Internet

November is a month of gratitude.

I am grateful for the Internet today.  While we certainly have to be careful to evaluate the quality of the information we find there, we have access to so many more resources than ever before as we figure out how to create health in our lives.

 

Need a new workout?  No problem.  What to do for that achy knee?  (The Internet is no substitute for actual medical care, but can provide handy tips for stuff that doesn’t need a doctor’s attention!)  Veggie box came full of kale and no idea what to do with it?  Zillions of recipes are right there!

 

What’s your favorite fitness site?

Month of Gratitude: Uncles

November is a month of gratitude.

Today I am thankful for my two favorite fitness uncles, Uncle Joe and Uncle Patanjali.

 

Uncle Joe is Joseph Pilates, visionary creator of the eponymous system.  His determination to create health and “spontaneous zest” in his own life and the lives of others has been transformative.  I am thankful for the training I have had in his methods because it makes me a better mover and teacher.

 

Uncle Patanjali is credited with systematizing the huge complex that is yoga into sutras.  The practice of yoga brings peace to my body and my mind.

 

Who are your fitness heros?

Month of Gratitude: Weights

November is a month of gratitude.

I am thankful, today, for weights.  Not just heavy things, but specifically weights.  Of course, we can get strong by lifting couches or groceries or growing children.  We can use our muscles to lift our own body weight in various ways.

 

But the person who decided that having a set of measured weights in graduated sizes is a genius.  With measurement comes the ability to track and plan and plot progress.  We can benchmark where we are and we can add incrementally to our challenges so we can develop in a healthy way.

 

Also:  weights are much easier to grip than couches or children.

 

What is your favorite piece of fitness equipment?

Month of Gratitude: Parasympathetic Nervous System

November is a month of gratitude.

Today I am grateful for the parasympathetic nervous system.  (Now that’s a sentence I never expected to write!)  The world out there likes to encourage me to be best buddies with my sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for stress reactions like the fight-or-flight response.  But my parasympathetic nervous system offers a respite from that.

 

Tapping into deep breathing allows me to relax and heal, to rest, to repair the results of the day’s stresses, even if those stresses are good things like a hard workout, a challenging situation well-resolved, or a novel experience.

 

What’s your favorite way to find relaxation?

Month of Gratitude: Body

November is gratitude month!

Today I am grateful for my body.  I mean, without a body, where would I be?

 

My body takes care of all kinds of stuff without me even noticing.  I don’t have to remember to breathe (although sometimes it helps!).  I don’t have to figure out how to digest my food or keep my internal temperature at a healthy level.  When I get a scrape on my knee, my body just fixes it!  Blood moves all by itself.  Even my lymph system does whatever it is it does without any interference from my conscious mind.  And that’s just the maintenance portion of the show.

 

When I want to go somewhere, my body gets me there.  When I want to move things, my body coordinates all the bones and muscles to get it done.  I have my own personal meat monster to do my bidding!

 

Then there is the joy my body provides.  I get to feel the sun on my face.  I rejoice in flowers (obviously!).  Tasting food, listening to music, smelling herbs or petrichor, all the pleasures of the world are brought to me through my body.

 

Thanks, body!

Month of Gratitude: Cardio

November is a month of gratitude.  There is plenty of research out there that suggests that practicing gratitude is good for our health.  For Reasons (OK, because gratitude practice tends to backfire when my personal Depression Monster is in residence:  how can I be dealing with the DM when I have so much to be grateful for?  And we spiral from there…), I am not a Gratitude Journal kind of person, but that does not mean that it doesn’t work in the general sense; it just doesn’t work for me.  That said, I am going to practice some gratitude here this whole month.

So:  what am I grateful for today?  Cardio exercise.  When I am crabby and cranky, odds are good that some quality time on my spin bike will do the trick to fix my mood.  A walk outside has a similar effect, plus no one will hear me grumbling.

 

Even if I’m not feeling like grousing, cardio is something wonderful for me.  It makes my brain work better, increases my available energy, and burns calories.

 

Anybody else grateful for a pumping heart?

Halloween Hint

Today I’m just going to offer a small Halloween hint.  It is:  buy candy that you don’t personally like.  Then there is no temptation to snarf it all instead of giving it away.

Don't Apologize

When people hear what I do for a living, they tend to apologize to me.  They tell me that they really mean to work out, but they don’t.  Or they look anxious as they take a bite of cake.

For the record, I am not the Fitness and Diet Police.  (I really hope that there is no such thing!)  While I firmly believe that our lives are better if we move our bodies and feed them good stuff, we are happier, I also understand that life is complicated.

 

I can’t (and don’t want to!) make anybody do anything they don’t want to do.  Sure, I think that we’d feel better if we moved more often.  Yes, it would probably be healthier to eat more veggies and less candy.  But the impetus to change has to come from inside.  Otherwise it just won’t work.

