Everyone knows that the real benefits of exercise, in terms of weight loss and overall health, come in the long term. The problem is too may people get bored with their exercise routine in the short term.
The trick to maintaining a long-term exercise commitment? Get out of your rut! Vary your routine! Make it interesting…and therefore more enjoyable and then maybe you won’t get bored so easily!
In his recent study, supported by USA Track and Field, he recruited about 3,000 runners and divided them into two groups. One group was instructed to do 3 to 5 minutes of static stretching before each run. That is, they stood in one place and stretched their quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles.
“It’s the classic way of stretching,” Pereles says.
The other group of runners was instructed not to stretch before runs. Both groups had a mix of men and women of different ages who ran varying speeds and distances. At the end of three months, Pereles found that 16 percent of all the runners had sustained an injury. But it turns out the stretchers fared no better than the non-stretchers. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: I have not been a fan of pre-workout stretching for many years. Take time to warm up by easing into your exercise routine & focus on using proper form throughout your workout. Stretching after exercise, in my opinion, is much more effective with less risk of injury (because the muscles are already warm). Best choice - Use gentle stretching as a cool down from your run or other forms of exercise.
Here’s good news for geezers — or for merely middle-aged folks — who’d like to stay fit and independent far into their later years.
You don’t have to lift heavy weights to build muscle strength. Lifting lighter weights can be just as effective if you do it right, and you’re much less likely to hurt yourself, researchers say.
That’s important information for people exercise expert Stuart Phillips calls “mere mortals” — those with dwindling muscle mass who want stay active, as distinct from body-builders and elite athletes.
Phillips, a professor of kinesthesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, says everybody needs to do some kind of resistance training to build muscle strength as they age. Cardiovascular exercise, while important, isn’t enough to maintain muscle mass.
“For most people that’s meant going to the gym and lifting heavy weights,” Phillips told Shots. That’s mainly because of the hoary dogma that to build muscle you’ve got to lift 80 percent of your all-out maximum weight for eight to 10 reps. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: 20 years ago, while training for college football, I used a super slow workout to add muscle mass & strength with awesome results. Needless to say, I’m a big fan of using lighter weights with slower reps during your workouts. This type of workout will lower your injury risk while giving you an opportunity to reach most of your fitness goals.
Are you making one of the following mechanical mistakes?
The 5 Most Common Running Form Mistakes
Dr. Jay’s Note: Great tips to keep in mind for more enjoyable running.
The heart of the minimalist and barefoot running craze suggests that by transitioning from overbuilt running shoes to shoes that allow the feet to function normally, heel-striking will become a thing of the past and running form will be naturally corrected. This is not always the case, however, and to ensure you get what you’re looking for out of a minimalistic running shoe, attention to good form is a necessary objective. The first step? Take an honest look at flaws that are making a negative impact on your stride. Here are a few telltale signs of improper stride form you may need to correct. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: I transitioned my running form over 3 years ago to mimic barefoot running. This shift to a more natural form has added to my enjoyment of my workouts & has virtually eliminated running injuries from my life. Highly recommended!
Many endurance athletes and daily exercisers alike suffer the pain of muscle cramps, usually in the calves, either during a sporting event or workout session or directly after. What causes these painful cramps?
There are many possible causes for why the cramping occurs. Some of these include low blood sugar, salt imbalance due to sweating, nerve damage, compromised blood flow, heat or cold and even a disruption of energy along acupuncture meridians. While many of these are general causes of cramps, there is disagreement whether they are actually involved in exercise-induced cramping. Read More
ScienceDaily (Feb. 8, 2012) — People who are more physically active report greater levels of excitement and enthusiasm than people who are less physically active, according to Penn State researchers. People also are more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm on days when they are more physically active than usual.
“You don’t have to be the fittest person who is exercising every day to receive the feel-good benefits of exercise,” said David Conroy, professor of kinesiology. “It’s a matter of taking it one day at a time, of trying to get your activity in, and then there’s this feel-good reward afterwards.”
