Setting New Years Resolutions

It is now the time of year when we start thinking about what goals we want to achieve in the new year.  However, considering that only 8% of people actually stick to their New Year's resolutions, it is easy to give up on them before we even try. However, setting resolutions doesn't have to be daunting, and there are things we can do throughout the year to make sure we accomplish the things that we set out to do in the new year. 

• Prioritize your top 3 goals
• Try not to set too many goals, as you want to be able to stay focused on each one and not let it fall by the wayside. Think about your top three goals you'd like to accomplish in the next year and set those as your resolutions.
• Visualize your wins
• Try to picture yourself accomplishing of your goals and realizing that you stuck to a resolution. Imagine that feeling every time you start to feel yourself slip away from your goal. 
• Engage other people
• Tell your family and friends about your goals. In doing so, they will help hold you accountable by asking you about them and how you are coming along on your goals.
• Track and celebrate
• Keep track of all the little accomplishments you are making along the way to reach your main goal. Celebrate each accomplishment you make to keep yourself motivated throughout the year.
• Start small
• Make yourself small, achievable goals that will ultimately reach your end goal. For example, instead of setting the goal of losing 50 lbs, say you will lose 1-2 pounds per week. Track your weight each week, and celebrate losing 1-2 pounds every time. Before you know it, you will be at 50 pounds lost. 
• Change one behavior at a time
• Going along with starting small, instead of trying to change all your behaviors at once, start with one at a time. Once you make a new behavior a habit, then add another. For example, if losing weight is your goal, start with adding in 3 days of exercise per week, or a healthy eating habit. Once you have successfully completed one, then add the other one in on top of it. 
• Ask for support
• This goes along with engaging other people on your goals and resolutions. By telling your friends and family about what you'd like to set for your resolutions and asking them for help in holding you accountable, it will help you stick to your goal. Rather than just working on it for yourself, you will also be doing it for other people, which can help keep you motivated throughout the course of the year.

Wellness Wednesday

When It Comes To Getting Your Child To Eat Healthy, Don't Give Up!

Recent research from the University of Buffalo has found that many parents give up on trying to get their children to eat healthy after the first attempt. However, they have also found that a parent continues to attempt feeding their child the same food, they will eventually begin to like it.

Getting kids to eat a variety of foods is sometimes harder than getting cow down a flight of steps. It often seems like continually trying to feed your child something you know that they won't like isn't worth the screaming match that it turns into. Researchers at the University of Buffalo, have recently concluded that varied diets and persistence in exposing infants and children to healthy foods are key to healthy eating behaviors. The researchers based their study off of 40 peer reviewed studies on how infants and young children developed preferences for healthy food. They found that the base for healthy eating starts during pregnancy, by exposing the fetus to a variety of foods, especially healthy ones.

It is almost just as important to get a child exposed to a variety of foods as an infant as it is in the womb as well. The researchers looked at a study in which infants were exposed to red peppers or squash. While almost all of the infants rejected them at first, all of them ended up eating the food after the fifth or sixth exposure. The study also found that rewarding the children for eating healthy foods might have some poor effects down the line, as good behavior that is later not rewarded in the same way will be challenged.

Fitness Friday

High-Intensity Exercise is a Valid Form of Treatment for Delaying the Effects of Parkinson's Disease

New research from Northwestern University shows that high-intensity exercise may be the answer for delaying the effects of Parkinson's disease.

Approximately 7-10 million people worldwide are affected with Parkinson's Disease, with four percent of those affected being diagnosed before the age of 50 and men being more than one and half times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease. The neurological disease, in which the person slowly loses motor control over their extremities, has more often than not taken a preventative approach to treatment rather than a total curative approach. Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Denver recently conducted preventative research for those with a diagnosis of Parkinson's and found that exercise in a high-intensity for may be stave off the worsening of their symptoms.