 

Change, my friends, is hard.  We have to know, deeply, what we want and why we want it to do it.  It also doesn’t happen in one fell swoop.  The occasional piece of pie is going to happen to all of us.

 

My job, as a human and as a trainer, is to be there when folks are ready to do the work.  I bring my skills and knowledge, my encouragement and accountability, and my clients do the hard part.

 

Workouts will always be there when we’re ready.

For the Brain

It’s not a secret that I think exercise is good for our wellbeing.  Healthy bodies make life better.  But exercising is also helpful for our brains.

Interestingly, I find that this works in two opposite ways.  One of those ways is that exercise, especially cardio, allows us to zone out.  The rhythm of walking or swimming or biking or running produces an almost meditative effect on our little monkey minds.  Our thoughts (assuming that what we’re doing does not end up focusing on “OW!”) can wander around and we don’t get attached to them.

 

The other way is that exercise can compel us to focus on just one thing:  what we are doing.  This tends to happen when we’re doing something less familiar or something where a lot of things have to come together to make the motion work.  All our worries about the past and all our compulsive plans for the future fall away leaving us with just where our bodies are in space right this minute.  We have to be present.

 

Both of these can leave us, after our workout is done, feeling more creative and sharp.

 

Go play.

Neutrality not Stillness

Recently I was watching a webinar about Pilates topics.  Most of it was not super engaging, to be honest, but one concept in particular stood out:  neutral, in our bodies, is dynamic.

I think that most of us conceive of neutral in our bodies kind of like that poor guy in the Operation game, except standing up.  We’re still, arms at our sides, facing front.  That’s just not real.

 

Our bodies are constantly moving.  Don’t believe me?  A hand on our chest or belly while we inhale and exhale should convince us.  Our outsides may be relatively still, but inside all kinds of stuff is rushing around:  blood, food, air, lymph, nerve impulses.

 

Neutral, in this context, is a place of rest amid the busyness.  Neutral is where we don’t have to do a bunch of work to hold some arbitrary position.  To paraphrase Anne Morrow Lindbergh, we need to find our still axis within the revolving wheel of our movements.

 

This is where we breathe and come home to ourselves.

Burn(out), Baby...

Burnout is real.  The Mayo Clinic talks about signs of job burnout here.  But we get it in exercise, too.  When we find our workouts end up giving us less overall energy, when we stop making progress, when everything hurts, when we can’t sleep well or recover well, we might be looking at a burnout situation.

Usual disclaimers here:  I am not a doctor, physical therapist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or nutritionist.  Those are useful professionals to consult.  My specialty is exercise.

 

The first thing we want to do when we suspect burnout is to stop.  Yes, I know this is very very hard.  We have real pressures to keep going.  There are a couple of ways to address those pressures.  One is to be countercultural by remembering that we are valuable intrinsically, not just because of what we do or accomplish.  Another is to Jedi mind-trick ourselves by remembering that taking a break now will improve our overall productivity.  Maybe we use both?

 

How long we stop will depend.  We need to take a moment or two, while we’re not doing All the Things to take stock of the situation.  Here are a few questions to ask:

 

Am I eating foods that are good for me?  In appropriate quantities?

Am I getting enough sleep?

Am I having any fun?

What is important to me?

 

The answers to those questions might reveal some interesting pathways to get out of the burnout hole.  We can’t get anywhere without decent fuel.  We require rest.  Not everything has to be difficult and painful and unpleasant.  Some things that we do might not be in line with what we really want.

 

We only get one life.  Let’s do our best with it.

Falling (or not) into Fall

Since we’re into fall now, let’s talk about falling.  As we age, falling can become more and more of a risk.  Unless we work really hard, those of us who are over 30 are losing muscle mass, a process which accelerates as we get older and older.  Our balance may get more precarious.  Our bones get more fragile.  All these things put us at greater risk of falling and of having injuries that are difficult to recover from.

Interestingly, in a small study done on Pilates for people classified as high risk for falls, the greatest predictor of actual falls was fear.  Having positive movement experiences that were not targeted at improving balance or strength or even core control moved people out of the high risk group.  There was no significant correlation between strength and risk in this study.

 

What does that mean?  It means that we are people who need to keep moving.  We need to keep our focus on doing what we can do rather than dwelling on what we can’t do.  We need to take ownership of our experience.  (Yeah, it sounds pretty darn woo-woo to me, too, but it turns out to work.)

 

Don’t know where to start?  Poke me.  I can help.

That's Right...

Good news for women!  Apparently women’s bodies work smarter.  According to a recent study (link here!), women get “maximal survival benefit” from about 2 ½ hours of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise per week (that’s a half an hour per weekday with weekends off, y’all!) while it takes men about 5 hours to get the same benefits.

 

That said, everybody still needs to get out there and do the work.  Even if we don’t hit the targets, doing something is better than doing nothing.

 

Go play!