The big debate - Vote Health

With the current election and party campaigns in full swing, I thought it'd be a good idea to pool peoples opinions on exercise. For those of us who enjoy it, we all have our own preference and often are quite passionate as to why we do it.

This blog is totally designed to get as many people as possible to read and add their preference and argument for why.

I'll start with saying kettlebells are something that most people should be doing. With the static and seated nature of modern living, glutes and low abdominals are too underactive, low back, hip flexors and hamstrings are generally speaking too dominant and kettlebells help with all that as well as improving cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility and they're no impact on the joints when done properly.

They're not everything but can form a great foundation. Who's next?

Does state influence exercise?

We all know that doing exercise in some shape or form can be great for our health but why is it important to be in the right state?

Well, there are a number of reasons. Firstly, however you are feeling will control your hormonal balance, the level of cortisol, adrenal function and this manipulates how your body creates and thrives with energy. Already, just by thinking in the right way you will make massive strides towards getting your body to deliver the right response for you whether it be weight loss, increase stamina or strength. It is true that being upset, angry or depressed increases fat storage. Think of it like this, primally, times that would stress the mind and body would be starvation or being under threat. As a coping mechanism, the body would realise this and store fat as a means of survival.

Secondly, your state dictates your mental energy, neuromuscular focus and your muscular response. If you want to go running but you're feeling lousy, worthless or upset then your body won't be operating properly. You'll have less access to energy reserves, your body will be at greater risk of injury and you'll be missing out on a heightened sense of control physically.

So, how do you adopt the right state for what you want? Well, state should be situational just like many things. By matching your state to the task in hand then you'll be setting all your internal control settings to the right coordinates. If you are wanting to stretch and increase flexibility then you should be relaxed, decresing muscular and neurological tension. If you're going to lift weights then feeling strong, decisive and engaged would help make your body alert, fired up and present.

By taking a few minutes prior to exercising and reflecting on the type of exercise in hand, you can start to identify what state is needed. Once you know the state, then think back to a time when you had this, put yourself mentally back in that state and walk with it into the new session.

Again, primally, fight or flight responses would control the mental state relative to the situation accordingly to give the body what it needs. In times of danger, being alert to move quickly, be strong and decisive would improve the likelyhood of survival. Just because modern lifestyle doesn't involve the same dangers or conerns doesn't mean that the bodies requirements aren't the same.

As a final thought, focus and engagement are important but don't ignore the importance of play. Being social, fun and interactive with movement is very much a natural thing and should be incorporated into your habits.

Phill

Why is exercising too much dangerous?

It's quite strange that over the last few years my life has been shaped around exciting both trainers and individuals about exercise and movement and here I am now talking about putting a cap on the exercise you do. The two biggest trends that I see are that people either don't exercise enough or they do too much. It seems that exercise is like a drug, used in the right way, it can do wonders for the body yet used excessively, it can be dangerously harmful.

We're all well aware of the benefits of exercise and how it remains a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle yet few really understand the physiological and psychological implications of over-exercising. It's worth having a look at some of the common issues that arise:

• Instead of building muscle, too much exercise destroys muscle as the body receives insufficient nutrition and recovery time forcing it to break down muscle tissue for energy.
• Bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and joints are all under excessive pressure and often become damaged. When minor injuries aren't allowed to heal, these often result in long term damage.
• Females over-exercising can disrupt the balance of hormones in their body including the menstrual cycle. Some females lose periods altogether and can suffer from premature bone loss.
• Exhaustion and fatigue.
• An even bigger threat is the strain put on the heart and cardiovascular system. When an individual over-exercises as well as committing to unhealthy weight loss through crash diets, restricting intake, diet pills or vomiting, the stress put on their body can be sometimes a fatal mixture.
• Depression and anxiety can plague compulsive exercisers. Fixated on keeping fit completely rules lives. With low self-esteem, negative self-image and often a feeling of worthlessness, individuals can often avoid withdraw from friends and family to spend excessive time fixated to exercising.