Parkinson's disease symptoms and effects include progressive loss of muscle control, trembling, stiffness, slowness and impaired balance. There are some exercise classes and programs such as boxing that claim to slow down the degeneration of the neurons and loss of motor control, however researchers in this study looked at a controlled form of high intensity exercise to slow the effects of the disease while possibly avoiding medications that have harmful side-effects. The randomized clinical trial looked at 128 participants aged 40 to 80 years old, and in the early stage of Parkinson's stage while taking no medications. The participants were required to exercise three times a week for six months at high intensity, 80-85 percent of maximum heart rate, and moderate intensity, 60-65 percent of maximum heart rate, and were compared to a control group who did not exercise. After the six months were over, participants were rated on a scale of 0-108 by clinicians on their current condition, with the higher range of numbers rating the participant more severely in regards to their symptoms. All participants were rated at 20 before the study began, and those in the control group had their points increase by three points, those in the moderate group had their points increase by 1.5 points and those in the high-intensity group stayed the same.. 

Wellness Wednesday

Reviewing the Top Public Health Stories According to the University of Berkeley

A quick overview of the top ten public health stories of 2010 according to the University of Berkeley.

2017 has been a crazy year, that's for sure. Between the political, environmental and sports stories, it's very easy to forget about all the changes that have been made in the public health sphere this year. Here are a few of the top stories as selected from Berkeley's top ten public health stories of 2017:

• Cancer Deaths are Still on the Decline:
• Deaths by cancer continue to decline in the United States, specifically at a 1.5% annual decline. The improvement in cancer prevention is due to early detection and improved treatment of common cancers such as lung, breast, prostate and colorectal carcinomas.Overall, there has been a 25% decrease in cancer deaths since 1991, with promise that this percentage will increase in future years.
• The Opioid Epidemic is at an All Time High:
• As seen in Harford County, where the total of overdoses is well over 400, the opioid epidemic continues to reach all time high's in regards to those it affects. In the past four years, as many Americans have died of prescription opioid overdoses as those Americans who had died during the entirety of the Vietnam war. Preventative measures, such as restricting the amount of opioids prescribed, have been taken to try and halt the continuation of the opioid epidemic.  
• Sugar Has Finally been Identified as a True Culprit of the Obesity Epidemic:
• Fat Free? Try just higher amount of sugar. Processed foods and beverages have been identified as the culprits behind the skyrocketing numbers of obesity and type-2 diabetes.This new focus has spurred dietitians and researchers across the nation to re-focus their attention on how to get populations to eat food that's not as processed.
• New Guidelines Lower the Threshold for High Blood Pressure:
• 31 Million more Americans have high blood pressure no thanks to the American Heart Association's reclassification of what constitutes the disease according to new blood pressure reading thresholds. This reclassification will affect millions of Americans pockets now with their premiums possibly rising, but the Association hopes that this will spur the patient populations to make necessary health decisions for the better. 
• Babies Can Once Again Enjoy Peanut Butter:
• If your child has a severe allergy or eczema reaction to eggs, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease advised feeding them peanuts at as early as four months old. The turnaround on the ruling has much to do with the finding that feeding peanuts to a child at an earlier age reduces the likelihood that the child will develop an allergy to it.

5 Tips to Avoid Weight Gain During the Holidays

The holidays are a difficult time for everyone to maintain weight loss efforts, or weight in general due to the extreme number of treats and comfort foods. While it is always a good idea to enjoy the holidays and all of your favorite foods and treats that go along with it, you don't have to go all out and eat everything in sight and in turn, feel bad about the few extra pounds you put on. 