Conroy added that it often is hard for people to commit to an exercise program because they tend to set longterm rather than short-term goals.
“When people set New Year’s resolutions, they set them up to include the entire upcoming year, but that can be really overwhelming,” he said. “Taking it one day at a time and savoring that feel-good effect at the end of the day might be one step to break it down and get those daily rewards for activity. Doing this could help people be a little more encouraged to stay active and keep up the program they started.” Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: Pick a physical activity that you enjoy doing & look for opportunities to do it often. You can dance, garden, hike, swim, play a sport, etc.
My favorite forms of ‘exercise’ are surfing & trail running. Even though I’m usually pretty tired after a session in the water, surfing feels like play & yet it’s a great workout. Running on trails becomes a meditation in & with nature, the physical workout is just a tremendous bonus.
Be more playful in your exercise this month & soon your habits will improve for the long term.
Running long-distance races isn’t going to hurt your heart any more than other vigorous sports, researchers say. Just make sure you’re fit enough to attempt the feat in the first place.
In the past decade, nearly 11 million runners participated in long-distance races, but only 59 suffered cardiac arrests, according to findings just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Most of the cases happened to be in runners with undiagnosed, pre-existing heart problems.
“Certainly doing the run didn’t cause the heart conditions,” study author Dr. Aaron Baggish tells Shots, “but it was probably the stimulus that caused the near-fatal or fatal event.” For the study, Baggish, associate director of the Cardiovascular Performance Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, compiled data on runners in marathons (26.2 miles) and half-marathons (13.1 miles) as far back as 2000. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: This article helps to ease one of the biggest worries that has dogged long-distance running for many years. The best advice from this article is to make sure that you are fit enough to enter a race. Preparing properly will decrease your risks & increase your enjoyment.
“Distance running is like cod liver oil. At first it makes you feel awful, then it makes you feel better.” - Joe Kelly
Running enhances neurogenesis, the birth of new neurons in the brain. Does this mean that running can delay the aging process?
A new study conducted by Stanford University School of Medicine shows that runners who ran regularly over several years suffered fewer disabilities, enjoyed a longer span of active living and decreased their risk of death by 50 percent compared to their sedentary counterparts. It also showed that running delayed the onset of age related disability by 16 years. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: I’m a big fan of using running as part of your active lifestyle. However, running should not hurt or cause injuries. I recommend a running form that mimics barefoot running so that your foot interacts with the ground in a natural way. There are many minimal running shoe choices on the market today. Educate yourself, get proper instruction & ease into it. As you increase your mileage, you will enjoy the awesome life benefits that are outlined in the above article.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 2, 2012) — A systematic review of previous studies suggests that there may be a positive relationship between physical activity and the academic performance of children, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Amika Singh, Ph.D., of the Vrije Universiteit University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues reviewed evidence about the relationship between physical activity and academic performance because of concerns that pressure to improve test scores may often mean more instructional time for classroom subjects with less time for physical activity.
The authors identified 10 observational and four interventional studies for review. Twelve of the studies were conducted in the United States, plus one in Canada and one in South Africa. Sample sizes ranged from 53 to about 12,000 participants between the ages of 6 years and 18 years. Follow-up varied from eight weeks to more than five years.
“According to the best-evidence synthesis, we found strong evidence of a significant positive relationship between physical activity and academic performance. The findings of one high-quality intervention study and one high-quality observational study suggest that being more physically active is positively related to improved academic performance in children,” the authors comment. Read More
Dr. Jay’s Note: Living a holistic lifestyle allows us to get the most out of life.
Surf’s up, Colwyn Thomas
Unfortunately it often just makes things worse!
We are connected with all living things in ways we do not quite comprehend and our behaviours may well backfire on us.
These work :)
Pic found here! :)
I don’t have to try to explain memes to my dad, because he has a tumblr.