Well, how can we help. Spotting warning signs will help identify this common problem. A person may be exercising compulsively if he or she:

• Never skip a workout, even if tired, sick or injured
• Doesn't enjoy exercising yet feels obligated to do it
• Feels irrationale guilt or anger when missing a workout
• exercises for twice as long as normal in the event of missing an exercise session
• Is constantly preoccupied with his or her weight, shape and exercise routine
• Doesn't like to sit still or relax for constant fear of not burning enough calories
• Has lost a significant amount of weight
• Exercises more after eating more believing that meals must be 'burnt off'
• Skips meeting friends and family and gives up responsibility to spend time exercising
• Seems to base self worth on quantity of exercise or effort levels
• Is never satisfied with his or her personal achievements

Spotting them is half the battle. Remember that in your opinion, it may seem blatantly obvious that their exercise habits or under eating habits are compulsive. Yet these are part of what the individuals believes and dismissing these as excessive and ridiculing them may not be a great way to improve rapport or understanding. Be kind, loving, encouraging, listen and try to help the individual become more confident. In extreme cases, always seek professional guidance. This ideally would be with the permission of the individual but compulsive habits can be fatal in extreme cases. Let common sense prevail. 

Are you sitting comfortably?

Ok, the last entry was not so much of a nutshell and more a giant coconut shell so my job here is to be a little more succinct.

To wrap up the 6 key points of health I'm going to talk a little bit about recovery and relaxation. Something that seems not to be a common part of modern living. Work is hectic, home is hectic, family is hectic, having an iPhone is hectic, let's face it, life is pretty hectic...if you allow it to be!

Just as, if not more important that doing exercise, recovery dictates whether or not you acually benefit from the exercise and the healthy food that you're taking on or whether it causes stress and damage.

The key thing that drives this is the nervous and hormonal system. These things must be considered. You have probably heard the term fight or flight. Todays society can often cause people to remain in a fight of flight state for long periods of time. This can mean constant pumping of adrenaline into the body, elevated heart rate and blood pressure and the enhanced release of cortisol or other state hormones. These are the key control units that make certain things happen. For example, if you have are stressed about something, regardless of what activity you are doing (running, watching TV or eating) then your body releases cortisol.

Cortisol can be a positive input to the body when not prolonged: increased cognitive function, temporary increased energy levels, immune function and inflammatory response. However, when state isn't returned to the relaxation response then the body can suffer: blood sugar imbalances, supressed thyroid function, decreased bone density, decreased muscle tissue, high blood pressure, lowered immunity and increased abdominal fat.

There are a number of key aspects to recovery and improving the relaxation response:

• Getting quality sleep - everyone is different and notice that the term is quality. Not just having enough sleep but real quality. Our ancestors used to sleep from dusk until dawn. If you're waking tired then the quality may not be there.
• Clearing the mind - the conscious mind is not designed to be constantly task orientated. The unconscious mind can keep whirling whilst you refresh your conscious. Think of it like a web browser, when you open more and more windows when surfing the web, the speed suffers and becomes disorganised. This is precisely what happens with the mind. Try and clear your head atleast once daily. Whether it is music, stretching, going for a long walk, exercise or kareoke. Clearing the conscious mind is essential
• Muscular Recovery - When your body has undertaken a demanding or physical task, let it recover. Long runs, intense exercise, lifting weights or manual work pull, stretch, impact and ask a huge demand of the body. The only way you'll recover is by giving the entire system time. Upto 48 hours is often necessary for the muscles to repair and as you get more and more in tune with your own body you'll learn to know what it needs to fully feel repaired, strong and revitalised. (Starting exercise feeling sore, tired and low in energy is a very clear message - your body isn't recovered, therefore it won't benefit optimally)
• Nutrition - Getting the right sort of foods into your body is essential. Remember that for the purpose of recovery, your body does not store lots of readily available energy stores. When exercising, post exercise nutrition is paramount. Think of it like hunting, primal man worked hard for a catch and enjoyed the feast soon after. If your body works hard then enjoy your catch straight away. The sooner the better as your body will crave energy - if you wait over an hour then your body will have already started to look elsewhere for energy supplies (your muscles)
• Hydration - As I mentioned previously, everything that occurs in the body requires the presence of water. Regular sips are best and avoid naughty disguised wannabees like coffee, cola, sugary drinks and other fluids that do not hydrate the body one iota. Also, drink water at room temperature to benefit from it more rapidly.