1. Eat Breakfast and Lunch
• While this is important everyday, it is even more important on holidays and/or days that you have a holiday party to attend. Eating healthy and nutritious meals throughout the day will help keep you satisfied so you don't show up to a party starving and end up eating more than you wanted to.
2. Make Workouts an Appointment
• The holiday season is definitely a difficult time to keep your workouts consistent. There is always something to do whether it is a work happy hour, gift shopping or cooking and baking. However, if you put your workouts in your calendar as an appointment, you will be more likely to do it since it has already been scheduled into your day.
3. Hydrate
• If you do anything to stay healthy during the holidays, staying hydrated should be it. This will help to manage your hunger levels and keep you satiated throughout the day.
4. Eat the Items Special to you
• Instead of eating all of the treats and foods offered at your gathering, choose to indulge on the ones that you only get once a year. 
5. Be Kind to Yourself
• Christmas is only one day. If you eat too much throughout the day, don't beat yourself up about it. You can get back on track the next day. Know that you thoroughly enjoyed the time with your family and friends and all of your favorite holiday treats.

Key Component to Older Adult Training Programs

Continuing a strength training program as you age is very important to keep your bones strong when they begin to deteriorate. However, in order to best benefit your functional ability, some ways of training are better than others. Training for functional ability, which includes speed, power, motor control, coordination, balance, mobility, agility and cardio respiratory endurance, should be the focus for workouts as you age to get the most benefit for your body. 

One of the main focuses for your training program should be on muscle power which will help to improve your function to a greater degree. In order to train this way, more explosive movement with a lighter load should be incorporated into your exercise program. These types of movements can be as simple as explosive stands from a chair or medicine ball slams.

Another main focus of training programs should be on complexity versus load. Try to move in a variety of ways that also include cognitive stimulation and series of movements that flow together. For example, rather that adding weight to a stationary lunge, do lunges in all directions instead. 

The last main focus, and the most important, of your training program is balance. In order to improve balance, it must be challenged. In order to do this, change static movements to dynamic, planned movements to reactive and change a wide base to a narrow base. All of these things will challenge and in turn, improve your balance if incorporated into your routine on a regular basis. 

Fitness Friday

Are Women Genetically More Fit Than Men?

New research shows that women may be genetically predisposed to be more fit that men.

When we think of fitness, we typically think of who can run the fastest or throw an object the farthest. This is a common misconception, however, when it comes to judging how fit a person is. The fitness of a person is defined as the quality or state of being fit, meaning that the fitness of a person is defined by the capacity and efficiency that their body can perform at task at. Researchers at the University of Waterloo, with this definition of fitness in mind, decided to research whether or not their is a genetic predisposition for either gender in regards to who is more physically fit. 

Quick oxygen uptake by a person's body allows for less strain to be placed on the body. Researchers at the University of Waterloo studied a person's fitness by measuring and comparing the oxygen uptake and muscle oxygen extraction for 18 young men and women who had a similar BMI and age. Various aerobic tests were conducted on the participants, and results consistently showed that women's muscle extract oxygen from the blood at a 30% faster rate than men. By processing the oxygen faster women are less likely to fatigue as fast as men who are exercising at the same rate. More research on the subject is warranted, however, to confirm what resulted and was presented in the research.

Knowing Your Metabolism

Each person's metabolism works a little bit differently based on your age, sex, lifestyle and physical activity. While you can't change some of these factors, you can control your lifestyle which will help the effectiveness of your metabolism and help you reach your health and fitness goals. In order to help your metabolism, there are some key habits to incorporate into your daily life that will help keep your metabolism at a healthy and efficient rate.

• Drink water
• Dehydration can slow down your metabolism
• Eat regular meals
• Having smaller meals or snacks throughout the day can help you from overeating at meals and keep your metabolic rate up.
• Build muscle
• Your body is burning calories even when it is at rest. Evert pound of muscle uses 6 calories just to exist each day, whereas each pound of fat only uses 2. 
• Be physically active
• The more active you are, the more energy your body burns.
• Add in some high intensity workouts
• This will add a steady and more long-lasting rise in resting metabolic rate. 
• Eat balanced meals
• Be sure to include proper amounts of protein  into each meal as you body uses more calories to burn protein than it does carbohydrates or fat.
• Don't skip meals
• Skipping meals or fasting for long periods of time can slow down your metabolism.
• Sleep 7-8 hours a night

Wellness Wednesday

The Importance of Dieting for Knee Pain
While exercise is very important for controlling knee pain, losing weight may be more of a long-term answer for people who are overweight.

