Thursday, January 17, 2013

Blog has moved to my new website

Hello everyone THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO http://www.catherinedaoustfitness.com See you there Catherine

Monday, November 26, 2012

Get more from your workout

You have just finished a long, steady state cardiovascular workout: 60 minutes of walking, hiking, swimming or cycling. Studies have shown that you can actually increase your appetite when doing long, steady-state cardo. So let's say you burned 250 calories using cardio, but your appetite caused you to eat 350 more calories than usual due to your appetite. That's a surplus of 100 calories each day. But there's good news. Studies have also shown that intervals and/or finishers burn even more calories than steady-state cardio, without affecting your appetite. So after a 30 to 40 minutes of steady-state cardio, do the following circuit twice, resting for 20 seconds between circuits: 1. Jumping Jacks or Lateral jumps (6 each) 2. Decline Push-ups (10) The decline push-up is performed just like a regular push-up, but your feet rest on an elevated base, such as an aerobic step or a weight bench. Support your weight on your hands that are placed just slightly wider than shoulder width. Your body should form a straight line, with your abs slightly engaged as if bracing for a punch. Tighten your buttocks to prevent sinking your lower back and align your head with your spine to form a straight line. Avoid looking forward or leading with your head. Keep your elbows at a 45-degree angle with the body.
3. Inclined Rows (10) Using a neutral grip, lean into an incline bench. Take a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip, beginning with the arms straight. This will be your starting position. Retract the shoulder blades and flex the elbows to row the dumbbells to your side. Pause at the top of the motion, and then return to the starting position.
4. KB/DB Swings (20) The king of exercises—the two-handed kettlebell swing—is all you need for dramatic changes. • Stand with your feet 6–12 inches outside of shoulder width on either side, each foot pointed outward about 30 degrees. • Keep your shoulders pulled back (retracted) and down to avoid rounding your back. • The lowering movement (backswing) is a sitting-back-on-a-chair movement, not a squatting- down movement. • Do not let your shoulders go in front of your knees at any point. • Imagine pinching a penny between your butt cheeks when you pop your hips forward.
With a finisher like above, you’re using different muscle groups and you’re doing it in less time. This allows you to burn fat with less risk for injury. By using a strategic combination of conditioning moves and core exercises, along with incomplete recovery, you have set up your body to burn more fat, along with safely strengthening your core. (Source Mike Whitfield, CFNC from Georgia). Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Sign up for a session today! http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257

Monday, November 5, 2012

Guidelines for Exercise

As a personal trainer I often get asked, how much exercise do I need? Now that I am in my 50's can I continue to run or will I harm my knees? And more... I have been running for over 30 years and am still running and going strong, now at 55 years-old. I run only twice a week now, largely due to a high arch problem in my left foot, but I also exercise daily: bike on Mondays, run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, strength train on Wednesdays, swim on Fridays and strength train/hike on the weekend. And I am thinking of incorporating a yoga class once a week. I feel and look great! The scientific evidence demonstrating the beneficial effects of exercise is indisputable, and the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks in most adults. A program of regular exercise that includes cardiorespiratory, resistance, flexibility, and neuromotor exercise training beyond activities of daily living to improve and maintain physical fitness and health is essential for most adults. The ACSM recommends that most adults engage: . moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for at least 30 min or more daily, up to 5 days per week for total of ≥150 min per week . vigorous-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise training for at least 20 min, 1 to 3 days per week (≥75 min·wk) or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise to achieve a total energy expenditure of ≥500-1000 MET·min per week. On 2-3 days per week, adults should also perform resistance exercises for each of the major muscle groups, and neuromotor exercise involving balance, agility, and coordination. Crucial to maintaining joint range of movement, completing a series of flexibility exercises for each the major muscle-tendon groups (a total of 60 s per exercise) on at least 2 days per week is recommended. The exercise program should be modified according to an individual's habitual physical activity, physical function, health status, exercise responses, and stated goals. Adults who are unable or unwilling to meet the exercise targets outlined here still can benefit from engaging in amounts of exercise less than recommended. In addition to exercising regularly, there are health benefits in concurrently reducing total time engaged in sedentary pursuits and also by interspersing frequent, short bouts of standing and physical activity between periods of sedentary activity, even in physically active adults. (Reference American College of Sport Medicine).
Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Sign up for a session today! http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257

Monday, October 29, 2012

Neck Strengthening exercises

If you suffer from neck pain, you also need to include neck strengthening exercises. The scalene and suboccipital muscles are most effectively stretched in conjunction with strengthening of the weakened postural muscles, including the upper thoracic extensors and the deep cervical flexors. The following neck strengthening exercises can help relieve neck pain: CHIN TUCK:
One of the most effective exercises for treating neck pain is the chin tuck exercise. It not helps to pull the head back into alignment over the shoulders (upper thoracic extensors) but it also stretches the scalene and suboccipital muscles. To perform the exercise for the first time it is often recommended that you stand with the spine up against a wall and the feet out about 3 inches from the bottom of the wall (figure 1). . Keeping the spine against the wall, pull the upper back and head back until the back of the head touches the wall . It is important to make sure that the chin is down so that the head is pulled straight back and is not looking up (Figure 2). . Hold the head against the wall for 5 seconds. . Repeat this ten times. After performing this exercise about ten times, start doing the exercise in standing or sitting without a wall. The exercise can be done 5 to 7 times per day.
When in the car, use the headrest as a point to aim for when pulling the head back. You may feel some stretching of the muscles on the side of the neck that go down to the collarbone. These are the scalene muscles. These muscles along with the muscles at the top of the neck at the base of the skull are generally the tight muscles. The muscles in the front of the neck and muscles of the upper back are generally the weak muscles that need to be strengthened. (source Spine-health.com) Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Better Aging http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