Hope this is useful. Just about to get our new outfit site launched - exciting times. http://www.outfit-uk.com/

Phill

Exercise in a nutshell

Well, here is me trying to wrap another huge subject up in a very short effort. Exercise is one strange topic and I honestly don't feel like it is truly understood at all. In general terms, people seem to do far too much of it or not enough. So, how can we get it right? Just like many things - unfortunately, we're all completely different machines and therefore cannot operate by the precise same guidelines. Understanding your own body will help you move towards finding out how best to service it.

If you look at modern lifestyle, it is so far completely removed from not just a few thousand years ago but a few hundred years ago. Firstly, we spend hours in a sitting position, this just isn't natural and causes no end of damage from a functional perspective. In short, hip flexors become hypertonic, shortened but weak, glutes become phasic, lengthened and inhibited which then causes the stabilisers of the hips, spine and organs (the core) to then become inhibited which forces lower back muscles to take over in holding your torso up-right. We are animals and if you look at the animal kingdom, I'm sure we could all agree on a number of instinctive priorities which reside over most carnivores: hunting, forraging, building home, maintaining home, procreation and upbringing of young. Well, many of those still remain relevant but some have hugely evolved. Hunting and forraging is done mainly in supermarkets, online, over the phone and at the nearest fast food spot. Building home is done by builders. Maintaining is done with a vacuum cleaner, a feather duster and some Mr Sheen. Ok, you get the picture, I could go on. The fact is that whilst lifestyle has evolved massively, the body's requirements haven't and the clear evidence of this is that obesity levels have never been so frightening, back pain, chronic injury, RSI, disease, are all terms that scarily we can associate with close friends and family.

Here are some simple pointers that can help you make the right decisions when exercising:

1. Mix what you do! The body is designed to move and function in all manner of ways. By mixing steady controlled movements with higher intensity, you'll support your body by achieving greater stability and not just lots of mobility. Repeating one specific pattern like cycling over and over again can cause problems. Include as many different patterns as you can into your exercise: extension, flexion, squat, lunge, push, pull, hold, roll, jump, walk, crawl, run, bound, abduct etc. Not only will your body benefit more, your exercise will be heaps more interesting.
2. Work out and work on! Since the 80's Jane Fonda revolution, many people seem to believe that exercise has to be fast tempo, sweaty and constant hard work. As I've already mentioned, the body is designed to do all sorts of key functions, working on your posture and alignment is just as important as getting moving. Having an efficient kinetic chain (your musculature and skeleton) will help you get the most out of everything you do.
3. Commit to things you enjoy! If you don't enjoy something, don't kid yourself and find something else. Using running as an example, many people don't like it yet force themselves with grimace and all to put on the trainers and take to the streets. Going for a long and brisk walk would be just as, if not more beneficial.
4. Include more social activities! You may be in a minority and not enjoy the company of others but we are social creatures and right to a genetic level, we need interaction, support and social engagement. Not only will the time seem to pass quicker, but you'll learn more, have more motivation and statistically, you're more likely to stay with it.
5. Make time for recovery! Think of it like this, if you were having to hunt for food and you just had made a really tough but great catch which took the wind out of you, then you won't need to go hunting immediately. We hunt because we have to and the eating and recovering part are essential to your body for it to actually benefit. Remember that exercise is stressing and damaging that body. The only reason that we benefit from it is through the repair that occurs afterwards. If this is non-existant then so is the benefit.

Hope this is useful and I'll be adding more to this rather large topic in future blogs.

Phill