Weight loss is a very popular topic on this blog, and it should be due to the various other physical complications that it can cause. One of those complications excess weight may cause is severe joint pain. The number of Americans with severe joint pain in 2002 came in at 10.5 million and then jumped to 14.6 million in 2014. This climb in severe joint pain is in part due to the rise in obesity, which carries osteoarthritis as a major risk factor. One of the major sites affected by osteoarthritis  is the knee, and many who are affected by the disease often undergo total knee replacements to replace the cartilage that they have lost. With obesity as a key risk factor in mind, researchers put together a study in order to monitor how much weight affects cartilage loss and joint pain in affected patients. 

The Radiological Society of  North America 760 men and women with a BMI greater than 25 (BMI over 25 indicates being overweight and over 30 is obese) from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. The group was divided into 380 people who had lost weight and 380 who had not lost weight. The weight-loss groups were then segmented into losing weight by diet and exercise, diet alone and exercise alone. The participants were also MRI'd at the beginning of the study, at 48 months, and then 96 months. Cartilage loss was significantly less in the participants who lost weight compared to those who did not, but only in the segments of dieting alone and exercising and dieting. Weight loss for those who only exercised saw no change in cartilage degeneration. 

TL;DR: Exercise alone does not help slow cartilage degeneration, diet is necessary as well.

5 Habits to Make Your Day Healthier

By adding small, but effective healthy habits into your day can make your overall life, health and happiness better. You don't have to make major and drastic changes to change your health. All it takes is a few simple changes to make a big difference. Take the following habits and incorporate them into your life one at a time and see how they can change your life and help you become a happier, healthier person. 

• Make breakfast and movement a priority
• Starting your day off with a nutritious meal and some type of movement helps to set the tone for the rest of your day. Rather than pouring yourself another cup of coffee, get in some nutritious to give you the energy you need to get through the day. Additionally, when you start your day on a healthy note, you tend to make better decisions throughout the day. 
• Take a lunch break daily
• Take a step away from your desk or your work for 30 minutes during your lunch time. This will set you up for a productive second half of your day by taking 30 minutes to yourself to refocus and prepare for the rest of your day. 
• Make the gym after work a priority
• Prepare your gym bag the night before and take it with you so you don't have to go home before the gym. Going directly from work to the gym will avoid you going home and having to answer to family or changing your mind and choosing the couch over the gym.
• Use meal prep to beat the dinner rush
• To avoid being stressed at dinner time and resorting to getting take-out, do a little meal prep on the weekend to have healthy options ready to go for dinner time. 
• Create a nightly routine
• In order to get the best night sleep, try to go to bed the same time every night and do your best to avoid technology for 30 minutes before bed. Try drinking a hot cup of tea or reading a book instead of scrolling your phone or watching TV.

Fitness Friday

Exercise Helps Protect Smokers From Increased Susceptibility to Muscle Loss

A recent study conducted by the American Physiological Society has found that exercise may help smokers from the muscle loss and inflammation that they are more susceptible to due to their smoking habit.

 Getting people to stop smoking has long been a priority of many major health organizations ever since tobacco groups have had to acknowledge that their product causes harm to their users. The habit most noticeably affects users' cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological health, but what many do not know is that it also affects users' musculoskeletal health as well. For those that hit the gym and are smokers, the lack of oxygen available to the muscles that desperately need it during workouts hinders muscle growth. Not only does lack of oxygen affect this possible muscle growth, but the lack of testosterone also hinders any chance of reaching your true summer body potential. However, for those that do not workout regularly, the risk for muscle loss is even greater.