How to deal with neck pain - part 2

Thank you for your kind feedback from my last blog dealing with "neck pain". Sharon writes: "Perfect timing. I have started to read books on my tablet and the angle of my neck/head/ line of sight is off. Therefore neck pain today. Thank you for this email with neck pain exercises!" The second technique to deal with neck pain is called Static or Passive Stretch. Passive or static stretch is when you hold the neck in a specific position where the muscles are lengthened (and will feel a light stretch), in order to assist in those muscles being lengthened. This type of stretching is the most common type of neck stretching you see for neck injuries and neck pain. An example of a static stretch is this: rotate the head to the side and bring the muscles to the point that they are being lightly stretched. When you get to that light stretch point you will hold the position for a period of time. A lot of times it might be 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes. What I do that is different is go against the grain when it comes to how long someone stretches. Everyone is going to differ on how long they end up holding that stretch. The key thing that you are looking at is when do you feel the muscles relax? When you feel the neck muscles relax, you can discontinue the stretch. For some people that might end up taking 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds. Let me explain the relaxing of the neck muscle being stretched. You will bring the muscle to a stretch position. As you hold the stretch and do not change the position you are in, you will feel the muscles lightly relax to a point you won’t feel the stretch any more. It is a small lengthening of the muscle. This is when your neck stretch should end. The second point depends on what your tissues can tolerate. If someone has injured their neck or has neck pain, they might move it into a stretch position, but can only handle 5 seconds. Forcing them to hold it for 30 seconds, a minute, or two will just flare things up (increase neck pain). It’s better to stretch the muscles in a point of comfort, even if it’s not 30, 60 or 120 seconds. If it’s just 5 seconds you can still build on that. And then more advanced the technique is, when you feel that muscle relax you can move to the starting position of the stretch and move to the other side, or move on the next exercise.
Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust, Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Better Aging http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

How to deal with neck pain

A few years ago, when I was going through some difficult times, my neck was so stiff I could barely move. Some of my clients also suffer from sore necks due to poor sleeping habits (insufficient support from your pillow, too firm). You may also feel neck pain from a long day in front of your computer. Let me share with you some great ideas to help you. Stretch your Neck: In order to overcome neck soreness and pain, we want to increase the range of motion - that's how much movement you have in the neck. Having full range of motion helps all the tissues in the neck to heal properly and prevents any compensation movements from other joints due to a loss of range of motion in the neck. One of those compensation movements could lead to shoulder pain. By stretching your neck you will also reduce neck muscle tension, which could lead to joint damage and more pain. Try Active Range of motion or Dynamic Stretching for you neck. Slowly rotate your head to the side, to the point where you feel light resistance (you should feel no pain during the movement). Now hold the end position for a second and then come back to the start. Keep your head level, in good posture, at all times, do a number of repetitions. Begin each exercise with your neck in midline position. Your head should be centered and not tilted forward, back, or to the side. You can do this exercise while either lying flat on your back or sitting up. Gently turn your head to the left, looking over your left shoulder. Stop when a stretch is felt in the right side of your neck. Hold position for 20 seconds. Return to starting position. Repeat above stretch 4 times. Gently turn your head to the right, looking over your right shoulder. Stop when a stretch is felt in the left side of your neck. Hold position for 20 seconds. Return to starting position. Repeat above stretch 4 more times. (source About.com Physical Therapy) With time and reps, you will find that your range of motion will gradually increase and you will move more freely. But watch out about pushing too hard - it can irritate the muscle, which may lead to increase in neck pain and decrease in movement.
Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust, Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Better Aging http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257 In my next blog I will review neck passive stretches for you to try.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Raise your HDL

So you got the results of your recent cholesterol test and your HDL cholesterol came back low. Since low HDL (high density lipoprotein) is a risk factor for heart disease, you know that you need to elevate it... but how? Why would you want to increase this form of cholesterol? HDL is the "good cholesterol". It acts like a cholesterol dump truck, gathering "bad" cholesterol from the arteries and carrying it back to the liver for clearance. This heart protective effect may even slow the buildup of plaque in the arterial walls of the heart. HDL may also have some anti-inflammatory effects that are beneficial to your heart. That's why you want your HDL to be high, so it can better carry out these responsibilities and protect your ticker. 5 Foods that raise your HDL: Nuts: walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, pecans and hazelnuts are all good sources of heart-healthy fats and are great to add to your diet to increase your intake. Add nuts to cereal, yogurt, salad, stir fries, pasta or rice. Seafood: salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna and halibut are highest in omega-3 fatty acids, which can boost HDL. Olive Oil: high in unsaturated fats, olive oil is great with salads and can replace butter with fried foods. Avocado: Good healthy heart snack, use it in omelets, or enjoy with veggies or crackers. Oatmeal: Fiber can help bump up your HDL while reducing LDL. Along with these HDL boosting foods, don't forget the daily exercise! Regular exercise signals your body to produce more HDL, making physical activity one of the most important factors to raising your HDL. Start with just 5 to 10 minutes a few days a week, but gradually increase until you're active for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. Your heart will thank you!
Let's connect at gaiaadventures@shaw.ca Catherine D'Aoust, Kinesiologist, Personal Training, Better Aging http://www.gaiaadventures.com 604 329.1257