A team of German researchers have found that inflammation that begins in the pulmonary system due to smoking, can "spill over" into the circulatory system and negatively affect muscle and organ function. The inflammation negatively interacts with protein pathways in the body causing muscle to break down faster than it can grow leading to a condition called 'wasting atrophy'. The German researchers reached this conclusion by studying markers of inflammation in the blood and muscle fibers of two groups of mice that were exposed to cigarette smoke on  along-term basis. One group exercised everyday for eight weeks on a treadmill while the other group did not, and results were compared to mice who were not exposed to a long-term smoke environment. There was significant improvement in regards to biomarkers for inflammation in the exercise group compared to the smoking non-exercise group, however both groups had increased inflammation markers compared to their non-smoking counterparts. The study did reveal, however, that exercise did decrease some muscle fiber density decrease in the long-term smoking groups, leading to the conclusion that consistent exercise in smokers may at least greatly reduce the risk of developing 'wasting atrophy'.

 

Gold Medal Happenings

As the year comes to an end, we have some new, exciting things happening here at the Gold Medal MOG! We want to encourage you to continue, or begin, a health and fitness routine and are offering some great deals and classes that make it easy for you to do so! Feel free to tell your family and friends as well, which will help you get some additional offers and discounts!

Holiday Deals

• Dec: 24-Dec 30: Refer A Friend get 2 Months Free (Must not be prior MOG member)
• Dec 31-Jan 6: Buy 3 Get One Free 30 or 60 min Personal Training Sessions
• Jan 7-Jan 13: 1 year membership for $270 (3 months free)
• Jan 14-Jan 20:  $90 for 120 days *Cannot be combined with previous weeks deal of buy 9 months get 3 free deal.

Yoga Classes

6 weeks of yoga classes Mondays at 10:00 AM beginning January 8, 2018

$84 for 6 weeks ($14 per class)

Call Gold Medal PT or email gweimer@goldmedalpt.com to sign-up!

Class description: Gentle Yoga

Please join us for traditional gentle yoga, whether you are a new to yoga or have been injured and want to slowly get back to your practice. Classes will be semi-private offered in a small group setting. All levels are welcome, please bring water and your own yoga mat.

Instructor Kristine Keay:

An experienced Holistic Health Educator skilled in Mindfulness, Wellness Coaching, Yoga, Energy Healing, and Public Speaking. Strong community and social services professional with a Master of Science (M.S.) focused in Health and Physical Education from Bridgewater State University and who also earned a Bachelor of Arts majoring in psychology. She currently is a wellness educator for a national employee assistance company based in Baltimore. She conducts presentations and classes on an array of health and wellness topics to various populations such as various types of yoga, stress management, meditation and overall health. Kristine’s growing list of clients here in Maryland includes Bel, Air Athletic Club, Health Fitness Corporation, Elementary Schools, and soon to be at Harford Community College. Her work began in Massachusetts from fortune 500 companies, such as Fidelity Investment of Rhode Island to Ivy League universities such as Brown University.

Wellness Wednesday

Dieting and High-Intensity Exercise Helps Reduce Risk of Weight Regain
Researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham have found through research that the best way to keep off the weight is a continued regimen of high-intensity workouts and a well-balanced diet.

As often brought up and discussed as a main topic on this blog, obesity is an epidemic of epic proportions in America, and one that is often overlooked or brushed aside in regards to its importance and impact on other health issues by many Americans. For the 65% of people who lose weight from dieting, they will regain the weight they lost (and often more) within three years. This makes keeping the weight off just as much of a priority for researchers and physicians alike, when trying to help patients on their journey to a healthier self. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted research aimed at trying to find the best way to increase the metabolism that people lose when they begin to diet.

 

The researchers, with the knowledge that moderate-intensity exercise reduces the slowing of metabolism, looked to see if high-intensity exercise would have a similar effect. This form of exercise includes a short bout of maximum effort exercise, followed by a few minutes of active recovery (i.e. sprinting on the treadmill for a short time and then walking). The results of their research when reviewing other studies, was that people who performed 20 minutes of high-intensity interval exercise lost the same amount of weight as those who performed 60 minutes of moderate exercise. This finding, when coupled with diet, not only answers the question of how to help keep the weight off, but also answers how to do so in a world where finding 20 minutes to exercise is a lot easier than finding 60 minutes.  

Having a Healthy and Safe Winter Season

We all know that the winter season can be full of colds, flu, strep and other illnesses that we may come in contact with. But, in addition to these things, the winter, especially the holiday season, there tends to be an increase in injury and accidents as well. So, in addition to taking precautions to staying illness-free during the winter, there are other precautions to take to keep you safe and reduce your risk for accidents as well. 

• Get a Flu Shot
• Getting your flu shot can help reduce your risk of getting the flu about 45-60%
• Boost your Diet
• Get some more Vitamin C, fruits and vegetables in your diet to help boost your immune system to protect you from getting sick
• Exercise Regularly
• Keeping up with your regular exercise routine will help keep your immune system up, as well as keeping you in a routine throughout the busy holiday season
• Wash your Hands Frequently
• Use soap and warm water and lather for at least 20 seconds to properly wash away the germs
• Sleep Well
• More than ever, this is a time when you need an adequate amount of sleep. Your body needs rest to be able to fight against germs. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night and try to go to bed at the same time each night
• Get your Car Inspected
• While this doesn't relate to your health, it is important to make sure your car is in proper working order for the winter months when it can be cold, icy and snow.
• Hang Decorations Safely
• When hanging up your holiday decor both inside and out, make sure you are diligent about doing it safely and make sure you are not home alone, in case of an accident.
• Get Social
• Getting out and about and being around other people will actually help to prevent getting sick and will help you have a less stressful holiday due to being around those you love.
• Plan a Vacation
• Although this may sound like a crazy idea during an already busy time, taking a vacation in the winter will help you de-stress and get away from the madness. 

Winter HIIT Workout

High intensity interval training workouts are good for any time during the year and are good for anyone, no matter what kind of physical shape you are in. H.I.I.T workouts have been shown to increase metabolism, change body composition and is the most efficient way to improve your physical fitness level. You can modify this, and any, hiit workout to make it appropriate for you and where you are in your fitness journey. The main idea for these types of workouts it to push as hard as possible while performing the exercise, then rest for an interval of time until you are ready to move on to the next exercise.

The only equipment you will need for this workout is dumbbells, but you can even do it without them if you are just getting into exercise. As always, before starting any type of exercise program, check with your physician ahead of time and give yourself a long, dynamic warm-up.

Perform 20 reps of the following exercises and repeat many times as possible in 20 minutes. Rest as needed throughout the workout and cool down after the 20 minutes is up:

• Squat press
• Push ups
• Mountain climbers
• Lung with curl
• Plank front raise
• Burpees with push-up

**Bonus: perform 6, 200 meter sprints following the workout

Fitness Friday

Exercise Slows Brain-Aging Deterioration

According to a new Australian led study at Western Sydney University, aerobic exercise can improve memory function and maintain brain health as the aging process progresses.

The University of Western Sydney and the Division of Psychology and Mental Health at University of Manchester teamed up to conduct a study to measure the effects of aerobic exercise on the hippocampus region of the brain. The researchers reviewed 14 clinical trials in which 737 people had their brains examined with scans before and after aerobic exercise in controlled conditions. The population that took part in the studies included those who were healthy and those had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, with an age range of 24-76 and an average age of 66. The researchers examined the effects that aerobic exercise, which took place at a range of 2-5 sessions per week and a study length range of 3-24 months, and found that it did significantly increase the left side of the hippocampus in the participants' brains. While more research on the topic is warranted, it is a promising connection between aerobic exercise and the prevention of age-related neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimers. Check out the video below for more information on the positive effects of aerobic exercise!